#we have no clue what he's up to now and how he's handling guardians using darkness

[adaptacy]

Johnny Slaughter x Drunk!Virgin!Reader

It is angsty, and kinda sad, and very dub-con (practically non-con), and also just- Johnny with feelings? if streams of consciousness don't make sense, that's the point. also i'm tired so sorry for spelling mistakes or if i just use the wrong word sometimes LMAO

"Alright, I've gotcha." You were leaning all of your weight into him as he sauntered down the sidewalk, and you didn't let up even as he inserted the key he'd just received into the door, twisting the handle and opening it up into a half-assed room, typical for the cheap motel you were staying up.

"You really... mmbooked 'em just for... me?" You slurred, your head lazily flopping onto his bicep as he led you inside, closing the door behind him.

"Didn't tell me you were such a lightweight," the man sighed, helping you over to the white queen-size bed, which you didn't put up any fight against, collapsing onto the comforter and giggling. At what? You didn't know.

"We should, mhmhm, kiss." You blinked, slowly, up at him, seeing triple. Triple hot. Triple hunk. Triple gentleman. He was being so sweet. He carried you here, gave you a ride, he promised your parents wouldn't figure out that their golden child was getting wasted at some rural bar miles away from home. He was so caring.

Sure, you'd only known him for like two hours, but those two hours said so much. He didn't say much. Well, he did. Flirted a lot. Was he flirting? Did you misunderstand? No, no, he got you a motel room. Just for you. He was definitely flirting. He was like a guardian angel, wasn't he?

You made a mistake, a lot of mistakes, actually. A lot of shots. A lot of alcohol. Glasses and glasses of mistakes. But he was here to make sure you wouldn't be making anymore. He was protecting you. God, what a sweetheart. "What's your name again?" You mumbled, your tongue twisting around itself to form some terrible labyrinth.

"Johnny," he reminded, bending down over you and catching your lips in a kiss. His was gentle, but forward. Yours was sloppy, messy, hungry, dazed. You were sloppy. And messy. Oh, your parents would never forgive you.

"Johnny, I'm so... ugh, you're lovely," you complimented, your nose bumping against his as he tried to kiss you again, but you just had to let him know first. "So loving. We should get married," you giggled.

"Baby steps, darlin'."

"I'm your darling?" You hummed, smiling sweetly. Innocently. What the hell were you doing? No wonder the bartender warned you. But he paid for your drinks. He was just so generous. How could he possibly be single? You were so lucky to have him. "I think I love you."

"You're crazy," he laughed, the sound sweet and appetizing and so manly. You laughed too, because you wanted to be like him. Wanted to take care of people like he was. Wanted to be big and strong like he was. Wanted to be so sweet, wanted to kiss like he did. He was perfect. He kissed you again, and you kept giggling, your skin crawling with... excitement? nausea? you couldn't really tell the difference. "You wanna go through with this?"

With what? "Mhm," you hummed, closing your eyes for just a moment. Then you opened them again, and he was still there. All three- two? Four? All of him- them? Ugh. "Yuh-huh," you affirmed. If he wanted to, you'd do it. No clue what 'it' was, but he was a good decision maker. You were clearly, definitely, obviously, drunkenly not.

"You done this before?"

"Yeah." Done what? You'd done a lot of things. You hadn't gone skydiving. Or bungee jumping. What a funny word. Bungee. Bun-gee. "Bunnn, geeee," you announced, and Johnny squinted at you. You giggled. What'd he say?

"I'm gonna take yer shirt off now." He kissed your cheek, and you nodded. Was he going to get you into a bath? Oh, he was such a sweetiepie. Like a grandmother. But hot. and muscular. and young. and had a way deeper voice. and, actually, he wasn't like a grandmother at all. but he still made you smile.

He removed your shirt, and you tried to lift your head to kiss him, but your head was so heavy, and your muscles were so weak. Ugh, you wished you had muscles like him. he could lift your head. you definitely couldn't.

The best part was, he did lift your head. and he did kiss you. He was a mind reader, too? Was he even real? Men like this didn't exist. Not really. men as sweet, and loving, and gentle, and-

His hands were on your pants. Strange. He knew what he was doing. You trusted him. What was his name again? "Joey," you thanked.

"Johnny," he corrected.

"Mister Johnny," you slurred, brushing noses with him. He kissed you again, and he tasted like the bar. He'd been drinking too. He was like your drunk-buddy. Drinking buddy. And designated driver. A perfect package. Why are engagement rings so expensive?

"You alright?" His voice spoke again, and you blinked, finding that there were now only two of him. That you could see. Your vision was dark at the sides, but who needed peripheral vision, anyways? He was tugging your bottoms down your legs, and you looked up at him.

Somewhere, distant, faint, barely even present in your mind- somewhere, something clicked. Some puzzle pieces snapped together. You could make out the shape of the puzzles, the caves and the peninsulas, but they were blank pieces. There was no puzzle. It was blurry. Fuzzy. Like a puppy. Or a kitten. Or a squirrel.

"What?" you mumbled.

"Eyes on me, sweetpea. You alright?"

It was hard to focus on him since you'd have to focus on two images at once, but you tried your best. It only brought a headache. "Why... wouldn't I be?"

"You're awful' drunk."

"I'm knows," you scoffed.

"Do ya?"

"Obvs," you reminded, reaching up a hand and pawing at his face as you tried to boop him, grinning up at him. His hair draped over his pair of faces, and you wanted to bite it. Wanted to pull it. ugh, you were such a bad person. who made bad decisions. you hated alcohol. why'd you even stumble into that bar? your parents would be so mad.

Her eyes were almost crossed, and Johnny found it dizzying to try and gain her attention. She swatted at his forehead as she replied, and he pulled back ever so slightly. Gently, he pulled her hand down, trying to be patient with her. She'd been tipsy when he got there, but this was something else.

He tried not to think about it- This wasn't his first drunken sexual encounter, and wouldn't be his last. His lips pressed to her chest, his fingers caressing the insides of her thighs. She was warm, inviting, almost intoxicating. Then again, it could've been the potent taste of alcohol on her tongue. Stronger than his own. He swore she didn't have that much to drink, and she knew what to order- It wasn't her first time drinking, or so he assumed.

He'd hardly understood a word she'd bumbled on the way home. A ramble about her parents and treehouses here, another about college and service animals there. He didn't bother trying to decipher her codes. He was sure she didn't even have a clue what she was saying, so it wasn't his responsibility to figure it out.

Her fingers played with his hair, awkwardly tugging and scraping at his scalp, but he didn't mind. She mumbled something out, but the more time he spent with her, the less precise her words got. At this point, they were unintelligible, but she seemed happy while saying them. Oddly enough, it brought a smile to his face.

He reached down, unbuckling his belt. She continued with her string of corrupted vowels as he did so, and he ended his trail of kisses on her stomach before standing up straight once more. Her body was so... pristine. Shiny? It had this certain glow to it- a glow that her eyes lacked. They were stuck half-lidded, even feigning unconsciousness a few times, but he'd been proven wrong each time when she'd open her mouth to quickly inform him of how much she loved sunflowers, or to tell him an impossible-to-follow story about her first pet. He'd listened- not understood, but listened, to her, and then she'd fall back into silence for a few more minutes.

And even so, when she was so clearly destroyed by the liquor she'd been drinking like water, she looked so peaceful. She lay on the bed below him, completely flat, completely relaxed. Her arms casually positioned above her, her palms facing him. He wanted to hold her hand. So he did, and it brought a small smile to her face.

He wasn't going to stick around after this. He never did. He never wanted to. But she- she was so intriguing. So strange. He wanted to learn more about her, wanted to understand her. Wanted to listen to her stupid rambles and her whispered confusion. He wanted to see her frustrated, wanted to see her cry, wanted to see her confident, wanted to see her.

Shit. Maybe he wasn't all that sober. His hips leaned forward, and her eyebrows slanted, barely enough for him to notice. But he caught on, and his brows mimicked her movement. He was close to entering her, sliding between her folds, but he wasn't inside. Not yet. She looked confused.

"We're makin' love?" She asked, and Johnny narrowed his eyes, cracking a smile. That was a first. It was always fucking, or having sex, or getting laid, or some other degenerate nickname. Making love? That was for married people. Old couples. People with kids. People with commitments. Didn't she understand?

"Yeah, darlin', we're gonna make love," he replied, leaning down and kissing her neck. "Is that alright?"

"Mhm," she answered, and Johnny released a breath. She wasn't going back to his place. But he wasn't going to hers, either. Too innocent to be a victim, too drunk to be a partner. This was just another in his long list of mistakes. Another night that he'd forget after a few more bottles, a few more weeks, a few more stolen cigarettes, a few more kills. He always forgot them. He'd had too many. Needed a break far too much.

And she was surely the same.

And yet, when he pushed in, there was a tension, and then it broke. Something- something physical, something inside of her broke. And she whimpered, like he'd cut her. Her voice was light as she asked "What?"

Johnny couldn't move. He couldn't act. He couldn't continue. He couldn't speak. He wished he couldn't think, but that was all he did. When he looked down, his worst fears were confirmed. Dripping onto the white comforter were two marks of scarlet, and Johnny squeezed her hand.

No. No, no, no, no. No way.

Johnny held his breath. Wanted to wake up. He never felt bad. he never felt sympathy. He never regret things from his heart, only from his head.

but there was a singe in his chest. A poking in his lungs. And, despite her consciousness being continents away, she realized. Or, at the very least, picked up on his guilt.

"Please don't be mad," she whimpered, her voice breaking. And she cried. She held it back, but tears weren't easily disguised. He shook his head, trying to pretend that it was fine. Trying to pretend that this was normal, that he regularly took girls- drunk girls, pretty, innocent, completely wasted girls virginities.

But he didn't. And it showed.

"It's okay, I'm not mad," he assured, his jaw tight. He didn't know what to do. It was too late. Maybe she wouldn't remember in the morning. Maybe she wouldn't realize what she'd given up--

No.

What he'd taken from her. Stolen from her. Why would he assume? Why would he ever think this was a good idea? Why would-

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, and Johnny did something he'd never done before. Never even thought to do.

He leaned down, and he hugged her. She hugged him back- or, tossed her arms over his back, her drunken sobs hitting his chest like a goddamn bullet. He made girls cry on purpose. He made them scream, and sob, and bleed-

She was doing all of that. But he did not want her to. He shushed her, kissing the nape of her neck, running his hand over her back, all in an attempt to comfort her. He shouldn't care. He'd never cared. He had never shown any feelings towards anyone for any goddamn reason. He was not that person.

But he felt like a bad person. He'd killed people, but that wasn't the issue right now.

No, he was so much worse than that. She was sweet, and clueless, and couldn't handle her alcohol. She'd had a terrible night. No girl like her would be in a shithole bar if she hadn't. And he'd made it worse.

And come morning, she may not even be aware of it. She'd wake up, stranded, sore, sick, in a cheap motel, alone. She'd assume that she'd called a cab, she'd assume that she handled herself fine, but Johnny would know. He'd know the truth.

What was he doing?

Nancy was right. Running off and ignoring the family was a terrible idea. She'd sworn that he'd get himself into trouble, and while she'd definitely been talking about the law, or barfights, he felt like this was his karma. This was his trouble. Hell, it didn't even affect him. It shouldn't affect him.

But she was crying in his arms, and she didn't even fully understand why. And he held her, feeling a responsibility to care for her, to comfort her.

He was going to have to stick around, wasn't he?

Come morning, she'd wake up sore and sick, and with a stranger. And he'd be there. And he'd scare her, and stress her out, and hold her hair as she threw up tonight's mistakes, and he'd probably hug her again as she cried.

Johnny sighed, using his thumb to wipe her tears. She'd already fallen asleep. He laid her down, put her clothes back on as best as he could, and covered her up with the blankets. And he left the room.

He stood just outside, unpocketing a carton of cigarettes and putting one in his mouth, using a rusty black flip lighter to ignite the end.

He didn't know what he was going to do. But he felt a responsibility. An attachment. He didn't understand it. Maybe in the morning he'd lose all sympathy and be gone before she woke up, but he found that outcome unlikely.

He'd figure it out. He had to.

[cheesemonky]

Chapter 5: Deeper Into the Forest

pairing: fairy!felix x fairy!reader

Series Masterlist

Word count: 1.5k

summary: A fairy gets their wings once they're 13. A normal one at least. You're 23, and still without any. This leaves you without a mate, because who would love a wingless fairy? So when you decide to leave, it's quite the surprise to find a fairy with a wing missing…

warnings: i dont think theres anything other than it being absolute word vomit and garbage, NOT PROOFREAD

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the windows of the holiday house, casting a warm glow over the room. You and Felix stirred from your makeshift beds, the events of the previous night still vivid in your minds. As you stretched and rubbed the sleep from your eyes, you couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of purpose. The mysterious clue in your pocket seemed to pulse with an unseen energy, urging you forward on your quest.

Heeseung and the other vampires were already awake, gathered around the ornate table in the centre of the room. The atmosphere was markedly different from the night before, filled with a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Heeseung greeted you with a warm smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough," you replied, glancing at Felix, who nodded in agreement. "Thanks for helping us last night. That clue we found… it feels important."

"It is," Heeseung agreed, his expression serious. "The journey you're on is not an easy one, but it's clear you have the strength and determination to see it through."

Felix looked down at the glowing rock still clutched in his hand, its light now a soft, steady pulse. "So, what's our next step?" he asked, looking around at the group of vampires.

Jay, the responsible one, spoke up. "The clue mentions 'those of green.' It could be referring to a group or an entity associated with the colour green. There are many possibilities, but one stands out: the forest guardians."

"Forest guardians?" you echoed, intrigued.

"Yes," Sunoo chimed in, his sweet voice filled with excitement. "They're ancient beings who protect the forests and all its creatures. They're said to have a deep connection to nature and are known for their green attire and abilities."

Felix's eyes lit up. "That makes sense! But how do we find them?"

Riki, the youngest vampire, grinned mischievously. "Leave that to me. I know a guy who knows a guy. We'll get you in touch with the forest guardians in no time."

As Riki set off to make the necessary arrangements, Heeseung turned to you and Felix. "While Riki handles that, we need to prepare you both for what's to come. The forest guardians are not easily convinced to help outsiders. You'll need to prove your worth and earn their trust."

You exchanged a determined look with Felix. "We're ready," you said, your voice steady.

Over the next few hours, the vampires helped you and Felix gather supplies and prepare for the journey ahead. They shared stories of their own encounters with the forest guardians, offering valuable advice and insights. Despite their intimidating appearance, the vampires proved to be kind and generous hosts, their initial theatrics long forgotten.

As the sun began to set, casting a golden hue over the forest, Riki returned with good news. "I've made contact. The forest guardians are willing to meet with you, but you'll need to travel to their sacred grove deep within the forest. It's a long and challenging journey, but I have no doubt you can make it."

Heeseung handed you a map, carefully drawn and marked with key landmarks to guide you on your way. "Stay on the path and trust in yourselves," he advised. "And remember, the forest guardians value honesty and respect above all else. Show them that, and you'll have their support."

With the map in hand and a renewed sense of purpose, you and Felix bid farewell to your vampire friends, grateful for their help and hospitality. As you stepped out into the cool evening air, the forest around you seemed to hum with anticipation. The journey ahead was fraught with uncertainty, but you felt ready to face whatever challenges lay in wait.

Together, you and Felix set off into the forest, the clue in your pocket guiding you forward. The path was winding and often treacherous, but you pressed on, driven by the promise of discovery and the hope of unravelling the mysteries that lay ahead.

“Do you think we can trust them?” Felix asked, glancing back towards the now distant house.

“I think so,” you replied, stepping over a gnarled tree root. “They helped us, after all. Plus, they seemed genuinely interested in helping us find the Heart of Eris.” Felix nodded, though his brow remained furrowed.

“I just can’t shake off how strange that whole experience was. I mean, vampires?” You chuckled softly.

“I know. It’s a lot to take in. But if we can accept that vampires exist, I suppose forest guardians aren’t too far-fetched.” Felix smiled at that, his mood lightening.

“You’ve got a point there. It’s just… this whole thing feels like a dream.”

“A very weird, vivid dream,” you agreed, sharing in his wonder.

As night fell, the forest came alive with the sounds of nocturnal creatures and the rustling of leaves. The moon cast an ethereal glow over the landscape, illuminating your path and filling you with a sense of wonder. Despite the challenges, you felt a deep connection to the world around you, as if the very forest itself was guiding you towards your destination.

“Look at that,” Felix whispered, pointing to a cluster of glowing mushrooms growing at the base of a tree.

“They’re beautiful,” you murmured, pausing to admire the bioluminescent fungi. “It’s like the forest is welcoming us.” Felix knelt down, gently touching one of the mushrooms.

“Y’know, seeing things like this make me forget a little about how dangerous this whole thing is…”

“I know what you mean,” you said, crouching beside him. “But we can’t lose focus. You convinced me to help you with this mess, so you better not forget about it.” Felix stood, nodding resolutely.

“Right. Let’s keep moving.”

The path grew narrower and more winding as you ventured deeper into the forest. Trees loomed overhead, their branches intertwining to form a natural canopy that blocked out the starlight. The only illumination came from the moonlight filtering through gaps in the leaves and the occasional glow of phosphorescent plants.

“According to the map, we should be getting close,” Felix said, studying the parchment by the light of a glowing flower he had plucked earlier.

“I hope so,” you replied, feeling the fatigue of the journey beginning to set in. “I could use a rest.”

“Me too,” Felix agreed, his steps slowing. “But we have to stay alert. We don’t know what might be out here.” After hours of walking, you finally arrived at a clearing bathed in moonlight. In the centre stood a towering oak tree, its branches reaching towards the sky like ancient arms. Surrounding the tree were figures clad in green, their eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. Felix grabbed your arm, his grip tight.

“This must be it.”

You nodded, heart pounding with anticipation. Or maybe it was the way his hand felt against the skin of your arm. “Stay close.” As you stepped into the clearing, the figures turned towards you, their movements graceful and fluid. One of them, taller than the rest and adorned with a crown of leaves, stepped forward.

"Welcome, travellers," he spoke, his voice a melodic blend of authority and kindness. "We have been expecting you." You and Felix exchanged a wary glance before stepping forward.

“We’re here seeking your help,” you said, trying to keep your voice steady. The figure nodded.

“We know. The winds of the forest have carried your story to us. But tell us, what brings you to our sacred grove?” Felix took a deep breath and began to explain, recounting your journey and the clues you had uncovered so far. The forest guardians listened intently, their glowing eyes never leaving your face. When Felix finished, the leader of the guardians stepped closer, his expression thoughtful. “Your quest is a noble one. But to earn our aid, you must prove your worth. We cannot grant our trust lightly.”

“What do we have to do?” you asked, your determination unwavering. The guardian smiled, a hint of challenge in his eyes.

“There is a trial you must undertake. It will test your courage, your wisdom, and your heart. Only those who are truly worthy can succeed.” Felix looked at you, his resolve mirrored in your gaze.

“We’re ready,” he said firmly.

The guardian nodded. “Very well. Follow me.” As you followed the guardian deeper into the forest, the air around you seemed to thrum with ancient magic. The trees parted to reveal a hidden glade, bathed in the soft glow of fireflies and moonlight. In the centre of the glade stood a stone altar, inscribed with runes that seemed to pulse with a faint, otherworldly light.

“This is the heart of the forest,” the guardian said, his voice reverent. “Here, you will face your trial. Prove yourselves, and the forest will aid you on your journey.”

You and Felix stepped forward, feeling the weight of the guardian’s words. The trial awaited, and with it, the next step on your path to unravelling the mysteries that lay ahead.

“So travellers, are you ready to take on what is to come?”

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leisel's note: am i back? yes! am i writing again? yes but very inconsistently! i had a brain wave and lost it halfway through writing this. ill be posting random short stories and writing peices more often than actual fics or chapters but please show support still !! reblogging helps a lot with motivation :3

[star153]

My hopes for Spider-man’s 4th MCU movie.

I don’t think we’ve seen anything about Spiderman 4th MCU movie, But I think it will be out next year. I think they don’t want to film it while Tom Holland doesn’t look young enough to be in College. But what will the film be like? I hold out hope that it would be like this.

Peter has his money matters sorted for now since we already seen Spider-man stories where they aren’t. But Spiderman needs a bit more cash for things in the futrue like the next years of college. Then Spiderman sees on the news that Mysterio had returned. And has allied with a businessman played by Michael Zegen. You’ll see why later. Peter also see’s Beck’s crew. He decides to investigate them in secret, And’s that’s where he’ll get that cash from. Throughout the film, We gave Spider-man as a more classic peter parker. A guy who now has family, Goes to Collage, And takes pictures all over New York for the Daily Bugle to use to get the money he lives on. Unlike Spider-man 2, his roles as Peter and Spider-man are balanced and not negatively effecting each other due to Peter multitasking. He’s not exactly late for things this time, And it’s thanks to this very method. Something Otto did when he was Spider-man in the comics. I think that’s something that best happen since we have seen so much of the opposite already as well. Why keep doing it? Anyway, Curt Corners is in this film and one of Peter’s teachers again. Although Peters dosnt want the Pfizer or minds it, Curt and other teachers are amazed of how good his grades are. This is something about Peter can stay the same. Peter’s gifted, So he’s a goddamn genius. Peter however tries to not make any friends and keep his relationships processional. He doesn’t want to bring anyone into his world, same as why he didn’t try to make Ned and MJ remember him again. And the College is Horizon, Which is a nod to that Spider-man cartoon with really good character designs. And we have seen too much Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy. They don’t know Peter but are interested in him due to him having no family but good grades which they’re impressed by. Peter however knows them well even before looking at them. This is because his variants told him about them. So Peter knows his own Gwen and Harry, But through others. We also see Peter at the Daily Bugle where he turns in the pictures he took to earn his pay. Jamison is just like how he was back in the Raimi films for fan service. We also see Peter interact with other Daily Bugle people such as Betty from the high School news back in the Home trilogy And Robbie Robertson. And most importantly, We see him trying to help people as a Spider-man. While the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy handle matters that effect the world and the universe, Spider-man is there for the street level people. Trying to resolve street level problems. We get scene after scene of him helping people and turning in crooks. This film is where Spider-man slowly proves he’s not what Mysterio says he is. Through out the film,

Kraven is also in this film and might be played by the same guy how played him in his solo film. I thought if that filmed sucked, This sort of Kraven should get a second chance now that he can be the main antagonist of a Spider-man film. Spider-man is watched and stalked by Kraven wearing the outfit he had in the 2003 3D Spider-man cartoon. Spider-man notices and Kraven attacks him, Because although Spider-man dodged his legal troubles thanks to Daredevil, People still believe in Mysterio. So a huge bounty is placed on Spider-man’s head. Spider-man escapes his assault, But Kraven is not yet defeated. Not yet anyway.

Mysterio also fights some CGI monsters, But Peter’s sure it not what it’s seems. He investigates where the CGI battles took place, Hopeing to find the hologram droins. They weren’t there. Peter’s sad about that, But doesn’t give up. He however finds some other clue instead. The buildings that got wrecked in the Mysterio fights were of rival companies to that of the Michael Zegen businessman. The people who die in the crossfire, People the Michael Zegen businessman was competing with. This give Peter the idea to go to his company and check it out. He looks around as Peter Parker, And even sneaks around. He did that sort of thing in his PS4 game, And it’s how he exposed Mr Negative. He pulls it of in this pitch as well. Peter finds evidence that Beck staged Mysterio, That the things he said in Far from Home are lies, And that the Michael Zegen businessman gave them shelter and resources for 1 of the crew to be Mysterio in exchange for Mysterio’s CGI battles to take place near the Michael Zegen businessman’s rivals and their businesses so that his can come out on top. This is why I want this guy to be played by Michael Zegen. He was not in the Batman film, but the Penguin spin-off. But by the time we’d meet him, He was killed off right way. I thought he deserved a second chance to play a City Elite who is corrupt enough to be a secondary villain in a superhero movie. Anyway, Peter brings this to Jamison, Betty Brant, and Robbie Robertson. Peter says he wants to do the right thing and relays this info to the public. He also admits he wants the reward money from the expose to solve his core matters. Jamison says he doesn’t want to because he and Mysterio are on the same side due to Jamison being “Anti Spider-man”. But because exposing truths like that is something a news company should do, Hell do it anyway. And peter still gets that reward money because it was his discovery. Peter thanks JJJ and they shake hands. So peters future matters are covered and Mysterio is finally fully exposed to the world. And we see many people react to finally facing the truth. Sad that they lost, Mystrio and the Michael Zegen businessman wreck havoc on new York. But Spider-Man goes about helping people out of dangerous situations as he always does. It’s like at the start of Legendary battle at the end of Super Megaforce. With that done, Spider-man comes face to face with Mysterio. Mysterio tries to fight, But Spider-man uses his spider-since to find the drones and take out the illusions even sooner than last time. Spider-man says he did that because he doesn’t just want to talk to the guy in the Mysterio suit, But the rest of Becks team as well. Now that he’s with them all, He tells the crew they disgusted him. Not just because of what they put him through, But because they killed so many people and spread devastation, And even more people and spread even more devastation. And they made lies about it both times. The whole crew say why they went through with Quentin Beck’s plans, Saying they wanted glory for their hard work and they thought it was unfair that Ironman did, But they didn’t. Peter says Ironman wasn’t that bad and that there’s no excuse for that shit. And he webs the whole team Including Mysterio. Spider-man takes off the Mysterio mask which reveals Beck did die as the body was recovered back in Far from Home by the authorities, But the equipment Was taken before they got there. The Michael Zegen businessman shows up and says Peter Parker (Who no one knows is Spider-man now) also disgusted him due to him ruining his plans. Spider-man says that’s not something to hate someone for because it was the right thing to do. Then the police show up to arrest the Michael Zegen businessman for helping mass murderers who also scam the whole Earth escape justice so that they kill his opponents for him. And like Cesare Borgia before him, the Michael Zegen businessman complains about it as they do it. And the the Michael Zegen businessman, Mysterio and the rest of Beck’s crew is taken to jail like the villains they are.

Also through out the film, we see other characters do their own thing. We see Normal tries to be as active as much as he can in his political career, And his son Harry try to live up to how high in class his father is. It’s clear that the MCU Spider-man movies are not the kids movie they used to be anymore. The character driven stories like in the old comics. We don’t just see Spider-man’s story, But stories of those he’s with as Peter Parker as well. Anyway, Harry’s sad because he thinks he’s not living up to his father’s image due to not being able to do anything about the years long Mysterio thing. Gwen comes in as is crying and Harry asks what’s wrong. Gwen however asks why Harry’s sad. Harry says he thinks he’s not living up to his father’s standard. Gwen says he seems to have succeeded because he’s such an amazing guy. Harry asks again why Gwen’s sad. But before Harry gets an answer, Kraven shows up. He says he’s here for Normal because he’s the Mayor of New York. since he’s not here, These 2 will have to do. He beats them up and takes them while theyre knocked out. Kraven also brutally kills several police to get away. More on that later. Norman meets up with Peter looking for Harry Because of it. He knows Kraven took em, And asks if Peter has any idea where he took em. With this encounter, Peter learns about his own Norman, And that he’s different to the Normal he knew in No way Home. He didn’t start up Oscorp, But instead got into politics. And he didn’t not start it well enough to be New York’s mayor. We then see on the news that Kraven has taken Harry and Gwen hostage and demands Spider-man to face him. Spider-Man suits up and swings off, To stop Kraven and save his Collage classmates. When Peter faces Kraven, He tells Spider-man to catch. He throws Harry off the building for the sake of killing him, But Spider-man catch’s him. Kraven tries again with Gwen, But Peter also catch’s her as well. This final battle is intended as he trying to fight Kraven while trying to make sure Harry and Gwen are ok. Standard Spider-man stuff for a final battle. Once Harry and Gwen are safely with the police, Spider-man asks Kraven why he’s doing this. Kraven says he’s sad because of Spider-Man putting sending those guys from No way Home on hold so he can make sure it doesn’t kill them first. This made his frustration of so many things he wish he could do something about but can’t even worse. America and France's hostility at Wakanda over vibranium, S.W.O.R.D doing that thing with Vision even though it was wrong and pushed Wanda to do that other thing in Westview, Damage Control going too far as we saw in Mis Marvel. He got so emotionally mad that he got the Hunting gig. He thinks mass murder is his best option because there so much chaos these days. And now he wants to kills Spider-Man because he avoids people dying, Even if it’s hard and even puts more at risk. He wants his methods to beat out its opacity which is Spider-man’s it not about money to Kraven, But ideology. This is why Kraven would make a great main villain for a Spider-man movie. He does what Spider-man refused to do in his 3rd MCU movie and resort to cruel and violent methods to succeed. But in doing so, He got on that trend and even resorted to killing police so that he could steal human beings, So that he could use em to draw out Spider-man. This is why Spider-man was in the right to risk his reality to save the Villains from alternate universes. If you don’t follow the rules of how far you go to win, You do bad as well as good. And that bad effects others in a bad way. So Spider-Man was right to avoid killing people like Batman, And Spider-man and Kraven have their final battle. Although Kraven puts up a good fight, Spider-man takes him out And turns him in. Gwen’s family including Captain Stacy come to check on Harry and Gwen. They tell them they’re ok. But Gwen says she’s still mad about Captain Stacey's decision and that the rest of the family don't be hostile at him about it. So Gwen tells her family to fuck off and leaves.

We then see the people finally see that Mysterio is a fraud and that they wrongfully turned on Spider-man, Mostly on the news. And now for the epilogue. Peter, Normal, Harry and Gwen talk about the past events in the Osborn's home. Harry tells his dad he is sorry he worried him, But Normal says it wasn’t his fault but Kraven's. Harry asks why Gwen told her family to fuck off. Gwen says that it's because like Kraven, Captain Stacy was also emotionally affected by the government issues we seen in the MCU. So Captain Stacy got sucked into JJJ's Spider-hate because he likes the idea of killing criminals. Gwen not only hates her father for being tempted to brake moral rules, But her family too for not having a problem with him for it. So she moves out. Gwen cries about it, But Harry comforts her. Normal points out that JJJ and Captain Stacy are investing in something called project hope, And that Mac Gargen has something to do with it because they're having him paroled from prison. Normal thanks Peter for being there for Gwen and Harry after the Kraven thing and the 2 shake hands. Peter is happy as he not only won in the end, But his Normal is not a villain like the Norman he met. He may be an ambitious and prideful politician, But harmless for now. When Peter gets out of the building, He changes into his Spider-man outfit and remembers May which makes this ending emotional a bit. He says to himself she'd be happy to see how things turned out and does his final swing like he does in most Spider-man movies.

The post credits screen is like that TV interview in Skaylanders Academy season 2. Jamison is interviewing Doctor Strange, James Rhodes as Ironman, Captain America, Ant-man, Wasp, White Vision and She-Hulk. Yes, The Avengers are the Skylanders of this scenerio. Jamisons asks how they're taking the news about the truth about Mysterio, And they reply saying they find what Beck's crew did despicable and feels sorry for Spider-man being put through all that. JJJ admits that he doesn't. They ask JJJ why he's hostile to Spider-man even before and after Mysterio. JJJ says it's because Spiderman avoids killing people which JJJ and others find a better solution to villains running amuck. JJJ says they killed from time to time. So what's wrong with that. The avengers counter saying murder isn't the best option and hope they won't have to in the future. JJJ says many police are fans of him and are doing something called Project Hope. JJJ says Project hope is named that because it’s the police making their own Superhero to kill Spider-man and that he's sent by the police makes him a hero like each of the Avengers themselves. The Avengers doubt it because it's killing someone just for hate and not necessity. JJJ asks why don't they just meet Project Hope so they can be sure, And Project Hope shows at the interview which reveals it's Mac Gargan as the Scorpion. The Avengers are not at all scared of him but are horrified, that the police let a murderer out of prison and gave him superpowers.

The End credits scene is Peter watching that interview and saying "WHAT THE FUCK?!? but this time, We see it fully. It's because like the avengers, He too is horrified about the Scorpion. It's understandable too. The police got sucked into someone's hate talk, And it got them to release a criminal who even killed some people and maybe other cops. And they even gave him superpowers. Oh boy. This will not end well for them.

Ok. That was what I hope the 4th MCU Spider-man movie will be. I hope the real film is just like that or at least similar due to having the same outcomes in plot. If you’re a Spider-man fan, I say this. What do you think?

[landofzero-archive]

Absolute - To Abhor the Impure World 7

(Location: Hotel (Lobby))

Ibara: Then, I’ll be heading out.

Please! P-l-e-a-s-e, everyone behave, alright? Make sure to keep His Highness reined in, Jun!

Jun: You’re saying something impossible…… Well, I don’t want to put myself in danger, so I’ll behave, okay~?

Take care, Ibara. Please do your best to find Nagi-senpai.

Ibara: Of course! That person always causes unexpected trouble……!

NEGI: “…… He’s gone.

I only know superficial information but, who’s that ‘Ibara’ kid?”

Jun: Who is he…… He’s also a member of Eden, and he’s amazing at managing companies, being an idol, and being a producer all at the same time.

NEGI: “That’s only superficial, of course I know that.

I’m asking about essential things. What is that kid? He seems to be close to Uncle Gatekeeper, so is he someone from the underworld?

We were made to wait because it’s dangerous, but that Ibara kid seemed like he was going to participate in the investigation……

You all didn’t really try to stop him either, right?

You believe in that Ibara kid’s capability, no, his strength.

Who on earth is that kid that you guys trust so much?”

Jun: Well…… If you’re asking me, I don’t really know much about him either. It’s kind of my thing to not worry about small details like that, y’know~?

What’s important to me right now is that he’s a “reliable guy” that I can trust.  Basically, if we do what he says, things will turn out okay ‘n stuff.

NEGI: “I wonder what that’s like. This time, the scale of the story is different from what you usually experience. The nature of it is different too.

Right now, you guys may be caught up in a conspiracy involving a ton of money in a foreign country…… Probably.

No matter how talented he is, I don’t think that Ibara kid can handle it.

Even the management of Absolute, Uncle Gatekeeper, and the other adults with power and executive ability seem to be panicking.

It’s not just a school event where everyone can get along and have fun. I don’t know what kids like us can do. That Ibara kid is probably no exception.

…… It’s frustrating, but it’s the reality of the situation.”

Jun: ………

Hiyori: —Obviously! We can’t just leave it to Ibara!

Jun: Woah, Ohiisan!?

He had disappeared for some reason, so I thought he was just sulking and locking himself in his room again, but—

Hiyori: We don’t have time for that! Nagisa-kun is in a big pinch! What foul weather!

Of course, as Nagisa-kun’s best friend and family member, I can’t afford to waste time doing nothing!

Let’s go, Jun-kun! You too, NEGI-chan!

NEGI: “Eh- eh?”

Jun: W-Where are we going? Ohiisan?

Hiyori: You’re still as incomprehensible as ever, aren’t you? Obviously, I’m going to go find Nagisa-kun! There’s no need to ask!

Jun: No but, Ibara told us to wait��

Hiyori: I don’t recall ever being that child’s subordinate, you know? I have no obligation to listen to what he says!

Jun: Well I guess there’s some kind of obligation. But anyway, it’s dangerous outside the hotel—

Hiyori: That’s what that child thought, right? Since Shaka-san disappeared from a fortress-like place, there’s no place that’s absolutely safe!

That’s why! If it’s the same no matter where we are, I’ll choose to look for even the smallest clue!

I’m Nagisa-kun’s guardian!(1)  If that child is going through hardships, I have an obligation to help him!

Do you have any complaints, Jun-kun? It doesn’t matter if you don’t like it, I’ll just go alone!

Jun: …… No, I’ll be going too, okay?

Ohiisan won’t listen to me, even if I try to reason with you. If that’s how it is, I’ll feel better if I’m nearby to protect you instead of letting you wander around alone.

But being impulsive won’t help anything, so let’s prepare as much as we can at the hotel. Let’s prepare a map and drinks.

Hiyori: Yep! That’s essential! NEGI-chan, is there an up-to-date map of this area?

This area seems to be changing rapidly, so the maps and information online aren’t really reliable.

That’s why, since you’re living here, you’re a local, so-to-speak, and we’ll need your cooperation—we need your information.

NEGI: “Eh~…… Hmm, I wonder if it’s okay?

Well, alright. It’s frustrating to just go along with what’s convenient for adults.

I can empathize with the feeling that family is important and something you want to protect.”

TL Notes:

Hiyori uses the word “保護者” (hogosha) here, which can mean guardian, protector, patron, or parent. Pick your poison.

Previous | Directory | Next

[johannwolfgangvongoethe]

organizing care + being a legal guardian + struggle tweeting irl

enstars thought collection below. i dont know how we got here.

anyway, so this is a post where i talk about my vague ideas on whats up with kanames health and care situation. like, legally speaking.

(spoilers for everything surrounding kaname, obbligato specifically)

basically. i am an avid tatsumi and himeru enjoyer and healthcare business and law is? my hobby? idk if you can call this a hobby? so i have been absolutely obsessing over every little throwaway line we get about how kanames long-term care is organized. because depending on who is currently responsible on paper... that could really influence a lot, right!!! since right now kaname is unable to make health decisions for himself.

we all know (ore-)himeru is going through a lot and the possibility of an added responsibility and financial burden of a guardianship on him is something that is very interesting to me.

point of the post so this post isnt much about existing laws (as they are extremely complicated, even if youre native to a region and language), i mostly want to discuss what we know and the possibilities and the mental burden of carrying legal responsibility on top of internal emotions (grief, guilt, loneliness, despair and hopelessness, possessiveness even, and whatever else himeru has going on).

its smth that strongly gnaws on you. i think everyone who ever had to apply for care/benefits will know how horrible of a process it is.

boring health stuff i tried to look up japanese law surrounding how long-term payment and guardianship is organized and who qualifies for both. i am german so obviously most of my knowledge only concerns the legal situation here, unfortunately. i am Assuming enstars just follows the laws of irl japan and as such at least a considerable chunk of financial burdens should be lifted by the countries mandatory insurance.(70%) BUT the long-term intensive care situation for people under the age of 40 is murky (relevant long-term care laws exist for the elderly and aim to provide financial relief. but idk how theyd handle the case of a teenager, especially one that, we can assume, used to be in the foster system. the jpn foster system is its own can of worms) no surprise, disability/care related payment plans for young people, esp those who have never been employed or paid into insurance, are always like. ridiculously convoluted. sometimes nonexistent. so who knows which laws specifically affect kaname here.

(ore-)himeru mentions him still being at a hospital (in romantic? date chapter 5) so that is a vital clue that this has not been outsourced to some other care facility. so i wonder... how expensive is this currently. must be intense. i am just willing to bet his legal guardian (will get to this in a second) has to make financial efforts, on top of the papers and forms and emotional burden that such an arrangement brings with itself. additionally, its somewhat obvious but ill specify it anyways: we are talking about a full-time in-patient situation. (ore-)himeru mentions the circumstances of kanames current health in chapter 1 of the epilogue of obbligato. (while not fully comatose, kaname is not lucid. he does some vocalizing sometimes but communication is not possible.)

so. HiMERU and all that makes you wonder... are the himerus connected via guardianship. we know from obbligato that kanames mothers is dead, he grew up alone (the tojo family not being in the picture, apparently), and while their father is alive, he was not in a position to care for either of them himself, health-wise. (and financially, i am willing to bet) so, responsibility would just jump to the next relative; that being the adult brother. young adult who barely made it back to the country! but working and adult and insured nonetheless, therefore qualifying.

i would assume (ore-)himeru did not need to step up/wasnt really in the picture either (at least health system databases might not have been aware of him) but he visits him in the hospital. even before that, he attempted to become at least somewhat involved in kanames life by his rough attempts to coach him. and most of all, you know how much kaname means to him. i am just going to assume he claimed him.

and like, thats a shit situation for someone in their early 20s (or however old he is). that would be horrible for anyone in a more stable situation at a more established age.

the emotional baggage of it all. not only have you just met your half brother and just gotten around to the idea of having family, you instantly get it taken from you again. the loss and grief and guilt must be unimaginable.

(ore-)himeru has.... unbelievable issues when it comes to... his attempts to prepare what he thinks would be an ideal life for kaname. whether in hope of one day handing it over or just as a sad tribute to what could have been or an attempt to keep “himeru”, the artistic vision, alive. however much of this is happening in what percentage and on what conscious level.

so to the urge to make “himeru” famous, this would add the absolute need to make himeru famous as a source of steady good income. of course (ore-)himeru is desperate to do well out of pride and love but financially and on paper he would be responsible for two people, adding to the pressure to be as successful as possible.

(additionally, while it does not justify (ore-)himeru’s actions, himeru also dodged a public scandal by staying an idol and performing as per usual. there were no news about an idol being beaten and staying unconscious and that by itself provides protection from the public for kaname. especially since his family is infamous to begin with. i wonder how much this would have mattered.)

matching themes? personally as a disabled person, as far as guadianship and custodianship goes, i have a lot of feelings. we all experienced it when we were younger and probably felt powerless in front of our parents sometimes. so experiencing this in your adulthood is GUTTING. yet, it can be absolutely necessary. and while guardians and custodians are often looked down upon, a lot of them are family members with their heart and mind in the right place, who make good decisions for someone they love. it cannot be underestimated how much paperwork and exhausting+annoying communication with your insurance provider goes into it.

so between this and (ore-)himerus behaviour in general i see a lot of matching themes.... mostly control and perseverance and, ofc, a certain flair of being very very condescending towards the person you are supposed to protect. after all, kaname cannot make any decisions right now, not about his health or “himeru”. and perhaps one day maybe his state will change and he will suddenly be more aware of his surroundings and forced to confront what happened without his influence. and he will find that his brother made responsible comprehensible decisions when it comes to his health but, without any need or agreement, took extreme liberties when it comes to his name. they are both important parts of him and (ore-)himeru having that double responsibilty and going wild with it is scary to me. and probably also scary to him. but he is too deep into it at this point.

idk. does any of this make sense. is this interesting. personally, the added layer of pressure and drama is interesting to me. to me its like... it supports all the themes we find in himeru anyway and makes his struggles worse, it just neatly fits into place.

personal related kaname thoughts will the story ever make him more lucid? who knows! i am terrified, personally, of the possibility.

enstars has its fair share of insensitive to offensive writing and i cannot imagine this going well. i cannot imagine them writing this in a way that is respectful and includes a realistic rehab process that restores a realistic amount of physical and neurological functions. especially since... not gonna lie guys. at this point. idk how much quality of life kaname can regain in his current state.

+the added trouble he would get in because (ore-)himeru, essentially, stole his identity is straight up infuriating. i dont think i have to mention this. where do you even start and TRY to live a normal life after this shit.

and thats sad. bc i love kaname dearly. he is an extremely silly, bratty, lovable character to me and i want the best for him so i have these horribly detailed harsh expectations. maybe it will never happen and ngl, that would be perfectly fine with me, too.

disclaimer etc etc i dont know shit about the japanese health system and if you somehow happen to know how intensive long-term care for an underage person that grew up in the foster system would be financed (like, who is responsible??!?!??!?!) please let me know >:) i love learning about health systems. a lot of the stuff i wrote above is just really basic common sense, i just wanted to talk about it.

[invinciblerodent]

1, 4 and 35 for the baldurs gate ask game if you want

Of course! :)

@ Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they're from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision? (1)

- Arvid Trygg, he/him, dwarven Cleric of Tempus, War domain. I headcanon that he was originally raised in a small village monastery (he was technically born- and immediately abandoned there, but isn't too broken up about it), but was later sent to the city to "fill in" after the death of their previous healer, with the hopes of eventually becoming a high priest himself. This was about maybe a year or two ago. Even though he's a skilled combatant (all followers of Tempus are, he IS the god of warfare), healing and taking care of people is something he likes to do and is good at, so it was a fairly perfect fit- though we know it kinda didn't end up working out lol.

He considers the warrior-monks who raised him to be his only family- which stands to reason, after all his biological father doesn't know he exists, and his mother was like 16-17 when she had him and went back to her life afterwards. There were always a few other children around (not many, but a few), most doing seminary school, and the priests and monks were strict but fair, so he actually had a fairly pleasant childhood. He didn't get quite enough affection to know how to handle it as an adult, but he's... definitely functional at least.

I also headcanon that even though there is a strict hierarchy in the church of Tempus and there are specific terms to call people [Arvid is technically a Direhar I think, a guardian priest], among themselves they occasionally use "shield-brother" and "shield-sister" as a term of affection. In my mind that's not quite a comrade and not exactly family, but someone to whom you'd entrust your life, and for whose life you'd give yours. A person with whom you'd share a shield. (I'm hoping to whip it out in opportune moments! It's kind of excellent to use with a love interest early on because it sounds innocent and friendly, and they have no clue it actually means "I would die for you".)

~~~~

@ Do you remember in which order you recruited your companions? Which companion introduction would have felt the most familiar / like home to your Tav / Character? (4)

- I think the order went Shadowheart->Astarion->Gale->Lae'zel, and Lae'zel I only managed to get after I was already done with that first dungeon (I just went the wrong way lol). Then of course Wyll->Karlach.

I think as a fellow cleric and the circumstances under which they met (he freed her from the pod), he felt an immediate closeness with Shadowheart - despite them worshipping different gods, there is a mutual respect and understanding there that exists from the first moment. She's actually kind of his best friend right now, and definitely someone in whom he confides. There is nothing romantic there, just a deep friendship. He appreciated her trust in sharing her worship, and as a person whose deity is decidedly neutral, he respects how genuine her belief is. (As far as he's concerned, honest belief and a willingness to fight for it are always honorable.)

As someone who's only ever really thought of as personal friends were other clerics, priests, and religious folks, her presence is definitely something of a comfort, especially considering all the new things he's experiencing and feeling in general.

~~~~

@ Has your Character done anything that they regret in Act 1? (35)

Oh, definitely the Auntie Ethel stuff. He feels just rotten about the whole thing. When he met her at the druid grove she was like the FIRST person to fuss over him and his wellbeing like that (plus he never HAD a grandmother, he was VULNERABLE), so of course he threw himself into combat to defend her when they encountered her on the road. Of course then the swamp was revealed to be what it is, they found the poisoned apples along the way, and encountered her again, so now he... really regrets the way he didn't much try to hear those boys out and didn't believe them. They didn't have to die, they were just scared and trying to help their sister.

Also Mayrina... I think he regrets giving her the wand. I think he just keeps thinking about how he never should have even told her that he found it, much less used it. He wishes he could comfort her, and regrets not having gone there sooner to maybe have a shot at actually resurrecting Connor. It's silly of course, but he's a very lawful good cleric boy, and that cursed half-life is no life any would want to live.

Oh, he also feels pretty bad about the whole "cultists of the Absolute" business- he has respect for them because, well, their beliefs are genuine and they do fight to the death for them (and who is he to tell a person which god is right and which is wrong), but he really can't NOT fight against them. So the "is it een right for me to fight at all" is a bit of a dilemma that occasionally keeps him up at night.

.... He also kinda regrets not taking Lae'zel's offer of just pounding it out early on, but, yeah, he's never had a relationship and was pretty damn terrified of her. He also rejected Astarion and Wyll by this point, so there's a lot of "did I do the right thing, am I feeling the right things, am I doing something wrong and giving people unintended ideas, does my wanting to be close to Gale even MEAN anything, do I like him or just respect him (and think he's kind and handsome and cool and charming and etc), what's wrong with me" type of thinking going on. He's figuring out a lot of things many do at 16 now at 35.

[bbhyeoliskooks]

❝𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.❞ — SIX.

A story in which Yeonjun is your troublemaker guardian angel.

Introduction. | One. | Two. | Three. | Four. | Five. | Six. | Seven.

𖥻 Pairing: GuardianAngel!Choi Yeonjun x Reader (Female)

𖥻 Genre: Angst, fluff, guardianangel!au, served with 4000+ words

𖥻 Warnings: idk myself but unedited 

𖥻 Playlist: Akin Ka Na Lang, Je Te Veux, Love Is You, Sweet, The One That Got Away

Every single day after Yeonjun came back was nothing short of heaven for you. At last the angel whom you thought would have left forever came back to you and every moment was better than ever. 

Those nights in agony where you prayed to God, desperately hoping he’d come back were honestly worth it. No amount of crying and wishing from the heart would make you regret your decision since it all meant that he was in your embrace once again. The new found relationship was as happy as ever, but this time you two were actually dating and you could actually call him your boyfriend!

Although it hadn’t been long since you started dating- almost 3 weeks and 5 days but who was counting!- every memory and second together felt like walking on clouds. It felt like your heart flew higher than Yeonjun could’ve ever done before he became a guardian angel. He may have lost his freedom, but at least he gained something so much better, you thought as he stole a glimpse at you once again. 

Every waking moment was divine and you enjoyed seeing him after the sun rose and left rather than being left with an empty bed. Your world felt perfect, so you cherished what you had with him while he was there on Earth. If it was for the rest of your life then... there was really no opposition to be found. 

Never in a million years would you think you’d be in a grocery store, secretly passing kisses with your guardian angel- out of everyone in the world- and trying not to get caught from any lingering eyes in the ice cream aisle. His lips were sweeter than honey and sugar combined, and you were sure that it could replace the love of ice cream in your life. However, Yeonjun’s kisses became bolder and bolder as time passed and soon you two were making out against the chilled window of one of the ice cream freezers.

You giggled enamored, wrapping your arms around Yeonjun’s neck as he pressed a kiss against your cheek this time.

“We need to stop, Yeonjun! People will see us and-”

He interrupted you by leaving another saccharine kiss on your lips, a fresh invitation to make out that had you swooning once again.

“Aw, but Y/N.. I was just starting to have fun. If you want, we can get out of here and go back home,” he whispered seductively- which you had no clue an angel could do, granted that they were pure beings after all.

You shook your head, slightly pushing him away and grabbing your cart.

“Not now angel,” from the corner of your eye, you saw that he had pouted, “we can do so later but I do want to make you something yummy for tonight.”

His eyes lit up and he almost jumped, hanging onto the edge of the cart with giddiness.

“Oh my gosh, really?!! I love you so much, angel! Let’s go hurry and get the rest of the stuff; I’m very excited to see what you’ll make me!”

The change in his demeanor caused you to laugh and you pushed the cart along, hearing him pleasantly hum your favorite song from behind you. You couldn’t help but join in too, drawing circles on the handle as he led the melody. All you could think was: this was so totally worth it.

You were sorting the groceries and putting the pasta in the pantry, mindlessly thinking to yourself. It was nearing the end of the day, as the stars would soon coat the blanketing night sky. Honestly, every day went by so quickly with your angel. Now that he was here, it was a dream come true. You couldn’t help but cherish every minute, compared to a couple weeks ago when your heart couldn’t find solace without him. Some may call it dependency, but when you experience pure love like Yeonjun’s, how can one ever move on?

It wasn’t until Yeonjun snuck up behind you, his warm arms pulling you close, that you realized that he would never disappear again. Somehow, you could feel his love overflowing immensely from his soul as he held you, smiling in the crook of your neck. His natural scent filled the air, lingering as your heart beat even faster.

You smiled, shifting your head to get even closer to him. 

“You smell good.. but you were in the shower for too long because I already miss you.”

He smirked, letting his arms relax yet still holding you comfortably.

“That’s not true because I missed you more. Come to bed now? It’s getting late.”

You laughed at his rationale and his line of reasoning. No matter what happened in the past, you were thankful you had him now. Him leaving would never happen again.

“Sure,” you giggled, grasping his hand as he led you to the room.

Your eyes remained wide open with the air cold enough to make them tear up. It had been a restless night thanks to the coffee you drank earlier and even though you were completely comfortable in Yeonjun’s warm arms, nothing could help you fall asleep.

Yeonjun, looking up from his book, noticed that you were still awake before looking at the time- almost 1am. His eyebrows crinkled and he looked down at you confused. You didn’t notice his lingering stare and remained focused on your inability to sleep, wondering if you had insomnia or not- an overreaction to just drinking coffee. It’s almost as if Yeonjun read your thoughts, and he put down his book on the table beside the bed.

“Can’t sleep, angel?”

You looked up at him, frowning and nodding your head.

“Yeah, unfortunately. I think it might be because of the coffee that you told me not to drink earlier before we went grocery shopping.”

He let out a chuckle, turning all his attention on you. His blue hair was still a little wet, matted to his forehead in a way that made your heart swoon.

“I told you not to,” he tapped your nose to which you smiled at, “but it’s okay. Since I’m here, I can sing you to sleep.”

You rolled your eyes, jokingly scoffing to yourself.

“You definitely can’t. I know you’re an angel and all and angels are supposed to be close to perfect, but that’s just not possible for you to have another talent.”

And once again, Yeonjun just had to impress you as his lips parted and sang a soft lullaby. There were no words to it since he sang on a closed vowel but the timbre of his voice sent shivers down your spine. It wasn’t supposed to be surprising since he was an angel after all, but his voice was genuinely the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard. No one could compare to his remarkable talent and just for a second, you thought you ascended to heaven. You swore you could listen to his voice every night before going to sleep; you would just have to pretend you couldn’t fall asleep from now on. You felt extremely to have Yeonjun as your boyfriend.

Yeonjun smiled at your visible awe, pausing his song. It’s almost as if he read your mind, so you poked fun at him and closed your eyes.

“Come on, angel, go to sleep now.” He pressed a kiss against your forehead, watching your eyes slowly close and your smile fading as you drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Yeonjun couldn’t have asked for anything more. For you to be wrapped in his arms, sleeping peacefully with shallow breaths. He wanted to cherish this moment forever and if it wasn’t selfish, he wanted to hold you close and look at you like this for eternity. Peaceful, content, and the prettiest thing he’s ever seen. You were the prettiest thing he’s ever seen; nothing could ever compare to this, not even being in heaven. It’s crazy how deep he fell in love with you and being away from you for even just a little bit felt like eternity to him. He would never leave you again, unless you asked him.

As he was admiring you, a thud came from beside the open window. Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows, staring at the window a little bit. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The stars were twinkling as per usual. The night seemed to drag on. The curtains were flowing as they usually had, but he could sense a peering presence that he felt called to respond to. He didn’t want to seem crazy but it felt like there was someone, or interestingly enough- something out there. He looked at you, smiling that you had finally gone to sleep, before getting up and tucking you in bed.

As soon as he took his first step out, he saw a radiating light, extremely familiar to an angel’s. He ran to the window, heart dropping in shock, knowing that this was not good news. White feathers, shining light, and a comforting presence? How ironic. This only meant one thing, and it wasn’t good. Now he was face to face with Taehyun, one of the superior angels in heaven. He was visibly shocked, anger weaving itself into his perfect features. Although, he seemed more so confused. 

Yeonjun sent him a sheepish smile to which Taehyun only seemed to get more irritated at and growled in a low voice:

“We need to talk.”

Yeonjun sighed, holding himself against the chill of the dark night. He was preparing for the worst, hoping that Taehyun’s visit wouldn’t change anything. But he wasn’t foolish- he knew what this visit meant just by Taehyun’s expression and frustrated stance.

Yeonjun then spoke up, impatiently wanting to get back to you who was still sleeping soundly and hadn’t noticed his absence.

“Why are you here?”

Taehyun, grimaced, crossing his arms as he leaned against the tree. His light radiated from his body, although he was in his physical form. Anyone who saw would immediately be blinded, though it didn’t seem like Taehyun cared about that right now. Yeonjun gulped, his eyes not daring to look at him straight in the face.

“You have a lot of audacity to ask that. You know that right?”

Yeonjun parted his lips to say something, but Taehyun immediately cut him off with an irritated tone.

“I wanted to see why you complained and wanted to change your assignment three weeks ago? I thought you had problems with your human, but it looks like the case is far from that.”

Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows, immediately getting defensive. He knew Taehyun wouldn’t hurt Y/N just by his nature, but there was no telling of what he was thinking or what he would do. Nonetheless, he let the superior angel continue, venom lacing his soft spoken voice.

“Guardian angels are not to fall in love with humans! I know that this is your first human, but it is strictly forbidden. I would ask how long it has been going on, but that doesn’t matter. Yeonjun, there will be consequences to pay for your actions. You’re supposed to know better.”

Yeonjun only got angrier with Taehyun’s words, clenching his fists at his sides. If he already broke that one rule, then he could at least make a stand against his superior- another broken rule that would lead to more disaster in the future.

“Forgive me, but I already know that. I tried not to, but I fell in the hardest way possible. It was as simple as flying to me, and I will not let you take her away from me!”

Taehyun’s expression relaxed, deadpanned. There was no more emotion in his voice as he spoke, which was crueler because it showed he didn’t care. Yeonjun’s soul crumbled at the next words that Taehyun said.

“I will separate something that is not allowed and “natural”. I follow God’s orders, not yours, and it is extremely rude to speak back to a superior. Yeonjun, you’ve failed the job of being her guardian angel by having a...” he paused for a little, scrunching his nose for a second, “... unique relationship. I will have you know that none of the angels in God’s order stands for this.”

Yeonjun gulped, a hard bulge already forming at the back of his throat. He seemed to not get the hint, more so wanting to deny the words on the tip of Taehyun’s tongue.

“You are strictly forbidden to see her again. You will only get that privilege after 10 years which seems enough time for her to forget you, but little for you. During that time, you must prove that you have fallen out of whatever “love’ you have for her” he snided, rolling his eyes. He blinked with nothing but cruelty behind his eyes. “You have only until the sun rises and as soon as light shines, you must report back to heaven.”

“Wait, Taehyun-!”

The superior angel disappeared in a second, with Yeonjun foolishly trying to reach out to him. His eyes widened, reality falling on him at full speed. His world crumbled at his shoulders and he didn’t have enough strength to push it back up and find a solution. Taehyun’s word, coming from God, was absolute and there would be nothing he could do to fix the situation. Love wasn’t enough this time and though he couldn’t accept it, he had to.

The night stared back at him as he wished that the sun would never appear. The wind picked up around him as his blue hair swept violently around his face. His heart pulled at his soul, not being able to decide if he should tell you the truth or not. He knew it would change your relationship dynamic and he didn’t want to wreck what little time you had left, even if it was a couple hours. It was a cruel game and Taehyun was generous to offer a little bit of time. He crawled back into the window, softly shutting it behind him when he noticed that you were awake, dazed and confused.

You wiped the slumber out of your eyes, squinting and noticing that the atmosphere seemed despondent. Yeonjun scratched his neck meekly, knowing that you knew he left the house.

“Angel?” You noticed a grim look on Yeonjun’s face. Immediately your heart dropped but you tried to swallow the emotions away. He promised he wasn’t going to leave, right? You had no reason to doubt him, especially when he came back. There would be consequences if he went back to heaven, so there’s no way that he would return. 

Yeonjun gave you a wary grin, one that didn’t go unnoticed by you. You just tilted your head to the side, waiting for an explanation. In a second his smile faltered which meant that he was definitely hiding something. 

“Where did you go?”

Yeonjun just shook his head in response, letting out a deep sigh.

“Oh, I just wanted to fly for a bit. You know, get some fresh air?”

You raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. Yeonjun simply got into bed, ignoring your confusion before pulling out the linen sheets over his legs. Then he wrapped an arm around you, pulling you in closer for what he’d call “snuggles,” his favorite thing to do with you. As always, he was warm and his presence was comforting enough to drown out the wary atmosphere. 

There were a couple of minutes of silence between you two as you buried yourself deeper into Yeonjun’s chest. Again, Yeonjun wasn’t very smiley which was out of the blue because he was always really excited and happy to be near you.

Rolling your eyes, you quickly pulled yourself out of his hug, demanding answers.

“Yeonjun, I know there’s something wrong. Won’t you tell me?”

Sighing, Yeonjun looked at you with a sad look in his eyes.

Your heart started beating fast. No...

His silence only brought you back to the time where you two had argued and he left without any warning.

“You’re... you’re not going to leave me, are you?” Immediately, you felt tears pooling at the edge of your eyes. You couldn’t handle his departure. Not again.

Yeonjun sensed your worry, reaching out to your hands and holding them gently. His thumb grazed the back of your hand with utmost love, and he was physically unable to look you in the eye. If he had a heart, it would definitely be breaking. Since Taehyun was his superior and coming directly from God Himself, that meant that him leaving would be permanent- in your lifetime at least, which meant that he would never get to kiss or hold you again.

“If I were to leave,” Yeonjun felt a warm, wet sensation uncontrollably trail down his cheek, “you would move on, right?”

“Yeonjun, what are you talking about?”

“I’m your guardian angel. We know that our whole relationship will be strange because I’ll never physically become old and you’ll keep aging. You deserve so much better than me- a normal human life with children and a normal husband in the future.”

You shook your head uncontrollably, stuttering as your throat went dry.

“What? If this is about you feeling insecure about our relationship, then I’m sure we can fix it!” You wiped his tears, feeling the warmth of his cheek against your cold, shaking hands. “We’re meant to be together. It’s different for you and me.”

He gave you a weak smile in return, his nose puffy and eyes red. “Yeah, we are.”

You couldn’t do anything else but just pull in your angel for a hug. He sniffed, his chest heaving as you held him tightly. Even if that bit reassured him, you still felt like something was off. Regardless, there was nothing you could do about it, making you feel utterly weak. The fact that there was something so incredibly wrong was enough to make you shed tears of your own to which Yeonjun noticed. 

His hand gently grabbed your chin as he tilted it up in order for you to look at him. His gaze was sincere and he pressed a soft kiss against your quivering lips.

“Hey, please don’t cry, angel. You know I hate seeing you cry.”

You only frowned even more, his words not enough to comfort you. You couldn’t control yourself from sobbing, barely holding yourself together to say that you were scared of him leaving again.

Yeonjun remained silent for a couple of seconds before regaining composure.

“Don’t cry,” he chuckled as his fingers ran through your hair. “It’d be hard to get rid of me. Not unless you decide you’re tired of me and you want a new guardian angel.”

“Never. I just want you, for the rest of my human life,” you laughed, not believing that you would ever get tired of him. He scrunched his face before giving you a wide grin. His body winced at telling you a lie, crushing his whole heart because he knew that loving you wasn’t enough to make him stay. 

You giggled with him, which made the room lighten a little bit. Just hearing Yeonjun laugh and smile at you a little bit made you feel a whole lot better. Though, it still didn’t make you feel safe completely. Yeonjun cooed, shushing you as you used his chest as a pillow. You snuggled in deeper, his presence enough to assure you that he wasn’t going anywhere.

He ran his fingers through your hair again before pressing a sweet kiss against your forehead.

“I love you, Y/N. You are the most beautiful thing that I have seen in my millennia of being around and nothing compares to you.”

You smiled at his words, slowly closing your eyes. There weren’t enough hours in the day and you eventually had to succumb to sleep which was easing your worries by distracting you.

“I love you too, Yeonjun. Please don’t ever go,” you sighed as you felt sleep pulling you slowly each second. Falling asleep in Yeonjun’s arms was too relaxing, coaxing you to a soundless slumber.

“I-I won’t,” Yeonjun gulped as he noticed you fighting to stay awake. He couldn’t help but feel the corners of his lips raise, despite how sadness was swallowing his every being. Being aware of his lie only crushed his heart more and he swore he could hear it cracking in his chest. There was no time left to keep holding you in his arms, as Taehyun would be there in a couple hours. But Yeonjun just held you tighter, feeling your arms become weaker by the second. His betrayal the next morning would destroy you- he knew- but he wanted his last hours with you to be as normal as they possibly could.

So he just held you in the silence of the night, getting angry at the world and himself for complaining in the first place. All because he doubted that a relationship with you could work, and it did; he just didn’t know it at the time. How foolish of him, which was funny enough because he was an angel and angels were supposed to be wise.

The hours were going by as Yeonjun’s tears fell on your head. Anytime now, Taehyun would be there, ready to collect him and make a complaint to God. And just on time, from the corner of Yeonjun’s eyes, he saw a shining, white light near the mirror. 

It was time.

Yeonjun looked at your relaxed body, wanting to remember this moment forever. The curve of your nose, the warmth of your cheeks, your lips slightly agape as you breathed deeply... The world fell at his shoulders as he realized that he would never hear your beautiful voice for a while. That didn’t hurt as much as knowing that he could never kiss you again. Never hold you again. Never be with you again as you and him intended it. He shut his eyes, unable to take the mental pain.

“I’m sorry, angel. I’m so sorry,” he sobbed as his wings emerged from his back. He could barely hold himself together as he flew to the window, glancing at you for the last time. Selfishly enough, he hoped that you wouldn’t forget him in your meager years of human life.

He whispered a quiet ‘I love you’ in your direction, before closing his eyes and shooting into the cruel night with his superior.

You awoke to a quiet morning, the sun filling through the room. Strangely enough, you woke up cold which hadn’t been often unless that meant that...

“Yeonjun?!”

You shot up, eyes glancing around the room to no avail. By now, Yeonjun would have flown in to check on you, but there was no reponse. Not here, in your bedroom. Not anywhere, actually.

You threw the covers off you, not caring that it would make a mess you’d eventually have to pick up. Soon the door swung open, clattering against the wall as you looked in every room. The floor creaked below your feet as your footsteps became stomps. Where could he be?

He wasn’t anywhere. 

“Yeonjun, please!” You cried, hoping that this was a practical joke he was playing. You walked in circles, running downstairs. 

“This isn’t funny!” You felt tears instantly gather in your eyes as you looked throughout the quiet house. The kitchen, the bathroom, the pantry. He wasn’t there. He was nowhere to be found. 

Your heart fell at his lack of response and it physically made you weak as you fell to the floor. You knew what happened, you knew that something was off and you knew that he knew he was leaving. Again.  

How could he?

You brought your shaking hand to quiet the helpless cries coming from your mouth. 

He said he wasn’t going to leave you just a couple hours ago.

He lied. 

Released: June 8, 2024 (11:30pm)

Thoughts: Hey, y’all. I definitely am not releasing this 2 years after the last part came out! Goodness, I have been swamped with work ever since school started, but I’m ready to finally close off this series. I’m sure a bunch of you forgot about this, but finishing this has been in the back of my mind. I’m not sure if I want to keep writing other stories but since I’m bored and feeling guilty, I wanted to see if I could finish this during the summer. I also wanted to get my mind off things (my ex and how single I am) so I wanted to release another part. I was also inspired since I saw TXT 2 days ago. They were amazing (as always), but yeahhhhh hope you guys enjoy this part. 

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[chaemphler]

Starborn pt1 - a first pass at writing a destiny love story

He wondered where they were going.

He had no clue. He simply sat in the back-seat, baby in his lap as she manoeuvred their way through the atmosphere. Through mountain ranges and over low underpasses; tresses of snow-capped valleys and swathes of static nimbi. Not that he had a perfect view; the ship was a two-seater, sure, but it was a linear two seater. Not a side-by-side pilot system, as that would be pointless for a guardian. Ghosts don't take up any space, and an wide ship doesn't have any advantages.

As clouds touched and shared their arc energy he felt the hair rise on the nape of his neck. He wasn't afraid; working in the tower had long since taught him that guardian ships where as sturdy as they were agile; capable of moves that would kill civilians and just as tough to boot. Guardian-rated fighters are made to handle the worst of the worst; the xeno and the dark, but in here she made it seem so safe.

Smoother than honey, fluid as silk. Her piloting had an almost laminar flow to it; conducting the orchestra of the ship's many systems through a calm and gentle stream of rising crests and banks as she brought us closer to our destination.

He still didn't know where they were going.

He supposed he would find out soon enough.

Lightning coursed through her eyes and sparks lanced between her hair and her chestplate, eyes turning to check on the bubba cooing in her husband's arms. The light in the arc energy must hav been resonating with her light, making it manifest outwardly he realised. She was completely unbothered, but it reminded him of just how powerful his wife was. Of course, the actual light caught the mother's instincts in plain sight on her face.

He supposed when you were a guardian, it was hard to come back and parent a baby. To swap from battle-born habits of twitchy, aggressive reactions to then try to be the exact opposite towards the one person they can't afford to treat wrong. Her saw her struggle, and he was going to let her figure it out.

She was going to have to if this was going to work.

Still, Mark appreciated the concern born from love in his wife's eyes as she took a moment to just make eyes to their baby. Guardian or not, this woman was so in love with this baby. Couldn't stop fawning over her.

Couldn't stop giving her all to this new one in her life.

He loved her for that.

He loved her as she brought the ship around the last of the path, if the map was to be believed. Over sets of mountain ranges and out to the desert. Due to the scouring of Earth during the fall, what were evince deserts far too hot or cold to ever be a pleasant stay, but not so much nowadays.

The drastic change in climate meant that the deserts where much warmer at night, as the traveller's work and subsequent destruction of Earth had messed with the equilibrium of the place.

"Landing now." Her ghost piped up, the little light bouncing into view as it prepared for transmat lock.

"When we transmat, close your eyes." She lowered the landing gear and flicked a few switches, preparing the final stages of a set down for her ghost to take over.

"Honey I don't like this, where are we?"

He knew he sounded tired, he knew he sounded distrusting, and to be fair, he was all these things. It had been a long few months.

She didn't respond immediately, but the tightening of her hand on the controls clued him in to her formulation for words.

"I wanted to spend some time away from the tower. I wanted to show you something" The ship came to a stop as the Hive-bane spoke without turning around.

"Please."

As the transmat began and all he saw was blue, he once again made his choice.

pt 2 soon ik it makes no sense i am working on it

[telestoapologist]

ok strap in i'm gonna go ham a little about these topics. under the cut bc this. uh. got longer than i wanted it to sldfghf

woooo okay yeah, this season has felt. a little bit weird regarding amanda at certain points (the being anti-darkness to the point of not trusting anyone who uses it thing being very specific, but I also don't know of any lore or past seasonal/DLC dialogue that covers how she's previously felt us tampering in it. have we just, never mentioned it to her that we've been using it for a few years now? do we still continue to not open up to her regarding the usage of strand? has Zavala never confided or spoken to her that we've been using it despite their closeness? or just, you know, in general?) like ok, i DO get apprehension because we've encountered enemies in the past who WIELDED the darkness, so it's like, she might not KNOW about it as much as we do, because she's never gotten that chance to cross the threshold like guardians have. she's only seen and experienced what it does in the wrong hands.

so uh, regarding her and crow. I'm actually not overly angry with her about how she's been treating him (especially since she's mentioned she HAS tried disassociating him with his former self, but it's hard). I think it's a rational way of acting considering how stubborn she is, as well as like, how CLOSE she was to cayde, and how forgiving the guy who killed someone who was like family to you is NOT going to be easy, even if he's someone else now. I think if she hadn't flat-out died, over time, she would've come to forgive crow, but not easily or quickly. her establishing that boundary between them and crow going out of his way to respect it after the transparency was incredibly important and good bc he was. uh. kind of forcing himself on her. not out of malice or anything, but because crow is. a needy and emotional guy for understandable reasons, plus that's just, you know, how he is. i get it, people have had to have that conversation with me in the past before and i don't consider them as jerks or horrible people for it, bc they're not, y'know?

crow taking several steps back and hopping into the seat of vengeance again is, honestly, understandable given how he is just full of love and is a passionate guy. sometimes we will repeat mistakes and relapse when facing a crisis or awful situation (i.e Zavala relapsing even though he had a good dose of therapy and reality in Haunted. it's sad, but these things happen a LOT). it's not US that's looking for vengeance, yeah, it's him, and he wants us to help because we're practically his closest friend, but we never openly said "yeah man sure, let's fucking go" like we openly did in forsaken. we KNOW at this point that vengeance is. NOT a good idea in this context, it's why we didn't really avenge rohan in the exact same sense as we did with cayde (that, and, well, we were barely close to rohan). this is where i'm gonna bring in my own personal beef with our guardian hardly ever fucking talking though, because like. it would HELP if we would also be transparent and communicate with other characters instead of only letting our ghost speak or just saying a few things every once and awhile.

personally? I don't know how I feel about amanda panda being res'd. is it possible given her sacrifice? well, yes, and I think it'd be a damn good heart punch considering she's always wanted her family to come back, but instead, it's her? but narratively speaking, idk! if she is, she is, and while she won't be alone, it might be a HUGE hump to get over, and I have no clue how they'd handle it. although if they only make it about her and crow again, i'm gonna be pissed.

Ok I think I've had enough time to like process everything properly.

Amanda dying sucks. For a variety of reasons. It genuinely sad that she won't be around anymore. We lost her, we lost a friend. There's a hole now.

But narratively her death sucks bc of how she was written this season. This entire season I've been annoyed by Amanda. Annoyed by how she was treating crow, annoyed by the fact she's apparently been living under a rock when it comes to the darkness, annoyed by how she's just been acting recently. Season of Defiance lore and story genuinely feels like we've taken a step backwards from where we were. On top of all that, we knew it was coming, we knew she was gonna die, so we had some time to prepare. Even then, her death doesn't really feel impactful? It really feels like it's just something that happened rather then a real hit.

I also just can't get myself to feel angry about it?? Like Crow is rearing up for vengeance Forsaken 2 electric boogaloo style. But it's war??? People die??? What's there to get revenge on??? We didn't "get revenge" for Rohan, we understood it was 1) war and 2) his choice. It's the same situation here. Her death is sad, it sucks. But she chose to sacrifice herself, its war.

[thefirstknife]

I'm in a desperate NEED for help cause I've recently developed an inconmensurable attachment for my boy Shin Malphur but I do not have A Single Clue regarding wHeRe to start reading about him! So if you'd recommend me some lore tabs I'd be more than grateful. It's completely understandable if for any reason you don't want to / can't, though. Drink your water and live your life!

Shin Malphur 👀 I like him :) There's also A LOT of lore about him, especially for someone who never appeared in the game.

First the most important is the lore about Dredgen Yor and Jaren Ward because that's what makes Shin. Dredgen Yor was the infamous Guardian turned Guardian-killer wielding the Light-consuming weapon of sorrow, Thorn. He was being hunted by Jaren Ward, a Hunter, who wanted to put an end to Yor's killing spree. In his hunt, Jaren found a young boy, Shin, and took him under his wing.

How Rezyl Azzir turned into Dredgen Yor: 1, 2, 3 Rise of Dredgen Yor: 1, 2, 3

When Jaren lost his duel to Dredgen Yor, Jaren's Ghost gave the Light to Shin, as well as giving him Jaren's signature weapon, The Last Word and then Shin continued the hunt for Yor.

About Shin's childhood, Jaren and Yor's defeat: 1, 2, 3, 4 Jaren's message to Shin attached to The Last Word

Shin ended up defeating Yor, but his hunt for rogue Guardians wasn't over. He founded the Shadows of Yor under a disguise to lure corrupt, rogue and overall bad Guardians to follow him so he can monitor them and kill them if he has to.

He also teamed up with the Drifter (who was a member of the Shadows of Yor for a while until he decided it wasn't for him) to create Gambit. Why? Well, at first, Shin was monitoring for rogue Guardians in the Crucible. Who is acting especially sadistic or cruel, who isn't complying by the rules, stuff like that. But the Crucible is where Guardians go to kill each other! A lot of people are going to act cruel. It wasn't the best way to make sure.

Therefore Gambit. A game where Guardians are given powers of Darkness to play with and are more susceptible to reveal themselves as corrupt (especially through the concept of invasions: Guardians who invade more often and for no reason are more likely to be tempted and corrupted).

Lore book about Shin's observations of Drifter (and coming up with the plan) Lore book about a lot of the stuff in regards to Shadows of Yor and other details, but most importantly Shin revealing that he was the one who founded it Lore book for us after we earn The Last Word (that details the whole plan about shutting down Shadows of Yor and weeding out those that were genuinely members because they were corrupted) Lore book for us again after Shin decides to retire

Shin is unique in many ways as a Guardian, given that he received someone else's Ghost as his Ghost and didn't have to die to get it. However, we do get a tiny hint as to why this was possible in Ghost Stories lore book: Confession of Hope Part One and Confession of Hope Part Two details a story about a Ghost that couldn't bear to see a family lose their baby (which died in a Fallen raid) and gave that baby its Light. That Ghost went on to die, and the baby's family died as well and the baby was adopted in the village called Palamon and was named Shin.

That's why Shin calls Jaren his "third father": the first was his biological father, the second was the one that adopted him in Palamon and Jaren was the third. Shin died as a baby and was resurrected by a Ghost which then later died. So Shin had the Light but not his original Ghost (which presumably allowed him to age normally). So later he gets adopted by Jaren's Ghost and didn't have to die for it because he already did die once before and already had the Light in him.

Also if you have an hour and a half to spare, most of this is told in a sort of cinematic way by Byf on youtube.

I hope this helps and that it isn't too confusing! It's a bit rough putting it all in vaguely chronological sense given that Destiny timeline is the way it is. But these are the most important lore mentions and lore books about him.

[hopeswriting]

What is future Hibari and Tsuna relationship? I noticed you talked extensively when it came to Mukuro and the potential tsuna could had have with him so like it made me curious what their bond both present and future is like?

Does he like him? Hate him or neutral lol? I genuinely was surprised it was Hibari he trusted with the go to plan in the future arc. I was like why? maybe the other guardians just could'nt push through or handled it and Hibari could.

hi nonny, thank you for the ask!

ha, good questions, all of them. i especially like how you asked if he even likes him, because yeah, that’s valid lol. but interestingly enough you could ask the same about tsuna too imo, but anyway, here’s my personal take on this.

as far as their present selves go (and i mean here daily life arc-future arc because there’s the only arcs i clearly have in mind right now), i think they’re pretty much neutral about each other, though they still have a dynamic of their own that isn’t any less personal than the ones tsuna has with the other guardians. i actually think i’d even say their dynamic is one of the most personal among the 10th gen, because when hibari meets tsuna? when tsuna’s able to land a punch on him and then holds his ground against him under dying will mode? he rocks hibari’s entire world (which is funny because it’s also what he does with mukuro’s haha).

so the thing is, hibari probably hadn’t a single clue who tsuna was before that accident, because weak people don’t make it on his radar and aren’t worth his attention in any way, shape or form, unless they’re breaking his rules. and it’s interesting to note too he says to tsuna he hit gokudera and yamamoto so they wouldn’t wake up anytime soon, but meanwhile tsuna pretty much wakes up right away, which tells us that at first glance hibari yet again dismissed tsuna as so weak, he didn’t even need to make him properly pass out to remove the “threat” he clearly didn’t see him as.

and yet tsuna is the one to hold his ground against him, and it’s hibari’s view of the world with the strong on one side and the weak on the other, with a perfect, uncrossable line between the two that shatters right then and there, because tsuna is both. which frustrates him to no end and doesn’t make any sense to him like he says himself in another chapter of the daily life arc, because presumably that view of the world never failed him before. and it’s also one he himself proves to himself every day it’s not wrong at the very least, being among the strongest and undoubtedly ruling over the weak because of it whether they like it or not.

but though that all happens during their first meeting, it only really takes root in hibari’s mind during the kokuyo arc when the manga leaves its gag genre behind. during the kokuyo arc where hibari loses and tsuna saves the day, and not only that but he saves it because he was supported by his friends all along, because they were there for him and helped him with it (hibari included, though of course that was never his intention lol), and we all know what hibari thinks about it. we all know it’s not something he called strength by that point, and yet.

and of course hibari gets to have his revenge on mukuro in a way and win against him using his strength and his alone, but mukuro keeps standing while he passes out, and mukuro had still cards to play which would have won against hibari if he could have used them against him too. and to begin with, hibari only could have a chance at round two because tsuna & co showed up and lent him a hand, so strength as he used to define it up until that point, as he embodied it was clearly not what saved the day against mukuro and helped keep his important things safe.

so for hibari tsuna is this anomaly he’s trying to figure out, to make sense of so to fit him in his view of the world he’s picking up the pieces of and putting back together in a new shape. because it can’t not take on a new shape when tsuna’s just out there existing the way he is. (it stays and will stay the same though, because that’s the whole point of hibari kyoya, but also different, because again, it can’t not be different. so it stays the same but just slightly to the left, just more flexible and including, is the way i’d put it.)

and i said they feel neutral about each other, but like i said hibari is actually frustrated by him, but he’s so much more curious about him too, and i’d even say imo fascinated by him. invested in him. because any type of strength obviously attracts him like a moth to a flame, even if he can’t help but be irritated by said strength because it forces him to question every thing he thought he knew, and everything he thought was set in stone and was the truth without a shadow of a doubt. so not only he’s trying to figure out tsuna and what to make of him when it comes to the way he sees the world, but he also comes to acknowledge him as neither weak nor strong, to acknowledge his strength isn’t any less valid than his own, but also comes to support that strength and respect it and want to see it grow to its full potential.

like during the varia arc he explicitly says he’ll stand back for a bit if it can help tsuna find his fangs or something, and of course it’s about tsuna, but he’s not doing it for him. it’s just that the clearer tsuna shows his strength to the world, the easier hibari can have a clear grasp of it to know what to do with it, and it’s an obvious admission and proof of everything i said above.

meanwhile for tsuna hibari is, well, fear lol, but that’s the same for most of namimori students too so it doesn’t mean much, and anyway it’s pretty much only used as a running gag. and hibari is also strength for all namimori students too, but it means something different when it comes to tsuna, means something more. because for him hibari is unyielding, invincible strength, and it’s probably something tsuna wished more than once he could be too during his years of bullying, and something he thought he could never become early in the manga, and yet to have hibari on his side? or as close as he could ever get? to have him help him in his times of need, whatever hibari’s saying he’s actually doing instead? to be acknowledged by him? it must also have, in fact, rocked his entire world too.

and okay, idk if i’m going to be able to words my thoughts in an understandable manner here, but it’s like. tsuna’s other guardians rely on him, and of course they help him push through and are here for him too whenever he needs it, but at the end of the day he’s the boss, or is forced to be anyway, so they let him call the shots and follow his lead.

hibari though? he also of course ends up doing what everyone else is doing when shit hits the fan because of plot lol, but it never has anything to do with tsuna. he just does it for his own reasons while pursuing his own goals, which just so happens to mean they’re all working towards the same objective, but unlike the other guardians hibari is entirely autonomous from tsuna, which makes him in an equal amount a source of comfort and relief and strength for tsuna all at the same time.

it’s the way tsuna always breathes easier and relaxes and grows more confident when someone brings up hibari, the way he always go “oh thank god hibari’s here/well if it’s hibari i guess i don’t have to worry as much”. it’s the way he can rely on him for a change, can let him bear a bit of the burden guilt-free and without worrying he won’t push through, because of course hibari will push through. unscathed too. because he’s the strongest person tsuna knows, and it probably don’t even ever occur to him to consider that his strength might fail him one of these days. (he does worry about him all the same though, because that’s just what he does and he cares about him too, but like, it’s not the same type of worry as with his other guardians, you know? it’s never “i’m not sure if he’ll be able to push through this”, but “i don’t like that he has to push through this”.)

so for tsuna hibari is that one constancy he knows and trusts will never fail him that keeps the ground under his feet steady when his legs shake, and that makes his shoulders lighter when the weight on them threatens to make him crumble under it. he’s the one constancy that lets him know he can make mistakes when it comes to him and not have that mean much if anything at all, and for no good tsuna who was bullied for years because of it, it of course means the world for him. hibari’s that one constancy that lets him move forwards because hibari’s there and also moving forwards, because he’s telling him he can still keep moving forwards too, and if hibari’s there then surely one way or another they’ll make it through this. and actually now you gave me the opportunity to word my thoughts on this, i think they have the most equal dynamic among the guardians too, and are the closest to each other’s in that way because they see the other for exactly who the other is, which i find super interesting.

it’s also super interesting that all of this happens one-sidedly for both of them too. like, you’ll notice they actually rarely interact with each other during those fourth arcs because their dynamics run parallel to each other’s, and never really cross paths, let alone entangle with each other’s like with gokudera or yamamoto for example. like, i firmly believe they have no idea they mean all of this to the other, which is also super funny to think about lol. they just happen to exist, and happened to cross path with each other’s, and it just so happened the way they exist meant they both had to adjust the way they were seeing the world up until then.

but of course their dynamics still interact with each other’s too, shape each other’s and make them both grow better for it. because for hibari it expands his world’s view, and makes him notice people who are worth of his notice he’d have 100% dismissed without a second thought before. it also broadens his definition of strength, making it a more accurate one while reaffirming the definition he had of it originally, and it makes him more secure in it, letting him grow ever stronger.

and for tsuna knowing there’s someone he can fall back on when things get too much, someone who’ll finish the work for him if he can’t make everything right again by himself, someone he can rely on and maybe who’ll even let him follow his lead if he needs it, lets him grow in his very new strength of his at his own pace, or as much as he’s allowed to do it at his own pace.

(and post-future arc their dynamics don’t run strictly parallel from each other’s anymore, i’m thinking namely when hibari explicitly uses his fight against adel to help tsuna find what his pride is, but like i said i can’t talk much about the manga post-future arc because i remember little of it lol.)

as for their future selves, we can of course only speculate on their relationship because we were given little on it, but i do like to think they come to like each other at some point during those ten years, yeah. and personally i’ve actually always loved that hibari is the one tsuna told about the plan, because for me it’s such a loud statement of how far they’ve come and the trust they’ve built between them.

but actually my friend @ chierry answered this exact question about why tsuna chose to make hibari part of the plan among his guardians, and i agree with everything they said, so yeah, that’s why. basically hibari was just perfectly checking all the boxes for the role, both when it comes to the pragmatism side of things, but also the emotional side of things. and i want to talk about the emotional side for a bit, because when i say hibari is the epitome of strength for tsuna, i don’t only mean physical strength by no means. hibari is strength for him full stop, the strongest, and i love that even ten years later it’s still the one truth tsuna knows about him beyond a shadow of a doubt. that he went “who do i trust the most to bear the burden of this plan while taking the least damages?”, and still, hibari probably popped up first in his mind.

i also want to talk about point seven of her post, because yeah, hibari is part of the guardians just as much as the others, but just not in the same way!! and like i said it’s super valid to ask yourself if he even likes any of those people lol, but it’s like. because of his respective dynamic with tsuna and his role as a guardian, he has to be outside the guardians’ circle. and he still belongs to it just as much as any other guardians, but just from outside. and at first glance it can just appear like he doesn’t care about them and doesn’t want to be near them if he can help it at all lol, but i really think he couldn’t have brought to the table what he does if he was made to be just as close to tsuna as the others. wait, no, i worded that wrong. he couldn’t have brought to the table what he does if he was made to be just as close to tsuna in the same way as the others, so i for one am glad amano wrote it like that.

so not only i firmly believe they come to like each other at some point, but i also don’t think at all there’s ever been hate between them at any point at all. though granted tyl!hibari was brutal and ruthless with present!tsuna, but that was obviously because of the circumstances, and he actually eases up on his hostility after first taking it out on him during the vongola trial (and presumably during their training sessions after that too. and also i’m not saying it was right for him to take it out on present!tsuna at all though, don’t get me wrong lol.). and even then he was still helping him through it all, so.

and because you asked specifically about their future relationship and i mostly talked about their present one lol (sorry), to answer you, for me hibari is--idk if there’s like, an official word for that? but hibari is like, the one tsuna turns to when shit just needs to be done, and there’s just no pretty way to do it. he’s the one he turns to when shit really hits the fan, and he needs someone to look him straight in the eyes and tell him if he’s getting shit done the way he’s supposed to, or to start getting it done if he isn’t already doing it because it has to be done, all the while never sugarcoating any of it and never once underestimating or overestimating what he can do about it, because he sees him just the way he is. because they see each other as equal. and of course he’s also the one tsuna turns to when shit hits the fan, and he needs someone to shoulder the storm with him while standing right next to him, and not even if only half a step behind.

update because i forgot lol: and when it comes to hibari he sees tsuna pretty much the same as when they were kids too! tsuna is that one person who reminds him that strength is more than what meets the eye, that it isn’t only about your ability to fight and win fight, and that it can take many forms that won’t necessarily have anything to do with physical strength. and by being that constant reminder he anchors hibari and stops him to ever become--well, idk, too full of himself i guess lol? tsuna reminds him to keep his strength humble and to not underestimate his opponents no matter how “weak” they may appear at first glance, which lets him safely grow ever stronger.

and actually, bringing up mukuro again real quick, but both mukuro and hibari ground tsuna and keep him in check in their own way as he wrestles with being mafia and being the leader of it. in opposite way, in fact. mukuro makes sure he won’t become too much mafia as he’s trying to change it, while hibari makes sure he won’t forget he’s only tsuna first and foremost, and that it has value too he should protect and keep safe. if that just made sense to anyone but me? sorry if it didn’t lol, but yeah, in any case that’s what i think of hibari’s and tsuna’s dynamic, both present and future!

also not really relevant, but likely giving you more of an idea of where i come from with this post, and making some of the things i said here clearer, but here’s my thoughts on hibari too.

and here’s a meta on hibari from @ any-n-everything that’s very interesting and relevant to some of the things i said here too!

[ellitx]

In honor of Father's Day, could we get some headcanons of the twins (separately) as parents?

Venti as a Father:

It would be really chaotic and a mess when it’s him watching over the kids

Just feeding them and bringing the spoon to their mouth like an airplane, and if one of his children happens to playfully throw the food to his face, it’ll be a food fight.

Of course, it didn’t last long when you entered the room and you see everything is so cluttered and dirty.

Venti can be strict with them if he has to but most of the time he’s carefree and lively with them. Often going outside to play, gliding, and maybe just a leisurely family time with you, him, and the children.

He’s not really restricting them but if they wanna play outside they have to ask his permission first so he’ll know where they are or so that he can watch over them

Venti likes it if his kids ask him to carry them! He’ll carry them on his shoulders so they can see the beautiful view of Mondstadt's scenery!

Or if he’s laying on your lap and they’re asking to be carried, he’ll lift them up and act like they’re flying in the sky. He’ll use his vision to make it really breezy so they can feel what it’s like to soar in the air.

When it’s time for dinner, he has to call for them. But the problem is they’re so mischievous that they even hide from him. It’s easy to find them but for the sake of entertaining them, he pretends he doesn’t have a single clue as to where they are.

“Now where’s my little sweetie hiding again? Looks like Detective Venti is starting another case of Disappearing Angel.” He takes his cape and flips them in the air for a dramatic effect and boy does he hear that stifled laugh behind the sofa.

He takes out his lyre and starts singing about the clues he had gathered and for suspense, he stopped strumming his instrument and stood still. Their kid covered their mouth to quiet themselves and it was unfortunate for them they didn’t notice their father was already behind them.

Venti’s hands slipped underneath them and hoisted them to his shoulder causing them to shriek and wiggle around while giggling.

“Papa, that’s unfair!!”

“Another point for Detective Venti~”

Aside from playing detectives, he’s pretty much dramatic around them if they’re playing house or prince and princess together.

“Oh, sweet child of mine, call the fairest maiden for I, Venti the Most Handsome, Charming, Powerful, and Talented Bard has fallen down because of the great dark dragon’s compelling attack.”

Your child first thought of you, immediately rushing to where you are and tugging at your sleeves.

“Mama! Mama! Help Papa come back alive! He said the only way to regain his powers is that you have to kiss him!”

You choked at your own spit, your face burning hot hearing another ridiculous idea venti started for you to kiss him. You didn’t want to disappoint them so you obliged and followed them to the living room.

There you saw venti laying down, his hands on his chest with his eyes closed, and sure you’d mistaken him as some kind of princess if not for your daughter asking you to help him.

Clearing your throat and readying yourself in acting mode, you kneeled down beside him and clasped his hands with yours.

“Oh, my darling Venti. All your power has been drained, the energy within you has been stolen by the greatest and fearful creature that has been ever lived. But fear not, for I have come to aid you by… by caressing you with a true love’s kiss.”

You slowly leaned forward and ran your finger on his face before closing your eyes until his lips brushed with yours. The tips of your ears were turning red when your child awed and watched closely, and for sure you felt your husband’s lips tugging upwards. His hand reached up behind you to hold you close to him and let the kiss last longer.

His eyelids flutter open, revealing the marvelous emerald orbs he has that were the same as your little angel, and he turned at you with clouded eyes, his cheeks beginning to tint with warm red.

“…more…”

Before he could latch his lips with yours once more, your child jumped at his back and cried,

“You’re alive! You’re finally alive! Quick, defeat the dark dragon before it destroys the castle!”

Venti almost forgot he was playing with them. All of a sudden, you felt your feet weren't on the ground anymore and in instinct, you held onto his shoulder and gaped at him. Venti's arm was underneath your bottom, carrying with such ease as if your weight was as light as a feather.

“Of course, my dear! Now that my power has been replenished thanks to this lovely maiden, I can finally stop the dragon’s outrage through the power of wind and freedom!”

His right hand glowed, unleashing a gentle yet powerful wind to knock down the mini dvalin stuffed toy that was standing in front of the blocks. The toy’s balance was gone, causing it to fall onto the ground as a sign the enemy’s disturbance was no longer present. Peace, harmony, and freedom were settled back to the small kingdom you, your child, and your husband had created.

Himmel as a father:

Himmel’s a househusband! Due to his frail body, he’s more inclined to work inside the house which he doesn’t mind. So all the cooking, cleaning, laundry is handled by him.

Househusband Himmel doesn’t really mind at all! In fact, he really enjoys it because he gets to watch over his kyut litol beybis playing around the house and spend time with them!

He knows you’re already home when he hears his babies screaming “MAMA!!”, it’s either a playful chase with his children on who gets to hug you first or he let them hug you first before he kisses you as a greeting of welcome home.

Whenever he goes to the grocery, he brings his children with him and they’re in the twin stroller. Everything is prepared; the pacifiers and two bottles of milk, and perhaps some extra diapers in case the line is too long and they need a bathroom break.

Himmel always takes a morning stroll and he also brings his babies with him so they can get that vitamin from the sunlight for them to be healthy. Don’t want them to risk being so unhealthy when they grow up now do we?

Maybe after the stroll, he stops in a nearby park to rest, maybe even allowing them to have some fun as long as they’re in his sight. Himmel will start planning on having a picnic time as family bonding on weekends so you can also take a break as well as you can get in touch with your own kids

While at home, carrying his two kids in his arms is no biggie for him. He can even multitask with it, though he prefers if they are in the crib just in case he doesn’t accidentally step on some toys and slip while carrying them.

He loves holding them and carrying them with him after he finishes the household chores! He’ll play with them, shower them with kisses, keep on telling them how much papa loves them and how he’s so happy they’re part of his life. When they run out of milk, he has to take the new supply you’ve readied in the refrigerator.

The babies will crawl up to him, stretching out their short arms towards their father because they wanted to be carried. Himmel chuckles then picks them up before making their drink. He hums a song while warming the milk and leaves small kisses on their head and nuzzles his nose against it as he waits

His little ball of sunshine is full of energy so he can be quick to get exhausted, but he’s trying his best to stay awake to make sure nothing dangerous happens to them. he lets them crawl up to him and play with his hair and when they also get sleepy and clings to him, it brings a smile to his face and holds them close to his chest protectively before laying them back down in the crib

Himmel may have taught them many things, from a simple reading, talking/cooing, walking, and maybe even singing. He has bought many things that can help them like rattles, squeeze toys, picture books, and also some stuffed toys they can play with.

Over the months, he’ll buy different toys for them so they can start the process of learning simple stuff like ABC blocks and even more plushies.

His kids love it when he sings or reads them a bedtime story. If you’re free, you and Himmel will reenact the story to maybe entertain them, and oh their cute little smiles and giggles tug their parents’ hearts.

Once they reach the age of three, Himmel is so excited for them that they can meet new friends. It’s the start of their preschool and he prepared everything. Now he’s the type of father who’ll take a picture of them every single year and some memorable moments to be added in the album

After school, he’s there to pick them up with you. All the mothers were gawking when he was standing near the door and looking for his cute babies. Perhaps he’s a brother to pick his siblings up?

Lol nope

Their jaws dropped when they heard a scream of papa from the running children. He opened his arms and caught them easily as they jumped at him for a hug. The mothers/guardians can’t believe Himmel's a father. Such a youthful face he has and having two children?!

He gives them a kiss on their forehead and asks how their day went. When he told them that mama was waiting outside, the twins immediately left their father’s side and ran out of the school to see you there smiling and waving.

“Mama!! Look, look, my teacher gave me a stamp that I did well!”

“I have five stars on my booklet!!”

Your eyes sparkled at their wonderful achievements and patted their head. Himmel stood next to you and smiled, admiring the wonderful warm feeling in his heart to see this growing family.

Kneeling before one of his kids, he whispered something next to them causing them to gasp out and looked at you with big curious eyes.

“I’m going to be a big sister/brother?!!”

You look at your husband with an astonished face and pout before playfully shoving his shoulder.

“That was supposed to be a surprise!” You whined. Himmel laughed and pecked your lips, whispering “I can’t help it,” before taking the hands of his child then yours. You take the other twin’s small hand and walked side-by-side with your husband and children back home

[buddiebeginz]

I know everyone is worried that the episode switch means that the hostage situation won’t be as important for Buddie as we thought but I don’t see how that could happen.

For one thing like some have speculated the hostage situation may not even happen in episode 6 or 7 it could be episode 8 or 9. I have a feeling whichever episode that it’s happening in the show is trying hard to keep that moment quiet precisely because it’s going to be important to two characters the show knows are fan favorites. Like when the shooting happened in 4x13 we knew that a shooting was happening but we had no way of knowing just how epic of a moment that was going to be for Buddie and I think the hostage situation is going to play out in a similar way.

I just don’t see how, given everything that’s happened from the end of season 4 up to this point that a hostage situation with these two could happen and mean nothing. They could have involved any other characters in a scene like this but they’re choosing for it to be Eddie as the one taken hostage and for Buck to be the one screaming for him (from what we can tell from the bts video). Why have them go through something super traumatic like this with a gun when we just had that happen at the end of season 4? Unless it means something. 

There’s been a lot of clues in season 5 that the show isn’t done talking about what happened at the end of season 4 and that Buddie is going canon. And as some have pointed out this is how 911 tends to operate. They don’t rush through storylines that are important. If it’s mental health stuff related to trauma they tend to wait and let it come up slowly (the way trauma often does) like with Bobby or Chim after his accident. It feels like every episode in season 5 the show is giving us clues that they’re leading towards something with Buck and Eddie. Leading towards them finally confronting what happened during the shooting and leading towards why they haven’t really talked about it. Because to talk about it would mean being honest about how they felt that day. How Eddie reached for Buck and how Buck couldn’t even function at the idea of loosing Eddie.

I know a lot of people are afraid to put faith in the show and think that Buddie won’t happen and I felt that way too for a while but that changed when I saw how the end of season 4 played out. For me Eddie making Buck Chris’ legal guardian (in his will) was a turning point in their relationship and for the show in how they’ve handled Buck and Eddie. It wasn’t just the fact of Eddie doing that either it was how the whole scene was framed. If Eddie had told Buck when other people were around like Ana or some of the 118 I might have felt differently about it all but the scene was framed like a confession. Like Eddie was trying in some way to tell Buck how much he means to him. He was saying to Buck I trust you with my heart.

If that scene hadn’t happened I think going into season 5 I would have been a lot more cautious about expecting anything for Buddie at the very least I wouldn’t have been assuming they were going to go canon. I’ve been hurt by my expectations of shows before and I know better than to get my hopes up too high but I think for 911 at this time in the show being excited for Buddie makes sense. The end of season 4 felt to me like the shows way of of setting up where we’ve been seeing things go in season 5 thus far. I think we just have to be patient and let the rest continue to play out.

I’m not sure how the order of things this season is going to go now that they’re switching things around but if we do get the hostage scene in 5x06 and the guy buried alive in 5x07 it could be at least in part so that the show can further drive home Buck and Eddie’s shared trauma. Like maybe what will happen is we get the hostage situation and we see Buck run to Eddie and they’ll hold each other and share a look but we won’t get much more than that from 5x06. Then in 5x07 Buck will have to help rescue a man in a grave and it will make him think of Eddie and everything that’s happened. Like the shooting, Eddie almost dying in that well, the hostage situation and he’ll have to deal with those feelings. He’ll have to face how scared he is of loosing Eddie.

No matter how all this plays out and in what order I think at some point this season we will get Buck and Eddie talking about the shooting. I also think we will get some kind of confirmation of their feelings for each other by the end of this season, it feels like that’s where the show is saying they’re taking them. Like it’s not just our over thinking, over analyzing, fandom brain seeing what we want to see, from a story telling perspective I can’t see where else they would going.

If they weren’t putting them together they easily could have had Eddie and Ana stay together and had Eddie’s panic attacks be because of the shooting. Same thing with Buck and Taylor. It feels like the show is saying they’re not going to last long, they keep telling us that Buck isn’t really happy in that relationship. More than any other season before it feels like Buck and Eddie are connected and involved in each other’s lives. Like the show putting all that focus on Buck when it came to Eddie’s panic attacks and Ana. Or the show giving us a scene of Eddie gently giving Buck advice and the immediate episode after showing us Taylor telling Buck not to make everything about himself. These aren’t coincidences their deliberate storytelling choices that are leading us somewhere.

I know some could make the argument that we’ve seen a lot of Buddie scenes in earlier seasons and they never went canon but I don’t think it was ever as deliberate as it is now. I don’t think the show was committed to Buddie as a couple in previous seasons. I’m not sure what changed but it feels like something did and like I said I think the end of season 4 was where we really saw that.

I don’t think we need to worry about what will happen with the hostage episode because I think it’s going to be amazing and angsty and maybe it will even surpass the shooting episode in how many gifs are made of it. But no matter what happens I think this is all leading somewhere and that’s the important thing. Even if we get the hostage situation in 5x06 and we don’t see Buck and Eddie talking much about it then I think we will later. For now let’s just be excited we’re getting this episode sooner than expected.

[clearlymiraculous]

what the heck was wishmaker (swears ahead)

Ok so I've been hit with the double whammy of the two hilarious trainwrecks that were Crocoduel and Wishmaker... as the more ridiculous of the two, lets talk about Wishmaker. please keep in mind that I literally just watched the episode and I have nothing clever to say this is really just a rant

Firstly... the knowledge that these kids will graduate and move onto lycee? in MY Miraculous Ladybug? (it's more likely than you think). But the sudden "hey, you guys are now mid-teens, time to make choices that will affect the rest of your life" honestly hit different. Suddenly it felt like a real school, with real students that had different goals. If only they, you know, showed us this crap.

Take Marinette, for example. Because, you know, she's the main character. I love how that she's such a feminist icon, that she's gotta choose between her love of fashion, Adrien, her love of design, Adrien, her dual role of Ladybug and the Guardian, and... I guess her love for Adrien? I mean, those are the main things that give her life joy and meaning and will help her choose a career.

I hope you understand that I am so fucking angry that they had to bring Adrien into this, because if anyone in that writers room actually cared about being a good influence on young girls, ADRIEN WOULD NOT BE A PART OF THIS CONVERSATION. Yes, love and being loved is important to individual happiness. We as social creatures thrive on love. But to reduce Marinette, who is supposed to be so capable and able to handle herself, to a girl with a crush, is so demeaning!!! Her value is suddenly being determined over whether or not her love is returned by a boy! What lesson is she supposed to be learning here?!?!

Adrien, by comparison, has a much more poignant conversation with Plagg over what he wants to do in life - he's always modelled, but he's now self aware enough to realise that there are other options and that he doesn't know where to go. As a cusp gen Y/Z (1995), I have never related more to a feeling like that in my life. With the rise of social media came an influx of jobs that didn't even exist when I graduated high school. Influencers did not exist, YouTubers were just beginning to flourish. I still have no clue of the specific path I want to walk down, just a few half baked ideas. Not once do we need to think about who he's in love with. Ladybug factors into the conversation, yes, but it's over his use as a hero. His unrequited love doesn't come up. What's with the double standards here?!?!

Now to the hilarity of the episode - Alec Cataldi. Until now he's just been the host of every show in Paris that isn't the news. Sure, he'd give a friendly roast every now and then, but this time around he's woken up and chosen violence... by telling people at the job fair that their jobs are pointless? The weird thing is that the selection of jobs you actually see seem to be more based on niche art and crafting. These are jobs based on the specific love of the craft that can be successful - homemade ice cream, hand crafted instruments, and wig making all have potential for financial success. Anyway it's the wig making that sets Alec off.. because apparently as a child people made fun of him for having like a disproportionately large afro?

Let's skip the majority of the fight. It's the best part of the episode, because the childhood dreams are hilarious. The best one by far is the guy who wants to be a cucumber, ESPECIALLY because it turns out to be Banana Man (still waiting for his akumatisation), and the way that Ladybug's Lucky Charm is for some random guy that just wants to be a toy dinosaur to hug people is amazing, it's so out of left field and I loved it.

HOWEVER... we also have a question that we've been wanting answered the whole episode: what does Adrien want to do? He can't think of what his childhood dream was, it was a mystery. So of course he gets hit, or he lets himself get hit, who even cares because Chat's competency has been going down faster than Thomas Astruc's ego has been rising... and suddenly I am wishing I never asked because apparently all Adrien ever wanted to do was whatever his parents wanted him to do? Fuck off.

Who in their right mind would even write that? I'm not kidding, he literally says "When I was a kid, I always wanted to be what my parents wanted me to be!" Now, if we'd had further context, like his parents talking about how they wanted him to be kind to others and to be happy with his choices, it would be fine. But all we have is Gabriel's weird emotional abuse and desire for his son to be perfect, attractive, and good at All The Things, as long as he remains the Agreste Cash Cow. WHAT? I'M SORRY, WHAT?!!?! Adrien, honey, you need a therapist, because no, you're not perfect, you're a people pleasing anxious wreck.

Anyway apparently all along Alec just wanted to be the next RuPaul, because that's how we end the episode - Luka now joining the Cursed Knowledge Club, and our titular characters deciding to remain stagnant because like that's how you write a good tv series, you know?

I'm not kidding about RuPaul. Any Drag Race fan will recognise the butchered end quote. Can I get an amen?

[chatonne-rousse]

The Importance of the Black Cat

Adrien has a lot on his mind - concerns, questions, doubts. And right now, he has only one being to confide in. There is not enough cheese in the world to make Plagg want to handle this situation, but his holder needs him, and he knows two things with certainty: his very important place in the world, and that no one hurts his kitten. Not if he has anything to say about it.

Read it on Ao3 here.

The Camembert he holds in his paws is aged beautifully, gooey and perfectly pungent. He knows it was expensive, purchased with his holder’s allowance, and therefore tries to at least do the kid the honor of enjoying it. But as he mulls over the day’s events, the first few bites sit like a brick in his tiny stomach.

Tonight, Plagg eats his cheese for sustenance only. It’s hard to find the usual joy when his holder hasn’t spoken since they arrived home.

The light in the closet switches off as Adrien shuffles out into the bedroom, dressed for bed in black pajama pants and an old white t-shirt. The departure from his usual red and black spotted look doesn’t escape Plagg’s notice, but he chooses not to comment.

Plagg discovered long ago that his devotion to his holders is inversely proportional to his ability to counsel them. He knows he’s not good at advice beyond cheese and chaos. He wasn’t made for emotions and heartfelt chats.

A sure and confident holder didn’t usually open his heart or seek his kwami’s counsel, and Plagg liked that. They did their jobs, they shared their lives, but they didn’t share their hearts. They didn’t need to, because his holder needed his power more than his presence.

But once in a while, he’d materialize in front of a human whose eyes shone with innocent kindness, and he knew immediately that they would need him. If he’s honest, Plagg will admit that these are the best wielders of destruction. It’s all about intention, after all, and a pure heart rarely destroys with disregard. These holders, however, always seemed to come with a price - they saw their kwami as less of a means to an end and more of a friend.

He loved these holders. He would level cities and wipe out species for them. But oh, did he ever dread having to talk to them. Really, really talk.

Plagg knows his kitten will break the silence soon. It’s only a matter of time. He isn’t sure if it will be to talk about being stuck in the elevator with his very good friend, a monologue that will no doubt be punctuated by sighs and soft eyes that will be quickly denied if his kwami points them out.

One undeniable fact from the day, however, is the racing pulse and rapid breathing of a boy terrified of being locked up and feeling increasingly helpless in the situation. Plagg knows very well that it happened, because he was tucked inside Adrien’s shirt listening to his pounding heart. He hopes his holder doesn’t want to talk about that, because it’s way above Plagg’s pay grade.

He also hopes his holder won’t ponder why only he was dragged through the portal to safety, or why Rena Rouge was the one to do it.

Plagg gets down almost two full wedges of cheese before Adrien sits down on the edge of his bed with a heavy sigh.

“Hey, Plagg?” His voice is quiet but doesn’t betray any emotion yet. That’s actually more worrying.

Steeling himself, Plagg swallows the last big bite of cheese and zips from the desk to perch on top of the globe, facing his holder. “What’s up?”

He heaves another sigh before looking up into Plagg’s eyes, emotions still unreadable.

“How important is the black cat?”

Oh. A wave of relief makes Plagg’s whiskers perk up. The question is unexpected but definitely not unwelcome. He’s lousy with advice but an expert at talking about himself.

He puffs up his tiny chest and grins a fanged grin. “Only the most important, kid! Everything has to end sometime - except me, of course, but,” he shrugs, “we can’t all be perfect.” He hopes that will garner a smile, but realizes a moment too late that he’d started his speech talking about death to a boy who lost his mother at thirteen. Oh no, he thinks, panicking. He’s bad at this, too.

He barrels on. “I mean, creation is nothing without destruction. The very concepts go together, always. Can you imagine a world where flowers never wilt and people never die?” Adrien’s eyes widen and his brows furrow. Shit, Plagg thinks. I did it again.

“Plagg, that sounds...really nice, actually.”

He shakes his head. He can get this back on track. He’ll fall back on pragmatism like always. “It does, but that’s not how the world works. Your planet can’t sustain an expanding and eternal population. Everything grows and lives and dies and starts over again. Everything has a beginning and an end.” Plagg’s eyes shine with pride. “Only I, and my very lucky holders, get to harness that inevitability into a real power, and use it for good. Tikki and her bugs can create, but we destroy,” he pitches his voice lower, his tone serious, “so they can create again.”

Adrien’s eyes are still wide, but Plagg sees wonder and a bit of pride there. He lets his tiny shoulders relax.

“I never thought of it that way. You really are amazing, buddy.” He reaches out to scratch Plagg behind the ears with a soft smile that his kwami would see doesn’t reach his eyes if his own weren’t closed with pride and delight.

The hand retreats, and Plagg opens his eyes just to watch Adrien’s face fall.

“But I meant...how important is the black cat to the ladybug?”

"How...what?" Plagg splutters, taken aback. "I just told you, kid. Every beginning has an end. Creation and destruction are perfectly equal. You don't want to know what happens when they're not."

Adrien's eyes snap to his, clearly on the edge of a dawning horror. Oh no. Not again.

Plagg waves his paws. "What I mean is, you need each other. Tikki is never activated without me, and I'm never called up without her. We're two halves of a whole. You've never seen the inside of the miracle box," he scowls, "which is bullshit, by the way, but if you did, you'd see that the center is a circle, split perfectly in two. Tikki and I go together, and so do you and Ladybug. You can do this without each other, but you're not meant to."

Adrien's shoulders droop. "Yeah, I know she can win a fight without me. She's had to do it before." He sighs. "A lot."

"Sure," Plagg agrees, and can't resist adding, "but she wouldn't need to if you didn't throw yourself in the line of fire every chance you get."

"I have to protect her, Plagg! You know that! Ladybug is more important than me."

"Kid!" Plagg bursts out in frustration, "I don't know how else to tell you this! You. Are. Equal."

“Then…” Adrien’s breath catches and he blinks several times. “Then why doesn’t she need me anymore?”

For just a moment, in the time it takes for the words to register and translate and pierce his heart, Plagg’s ire flares white-hot and livid. No one hurts my kitten and gets away with it. But he looks into his holder’s eyes, sad and achingly lonely, and his anger slips away as quickly as it came. He’ll deal with his own feelings on the matter later.

Besides, it’s not Marinette’s fault. She’s doing the best she can. He’d still relish giving her an earful, but piling on the heartbreaking guilt about his holder’s situation wouldn’t really help and might just snap what Tikki has insinuated is a currently-tenuous grasp on stability. Plagg knows she’s making decisions based on the mentorship of a flawed man, a failed guardian who ran from his mistakes for the better part of two centuries.

Fu never understood Plagg and never tried to. None of the guardians did. Beyond knowing the basics of his power and the importance of the ring of the black cat in relation to the earrings of the ladybug, Fu never saw Plagg as anything more than a liability. Which is honestly fair, but Plagg doesn’t have to like it.

He definitely doesn’t have to like it when the rules of secrecy leave his kitten in the dark and feeling useless. Especially after what he now suspects from the clues he got today.

He looks into his holder's tear-filled eyes and sees a soft innocence rare among the long line of black cats who've worn the ring. This might just be his most difficult assignment yet, but it's also one of his favorites, and he'll protect his kitten no matter what it takes. Even if it means talking about feelings.

Once his stomach is settled, he's going to eat so much cheese to make up for this.

Plagg takes a deep breath. "Who spotted Optigami in the elevator today?"

Adrien blinks but says nothing.

"Who made sure Ladybug didn't tell her secrets to Truth?" He waits another moment, watching Adrien's blush rise and letting his words sink in. "And who protected her identity when she was hit by Kwamibuster?"

"Okay, but—"

Plagg steamrolls his holder shamelessly. "You were the key to defeating Gorizilla, Stormy Weather, Lady Wifi. I have a long memory, kid. Do you want me to keep going? Because I haven't even gotten to the times you kept your bug afloat with all those pep talks and disgusting feelings. A nice piece of Brie would've perked her up, but I have to admit that your methods worked, too."

Adrien sniffs and chuckles. "Okay, buddy. I get it." His eyes still betray an ocean of hurt, but Adrien's soft smile seems genuine.

Plagg has never quite understood human emotion, though he's seen it all in his many centuries among humanity. He's also seen the myriad ways humans cover up one emotion with another (and another, and another, and sometimes destructive behaviors and very dark paths). He doesn't much enjoy dealing with human feelings, but he when it comes to masks, he prefers the very stylish ones he manifests on his holders' faces, changing with the times and his whims and his holders' thoughts. It's been a long time since he had a holder whose civilian life necessitated so many different masks. No wonder he eats so much Camembert to recharge - it's exhausting just watching it.

"What I'm saying, kitten...er, kid, is that your bug needs you. Paris needs you. And I know that because creation always needs destruction." He snorts a laugh. "That's a fact that's bigger than both of us."

"Yeah, you're right. I know you're right." Adrien sighs and stands to pull back the covers and turn out the light. He climbs in bed and heaves another sigh as his head hits the pillow. "I just wish she'd let me help her. I...I know she's going through something."

Plagg settles on the pillow next to Adrien's, in the Camembert-infused spot where he sleeps. "Being a guardian kind of sucks. It used to be a whole big thing - years of training and ceremonies and shaving your head in a weird pattern..."

Adrien breathes a laugh in the darkness.

"Did you just imagine your beloved bug with her pigtails cut off and a bald spot shaved into her head?"

"Plagg! How dare you?" comes the reply, but his laughter betrays him. Yeah, he's totally picturing it.

Plagg smiles. "What I mean is, you know her. As much as you can, at least. She's told you over and over how important you are to her. I hear all that mushy crap, you know. I don't think she means to hurt you." A pause. "If she does, she'll regret it," he mutters.

"Please don't threaten my future wife, Plagg."

"Still?"

"Still what?"

Plagg blinks. Adrien blinks, then finally catches up.

"Oh. Well." He takes a deep breath. "I'm...a little upset about some things. But I'm sure we can work it out. People make mistakes. Besides, just because someone hurts you doesn't mean you stop loving them, Plagg."

He wouldn't trade Adrien and his tender heart for the world, but sometimes Plagg wishes he was already a bit more jaded when he slipped the ring on his finger that first day. He doesn't want to witness the moment his holder's gentle spirit is finally crushed by what he knows better than most is a very cruel world.

For a long moment, Plagg considers his answer and finally chooses sarcasm. He shrugs. "You can always just cataclysm their prized possessions. That works, too."

That startles a laugh from his holder, tired and tinged with emotion, but a laugh nonetheless. Plagg considers it a win.

They settle into silence. Adrien's eyes close sleepily. Plagg considers getting another wedge of cheese now that his stomach has calmed down a little, but the thought that this is far from over makes his indigestion flare again. Love is messy and inconvenient, the Cancoillotte cheese of emotions. But, he supposes, looking at his holder in the dark, it's worth the difficulty.

Adrien's eyes open suddenly to meet Plagg's glowing green.

"Thanks for talking to me, buddy. I'm sorry I—"

Plagg zips over to his holder before he can finish the sentence, tucking his little body into the crook of Adrien's neck and starting up a loud purr.

"You're welcome. You owe me so much cheese."

Adrien laughs again, and Plagg purrs louder when he reaches up to scratch behind his tiny ears.

"Reblochon again?"

Plagg stifles a laugh at the fact that he has penance cheese for dealing with Adrien's feelings before realizing how sad it is that he...well, has penance cheese for dealing with Adrien's emotions. Someday, when his holder is on his own and out from under the tyrannical rule of his asshole father, Plagg has every intention of cataclysming Gabriel's entire atelier, including his tablet and any backup drives. He dreams about it sometimes. Just watching the world burn. It'll be beautiful.

He sighs wistfully before answering. "I was thinking Époisses."

Adrien groans. "Plagg, no. It's so gross."

"Plagg, yes. Feelings are gross. Cheese is life."

Another sigh. "Fine. I'll order it in the morning."

Silence falls over them again, this time comfortable and warm. When Adrien's breathing evens out, Plagg heads over to the cupboard for a snack. By the time he's eaten two more wedges of Camembert and thought about the whole situation, he's decided to pay Pigtails and his other half a visit. This can't continue. They're all headed for catastrophe, and no one wants to see what he'll do if this breaks his kitten.

He takes a wedge of cheese for the road and heads for the window, but something makes him stop before he phases through. He turns back to look at his sleeping holder. The moonlight shines through the windows, casting shadows like prison bars across the room, across the bed, across his kitten. Plagg thinks suddenly of Adrien waking up alone, his kwami nowhere to be found, and realizes he can't just leave.

He sighs. He's sighed so many times tonight.

Plagg tosses the cheese in the air and catches it expertly, swallowing it in one gulp, then makes his way back to the bed.

Tomorrow, he'll find a way to phase into Pigtails' bag during homeroom for a much-needed discussion with Tikki. He doesn't want to - he really doesn't want to - but Plagg intends to do his part to fix this. Holders like his come once in a very, very long lifetime. Adrien is worth it.

He settles again on his cheese-scented pillow and curls up, wrapping his tail snugly around his body. Soon his purr matches the rhythm of Adrien's quiet breathing, and peace, however temporary, falls gently over the two of them once more.

[svtskneecaps]

you mean the world to me

(gender neutral) reader x wonwoo

genre: fluff + angst; words: 7k

(i’ve found i write for wonwoo in times of academic panic and if ever there was a time of academic panic, this is it)

You didn’t see Wonwoo at all on the morning everything changed. His side of the bed was empty when you got out of the shower, and your keys were missing from the hook. Maybe that was your first clue that something was up. His set still hung there innocently, the tiny bear charm you’d gotten him on your two year anniversary swinging lightly on the breeze from the AC unit.

You shrugged and picked up the keys. This wasn’t the first time he’d grabbed the wrong set, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

(your second clue was that the door was unlocked)

You called him on your lunch break to tease him about the keys, but it went to voicemail. That in itself wasn’t odd; usually if he was in a frenzy working on some idea he’d forget to check his phone, but it was sort of odd that it didn’t even ring.

You shrugged that off too. Maybe he forgot it at the apartment, and it died. He’d never forgotten it before, but there was a first time for everything.

You finally accepted something was wrong when you stopped by the bookstore with coffee and it was closed. And dark.

He always had the front light on when he was inside.

Hours later, as you paced around the apartment trying to work out whether or not to call the police, you heard the jangle of your keys in the lock. You swung the door open before he’d even unlocked it, heart in your throat.

“There you are! I was worried, where have you been, why weren’t you answering your phone?”

Your questions died in your throat as you looked him over. He looked exhausted.

“Wonwoo,” you said, softly, “are you okay?”

He visibly forced a smile. “Yeah,” he said.

You opened the door wider, and he hesitated before he came in. He hovered in the entryway, like a stranger in his own apartment (the one you picked out together).

You sat down on the couch, and he followed you to the living room, but he sat in the guest chair instead of his usual place beside you. He didn’t speak, just looked around the room as if he’d never been in it before. Finally, you were the one to break the silence.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked at you, appearing to consider his words carefully (as he does, of course, he’s a songwriter).

“If you woke up in a stranger’s bed, in a life you don’t recognize, what would you do?”

You blinked. “Like those Hallmark movies?”

“Hallmark movies?”

“Yeah, it’s a huge trope in like the Christmas movies? Somebody runs into a Santa character and one way or another they make a wish and then Santa slaps them into an alternate universe where usually they’re married with several children or something, and they learn the true meaning of Christmas.” You made jazz hands.

He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think Christmas is involved.”

“Are you saying you weren’t some rich businessman in your past life?” you teased. “I could see it, you know.”

“But if you were in that situation,” he pressed. “What would you do?”

You thought about that. “I guess I’d go with it,” you said. “Try to figure out who I am in the new life and make the most of it.”

“You wouldn’t try to go back?”

“I don’t see how I could figure it out, unless I recognized the Santa character on my initial run to all the places I used to know and talked to them about it.”

He groaned. “Please let’s not call them the Santa.”

You weren’t sure if he was joking until he smiled, and you relaxed.

“Well that’s what they are,” you defended, maybe a little too quickly, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Can they not be wish granters? Or guardian angels or something? Not all of the stories are to do with the true meaning of Christmas.”

You shrugged. “I know you’re the writer here but your storytelling experience pales in comparison to my extensive knowledge of Hallmark movie tropes.”

He leaned forward. “I’m a writer?”

You forced yourself to laugh like he was making a joke even though something in your chest went tight.

(he chose to sleep on the couch that night and even though you were upset that he wasn’t next to you in the bed, some strange part of you was glad for the distance)

You called out of work the next day to walk Wonwoo to the bookstore, citing stress at your significant other going missing for most of a day. Seungcheol was understanding, telling you not to worry, that he’d see you Monday.

Vernon was leaning against the wall by the door when you came up, messing with something on his phone.

“Hey,” he said, glancing at your partner. “I was worried; it’s not like you to be late.”

Wonwoo was quiet for an odd amount of time, long enough that you glanced over at him. He was staring at Vernon with some odd look in his eyes.

“We got a late start,” you finally answered for him. “After yesterday. . .” You coughed. “Anyway, you guys need any help setting up?”

“Probably, yeah, we just got a shipment of that new YA series the other day,” Vernon said. You step to one side, motioning Wonwoo up the steps to unlock the door. “Maybe you shelve those while I blow the dust off the front desk. She’s not used to being unused this long.”

You laughed, too loud. “It was a day.”

“I know, it was ages.”

(you didn’t comment on how Wonwoo had to try three keys from the ring before getting the door open, or how he looked at the inside of his own bookstore like it was a wondrous new place. Vernon didn’t seem to notice)

You dragged the box out to the shelves and started placing the books. Apparently Vernon had forgotten how well voices carried in the quiet space, because you could hear him speaking as if he were next to you when he said, “Hey, man, did you two fight?”

“What?”

You could imagine Vernon’s shrug, heard him fiddling with the crack in his phone case. “I don’t know, it’s just, usually you two are pretty much inseparable, but like, yesterday you totally go off the grid and now today there’s a whole sidewalk between you.” A floorboard creaked. “I know it’s probably not really my business, y’know since I just work the front desk and all, but, I thought I’d ask.”

The pause stretched out so long you found yourself frozen, breath caught in your lungs, hand hovering above the next book, waiting.

“I’m adjusting,” Wonwoo said finally. “I’m a different person than I was two days ago.”

It was an answer and a non-answer all at once and it implied more than it clarified. You picked up the book and slotted it onto its place in the shelf, above the carefully written label. You didn’t mention the conversation when you brought the box back. You made an excuse about going for coffee and bolted out the door.

(usually the bookstore felt welcoming, an extension of your significant other, but the atmosphere was stifling and foreign and you couldn’t stay)

Thankfully, Seokmin had the morning shift, and you arrived during a dead period. He was able to sit with you as you nursed your drink and fretted aloud over everything that happened.

“It’s like I blinked and he was a total stranger,” you said. “I don’t know what I did.”

“Maybe it wasn’t anything you did?” he offered. “Maybe he just changed.”

“It’s just so weird.” You cupped your hands around your drink. “I mean, I know people say that by the end of a long lasting relationship your significant other changes enough to be a bunch of different people, but it happened overnight. Like he went to sleep as a writer, and my--” you choke on boyfriend-- “significant other, and then he woke up and-- I mean aside from him still being named Wonwoo it’s like-- I don’t know who this man is anymore.”

“Maybe not,” Seokmin said agreeably.

“Wow,” you said, sipping your drink. “Stop hanging out with Jeonghan so much, you’re starting to sound like him.”

He laughed and nudged your shoulder. “What I’m saying is, maybe he feels strange and different, but that doesn’t have to matter. What matters is if you’re willing to find the pieces of him that you loved again. He can’t have changed that much underneath.”

He was right, no doubt. The awkward way Wonwoo had held himself the night before reminded you of the first time you’d ever really talked. He wasn’t so different, just undeveloped, like he’d jumped back in time. Like he’d crossed the multiverse from an existence where he’d never met you.

You could handle it. The situation was manageable. You could treat each interaction like you’d just met him for the first time. It could be easy, or it could be the hardest thing you’d ever faced, but you could handle it. Really.

(you texted Wonwoo asking if you should bring anything back for him and Vernon. his coffee order was different than the one you remembered)

You unlocked the door to the apartment that night. Wonwoo lingered in the hallway until you glanced back at him.

“You do anything at work today?” you asked.

He shook his head. “That office is a disaster. How did I ever find anything?”

You laughed, hanging up your keys. “Yeah, that’s what I’ve been saying basically since we bought the place.” You almost nudged his shoulder as you passed him on your way to the kitchen, but stopped the thought before it became a motion. “Keys on the hook,” you directed, “before you forget where you set ‘em.”

It took him two tries to find the right hook, but he got it. “I had to spend most of the morning organizing everything,” he said. “There’s so much stuff in there.”

“Let the record show that I’ve been telling you this was how it was gonna end up for years.”

“That’s the most long-winded way to say ‘I told you so’ I’ve ever heard.”

“What can I say? I like the sound of my own voice.” You pulled ingredients from the cupboards. “You remember where the pans are?”

“No,” he said.

“Neat.”

Making the food was the only easy part. Sitting at the table, you were acutely aware of him, like every one of your senses was waiting for something major to happen. Nothing did, though; you ate dinner in near complete silence. It wasn’t the comfortable silence you were used to. The air between you felt charged like the static balls at a science fair. You wanted to bridge the gap.

Wonwoo wanted to take the couch again, but you refused.

“Your turn in the bed,” you said, shooing him away. “You and I both know that couch doesn’t do the back any favors, and it’s your apartment too.”

“You don’t have to, I can--”

“Mom said it’s my turn on the couch,” you said in a high pitched, nasal tone, and then snickered, halfheartedly throwing a pillow at him. It flopped on the floor halfway between you. “I’ll be fine.”

He hovered in the doorway a few moments more, but relented in the end. “Goodnight,” he said, and made to close the door.

“Goodnight,” you said, and then, “you mean the world to me.”

The door clicked shut. You scooped up the pillow again and dropped it and yourself on the couch.

(it really is back pain in all forms and you woke up with cramps in muscles you didn’t even know you had, but it was worth it. it was always worth it)

You spent the weekend dancing around him, like planets. Like stars. Like if you got too close it would end in catastrophe.

Sometimes you’d slip into a back and forth with him that felt so familiar you could almost forget that you hardly knew him anymore, until you’d reference an old memory and he’d give you a quizzical look. It would sting, except the old memories felt strange to you now too. You didn’t mind not thinking about them, if it meant he didn’t look at you like that. Like a stranger.

The stranger you were.

You returned to work Monday and Seungcheol swung by your desk.

“How’s your boyfriend?” he asked. “He feeling better?”

You ignored the part of your stomach that twisted hearing boyfriend (that was what he was, after all, or what he had been, before Thursday; it shouldn’t feel so strange).

“I think so,” you said, because he’d put his keys on the right hook without you needing to remind him and he knew where all the cooking utensils were without needing to ask you.

Seungcheol rested his arms on the top of your cubicle. “And you? How are you holding up?”

You felt like you were hanging on by a thread. “Fine, I think. Pretty well, all things considered.”

He looked at you with concealed concern, but seemed to understand. You didn’t want to talk about it at work, even if Seungcheol had been one of your closest friends in university.

“Well, give me a call if you ever want to talk about it,” he said, and then left, probably for his own desk.

You bolted the moment time ticked over for your lunch break.

You didn’t know if Wonwoo would want you swinging by. You didn’t know if he’d answer your call. You called anyway, even if your hands shook.

He picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” You wiped your palm on your shirt. “I’m out on lunch break; if you aren’t too busy maybe we could run get Chinese or something?”

There was a pause, and then, “Okay. Just let me make sure Vernon and Chan can handle the store.”

He met you out front, and you walked to the restaurant together.

It wasn’t too cold out, so you got the food to go and found a bench to sit at, watching people as they pass.

“You remember that game, where you pick somebody going by and try to guess what they’re doing?” you asked into the silence.

He hummed. “Maybe. Why, you want to do it now?”

You shrugged. “Might as well.”

Even though he’d seemed apprehensive, he took to the game quickly. He was the one to decide that the woman wearing heels with her paint splattered jeans was a street performer, on her way to meet up with the other members of her busking group. You countered that obviously, the man in the mask waiting impatiently to cross the street was on his way to manage a rambunctious group of idols.

“Can you imagine?” you asked, shaking your head. “Must be rough, having to keep some of those groups under control.”

Something odd tinged the edges of Wonwoo’s expression when you looked back over at him. You couldn’t tell what it was. You hadn’t been able to read his expressions for days. It should have scared you.

It didn’t.

“Must be rough,” he echoed, his voice hollow. You were caught between asking about it and pretending you hadn’t noticed when he pointed across the plaza at the fountain. “Bet that guy’s an idol.”

“Yeah?” You followed his hand to see a man standing by the fountain, staring up at the jets of water, his hands buried in the pockets of the long coat he wore.

“Yeah. He’s taking a break from the practice room to appreciate everything around him,” Wonwoo said. “He’s gonna go home to the other members of his group and they’re going to ask where he’s been and be worried.”

“What’s he going to tell them?”

Wonwoo leans back into the bench, and maybe a little bit into you.

“He’s going to tell them he was getting a new perspective,” he said. “That he’s seen life from a new angle. And. . .”

The silence stretched, but it was comfortable. His arm touched yours, resting there.

“And,” Wonwoo said, and his voice cracked, “that he missed them.”

You tore your gaze from the man at the fountain. Wonwoo stared into nothing, eyes wet.

“Are you okay?” you asked softly.

He didn’t look at you as he nodded. Maybe that was for the best. You could feel tears building in your own eyes. You didn’t even know why.

You missed them too.

The alarm on your phone went off.

“Ah,” you said. “I should get back to work.”

You stood, ignoring the chill on your arm where his had been.

“I’ll see you back at the apartment, yeah?” you said.

He looked at you, that time, standing. “Yeah,” he said.

You threw out your trash and offered him your arm gallantly. “Would you allow me to walk you back, sir?”

He laughed and tossed his own trash, taking your arm. “Sure.”

You walked him all the way back to the store, where you swept off an imaginary hat and dipped into a grossly exaggerated bow. You heard him laugh, and when you came back up he was smiling (you would do anything to see him happy).

“Alright, you’ve done your job,” he said.

You place a dramatic hand on your chest. “Are you implying that I did all that out of a sense of moral obligation?”

He snickered. “Well, when you put it that way.”

Whatever expression had made its way onto your face made him laugh, his face lighting up as he reached out for the doorway to steady himself. You broke into a smile, heart beating a little faster.

“Okay, I gotta go before I’m late.” You almost wanted to hug him goodbye, but something stopped you. You settled for a quick wave. “You mean the world to me, okay? I’ll see you after work!”

Friday, Wonwoo came in and barely hung up his keys (on the right hook) before tipping himself over the arm of the couch to flop face first into the cushions with a deep groan. You stared at his limp form from the kitchen, a tiny smile forming on your face.

“So, how was work?” you asked.

He mumbled something into the couch that might’ve been, “Peachy.” He flipped over. “Some woman decided we should be a bookstore and a coffee shop and made sure we knew it.”

You wince. “Yikes.”

“Yeah.” He ground his hands into his eyes. “I spent half my morning making sure she wasn’t taking it out on Vernon or Chan.”

“Well, if she didn’t get the kids then it’s all good.” You set down the spoon and moved into the other room, leaning on the back of the couch. “Shame Seungkwan wasn’t there, he’d have given her a real piece of his mind.”

“I would have let him. Not like I even wanted her to buy anything after she said that.” Wonwoo dropped his hands, one arm falling off the side of the couch. He gazed up at you.

“She can keep her condescending cash to herself,” you agreed, and reached out to mess with his hair.

And drew back just as quickly, your hand hardly brushing his hair before hastily retreating to grip your leg. Why did you do that? It was wrong, it was all wrong. Your face burned. You didn’t know him well enough you’d known him for years he was a stranger you’d played with his hair all the time in university, even before you’d made it official it felt wrong to do it it felt wrong to pull away--

Wonwoo sat up. “Hey, everything okay?”

“--Yeah.” You shook your head. “Just-- head rush.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” You tore yourself away from the couch, making for the counter again and ignoring the sting on your leg where you dug in your nails. You could hear him trailing you.

Wonwoo leaned on the counter as you picked up the spoon. For a moment, you thought he’d press you again.

“So,” he said, “how was work?”

Of course he wouldn’t push. He was Wonwoo.

“Fine,” you said, stirring the ramen in the bowl. “Same old story, really, except everyone was talking about the company dinner party Sunday.”

Wonwoo blinked. “You didn’t tell me there was a dinner Sunday.”

You dashed the spoon through the noodles with perhaps more vigor than strictly necessary. “I didn’t want to bother you. You know, since you haven’t been feeling well this week. It didn’t seem worth adding to your plate and it doesn’t seem like your scene.”

“It doesn’t seem like yours either.”

He was right; it wasn’t your scene. You always found yourself walking on eggshells every time, a glass of wine gripped in your hand that you never dared drink from out of fear of making a fool of yourself.

“It’s my job,” you said. Your next stir sent tiny dots of water into the air and you flinched back.

Wonwoo nudged you out of the way, taking up the spoon even as you pouted at him. “Well,” he said, “need a date?”

You blinked. “Are you volunteering?”

“Maybe,” he said. “You work for one of those fancy companies, right? They probably have all kinds of high society foods.”

“They do cover meal costs,” you admitted.

He scoffed. “And you were going to leave me eating ramen alone on my Sunday night?” He reached up and tousled your hair. “If you need moral support I’ll be there.”

Your heart swelled. “Jeon Wonwoo, you mean the world to me you godsend.”

He ducked his head, turning to the ramen again. “Hey, any guy would count himself lucky to be your plus one.” He nudged your elbow. “How about you grab a couple bowls out and we eat this on the couch? We can watch a movie or something.”

(you found your seat on the couch, your bowl nestled in your lap, and when he came to meet you he sat beside you)

Saturday you spent at the bookstore, shelving books, distracting Vernon, and waiting for Wonwoo to get off. Seungkwan stopped by with a deck of cards and in the spare moments between customers you played poker under the desk. Chan threatened to quit after you inexplicably bluffed him out of three rounds in a row. Vernon swore he wasn’t stacking the deck, you were just that good all of a sudden.

“It’s not possible for you to have gotten good at bluffing in under a week, it’s like you’re a totally different person,” Chan said, and he was joking but the sting and the familiarity of the words drained the blood from your face and you barely managed to play it off. The game continued, but without you.

Seokmin was sitting at a table in the coffeeshop flicking idly through a textbook. You ordered a drink and joined him.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Fine,” you said.

“Really? Because you only come in here alone when it isn’t.”

You huffed. “It’s nothing. I just needed an escape.” The bookstore felt more welcoming again, more like Wonwoo (Wonwoo with his arm touching yours on the bench, Wonwoo pressed against your side as you play fight over who gets to cook dinner, Wonwoo with his head on your shoulder as he sleeps through the emotional climax of Finding Dory, his breathing a steady breeze against your neck) but something in Chan’s words. . .

You’d recoiled.

“I’m not--” you gripped your cup, thinking carefully about your words. “I’m not a different person, am I?”

“As far as I know you’re the same person you’ve always been.”

You rolled your eyes. “No, I mean-- have I changed, like-- my personality, my little ticks. Any of that?”

Seokmin looked at you (he always looked like he knew more than he said; probably it came from being top of his class all through school but still. . .). “Maybe,” he said. “I’d say you’re the same you, but maybe they knew a different you.”

Your head slipped to meet the table before you could catch it. “Seokmin you know I’m not smart enough for riddles.”

“It doesn’t have to be a riddle.” He laughed. “Everybody has a picture in their mind of everybody else, and it’s never the same as what actually exists.”

“Philosophy is ruining you,” you said. “Stop hanging out with Jeonghan, he’s turning you into a paradox.”

“What I’m saying is, just because someone thinks you’re different than you were, that doesn’t mean you actually are. Maybe you’ve just been different this whole time, and now they finally noticed.”

“Maybe.”

He had a point, once you stripped away the philosophic layers. It was just the phrasing.

It’s like you’re a totally different person. In under a week.

Last week, everything had changed.

You couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, but you sipped your coffee anyway. Seokmin asked about the company dinner, and you tried to forget about it.

You went shopping with Wonwoo after he closed up the store, trying to find something business casual for the dinner.

“And nothing in the closet would work for this because?” you asked, flicking through the rack of button ups.

“Because it’s a special occasion,” he said, holding a suit jacket against his chest and then hanging it up again. “We can’t wear anything we’ve already worn.”

You snorted. “What are we, movie stars on the red carpet?”

“No,” he said. “I mean, if you wanted, maybe, but no.” He glanced up. “Anytime is an excuse to treat ourselves.”

“Can’t argue with that.” You trailed your arm across a line of ties, letting the material fall over your finger. Your motion halted over a tie. “Oh, this’ll be impressive.” You held it up for him to see.

“Nice,” he said. “The bundles of bills will surely let your boss know you’re in this for what really matters.”

You pointed at him. “Exactly what I was thinking.” You looped it around your head, fingers pinching it together. “Maybe I could wear it like one of those guys in the post apocalyptic movies, that way they know I’m willing to go all the way.”

“Now you’re talking.” He hung up the jackets and came over, taking another tie off the rack, this one a soft coral pink. “Or maybe, you put this one on. . .”

He looped it around your neck and tied it properly.

“Where’d you learn how to tie a tie?” you asked, a laugh bubbling out of you.

“I felt bad making the stylists do it for me all the time,” he said, offhandedly.

The wrongness niggled at you.

You turned to the mirror nearby, playing with the ends of the tie. “I don’t know,” you said.

“What, you don’t like the color?”

“No, pink is a great color.” You surveyed yourself. “I just think I’d want a little more color to my outfit than a tie.”

“Of course,” Wonwoo said, moving to stand behind you, his chest nearly brushing your shoulder as he studied your reflection. “You’re the business one, we want to make sure you pop.” His eyes lit up. “I know.”

He didn’t quite have it the first few times, but finally, after taking over a changing room and trying on enough outfits that the both of you had nearly filled the reject cart, you walked out of the store with your purchases on your arms.

You stopped for takeout on the way back, too tired to cook, and ate dinner in a comfortable silence, leaning against each other and the couch as the TV played the weather forecast. When he dozed off against your neck, you forced yourself up.

“Come on sleepyhead,” you said, pulling him up with you. He made a few affronted noises but didn’t argue as you stole his trash and stowed the leftovers in the fridge and all but carried him into the bedroom.

“Dramatic.” You clicked your tongue, dropping him in the bed and moving to grab your sleepwear and get changed. His hand caught your wrist.

“You don’t have to take the couch tonight,” he said, and his voice was much clearer now.

“Well I’m not about to let you take it,” you said. “It’s my turn.”

“No, I meant--” he cut himself off.

“Oh,” you said.

“If you want,” he said hurriedly. “If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“Um-- if you’re okay with it,” you said, and your face burns and he looks kind of like he’s in the same boat and he drops your wrist.

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay,” you said, and made for the bathroom.

He was changed when you finished in the bathroom and you climbed into bed beside him. It was strange, sharing, even though you knew you’d done it before maybe. There was an ocean of bed between you that you didn’t dare cross.

You closed your eyes. “Goodnight, Wonwoo,” you said, the words echoing off the wall you faced instead of him. Then, quieter, “You mean the world to me.”

(it’s the best rest you’ve gotten in what feels like forever; you wake up in a tangle of limbs but neither of you are in a hurry to pull away)

You idled outside the building, picking at the sleeves of the shirt you’d picked out the day before.

“Ready?” Wonwoo asked, making eye contact. You nodded, eyes slipping down to rest on the pink tie, the same pink as you’d chosen your shirt to be. He held out his arm, like a gentleman, and you took it.

The room rented for the dinner is as stuffy as you expected. You made small talk with coworkers you’d only ever seen for five minutes at the printer, and played the people watching game with Wonwoo in hushed tones whenever you got a spare moment. Seungcheol swung by a few times to check in and spill a bit of corporate gossip in a hushed voice, both with and without Joshua by his side.

“It’s a game we play,” Seungcheol explained when Wonwoo asked about it. “We make small talk together, he sends me to ‘get drinks’ and then talks me up behind my back.” Seungcheol glanced over at Joshua, where he was chatting calmly with two members of the board of directors. “He’s really good at it.”

Your social battery died about halfway through, but you forced yourself to soldier on. It probably wouldn’t look good if you left early. Hopefully no one would notice as your responses grew shorter and your smiles more strained.

Wonwoo took your hand after you laughed a little too loud at a coworker’s joke, and then turned to you when they had said their goodbyes to do another sweep around the floor. “Are you okay?” he asked softly. “Is it time to go?”

You shook your head. “I shouldn’t leave early.”

“We’ve been here more than half the time, I think we’re allowed.” He folded your hand between his, rubbing it soothingly. “We can use me as an excuse, say I got tired. Please don’t force yourself to stay; I can tell something’s wrong.”

You kind of wanted to cry, and you didn’t know if it was the stress of the evening or what. “I don’t deserve you,” you said.

He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and tugged you in. “You deserve the world,” he said softly into your ear.

And then you left the party.

You stopped at the park, instead of going directly home, sitting at the fountain’s edge.

“You remember when we got takeout?” he asked.

You did. “When we first played the people watching game, right?” you asked, and stopped. That hadn’t been the first time; you’d played it all the time before hadn’t you?

“Yeah,” he said. “You dropped me off.”

“You got really into the game,” you said. “That idol guy’s backstory was impressively complex.”

He laughed, soft and fond, and yet also flat. Like there was a layer of irony you hadn’t caught.

“When you dropped me off at the bookstore, you said that-- you said ‘you mean the world to me’. And-- we’re dating, at least according to Vernon, and, this whole time you never said ‘I love you’.” He looked at you. “Why is that?”

You open your mouth, the answer of a shared back and forth you two had used since university sitting on your tongue, but it didn’t come out. You just closed your mouth.

Because it wasn’t. It wasn’t something you’d said since university. You-- hadn’t known him in university.

“I’m not sure,” you said, bewildered because it was true. Why did you say that?

“It’s just stuck with me,” he said. “Ever since that first day, when I didn’t--” he cut himself off. “It was like I’d been dropped into this world from another one,” he said. “I didn’t know anything, and-- you were a total stranger.”

Another world. Total stranger. The words vibrated against the walls of your skull. You’d thought of him like a stranger too, even though you knew him. At least you thought you did. But you didn’t know him in university, you didn’t know him at all.

“But, as time went by, and I got time to know you, I realized something,” he said, and he took your hand in both of his. “And I don’t think we’re strangers anymore.”

Strangers, you were strangers. What had you thought, that first day? How did you even know it as the first day, beyond Wonwoo’s strange actions? You weren’t thinking of it like the first day of Wonwoo. It was the first day at all. You didn’t know him.

“I guess. . .” he trailed off. “I guess what I want to say, is just that I. . .”

He wasn’t your housemate or your boyfriend or the guy you knew from the frat. He wasn’t-- he was--

Oh god.

You tore your hand from his.

Everything went deathly silent.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Seokmin’s voice rang out.

Your head jerked up.

Time had frozen around you. Wonwoo still sat by the fountain, looking in your direction with an expression of distress, his hand reaching after you. You scrambled back. He didn’t move.

“I guess this means you figured it out?” Seokmin asked.

You looked at him. “What have I done?”

“A wish was made,” he said. “I granted it.”

You blinked. A flash, staring up into the sky from the window; “I wish I could tell him what he means,” you said to the stars, “every night. I wish I could tell him, he means the world to me.”

“You’re Santa.”

Seokmin made a face. “I’m with Wonwoo, let’s not call it that.”

“And Wonwoo knew the whole time that this was wrong?” you asked. He nodded. “Why? Why not me? It was my wish.”

He smiled. “Wishes don’t always work the way you expect them to.”

You shook your head. “Send him back now.”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t matter why Seokmin, just do it!”

He blinked at you. “For the record, I’m not actually Seokmin. I’m just borrowing his appearance, to keep an eye on you.”

You dug your fingers into the dirt, like a reminder it was still there. “And Seungcheol? Vernon? Chan?”

“Projections. Every person you’ve met here is a projection.”

“At least you didn’t abduct them.” You stopped. “At least I didn’t.” You shook your head. “But it’s done now. You have to send him back. He didn’t ask to be here, he didn’t want to be here!”

“And if he doesn’t want to go back?”

“Of course he wants to go back!” you shout. “Have you not seen the way he cares for the members? You said you were keeping an eye on us, did you miss that day at the park? He misses them! And I dragged him away!” You shoot to your feet, throat beginning to close up. “You have to fix this-- I have to fix this!”

The thing which was not Seokmin looked at you. “Don’t you wonder what he was going to say to you, before everything clicked?”

You swallowed. “Whatever it was, it was built on a lie. And it’s a lie I refuse to keep living.”

Not-Seokmin shrugged. “Then turn and look him in the eyes and wish everything back,” he said.

You did.

(if you cried when you woke up in a single bed you recognized as truly your own, you were the only one to know)

Wonwoo was oddly quiet in broadcasts from that point on. You couldn’t bring yourself to talk about him anymore. Someone asked you on Twitter if you had something against him.

No, you’d responded, he just reminds me of a recent ex. Every time I see him I think about them and it’s just too painful right now. I don’t hate Wonwoo.

Two days later, the Seventeen Twitter account dmed you.

I need to talk to you.

You sent, I’m sorry.

You deactivated.

You almost gave away your concert tickets, but you’d been planning on going with a friend before everything and you wouldn’t let them down. You went despite all your misgivings. With the stage lights on full blast, there was no way he’d be able to see you in the audience. You were safe, with your seats halfway up the concert hall, half a mile from the stage.

And then Seventeen, in the middle of their set, hopped off the stage, into the audience.

You’d wondered why certain aisles had a security detail around them.

If it wasn’t the middle of a song, you’d ask the people farther down the row to switch with you but you didn’t dare move around; it had been drilled into you that doing so during a performance was disrespectful. You were the seat on the aisle, and Wonwoo was on his way up, his eyes scanning the crowd with a sharp determination even as he continued his verse flawlessly.

Would looking away be more conspicuous than staring?

Should you jump to blend with the energy of the crowd, or freeze so he didn’t look?

It didn’t matter.

He’d seen you.

He took the stairs two, three at a time, stopping on the landing beside you, turning to face the rest of the hall again as his verse finished, and then he glanced at you.

The spotlight shone on his face.

“Please don’t leave,” he mouthed, or maybe said, but the combined roar of the crowd and the blood rushing in your ears drowned it out completely.

And then he turned to complete the performance, leaving a few fans looking at you wistfully.

(several of them came up after the concert to congratulate you, to gush about how lucky you were, to speculate about what happened and laugh about it; blessedly no one was openly rude about it)

You sat on the edge of a fountain, in the plaza a block from the back door of the concert hall, fidgeting with your sleeves. You didn’t know if you were crazy. You probably were crazy, waiting for him. He’d be livid. He had to be livid. He’d never forgive you.

But whatever closure would mean for him, you’d give it to him.

Anything.

The back door of the concert hall slammed open and a figure came bolting out towards you. They skidded to a halt at the edge of the fountain, and you could see Wonwoo’s eyes over the mask.

“I wasn’t sure you were going to stay,” he said.

“I wasn’t either.”

“I’m glad you did.” He sat down on the edge of the fountain. “I really need to talk to you.”

“I’m sorry,” you blurted, before he could get upset.

He blinked. “For what?”

“For making the stupid wish and dragging you into an alternate universe, and then not even remembering doing it.” You rubbed your arm, staring at the brickwork. “I mean I was basically gaslighting you the entire time.”

“I know you didn’t mean it,” he said.

You toed the crack between two stones. “What all do you know?”

“How that world worked. How I got there. How I got back.” You saw him move, reaching out like he was going to take your hand, and then stopping himself in the middle. “I’m not upset with you.”

“You should be.” The words dropped out of your mouth. “You should hate me. You-- I basically ruined your life.”

“You didn’t ruin my life, you showed me what I was missing,” he said. “You remember when we played that people watching game? What I said about that man?”

You picked at a loose thread in your sleeve. “He. . . he was taking a break from the practice room.”

You saw him nod from the corner of your eye. “And I said he was getting a new perspective.”

“He’s seeing life from a new angle,” you said.

“It was as much my wish as it was yours,” Wonwoo said. “I felt lost. I didn’t know where to go next or what to focus on, and it wasn’t something the members could help with, but it was something you could help with. And you did.”

You felt numb. A wish was made. Not-Seokmin had given one last riddle, one you were finally understanding.

“You add a dimension to my life that I was missing,” he said. “Just, please-- please don’t leave me again.”

You looked at him, finally, sitting there on the edge of the fountain, his hair a mess from the performance.

“I didn’t want to leave,” you said. “I just-- I had to let you go.”

“You don’t have to here,” he said. “I know I don’t run a bookstore, and we didn’t meet in college, but--”

“I didn’t fall for you because you ran a bookstore,” you said. “The bookstore was window dressing. You’re you no matter what career you have.”

On impulse, you reached out. He met you in the middle and you laced your fingers through his.

“I love you,” you said.

He clasped his other hand around yours and lifted it to his lips, his eyes squeezed up in such overwhelming happiness you thought you’d cry.

“I love you too.”