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httpsfelicity · 4 years ago

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“In a black dress, she's such an actress” - Harry Styles × Model Reader AU

Summary - Harry meets a model downtown and falls for her quickly, leading the public to think that it’s a pr stunt. Unsure of what to think, the reader plays along, not knowing that Harry is unaware of the rumours.

For @cruizmanadu! Xx

A/N - Okay, this is my first official request type thing so please tell me if it’s good or not! Ignore any mistakes, thought I think I looked over it pretty well. Also, if you’d like a part 2 / have suggestions / ect, just send a DM or ask! Here you go babes, hope you like it x

“If I don’t get coffee right now, I’m going to pass out on this sidewalk, I swear,” moaned Ella.

“We’re almost there, calm down,” you responded as you adjusted the shopping bags in your hands quickly. You and your best friend Ella had decided to go out in NYC for the day, which of course meant loads of shopping. Hell, half of the bags you were carrying weren’t even yours - Ella had a shoot the next day, and insisted that she couldn’t carry her bags out of fear that she’d mark up her hands. So you were carrying enough bags to “Mark up your hands”, according to Ella. Which, to be fair, was quite unfair, because that girl shops a lot.

“Hey, can you take some of these, just until we get there? I’m getting kinda-”

“Oh. My. Gosh.” She lowered her voice and leaned in towards you. “Don’t look yet, keep walking, but some guy is totally checking you out.”

You sighed. “How could the paps have found us? I thought we covered our tracks nicel-”

She cut you off once again. “No, no, not a pap. This guy, he’s, well - okay, look to your left riiiight... now.”

You quickly glanced over to see a guy in his 20′s wearing a multicoloured knit sweater with messy brown hair, looking in your general direction. He quickly looked away when he saw you. You looked away, which was unfortunate, because you would’ve seen him gathering up the courage to walk over to you two.

"He's pretty fit," you whispered back quickly. "Do you think he recognizes me?" It sounds very stuck up, but often times people tried to hit on you solely because you model for the big brands, so you had to be careful. Being in the industry had a lot of pros, but a lot of cons as well. Not knowing who your real friends are were one of the cons.

"I'm not sure," Ella replied.

Just then, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned around and saw that you were face to face with the boy.

"Hello," he started nervously. He had a charming British accent, you noticed right away.

"Hi!" You replied, waiting for him to say something totally obnoxious or fan-like.

"This probably sounds weird, but I couldn't help but notice you."

"Oh, why thank you!" You laughed. "He doesn't seem too creepy or weird or stalker-ish," you thought to yourself.

"Yeah, so, um... This is weird as well, I'm sorry, but could I get your number?" He smiled weakly.

"No, absolutely not," said Ella, grabbing you by the arm and starting to drag you away. "C'mon."

She only walked a few feet until you broke away and went back over to him. "I'm sorry about that - of course you can."

His nervous expression eased away the tiniest bit. "Oh, that's great."

He handed you his phone, and you typed in you number."

***-****-****

"I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Styles."

"Oh! I'm y/n."

"Why does that sound familiar?"

"I work in the modeling industry. You might have heard of me from that?"

"I should've known you were a model - you've definitely got the looks. And I'm sure the personality as well."

You grinned.

"I'm a singer," he continued. "I used to be in a band - now I'm solo. So that's one thing we have in common, I guess. Well, not really. You know what I mean."

"You're right!" You laughed. "He's pretty easy to talk to," you thought. Even though you didn't want to, you could feel Ella staring at the back of your neck impatiently, so you decided to wrap up the conversation. "Well, I've got to go, but you'll message me later, yeah?"

"Of course," he nodded. "Well, goodbye for now, y/n."

"Goodbye, Harry Styles."

"What was that?!" Ella asked once he was out of earshot.

"What? He's polite and cute. Of course I have him my number!"

"He could be a creepy obsessive fan! Or a perv! Or a crackhead! He's just some random guy on the streets, for all we know!"

"Would you calm down? He's so nice - I just know he wouldn't do that. Plus, that sweater is awfully expensive. Almost 2k."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Okay, sure."

"Oh, and he's a singer."

Ella snapped her head to look at you, clearly very shocked by this statement. "He's what?"

"A singer, apparently."

"What's his name?"

"Harry Styles."

"Oh. My. God. My friend had a shoot with him once! He's popular, y/n. Really popular."

"God, you sound like a middle-schooler."

"I'm just sayin'! But now that I know this information, I've changed my opinion on him. GO FOR IT."

"I was already planning on it," you laugh, walking past a group of starstruck thirteen year olds quickly. "Although I'm not so sure. I didn't get his number - it's up to him to message me."

"He'd better," Ella replied as the two of you walked into a local café. You nodded in agreement, and you both walked up the the register to order.

The rest of the day was a blur - you went to a few more stores, and then eventually hailed a cab and went back to your apartment. You were so exhausted that you kicked off your shoes and flopped into your couch, too tired to even eat. As you lie there, you felt your phone vibrate in you pocket. Reluctantly, you pulled it out slowly, and clicked it on.

***-****-**** - Hello.

Your first though was, "It's Harry!" Your second thought was, "That's a very ominous introduction." Nonetheless, you typed up a response.

Y/n <3 - Who's this?

***-****-**** - Harry, from earlier hahah x

You let out a sigh of relief - he had messaged you back, and it hadn't been some rando. Things were working out nicely.

Y/n <3 - Well, hello!

While you were waiting for a response, you set his contact name up. You hadn't gotten a photo of him yet, so you decided one from Google would do. You typed up "Harry Styles", and the search results shocked you. Ella was right - he was popular. And cute (But you already knew that.) You got a notification from him, so you screenshotted the first photo to come up (Him in a very nice pink top), set it as his photo, and then went back onto messages.

Harry Styles - Hi! I'm sorry if the whole encounter earlier was creepy. Your friend seemed quite worked up over it.

Y/n <3 - She's had bad experiences like this in the past.

Harry Styles - I've had quite a few myself, honestly. Don't blame her. Anyways, how are you?

Y/n <3 - Exhausted. All that walking must've worn me out, hahaha

Harry Styles - Hahah, that's New York for ya.

Harry Styles - Would you happen to be free tomorrow?

Harry Styles - I'd love to get to know you.

You grinned at your phone screen. This could not be happening.

Y/n <3 - Nope! Free all day. I'd love to get to know you too!

Harry Styles - Does 1pm at the Beachwood Café work? :)

He sent a location along with it. It was the same café you and Ella had gone to earlier.

Y/n <3 - Sure!

Harry Styles - Alright, talk then?

Y/n <3 - Yes!

Harry Styles - Goodnight.

Y/n <3 - Goodnight!

Seen - 11:34pm.

The next day you woke up at 10 so you would have time to get ready. You got a quick shower, did you hair, makeup... By 12:30 you were dressed and ready to go. Casual, but not too casual was what you were going for. You were pretty sure you had the look down pat. You grabbed your stuff and made your way downtown, sunglasses on.

You arrived early, 12:48pm, but luckily Harry was already there, waiting at a table near the back with two menus. He waved once he saw you, and jumped up to pull out your chair.

"Hello," you smiled.

"Hi!"

"I adore your outfit," you said as you sat down. He was now wearing a white and blue striped shirt and tan jeans. Somehow he made it work.

"I love yours as well! The skirt brings out your eyes."

You tried hard not to blush. "Thank you!"

"So, I guess we should start getting to know eachother, then?" He grinned.

You nodded. "20 questions?"

"Sure. Full name?"

"Y/n."

"Harry Edward Styles."

"I like that middle name. Very sophisticated." He laughed at this. "Age?"

"26."

"23."

"Favourite movie?"

"Clueless."

"Back To The Future."

You continued asking questions until the waiter came over to your table.

"I'll have the chicken sub," he said politely.

"I'll have a medium lemonade."

"Is that it?" Harry asked.

You sighed. "And a blueberry muffin, I guess."

The waiter wrote it down and walked off.

"I'm on a diet," you explained.

"Still," Harry shrugged. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I started modeling at about age 8, for this clothing bran-"

"No no no, I meant about you."

You gave him a confused look.

"Not about your job, you!"

"Okay, well, let's see... Uh..."

"I'm 26, but you already knew that. I live in New York, obviously. I used to work in a bakery, even though I just told you not to talk about your job. I like playing football, I write, and I enjoy baking bread. See? Easy."

You laughed. Why did he have to be so... Charming?

"I'm 23, but you already knew that. I've lived in New York my whole life. I read a lot, and I mean a lot. I have a ton of plants in my apartment, since I can't really have a garden here. I like Taylor Swift's music."

Harry nodded. "See? That wasn't so bad."

You laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Just then the waiter placed the food on the table, and you took a sip of your lemonade while Harry dug into his sub.

"I dated Taylor for a pr stunt once."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She got a few songs, I got a new story to tell during interviews."

"Oh. Did you like her?"

"Nah."

You laughed again. "Oh, my."

"Yeah. I haven't had many actual relationships. 3."

"I haven't had any."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not many guys are interested. Or, well, interested in me, you know?"

"I find that hard to believe."

You tried not to blush once again as you took a sip of your lemonade.

"Well, it's true."

"Personally, I think you're great."

"You are too!"

The two of you continue eating. After two minutes, Harry speaks up.

"Want to go back to my apartment and watch a movie? In a non weird way, of course."

"Okay, that sounds good. Which movie?"

"Clueless?" He winked.

You grinned. "Of course."

You get up and walk out into the streets of New York, leaving your blueberry muffin on the table.

The walk to Harry's is very short. You two talk the whole way there, mainly small talk, but it isn’t awkward at all. You feel like you can be yourself around him - whatever that means. To put it into words, you feel comfortable around him. Which is weird, because you just met him a day ago, but it feels right for some reason.

Eventually you arrived at the door to his apartment. While he was busy digging his key out of his pocket, you took a glance up and down the hallway. This place was much fancier than you had expected. It made your apartment complex look cheap. Everything seemed so... posh. Harry pushed open the door, and you stepped inside. His apartment was decorated with art; albums of artists you’ve never even heard of were hung on the walls, and potted plants were everywhere. It was messy, but in an organized way.

“I just need to run to the washroom, make yourself at home,” he said as he kicked off his shoes.

“Alright,” you replied. You put your coat on a coat rack (Obviously) and walked over to the couch. Unsure of what to do, you decided to check twitter. After a few seconds of contemplating if checking your phone right now was rude or not, you decided to turn on your data and do it, since he was in the bathroom and you were bored. You looked over you shoulder, then hit the trending page. Politics, Ariana Grande - she must be releasing a new album - #TGIF, and... Harry Styles? Without thinking twice, you click on it. Immediately, photos of you and him pop up from when you were walking back to his place. That was only a few minutes ago... how did these photos get out so soon?

“You ready?” Harry asked as he entered the room, holding up a DVD case with an excited look on his face.

“Yep,” you said, putting down your phone. A second later, you picked it back up. “Did you see twitter?”

“No, I don’t go on social media much,” he replied as he popped the disc into his bluray player.

“You’re trending.”

“Cool.”

“No, I mean... we got papped on the way back here. Look.” You turned the phone so he could see it.

He took a glance at the screen, then grabbed a remote and flopped onto the couch next to you. “It doesn’t really bother me. Happens far too often. I mean, unless you have a problem with it. I can get them taken down, if you’d like.” Suddenly, his usual relaxed self has replaced with a worried one.

You shook your head. “No, no, I... just letting you know. I don’t care. Besides, I didn’t see many people talking about it, just sharing the photos.”

“Oh, well, if you change your mind, just let me know,” he concluded as he turned on the TV.

You nodded, and then focused on Cher Horowitz on the screen. You didn’t watch much of the movie, because you and Harry kept on cracking jokes and telling stories, but you wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Eventually, it was time for you to leave, since it was nearly 5pm.

“Do you want me to walk you back? Or, I could call you a cab,” Harry asked as you slipped on your shoes.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“No, no, I’ll walk you back,” he insisted as he grabbed his coat.

You weren’t about to argue with him, because, let’s face it, you secretly wanted him to walk you home. So you followed him out the door and to the elevator.

You talked the whole way there, but you were distracted just a tiny bit - you wanted to keep an eye out for paps. Eventually you decided that it was difficult and pointless, so you fully engaged yourself in Harry’s conversation on how to make a mean loaf of bread.

A few minutes later, you arrived at your place.

“Well, this is it,” you grinned sadly.

Harry nodded. “I’ll message you later?”

“Of course. We have to do this again, you know.”

Harry smiled wide. “Sure. I’d love that.”

“Well... goodbye, Harry.”

He leaned in and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. “Goodbye, y/n.”

You stared back at him, starstruck, but he turned and started walking down the hall before you could say anything. “Love ya!” You called out quickly before you shut the door behind you, unsure if he even heard you. Oh, well. He’d message you later, anyways.

You were quite hungry by this point, so you decided to order Chinese food off of Postmates. Once that call was made, you sat down and opened Twitter again. You noticed that you had way more notifications than usual, but you decided that could wait until after you checked the trending topics once more. “Harry Styles” was still trending, but even more surprisingly, “Y/n” was right underneath it. You decided to hit Harry’s topic first - MORE pap photos came up, this time from when you were walking home. Wow.

“We do look like a proper couple.” You thought, though you quickly shook it. You’d just met - although you know what they say, “Love at first sight” and all that crap.But no.

You decided to scroll down even further, past all of the photos and to the actual tweets.

@Harryscherry77: Is @ yn Harry’s new girlfriend? If so, she’s soooooo lucky.

@Y/nsclouds: Why is y/n being papped with Harry Styles? She can do much better. His music isn’t even that good.

@Lightsuplouisx: I ship it, tbh {Insert photo here}

@TaylorxxxTea: Oh cute, another pr stunt :/ #HarryStyles IsOverParty

@GalacticY/N26: Ugh, Harry? Really? I’m seriously gonna unstan Y/n, I’ve been considering it but this is just the last straw for me.

@HarryIsUpAllNight: Did you guys know the girl Harry was papped with is a model? She’s absolutely gorgeous, I wouldn’t doubt it.

@Stylesfangirl49: Y/n is honestly so ugly. #RunHarryRun

@SummertimeNewsOfficial: Has Harry Styles been spotted with yet another woman, months after his breakup with Camille? {Insert Link Here}

@Larry2020xxx: Another beard LMAOOO c’mon. PR STUNTTTT.

@Lola33smith: They haven’t even been confirmed dating yet, calm downnnnn.

“Wow,” you thought as you continued scrolling. “This is not what I was expecting.”

It seemed like the whole internet had something to say about a few lousy pictures of you and H. There was good and bad, though it felt like the bad outweighed the good. An alarming amount of people seemed to think it was a pr stunt. Wow. Your notifications weren’t much better - loads of people had followed you, dm’ed you, called you worthless, called you amazing. It was a lot to handle. Just then the doorbell rang - your Postmates. How long had you been looking through all of that? It didn’t matter now. You went to get your food, then sat back down and began to text Harry. Suddenly, you stopped. If he got so worried about the first set of photos, not to mention you walking home by yourself, how would he react to this? He had said he doesn’t go on social media much, so you figured that as long as you didn’t tell him, it would all blow over quick enough and he wouldn’t have to worry about it. You didn’t want to stress him out. Instead, to take your mind off of this chaotic day you turned on The Office and tried to regain a sense of normalcy.

Although the more you thought about it, the less and less you wanted Harry to message you.

“PR stunt.”

EDIT: CHAPTER TWO IS NOW OUT! CLICK HERE

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bapyess1r · 5 years ago

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Head Over Heels

03. Changes

Samira’s POV

1 year ago...

“Samira-”

“Fuck off, Javi!” I barked, slamming the door in his face. I was fuming, struggling to get the leash off of my dog’s collar. Imagine this: you’re going to get coffee before work and take your dog for a walk…. just to find your boyfriend tonguing down another girl in the park.

“Hey, hey now...what’s goin’ on here?!” My roommate Brazil asked loudly, her arms crossed defensively. Her girlfriend (also my best friend), Kelly, appeared behind her with a bat.

“Jesus, babe!” Brazil exclaimed as she scurried between us and looked into the peep hole.

“Javi?!” She shouted.

“Kellz? Tell Samira to come here, right now!” Javi ordered.

“Nigga what?!” Brazil snapped, twisting her face in disgust. “He just… Did he really just fucking say that?!”

“Wait- what happened?!” Kelly voiced.

“I was walking Masego and then I checked my phone, and when I look up from my fucking phone, he’s goddamn kissing some fucking rando at fucking Greenleaf!” I sobbed, hot tears running down my face.

“Shit…” Brazil mouthed.

“Go away, Javi!” I yelled.

“Samira, please! Lemme explain-”

“Explain what, bro?!-” I snapped. I was beyond pissed. I was shaking. Brazil came to my side, rubbing small circles into my back as tears continued to fall.

“OK! Maybe you should go, man. Just for a little bit.” She said, cautioning him.

“I’m calling Honey.” Kelly whispered to her beloved as she put the phone to her ear. She patted my shoulder as she moved into the kitchen off to the side so she could hear better.

“Mira! Why won’t you talk to me?!” I could hear him holler.

“Do you seriously have to ask me that shit?!”

“Baby she was NOTHING!”

“And that’s some bullshit if I ever heard it-” Just then, Kelly appeared, linking her arm in mine.

“He’s on the way with Wonho and Shownu.” She told us quickly.

“Alright, Javi, bounce bro! Jooheon is on the way with the boiiz and I definitely don’t want you to catch that kinda ass whooping cuz we cool man-” Brazil warned.

“You think I give a fuck about two chink ass muh’fuckers-” he snapped, banging on the door. Startled, Kelly raised her bat.

“Bro you’re deadass being DUMB- get the FUCK outta there! They on they way-”

“BRUH ION GIVE A FUCK!” Javi interrupted her. I looked into the peephole and he was turning red in the face; muscles straining and veins popping from his everywhere. His brows sewn to the middle as he paced in front of the door.

“That muh’fucker better give a fuck.” Kelly mumbled.

“Hell yeah. I’m not tryna be on the receiving end of Wonho’s any fucking thing…..except-” I began with a raised eyebrow.

“Girl that’s all of us. Even me. And I like vaginas!” Brazil joked, breaking the tension. We shared a brief laugh before I shook my head slowly into tears.

“I just don’t understand….. What did I do?” I bawled. I was truly at a loss for words. I was speechless. I gave Javi….everything. He was my first love, he took my virginity, he gave me a promise ring and swore in front of a room of people that he’d replace it with an engagement ring. I let myself be unequivocally me with him…. and he played me… for who? After a few moments of me crying my heart out in front of the girls, there was a jumble of voices outside the door.

“Ayo what’s good H-”

“Shut up.” I heard Jooheon’s voice interrupt and a light thump from the sound of a fist colliding with a jaw. There was a knock at the door and when Kelly opened up, standing there alone was Jooheon, cradling his injured fist. I ran to the doorway to look down the hall and see Javi being carried away by both Shownu and Wonho’s massive builds. “Are you ok?” He asked me softly, reaching out for me. Without a word, I ran into his arms and just stayed there for a while, crying. He hushed my tears and stroked my hair, kissing the top of my head.

Two Months Later….

There was a knock on my bedroom door but I didn’t answer. “Mira?” I heard Jooheon’s voice say from the other side. My heart jerked but I was too sad to move. “A bunch of us are going to the noraebang in Korea Town…. Wonho and Shownu are going and Maura’s just come from the airport….and your sister, Lydia is in town… she wants to see you, too…” he said trying his best to make me feel better. I huffed.

“Do I have to?” I groaned.

“Absolutely not, peanut, but we’d love it if you did…. I want you there too.” Jooheon said. I laid there and pondered it. It’s been a while now….. I couldn’t be this way forever. Javi made his choice and I needed to move on… I stood up and opened the door just enough to peek through.

“Will I get to sing La-Di-Da-Di?” I asked quite hopefully. Because who doesn’t like singing Mindless Self Indulgence?

“I’ll even make sure you have backup vocals. And I could beatbox if you'd like.” His eyes softened and he gave me the sweetest smile.

“I suppose I could make myself presentable….” I sighed. And with that I turned around to go grab a jacket and a pair of duck boots.

We parked on the street and he fed the meter before taking off down the street. After walking a block, we stopped at a building with a colorfully lit doorway. “Ladies first.” Jooheon smirked, giving a dramatized bow. I popped him on the back of the head playfully and walked down the illuminated staircase. We greeted the owner and Jooheon led me to the room they rented. When we arrived, I could hear them already singing Livin’ On A Prayer at the top of their lungs.The door opened and there was Wonho and Kelly singing loudly and terribly. Just two stepping and playing the tambourine, everyone around the room clapping and cheering them on. Brazil noticed me enter and the biggest smile appeared on her face as she came to hug me.

“I’m so glad you came….” she told me as she gently squeezed me. Shownu’s gentle but stoic face displayed for once a smile. He opened his long arms to me from the red leather couch.

“Come here, booger.” He said sweetly and I ran to jump into his lap, curled up in his embrace as he rocked me to the rhythm of the music. When I looked over, sitting next to him with her arms crossed and a nervous expression was my sister, Lydia.

“Hey, sis.” She said with a small smile.

“Dia. Hi.” I said in surprise.

“I’m sorry to hear about you and Javi…” she said looking down. “Really I am.”

“I’m not…. he didn’t want me anymore and he wasn’t man enough to say so.” I said in a stale tone as I slid off on Shownu’s lap to sit between them.

“I’m glad to hear you’re ok.” He said patting my head.

“Oh no, I’m on the verge of killing myself but I don’t wanna die yet. I refuse to let him be the reason that I leave this earth. I….refuse…” Tears began to spill past the barrier as my friends’ song came to an end and the others came rushing to me. Kelly sat in my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck tightly, sobbing as I sobbed. But then I began to laugh. “Hey now!” I said looking around at the red and blubbering mugs around me. “Y’all look like shit! And red and….wet faced and…” My eyes ghosted over them all and landed on Jooheon. His eyes were red and swollen and he wiped his tears away with a sleeve. “Like someone kicked your puppy! I’m gonna be fine. I promise.” I reassured everyone except myself. Would I be fine? I didn’t know what to do with myself now. Everywhere I went reminded me of him…

“How about a song to cheer you up?” Wonho asked in his gentle but deep voice. Paired with that sweet smile of his, I couldn’t say no. And with that, we commenced karaoke night.

An hour or so passed and I was beginning to lose my voice from screaming and singing and laughing so much. I was having a great time for the first time in a while. I looked around at my friends faces and they were all drunk and happy. All except my Lydia. It wasn’t like her to not participate in karaoke. At any event. She seemed stuck in a way. Like she was nervous to make a decision. And she stayed buried in her phone, texting. I chewed my bottom lip and walked over to sit by her side. “Hiya sis!” I exclaimed with a flop on the couch. She looked startled and suddenly became flustered.

“Samira! Hi! I was looking for you…” she mumbled. I side eyed her a bit.

“I was...standing right in front of you basically… The room’s not that big.” I stated, awkwardly.

“Oh! So you were…” she trailed off and began fidgeting with her fingers. Something was wrong…

“Are you ok?” I asked her as the fear of something bad sat in my chest.

“Is there any way we can talk outside?” She asked me. I stared at her with empty eyes as I nodded and we both left for the hall without notice. But I’m sure they saw.

When I closed the door, the loud music thumped a muted bass line on the other side. Lydia pushed her long, wavy brown hair behind her ear and cleared her throat, taking a deep breath afterwards. She pulled the sleeves of her long orange cardigan over her hands and crossed her arms, staring at the ground. “What did you wanna talk about?” I asked. She sat back in her hips and held her head high as she looked at me to speak.

“Well… Samira. There’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just come out with it…..” she began in a shaky voice. I frowned, knitting my brows together tightly and flaring my nostrils. My heart was beating faced and my fists clenched up as I prepared to hear the news. “I…. I….” Her lips began to tremble and she seemed to cease breathing. “It was me.”

“Huh?” I asked confused.

“It…. it was me… Javi was kissing me at the park. It was me, Samira….” she said hanging her head, tears dripping onto the floor. I wasn’t sad as much as I was angry. I had so much rage boiling inside me that I was shaking; I couldn’t speak properly. I was just a stuttering mess.

“Y-You….” I lifted a shaky finger to point at her, stammering.

“Mira, I’m sorry…. I’m so so sorry-” And like a switch, I almost became someone else. My hand grabbed a fistful of her sewn in hair and threw her to the floor, screaming. I don’t know what happened in the next two minutes. But when I came to, Wonho was holding me by the waist, suspending above the ground; kicking and screaming and yelling. My hands hurt and my eyes burned. My sister was on the floor, disheveled and shaky, crying. Her lip was bleeding and she had a few marks on her face that Shownu was looking at and tending to. Kelly was in front of me trying to grab my attention as Wonho dragged me away, Jooheon standing between us all looking at us in shock.

“Calm down, booger-” Wonho said in a hushed tone, restraining me like a wild animal with rabies.

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!!!!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“OOOOKAY!!!! Honey! Close out the tab, karaoke is done. Now!” Kelly barked, following Wonho as he carried me out. “And meet me at the crib.”

Author’s Note:

I hope you guys aren’t disappointed yet. There is a part two of this chapter coming soon. Pls keep reading 🥰

#joe gilgun fanfic #joe gilgun #joseph gilgun #rudy wade x reader #rudy wade #cassidy x reader #proinsias cassidy x reader #proinsias cassidy

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sillyfudgemonkeys · 6 years ago

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Persona 5 Problems: Are the P5MC’s parents good/bad/abusive/grey?

Hoooo boy I dunno if this is happening anywhere besides the confessions blog (btw leave the mods alone, they are good people that have to deal with all of our salty butts) but...... I guess we need to talk about it. I should note this isn’t my own personal “Persona Problem” it’s more of a “Persona Fandom Problem” (which I haven’t done one yet, or at least published....still working on the FeMC one 8U but that’s off topic).

So if you don’t know things have been getting heated in relation to if P5MC’s parents are good or bad/abusive or grey, and so on. Everyone raises good points tbh! Some.....not so good (on all sides) I should note I’m completely neutral tbh (I prefer a more grey backstory, but I can swing any which way with this interpretation tbh!), as long as the interpretation is well written (by which it addresses some of the grey ares the game left), be it positive or negative, I think it’s fine. So this isn’t someone who is....like....super biased to one side (not that anyone can be unbiased but concerning this topic I’m as close as I’ll ever be to it).

Anyway what is the answer to this question? Well I have your answer guys! It’s open and to be left up to the interpretation to the player! :D DON’T GO-! ;w; I’ll explain myself under the cut, I figured you’d at least like to know my answer going in. Even if you don’t want to believe it, it’s very much the fact that it’s left up to interpretation due to the sole fact there’s not enough info to go on (even if we nitpick the living shit out of it we don’t know the parents’ motives). Anyway, I found there’s some key info people missed out on (blame Atlus for keeping that tidbit a bonus missable quiz show thing) and also looking into the real life JAPANESE juvenile law (just....cause I’m afraid people are trying to use their own country’s law and try to apply it to Japan, and this required some research, tho I feel like I still have more to learn this is what I could find 8U)

Last thing I should note, a lot of this might come off as “defense for good/neutral” parents, but there’s something you need to remember. WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM. Not their personal reasons or mindset as to why the MC was allowed to move to Tokyo. We don’t even know if they do or don’t call him because they are unimportant to the story. Everything is left up to the player’s interpretation, and regardless of what route you wanna take, it will require SOME explanation. Good/neutral parents, you’ll need to explain why they are absent or why they chose what the did during the course of the game, but you don’t really need to explain the MC’s choice to go back to them (cause in his mind they are good). Bad/abusive parents, you won’t need to explain their lack of presence during the game (cause it’s really easy ‘they’re just bad’ see? not a whole lotta thought needed), but you’ll run into some issues as to why the MC returning home is a good ending (so you’ll need to explain that). Grey parents, you have no choice but to explain things for legit everything they do/don’t do in the game. Regardless of what you subscribe to, you’ll need to explain something that isn’t explained in the game....and guess what? Regardless of your explanation....it’s not canon. Because the game itself doesn’t explain it. You can headcanon as much as you want, it’s encouraged, all of them are valid, but unless Atlus remakes the game where they give the parents actual personality/character, nothing will be canon. And that’s ok. You can explore a lot of different things thanks to this, it’s frustrating but you have to take the good with the bad. Now, why am I explaining stuff that is inconsiquential considering nothing is canon (and everything is permitted, ...no AC fans?...ok ;w;) regarding this? Well call me a devil’s advocate, but it also shows how someone can come up with a valid reason rather than ‘just cause.’ Ex: MC’s parents don’t give him any money, what’s their financial standing? Side A: They are well off and are just assholes who don’t want to help him. Side B: They aren’t well off, I have no reason just....because. Not the best comeback right? Well what if we changed Side B’s answer to: They aren’t well off, because he’s going to a private school in the city and that might be siphoning more of their money than they originally were doing before and thus might be struggling. Gives more weight to Side B no? Both interpretations are valid, because we don’t know the MC’s parent’s financial situations of course (please remember we know nothing as I bring up things people may have missed/overlooked/didn’t know), but Side B now doesn’t sound like it’s just saying stuff ‘just cause.’

Anyway, all that preface out of the way, actual analysis under the cut:

So.....let’s start off with analyzing what we do know about the game! P5MC’s court case went by faster than an episode of Law and Order (very unusual, I think even mentioned by the game, so some of the “hmm but couldn’t they have done had the MC be in a different school in his hometown under probation” is just game going to game so we won’t worry about that too much, his sentence was to Tokyo so that’s what we are going with! tho tbh the game does kinda handwave a little explanation as to why he’s in Tokyo, Principal literally says they are the only one who would take him....and well rather that’s realistic or not game gonna game so yeah moving on 8U)

We know the MC’s parents sent him to Sojiro. We know Sojiro is a probation officer (something I noticed people seem to forget in the confessions). MC was sentenced to live in Tokyo via the courts orders, the parent’s agreed, and the parents made arrangements to stay with Sojiro due to a connection with a shared friend of their’s (also probably cause he’s also a gd probation officer but that’s not stated as a reason, just want to make sure you are aware Sojiro is a probation officer). MC is accepted to the only school (in Tokyo, or maybe the country not specified) that will take him, and will presumably be able to integrated in the school due to no one knowing about his criminal record (aka he gets a clean slate). During this time Sojiro state’s to briefing the player on the MC’s situation "*laughs (I think only in the JP ver)* In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass" (there’s a few things about this line I can mean a lot of things and I’ll get into it later). He says if MC causes any trouble he’ll throw him out......And then later saying if he problems he’ll be sent to juvie (wait....so doesn’t that mean he’ll just send him to Juvie? Not on the street? Sojiro you make no sense....just gonna bring it up here, ‘throw you out’ seems more in line with Sojiro being ‘tough love’ than actually threatening while the juvie is a legit warning to the MC, only way I can reconcile why he’s saying that, esp since he’s a lot more serious voice acting wise when talking about juvie and the two times he uses ‘throw out’ in the first two days he’s a lot lighter/flabbergasted/not as serious sounding, just a thing to note). The next day the principal states that if he’s kicked out, he’d have nowhere to go. Sojiro also states the reason he took the MC in was for money (as well as being asked and accepting, but keep in mind with the money, he kind of slides that in at a last second, this is key).

So yeah it seems that the parents might have had to dump him there and might not be happy with him......Key words: “might” and “it seems.”

Here’s a few things the game.....doesn’t make clear, Sojiro’s attitude during this time as well as some key info you’d miss unless you’d look into it.

Let’s start with Sojiro’s attitude, he’s def taking the “tough love” approach to the MC (I think a lot of people can agree he’s being a hardass cause that’s what he thinks the MC needs right now...dunno why but yeah), and he’s also lying to the MC on at least one thing. Wait what? Lying? About what? The money. Surprised? I know this info isn’t mandatory in the story, it’s easily missable! Anyway, it’s very likely Sojiro isn’t getting paid (and this can both hurt and support the parents so don’t think this is an execution for the parents), and so he just lied to the MC. If you don’t believe me, here’s the game stating that probation officers (and with Mona’s commentary, including Sojiro) don’t get paid. So....why lie? Well again he’s taking the tough love approach, and he’s def faltering on the 2nd day, and the way he stumbles to answer the MC and adding the money at the end might show him trying to keep up with the tough love act by showing he’s only in it for the money even if he isn’t (and thus lying). He could also be lying about the pain in the ass thing too, either cause he’s already lying about one thing so what’s stopping him from lying about another thing, or the fact that that in the original Japanese, he laughs when he says the MC was kicked out for being a pain in the ass (as well as his portrait changing to the smiling one)....meaning he’s either lying or just joking (not the best time to make a joke like that Sojiro 8U). All that being said, his words do not imply the parents said that, it could be all Sojiro. So saying “he got it from the parents” isn’t supported, not saying it’s false or you can headcanon it, but the text does not support the parents said that to Sojiro. So you can’t outright claim that as fact. I’m not saying the parents didn’t say it, but there’s nothing proving that they did nor didn’t.

“Ok but why dump the MC with Sojiro? He’s just some rando right? A STRANGER! THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM HE COULD BE A SERIAL KILLER-!” Ok let’s take a breath guys, yes Sojiro is only a friend of a friend but.....keep in mind....he’s a probation officer (hogoshi/保護司 specifically, ref original dialogue in this jp walkthrough/guide here) He’s not just “some rando” it’s his (volunteer) job (nonetheless it’s still a job) to look after kids like the MC. And not just any old job, the dude has to go through training for 2 years on top of having to take a test that’s looked over by the Japanese Supreme court it’s not something just ANYONE can be (source, pg 8, but also the wikipedia pages have shown this as well) Like 1) he’s qualified to take care of him, 2) MC needs an officer (or at least he’s getting one whether he wants one or not) tbh it’s kind of the thing I’ve found by via reading, 3) it really helps that he’s a friend of a friend that can vouch for him AND he’s an officer. There’s really nothing wrong sending the MC to Sojiro if he’s destined to go to Tokyo, Sojiro is literally better than sending him to a legit “some rando.” (I should note, while I can’t find the exact website that stated it, this one does also mention that there aren’t really enough probation officers atm, I dunno just something I came across so like that fact could’ve also played a role in the MC moving in with Sojiro due to not having a closer officer nearby but I dunno) (edit: also remember when I brought up the tough love thing in regards to throwing the MC out up top? I stated that because throwing him out would be.....well.....against his job, and unless he’s throwing him out to sending him to juvie, it would be....kind of unethical on his part to throw the MC out on the street and counterintuitive to rehabilitation that Japan really emphasizes).

But why send him to Tokyo? Well remember the court ruled it, I guess the ruling said “go to Tokyo” (probably cause there was a school and a probation officer that would make that possible). Sure his parents agreed, but can you really say no to a ruling? I guess you can, but let’s look at what they were probably facing. The courts probably ruled that they send him to Tokyo or to Juvie. Tokyo is def the better option (at least he’s not in basically jail, and Japanese juvie isn’t something to laugh at) so I can see why they’d say yes (Tokyo means he gets schooling and a clean slate and not in jail, and juvie means he’s in kid jail and....hooo boy not good and can screw him for a number of reasons). Or they could’ve appealed to the court instead.....except that Japan isn’t really.....all that great when it comes to appealing stuff, there’s also the fact the only school “nearby” that would/could take him was Syujin. As again, stated by the Principal that he’d have nowhere to go if kicked out of Syujin:

And considering how long the appeal process would be (like years), on top of the fact it would probably be fruitless due to how Japan is with this type of stuff (guilty until proven innocent), MC would miss out on an education. Which would be VERY BAD. So the parents probably were like, “Ok, clean slate in Tokyo, still gets to go to school and get an education, guardian seems good, and it’s only for one year.” It should be noted this was all done in a short amount of time (even mentioned in that very scene with the principal if you wanna cross reference). Regardless if they like their son or not at this point, this reasoning makes sense. They made lemons out of lemonade.

“Ok but why didn’t they contact him?” What makes you say that? It could happen off screen. “But that’s just such a bs explanation.” Yeah but they aren’t exactly super important to the story, no one really complained about the P4 MC’s parents doing that (I mean he has similar hc about neglectful parents, but not everyone subscribes to that), so does it matter? But....consider this, what if they COULDN’T call/contact him? By which I mean they legally couldn’t. This thought crossed my mind when reading about probation officers in the beginning pages of this pdf file. While it seems the probation officers will be in contact during an investigation period for a trial, we know the MC’s trial was very unique so they might’ve skipped/fast forward through it. But one of the things they do is investigate the home life situation. So consider this, what if the parents....were deemed the reason the MC got into that situation. I’m not saying they are violent, but maybe the MC got his mentality from his parents (aka, save the weak, or maybe a parent was an activist or an ex-delinquent but was a great parent) and the courts deemed that could’ve been why he got into trouble. Because from my research, Japan is about rehabilitating the youth/criminals. They want to find the source, and change it. If the courts decided he needed to get far from home and have limited contact with his family, that could be why. Not saying it is what happened, not saying it isn’t what happened. Not saying they didn’t call him, not saying they did call him. Again, this is grey area and open for interpretation. This is something that COULD happen irl, but I’m not saying it did happen in P5 (it could, you can headcanon it, there’s open room for it, but it’s a headcanon, not actual canon, and there’s not really anything that could....well.....oppose it but there’s nothing that outright supports it..... Again this thing is all grey and open 8U)

There is something else that had me wondering about something not explained in the game. It’s about the type of school the MC was going to.....and how much it costs. Because, in Japan you need to pay tuition to go to school! This is something I know from just....consuming media, it comes up, and after researching that’s kind of the norm. Why bring this up? Well...it’s because I want to explore the possibility of the MC’s financial situation (which, money is a whole freaking mess in P5, but one thing at a time). Anyway first we need to know what school the MC is going to. The Megaten Wiki (always take with a grain of salt keep in mind) states that it’s an “elite prep school.” Ok, well does that mean it’s a private school? Yes actually! It’s not going to outright say it in the speech bubble but the game does have a banner saying it:

Hidden but I found it gosh darn it! >:D As you can see, I was also researching what the tuition differences between public and private are....and well...it’s pretty big. There’s a few articles (here’s just one, mentions how lower income people can still attend, aka Ryuji and his Single mom....btw single moms are probably one of the poorest groups in Japan, also here’s another source) but it can double to quadruple depending on where you go. So if you want to go the “why aren’t they giving the MC more money” this might be why, because they are paying for the MC’s education. And/or maybe they are just paying Sojiro directly (we dunno if he’s telling the truth about that or not). Or MAYBE the parents aren’t exactly well off and are just trying their best. (of course maybe they just don’t give a shit and are footing the whole bill onto Sojiro, again we don’t know, there’s not enough info given about them or the financial situation, so....it shouldn’t be debated 8U).

“Ok but why aren’t they feeding the MC/taking care of him?” Why them? Right now it’s not their job, it’s Sojiro’s. It annoys me that no one blames Sojiro even tho THAT’S HIS JOB right now. “Sending only a small box of his stuff?” Can explain it as basic necessities, Japan tends to have small living spaces regardless so it could be just what the MC needs. “But can you argue that?” Yeah you can, but you can also argue that it’s not enough....but it’ll get us nowhere because there’s not enough info (which is pretty much this whole issue but yet here we are). (btw this is connected to another issue with how Persona, but specifically P5, handle money in the main story....which is poorly, esp since they are thieves and are earning money just.....sigh....that’s a separate issue but throwing that out there). Basically, anything aimed at the MC’s shitty living situation or poor health while in Tokyo can easily be pointed at Sojiro, because he is neglecting his duties to take care of the MC while he is in his ward. It’s not 100% the parents fault for not knowing Sojiro isn’t as great as they thought (it’s like thinking blaming them for sending MC to Kamo’s school, they didn’t know Kamo was a shit bag, maybe they didn’t even know who Kamo was or that he’s at the MC’s school, you can’t blame people who go info that this person is great and then they turn out that they aren’t behind closed doors). THAT BEING SAID, I’m not saying Sojiro is a shitbag or bad (if he is doing a bad job, it’s not the parents’ fault for like....believing the guy will do his job, it’s like expecting someone not to trust a doctor to do his job, but yeah I just want to specify when I said above “not their fault for not know Sojiro is doing a bad job” is for argument’s sake I don’t think Sojiro is), but if we ARE going to complain about the MC’s living situation....well....he’s the one to point fingers at. And are we going to complain that Sojiro doesn’t feed him? Actually I see that’s probably the next natural step as the next discourse, “He feeds the MC breakfast so we can assume he feeds him every day!” “Well Mona states the MC doesn’t eat well enough, so maybe Sojiro isn’t really doing that!” I personally think Sojiro feeds him, the game is just dumb with out it handles money and that’s a different argument for later, also please don’t make this the next discourse. 8U

So what have we learned from this? That the situation isn’t completely black and white, and that there’s not enough info from the parents to go on to be able to characterize them.

Basically you can have abusive/neglectful parents who are making Sojiro pay for everything and basically wanted to get rid of their kid ASAP. And only take him back because it’s proven he was innocent (I mean.....the game is a little weird and he basically got out by turning himself in as the leader as the PT but sure whatever game).

Or you can have parents who are trying their best in a shitty situation (choosing the best option for him, while possibly being forbidden to contact him via the court), paying for his school (which either hurts them cause they are poor, or just because there’s just because school is so expensive) and assuming Sojiro is doing his job taking care of their kid.

Either’s fine, as long as the grey area is explained it’s fine.

“But what about the roadtrip?!” Oh for the love of. Ok 1) Sojiro might’ve informed his parents (depends on if he was lying about not knowing where Futaba/Mona were at the beginning), 2) It’s probably not a roadtrip but a detour which isn’t a shocking thing by any account (reasons being a) Futaba didn’t tell Sojiro where she was going so she’d need to return at some point that day or else HE’LL be worried and are you going to argue Sojiro doesn’t care about Futaba too?, b) no one seems to be packed for anything longer than a day away from home), 3) and/or they could’ve texted them that he was going to be home a little late.

Like train is def faster than car in Japan, but like......stopping to look at the ocean (or just drive by, or just taking the MC the long way home to spend a little more time with him). It’s not anything scary, he’s getting to his destination. “But Ryuji said he wasn’t taking him straight home!” doesn’t mean it’s a roadtrip. Like calm down y’all.

Also one last note, cause I feel like some people might bring it up, the anime, mangas, drama cds (at least P5′s atm), and anthologies aren’t outright canon, by canon I mean “the game is the main canon, everything else is just an outside interpretation.” In case people want to bring up P5′s one anthology chapter (that Saito made btw) where P5MC hints that the adults in his life didn’t believe him, or the P4 manga which actually goes into Souji’s backstory. Yeah those aren’t canon to the games. So don’t go using it as facts to back up your argument. Just....a warning.

So yeah, tldr; everything is grey, it’s up to you! Don’t go around claiming your headcanon as canon, but your headcanon is valid! Also do go around shitting on other’s for having a different headcanon (esp if they aren’t going around claiming it as canon). And btw not saying I’m fool proof, if you guys have researched JJL and find something new that I missed, or just another side of the argument I didn’t address you can point it out and I’ll add it below this point!

#persona 5 #p5 #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #amamiya ren #kurusu akira #persona 5 problems #persona problems

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iris-writes-things · 6 years ago

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Crazy, Millennial Love Story chapter 13

Read on AO3, FF.net or under the cut!

Like a kettle on a raging fire, Keith starts squealing when things get too hot under his feet. The pressure is off, misunderstandings are addressed, and Keith can finally breathe easily again.

For now, at least.

Chapter 13 of ? Ongoing 3246 words Modern/romance

Keith was comfortable. He was comfortable, safe, warm and… moving? He groaned as he cracked an eye open. “Where am I?” He mumbled as he took in his surroundings. He was in a car. The one that belonged to Hunk’s mother, to be precise, with the chef behind the wheel. He was lying, spread over the back seat, leaning against Shiro’s chest, the man’s arm firmly around his waist as he couldn’t wear a seat belt in this position, and covered in all three of their coats. That sure explained the warmth. Every pothole, every bump of hastily fixed asphalt that was characteristic for any road in the metropolis’ downtown area only worsened his headache, though. He must have had one Hell of a fall. “Where are we going?”

“What? Dude, we’re taking you to the hospital!” Hunk called from behind the wheel. “You fainted, remember? You were well fed, you had enough to drink, but not too much either. You had literally no reason to pass out, so we’re getting you checked out.”

“W-What?! No!” Keith protested as he kicked the coats off his legs, sitting upright. “I’m fine, I swear!” He only stopped struggling when he felt Shiro’s prosthetic tighten around his waist.

“Keith… You’ve been acting weird all month. I’m worried about you, you know. What if it’s something serious?”

“I know…” Keith mumbled, settling back into the man’s chest. “But I’m really okay, physically speaking. You don't have to take me to a doctor." He pleaded, and not much later, he felt the car come to a halt as Hunk pulled into a parking space by the road.

"But, if it's not physical, then what is it?" Hunk asked, turning in his chair to look in the back seat. Keith noticed traces on cheeks from old tears. He’d have to somehow make this up to him, but it would have to wait. He had to talk himself out of this situation first.

"Just stress, I guess." Keith said. It wasn't a lie, just a gross oversimplification, and Hunk seemed to be buying it. "The last two months have just… It's been a lot to adjust to."

"Right, I get it. But try not to overwork yourself, okay? I know it can be tempting, but you need to be careful with what jobs you do and don’t take."

If it was up to Keith, Hunk would never find out how hard he just hit the nail on its head, though. "I'll be careful." He mumbled solemnly.

"Good. Now if you guys don’t mind, I’ll drive you home." Hunk said optimistically as he started the car again, driving the two of them back to their apartment.

Even though Keith was now conscious and sitting up in his own seat, Shiro maintained his death grip on Keith’s waist. Hunk might have bought Keith’s excuse, but the older man wasn't having it. Deep down, Keith was painfully aware of this. He shouldn’t have been caught off guard by what came next.

"Is this somehow about my relationship with Allura?" Shiro asked, performatively staring out the window, resting his chin on his hand, to further drive home the casual, disinterested tone he had delivered the question in. Keith tensed under Shiro's arm, he knew Keith hated it whenever he feigned indifference, possibly even more than when it was real. "I knew it!" He shouted. “This is about me dating Allura!”

"How did you know?!" Keith asked, looking at him in bewilderment.

"Keith, buddy, it really doesn't take a detective to figure that out. All month, you've been moping in your bed, which really wouldn't be weird for you, but not once did I come home to the apartment smelling like weed. You've been losing your appetite halfway through or skipping meals altogether,"

"Skipping meals?!"

"at so much as a mention of Allura, and you've been making me promise to be safe and call you if anything went wrong, but only when I went out with Allura. Keith, you're even skinnier than when you moved in with me three years ago. Did you really think I wouldn't notice something was up?"

"Shiro, I..." Keith stammered, his vision blurring as tears welled up in his eyes. "I-I don't… I just wanted to..."

"Protect me?"

Keith nodded. Shiro sighed.

"You know, I've actually talked about this with Allura. See, before we met I used to date this guy who thought he had to protect me from the world, and seeing as you don’t know about his existence and apparently came to the conclusion that I'm heterosexual, it's safe to say that that relationship didn't work out."

Keith could only look up at the man. Eyes like saucers, his jaw slack, and his mind was having more than a little trouble keeping up.

"But we can talk about that later if you want. What's important now is that, yes, I'm technically physically disabled, and yes, my mental stability isn't what it used to be, but I'm not naive. Being a cop in the big city does that to you. I trust Allura and Coran, which only leads me to the question 'Why don't you?'"

Keith shook his head, looking down at his feet to hide the tears in his eyes only to make them fall to his lap immediately. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me.” Shiro said sternly. “If something happened to you, I want to know it. Trust is a two way street, remember? You can talk to me."

Keith sobbed and rubbed the tears from his eyes. That’s right. Shiro trusted him. And while it was difficult, Keith knew he had to trust Shiro as well. "Remember when I took that job from that anonymous number?"

"And I told you you were pretty stupid for not asking the guy's name? Oh, I remember."

"Thanks for rubbing that in. Anyway he introduced himself to me when he arrived at our meeting point. He said his name was Lotor."

"Oh boy. That couldn’t have ended well..." Hunk squeaked from behind the wheel, sinking in his seat ever so slightly, but it was enough to catch Shiro's attention.

"You know this Lotor guy, Hunk?" Shiro asked.

The man behind the wheel nodded. "Yeah, I know him, alright. We all do. We just don’t particularly like bringing him up. He’s something of a collective trauma I really wish you guys wouldn’t have to deal with.”

“How come?” Shiro asked curiously.

“Have you guys ever seen Scott Pilgrim?” Hunk checked. “Like, Allura doesn't need seven evil exes. She just has one evil ex with the combined spite and saltiness of at least ten evil exes." He said as he squeezed the steering wheel, knuckles turning white. "He tries to scare off anyone who would be her friend or potential romantic partner. And what’s worse is that he’s successful pretty often. We've all had to deal with him. It got ugly most times, but now we just block him and as many of his teenage cronies we can on all of our platforms. It's easy enough, I'll show you guys how to do it some time."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Hunk, but he drew Keith out in the real world. I don't think it's as easy to keep a handle on a bitter ex and his posse of fangirls when they can physically come at you." Shiro argued.

"You're right." Hunk sighed in agreement. "And, I mean, not only is the physical threat concerning, but there's also the fact that this is the most unpredictable he's been since I've been friends with Allura. He’s never tried to approach us outside of the internet."

"What baffles me most is that he went for Keith, not for me, since I would be his direct competitor."

"It's because he knows we're close." Keith spoke up, driving the heels of his palms into his eyes in frustration. "He told me Allura did the shittiest things to him while they were dating, and then he made me promise to keep you safe."

"Two birds, one stone." Shiro concluded.

Keith's shoulders shook as a sob wracked through his body. "I'm sorry." He croaked. "I shouldn't have trusted some eccentric rando over you and Allura! I was just so scared..."

Shiro hushed him as he pulled Keith into a tight hug, firmly rubbing between his shoulders. "It's okay. For what it’s worth, if I had been in your shoes, I probably would have done the same. No offense, Hunk."

"None taken.” Hunk piped up from behind the steering wheel. “Ah, we're here."

"Trust me, it's worth a lot." Keith chuckled through his tears, muffled by Shiro's sweater. “And again, I’m sorry.”

"You should save your apologies for Allura, Keith. And Hunk, I can't let you drive home with a clear conscience. You can stay the night at our place." Shiro offered as he gathered up their coats.

"Thanks, that sounds great. I’ll call my mom to let her know."

"Hunk, babe, are you awake?" Keith asked as he stared at his darkened ceiling. It had to be at least 4 in the morning, but he didn't care enough to turn his head to take a look at his alarm clock. Hunk was warm and comfortable at his side, cuddled against him in Keith's cramped single bed.

"Yeah, I'm awake." Hunk mumbled, a hand coming up to brush the hair out of Keith's face. "Why?"

"I was just wondering..." Keith whispered, hesitating for a second. "If I had asked you about what Lotor told me about Allura, would you have believed me?"

A deep sigh escaped Hunk, tickling Keith’s neck, as he thought on his answer. "I don't think I would. I've known her for a few years, and Lotor and his fans have tried to drag me away from her too, and she supported me through all of it, so I'd have a hard time believing she could have been a bad, manipulative person."

"Then what would you do if you hadn't? What if you didn’t know the first thing about her, except what she posts online?" Keith asked as he rolled to his side, facing the other man.

"I… would listen to what you have to say. Then, I would talk to Allura, try to find some of the guys she dated other than Lotor, talk to them, and then take what I found back to you, and hope we could all come to a mutual understanding. Like… I don't like passing judgment based on rumors."

"I try not to, usually. I just don't know what came over me this time."

"Hey, it's okay. Shiro is your best friend. You were just worried. But… next time you're struggling with a dilemma like this, come talk to me, okay? I'll help you out."

"'Kay." Keith yawned. "Thanks Hunk. Good night."

"Good night, Keith."

“Allura?” Shiro tried, speaking into the receiver of his cell phone.

“Shiro, ohmigod! You took forever! Is Keith okay? What did the doctors say?” Allura’s voice came from the other side of the line. She sounded concerned. Scared. Panicked, even.

“We… never arrived at the hospital?” He hesitated.

“WHAT?!”

“No, wait, shit, I mean he woke up before we got there, and he told us what was wrong with him.”

“Right, and he can just tell what’s going on?” Allura asked. She didn’t sound too impressed.

“Well, yeah. He got really stressed. Like, a panic attack… And he passed out. Simple as that. Because we’re dating.”

“Because we’re dating?” She asked, disbelief dominant in her voice.

“Yeah. Apparently your ex didn’t come after me, like we expected. He just booked a shoot with Keith about a month ago, and he just put the most horrible ideas about you into his head, and he’s just been mulling on it for weeks. It’s been eating him from the inside.”

“I can’t believe I used to date that guy.” Allura sighed in exasperation. “To think that he would stoop so low.”

“It’s okay Allura, there’s no way you could have known it would go like this. It’s not fair to beat yourself up over this, so please don’t. I promise I’ll be better than him.”

A chuckle came from the other side of the line. “That’s not a high bar to raise, honey.”

‘Honey’. The idea that Allura would refer to him as such still reddened his cheeks, quickened his heartbeat and made the hairs on his neck stand on end.

“Shiro, listen… If you don’t want to go public with this, with what happened to Keith and all, and the chance of Lotor losing his shit, I understand.”

“No, I still want to. I don’t care about Lotor or what he might do. I love you, and I want the world to know. If you’ll let me, that is.”

“Trust me, I’ll let you. But what about Keith?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll talk to him in the morning. We might come over later tomorrow if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. I actually want to see him in person after what he pulled earlier.”

“I completely understand.” Shiro chuckled. “So… uh… good night, I guess?”

“Right. Good night, love.”

“Good night, sweetheart.” It was still so alien to him; being in an intimate, romantic relationships, being called ‘honey’, ‘love’ and ‘sweetheart’, and calling his partner ‘honey’, ‘love’ and ‘sweetheart’ in return. It felt alien, but it felt good.

It felt right.

It was 11 in the morning by the time Shiro and Keith were on the bus to Allura’s apartment again. Hunk had gone home about an hour earlier, but not before making breakfast and ensuring the three of them were well fed and ready to tackle the day. Especially Keith. It was sweet how concerned he was for his well being, Keith thought. He wasn’t used to all this love and affection being directed at him. Even Shiro wasn’t as hands-on as Hunk was. He would have to make it up to his boyfriend, someday. Maybe with some grand gesture, like in the movies. But that would have to wait for now. There was something else on his mind altogether.

“About last night…” Keith started, glancing at the man sitting across from him. “You said you used to have a boyfriend, right? That wasn’t just my pounding skull talking to me?”

“Nope, that was all me.” Shiro said, smiling sheepishly. “But yeah, I had a boyfriend in high school.”

“And not just because you were ‘bi-curious’?”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m a full-blown bisexual.” Shiro said as his smile became more confident.

“So, then, why didn’t you tell me?” Keith asked.

Shiro only shrugged. “It never came up.”

“Dude, I came out to you!” Keith hissed, only not to shout on a bus full of people. “I’d call that ‘bringing it up’!”

“Hey, that was your moment. I didn’t want to make it about myself.”

Keith groaned in frustration. “While that’s really sweet and all, it really didn’t occur to you that telling me about this thing we have in common, being attracted to men, might make me feel better about myself? I mean, in all the time we’ve spent together, I’ve never once seen you look at a guy the way you look at Allura. There’s no way I could have just guessed.”

Shiro stared at Keith, a shocked, nervous smile on his face. “Yeah, you make a valid point there. And, I mean, I hope this thing with Allura is going to be long term, it would have taken even longer for you to find out… I’m sorry, Keith.”

“It’s okay.” Keith said, smiling sadly as he patted Shiro’s knee. “But seriously though, I’m happy for you and Allura. I’ve only ever seen you guys be good for each other.”

“Thanks, Keith. You have no idea what that means to me. Now, if I’m not mistaken, this is our stop.”

“Keith!” Allura yelled when she opened the door, flinging her arms around the shorter man’s shoulders, almost immediately pulling back to get a better look at him. He still wasn’t looking his best, but definitely better than last night. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She whispered as she pulled him into a more gentle hug this time. “You really scared us there, you know?”

“Yeah.” Keith mumbled. “I, uh, I have a rough idea. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pass out.”

“I don’t think anyone means to pass out.” Shiro joked, trying to make light of the situation, but quickly swallowed his words when the two glanced up at him, a near identical unimpressed pout on both their faces. “I’ll be quiet.”

“I hope you don’t mind, Keith, but Shiro called me last night to tell me about your situation… Nearly gave him a heart attack when he told me you guys never made it to the hospital.” She spoke as she gently punched Shiro in the arm. “He told me Lotor talked to you.”

“Boy did he…” Keith mumbled under his breath, glancing away from her, still feeling like he had somehow betrayed her. “I… I know I shouldn’t have trusted him. I knew you’d never do anything bad to Shiro, but there always was this tiny seed of doubt that something might go wrong, and it wrecked me.”

“Keith, no. Don’t blame yourself. None of this is your fault, and you know it. I just wanted to warn you, because it might happen again. Especially when Shiro and I make our relationship public.”

“I’ll be ready for him this time.” Keith said, his eyes full with newfound determination. “I’ll know he’s a lying sack of shit and shouldn’t be trusted.”

Allura giggled, for the first time that day. “I appreciate the sentiment, Keith. Approaching people outside of the internet usually isn’t his way of doing things, though. He’ll be unpredictable to any of us from here on out.”

Keith only shrugged. “I tend not to think too far ahead myself. Unpredictability is just the way I roll.”

“If you say so, Keith.” Allura said, smiling ever so endearingly. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“After what I did, I’ll do just about anything to make it up to you.” Keith said, fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves.

“Then would you take the picture for our announcement?” She asked again, offering Keith her camera. It was nearly identical to his own, with the exception of her more expensive and high-end lense and flash diffuser.

Keith smiled and gratefully took the camera in both hands. “Where do you want this taken?”

Allura took Shiro’s hand and lead him to the ceiling-high windows, overlooking the city skyline. “Here is fine.”

Keith nodded and got ready, bringing the viewfinder to his eye. “Come on, Shiro, smile. Do something, no need to be nervous.” He encouraged.

“Uh, well, okay.” Shiro mumbled when Keith went back to find the two of them through the lense again.

The next thing he heard was a loud whoop and giggle from Allura as Shiro swept her off her feet, cradling her in his arms like the princess she was. Keith chuckled as he clicked the shutter what had to have been at least ten times. He smiled genuinely, unlike last night, when he still worried for Shiro’s general well being. No, this time it felt right. They were friends. Close ones, after only a few months.

And Keith would never let anyone try to tear them apart ever again.

#fanfic #voltron #voltron legendary defender #shallura #heith

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violetfaust · 8 years ago

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Season 6B as it should have been: with Belle.

I’m sorry, I just CANNOT stop with this. It would have been so easy to give Belle the presence she deserved--which the story NEEDED--in this arc. Without interfering with the other characters’ arcs or adding a ton of screentime.

So I’mma do it. I’m a little handicapped because I only watched half the episodes (which is three times as many as for 6A and more than in S5 entirely), so cut me some slack where needed.

Under a cut because it got long as fuck.

6.11: Keep the cut scene in which David and Killy betray Belle by siccing Zelena on Gideon, and Belle does something to save him. This is the scene referenced in Rumbelle’s well conversation when she talks about fighting for Gideon and trusting the wrong people. I’d also make this the scene where Zelena loses her magic--Gideon takes it to defeat her. I’m not sure what could have been cut to fit this in; the Boozer Hook scene in the Wish!Verse stands out as filler, but it was pretty funny. Probably some of the August stuff could be condensed. The cut scene was so important since it showed (or would have) that Belle would compromise her principles for her son, and would set up the Charmings vs. the Stiltskins (and align Rumbelle, and show Belle how much Killy is NOT her friend) right off the bat.

6.12: This was the David/Killy ep? I’m fine leaving Belle and Rumbelle out of it.

6.13: I’m honestly okay with an ep that focused on Rumple’s relationship with Gideon...considering that he had none in 6A, it needed building. But Belle shouldn’t have been left wandering in the woods for all of it. They could have fit in 20 seconds of a scene between her and Blue where Blue apologizes for losing Gideon and Belle forgives her and expresses her guilt, saying Gideon’s fate is all her fault. And then after Rumbelle meet in the woods, Belle could say she was going to the library to research, or whatever--something that made it clear she was being active in the quest to help Gideon.

6.14: I didn’t even remember what happened in this--it was the Split Queen resolution. So I looked it up, and it was pretty packed--Rumbelle can stay out of it. My change would be to make the Queen and Robin together kidnap Zelena to hold for ransom (instead of the Queen kidnapping Robin). That allows for Zelena to have a scene where she expresses regret for what she did to our Robin, and the sisters become closer when Regina rescues powerless Zee. (And Zee does something useful, whatevs, I don’t care.)

6.15: Killy ep. A big part of my rewrite is cutting Killy’s excellent adventure completely. In 6.14 he chickens out (no help from Gideon) and leaves with Nemo; in 6.15 he has his centric that goes pretty much the same, and he decides to go back and ~~fight for his wuv~~. Jaladdin wish him back to SB with a parting gift of whatever doohickey he eventually was handed by Tiger Lily. Emma doesn’t fall into his arms and tell him it’s her fault he lied, either. Something something (who cares), they’re not re-engaged; they’re going to work on it. (I don’t care how they get together--barf--but I’m not cleaning up the whole season by getting rid of CY altogether. That’s a bigger project.) Belle and Rumple have a tiny scene when they are also seen at the bar for two-for-one night. (It’s NOT a date, they both agree; but they’re exhausted and need to eat; that’s it; 20 seconds in which Bobby and Em have more sexual tension and longing than CY do in a year). Belle is a witness to Gideon stealing Emma’s tear for some stupid reason (was that ever explained?) and is horrified. Belle/Gideon 10-second exchange of angsty eyes. (I will NEVER EVER EVER get over Belle not having a single one-on-one scene with her baby boy when he’s all grown up and destroying people.)

6.16: Gideon ep. Since we’ve gotten rid of Killy/Blackbeard we have about six minutes to play with to split between Belle’s and Zelena’s plots. (So Zee helps Regina with Henry’s author problem. Mills family bonding. Zee can express remorse for killing Henry’s father.) Belle doesn’t just hang out in the shop while Rumple goes to the mansion looking for Gideon; she’s with him every step of the way and sees that Gideon is a betraying betrayer and Rumple is a Big Damn Hero who saves Emma. At the end when Emma tells Belle her kid is dead meat, Belle has seen exactly how bad Gid can be but she defends him all the same. Room for a longer Rumbelle bonding scene.

6.17: Again, no Killy gives us time for Belle and/or Zelena. Since Moe was around filming for (cut, of course) flashbacks for this ep, we finally get the (present-day) scene where Belle confronts him for abandoning her in the sleeping curse, and Rumbelle/Rumple fans get Belle’s realization that Rumple was the only person to fight for her and the baby when she was under the curse. Belle tells Moe that Rumple is a much better father than he will ever be (stand up and cheer moment). Killy does something useful to support Emma (who cares) so their engagement’s back on; Regina still saves Snowing by having the town take the curse; Belle and Moe are among the townspeople who drink the potion along with Archie, dwarves, Zee, and randos. Big but quiet beat between Belle and Regina because Belle is helping the people who are still determined to kill her child if necessary. At the end, Belle is with Rumple when he tells Fifi that he knows she has Gid’s heart; Rumbelle stand united against her, but Fi dismisses Belle and tells Rumple THEY will be a family. Belle is troubled; her face asks, Can she trust Rumple? Will he choose her or Fifi?

6.18: This is the big one. Sorry, Zelena. It’s a Belle centric in which she finds a way to get to the Dark Realm, and she and Rumple go to try to rescue baby Gideon, or get some deus ex mechanism that would allow them to save him (maybe his heart’s back in this realm? I dunno; I can’t plot worth crap but no one is paying me $$$$ to do it either). Flashbacks: Baby Belle and her mommy, and why Belle can speak/read fairy. (Maybe the BlF made a play for Belle when she was a child.) We also find out the plot of Her Handsome Hero: the knight Gideon faces an evil sorcerer; to defeat him he has to go on a quest for a lot of doodads; he’s aided by a woman who turns out to be the evil sorcereress; Gideon and the sorceress respect and forgive each other for the past; he saves her from vengeful and misguided villagers (a mob with a Gastonish lead) by talking them around, and thus becomes her handsome hero. (This is my version of reconciling what Belle said about the book in H3 with the bit she read to Jack and Jill’s kid in 6.9.) Present: Rumbelle work together all the way, but whatever they try to do fails (of course) and Belle basically loses it and has an “I failed” breakdown, blaming herself for everything. This is the big apology scene that some people want, but it’s more about Belle’s long-term inferiority complex finally coming to the fore. Rumple supports her completely, takes the blame for what he did, and tells her that she’s his hero (echo of the Miller’s Daughter phone call). At the very end, Rumbelle realize that some random thing they discovered in the Dark Realm can protect Gideon from being controlled, but only in his dreams. (This fixes the plot point of whether the BlF can control Gid in dreams, and if she can’t, why he was being such a dick in the first place, trying to break up Rumbelle and engineer his own kidnapping.) Belle thanks Rumple for not giving up, and he says, “When you find something worth fighting for, you never give up.” (Cue sobs from Belle and us.)

6.19: Plays out almost exactly as it did. Belle giving Rumple her trust has much more weight now, though, because we’ve seen him earn it back onscreen. (And maybe they both decide to “kidnap” Emma to the dream world because they can’t trust her.) The main difference is that Belle is the one who saves Regina from the BlF by running out into the street (the fight takes place ten seconds from the pawnshop) and braining Fifi over the back of her head with Her Handsome Hero. (Stand up and cheer moment.)

6.20: Snow mentions at the bachelorette party that Belle sent the dresses but couldn’t come because she’s spending time with Gideon. Two seconds of communion between Snow and Emma how weird and hard and yet somehow cool it is to have a child your own age, and how they hope that Belle and Gid can become as close as Emma and Snow are. (Or a little more bittersweet, acknowledgment that maybe Emma and Snow have not always been as close as they want to be. Big hug. Uses Belle and Gid as a springboard for a Snow/Emma beat.) Cut the Rumple/Killy scene, which only served to make Killy into a vengeful asshole on his wedding day and make his vows to Emma look like lies. Replace with Belle and Gideon on the Jolly Roger, packing up Belle’s stuff because they are both moving into the Pink Palace. We can leave the mystery in this scene about whether Rumple has filled them in on his plan, or whether he’s actually working with the BlF and is a betraying betrayer who is keeping them in the dark. Belle shows Gideon some of the stuff she bought for his baby self (the teddy bear, some little onesies), and plays him the tape Rumple made of the poem. They are so happy to be together now, but aching because of what they’ve lost and what Gid’s childhood turned out to be. Very very bittersweet; ends with Belle singing a few lines of a lullabye (her contribution to the musical; maybe she starts singing along with Rumple’s voice on the tape). Cut to Gideon’s tears and mine.

6.21/22: Since Belle has had so much more presence through the REST of the season, it’s actually okay with me if she’s offstage for most of 6.21 (as she was).to keep the mystery of whether Rumple has his memories. But it feels as if their scene in the murder house was definitely cut short; so weird for Rumple to just nope out with a “Okay, sorry to bother you, just keep cowering back there, never mind me.” So continue it for a minute or so, with Rumple gently coaxing cursed Belle out, giving her the courage to come meet her son. He takes her to the pawnshop with him, to Fifi’s horror. Angsty moment and tears between cursed Belle and cursed Gid. (Possibly she kisses him and breaks his personal curse, the way he did for her in 6.1?) Fifi then shows the whole family that Gid is under her control, with agony for all that he is being forced to blacken his soul despite everything they’ve all done to save him; maybe Gideon actually says something like he wishes he’d never been born. (Or something else so we know grown Gid is okay with being rebabyfied.) Fifi poofs him off to kill Emma, and makes her offer to Rumple that he can have this family and also Baelfire. Belle witnesses Rumple choosing reality and killing his mum. Then everything proceeds as in the real ep. Rumbelle go to the mines to find Gid’s heart. I’m a little torn here because I love the fact that Rumple (like Regina and UNLIKE a certain other someone) always resists temptation and does the right, heroic thing WITHOUT someone pointing him in the right direction and waving pompoms to cheer him on. So keeping his scene between him and his DO imp private would be good. I guess Belle doesn’t sprain her ankle, but they split up because the mines are labyrinthine and they’re trying to cover more ground. Rumple does the right thing, but it fails. He goes back to meet Belle, they comfort each other in their darkest moment, and then baby Gideon appears--only this time there’s some callback to SOMETHING they did in the Dark Realm rather than it just happening out of the clear blue sky. And we’re back to the episode as written.

(via @belle-gifs)

See? WAS THAT SO HARD? With the exception of adding Belle’s centric, most of these changes would give her only about a minute or two more per ep--but they are significant minutes.

#belle french #rumbelle #anti-kitsowitz #WAS THAT SO HARD?#op

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