#to think of them both being out and proud sooner in their lives is just something else 🫠❤️

[until-i-set-him-free]

Another alternative for their first meeting - drunk version. 🍻

(I've been listening to "Light My Candle" from RENT a lot recently - and naturally I had to make this exchange about BuckTommy. ❤️)

[boredmadamoiselle]

You don't even have to ask

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Reader

Synopsis: After the qualifying at the Grand Prix of Monaco, you look for Charles to give him comfort... and in search of his forgiveness.

Warnings: Fluff. Angst. English isn't my first language, so it probably contains some mistakes. I tried my best but if you want to correct or help me, you are welcome.

Author's note: Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is always appreciated and is important for me. If you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to write them and I will take into consideration. 

The sun had already set and the moon had taken its place lighting up the dark sky above you. 

As you approached the port, you could hear the music from downtown getting more and more distant. Absolute silence reigned in the port, it was just you, the sea and the many boats docked. Everyone, except one person, was celebrating. And you knew, or at least you hoped, you’d find him on his yacht. Away from everyone and everything, probably lost in his thoughts and thinking back to what had happened just a few hours ago. 

Once again, in fact, Ferrari and Charles’ team had screwed his race, jeopardizing his victory and proving to be incompetent. Although they were the ones who made the mistake, Charles would pay once again the consequences, just when for the first time he had had the chance to get on the podium in Monaco. That was the thing that pissed you off more. 

Even though you were on a break, you couldn’t help it but support him. Because in the end and despite everything that had happened between you in the last months, you loved him. You still wanted him to win and be happy. But instead, he was struggling once again. 

Charles ran to win every race but Monaco was different, it was special. It was his home race, the place where he had grown up and lived. 

He loved Monaco, its people and he wanted them to love him equally, to make them proud. That was the reason why he wanted to win… for them. The thing was that they already loved him… or at least you did. You loved him more than everything else and seeing him sad broke your heart. After you had tried to call him and had received no answer, you had decided to go find him and see for yourself how he was. You wanted to comfort him, but you were also dying to see him and have him a few meters from you after weeks away, to hold him in your arms. You would have told him that everything would be fine. Even among you. 

The break had been your idea and Charles, even though he didn’t like the idea, had agreed. He loved you and he knew that being in a relationship with him, always under the spotlight wasn’t easy, that sometimes it could be a little suffocating. So, he had let you go with the hope that you would return to him sooner or later. You were now as you had thought enough. Being with him wasn’t easy for sure but being without him was even more difficult. Those weeks apart from him had strengthened your feelings for Charles. 

You needed him just like he needed you. Those weeks, those days must not have been easy for Charles and your distance must have made everything worse. Part of you felt guilty for not being there for him. 

His yacht was for both of you your second home, your refuge. Whenever he could, Charles would come and take the yacht out to sea. As he wanted to stay alone with his thoughts during those moments, he almost never allowed anyone to accompany him, except you. You were always welcome. Would you have been even now? Did he still love you? These questions had been nagging you all along the way. 

You got on the yacht and it didn't take you long before you saw him. He was standing with his back to you and looking up at the sky. You were approaching him when the sound of his voice instantly paralyzed you. 

“I said I wanted to be alone.” 

You could hear the sadness dripping and it broke your heart. You wanted to run to him but you were unable to move. Would he have appreciated that? Were you welcome? As he had his back still turned, he had no idea it was you.

“Does that apply to me too?”, you asked, scared of being rejected. Your voice made Charles instantly turn around as he realized who you were. 

His face immediately lit up upon seeing you just a few feet away from him. But you could still see the sadness in his eyes. 

“Y/N…”

“I just wanted to see how you were… you know after everything that happened, but if you prefer being alone, I can…” 

He didn't let you finish the sentence. “You know there is always room for you on board”, he said smiling. 

You smiled back. You were tired of that distance between you, it was time to fill it. You approached him filling the gap between you. Now you were inches away from him. 

“Even in your arms? Because I think a hug would do you so much good”, you said.

Without answering, he reached out to you and wrapped his strong arms around your shoulders and back. 

“You don’t even have to ask”, he whispered burying his head into your neck. 

You tucked your head into the curve of his neck and wrapped your arms around his waist. The contact with his body sent a shiver through you. It was like the air was taken from you as you melted onto him and your eyes began to fill with tears. You could feel he was crying too as a slight wetness was soaking your blouse. 

Charles sighed as he felt immediately lighter between your arms, relieved. After all those weeks of being away from you, Charles felt he could start breathing again. Without you by his side and with all the pressure leading up to his home race, he had felt like he had been drowning for the past weeks. You were his anchor, the one who kept him afloat when everything else was failing. You had arrived just in time to rescue him. 

You hugged in silence for a few minutes. Words weren't necessary, at least not now. Your hearts beating wildly, in unison with each other spoke for you. That was enough.  

After a while, you broke the silence. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, not now that you are here with me… That's all that matters now, I don’t care about anything else”, he whispered.  “But there is one thing you could actually do for me.”

You pulled away gently and looked into his eyes, your faces inches apart, noses touching and his hands still on your hips. 

“What is it?” You were feeling a mixture of curiosity and fear as you were waiting for him to talk. 

Charles placed his forehead on yours. 

“Would you stay here with me tonight?”

You closed your eyes and sighed, part of you feeling relieved at his words. 

“You don’t even have to ask”, you simply said. 

His lips curved into a smile satisfied by your answer. His hands cupped your cheeks, as he slowly leaned in and placed his lip onto yours. Your spare hand gripped his shirt gently, pulling him closer until you were pressed against each other. You needed to feel him. But first you needed to do something else. 

With your hands on his chest, you took a step behind leaving Charles confused and visibly worried. 

“I’m sorry, Charles, for everything. I should have been there for you, especially knowing how difficult it would have been today…”

He took your hands in his and placed his forehead on yours. “Shhhh… You are here now and that’s enough for me. Tomorrow, if we want, we will talk about us but for now I just want to hold you in my arms. No racing, just us. Me and you. Okay?” 

You nodded and let out a small whisper “I think it’s perfect”.  And you kissed again.

 

A few weeks later you were back on the yacht, Charles had taken you on a date.  

Between Charles’ arms and rocked by the sound of crashing waves, you were staring at the starry sky and enjoying the silence away from the city.

“I’ll be right back”, he whispered into your ear and pulled gently apart from you. 

You kept looking at the starry sky when a streak of light crossed the sky and then immediately vanished. 

“Look, Charles! A falling star!”, you screamed and turned around to face Charles. 

You were speechless and couldn’t believe your eyes. 

Charles was in front of you... on his knees. He was holding a small velvet box with a diamond-set ring inside. And it wasn't just any ring but the one that Hervé, Charles' father, had given to his mother when he had proposed to her.

You put a hand in front of your mouth trying to hold back the emotion and the tears. 

“Charles…” 

“Y/n, a few weeks ago I asked you if you would stay with me for the night. Now I ask you, would you stay with me a little longer?”

Tears streamed down your face as you weren't able to hold them back anymore.

“Forever, Charles”, you finally said. “You don’t even have to ask.” 

[goldendynastys]

wonderland (pt. 1) | cs

summary: Being home alone with your pets has always put you on edge, especially at night when you get extremely anxious. You thought you were over it towards the end of your parents’ vacation, but when a random stranger breaks in one night and insists on taking you with him, everything you once knew had begun to change. You knew how your story would end, you just weren’t sure if it was for the better, or the worst.

pairing: choi san x fem!reader rating/genre: 18+, MDNI | yandere, angst, fluff, eventual smut word count: 8.4k warning/tags: yandere, kidnapping, manipulation, stockholm syndrome, obsession, somewhat toxic relationship, fast burn, reader is innocent, angst, arguments between san and reader, lots of fluff, pet names, i think that is it but please let me know if i missed anything (i’m new at this), i hope you enjoy reading! <3

disclaimer: all members of Ateez are faces and name claims for this story. this is entirely a work of fiction and by no means is meant to be a projection, judgment, or representation of real-life people. any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real life scenarios.

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chapter one, always an angel, never a god (next →)

Growing up you always tried your best to stand out. Amongst your classmates, amongst your family. You did everything to make yourself unique, to be better. You wanted to be the best, and you tried so hard to achieve that. But in reality, you knew it was impossible, because there were a lot of people who were simply better than you. And you couldn’t compete with them, it was no use. So, you continued to be yourself, in hopes it would pay off and you would finally be the best at something, no matter what it was.

This notion of wanting to be the best most likely came from your family. It wasn’t anything your parents did per say, it was more your older brother. You loved him to pieces, but it seemed like he always got the most attention and adoration from your parents. You and your family’s lives weren’t normal (even though you hated saying those words, it made you cringe). Most families had lawyers, doctors, or strong business people within their families. Your family? Well, they were the leaders of the most popular biker gangs in town, known as the Sons of Anarchy. Yeah, not a typical job for most families.

Your dad had become the leader after your grandfather had retired, and your brother was next in line to take over once your dad was ready to retire, which was coming sooner than expected. Because of this, your parents focused more on him and making sure he was ready to take this on, as well as applauding him for his hardwork and dedication to the organization. Your parents still loved you and were so proud of you, but it was obvious they cared more for your brother than they did for you. You can take care of yourself just fine, your folks don’t need to worry about you. It’s your brother they gotta pay attention to so he doesn’t fuck all of this up, a member of the gang once told you when you were fourteen years old. 

You assumed it was in that moment, you realized you had to stand out if you wanted your parents proud of you. You had to defy their expectations, work hard and try to be the best in whatever areas you could be. 

And you did exactly that for the next nine years. You excelled in school, getting the highest grades on all of your assignments, exams, and classes. You found a small passion for tennis and excelled in that as well, even getting a scholarship for college that would cover both your tuition and dorm. When you got to college, you continued these same patterns (high grades on everything, being a great tennis player), and also got accepted to a master’s program for an additional year at no cost. 

But even with all of this effort, it didn’t seem to pay off. They were proud of your accomplishments, but it was still evident that they favored your brother and focused on getting him ready to become a leader of their gang. It broke your heart that after all of this time and hardwork, they were still focused on your brother, but from another perspective, it paid off in many ways. You got high academic honors, multiple awards for tennis, and into a great master’s program. You gave yourself these amazing opportunities, opportunities that were going to help shape your future and make it bright.

Instead of letting it consume you, you let it fuel you as motivation to keep going. Someday, someone would be proud of everything you’ve done, put you first and appreciate everything about you. You were looking forward to that day, to be a goddess amongst someone instead of just being a pretty angel like everyone else. 

Other than your family’s biker gang and your extracurriculars, you had lived a quiet life for as long as you could remember. Some of it was by choice, since you loved staying in bed and watching movies, but also because you were a lonely person. You had friends, friends that you adored of course, but they were always busy and never reached out to see if you wanted to go out. So, since you couldn’t go out by yourself (unless you wanted to be murdered), you were forced to stay inside. 

There were days where you hated it, resenting your life and criticizing yourself so harshly for staying in. You often wondered if you would regret it later on, worried that you weren’t living your life to the fullest. But you knew that wasn’t true, there were plenty of occasions where you went out, whether that was with your family or on vacation. You realized those were more special, as opposed to going out every weekend. That gave you some peace and closure, but those negative thoughts always came back to haunt you, no matter how hard you tried to fight it.

But this weekend was different. Well, these past two weekends, actually. Your parents and your older brother were going on vacation. A trip to the mountains, to be exact. They said it was for business, given the other biker branches of Sons of Anarchy operating in the country and how they needed help from time to time. When you heard your parents and brother were going for work but also taking time for themselves to relax, it made your heart happy knowing they were getting some sort of a break. Despite your strange relationship, you still loved them and wanted them to rest and live their lives. 

While they were away, you were asked to watch over the house and your pets, a dog named Spuds and a cat named Pumpkin. They required minimal care, since they were on the older side, but Spuds needed a little more attention than Pumpkin. You had to make his dinner, take him on walks and out to do his business, and sleep with him at night so he wouldn't get lonely (your dad and mom did all of this when they were home). All Pumpkin needed was to be fed once a day and have her litter box changed every couple days (you already fed her, but your dad was the one to change her litter box when he was home). So, your tasks for the pets weren’t hard to do, per se, it just prevented you from doing certain things for the week. 

And you didn’t mind at all. You loved your pets and would do anything for them, but you also loved your parents and would do anything for them, too. They worked extremely hard and have given you and your brother a great life, so it was the least you could do. You often felt bad that you couldn’t pay them back in monetary ways to show how much you appreciate everything they did for you, but if there was anything they needed help with or wanted you to complete for them, you would do it in a heartbeat.

You wanted to give your family this, a week away from the chaos that was their life where they didn’t have to worry about anything. It made your heart happy knowing they were going on this trip. The only thing that seemed to bother you, however, was the nighttime and falling asleep.

Like the chronic overthinker you were, you were worried that someone was going to break into your house and hurt you. You put on the television and watched Bob’s Burgers in order to help you fall asleep and make sure the house wasn’t too quiet. Still, the little creaks and sounds you heard at night made your heart jump, worried that something bad was going to happen. 

Nothing ever did, however. You were able to fall asleep and wake up in the early morning to everything the way that it was the day before. You were just hyper aware of everything and wanted to make sure everything was okay. So while your thoughts were too extreme and never manifested into anything bad, you kept telling yourself that you were okay and that nothing would happen. 

You had almost gotten used to it towards the end of their vacation. You still played Bob's Burgers to help you fall asleep and add noise, of course, but you were much calmer than you were earlier in the week. In fact, you were getting excited to see your family again and for everything to go back to normal. As much as you loved having the house to yourself and sleeping next to your dog every night, you were ready to not be in charge anymore and just do whatever the hell you wanted.

The day had gone by as usual; you decided to get some groceries after your dad texted you that he and your brother needed stuff from the store. You went out in the early afternoon, going on a walk with Spuds earlier to get your steps and the dog’s exercise in for the day. You got yourself some treats while you were out that you could enjoy tonight, after you ordered in from your favorite restaurant. Additionally, you had enough money to treat yourself to some books and albums you wanted (thank God you had gotten paid a few days ago), and wanted to reward yourself for taking such good care of your pets and house for the week. The sun was out and the air was warm, making it a perfect day in your book.

After having your dinner and sweet treats, you found yourself growing tired and decided to go to sleep. You were happy it was the weekend and you didn’t have to worry about waking up early for work the next day. As usual, you put on Bob’s Burgers and fell asleep around eleven-thirty, a sense of happiness within you knowing your parents and brother would be home early tomorrow.

But you were awoken in the middle of the night to Spuds barking, which was something he never did. The TV had shut off due to the timer you put it on before you fell asleep, so it couldn’t have been another dog barking on the program you were watching. No, this was something else. Something that made your stomach drop with fear.

You immediately grabbed your phone and pressed your back against the door. Spuds wanted to go out and see who was downstairs, but you tried to calm him down. “Shh! Be quiet, someone’s here and I need you to stop barking,” you whispered in hopes Spuds would listen and actually stop (he did after you gave him a small treat).

You didn’t hesitate to call the police, your gut telling you this was an emergency and you desperately needed help. Once you dialed the number, however, you noticed your phone just kept ringing, no one was answering. You noticed that your phone wasn’t connected to the wi-fi, and your connection was extremely low. Odd. That never happened; even when the wi-fi was down, you were able to use the Internet and call people just fine. Why wasn’t it working now? Were the power lines destroyed by a large tree? It made no sense, but you kept calling in hopes that it would go through.

A loud sound could be heard downstairs. Someone must’ve broken down the doors, as you could hear muffled voices stepping over the damage they did and walking into your living room. Your chest tightened and you wanted to sob, but you had to remain quiet. You couldn’t let whoever was in your house know that you were here. That way, they would leave quicker and leave you alone. You placed a hand over your mouth to quiet yourself down, breathing in slowly to calm down and pull yourself together. Hopefully, they would realize no one was home and be on their way. 

It wasn’t until you heard Pumpkin meow and someone speak up that you snapped out of your thoughts. “Aw, she has a cat. How cute, hi pretty kitty,” a soft voice spoke. “Will you let her take it home with you?”

“No, I already have a cat at home that she’ll love, she doesn’t need two. They wouldn’t get along, anyways. Pip hates other cats. Hell, she doesn’t even like Gunner and Tank, and they’ve been living together for years,” another voice answered. “It might be worth it to kill this one, it doesn’t seem friendly and if it stands in the way of me getting my girl, then by all means . . .”

You didn’t even think twice before opening the door and running to the top of the stairs. “No, no, don't do it! Please don’t!” You shouted. 

A chorus of chuckles responded to your pleas, and your stomach dropped. You just realized you fell for their trap. They weren’t going to kill your cat, they were just doing it to lure you out of your room. And you fell for it, like a complete idiot. 

Their laughter made you realize you didn’t want to cower in your room anymore. This was your house, they had no right to be there. You wanted to see why they were here, even if it got you killed or injured in the end, and you wanted to get them the hell out before you killed them yourself. Without hesitating, you grabbed a pair of scissors from your bathroom and made your way downstairs.

You were greeted by three men, all wearing ski masks to hide their identities. Your stomach dropped once more and your nerves increased again, but you kept your grip tight on your scissors. You weren’t going to let them win.

“Ah, there you are. We were wondering when you were going to come out,” the man in the middle spoke first. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t hurt your cat. You’re gonna love the one I have at home, and she’s going to love you.”

“What the fuck do you want with me, assholes?” You spat, holding up the scissors higher. “I won’t hesitate to stab you if you come any closer and I got the cops on speed dial.”

The third person laughed at your words. He was taller than the other two, his demeanor much different compared to them as well. His voice was deep and you could picture his sinister smile under his mask so easily. You seriously considered stabbing him right then and there. “You picked a feisty one, Sannie. I like her, do you think she’d be better off with me?” He questioned.

The man in the middle, who apparently went by the name Sannie (it must be a nickname), answered his friend bitterly. “You’re funny, Mingi. But you know she’s mine, everyone does. No one touches her but me,” the man explained. “Sorry about him. Mingi here likes to flirt with any girl that breathes, including ones that are taken.”

“What the hell– what the fuck is this? Are you here to kill me, sacrifice me to the woods, what the fuck?” You shook your head in pure confusion. “I’ll call the cops, I swear to God–”

“And what will that do, baby? We know how to outrun cops, they won’t get here until the time we’re about to leave,” he teased. 

You froze at the nickname, a stern look now on your face. Who the hell does this guy think he is? You take a few steps back and hold the scissors out to stop them from coming closer to you. “My mom’s jewelry isn’t here if that’s what you want. She gave it to someone to keep it safe, and they live far away from here. I don’t have anything, only two dollars and a broken record player. I got nothing, nothing that you want.”

“Oh, but you do have what I want,” the man snickered. “Come with me and we’ll leave your house alone. Everything will go untouched.”

“That’s not gonna happen,” you spat. 

“Ah, but it will,” he protested. He turned to his two friends, who stood quietly and waited for instructions. “You have her family’s location, right? Send a text to Cyrus and send his men to their hotel, give them a good scare and take everything they have.”

Deep down, you knew he was bluffing. He was just doing it to get a rise out of you, he wouldn’t actually hurt your family. But you couldn’t risk it, no matter how much your brain was trying to rationalize with you. You immediately stepped closer to all of them, a look of fear and worry now on your face. “No, no, no! Please don’t, don’t bring my family into this, they haven’t done anything. Just leave them alone! Don’t hurt them, please.”

“Then do as I say,” he spoke slowly and grunted. “Come with me and everything goes untouched, including your family and pets. Deal?”

You hesitated. You could feel the tears forming in your eyes as you stared at the masked men — you hated this, how much power they had over you. Breaking into your home in the middle of the night and demanding you leave the people you’re taking care of. You wanted to stab all of them and call the police to make them go away — but you knew you couldn’t take them all in a fight. It would end up with you and your family getting hurt, and you couldn’t risk that.

A small plan came to mind. You weren’t sure how well it would work, but there was a small chance it would. Your phone could still send text messages even if the connection was bad, a SMS message. Your brother was always up at this hour, he was a night owl who loved to stay up and play video games until he got tired. If you sent him a message telling him what happened and to call the cops on your behalf, surely they would get to your house on time and save you from this mess. He could even call the other members of the Sons of Anarchy and have them save you, they would be at your house in no time. If that didn’t work, then you could send your location to your brother and have him track you wherever you go. It was a longshot, but you had to try. Anything to get out of this and keep yourself safe.

“F-Fine, I’ll go with you,” you stuttered nervously. “But I need to change, it’s too cold for me to be wearing just a t-shirt. I’ll be right back.”

The man shook his head. “No, we’re going now—”

You cut him off instantly. “I need to change and you’re going to let me do so. Got it?”

The other men laughed at your comment, clearly not intimidated by your stern voice. The one you spoke to only sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration. “Okay, sure. But you have five minutes. If you’re not back here, I’m coming up there to get you. Got it?” He mocked. You only sent him a stern look before trudging up the stairs. You instantly ran into your bedroom, your dog barking loudly while you whipped out your phone and started to text your brother. You began the message by addressing him by his name to show him how serious this was. I need you to call the cops, these men broke in and one of them is trying to kidnap me. Have them come to the house, I’m sending you my location in case they take me before the cops get here. Tell mom and dad what’s happening. See if Jeffery or the others can help. I love you so much.

The message wasn't sent until you sent it as an SMS message. You sighed in relief, hoping this would all be resolved within the next day or two. You closed your eyes to breathe for a moment, until you heard the muffling of shoes and voices downstairs, the sounds making you angry. “You got two minutes, Princess. Are you almost done?” The man shouted.

“Whatever!” You shouted back as you rolled your eyes. The nickname, the men, the one who wanted to kidnap you — it was all stupid. Stupid bullshit you had no idea why it was happening. You wanted to scream, but you hoped the cops would be on their way soon. You just hoped your plan would work to some extent. It didn’t have to be perfect, you just needed to be saved from whatever the hell this was.

You quickly threw on a purple long sleeve shirt and grabbed your phone, slipping it into your purse you decided to bring last minute. It had a taser and pepper stray, which would come in handy if any of them tried to hurt you. Hesitantly, you opened your bedroom door and made your way to the kitchen. 

You could feel eyes burning into you as you walked downstairs. Someone whistled, which resulted in the man speaking to you hitting their chest harshly. He walked over to you and placed your hand into his, his grip strong but gentle. “You look beautiful, let's go home, it’s late and we both need to get some sleep, don’t you think?”

No words left your lips. Rather, you just remained silent as the man eagerly began to walk out of your house. Tears formed in your eyes once more as you got outside, scared to leave your home and family. You had no idea what the hell was going to happen, and the thought of never seeing them again made your heart shatter. 

It didn’t take you long to reach the cars parked near the woods. One of them was a van, in which the two men entered and began the engine. They both fist-bumped the man you were with (you wanted to scream), congratulating him on “getting his girl” (whatever the fuck that meant). As the two drove off, you were thrown into the passenger seat of a nice pickup truck. The man didn’t say a word to you, he only got in and began to drive off.

You had no idea where you were going. If they were going to kill you, or worse. The fear kept creeping into your mind; you had to do something, but you felt frozen. Then, out of nowhere, you started to pull on the door handle harshly in hopes the door would open. Perhaps your brain finally came to its senses and told your muscles to do something.

“Let me go, asshole!” You told him aggressively as you continued to yank on the handle. The man only laughed, to which you sent him a pressing glare and widened your eyes. “I’m sorry? I’m fighting for my life against a stranger who kidnapped me and all you can do is laugh? What the hell is wrong with you?”

He continued to laugh and shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You’re just so cute when you act out, it’s just so adorable.”

This man is insane, you thought to yourself. Your jaw dropped and you immediately closed it before he could make another comment. An idea perked up in your mind and you sent a soft smile to him. “I can be extra cute, you know. Yeah, if you stop the car and let me out, I’ll act extra cute just for you. You’re going to love it.”

“Sure, baby. I’ll let you out in a few minutes,” he told you, his eyes still on the road.

You got excited. You were hopeful that he had fallen for your trap. You were starting to think that maybe he wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. That sense of optimism and hope you had was instantly crushed, however, once you realized you were pulling into a driveway. He was only going to let you out once you got here, so you wouldn’t be able to run away. Nice going, idiot, you thought to yourself.

The man had stopped his truck and jumped out to grab you. It didn’t take long before he was helping you out and walking you into the house with an arm around your waist. No matter how hard you tried to pull away, his grip remained firm. And you couldn’t fight back because of how strong he was. The muscles poking out of his t-shirt told you everything you needed to know.

The house was pretty big, with pretty windows and exterior design. A lake stood only a few feet away from the backyard, some fireflies flying over the water and area. You didn’t want to admit it, but the sight made you smile a little, but it faded away once the door opened and you were forced into the house by the man. Who knows what was on the other side.

The inside looked even prettier than the outside, which took you by surprise. You couldn’t help but stare in awe at the place, as it was the spitting image of your dream home. The furniture, the walls, the decor — it was everything you wanted in a house. For a split second, you had forgotten where you were or what was happening. It was honestly nice to just enjoy the scene in front of you, admire the house and pretend like everything was okay.

“Do you like it?” The man asked, pulling you back into reality. “I had it designed a few years ago, but added what you liked once I learned more about you. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“I hate to say it, but it is. But there is one thing I’d take out that would make it absolutely perfect. I wonder what that could be . . . oh yeah, you,” you spat, crossing your arms over your chest. “So, what? Are you going to kill me in your basement, sell me or my organs to the black market? Sacrifice me to some cult you and your friends are a part of? You mind telling me what the hell is going on here? You’ve kept me alive this long, and if I’m going to die soon, I’d at least like to know what I’m dying for. And take off your mask, I’d like to know the face of the man I’m going to haunt for all eternity once I’m dead. Plus, it’s really stupid.”

He chuckled at your words. You could picture his smug smile under his mask, and it annoyed you even more. “Nah, none of the above, actually. I brought you here for a more special reason, and it has nothing to do with you dying or being sacrificed to Satan.”

“How unfortunate,” you muttered under your breath.

He didn’t say a word about your comment. Instead, he slowly removed the ski mask off of his face and set it down on the table. You stared at him, taking in his features. He had a sharp jawline, with brown eyes and red hair. Dyed red hair, obviously. You could see his dark roots under the red. He looked intimidating, but also . . . sweet? Kind? You couldn’t tell. He had an awful demeanor, given what he just did to you. He was strong, as you noticed the muscles standing out through his shirt from beforehand. Buff, if you will. But even within that, he didn’t seem too mean. There was something about him that appeared to be gentle, which made no sense given the context of why you were in his house. 

He caught you staring at him and sent you a sly smirk. “Like what you see?”

“No,” you responded quickly and rolled your eyes. “Now answer my question: what the hell do you want with me? Why am I here?”

The man only sighed and made his way closer to you. He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, goosebumps now evident on your neck. You gulped in fear, hoping he would stop and give you some space. “You’re here because I want you to be with me. My girlfriend, if you will. I knew the first day I saw you that you were mine. The boys kept telling me I had to give it more time to really make sure, but I didn’t agree with them. I made them help me make a plan to bring you home, and now here we are.”

“P-Plan? You had this entire thing planned, to kidnap me?” You asked. “W-What, this is so fucked up, I . . . wait, when did you see me? Because I’ve never seen you before in my life, you’re lying.”

“A few months ago, when you were working at the grocery store. You were too caught up in getting that order ready, but you gave me a soft smile, and I knew then that it was you. I did everything I could to learn more about you, and it didn’t take me long to concoct a plan to make you mine,” he explained. 

You wanted to scream. Your chest was tight and you could feel your hands forming into fists. Tears began to prick in your eyes, but you wouldn’t let them fall, you didn’t want this man to think you were weak, or that you wanted his sympathy. “So you stalked me? You just gathered all the information that you could and stalked me?”

“Well, when you put it that way—” He tried to joke, but you only scoffed. He grabbed your arms in an attempt to help you not get angry. “Hey, hey — I know it sounds bad, but I did this for a reason. The men in my line of business, it’s just how we get our girls and make them ours. It helps us ensure that they stay with us and no one will take them away. I had to do this, to make sure you were safe. You’ll understand overtime.”

The man was rubbing his thumb over your arms to help you calm down, but you yanked them back and made your way to the other side of the living room, to get as far away from him as you could. “First of all, that is wrong on so many levels, I don’t even know what to say except that you’re crazy and that is not how you treat romantic partners. Second of all, you could’ve just asked me on a date like a normal person, I would’ve said yes.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that? I’ll take you on a bunch of dates soon, Princess. It’ll be like you said and we’ll do anything you want. Anything to make my girl happy.”

“I’m all set, thanks. I’ll be getting out of here soon enough, so the dates aren’t gonna happen. Especially when you’re behind bars,” you reassured both yourself and him. 

Your comment only made him laugh. “Sure, baby, sure. The cops won’t find us, I know how to outrun them and keep them off my back. You think I would just take you without thinking about the police first? They won’t know a thing, and they’ll never find you. Hell, they don’t even know what I look like, just my name. Even then, they fear me.”

“I’m not talking about the cops. My family and our friends know a thing of two about dealing with assholes like you. You’ll be lucky if they let you go in one piece, and even then you’ll be begging them to throw you in a jail cell,” you threatened. If there was one thing you knew for sure in this world, is that if you were ever in a crisis, your family and their motorcycle gang would be there in an instant to get you out. That was the only thing keeping you sane, knowing they would save you from this mess.

He couldn’t help but scoff at your comment. “Oh, really? You think the Sons of Anarchy are gonna scare me into letting you go? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Princess, but I can outrun and outsmart your family and their little group. Once they figure out who I am, they’ll be scared shitless and won’t stand a chance against me and the boys. The cops fear me, they’ll fear me, everyone is scared of me. There’s no getting out of this, no matter how hard you try.”

“Yeah? And what’s your name if everyone’s so scared of you?” You joked, trying to irk the hell out of this man so he would eventually break and let you go.

“San. Choi San, if you want my full name.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. You heard that name before, a long time ago, but you couldn’t remember where. “Choi San . . . why does that sound familiar?”

“Probably heard of me on the news. The gang I’m a part of, too. Yeah, we’re on the news a lot for the shit that we do. Does the name Ateez ring a bell? Everyone says we’re dangerous and a threat to the city, but it’s a bunch of bullshit. We’re just doing what we love most. We’re strong, fast, and protect ourselves well. Where’s the harm in that?”

Your stomach dropped at the realization. You knew very well what Ateez was, they were the talk of the town for years, even now. You remember learning about them when you moved home for your master’s program, your family so horrified and disgusted with their actions. You didn’t like them, either, being extra precautious when traveling around town and when you were at school for the day. But you never thought you’d actually come face to face with one of the members; it was one of those things where you would never expect to run into them in real time, only in your imagination. To be in the house of a member was something you never expected to happen.

The room was silent as you stared at San. Your breath hitched as you felt your feet take you backwards, only a little bit. Being a member of Ateez only meant violence, danger, and you had no idea what Choi San wanted with you. You wanted to take out the can of pepper spray you brought with you. The lap in the living room seemed to be a better weapon, however. Anything to defend yourself against him in case things went terribly wrong. “Ateez? Yeah, I’ve heard of you. You’re criminals. You’re dangerous, violent, and cruel.”

“Ouch. That your opinion or what everyone else keeps telling you?” San bit back, taking a few steps closer to you, in which you kept backing up. “Whatever you think about us, it’s not true. We aren’t evil people, we work for what is ours and do whatever we need to do to get it. Yeah we’re involved in dangerous shit, but we can protect ourselves well. We know how to handle it.”

“Doesn’t negate the fact that you still work with illegal shit,” you spat, your arms now crossed over your chest. 

San let out a small laugh. “Oh, and the Sons of Anarchy are completely innocent? They’re not the good people you think they are,” he said, saying your name at the end of his sentence to show how serious he was being.

“That’s different. The Sons of Anarchy have done some terrible things, yes, but they’ve changed. They aren’t the same people they were five years ago, my brother is changing it for the better. Unlike you and your friends, they actually care about people and don’t take them from their homes in the middle of the night,” you defended. 

“Yeah, sure they have. Deny it all you want, but they are exactly the same as us. We are one in the same. You’ll see it soon enough and realize your family aren’t the perfect people you make them out to be,” San fought back, his jaw now tighter than before. Whatever you said ticked him off, perhaps at how naive you were being. 

But you didn’t care. You stood by what you said — your family and the Sons of Anarchy were good people, they were changing for the better. No matter what San said, you wouldn’t let him get into your head. Especially after what he did to you.

A sigh escaped your lips as you ran a hand through your hair. You slowly started to put the pieces together to try and make sense of all of this. “Is that . . . is that why I’m here? Because you saw me and thought it’d be funny to rip a random girl away from her family? To upset her family who did nothing to you, all because you can? God, why can’t I just go home?”

You were about to cry, you could feel the tears welling up again and your voice getting weaker every time you spoke. As much as you wanted to hold them back, you just let them fall because you couldn’t take it anymore. You let the tears fall as you profusely wiped them with your sleeve. The night had gotten to be too much, between being taken by a random man after he broke into your house and the possibility of never seeing your family again. Your mind couldn’t take it anymore, it had to release its emotions.

San caught onto this and immediately rushed to your side, pulling your hand away from your face and wiping your tears with his thumb. “Hey, hey,” he cooed. When you tried to pull away from him, he gently grabbed your arm and brought you closer to his chest, your arm resting against it to create some distance. “I know this is a lot, this is a big change for you and it’s very hard to hear. But like I told you, I took you because I know you’re the one for me. I want to be with you,” he explained, whispering your name to show how serious he was about this. “My pretty little housewife, I just want to love and take care of you, Princess. This will be a hard adjustment, I know, but I can make you happy, give you a life that you deserve.”

“Wait, housewife? You just said girlfriend, you never said anything about me being a housewife. Jesus Christ, I don’t even know how to cook let alone raise a baby—” You started, your chest tightening in fear.

“Too much, that’s my fault,” San cut you off. He slipped his hand into yours, still holding you in his chest. “Let's go to bed, we can talk about this more in the morning after we’ve slept, okay?”

You didn’t say anything. You remained quiet as San guided you up the stairs. The second floor was even prettier than the first, with multiple rooms lining the halls accompanied with pretty colors and paintings. He took you to the end of the hall, which you assumed was his bedroom. And it was. In the center stood a king sized bed, with a flatscreen TV mounted to the wall. Dressers, a closet, and a master bathroom were a part of the bedroom. It was a nice room, especially with how big the windows were. You liked it a lot, despite the situation you were in.

You awkwardly stood in the middle of the room while San searched through his drawers. He came back to you, handing you a large t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. “These will do for the night, I didn’t get a chance to go shopping for your clothes this week, only some basic t-shirts. We’ll get you some more this week, but for now my clothes will have to do. You can get changed out here, I’ll just change while I brush my teeth. I have one for you, too. You can just come in whenever you’re ready.”

You only nodded your head, and he was in the bathroom within seconds. You quickly tore off your clothes quickly to make sure San wouldn’t come out and see you half naked. His clothes were big, but so comfortable (though you would never admit it). As you folded your clothes, you remembered your phone was still in the back pocket. As quickly as you could, you pulled your phone out to see if your message had gone through. SMS error, the screen read. Damnit, you thought to yourself. You hoped you’d have a second of alone time so you could try sending it again, now that you were in a different location. 

You hid your phone under your clothes and kicked them into a pile once you heard San open the bathroom door. Once he walked out, you traded places and began to brush your teeth quickly. You liked how the bathroom had two sinks, a big shower, and a nice bathtub. You always liked bathrooms like that, for whatever reason. They just felt fancy, elegant.

San stood over the bed by the time you had gotten out, scrolling through his phone. He immediately shut it off and walked over to you. He couldn’t help but bite his lip as he admired you (probably because you were wearing his clothes), to which you rolled your eyes. “Sorry, Princess,” he chuckled. “You just look so good in my clothes. My pretty girl. Come, let's go to sleep.”

“Yeah, I’m not sleeping in the same bed as you. I’ll just sleep on the couch downstairs with some pillows and blankets,” you shook your head. 

“It wasn’t a question, you’ll be sleeping with me from now on,” he told you sternly, his jaw tightening. 

“And I told you I’m not going to,” you fought back. You crossed your arms over your chest. “I’m sleeping on the couch whether you like it or not, asshole.”

Before San could protest, you opened the door. Only, instead of going downstairs, you were stopped by a small cat sitting at the doorway. Once it saw you, it began to meow and rub up against your leg. You immediately fell in love with it; as much as you didn’t want to pick it up (because you weren’t sure if it liked being touched), you felt your arms reaching down and scooping it into your grasp. You immediately felt the vibrations against your hands, the cat now content with you holding it. 

“Why hello there,” you cooed with a wide smile. “You are very beautiful, and very sweet. What’s your name? I absolutely adore you.”

“Her name is Pip. I rescued her from a shelter almost seven years ago—” San started to explain.

“I only asked for her name,” you cut him off, your eyes still glued to the cat. “Hi Pippie, that is such a cute name. I want to take you home with me so badly, you’d love my cat. But I guess we’re both stuck here with that thing in the corner, but we don’t have to spend time with him. Come, we’re gonna sleep downstairs on the couch.”

As you were about to leave the bedroom with Pip, San called out to you. “Wait!” he said. 

You slowly turned around with the cat still in your arms. “Pip just told me she wants to go to sleep, so make it quick.”

His jaw tightened once more, the stern look from earlier was now on his face again. “The couch isn’t that comfortable to sleep on. It’s less comfortable than the bed. Sleep with me here tonight, and I’ll let Pip sleep right next to you.”

“I still don’t feel comfortable sleeping with you—”

“Pip never sleeps with me, I’ve tried so many times but she won’t budge. But with you, she might. Just sleep here with me, please,” San cut you off, his voice now tired. Clearly, he had enough of your behavior and wanted to go to sleep. You did too, but he asked for this after what he did. It was his own damn fault. 

The cat kept purring against you, her head now in your neck. After thinking about this for a few minutes, you let out a sigh and groaned dramatically. “Ugh, fine. You win, I’ll sleep in your bed tonight. But I swear to God, if you try anything, I will stab you over and over again until you are dead. Got it?”

He chuckled with a smile. “You’re so cute when you act all bratty and tough.”

You rolled your eyes as you reluctantly dragged yourself to the bed. “I’m not a brat, you’re the brat,” you muttered. Once you sat down, Pip crawled out of your arms and planted herself on the end of the bed. Slowly and nervously, you laid down and pulled the covers over your body.

Without warning, San wrapped his arms around your waist and pressed your back against your chest. Your hand immediately went up to smack it. “Um, no. This is my half of the bed, you stay on your half. Did you forget about the invisible barrier that splits down the middle?”

“Really? There was? Hmm, guess I broke it,” San shrugged his shoulders. You tried to move out of his grip, but it was no use, he was much stronger than you. He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and placed gentle kisses on your cheek and neck. “Goodnight,” he whispered your name, placing one final kiss on your neck.

But you didn’t wish him the same. Rather, you shut your eyes and tried to fall asleep. Pip’s purring and warmth kept you calm, but other than that, your mind was on fire. A million thoughts burned through it, you didn’t know where to begin or how to make sense of it all. Your life changed in an instant. One minute, you were happy living at home with your family and enjoying your small vacation. The next minute, you were kidnapped in the middle of the night by some creep who was a part of the most dangerous gangs in the area, claiming to be in love with you and making you his “girlfriend.” You had no idea why this was happening to you, why he wanted you, out of all people.

You always cringe at yourself whenever you think of yourself like this, but you weren’t special. You wanted to smack yourself in the head at how stupid you sounded, but it was true. You weren’t. You were just like everyone else, no matter how hard you tried to be different. Everything you did, from tennis to school, was the same as everyone else. There were people who were better than you, much better, you would never be on top. There was always someone who was more talented or more skilled than you. You were never enough, no matter how hard you tried. 

Even with your friends and family, you were just normal to them. You knew it was different with your family, since they focused on your brother more and wanted to get him prepared for taking over the Sons of Anarchy when his time came. They constantly praised him and put all of their attention into him, so you expected them to not think of you as their favorite. Your friends were a different story, however. 

Whenever you made a friend and became really close to them, you thought so highly of them. You thought they were your best friend, and that they thought the same. The one person they could go to for anything, their special friend. You always thought of your friends that way, but they never did about you. They always had someone they were closer to, someone they’d pick over you without hesitating. You’ve always wanted that, ever since you were younger and everyone seemed to not like  you because you were “weird.” And everytime you thought you found that person, they never thought of you the same way.

It crushed you, but you knew that person would come into your life someday. You loved the friends you had and the memories you shared, but you just wanted a best friend. Someone who could count on you and would choose you first, and you the same. Someday you would find that person, you knew in your heart that you would.

You were used to never being enough, for anyone or anything. You had grown to accept that, and you thought you would be fine and that everything happened for a reason. But now came Choi San, a man who claimed to be “the one” for you and would put you first. Well, from what you gathered. You had no idea what he was capable of, if he was going to kill you in the middle of the night while you were asleep. But he seemed to really care for you, in his own sick and twisted way. 

He certainly couldn’t be the person you kept praying about. No, this man was insane. He kidnapped you in the middle of the night, took you away from your family, most likely for good. One minute he seemed sweet, but the next, he could easily get angry and possibly hurt you badly. This couldn’t be it, this couldn’t be the person you were searching for your entire life. You deserved better, and this was a sick punishment you got for absolutely no reason. You weren’t perfect by any means, but you did not deserve this.

You were sure things would change in the coming days. You would figure out a way to get out of this hellhole and back to your normal life, even if it took some time. You were determined to be reunited with your family again, and you were going to make sure that it happened. It didn’t matter what you had to endure — as long as you could find a way out, you would do anything if it meant returning to the life you once knew and loved.

All your life, you had been an angel amongst gods and prayed one day you would become one. Now that you had that power, the ability to be seen as a god — you were starting to realize that maybe you were better off being an angel. Angels never got hurt, they cared for others but no one did the same for them. Perhaps you were better off as an angel, invisible amongst the gods where you didn’t have to worry about anyone but yourself. 

Back then you had your freedom, but now you were trapped with the devil himself, and you didn’t want to be a god who would succumb to their worst nightmares just to survive. You couldn’t let yourself. And now, you would do anything to get your freedom back. Even if it meant sacrificing yourself to become an angel for as long as you lived.

[moiravim]

Wolfstar adopting you!! (headcannons)

Fluff!! Parental Wolfstar x Gender Neutral reader/ Harry Potter Sibling Relationship

Remus and Sirius adopted you when you were a tween. They wanted to have a kid without having to deal with all that "baby stuff".

When you turn eleven you get your letter from Hogwarts and they can't be any happier. Not only that, but it turns out that you're in the same year as Harry.

Remus and Sirius have grown from their old ways of teasing the Slytherins and won't care what house you're in. Although, they will get very excited if you are in Gryffindor, and Remus will secretly be extremely happy if you're in Ravenclaw.

If your in Slytherin... They'll initially be shocked, but they really wouldn't be upset at all. Sirius sees you as a "mini Reggie" and cries over this at least once a month. It makes him so much more protective of you. Remus will be very understanding with you and never mentions you being placed in Slytherin. Just know they still love you so so much.

If your in Gryffindor... They will go crazy. Your literally a next generation marauder! They probably threw a party to celebrate. And the fact that Harry is a Gryffindor too? Sirius expects the two of you to become best friends and be the "new marauders" (you and Harry will probably end up becoming friends anyways). They're both just so happy!

If your in Hufflepuff... They'll get so excited. They love all your Hufflepuff friends! They genuinely think that You being in Hufflepuff is what's best for you. They just know you'll be so happy with all the other Hufflepuffs. Although beware, because they may tease you a little.

If your in Ravenclaw... They will be so proud of you! Remus is so happy your a Ravenclaw. He initially wanted to be in Ravenclaw and he's just so happy you get to be. Sirius still thinks that Ravenclaw is the "smart house", but you're the smartest person he knows, so... I guess it works out?

Saturday nights three of you have "family time dinner". You all eat a nice meal at the table and then watch movies together or go out and do something fun.

They like to meet your friends and will let them come over often.

In third year Harry finds out that Sirius is his godfather. Things change a lot then. Sirius feels guilty for not allowing Harry to come live with him sooner, but he honestly thought Harry would be better off with the Dursleys. Sirius gives Harry the option to move in with him, and Harry accepts.

The two of you slowly build up a sibling-like relationship, and soon enough the two of you are inseparable.

Your happy family of three is now a happy family of four. And you couldn't be any happier about it. Now, when your dads are busy working during the summer, you and Harry can go out and have fun.

The two of you often get into mischief, running about Diagon Alley. Your dads are just so happy that they get to raise two mini-marauders.

[blossoming-mind-palace]

Chung Myung x Fem! Reader: 100 Years and a Promise (SFW/Part 4/Finale)

Summary: You’re both used to your new life. A few years have passed and things are comfortable. This part has a sillier vibe than the last. It’s also the last SFW part I’m writing.

Contains: Fem! Reader, Alcohol mention (thanks Chung Myung), hangovers, Chung Myung being jealous, Jo Gul getting bullied because Chung Myung is jealous (sorry Jo Gul), a Chung Myung POV I’m not very proud of but it’s there

WC: 5,184

Chung Myung feels warm sunlight hit his eyelids as he begins to stir. His head is pounding thanks to last night’s activities, and the grogginess is not helping. A faint snoring hits his eardrums, but it takes him a moment to realize they were too soft to be his. He jolts up when he realizes that someone else is in his room.

He tries to look around, but not too fast to avoid vomiting. It feels like someone is holding his hand, so he looks down to investigate and finds you lying on the side of his bed. It looks as if you fell asleep while sitting on his bedroom floor, and he can’t imagine that sleeping like that is comfortable.

You feel someone nudging your cheek, and when you wake up there’s a creek in your neck and a slight headache. My headache can’t be as bad as Chung Myung’s considering how much he drank, you think, and look up to see him staring at you. “Oh, good morning,” you say softly. You're assuming he has a hangover, and you don't want to make it worse by speaking too loud.

“Morning,” he replies and immediately follows it with a yawn. You notice that one hand covers his mouth, but the other is preoccupied with holding yours. You must’ve fallen asleep while holding hands, how scandalous! Imagine if someone walked in on you two. Your peers wouldn't let you live that down for years.

“Chung Myung, can you let go of me, please?” you ask after a futile attempt to retrieve your hand. “Do I have to?” “Yes, because you need to burn off that alcohol and take a bath, stinky,” you say and get up from your uncomfortable spot. “I’ll go draw a bath for you while you get rid of your hangover, m’kay?” You tell him this so he’ll let go, and he does. You run off to heat up some water for the wooden tub, and Chung Myung is left alone with his own thoughts.

- Chung Myung’s POV

“I’ll go draw a bath for you while you get rid of your hangover, m’kay?” is what (y/n) said before she left the room. After taking care of my hangover, my mind is still plagued by her. No matter how hard I try I cannot stop thinking about her and the way she glows in the moonlight. I’m not entirely sure if that beautiful scene from last night was real or a dream, and if it was a dream, I’m upset that I woke up from it.

She looked divine, but did she always look like that? Even a hundred years ago? I'm a fool for not realizing this sooner. I also can’t help but wonder if she’s always been so soft and caring towards me. I suppose she was when I wasn’t causing trouble and trying to start fights. She’s always made sure I’ve eaten, patched me up, and has helped me achieve my goals.

Just thinking about her makes my chest feel warm, and I can’t figure out why I constantly feel the need to hold her. It’s as if she’s holding a magnet that’s constantly pulling me towards her… Is this what romantic love feels like?

Everytime I look back on my previous life, I’m certain there’s a familial love I feel towards people like Chung Mung, but this is different. This is a new uncharted territory, and it makes me feel anxious. It’s not a bad version of anxiety; it’s hard to explain. These feelings are complicated and I really wish it didn’t take me this long to notice them. Life would be easier if I knew what to do next, but I don’t even know if she feels the same.

Knock knock! “Chung Myung, I’m coming in!” I hear her yell. Think of the woman and she shall appear. She walks in and continues,” It’s hot and ready, so hurry before it gets cold.” “(y/n), can I ask you something?” I ask. After last night and realizing my feelings, something has been bothering me.

She mentioned something about starting a family back in the day, and that she already had someone in mind. Obviously that never happened, but the thought of her loving someone else upsets me. She loved this person, but I never heard anything else about him. I never even noticed anyone getting that close to her, so whoever it was, he wasn’t very public with his feelings. Could this mean he didn’t care about her? Did he even love her in the first place? I’m probably overthinking things, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask her about him.

I feel the mattress dip while she sits beside me, and the curious expression on her face makes my heart beat faster. Since when was her expressions so cute!? She’s pulling such an adorable face, and the fact that I can’t pull her towards me and mash my lips on hers is killing me!

My face is definitely beet red, and I know that she’s noticed because she asks,” Are you feverish again? I thought you were getting rid of your hangover? I’d rather talk to you when you have a clear mind-” “I did! It’s clear enough! Now, let me ask you something,” I say. I can’t help but anticipate her answer; I’ve waited over one-hundred years to find out who this man is. I’m going to be pissed if it turns out he was an asshole towards her.

- Reader’s POV

“Remember the promise you made to me?” he asks, and you shake your head. You’re lying of course; you didn’t expect him to remember such a thing! “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve made a lot of those over the past hundred-and-something years, so you’re gonna have to clarify,” you reply while twirling your hair around, and it suddenly feels like eye contact is more intimidating than any war you’ve fought in.

“You promised me you’d tell me who you loved before the war ended. It’s ended, so now you have to tell me!” He clears the air and his face is filled with anticipation. “O-Oh! I don’t remember that-” “Bullshit! You made a pinky promise, too, so you HAVE to answer the question!”

Oh, I fucked up. You think, because you actually have to answer his question now. There’s no backing out of something as serious as a pinky promise. You try your best to create a lie but struggle to come up with anything. You decided that giving vague answers would be your best bet.

“He was tall, dark and handsome,” you reply with a falsely confident smirk plastered on your face. He raises an eyebrow,” Tall, dark and handsome?” “Mhm!” “That is painfully vague, (y/n). That description matches almost everyone in the sect,” he points out. His expression looks genuinely upset and he’s not playing around like all those years ago. He continues,” How long are you going to keep this from me? At this point, I’d assume he was never real in the first place. You’d never do something like that, though. Right?”

You look down at your palms and notice that they’re starting to sweat. You stare at the floor like it’s infinitely more interesting than your conversation, because you’re trying your best to avoid what’s about to happen. You really don’t want to look him in the eyes and tell him the truth. It'll be painfully awkward, but it looks like that might happen soon.

”Right, (y/n)?” He asks, and there’s an awkward silence that fills the air afterwards. “Dammit, (y/n), please tell me you didn’t lie about that…” “Okay, so here’s the thing. The part about wanting to settle down was genuine, but I couldn’t find a bachelor I liked. When I finally did, the crush was one-sided.”

”When you kept pestering me about who it was, I panicked and didn’t know what to say. Back then, I didn’t want to look lame in front of you, so I told you it was a secret!” You blurt out. You release a sigh to loosen up the tightness in your chest caused by all of this stress and continue,” I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to lie and lead you on like that. Honestly, I thought you would have forgotten by now. That was over a hundred years ago, but you still remembered that little promise we made.”

“Of course I did. I didn’t know how to show it or realize how much I cared about you back then. When you died, I tried to cherish every memory you left behind,” he answers while rubbing the back of his neck. Talking about your death upsets him, and he’s trying his best to not show it. The mattress dips as you sit beside him. “Aw, Chung Myung, that’s so sweet. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve gotten soft since then,” you elbow him while you tease him in hopes that it lightens the mood.

Your teasing certainly gets a reaction out of him as he retorts,” No, I have not!” His arms cross while he continues,” Anyways, back to you. So you did all of that because you were awkward and couldn’t pull anyone. Instead of looking like a loser in front of your friend, you lied and kept that secret for over a hundred years.” “I mean, yeah, most of that is true. Except for the awkward part. I was hot and I could’ve pulled anyone I wanted!” “Except for the guy you had a crush on,” he points out.

You frown, because that guy was technically him and him pointing that out stings. You quickly recover from this, though. You’ve had this unrequited love for years, so hiding your true feelings is as easy as breathing. You chuckle and reply,” Yeah, except him.”

”Seeing how upset you are makes me regret everything. I should be more upfront with stuff like that, and I’m sorry for keeping that from you. It was wrong of me to do that,” your gaze looks serious while you apologize. You grab his hand while you continue,” I swear I’ll never do something like that again.” You notice his cheeks turn red, maybe from anger? Who knows. Chung Myung’s mind is hard to read and he’s unpredictable. That’s why you enjoy his company so much. He keeps you on your toes.

He lets out a long sigh,” You swear it?” “I swear it.” “Well then I’ll accept your apology, but make sure you stay true to your word. They hold no weight if you don’t practice what you preach,” he says, and you couldn’t agree more. After finally getting all of that out, you feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off of your shoulders.

“It’s settled, then,” you say as you get up and hold your hand out to him. “The bath water has probably gotten cold by now, but you still need to clean up.” “Yeah, yeah,” he says as he takes your hand and gets off of his bed. “You still stink like alcohol,” you comment. It’s not overbearing, but it’s not what an honorable disciple of Mount Hua should smell like.

”I do not!” “You do, stinky.”

-

After that morning, you noticed Chung Myung started acting differently. Anytime you’d hand him something his fingers would ghost over yours. When you walked side by side, he’d walk so close that your hands would brush together. Any bystander would think you two were about to start holding hands.

He’s also been weirdly aggressive towards some of the disciples. Well, he’s always been like that, but lately it’s increased ten fold towards disciples that are “suspiciously friendly” towards you. That’s what he said when you asked him about his attitude, and you just assumed he was being extra protective since you two were old friends.

You’ve overheard disciples gossiping about you two. They say that you guys act like a couple, and you’re secretly in a relationship. That last part is kind of dumb in your opinion. Dating is technically allowed so hiding it makes no sense, and even if it wasn’t, Chung Myung isn’t afraid to break the rules. He already drinks like someone who’s about to have their limbs amputated, so a petty rule like that is nothing to him.

While walking to the dining hall, you overhear a group of younger disciples actually talk about who’s dating who, and you think you heard them drop your name and Jo Gul's. You decide to ignore it and mind your business; there’s no need to ruin your day with something like that. You have something more important to concentrate on, anyway, and that’s dinner.

When you enter the dining hall, the fragrance coming from the rich meats and spices fills your senses. Your stomach starts to growl; the roasted meat on the table is the only thing you can think about right now. Never mind the gossiping disciples from earlier, food is ten times more important than the nonsense they spat!

You make your way over to your usual spot, and Jo Gul and Yunjong are already there. When you sit down, your mouth starts to water at the sight of beef glistening in a spicy sauce, roasted vegetables, fluffy white rice, and crispy chicken. Your stomach growls at the exquisitely appetizing scene in front of you, and you waste no time in grabbing a plate and filling it to the brim.

“(Y/N), don’t steal all of the food! Save some for the rest of us! I’m begging you!” Jo Gul playfully wines while giving you puppy eyes. You roll your own eyes at him,”Of course I’m not going to eat everything, Jo Gul… Or will I?” You snicker at him, and he’s acting overly dramatic as he makes a devastated face at your response.

”Just kidding!” You laugh at him. “Here, have a bite!” You say as you toss a chunk of meat at him. He flawlessly catches it in his mouth, and can’t help but smile while he chews it. The flavors are so divine it’d put a smile on anyone’s face.

You hear someone’s foot steps approach you from behind, but you pay them no attention as you grab another piece of meat between your fingers. “One more time! Say ‘Ahhhh’!” You tell Jo Gul while you aim. He starts to open his mouth, but closes his lips when he looks over your shoulder. He is visibly nervous when he makes eye contact with the person behind you.

Yunjong, whose lips were originally smiling during your guys’ exchange, have now turned down slightly. Your eyes follow theirs, and they land on Chung Myung. He looks intimidating while he towers over you. Well, intimidating to other disciples, but not to you. You’re used to his pissy face at this point. It has its own unique charm.

”Chung Myung, it’s about time you joined us!” You chime in, and he finally stops glaring daggers at poor Jo Gul. His attention snaps to you and his gaze softens. The expression he makes towards you is so tender, and it brings a sentimental warmth to your chest. It reminds you of how grateful you are that you two are here living with each other again.

”Here, sit beside me!” You say while patting on the chair beside you. He follows suit, but gives Jo Gul the side eye before filling up his plate. Did something happen between them? You think, but brush it off. There’s no need to pry into that right now. If you bring it up, Chung Myung might get pissed at him again and raise hell. Everyone’s happy because we’re surrounded by food; better not change that.

Except the mood did change unwillingly. Even as he ate, you could still see that there was something wrong with Chung Myung and Jo Gul looked terrified. There was an awkward silence that felt like it droned on forever until Jo Gul decided to do something about it. ”So, (Y/N), the weathers been good, right? Lots of… Sun…” the poor guy tried so hard to break the uncomfortable silence. He stopped the silence, but the atmosphere was still awkward.

“Jeez, that’s how you’re going to start this conversation? I don’t mean to judge, but… Nevermind, I’m judging,” You reply to him. You swear you saw Chung Myung smirk out of the corner of your eye. “What’s so funny, Chung Myung?” You turn and ask him. Something clearly happened between the two of them, and they're starting to make this evening unbearable.

”It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” he replies while digging into his food. It's your turn to give him a side eye, but you decide to ignore him and redirect your attention to your meal. After eating in peace for a couple of minutes, you see something fly out of the corner of your eye. You tried to mind your business, but the second time you snapped your head in the direction it landed.

Poor Jo Gul got smacked in the face with a smidge of sauce. You notice that there’s another glob heading towards him, so you catch it mid-air with a napkin. Your eyes follow the direction it came from, and notice that Chung Myung is looking really suspicious.

“Chung Myung, did you throw this?” You ask and stare him down. His eyes refuse to meet yours while he replies,”Me? No, that’s wasting food. I’d never!” He cracks a smile. “You’re a terrible liar,” you say, and a small piece of chicken hits him on the cheek. He glares at the culprit, and this time it’s Jo Gul that's on the attack.

“Are you stupid!?” Yunjong blurts out at Jo Gul. It looks like someone will have to plan his funeral later. Immediately after Yunjong’s outburst you watch Chung Myung throw a large piece of chicken at Jo Gul, and a food fight is definitely going to break out if you don’t stop this.

You decide not to, because this is the most entertaining thing you’ve seen all week. Thanks to Jo Gul’s terrible aim, someone that was sitting at the table behind us got involved. Everything escalates quickly, and there’s a food war breaking out in the lunch hall.

It’s chaos. They somehow even got Yunjong involved, which surprised you. He’s so quiet and seems like a goody two shoes, but here he is slinging handfuls of rice like it’s no one’s business. You feel something sticky hit the side of your head, and now there’s sauce stuck in your hair. Time to get involved!

You shoot out of your chair and fling your food at your attacker. It was Jo Gul, and it smacks him in the face. He’s covered in what was going to be your leftovers and you can’t help but laugh at the sour expression on his face.

Chung Myung takes this opportunity to grab an entire chicken, stuffs one of the legs in his mouth, and chucks it at Jo Gul’s head. The poor guy tries to hit it before it lands on his face, but fails. The force of this chicken actually knocks him off of his feet, and his butt smacks on the hardwood floor.

Chung Myung starts walking towards Jo Gul with a chair, and you grab him by the waist to make him stop. “Jeez, at least let him get up! And what’s with the chair? That’s too far!” You yell at him. “Mmmph!” Is all you hear while you grab at his arms. He looks annoyed at your sad attempts to stop him, but you eventually rip the chair out of his arms. If you weren’t there, Jo Gul definitely would’ve gained another head injury thanks to Chung Myung.

While you sit the chair down and scold Chung Myung, you hear a slam coming from the entrance and everyone halts. ”What’s going on!?” You hear one of the elders yell. You’re all fucked.

-

“Man, I’m beat!” You sighed while walking to your room. You tried your best to get you and your friends out of punishment, but it backfired. They made you mop AND wash the dishes. Chung Myung didn’t have to help you with the dishes, he didn’t even get punished, but he still helped you anyway. That was sweet of him. You think as you walk side-by-side.

You finally got to bathe after all of that, and you can’t wait to go to bed. “It’s nice, isn’t it?” He suddenly asks. “What do you mean?” “Our life right now,” he clarifies. “Yeah, you’re right. I mean, the last one was nice and I miss it sometimes, but this current one is good, too. We get to be young again and have fun. It’s especially fun since you’re here,” you reply while elbowing him.

He’s giving you another one of those tender smiles, and his eyes soften. You’re ridiculously pretty in this life, too. You think to yourself. “I think these new disciples have grown on me, too,” you add. “Maybe a bit too much,” you heard Chung Myung say that under his breath.

“Oh? Afraid I’ll replace you with one of them?” You ask and Chung Myung stops dead in his tracks. You stand in front of him as you tease,” Are you getting jealous, Chung Myung?” “Yes.”

You stare at him for a solid second. You did not expect him to say that. You’ve known him for well over a hundred years and couldn’t predict that he’d say something like that. “Wait, you’re actually jealous?” “Mhm.” “Of who exactly? Is there someone specific, or are you jealous of every person that interacts with me?” You ask him.

He grabs both of your hands and asks,”Do you like Jo Gul?” He looks anxious while he’s waiting for your reply. “I guess he’s nice,” you reply. “Why do you ask?” “I heard someone say you two were sneaking off in the middle of the night and planned on eloping,” he says while crossing his arms.

“Heh… Heheheh-“ you let go and break out in giggles, but you’re quickly interrupted by your friend. “Stop laughing!” He snaps, and you hold your stomach while you try your best to stop laughing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Hah, I just can’t believe you actually thought I was talking to him like that-“ “I didn’t say that I believed it!” His cheeks are starting to turn red from embarrassment.

”Good, because none of it’s true,” You say and start walking towards your bedroom again. He catches up to you, and you feel his hand brush against yours. Should I hold his hand or not? I mean, he did grab mine earlier… You think, and after going back and forth a couple of times you decide to take that risk.

You grab his hand, and he doesn’t pull away. A small smile cracks on your face, but you’re too nervous to look up at him. You don't know if you should let go or not when you both get near your bedroom door. The both of you finally stop, and when you try to pull away Chung Myung keeps holding on to you. It's like last night all over again.

“This is my stop-” “What if I liked you like that?” His eyes look dead serious, and judging by his tone you know he's not joking right now. “W-What?” You asked hesitantly. He takes a step closer to you and doubles down on what he was saying,” What if I liked- no, loved you enough to sneak off with you? What if I loved you enough to secretly elope with you during the night?”

”You’re not drunk right now, are you?” “No!” He replies with desperation in his tone. You nervously swallow your spit, because this isn’t real, right? This has to be a dream. Your crush, who you’ve loved and waited for for over one hundred years, is trying to confess to you. It sounds too good to be true!

Your heart feels like it’s going over a hundred beats per minute right, and you look down at your hands that are still interlocked together. You pull his hands closer to your chest and look back into his eyes. “Chung Myung, if this is a joke, it’s a really cruel one.” “It’s not, I’m asking a genuine question!” After his response, you inhale and exhale deeply in an attempt to calm your nerves. It doesn’t help much, and you can already feel your cheeks heating up.

”Don’t laugh at what I’m about to say,” you tell him, and pray that you won’t cringe at this moment in the near future. He looks slightly confused, but you continue before he can say anything. It’s now or never. “That would make me the happiest woman in the world,” you reply to his question and he holds your hands a little tighter.

His lips start turning upwards into the cheesy grin you've always loved. “Do you know how long I've waited for this, (y/n)?” “I don't know, since you started getting jealous of Jo Gul?” “I was not!” He groans at your response. “I've been waiting for over a hundred years, you know,” you tell him and his eyes widen.

“Over a hundred?” He asks with his mouth agape. “Mhm.” “... You were talking about me back then, weren't you?” He asks. He really hit the nail on the head, huh? It only took him over a century to realize that.

You wrap his hands around your waist, and he doesn't budge when you get closer to him. At this point you guys are so close that your chests are touching. You wrap your arms around his neck, and with a sudden burst of confidence, admit,” Well, you are tall, dark, and handsome, aren't you?”

His eyes widen slightly and his cheeks redden at your sudden boldness. His flusteredness makes it clear that he didn't expect this, and the current look on his face is adorable. It's the kind of face you'd want to grab and plant kisses all over. Maybe I should… you think while sitting in silence for a couple of seconds.

You haven't seen Chung Myung be this nervous in years. His tan lips suddenly part as he tries to break the silence,” Can I…” “Can you what? Use your words,” you tell him while keeping your eyes on his lips. His gaze follows yours, and what you want is obvious.

“Can I please kiss you?” He asked with bated breath. “Of course,” you reply and he hesitantly closes the space between you. When your lips finally met, it was sloppy. You're an elder who’s never kissed anyone, and judging by his movements Chung Myung is in the same boat. You two probably look pathetic right now, but oh well. You're literally living your dream right now, so you could care less.

When your lips part, he grabs your face and tries to go in again. This time it's more sporadic and heated, and your hands start to roam his chest. He acts like he's been starved for weeks and is finally digging into his favorite food. You try your best to match his hungry pace.

When you part a second time you’re both out of breath, and this love feels electrifying. His eyes are unfocused while you grab his face and start planting little pecks all over it. “I’ve- peck loved- peck you- peck for- peck so- peck fucking- peck long!” “Heheh, I can tell!” He says in between giggles.

All you feel right now is your love that’s accumulated over the years finally spilling out, and Chung Myung definitely isn’t complaining about it. You keep spoiling him, and he’s basking in all of the new attention he’s getting. If your love is water, he’s the sponge that’s soaking it up.

After a few more kisses, you pull away to get a good look at his face, and he’s smiling from ear-to-ear. Your face mirrors his, because after saying what was on your mind for ages, you feel like a weight has been lifted off of your chest. He continues holding you tightly, and for a moment all you do is lay your head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat. It reminds you that you two are alive and the nightmares from your past life are long gone. You’ve yearned for his love for over a century, and you finally got it.

The silence is comfortable, and after you've had your fill of bear hugs you look up at Chung Myung. “How long have you loved me?” You asked him. “That's hard to answer,” he replies while running his hands up and down your back. You rest your chin on his chest while eagerly waiting for him to continue.

“There might've been something before you died, but it intensified after you left. Then, I found you again, and for the past few years it got stronger. I didn't realize what those feelings were until recently… I've never had romantic feelings before, y'know?” ��Yeah, and you were never really pursued, either-” “What's that supposed to mean!? I had people all over me during my prime!” “You're lying and you know it; most people were terrified of you and your attitude! You only tolerated me and a handful of other people,” you confidently call out his bull shit.

You sigh and continue,”Regardless, I am over the moon now that we've been upfront with each other.” “Yeah, me too,” he replies. You pull away, but not without grabbing a hold of Chung Myung's hand. You turn to open your door and make your way in while dragging him in.

“What are you doing?” He asks while following you, and you close the door behind him. “Going to bed. Are you joining me or not?” You ask as you let go of him and plop on your bed. Not even a second passed and he's already thrown himself onto the mattress.

“Desperate, are we?” you tease as you finally get to lay down after such a long day. He hushes you, but never denies it as he pulls you into his chest. It's softer than you expected, and you prefer this over your old pillow.

“I love you,” you remind him and give him one last peck on the cheek before going to sleep. “I love you, too,” he adds and falls asleep not even a minute after his head hits the pillow. He snores like an old man, and while it would annoy most people, it's endearing to you. It's what you listen to as you drift off into a blissful slumber.

That was the best sleep you’ve had since you both reincarnated. There were no nightmares about your past or tears, just comfort while being in your lover’s arms. It's like he's your nightmare repellant, and you hope you're the same for him. You'll have to sleep with each other again.

[randomfoggytiger]

React: A Late-Canon Reviler Gives the Revival a Try (Founder's Mutation), Part II

This is gonna be quick and dirty because my keyboard’s acting up--

IT’S A CONTINUATION FROM MY STRUGGLE I?????????? NO WHY NO, PLEASE NO. 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--

WHY do those glasses not fit anymore?? If Mulder lifts his eyebrows, they don’t even touch his cheekbones. But they were fine last episode, what happened. 

Mulder reminding us about William in yet another opening monologue. I may have the memory of a goldfish, Mulder, but I don’t have brain damage. 

I’m already so tired. 

Narration, narration, sudden voice change and drop, “Bringing Scully and I back together”-- okay, that’s straight-up David's voice. 

Oh, good. A bloody eyeball. How marvelous. 

If this is the brain Morse Code episode, I will throw hands. 

I’m Dr. Sanjay. We’re both too tired. 

WHAT’S WITH THE SHAKY CAM AS DR. SANJAY DETERIORATES. 

I’m not gonna be nit-picky… okay, I am. 

The X-Files has a certain style, aesthetically. Because of that, one has to operate inside the rules in order to cleverly bend them. Shaky cam AND close-up break two rules back-to-back.

This "modernization" isn’t a limbered stretch so much as a spinal dislocation. 

Ghost in the Machine and Blood 2.0, I see. But worse. 

The “Sanjay losing control” scene is… not too different from similar 90s ones.

But that’s the problem-- the visuals have updated, but not the method. And that leaves us with the impression that the director or screenwriter or both are either amateur or outdated. 

It’s also incredibly cluttered and confusing. Not confusing in a way that would expertly translate the meltdown in Sanjay’s brain, but confusing in a way that bombards us, the audience, with compounding “lost in translation” errors. 

Okay, welp, he’s dead. 

WHY do Mulder and Scully sound so old? Was it absolutely necessary to suck the life force out of the actors every time they walked on set? For Pete’s sake, I’ve heard more life in David’s voice while reading a Lexus ad. 

Okay, DD’s picking up a bit, and GA’s compensating with her expressions but none of this is engaging. 

Minor nitpick-- and I know both actors complained about wardrobe later-- but the second Mulder gets pants that fit him and Scully remembers to finish buttoning up her top, the sooner I’ll get a glimpse of the old show. Just sayin’. 

His pants will eventually swing to the opposite tragedy, copping a feel while forcing him to do a little Marilyn Monroe shimmy.

I shall call them Patriarchy Pants.

Scully knows Indian?

She really is the series’ language OC, isn’t she. 

Mulder got this informant to trust him by flashing his puppy eyes. I mean… it’s always worked on Scully. 

Speaking of which… where’s Scully? 

I’m wracking my brain, but I thiiiiiiiiiiink it’s consistent, even pre-S9 canon, for Mulder to sneak off and fill Scully in later. So, no complaints. I think. 

What is it about the comedy scene that didn’t work…? 

Hm. 

‘Kay, so, if this guy (Gupta, looked it up) is no longer a repressed homosexual-- like he chastises Mulder for being-- then why was he so skittish in the bar? 

He didn’t know Sanjay was dead, so therefore he didn’t know he was in danger (note from the future: he isn't in danger... which explains his skittishness even less.)

So, is his jumpiness because of repressed or hidden homosexuality? But he says he's out and urges Mulder to come out, as well.

Perhaps he's saying one thing and living another, i.e. pretending to be out and proud to save face in front of Mulder.

But then... that would be the comedy in this scene-- that he would have to eat his words (ex. another guy opens the door on them and Gupta makes a big fuss trying to cover up the homosexuality of it all-- “no homo” dialed up to 11, etc.) 

So, he was either scared to be on a hit list-- yet wasn’t aware he might be on one-- or scared of being outed-- yet didn't signal this in his actions or dialogue.

If this is Gupta’s only scene, it was a waste.

It was a waste of an introduction, regardless. But.  

Oh, Scully’s doing an autopsy, got it. 

Characters are playing by their strengths, got it. 

Also, forgot to note, Mulder sensing the guys in the bar were bad news points to his years spent on the job. A great touch.

…Unless, now that I think of it, Gupta invited him to a gay or hookup bar, consequently making Mulder look like an out-of-touch old buffoon. Which… fits his characterization in My Struggle I, but I hope for better things. 

I didn’t see any tension in Scully’s arms while pulling the instrument out of Sanjay’s ear, but, ya know, there weren’t perfect moments in OG canon, either. 

Gupta’s still here, okay. (DD getting away with a bit of humor by having Mulder act slightly out-of-place chuggin down in a bar-- I see you.) 

IT IS A GAY BAR. 

MULDER’S AN IDIOT, CONFIRMED. 

“He lived two lives.” Okay, that’s f-- “In two separate places.” NO, no, nonono-- get back over the unsubtle line before I whip out the broom, shooshooshooshooshoo.

Wait, why is Mulder explaining the autopsy results instead of Scully?

Even when he had a… siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. 

Even when Mulder had a brewing theory in mind, he always let Scully explain all her results before asking pointed questions, hearing her findings, then craft a theory and run it by her.

Here, Scully says, “Broke fingers to find words on palm/instrument went into these parts of the brain” and Mulder says “It went in at that angle then turned at this angle/insert theory.”

When it SHOULD be: Scully explains fingers and cause of death, Mulder points at the pics and asks why the instrument’s angle changed, Scully says “it went in 90 degree angle then turned 60 degrees”, and Mulder concludes “Like he was hunting for something.” 

The shots widen out or cut back for shock value, it seems. Sanjay’s body is shown obliquely until Scully says she “looked everywhere” for clues, which prompts the camera to cut to a wide shot and hang on his sawed-open skull. The timing’s oddly comedic, the music is light, and nothing about the scene meshes. It quickly pancakes, leaving us and the characters with dead (heh) air.

The dialogue leans “we’re gonna do this next” telling rather than natural conversation showing. 

And-- I’ve gotta be frank-- I’ve not caught an ounce of chemistry from DD and GA aside from the scene where they were talk about phone stealing and Indian languages. 

The car scene contributed nothing... except a kid accidentally fell over the hood. Reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal covert set-up, I tell ya. 

Sanjay’s other apartment scene was… weird. They walk around, find pictures of experiments on kids, barely react, trip the silent alarm so the police show up--

Sorry, no, wait. The police show up ASAP, in THIS part of town? NAH. Not happening. 

Okay, the scene where Mulder has a… brain… thingy WORKS because it uses just the right amount of “new trick”: closeups without disorienting lens action slapped on top. THAT’s how you integrate a modernized technique into an older show; and it fits seamlessly into The X-Files. 

SO WHY DIDN’T THEY DO THIS FROM THE GET-GO?

Also, Scully may have had cancer, but she never had migraines. Those seem to be reserved for Mulder. 

Oh, we’re in Skinner’s office now. I guess. 

The clips are so poorly paced, switching or holding or integrating at the weirdest times. It even undercuts Mulder’s quips or Scully’s reactions. 

On a side note, DD and GA probably had a hard time finding their characters-- as they mentioned for both IWTB and the Revival-- because all they had to work off of was plot regurgitation. ....What do you do with that? 

I love the touch of Skinner playing hardball until Corporate Interest Guy leaves, then immediately switching to, “I assume you’re going to need [classified] copies, right?” 

…

…..

…….

Scully really doesn’t have much to add, does she? 

OH, we’re in the basement now. We're just... here. The first scene of these two back down here and they're just. Here. ...'Kay.

Mulder and Scully talking over his experience is the closest I’ve gotten to mature MSR… and it’s ruined by Scully stating the obvious, “There were no sounds. I didn’t hear anything.”

LOOK, OKAY? Mulder became CATATONIC before with these exact same symptoms and was only saved by a secret science mumbo jumbo brain surgery, WHY ISN’T SHE WORRIED. It’s equivalent to her getting a nosebleed and just wiping it away, no big deal. 

“Mulder, what are you hiding?”

He’s not hiding anything, Scully, he’s telling you. 

But if he were, that’d be outta character even for Beanpole Sneakybritches. By this point, he’d have a functioning theory to share with the class-- which he did, lest we forget-- or developed a taste for Hercule Poirot drama while holed up in depressed isolation, I guess. (Which you left him to, Scully, so this is your fault, tangentially.)

Which would be stupid. 

 (Note from the future: He was hiding something, but it didn't make sense how he leaped to that conclusion, anyway; so, logically, he has nothing to hide from her in this scene.)

But when's that stopped the show before?

“What are you hiding?” 

“Sanjay heard sounds right before he died. It could be you, Mulder.”

WHAT. 

Scully and Mulder established in the lab that Sanjay heard noises right before he died. 

Mulder heard noises. 

Tells Scully in the basement. 

Scully: “I didn’t hear noises.” No reaction. 

Scully: “What are you hiding?”

Mulder explains his frequency theory.

Scully doesn’t see how it fits. 

Mulder: “What are you hiding?” 

Scully: “Sanjay heard sounds right before he died. It could be you, Mulder.” No reaction. 

PLEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE END MY SUFFERING.

16 min. in. 

Been typing nearly an hour (a dying keyboard’ll do it to ya.) 

“This is dangerous,” Scully says, flatly. 

“When has that ever stopped us?” Mulder asks, brightly. 

He is quite literally trying to pump life back into her-- WHO directed GA this way? You can tell which scenes she is given freer reign in (more natural, less muted) and which ones she is more tightly “guided” (less alive, more dead.) 

How is she spry enough to be a field agent? How is Mulder? Skinner hasn’t aged a day but these two have been MOWED. DOWN. DD and GA aren’t like this in real life, so what gives? 

Our Lady of Sorrows, go away. 

It’s Karen Kosseff except it isn’t. 

Mulder and Scully sneakily scare the daylights outta a Conservative-adjacent medical personnel with the dreaded threat of an “Obamacare” witchhunt... and at this point, the social commentary seems performative rather than intelligent. 

I’m not gonna break it down by politics; but suffice to say, while Mulder and Scully were never above a little “campaign of misinformation”, but they've never stooped low enough to fearmonger-- in fact, they looked down on those who did. 

CC-- he wrote this episode, too, right?-- turned them from FBI agents with ethics into Secret Agents with a dose of Krycekian immorality. 

Just when I think I’ve “found” MSR, the writing snatches them back from me.

…And ANOTHER THING. 

Ever since IWTB, Our Lady of Sorrows has been an awful, horrible, no-good, close-minded facility stuffed to the brim with egos and bottom-of-the-barrel intelligence. At least they’ve been upgraded from “let the kid die” psychopaths to “OBAMACARE?? INVESTIGATING OUR SAINTED, CONSERVATIVE COLLEAGUE????” Which makes them stupidly impressionable and stupendously ignorant of the law. Which they would know… because it affects their hospital. 

There’s no hint (thus far) that Scully has some dirt on them and maneuvers them into compliance by hinting at certain shortcuts they wouldn’t want investigated. No. Instead, she weaponizes their faith-- calling the guy they want to interview a “godsend”-- despite sharing it, and despite taking all matters of belief very seriously; then lets Mulder slip in the Obamacare line because… Conservative medical professionals would cow in the face of that implication instead of, I don’t know, stonewalling to protect their ranks? 

It’s such a silly, nonsensical line. 

I just want old Mulder and Scully back, is that too much to ask for?

And the lady almost stonewalled, anyway. It was pure luck that Scully pulled the right emotional strings. 

UGH. 

“I’ll agree to relay a message,” Not-Karen says… then walks off before asking what that message would be. …Sure, fine, that makes sense. 

Pregnant teen or young woman and….

And….

WHAT, IS THIS A CONTINUED PLOT POINT???????????

ANOTHER PREGNANCY PLOTLINE?????????? DO THE POWERS-THAT-BE NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO TUBES OR JARS OR WHATHAVEYOU TO GROW THEIR EXPERIMENTS, OR DID THEY ALL COPYPASTE THE EVES' AND DR. PARENTI’S VERY SPECIFIC NICHE?????

Hate the camera angles, too, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh. 

Used and abused women, dismissed young mothers, callous Catholic hospitals…. It’s so… vitriolic. And all so poorly handled. 

“Desire is the devil’s pitchfork,” oh, great, the Catholic nun? lady is eeeeeeeeeeevil, who would have knooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooown--     

WHY. DOES. MULDER. SOUND. SO. OLD. 

No wonder DD and GA think the series isn’t really about happy endings, they were shuffling around like geriatric Eeyores half the time. 

Scully pushing back against Mulder protecting her from the incubation theory right after he tells her the incubation theory: in a word, disjointed. She needed to confront him BEFORE he spells it out to her-- 

…My brain melted and I lost the thought…. Wait…. Nope, it’s gone. 

“Is this what you believe happened to me, fifteen years ago? When I got pregnant, when I had my baby?” WWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAT. 

“Mybaby”??????????? After all this time, MY BABY. 

WHY ISN’T GA ACTING APPROPRIATELY, SHE’S GIVING US NOTHING DESPITE BEING THE SOLE EMOTIVE PERSON ON THIS TEAM. 

IF THAT LINE IS MEANT TO IMPLY SHE’S CREATING DISTANCE WITH “MY BABY” BECAUSE SHE THINKS MULDER IS DISOWNING WILLIAM, YOU’VE NOT ESTABLISHED, AT ALL, THAT RETICENCE IS PART OF HER SELF-PRESERVATION-- NOT ONE TIME, SINCE THE REVIVAL STARTED. 

AND IF THAT WERE THE CASE, SCULLY WOULD HAVE ACCUSED HIM DIFFERENTLY: NOT FLAT AND TIRED, BUT FLAT AND ANGRY. WHERE’S SCULLY’S ANGER THAT SHE’S HAD FROM DAY ONE, THAT SHE LOST RIGHT AFTER EXISTENCE SAID HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER????????

GIVE ME GUMPTION, GIVE ME SPIT, GIVE ME FIRE, GIVE ME RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION!!!!

SO THEY ABANDONED THE INCUBATOR TALK TO TALK ABOUT HER REGRETS, I GUESS. 

THERE WAS NO POINT A TO POINT B, WE’RE JUST HERE NOW.

I don’t mind the rehash-- Mulder and Scully both had a habit of doing that, back in the day… but I’m not getting any of MULDER or SCULLY from these two… Revival robots. 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, this is the “what could have been” episode. Thanks, I’m gonna hate it. 

“Do you think he could have been an experiment?”

“I don’t know,” GET OUTTA HERE, ACTUALLY GET OUTTA HERE. 

MULDER’S WHOLE ARC IN ESSENCE-EXISTENCE WAS THAT HE KNEW THE MATH ADDED UP TO BEING WILLIAM’S FATHER (though the writers did their best to obfuscate that issue) BUT WAS AFRAID SCULLY’S BABY WOULD BE BORN WITH SURPRISES. INSTEAD, HE WAS A NORMAL, HEALTHY BABY; AND MULDER CALLED HIS SON A MIRACLE BECAUSE OF IT.

BEFORE SEASON 9 RETCONNED IT, ANYWAY. BUT EVEN THEN, WILLIAM WAS UNDENIABLY HIS MINI MULDER.

Even in IWTB, how many years later, Mulder still considered William theirs. 

Also, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait. 

Pause. 

Rewind. 

Stop. 

Mulder misses William but had to put that “behind him.” 

That. has got to be. The most. antithetical statement to Mulder’s character that I have ever. Ever. heard. 

You can’t have it both ways, CC: Mulder can’t be pushed by the ghosts of his past into wrecking his and Scully’s relationship, twice (IWTB and the Revival), while also putting HIS CHILD behind him. 

nnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOnonononononNONONONONONONO.

THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. THAT MAKES NO SENSE. 

YOU’RE A LIAR, A LYING LIAR LIAR FACE. 

THAT’S NOT MULDER. 

MULDER WOULD NEVER SAY THAT. 

SCULLY MIGHT, BUT EVEN THEN SHE’D STILL BE LYING TO HERSELF. 

Scully was shattered into a million pieces in My Struggle I, and Mulder is obliterated in this one. 

How. 

Absolutely. 

Lovely. 

Also, again, Scully isn’t emoting fear or terror for her son. At all. 

NORMAL SCULLY VOICE??????????????????????????????????

NORMAL. SCULLY. VOICE????????????????????????????????????????

WHAT. 

I’M, I’M, WHAT. 

FOR THE FLASHBACKS, BUT NOT FOR THE SERIES????????????????????????

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 

The cutback from the flashback-dreamsequence-whatever to Scully just… sitting there. Not napping. Not dreaming, just. Thinking, I guess. 

But the sequence was obviously a dream, so. 

Can you imagine if she snapped upright from her dream, possibly at her desk? The gifs sets that could have been made mirroring this moment to Mulder’s nightmare in Paper Hearts. 

THERE’S THE SAME “OPEN THE DESK DRAWER TO SEE A PHOTO” MOTIF, TOO. 

...WHY IS THAT ASSISTANT WALKING LIKE SHE'S ON A CATWALK?

That actress said, “This is my big shot, I’m gonna stick out” (literally), and dressed to kill. 

…Or she’s a piece of commentary on the Evil Scientist Doctor and the male gaze, or something. 

Guys, no facility would have kids kept behind glass cages for their entire lifespan. 

That’s dumb. 

Scully tells the scientist he’s testing (trying to isolate) for alien DNA. He shows them out. 

Agnes (the teen or young mother) got killed and her baby taken, of course. 

At least Scully’s no longer pretending medical people aren’t stealing babies or creating mutants, I guess. 

I GUESS. 

Mulder had to wiggle his way over to the printer because his Patriarchy Pants (first sighting!) are too tight. (Told you his fashion swings in the opposite direction.) 

Mulder said, “This is my skinny jean era”, and I think I’m traumatized. 

Syndicate wanted to colonize the world with alien-human hybrids, says Mulder. And though it was unsuccessful--

(HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT)

--he doubts they stopped trying. 

So, that sweeps away the Supersoldiers, I guess. 

Since, y’know, the Revival said the aliens were never involved to begin with. 

So it was just the government making a hoax of the government hiding aliens but pretending they weren’t but really were but weren’t. 

Got it. 

What did Scully’s study about all European men being traced back to three individuals in the Bronze age (that’s a reference to Shem, Ham, and Japheth, isn’t it CC?) have to do with Mulder’s point other than for her to talk about her study. 

An illustrative hypothetical:

Mulder: “Everyone loves juice.” 

Scully: “I read a paper last year that found the three most favored juice flavors tie back to the Whirligig tastebud genome.” 

…’Kay.

I HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES LEFT, LET IT EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEND. 

Jackie (Evil Scientist Man's “insane” wife) doesn’t like cats and threw an apple at it. …Why’s there a loose cat in the “mental asylum”?

They put in the spooky track from the original show-- the tinkling symbol sound-- when she recounted her daughter breathing underwater, but I liked that bit. 

Good filming, good bit. 

Jackie was being used for experiments, crashed her car, was forced via the brain thingy to cut her child out, the end. 

…Oh, right, this plot was supposed to be about Sanjay. 

My bad. 

You forgot, too, didn’t you. 

…Why doesn’t Jackie like cats again? 

(Note from the future: Jackie feared her biological daughter because she had supernatural abilities; and ran away hoping to save her son from the same experimentation and fate. ...But her son? (or her daughter?) already had powers and forced her to cut him out??? by manipulating her brain????????? to find his way back to his sister??????????????? Even though he was a baby??????????????????? (She still doesn't know this and wishes she could see him again...????????????????????????????????????????)

This is such a BAD. SCRIPT. 

It has no direction, it swings wildly from topic to topic, nothing really connects together, it’s all… nonsensical garbage. 

Mulder gets closeted at a gay bar, the Catholic lady hates men and thinks unwed mothers are damaged, women are made to cut babies out of their stomachs, Mulder put William behind him, Scully has a waking dream instead of a sleeping one, aaaaaaaaaaaaand… Jackie hates cats. 

No, you will not get a logical explanation for any of this. 

Awwww, look, Jackie’s talking about her missing boy because she thinks about him “every day” but hasn’t seen him since and so does Scully, of course, and Mulder can sense that so he, looks, too, and this case will make him cling to William’s memory again and--

One word. Riverdale. 

“All my training-- everything that I know about psychology--” WHAT. Scully, you’re a medical doctor, not a psychologist. Definitely not a psychiatrist. 

So Mulder can read x-rays with medical accuracy, and Scully can read Indian and diagnose someone’s psychological state. 

Great.  

Just peachy. 

By the way, if you’re wondering why Mulder keeps getting bumped into or keeps peripherally noticing janitorial staff at each location, here’s your payoff (NO, IT WASN’T HAMFISTED, YOU JUST DIDN’T NOTICE THAT THIS WAS A PLOT POINT AT ALL, IT'S SO CLEVER):

The janitors work for a larger company that also services the hospitals. And Sanjay’s company. 

….Eh? Eh? Clever isn’t it??

NOITISN’T. 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so the kids are dying and inadvertently killing… off… their… parent? Or something? Or the reverse?

(Note from the future: Jackie feared her biological daughter because she had supernatural abilities; and ran away hoping to save her son from the same experimentation and fate. ...But her son?-- or her daughter?-- already had powers and forced her to cut him out??? by manipulating her brain????????? to find his way back to his sister??????????????? Even though he was a baby??????????????????? And she still doesn't know this, hoping to see him again someday...????????????????????????????????????????

THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHY THE TEEN/YOUNG WOMAN WAS ALSO FORCED TO CUT HER BABY OUT AFTER BEING HIT BY A CAR, per the baby's instructions. Because that's what the episode says happens.

DO THESE ALIEN BABIES HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER OR WHAT????)

Guys, this is dumb. 

Mulder’s stupid sunglasses. 

But he looks goofy overall, so I’ll CHOOSE to be endeared rather than angry or petulant.  

(IchoosethisIchoosethisIchoosethisIchoosethis--)

Wait, why does Mulder keep getting affected by the brain thing?

More importantly. 

The episode is setting up a few, blatant parallels:

These parents are having brain problems.

Their kids are experimentation kids.

William's probably an experimentation kid.

Which is stupid, but would then prove Mulder is the biological father.

They will sacrifice this parallel to the plot but also because Scully, not Mulder, ends up being the one to communicate constantly with William.

Which would prove William-Jackson is still Scully's biologically.

(Note from the future: This complete theory is debunked in about two seconds; but will be recycled later for Scully's Morse Code seizure. Wonderful.)

It’s all. 

So. 

Stupid.

Stupid sunglasses. 

I…

I died laughing. 

Guys. 

I’m gonna include a clip because it’s so goofy. 

Context: Mulder’s brain thingy is acting up, so Scully has to run around to find a kid-- Kyle-- so he’ll… help? her partner. Hence, we have Gillian trying to keep up her Revival smoker voice whilst running off and shouting, “KYyyYYyyyyYYLLllelleleee”:

This is The X-Files. 

Weep and gnash your teeth in torment. 

This is old. 

Sorry, Mulder’s ears should be busted by now. Gimme fic where he now has to use hearing aids.  

They grabbed Kyle and stuffed him in the car. 

Ahh, this is the scene where Mulder looks back at Kyle and someone mentioned it looks like Mulder looking back at William in another, better universe (post here.) 

Okay, so, this kid doesn’t mean to hurt people by communicating with his mind, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut was or wasn’t responsible for Sanjay’s death (who was helping him.)

Scully decides “LET’S PRETEND TO HAND HIM OVER TO HIS EVIL SCIENTIST DAD IN ORDER TO FIND HIS SISTER” and that sound and reasonable. As reasonable as a starving pig at a pie fair. 

Wait.

The kid was a janitor.

Sanjay was helping him.

Sanjay was working for Evil Scientist dude.

Sanjay was trying to figure out where the kid's sister was, or he knew where she was but wasn't telling the kid?

The kid-- Kyle-- accidentally killed Sanjay because his... powers were outta control?

And... the kid can connect with different people's minds and that's how he hacked Mulder's brain (which retracts my biological theory... until, again, Scully's Morse Code seizure reinforces it.)

But the kid attacked Mulder when Mulder and Scully questioned his mom... didn't he already know who Mulder was?

And the kid kept pressuring Sanjay to find his sister, so much so that Sanjay hadn't been able to sleep well or function in weeks?

So, this kid's... questionable, at best.

Evil Scientist, M.D., pretended to introduce the kid to his sister, but Kyle wasn't BAMBOOZLED nor FOOLED. 

Oh, btw, this kid is Jackie’s son. Looks an awful lot like William-Jackson... but anyway. (Jackson's storyline is brazenly ripped off from CC's own material, wow-- right down to the "never saw my son again" line. The writers have charming things to say about adopted families in The X-Files.)

Now he’s running around the hospital looking for Molly (the sister who scared Jackie because she can breathe underwater, etc. etc.)

Reunited with Molly.

Now the kids are throwing the adults with their minds and killing Evil Scientist Badman with the brain thing in order to stay reunited, I guess. Like the Eves. (Another rip-off recycle of their own source material.)

SO, anyway, the Evil Scientist Father died a very gruesome death. 

Cut to the place swarmed with FBI. 

Another guy said, “Skinner, keep your sfjfkfsdfksj behind the red tape.” I think. Can’t understand him. 

Guys, this is the first Mulder-and-Scully posturing I’ve seen since the series began. Praise be, they’re not mannequins. 

Here's the Mulder and William "could have been"s.  

See, guys? His faith is back. He’s choosing to remember his son and reengage with his past~. 

Yeah, and where did THAT come from. 

To recap:

Mulder had depression sometime after 2012, so bad that it made Scully… leave, I guess (which would have been a death sentence for someone with a temperament like Mulder’s.) 

But he shouldn't have had depression after 2012 because 2012 just reset the Colonization clock (according to he, himself, and his theory.)  

So, he’s got "no reason" depression, then disconnects from Conspiracies and shoves away memories of William. 

But he hadn’t had a breakdown or disconnect from reality before My Struggle I (which made Scully’s decision to leave even stupider.) 

And Scully worries he’ll have a breakdown in My Struggle I. 

And he actually didn’t leave Conspiracyville despite also leaving it and knowing things he shouldn’t and not knowing things he should. 

Following?

Conspiracy guy calls up Skinner who calls up Scully who calls up Mulder; and he and she don't hesitate to investigate despite putting “that life” behind them. 

There were no aliens, period, only men in government wearing suits or planting false memories or whathaveyou. 

He’s still got depression but doesn’t, actually, in My Struggle I despite Scully thinking he does and worrying he’ll have a breakdown despite knowing he left Conspiracyville but not coming home, etc. etc.

Both are let into the FBI.

Still following? 

He put William behind him but engages in conspiracies now (despite still engaging in them while not engaging in them-- you get it.) 

Let me reiterate: Mulder. put someone that he loved. behind him. 

Mulder makes peace with the thought that William’s his son regardless and daydreams about movies and rocketships. 

And that’s that on all his hangups, I guess. His crops are watered and his depression is cured. 

And now he and Scully are installed at the FBI... despite the unlikelihood either of them would pass the physical tests, let alone the training they'd need to requalify. To put them on the field otherwise would be very, very dangerous... right, Skinner?

The End. 

Just make this easier for me next time and beat a bat over my head. 

I do have another nitpick. 

Mulder is too downcast in his “happier times” flashbacks, especially compared to Scully’s buoyant, sweet, upbeat persona. So, basically, he has a stunning lack of imagination, I guess. 

Which, jokes aside, is an interesting thought: Mulder creating realities in his mind so convincingly mapped onto his current one that it’s even more devastating to snap out of them and face each and every unsatisfying day.

Also, both he and Scully have the same sort of nightmare....

This had BETTER be Jackson’s way of reaching out to them for help, or so help me I’m going to label these moments as narrative clickbait. 

EYYYYYY, we got an actual Mulder “NO!” It sounded like him, too! FINALLY! SPIRIT! SPUNK! THE MULDER ESSENCE. 

Oh, yeah, that William can get yeeted-- he doesn’t fit my headcanon, anyway. 

Mulder's sitting upright, too, without having woken from a nightmare.

…So this was a deliberate choice on the filmmakers’ part. 

So this is setting up for something. Like William communicating to them BOTH in waking dreams. 

We all know that won’t happen, but, anyway. 

CONCLUSION

YOU’RE NOT GETTING ME WITH THE HAPPY FAMILY TIMES, YOU MANIPULATORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

YOU CAN’T TAKE ME ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE. 

Also: very rarely do I like movie kitchens, but Mulder's... it's alright.

Lastly: again, I am so tired. 

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!  

[lvrhughes]

Best Friend's Teammate| Q. Hughes

if this does not line up at all, I've never been to rogers arena during hockey season and I literally just chose the first canuck to come to mind to so that's why we've got Brock

word count: 1.9k

pairing: Quinn Hughes x f!reader, platonic!Brock Boeser x f!reader

summary: there’s a family skate and your best friend convinces you to come, the issue being you can’t skate. but he has a solution, the defence man you’ve been crushing on will teach you

warnings: pretty fluff, kissing, falling?

requested: no

not my gif!

“I can’t believe you’ve lived in Vancouver for the past three years and you still don’t know how to skate!” Your best friend, and pain in the ass, Brock exclaimed.

You rolled your eyes once again, the third time this week he’s brought it up.

“Why do keep bringing this up? What’s happening?” You finally pushed.

“There’s a family skate tomorrow and I want to bring you” he finally caved.

Of course there was a skating event Brock would want you to go to. You looked up at him, he had his best puppy dog eyes out and you knew he knew he’d won once you looked at him.

“Fine.” You muttered crossing your arms, “but you have to teach me”

“Deal!” He was radiating excitement. “I’ll see you tomorrow, 10 am sharp Y/n/n” he called walking the path towards his place while you continued to yours.

What the fuck had you just signed up for, oh god. You knew Brock, so why you still agreed you didn’t know. Brock would definitely get distracted and leave you like Bambi on ice tomorrow, hopefully Elias would help you. Maybe Quinn would be there.

Everyone could see the small little crush you were pining over the young defenseman. It was clear to everyone but Quinn.

The morning rolled around sooner than you would’ve liked, having to get up earlier then you’d want. You had to search for the pair of skates you had from when you once tried to skate, several years ago.

About 20 minutes after you did find them, Brock showed up at your door, he didn’t even bother to knock he simply walked in.

“Oh dear Y/n” he chanted through the house, snooping through the rooms for you.

“Bedroom” you called back and waited for him to come.

He came running in, sliding his socks along the hardwood floor.

“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, but you got to promise you won’t just leave me” you made him swear to that, even though he’d break it at some point.

The drive to the rink was the worst part, you had time to think it over. You, who couldn’t skate, surrounded by hockey players, children, and other adults that could skate, you were bound to embarrass yourself. You tried to shake the thought of face planting in front of everyone but you could, but Brock noticed.

“Calm down, you’ll be fine.” He words barely comforted you but it was enough for the two minutes before you made it in the rink.

“What am I doing here Brock, I’m going to die!” You exaggerated, he let out a chuckle.

“No your not”

“How do you know?”

“Because even if I’m not with you, Quinn’ll be” he beamed.

What did he say.

“I’m sorry what?”

“I got Quinn to help teach you.” Brock looked so proud, you were going to kill him.

“You” you pushed your finger against his chest, “are dead to me.”

You knew you were being dramatic but you also knew he knew it was a joke. The smile across his face said so.

“Come on Y/n/n, he’s like the best skater on the team” he bargained.

“hmph” was all you mumbled out before finding a bench and sitting. Brock followed behind you, carry both of yours skates.

“Let me put mine on then I’ll help you” he offered but by some ironic luck, Quinn was there.

“It’s fine Brock I can help her” Quinn offered, Brock quickly accepted for you.

And so you were sitting on a bench, with Quinn at your feet tying your skates, definitely not how you pictured your Sunday going. He stood up, placing his hand out for you.

“Are you ready?” He questioned, no, but nonetheless.

“I guess” you said grabbing his hand, trying to stand. You hadn’t realized how unstable you’d actually be on skates. You almost immediately fell back, but Quinn was faster, he arms wrapping around your waist to stop you.

He let out a small chuckle, helping you stand up completely.

“Do you want to try getting on ice now?”

“God no, but Brock will kill me if I don’t”

So he lead you towards the ice, you could see Brock doing laps, talking to children as they came to him. He made it look so easy. Fuck it, if he could do it you could too.

Quinn skillfully glided on to the ice, you already envied that ability. He took your hand again, helping you to keep steady when you stepped on.

“Okay, just hold my hands we’ll go slow at first” he was so calm and nervous at the same time it almost scared you. But you did as he said, you held his hand, like you life depended on it, and he slowly skated backwards.

“That's good, just copy what I’m doing” so you tried, and you did it the first few times. The was before you caught a divot in the ice.

“Fuck” you said almost falling atop of Quinn, you quickly rolled off him.

“I am so sorry” you were quick to apologize but ur didn’t seem to care, he had a small smile on his face.

“It’s fine. It happens” and with that he got up and helped you up. This time only taking one of your hands, you missed the warmth he gave but wouldn’t dare say that aloud.

“You remember how to push?”

“Yeah”

“Okay do that, it’s the same as before but now you're beside me.” He was so gentle explaining how to push and glide it made you think skating was the easiest thing in the world, you just couldn’t understand.

He let go of your hand, you shook a little bit but we’re soon comfortable. He skated a bit ahead.

“Okay, now skate to me.” He told you. He had so much confidence in your ability, you thought. But you tried.

You made your way over to Quinn, slowly but at least you didn’t fall. Pushing and gliding your feet like he had shown you.

“Perfect” he said once you’d reached him, he took your hand again. He pulled you closer to him and spun. Giggles left your mouth as he did, he thought it was the best sound he’d ever heard.

“Quinn I’m going to get dizzy!”

He slowed so you were just standing in his arms, it was peaceful. All the sound around had faded, it was just you and Quinn in that moment. His eyes stared down into yours, they were so beautiful.

He was so beautiful. That’s all you had figured out, he was gorgeous and you had a crush on him. Unintentionally your eyes darted to his lips, back they were quick to return to his eyes. You saw his eyes look to your lips quick before letting you out if his arms.

“Come on, let’s go get a hot chocolate, then more laps”

A slight disappointment filled you, but you knew Quinn was too good for you. So you skated beside him, still holding his hand, to get off the ice for a drink.

Once you two both had drinks, and had enough of them for the moment he put them beside all your stuff and brought you back on to the ice.

You skated laps beside him, some laps holding his hand, some without. You preferred the laps holding his hand. A shiver ran up your spine, Quinn noticed.

“Here” he said taking off and handing you the hoodie he was wearing.

“No it’s fine, you’ll get cold.”

“Y/n, I basically live on the best ice, I’ll be fine”

You had no argument against that so you took his hoodie, sliding it over your head. It was warm and smelt like him. You just wanted to curl up with it and never leave it.

Quinn’s heart melted at the sight, you in his hoodie, it was definitely too big for you, but he thought it was adorable.

“Y/n” Brock called, skating over before icing both you and Quinn.

“I see you learned to skate” he snickered towards the fact you were now wearing Quinn’s hoodie and holding his hand.

“Shut up”

“She’s actually doing really well” Quinn contributed. Brock just laughed in reply, almost challenging to what Quinn had just said.

You had to admit, you were extremely competitive and petty. So what Brock had did, gave you reason to try and skate better than him.

“I can skate.” You declared. “One lap and you have to admit that I can skate.”

He nodded, you let go of Quinn’s hand and began around. Brock followed beside you, Quinn behind. It was a peaceful lap, until a small child cut in front of you and if u didn’t try to stop you would’ve ran it over.

“Fuck” you mumbled, now sitting on the ice. Brock laughed.

“Oh shut up, that wasn’t even my fault!”

“I know but it was funny” he couldn’t stop laughing, until Quinn nudged him acknowledging the look in your face.

Quinn was quick to help you up, pulling you into his arms while. You hid your face in his chest, knowing they’d seen your reaction to the teasing. They didn’t need to see your reaction again, embarrassment overcoming whatever you were feeling before. Quinn wrapped his arms around you, it was nice. He was warm and smelt good. The urge to nuzzle yourself deeper in his chest was so strong, you made yourself pull away before you could give in.

“I think I’m done for the day.” You said, getting positioned to skate towards the gate.

“No I’m sorry I shouldn’t have laughed, please you were having so much fun with Quinn. Continue on, I’ll go find the team” Brock excused himself before you could deny, your feet were beginning to hurt making you want off the ice anyways.

“Fucker” you whispered under your breath, yet somehow Quinn still heard.

“Do you really want off?” He looked a bit sad, and you knew you couldn’t say no to the kicked-puppy look he had.

“My feet just hurt that’s all”

“If you want we can get off?”

“No it’s okay, let do some more laps”

He smiled, his smile was so pretty, god you were in love. So you did more laps with Quinn, staying on the ice until you had to leave.

Yet again right before getting of the small child appeared to trip you, this time onto Quinn. Your face flushed, now you laying on top of Quinn.

“I am so sorry”

You didn’t even get the extent of your apology out before Quinn kissed you, it shocked you. You froze for a second before melting into him. Your arms found a place around his neck, his wrapping around your waist to keep you on top of him.

You both did have to pull back for air eventually, much to both of yours disappointment. He helped you up from on top of him, on the ice, and pulled you against him again.

“I am so glad you didn’t yell at me” he laughed, placing a kiss on your head.

"Why would've I yelled at you?" A little confused, your tone laced with it.

"I mean I just kissed you, I didn't even ask." he was soft with his words almost embarrassed, you just smiled at him.

"I'd never yell at you, Quinn. I've loved you since we first met."

"Really? That was like three years ago." he seemed shocked, it was a little intimidating, you had to admit.

"I thought I was the only one" he admitted shortly after.

"You've loved me since then too?"

"How could I could I not?" He had a smile on his face, he was practically glowing.

"I love you so much, Quinn"

"I love you so much more"

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Wild Nights || CL16 {Epilogue}

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x songstress!reader Summary: With a new album out it needs promoting and you find yourself missing Charles while you are in New York for a talkshow interview. Warnings: 18+only, flufffff WC: 1.1k

F1 Masterlist || One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Epilogue

February 2025 “I wish you were here,” you whispered into the phone that you weren’t supposed to have in the talk show studio. “I’m shaking like a leaf.”

“You’ll do great, my love,” he reassured you and you could hear a lot of background noise from the other people at the airport. “I’ll see you soon.”

No sooner had the call ended that the studio lights dimmed and the live audience fell silent.

“Now our next guest really needs no introduction,” Jimmy Fallon began to say while you nervously paced behind the curtain, until Bea pulled you to a stop, “her debut self-titled album went platinum and I have no doubt her new album, Safety Car, will be just as good. Please, put your hands together for Y/N.”

Bea gave you an encouraging push and you forced yourself to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. No matter how many times you took the stage for a concert, or an interview, you still found yourself nervous - but you equally loved the thrill that came with it.

Once you were sitting in the chair the jitters faded away and you fell into the rhythm of answering the questions he fired your way.

“So, Safety Car, talk me through this album. How did you come up with the name?”

“Obviously Charles is a huge part of my life, we have known each other for a couple of years now, and this album was made collaboratively with him. That’s all him on the piano with pieces that he composed, so the journey of this album gives a glimpse into that relationship we have, especially the ups and downs that come with life. 

“I’m not sure if you keep up with Formula One, Jimmy, but when there’s danger on the track they deploy a safety car to guide the drivers through that peril. This whole album is about being each other's safety car and helping navigate the other through those hard times.”

“Wow, that is so wholesome and sweet,” he gushed before looking down at his cue card. “But what exactly is ‘that relationship’? Because we know you and Charles are together, everyone and their dog knows you two are together, but there was never actually any announcement as such and now there’s rumours that you secretly tied the knot while you were at the Vegas Grand Prix this year?”

You tipped your head back with a laugh. “You’ll have to ask him that because I don’t think he ever officially asked me out. We kind of just collided and stayed that way.”

“So you aren’t together?” he gasped like it was some scandalous news but you just gave him a wink.

“We love each other dearly, I mean, we found each other when we were both going through a difficult time and helped each other to heal. Any chance we have at seeing each other we take but we have always been aware that the reality is that our lives are in very different places. Charles’ work takes him all over the world and with my second tour coming up there just aren't a lot of places where our lines intersect.” 

The crowd sighed sadly but you shrugged it off with a smile as you continued, “Neither of us would ask the other to give up on their dreams, that wouldn’t be love then, would it? It’s what inspired my first single Love Is Letting Go. Charles had an amazing 2024 season and has renewed his contract with Ferrari, and his dream is to win a championship with them in particular so he’s very focused on that for this coming year and I’m so proud of him. Maybe one day our lives will be at the same pace but for now we cherish the moments we do get.”

“Oh don’t we know it,” the host chuckled. “We have all seen the photos floating around whenever you two hit the town. Looks like you have some pretty wild nights out together.”

“We do have a lot of fun. Why not? Life’s too short, might as well be wild and free.”

“That is true, but are you free? How else do you explain this photo?”

A picture appeared on the screen that had been taken inside the infamous White Chapel in Las Vegas. It wasn’t exactly clear who was in the photo because of the costumes but it didn’t take a genius to work out who was standing at the altar getting married. 

Pierre’s brown hair stuck out the front of a slick jet-black coifed wig while Bea’s white halter dress barely contained her boobs as she twerked against him. It was a little harder to tell it was you and Charles in front of Arthur, who had bought an online Certificate of Ordination so he could be the celebrant. Your brother-in-law had spent so long trying to find a printer in the hotel that he was last to arrive and left with a Star Wars costume.

“Well, Jimmy, I believe that is Darth Vader, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Bonnie and Clyde. And it looks like they are having one hell of a time.”

“That’s all you’re gonna give us?” he asked with a chuckle and mock disappointment as he shook his head. “Fine, fine. Can you at least give us a song?”

The small side stage was dark when you took your place at the microphone but when the lights came on and illuminated the piano it wasn’t Bea that was sitting there as planned.

The crowd screamed as they saw Charles and your eyes widened, a smile growing as you drank him in after a long two weeks apart. “You’re meant to be on a plane.”

“I got on an earlier one,” he said, the piano microphone picking up his soft words as he sent a wink to the camera, “so I could support my beautiful, talented wife.”

The air froze for a split second before chaos erupted and the audience cheered.

You looked across the stage at Jimmy as a smile broke on your face. “Uh-oh, busted!” You reached into your pocket and slipped the sedate diamond ring you had chosen, opting for something smaller than the huge rock that Charles would have gone for, and slipped it back on your finger that had felt empty without it. “I guess this makes us pretty official.”

Charles teased the crowd as he played the wedding march tune. “There was never any doubt in my mind.”

Tagging: @91vhs @alwaysclassyeagle @applespiez @ravenqueen27 @booksobsess @tempo-rary-fix @baw-sixteen @im-an-overthinker @notleclerc

[lxdymoon0357]

WHEN I SAW THE MSSG I THOUGHT I SENT ONE

ok so like, what if after agriche was burned down, you and dion fled somewhere and he started to show emotion?Like u both have a stable life & r set for the rest of your days but what would that be like seeing him being 'normal'

(bby, caring dion> daddy, sadistic dion || also kinda OOC|| Personal headcanons)

Dion X Reader:

But I don't need the comfort of any lies

✟ You were Dion's friend and you were known well in the family for being cruel, ruthless and being the favourite of Lant even though you weren't his, when they found out you both were dating, Lant wanted to have Dion be the next head because he will have you as his wife.

✟ Except, this didn't happen, as you both began dating, Dion began to grow restless and started to be more emotional and merciful, and later on Roxanne fell in love and ran away with her pet, who happened to be Cassiss Pedelian, from the Blue Pedelian family.

✟ As this happened the family fell, when you and Dion also ran away with some of the largest riches in the family, you both were living out on the outskirts of the empire ion a cottage you owned as a result of making your own money in secret.

✟ Sooner or later, you both also fled the cottage upon hearing of the fall of the Black Agriches, you both worried sick of the only people you both cared about; a few certain servants, who became close to you and Dion.

✟ As you both now near a forest, and a bay, living in a minimalist life, though it had been hard you both were doing pretty well, doing work as bookshop owners and bakers and on occasions as assassins for both of your exceptional skills in killing and hiding.

✟ You both ended up three cats and a weird tiny glass frog Dion became emotionally attached to, whom the cats also got emotionally attached. You often have to look after your four kids now, including Dion, as the glass frog named "Blom" by your beloved husband just calmly sits in his glass container watching you scold your husband and three cats.

✟ Oh Yeah! You both got married, by a few families and couples who lived near you both, whom you both made a companionship with. It was a small wedding with you wearing the prettiest dress you had brought with you and amazing desserts and food made by you, Dion and your neighbours.

✟ I personally headcanon that you both live at a place where it would rain often, and so you and your lovely neighbourly ladies would dance with your husbands/ wives in the rain and often sing songs with them too, while making someone will make food and treats for everyone.

✟ You also near a lake btw! You and Dion often play fight and constantly end up swimming away from each-other in the lake, while your cats look at you both with slight concern, until they see you laughing then they join you!

✟ Moving to your cats, you have a grey cat with green eyes, one white with grey eyes and one black with maroonish almost red eyes, whom you think looks a lot like Dion. The grey cat is named moon, the white one Vanilla and the black one is named bamboo, curtsy of your darling husband....

✟ He surprisingly makes good food and his drinks, shakes or anything like that are god-tier, they're absolutely amazing. You'd often find him in the kitchen super early in the morning making you both breakfast, while your three cats are sitting lapping at the pieces of meat he put for them in tiny ceramic dishes he made himself with the help of one of your old neighbours. He's very proud of them.

✟ But you also find him crying his eyes out as well, every since he left the manor, he's been showing more of his emotions than he ever has, and now you actually know what he feels, he is absolutely crushed at the thought of his mother dead, but he always uses one of the cats as his napkin wiping his nose and eyes on their fur while they squeal out for you, their darling mother.

✟ He also smiles a lot, and it's not his blood-thirsty smile he sued to have in front of his toys, but a heart-warming smile and a genuine smile, you wouldn't be able to see if you both were still at the manor. He misses his mother as she would though be kinda mean, Maria loved him in private, when she would often whisper that she finds him the prettiest.

✟ Oh, yeah! You ended up finding Sierra, Maria, Jeremy, Roxanne and her husband, Cassiss. You both were dancing one morning, when you got a knock on your door, thinking it was one of your neighbours asking for something they ran out of, you opened the door just to find everyone smiling with tears in their eyes, as they ran to hug you while Maria immediately ran to Dion to grab him down in a hug while she kissed his forehead, where once Dion realised what happened started crying and sniffling while hiding in his mother's jacket.

✟ As you had a reunion, Sierra explained how she tracked you down and how she helped Jeremy and Maria escape with her to your cabin you showed to her in case she ever got too overwhelmed and wants to escape everything. They explained who everyone was dead, including Lant, Charlotte, Grizelda and Fonataine and many other family members and servants.

✟ Cassiss's family had taken Roxanne as their daughter\sister-in-law and they both were to get married soon and wanted to invite you and Dion to their wedding. As you Maria, Sierra and Cassis were having a conversation while petting your cats, Dion, Roxanne and Jeremy were bickering about somethings and how Jeremy was dating one of your and Dion's trusted friends who used to be both of your servant.

✟ In the end it turned a bit better than you both expected, especially when he Roxanne and Jeremy formed a connection of siblings and Sierra and Maria moved along with Jeremy and his fiancee moved next door to you and Roxanne moved though a bit far from your house, still closer to you both.

[bestworstcase]

Wait why do you think Fear is an Oz song and not an Oscar song? Doesn’t Oscar’s leitmotif play as the opening musical theme of the song? Fully track your point on the song mirroring Oz’s soliloquy (which mirrors Salem’s) but I enjoy reading Fear as the emotional rejoinder from Oscar to Oz’s V7 finale monologue about fear

(Tone is hard to communicate via text medium so I want to stress I’m not asking this in a provocative manner but rather very interested to hear your analysis/reasoning on this because I like picking at the bleed between Oscar and Oz as the merge progresses; killing the former slowly and imprisons the latter in his living corpse. If the merge completes, Oscar will be a mausoleum.)

mainly because ‘fear’ is a restatement of ozma’s soliloquy in the same way that ‘divide’ is of salem’s v3 soliloquy, eg:

How does it feel, knowing that all of your time and effort has been for nothing? That your guardians have failed you? That everything you've built will be torn down before your very eyes? Your faith in mankind was not misplaced. When banded together, unified by a common enemy, they are a noticeable threat. But divide them, place doubt into their minds, and any semblance of power they once had will wash away.

<- this is just ‘divide’ phrased in naturalistic prose. ‘fear’ is not quite as overt, but if you compare the soliloquy against the lyrics:

The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet is fear. It's funny then, that as common as fear is, we so easily underestimate its power. Fear of growing close to someone… a subsequent fear of loss. Fear of failure. And as more people depend on you, those fears can take on greater power. But fear itself isn't worthy of concern; it is who we become while in its clutches. Will you be proud of that person? Will you forgive them? Will you understand why they felt the need to do the things they did? Will you even recognize them? Or will the person staring back at you be the very thing you should have feared from the start? I suppose we all find out, sooner or later.

note that, #1, ‘until the end’ plays underneath the first half of this soliloquy, but the accompaniment to the second half is an orchestral track that evolves into the bridge of ‘fear’ (<- so both ‘until the end’ AND fear are presented in the story pretty explicitly as part ozma’s big moment as he returns from self-imposed isolation), and #2, the whole soliloquy builds toward salem’s arrival in atlas, and then the last beat of the episode is that shot of salem atop the whale, roll credits, ‘fear’ plays (<- the questions ozma asks in this soliloquy are not rhetorical. he is addressing salem in the same manner that salem’s soliloquies in v1 & 3 addressed him)

point being, ‘fear’ is specifically a musical restatement of the soliloquy that makes the address more overt—it’s much more clear about addressing a specific you. its placement in the narrative (evolving from ‘until the end’ with both playing underneath ozma’s speech) encourages reading the two songs together as one—inner feelings vs what’s being said aloud—and if one reads the songs this way, and takes into account that the soliloquy is essentially ozma welcoming salem to atlas, then the only person the “you” in fear can be is salem.

now, the first part of fear:

I’d understand if you’d rather not talk about this There’s always a chance that we might remain in ignorant bliss Most of the time We coast along Safe from the storm We follow our hearts Trust what feels right Keep to the norm We are lucky if our lives can avoid it But fear changes all of our choices

<- at first brush this may not sound like ozma (we’ll get to that), but i submit that it really really does not sound like oscar, who has never at any point seemed inclined to ‘coast’ or ‘keep to the norm’ in the hope of ‘remaining in ignorant bliss.’ that’s just not who oscar is! he tries to have an honest conversation with ruby in v5 about how terrified he is and gets really upset when she brushes him off! he wrestles control of his body back from oz long enough to force out jinn’s name, exposing ozpin’s secrets! he spends all of v7 trying to talk to ironwood, he’s deeply uncomfortable with lying like ozpin did, and goes to confront the man alone after ironwood panics!

but this is, in fact, precisely what ozma did during his and salem’s marriage. coasted. went along with whatever felt right to him at the time. didn’t ask questions and hid vital information from salem to avoid conflicts, until his conscience stung him too hard. ignorant bliss. and then he got scared, and he burned their lives to the ground. yeah? narratively this song is the second half of ozma’s soliloquy, following ‘until the end,’ which provides us with context for what ozma is thinking about as he returns. and what he’s thinking about is his regrets with regard to salem and his longing to make amends! the first step in making amends is to acknowledge his own failures—and that’s what ‘fear’ is.

first chorus:

Who will you see? There in the darkness When no one is watching Who will you be? When you're afraid And everything changes Will you see a stranger? Feel proud or betrayed?

note the direct echo of his soliloquy here. “will you be proud of that person? will you forgive them? will you understand why they felt the need to do the things they did? will you even recognize them?” -> “who will you be? will you see a stranger? will you feel proud or betrayed [by who you became, by what you did in your fear?]” it’s the same idea being repeated.

All of your life Guided by truth Right from the start Then one twist of fate In the blink of an eye And it all falls apart What happens then When all that you knew Just fades away? When you've lost all control You broke from your soul And fear has its day? Will you make the right choice in that moment? Will you stand and be brave or be broken?

gestures vaguely in

compare the way salem describes ozma in ‘sacrifice’—it rhymes! it’s the same idea, the same choices ozma made, as seen through salem’s eyes!:

Close your eyes now time for dreams, Death is never what it seems. Did the things you thought you should, All the things they said were good. All your faith in ancient ways, Leaves you trapped inside a maze. Take the lives of those you need, Sow the death then reap the seed. Reap the seed. Born an angel, heaven sent, Falls from grace are never elegant. Stars will drop out of the sky, The moon will sadly watch the roses die.

and the point in fear is that ozma is both acknowledging his own failings and beginning to question this narrative he’s constructed around salem, that she’s the ontological evil and she corrupted him on purpose out of malice and so forth, this contorted rationalization he’s been clinging to for so long. it’s, “that night was horrible, i made terrible choices out of fear that i regret, that i feel ashamed of, was it that way for you too?”

which culminates in,

We live in fear that we might fail Fear that we'll succeed Fear that we may not provide The things our loved ones need But our greatest fear will be realized If we fall and lose ourselves to fear We've become what we feared all our lives

the ordering of the fears listed here is really important and i don’t think it makes sense for the perspective to be anyone but ozma; there’s no other character who has a reason to be more afraid to succeed than he is to fail, because the only way for him to succeed is for salem to be destroyed. (i also don’t think it makes any sense for oscar in particular to be afraid of succeeding; as far as he knows, that’s his only chance to escape what ozma’s curse is doing to him.) and then from the fear of success follows the fear of letting loved ones down and the dawning realization of becoming everything he feared.

and then the whole song is in future tense rather than past because it’s looking forward to the ozlem reconciliation, or at least ozma’s nascent desire to try to reconcile. they have all of, you know, this—

—hanging between them and the question posed in fear is sort of “is this it? is this what we’ll be forever?” which is of a piece with the tone of both ‘until the end’ and ozma’s soliloquy.

generally the lyrics are just way too close to things ozma says in his soliloquy, plus the melody of “but fear changes all of our choices”/“will you stand and be brave or be broken?” resolving under the actual soliloquy for me to buy that it’s intended to be a response to the soliloquy, as opposed to a ‘divide’ situation where it’s just the soliloquy itself in song form.

[atopvisenyashill]

I think the point that a lot of people miss with Arya is that the approval she craves the most is of her mother. People call her pretty, including her father and Jon. But she still doesn't think she is pretty because she doesn't measure up to her mother's expectations. We know it hurts her that unlike her siblings, she doesn't look like Catelyn. Which is funny to me because Catelyn despaired that none of her children looked like Ned, except Arya. So no Catelyn did not hate that Arya didn't have Tully looks (believe me I have seen that take numerous times), rather she wanted her to take care of herself and be presentable.

Yeah like, I would say it’s even a pretty common dynamic in real life, where you have a daughter that doesn’t quite fit in and a mother who does and they talk past each other a lot of the times. It’s not to say that I don’t wish Catelyn had taken a more gentle approach to Arya, or that it’s like, an okay thing that the system they live in forces the toxicity of this situation but I think people really gloss over the fundamental aspect of this (and like,,, most) mother-daughter relationships which is that Arya wants her mother to be proud of her and Catelyn wants Arya to be prepared for adulthood. Neither of them is acting out of a bad place here and neither is motivated by anything hostile. Catelyn just feels, pragmatically, that there are certain things Arya needs to know and understand about the world and the life she’ll be expected to live. While Arya wishes her mother could conceive of a world where Arya can just be whomever she wants without being forced into a specific mold or role.

I kinda scrapped this part of that Cat & Arya meta I wrote, but I had like a whole section wherein like, Catelyn knows that The Rules Of Men allowed her a lot of power - she was presumptive heir, acting lady, and now a lady of a great seat with a husband who adores her in part because of her willfulness and fiery temper. What Catelyn wants for Arya is for Arya to have the tools she needs to succeed as a willful, fiery girl in a World Of Men, so that Arya can find a man who loves her for who she is and find freedom in her home & marriage. But because while Arya and Catelyn may share temperaments, they don’t have a lot of overlap in skills, I think Arya sees more clearly and much sooner than it’s simply ridiculous and unfair that Arya has to have this really specific skill set to be worth anything, and that what she’s “worth” to a man shouldn’t be as important as what she’s worth to herself. But like, how do you even verbalize a concept you’re only slightly aware if you’re Arya? How do you tell your mother that the skills she’s honed for her whole life in the hopes that her life as a woman in a feudal system is happy, are like, ~useless~ and have no moral value, it’s just something Cat is good at vs something Arya is good at?? I mean the whole reason i CUT that section was because i felt like i wasn’t hitting the balance of explaining and validating both WHAT IT IS Catelyn wants for Arya out of the system and also WHY IT IS that Arya chafes so badly.

Ultimately, Arya wants to want what her mother wants for her because that’s her mom, she wants to be like her mom, she wants her mom to be proud of her, and also ultimately, Catelyn wants Arya to be safe, and alive, and thinks to herself that Arya would be good at running a household, and since running a household gave Catelyn power, it’s a sweet wish that Catelyn wants to set Arya up to be someone who is great with the only power Catelyn feels she can give her. But they see the world so differently, because they are both stubborn and willful while being Incredibly different & living very different childhoods, and before Catelyn can hold Arya and assure her that she would have wanted her back no matter what, even if her hair is messy and she’s dressing like a boy, even if she never fits in and has killed people, because Catelyn loves her enough to fight against that system that has benefit Cat all those years……but it’s too late, and Catelyn is gone before she can ever say the words I know she wanted to say, the words that Arya needed to hear.

[https-harlow]

Fight The Feeling Prologue -Part 5 Paris Fashion Week

Summary- Even though Jack is in the middle of tour rehearsals, he flys to Paris to surprise you when you are nervous about walking in a runway show during Paris Fashion Week.

Word Count- 2.3k

Requested by @heavyhitterheaux 💖💖

You and Jack had been keeping up by facetime calls and flying out for a day or two when you could. You were both incredibly busy, you preparing for Paris fashion week, and Jack preparing for his upcoming Crème De La Crème tour. With you being in separate countries for almost a week now, even facetime calls were difficult, but you made it work.

You were walking in a couple different shows, but the one you were most stressed out about was the Louis Vuitton show you were walking in. You were picked to wear the last outfit of the night, which happened to be a one-of-a-kind exclusive piece. You had walked in many shows before, but you had never been picked to be featured. You tried to hide how nervous you were from Jack, but he could tell, you weren’t very good at it.

“Baby, you’re going to do amazing.” Jack reassured you over your facetime call.

“But there’s so many things that can go wrong. What if I trip and fall, what if my shoe falls off, what if-” You rambled on before Jack cut you off.

“You are a professional. Even if something goes wrong, you know how to handle it. If the designer didn’t think you could do it, they wouldn’t have picked you. I know you can do it, I believe in you more than anyone else does.” Jack continued to reassure you.

“I’m just nervous.” You admitted. You hadn’t been this nervous since you walked in your very first professional runway show. It felt like you were starting over, and in a way you were. You had moved up from walking in any random fashion show you could find with an audience of one hundred people if you were lucky, to walking in professional shows with an audience of hundreds if not thousands of people watching. Now you were moving up to the group of models who walked in couture, custom made outfits rather than the ready to wear ones. 

You still walked in the “ready to wear” runway shows, in fact, you had walked in a couple earlier in the week, but you had 2 more days until you were walking in your final show. 

“I wish I could be there.” Jack sighed softly, running his hand through his hair as he leaned back on the couch, he was currently taking a break from rehearsals. 

“Me too, but it’s okay. I understand, you’re busy and that’s just part of us keeping our relationship so private, it’s not like you’re making the choice not to be here.” You said.

“I know, but just know I’ll be watching all the videos as soon as I see them.” Jack said, making you laugh softly. “I’m proud of you, just like you kept telling me how proud of me you were for Saturday Night Live, that’s me now.” 

“Thank you. I know you would be here if you could, but I’ll be flying to Kentucky right after, so we’ll see each other soon.” You reassured and Jack nodded.

“I can’t wait to see you.”

“I’m so excited. I never thought I would be excited to fly to Kentucky after being in Paris for a week.” You teased and Jack pretended to be offended.

“Don’t hate on Kentucky like that.”

“Okay, fine. I actually like Kentucky more than Paris.” You said.

“Why?” Jack asked.

“Because you’re in Kentucky and not in Paris.”

“Oh god, you’ve been hanging around me to much.” Jack joked, both of you laughing.

“Yeah, that has to be on the top of the list of the cheesiest things I’ve ever said.” You joked and both of you sat in silence for a moment, knowing Jack had to go back to rehearsals, but neither of you wanted to hang up so you both just stared at each other through the phone.

“I miss you baby.” Jack sighed softly.

“I miss you too.” You admitted. “But we’ll see each in 4 days.”

“I know, I just wish I could see you sooner.” Jack said and you agreed. You and Jack made small talk for a couple more minutes before Urban came into the room Jack was hiding in, telling him he had to go back to rehearsals.

“I have to go, but I’ll call you later, okay?” Jack said and you nodded.

“Okay, I love you, J.” You smiled softly.

“I love you too baby.” Jack said before you both hung up the phone. Jack made sure the phone was disconnected before turning to Urban. 

“Want to fly to Paris?” Jack asked and Urban looked at him confused.

“Paris? You do know you have rehearsals here for another week and a half?” Urban said and Jack nodded.

“Yeah, but we’ve been rehearsing for 2 weeks, everything’s going well, and I feel like everyone could use a break. It will just be a couple days. I want to surprise Y/N. She’s been so stressed out, and I want to be there.” Jack said.

“Isn’t the show sold out? How do you expect to get tickets to a sold-out Louis Vuitton fashion week show?” Urban asked.

“I don’t know, I’ll figure it out.” Jack said, and he did.

Jack and Urban managed to fly to Paris and get tickets to the show, just in time to be sitting in the front row. Jack made sure to call you to wish you good luck while he was in the car so you wouldn’t get suspicious. Jack went back and forth on if he wanted to surprise you before or during/after, but ultimately his flight didn’t land in time for him to surprise you before.  

You were the last to walk, so you had a little bit of down time, and more time to stress out, before you walked, but everyone around you was running around hectic trying to make sure the show ran properly. You had gotten to know a couple models during the last week, one of them being Zoey, who was quite open to you about her crush on Jack. She happened to be one of the first to walk, coming straight to you as soon as she got off stage even though she had to change so she could walk again.

“You’re never going to believe who’s in the audience.” Zoey said, clearly excited.

“Who?” You asked, laughing softly.

“Jack Harlow!” Zoey said, practically jumping up and down with excitement. 

“What?” You asked, you felt your heartrate increase at the mention of your boyfriend’s name, and just for a moment you let yourself live in the excitement that he was there, but you knew he wasn’t in Paris. “Are you sure it isn’t someone who just looks like him?” You asked and she shook her head.

“It’s totally him. Front row, to the right, look when you go out.” Zoey said before she was dragged away to change. As more people walked, the more you heard rumors of Jack being in the audience, but you didn’t believe them. You had talked to him right before the show and he said he was on his way to rehearsals.  

Eventually it was your time to walk down the runway, you were waiting backstage for the model before you to walk off. You couldn’t stand still, pacing back and forth before you stepped on stage.

The second you stepped on stage, you couldn’t help but look to the right since that’s where you had heard Jack was, but you didn’t think you would find him. Your eyes immediately found Jacks, and for a second you couldn’t believe it. As soon as you saw Jack though, you immediately relaxed, seeing him smile up at you, you smiled back before you had to remind yourself to focus. Jack and Urban couldn’t help but cheer a little louder for you then they cheered for anyone else. Jack was incredibly proud of you, prouder than he had ever been for any of his own accomplishments.

As soon as you were off stage, it fully hit you that Jack was there, you were excited to see Urban too, but your main focus was Jack at the moment. You couldn’t believe Jack had flown at least 9 hours just to watch you walk down a runway once.

As soon as they allowed some of the celebrities from the audience backstage to mingle, you immediately found your way to Jack, trying not to look like that was your goal. You had both purposefully stopped to have a short conversation before making your way to each other.

Jack pulled you in for a hug as soon as he reached you, and of course you immediately hugged back.

“I told you I’d be watching.” Jack whispered into your ear. “I’m so proud of you, you did amazing.” 

“I can’t believe you came, thank you so much.” You whispered, not wanting to let go of Jack, but you did so no one would notice how long your hug lasted. You hugged Urban next. “Thank you for coming.” You told him.

“No problem, it was all Jack’s idea.” Urban said, laughing softly as you two pulled away from the hug. You whispered to Jack where your dressing room was, telling him to meet you there in 20 minutes. You separated from Jack and Urban so you could all talk to a couple other people when Zoey approached you.

“What the fuck, you weren’t going to tell me you know Jack!?” She said, clearly shocked.

“We don’t know each other that well, we’ve met a couple times, that’s it.” You shrugged, underestimating your relationship with Jack.

“Girl, are you blind? He looks at you like he’s in love with you.” Zoey told you and you laughed softly.

“He’s not in love with me.” You denied.

“The way he looks at you says otherwise.” Zoey insisted.

“Yeah, sure.” You rolled your eyes. 

20 minutes later you and Jack were in your dressing room, luckily no one saw either of you enter the room.

“I seriously can’t believe you are here.” You said, laughing softly as you hugged him again, burying your head in his neck as he kissed the top of your head.

“Honestly? Neither can I.” Jack laughed. “But, if there was anyone I’d fly to a different country for with 2 days’ notice, it’s you.” Jack said, you pulled away from the hug to finally kiss Jack.

“You don’t know how much you being here means to me.” You admitted as you pulled away from the kiss. 

“I knew you were stressed, and I knew that this was a big deal to you, and it should be, so I wanted to be here to support you. I’m so proud of you.” Jack said, kissing you once more before sitting down and pulling you into his lap.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to be here, but I’m so glad you are.” You said, playing with his hair. “Wait. Don’t you have rehearsals you should be at?” You asked and Jack laughed softly.

“I gave everyone a couple days off, it took a little convincing, but since everything was going good, I was able to talk everyone into it.”

“I swear, you could literally convince anyone to do anything.” You teased. “I love you, thank you for making me feel special today.”

“I love you too. My goal is to make you feel special every day.” Jack said and you smiled softly as Jack pushed your hair out of your face.

“You do make me feel special every day, you’ve just made me feel a little extra special today.” You said and Jack smiled, kissing the top of your head.  “Apparently you look at me like you’re in love with me.” You said, looking up at Jack, leaning into his chest.

“Oh, I do?” Jack teased, unable to hold back the slight blush from appearing on his cheeks.

“According to Zoey. So, if we want to keep this relationship private, you need to look less in love.” You teased.

“Well, that’s going to be hard to do since I am in love.” Jack said and you giggled. You two sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s presence before you remembered Urban was alone.

“Should I text Urban and tell him he can come in so he’s not alone?” You asked and Jack laughed softly.

“Baby, it’s Urban, he’s in a room full of models, he’s probably having the time of his life, I’d be shocked if he choose to be in here with us rather than out there, I’m probably going to have to drag him out of here.” Jack joked, both of you laughing.

“You have a point.” You laid your head back on Jack’s chest.

“We can go back to the hotel whenever you’re ready.” Jack said and you nodded.

“Just want to stay here for a few more minutes and then we can leave.” You said and Jack nodded.

“We can stay here as long as you want.” Jack said, rubbing your back softly. “Oh, I also extended your trip by another day.” Jack said.

“Jackman Harlow, you spoil me too much.” You said and Jack laughed. “But I love you, thank you.” You kissed Jack softly.

“You deserve it, it gives us another day alone before we have to go be around other people and not act like a couple, plus it was the earliest I could get a return flight and I didn’t want to fly back without you.” Jack said. “I love you too.” Jack said, kissing you softly.

Eventually you and Jack went back to your hotel, Jack was right and Urban didn’t want to leave so he stayed for a little while longer. You and Jack enjoyed your little vacation and 2 days in Paris together before flying back to Kentucky so Jack could continue his tour rehearsals. 

Tag list @jackharloww @harlowcomehome @nattinatalia @hoodharlow @itsyagirljaz @heavyhitterheaux @harlowsbby @awhore4moree

[kalinq0]

Someone else asked sb this but i want to see your opinion-) how do you think the 90s affected the Yugotalia characters?

This is gonna be long

Serbia: This hurt him the most, from the socialist utopia he was always dreaming of and all the respect other powerfull countries gave him to it all being crumbled in pieces in a bit more then a decade definitly left a big toll on his mental health. So much he still didnt recover, and neither did most of his people. He wasnt this bad since the ottoman empire first occupied him, phisically he wasnt much better either. He really reminds me of Ivan here, they both still blame themselves for not being able to optain something that was destined to fail. After NATO bombing was the first time he actually realised it was really over. Trying to combine the uncombinable and causing everyone pain that couldev been avoided is something he is yet to see

Slovenia: He was happy to be out. Not to much demage that was fixed quickly and not living with Vuk anymore must have felt great. He still doesnt want to be associated with his neighbours claiming he isint balkan and even dying his hair blond so he doesnt look like them says everything.

Croatia: I think he is jealous of Slovenia for being able to leave{and recover} much sooner then him altho they both proclaimed their independance in the same time. Unlike his neighbour, parts of his country were still under serbias rule, leading to "operacija oluja"("operation storm") and many lives lost. His realationship with Vuk was never good, tho now it was just decpise between them. I honostly hate when people ship them for this, sure they might fuck every other day, but if they say no homo after it doesnt count, right?

Bosnia(and Herz): Leaving Yugoslavia to be a bit smaller less economically stable Yugoslavia on its own never made sence to me. How tf did they let Srpska, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Brčko and Grmeč live togheter i have no fucking clue. How is Bosnia even alive still doesnt make sence to me. He wasnt scared mentaly as much he was phisically, poor Herz for having to take care of him later lol, tho she suffered equally as much

Montenegro: I would like to joke and say he slept threw all of this but he thought as much as everyone else. Unlike them he left in 2006, but the 90's left the same amount of pain on him just like any other nation. He really loved Vuk and most of montenegros people still identify as serbs, he just couldnt take the constent fights anymore. I think proving Vuk he can live on his own only to realise he was still in a 100+ yr old war with Japan and remind himself why he joined Serbia in the first place left kind of a bitter taste in his mouth

Macedonia: She left peacefully while everyone else was fighting and too bussy to care she was leaving. She was happy she didnt need to clean up after everyone anymore but when she saw how living alone was like she went on to date Vuk to get financial support. Not that much harm was done to her, she just went on with her life like normal

Srpska: Deffended his daddy all the way hoping he was gonna be proud of him and still live with him. And he was proud, tho after the Dayton agreement he felt as if he did everything for nothing. Still protest tho and probably plays every other song from Baja to bosnia dayly in hope of being so annoying he will kick him out and he can go back to Vuk. Poor kid, he deserves better. I cant even emagine how he felt. I could write a hole book on him alone

Kosovo: If I say everything I want to say I might get banned<3, I think that explains itself

Thank you for the question and sorry for a late reply💗

[egg-emperor]

How does it feel seeing so many newbies/tourists in the fandom drooling over Robotnik after the movies came out (and made him Skinny), when you've been simping over Game!Robotnik/Eggman long before it was cool?

Oh goddd you don't even know lol. I remember the day jimbotnik was first shown in the trailer thing, posted about it on here then about how empty I felt as I was already sad about it being live action and not CG voiced by Mike Pollock from the start. Then being shocked when people were saying "omg he's hot now, why did they make Eggman hot" and I was like EGGMAN ALWAYS HAS BEEN HOT!!!! and I've been saying that for years!!!! Was a strange feeling being the only opposite, finds game Egg hot but not the movie

Hell, I felt the same when the Boom design was revealed and people said the same then of "they made him hot" like he wasn't already, often just because he wasn't so fat. Don't get me wrong, not taking shots at those who got into the series through movies/Boom and now like game Egg. I'm glad you came to like the beautiful best game canon Egg no matter your introduction, this ain't about you, we have no beef. Though you really should've realized sooner, shouldn't have taken Jim Carrey to do so, you were decades too late smh XD

But the people that were very blatantly, shamelessly, and openly acted like game Eggman is ugly in comparison literally just because he's fat compared to Boom/movie, or bald and has a big nose unlike the movie etc- which are all absolutely gorgeous features- I was judging those hateful people very hard for only liking him when they take literally all his key features away and openly disliking and putting down game Eggman. Especially all the blatant fatphobia that people didn't try to hide or outright admitted to

Now I'm a lot less vocal about my personal distaste of jimbotnik because everyone knows it. Many got the wrong idea thinking I had something against them if they like him so I just try not to speak on it anymore. Obviously people can like what they want, can't say I understand the appeal of it in the absolute slightest but you do you so long as you're not being an asshole towards the reason your beloved movie version exists, the gorgeous perfect best original! You better respect the roots 🔫

I'm also proud to have desired Eggman carnally and to have been simping over him way before it was cool lol. Long before official simps like Thunderbolt/Stone/Starline etc existed and years before both Boom and the movie versions existed. I didn't need a what's widely regarded as a "conventionally attractive" version to exist to recognize Eggman's true beauty, of being a fat and bald old man with a big nose because those are genuinely all features that make me 😍💜💘 Unironically!

I don't care how weird and crazy and unbelievable it may be, I'm just enlightened and powerful in ways they can't comprehend. Honestly I don't really feel like it is considered cool still because it seems it's still considered very weird and unbelievable to find game Eggman hot completely unironically in comparison to jimbotnik and Boom. And I actually like that, still makes it feel more special and exclusive that way XD Like y'all can have them, more of the handsome fat bald evil bastard old man for me hehe

[frodo-with-glasses]

More Reading Thoughts: The Epilogue, Version One

The long-awaited sequel!! I’m reading the Epilogue as it appears in “The End of the Third Age”, from The History of The Lord of the Rings as compiled by Christopher Tolkien.

Tagging @lady-merian because she’s been asking for this for a LONG time 🤣

Manuscript A

It’s interesting that “well, I’m back” wasn’t originally supposed to be the end of the story. It’s become something iconic now—the perfect, hauntingly understated ending, harkening back to “there and back again”—but the only reason it seems so abrupt is because Tolkien actually meant to write on.

I like both, honestly. This Epilogue has so much good stuff in it, but it would make an already slow book even slower; “well I’m back” is lovely for what it is. ^-^

“Elanor 15, Frodo 13, Rose 11, Merry 9, Pippin 7.” Just looking at their names and the list of ages gets me in the heart. Argh, I love these kids ;u;

Sam resting by the fire in this study! And he’s surrounded by his kids! And they’re listening to him read the Red Book!! AAAHHHHHH

“…And there was Frodo-lad on the heathrug, in spite of his name as good a copy of Sam as you could wish…” D’aww 8-D Named Frodo, looks like Sam. That’s adorable.

AND THERE’S GOLDILOCKS AND HAM AND BABY DAISIE AND—

*strangled screech*

SAM. CALLS ELANOR. ELLIE.

I’M GONNA HECKIN’ CRY

Confirmed that Merry and Pippin traveled to Gondor and Rohan multiple times in their lives! That’s wonderful!

And now: the Gamgee children being carbon copies of their namesakes begins.

Merry Jr. is inordinately proud of Merry Sr. and wants to grow tall like him.

Pippin Jr. is likewise inordinately proud of Pippin Sr. and insists that Merry isn’t the tallest anyway.

“Is he Prince Peregrin away down in the Stone City, dad?” Oh my word.

First of all: the fact that this little hobbit lad knows Minas Tirith familiarly enough to call it the Stone City.

Secondly: I mean they did call him a prince of the halflings at first—

Frodo Jr. wants to hear about the spider again because he likes the parts where his dad comes in ;u;

And Elanor wants to know about the flower she’s named after!

Elanor: I want to go see my flower! Sam: There’s a prettier one if you look in a mirror. Elanor: Daaaad…

Rose Jr. is worried about the elves going away TT-TT

Sam is secretly very proud of the Mallorn tree in the Party Field LOL

Legolas lives in Ithilien! And Pippin says they’ve made it very lovely, which means he’s seen it! WHICH MEANS PIPPIN GOT TO HANG OUT WITH LEGOLAS AND FARAMIR AND BEREGOND AND BERGIL AGAIN—

Frodo Jr. loves Gimli and wants an axe LOL

Gimli and his dwarves helped to rebuild Minas Tirith! And now they live in the mountains behind it!! And he goes to visit the Glittering Caves every two years! Tolkien thought of EVERYTHING

And nobody knows if anyone’s seen Treebeard lol

ROSE JR. LOOKS FOR THE ENTWIVES WHEN SHE GOES WALKING IN THE WOODS I’M GONNA CRY

Haha Sam shuts down the “its not fair”s so fast, he’s such a dad 🤣

‘Don’t talk like that to me,’ said Sam sternly. ‘If it ain’t fair for Ellie and Fro to sit up after supper it ain’t fair for them to be born sooner, and it ain’t fair that I’m your dad and you’re not mine.’

My dad made up an “it’s not fair” song when I was a kid and this is reminding me of that for the first time in over a DECADE

Le gasp! Sam has a SecretTM!

“A dead hush of expectancy fell on all the children: they watched him as hobbit-children of other times had watched the wizard Gandalf.” Hello yes I will cry

THE KING IS COMING HERE

I love that Aragorn himself won’t enter the Shire according to his own decree

But he has sent! A Fancy ScrollTM!

“Elessar Aragorn Arathornsson the Elfstone King of Gondor and of the Westlands…” Local man has too many names, authorities report

And now Tolkien gives elvish names to all Sam’s kids. Nerd.

“‘Samwise or Halfwise who should rather be called Plainwise.’ So now you know what the King thinks of your dad you’ll maybe give more heed to what he says.” LOL SAM COULD YOU GET ANY MORE DADLY

All Frodo Jr. takes away from this is “MUST INTERROGATE FATHER”

And they’re gonna stay with the King and Queen at the house on the Lake for a few weeks!! HOW EXCITING

Tbh I like the first version of Sam’s conversation with Rosie better. (The one marked with footnote #6, if you have the book.) It gives more character to Rosie, which is in short supply; and I like the idea of her almost prophetically starting to sing on the day Sam is about to return. Something very Elvish and Tolkien about that.

And Sam tells us he is all whole and healed so as to preemptively shut down the angst writers. (But we will survive muahaha >:-D)

“The went in and shut the door. But even as he did so Sam heard suddenly the sigh and murmur of the sea on the shores of Middle-earth.” OHOHOHO NONONO DON’T DO THIS TO ME

Manuscripts B and C

WAIT—in one version of Appendix A Gimli became LORD OF THE GLITTERING CAVES?? HELLO??

EDIT: I have been informed that Gimli being Lord of the Glittering Caves did, in fact, make it into the final version of the book, and I just didn’t pay enough attention LOL

Also “Master Samwise who should be called Fullwise”

“I think maybe the Entwives don’t want to be found” *EYES EMOJI*

Merry Jr. asks too many questions about horses! Carbon copies, I tell ya!

The amount of times Tolkien changed the beginning of Aragorn’s letter to include different names and titles is killing me 🤣🤣

[chiefbeifongcanrailme]

DVD COMMENTARY (It's Time to Make Time)

“Chief there’s a massive hickey the size of Ba Sing Se on your neck and it’s really hard for all of us to imagine you having a sex life all of a sudden. Just the sight of it paints a very vivid picture of the kind of sex you’re having and the kind of person you’re having it with. Spirits, Chief! It’s purple in color- how are you not in pain? What was he trying to do to you? And no, we know you didn’t sleep well or sleep much last night- because you were having some really wild sex and that mark was not there yesterday and today it’s the first thing anyone can see when they look at you! No but really- what was he- trying to eat and swallow you? Please ask me to stop talking, Lin?” Mako pants. 

Lin gawked at him, thoroughly shocked at his guts to it to her face and even more so that everyone now knew that she was probably involved with someone. 

“Ha-has everyone noticed?” She managed to get out meekly. 

“Yes Chief. Everyone. People are placing bets on who they think you’re sleeping with.” Mako exhales sharply and finally looks her in the eye. 

Have fun!

Ah, It's Time to Make Time, my dearest.

This fic was written to be just a one-shot, and second chapter that followed were also supposed to be one-shot that happened to occur in this universe. The third chapter was just because this fic deserved to be wrapped into that perfect little bow with a cherry on top.

So, coming to the very first chapter where this excerpt is from: I believe I wrote this very early on in my fandom writing carrier- I had all these "need to hide our relationship from Tenzin" ideas for Linumi and I was playing around them.

One such idea, that I borrowed from real life events is- Lin getting caught with a hickey. Canonically, I think Lin would be totally intolerant if a lover left a mark on her- unless, they're in a serious relationship and it was an accident and neither party intended on it/realized it. With Bumi and his nomadic wildness, I can imagine him having a hard time taming himself- especially if he's as in love with and attracted to someone like Lin.

In the backdrop of the plot, Lin is seemingly extremely busy. She's been spreading herself pretty thin and being as sedulous as her, she won't half-ass anything- her job or her "casual" relationship.

I wanted to depict a couple of things here:

From personal experience, I know that being the kind of busy where you don't even have the time to catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror doesn't bode well. Sooner or later, there'll be an eruption. Lin does come across as someone who'd be that kinda busy. There comes a time in everyone's career when they're asked to "take it slow" because of their age and such- and I wanted to show that, irrespective of age, if someone's still kicking, they don't have to slow down for that. They could easily slow down to live their lives on their terms- because they've earned it. I've seen a lot of headcanons that Lin retires because of her injuries, or her age- etc, and knowing Lin, I don't think she'd let things like that hold her back. If she does decide to slow down, it's going to HAVE TO be because she wants to and not because she has to. Establishing both these points were a good two birds with one stone.

Being a woman with power at the workplace. It's really sad when a woman at a higher position is reduced to vapid gossip for having something as basic as a personal life. It's only because people fear Lin that they won't treat her the way that one criminal (Raj) did. Lucky for Lin, her subordinates both respect and love her and so she isn't quite subjected to that- which is something very positive about this phenomenon that I got to portray.

Mako and Lin's friendship. I can draw so many parallels between the two: from being the ever-sacrificing, traumatized older sibling to drowning yourself in work to avoid your personal life. I think Lin sorta sees him as her mini me- and she's both proud of and scared for him. It's one thing for him to emulate good qualities, but she hates that she sees her bad qualities in him too. In coming clean about her personal life to Mako, she's showing him that he need not minimize his life in order to serve. Having love in your life doesn't diminish your power.

Lin handling herself. Lin likes to face her problems head on. Everyone has reached a moment in their lives when they're totally humiliated and it's no different for Lin. She learnt the hard way the price of not accepting things coming your way with grace- that if she tries to fight everything that doesn't go her way, it's going to be her down fall in the end. After reconciling with Tenzin, then Suyin, and then her mother, she realizes that had she just accepted circumstances(Pema, scars and mommy issues) for what they were back when they arose, she wouldn't have had to spend all these decades feeling alone and bitter. She didn't need to isolate herself, and guard her emotions with such high walls if she just accepted the situations(move on, forgive and mommy issues). Having likely being subjected to terrible press in the wake of her breakup with Tenzin, I can see Lin wanting to keep this new relationship- one with Bumi, no less- on the downlow. The last thing she needs to relive is the cruel gossip columns and paparazzi outside her window. So, she decides to take it one step at a time.

Sorry, I kinda got carried away there. Now, coming to excerpt itself: Mako is always a little nervous around Lin. He has very confusing feelings about her- he thinks she's cool and hot and he has that "do I wanna be her or do I wanna be with her?" dilemma. But either way, keeping those feelings at bay, he has a lot of respect for Lin as his mentor and cares for her like family. Lin knows he's the only one who'll give it to her straight- that he could be a confidant of sorts and that he is not to be judged by the company he keeps. She trusts him to the fullest, and we see here how it only substantiates that trust when he's the only one to tell her what's really going on, and return, is the only one to learn of her big secret.

Mako kinda gets lost in his rambling of course, because Lin makes him nervous and the idea of her having a sex life only further escalates the "do I wanna be her or do I wanna be with her" dilemma since he gets to view her in a sexual light for the first time. Either way, Mako's a serious guy, and pointedly conveys his exact thoughts until he realizes, physically, he needs to stop talking.

Lin's shock has more to do with the contents of his ramble as well as some to do with the length of his chatter. She knows he can't look her in the eye, but appreciates when he finally does as he tries to sound more comforting. Lin doesn't do well with feeling embarrassed, and Mako knows that- very few people can sense that about her.

I think it's somewhat in this moment, when Lin makes a decision. Old Lin would've immediately broken up with Bumi, without any explanation and sent him running. But as for new Lin, who 1) cared about Bumi and 2) wanted him to know that she cared him, she had to be better. So she not only admitted to herself that she cares for Bumi, but also to Mako that being in love and having a relationship is not a weakness or a vulnerability.

I hope you enjoyed this commentary!