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homogrimoire-archive · 4 years ago

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The Remnant Branches

CH. 6 - The Woe of the Wretched

Part 3: A Sibling's Love

Having completed his mission for Oz already, James returns to Jakob to deliver some unfortunate news. After, he begins his peaceful quest to search for any astronomical information this world may hold. This first takes him to the library in the nearby village.

AO3 Link

The elevator reached the surface with the sound of its old doors creaking open. Ironwood was feeling ambivalent, however. On one hand, his mission was complete, and he had five days left to do as he pleased. On the other hand, reviewing the video tapes revealed that the mother had perished in the factory while running away from her children with a man. It is only human to want to be free from burden too. Ironwood knew he had to at least tell Jakob that harsh truth.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re okay. You were in there for a while.” said Jakob as James entered the door.

“Yes, I’m fine, but, there’s no easy way to say this.” From the look on Jakob’s face, Ironwood could tell he already knew what was coming.

“It’s my mom, huh? It’s alright. Nier already told me. He said he found her on his way back, and brought me back some of her perfume.” he said sadly.

“How are you holding up?”

“I’ll be alright. And Gideon will come around eventually. … I just-” he let out a sigh. “I just don’t know what to feel now. It hurts that she left us, but I know this was all too much for her. She just wanted to be happy, and her happiness didn’t involve us, but I still love her. We had some good times, and she did try for a time, and she is my mom. I just can’t bring myself to hate her. I feel like I should be stronger, and not even cry for her. Is that bad?” he asked, eyes watery and voice on the verge of cracking. Ironwood thought for a moment.

“I will be honest, I can’t understand how you feel, so take this as a grain of salt: I don't think you’re wrong for wanting that. Ultimately, she hurt you, her child. But understand this,” James got down on a knee to be eye level with him, “you are strong. From all my years, I’ve learned that it's easier for people to hate than it is to love. It takes a lot of strength to love, especially after what she did. And look around you!” James got up and motioned him to look at the shop around him. “Despite everything, you’ve managed to run this shop and become an excellent blacksmith, all while taking care of your brother all on your own. That is no small feat, especially for someone your age. This is a tough time for you, but you will get through it. You are strong.”

“Thanks mister Ironwood.” Jakob sniffed. “I needed that. It's gonna be hard, but things will be alright. I think she would want us to be alright too. And besides, I still have Gideon.”

“I’m glad. Oh, and here’s some junk I collected on the way. I figured you could use it.” Ironwood tossed a bag full of scrap onto the counter.

“Sweet! Thanks!” he exclaimed happily.

“No problem Jakob. … It looks like I’ll be on my way now.”

“Alright, stay safe now. There are a lot more shades out there than here in the Junk Heap.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve faced all sorts of monsters before.” With a final wave goodbye, James closed the door behind him and made his way to the exit. He was never the best at goodbyes or any sort of closing remarks.

As he walked, he thought about how Jakob could still love his mother after what she did. However, he knew he would have to be content in knowing that he would never understand it. A child’s love for their parent was a powerful thing.

He rememberd that Nier told him that there was a library in his village just across the plains. He hoped he could get lucky and find some old star charts or any sort of astronomical information. While Remnant was overall more technologically advanced, this world had traveled into space, well beyond their atmosphere.

From the information stored at the factory, he learned that this world had sent people to their unbroken moon, set artificial satellites in orbit around their planet, and sent machines to study planets billions of miles away. It amazed Ironwood so, and he intended to learn as whatever he could from this world’s knowledge on outer space. It was about time he treated himself to enjoying his little hobby.

Astronomy was something that always interested him. So much of it was unknown. There was a sense of serenity in that. It was a place free of the chaos of a cruel world. He considered that space could be chaotic too, but in its own ways, ways much less cruel. Space is an exotic, previously unknown beauty to him. He dreams that it is a place free of duty and worry, where people are safe, and will never have to worry about the cruelest cruelties of life. Salem, Grimm, murder, and needless suffering are absent there in his dream.

However, more than that, much more than that, a part of him believes something. It is the part of him where his last shred of innocence exists, the part where he holds onto hope for a merciless and unforgiving world. It believes that there, he can finally love.

After about half an hour fighting aggressive shades across the plain, James finally arrived at the gates of the village. He knocked on the large door, and waited. Looking up, he saw a man looking down on him over the side of the top of the gate, and disappeared from view, shouting an ‘okay’ that led to the gate opening. A guard gave a grunt of acknowledgement as he passed. It was a quiet place, and nothing like Atlas. By the fountain, he noticed a woman at a fountain singing a song. It helped calm him after the heavy, heart racing, fighting.

Ku ata

Tsu no-o va-lai

Tzud-e jei

Fo-aul ae kai

She seemed like she could help him.

“Excuse me, miss, would you happen to know where the library is?” he asked her.

“Do I look like a tourist guide to you?” she said curtly. Ironwood didn’t know what to say. “I’m just joking with ya.” she laughed. “It’s that building at the top of the hill.” she pointed out. “I’m Devola, and if you need any help finding something, ask my sister Popola. She’ll be in the room on the second floor to the right.”

“Alright, thank you.” he waved as she resumed her song. He just hoped his encounter with the other sister wouldn’t be like that.

The library had all its books stacked up its walls, leaving it a rather open space. At first, he aimlessly wandered around, scanning the spines of the books he passed. So far, he hadn’t found what he was looking for, and decided to give Popola a visit. At a shelf next to the base of the stairs was a little girl struggling to reach a book. Her hair was a silvery white, akin to Nier’s. He noted that similarity. He reached for the book and handed it to her.

“Here you are.”

“Thank you mister!” she said with a bright smile. She took a seat at the stair’s first step and began to read the simple book. Aside from her pale skin, which could be attributed to a lack of sunlight, odd considering the eternal sun, she did not look sick to him. Once at the top of the stairs, he turned right and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” she shouted, and Ironwood entered. “Oh, a new face. Not often you see one of those. How can I help you?” she said, looking up from the paperwork on her desk.

“I’m looking for books on astronomy, or any information you have on it really.” he said.

“Hmm… Astronomy… I don’t recall there being any books on that here, but-”

“DEVOLA, HURRY, QUICK!” screamed a voice downstairs.

“Crap, crap, crap!” she fearfully repeated as she leaped over her desk and bounded downstairs. James made sure to get out of her way, and looked downstairs once she had past him.

At the bottom of the stairs was the girl from earlier. She was curled up, wincing in pain as a darkness enveloped her arms and legs. There seemed to be some lettering in it. It had almost seemed familiar to James, but it faded before he could more clearly see it.

However, he knew for sure that this was Nier’s daughter, Yonah, with her silver-white hair and some sickness that could only be the Black Scrawl. It was unlike any kind of sickness he had seen before. He saw Devola scoop her up in her arms and leave the library.

He made his way down the stairs and picked up the book she dropped, A picture book titled The Wizard of Oz. Amused at the title, but otherwise uninterested in it, he placed it back on the shelf. Aesop’s Fables, Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears were among the selection of books with colored pictures and big fonts.

Realizing he was the children’s section, he went back upstairs to browse another random section. He managed to find what he assumed was the philosophy section, based on the titles. It was filled with names unknown to him, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx, Karl Grün, Simone de Beauvoir, Georg Hegel, Zhuangzi, Mozi, and many more.

He picked up a book by Karl Marx and flipped through it. Interestingly, none of its words were capitalized. He assumed it was a printing error. Once he saw that it concerned economics as well, and he quickly put it back. He dealt with enough economics back home, and had no desire to read about it on his little vacation. He owed himself that much, even if he was starting to feel guilty for taking such a long break from his work. He managed to find the romance section, but quickly found that none of it was to his taste. Romance as a genre was he never really understood the appeal of anyways.

Eventually, he settled on a titleless book that was at the top of a first floor shelf. It seemed mysterious, and therefore interesting.

There was an android who was set to oversee a small village. Her name was Skald, and embedded in her was the incredible power of an ancient song from another world. The song allowed her to help and manage her village in incredible ways, but, it soon corrupted her and the villagers. As a result, her creators had her and the village destroyed.

Learning from their failure, the scientist removed the magical power of the song. Despite having less power than before, she still ran and oversaw the village well enough. Her creators were pleased and began to make plans for mass production. While her creators did that, she had grown close to another woman in her village. They did lots together, so much so that many began to believe they were sisters. And soon, they began to refer to themselves as sisters. The scientist saw that there was an increase in her performance during this time.

However, the woman died in an unfortunate and sudden accident, leaving Skald all alone. Her performance decreased greatly as a result, and she was eventually decommissioned. She was not saddened at the revelation of her fate. In fact, she seemed grateful. However, the scientists were saddened by their creation. They created something near immortal that could love, and would more often than not have that love ripped away from them eventually.

In honor of their creation, they learned from their cruel mistake. Skald was renamed Popola, the nickname given to her by the woman and villagers, and she would have a twin to be by her side. Her name would be Devola, after the woman who loved Skald as a sister. “Together, they could sing a song that would calm and heal the heart. Together, they would face an otherwise lonely existence. Together, love would allow them to survive a cruel world.” was the ending of the short story.

Ironwood wasn’t sure what to exactly think of the story. He wondered why someone would write such a preposterous backstory about their village leaders. But then his thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. In came the younger sister, Devola, who went to meet him.

“Good, you’re still here. Sorry about earlier.”

“It’s alright, things happen. Will she be alright?”

“Yeah, she’ll be fine, she just needs some rest and medicine. She’ll be back here tomorrow I’m sure, unless Nier gets back soon. But Popola wanted me to pass a message. She said that you should try the Lighthouse at the Seafront south of here, or the desert civilization east of here. There's a store there where you might find what you’re looking for.” She pointed in the directions he should go.

“Alright, thank you.” James said happily. “Oh, and before I forget and you might want to check out this book.” he said, handing her the book he read earlier. ‘“I can’t imagine why anyone would write something like this, and I think you wouldn’t want it in here.” Curiously, she took the book and glanced at the cover and its back, and quickly flipped through its pages.

“Ha! This is a strange little book. Thanks for catching it. Here, take this to keep it between us.” she tossed him a small sack that rattled. James opened it to find coins in it.

“Are you sure? I don’t think you need to give me this. It-”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” she calmly interrupted. “You just go and have your fun.”

“Well, alright. Thank you then.”

As he walked to the eastern gate, he wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. However, he simply just could not imagine it. A sibling’s love was something he never felt, and would never feel. He wondered if he should feel sad about that or not.

We give the finality of death. Iron skin draws out fear and terror, and is bathed in flesh. We are satisfied by the snatching of life. We realize our purpose through the crushing of the bodies. In our delight, we spread death far and wide. We are the iron will. We kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

This interloper knows what he does as he slashes the blade on the way to his destination.

He knows there is blood on his hands, and accepts it readily, for he knows he must.

What he does is as just as it is unjust.

He knows this, and slashes again.

It must be done, so he believes.

Anyone can do this, so long as they think they are right.

#James Ironwood #rwby #nier #the woe of the wretched #the remnant branches #2.5k words #if only james had taken the time to read marx\#lol #or any of the children's stories #sure he might realize things later on and have an existential crisis but it's better than what he's going through rn #then again remnant is probs going through an existential crisis having found out about salem

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mishasminions · 4 years ago

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The Last Time I’ll Write a Long Post About Supernatural (15x18-15x20)

15 YEARS OF WATCHING THIS SHOW. 11 YEARS OF RUNNING A BLOG ABOUT IT. IT’S BEEN QUITE A RIDE.

[15x20 Speculation + evidence at the bottom]

First off, I just wanna come clean and say, after all these years, I still think they should’ve ended at Season 5.

If you’re going to come at me with “Then why’d you stick around to watch it if you didn’t like it?”, your question is immature, and the answer is simple: I just want to know what happens next (I also love the main characters and their actors too). You can watch a show and still think it’s shit.

Call me a clown, but despite all the disappointment and trust issues that this show has given me, I would still look forward to the day where it might just turn itself around and bring back the quality it once had, or realize the potential of each story it was trying to tell, or at the very least, do justice by my favorite ship.

Never happened.

They’ve had a few good episodes here and there. I can’t imagine the SPN Universe without The Man Who Would Be King, The French Mistake, and Scoobynatural. Seasons 6-10 were enjoyable at times. I blocked out most of 7 & 11-15.

If you’ve been following this blog since its heydays in 2010-2014, you’d know I’d try my best to defend Destiel and this show’s decisions regarding it no matter what.

Because you know what, as a CONCEPT, this show is good. If you take a look at all the worlds its storylines have birthed in fanfiction/fanworks, you’d see how much Supernatural has wasted its own story arcs. The writing got shittier as each season progressed, and they’ve obviously given up in production as well because the quality in the execution has noticeably gone down too, but if you take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture, you’ll see that this show still tries to make sense of itself.

[If you’re still following this post, please bear with me, I know this is long, but I just want you to understand how jaded and pessimistic I am with regards to this show, so maybe you can buy into whatever hopeful thing I’m about to say later on.]

SO LET’S TALK ABOUT DESTIEL

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that they would give us Castiel’s “I love you” speech. To the point where, if I weren’t so desperate for it, I would argue that it was completely out of character for him to word vomit the way he did (but I’m not gonna diss on that right now because I’ll take what I can get).

I’ve valued every meaningful and obscure exchange that Dean and Cas have had in the earlier seasons, and I was willing to accept their relationship as just that--undefined, without any clear boundaries as to what they really are. And I think that was beautiful on its own.

But now, they’ve chosen to define it.

After they’ve driven every possible wedge between Dean and Castiel in seasons 11-15, to try to explain away their feelings as something they offer to a collective.

Dean can’t mourn and pray for JUST Cas, he has to mourn and pray for EVERYBODY--even Crowley, even some chick he just met, because god forbid he cries about just the guy who has given up everything for him--that would be “too homo”.

They’ve even set Cas on a path to abrupt fatherhood just so he can care about something other than Dean. Make it seem as if Dean wasn’t his purpose through and through.

And after all these years of this stupid show trying to deny it, they choose to acknowledge it at the worst possible circumstance, at a time where they’ve been so far apart, that it seems so foreign for them to suddenly come together.

But here we are. And they’ve chosen to tell us.

Chosen to tell us that everything that Castiel has done leading up to his death, he has done it because he was IN LOVE WITH DEAN WINCHESTER.

Chosen to tell us that the ONE THING THAT WOULD MAKE CAS HAPPY IS DEAN WINCHESTER.

Chosen to tell us that BEING WITH DEAN WINCHESTER is something that CAS WANTS BUT KNOWS HE CAN’T HAVE.

And they’ve also chosen to tell us nothing about how Dean feels.

Sure, finding out your angel made a deal, the stipulations of said deal, his newfound happiness philosophy, his long-winded monologue of why he loves you and why you’re worthy of his love, and to top it all off he tells you that being in love with you is enough to make him happy while he subtly hints that he’s always wanted to be WITH you romantically, was a lot to process in the 5 minutes after you’ve just had an existential crisis.

It’s whatever, right? Let’s culminate 11 years worth of tension and feelings in 5 minutes. Let’s waste the entire episode with cringey expository dialogue, and irrelevant sequences. The whole season was a waste anyway.

You know what Supernatural? FUCK YOU FOR THAT. They deserved better. WE deserve better.

And I would love nothing more than to hurl every possible insult your way,

But for the last time, I’m going to HOPE that you’re finally going to try to make it better for the fans that stuck by you all these years.

No more baiting new viewers, no more placating casual viewers, no more excuses. 15 years. Bring it home for the people who have actually been around.

SO HERE’S HOW I THINK 15x20 IS GONNA GO

There’s two ways this series is gonna end. Horribly or Spectacularly.

First let’s all take into consideration what Andrew Dabb says about it:

So, let’s start with

ENDING HORRIBLY

In this scenario, Misha is telling the truth about his last day of filming being 15x18. His “camping trip” during the last few days of filming 15x20, was actually a camping trip. He doesn’t go to Vancouver to shoot.

Jensen wasn’t “being careful” during the zoom interviews that it was just him and Jared quarantining for the shoot, it really was just him and Jared (althought most of these were done pre 15x19) Supernatural isn’t smart enough to do misleading PR, and they’re once again oblivious to the potential of their own story.

Misha hasn’t posted a “Goodbye Castiel” tweet because he’s probably saving it for last episode or he forgot because it was overshadowed by the Destiel trend that night.

So what we get is:

Sam and Dean are on the road again, up against the monster of the week. Only their world no longer has actual Supernatural beings anymore, so the monsters they’re fighting are humans.

Humans end up killing the Winchesters (despite having gone up against literally every powerful being imaginable INCLUDING God himself). Dean and Sam end up in heaven and relive their greatest hits.

Meanwhile, Castiel rots in The Empty because he died after realizing that he was happy and gay. Jack doesn’t bother rescuing him—his surrogate dad, the guy who made this specific deal to spare him—even though it was so easy for him get Cas in and out of The Empty when he had a fraction of the power that he has now.

Dean never speaks of Castiel’s confession because despite all the hints of a profound bond in the earlier seasons, and the fact that Dean has never cared for anyone (who isn’t his actual brother) as immensely as he does Cas, Supernatural just can’t have its main macho character be “suddenly bisexual” because that would hurt the male ego or some shit.

His heaven would probably be living happily ever after with his family. “Family” meaning Mary and John Winchester--two of the shittiest parents ever (but they’re not going to include them in this episode like they were supposed to because of Covid) and Sam.

Sam also gets a dog. As usual.

I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to do this. After everything they’ve pulled, this would be right up their alley. I actually expect this ending.

Anyway, onto the next possible ending

ENDING SPECTACULARLY

In this scenario, Supernatural tries to stick the landing, and Jensen’s whole “It didn’t sit well with me at first, but then I took a step back after talking to Kripke, and realized that I had to view it from an audience perspective, I am now really excited about it” (DC Con 2019) anecdote about his thoughts on the final episodes, were actually about Dean potentially ending up with Cas. (Which would totally make sense because Jensen at first didn’t see Dean as anything but hetero, but as of late, he has been throwing in Destiel jokes of his own, so he seems to have warmed up to the idea)

Backed with Misha’s tidbit (DLConline 2020) that he and Jensen had conversations about Destiel, and that they wouldn’t have gone through with it if Jensen wasn’t onboard with it, but Jensen didn’t push back at all. (Why would they need to check with Jensen if it was just Cas going all in?)

Robert Berens (writer of 15x18) also wrote the script at the beginning of Season 15, but made Misha privy to the concept a year prior (Season 14), so they went into this season knowing about Destiel going canon.

This one’s a reach, but this scenario also supposes that Misha was lying about his whereabouts during the filming of the final episode, and him saying that 15x18 was his last episode is part of the diversion to avoid taking away from the weight of Castiel’s death.

And that Supernatural is actually self-aware of its own material (similar to how they have wrapped things up in the past—lots of expository dialogue, poor execution, but fulfills the story arc)

Since Season 15 is basically a Meta Season (Chuck/God as a writer, pretentiously calling out how he created the worlds, its characters, and basically invalidating the past 14 seasons), and 15x19 is supposedly the finale for Season 15, written by two of the worst Supernatural writers, Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming (Bob Singer’s wife), then we can assume that 15x19 is where the shitty writers kill themselves--as Chuck, of course.

So we get a badly written episode that produces a bad ending, or as Becky put it, “All action, and no Cas”

So we get the bad writers season ending at 15x19.

And 15x20 is where Sam and Dean write their own stories, and where the cast had a hand in pitching ideas for it.

Dabb has mentioned that 15x20 (Act Two) is a SERIES finale, where they try to resolve the characters’ journeys.

Because as everyone has acknowledged, Supernatural isn’t about the story, it’s about the characters.

So here’s what we can get out of it:

With no more Supernatural beings left to fight, Sam and Dean are in a stalemate. They’ve resigned themselves to fighting to the bitter end, but the “end” has passed, and they’re still standing.

So they try to figure out who they are now, and what they want out of the life they still have.

Sam still wants a normal apple pie life. Before Dean dragged him out of college to go hunting with him, he had a whole life planned out for him. Become a lawyer, settle down with a nice girl, and get a dog. He gave all that up because they had work to do, but now the work is finished, he can finally go back to wanting that for himself again.

Dean finally realizes his self-worth after Cas saves him again. His prayer to Cas in purgatory may have helped him come to terms with his anger, but the whole “you’ve done everything you did for love” speech finally put him in his place, and he learns not to hate himself anymore.

But of course, he cannot fully reconcile with himself if he doesn’t get Cas back, and tell him how he feels.

Because Dean actually wants something for himself this time. Something he knows he can finally have if he can just salvage it.

So maybe this time around, with the help of Jack (off-screen), Dean saves Cas. Grips him tight and raises him from perdition.

They bypass The Empty deal by turning Cas human, and he lives the rest of his days with Dean.

Dean and Cas know they deserve to be saved, and they know that they deserve to be happy.

(Wishful thinking, maybe they kiss a little)

Anyway...

I’m just saying, there’s NO WAY that they’d have Cas go through that whole rushed speech, if they weren’t going to do anything about it later on.

But again, after 10 years of disappointment, I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to pat themselves on the back and say, “Okay, we sort of gave them what they wanted. We’re good now”

If that’s the case, Supernatural, I’m sorry I wasted my time on you.

Here’s to hoping 🤡

#THE LAST TIME I'LL CLOWN FOR THIS SHOW #SUPERNATURAL #DESTIEL #15x20 #15x19 #15x18 #UNTAGGED #INSIGHTFUL INSIGHTS

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five-rivers · 3 years ago

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Danger First

Chapter 9

@pocketramblr

Banjo took Hikage to the side while the other ghosts were still wading through their existential crisis.

"Man," he said, "Hikage, bro. You know I love you."

"You do?"

"Like... at least eighty-five percent of the time."

"Ah, continue."

"But next time you think one of us has a secret relative out there, you've got to say something so we don't get blindsided."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright, then. I couldn't help but notice that both Ninth's mother and 'Tomura' share a strong resemblance to Nana."

"... I've changed my mind."

Although Midoriya Inko had abandoned the tech conference as soon as she heard about the attack on the USJ, she, unlike the mist villain, could not teleport. Therefore, Izuku was stuck in the nurse's office even after he had woken up and paramedics had confirmed that his injuries began and ended at bruises and quirk exhaustion. (And a potentially fractured bone in his foot, but that wasn't worth mentioning.)

Sitting next to the police officer with nothing to do was... awkward. Very awkward. His hands itched for his notebooks, but everything they brought to the USJ was evidence, and he hadn't been allowed to go back to the classroom. He wanted to know what happened to his classmates and Mr. Aizawa, who he hadn't seen since he ran away from the plaza and left him with the hand villain, and Mr. Yagi, who had really taken a beating from Nomu. Danger Sense was quiet, relatively speaking, but Float was just waiting to be used and tested.

Plus, he really, really had to talk to Mr. Yagi about that. Loads of his classmates had seen him use Float. How was he supposed to explain having Float right after telling them he probably had a sensory quirk?

Plus, if he got Float, it stood to reason that he'd get all the other One for All users' quirks as well. So he had to figure out how to make Danger Sense, Float, Smokescreen, Blackwhip, and a strength enhancement all look like the same quirk. Which, maybe they were, technically, considering that Monoma had sensed One for All as a single quirk but whatever was going on with the mist villain as multiple quirks...

Point was, One for All definitely functioned as multiple quirks.

Would his friends think he was lying? No, he'd definitely proven Danger Sense existed by predicting, however loosely, the attack.

"Hey, Tamakawa."

Izuku and the officer looked up at one of the detectives who had come to take initial statements. His name was... Tsukauchi, Izuku thought. Mr. Yagi (as Mr. Yagi) was standing behind him.

"I can take it from here. I have a few more questions for Midoriya."

"Yes, sir. Midoriya." He nodded at them as he left the room.

"How are you feeling, Young Midoriya?" asked Mr. Yagi, taking the officer's spot with a slight groan.

"Uh, better than this morning, actually," he said. "But, um, but what about you? That Nomu guy kept, um..." His eyes trailed towards the detective.

"Ah, this is Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. He's an old friend of mine. He knows... well, just about everything about me."

Izuku nodded slowly. "So, he knows about, um..."

"I know about One for All," said Tsukauchi.

"Oh," said Izuku. He rapidly gathered together his thoughts, trying to decide what the most important piece of information he had to impart was. "Do you know what happened to Mr. Aizawa? And Ingenium?"

That was most definitely not a piece of information. Stupid brain.

"The portal villain, Kurogiri, teleported Aizawa off UA grounds, but he was able to get help quickly after that. Ingenium had some injuries that need a specialist, so he went home. They'll be alright, but they'll probably have to take a few days off."

"Yes," said Tsukauchi, giving Mr. Yagi one of the driest looks Izuku had ever seen. "Because you heroes are so good about that."

"Teaching isn't exactly strenuous, Naomasa."

"Remind me again how you got injured this time."

Mr. Yagi made a face Izuku would have found hilarious under other circumstances. "That's different," he said, plaintively.

"Is it though?"

Mr. Yagi coughed. "Now, Midoriya, my boy... I'm sure you have things you want to talk about... I think I glimpsed you soaring through the air, earlier. Did you unlock the enhancement aspect of One for All?"

"No," said Izuku. "Not exactly."

"Well," said Mr. Yagi. "That's, hm. Certainly something."

"Sorry," said Izuku.

"You have nothing to apologize for, my boy," said Mr. Yagi, patting his knee. "In fact, it's a good thing that you got Float this time. I'd be at a loss about what to do with Smokescreen or Blackwhip. But I'm fairly familiar with my master's quirk, and, well, there's someone else who I should... get back into contact with..." Mr. Yagi force the words out as if they had physically pained him to say.

Which they might have. He did have the whole... coughing... thing. Maybe he was just trying to hold one back?

"Mr. Yagi? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Okay, are you sure?" He wasn't sure if he wanted to bring the next part up if Mr. Yagi wasn't feeling well.

"Yes," said Mr. Yagi. "I just, hm. It's just... history."

Izuku nodded. "So, um. Did you hear Monoma say that the mist guy - Kurogiri? - had multiple quirks, too? Like Nomu?"

The mood plummeted.

"Yes," said Tsukauchi. "He told me, and I told Toshinori. It appears that Kurogiri's warp quirk is actually several different quirks working as one. Merged together, almost."

Izuku nodded. "I was just wondering... One for All can be passed on, so... are there other quirks like that? Like, if the first person with One for All had family members or something? Or..." Izuku trailed off. Mr. Yagi now looked actively ill. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Toshinori," said Tsukauchi, "you mean you didn't tell him already?"

"In my defense, I thought he was extremely dead."

"What- Who are you talking about?"

"My boy... I think it's time to tell you a story of two brothers..."

"So, One for All comes with a built in nemesis? Who may be immortal?"

"That- He's not... It would appear so."

"I am somehow both surprised and not."

"There's one more thing I wanted to ask you about before your mother arrives," said Mr. Yagi.

"Please tell me it's not something worse, like me being a descendant of the guy," requested Izuku, picking the worst, most ridiculous thing he could think of.

Tsukauchi snorted, then covered the noise up with a cough.

"I seriously doubt that All for One could maintain a romantic relationship of any kind," said Mr. Yagi, "and even if you were, it wouldn't really matter. I mean, his own brother hated his guts."

"That's a bit extreme..." murmured Yoichi.

"Considering some of the rants we've gotten you to go on," said En, "it really isn't."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But the rest of it-" Yoichi promptly left to harass Second and Third.

"How can you two be so close and yet so far?" mourned Nana. "How are you so smart and so dumb at the same time?"

"In Ninth's defense," said En, "he doesn't know what All for One looks like."

"Surely he knows what his father looks like. He sees his picture almost every day," said Hikage.

"Admittedly, I could have phrased that better, but are you rubbing that in, or are you serious? I've known you for, like, half a century and I still can't tell."

Despite the example being a joke, Izuku felt much better after hearing that.

"But, no, this subject is relatively neutral and nothing so dramatic. I was hoping to get your permission to tell young Aizawa about One for All."

Izuku opened and closed his mouth several times. "H-huh? Why? And why do you want my permission? You don't need my permission."

"One for All is your quirk, now," said Yagi, "and your secret. It's up to you who knows about it. Outside of an emergency, I suppose. As for why in general..." Mr. Yagi sighed. "There are things young Aizawa needs to know about the villains with multiple quirks and All for One. I can't tell you the details right now, but with how One for All is manifesting in you, if he only knows about All for One, it would be very easy for him to make incorrect assumptions."

"Oh," said Izuku. He could certainly see how that could be dangerous. He didn't want his teacher to associate him with a villain like that.

"Also, if he knows what's happening, it will be easier for him to help you," finished Mr. Yagi hopefully.

Izuku thought about it. "I guess that would be alright. But... He's not the only person who'll know about my quirk being weird and All for One, right? I mean, the Hero Commission, at least..."

"To be entirely honest with you, I tell the HPSC as little as possible about All for One and One for All."

"What? Why?" asked Izuku.

"Well-"

"Izuku!"

"Mom!"

"I'll explain later," said All Might quickly.

Kurogiri passed a damp washcloth over the burns on his neck. The metal of his collar was a conductor, and the charge the young man with the electricity quirk had sent through it had been significant. It was only natural for it to get hot, for it to burn.

He should go to the Doctor... Some of the collar's functionality seemed to be damaged. He brushed his mist covered fingers over the cool metal.

Tomura wouldn't tell the Doctor. Kurogiri cared deeply for Tomura, but the young man was certainly shallow and unlikely to realize the extent of Kurogiri's injuries. He was more likely to focus on his own, not insignificant, wounds.

In contrast to those, Kurogiri's paled. He wasn't nearly as important as Tomura, after all.

It should be fine to let his wounds and the collar be. It would do what it was supposed to and protect the vulnerable areas of his body, internal damage or no. He just had to be careful of the burns becoming infected, especially since he couldn't see them.

Sometimes, he wished his body was like it was before...

Kurogiri frowned at the thought even as it faded from his consciousness. He had been created by All for One fully formed. His body had always been like this.

Hadn't it?

Shouta had been in and out of consciousness the past few hours. Apparently he'd never been in serious danger of dying, except from shock, which was just his body being dramatic and didn't count. All his major organs were free of serious damage. He just had to regain his stamina so that Recovery Girl could heal him up, and then he'd be fine.

Unlike Tensei, apparently, who had cracked one of his engines, which needed specialist help and surgery to realign the pieces. Or All Might, who had taken hits to his old injury, and needed to take time off or lose more time from his hero form. Or his students, who hadn't been seriously injured but who were probably traumatized.

The last time he had woken up, though, Hizashi had been there. Now, All Might, Nezu, and Detective Tsukauchi were there.

"Thought I already gave my statement," said Shouta.

"You did," said Tsukauchi.

"We're here to give you more information about the attack, I'm afraid," said Nezu.

"Information I won't like?"

"It can wait until you feel better, of course."

"That's illogical," said Shouta. "The sooner I get the information, the more time I have to process it."

All Might, Yagi, sighed. "Nomu and the portal-using villain both had multiple quirks."

Shouta frowned. "You mean, they had quirks with multiple aspects?"

"No," said Nezu. "As Yagi said, they had multiple quirks. This was confirmed by both the villains' comments and by Monoma, who made contact with the portal villain and was able to copy multiple quirks."

"Kurogiri," said Shouta. "That's what the other one called him. Shigaraki."

Nezu nodded. "Indeed. We weren't sure you had heard that." He tapped his paws together. "What we are about to tell you is classified. We are only sharing it with you because of your unique position and history."

"In the wrong hands, it could cause a lot of damage," said Yagi.

Only two things kept Shouta from leaping out the window and escaping: the fact that he was basically immobilized in plaster casts and the fact that his students were already involved in whatever this was.

"Great. What is it?"

"To begin," said Tsukauchi, "Monoma said he was able to copy three quirks from Kurogiri."

"That's up from what he could do before," observed Shouta. Stress did push quirks to improve, sometimes, although Shouta hated for the improvement to be associated with trauma.

Tsukauchi nodded. "He made note of that as well. He said he picked up a quirk that allowed him to turn his body parts into portals that led to other body parts, a quirk allowed him to temporarily teleport his body parts, and..." he trailed off.

"And a quirk that at the very least bears a strong resemblance to Shirakumo Oboro's Cloud."

"What are you saying?" asked Shouta, ignoring the way his heart had almost stopped.

"At the moment? Only that it is very strange that Kurogiri had a quirk like that, and sent you to the place where Shirakumo Oboro died."

"Oboro would never-"

"We're not saying that," interrupted Yagi. He coughed into his hand. "There's more context. Have you ever heard of the quirk bogeyman?"

"I can't wait to never sleep again I'm my entire life," said Shouta.

"Wait," said Tsukauchi, "it gets worse."

"How could it get worse?"

"Naomasa, you're supposed to be on my side," complained Yagi.

"I am. That's why I'll stop Eraserhead here from trying to kill you after you finish explaining."

"Well, it has to do with young Midoriya's quirk..."

"Let me get this straight, you gave the quirk with an immortal supervillain archenemy attached to a child... and didn't tell him that the supervillain existed."

"When you say it like that, it sounds really bad-"

"It is really bad-!"

"If I'd known he was still alive-"

"What part of immortal do you not understand?"

"Shouta, I, too, believed that All for One-"

"Shut up, Nezu! I don't have the energy to be mad at both of you right now!"

Yagi, Tsukauchi, and Nezu were all shown out by an irate nurse while a different but equally irate nurse replaced the plaster cast on Shouta's arm.

It had definitely been worth it.

Just because school was canceled, that didn't mean training was canceled.

... except it did, both because Inko was too stressed to let Izuku out of the house, and because Mr. Yagi had a meeting to go to about the attack.

But the second day after the attack was a different story!

That morning, Mr. Yagi pulled up in front of Izuku's apartment in Hercules (still so cool!) and picked him up.

Izuku bounced enthusiastically into the car and then froze. "Oh my gosh, what happened to your eye? Was it a villain? How hard did they hit you?" his hands fluttered. "I have some cream-"

"Oh," said Mr. Yagi, "no need, young Midoriya! I, er, sort of deserved it. It's a sort of reminder to take it easy, too. People would be disturbed to see All Might with a black eye, after all!" He smiled, then winced.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, very. You should buckle up, my boy."

"Oh, right," said Izuku. "So, where are we going? You said there was someone you wanted to introduce me to."

"Yes," said Mr. Yagi. "My old teacher. It's been a while since I've seen him. Hopefully he won't make up for lost time with a kick to the face..."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it."

When Mr. Yagi spent most of the way over muttering about kicks to the face and head, Izuku decided that he should, in fact, worry about it.

The broken-down building was not what Izuku had been expecting.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Izuku.

"Absolutely," said Mr. Yagi, who was shaking somewhat. "This Pavlovian response only confirms it."

"Um." The building looked condemned. "Maybe he moved."

"One can only hope," said Mr. Yagi. "Maybe you sh- No. I have to see this through." He steeled himself visibly, squaring shoulders. "Please not a kick to the face," he said, under his breath.

"Is he really that bad?" asked Izuku.

"My boy, I guarantee you that he's worse."

"Poor kid has no idea what's coming," said Banjo. "Although we wouldn't have believed it either if we weren't riding along and watching."

"Nana," said En, "I just want to reiterate that I'm very glad you never thought about giving One for All to Gran Torino."

"Come on. Sorahiko isn't that bad," protested Nana.

"We know," said everyone else, "he's worse."

They walked up to the apartment building door. Mr. Yagi sighed heavily on seeing the door was hanging open, which was a radically different reaction than what Izuku would have expected.

"Is Danger Sense doing anything?"

"I don't think so?"

"Let me know if that changes."

"R-right," said Izuku. Mr. Yagi pushed the door in, and Izuku followed cautiously after him.

They went down a few hallways, peeking in rooms. Then they got to the kitchen, and Izuku covered his mouth with both hands with a gasp at the grisly, bloody scene. Gran Torino laid on the floor in a pool of red liquid. "Oh my gosh, he's-"

At the same time, Mr. Yagi said, "At least it's not a kic-"

The supposedly dead hero was suddenly airborne, and flying towards Mr. Yagi, foot first. Specifically, at his face. "You thou-"

Danger Sense spiked. It was a tiny spike, but still.

Izuku reacted. Specifically, with nerves shot by the USJ attack, he reacted violently, lashing out with a fist, swatting Gran Torino out of the air and back into the puddle of what was, in retrospect, probably diluted ketchup.

For a moment, everything was silent.

"Oh my gosh," wailed Izuku. "I assaulted a senior citizen!"

Gran Torino bounced back to his feet. "I like this kid, Toshinori!"

"I'm... glad?"

"Now show me what you've g-"

"Gran, please, we're only here for quirk help, not battle training."

"What's the difference? You're going to want to use it in battle eventually, right?"

"I mean," said Izuku, hesitantly, feeling like he had whiplash several times over, "yes?"

"See?"

"Just help with controlling Float. Please." Mr. Yagi pressed his hands together. "Please do not pick a quirk fight with a civilian teenager. Please."

"We are on private property."

"Assault is still illegal on private property."

"He's the one who hit me!"

"I know! I'm so sorry," said Izuku, doing his best to bow in the cramped space. "It was a reflex."

"After you attacked me!"

"Yeah, but you knew I was going to do that!"

"That doesn't make it better!"

Gran Torino turned to Izuku. "Kid, I don't know how you did it, but it looks like you made this big softy grow a backbone. Next step is to see if you can get him to do this with Mirai, too."

"Um," said Izuku. "I think he already had a backbone? He's All Might, after all."

"Nah, he's just a giant spindly amoeba who needs to take better care of himself."

Mr. Yagi slumped.

"But back on topic," said Gran Torino, eyes much sharper than before. "Do you really have Nana's quirk, kid?"

"Y-yeah. I think so. It was only a little bit, during the attack, but... yeah."

"Let's see what you can do with it, then."

"Um," said Izuku.

"Gran, maybe you should get cleaned up first? Young Midoriya and I can take care of the kitchen..."

"You don't know how to turn it on, do you?"

"Not really, no," said Izuku.

"We've got our work for today cut out for us, then, don't we, you zygotes?"

Wow. Gran Torino really did call people zygotes.

Wild.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #danger first #danger first au #fic #fanfic

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 4 years ago

Note

What if Bella and Renata changed places in the story? What would change?

... You sure you want me to answer that?

This, my friend, is the path to the heart of darkness.

First, for my sanity’s sake, when you say switch places I’m assuming that things like genetics/gifts are staying intact.

This is a meta to be written, but at least on some level, while gifts are informed by genetics they also are informed by what you need. Jane and Alec point to this as well as surviving vampires whose gifts were curiously helpful. Of course, there’s something to be said that perhaps this is survivor bias. The ones with helpful gifts survive because Afton was murdered. And there’s something to be said for that, and I do think that comes into play, but in a different meta.

RIGHT

What Happens to Bella

Bella is molested if not raped by her Uncle Luca.

Bella is groomed from... some point that’s worryingly early in her life, to be turned into a vampire when she’s an adult. Given Renata’s story and her gift, given Makenna’s centuries later, it’s highly likely that Uncle Luca rather than making a fellow “protector” of the family is taking tithes in the form of daughters to become his brides for a time.

And when I say highly likely I mean I can think of no other explanation where everything in the backstory lines up so neatly.

Renata’s saved from rape and molestation thanks to her gift. Bella’s gift is extremely powerful and versatile as well, however, while it does change to suit her needs it seems to rely heavily on precognition and mental protection. In canon, having Renata’s abilities would have made Bella untouchable by James, Victoria, and Laurent. Instead, she gets warnings through Hallucination Edward and precognitive dreams or else is able to shield herself entirely mentally.

As a result, I imagine Bella would have terrifying prophetic dreams growing up, in which Uncle Luca, the patron saint of the family that no one has ever seen, turns out to be a flesh eating demon who rapes her. She might even have a Hallucination Edward equivalent who tells her to GET THE FUCK OUT.

Bella is reassured by her entire family that everything is fine, Luca’s the family protector and certainly not a demon, and that Bella joining him when she turns 20 will be a wonderful thing.

As a result, Bella probably grows up a neurotic mess, probably just as isolated if not more so than she was in canon.

And then it’s too late.

As Luca’s pulling the same stunt he did in canon, I imagine the Volturi eventually show up. Bella is offered the same out she was in canon and, like Renata, I imagine she takes it desperately.

Only, given everything, she likely doesn’t have the same attachment to the family that Renata did. I imagine as a survivor of sexual assault who was sold off by her family, however unwillingly they did so or however much they were hoodwinked, that she wouldn’t know what to think of them. Not for a very long time, anyway. So, I imagine in this universe, Uncle Luca and all the humans who knew of him die.

Renata not existing, Bella is taken on as a bodyguard, and is a pretty good deal. She’s not Renata, who is the best bodyguard anyone could wish for, but she shields well from mental attacks and they can have someone like Felix be the muscle where appropriate. In this world, Aro probably actually would have some eventual use for Alice, as she could support Bella in predicting any direct attacks on at least the Volturi coven (Aro, Caius, Marcus, and the wives).

Bella is a mess for a very very very long time. While I like to think eventually she’ll recover, I can’t tell you what this would be. I think Bella would be extremely hesitant to ever take a lover or get married, and would instead devote herself to Aro’s protection with at least Renata’s zeal if not more so.

What Happens to Renata

For the sake of my sanity, to truly put Renata in Bella’s place, I’m imagining she’s Edward’s singer. You’re not living the Bella experience if you don’t have to deal with Edward.

Renata, in 2005 for reasons unknown, moves to Forks to live with her estranged father Charlie.

Renata attends Biology that first day of school where she’s very nearly eaten by Edward. Only, instead of Edward not being able to read her mind, he finds himself unable to get close to her. He can’t sit at her table, her gift sends him wandering in a drunken daze across the room and into the wall.

Edward is very confused, utterly humiliated, but he has no idea what’s happened. Part of Renata’s gift is that you don’t realize you’ve been deflected. You just suddenly find yourself not having approached Renata like you expected.

Edward probably tries to return to his seat, holding his breath, and thinking of Carlisle’s beautiful face (he seriously does this in canon). However, he’s unable to that time either, and this time Renata probably pushes him out of the room entirely.

Edward congratulates himself for unconsciously resisting temptation in the classroom (which would have been very bad and required his brutal murder of all the witnesses).

He’ll eat her after school.

Much like canon, Edward upon leaving school is probably able to clear his head enough to realize he does not have to eat Renata Swan. So he flees the state, lives with the Denali for the two days it takes to get sick of them, and comes back.

And here’s where things get... bad.

Presumably, Renata does not struggle with depression the way Bella does. Terrible things happened to her in canon, and it’s true we know very little about her, but for all she shadows Aro she doesn’t seem to give off those same depressed vibes Bella does.

Renata also, presumably, does not have the weird genetic quirk Bella does where she finds vampires a) not terrifying at all b) omg hawt.

Most people in canon, when they look at a vampire, see something that’s hauntingly beautiful but also wrong. Vampires are fucking scary looking. Even at their gentlest, they do not look right. Bella’s just... into that.

So, unlike canon, the second Biology class Renata looks at Edward in complete terror and Edward can read every thought through Renata’s mind that he tried to eat her. Edward has a complete existential crisis over this as Renata was witness to his most demonic side that he loathes.

Edward will never be with Renata the way he was with Bella because of this. Part of what appeals to him about Bella is that he can a) project a persona of his choosing onto her while thinking he knows her well b) she’s this angelic creature who sees the best in demons. Renata sees demons and sees demons.

Biology is awkward and terrible, Renata probably desperately thinks about switching seats, but doesn’t want anyone to sit next to Edward the demon.

Then the truck happens.

Much like Bella, Edward saves Renata’s life (and I headcanon that Renata’s gift actually allows for this due to the imminent danger coming from a truck rather than a person). Only, this time, there’s no excuse that he was secretly doing it for love, he’s doing it for that sweet sweet blood.

Renata is taken to the hospital, she’s seen everything, and Edward can see every thought in her head where she absolutely knows Edward Cullen is not a human being.

The family has their vote, only this time, it goes differently.

Renata would never let Alice play Barbie Bella, and thus, Alice does not see Renata as her future best friend forever. Nor does she see Renata becoming Edward’s future lover and mate.

However, Alice still votes no, because it’s not going to work. None of them are going to be able to murder Renata.

Edward is conflicted and votes no, but doesn’t have the reassurance that it’s because he’s in love, it’s secretly because he wants to eat her. He’s not admitting that to himself yet.

As in canon, Carlisle tries to think well of his ridiculous family, and tells Rosalie, “No, Rosalie, killing a teenage girl because you don’t want to move high schools is bad.”

Jasper thinks carefully about this, and tries to devise different schemes to kill Renata and gauge Alice’s opinion. Unlike in canon, he’s not given the two certain futures: Edward will eat Bella or Edward will turn Bella.

Jasper eventually decides to lace Renata’s house with explosives and, when she’s home (preferably if she’s alone but he’s alright with Charlie Swan as collateral damage) blow the place up from a distance.

Alice saw this succeeding, unfortunately, Edward and Emmett make a few decisions.

Jasper is blowing up a motherfucking house. The police chief’s house no less. This is the coolest thing the family has ever done. That Rosalie approves, while not saying as much out loud due to her abiding by Carlisle’s decision, makes this even better. Emmett wants involved, desperately, Jasper gives him some small task that he fucks up.

The wiring is done incorrectly, the bomb will never detonate.

Edward is now in full protector of the women and children (and blood bags) mode and plans to counter Jasper’s attack and confronts him and Emmett. They have the all out brawl that Alice saw in canon.

Renata wakes up in the middle of the night to find the family of demons fist fighting each other outside her house, having wired her house to explode. They have now gone past the point of no return, in a sense, where in canon Bella had had a car accident and would in time remember this as a very strange incident in her life, now the vampires have tried to blow up her house.

I imagine things continue to escalate as the witness now really has to be murdered. They fail every time, Renata lives in a paranoid hell where she can’t tell anyone that every night demons come to murder her in her bedroom.

Carlisle is appalled by everyone and eventually tells Renata the truth and offers her immortality.

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pterodactylterrace · 4 years ago

Text

Guys Like You Chapter 6

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 6

Chapter Summary: More of a filler chapter, not much Henry, I’m sorry.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Mentions of abuse, pregnancy, poor self image, bad coping mechanisms, low self esteem.

{Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5}

"I already told you, Faye! I don't want anything to do with this!"

"So because I want to keep my babies, you're leaving me? Is that what you're trying to tell me, David?"

"Yes! Shit, I knew you were dumb, but seriously!"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you deaf too, whore? How do you even know I'm the one that knocked you up? You've slept with just about every guy in town!"

"Get the fuck out."

"Don't come crying to me later! You're nothing without me! No one is ever going to want you. Especially once you have kids. Who the hell wants used goods? Have fun living a life of regret!"

Faye jerked awake, her head spinning as she tried to catch her bearings. Did David really leave her just like that? Sure he wasn't the greatest, but he had never lashed out like that before. At least not where anyone else could witness it.

No. David's gone. He has been gone for almost four years now. New life. Starting over. It's all in the past now.

Have to get the baby up before the sitter comes. Work is coming up soon. Life goes on.

"Briar, what are you doing on the floor?" Faye chuckled, crouching down next to her daughter, curled up on her pillow by her bed.

"I'm a puppy." Briar yawned in explanation, holding her arms up to be lifted, promptly licking her mother's cheek as soon as she was up.

"Briar, we talked about licking people."

"I'm not Briar, I'm puppy."

"Ok then, puppy, no licking people. Now what do you want for breakfast?"

"Puppy food."

"Cereal it is."

Feed the toddler, quick shower, get dressed, throw her hair up away from her face, wait for the baby sitter, hugs and kisses goodbye, then off to work. The usual routine she had settled herself into.

Feed the baby, because she's hungry and she comes first.

Shower, because she probably has some sort of mystery goo on her from the toddler.

Get dressed, avoid the mirror. No one wants to be reminded of how much they've changed. The softness she wasn't used to around her lower stomach, hips and thighs. Her breasts no longer as perky as they used to be. The stretchmarks competing with her tattoo's for attention.

Then, the hardest part of the day. "Ok, Briar, Mrs. Anderson is here. Mommy has to go to work. I love you."

"I love you too, Mommy." Briar responded, hugging her mother tight and kissing her cheek before she was sat back down.

"Have a nice day, Miss Warren."

"I hope she's not too much to handle."

"Never is."

Some days, Faye likes to pretend she's ok. Like she has a handle on things. Like she knows what she's doing and not just blindly stumbling through her life while trying to do right by her daughter.

Other days, she would absently push her sleeves up and her eye would catch on the black lines decorating her forearm, just below her elbow. Some days she's reminded that life is a bitch, and you can't always get what you want. On those days she tried to stay out of her own head, though that rarely worked.

She could slap on a smile with the best of them, but she could never force it to reach her eyes. Her face always remained an open book, free for anyone to read. The past creeps up on you. There's nothing you can do to stop it some days. On a bad day, the ghosts of the past will haunt your mind, echoing the worst days of your life into the void of your shattered heart.

"No one is ever going to want you!"

"You're nothing without me!"

"Who wants used goods?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Warren. There was nothing we could do."

Over and over on a seemingly never ending loop, reminding her of the darkest times in her life.

Why would anyone want her? She's not the same hot twenty six year old she used to be. She was soft. She was saggy. She would never be as attractive as she used to be. Anyone in their right mind would turn around and run once they realized how much she had let herself go.

Days like today were best spent keeping people at a distance. Tell them some story about being tired. Avoid anyone that is going to call her out on her obvious lie. Therein lies the problem with dying your hair obnoxious colors. Among a sea of blonde and brunette, powder blue tends to stick out and make it almost impossible to vanish.

Lie your way out of it. Survive another day. Tomorrow might not be better, but at least it won't be the same.

"Mommy, you're back!" The sweetest sound she could hear all day.

"I always come back, my little love." Faye assured, kissing her daughter's head.

Need to care for the baby. She comes first. She deserves the world. Play time. Dinner time. Bath time. Story time. Bed time. The same after work routine she had established months ago when she decided to drop everything and run.

Her daughter thought the world of her. She would do anything to see her smile. She would wear the stupid costume. She would pretend to be a horsey. She would let her daughter use her as a jungle gym. She would make the same dinner again for the third night in a row for her. So what if she soaked the bathroom floor during bath time? She was a mermaid, and she wanted to show off her tail. Story time, always an adventure with her imaginative little girl. What world would they find themselves in today? Dinosaurs? Princesses? Mythology? A rhyming book?

Ah, yes of course. Her current favorite, the book about the dinosaur cleaning his room. She was a girl obsessed with dinosaurs at the moment.

"Mommy, where's my Papa?" Briar asked, staring intently down at the page depicting a mother and father watching the dinosaur throw away paper scraps.

"Don't worry about him, sweetheart. He wasn't a nice man." Faye explained, resting her cheek on her daughter's head.

"Can I have a new Papa?"

"Maybe someday, sweetheart."

"Can Spider-man be my new Papa?"

"Why do you want Spider-man to be your new Papa?"

"He's my boyfriend!"

"That's not how it works, silly. If he's your boyfriend, he can't also be by boyfriend! Pick another hero!"

"Batman!"

"Well, he is rich." Faye mused, Briar giggling happily. "Now it's time for bed, my love."

"Ok, Mommy. I love you!"

"I love you too, Briar." Faye whispered, kissing her forehead. The nightlight was switched on and the door was left cracked open, just in case. Now for her seldom used free time.

Should she sketch some more? Finish that painting she started forever ago? Ever since she started a "real" job, her art had fallen by the wayside. She was too drained to do much after work and caring of her daughter.

Maybe some drawing will lift her spirits and keep the nightmares at bay tonight. But what to draw? Not in the mood for still life. Brain too fried for something straight from her imagination. Her usual model was sleeping, and her last few self portraits had been a serious blow to her ego. She just drew what she saw in the mirror. Then, when she was finished, she decided she should have worn more clothing before she drew herself. What was supposed to boost her confidence and empower her as a woman instead left her wondering when exactly she developed that roll when sitting in that position.

"Fuck it. I'm drawing a moose." Faye grumbled to herself, turning the page from her self portrait to a blank sheet. Half an hour later when she was trying to remember what a moose's antlers looked like, she finally picked up her phone. Seven unread messages? That seems like a lot. When was the last time she looked at her phone? Oh yeah, when she got home, five hours ago.

All from one person. So she wasn't ignoring everyone at least. Seven messages, all from Henry. Shit. That's not good.

Are you ok?

You seemed off on set today

You didn't even talk to me

Did you at least make it home alright?

Can you send me a sign of life?

I'm sorry if I upset you or something. Can you please talk to me? I'm genuinely worried.

Please?

Well, fuck. Here she was playing unicorn apocalypse with her daughter, and this poor guy was worrying himself to death.

Sorry, I was drawing a moose

Perfect way of saying "I wasn't ignoring you" while also avoiding his persistent questions about her wellbeing. The good old 'drawing a moose' excuse. Works every time.

I think your moose aged me by ten years. Are you ok?

Just had a bad day

Anything I can do to help?

Squeeze me until I stop struggling and my spine snaps

That's called 'murder' Miss Warren

I knew there was a name for it

Is there anything I can do for you that involves less prison?

Nah, if you're not going to take me out, then I'm not interested

I'm not going to take you out by murder. I will take you out on a date.

Faye froze, staring at her phone. He was just playing around, like he always did. No way he was serious. Henry liked to flirt, and she wasn't about to throw herself at him over a joke. She had more dignity than that. So how does she respond? She can't just ignore him, and taking forever to respond is going to give the impression that she was freaking out over what he said.

She was completely freaking out over what he had said, but he didn't need to know that. Was he just looking to get laid or something? Probably. He had gotten pretty close the last time he had been over. There's a difference between dating and screwing, though. He was probably just looking for someone to fuck while waiting for a woman worth his time to come along. Faye was broken out of her thoughts by her phone going off again, alerting her to a new message. Didn't he know she was busy having an existential crisis?

If you're free on Sunday you can come over and show me that moose your working on

*you're

Smart ass

Sunday?

I'll have to see if Mrs. Anderson can watch Briar

Bring her along. She keeps asking me about Kal

Pretty on brand for her

Sunday?

Sunday.

Sunday. What to wear on Sunday? He was probably looking for a little something something for his time, so something slutty? She got rid of all her slutty clothes after she had Briar in a fit of self hatred toward her new mom bod, so that was out. Besides, he wouldn't have invited Briar over too if he was looking to get laid.

So what does one wear on a casual 'date' these days? She had until Sunday to figure that out.

Tag List: @Xxxkatxo @Weallhaveadestiny

#henry cavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fanfiction #guys like you #guys like you fic #triggering themes

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thoughtfulstudentsalad · 4 years ago

Text

AnY Chapter 204 Review

It was a good chapter, although politically, it disappointed me.

There have been debates among readers about whether or not Su-Won was in character. The way he compartmentalized everything (but now slowly failing to do so) was, but I don't know about how hastily he jumped to kill Mei-nyan. Honestly a very Su-Won thing to do would rather be to pretend to accept her offer, use her knowledge to win the war, then kill her after. Did the thought of taking her hostage NOT occur to him? What happened to the king who seeks to minimize sacrifices? Who strategizes the most efficient path?

This time, it seems he had no patience for that because she went into a tirade about Hiryuu being great. As Soo-Won believes that blood-relation doesn't just entitle you to anything (as expected, he killed his own uncle), the fact that this applied to Mei may have played into Soo-Won's resentment to think it was better if she was killed, as she seemed no different from Il.

Evil Twins mistranslated this, but Su-Won does NOT say that he got ill after ascending the throne - Mei-Nyan tells him he “should be aware of the existence of King Hiryuu” which triggers the headache and flashback of Il that we’ve seen 5 times now. Phew, does this traumatize him.

Now we have actually seen such a similar expression before! On his mother!

“The beautiful hair caused Yon-Hi to remember the existence of King Hiryuu”

Does the pain get stronger the more aware the descendants are of King Hiryuu? A legitimate question of what causes the illness to sprout.

Su-Won’s response in return, “I’m so fed up with it (the pain)” shows he is at his wits end now because this woman triggered yet another headache because she made him think of King Hiryuu.

He says his thoughts aloud, clearly for the first time, “I wonder why the reincarnation of King Hiryuu and the dragons were born.”

Hearing the outright rejection of King Hiryuu, Yona is petrified.

And it’s interesting, because she has never heard this direct attack on who she is until this point. We as readers have seen Su-Won reject God, so, SO many times to count. This is the first time Yona sees it in the present. This is the first time she also sees it directed straight at her.

Because it’s pretty much Su-Won wishing Yona was never born, right?

Until the betrayal, they had a genuine friendship, and even then Su-Won clearly still cared about her, so surely Yona had never imagined that Su-Won would ever say something like this, that it would be nice if she were never born. It is quite jarring. Were the years they spent all a lie, then?

Moving on, we then see Mei-nyan understanding that negotiations have collapsed. She begins to freak out, and when Hyoo-ri appears, she bolts.

I must say, for supposedly a strategist, Mei-nyan was pretty naive and reckless. It appears that the others were prepared to kill her prior to this meeting, but she comes thinking her talk would succeed. She doesn't even think of a back-up plan in the case the king doesn't agree.

She doesn't even tell Su-Won that she was previously a general. We all know, being a general is 100x more valuable to him then being a descendant or a concubine with false intel, any day.

I can argue that the negotiations might have not failed if she'd not talked about Hiryuu and instead about being a general or how shitty Kai treated her and how she actually is loyal to Kouka. She is reckless, that one! How did she ever become a general with such a personality?!?! People like her certainly don’t live long.

Luckily, Jae-ha appears to save the day. And I actually really like this scene, because... Mei-Nyan is clearly affected by how the same dragon who vowed to protect Yona and did not let Mei-Nyan hit her, is NOW protecting her.

This is what she always wanted, and she is shooooook. Look at her pained eyebrows. I feel for Mei-nyan here. Also Jae-ha, ouch.

Yona runs to save the day with her merciful nature, as she always seems to do. Kye-Sook, who finds it a “quaint” quality like her late father, asks her to stand down. (most hilarious line)

Then Yona asks Su-Won for his opinion, but Su-Won, who was already in annoyed mode, is now directing it towards Yona, who has come running to interfere. He is fed up thinking about it and does not want to deal with her.

Yona still does not back down. “Turn over here! Even if you don’t need me, even if you’re fed up, look me in the eye and talk!”

Very strong words. Until this I have never seen Yona be so direct with Su-Won, even if she harbored hatred, even if she was very calm. And this probably is because she felt rather hurt by Su-Won’s words. Understandable.

Next we see Su-Won explode: “I already said, this doesn’t concern you!”

OKAY we get it Su-Won, calm the F down.

Yeeeeeesh, this rude spitting viper is the same guy who was only gentle and kind with his younger cousin??????

let’s be honest if Hak saw Su-Won shouting at Yona he would wreck him 100x harder than he already wanted to

.....Perhaps we should just accept that familial ties don’t matter to this dude, especially if you’re a King Hiryuu reincarnation telepathically blowing his brains out because he doesn’t pay you enough attention. Can you blame him?

His line is rather ambiguous though. Does he mean it like, “stop being a fucking nuisance, I’m the king right now, this concerns me not you”

OR is it like, “this conflict I have with King Hiryuu doesn’t concern you, you are Yona!” Maybe he doesn’t want Yona to feel bad about being born like his mother did?

Maybe he is struggling with both meanings. Who knows.

Now, after that Yona attempts to make him see past the entire conflict with Mei-nyan’s interest in Hiryuu and the dragons AND the fact that she has knowledge of the secret.

And I can see Yona's point. Yon-Hi's existential crisis, seeing a red haired girl "steal" what belonged to her clan, is similar to Mei-nyan's.

It makes sense. Why should he be so quick to kill her? She has clearly suffered herself.

It seems like Su-Won wasn't thinking straight and realized later that he isn't just his father's son, but also his mother's, because now, he lightens her fate to imprisonment. Yes, imprisonment. Letting this woman go is obviously not the right idea either, especially after they acted so hostile to her, no guarantee that she still wants to negotiate.

The big mistake though, is that everyone from Kouka, even Yona, underestimated Mei. None of them know that she could easily break out of jail if she wished. Even while in pain from the Crimson illness, she’s able to wound (possibly kill!) these soldiers.

....Except our favorite MC Hak, doing 6000+ sit-ups like it’s nothing, is about to know!!!!!!

I think Hak will the one to learn this first, and I actually think they could form some alliance based on being ex-generals. This girl will fill Hak in on wtf the Crimson illness is, and we might finally see Hak’s reaction -- OH SHIT, Su-Won actually hates something??? Maybe Hak’s beloved Princess is more involved with that than he’d like.

I don't think they will go a love triangle of Hak-Mei-Yona route, at least I really hope not, because Hak is loyal af and that does not need to change one bit. At most it'd be funny to see Yona get slightly jealous but honestly I'm not sure if that's necessary either.

Anyway! I would have preferred Mei-nyan stayed an antagonist rather than yet another talk-no-jutsu ally of Yona’s. But okay. We’ll see where this goes, along with the reasons Hiryuu even came down to Earth to start with.

(On a side note, Zeno was great this chapter, wasn’t he? I missed hearing his words of wisdom)

#akatsuki no yona #yona #hak #su-won #meinyan #jaeha #yona of the dawn

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alice-in-wonderart · 4 years ago

Note

I really like your writing and i was hoping you could do what you did with lxc jgy and nhs and i was wondering if you could do that with the juniors thx

OHMYGOSH, so many people are requesting UWU. ❤️ When I said the Juniors get the most love around here, I wasn't joking! (which of course is great, our lovely boys deserve the love) A day after making a post about having 3 similar asks, appeared a wild 4th one, so here we are, killing 4 birds with one stone! From what I recall, the boys are 16 (legal in my country) but for the sake of being politically accurate and tastefully uncreepy, I'll still age them up ~ This was quite difficult to write, since I'd never even so much as considered writing anything remotely un-soft for the boys, but I hope you ike it anyways. Somehow the softest hcs turned out to be for XXC too 🤣

Enjoy the spice, my lovelies! ❤️

P.S. Thank you all for being so kind, you guys make writing a true pleasure ✌️

P.P.S I know it took me forever to write this! i want to apologise for that, since university started, writing has become a luxury and quite frankly, writing nsfw for the juniors was nearly impossible to do 😵 Await more content in the *hopefully* near future.

Jin Ling

My gosh, getting him to undress would be difficult. For real, even after a thousand years of being in a relationship with you, he'd still be embarrassed when it comes to physical touch of any sort. Not to say he wouldn't want it, he just has to go through a semi-tsundere mini meltdown first. But worry not, it would only take him a minute to get over it.

Jin Ling? More like Jin Long. (I'm sorry) He may not be the girthiest of them all, but let me tell you - he takes great pride in his length.

He may act tough and macho, but underneath all that hot-headedness is somebody, who absolutely loves being coddled. More often than not, he'd let you take over the reigns, but believe me he won't go down without a fight. He is the absolute dictionary definition of a bratty bottom. In fact he the brattiest bottom. You want him to undress? Undress him yourself if you're so eager. But in reality, he'd be ready to indulge you in absolutely everything you wish.

Jin Ling is a sucker for praise. Tell him how good he is, praise him and he'll become putty in your hands. There's nothing he loves more than hearing you moan his name out in utter bliss. Knowing he's the one who brings you so much pleasure really strokes his ego, so to say.With Jin Ling, gentle gestures and kind words can get you very far.

He gets surprisingly dominant and demanding when jealous. The one sure way to get him to pound you into the mattress is making him jealous. It really only takes a random unsuspecting boy to chat you up the wrong way and you'd be in for the dicking of a lifetime. (as an aftermath, following a metric ton of complaining and passive agressive anger) He would absolutely mark up your skin as well - a precaution.

Sometimes, he might MIGHT get jealous of the other Juniors. Maybe you'd spent more time with them, or payed them more attention. Sometimes he'd be at work and miss out. Then, you'd have to remind him, that no matter what, only he gets to see you sprawled on his bed, his name on your lips, and tje sweet smell of sex in the air.

Speaking of work, you would be his best stress relief. After a long day of boring sect business, returning home and getting to ravish you would be his ideal evening, although he would never admit it. During those moments, where exhaustion would get the best of both of you, yet sleep would not come, passionate night of lovemaking would be the remedy for all your problems. And with those burning emotions in his heart, such nights would be the most memorable.

Lan Sizhui

You'd think Lan Sizhui would be the purest, most innocent of the Juniors, and you wouldn't be wrong, but at the same time you wouldn't be right either. Overtime, he'd transform from this sweet, gentle lover, who always makes sure you finish first, to this super experimental, utterly intoxicating beaST, who still makes sure you finish first. The more he gets accustomed to your body, the more confident and daring he'd become.

He's been pretty touch-starved for most of his life, so getting intimate with you would take some readjustment from him. Every single touch would excite him, every gentle moan would make his heart melt. And this sensitivity of his would, in turn, seek intimacy even more. He'd want nothing more than to hold you close and make you shiver in delight, to hear his name escape your lips and have you all to himself.

He'd be absolutely willing to experiment. Anything you'd want to try, he'd love to try with you. Here is a good time to say, he's also a pretty versatile switch. Whether you'd want to set your own pace and ride him to oblivion, or let him tie you up and make you see stars all depends on your mood. He loves it all and is a natural in both.

In fact, having you tied up with his ribbon (seems it runs in the family) is one of his favourite sights. To him it is so beautiful and delicate, yet at the same time it's his way of being possessive, of showing the world that you are his lover, that you belong to each other.

This boy has STAMINA. We all know the Lans are a force to be reckoned with, that underneath that sophisticated demeanor, polite gestures and snow white robes there is pure strength, acquired over years of training. That strength allows Sizhui to last for ROUNDS. If you're lucky enough (and away from Gusu) he could go nearly all night long with little effort.

One thing you found out completely by accident was his love for bitemarks..on himself. As long as he could hide them with ease, the moment he feels teeth on his skin, it's game over. And he wouldn't verbally admit it, but the sounds he'd make and how he'd move to give you more access to his skin is a perfect enough sign.

He isn't too rough per se and would much prefer lovemaking over straight up fucking, so quickies aren't all that common. He wants to take his time with you and explore your body. He'd nearly always rather wait until the bed at home is an option.

In general, sex with a Lan is like sex with an elf - beautiful, breathtaking, memorable. Lan Sizhui is no exception, though he'd go to great lengths for you. After all, there's nothing better than seeing you fucked out, drowning in pleasure.

Lan Jingyi

This boy, my gosh, this boy. Out of all the Juniors, this boy is the most dominant one. And when I say dominant, I mean he is the only one, who comes with all the jazz - bondage, teasing, roleplay, you name it - he'll do it. He is lowkey the kinkiest, who'll do nearly anything just to get you off. And honestly, he takes great pride in that.

His sex drive is that of a goddamn rabbit. There is rarely a moment he wouldn't want to be buried between your legs. His motto is "the more the wetter better". For that reason, being away from you for long is his worst nightmare. Not being able to hold you? To kiss you? To make love to you? Blasphemous. So, the moment you two see each other, after some time of being away, he'd be all over you. Of course, sex is far from being the only thing on his mind, but it it's a giant plus, which he wouldn't want to miss.

Lan Jingyi is a sucker for legs, no matter what length, especially thighs. He loves feeling you wrap your legs around him, or squeeze his head between your thighs. He is a firm believer, that this is the best way to go. Nine times out of ten, whenever you two are making out, his hands would be all over your legs. He just can't help himself.

Out of all the juniors, since he is the most experimental, so with some coaxing he might agree to a threesome. Of course, that would be much later in your relationship, when your mutual trust is hard as a rock. (and not only that) Though, he'd want to pick the 3rd person involved! (most likely Sizhui)

He would absolutely introduce food in bed. Actually, that would happen completely accidentally. It would all start with a handful of loquats, which you'd bring to him while away on a trip together. You'd feed each other the lush fruits between heated kisses, enjoying each other's company and he'd realize, that he could combine 2 of his favourite things - you and food. From that moment on, he'd try out all kinds of food - from sweet to salty, deserts, fruits and everything in between.

He would absolutely want to get you off somewhere in Gusu. The very idea of doing something so dirty and profane at a place with so many strict rules would turn him on to no end. And the thrill of potentially getting caught would be like a catalyst to him. The library pavillion? The cold springs? Just let it be in Gusu. His own chambers just aren't satisfying enough, they aren't risky enough.

He would quickly get addicted to you and your body, and when that happens - there is just no going back. Though I doubt you'd want to.

Ouyang Zizhen

Ouyang Zizhen is quite the catch through and through. There is nobody quite as cheeky as this man right here. As the proud, versatile, daredevil-esque boy that he is, he would love to tease the everloving god out of you in every single way possible. But the moment you tease him back, he'd be in shambles. He would totally sneak inappropriate touches whenever in public, but run a hand up his leg under the table while having dinner, or perhaps a friendly get-together, and suddenly his cheeks would go beet red and he'd go through a mini existential crisis.

Your long, heated nights together would become his reckoning. He'd never truly admit it, but goddamn, he'd become so addicted, to the feeling, the excitement. Especially when it comes to having sex in public.

Speaking of, while he wouldn't openly talk about your adventures in bed, he'd absolutely drop little hints about it in piblic, whenever you're freshly fucked and easy to tease. Intentionally letting himself look more disheveled than usual, pointing out any "little marks" showing on your skin and of course - that knowing smirk of his. And believe me, he fully expects payback.

The other member who might, MIGHT agree to a threesome would be Ouyang Zizhen. He is a curious man, who would like to try anything you have to offer, though jealousy could be a side effect. He'd want to have a say in who'd be the 3rd person. And while having two women succumb to his every beg and call is a very well-hidden desire of his, at this point he is so invested and in love with you, that such thoughts are out of the question.

The one thing that gets him riled up in bed is wax play. What started as "lighting a candle to set the mood right" ended up being one of the most passionate, lust-ridden, nights of his life. He loves how wax drips down on your skin, peeling off of your every curve. He'd get different kinds of candles, with all kinds of fancy textures amd smells, just to watch the expensive wax drip all over you.

Teasing is his go-to. He is a master of teasing. And his specialty is edging. He could prolong your orgasm, get you to practically beg for release, all while he's hard as a rock and still keep edging you. And his mouth is his secret weapon.

He'd learn how to play your body like a violin, all to leave you begging for more. He could go on for hours. And he would. Because of that, the orgasms would be godly. And he takes great pride in that as well.

Xiao Xingchen

This man is the dictionary definition of soft. His kisses are sweet, his touches are caring and his sex is phenomenally passionate. Intimacy is important to him, since he hasn't had the chance and desire to reveal himself before many people. (except you, that is.) No, he isn't just a soft lover. He is THE soft lover.

He is the king of love-making. To him, your pleasure comes first and there is nothing he loves more, than to hold you close and feel your body on his.

He generally prefers to bottom and leave the reigns in your hands, so he could just hold you close and enjoy your body to its fullest, but occasionally he'd absolutely be down to switch it up and spend hours loving you deep into the night. (his words, not mine) Knowing you are there, on top of him, riding him into oblivion, he'd almost wish he could see you. But then, he'd run his hands down your body, hear your angelic voice and immediately lose his mind into pleasure once more.

Lovemaking is his absolute specialty and gentle passion is HIGHKEY his forté. Each sweet touch of his, every choked breath, every heated kiss is so full of love and desire, you could drown in it. He wears his heart on his sleeve and whenever you end up tangled in the sheets, he pours all of his emotions into bringing you ecstasy.

He is extremely touchy, since that is his way of seeing you. He loves to just glide his hands over your smooth skin, exploring every curve, enjoying the warmth of your body against his. His fingers are long and nimble, so he uses them to his advantage. And somehow, every time he touches you, he finds something new to love about you. Because of that, being tied up is a little specific with him. He would let you do it, but only occasionally, since that would leave him completely at your mercy WITHOUT being able to feel you.

He is absolutely a fan of boobs. Big, small, size has never mattered. He loves the warmth, the softness and the fact, that whenever he lays his head on your chest, he can hear your heartbeat.

Whisper in his ear amd he's a second away from breaking. Moan his name and he's a goner. His ears are pretty sensitive, so hearing your voice and feeling your breath would turn him rock hard in record time. Call it a voice kink, call it obsession, whatever it is, it's the surest way to make him nearly beg for your touch.

Xiao Xingxhen is a gentle, yet madly passionate lover, who is ready to give you the stars. And once you get undressed for the first time, he'd find himself so utterly in love with you, he'd get nearly obsessed. And while extremities are not his thing, it wouldn't be uncommon for him to gently lead you away to your shared bed, whenever out on a stroll, just to undress you and kiss your breath away.

Thank you for reading~

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im-done-arent-you · 5 years ago

Text

Conversations You’d Have While Dating John Bender

Bender: “If I died, how much would you miss me?”

(Y/N): “It’s cute that you think death can get you out of this relationship.”

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(Y/N): “Jesus it’s cold!”

Bender: “Here, take my jacket, I’m not even that cold.”

(Y/N): “Thanks, I’ll give it back tomorrow at school.”

*later, at (Y/N)’s house after everyone has gone home*

(Y/N), aggressively inhaling in Bender’s jacket while curled up with it: “I’m never giving this back.”

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Bender and (Y/N): *staring into each other’s eyes*

Andy: *opens a soda can*

(Y/N): “We’re having a moment here.”

Andy: “And I’m having a soda, your point?”

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Bender: “I have very high standards. I’d never date anyone clumsy-”

(Y/N) walking in, tripping and falling face first on the floor: “Ah shit, oh, hi guys!”

Bender: “I want them.”

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Bender: “(Y/N), what the hell are you doing?”

(Y/N), feeling Bender’s hair while mumbling: “What the fuck this is so soft and smooth…?”

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Bender: “You have a sweet lookin’ ass.”

(Y/N): “What was that?”

Bender: “You have very nice eyes.”

(Y/N): “I liked the first one better.”

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Teacher: “Okay, here’s the classwork.”

Bender: “Please help me.”

(Y/N), sighing: “You’re lucky you have me.”

Bender: “I know, right? The only thing I know how to do on this paper is write my name.”

(Y/N): “You just spelled it wrong.”

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Bender: “Hey, (Y/N), can you do the thing?”

(Y/N): “What thing?” Bender: “The thing that never fails to make me happy.”

(Y/N): “Oh, okay.” *smiles*

Bender: “Thank you.”

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Bender: *Licks his lips while rolling up his sleeves*

(Y/N): “Jesus take the wheel.”

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(Y/N): “You… you have a face.”

Bender: “Yes. Yes I do.”

(Y/N): “I mean… a nice face. You have a nice face.”

Bender: “Thanks… I think?”

(Y/N): “Oh my gosh. Please just accept my awkward attempts at flirting. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

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Bender: “Is your name Jingle Bells?”

(Y/N): “ No no no no, please don’t, Bender, have mercy-”

Bender: “Because you look ready to go allll the way.”

(Y/N): “Shut up, Bender, it’s the day after Thanksgiving!”

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(Y/N): “Do you know what time it is?” Bender: “Do I look like a weatherman to you?”

(Y/N):

(Y/N): (Y/N): “What?”

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Brian: “Why do you guys wake up so late? What time do you even go to sleep?”

(Y/N): “I always fall asleep first because Bender always strokes my hair and I snuggle into him until I finally do.”

Bender: “I always disassociate and have an existential crisis, so I never actually know.”

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Claire: *sees Bender and (Y/N) walk into the room holding hands* “So who finally confessed?”

Bender, with a proud smirk: “It was me. I made sure it was real short and sweet.”

(Y/N): “You yelled ‘Listen here you little shit, I have feelings for you and it’s about time you acknowledge them!’ at me from on top of the school roof.”

Bender: “It worked though.”

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(Y/N): “Are you...blushing?”

Bender: “What, no.”

(Y/N): “Did I get the ever-stoic, hardcore, total badass Bender to blush?”

Bender: “No..It’s..It’s the cold.”

(Y/N): “Huh. It’s the cold. And not that I told you ‘Your face is freaking cute and I bet the rest of you is too’?”

Bender, blushing harder: *voice cracks* “N-no.”

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(Y/N): *Drops something* “Oh, fuck me.”

Bender: *smirks*

(Y/N): “That wasn’t an invitation.”

Bender: *Gets closer to (Y/N)*

(Y/N): “I mean it, Bender.”

Bender: “Gets in (Y/N)‘s face with a low hum and a smirk*

(Y/N): *Blushing furiously*

Bender: *puts his hand under (Y/N)’s chin and leans into their ear* “I think we should have pizza for dinner.”

Bender: *Sits back down*

(Y/N): “Oh, for the love of-” *repeatedly smacks Bender with a pillow*

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(Y/N): *kisses Bender’s forehead*

Bender, frowning: “You missed.”

(Y/N): “Huh?” Bender: *Leans forward and kisses (Y/N)’s lips*

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Bender: “What are you doing?”

(Y/N): *Wiggling into Bender’s arms* “Hiding.”

Bender: “....Don’t you mean hugging?”

(Y/N): *Pauses* “Did I fucking stutter? This is my safe place. Now shut up and put your arms around me.”

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Bender: “I have to get something off my chest.”

(Y/N): “Is it your shirt? I hope it’s your shirt. Please let it be your shirt.”

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(Y/N): “I get this weird feeling in my chest every time I see you.”

Bender: “.....Is is heartburn?”

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Bender: “You know, I’m jealous of you?”

(Y/N): “Huh? Why?”

Bender: “Your partner is way hotter than mine.” *walks away*

(Y/N): “Wait- but you’re my- we’re dating...Come back here you little shit!”

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*Bender and (Y/N) kiss*

Allison: “Aww..”

Bender: “Allison i have had it up to here with your bullshit!”

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(Y/N): *Smiles*

Bender: “There it is again.”

(Y/N): “What?” Bender: “You better not smile for anyone else like that. If you do I might have to kill them.”

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(Y/N): "What's your biggest fear?"

Bender: "You."

(Y/N): "Me?!"

Bender: "I'm scared that one day you'll look in the mirror and see yourself as I see you. That you'll realize just how amazing you are, and that you deserve better than me. I'm terrified that you'll leave."

(Y/N), on the verge of tears: "Oh, god, Bender please don't say that. You are the most amazing person I've ever met, I could never leave you. Ever. God, I love you so much more than it's possible to say, you know that? I hate seeing you feel like you aren't enough because you are, Bender, you always have been. You always will be. I love you."

Bender: "Aw, come on, Baby, please don't cry, I love you too."

——————————————————————————————————

(Y/N): *Complains about Bender*

Bender: "I could be a drug addict. Do you realize how lucky you are?"

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Bender: "Where's your liquor?"

(Y/N): "At 11 A.M?"

Bender: "Why, does it move around throughout the day?"

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Andrew: "You deserve an award for putting up with me."

Allison: "You're my award, Andy."

Bender: "You deserve an award for putting up with me, (Y/N)."

(Y/N): "Hell yeah I do. You're a real bitch sometimes."

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*On the topic of how to sneak out of detention*

Bender: "I have a plan."

(Y/N): "No weapons."

Bender: "I have no plan."

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(Y/N): "You know what I did yesterday?"

Bender: "Got prettier?"

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(Y/N): "Damn. We're out of decaf."

Bender: "Well there's no need to get hysterical."

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(Y/N): "I already knew you didn't have any moral qualms about breaking and entering."

Bender: "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

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(Y/N): "Earlier Bender walked into our classroom to see me, saw algebra on the board and yelled 'Oh what the fuck is this, get me an eraser before I pass out!'"

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(Y/N): "So Bender, what do you want to do tonight?"

Bender: "You, probably."

(Y/N): "You know you said that out loud, right?"

Bender: "Yup, no regret."

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(Y/N): "Has anyone seen Bender?"

Claire: "It's 10 A.M., I would be worried if he was here."

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Bender: "Hi pretty (Y/N). Oh, you're so pretty. But not just your face, your brain. It's like your beautiful brain exploded all over your face."

(Y/N): "Are you drunk?"

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Bender: "I assure you I am the most attractive person in this room."

(Y/N): *Walks into the room*

Bender: "Never mind."

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(Y/N): "Putting a lemon in your water isn't gonna balance out the fact that you chugged seven beers in under thirty minutes last night, Bender."

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(Y/N): "Bender... why do I love you?"

Bender: "Because you're the only one who can tolerate my bullshit and vice versa."

(Y/N): ".............I was gonna say your eyes, but that works too."

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Bender: *About (Y/N)* "My partner is like an oven."

Brian: "Explain."

Bender: "Roasts me."

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(Y/N): "Next time I wanna hurt someone, I'm coming straight to you for help."

Bender: "Aw, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

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Bender: :I'm just sitting here with my empty pizza box, my Coke, and my Baby. *Leans over and kisses (Y/N)'s cheek* I may be out of pizza, but I'm never out of love for them."

(Y/N): *Blushes*

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(Y/N): "Bender no."

Bender, drinking hot Cheeto dust mixed with vodka from a vase: "Bender yes."

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*Sneaking into the teacher's lounge for snacks*

(Y/N): "But how do we not get caught? There are teachers everywhere!"

Bender: "Easy. Keep a cool head and a sweet smile."

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(Y/N): "I drink to forget but I always remember."

Bender: "You're drinking soda."

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(Y/N): "You're a fucking loser."

Bender: "Well you're fucking a loser."

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Bender: *Takes off his shirt*

(Y/N): "What a time to be alive."

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Bender: "Hey, I like your pants."

(Y/N): "Thanks."

Bender: "But, you know, they'd look better on my bedroom floor."

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*During a fight*

Bender: *Rolls his eyes*

(Y/N): "Yeah keep rolling your eyes, you might find a brain back there."

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Claire: "Are you a big spoon or a little spoon?"

Bender: "I'm a knife."

(Y/N): "He's a big spoon."

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*Mr. Vernon left his door open*

Bender: "He left his door open!"

(Y/N), looking at Bender: "Slim Jim raid?"

Bender, nodding: "Slim Jim raid."

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*During an argument*

(Y/N): "You are unbelievable, Bender!" *Starts storming out of the room, stops halfway* "Do not watch my ass as I leave!"

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(Y/N ), answering the phone: "Hello?"

Bender: "Hey, it's Bender."

(Y/N): "What'd he do this time?"

Bender: "No, it's actually me, Bender."

(Y/n): "What did you do this time?"

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*Talking about a teacher*

Andrew: "Yeah she's a bitch."

Bender: "Speaking of bitches..." *looks at (Y/N)*

(Y/N), without looking up from their book: " Choose your next words carefully."

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(Y/N): "You shouldn't smoke. It isn't good for you."

Bender: "Fuck off."

(Y/N): "I love you too."

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*When Bender first tells the group about (Y/N) and him dating*

Andrew: "How hot are they?"

Bender: "It doesn't matter what they look like. I mean, they're already the most beautiful person in the world to me."

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Allison: "Are they flirting?"

Claire: "I think so."

(Y/N): "We are not flirting, we are arguing."

Bender: "We're flirting."

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Bender: "Have I ever told you you look like a sexy praying mantis?"

(Y/N): "Every time you drink alcohol."

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Bender: "You know, (Y/N), I've been drinking- I mean thinking-!"

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(Y/N): "It's quiet....too quiet..."

Andrew, bursting into the room: "Bender let a snake loose in the library!"

(Y/N), sighing: "I knew it."

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Brian, on the phone: "(Y/N), what are you doing?"

(Y/N): "Homework."

Bender, taking the phone from (Y/N): "I'm homework."

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(Y/N): "You think you're a better kisser than me?"

Bender: *Raises eyebrows*

(Y/N): "You think you're a better cuddler?"

Bender: *Raises eyebrows further*

(Y/N): "Well come over here and prove it, punk."

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(Y/N): "Claire, tell Bender that he's an idiot but I still love him."

Claire: "Gross, tell him yourself."

(Y/N): "We're in a fight."

Claire: "You're sitting in his lap?"

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Bender: *Lights a match with his teeth*

(Y/N): "You have no idea how hot that is."

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(Y/N): "Bender, you..."

Bender: "I?"

(Y/N): "Um...y-you..."

Bender: "I what?"

(Y/N): "You make my heart have premature ventricular contractions."

Bender: "Huh?"

Brian, from across the room: "They mean you make their heart skip a beat."

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*In a fight*

(Y/N): *Flips Bender off*

Bender, smirking: "Maybe later, Honey." *winks*

(Y/N): *Rolls eyes*

Bender: "Hey! Don't roll your eyes when I allude to fucking you!"

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(Y/N): *Kisses Bender*

Bender: "What was that for?"

(Y/N): "I've been thinking about what makes me happy. You make me happy."

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*After getting caught breaking the rules*

Mr.Vernon: "Did you two really think you were gonna get away with this?"

Bender: "Well, it would be stupid to say yes now."

(Y/N): *Stares blankly at Vernon while nodding in agreement with Bender*

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*(Y/N) is absent from school*

Allison: *About (Y/N)* "Do you miss them?"

Bender: "You can tell?"

Allison: "There are two things in this world you cannot hide. Sneezing and love."

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Andrew: "I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter S."

Claire, looking over at Bender and (Y/N): "Is it sexual tension?"

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(Y/N), to Bender: "Oh, you're touch starved? Wanna hold hands about it?"

#john bender imagines #john bender x reader #bender x reader #the breakfast club #the breakfast club imagines

885 notes · View notes

stages-of-mania · 4 years ago

Text

Lord Huron Timeline Masterpost

Disclaimer: A lot of this information is speculation and consists of a lot of theories. Feel free to take things with a grain of salt.

Lonesome Dreams:

Setting: 19th century Wild West (some theories suggested could be the Middle East in the mid-20th century)

Characters:

Huron (main character)

Blaquefut (Huron’s best friend)

Helena (Huron’s girlfriend)

nameless Helena’s Ex (we're gonna call him Sonny for convenience)

Story: (I’m sure that most of the songs are in chronological order from the album but a few of them I believe are flashbacks so I had to move them around.)

She lit a fire/one of the best love songs ever written: The story goes earlier in the timeline technically, as it’s flashing back to how Huron met Helena. This is how the pair met. She lit his fire to travel the world or something.

Ends of the earth: early on in Huron and Helena‘s relationship. He wants to travel the world but she doesn’t so they’re kinda like “let’s split up for a bit”

Setting sun/the most mindfucking song (yes this bonus track is played at the end of the song, but hear me out ): Sonny has noticed that Helena has found someone else. They both know that Huron is better for her, but Sonny’s still pissed so he goes full yandere and chases after Huron. This story was put at the end and made “unfinished” because Sonny will always have a vendetta while Huron’s alive.

Time to run: Huron and friends are being chased by Sonny’s goons. Blaqufut gets shot in the head while helping Huron escape.

lonesome dreams: now this is a bit of a stretch, but from this theory, LD is basically purgatory and Huron travels to it to rescue Blaqufut from death.

Ghost on the shore/best song: nothing too significant to the story, it’s just Huron talking about how he misses home/the Great Lakes

I will be back one day: again, nothing much, just Huron reminiscing over Helena in pursuit to find her.

Man who lives forever: again nothing too significant, just Huron not wanting to die.

Brother: this is possibly the aftermath of an altercation between Huron and Blaqufut that they resolve. It pretty much just reaffirms their friendship.

In the wind: this one actually occurs while Huron is still on the run but from Helena’s perspective. It’s basically her reminiscing over him. I think they put this one at the end because it’s spiritually the end of the album, as it discusses how long distances and death can stop love.

Lullaby: Huron finally makes it back to Helena. He’s a complete wreck but Helena’s just happy he’s back

Sidenotes: Lonesome dreams are a collection of stories from Jorge Ranger Johnson, a writer character that Ben made up. Because of this, some of lonesome dreams might not actually be real within the universe of Lord Huron. Or they might be real events and just happened to be written about by an author.

Alternate theories suggest that Setting sun was actually about Huron the entire time and it did take place at the end of the album, causing Helena to find someone else and Huron to becoming a murderer.

One last important thing, because these are stories and might not actually occur within the universe of Lord Huron, it is possible that there is no afterlife, as suggested in later albums.

Strange Trails:

Setting:

1950s, somewhere in America.

George’s: A bar that several characters tend to spend time at (probably in reference to George Ranger Johnson)

Characters:

Frankie Lou: washed up singer who presumably had a failed romance that fucked up bad. Probably an alcoholic. Sings at George’s

Cobb Avery: zombie brought back to life out of vengeance. His family was killed because his boss gave him a piece of land on a sinkhole. leader of the “World Enders” gang. Basically a bunch of terrorists. Kills everyone from the company that sold him the house. Hangs out at George’s

Jonnie: member of the world Enders. Kind of trigger-happy in a thrill seeker. Probably one of the less malicious members of the group. Probably 19.

Buck Vernon: I also think another washed-up singer. What’s important though is that he suffers from hallucinations and is desperately trying to find the girl of his dreams.

Lily: some girl that every guy in town has the hots for. Hangs out at George’s

Jim: Lily's boyfriend. Hangs out at George’s.

Danielle: Young girl. The only child character, I’d say 11-14. Best character. You’re never too young to have an existential crisis.

Justine: not really important, presumably a writer.

Louisa: some random girl (Assuming that this theory is true, she might also be a witch and might’ve started out as an asshole, might also hang out at George’s)

There’s also some other guy but he was part of one song and it wasn’t significant so disregard him.

Story:

Love like ghosts: this is Frankie reminiscing over her failed relationship

When the night ends: Jonnie talking about appreciating the finer things in life while everything’s going to shit

Dead man’s hand/also best song: buck finds Avery presumably dead while wandering the desert. He buries him only to find out that Avery is still alive. Avery says that there’s no afterlife for him and he doesn’t want to go back in the grave. The pair become friends and go their separate ways.

Hurricane: just Johnny talking about living life on the edge

La belle fleur sauvage/the beautiful wildflower: just the lead singer gushing over Lily. The guy singing this only shows up in this song, but it’s just meant to establish that everyone has the hots for Lilly. The song could also be talking about Buck in his pursuit.

Fool for love: Buck goes to George’s to win over Lily, but Jim is already with her. Being delusional, buck tries to take on Jim (in the music video he gets Avery to fight him), he trashed the place and because of this is kicked out. He’s pretty optimistic but after this, he feels kind of defeated. (*Post-Rejection Depression Time*)

World ender: focuses on Avery‘s story. Follows him as he seeks vengeance and kills the people from the company that sold him the shitty house.

Meet me in the Woods: more of Frankie reminiscing over her failed romance

Yawning grave: (OK so this is the first big roadblock in the story, so the character that this song is about is very much left up to interpretation) I assume Avery has kind of calmed down But still intends to pursue the people that have wronged him.

Frozen Pines: (disappointingly) The only song about Danielle. Her parents were abducted by aliens in front of her. She is sort of in denial and refuses to leave where she is in the middle of the forest out of the delusion that they’ll come back. The song ends with her realizing that she has to move on as she attempts to leave the forest. (also, frozen Pines is the name of the motel so it could also just be that maybe Danielle is stuck at a motel which would honestly be kind of funny.)

Cursed/best love song ever written: Buck has found himself a new girl. However, due to previous failed romantic endeavors and hallucinations, he thinks that she’s an asshole trying to put a curse on him. (The song is presumably about Louisa. It’s entirely possible that Louisa was being manipulative but they sort things out)

Way out there: (The most difficult song to figure out) presumably about Avery. I can only best describe it as him having an existential crisis and him missing his dead family.

Louisa: after Buck was tempted to kick bricks, Louisa helped him out and gave him a newfound appreciation for life. Now they’re happy =]

Night we met: last song of Frankie reminiscing over her ex. Also, the lyric video confirms that Buck & Louisa either broke up or she was just a figment of his imagination, so uh, ya. Hopefully you weren't as emotionally invested in these characters as much as I was because that tore me a new one.

Sidenotes: this album definitely had the most interpretations. The biggest issues are the stories of yawning grave and way out there, as I am unsure that it is even about Avery. The real issue tho is the lack of songs about Danielle. Ben Come On!

There are also a couple connections between this album and the next

Vide Noir:

Setting: 1960s. Detroit & Los Angeles.

Background info: A drug called vide noir has recently been legalized. It’s basically just a hallucinogenic that destroys the fabric of reality, good times.

Characters:

Buck Vernon: Christ Ben just can’t seem to give this guy a break.

Lee Green: Buck’s new girl. Probably wants to be an actress or something.

Lady moonbeam: A medium/psychic. I think she’s black but it’s hard to tell because of the lighting.

Cobb Avery: Best Boy Electrician on “Products of the Universe” TV show. (only mentioned in 1 song)

Marsha Tanley & Dale Frander: “Products of the Universe” host; guy selling vide & its derivatives. (not in the songs)

Story:

Lost in time and space: Buck is upset because Lee left. He decides to chase after her nonetheless.

Never ever: Buck's spirits are lifted as he heads out to find Lee.

Ancient names: Buck goes to Lady Moonbeam For advice but she sees into the future and sees that Buck will become a drug addict. He’s in denial but she knows otherwise.

Wait by the river: just Buck talking about how you would do anything for Lee. Also reveals the potential of an altercation between the two of them, presumably the two of them having a fight before she left.

Secret of life: (OK this one’s a little hard, the singer is clearly Buck, but it’s hard to tell if he’s confronting either Lee or lady moonbeam) either way, whoever he is confronting has allegedly made a pact with Avery that will cause something bad to happen to Buck. Because of this, he downs a bottle of fukitol/vide noir.

Back from the edge: the MF dies but comes back (where have we seen that before)

Balancer's eye: Buck runs into God and is denied access to heaven. Either because he wasn’t supposed to die or maybe people who take drugs aren’t allowed in. Or God has really high standards and no one‘s allowed in (again, weird knowing that Blaqufut experienced purgatory and Avery said there’s no heaven at all)

When the night is over: realizing the effect of VN, Buck is becoming worried for Lee that she might overdose if he doesn’t find her soon enough

Moonbeam: Like with Louisa, Buck ran into a girl that saved him from a bad place. Hard to tell if it’s Lee (it likely isn’t because of later in the story) or lady moonbeam.

Vide Noir: Buck talking about the effects of the drug.

Emerald star/The most depressing song ever written: after doing everything he can and fucking dying, Buck finally finds Lee but he is turned down as she would rather be a junkie. It’s also possible that she might die or be dying, judging by the fact that the second half of this song is just instrumental followed by a sudden halt at the end. {Yay, I get to experience “close to you” all over again}

Sidenotes: George ranger Johnson is a spiritual advisor for the show that Avery works on.

The events of the film are claimed to come at the end/after the album.

--------------------------------

All information was aggregated from the albums, interviews with Ben, music videos, articles about the film, Products of the Universe, & whatever else I could scavenge from LH’s YouTube channel.

I’d also like to give a huge thanks to the fanbase for their theories and research. It really helped out a lot piecing this all together. I had a lot of fun discussing this with fellow Wanderers and Enders and really appreciate being a part of this fanbase.

If you have any alternative theories, timelines, etc, be sure to mention them. A huge chunk of this info will probably become obsolete when the film/next album comes along so enjoy this while we can still be optimistic.

Dear Balancer help us.

#lord huron #lonesome dreams #strange trails #vide noir #cobb avery #buck vernon #ben schneider

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yslkook · 4 years ago

Text

birthday b

pairing: taehyung x reader

warnings: cursing, lots and lots of alcohol (because it’s me), suggestive sexy times/themes, grinding, dancing, making out, flirting

a/n: enjoy this brain dump. like i said, i only follow VIBES not PLOT. check out the other parts here.

word count: 6589

***

Your birthday had coincidentally fallen the same few weeks that BTS was going to be in New York City for a slew of press events. The coincidence is a happy, welcome one, one that Taehyung realized before you. It’s another year in your late twenties, or early thirties but really who’s counting, and once upon a time, you’d be having an unneeded existential crisis over it. Over the fact that society now considered you to be too old, too old for love, fun, hobbies, interests. But you’re not that person anymore.

All you’re thinking about is the long laundry list of errands to run before your birthday. You’re planning a night out for you and your friends, inclusive of Taehyung and the boys, if they want to come. You had decided to get an AirBnb for everyone so nobody would have to worry about getting home. Instead, you’d all be able to leave together. You still have to buy beer, liquor and chasers. Pari said she would be in charge of snacks, utensils and cups. You had given her one of the keys to the AirBnb as well on the morning of, just in case.

And so, you zip through Brooklyn in the early morning of your birthday night out, gathering the supplies you need. Your arms ache by the time you reach the AirBnb to drop off the trunk load of alcohol from your car. You still have a few things to finish up with work before you can truly begin your day, but you don’t mind.

After all, you’ll be seeing your boy and your friends soon.

You're barely able to text Taehyung or any of the boys to see how they’re doing- your manager has you in meetings for the majority of the morning. You don’t complain though, it makes the day go faster.

You sink in your chair with a sigh and stretch your arms above your head, daydreaming about finally seeing Taehyung after what feels like forever. He’s supposed to come to your apartment to get ready with you before heading to the AirBnb to meet up with the rest of your friends

Your workday is over relatively quickly after that, you had been sure to do everything ahead of time so that you could properly enjoy the time you had with Taehyung. It took a few long nights and early mornings, but if it meant more time with him, then it was worth it.

You text him-

you: see you soon 💛

A wave of fatigue washes over you. It wouldn’t be so bad to take a quick nap, right? You convince yourself to lay in your bed for just twenty minutes. Just twenty minutes...

Since you’re you and incapable of twenty minute naps, you wake up an hour later to your phone ringing obnoxiously. You groan and blink sleepiness out of your eyes and see Taehyung calling you. Poor guy’s probably been in the lobby, impatiently waiting for you.

“Tae,” You murmur, “I fell accidentally fell asleep-”

You hear him snort, “I’m outside your door. Come let me in, princess.”

You vaguely hear the muffled sound of his voice from outside your front door and your heart skips a beat as you nearly sprint out of your bedroom. You throw your front door open and nearly drop your phone at the sight of Taehyung in front of you, in all his glory.

Your face nearly hurts from how wide you’re smiling and you immediately pull him inside, pulling him in for a close hug.

“Hi,” You murmur, pressing your nose into his neck. He smells just as you recall, like wood and mint. You pull away for a second and hold his face in your hands. You touch him as if he’ll disappear, as if he’s stardust that slips through your fingers.

“Hi,” Taehyung whispers and presses his forehead to yours.

That familiar overwhelmed feeling returns once more, and you feel your eyes watering despite the bright smile on your face.

“You happy to see me, or what?” Taehyung says with a small smile and wipes at your cheeks.

“Shut up,” You laugh, “Happy tears, Tae. Happy tears.”

His own eyes are watering at the sight of yours. Your sensitive boy. You peck his lips and before you can pull away to ask him any questions, he deepens the kiss instantly. His hands are tight and close against your waist, disappearing under your shirt quickly. His touch feels like electricity sliding up your veins, curling into your blood and igniting desires that had been locked away for so long.

You surge forward, pouring all of it- the burn, the intensity, the way he makes you feel like liquid gold, back into him. Taehyung moans into your mouth softly before pulling away, both of you panting.

“Baby,” You sigh dreamily, running a hand through his hair, “Do you want water? Are you hungry? I just made food last night-”

“Ate before I came here,” Taehyung says, kissing up your neck and tightening his hold around you when your knees begin to give out, “Now lemme eat you-”

“God, what a line,” You roll your eyes and pinch his arm but allow him to carry you to your bedroom.

And so begins your birthday week.

***

You spend the better part of two hours naked in bed with Taehyung, fingers ghosting over his skin as he tells you about how his week is going, and about the antics that the boys have been getting up to. You turn closer to him, brushing his hair out of his eyes and getting distracted by his pout.

Taehyung pulls you on top of him and you swat his shoulder at the sudden movement. He lazily cups your cheek and throws one of his hands behind his head to prop himself up on your headboard.

“Will everyone be coming tonight? To the club?” You ask hopefully, “I would love to see them...”

“Jungkook might need convincing,” Taehyung muses, “I’m sure you can work your charms and convince him.”

“You think incredibly highly of me,” You scoff, but already text Jungkook to ask if he’ll be there.

"We have to start getting ready soon,” Taehyung reminds you gently when you yawn. You slide off of him and curl into his side, your eyes already closed. You rub his chest to coax him to sleep with you for a bit.

“Tired,” You mumble, “Just nap with me, baby. Twenty minutes.”

“You just took a nap,” Taehyung grumbles but acquiesces, pulling you closer into his chest and pressing a kiss to your forehead.

And he sleeps.

***

“Princess,” Taehyung says softly, nudging your shoulder, “Wake up. Pari is going to kill both of us if we don’t start getting ready now.”

He thinks you believe it, because you immediately roll out of bed and pull your outfit out of your closet and hang it up on the coat rack on your door.

“Fuck,” You groan, “I don’t know why I’m so tired.”

“Want me to put you to bed again?” Taehyung winks at you.

You pointedly ignore him.

“We have to eat, too,” You say, pulling your makeup bag out of your drawer and setting aside your jewelry, “Will you go warm up some of the food in the fridge before either of us change?”

“Yes, dear,” Taehyung says and disappears into your kitchen.

You join him in a few minutes, wrapping yourself around his waist and kissing his neck. He feeds you quickly, with the knowledge that you still have to do your makeup and hair.

“Thank you,” You kiss his cheek before scampering back into your bedroom, “Take whatever you want and eat more, baby!”

***

You had holed yourself in your bathroom, wanting to do your makeup with the bright lighting. Taehyung has been itching to watch you get ready, but you had banned him from entering. He’d distract you, while it was a welcome distraction, you and Taehyung had already received a few scolding texts from Pari.

You finally unlock the door after a while, already missing the feeling of his gaze on you. Butterflies erupt in your belly in anticipation of his reaction- you know you look good. You’re wearing a backless red jumpsuit that dips in just the right way and is tight in just the right places. The pant legs are wide and with heels, your legs look good.

You know this. Your eye makeup is dark, bringing out the dark of your eyes but your lips are glossy. Gold hoops hang from your ears, tickling your jaw when you turn your head. You adjust the cuff bracelet on your right wrist and the thin bracelets on your left as you carry out a choker and a thin, gold chain, one of Taehyung’s.

One of Taehyung’s rings sits on your left hand.

“Baby,” You finally say, exiting the bathroom and holding up the choker and the necklace, “which one should I wear?”

Taehyung ignores you in favor of lazily casting his gaze over you. His lips are parted and eyes are wide as he takes you in.

You know you look good. But it’s nice to know he thinks so as well.

“Damn,” Taehyung mutters, taking your hand and spinning you around. His hand ghosts over your bare back and you shiver at his touch, “Definitely the necklace. But damn.”

“Is that a good damn or a bad damn?” You whisper.

“Always a good damn,” Taehyung replies, “But damn. You’re sexy.”

He pushes his nose into your neck, dropping kisses below your ear. You’re already putty in his arms, your knees buckling when his hands squeeze your ass.

“You look so good,” Taehyung continues, “So pretty, my pretty girl...”

“Really?” you nearly squeak, your hands running up his chest, “And what about you?”

You pull away from him, holding him at arm’s length. Your throat is dry when you take him in- he’s matching you with his red mock turtleneck and grey speckled blazer. A new pair of earrings sits on his right ear, as well as a glint of a necklace under his collar.

You sigh dreamily. This is your man and you can’t wait to jump his bones again. You try to kiss him, but he turns his cheek. A glossy stamp of your lips shines on his jaw.

“You’ll ruin your makeup and then we’ll both be dead,” Taehyung says, eyes full of adoration and lust.

“What’s the point of it being my birthday if I can’t touch my man,” you mutter and he laughs.

“I’ll keep your phone and your cards. Don’t worry about a purse, princess. I know you hate them.”

You kiss his lips quickly in gratitude.

“Hey,” you murmur, “You’re wonderful and sweet and I’m happy to call you mine. And also incredibly hot. But that’s besides the point.”

How far you’ve come- being able to voice to him exactly how much he means to you. And still you don’t know if he knows.

Your fingers slide into his hair for a second, ignoring his soft protest. You admire the way his hair falls over his forehead and press a kiss to his temple. Then his eyelid. Then the corner of his mouth.

“Your lips are dry,” You mumble and snake a hand inside his pockets for his mango flavored balm to apply to his lips.

“Stop tryin’ to seduce me,” Taehyung says but makes no movement to stop you.

“We should go,” You say softly, but you both stay in place. You can’t help but blink at him, admiring his soft, chiseled features.

“Let’s take a picture. While we’re still alone and you’re still sober,” Taehyung says, already pulling his phone out.

He starts taking photos of you but you complain- you’ve never liked posing for photos by yourself. He ignores you, telling you to fix your face and smile at him.

Taehyung pulls you into his side and flips the camera so that you see yourself on the screen. You take a few selfies with him, one of you both smiling, one of him kissing your cheek, one with his fingers under your chin and a silly one.

“Okay, now we can go,” You say, and tug your hand into his, “Do you have my keys?”

“Yes, princess,” Taehyung says and feels his pockets to make sure he has everything, “Let’s go. Uber’s here already.”

“When did you-“ You ask and then shake your head, “I could’ve just driven, Tae.”

“The birthday girl lifting a finger on her birthday? I think not,” Taehyung says, opening the door for you.

“It’s not even my birthday yet.”

“Shut up, I’m trying to be cute.”

“You seem to be struggling with that.”

Taehyung pinches your waist at that and takes your hand briefly. You’ve never been quite fond of PDA, and neither has Taehyung. But you don’t mind when he holds your hand like this.

The elevator is empty when it finally opens up and you stand on opposite sides. You huff when the elevator dings every few floors and begins to crowd up. You move closer to Taehyung, finally standing in front of him and pressing yourself closer to him. A hand tightens around your waist to hold you steady and you feel a flutter of his lips over your shoulder.

He thinks you’re irresistible.

When you finally leave the elevator, his hand shifts to your lower back as he helps you into the car. You confirm the location with the Uber driver and lean into Taehyung as buildings pass you by.

You’re going to have a good night, you’re sure of it. Taehyung subtly texts Pari to tell her that they’re on their way and glances to you to make sure you’re unaware.

***

“We’re probably the only ones here, maybe we can have a quickie before anyone arrives,” You grin mischievously, shoving the keys to the Airbnb into the keyhole.

“Definitely,” Taehyung rolls his eyes, not that you see.

“I thought I left this door closed when I left this morning,” You say absently.

“Oh did you?” Taehyung says airily and takes your hand to the living room. He drops your bag of both of your clothes to change into for after the night ends near the staircase.

Your back is facing the couches and the decorations. You don’t see much else, or anyone else, except for Taehyung who subtly looks over your head.

It’s eerily quiet, and before the question slips from your tongue-

“Surprise!” A loud chorus comes from behind you and you spin around instantly, coming face to face with all of your friends.

There are streamers, balloons and decorations that you certainly hadn’t put up this morning. A lump grows in your throat, your heart in your throat when you see Pari beaming at you knowingly.

Taehyung squeezes your shoulder and gives you a moment with your best friend.

“I can’t believe you,” You say through teary eyes, “I thought we said lowkey this year!”

“I couldn’t do lowkey when your boyfriend and his friends would all be in our city at the same time as your birthday. The stars aligned and we’re celebrating that,” Pari says warmly and you hug her right.

“And before you say anything, I wanted to, it was no problem and your boy is great at keeping secrets. Good taste too,” Pari says as an afterthought.

“Yeah, he’s a keeper,” You murmur, casting your eyes on him. He’s already mingling with some of your other friends- friends from work and from college. He blends in seamlessly with your friends and you bring Pari to the table with all of the liquor and chasers and cups.

“Oh no, you drink out of this,” Pari says and shoves a bejeweled glass with pink hearts and purple stars.

It’s obnoxious and you love it.

Pari makes you a drink, and you fully expect it to be strong and tasty.

“Cheers,” You shrug and clink glasses with her.

“I’m expecting you to make a speech later.”

“Why? It’s just a birthday. Not a wedding.”

“When was the last time everyone was together like this? Might as well be a wedding. Pretty sure Chae is ordained...”

You roll your eyes and swat her shoulder.

“Thank you for everything. For being my best friend,” you say sincerely and hold her hands.

“No crying. Your makeup looks too good for you to cry,” But she's misty eyed, too, “Taehyung may be your soulmate but I’m always gonna be number one.”

You let out a watery laugh and give her another hug with a nod. You take her with you to introduce her to the rest of the boys. All of them had showed up today, even Jungkook who allegedly needed convincing.

“Jungkook, you came,” You murmur fondly, pulling him in for a tight hug.

He’s always reminded you of a little brother you never had.

“Of course I did,” He grins, doe eyes sparkling.

“I’m so glad you all could come,” You murmur, giving them all tight hugs, “I know how busy you’ve been.”

“If anyone knows, it’s you,” Jimin quips and you smile.

You introduce Pari to them and let them talk amongst themselves, spotting out who has a drink and who doesn’t. Jimin throws an arm around you and helps you make drinks, his smile soft and sexy in a way that only he can pull off.

“Happy birthday,” Jimin says, “You look great.”

“Birthday’s at midnight,” You remind him, “You look great, too. As always.”

Talking to Taehyung’s friends was just easy. He loves that you get along so well with them, even if it took you some time to open up.

Jimin eyes your neck, specifically your necklace and then zeroes in on the hand gripping your glass. It’s your right hand, the one with Taehyung’s ring on it. He gives you a Cheshire grin and a wink and you roll your eyes even though you want to hide.

You pour Jimin a drink and cheers with him, asking him how he likes the city and how he’s doing. He still has an arm around you, and to be honest you’re used to it. Out of all of the boys, Jimin is by far the most physically affectionate with you. Besides Taehyung, of course. You love that the man Taehyung has known the longest approves of you, and it was something that you had been stressed over back in the beginning. But now, they’re family to you, too. It’s nice to have six brothers who care about you the way that they do.

By then, Taehyung spots you fixing up more drinks and rolls his eyes. You’ve always gotta be doing something, unable to sit still and enjoy a party meant for you.

“Thought I told you not to lift a finger,” Taehyung teases and takes the cup from you.

“Hey, I was helping,” Jimin protests.

You roll your eyes at both of them as they bicker and scratch Taehyung’s back subtly before leaving them to their devices and mingling with your other friends.

After a few drinks, shots, drinking games, more shots, pictures with the balloons and with your friends, a tipsy speech made by you with a few tears, Ubers are finally called. Your friends are all drunk, unable to resist your insistence on taking shots and pouring alcohol straight from the bottle into their mouths. The boys had gotten you a bottle of very expensive champagne that you had nearly cried over and Taehyung had only given you a soft look. The bottle had been popped in the balcony and passed around to everyone to take a chug out of.

The club you had booked a VIP area at is a club that celebrities frequented at. There’s plenty of security and privacy there, as your research had shown you. You didn’t want trouble for the boys- the last thing you wanted was for them to get in trouble for something you had done.

The euphoria that comes along with drunkenness sinks into your blood as you lean into Taehyung. He knows what alcohol does to you, makes you a little more affectionate. A little more keen to displays of public affection that you normally wouldn’t initiate. His arm is slung over your shoulder and you clasp your hand with his, looking at him with hazy eyes.

“What?” Taehyung asks, squeezing your shoulder.

“Nothin. Just really happy you’re here,” You say with a bright smile. He squeezes you tighter in response.

Pari had insisted that you and Taehyung be the first ones to leave and that she would lock up. She waves you off when you protest, so you ride in your Uber with Taehyung next to you, Hoseok in the front and Jungkook next to you.

“Are you all having fun?” You ask raspily, leaning forward to hear what Hoseok has to say.

“Of course, I’m glad we came out. Gettin’ the royal treatment,” Hoseok winks at you and you giggle.

“Nothin’ but the best for you, Hobi,” You mumble, “Whaddabout you, Jungkook?”

You tickle under his chin, a habit you’d picked up from Taehyung. He gives you a tipsy smile with shining eyes and you melt a little.

“It’s your birthday, but feel like it’s mine,” Jungkook laughs.

“It’s our birthday,” You correct him, stifling your own laugh with your hand. You lean your head on Jungkook’s shoulder, telling them what the buildings that are passing you by are.

Taehyung watches you, your lips pulled into a permanent smile and eyes twinkling with laughter as Jungkook and Hoseok make you laugh. You say something, something silly, and send Jungkook and Hoseok into laughter as well. He thinks he might be in love with you, or at the very least, in love with your laugh.

“Oh! I think we’re here,” You jump in your seat, leaning over Taehyung to catch a glimpse of the club, “Thank you for the ride!”

Taehyung helps you out of the car so you don’t trip over your feet, as you’re prone to do. After a flash of your identification and a drop of your name, you’re led to the dark VIP area that you had booked. It’s far enough from the dance floor that people won’t accidentally venture towards you, but close enough that you can hop in and out as you please.

“Welcome home for the night, boys,” You murmur.

***

“It’s past midnight,” Taehyung says, voice low in your ear, “Wanna give you something.”

“Hmm?” You ask but he’s already tugging you away from the couches and into the dance floor. You both disappear into the sea of people and your arms instantly wrap around Taehyung’s neck when he holds you still by your waist.

“Already gave me so much baby,” You mumble into his ear, “Already give me so much.”

“Happy birthday, princess,” He says, pressing his forehead to yours. Your eyes are hazy, but still, he knows the look in your eye. It’s one of adoration.

Taehyung swoops in for a sharp kiss, one that steals your breath away, and he tightens his hold around you. You don’t care that you’re in the middle of a sea of nameless people, all you care about is being in your boyfriend’s arms.

Your hips roll into his slowly when he deepens the kiss and his lips find your favorite spot behind your ear. A soft, quiet moan just for him fills his ears.

“Dance with me, princess,” his voice is husky in your ear as he turns you around, your back to his chest.

Your head immediately finds his shoulder when he pulls you in closer and grinds into you to the beat of the music. His hands are tight on your hips, guiding you to roll your hips back into his.

His lips are on your neck as he whispers to you how pretty you are. You nearly whimper in response and he cups your jaw to tilt you towards him for a kiss. His fingers shift and are loose around your neck, arousal shooting down your spine at the simple action. You snake a hand to his hair and Taehyung moans into your mouth when you lightly tug.

His arms are tight around you, the scent of his cologne washing over you, and in his arms you are protected. Taehyung is wrapped around you, lips chasing yours greedily. Your gloss is stained on his skin, but neither of you care.

A broken whisper of his name comes from your lips when you pull him in for another harsher kiss.

“My pretty girl,” Taehyung murmurs.

You’re mush in his arms and you both know it. You hum in response, eyes dark and dazed and slick with happiness. You can feel taehyung against your ass, through the layers of clothing and it makes your stomach flip. Much like everything else he does. You hold his hand tightly, the hand wrapped around your waist and squeeze his fingers as he rolls his hips into yours.

It’s just you and him for a moment, in the entire world. It’s just you and him.

You turn around to face him, melting into his chest and peppering kisses over his face and the nape of his neck.

“Tae,” You murmur hoarsely, “Baby-“

He hums into your neck, mouth pressed into your sweet skin. Your knees are weakening and Taehyung pulls you closer into his chest.

“Baby,” You mumble throatily.

“Princess,” He mimics into your neck.

“Baby,” You repeat with hooded eyes, “We should go back. To our friends-“

“They’re not goin’ anywhere,” comes Taehyung’s nonchalant response.

“But- you guys never get to go out and have fun like this- wanna make it special for you an’ them, too,” You trail off, “Want you to have a fun night. Without cameras or anything-“

Taehyung pulls away abruptly but he still holds you close so you don’t nearly fall over. He cups your cheek tenderly and you lean into his warmth.

You’re always thinking about others even when it’s supposed to be your day.

He plants a sweet kiss to your forehead and squeezes your hand.

“Okay. Whatever my birthday princess wants,” Taehyung says and steers you back towards the VIP section.

Pari gives you a knowing look and wiggles her eyebrows at you when she sees your bitten lips and Taehyung’s ruffled collar. You roll your eyes. If it was any other night, you’d be flustered but tonight, you can’t bring it in yourself to care.

Pari hands you a drink, freshly poured from the ice buckets on the table in front of you. You watch curiously as several of the club girls approach you and your friends with bottles of your favorite tequila in one hand and sparklers in another.

You cast Pari a look, as if to say seriously?

You’re suddenly very flustered, your cheeks heating up at all of the attention and the pretty women surrounding you. Jimin wraps an arm around your shoulders, throwing a grin at the woman pouring you a drink. Jimin bats his lashes at her and she smirks at him, shifting her gaze to you.

“I hear you’re the birthday girl?” She asks, but already knows the answer. Her eyes are shameless as she looks at you and Jimin, her lips curling into an even deeper smirk.

“Uh,” You mumble, your brain seemingly short-circuiting, “Yeah.”

“Yeah, she’s the birthday girl,” Jimin says, leaning forward.

“In that case, happy birthday,” The woman says with a wink and hands you a drink. You don’t even know what it’s mixed with, it could be straight tequila and you wouldn’t know.

“Hey! None for me?” Jimin exclaims and you roll your eyes, shrugging out from under his arm.

Taehyung is standing next to Jungkook, Namjoon and Hoseok and he’s laughing at you. It looks like Jungkook is scolding Taehyung. You already know why.

“Stop making fun of me,” You whine, swatting Taehyung’s shoulder.

“Watching you talk to pretty girls is worse than watching Jungkook talk to pretty girls,” Taehyung teases, sending himself into a fit of laughter. It earns himself another smack to his shoulder, by both you and Jungkook.

“I was ambushed,” You protest, but you laugh with him.

“The best kind of ambush, if you ask me,” Hoseok chimes in.

“Good thing nobody asked you, Hobi,” You deadpan, “Out of all of you, Jimin’s the only one with the guts to approach anyone here. So really, who’s the trainwreck now?”

“You’re so hot when you’re insulting them,” Taehyung says, his boxy smile never leaving his face.

“Except for Jungkook. Kook is a sweetheart and if anything happens to him, I’ll kill all of you and then myself,” You say easily, earning yourself three eyerolls.

“That’s not necessary-” Jungkook protests, the apples of his cheeks reddened from alcohol.

“Hey, maybe we don’t wanna talk to girls! We’re here for you, not for girls,” Namjoon says and your eyes soften.

“Okay, valid. But if you do want to talk to anyone, go for it. I want you all to have fun,” You say earnestly.

“Yeah, maybe we’ll sneak off to the dancefloor like you and Taehyung,” Yoongi adds seriously, sending the boys into a fit of giggles.

“Keep it up, Yoongi. You’re on my shit list now,” You joke and nudge his shoulder.

You turn your head to cast a fond smile at your friends and you see Pari talking to Jin quite closely. You wonder if that means anything, or if they’re genuinely just talking. You choose not to jump to conclusions, and instead hand Taehyung your drink in favor of some water.

***

You fail to notice Jimin give Taehyung a glance when you sit on the comfortable sofa, next to some of your friends from college. You can feel your feet beginning to ache and decide to give your feet a rest.

You should’ve known they were up to something when Jungkook winks at you. Sweet Jungkook winking at you. Before you can ask him if something is stuck in his eye, Jimin is on one knee and takes your hand in his.

“What are you doing,” You ask dryly, “If you’re about to ask me to marry you, the answer is no-”

“It’s your birthday. So this is our present,” Jimin says as Taehyung and Jungkook stand on either side of him.

Taehyung laughs at the confused look on your face. Before you can interrogate them further, he tips your chin up by the hook of his index finger and tells you to relax.

Your eyes widen when Jungkook nearly sits in your lap, his long legs folded at the knee on either side of your hips. He pulls away, enough so that you have to look up to catch a glimpse of his face. You’re eye level with his crotch, his thighs flexing only five inches away from you.

Your face heats up but you can’t help the choked laugh from exiting your throat.

Lap dances. They’re all giving you lap dances.

Jungkook is singing along to the song, his sweet features twisted into something seductive and sexy as he gyrates his hips in your face. He lowers his hips to yours, brushing against you but only slightly.

“Happy birthday,” He whispers in your ear before giving you another wink and swiveling his hips in your lap.

You think you’re ready to pass away. All of your friends are cheering you on as Jimin crawls into your lap next, and he’s even more pushy and touchy than Jungkook. He has one leg on the couch as he comes close to you and then he moves like fluid around you, his hips shifting and undulating to the rhythm of the song. He even has the audacity to allow his hand to float down his chest before thrusting his hips in your face.

Your face is burning.

And then comes Taehyung, looking at you like you’re the only one in the entire club. His eyes are dark and playful, his jaw set. You spread your legs further with a grin and welcome him into your embrace. He sits in your lap, his legs on either side of you and grinds his hips into yours in a way that only he is allowed to do. His hair falls into his eyes and you instantly reach up to brush the strands away from his face. A soft exhale of his name comes out of your mouth without you meaning to.

He pulls away abruptly, with a maddening smirk, probably to tease you more. But you pull him by his shirt with a rough tug and push your lips to his impatiently.

Another loud chorus of cheers comes from around you, wolf whistles from your friends but you only pay attention to Taehyung. It’s when you pull a soft moan from him that you remember where you are and pull your lips away from his with a soft pop.

“You’re insane,” You say, shoving his shoulder and peering over him to give a shy grin to Jungkook and Jimin, “All of you.”

“Happy birthday, princess,” Taehyung says so earnestly that you can’t help but drop another kiss to his wet lips.

“I think Pari wants a lap dance, too,” You say once Taehyung helps you up.

Pari protests but Taehyung only winks at her.

“That can be arranged.”

***

It’s after well after 3 AM by the time you all return to the Airbnb. Taehyung helps you take your makeup off, change out of your outfit and put on comfortable clothes- that process itself takes nearly thirty minutes on it’s own.

Of course, it doesn’t help that you keep getting distracted by his lips. He finally gives in when you at least put a shirt on, and he allows himself to get lost in your touch for what feels like only a few minutes.

“Hey, I’m coming in, so you both better be dressed and not having birthday sex,” Pari announces as she turns the lock on the door.

You ignore her and ignore Taehyung’s attempt to pull away from you, and instead press your lips to his neck. Pari clears her throat and you shoot her a lazy grin.

“Pizza’s here,” Pari says, “If you’re into that sort of thing.”

“Thanks, Pari-“

“Pari,” You whine, “I jus wanna have sex! Lots and lots of birthday sex-“

Taehyung covers your mouth with his hand to get you to stop running your mouth.

“I know, honey. It’s what you deserve,” Pari coos, “But you’ve got about thirteen people in this house who don’t know how to shut the fuck up. Talk about setting the mood, huh?”

You peek yourself out of Taehyung’s arms and launch yourself towards Pari.

“Jus wanna have lots and lots of sex, Pari,” You whisper like it’s a secret, “Do you wanna have lots and lots of sex, Pari?”

“Hey!” You exclaim, remembering something, “You were talking to Jin for most of the night! Where’s Jin-“

You’re about to bound into the living room wearing only a shirt. No bra, no underwear, no pants. Taehyung is certain you’d be mortified in the morning if you did so.

He pulls you back by your waist and you immediately forget what you were about to do.

Pari rolls her eyes at you fondly, casting an eye over to Taehyung with a nod and closes the door behind her. You turn in Taehyung’s arms, clumsily trying to help him out of his clothes. But instead you end up making a mess of your limbs and you sigh heavily. He sits you on the bed and tugs you into clothes, while you absently paw at him.

You brush his hair out of his eyes and cup his face tenderly, watching as he pulls away to change into black sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He slips into the bathroom for a few minutes and you vaguely hear the sink running. Taehyung pushes his hair away from his face with a headband and he gestures for you to follow him into the bathroom.

“Come wash your face, princess.”

“Too lazy to,” You shrug and flop onto the bed.

“You’ll be mad about it tomorrow.”

“That’s a future problem.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes and yanks you up, ignoring your noise of protest.

“I’ll wash your face for you,” Taehyung says, already washing his hands and pulling out a travel sized cleanser.

You close your eyes and lean back against his shoulder, humming as he gently rubs circles into your face. He wets a cotton pad with your eye makeup remover and gently pads it over your eyelids, over your lashes and around your eyes. Before you can protest about how long it’s taking, he washes your face of the cleanser and quickly moisturizes your face after realizing that you hadn’t brought your toner with you.

“Done,” He murmurs and kisses your cheek.

“Thank you, baby,” You smile and pull him in for a tight hug, “Pizza?”

“Pizza.”

***

You’re seated on the floor with a box of pizza, a carton of noodles and water next to you. Pari had ordered a ton of food- on Taehyung’s card, at his insistence. Jungkook is seated next to you, head on your shoulder as you feed him as if it’s second nature.

“The best pizza I’ve ever had,” He groans and you laugh.

“Everything tastes good at this hour,” You reply and take a bite for yourself.

Music is playing low in the background as you all eat and chatter amongst yourselves. You offer the pizza box to your friends seated on the couch.

“Everyone drink water and eat. You’ll all be hungover tomorrow,” Pari advises, “Except for Jungkook, he’s still young.”

“Hey, we’re all still young,” You protest, raising your water bottle at her, “Cheers to eternal youth.”

“You tellin’ me drinking and going out now is the same as drinking and going out when we were twenty-two?”

“Hey! I’m not twenty-two!” Jungkook protests with a mouth full of pizza.

“Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean,” Pari rolls her eyes.

Your eyelids are starting to feel heavy, your smile tired and lazy. Taehyung can tell you’re getting sleepy, from the way you listen to Pari and Jungkook bicker, with added quips from Jin and Jimin. Your eyes are glazed over as you absently laugh. You meet Taehyung’s eyes and he subtly gestures for you to come sit next to him.

You immediately do without warning and Jungkook nearly falls to the floor at your abrupt shift. He’s about to tease you for it but decides against it when you sit next to Taehyung and lean into him tiredly. Taehyung brings an arm around your shoulder to pull you in closer and your eyes begin to close of their own volition.

Once your breaths start to even out, Taehyung murmurs to Pari that he’ll put you to bed and then come out to help clean up. Pari waves him off, but he comes back anyway.

Taehyung says a quick goodnight to everyone as they start dispersing to their allocated beds and very nearly misses Jin walking into Pari’s bedroom with her.

And apparently he missed Jungkook sneaking into his bedroom, because he’s curled on his side facing you in the bed.

Taehyung shakes his head in amusement and lays next to you on your other side. You instinctively move closer to him, following his warmth. He presses a kiss to your hairline and closes his eyes as well, allowing sleep to take him.

#taehyung x reader #taehyung fluff #taehyung #bts x reader #kim taehyung

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bytheangell · 4 years ago

Text

Want the Same Things

( @shadowhunterbingo prompt: Drunken Confession) (Read on AO3)

Simon shouldn’t be drinking, but after everything that just happened at the Seelie Court he’s upset and frustrated, and can’t get out of his own head. He has the ridiculous idea that maybe getting drunk is the answer - maybe then his thoughts will be hazy enough for him to forget, at least for a little while. At the very least it might help him fall asleep, and he can’t suffer an existential crisis if he’s unconscious… he hopes.

Simon’s at the Hunter’s Moon because he doesn’t know anywhere else a vampire can go to get drunk. He wishes he had some sort of shady underground plasma connections and makes a mental note to get some in case the need ever arises in the future. Here and now, however, Maia takes one look at him and doesn’t ask any questions, only slides him over a drink. He’s grateful - at least if he can’t be somewhere he isn’t recognized he can be somewhere he’s mostly ignored.

That doesn’t last very long before he feels the presence of someone approaching and sliding into the stool next to him. Simon doesn’t have to look up from where his gaze rests firmly on the glass in front of him to know that it’s Jace. Jace Herondale, The Best Shadowhunter of His Generation. Jace Herondale, who is the very person Simon came here to try and drink away.

Jace motions for Maia to bring him a drink with a subtle hand gesture - Simon thinks idly that he must be a regular here if he can order without saying anything. Simon isn’t sure he likes the silence any longer, not when he knows it’s just building up to the inevitable, so he breaks it.

“You don’t have to be here,” Simon tells him coldly. “In fact, I’d prefer it if you weren’t.”

Jace takes a sip of his drink instead of replying immediately. “Clary said you weren’t answering her calls. I just wanted to make sure you were-”

“Please don’t say ‘okay’, Jace,” Simon pleads. “Nothing about this is okay.” Simon knocks back the rest of his plasma and orders another.

“I know I’m the last person you want to see right now,” Jace says. “But you have to know… Clary never meant to hurt you. You can’t be too hard on her.”

Simon closes his eyes, remembering the pained look on Clary’s face as she realized what she had to do, the regret he saw her direct at him before she turned to kiss Jace in front of him. The pain when he said he needed some time after they called things off... for now? For good? He can't think about that right now.

“I hardly think ignoring a few calls is being particularly hard on her,” Simon points out. “I just need some time. And some space. I think I deserve that much.”

“But you’re alright?” Jace asks, and when Simon turns a pointed glare in his direction Jace has the audacity to smirk and say “What? I didn’t say ‘okay’.”

“I’ll survive. You don’t have to worry about me flinging myself into a fire or anything,” Simon reassures him. “I just want to get drunk and forget this entire day and deal with it later.”

Simon takes a sip of his drink rather than knocking the whole thing back this time. The sounds around him are muted a bit, and his vision blurs slightly at the edges. He can feel the haze set in and it’s nice. It’s the nicest he’s felt since it happened.

“Alright. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I knew better than to let you go along in the first place, I could’ve stopped all of this before it ever happened. And I should’ve. That was my call to make and I fucked it up. Also, for the record, Clary doesn’t know I’m here, she didn’t ask me to come or anything. In fact, she’d probably kill me if she knew I came to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong. I just wanted to make sure you were as relatively alright as possible right now… and I guess you are, so I’ll go, then.” Jace says what he came here to say and stands up, the bar chair pushing away from the counter with a scratching sound along the floor.

“You can tell Clary I don’t hate her,” Simon tells Jace as he gets up to leave. He looks back down at the table and mutters “She wouldn’t have been the kiss I wanted most, either.”

At least, Simon thinks he’s muttering that, but his voice is louder than he realizes and Jacee stops in his tracks

“What was that?” Jace asks.

“Nothing,” Simon says quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly, because Jace sits back down and Simon curses.

“Simon…” Jace says, turning to face him, and Simon averts his gaze. “What are you saying?”

Simon knows he won’t get rid of Jace now, not until he explains himself. He could lie, make up some girl from school, or one of Eric’s friends or something, but he’s too drunk to think of anything convincing and just wants Jace gone.

“If I had to pick,” Simon says, still not looking at Jace. “I would’ve kissed you, too.”

Maybe now he can be alone - now Jace can leave in disgust or confusion or whatever, and Simon can get the peace he came here for. Simon braces himself for the inevitable fallout and instead finds Jace’s hand wrapping around his wrist and pulling him unsteadily off his barstool and toward the door.

Simon, who hadn’t quite braced for this reaction, is helpless to do anything but allow himself to be led outside and around the corner into the small alley next to the bar.

“If you’re going to hit me-” Simon starts, not sure why Jace would hit him for that but not sure what else he would want to drag him into an alley for.

“I’m not going to hit you,” Jace says. “I just didn’t want to do this in a room full of people.”

Then, in another move Simon absolutely never would’ve predicted, Jace brings his hands under Simon’s chin, tilting Simon’s face over and up ever so slightly to look directly into his eyes. Whatever Jace is looking for, he must find it, because a moment later Jace leans forward and kisses Simon.

Simon wonders if he’s hallucinating. Maybe there was something off with that plasma, or maybe he got too drunk and fell asleep at the bar and this is all just a dream. But the brick behind him feels real enough, and so do Jace’s lips on his which now move to return the kiss eagerly.

When Jace pulls away Simon blinks at him a few times, the shock settling in properly now in the aftermath of their kiss.

“You can’t be too surprised after all the flirting I did this morning,” Jace points out.

Simon thinks back to little moments he wrote off as Jace just teasing him.

“I said you had a pretty face. I talked you up to the Seelie Queen,” Jace adds for emphasis, in Simon’s silence. “I don’t say nice things about anyone. Ever.”

Simon starts to smile. “But you did about me.”

“Now you’re getting it, Lewis,” Jace says.

“As much as I’d love to hear more nice things about me,” Simon says hopefully. “Maybe we can go back to the kissing?”

Simon watches as Jace laughs with a smile that lights up his whole face before leaning in again, wasting no time complying with Simon’s request.

Suddenly, Simon doesn’t want to forget a single detail about this night.

#jimon #jace herondale #simon lewis #shadowhunters #hmdiscord #light angst with a happy ending!#...well a happy ending for Jimon #jfdklsfjklsdfjdkls #elle writes a few deadbeat lines #long post

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softsillytwsted · 4 years ago

Text

Among Us with the First Years

Yall guess who’s late to the party! I played a long session with my friends and it jump-started my writing.

Warnings: mentions of blood and violence.

General

First of all, the number one rule of this game is to keep quiet and stay anonymous until the next meeting, but no one follows this. For one thing, y’all are sitting in a circle while playing this so it’s hard not to talk

Ace also finds it extremely funny to mess with Deuce and Sebek

Then there’s Grim who can’t play and is instead back-seat playing on your lap. He is also honest to a fault so it’s obvious when you two are the imposter

Ace, Deuce and Epel are always down to play, but it takes Jack and Sebek some goading for them to join. Luckily Jack never backs down from a competition and Lilia encourages Sebek to ‘enjoy his youth’

You all usually play a quick game during lunch time or do sleepovers at Ramshackle and play all night long

ANGRY RANTS IN THE GHOST CHATS

The emergency button was pushed. “Speed run on Ace let’s go!”

Ace

Ace uses the red character with the cherry hat

He’s the best at this game hands down

This smooth talker is good at persuading people, especially Deuce, to his side

He can also start a harmless conversation while murdering someone in cold blood like a psychopath

Maybe because he loves playing tricks on people that he’s able to use sabotages to his full advantage

Although Ace is the best at the game, because he’s a little shit he’s on everyone’s hit list and will die if he’s not careful

Surprisingly enough, Deuce isn’t Ace’s favorite person to kill. It’s Sebek. Sebek’s reactions just make everything funnier.

Ace looked at the task bar. “It’s been silent for awhile now. Who’s not done with their tasks yet?”

“I’ve finished,” replied Epel, the pouting ghost.

“Same,” you chirped while Grim huffed in your lap.

“I finished too,” Jack, the ghost, responded as he hovered disapprovingly at the imposter in-game.

“I-I still got a few left...” Deuce muttered.

“I have a few left as well,” Sebek declared. You/Grim, Deuce, Sebek and Ace are the only ones alive.

“Well, I’m done,” Ace sighed. “Can you two hurry up? It’s getting kinda boring waiting around like this.”

Oxygen tanks have been sabotaged.

“Funny how this happens right after you said that!” Grim accused Ace. “Y/n! Get the top one, the top one! We’re not gonna lose this game!”

“Alright already! Deuce stop panicking and finish up your tasks. Ace or Sebek should do-”

The moment you reached your destination, you watched helplessly as Ace’s cherry red character slashed your character in pieces. Grim hissed in annoyance as you silently stared up at Ace. He winked at you.

“-the bottom one...”

Deuce

Deuce uses the dark blue character with the egg

Ace is the first person he goes after when he’s the imposter

Unironically likes to do the tasks and is the fastest at doing them

He also can’t multi-task. Focusing on his tasks while watching out for corpses and the imposter is impossible for him

Will literally run past a corpse 5 times before finally noticing it

This boy isn’t good under pressure especially when everyone is yelling at him. If the oxygen tanks or reactor is sabotaged, Deuce will bang on every wall before reaching it

Also can’t come up with a good alibi when accused

Epel pushed the emergency button.

“I believe Deuce is the imposter... when I was passing by I saw him standing still in the hallway and when I came back he was still there.”

“W-what? No no no I wasn’t! I was moving around! I’m not the imposter!”

“That sounds exactly like what an imposter would say!” Sebek barked.

“Yep, I definitely think Deuce is the imposter,” Ace chuckled. Ace doesn’t really care if Deuce was the imposter or not. The frustrated look on Deuce’s face as he tries to think of a way to clear his name fueled the ginger’s amusement.

“I don’t know, maybe he was just taking his time looking at his map like the last few games?” You tried to defend Deuce, but only Jack agreed with you.

“Nah let’s kill him.” Ace

“Ya.” Epel

“Ditto.” Grim

“Agreed.” Sebek

“...” Jack

And so Deuce was ejected into space where it was revealed that he in fact was not the imposter. He pouted at his phone, still trying to figure out where to go next. “I told you I’m innocent.”

“Cheer up Deuce! Next time should be better,” you giggled at him. Deuce perked up at your laughter and beamed at you.

“Thanks for believing in me back there. I can count on you next time right?”

“...Deuce did you forget the imposter is chosen at random?”

The imposter was later revealed to be Epel.

Jack

Chose the white character with the ski goggles

The second worst player in the game

Is the person who always enforces others not to group together, but when he sees two people in a room he will hover over the door to make sure one of them won’t kill the other

The boy has a hard time lying and faking doing tasks and everyone exploits this

The quickest games are when he’s the imposter and sometimes it’s over before he can even kill someone

When Jack is innocent: “Jack are you the imposter?” “No”

When Jack isn’t: “Jack are you the imposter?” Ears flat, tail lifeless “...”

This game gives him the worst existential crisis because a part of him wants to play with all his might but the other JUST. CAN’T. LIE.

You found Sebek’s cold body lying in the admin room. All hell breaks loose once you report the body.

“FINALLY SOMEONE FOUND MY BODY! I was getting frustrated when SOMEBODY keeps passing me,” Sebek shouts while looking pointedly at Deuce.

Deuce shamefully looks away.

“Alright let’s start with the usual questions,” you began and turned to Jack. “Jack are you the imposter?”

“...No.”

“Okay Jack’s out-”

“Hold it! We shouldn’t rule out Jack just because he said so!” Ace interrupted you with a scowl on his lips. Jack snarled at the accusation.

“Are you calling me a liar?” he growled out. Unperturbed at the 192cm wall of muscle who was bristling at him, Ace’s face twisted into a mocking smirk.

Well I ain’t calling you a truther. “That’s the whole point of the game! For all we know, you could’ve finally wizened up and are lying to us now!”

“...Ace has a point,” Deuce held his chin in thoughtful agreement. On the other hand, you and Epel were conflicted.

“I’d say we vote Ace out,” Grim said with a sly grin on his face. “I saw his character look at us funny.” The little monster still held a grudge against Ace for saying Grim sucked at the game. (”But it’s true! You’re paws can’t even hit the buttons!” “Shut up Ace!”)

“That is suspicious,” simple, easily swayed Deuce agreed.

“Wait wait wait! How the fuck does that make sense?” Ace retorted. At the same time, Grim began smashing his paws at the screen and managed to vote for Ace. (“Hah! Take that Ace!”)

Deuce cast his vote immediately after, and Jack followed up while sending an amused smirk towards Ace. Epel was red in the face from trying to hold in his laughter from the silliness of it all. Eventually, he managed to vote for Ace.

Ace was ejected into space. Crew mates win.

“Lucky guess,” Ace grumbled under his breath.

Epel

Epel chooses the purple character and uses the straw hat

Has the most wins under his belt and is that one player that never gets killed

Epel usually plays it safe until someone riles him up and now he’s killing like he’s got something to prove

The master of vent assassinations.

Seriously. Usually when the first body gets reported, it’s been discovered that two other people have been killed already.

Tends to go on cams more than do the tasks

You, Ace and Jack were doing tasks in the electrical room. The lights go off and Epel’s purple character jumps out of a vent to stab you with its tongue. When the lights come back on, Epel is gone. Jack discovers your dead body and reports it immediately.

“It was Ace. I was in the same room with him and Y/n when the lights were off. Then he killed Y/n.”

“Hah? No way why would I do something that obvious?”

“So you admit you’re the imposter?”

Everyone votes Ace out. You discreetly squint at Epel for being so devious, but the lavender-haired boy only smiles sweetly at you in return. You were Epel’s first kill in this round, so after you finished your tasks you spent the rest of the game following him around.

You quickly realized that nothing was more frightening than Epel, a 156cm ball of fury.

You watched him hide in the medical room’s vent while Jack was being scanned. The minute Deuce, who stuck around to see Jack start the scan, left the room Epel jumped out and murdered Jack in cold blood. You saw Jack flinch as his character died, but he resumed his tasks without a grumble.

With only two people left alive, Epel stalked the halls to look for his last kill. He found both Sebek and Deuce in the cafeteria. One is at the vending machine, and the other is at the garbage disposal. Deuce finished first and spied Epel heading towards Sebek. “Oh Epel, did you finish your ta-” he watched as Epel’s character slashed into Sebek. The game ends soon after.

Thanks to Epel, the kill cool down was extended... again.

Sebek

Chose the lime green character with the horns (”THEY’LL NEVER BE AS MAJESTIC AS WAKA-SAMA’S”)

Living in the Valley of Thorns has him unfamiliar with technology in general so he’s extremely clumsy with the controls.

He also has a hard time navigating the area and is always hitting the walls and missing the doors

Also the slowest at doing tasks

Speaking of tasks, there was one game where he thought he finished all of them and he ended up giving the imposter enough time to kill everyone (”If the tasks are not all green that means you didn’t finish them!” “WHAT!?”)

Sebek is very mission-oriented and although he considers it beneath him to lie, he will to fulfill his objective

Will go the long way around to try and avoid his shifty friends

Absolutely fun to tease but not the worst at the game to be fair

“Wait so who did you see kill Jack, Deuce? Sebek or Hot Sebek?” you asked the teal-eyed teen.

“For the last time STOP USING MY NAME!”

“Quiet normal Sebek,” you shushed him. “Let Deuce talk.”

“It was the hot one... H-hot Sebek.” Poor Deuce tried so hard to contain his laughter as he spoke. Ace was already rolling on the floor and Epel was stifling a chuckle with his hand.

Sebek was fuming but stayed quiet while everyone else voted. Soon Hot Sebek AKA Ace gets ejected into space and the crew members win.

“We’re starting a new session and this time no one else will use my name. GOT IT?”

“Sounds good,” Jack said as he glowered at Ace. “I don’t understand why you would want to hide your identity. We should all face each other with everything bared - fair and square!”

“That is exactly right, Jack! Cowardly tactics should be frowned upon!”

Ace deadpanned, “Did you guys forget that’s the whole point of the game?”

#twisted wonderland #twst #Ace Trappola #Deuce Spade #Jack Howl #Epel Felmier #Sebek Zigvolt #Grim #twst scenarios #???#twst headcannons #?#why is everything i write inconsistent #inspired by the 4 hr session i had with my friends #tw// gore #tw// blood

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schrijverr · 4 years ago

Text

To be or not to be

Brian has an existential crisis about whether he is real, The Toy Soldier helps him. Later The Toy Soldier is questioning itself and goes to Brian, they find solance in the other.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: idk, this might not be for you if you are prone to existential crisis. Tell me if I missed anything or if you want me to tag something!

~~~~~~~~~~

Brian was panicking, he didn’t even know why he was panicking, but he was. Well that was a lie, he knew damn well why he was panicking, but the reason only made him panic more.

He had woken up to no sound.

It was very unusual for life on Aurora to be silent, so Brian had immediately become worried. He had hurried out of bed and to the common area, only to find multiple members up and running, shouting and shooting at each other. But he couldn't hear a thing.

The others had noticed him standing there, confused and panicked. They had asked him what was wrong. He had tried to explain, seeing them cringe and lean in as his volume switched between too hard and too soft according to their reactions.

They quickly figured out that a wire had disconnected in his sleep, something that was easily mended, but it left Brian with a sour taste in his mouth. Well, it would have if he’d had any taste buds, which he didn’t, because he was a robot.

He wasn’t real.

And there it was, the real issue that was making him walk through the halls disorientated as he tried to calm down and not spiral. It wasn’t working out for him so far, though.

Brain was about to just sit down and curl into a ball when he ran into The Toy Soldier. It was whistling a tune as it marched, but it fell still when it saw Brian. It cocked its head to the side and asked: “Are You Quite Alright, Old Sport?”

“Yeah.” Brian tried weakly, unsure why he was even lying.

“I Am Not Sure That Is Correct, But I Do Not Think I Can Tell You Your Feelings Are Not Real.” TS replied.

“Maybe you just can, TS. After all why would I be real?” Brian sighed sadly.

The Toy Solider frowned, then carefully said: “I Might Be Understanding Your Tone Wrong, But You Seem Upset About That Fact.”

Brain scuffed his foot on the floor and looked down, before he shrugged: “I don’t know, you know? I feel I should be real, but then my body reminds me how not human I am and it freaks me out and then I wonder why I’m even trying to be real when I’m so obviously not. I mean, my morality is controlled by a little switch, who am I even fooling?”

“Not Being Real Isn’t The End Of The World.” The Toy Soldier said in an attempt to cheer him up.

He smiled and said: “I know that, TS. Sorry, if I made you feel like you not being real is dumb or something, I just want to be real, but I don’t feel like I am, you know?”

“I Do Not Feel, So You Didn’t, Do Not Worry.” The Toy Soldier assured him, “And You Are Quite Real.”

“Really? How do you know?” Brian asked, glad to have someone there to tell him that he wasn’t fake and he existed.

“Well, When I Feel Particularly Real, I Will List Things That Real People Do That I Don’t. You Do A Lot Of Real People Stuff.” The Toy Soldier explained.

“Can you tell me some of them, I kind of need that right now.” Brian told it.

“Of Course.” it replied cheerily, “Here Lets Sit.”

It sat down on the ground in the middle of the hallway, motioning Brian to follow its example. Brian shrugged and sat down next to it as he waited for it to start. It pretended the think for a moment, then began: “Well, For Starters You Sleep.”

“You don’t?” Brian couldn't help but asked confused.

“No, I Tried To Pretend A Few Times, But It Is Dreadfully Boring And I Can Use That Time For Much More Productive Things.” The Toy Soldier said.

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“That Is Because You Sleep Like A Real Person.” The Toy Soldier smiled, earning a small smile back, “Another Thing Is Your Eating.”

“I would hardly call drinking oil eating, TS.” Brian protested.

“It Is Something You Consume For Fuel To Keep Your Body Going, Correct?” TS asked.

“Well, yes, but-”

“Then I Do Not See How It Is Anything Different From Eating.” The Toy Soldier said firmly, “You Also Feel Pain, I Have Been Told That Is A Very Human And Real Experience.”

“You feel pain too, don’t you?” Brian asked.

“No, I Am Made Of Wood, There Is No Nervous System Running Through These Limbs, Old Sport.” The Toy Soldier smiled.

“But I heard you complain when Jonny stole your arm the other day.” Brian was still a bit confused about this new revelation.

“Just Because I Cannot Experience Pain, Does Not Mean It Is Not Uncomfortable To Function With A Limb Less.” TS explained.

Brian shrugged and made a ‘that’s-fair’-face. He had calmed considerably in comparison to earlier, his shoulders had relaxed and the fans in his chest weren’t working on overdrive to keep him cool and functioning anymore.

“Thank you, TS. I really needed that.” he smiled to the wooden soldier.

“No Problem, Old Sport. Here To Help.” The Toy Soldier saluted, standing up, helping Brian up as well, before it went on its merry way.

After that life had continued with only to normal, minimal amount of existential crises from Brian and he was quite happy for it. He would replay parts of the conversation he’d had with The Toy Soldier to make him feel better about himself, which usually worked.

Then, about a week or so later, he got woken up in the middle of the night by a frowning TS. He knew it had stayed behind with Jonny and Ashes, who were playing cards and being mean to their own health, which was something for another day, but he had no clue why it would be here.

“What happened?” he therefore asked, groggily and confused.

“I Am Questioning My Fakeness And I Would Appreciate Input Of Someone Who Has More Understanding Of The Topic Than Ashes Or Jonny.” The Toy Soldier explained.

Immediately Brian was more awake, he sat upright and blinked the sleep away, before he asked: “What caused this?”

“Jonny Insulted Me And I Pretended To Be Upset, Before I Had Realized, I’d Done So. Now I Am Questioning If I Am Even Fake Or If I Am Faking My Fakeness.” it told him.

Brian thought about that for a moment. The Toy Soldier had been there for him during his identity crisis, so he would be there for it. Then he said: “That just means you’ve gotten good at acting, TS.”

“But It Was So Quick, Almost Like It Was A Response.” The Toy Soldier replied.

“Well, some actors start to become so used to playing their role, if they have for a while, that they start thinking and acting like that character, since they absorbed them so much. It is probably the same for you.” Brian reasoned.

“Isn’t That Different? They Already Have Emotions, Those Can Change.” TS tried to debunk Brians argument.

“No, no. You’ve been playing real for centuries now, some reactions were bound to become instinctive after so much time. It’s just a well trained reflex.” Brian was becoming more sure in his thoughts as he went on, “You aren’t about to fall over and sleep or eat or do other real stuff, right? It was just a reflex, like starting to walk when someone does, that doesn’t make you real.”

That seemed to cheer The Toy Soldier up as it chirped: “Thank You, Old Sport. You Are Quite Right, I Have Merely Mastered My Craft.”

“Yeah, you did.” Brian smiled, suppressing a yawn.

“Oh, Right. You Need Sleep. I Should Be Going.” TS said apologetically.

“It’s alright, TS. I don’t mind.” Brian said, but The Toy Soldier was already backing away, saying a quick thanks as it saluted before it disappeared out of the room.

And after that it had become a ritual for one or the other to appear whenever they were sad or not feeling like their reality fit.

Brian learned all the reason The Toy Soldier was fake because every difference made him real, while The Toy Soldier did it for the opposite reasons. And Brian was not going to lie, having TS use him as a case study of what real people did, was pretty fucking validating.

He didn’t know if the other had caught on to the new camaraderie between the two of them and frankly he didn’t care. The tea parties with inedible cookies and the late night talks about philosophy TS would back out of when it got too much by claiming it was something for real people and it was done pretending for the day, made life bearable.

It made life good.

TS could be fake and Brian could be real and both could exist together, because even though they were opposites, no one got it better than the other.

On the days when TS didn’t feel like pretending, it could be fake in Brians presence and he would make sure none of the others messed with it, while on days when reality felt beyond Brians grasp he could rant to it about being real or fake and it would listen and not complain about him making its head hurt.

It was nice, Brian decided, it was nice to be understood.

#RR writing #The Mechanisms #the mechs #drumbot brian #the toy soldier #theyre buddies #existentialism

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llendrinall · 4 years ago

Note

So i got another fic idea in my head The dates are very important. 1 (May 1998) Percy was a Ministry spy and he worked closely with Albus. He saved a lot of lives no matter their blood or if they were creatures. And at the battle of Hogwarts he saves Freds life but hes in crit condition George is a total ass (He's angry and takes it out on Percy) going off at him saying nasty things along the lines of that Percy isn't welcome at the Weasley home anymore.

2 When he tries to go to the House to talk to them he's not treated very well ("Dont wanna hear excuses Percy"). He just give up, packs his things in his flat, & the next morning he goes, gives his mission reports that date from the start of his Ministry career along with his resignation letter on Shacklebot's desk. Then he's off to America to start over he snuck into Freds hospital room & used Snapes healing charms as a way to 'set things right' before leaving.

3. Percy is now in New York, gets a job, and then spends the next 6 months working diligently and whatnot. Then he meets Audrey Smith, they end up going on a few dates and she introduces Percy to her local gym and they become gym buddies and soon start dating. (Aug 2000) After 2 years together (They're married) Percy and Audrey find out they're expecting. And then the twins are born on the 2nd of May 2001. Percy laughs a bit as Audrey pats him the shoulder and says "They sure chose the date"

4. Sep 11 2001) Audrey dies in the 9/11 attack (she was a muggle) & Percy is left a widow with 2 daughters to look after. (June 2002) He bumps into Oliver who's on a quidditch training exchange. They catch up. (Oliver doesn't bring up the fact that Percy's fam has been looking for him for years and that he's saved so many lives) As December rolls around Oliver spends it at Percy's, meeting the kids and hearing Percy tell him everything (His wife, his family and the war)

(I think this is part 5? Idk its 2am here) (Jan - May) They spend a lot of time together after Xmas and slowly Percy begins to heal a bit more after Audrey's death. Oliver ends up going back to the UK and Percy misses him. (July) Oliver comes back with news that he's transferred to an NY team "They might not be big on Quidditch here but they're extremely good, Perce" (Its not because Oliver has been inlove with Percy since Hogwarts. Neither is it because he loves Molly & Lucy to death either)

6 (Feb 2004) The UK Papers get a picture of Oliver, Percy the twins out and it BLOWS UP. Charlie (The only one who even heard Percy out back after the war ended, He knows the others did wrong by him) floos in and then warns Percy about everyone knowing he's here and that they're gonna be coming in 2 days. So He ends up having Charlie take the girls. He ends up meeting with his fam and it takes a long long time for them to heal and fix things.

7. His Fam only get to meet Molly and Lucy when they're 6. When they're 7 he and Oliver gets married. Idk why but i seem to only send you these fic ideas when im hella tired and at 2am. T_T Why am i like this? So Audrey named Molly and Perce named Lucy (After each others moms)

Honestly, What can I say at this point? You have the whole story thought out. Go for it and write it!

It’s not the kind of story I write, though. But since you dropped the materials here, I can share how I would assemble it.

I would avoid New York. Big cities have a character. They are characters and you have to treat them as such. In Life skills, London is a character, complex and big and hard and beautiful. In Secret language of plants, even though Draco and Harry end up in London, I had them stay in the house because London was too big of a character for that stage of the story.

So, no New York. If I had to use a well-known city I would go with Boston, I think. Otherwise, a small one with a nice name.

Audrey doesn’t die on 9/11. Well, she dies on that day, but not on the attack. It’s something as simple and dull as a traffic accident. Percy wasn’t with her, not that it would have mattered. Yes, wizards have potions to mend bones instantly and protective charms and spells to stop the momentum, but Audrey died instantly, and no one could have seen the car until it was on her.

The driver was an old man, fumbling with that new invention, a mobile phone, trying to call his daughter who worked in New York.

Magic Law on the States is a bit… over the place. It would be extremely simple to put a curse or a hex that man. If Percy was clever about it, it wouldn’t be too illegal. But he doesn’t. Percy realizes it wouldn’t make him feel better.

Percy doesn’t particularly like the States. The tea is terrible, the coffee is weak, the spelling is painful and people are entirely too talkative. But it’s sunnier than England and the orange juice is good, so he stays.

He goes to Romania every summer to visit Charlie. The girls love it there and it was always easy to talk to Charlie. Charlie who had such a promising career in Quidditch and rejected the fame and fortune for a thankless career working with dragons. Not even training dragons for bank security, which is a cool and profitable career, but fighting that very same use.

Charlie only goes back home for a week during Christmas, so he gets it. They don’t have to talk about it, never mention that weird state of loving your family and not wanting to be with them, to fight, to have to explain and justify your very existence and your life decisions.

He meets Oliver in Romania. Supposedly Oliver is there to see the sights and rest his left shoulder, that was injured at the end of the league. But he is not the first Quidditch player who has a crisis of faith and comes to Charlie with questions. So far, none of them had taken up dragon-protection, but one became a broomstick racer and another is the head coach of an Italian team.

Charlie only thinks about dragons. Oliver only thinks about Quidditch and is in the middle of an existential crisis. So it’s perfectible understandable that the topic of Percy, his war heroics and his semi mythical status is never brought up. To be fair, Charlie doesn’t know much about it because he doesn’t read English newspapers and his family never talks about Percy when he is around. Oliver just thinks that Percy is the first Competent Adult he has ever met and is much more interested about this Figuring Life Out than any hero status.

So it’s fair to say that the headlines come as a surprise.

Someone snapped a picture of Oliver and Percy sitting very close together in a park, with twin stupid loving smiles. It was all perfectly innocent. Molly was doing something cute out of frame and they never kept any physical distance between themselves, not even in Hogwarts. But it doesn’t matter. The picture is sold as proof of the mysterious war hero and the dashing sport star carrying a secret love affair. It’s a beautiful story, powerful. Percy is the tragic handsome hero and Oliver the right person to bring love back in his life after years nursing the wounds of war. Or perhaps Oliver is the sweet and honest good boy, the boyfriend every mother wants for her daughter, seduced by the man living a life of exotic and daring adventures.

Whatever it is, the world wants to believe in it. So much so that bloody Draco Malfoy pops up to warn them that there is a dozen of rabid, ruthless, paparazzies coming their way. He knows because Malfoy owns the most read magazine in England and has put a bounty on a photo of the two of them kissing.

Paparazzies don’t have a concept of trespassing, but breaking and entering into a dragon reserve has certain difficulties that can’t be bypassed with an alohomora and a lack of morals. Percy and Oliver spend the rest of the month in the reserve, not daring to go out. Twenty-two days in each other’s company, hiking in the mountains and playing with the girls. Molly and Lucy have decided that Oliver is similar to Charlie in all the right ways, so they like him.

On day nineteen, they kiss. Someone gets a picture of it, but, in his excitement, the photographer wanders into a nest of young dragon carps. He is recued three hours later sans pants or shoes. The photo of their first kiss is lost.

Oliver says he is almost done with his existential crisis but now Percy has one of his own.

You see, there is something Oliver hasn’t said. Something he didn’t mention at all. And Percy doesn’t know if Oliver just hasn’t noticed (it took him two years to realize all the Weasleys were siblings) or if he noticed but… doesn’t care?

There is more than one reason why only Charlie has met the girls.

Even now that Percy has received letters from every family member (including Freaking Aunt Muriel) and even a surprise visit from them (he has a life debt with Charlie for the heads-up) and they have begun the unpleasant work of fixing their relationship; even now, they haven’t met Molly and Lucy.

It’s because of the Weasley cousin they never talk about. The accountant.

Percy knows that it’s perfectly normal. Many wizarding children don’t exhibit any magic until they are at least seven. But he also knows that every single person in his family was levitating toys (Bill, Ron and Ginny) or stopping spilled milk in mid-air (him) or shooting sparks (Charlie and the twins) by the time they were three.

Molly and Lucy had done nothing magical so far. Nothing at all. And Percy knows, in his heart of hearts, that if anyone makes them feel inferior, if anyone dares to say anything against them, he will go the Dark Lord route and kill every single person prejudiced against squibs. He might kill every single wizard and witch and eradicate all magic, so his girls won’t feel inferior to anyone. He found in himself the strength to forgive the man than took Audrey’s life, but he won’t do the same for the person who speaks against his children. He can’t.

On Christmas Percy reluctantly agrees to go to England with the girls because Charlie promises he will be there too. It is not easy. It is, in fact, very, very difficult and tense. He is forever grateful at Lee Jordan, who is glued to Fred’s hip cracking jokes and defusing tension. Also, Angelina Johnson takes George and Ginny to the kitchen and informs them they are the biggest idiots she has ever had the misfortune of meeting and that helps to avoid anyone saying something unforgivable they will regret their whole life. On Christmas’ Eve Harry Potter takes everyone’s wands because he is Harry Potter “and I do what I want” which means no one hexes anyone and they can overindulge the punch.

Oh, why bother? The whole thing is terrible and awkward and it hurts. But it is a necessary painful step, either to fix things with time or to say that he tried, actually tried, and never look back at this moment with regret.

Also, he gets to meet with Oliver. It turns out that Oliver hadn’t noticed the girls’ lack of magic, but he also doesn’t care. Why would he care? Are you- are you supposed to care? Is this another thing Oliver missed because he only thinks about Quidditch? What’s wrong with not having magic in any case? Oliver’s mother is muggle and it is agreed that she is wonderful.

(Even Potter says so. Percy has no idea of when Harry Potter met Oliver’s mum, but he speaks of her in the highest terms).

You can read about what happened next on issues of 32, 33 & 34 of Alakazam as well as special issues 17, 21, 22 and 25. Draco Malfoy earns 1.5 million galleons with issue 33, setting a record for most successful print in wizarding history. Then he obliterates that record with a single stolen picture of Percy and Oliver’s wedding. He committed around a dozen crimes to get that picture, got drunk on champagne and victory and asked Harry Potter to marry him.

(He also donated all the money to a newly created society for the support and trade education of squibs, but only two people in the world know that).

#asks #percy weasley #oliver wood #Anonymous #vese: dad percy

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twh-news · 3 years ago

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What is the Multiverse? Five Must-See Alternate Timeline TV Episodes to Watch After ‘Loki’

Look, I get it — multiverse storytelling can be confusing. Marvel’s Loki streaming series is only the latest in a long line of stories that plays fast and loose with the idea of multiple or parallel timelines. Loki follows the God of Mischief (Tom Hiddleston) after he gets involved with the Time Variance Authority, or the TVA, as they try to correct problems in individual timelines. This provides us a chance to see lots of variant Lokis (including our favorite chompy green boy) and opens up opportunities for a lot of zany storytelling that doesn’t necessarily have to impact the primary timeline.

The idea of multiple universes existing at the same time isn’t anything new. Some of the earliest examples date back to Norse mythology, which divided existence into nine worlds. DC Comics first introduced the idea of the DC multiverse in its comics in All Star Comics #3 in 1940, and Marvel later followed suit, starting with their What if? series in the 1970s. While the concept of parallel universes might feel a little daunting to contemplate on your own, these five television episodes will help you understand the magic of the multiverse.

“The Parallel” — The Twilight Zone

When it comes to television that changed the way we think, Rod Serling‘s The Twilight Zone is the forebear of them all. The original series ran from 1959 to 1964 and contained stories from science fiction greats like Ray Bradbury (Farhenheit 451) and Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). Each episode in the anthology series told a different short story, most with the intent of exploring some political or social allegory.

In 1963’s “The Parallel”, Major Robert Gaines (Steve Forrest) is orbiting earth in his space capsule when he suddenly blacks out and wakes up on Earth with no memory of how he got there. He’s uninjured, but the world he’s arrived in doesn’t quite match the one he left. His daughter suspects he’s someone else, his house suddenly has a white picket fence that his wife swears has always been there, and everyone keeps calling him Colonel, which matches his uniform but not his memories. He’s a little shaken until he comes to the conclusion that he’s in a parallel universe, and then takes steps to get back to his own timeline.

“The Parallel” marks the first instance of multiverse storytelling on TV. It doesn’t do anything particularly groundbreaking and is a middle-of-the-road The Twilight Zone episode, but it’s the first, which means it paved the way for everyone else to tell TV stories about parallel universes and doppelgangers.

“Mirror Mirror”/”Crossover” — Star Trek/Star Trek Deep Space Nine

Did I say doppelgangers? If there’s one franchise that has capitalized on the potential fun of meeting your alternate self, it’s Star Trek. In the “Mirror Mirror” episode of the original series, a teleporter mishap sends Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura to a parallel dimension where everything is reversed. The Federation has become an evil Empire, Kirk is a tyrant, and Spock has a goatee (that’s how you know he’s evil). The episode started several tropes about doppelgangers (including the whole goatee thing), and paved the way for future Star Trek iterations to really go wild with the Mirror Universe.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine explored the Mirror Universe more than any other Star Trek series, with stories taking place there over five different episodes. The first of these, “Crossover,” is the most important and sets the stage for the later mirror episodes. In “Crossover,” Major Kira (Nana Visitor) and Doctor Bashir (Alexander Siddig) have an accident inside of the wormhole near the planet Bajor, sending them to the Mirror Universe. It’s been decades since Kirk and co. crossed over, but things are still pretty backwards in the Mirrorverse. Instead of the Federation, there’s a coalition between the Klingons, Cardassians, and Bajorans. Terrans (a fancy word for Earthlings) have been enslaved. The space station Deep Space Nine is instead a mining operation, run by the alternate Kira, the Intendant.

There are few things in the world as enjoyable as watching Visitor play her double role. The entire cast really gets to go for it with their Mirrorverse personas, and you can tell they’re having a blast. The Mirror Universe in Deep Space Nine gave the actors a chance to explore their characters in new ways, and it provided more insight into their individual pathos. Sure, the Mirrorverse versions were the “evil” versions of themselves, but there were still versions of themselves. Kira is a strong leader with a dry sense of humor, regardless of whether she’s the former Bajoran freedom fighter or the Intendant. “Crossover” set up the following four Deep Space Nine Mirror episodes, including episodes where Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) must pretend to be his doppelganger and deal with the fact that his dead wife is still very alive in the parallel universe. Some of the episodes are silly fun, and some are a bit more heady, but they all get to explore sides of these characters that we’ve never seen before.

“Remedial Chaos Theory” — Community

The NBC sitcom Community frequently made its own riffs on popular tropes, and it had an utter field day with parallel universes. In the season 3 episode, “Remedial Chaos Theory,” viewers are treated to seeing six different ways the same evening could have played out. The friends, who met in a Spanish study group at their community college, are all celebrating Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) moving into a new apartment. When the pizza arrives, group leader Jeff (Joel McHale) suggests they roll dice to see who has to go get the pizza. Abed, who is sensitive to tropes, points out that Jeff is creating new timelines by introducing chance, and then we get to see each of them play out.

What “Remedial Chaos Theory” does is brilliant. It’s a bottle episode, all set in one location with no visible impact on the overall plot. However, by seeing how the situations change each time a single character is removed from the group dynamic, we’re able to learn so much more about the group as a whole. The episode gives us insight into the characters and their relationships by changing up the formula just a pinch and removing one element. In the Darkest Timeline, which leaves Pierce (Chevy Chase) dead and severely maims the rest of the group, it’s revealed that things fall apart without Troy in the mix. At the end of the episode, the prime timeline continues and it’s Jeff who has to go get the pizza. This ends up being the most positive of the timelines, which means maybe the group is better off without Jeff at all. It’s a great piece of character storytelling and even ends with the Darkest Timeline versions of Troy and Abed making felt goatees for themselves before declaring they are Evil Troy and Evil Abed.

“Rixty Minutes” – Rick and Morty

Community showrunner Dan Harmon clearly has a love for stories involving parallel timelines, so it’s no surprise that he expanded on those ideas in Rick and Morty, the adult animated series he developed with Justin Roiland. Rick and Morty is a kind of Back to the Future for twisted adults; it follows the adventures of alcoholic mad scientist Rick Sanchez (Roiland) and his hapless grandson Morty Smith (also Roiland) as they travel through space and time. In the first season episode “Rixty Minutes,” Rick introduces the entire Smith family to the many parallel timelines that exist. He and Morty watch Interdimensional Cable in the A plot, which gives Roiland a chance for lots of fun improvisational gags, but the B plot is more interesting. In order to enjoy his cable watching, Rick gives Morty’s parents and sister a helmet that will let them see through the eyes of some of their alternate selves.

Jerry (Chris Parnell) finds a version of himself that’s a huge Hollywood player who parties with Johnny Depp. Beth (Sarah Chalke) finds a reality where she’s not a horse surgeon, but a human surgeon, like she always wanted. Their teenage daughter Summer (Spencer Grammar) discovers that she was an unplanned pregnancy and that her parents argued about whether or not to get an abortion. In the parallel universes, she either doesn’t exist or her life is hopelessly boring. This leads to a pretty massive existential crisis, but she’s stopped by Morty, who has already had his fair share of timey-wimey weirdness.

Morty takes Summer upstairs and shows her two dirt mounds in the backyard. He explains that he’s not the Morty from this timeline, and that he and Rick had to come here after things in their timeline got too bad. The Rick and Morty in this timeline had just died, so they slipped in unnoticed. Then, Morty gives Summer a bit of advice that shows he’s beginning to grow up a bit on his madcap adventures.

“Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV?” he pleads.

The episode ends with the entire Smith family realizing that dwelling on possible alternate realities will only ever cause problems. It’s a testament to living in the here and now, and is one of the series’ most emotionally resounding moments.

There are dozens of shows with multiverse stories out there, from ’90s sci-fi staple Sliders to the later seasons of Supernatural. These five, however, helped expand upon the trope as a whole, and are worth checking out to improve your pop culture savvy. That, and they’re just a lot of fun.

#loki #loki series #multiverse #article #slashfilm

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