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the-hexzone · 24 days ago

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Happy WIP Wednesday!

In honor of this special occasion and to show my appreciation for the many talented authors in our fandom, I’ve created a list of my favorite ongoing Arcane Jayvik fics as of April 2, 2025.

(Edit by @arcanegifs)

Post-Canon Stories

The Line is Covered in Jellyfish by Staroverlord (@yunuen)

Rated M | 6/10 Chapters | 65k+ words

Summary:

Jayce and Viktor survive the Hexcore, a blizzard, their own bodies, sharing a bed and all the things they’re too afraid to say. Slowly, they put themselves back together— piece by stubborn piece.

When Viktor finally asks why Jayce stayed behind inside the Anomaly with him, Jayce stares at him as though he’s supremely disappointed by the question— as if Viktor has betrayed his own brilliance by asking something so irredeemably stupid. “How could I not? We’re partners.”

Partners, Jayce calls them. Not for the first time, Viktor wonders: Partners in what?

Notes:

As much as I love the “Jayvik lands in a field of flowers” trope, I experienced a delightful level of schadenfreude when the arcane spat them out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere during a blizzard instead. Fighting to survive puts what transpired between them in the astral plane on hold, and everything left unsaid makes space for old insecurities and regrets that loom like the world’s biggest elephant in their one room dilapidated cabin. The resulting slowburn, wrought by avoidance warring with codependency and forced proximity, is exquisite torture for everyone involved—the readers especially. It’s also one of the funniest fics I’ve ever read.

***

motion on a circle by runesick (@runesick)

Rated M | 2/3 Chapters | 22k+ Words

Summary:

jayce and viktor make a vow to finish their work, together. the arcane has other plans.

(some exploration of whatever 'forever holding each other in the infinite embrace of the arcane' actually means)

Ekko’s face twists, looking around. From his expression, Viktor feels more confident that he didn’t somehow drop off while in transit. “Did we end up on a round-trip?”

“I… No, we would have noticed it coming to a stop,” Viktor says, his tone betraying his frustration too much to justify. He’s meant to be responsible here, responsible for himself and his student, regardless of their distance from campus. “Come, we have to try once more.”

“What happens if it doesn’t work?”

Viktor grimaces. “It will work.” He looks up at the ticket booth, cast-iron Piltie script molten into incomprehensible mud. “I’ll pay, c’mon.”

He hands his coins over and they smear with blood. Viktor checks his hands but there’s no cuts, no bleeding there. The cashier’s face twists, gold and ivory with no mouth to say ‘safe descent’ .

Notes:

I don’t think I’ve ever come across a piece of writing that perfectly captures the uncanny experience of dreams and nightmares in the way this fic does. The subtle terror of not-quite-right that grows, and grows, and GROWS as the narrative progresses is immensely compelling. I’m utterly thrilled by this darker interpretation of the infinite embrace of the arcane.

***

Dinner at Jericho’s by Avelera (@avelera)

Rated T | 4/6 Chapters | 14k+ Words

Summary:

It's been six years since the events of "Arcane", and Jayce and Viktor have spent those years traveling between dimensions on the Arcane's behalf, preventing the rise of Hextech. Now, they've finally been granted a break from their work and a chance to return to their home dimension to catch up with family and old friends. In which Jayce, Viktor, Caitlyn, and Vi go on a long-overdue double-date, and Viktor sees for the first time what happens when disaster duo Jayce & Vi are in the same room together.

“Oh no, I was afraid of this,” Caitlyn muttered.

Viktor frowned and glanced at her. “What is it?”

“I don’t know what it is, but whenever these two are together, their brains leak out their ears,” Caitlyn whispered. “I’ve found the best solution is just to clear a blast radius.”

Viktor stared. “Jayce? But… he’s a scientist, a man of reason!”

Caitlyn gave him a look. “Believe me, I know. But for some reason, none of that matters when these two are in a room together.”

Notes:

Our beloved characters are treated to a much needed night of light-hearted revelry after the events of Arcane put them through the ringer. Humorous fluff featuring bookstreet and their exasperated partners. Everyone is so happy and in love. This fic always puts a smile on my face.

***

Pygmalion by thats_a_secret (@twenty-qs)

Rated E | 7/? Chapters | 38k+ Words

Summary:

Jayce, in the Crucible. Viktor, in the Garden. And the Herald, in the worlds between.

They land in a field of flowers.

There is a version of the Herald who knows this place. Who has walked a thousand iterations of this field, in a thousand worlds and a thousand lifetimes. The same Herald who had carved that pattern into the blue crystal, knowing what it meant, knowing it would lead the keeper of his heart back to this place.

This Herald, the Herald of the right-here-and-now, knows only that he has found an unexpectedly soft landing.

Notes:

Beautifully written, dark, and bittersweet. The prose might as well be poetry. Each chapter is rich with detail in a way that every line feels like striking gold. It makes me want to grab a shovel and delve deeper. The narrative takes a shape not dissimilar from the wild rune—a web woven of poignant vignettes that offer kaleidoscopic views of the past, present, future, and spaces in between. I find somethig new with each re-read.

***

Capgras by wifidelis (@wi-fidelis)

Rated M | 10/? Chapters | 54k+ Words

Summary:

Jayce and Viktor are hurled out of the anomaly and dropped into the field where it all began. While it seems like the opportunity for a fresh start, Jayce's health rapidly begins to decline. In a desperate bid to save his partner, Viktor makes a series of shocking discoveries about Jayce's body and mental state... leading Viktor to believe that *his* Jayce is not what emerged from the Arcane with him.

Jayce, struggling with the effects of the Arcane on his mental state, also begins to wonder if he is himself anymore.

Through the haze, he finds Viktor, the sky folding to darkness and rippling into a multitude of stars behind him. Jayce begins to tremble in earnest, tears bending Viktor’s portrait amongst the cosmos.

“I didn’t fail you?” Jayce rasps.

“No,” Viktor breathes. “You succeeded.”

Notes:

A fic with all the painful, angsty details of what it means for Jayce and Viktor to survive the finale and return to physical forms. The ultimate sickfic. There is so much whump! Neither of them are okay, but Viktor is nonetheless foisted into the role of caretaker for a feverish, arcane-infected Jayce when they go on the run. I enjoy a lot of fics that heavily feature Viktor whump, but it’s really refreshing for Jayce to get a turn!

***

Canon!Universe AUs & What-Ifs

Progress Day by Avelera (@avelera)

Rated E | 2/4 Chapters | 11k+ Words

Summary:

It’s Progress Day, two years after Jayce and Viktor became partners, and the inaugural launch of the Hexgates is this year’s main attraction. Jayce and Viktor are the toast of the town and celebrating the best night of their lives when Viktor decides he’s ready to take the next step forward in their partnership.

Or: how to have the boy, how to lose him, and what happened after.

Viktor raised his glass towards the only person in the room who mattered. “There is, in truth, only one man to whom this night is owed. A man who… whose dream changed the course of my life forever. Jayce, if I had the chance to choose the path my life would take a thousand times over, I would always make the same choices that would have led me here, standing in this room with you tonight to make your dream a reality.”

Notes:

A canon compliant possibility of what Jayce and Viktor’s partnership entailed in the missing years between Act One and Act Two of the first season. The dramatic irony of impending heartbreak makes the present promise of intimacy all the more impactful.

***

Lies We Tell Ourselves by tenderwatches (@tenderwatches)

Rated E | 28/50 Chapters | 128k+

Summary:

In a city divided by power and wealth, Viktor returns to Piltover after years of exile—lungs failing and pride wounded—only to discover Jayce has rebuilt the very invention that drove them apart. As they reluctantly collaborate on synthetic Hextech crystals that promise revolutionary change, they uncover a dangerous connection between magic, ambition, and the toxic Gray choking Zaun's streets.

While rekindling their fractured partnership amidst scientific breakthroughs and political machinations, they confront the truths they've hidden from themselves and each other: desires long buried, sacrifices made in desperation, and the possibility that progress might come at too high a cost.

Some lies protect us, others destroy us—but the hardest lies to overcome are the ones we've been telling ourselves.

Four to nine months.

“Don’t let me run,” Viktor murmurs into the minuscule distance separating them, words barely audible once more. Jayce has to lean in to hear him, and he reinforces his gentle plea. “I… know myself. This will be difficult, and I will… try to retreat.”

Jayce kisses him again, softly, slowly, like he’s memorising the feeling. “I won’t,” he promises before he savours another kiss, letting their bodies come together again. Viktor fits against him as if he’s made for this space, somewhere between shaping the future and dreaming of possibility. When they part, he rests his forehead against Viktor’s, eyes closed. “Let me take you home.”

Notes:

A League of Legends/Arcane fusion. The Jayvik Divorce happens during the timeskip before they stabilize the crystals into gemstones. From there, dominoes topple one after the other, creating a world that is familiar yet also full of compelling story opportunities that went unexplored in canon. This is the reconciliation/slowburn fic to me.

***

Dress me in midnight, feast upon my bones by hexhomos (@hexhomos)

Rated E | 3/? Chapters | 34k+

Summary:

The rocket strikes through the heart. Reality collapses in less than five seconds.

Jayce rebuilds Viktor, little by little, piece by piece.

And if his partner comes back from the dead a little different, well... what's not to love? Jayce is a quick study. He can adjust himself into a suitable form. He pledged himself to this task a dozen years ago; he's in it for the long haul.

To put it bluntly: this is the one where Dr. Frankenstein runs away with his bride.

(Jayce follows Viktor down to the depths of Zaun, and amid the riots and war-banners, everything changes.)

He really thought they’d have more time. Jayce had assumed, no, believed, that all the accumulated years of sweat and labor would deliver him a reward of some kind. That the gods from realms above would smile kindly upon their accomplishments; that a miracle would happen. Viktor deserved as much. They were owed as much. (And in his heart of hearts, Jayce thought – I’d be buried in snow if it wasn’t for a miracle. I’ve seen it happen once. I’ve been saved once. It could happen again. I could repay my standing debt and make it happen one more time, just for him.)

Notes:

The gothic romance of it all is immaculate. This fic encapsulates the monstrous devotion of their partnership after Jayce revived Viktor with the Hexcore. They are both so unwell about each other. I’m eager to find out what happens next and dreading the consequences.

***

into perihelion by jasspurr (@jasspurr)

Rated E | 8/? Chapters | 48k+ Words

In which Viktor discovers that there is one thing worse than impulsively sleeping with your lab partner: doing it again.

And again. And again. And again.

Viktor knows that he needs to stop this. That he has exactly one chance left to stomp out the kindling before it takes flame and swallows him whole.

It should be so, so easy. All he has to do is walk away from the ledge.

But he can't. He can’t.

Notes:

This the second installment of basophobia, also known as Jayvik and Their Messy Situationship: The Series. The amount of pining and denial is off the charts! One might assume that sleeping together would remedy that—it doesn’t. It makes them worse. Exquisite emotional slow burn.

***

your teeth in my neck by b_o_i

Rated E | 22/23 Chapters | 201k+ Words

Summary:

In which Viktor is a sex worker, Jayce is one of his best clients, and they still manage to create hextech together. The rest is a little more complicated.

Councilor Jayce Talis is something of a running joke around here—the fact that he’s been coming here for years, since before he was anyone at all. A lot of the workers and regulars alike remember the stuttering academy student who stumbled his way in six years ago; the idea of that little asshole being a full-fledged councilor now is kind of hilarious. It’s also kind of infuriating, if you think about it too long.

Notes:

Over 200k+ words of plotty porn. This author is exceptional at writing emotional and physical intimacy. I always love when fics explore how certain changes to Viktor’s background might impact his political consciousness and core beliefs, and this story does exactly that. The evolution of Jayce and Viktor’s relationship from something transactional to partners of equal standing is a complicated, messy journey rife with political machinations and the growing social class disparities in Piltover and Zaun.

***

Alternate Timelines & Time Travel Fix-Its

In This New Skin by stillwatersounds

Rated M | 1/3 Chapters | 14k+ Words

Summary:

After the end of the world, Viktor and Jayce wake up back in the lab. Like none of it ever happened.

“We’re back,” Jayce is still saying, dulled behind the ringing in Viktor’s ears. “Before it all went wrong. Vik, this is incredible. Do you get what this means?”

It hits him slowly, bile rising in his stomach, what exactly it is Jayce is referring to. What it means for Viktor to be breathing. Inside his palms, he can still feel the stars ache.

Notes:

I’m obsessed with how this fic depicts Viktor struggling with his return to humanity and the difficult reality of second chances. This puts him at odds with Jayce’s ceaseless determination to fix things, and the resulting angst is marvelous.

***

Good Luck, Babe by Kosmos_Relic

Rated E | 23/? Chapters | 156k+ Words

Summary:

Post-Canon Fix it Timeline- Where Jayce can't let go how badly he messed up, Viktor needs a few reasons to break his cycle of withdrawing from others, and they both pretend they aren't the dumbest men in all of Piltover and Zaun combined.

He stares longingly at Viktor, the soft curve of hair around his ear, the twitch of his brow as he works through his confusion of Jayce knowing his name. But of course Jayce does. Knows his name. Knows how long he can sit before he's too stiff to walk. Knows his entire list of dreams to stop suffering of others- all of it blindsided because Jayce’s obsession with the arcane came and ruined everything good in him.

“How do you-”

“I’m sorry.” Jayce isn’t ashamed that his voice breaks, his body shaking with all the hurt of a different timeline, “I never meant- I only wanted to save you.”

Notes:

I love how the fandom took the idea of multiple timelines and ran with it! We have a feast of cakes, and this one is delectable. Post-canon Jayce winds up in a different timeline just as this world’s Viktor is about to seize his research and have him detained. Much to Viktor’s dismay, Jayce immediately abandons Hextech despite its clear potential. Jayce insists that they can help people and change the world through other means. This changes their partnership significantly, and a pre-timeskip passionate romance ensues. The two things I really enjoy about this fic are 1) the deviations between this timeline and Jayce’s native timeline that exist both in the periphery and main story and 2) a creative exploration of the arcane’s impact on Jayce and how it manifests.

***

Shake the Shadow by enby_chaos (@enby-chaos), ResidentHesitant (@crimewizards)

Rated T | 5/? Chapters | 26k+ Words

Summary:

After promising the old mage that he wouldn’t fail, Jayce is sent back to Piltover - ten minutes before his lab explodes. Knowing what he knows now, he can use that chance to change things - to stop his lab from exploding, yes, but to stop the hexcore's corruption before it can even start, too. With relationships to rebuild, a career to restart, and constant nightmares of the hexcorized world he barely escaped, Jayce has his work cut out for him.

Meanwhile, Vi wonders just how it is this Piltie knew her name.

“Sorry,” the topsider said, taking a sip of his drink. “It’s, uh– it’s been a weird day.”

“Yeah? Tell me about it.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Powder finish her juice and hop off her barstool with a wave, going over to bother the lad with all the books. The topsider watched her go, his eyes following her to the fellow’s table and going wide when he saw the other student. He immediately busied himself with his drink. Vander laughed. “You know him?”

The topsider took a too-large gulp of his ale, gaze fixed on the counter.

“I, uh. I haven’t met him, yet.”

Notes:

My favorite part of this fic is its use of Outsider POV. As one might expect, fixing the world with time travel makes you act really fucking weird. Jayce is an anxiety-ridden mess. Viktor is intrigued.

***

No red roses on our graves by moondust88

Rated T | 13/35 Chapters | 54k+ Words

Summary:

The destruction of Hextech reverberates across every universe, but in this one, its collapse is absolute. Every fragment of its power detonates in a catastrophic chain reaction, and those caught too close to it pay the ultimate price. The Arcane stirs. Reality bends, fractures yawning open where once there was order. And through those cracks, two broken souls are torn from the wreckage of their own world and thrust into another.

Viktor and Jinx wake up in a city that already grieves them. Viktor learns that in the aftermath of the explosions Jayce was sentenced to lifetime in prison. Desperate to get his soulmate out against Piltover's verdict, he turns to the only person who could grant it: Silco.

Jinx survives against her will—again. She’s tired. Tired of fighting, tired of losing, tired of being dragged back from the edge. But she believes she owes it to Silco (on account of the murdering and all) to make his dream of Independent Zaun come true.

Her mind lurched, trying to put together an explanation, any explanation, but the pieces didn’t fit. They weren’t even part of the same puzzle.

She had died. He had transcended. She had woken up here. And surprise, surprise, so had he.

Maybe she had finally lost it. Her grip on reality—shaky at the best of times—had finally, irreversibly, snapped. Maybe she had never left the wreckage. Maybe her body was still burning, buried in the ruins of her own making. Maybe she had never woken up at all.

Then—a breath. A tremor. A voice, hoarse, struggling through the weight of its own disbelief.

“This—” Viktor rasped, fingers trembling against the ground. “This can’t be.”

Notes:

Jayvik but also features a lot of Jinx and Silco, which I’m 100% here for. There is a bittersweet comfort that’s intrinsic to this premise, and reading it is like listening to sad songs just to feel something. Post-canon Jinx reuniting with this universe’s Silco, who is grieving the unexpected loss of his Jinx, broke my heart in two before stitching it back together. Then there is post-canon Viktor’s desperation to save a version of Jayce whose dreams have gone up in flames for a second time, taking this world’s Viktor along with them. I’m so, so excited for these parallel plots to intersect as Viktor turns against Piltover and aligns himself with Silco for Jayce’s sake.

***

Genre Swap AUs

Oathbreaker by queercatfam (@lesbianherald)

Rated E | 2/10 Chapters | 28k+

Summary:

When loyal Piltovian knight Jayce Talis gets severely injured in a fall, he's rushed to the infirmary and stripped of his duties. While recovering, he develops an infatuation with the Royal Apothecary in charge of his care, Viktor. He soon learns that Viktor has a dangerous secret, one that may test Jayce's loyalties to his friends, his family, and the very kingdom he's sworn to.

Jayce takes a few deep breaths. He focuses on Viktor’s eyes. Searches for something warm. Tangible. Human. That beautiful hand. He hopes and hopes and hopes Viktor will let him take it. Uses so much effort to reach out for it. He lets out a little sigh when Viktor does. He stares at Viktor’s hand in his own. He thinks of one of the first things he said to him.

“Do you…” his heart starts stuttering in this strange, unnatural rhythm. “Do you hold hands with - with all your patients or just your favorites?”

Notes:

Please, please, please read this masterpiece right now. The fantasy world building is incredible, and I’m absolutely loving the various ways canon elements have been adapted to this setting. The story’s conflict being rooted in magic and mages is such a lovely ode to the origin of Hextech.

***

Glory, Golden Boy by cazimiz (@cazimiz)

Rated E | 20/29 Chapters | 80k+ Words

Summary:

Zombie Apocalypse AU - Mostly everything starts the same and then everything goes to shit on Progress Day

And all that Jayce could hear was the sound of his own breathing and the roaring of blood in his ears.

He stood there, both hands on his hammer where one face of it was still stuck in the gore.

In the blue glow of Hextech, Jayce could almost tell himself that it wasn’t human.

Notes:

A terrifying, action-packed translation of canon into a zombie apocalypse story. The narrative is propelled by Jayce’s growing desperation to reunite with Viktor after the outbreak on Progress Day. I really enjoy that this fic brings zombies to Piltover and Zaun rather than placing the characters in an established zombie-ridden setting. The exploration of shifting politics and power struggles in Zaun and Piltover under these dire circumstances is fascinating. There is also plenty of badassery to go around among the ensemble cast.

***

Me [28M] with my roommate of 1 year [31M], I’m worried I might be homophobic towards him? by ivypool (@lesbianivypool)

Rated E | 12/13 Chapters | 85k+ Words

Summary:

The one where jayce can't figure out why he cares so much about the guys his new roommate brings home... and doesn't realize he's fallen in love until he's completely and totally fucked.

"So this whole roommate thing. I just wanted to ask, like… what are you looking for? Should I totally leave you alone?” (God, please say no.) “Should we just be, like, cordial coworkers?” (Please, please, please say no.) “Or do you want to be more like… friends?”

Viktor snorted. It was a sound Jayce was starting to crave. His heart squeezed.

“Yes, Jayce.” Viktor stood, leaning on his cane. “I think we should be friends."

Notes:

A fic where Jayce has a bisexual awakening without eating raw lizards at the bottom of a ravine and being tormented by hallucinations in the fire. This delightful Modern AU is based on that one viral Reddit post about that guy realizing he has gay feelings for his roommate. I can totally see Jayce authoring that post because he doesn’t realize he’s in love with Viktor. Also, special shout-out to Rio being a pet axolotl!

***

That’s all Folks!

#wip wednesday #jayvik #jayvik fanfic #jayvik fanfic rec #jayce talis #viktor arcane

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cheezeybread · 10 months ago

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Yuu's Overblot, Part Three!

The final chapter, the end to this triage of angst and stuff! Yippeeeeee!

- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶༒˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -

"Hey, YN!" Chirped one of the students in your Alchemy class, leaning across the table to give you an award-winning smile. He had short hair, nearing a buzzcut, allowing his ears to twitch and move freely- what was he, a jackal beastman?- and wore a Savanaclaw uniform. "You wanna be partners for this assignment?"

You forced down a groan, knowing this guy's habit of partnering up with you for projects and leaving you high-and-dry to do all the work yourself. Before you could reply, you felt a hand gently rest itself on your shoulder.

"Actually, they said before class that we could partner up." You glanced up to see Jade, giving a tight-lipped smile at the Savanaclaw boy.

"How's about you and me partner up, Sunfish?" Floyd asked with a wide grin, appearing out of nowhere and squatting down to be eye-to-eye with the boy. Without waiting for a response, he wrapped an arm around the students and began to drag him away, the Savanaclaw boy whining fearfully as his tail tucked between his legs.

You leaned back in your chair to look up at Jade, eyebrow raising "Sunfish?"

"They're useless creatures who are rather ugly..." Jade chuckled, putting a hand over his mouth "My dear brother enjoys putting the nomer on creatures he finds unsavory."

"You guys are nuts," You chuckled. They weren't even in this class with you, since they weren't Freshmen. But lately, they had a tendency to show up whenever you needed it most. Especially when it came to classmates wanting to use you to do their work for them. But sometimes they weren't there....which gave you a perfect opportunity to practice on saying no to any students.

But you'd be lying if you said you didn't find it entertaining to watch the tweels use their powers of being terrifying for your benefit.

---

Everything was getting better.

All of your friends- even the Housewardens you weren't on the best speaking terms with- began working harder to make your life easier. Riddle made sure you understood all of your assignments, and helped you learn new studying techniques. Trey baked you goodies. Cater helped you learn more about the world through social media. Ace and Deuce were more supportive and protective of you. Leona, Ruggie, and Jack all made sure that you had a room available in Savanaclaw if anything happened again- or if Ramshackle were to collapse on itself. Azul made sure his VIP door was almost always open to you if you needed financial advice, and he made good on his promise to get you an easy job. The Twins, well....they did their thing. Kalim invited you to every party he threw (not that he didn't do that before) and gave you gifts from his homelands, providing you with furniture and decorations for Ramshackle. Jamil made sure you ate well, cooking whenever he felt you were having a bad day. Vil helped you with skincare and Alchemy work, even lending you some potions to use in "emergency" situations if you ever came across unsavory folks. Rook was- well, he was Rook. Epel offered a helping hand in the way of a beating if anybody messed with you. Idia and Ortho made certain that you had more than enough tech to keep you on a level playing field with magic-users. Malleus lent a shoulder to cry on and a venting buddy. Lilia and Sebek taught you self-defense. Silver was also a venting buddy, but he offered less than reasonable solutions to your problems (most of which were purely for chuckle purposes). And Grim tried to get into less trouble. Tried.

And all of the Housewardens kept their promise about researching a way to get you home. You'd receive updates on their progress once a week. Sometimes they'd have a bit of info found in an old library book that might have been about your world, or maybe a passage found on dimensional travel. Sometimes they wouldn't have any updates, but they'd still be sure to tell you.

And as for Crowley himself. Well....Malleus wasn't lying when he said that he had him tied up in Diasomnia's basement. It gave you an opportunity to have a nice little "chat" with the Headmage without him interrupting with his incessant babbling. It almost pained you to take the gag off of him. But the two of you came to an agreement that you wouldn't be doing his work for him anymore. You would be living in Ramshackle for free, not only because you and Grim were a student together, but because it was the Mirror's fault you were trapped here. You owed Crowley nothing for merely existing in the wrong place.

And you started to feel better about life, bit by bit. With almost all of the pressure taken off of you, it made life feel more easy, more relaxing. You started to enjoy your time in Twisted Wonderland, even! Maybe if there really was no way for you to go home, then you could make a happy life for yourself here.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

But it was nice to have the option. And it was nice to feel okay since this all started.

You were better.

- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶༒˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -

191 notes · View notes

velvetvexations · 10 months ago

Note

Can confirm I've been on here for years now and before Gamer Gate and then the rebirth of Terfism happened the widely accepted feminist talking point was that men suffer under the patriarchy and how we need to talk about that because one of the fastest ways to get cis men on our side was to show them we were already on their side!

I remeber posts with hundreds of thousands of notes talking about how men are assumed to be worse caregivers than women to the point that in custody battles even if the mother is beyond a shadow of a doubt the worst abusive mess ever and the dad is the embodiment of a perfect parent the kids will end up with the mom. It doesn't even matter if the dad says he wants the kids and the mom says she doesn't, the women still gets assumed to be the better caretaker!! This is misogyny effecting men!!

And I know MRAs are terrible but I remember a video going around talking about their recruitment points, like how more men die doing dangerous jobs and the draft or men getting no help when they've been abused by women and being assumed to be violent predators even when they haven't done anything and like yeah, they 100% came to the wrong conclusions about what causes the problems and what the solutions are bcs it's easier to act like women are the problem, but those problems as they were introduced in the early 2010s were actual problems feminism is trying to address, and if these men could see that we are fighting the same fights and join US we'd be stronger. There was a prominent internet feminist who got full on red pilled just by listening to men tell her about their real actual problems, and the time they pulled the rug out on blaming women it was too late, she was convinced, because yeah women aren't the real problem at the root of men's issues they do HAVE ISSUES. The trick is that they just need to tackle the patriarchy, not women. I also saw stuff that legit talked about how to recruit men by pointing out how badly the patriarchy "serves" them!! (GamerGate quickly ruined any and all salient points that existed in the MRA movement bcs the internet is a feedback loop and anger is easy/fun sadly but yeah I feel like it's weird to act like they were always wrong no matter what when they at least did point out real problems.)

And like RBG partially made her name in the courts defending a CIS MAN on the basis that he was being discriminated in a way a CIS WOMAN would not have been, and the ruling allowed for insane amounts of progress for women. A man not being allowed a tax credit to hire a nurse for his bedridden mother is one of the first things that challenged discrimination on the basis of sex in America. But sure men ONLY gain benefits from the patriarchy. It NEVER hurts them too!! And helping them won't benefit us!!! Making them our allies is silly they should all shut up 🙄

Hell back in the 2010s I still remember seeing trans men talk about how horrible and alienating it was for all of their female friends and family to suddenly start acting like they were a threat, and not just pointing out the inherent transphobia, the guy went on to talk about that they finally get why cis men are the way they are, they suffer from systemic emotional neglect. And yeah that obviously does not mean women owe them emotional avaliablity and sex, but maybe the patriarchy telling men to be big tuff guys who never hug or cry or like anything even a little girly HURTS THEM and is a direct cause of a LOT of the problems we're dealing with rn!!! There was a whole study about how widows tend to live a lot longer after their husbands because they have friends and family to lean on and weren't taught to suppress their emotions, meanwhile widowers tend to die VERY quickly after their wives because they no longer have someone who it's okay for them to be open and emotional around, and not having someone you can do that with KILLS PEOPLE. People were saying again, this does not mean women HAVE to take on all their problems, but maybe that we need to stop assuming men don't need emotional support and teach our sons to not be afraid of being ulnerable, honest people because systemic emotional neglect IS BAD FOR YOU ACTUALLY.

These were ACTUAL conversations that swept this damn site. This was the direction feminism was going in. We were on the cusp of a beautiful age of 4th wave feminism with the knowledge that the patriarchy seves no one well and free the nipple and no gender segregated bathrooms and sports, and now just pointing out that we need to maybe understand the ways men struggle under the patriarchy if we've ever going to have them join and help us build a better world gets my inbox flooded with both terfs and so called progressive feminists calling me a gender traitor for being willing to admit men arent the source of all the world's ills and WE NEED THEM ON OUR FUCKING SIDE. I used to proudly call myself a 4th wave feminist back when people still claimed to be of the 3rd, and now idk what I even am. A bell hooks and leslie finberg feminist I guess, since they actually seemed to get it.

Yeesh. Anyway sorry that got heated. This has just ruined my brain. I do not understand where tf we went wrong, bcs hell back in the day we also pointed out how TERFs were wrong to want men and people they perceive as men and those "tainted" by men put to death for existing so they could build their stupid white supremacist wombyn utopia. We KNEW hating men just for being men was wrong and regressive and hurt maringalized men and did NOTHONG to push feminism forward. We talked about the issues that men face and how to raise our sons to be better. But idk I guess Gamer Gate and the Incel movement took off right as TREFs figured out the whole ace and truscum discourse thing wasn't working and they just needed to doctor their arguments against men better and radical feminism took off and this entire site regressed 1000 years and thinks trans men of all people are just as bad as cis men and trans women have a monopoly on an entire axis of oppression like?????

And I'm not putting the blame squarely on anyone aside from the radfems who started this shit but it does NOT surprise me that we are seeing a massive resurgence of biphobic, transmedicalism, and aphobia since half the queer discourse I see these days is anti-transandrophpbia assholes just word for word repeating the kind of blatant aphobia and truscumery that would have gotten you suplexed off the face of the earth in the 2010s with the identities swapped. Just word for word monosexist aphobic shit. Legit is giving me flashbacks, it's insane.

I have never in my life been more disappointed in my community of queer feminists. This is masks all over again. Like is this how kids who grew up evangelical feel when they realized actually the adults didn't mean literally love all your neighbors silly just the Correct ones?? I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. What the hell happened to us.

Thank you for writing all this anon, you put enough work in it I'm gonna toss it in the tags, I think it deserves to be seen. <3

The problem with MRAs was never that they believed men had problems too, but that they used certain things - like their disadvantage in custody hearings, for instance - as a cudgel in a malicious crusade against a target they hated anyway for not fucking them. Now with as quick as people are to say things like "what, are you saying androphobia exists too?????" it feels as though we've completely forgotten the actual reason we ever hated MRAs to begin with.

It's the same with the dating article where the most basic possible interactions between two adults mutually seeking a hook-up were taken to be pick-up artistry.

#transandrophobia

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monkebearness · 2 months ago

Text

More Than a Chance Encounter

Ji Suhyeon (tripleS JiYeon) x Male Reader

Tags: fluff, angst, romance

Word count: 9.2k

a/n: no smut yet, the first one really took a while to finish XD. however, a new one is in the works. for now, I hope you like this, if you are into this genre, at least.

The holiday season in one of the biggest malls in Seoul has made it crowded, as the year comes to a close in a couple of months. It still isn't as urgent and traditional like they do in America, but it's still a lot for Korea’s standards. Despite labels and posters of cheaper prices being stacked on a plethora of products, most of the supermarket is filled with the loud hum of the air conditioner as well as the movements of automaton couriers rushing in and out of the place. Nowadays, most people tend to visit to get some not so fresh nor natural, but nevertheless refreshing wind and spend time with their loved ones through various forms of recreation, entertainment, and the last reason: purchasing necessities for their families and friends. Necessities that are also known as gifts and groceries.

“How do I even use this..?” he whispers to himself, pressing all the buttons he can on the screen of the kiosk, only to end up in the same error popping up with an irritating sound that irritates even the folks behind him.

Self-checkouts at supermarkets are no longer the future because now, they’re the norm, here in the present. And yet a lot of customers are still stuck to the past, but reasonably so. Certain machines are not as simple as one would think, since these models are still new to the public, some of whom aren’t tech-savvy. This man in a suit just happens to fall into this case of generational dilemma. It’s a miracle he doesn’t even freak out yet.

“Ahjussi!” a voice roars from the end of the line. “We don’t have all night. Hurry up.”

But some would still take the advantage to shop in person during the holidays since, in most cases, it’s simply faster for people who visit after school or work. And as more and more users shop online, face-to-face customers take the advantage to buy in person just the same, especially when the couriers are taking a little longer than they want.

“Look, I’m trying to figure this thing out,” he mumbles as loud as he can. The longer he’s standing there with no solutions, the more he can feel the moisture accumulating on his scalp and realize how his fingers start to shiver under pressure. “I, um, I don’t think this thing is working. Does someone know how to fix this?”

“Maybe you broke it, old man,” another voice yells. “You should’ve just ordered online, so we didn’t have to deal with your mess!”

He can only sigh at the mockeries fired at him, but his patience remains high. Thankfully, karma finds its way to the heckler at the back, as the guard approaches and warns the pair to stop their impolite behavior. With the voice finally simmering down, the man in the suit is making some progress with the kiosk, but his ears catch footsteps getting louder and louder by the second. Clenching his fists in unease, he braces for whoever else may give him an earful.

“If I may, ahjussi…” He hears another voice from behind, now a calmer and feminine one. For some reason, his levels of anxiety begin to drop. “Let me help you with that.”

About six centimeters shorter than him, the woman’s ethereal appearance and attentive presence stuns him, prompting the man to step aside and let her deal with his problem. Despite being the very person behind him in the whole line, he didn't even notice her, since all his mind was focusing on was sorting out the kiosk by himself until he himself would have inevitably broken down due to the hecklers constantly mocking him. What surprises him is that she’s not in a uniform, yet she's able to fix his problem within half a minute, making him wonder whether or not she’s somehow from the staff.

“It’s not your fault,” she mumbles while he watches her from the side. “These kiosks are new. All you need to do is select the settings, change the method and—there! All your items are now totaled.”

He lets out a sigh of relief. “That’s really good to know. Kamsahamnida, Miss.”

She bows in response, while he hurries transferring his groceries into his shopping bag. Afterwards, the man would have gone on with his own business, but this encounter was different for him, aside from the fact that he rarely asked or received anyone’s help until the machine broke. His own machismo isn’t gonna let him be without trying to offer his assistance to the woman when she also finished her checkout a couple of minutes later. He sees her walk in his direction. “I’m sorry if I’m being a bother again, but let me help you with that too. If it’s fine with you.”

“Oh… Kamsahamnida.” Despite being taken aback by his action, she bows to him before leading the way throughout the market’s exit, where they are welcomed by the full moon in the sky. He carries three stuffed eco bags—two on the left and one on the right—while the woman carries a lighter one. She would often take a few glances at him out of concern, though he tries to reassure her with a few nods and a meager smile. A thought on her mind pushes her to help him by calling an auto-cart inside, but they’re already far from the store.

He can’t help but take a few peeks inside her bag as they stroll along the lane. While he isn’t able to see the items clearly, curiosity has already gotten the best of him. “You got a lot of stuff there. Do you mind if I ask what the occasion is? Christmas is still a couple of weeks away.”

“They’re for a family gathering.”

“Oh, mine too! I mean, it’s not unexpected, but I believe folks rarely buy stuff this early before Christmas. Let alone in person.”

“That’s true, but I’d rather not risk having delayed deliveries, considering the digital traffic… Or you know, missing some important ingredients for your recipes.”

“That’s a fair point,” he slowly nods.

“And you…” She takes a longer gaze at his eco bag. “You don’t have as much… Though it still looks heavy. Probably heavier than mine. I could’ve called an auto-cart back inside.”

“No, it’s fine,” he keeps insisting with a chuckle. “Gwenchana, seriously. I’ve carried heavier loads of paperwork than these in the past couple of years.”

“Arasseoyo, Mister Muscle,” the woman shoots back. Her raised eyebrow expresses intrigue and amusement, even if she can tell that he’s just trying to impress her to a degree, and realizing it makes her let out a chortle as they walk to the bus terminal.

He tries to continue the conversation, or at least keep babbling on from the top of his mind as they finally arrive at the lane. The only thing is—they just missed the last bus. The next ride won’t arrive for a while, unless they walk to another stop. But considering their distance to the nearest one—as well as their goods being quite a handful, neither of them seems to have the intention of doing just that.

A topic finally pops up in his mind, still driven by his curiosity about her minutes earlier. “Do you remember when those counters were still filled with cashiers? It must’ve been a kind of culture shock, finding out that we’re gonna have to check out our own groceries all by ourselves, unless we order online.”

“Yeah, I remember it clearly,” she admits with a more or less indifferent tone. “It hasn't been that long since they finally got rid of the last batch…” But the more her words come out, he senses jadedness and discouragement in her voice, despite saying a lot. “It sucks to see them leave, but what are you gonna do?” She sighs, much to his worry, even if he doesn’t know what her problem is about. “The company’s too afraid of falling behind.”

His mind compels him to do something, hoping to cheer her or lighten up the mood. “You must’ve frequented here often to know all of that… You even know how to fix a kiosk and you’re also worried about the cashiers. Are you the manager of the store?”

She keeps herself from scoffing at his genuine amazement, and the fact that he’s still basically glazing her for her mere act of assistance. “Um, no. Not as a manager, but I used to work here… As a cashier.”

“Oh…” Fuck is the first word that darts through his brain, followed by shit and crap. Immediate guilt and regret strike through his heart, believing that he’s offended her with his words. Why didn’t I think of it before? “I didn’t mean to phrase it like that. Joesonghamnida.”

“Oh, no, no!” she waves her hands in a slight panic while he starts to bow to her. “Don’t apologize. I wasn’t offended, and I understand your point, but I still work here. It’s just not my shift tonight.”

“You’re still working here?” he wonders, confused yet just as curious about the wave of conflicting info he has learned. “But I thought the cashiers had been discharged in this supermarket since last year… That’s why I thought you’d be a manager or something.”

“Most of us were,” she nods. “But some of us were lucky enough to stay here and were reassigned to other roles. I’m just a kiosk specialist now—which is just a much fancier way of saying that I’m a technician.”

They both chuckle at her remark. “I don’t see anything wrong with that,” he considers. “I think you have more experience than some folks in corpo nowadays. I think it’s always a plus when you learn things hands-on.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” she slowly nods. “Though, I don’t believe I know more than those with desk jobs. But, I do think we have as much experience when working with people.”

“Now that you’ve brought it up, people aren’t as many here compared to back then. It’s always been more convenient to shop online in the past decade. I just really think it is a bummer that a lot of workers have to be fired because our means of living have become easier now, no thanks to those bots.”

“It’s true, but I wouldn’t entirely see everything as negative,” she retorts. “As much as you’re right, there’s new jobs out there. Ones where we can start using our brains and bodies more often. Act more like a human for once, you know?”

He sees her somber smile as they lock eyes. The smile doesn’t appear to be forced, but rather wistful. Perhaps he’s been complimenting her way too much, and it’s starting to come off as annoying. Maybe she’s going through something or has been through a lot, but that’s not in his right to know, since they’ve only met. “Based on that, I’m guessing you don’t love your job. I don’t know how else to say it, since I’m just a stranger… But I hope you hang in there.”

She tilts her head while her lips pout. “Love? Hate? Hmm… I haven’t used those words to describe my jobs. Not in a while... I just know how to adapt and get used to whatever job or gig I can get by. But now that you mentioned it, I do love gaining more and more experience, just as I hate dealing with cranky customers, like that heckler from earlier.”

“But, umm,” she adds, feeling a glimmer of sincerity with what he just said. “Thanks for saying that. As a ‘fellow stranger’ myself, I appreciate it. I hope you hang in there, too.”

Amidst the winter breeze, the woman brings out a scarf from her bag and wraps it around her neck, before rubbing her hands and blowing into it. Her gestures give him an idea, which may or may not work, but that’s the least of his worries. He still feels a sense of debt and gratitude for her after she helped him out earlier—no matter how trivial it is. Perhaps due to the fact that she just happens to be beautiful and polite, maybe there is something else that he’s feeling, but he brushes it off. He doesn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable more than the frightening possibility that she already is, being with him.

“Hey, uhh… I think the next bus won’t be here for a while,” he brings up. “Would you mind if we grab a cup of coffee or tea first? Anything you’d like, really. It’s my treat.”

The woman is touched by his sudden suggestion, yet her lingering sense of pride is making her feel hesitant to accept it. “Oh, that's too much. You don’t have to…”

“It’s the least I can do, since you helped me out at the counter,” he avows. “I would’ve given you my stamp coupon from a café I often visit, but I’ve used all of it. That is… If you’re not in the rush right now. I’m just suggesting, cause it’s getting colder out here and we might need a place to warm up for a bit.”

She laughs at his honest statement, not caring whether he’s joking or telling the truth. His somewhat awkward yet honest deliveries have fascinated her for a while now. If it was like any other stranger, she would’ve left or ticked them off moments ago, but she doesn't feel too tense around him. It's in a way, refreshing. Besides, it is up to her if she will regret meeting him at a later time or not. She’s a grown woman, and if he even does anything funny, there are people everywhere. For now, she doesn’t feel like she wants to ditch him. At least, he has yet to give her a fair reason. “It’s fine, but since you’re the one offering, perhaps a cup of hot chocolate will do for me, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, that’s perfect!” a hint of enthusiasm arises in his voice, astonished that she even went along with his improvised suggestion. “Where would you like to order?”

“Hmm… I think you should lead the way,” a smile forms on the woman’s face while placing an index finger on her chin, insinuating her anticipation. “Seems to me like you’re the café connoisseur.”

The man chortles at her compliment. “I just know quality drinks, that's for sure.”

“Though I do prefer if we go somewhere closer to here,” she requests. “Just in case we catch the next bus arriving.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” he hums. “I think I know just the place.”

He raises the three eco bags off the pavement with his care, although the woman assists him into carrying them properly. However, before she can follow his footsteps, she feels a buzzing in her pocket. Her eyes widened at the message she just received seconds ago.

“Joesonghamnida!” she suddenly bows to him in a fast sequence, her voice mirroring her rushed pace. “I got an urgent thing to do back home. But if you want, we can have coffee some other time.”

He didn’t expect her to say those latter words, but it gives him a sense of hope. That she didn’t misunderstood his intentions. But in a fit of internal panic, rummages his hands inside his messenger bag to find something. Within seconds, he pulls out a wrinkled small card at the same time the woman hails the nearest taxi cab on sight.

“Of course, of course… It’s okay! Here's my call card,” he hands it over. “Just call me up through that number and, umm, we can meet up wherever you like.”

The woman keeps the card inside her eco bag just in time as the cab stops in front of the sidewalk. Opening the backseat door for her, the man helps her get two of her shopping bags in the middle of the seat. Once everything has been sorted out, she turns to look at him—both in relief and guilt—and bows to him once more. “Kamsahamnida, ahjussi... And, uhh, Merry Christmas.”

After she heads inside the vehicle, he sees the taxi leave the mall grounds, heading into a lane of the greater concrete sea and finding a spot among the fellow school of headlights.

“I don't know what just happened,” he whispers to himself, as he sees a pair of bigger headlights approaching from a distance. As it gets closer, more and more people, most of whom are also packed with tons of holiday goods in their arms, behind him start gathering in a line. “I just hope I didn't ruin her night.”

= = =

It's been a few weeks since New Year’s passed. He hasn’t received any calls from her, but he never realized it. After spending time with his family at home, he gets back to slaving away at work through meetings with the higher-ups and on-the-spot presentations. It is still the second week of January, yet everything becomes a blur when it comes to going through his routine. Things repeat in a cycle of the mundane. That has always been the case for him, until he receives a text from an unknown number during his lunch break.

[Unknown]: Annyeonghaseyo, ahjussi. Is this Young Sungwoo?

He shakes his head. His eyes can’t believe it, but the messages keep on being sent.

[Unknown]: I don’t know if you still remember me, but this is the lady from the supermarket.

I’m really sorry for leaving out of the sudden.

I had an emergency back at home.

Whenever you’re free, would you like to have that hot chocolate you promised?

Why is she still texting me? is the first instinctive question that pops up in his mind, followed by Is this a scam?, How is this possible?, The text sounds like her, but why is she apologizing when I’m the one who kept pestering her?, This cannot be happening, among many other thoughts clashing together as the unexpected situation leaves him in a state of analysis paralysis. That's until he takes another look at her last message. The hot chocolate. Of course! How can it not be her?

Assured by the texter's identity, he spends the remainder of his break, thinking of the words to text her back before getting back to his desk, perhaps with perhaps even more effort than most of his recent individual presentations at work since returning to work.

{{But I can adjust my schedule if you want to meet on those days.}}

[Unknown]: If you’re free today, then I was thinking later.

Since it’s Friday, you know?

Is that possible for you?

The café happens to be about eight minutes walk from his work, surprisingly enough. Entering inside, he sees her at one of the fifteen tables, almost half of which is seated with other customers. As their eyes meet, she waves at him.

“Annyeonghaseyo,” she greets him with a low respectful bow, which he reciprocates before taking the seat in front of her.

“I thought this would be a nice place for us to meet since I saw your company address.”

His mouth gapes, understanding her intention. “So that’s why this place is near our building! But, uhh… I hope I didn’t make you take a long ride.”

“It’s okay, ahjussi!” She raises her hand. “My place isn't that far from here either.”

“Please, don’t call me ahjussi,” he requests with a sheepish tone, raising his tone a little. “I’m not old. I just turned thirty.”

“Well, I’m not that old,” he adds in embarrassment. The man’s lowered voice makes her giggle. “Now that I’ve basically outed my age to almost everyone here, I guess I do count as an ahjussi… But I hope that doesn't make you uncomfortable.”

“Not at all,” she reassures. “Our ages are not that far after all… I’m actually twenty-six.” She then leans into him a little closer, curious at his own misgivings. “And by the way, I don’t even think you look old. You look just about our age… Even if you are an ahjussi, I wouldn’t mind lessening formalities between us.”

“Thanks.” He takes a sip of his cup. “Those hecklers at the market must’ve gotten to me.”

“They do look like they’re on the younger side,” she considers. “Kids these days, huh?”

“That’s true… But I don’t know how exactly their parents raised them, so I don’t think it’s worth holding any grudges against them. A bad day can get anyone riled up.”

His answer intrigues her. It may sound like a little lecture, but his answers resonate with her. “That’s, umm... Quite mature of you. You ever dealt with people like those at work?”

“Pretty much,” he slowly nods with instinct. “It comes with the territory, but we’ve learned that there are much better ways of discipline than screaming at them. Our generation, I mean.”

“I agree.” Her head tilts while taking a glance at him with wonder. In her mind, there’s nothing witty or insightful left for her to add. But I don’t think that should excuse them for making a mistake. They gotta learn how to better themselves.” Except for one.

His face can’t help but form a smile. Now, he doesn’t have anything to add. “Well said.”

Despite them simply being strangers who have met up for drinks, this moment feels nice and calming for them, yet something is still missing. He slowly turns to her with caution. “I–uhh–I haven’t caught your name before.”

“Oh, right,” she mumbles, her eyes growing at his realization. “I told you my age, but not my name, haha. It’s Suhyeon. And by your call card, I can assume you’re Sungwoo?” Her eyes squint with suspicion in an attempt to tease him. “Unless that was your coworker’s name, which you used just to call me or something.”

He chortles at her remark, raising his hands for a second. “That is my name. No tricks.” Sungwoo keeps his right hand raised, signaling an attempt to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Suhyeon.”

“I know, I’m just messing,” she shoots back, right before reciprocating his handshake with a welcoming smile. “And it’s nice meeting you, too, Young Sungwoo-ssi.”

Hoping to initiate their conversation this time, she tries to recall a few details from him since their previous encounter, as well as his card. “Wait, so you are from corpo right? I can’t believe you said I have more experience than the likes of you.”

He lets out a snicker. The fact that she even remembers that surprises him. “My opinion still stands. Some of my colleagues could be freeloaders whenever there’s team projects.”

She sighs just imagining some of his hardships. “That must be a chore to deal with.”

“It is at times, but like what you said, you just get used to it.” The silence is now his cue; it’s his turn to try and get to know a little more about his companion. “So, Suhyeon-ssi, what else do you do for a living, aside from being a kiosk specialist at the mall… since I remember you saying that you’re working from job to job.”

“Well, that was the case.” Her smile grows wider. “I stopped working at the mall about two weeks ago when a friend of mine recommended me to a new and more stable one.”

He puts down his now half empty cup on the table. “What’s your main job these days?”

“Starting from next week, I’m gonna be a company driver,” she informs him. “My friend works there, but I got hired through their interview and test drives.”

“I gotta say, you're quite amazing, Suhyeon-ssi. What can you not do?”

“You’ve been flattering me non-stop, Sungwoo-ssi,” she shakes her head with a snicker, before her hand instinctively reaches to the napkin box and wipes some of the stain off his sleeve. “You didn’t even notice that stain.” She looks up to see his lips, also stained with coffee foam. “And your lips—”

“Oh,” she stops just as the napkin touches his lips, realizing that her impulse has astounded him. “Joesonghaeyo.”

“No, it’s okay,” he tells her. “But I can handle it from here.” He takes the napkin from her hand, igniting a spark from her. “Thank you for noticing this. You got sharp eyes.”

“Must be a force of habit,” she quips, while avoiding eye contact with him. Her mind reflects on her unexpected, ceremonious gesture.

From that moment forward, the two would keep meeting on weekends for coffee and hot chocolate, finding the most mundane yet meaningful things to talk about inside the café. It doesn’t always happen, but when they both agree to meet up, they make the most of it. And whenever none are available, they start using their phones longer, whether through usual texts or calls, almost every weekend night. Through their sleepless hours, they get to know each other, exchanging fun facts about themselves & sharing jokes and memes. Even finding out about their favorite or least favorite things is enough to prolong their conversations from twelve midnight until two in the morning.

[Suhyeon]: Yah! Don’t just consider (╥﹏╥) I promise, you won’t regret it!

{{Sungwoo: Fine, I will try it out.}} {{Your ingredients on the hot pot were amazing, after all.}} {{My colleagues and I ended up gobbling them all down within an hour.}}

[Suhyeon]: You’re welcome! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

{{Sungwoo: And how about my recommendations? I gave you about a hundred dessert suggestions last time. I’m sure you would’ve tried some of them by now.}}

[Suhyeon]: Hmm… I’ll think about it. It was too many for me to remember a single one.

[Suhyeon]: Of course, I’m kidding! I did try that coffee toffee ice cream with my buddies. For a store-bought dessert, it's top-tier, that’s for sure. Cheap one too. You really love anything coffee-related, don’t you?

Sometimes, it takes a longer time for her to reply. He would think she’s introspective about something that’s trivial and mundane, or that he said something insensitive or offensive to her. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought questions like those up, but she always has an answer. Even if they sometimes come off as dismissive or evasive, Suhyeon’s insight resonates with him, to a past that even he rarely calls back to.

[Suhyeon]: Oh, you know… My friends and family. I’m sorry if that sounded cliche, but you get my point, right? Getting through college wasn’t easy for me. For pretty much anyone else, really.

[Suhyeon]: But that’s way back in the past. I’m quite content with what I got now. For the most part.

However, both of them are well aware that both or either of these pale in comparison to their meetings in person. Nothing beats the real thing, as a lot would say. Aside from coffee and chocolate, they would start ordering other drinks for once, sometimes even snacks they can munch on after work while they rant or share their thoughts. They found their own little ecosystem within the café’s area. Most talks would last for thirty to forty minutes, sometimes an hour—if not a few minutes longer, if they can’t help it.

Though, it never usually lasts more than that. Suhyeon whines that her parents have a less strict curfew for her even in her mid-twenties, which raises his eyebrow—though he never bothered to ask for any elaboration. She’d do the same thing for him, though there seems to be no problem with him answering her questions like he’s an open book.

“How about you then?” Because of Sungwoo’s amiable views and easy-going demeanor, Suhyeon eventually returns his curiosity by asking him about his occupation more than the call card he gave her about last December. “You must’ve been a marketing manager at your company at this point. You’ve read a lot of trends from the palm of your hand.”

“That’s flattering… But I am not there yet,” he confesses, wearing a simper on his face. “I don’t think I’ll even get there in a while. While being a no-name marketing specialist has its ups, you gotta deal with the rest of your team or even suck up to the older higher ups just to convince them that your idea is worth pushing through. I even don’t have any other time or the privilege to spend on outside work, at least besides these hours.”

“Hmm… You’re not alone. My friends are way out of my league… One’s a gourmet chef. The other’s banker. The other two even got promoted to higher positions just recently!” she lets out a deep sigh. “Until now, I still question why they are still hanging out with me…. Why they’re even making time for me.”

He doesn’t know how else to feel but amazement. “They must be great friends. Just considering how highly you speak of them.”

“Oh, they are!” she exclaims with enthusiasm, only for it to dip down within seconds. “It’s just… Ugh. I don’t wanna admit it, but I feel like I’m just being a burden to them whenever I meet up with them outside.” She places each of her cheeks on her palms, slowly rubbing them up and down as she groans with lower spirits.

“Don’t think of it that way,” he insists. “You still have a lot ahead of you, and plus, you’re not alone. There is nothing burdensome about having close friends… They rely on you as much as you rely on them. Clearly, you all care for each other.”

His words slowly warms Suhyeon’s heart. “Seems like you have good friends yourself.”

“Had,” he retorts. “Most of my friends are just being slaves to our work like myself. Even some of them are staying at home, raising their children, like almost twenty-four seven.”

Her glassy eyes are filled with sympathy and consolation, making her turn her head away from him for a moment as she puffs. Sungwoo senses her vulnerable moment.

“Everyone has their reasons or excuses why they’re busy, I get that... Life just happens.”

What he said casts a gloom over her in the form of less pleasant memories resurfacing.

“Sungwoo-ssi,” she mutters, keeping her own voice from trembling. “I–uhh…”

“What is it, Suhyeon?”

“Nothing,” she clears her throat. “It’s just… What you said was really something. I hope your friends got to do whatever they wanted back then. Not everyone gets to reach their dreams the way they expected, you know?”

“That’s true, but even if that seems to be the case, life doesn't stop after your twenties. I mean, it shouldn’t!” he asserts as a hopeful smile forms on his face. “And that is coming from someone who just left that chapter.”

She turns to him, reading his face. “Sounds like you've had regrets in your twenties.”

“Well, I can't deny that…” He chuckles at her deduction, not out of mockery, but the fact she has read his expression too well. “But then again, don't we all have those at some point?”

The woman gulps at his rhetorical question, but her once facade of somber eyes flare up. Her left hand slowly squeezes her empty coffee cup until the rest of her fingers meet her thumb around it. Keeping his hands clasped under the table, Sungwoo’s peripherals can sense her pent-up emotions slowly breaking out through her actions, although he does not say anything about it. Despite his concern, he knows that she doesn’t have to open up if she’s not ready. Yet for Suhyeon, taking in his honest words cools her down—in a fashion that’s familiar to her. “Butterflies” would be a cliche of a word to describe it. She remembers all too well how she has used that word about someone else before, and how it ended up to where she is now. The good, the bad, and the ugly of it all.

“I’m sure you'll get to reach what dreams you want to do,” he looks at her with solace. “Even if you don't realize what they are just yet. I hope you don’t give up on it.”

She stares into the blank space, considering his words, even though most of her mind has always been discouraging her from imagining anything. Pipe dreams won't get us anywhere, she reminds herself. And why are you even here? This is the last place you should be. But turning to him once again, Suhyeon senses the last thing she’d expected to happen in a long time. Her heart slowly beating faster. You should stop meeting him. Looking down on the floor, the woman just realizes the moisture building up in her eyes.

As tears begin to pour down her face, Suhyeon looks at Sungwoo once again, seeing his hand holding a piece of napkin in front of her. While sniffling, she looks up to his face. He doesn’t say or ask anything, except for the words, “Are you alright?”

“I... uhh... I don't know... But thank you,” she mumbles. Taking the white cloth from his hand, she begins to feel a familiar rhythm within her. One that’s growing louder than the lo-fi music that’s playing on the speakers.

But amidst their moment of bliss, they watch a child entering the café door—standing with daze and confusion while everyone else also looks at her with curiosity, adoration, or concern. Sungwoo expects the nearby young cashier or anyone else to approach and calm her down, yet instead, a collected Suhyeon walks to the girl first with an amiable and sympathetic approach. He follows her, astonished at her initiative and attention, though his worry still lingers for her due to her own moment of vulnerability earlier.

“Hey, little girl,” she kneels on her level. “Are you alright? Why are you here alone?”

“I…” The girl’s voice cracks as she starts to break down in tears. “I don’t know where my eomma and appa are!”

“It’s okay, don’t cry,” she holds her closer, comforting the sobbing child with a slow pat and caress to her back. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her, arachi? What’s your name?”

“Ha…Eun,” she sniffles. “My name… Is Haeun… What… Should I… call you, eomonim?”

Suhyeon uses the napkin to wipe off her tears. “My name is Suhyeon,” she turns to him with a gaze of trust. “And this ahjussi’s name is Sungwoo. You’re gonna be staying with us for a while. We can get you anything you want while we look for your parents.”

Hearing it from her again, he oddly doesn’t mind the term this time. Maybe it’s just the context it’s used that bothered him before, but as it left her mouth, it sounds—normal. It sounds complimentary. “Hello, Haeun-ah,” he greets her. “Do you have anything we can use to help you find your parents? Do you memorize their phone numbers?”

“I don’t—*hic*—know, ahju—*hic*—ssi…” Haeun tries telling him through her hiccups.

Suhyeon notices the lanyard on Haeun’s neck, finding the girl’s ID. “Haeun-ah… Can I take a look at this for a second?”

The girl nods, allowing Suhyeon to inspect the back of the ID. Her guess proves her right. “It has a phone number,” she informs Sungwoo and everyone else in the café, filling up the once disquiet and tense café with optimism. “We can call your parents, Haeun-ah!”

Almost twenty minutes later, a couple storms inside the café with faces of fright and disquietude. “Haeun-ah!” they cry to her. Their unease dwindles down at the second they find their daughter sitting on the table beside Suhyeon and in front of Sungwoo, taking a sip of her own smaller cup of hot chocolate.

“Eomma, appa!” Haeun rejoices, running to them in the middle of the café as her parents wrap her in a warm embrace, prompting cheers from the staff and some customers. Sungwoo can only smile at their precious moment, though he sees Suhyeon letting out a sigh in relief—droplets of sweat start to drip out of her scalp. Yet it also fascinates him that her smile grows much wider.

“Kamsahamnida, Miss!” Haeun’s parents bow to them in a rapid succession, bowing as low as their heads can reach. “Kamsahamnida, Sir! I don’t know how we can repay you. Thank you so much for looking out for our daughter.”

“Gwenchanayo,” she reassures them, holding each of their arms in hopes that they stop bowing to them—which they eventually do. “Just keep looking out after your daughter.”

Another several minutes pass. The sun had already set and rush hour had just begun. Suhyeon and Sungwoo have exited the café, taking a stroll to the nearby bus stop. With no words leaving any of their mouths, they’re only hearing the horns of whining drivers along with their own footsteps. She’s quieter around him, ever since he saw her in tears. It’s the first time she hasn’t spoken to him on their way home.

“You know how to handle that pretty well,” he praises her. “Have you ever considered being a nursery or kindergarten teacher?”

Her eyes widen, realizing something that only she knows. “I have to go,” she tells him with a fast and weak pace, contrasting her enthusiasm earlier. “I’m really sorry about this, Sungwoo.”

“Oh… It’s fine!” He wants to ask why, but he stops himself. He doesn’t have the right. Besides, it’s not the first time she’s told and left out of the sudden, he nudges himself. Even if she doesn’t tell the reason... Even if she won’t tell him the reason the moment they text tonight, like nothing strange ever happened. “Take care… Suhyeon-ssi.”

= = =

Three weeks have passed. Things start to drift apart. Suhyeon stopped texting first after the first week, but Sungwoo didn’t stop. Both people have had sleepless nights, but they never meet. Not even text as often as they did. Due to the gradual fall in their digital and personal interaction, Sungwoo eventually stops taking initiative. As their respective lives go on, he does his best not to succumb to the temptation of texting her over and over, to the point she becomes uncomfortable like he’s often feared since they met.

Of course, it would be far from the last time he receives a text from her.

[Suhyeon]: Hey, Sungwoo-ssi. Can we meet?

No coffee or chocolate. No avocados or desserts. Just each other’s chilling presence and their own breaths warming up this winter afternoon. He notices her new look. It’s not a uniform, but it’s a little more formal than the previous attires he saw her in.

He simply wants to tell her that she’s beautiful, yet his more soured and stubborn self wants to ask her why it took her this long, even though he knows that her personal life has never been his business, nor should it be.

“It’s been a while,” he breaks the awkward silence with a sigh. “Is everything alright?”

“Things have…” Her eyes are darted on the ground, her hands clenching on her knees. “Gotten busier at work.”

He senses that something else is troubling her mind, but he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself. He’s nothing but a friend, perhaps a mere close acquaintance to her. Someone who she can confide her most trivial problems to, and only that. But despite this meek and unassertive thought, he believes that—deep down—that may just be for the better.

“I don’t think I’ll be meeting you in a while,” she continued before he could’ve answered.

“It’s okay,” he said without a tone of complaint. “I understand that. No pressure.”

Such a response struck a nerve in her or punched through her gut. As if that’s not the answer she had hoped for from the man. “What if I don’t see you longer than that?”

“Then…” He wants her to explain why she’s asking him such a question, but he tries to remain reasonable, no thanks to his self-doubt. “I’ll understand if you can’t meet up.”

He feels like himself in the past. Spineless. Dishonest. Numb. Helpless. Coward. Yet another part of him keeps fighting on, despising those traits, not for his own sake, but for her. Since they started meeting up and talking, Sungwoo has known a lot about her, yet there’s still so much he doesn’t know. The same goes for Suhyeon, but he thinks she cares little about that. There is an invisible barrier between them that has been keeping them from going further than this. Whatever this is.

And now, after a few months of making a connection with this wonderful woman, his mind braces for the worst case scenario, just as his heart foresees his fears. Is this it?

Their eyes meet, reading a few glimpses through each other’s souls. Broken. Deprived. Lonely. Yearning. She looks down on his face, his lips now appearing much closer. Her heartbeats do not deceive her, deafening her fear. No words follow from their mouths, only each other’s breaths becoming clearer and louder with each second. Giving in to the whispers of her temptation, Suhyeon gets up from her seat and inches towards him.

Frozen in the moment, their lips touch. Sungwoo melts into the kiss, closing her eyes with her. Seconds pass, warmth turns into a burning sensation. Sweetness turns to hunger, one that neither of them have felt in forever. As the man reciprocates her gesture, the irresistible tingle she’s feeling urges her tongue to slide into his—

“Mianhaeyo,” she takes a few steps back away from him, appalled by her own impulse while catching up her breath. “I… I shouldn't have done that—”

Sungwoo remains frozen for a second, but not his heart. He leans himself closer into her this time, embracing her as the beat of their hearts sync with the rhythm of their second kiss. With their eyes closed once again, Suhyeon doesn’t fight back. Instead, she slowly wraps her arms around his nape in order to pull him closer until their chests collide.

It would be the last time the pair would’ve met…

If it wasn’t for Sungwoo’s stubbornness. Even if it costs whatever they had, he wants to know how she's been doing ever since. Even if she made the move, he either can’t help but blame himself as the reason why she stops reaching out to him after that meetup.

= = =

Another week has passed, and Sungwoo goes on with his usual life—yet, the presence of Suhyeon still lingers on his mind. From the bar to the PC bang, he tries to do everything he can to get the woman off his thoughts. Even online dating—as some of his coworkers suggested to him lately… So he does, and after his twenty-third swipe, he hits it off with someone, much to his own surprise. “You must be Hyewon… Or is it Belle?” he corrects himself immediately. “Your profile has two names. I don’t know what to call you.”

She chuckles at his hesitant question. “Any will do… And you are Sungwoo-ssi, if I am not mistaken?”

Things are taking off for them in the next half an hour. He compliments her appearance. She laughs at his jokes, whether they’re forced or not. They talk about their opinions on certain topics. He fails to read her signals. It’s a start, he admits with little confidence.

But on that same Saturday night, he receives a phone call from an unknown number. He can just ignore the call, let the other party leave a message after the beep, maybe he can hang out with Belle a little longer, see how things go. Unfortunately for himself and his date, he can’t help but be Sungwoo. As someone who has spent his life through his job, every call for him has become an obligation.

He answers it with some caution. “This is Young Sungwoo speaking. Who is this?”

But that voice. Her voice. It's something that he can never forget. “It’s me, Ji Suhyeon. This is my company’s number… I’m sorry if I surprised you. I’m just finishing my shift for the night, and…”

She stops. And despite the past few times they’ve talked on the phone, he can now sense her hesitation from the other side. “You can say it. I won’t mind.”

“Well, I just thought of you,” she completes her words. “Plus, I owe you an apology. In ways more than one.”

He can hear his own heart, making that familiar rhythm. Whenever he was with her.

“It’s okay, Suhyeon,” he stammers, but immediately clears his throat. “How are you?”

“Could be worse, to be honest…” A deep breath from her fills the dead air for a few seconds before Sungwoo can hear her voice again. “Are you free… This weekend?”

There it is. It’s his chance. Maybe his last one.

“You know I am,” he tries to play it cool with her, yet he quickly realizes how awkward he sounded. “I mean, of course... Same place?”

He can hear Suhyeon let out a light chuckle for a moment. “Maybe not at the café,” she suggests. “But somewhere else. If that’s fine with you.”

It’s about the nth time they said those words to each other. But hearing it from her once again is a breath of fresh air. “Elsewhere would be nice, too.”

Returning to the bar, his eyes scan most of the place, only to find that his date is no longer around. He receives a message.

[Belle:] Sorry for dipping early, but I got a thing. We can still hang out another time if you want.

Strangely enough, he doesn’t feel a sense of disappointment. Sure, he’s bummed out he fumbled the date with the first woman he met online in years, but he’s not too bummed out about it because of her. Instead, he couldn't feel any luckier because of this call.

= = =

It’s the fourth of May. Instead of the usual café, they decided to meet at the park outside. They take a seat next to each other on one of the benches, albeit keeping a wide distance. He’s on the left corner, with her on the right. Amidst the silence of the background, they see each other in their springtime attire. Suhyeon is in a brighter dress and jeans, while Sungwoo is finally not wearing a suit for once; instead, he’s wearing a blue short sleeve. Whether or not today ends up being the last time they meet, both of them agree on one thing: it’s about time that they meet each other in the early morning for the first time.

“You look beautiful,” he scratches his head, finally listening to his heart instead of letting his own brain filter his thoughts until they sound more logical or interrupts himself with more filler words.

She looks down in embarrassment, hiding her reaction as she senses her cheeks slowly heating up. “Thank you,” she mumbles. “You look nice, too, Sungwoo-ssi.”

“Thanks… But can we talk about what happened last time—” he continues.

“I know,” Suhyeon interjects with a soft-spoken tone. She takes a deep breath, before looking up to face him. “But I have to tell you something first, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” he straightens his sitting posture while their eyes level. “What is it?”

The woman gulps involuntarily. “There’s another job I haven't told you about… And it’s not that simple. It’s not that I don’t wanna meet you, Sungwoo, even if I'm busier... It’s just… I don’t know how to say this.”

“Take your time.” Sungwoo doesn’t know why she's suddenly talking about her job, yet he keeps listening, sensing her state of distress and hesitation. “Whatever that may be, and as long as you love it, I’m happy for you. I don’t think our… situation should get in the way of your…”

There it is again, she thinks. “Why shouldn’t it?”

“Because that’s your job,” he counters. “It’s your life… And besides, I can just adjust.”

“I don't think you can.” She can’t keep on lying and hiding like this. He has to know, even if it ruins things, ends things even. “Sungwoo-ssi. The thing is…”

“What is it? I’m sure it’s nothing bad—”

“I have a child, Sungwoo.”

She looks at him with a fortified expression, yet deep down, she feels the most nervous. Especially when his eyes widen after hearing those four words, her thoughts go all over the place, stricken with panic and despair. Not even air comes out from his mouth that moment, something that only intensifies Suhyeon’s unease as his silence lasts seconds.

“Did you just hear what I said?” she asks him up front, slightly raising her voice in an attempt to keep herself from crumbling from within. “I’m a single mother.”

“This job, this responsibility of mine isn’t easy,” she continues before he can make any response, clenching both her fists and finally pouring her heart out. “It never has been. Every year, you get into family gatherings. Not only do you help prepare them, but you buy gifts for your relatives, yet all you get from some of them are blames and lectures for what’s happened to you. And whenever you're with friends, you gotta put on a bolder face just to ask them to look out for the kid while you work your ass off in different jobs from morning ‘till afternoon—or whenever you're applying for one… But there's things I don't regret, at least with what I have now. And no matter how hard things get, I don’t regret keeping him. Raising him.”

At that moment, some things have become clearer to him. Their long and wholehearted talks about life and dreams. The unusual curfew and her leaving out of the sudden. Her encounter with the little girl. Her pent-up emotions finally cracking around him. Now, he realizes why she never told him more of her life, rooted out of the fear and distress that she will be rejected, lambasted, patronized, or looked down on, like everyone else in her life.

“And just like meeting you that night… It’s something that I don’t regret either,” she confesses. “Even if that was some silly chance encounter, it was one of the times I felt something new. So I called you that day to see where it goes, and here we are… But of course—a part of me still keeps telling me: Let it go. You’re a mother now. You don't deserve to have these feelings... You're just giving yourselves a hard time.”

Sungwoo looks at her face. His mind and heart tells her to hold her hand. Say anything. Do anything to comfort her, now that she’s told him the truth about the barrier that has been keeping them from going the distance for months.

Suhyeon’s heart starts to tighten with every beat, seeing his look of guilt and sorrow. It's not the first time she's seen it from someone. “If you don’t want to see me, after this… I'll understand, Sungwoo... I was the one who invited you into whatever-this-thing-is to begin with, didn’t I?”

“No,” he tells her without hesitation. “That doesn’t change what I think about you.”

“It should…” she mutters in defeat, shameful to even look him in the eye as she says it.

“What you said, it only proved what I already thought of you… You’re a wise, beautiful, hardworking, independent, and fearless woman,” he elaborates, allowing himself to be vulnerable with Suhyeon. “And for you to keep that part of your life for long—it must’ve been a pain. It’s something that I can’t imagine. I’m sorry I didn’t ask you sooner. About how you were really feeling. What you’re going through—”

“Don't,” she interjects with disdain, but not for him. It’s too late, Suhyeon thinks while her mouth remains shut. You’ve heard this before. Look at what happened to us. “I’m tired of people telling me that they're sorry. It's not your fault why I'm like this.”

“I know… I’m sorry because I wasn’t attentive enough. That I wasn’t courageous enough,” he adds. “But I am not sorry that it doesn't change how I feel about you.”

Her eyes widen, her mouth agape in shock. Staring through his soul, waves of emotions start to clash deep down in her heart—Awe. Doubt. Denial. Mistrust. Misunderstanding. Fear. Warmth. Comfort. Growth. Excitement. Hope. Joy. Acceptance—while a stream of conflicting thoughts flood her mind. This was bound to happen sooner or later. What’s the point of this? You never had a chance. He’s one of them. You’re a disgrace for ever being here. He'll just leave you. Go home with your son and your parents. There’s no point in hoping, Ji Suhyeon. “Sungwoo-ssi…”

“I like you, Suhyeon-ssi,” he finally affirms, with much stronger conviction in his voice. “I don’t know if it means anything to you, but that’s the truth… I don’t care what comes after this. But I just want you to know that there's no shame in what you are, and what you're going through… I'll always be here for you.”

Suhyeon’s inner thoughts and misgivings shut down. In turn, her heart starts to sing without shame, rejoicing and reaching ranges she hasn't felt in years, as it yearns for something more. His earnest gentleness. His soothing scent. His comforting touch. Unbeknownst to her, he feels just about the same.

She rushes to Sungwoo, laying her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around him. He places his right hand on her head, caressing it. That warm comfort that she’s been longing for, it’s within her grasp. Tears of jubilation begin to drip from her face down to his shirt, as she breathes easier. “Gomawoyo, Sungwoo.”

Gently pulling away from their embrace, she leans back to look at him closely with a warm and grateful smile that mirrors his, letting out a chuckle of relief. “And I like you, too.”

A smile quickly forms on Sungwoo’s face, prompting him to give her a peck on the lips. As she giggles, Suhyeon prolongs the act with a longer, sweeter kiss of acceptance. From this day forward, their months of week to week encounters and meetups at the café end, as a new chapter of their lives awaits. It is unknown as it is promising, exciting as it is frightening. But at least they have each other to face it head-on. Together.

= = =

a/n: hello again! if you've reached the end, then you must've read a good chunk of it. it's not my proudest work, even if it's only my second one, tho I liked writing it for the most part. still, I wanna publish it, 'cause I don't want it to stay in my drafts lol. once again, the aforementioned next fic from earlier is already in progress. anyhoo, thanks for the read. I hope you have a great day!

#triples fluff #kpop fluff #kpop au #triples jiyeon #kpop angst #jiyeon fluff #male reader #male reader fluff #kpop romance

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agent-yolk-writes · 4 months ago

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A Nightmare in Devildom (Obey Me/Nightmare on Elm Street concept fic)

Basically what it says on the tin. A "what if MC was a survivor of freddy kreuger's torment before the events of OM" concept fic.

This is was of those weird ideas I came with this during the early covid lockdown period where my insomnia got really bad to the point where I was borderline delirious. I meant to get this out during October for spooky season vibes but after three Octobers came and went and Obey Me isn't getting any more updates, I figure I throw it into the pit before that happens. No beta we die like obey me as a franchise, I guess!

If this inspires you to write something similar, please let me know! If you want me to write more...please reconsider!

And, of course, happy holidays!

AO3 Mirror Link

Good lord, I look terrible. You thought as you looked at yourself in the mirror. When was the last time I got some rest?

Other than looking more visibly tired, you look...older. It was the face of a nurse finally coming home after back-to-back double shifts. The bags under your eyes could only get so dark, but thankfully you knew a demon who had so much concealer and foundation lying around that he wouldn’t know if a few went missing.

You knew you shouldn’t be continuing this habit, but you can’t help it. Despite living in a mansion with the most powerful demons in Literal Hell(!!) in the past few weeks your brain is still not convinced that you’re safe from Him . Would he still have the balls to terrorize you still? Does he even know where you are? Surely he’ll just know when you disappeared without a trace, but you can’t afford to find out for yourself.

As much as you wanted to tell the brothers, you didn’t want to drag them into this mess. After all, this problem only started just weeks before you were brought here. It came without warning, and suddenly it turned into a bloodied hurricane. To think He was the one that killed your friends and classmates back in the human world…you regretted not being able to do more for them until you were in His sights.

This opportunity with the exchange program was either a saving grace or a divine intervention, and you’re not going to let that chance slip away from you. You have the whole year to work on magic and potions and anything else that could possibly drive Him away if not kill him for good, and you highly doubt he’s going to forget about you. Knowing how to do magic is one thing, but putting it to memory is another. This wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t so damn tired. You’re trying so hard to pay attention in class, but you just end up more focused on trying to keep your eyes open lest you allow Him to strike at your most vulnerable.

However, there is one possible solution. The only problem is that you needed to form a pact with his other brothers before he could even consider helping you, that slothful bastard. Belphegor knows how tired you are and how you would do anything for a safe and peaceful rest. There was no point hiding it from him as you were with the others. Oh, how you envied the way he could sleep the day away in his little prison cell…you could just punch him if only you had the strength.

…

You really didn’t feel good about the multi-layered lie you found yourself webbed into to get the pacts in the first place. You recently got Beelzebub’s pact, putting you at the halfway mark. He looked so happy about your ‘plan’ to impress Lucifer enough to have him make up with Belphegor that it made your stomach churn in shame. Is it really okay for you to do this? Wouldn’t it be easier to tell the truth? Out of all the brothers, you couldn’t help but feel guilty for lying to Beel.

But what if Lucifer points his finger at Belphegor if you bring it up before you’re able to finish explaining? Would it destroy all the progress you made? Would you make things worse ? If they draw parallels that your deprivation is somehow related to the seventh-born’s sleep-related powers…only Lucifer would have an answer different from the other five. That’s why you have to keep up this facade for as long as you can. That’s why you need to stay awake. To find a way to protect yourself as well as the others.

Your new friends at Purgatory Hall, bless their hearts, were none the wiser. Considering two of them were actual angels, you would’ve expected at least Luke to confront you with tears in his eyes about your health at least a month in. He makes a big talk about how you should never trust ‘those demons’ before having lunch with Beelzebub. Sometimes you think Solomon is giving you weird looks whenever you make eye contact with him. It’s probably the sleep-deprived paranoia, but you hope it’s nothing. You’ve been getting away with it for this long, so what?

Tomorrow you have to stay over at Diavolo’s castle as part of an exchange party sleepaway camp or something. If you’re lucky, you can have a room for yourself. You don’t pack your go-to methods for staying awake until right before everyone heads out.

The steaming heat of the boiler room did not warm the chill in your bones one bit.

You should know the inner workings of this hellscape by now. It was His favorite hunting ground, after all. However, something seems different this time. Everything felt…a bit shifted to the right, in a way. On top of that, there’s no sight or sound of Him anywhere. No taunting catchphrases, no spooky teleports he’s fond of doing, not even the shilling sound of his claw on metal when he’s close. This is probably his new trick, you think. Lulling you into a false sense of security before-

You turned around, involuntary flinching as you braced yourself to be hit. Only to process seconds later that nothing’s coming. In fact, there was no sign of life behind you in the first place. Damn it, he really was playing with you at this point. As soon as you let out a sigh of relief, you heard someone screaming from the other side of the room. You couldn’t tell who they were, but that’s not going to stop you. You ran towards the sound before you let the dread wash over you.

“I’m coming!” You yelled at them. “Wake up! He can’t hurt you if you’re awake!” You were so focused on tilting your head up to project your voice to the other person that you didn’t realize you hit a dead end until you ran into a wall of pipes. “Oh, god damn it!” You cursed, pivoting on your foot to turn around and run even faster.

What happened next happened too fast. You didn’t know where you were going. Everything is starting to blur together. A pipe managed to burst the same second you turned your head to follow the noise, immediately blinding your vision with steam and a “Shit!” jumping out of your mouth. The suddenness of it all made you lose your momentum and you feel yourself stumbling forward. You didn’t have time to brace yourself for the sharp object that’s going right through your-

You wake with an audible gasp, hands going up to your throat. The sound of your racing heart and your uneven breathing replace the sounds of pipes and steam. You looked around in the darkness and could barely see two bodies sleeping in their respective beds. Ah, that’s right. This is the first night of Diavolo’s retreat, and you find yourself paired to a room with Asmodeus and Simeon. In an attempt to pretend you’re asleep ended up having you fall asleep for real. You couldn’t help but think how pathetic you were for letting your guard down for one second and falling into His hands again after so long all because you were waiting for someone to finish their 20-step overnight skin routine.

With a shuddered sigh, you carefully slipped out of your bed and into the hallway in hopes you could clear your thoughts without disturbing your roommates.

Thanks to the occasional jittering of a Little D doing their nightly duties, the halls of a demon lord’s castle don’t feel as haunted as you would think. The lights were dimmed but not out completely, which gave way for the moon to shine in as its own source of light. Had you been carrying a candle in a brass holder you would’ve thought you stumbled into one of those old gothic novels. You didn’t have a real destination in mind, but you made sure you remembered which room you were assigned to just in case.

At some point during the night, you ended up in one of the lounge rooms, curled up on a couch facing the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and looked up at all the stars. It has always been a comfort for you. You even began reading about them in an attempt to stay awake back in the human world. You thought you could recognize some of the constellations, but there are always a few stars here and there that turn it into an unrecognizable shape. At least you have new material to read about when you’re back in your room at the House of Lamentation.

The soft calling of your name from the door broke your serene silence followed by a, “Is that you?”

A small gasp managed to escape your throat before you were able to put your hands over your mouth. You curled into yourself at first so whoever it was can’t see your head poking out from the back. After a few seconds, it finally clicked as to who it was.

Sheepishly, you stick your head out. “Hi, Barbatos.” You said, voice croaking in unexpected use. Even though it was dark and his figure obscured, you could make out that he was holding some kind of tray. “Am I not supposed to be here? I’m sorry. I’ll go back and…”

“It’s fine.” He assured you. “I heard someone walking around, so I’ve taken the liberty to brew some chamomile tea for them should they feel restless. Would you like some?”

“...”

Tea does sound nice, but the fact that it was chamomile made you hesitate. At the same time, Barbatos just made it, so it would be rude to let it go to waste.

“...That would be nice. Thank you.”

He made his way over to the other side of the couch. Part of you wanted to sit up and be proper when drinking, but even thinking about adjusting your posture makes you tired. Still, you make an effort to reach over to take the tea cup from the butler’s hands. Barbatos took this opportunity to start talking.

“This is your first time spending the night at a castle, I presume?” You made an affirmative noise as you sipped, not wanting to point out that it’s not just any castle you’re sleeping at. “I reckon slipping in a new bed right as you got settled in would put anyone’s nerves on edge.”

You put your cup down as you replied, “I guess you can say that.”

He looks at you quizzically. “Is something amiss? I’ll inform the Young Master right away.”

“It’s…It’s fine, Barbatos. Thanks for worrying.” You took another sip before letting out a sigh. “I’ve always had trouble sleeping, you can say. I get…these really bad nightmares that make me stay up for days on end. They were so terrifying and real…I kept wondering if I was losing my mind. I’ve tried every remedy in the book to stop them but…” You stopped to let a yawn out. “Sorry…As I was saying, I tried everything the doctors thought could help me. They even brought in a priest thinking it was ‘dream demons’ or something.” You paused, replaying the last thing you said. “Are dream demons even a thing here?”

“They are a form of lesser demons, yes.” The butler answered. “They’re relatively harmless as individual beings, but can pose a threat in large numbers or if they get close to a human.”

“Well, that’s reassuring.” You told him bitterly.

“If it brings you any comfort, just know that they’re not powerful enough to be able to enter the human world on their own. Only certain powerful demons have the authority to travel to that realm directly. Such as the Young Master and Lucifer, for example.”

You couldn’t help but huff out air through your nose in relief. Suck on that, Pastor John.

“...So yeah. Just before I was summoned here, they put me on a clinical trial for a medication that…reduces? Suppress? It, like, stops giving me dreams entirely, and they work. Forgot the name though. And I coincidentally ran out just before I was transferred here so…yeah.” Your eyes looked over to the butler. “Sorry I didn’t mention it earlier, I guess. I keep getting roped into whatever the brothers get themselves into that I never really had time to check on myself.”

Barbatos didn’t respond immediately. You were too busy concentrating on balancing the tea on your stomach to spare a glance over to your nighttime companion to see what kind of face he was making. Would he make one? Shouldn’t he have known of this malady when your file was being processed? Maybe, because of their biology, demons don’t worry about these kinds of conditions. You mulled around internally in a tired haze before realizing that your eyes were slowly creeping shut. With a soft sigh, you moved the plate to the nearest table and stood up slowly.

“Anyways, thanks for the tea. Compliments to the chef.” You couldn’t help but let out a big stretch followed by an even bigger yawn. “I’ll head back to bed now. No guarantee I’ll sleep though.” You let out a huff that was supposed to be your attempt at a dry laugh. “You should get some rest too. Big day ahead, y’know? See you in the morning.” And with that, you exited the room and into the dim hallway.

The small smile Barbatos had dropped as soon as your back was turned to him. It was no secret that your time as a transfer student was being hindered by your lack of sleep. Even your recent medical file was perplexing in figuring out the cause of this disorder. It’s not genetic nor was it caused by a major traumatic event. Perhaps it’s something else? You did mention dream demons, after all, albeit it was more of a speculative idea that was brought up by your doctors in order to get a man of the cloth involved. It definitely couldn’t be Belphegor’s meddling, he thinks. He wouldn’t know about the human’s arrival.

It looks like he’ll have to do some digging after this exchange party concludes. He might need to start gathering evidence now while the human is still here. Diavolo will need to get involved, there’s no doubt about that. He would do anything to ensure the health and safety of the exchange students, after all.

When everyone converged for a tour around the castle, some had noted that you looked less sluggish than usual. You simply waved them off, making up an excuse about the mattress not being up to human standards. Hopefully, you didn’t offend the demon prince when you said that.

Still, you can’t deny that you feel a little well-rested. You did remember trying a method where you close your eyes for 15 minutes, wake up for another 15, close your eyes again, rinse and repeat. You usually had an alarm for this technique, but you didn’t want to disturb Simeon or Asmodeus as much as you already did slipping in and out of bed. You didn’t think you were able to keep track, but you did somehow, give or take a few minutes. Now you can actually pay attention to that cute little demon acting as the tour guide, explaining the intricate history of all the subjects painted on these beautifully crafted portraits. You couldn’t help but smile seeing Diavolo puffing his chest in pride when the Little D started talking about his father, the current Demon King.

(But when it was mentioned that he's been sleeping at the bottom of Devildom for millennia you couldn't help but feel jealous. The most powerful being of all the realms is casually sleeping the decades away while you don’t even get the privilege of an hour of uninterrupted rest.)

You looked at the other paintings decorating the hall. Some plaques are written in what you can only presume is some kind of archaic language that only demons would know. If you could understand at least a part of it, then maybe you can get a deeper understanding of these pictures.

A gentle call of your name and a not-so-gentle clap on your back broke your weak concentration. You tore your eyes away to meet Diavolo’s gentle gaze. “I see that her beauty managed to draw you in?”

You blinked, trying to process what he said. “I-I’m sorry, whose beauty? I was…too focused on figuring out what the plaque said.” You managed to blurt out, causing the prince to chuckle.

“Oh, that? It simply reads ‘The Queen of Devildom’. In other words, that’s my mother.” His gaze turned to the painting, but you stayed fixated on him. He continued by adding, “This painting and some vague memories are all I have of her. She passed away several centuries ago when I was still an infant. My father would always talk about how…” And he continued to drone on from there. It wasn’t his fault, and you were genuinely trying to cling on to every word he’s saying because it’s important to him and you wanted to leave a good impression. On the other hand, the bleariness in your eyes started to cloud your vision again as a result of your lack of sleep. So you avert your gaze back to the painting unintentionally so you can wipe it away, biting your tongue to restrain the yawn that comes with it. Part of you hopes that Diavolo thinks that you’re speechless and moved to tears.

That thought quickly vanished when you opened your eyes to the painting.

There was a choking noise, and you almost didn’t realize it came from you. It felt like the world around you completely disappeared, and only you and Him were the only inhabitants.

Devildom seemed to freeze over the moment you made direct eye contact with the painted eyes of your tormentor. His scarred face did nothing to hide that cocky smirk he loves to wear. He’s holding up his bloodied claw to you in a way that couldn’t be anything else but a taunting gesture, as if he knows what he’s doing to you. His other hand wrapped around the back of a bloodied woman. By the way, the painting is framed, you assumed she was supposed to be sitting. Unfortunately, you know that’s not the case here. Her head dipped back, obscuring her face from you. You assumed she was originally wearing either a white or a similar light-colored dress, but that didn’t matter as it was dyed by the blood seeping out of that four-lined wound in her chest that you knew all too well. Just the sight alone made you reach for your hip where an old wound dimly throbs at the clothed contact.

You didn’t dare move your gaze. You needed to keep an eye on him.

“Hey…!”

You knew it. This opportunity to fly off his radar and find a way to kill him for good while he’s not looking was too good to be true.

“...!”

How did he even get here? Did he follow you down when you got summoned? What will he-

“...!!”

Time seemed to resume the second someone grabbed onto your shoulders and turned you around. You wanted-no, needed to keep an eye on him. Sadly, you don’t have eyes on the back of your head. Instead, you were forced to look at Diavolo's worried eyes. You didn’t even let him get a word in before you began panicking.

“What have you done?!” You yelled. You pointed to the painting behind you. “Can’t you see I’m trying to protect you!”

“Protect us from…who?”

“Him!” You pointed to the portrait.

Only the painted eyes of a woman stare back at you.

It was too late for you now. The moment you allow yourself even to think you’re away from his control, you end right back into his hands.

Nowhere is safe, not even in hell.

A maniacal laugh fills your ears as everyone crowds around your panicked state.

#oh god how do i tag obey me again #my writing #obey me #shall we date: obey me #shall we date #obey me shall we date #obey me x reader #obey me mc #a nightmare on elm street #crossover #dont wanna tag on the characters but theyre all there plus freddy #swd #swd om #obey me swd #obey me & reader #obey me fanfic #obey me fanfiction

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year ago

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Yo! Good morning/evening, hope you are fine^^💝. I wanted to ask you a question but I was afraid that it may bother you or something (you know..that feeling when you are scared that you might disturb someone or being an unwelcome person) but yeah I will ask you since i was serious about your answer for some time now so I hope I'm not annoying you or something *feel free to answer only if you wish^^. You seem to know the characters pretty well, you are quite capable and great at reading and understanding them, one of the things I'm serious about is what do you think would make someone qualified enough to be with malleus? Do they have to be of the same species?certain Reputation, stature or traits?(sorry can't help it since I can't rest until I know everything about what interests me and figure it all out😅). Thanks for giving me some of your precious time I really like your blog, you're amazing💜

No worries, you’re not bothering me at all ^^ I love to talk about my hyperfixations www

Now, I know a lot of fans (particularly on the EN side) like to ship Malleus with their OC and especially with Yuu so I want to first make it clear that my response is NOT meant to invalidate those Malleus shippers. Whatever I say here is based on my own interpretation of canon lore (and let’s be real here, TWST won’t ever confirm if anyone is romantically interested in Yuu because it might not work with how some players view their own relationship with that character). In fanon, anyone can be with anyone, but in canon there are very specific in-universe rules and expectations laid out for Malleus so these are what I will be referring to.

I also want to emphasize that the final traits I discuss in this post do NOT reflect Malleus’s personal tastes or views. He has little say in what kind of an individual his spouse would be, so his own preferences are not speculated about or taken into account here. The traits I will be bringing up are based on what I believe the lore implies are the desirable traits for those marrying into the Draconia royal family.

We got it? Good 👍 Read more below the cut!!

Firstly, I’m completely disregarding the ideas of “Malleus can love whoever he wants to love”, “Malleus can scare people into accepting who he loves”, and/or “Malleus can change the law so he can marry who he loves” (a la Sultan from Aladdin or through some other Disney magic or logic). Here’s why:

In general, those solutions for “high stakes issues” are too simple, and that has never been how Twisted Wonderland tackles complicated problems. Just look at every single OB boy’s backstory. They’re so complex that they aren’t totally resolved by the end of their books; these problems persist and are long term things each of them are working on addressing. This is also true of the politics TWST introduces to us; Leona for example explains how there is social pushback and resistance to the idea of infrastructure reform because the culture of the Sunset Savanna stresses harmony with nature. This has made it difficult for them to adopt new technologies because real politicians in their world have to seriously weigh their cultural values with their health and societal progress. The only time there are really easy solutions are in events or vignettes where the emotional stakes are not super high, but who Malleus marries is, in fact, super important since this will entirely change the life of a main character and his country.

With that first bullet point in mind… No, Malleus cannot love whoever he wants to love. Certainly, he may feel affection for another but he can never truly be with them. He is royalty and the only heir to the throne of Briar Valley. It follows that he is expected to marry for political reasons/to better his nation. This is a non-negotiable obligation for him.

Rather than saying, “Malleus cannot scare people into accepting who he loves”, I think it’s more accurate to say Malleus knows he probably shouldn’t. I mean, yes, he may be upset about his S/O not being accepted by his people but I feel that is discrediting a lot of the loyalty he has for his own country. As a kid he may have thrown tantrums when he was upset and potentially harmed staff, but as a 178 year old he has a much better understanding of decorum and maintaining it in spite of his own grudges. For example, even though he may find Leona abrasive he still commands Sebek to apologize to him because, at the end of the day, this could harm Briar Valley’s relationship with the Sunset Savanna. That’s not to say that Malleus can’t be petty (he definitely is)—but implying he would be petty toward basically his entire country just because they would disapprove of the one he loves?? (We know this would likely be true because Sebek’s parents faced similar backlash when they got together.) I feel like his own sense of awareness and responsibility for his country, crown, and people would override that. As an example, Malleus states that he has never been in a car before because the senate would be against it and often kept Malleus in the castle. Someone of his power could easily ignore them and sneak out and do whatever he wanted, yet the dialogue implies Malleus didn’t. He obeyed his political advisors even when he was younger and arguably much more immature. Malleus might not like certain decisions made about his life but it sounds like he ultimately complies with them.

Continuing from the previous point, let’s say for the sake of argument that Malleus does scare everyone into line. What about his public image and the mental health of his S/O? Maybe Malleus can frighten people to not talk out of turn to his face, but he cannot control what people whisper about him behind closed doors or to treat his S/O well or like they actually like them. Not only would they be alienated (away from their own home and forced to adapt to a new one) but they’d be treated oddly by others too. What kind of reputation is that for Malleus? To be a tyrant king who throws a hissy fit anytime someone talks about his partner in a way he doesn’t approve of? With a spouse who is not at their best mentally because of the constant ostracization? (This is similar to what Leona experienced in his childhood.) I don’t think Malleus would want to subject anyone to that kind of life, especially not one he loves. And again, this attitude would be the vast majority of his people. It’s not like it can be avoided or resolved in an easy manner, especially when the people of Briar Valley have proven to be against change.

Lastly, Malleus would not change the law so he can be with whoever he wants to. To begin with, I doubt this is a unilateral position the senate would approve of. But okay, let’s accept that Malleus is royalty so his power overrides the advisors’ power. So he effectively just changed a law for a very selfish and personal reason rather than changing something to actually benefit his people. That doesn’t feel in-character for him, not when Malleus seems to understand that it is the duty of those in higher status to help those below them rather than themselves (see: Riddle’s Suitor Suit vignettes). Malleus has acted selfishly before, yes (who remembers Endless Halloween Night? His Dorm Uniform vignettes? I do.)—but never at the cost of changing the status quo of his country. (Book 7 is not included here because he’s in a very distressed emotional state then; this “new law” scenario posits that Malleus is in a normal state of mind.) This is a major change—change which Briar Valley, its people, and most importantly, Malleus, are not ready for. You think there wouldn’t be social pushback against this? From a society that has become complacent with its own way of life and is still isolated from the rest of the world? That Malleus, someone who struggles greatly with accepting life changes himself, could enact such a big change so easily? (On a more technical level, you don’t just pass a law and it instantly becomes tangible or real, there is a process of approval and then implementation.)

Additionally, it’s made clear in Ghost Marriage that “[Malleus] cannot enter into an engagement lightly”, which is why Sebek goes in his place. Eliza, the Ghost Bride, is royalty (er, albeit dead) but it seems that royal status is not enough to qualify as his partner. Maybe this is because she’s dead and doesn’t have anything of value for Briar Valley (no land, no people, no political power), but it could also mean that the partner has to be given the thumbs up by other parties.

All that being said, here are some of the conditions I think would have to be met for Malleus’s future spouse:

Has to be someone of equal or at least high status. This means they also have to be a royal or at least of nobility. This appears to be true of Malleus’s dad, who is referred to as a duke.

Because of how self-contained Briar Valley is + nocturnal fae having beef with diurnal fae, I imagine his partner would have to also be a nocturnal fae. This would also solve the MASSIVE lifespan difference between fae and non-fae because at least fae would be far closer to each other even if their lifespans fluctuate but subspecies.

Someone suited to rule by his side. Being married into any royal family is no joke—it comes with the expectation that you will contribute somehow, and the partner should be fully equipped to enter the world of politics with him.

Piggybacking off the last point, I think mental fortitude is also a prerequisite. This is because being a politician (navigating the social climate both within your country and outside of it, keeping your people and colleagues happy, maintaining public approval, managing laws, dealing with potential attempts on your life, etc.) can be very stressful and can hurt those who are faint of heart or not prepared for the responsibility. Leaders have to make tough calls at the drop of a hat, and they have to be ready for it.

Has a lot to offer in terms of benefits to Briar Valley as a country. This could be in terms of resources, connections, and/or political savvy. This appears to be true of Malleus’s dad, who acted as a diplomat for Briar Valley.

Vetting and formal approval from the senate. lmao good luck with that

Has to be able and willing to have a child. They at least need an heir to the throne to succeed Malleus. (However, knowing how exclusionary and conservative as heck the senators are, I doubt they would accept anything but a biological child, especially since the Draconia’s claim to fame seems to be from how strong their line is 💀)

Preferably someone with powerful magic or is skilled at magic already so as to lessen the chance of “tainting” the bloodline with a weak mage or a non-mage.

I believe that Briar Valley would prefer someone with old fashioned values like them, not someone pushing for massive reform. They have a culture that is resistant to change and a history of fighting for resources with outsiders, so if Malleus’s new spouse tries to introduce a bunch of technology or open its borders to other countries (even if they have good intentions), the people + the senate may oppose them. His father is implied to be open-minded, but he at least understood that such change isn’t reasonable without time and effort dedicated to the endeavor.

All that being said 💦 I think that this topic is actually less about what Malleus as an individual wants and what his country, his people, and, yes, even his asshole senators, want. This is basically an arranged marriage situation so that their country can maintain power and relevance. It’s about the collective and what Malleus must do for their perceived security and prosperity.

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redrose10 · 10 months ago

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Yoongi x Female Reader. Soulmate AU

Summary: There’s no one on this planet you hate more than your coworker/secret crush Min Yoongi. He’s an arrogant, rude, womanizer who gets under your skin every single shift and you can’t wait for your day to be over so you can get away from him. Unfortunately when Jimin, your caseworker from The Ministry of Adoration, shows up offering you both a raspberry jam filled cookie, things take a surprising turn for the worst and you can no longer get away.

Warnings: Swearing, hints of smut (nothing graphic or really detailed), a little angst, Yoongi gets around, small hint to homophobia, mentions a guy not taking no for an answer. Might get updated later

Tag list: @kam9404 @yoongisducky @farfromsugafanfic @welcometomyworld13 @viankiss @ktownshizzle @bear8585

(I think I got everyone. If I missed someone I’m sorry and please let me know.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 3- Tea and Tteok-bokki

Word Count: 3,702

When you woke up the next morning you felt a little guilty for being so harsh towards Yoongi the night before. Maybe you did overreact a little because why did you care that you weren’t his ideal type? Even though you had a massive crush on him and you technically were soulmates you still had a deep seated hatred for him or so you thought.

You also woke up and regretted asking Han out and thought about canceling, but then realized maybe it would be good for you to actually go out, meet other people. Especially since Yoongi clearly wasn’t interested.

A knock at your door caught your attention and got you up out of your still semi induced sleep state.

Waking Yoongi was harder than you expected, but you finally got him up and followed behind him as he opened the door.

A smiling Jimin greeted you both. “Here have some breakfast. I got you some bagel sandwiches and two green teas. I thought you might be sick of coffee.”, he said handing over the packages.

He let himself in and took a seat before clapping his hands together, “So I think we need to have a little meeting because you two are one week down and have made zero progress from what I can see. If anything you went backwards.”

“We know.”, you both nodded.

“So then why am I hearing about hook ups with blondes in lingerie, and club girls, and why is Y/N going on a date with some other guy?”

“Wait how do you know all of that?”, you asked.

“I know everything.” Jimin replied.

“Okay but ho-“

“E V E R Y T H I N G”

You had to admit seeing this side of Jimin was a little intimidating. He was normally bubbly and smilly, but he was completely serious at the moment making you realize just how alarming this whole situation was.

He popped a donut hole in his mouth before continuing, “So what is the plan? How do we get you two to actually start trying to make this work?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll make it happen.”, Yoongi nodded.

“Good because I don’t want to have to make another early morning visit over here to voice my frustrations. I am not a nice person before 8am.”

“Yeah I’ll say.”, Yoongi replied while you nodded feeling like a scolded child.

“Y/N can I have a few minutes alone with Yoongi please?”, Jimin asked. You looked around confused as to where he wanted you to go since you couldn’t walk that far away from them.

Spotting your solution you grabbed a pair of headphones off of the table showing them to Jimin for approval which he nodded for so you placed them on your head and began streaming some music to drown out their conversation.

Once he was sure you couldn’t hear anything he turned his attention to Yoongi, “So how did you manage to mess up last night? I thought you were supposed to bring another date to the wedding to make Y/N jealous? Why didn’t it work?”

Yoongi nervously scratched the back of his neck, “Well I ended up not asking the other girl and just taking Y/N as my date instead.”

“And why exactly did you do that? That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“I don’t know. I guess I just wanted her to be my date for the night. I didn’t want to take anyone else. I wasn’t sure she’d even get jealous if I did anyways.”

“Okay then… so how did things end so badly that she asked another guy out?”, Jimin asked frustration evident in his voice.

“Everything was going great and then she overheard my cousin talking about how she isn’t the type of girl I usually go for and then I don’t know what happened. She just stormed off and has barely spoken to me since.”

Jimin sat with his elbows on his knees looking between the two of you before bringing his fingers up to rub his temples, “How did I end up assigned to a case with the two biggest idiots ever?”

“Excuse me. Who the fuck do you thin-“. Yoongi began, but Jimin cut him off.

“Let me spell this out for you as simply as I can. Everything was going just great between you two yesterday. Then Y/N got upset with you when she overheard your cousin saying that SHE wasn’t YOUR ideal type.“

Yoongi nodded his head, “Yeah I don’t get it either.”

“Oh my god. You two are starting make me rethink my career choice.”, Jimin huffed.

Then he continued, “Y/N got upset when she heard she wasn’t your ideal type…meaning you wouldn’t be interested in her.”

Jimin watched closely expecting Yoongi to come to the same conclusion, but instead he just sat there in silence sipping on his tea.

“I am not paid nearly enough for this.”, Jimin sighed.

He sat forward a little to pull Yoongi attention in, “Yoongi, firstly I want to start by saying that you’re lucky you are so attractive because of it wasn’t for your looks I don’t know what you’d bring to the table. Secondly, Y/N likes you. You big doofus.”

Yoongi continued to stare at the floor until Jimin’s words finally clicked.

“She likes me?!”

“YES! Why else would she be soooo upset thinking that you would never like her back.”

“So then I should just kiss her!”, he exclaimed.

But Jimin shook his head, “Not exactly. You both need to come to terms with your feelings and the kiss needs to be mutual. You can’t just ambush her.”

“Why are there so many fucking rules?”, Yoongi groaned.

“Don’t know. I didn’t make ‘em, I just enforce ‘em.”, Jimin replied popping another donut in his mouth.

“So what do we do now?”

“Well you and Y/N have two weeks to figure it out. Let’s hope her date goes poorly and maybe you could try actually being pleasant to her. Maybe try and woo her.”

Yoongi chuckled, “I’ve never had to woo anyone before. I don’t woo.”

“Trust me, I noticed.”, Jimin rolled his eyes.

“Maybe try some flowers just because. Tell her to her face that she looks pretty instead of drooling over her when she’s not looking. Maybe compliment her in public. Take her on an actual date. Try to hold her hand. You know…relationship things.”

Yoongi pondered for a moment, “Okay I’ll try.”

“Good boy! That’s what I like to hear.”

Jimin caught your attention signaling for you to remove the headphones which you happily obliged.

He grabbed his things and began walking towards the door before spinning around, “Okay both of you promise me that you’re actually going to try and make this work.”

You nodded your head while you heard Yoongi scoff next to you earning him an elbow to the ribs before he finally nodded as well earning a smile smile Jimin.

The following days Yoongi was uncharacteristically nice to you. Like sickenly sweet, lovey dovey nice to the point you offered to take him to the hospital because you were worried he somehow had a head injury even though you knew he hadn’t even come close to hitting his head at any point.

On Monday you woke up to a giant bouquet of roses being delivered to your front door with a card from him. He even sprung for a little teddy bear to be included. You thought it was super sweet, but really weird. Especially when you thanked him and he turned the same color as the roses.

On Tuesday he took you to your favorite lunch spot. He encouraged you to order whatever and how much you wanted and paid for all of it without even a snarky remark. Afterwards he also stopped for ice cream and a walk through the park.

Wednesday was a terrible day weather wise so the two of you stayed in and watched tv. Out of the corner of your eye you saw him consistently move his hand ever so slightly closer to yours his fingers twitching before he’d end up pulling away. He did this close to twenty times before letting out a long sigh and resigning to crossing his arms on this chest as you finished up the next episode. You knew it was odd, but didn’t want to start an argument by asking.

Now it was Thursday and the two of you were working a double shift together.

It was super busy thanks to the hot weather and a buy one get one half off promotion going on.

You had just finished up with a customer when you heard Yoongi clear his throat next to you.

“Can I help you?”, you asked amused.

He remained silent staring out the window while fidgeting with the end of his apron, a nervous habit of his that you had noticed a long time ago.

“Umm well I uh I’m…”

“Are you having a stroke?”, you giggled

“Just forget it.”, he whispered before turning away from you.

“No I’m sorry.”, you said grabbing his arm.

“What did you want to tell me?”

He took a deep breath, “I just wanted to tell you that youlookreallyprettytoday.”

“I’m sorry Yoongi I couldn’t understand that.”

“Why is this so hard?”, he mumbled before turning to face you, “Y/N, I think you look really pretty today.”

Your eyes widened in shocked. The Min Yoongi giving you a compliment without being provoked? And in public like this?

“Oh yeah I’m sure I look great after sweating and being soaked in coffee and sugar for the last 8 hours.”, you chuckled.

You expected him to laugh or even make a sarcastic remark, but he just nodded, “Yeah I do think you look pretty like this.”

“Oh oh okay, well thank you.”, you whispered feeling your cheeks heat up both in embarrassment and confusion.

You went to try and give a compliment back when you heard someone say your name grabbing your attention.

“Oh hi Han”, you forced a smile.

“Hi Y/N, ready for our date tomorrow?”

“Oh of course! Can’t wait.”, you exclaimed a little too excitedly.

You heard Yoongi snort next to you causing you and Han to both look in his direction. Han visibly tensed up once he noticed how close Yoongi actually was which you had to admit made you smirk a little.

“What can I get for you?”, you asked trying to get Han out of the cafe.

“Umm what do you suggest? Like if Y/N was going to order a drink using her pretty little mouth what would she have?”

This time it was Yoongi’s turn to tense up before turning to Han, “She’d have a large cup of fucking order something or get the fuck out.”

Han stepped back in surprise. You were no stranger to seeing Yoongi or one of the other guys put Han in his place, but something about the way he snapped back at him this time really stirred up some feelings in you.

Wanting to just make the sale and move on with your day you continued, “I’d probably just get a black coffee and add some hazelnut creamer. I’m pretty easy like that.”

“Mmhhhmm I hope so.”, Han replied as you quickly finished up at the register wanting out of the situation. You had missed the way Yoongi gripped the counter until his knuckles turned white thanks to Hans little comment.

You handed him his drink and as he was leaving he turned to you, “So we’ll meet at 6pm? At that Italian place I told you about?” You nodded as he turned and happily walked out the door.

“Seriously you’re still gonna go out with that creep?”, Yoongi suddenly spoke making you jump a little.

“Yes. I like him. Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”, you asked secretly hoping he’d give you a good reason not to go.

“Yes because I love you and I want you to stay home with me forever.”, he said internally, but outwardly he just shrugged, “I don’t know. Do whatever you want. You’re an adult.”

You simply nodded while trying to ignore the way the atmosphere shifted between you two and how Yoongi suddenly became cold and callous towards you. He remained that way for the rest of the shift as well as at home.

The next day you woke up determined to enjoy your date. Maybe Han came off kind of creepy and forward, but you were hoping he was just an awkward idiot who was actually a sweet guy.

Yoongi sulked on the bed as he watched you go through your closet. He couldn’t believe he was going to have to sit there alone at a restaurant while the love of his life goes on a date next to him.

“Okay pink or purple?”, you asked holding up two different dress options.

“I don’t care. Whatever you want.”, he spat back.

You licked your lips in annoyance before deciding on the pink one.

Once at the restaurant and after a very awkward conversation of having to explain to the hostess that Yoongi had to have a seat as close to you as possible, but still at a different table you were sat across from Han. You felt overdressed once you realized he had shown up in jeans and a dirty tshirt. He didn’t even bother to shower or comb his hair. You were appalled at his lack of effort.

He was going on and on about some video game that you’d never even heard of and your mind drifted over to Yoongi.

You snuck a peak and saw him reading through the menu while he sipped on his drink. Even though he was sat alone he wore a crisp navy blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up that he paired with a dark wash jean. His hair was lightly styled and you knew he smelled amazing because you couldn’t stop thinking about it as his cologne filled the air of the car on the drive over.

“Will the Mrs. be joining you this evening?”, you heard the waitress ask him.

He smiled, “No dining solo tonight.”

“Oh that’s too bad. I bet she’ll be so devastated that she missed out on a date night with you.”

You rolled your eyes at the waitresses clear attempt to flirt while confirming whether or not Yoongi actually had someone.

You saw him smirk before he replied, “There actually isn’t anyone. But uh maybe that could change tonight.”

The waitresses cheeks turned pink as she scurried over to the next table. You felt a wave of jealousy and a maybe a little hurt wash over you. You were no stranger to watching Yoongi flirt, but for some reason that time it really struck a cord with you. You were also currently on a date with another man so you had no idea why that little interaction made you feel such a way and you felt a little guilty for feeling so because if you could go out with someone else then so could Yoongi.

You turned your attention back to Han for a while before you decided you need a break and pulled out your phone sending a text to Yoongi,

You: I need to go to the bathroom.

Demon Kitty: Okay? Here’s a cookie 🍪

You: 🙄

You: As much as I would love to, I can’t go without you. So please get up and I’ll follow right after.

Demon Kitty: But my dinner should be here any minute 🥺

You were about to reply when Yoongi stood up and slowly started walking towards the restrooms.

“I’ll be right back. I have to use the restroom.”, you let Han know before you stood up waiting for a group of women clearly from a bachelorette party to pass you before quickly catching up to Yoongi who had hid himself off to the side to wait for you.

Yoongi was as close up to the bathroom door as he could be while you quickly tried to do your business.

“Hurry up Y/N! I’m pretty sure this old woman is about to call the police on me.”, he hissed through the door.

“Sorry sorry, this dress is a pain.”, you said opening the door.

“Yeah well I did tell you to wear sweatpants remember?”

“I’m not wearing sweatpants on a dat-“

Yoongi suddenly stopped in front of you causing you to crash into his back, “What the hell Yoongi?”

Quickly he turned around, “Uhh let’s go home.”

You shook your head, “No I want to go back to my date.”

“Please Y/N, let’s just go.”

“What has gotten into you?”

“Diarrhea. I knew that calamari tasted weird.”

“Eww tmi. But let me at least go grab my sweater.”

“No need. I’ll buy you a new one.”, he said trying to pull you away.

You managed to slip out of his grip though and when you looked around the corner you saw Han sitting at the table making out with one of the women from the bachelorette party. Your mouth went dry as you watched the two of them going at it.

Yoongi cleared his throat and motioned for you follow him which you did. Once back in the comfort of his vehicle he looked you over.

“Are you okay? I know you liked him.”, he softly spoke.

He wasn’t expecting you to chuckled, but you couldn’t help it, “Honestly I didn’t even really like him. I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t some stuck up prude, but I guess I won’t even get that chance.”

Yoongi watched you as you fidgeted with your fingers while staring out of the window. He really hoped it wasn’t his worlds that made you feel like you needed to prove that. Even though deep down he knew they were.

He started up the car and began driving.

“Where are you going?”, you asked realizing he wasn’t going home.

“You’ll see.”

Not long after he parked at one of the local night markets that was packed with various street vendors selling goods.

“Neither of us ate dinner so I figured we could get some food before going home.”, he said.

You nodded, “Sounds nice.”

You both talked for what felt like hours as you walked around the market stopping at various stalls. You really got to know a lot about each other that neither of you ever bothered to do before.

You were getting full, but agreed that you couldn’t leave without getting an order of tteokbokki.

You had begun to stare off into the night sky when you heard Yoongi clear his throat. You looked over finding him holding out a single piece of tteokbokki, “A tteokbokki for your thoughts.”, he smiled.

You laughed before taking the toothpick and popping the cake in your mouth.

“What’s wrong with me Yoongi?”, you asked after swallowing it down.

His eyebrows furrowed, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I asked out Han because I thought he would be an easy hookup, but that clearly didn’t work out. Even someone like him didn’t want me. Jae didn’t want me. My two boyfriends before that didn’t want me. Even my own soulmate doesn’t want me.”

Yoongi could feel his heart shattering. Gently he grabbed your chin turning you to face him, “Y/N, please don’t ever feel like that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You’re smart, funny, a hard worker. You’re beautiful. All those guys are big fucking idiots.”

“You were include in that group you know?”, you giggled.

“Yeah and I’m the biggest idiot of them all.”, he laughed back.

You felt like your heart was going to explode. You weren’t completely sure, but a part of you felt like this was his way of admitting that he loved you. You wanted to confess and say something to confirm it, but there was that little part of you that was worried you were misreading everything.

As you were having an internal debate about whether or not to confess Yoongi leaned in ever so slightly. Everything in his body was telling him to move closer, confess his love for you and then gently pull your face to him so that he can lean in and kiss you like he’s always wanted to. Then take you back home and show you all the ways that you were perfect to him.

He leaned in a little closer waiting to see if you’d back away and when you didn’t he took that as his sign.

“This is really hard to say even though it shouldn’t be so I’m just going to come out and say it.”

Your heart felt like it was beating a million beats per second and Yoongi was starting to worry that he really did get poisoned by some bad calamari judging by how his stomach felt like it was doing flips.

He managed to push through though and continued, “Y/N, I know I don’t really act like it, but I really do lo-“

“There you are! I have been looking everywhere for you.”, a high pitched voice exclaimed next to you.

“Rose? What are you doing here?”, Yoongi asked looking very confused.

“You told me to meet you here silly!”

Yoongi remained silent.

Rose pulled out her phone, “Yeah see here. You texted me yesterday at 9:07pm. Wanna meet up? It’s been a while. Need you baby. And then I said of course my little suga cookie. And then you said great. Meet me at the main night market at 8:30. Wear something easy to take off.“

Yoongi was speechless as you stared at him in disbelief.

“So here I am! Just like you asked.” Rose continued oblivious to the situation.

You swallowed the lump in your throat the best that you could. Apparently you had 100% completely misread the situation.

“Soooo are we going to head to the car or where did you want to do this?”, she asked excitedly.

Yoongi cleared his throat, “Um Rose I’m sorry but I actually think that maybe we shouldn’t continu-“

You cut him off, “Continue this here. He means continue this here. Come on. I know a place you both can go.”

You stood up and tossed the rest of your garbage in the trash. Rose happily followed after you while a confused Yoongi was forced to trail behind feeling like the biggest idiot in the world, a feeling he was getting quite used to.

#bts #yoongi fanfic #yoongi x reader #min yoongi #yoongi x y/n #bts fanfic #yoongi fic #bts x reader #park jimin #jimin #soulmate au #yoongi au #yoongi angst #yoongi fluff #bts yoongi #yoongi

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the-fourchette · 2 months ago

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Is Mel really a manipulator ? – part 3

Episode 4 : Mel's ambiguous intentions...

Short analysis

Scene 1

The Council, Jayce and Viktor had a deal : Hextech serves Piltover and the two inventors can exploit it as they want later

Jayce and Viktor created new inventions that Heimerdinger deems unstable and dangerous. He suggests to work on it for an another decade.

The centennial hamster is delusional and doesn't understand that Viktor, who's terminally ill, can't wait for years !

Jayce is lost and doesn't know if he should listen to Heimerdinger, so he asks for Mel's help.

Scene 2

Mel advises him to reveal his inventions now on Progress Day. In this scene she's shady, she's praising Jayce, telling him that he's the man of the future and that the future is now

She already spoke to investors

Seems like she just wants him to reveal it so the investors can start funding now

She delivers her arguments very "theatrically"

Yet her arguments make sense and are on par with Jayce and her mindset : Progress involves risk

She really believes that Jayce is the man of tomorrow

Scene 3

Jayce finally postponed the presentation of his new inventions (without consulting Viktor ?...)

Scene 4

There have been two deadly attacks in Piltover : Attack on the hexgates + bombing and theft of a gemstone

Jayce wants to shut the Hexgates and his lab for safety

Topsiders are not happy because their businesses are in danger

They want the Hexgates to stay open

Even if it means endangering people's safety

Mel stays oddly silent and observant

Then, she suggests a council seat for Jayce so he can fully supervise Hexgates : As a councilor, for business purposes and as a scientist, for safety purpose

Mel's intentions are untrustworthy : Seems like a manipulation to monopolise the Hexgates for the topsiders' businesses

But from her break down of the issue and her facial expression, it seems like she genuinely doesn't want to compromise the safety of her people

She's pleased that Jayce is not corrupted unlike some of her colleagues

Because he's willing to suspend his activities for the greater good

So she makes him a councilor because she fully trusts him to supervise the Hexgates while prioritizing people's safety

By doing so, she also has a colleague with the same mindset (and with whom she can trash-talk with)

Everyone benefits from Mel's solution

But she seems to neglect Jayce's original goal

And she threw him in this councilor role without asking him first

Conclusion : Basically, she's just finding a compromise to satisfy everyone. She manipulated convinced the Council to save Jayce and her ambitions (i.e. progress, business, innovation but not at the expense of people's safety unlike some of her colleagues).

I understand that some people are confused by her schemes here, I was too, but it seems that many people failed to understand her motives even by the end of the series. People think that she was truly selfish in this episode.

The narrative wants us to think that she's sneaky and money-driven, but her real intention is super sane, and manipulation persuasion was necessary to secure the people's safety. In this episode she was not manipulating Jayce. It feels like she's using him by throwing him into politics without asking him, but to her, I suppose, she' just empowering him and lets him have control over his own invention, some topsiders are starting to monopolize it. In her mind, she gives him a life opportunity that people can't refuse.

In all honesty, I don't even understand how people think that Mel giving Jayce the same power as her would be a smart move to "manipulate" him, it's even contradictory....

Mel's schemes are so smooth that we are still trying to figure out her real intentions in 2025 🤣

Let's see the next part, aka the "investment" episode 😈!

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

Full analysis

Scene 1

The Council, Jayce and Viktor had a deal regarding Hextech : they build the Hexgates for Piltover, and in exchange Jayce and Viktor can pursue their innovation.

I won't lie, I'm surprised about this piece of information, I never saw this key detail when I was reading some analysis of Mel's manipulations. It changes everything. Basically, she's a business mentor, and both parties know it's a trade, a deal, not charity.

Scene 2

Jayce is reluctant to show his new inventions on Progress Day because Heimerdinger thinks they are still unsafe, and he should wait for another decade… Mel advises the contrary

Woah, she spoke to investors behind Jayce’s back, like, he should have known before at least....

However, I’m surprised by Jayce’s astonishment here, what did he expect ? It’s literally a fundraiser event... He needs people to fund his research. They had a deal. He does the scientific part, she handles the business one, I guess.

“Piltover needs a leader who looks forward. Someone like you”

Does she really believe what she says ? Or is she just praising him to get him to reveal his invention to investors so they can start funding 💰💰💰?

Her confidence, her silver tongue, her posture and gestures combined with the dark, isolated room contribute to feel she's up to something shady. The feeling is amplified by Jayce’s “innocence” and undecision. It sounds like she’s monopolising his invention for her own interests while manipulating him with praise to sway his decision. Mel’s art of speech is very on point, it’s hard to counter argue, she’s right. Mel’s beauty and charm seem to distract him a lot too (because why is he gulping ?), and she definitely knows that !

She knows which lever to pull, how human works, what will make them react, emote, that’s her forte. She’s strategic and tactical, it’s artful, intriguing.

There she is, Mel, the manipulator !

Except that...there's one detail we shouldn’t forget :

Jayce himself asked for Mel’s advice. He straight up ignores everyone in the party room, makes a beeline and politely asks for Mel’s help.

What was she supposed to say ? Advise him to listen to Heimerdinger, the most out-of touch councilor ? This rat lived for centuries, he hinders progress and magic, he's unbothered by the actual state of Piltover/Zaun and he's dooming Viktor to a death that may be prevented with this invention !

Besides, this woman has personally invested in his project to improve their city, why would she wait for another decade ? It's been seven years already. Her and Jayce share the same mindset : Progress involves risk.

Anyway, earlier in this episode she says to Elora “The only one actually worth my time is him”, so, yes, she really visualizes him as the face of tomorrow. She also spoke very fondly of him with Elora (“He’s won Piltover’s heart”). That's not to say that she doesn't get something out of it, but her faith in him seems sincere at least.

Scene 3

Ok, so Jayce finally listened to Heimerdingers’ advice and delays the reveal of his new inventions. He’d rather show it when he knows it’s safer.

Mel and Viktor were so pissed 😂 . Their reactions are hilarious. Mel and Elora literally quit.

And people say that Jayce is easily manipulated ? No, give him some credit, he can make his own decision !

Anyway, I unserstand them because how Mel is supposed to explain to investors that they postponed the inventions now, bro changed his mind in the midst of his speech, come on 😂. That and he didn't at least informed Viktor.

Scene 4

After the attack on the Hexgates (causing chaos and deaths), Jayce wants to close the Hexgates for safety until the issues are resolved.

10.

Problem, the Hexgates are what made Piltover richer and powerful and tons of people rely on it. The topsiders don't want to shut down what’s make their city prosper and especially what makes themselves richer. They are willing to risk their people's safety !

Though there is a difference between the clownesque councilor Hoskel, who’s just worried about his business shipment and there is Shoola, who’s worried about people losing their income, whether it truly comes from a selfless interest or not, it’s a fact.

11.

All this time, Mel was oddly silent and observant. She decides to finally intervene and this is her break down of the problem :

no Hexgates = the city and councilors will suffer economically

keeping Hexgates as it is = safety issues for the city and more lost lives

12.

Seems like despite her business interest she genuinely doesn't want to compromise her people's safety unlike her colleagues, hence her silence and calculation at the start. In these frames, we understand that Mel is surprised and pleased to see that Jayce is not corrupted, he's willing to suspend his activities/dreams for the greater good.

13.

Her solution is to position Jayce as a Council member so that :

As a scientist, Jayce secures the Hexgates and ensures people's safety.

As a councilor, Jayce protects the topsiders' businesses with the Hexgates, which is not Jayce's goal : helping EVERY people with Hextech.

What are Mel’s true motives? Does she offer this council seat to Jayce out of genuine concern for the city's safety, a cause she refuses to compromise on? Or is she ensuring he prioritizes the Council’s business interests?

Conclusion : Jayce becomes a councilor. Mel successfully convinces the Council to vote in favor, as this would mean preserving both their safety and interests. And yes, Mel kind of manipulated convinced the Council.

I completely missed the point on my first watch. Basically, Mel is happy to know that Jayce is not corrupted, so she has a 2 in 1 solution. She gives him a seat at the Council because she trusts him to prioritize people's safety and he won't tolerate the corruption and misuse of the Hexgates, he will also have control over his own invention. At the same time, he protects the topsiders business interests, and the council members can finally shut their big mouths. And since he's also the scientist and inventor, she fully trusts him to handle the security of the Hexgates.

(Oooh maybe Mel also wants a colleague with the same mindset. She wants someone to gossip with. That's why we can occasionally see them trash-talking the councilors 😂)

However, two things are fairly questionable :

Did she forget Jayce’s and Viktor’s initial dream ?

She put Jayce in a tough spot by positioning him as a councilor without consulting him first, this is unfair.

But to be fair, I'm pretty sure she thinks that's she's empowering him, in her mind, she gives him a life opportunity that no one would refuse. Besides, Jayce has shown multiple times that he can go against everyone’s expectations, and Mel never did anything about it. Like, if he really didn’t want to be a councilor, he would have refused it. But he kept correcting people to call him “Councilor Talis” afterwards 😭

In all honesty, I don't even understand how people think that Mel giving Jayce the same power as her would be a smart move to "manipulate" him, it's even contradictory....

Basically, what makes us feel distrutful is that we don't know what are her real intentions, but her solution benefits everyone, and she makes a logical breakdown of the problem. Whether her real purposes are selfish or not, her solution doesn't harm the other parties, on the contrary.

But since she's deliberately portrayed as selfish, money driven and manipulative by the narrative, we are supposed to believe that she ensures that Jayce abides to the topsider's whines.

Ok so her second "manipulation" is super chill. She's just finding a compromise. Besides she's not even manipulating Jayce yet (?).

Honestly, is this even manipulation at this point ? Strategy, tactic, guile seem to fit better !

Let's see the next part aka the "Wise investment" episode 😈!!!

#arcane #mel medarda #jayce talis #meljay #jayvik #viktor arcane

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heartofetherea · 3 months ago

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A few things about each characters endings:

Judd - I’m sooooo glad Judd got his full circle moment at the end. Him finally becoming Captain was absolutely the right move to make for his ending. And him teaching Charlie about his deceased brothers?? oh my heartttt.

TK - I expected him to quit his job for Jonah and I think it was a pretty good choice. I’m sad we won’t see more of him and Carlos as dads tho.

Marjan - I would not have expected her to have ended up pregnant so soon but it’s okay I guess?

Mateo - Obviously very happy he’s not being deported ahah. I think it was pretty obvious that his status as a firefighter would have been the solution.

Paul - We don’t really know how Paul ended up? Assuming not much changed for him other than being a mentor to that kid.

Nancy - Same for Paul. But she’s also progressing in her life with Mateo so that’s great. I love them together.

Tommy - Very glad she’s not dead. I think it was kind of a cool decision to fake us out like that lol. I’m glad she was able to go back to work.

Owen - Seems to be starting yet another new chapter in a new leadership position. I think it’s a good fit for him and hopefully he can use lots of his new knowledge from his time in Texas.

#e’s 911 ramblings #911 abc #911 fox #911 show #911 spoilers #911 tv show #911 lonestar #911 lone spoilers #911 lone star #judd ryder #tk strand #owen strand #marjan marwani #paul strickland #mateo chavez #nancy gillian #tommy vega

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malkon-dova · 7 days ago

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Shit your pants simulator | Echoes of The Eye/Outer Wilds DLC

outer wilds DLC 1st playthrough liveblog | no spoilers, hints or tips please if commenting! |

PART ONE: Crossroads

(Content features 4/11's session; Writing this pre-game on 4/18)

I did quite a bit of progress!!! After getting reacquainted with The Stranger after a week of not playing, I decided to finally explore more of The Reservoir. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find whatever is making my log scream at me saying that I haven't discovered everything yet. Rip.

But!!! There's always more to find when you're stuck! And wouldn't you know, there's fun little house with a broken bridge I've yet to go to! And with a mysterious passage too!!! :]

And man, I didn't realize how much I've missed in The Stranger till now!! A whole town/section right there that I had missed!! And all because I didn't stay flush-right to the stream :D wow!

The Hidden Gorge is fantastic btw! It's such a cool area, so much to explore!!! And there's those artifacts too!! :) Which, at the time- I had no idea how to use. There's also another dead-people tower, which. I hate. with a passion.

Either way, after gallivanting around the place and navigating the ghost matter maze I finally enter the house and-

jesus christ i nearly shat my pants here. Not the god ray on the eye dude ;o; ohhh my godd. the music too?? aaaccchhhgkkkk. fantastic. makes me cry

And there's one of those locks on the top floor too! I'm sure the puzzle solution is connected to wherever the chain behind the broken wall (where the eye sits) has something to do with it. yet to figure that out though!

Either way, I found this reel about a busted hull!!! and wow!! im glad i pursued that!!! so much info!!! And actual information about the artifacts too!!!

Huh! In order to activate the flame in the artifact, they close their eyes. Well. I suppose the only way to do that for our character is to sleep. Good thing there's fireplaces in the dead-people towers!

oh no.

g. guys. guys. (shaking you). why are the dead people gone. why are the dead people gone. they have disappeared. why are they gone. why is it so dark. why do i move so slow. oh. god.

dude. i wish, i really genuinely wish i had a clip of when i discovered the sleep mechanic worked. it was so funny. but i genuinely was going to start hyperventilating LMAO- i was so scared out of my mind and was stuck on the pause screen for a hot while.

but oh my GOD DUDEEE!!!!!

DUDE! THIS AREA!!!!!!! THEIR PLANET!!!! THEIR MEMORIES OF HOME!!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!! FULLY IMMERSED IN THE STRANGERS HOME AND CULTURE!!!!!!!!!! AND THE GIMMICKS/PUZZLES LOOK SO COOL!!!!!!!!

I AM ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED THOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so! unfortunately, the session ended short and i needed the night to recover hsdgsd

Additional notes: 1) The memories from exploring the spooky area has a cool filter over the memories! The same one when looking into the memories of the experiments.

2) I know the vault is carrying a person. I know it in my heart. I played hollow knight. i know three dreamers and the black egg when i see it. Also I was spoiled on there being a person called "The prisoner" and that just fed into my theory. How do we unlock the towers?. probably with the horror sections. how we communicate? i dont know,, but ultimately i am excited to reach that point and the journey there.

But there's a problem: I am very. very bad with horror. I have nightmares about this sort of stuff. And I saw the gimmick. I hadn't played enough on 4/11 to experience it, but I know I'm gonna have to dodge and weave those gangly motherfuckers (The Strangers) and not get caught by them as I solve the puzzles. I hate everything.

But of course, if there's a will, there's a way.

[Stay tuned for the post-game liveblog today!!! It will be attached to this post in a reblog!!]

#this game is scary no wonder why people stopped playing #waaaaggh #but yeah! stay tuned for tonight!#as of writing this- i play in an hour!!! very excited #but very scared #outer wilds #outer wilds malk liveblog #outer wilds spoilers #outer wilds echoes of the eye #echoes of the eye

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 1 year ago

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Do you think the Statue of Secrecy in the Harry Potter books should be broken?

I mean, that's an interesting question, and not one I'm sure I (or anyone else for that matter) is qualified to answer. It's sort of like asking "should a large and fundamental part of a culture change". It can change, and there'd be fallout from that, and the result would be something entirely different.

What I will say is the statute of secrecy, at least as we see it in Britain, sets up a potentially dangerous state of affairs for a civilization and especially one that is insistent on remaining ignorant of its neighbors.

There's a technical term for this that I'm completely forgetting at the moment but the idea is that if you have an extremely small civilization, in which there is also extreme isolation, then that civilization's technology not only tends not to progress but also regresses. This is a matter of population and knowledge being lost (you don't necessarily have 1-1 replacement for skills and techniques to retain what the civilization knows) and difficulty in innovating for similar reasons.

Now, wizarding Britain isn't quite this, and that's because we have Half-bloods and Muggle-borns. The population is ridiculously small, with Harry's class in Hogwarts being around ~30 total and no matter how JKR tries to convince me there's thousands at Hogwarts we only seem to see 100s if we're being generous, and the "pure" wizarding families being even smaller (~30 families many of which have died out). But we also get a few Muggle-borns every year and we get Half-bloods from magical people marrying Muggles either directly or those who came from Muggles two generations or less ago. We see technology transferred in from the Muggle world and accepted at large in the train for the Hogwarts Express, the Knight Bus, cameras, and radios.

There is technological transfer as well as some diversity in genetics.

The problem comes in that the wizarding world by isolating itself is incredibly vulnerable to diseases (dragon pox is noted as basically having wiped out Harry's grandparent's generation) and conflict (Voldemort's responsible for the ending of several cornerstone family lines). One bad famine, war, and epidemic could end the wizarding world the way it is now.

As it is, they may already be at a breaking point and not realize it, if enough of the families died out. (The Weasleys can't supply 3/4 of the population and you have to have someone there already to teach Muggle-borns magic in the first place).

There's also the issue that by isolating themselves so strictly the wizards have no idea how Muggles work or the state of the Muggle world. Arthur is painted as the best we see and he's offensively bad, it's a common gag how little he understands about the Muggle world as a Pureblood wizard. While people like Hermione and Harry are better, they also stopped their Muggle schooling at 11 and both spend as much time in the wizarding world as they can even during the few times they're sent back to the Muggle world. This is especially dangerous as Harry and Hermione think they understand the Muggle world extremely well, and while they're better than Ron, they're not the same as someone who is a Muggle, especially after they become adult wizards and have no reason to interact with the Muggle world anymore.

So we get a superficial understanding of Muggle technology (they know certain things exist, especially obvious physical devices, but their solution to making them work is to enchant them to float and they think they've got it) and basically 0 understanding of anything else.

We do see some crossover in that the Prime Minister has a direct line to the Minister of Magic, but we also see that it's a "you don't call us, we'll call you" type relationship in that the Prime Minister has been trying for ages to figure out what the fuck is going on when Fudge and Scrigemore finally show up and go "Oh, yeah, there's a changeover and we have a terrorist back who's going to fuck your shit up. Sorry". It's very clearly a position meant to shut the Muggles up and have their aid when the wizarding world needs something from them, not the other way around, which is bad relations (seen in canon, the PM was not a fan) and also makes it clear that the wizards don't care what the Muggles do or what they're up to so long as they do it off their lawn.

And that means... well, things could get spicy without the wizarding world having any means of warning.

Not to mention, of course, that it's barely being kept in place. We have canonical villages of obliviated people who act a little funny in the head because the wizards didn't want to move/wanted to feel progressive by living with Muggles. We have Harry alone causing a number of incidents such as flying a car over half the country with the obliviators then having to obliviate said half of the country. We have Muggle-borns popping up with the Ministry seeming to have no means of keeping track of them without the Hogwarts letter. We have a complete lack of understanding of recent Muggle technology (guys, a very small percentage of people actually understand how computers work, how information is stored, how it's replicated across the web, don't tell me that someone with a primary education up to age 11 understands all the nuance of computers. You may get one or two, but it's not going to be many and they're probably not going to have Ministry jobs because they're going to probably be Muggle-born and maybe, maybe, Half-blood).

So, basically, I think the statute of secrecy is unsustainable. They're rolling dice keeping it in place and one of those days they're going to roll for something that will not allow it to hold.

Does that mean it should be torn down?

Again, that's that "should" thing we got into at first, things would change, it'd get very messy and very ugly, but it's a change and not something I can really ascribe morality to one way or another. It just is.

#harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #the wizarding world #the statute of secrecy #meta #headcanon #opinion

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josphitia · 8 months ago

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Josie's Cow HRT Journey Part 6 - Snake and the Cow

Nobody wanted to leave this congregation of creatures. Everyone was having the time of their life in an environment of pure acceptance. There was so much exchanging of phone numbers. But this was just a patchwork fix to keep these bonds close-knit. Everyone wanted a more concrete solution to solidifying this group of wayward animals. Luckily, the blue-scaled Lamia who had organized this get-together had a great idea: To keep in touch easily, she would create a Chaos server for us all to cavort in. We gave her our emails and she would reach out to us when it was created.

A week had passed since then and my thoughts kept drifting to that day. My body was still accepting the hormones but there was little progress that had been made in a single week’s time. My snout was growing but not fully there, though you could tell I had a cute pink stamp forming at the end. My ears were tapering but still very much humanoid. My horns were disappointingly small… My fingernails were completely black now and had grown thick. But, the one thing that surprised me was how fast my feet were changing! To the point I wasn't even comfortable calling them feet anymore! My toes were fusing together along with my nails into a hard, black hoof. Not fully formed but enough that I was walking on what appeared to be “tippy toes” to everyone else. I was so happy seeing these changes every day!

But I was lonely… My husband was still on a business trip across the country. We would message each other when we could, but it was little compensation for the lack of his presence. It did not fill the need I had to talk to people on the same road as me… I was too shy to exchange numbers with anyone at the support group, so the eventual server was my lifeline to keeping in touch with the numerous animals I had met. Before bed I received an email that, considering the name “BlueSerpentVibes”, I had a guess as to who it could have been. Within the message was a simple hyperlink that said “Invite” that I clicked, as it opened my Chaos application on my desktop. Yet as excited as I had been to finally talk with all of the critters, I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth that night. It was too anxiety inducing seeing the deluge of messages in the “Introductions” tab and the many messages that were quickly filling up the “General” tab. So, I went to sleep, feeling a little guilty at myself that I didn’t stay up to introduce myself. But soon my thoughts drifted away into the realm of sleep.

And so roughly 6 hours later I awoke to a *ping* and 7 friend requests. I eagerly accepted them all, staring and admiring the growing collection of people who were happy to actually continue talking to me. I wasn’t used to that. The server itself was still moving at such a speed I could barely understand who was talking. It seemed like everyone already knew each other... But I wanted to atleast make myself known to the server at large; that I had joined and was eager to talk to people, even if the chat itself was moving too fast for me to be comfortable in. I wrote something short, with a hastily taken selfie, and posted it in Introductions:

“Hi, I’m Josie! My pronouns are she/her. I’m taking CowHRT! I’m so excited to talk to everyone here, I had a great time at the support group. Feel free to DM me!”

Then I waited. But it wasn’t long before I had someone sending me a message.

Gio-“Boop! : D

Sooooooo”

Uh, wow okay. That was quick. Didn’t really know what to say except to follow suit, I guess:

Josie-“Sooooo”

Gio-“You were the short haired cow in the support group right?”

Someone actually remembered me! That was a surprise. I didn’t really know how to proceed apart from small talk, but that’s how all friendships start I suppose.

Josie-“Uh yeah, that was me. Although maybe you’re thinking of the other cow that was there?”

Gio-“Oh nah you look completely different. I mean, both cows, but I recognize ya from your selfie. So, how’ve you been?”

Josie-“Well good, I guess. Been looking forward to catching up with the people I met then. Although I’m sorry… Your profile picture’s just of a mountain. Could you remind me who you were there?”

Gio-”Oh, I had green hair and scales :D I was hanging around the goat for a while before we mingled some.”

Josie-”Oh the king cobra guy!”

Gio-”...king cobra guy? Don’t remember the name huh.”

Josie-”Uhm, sorry…”

Gio-”It’s okay. The person you were talking to was Scalin.”

Josie-”Okies, hi Scalin!”

Gio-”No you’re talking to Gio right now.”

Josie-”Uh, okay sorry. Are you using their account or…?”

Gio-”Oh no this is our Chaos account. But you’re talking to Gio right now, not Scalin. Scalin’s in the back. My pronouns are Drae/draer/draer/draers/draeself.”

Josie-”Oh thank you! I'll do my best to address you as such :3 As for Scalin, do you mean that he's like, in the back of the house or are you at work or?”

Gio-”Oh. You don’t know? We’re a system.”

Josie-”What does that mean?”

Gio sent a pluralpedia link that described plurality and systems. It was a fascinating read, though admittedly I only skimmed it so I could get back to the conversation.

Josie-”Okay, so that’s interesting. So, I was talking to someone who’s a part of your system then?”

Gio-”Yeah Scalin was the one who was at the support group. He’s taking Cobra HRT though he does think it’s funny how you referred to him as ‘King Cobra Guy.’ But right now you’re talking to me, Gio. I would be considered the host. Well co-host. Usually Heath is up here too.”

Josie-”Well what would you like to talk about? As happy as I am to talk about plurality and systems I don’t think that’s why you started messaging me.”

Gio-”Hm. Well I was thinking of hosting a movie theater get together at the place where I work. But I wanted to get some opinions first. Scalin was saying you two had talked about movies and upcoming ones. It wouldn’t be for another month or so though. But I thought it would be fun to host a get together around some sort of activity rather than just going to the support group again!”

Gio-”Also I gotta brb.”

Josie-”Uh okay.”

A few minutes passed before he, or they I suppose, started typing again.

Heath-”Salutations! Pleased to be back on the air~!”

Josie-”Whu? We were just talking. Unless, okay. Are you another… headmate? Alter?”

Heath-”I am indeed. The nomenclature that I am most often referred to as is Heath, though I’ve been known to go by different names such as Alastor or the Radio Demon.”

Josie-”Okay… Well, hi Heath. I was just talking to Gio about him hosting a get together at his movie theater.”

Heath-”Oh I know! I was watching that boorish conversation. But a get together in-front of one of those noisy ‘silver screens’ might be quite fun indeed. The only obstacle we can foresee is the matter of transportation. However I might have just the remedy to that conundrum.”

Josie-”Oh? And what’s the remedy to that?”

Heath-”Why I can’t just tell you! It’s something to be experienced! Enjoyed! But even before all that, there’s a simple question I have to ask… Do we have a deal?”

Josie-”Well I mean I wanna hang out with you yeah! You, or I guess Scalin, seemed really cool and I wanna hang with him more. So I guess yeah we have a deal? What now?”

Heath-”One moment.”

Josie-”Okay…”

A few moments passed before a static covered, tall antlered fellow with scarlet red hair and a similarly colored suit stuck his hand out from my computer monitor! He yanked my arm and dragged me through the TV!

As soon as I opened my eyes I was on a jade colored mountaintop while the antlered man looked down upon me with a devilish, sharp-toothed smile.

“Welcome to our humble abode little bovine” he said, holding out a hand but never offering to help me up. I picked myself up and brushed off the… snow? It was a sort of white powdery substance that clung to my body. At a loss for words, I simply looked around at my newfound location.

A large dragon suddenly bellowed “Oh hell Heath did you soulbound someone!? Is that Josie!? WHAT DID YOU DO”

“Oh hey Josssie cool you’re here WAIT” exclaimed a tall snakefolk.

”Hm.” was all that a rather humanoid figure spoke.

I stared at the figures before me. A dark scaled green dragon of considerable size looked down upon me with an expression of feral worry. A tan & black scaled snakefolk, of the King Cobra variety, had an exasperated look upon his face, equal parts concern and anger. And an older gentleman wearing a dark green coat and balancing himself on a cane whose handle appeared to be a stylized charizard. Even though I hadn't met them in these forms, I could hazard a guess that the Dragon was Gio and the Cobra was Scalin. I had no idea who the older gentleman was though…

”What, and how, are you even doing here?” spoke the green jacketed man.

”Uhhh I have no idea??? Where am I???” I responded in bewilderment.

“Well you were all talking about inviting her so I just thought this would be the quickest and most efficient way!” Heath said in a surprisingly upbeat manner.

The dragon lowered draer head towards the red haired demon and growled ”How the fuck did you know your magic would work.”

”I didn’t! But she made the deal and that sufficed.” spoke Heath happily in what I was beginning to understand was his trademark tone.

Scalin turned angrily towards me hissing “You made a deal. With. HEATH!?”

”Fuck me… How was I supposed to know!? It was just a message on Chaos!” I pleaded

”Chaos isn't actually here right now.” Gen responded sardonically

Now I was the target of Gio’s ire and words as he growled ”A guy introduces themselves as the radio demon and you don’t question making a deal?”

Scared, all I could think to say was “I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A FIGURE OF SPEECH!”

”Well you're here now. Heath! We're at work, what are we supposed to do about this??” said the dragon, turning his attention back towards the demon.

Ever chipper, Heath calmly quipped ”Oh don't worry I was just having fun with the little cow. She'll be back in the quote unquote ‘real world and off the mountain in just a jiffy.”

Heath reached out his hand towards mine yet again. “We had a deal, remember~?”

”Josie, you can't do it. What's gonna happen next??” Scalin spoke, his hood flaring as he said this.

”I agree with Scalin. We can figure out how to fix this ourselves without his help.” Spoke the green dragon in a low, rumbling voice.

But, despite their protests, I still reached out my hand. Heath grabbed it with a firm hold and once again the world around me tumbled as my vision was violently turned black. I opened my eyes to a “WHAT THE FUCK” from the same green haired man I had spoken to at the support group.

“Oh. Hi?” was all I could think to say as drae breathed heavily in front of me, a mix of anger and surprise. My surroundings were that of a movie theater; and somehow I was sitting on the sticky floor behind the concession stand.

“Gio?? What's wrong?” spoke a short balding man as he made his way towards us. “N-nothing sir, I uh.”

I figured this would be the best chance to make myself known to this guy’s apparent boss. “Hi!” I said, jolting up from the floor. “I was just dropping by to say hi to… Gio! I'm his friend!”

“Hmmm” was all the man let out as he gave me a cursory, cautionary check over up and down. “Welp, I've been needing someone to work concessions! And by your looks you're one of them thur-rains like Gio right?”

“Uh. Yeah? You can tell I'm a cow?”

“Kinda hard to not notice little missy. And I have big plans, big plans. World's first Thur-rain friendly movie theater! You people will come from all over to watch films in my theaters! Now, do you want a job or not? Consider this your first day on the job. Gio can give you the rundown but. Gio! The main theater ends in 20 minutes, I'm gonna need you in there by then so it's clean before the 4 o’clock showing.”

As he walked away Gio gave me a quick rundown. That no matter who might be fronting, the outside knew draer only as Gio. Luckily it actually *was* Gio at this time in charge of the body so I wouldn't be misnaming my newfound friend. Gio and I got to formulating theories as to what just happened. How Heath pulled me from my home to his headspace and then to this theater. But, ultimately, we were at a bit of a loss. I had wanted to come visit anyways, just not like this… Heath had saved me the cost of a bus ticket but had stranded me halfway across the country. Gio had already scheduled with the others in the server that the meetup would be in a few weeks so everyone had a chance to arrange transportation.

I looked up the prices and we both deduced it would cost me three times as much to head home and come back rather than just waiting out the three weeks here… I had already been using up my vacation time from work so I'd be able to be home during the onset of my transition… I was set to start again Monday. But, I called my work and took another 4 weeks off. Luckily I had quite the amount of sick time banked. And it seemed I had a job lined up here for me so I could at least pay for my own hotel and essentials.

The rest of the day was spent haphazardly serving popcorn and drinks to waves of hungry customers. The boss was just happy to have a new face to speak his eccentricities towards. I could tell by the eye rolls of my new coworkers these were all diatribes they had heard before. The day went by surprisingly quickly, actually, and before I knew it Gio was helping me to clock out and offered to drive me to the nearest hotel.

The car ride was full of the usual conversation topics of a newly forming friendship, if one created under unusual circumstances. Favorite foods, favorite music, commiserating on the evils of capitalism, those sorts of things. Drae dropped me off outside the hotel with a half-hug and a goodbye. But before drae drove off I could see a wide smile creep across Gio’s face and a thought permeated my mind. I knew that my previous encounter with Heath would not be my last.

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Josie's Cow HRT Journey

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King Cobra HRT Month 1.5

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Hope you enjoyed Part 6! Created with the help of @thecrystalmountainsystem ! They created and supplied the art as well as helping with the general structure of this chapter. Check out their own Animal HRT series: Cobra HRT!

Thanks for looking!

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comicgeekery · 2 months ago

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In a Way, We're All One Bad Day From Being Harpooned, Right?

Sherlock & Co. Black Peter.

Black Peter was a fun mystery, as well as the first to come out since I stopped resisting and joined the Sherlock & Co. Patreon. (The mailbags got me.) The writer, Joel Emery, even confirmed for me in a recent AMA that he’s writing a queer Sherlock! (He also said there wouldn’t be any Sherlock/John, but I’m not giving up hope!)

This adventure was a gruesome one. Sure, The Veiled Lodger had a character describe a horrible lion mauling, but Black Peter has...uh...a character describing a bloody harpoon murder. But this time the gruesome thing was in the same room as the character describing it!

...Yeah, okay, I guess the nature of audio programs is that it’s always someone describing something.

The mystery was a bit silly in how complicated it was. Sherlock already knew that the tourist, the wife, and the gardener were innocent so they didn’t need so much focus. I know it’s kind of an inherent thing for any Sherlock to be cryptic to a fault before the final solution, but why did we have to spend so much time chasing the Japanese tourist? It felt useless in-story and functioned more as a way to bring in Winnie the Pooh jokes and give Mariana a reason to show off her language skills.

I do want to note that Marta da Silva, Mariana’s actor, did a great job with all her language snippets. She sounded like a capable, confident speaker in all of them. And Sherlock showed off his new language: bad puns! John, you’ve infected him!

But the most impressive part of Black Peter was the arc with Peter himself. At the beginning he was terrifying, clearly deeply paranoid and dangerous. There was no question about why everyone would hate him. He’d spent ten years as a man who was annoying at best and violent at worst. A man whose funeral was only really attended by the person who killed him.

Harry Frost did an excellent job as Patrick. His eulogy for Peter was for a man who died twice, and both times it was because of Patrick. Frost portrays that pain and guilt beautifully. It’s both heartbreaking and poignant.

I know that Sherlock & Co. got a lot of criticism for its portrayal of mental illness in A Case of Identity. Between this adventure and the overt detour to talk to a psychiatrist in Dancing Men, I think they’re really trying to do better there. I think the complex emotions we’re left with at the end of Black Peter really illustrate how hard mental illness can be to navigate in someone you love. It would be nice to see these ailments in more characters who aren’t murderers or abusers (like in The Creeping Man for example), but I do think it’s notable progress.

Now if only we could get an openly trans character. That was my other big criticism about A Case of Identity, the way it played into transphobic stereotypes. Maybe John would even be surprisingly on top of being a trans ally, coming at it from an angle of understanding the issues trans patients face with bigoted doctors. Here’s hoping!

#sherlock & co spoilers #sherlock & co podcast #sherlock holmes #dr john watson #mariana ametxazurra #Black Peter spoilers #Harry Frost #Marta da Silva

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callmearcturus · 9 months ago

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just some things i love about the XMAU triumvirate

RAVEN

she is literally The Reason the timeline is different and she is the fulcrum of the changes and is the most important person, i'm not remotely kidding

I really really hate the trope of "smart, level-headed female character who is too good for these dumb men" but Raven's arc from the first movie to the fourth actually justifies it. she starts off lost and stuck in Charles' shadow in XMFC, is emotional and confused and angry and alone in DOFP, is a free agent and a very very reluctant hero in XMA, and by the time she reached DP she's so fucking wise and mature, it's actually CHARACTER PROGRESSION

she did need a push at the start, and when someone helps her grow emotionally, she actually repays that by returning the favor. Erik gave her a way to live without Charles and helped her learn pride in herself, and in return she's the one to be Erik's better angel in XMA after Charles royally screws that shit up. even just the invocation of her is the thing that wakes Erik up from his rage spiral in DP.

likewise, she is the one who over and over and over again voices the Charles You Fuck-Up chorus against Charles. in XMA she calls him tf out for his rose-colored glasses because she's out in the thick of it, she's the boots on the ground where he is not. in DP, she drags his ass for his respectability politics and ego-stroking, and she's fucking right.

taking a character who literally had to hide their identity for most of her life and then making her a literal hero-- all of the younger mutants look up to her, her appearance on TV changed everyone's lives, Ororo literally brings her up the second anyone glances at her painting of Raven. and the clear discomfort Raven feels about that, having tripped into being... kind of what she herself needed growing up, and her complicated feelings about it.

SHE IS LITERALLY THE PERSON CHARLES THINKS HE IS. she is a symbol of the worth of mutants, she is the foot soldier who rescues people in danger and brings them to safety, and when someone is off the deep end and NEEDS to hear the right thing, Charles fucks it up EVERY TIME but Raven doesn't.

she's vulnerable she's a bitch she's a diplomat she's a smuggler she's serving cunt she's got a bigger dick than you she's the ultimate girldad

her makeup and prosthetics in DP are genuinely beautiful, they finally figured out a solution for JLaw's apparently allergy to most techniques and she looks so cool

Ranking Amongst Jean Grey's Dads: Best Dad. Tough love, turns a blind eye when you're doing shots and having a party, probably drives a motorcycle, turned Ororo queer. Will show up to bail you out of jail if you get a trouble but will only ground you for a week.

ERIK

might be the greatest character of all time? he's really high up there, y'all.

lets just lay it out: he's a Jewish holocaust survivor who speaks at least four languages and works as a nazi hunter and is the reason the bullet curved (he was trying to save Kennedy actually). his Magical Girl Power-Up Sequence is tearing Auschwitz apart with his powers, he can control the magnetic fields on the entire planet, he floats in a Sad Snowglobe Of Magnetic Angst. he also becomes a foundry worker with ginger scruff and flannel shirts who sings polish lullabies to his daughter. he also is called in to talk to invading American soldiers and basically tell them Come Back With A Warrant and is savvy enough to avoid letting said soldiers get hurt on his land bc he knows the political ramifications. all of that is FACTUAL.

The first time we hear him speak English, his voice drops into that chasm-deep baritone and I literally went "oh no"

This Bitch Rehabilitated Himself. We joke about how Magneto Was Right but the reality is more complicated. He is certainly more right than Charles, but the gap in his ideology is intersectionality, which is wild given his origin story is Gddamn Nazi Hunter and when he decides to quit The Revolution, he becomes a laborer. All of the elements of his past, warrior to lab rat to revolutionary to dad to laborer, they all synthesize into what he finally becomes. He's a leader who is just as comfortable citing legal precedent and playing spymaster as he is constructing houses.

Punct: "Arc, do you just have a thing for public servants?" Me: "Shut the fuck up. Yes. Shut up."

The sheer physicality of how he uses his powers, how when he is tearing the planet apart, he is serene and calm and when he's in one-on-one combat he's physical and full of motion and feels like he's been doing this for his entire life.

Look: the fight on the train in DP is hot as hell. also it works as an encapsulation of his morals. when threatened, he is ruthless and efficient and brutal. when he's the last man standing between Jean and the villain, he seals the way behind him and prepares to die with a smile and a quip. Erik decides what needs to be done and does it, and if its a thankless, inglorious death, he's ready for it.

The entire dynamic of Raven and Erik. The respect, the love, the fact they definitely fucked and that's behind them but it was important to them both. In DOFP, Erik tries to kill Raven to save the timeline, and the moment her death isn't needed, he goes to her like "Yep, I did that because I thought it was right. Now its not. Here's a bunch of information you need to know." AND IT'S THAT FUCKING SIMPLE. The way Raven views Erik as almost a known quantity, someone reliable and predictable, the trust and understanding they have, SLAYS ME.

HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS TO REHABILITATE CHARLES XAVIER. In the end, it's Charles who has fucked up his life so thoroughly that he needs love and guidance to find his way again, and it's Erik who shows up and is determined he will take Charles home and accepts the responsibility of that decision.

Ranking Amongst Jean Grey's Dads: Second Best Dad, and that's including the time he lowkey tried to murder her. He's STILL second best dad. He's like the dad who didn't get custody in the divorce but when something Bad happens, the kids go to him because they trust him to help them. He can and will help you bury the bodies. He's also easier to be emotional with bc if you get angry, he's ready for it, unlike your Other Dad. And if you need to cry, he'll let you cry on him without asking you over and over "are you alright darling, do need anything, you know if you wanted to speak to a therapist i know seventeen of them" like your Other Dad, no Erik's just like "okay?" and doesn't make it a federal fucking issue. also raven probably has a motorcycle but erik definitely has a motorcycle.

Charles Fucking Xavier

the fakest bitch in the world, the self-loathing king, the addict who can't stop hurting himself, the martyr of martyrs. MCAVOY DID NOT NEED TO BRING THIS MUCH GAME TO THIS ROLE AND YET HE DID.

what makes the XMAU timeline so good is that they somewhere decided "actually, Charles is a liar" and he's not kind of a liar, he's THE liar, and it all pays off in Dark Phoenix when his carefully constructed world comes crashing down around his head.

He never understood how much he loved and needed Raven until she was gone. When she's gone and he finally recognizes who she is, sees her as more than his ward, it's the moment he most needed her. Charles is, at his core, even more than the blunt force metaphor of DOFP, an addict. He needs people to temper him and to tell him no. Left with Hank (basically living which his drug dealer and enabler), he becomes a bitter, fucked up mess who has lost all the joy in his life. He goes from the guy who is SO EXCITED TO SEE NEW MUTATIONS to calling Peter "a pain in the arse," he's just SO cold and lost and bitter and it colors everything about him.

Erik and Raven had this thing he wants, this certainty and understanding of who they each are. When he finally becomes The Professor in XMA, it feels like a pure performance. He can't drink and drug himself to death in the new world Raven has created, so he is going to be the Professor and he has all these little habits and bits of patter that feel constructed to create this shell for him to fill out and become.

AND THIS PRETTY MUCH IS CONFIRMED IN DP because Charles can't do it Erik's way and can't do it Raven's way, so he needs to win in his way, this perfect PR performance of Professor Charles Xavier who can fill your mind with "Help is on the way" at any moment. He will make the world love them because he doesn't know how to handle any alternative. But its the same knife's edge he's been balanced on since the beach in Cuba, the same edge he's been balancing on since Raven was on TV pointing a gun at Trask, the same edge he falls off in DP when he loses Raven, loses Jean, and just like that, the entire world decides to put him and the people he loves into camps. It was ALWAYS right under his feet, and his tightrope walk was always doomed to fail because to keep it going, he would have to sacrifice anyone and everyone who couldn't keep up the same facade he does.

Because Charles is angry. My gd, he is angry. YOU WANT WHAT I HAVE? YOU WANT TO FEEL WHAT I FEEL?!

He lost Raven and blows up at Erik to try to blame him only to get told tf off for abandoning everyone he was meant to care for. He lost Erik because Erik would not become the right kind of charismatic leader and he left Erik in prison for a fucking decade. He lost Raven again for ignoring the realities outside of Westchester, ignoring vicious violent injustices. He lost Erik again because his secondary mutation is the ability to say the wrong thing at the right time. He lost Erik again when he became such a fake-bitch that Erik moved to a remote island just to get away from TV news and magazines lmao. And he lost Jean because he's a liar, even if he's a liar for love. ALL OF HIS CAREFUL PLANS AND NARRATIVES FAIL IN THE END. THEY RENAMED THE SCHOOL AND SENT HIM OUT ON A LONG SABBATICAL TO FIGURE HIS SHIT OUT.

but i love him. he's a complete fuck-up who needs to have people around him to stop him, but I love him because he's wanted to be a dad when he was 12 years old, he finally learns how to say he was wrong, he sits at Jean's bedside and comforts her when she's scared, he non-consensually overwrote jean's memory. he did it to cut out the fact her father hated her and blamed her for her mother's death. he believes in Jean and trusts her in a way only Raven and Scott do in the end. Jean puts him through one of the most grotesque, de-humanizing things imaginable and he still immediately offers himself up to her to look into his heart and trusts her, still trusts her when he should not

he's a fuck-up and loses everything for what is without a doubt his mistakes. and he lives through it. so he has to keep going. and Erik's going to help him.

he once (falsely) accused Erik of taking Raven and abandoning him. in the end, Erik shows up and refuses to leave him. because Charles is a fuckup but the love is there and will always be there. Because I think Charles is only able to hurt people so much because he loves them so much. Anger is just love left out and gone to vinegar.

Ranking Amongst Jean Grey's Dads: Third Best, Second Worst Dad. Gd, he sucks so much. He got Raven killed, he lucked out of not getting Jean killed, he gets kicked out of his own fucking school, even Hank the guy who was his live-in drug dealer for years calls him to the mat. Still better than John Grey, who decided his eight year old child was a murderer and handed him off to a rich stranger and never looked back. Fuck that guy.

anyway you reached the end so i'm here to tell you that the best XMAU movie is DOFP. then Dark Phoenix. then XMFC. then Apocalypse. yes, I'm serious.

#xmen movies #raven darkholme #erik lehnsherr #charles xavier #xmau

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year ago

Note

What would you change about Malleus if you could?

To quote myself from an older post:

“Honestly, I wouldn’t change anything about Malleus, even if I don’t like him as he is. A lot of my grievances with Malleus fundamentally make Twisted Wonderland what it is, so changing Malleus would also change Twisted Wonderland, from the marketing (aka make Malleus NOT a focal point) to the story itself. Like, the whole point of Malleus is to be standoffish and mysterious. If he wasn’t, then there wouldn’t be any good foreshadowing for chapter 7 […] I understand that he is the way he is in service of the main story plot and to stay true to his Disney origins […] he serves his purpose in the story. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.”

Instead of changing Malleus, I’d like to change how the world interacts with him without making major changes to his background or personality. That will be the focus of this post!

Here is what I would alter:

Introduce Malleus to Yuu sooner and make their interactions more meaningful than a few dialogue exchanges before he poofs away.

A lot of my issues with Malleus come from how weak his friendship with Yuu feels, especially if the player does not project onto their relationship to fill in the gaps. They don’t meet until book 2, Lilia delivers instead of Malleus in book 4, and Malleus and Yuu don’t interact at all in book 6. When they do meet, they don’t even do or say that much that would make them… I don’t know, connect? And no, the nickname (Tsunotaro/Hornton) alone doesn’t cut it for me. The value of Yuu and Malleus’s relationship as it currently stands is too dependent on whether the player likes Malleus or not, and anyone who doesn’t is left not caring about his and Yuu’s bond.

Let’s show Malleus sooner (even as early as the end of the prologue). Maybe Yuu sees his figure from a distance and is curious about him. Then have him appear and interact with Yuu every book. Have them actually get to know each other a little, but not in ways which would be too intimate or give away his identity. Tailor each interaction so that it tangentially relates to the problem Yuu is dealing with that particular book, then, through their interaction, have Malleus give advice in a roundabout way that ends up helping Yuu come up with a solution for that book. This way it progresses the story, maintains Malleus’s enigmatic presence, AND it deepens his bond with Yuu.

One good example of this actually occurs in book 3 of the main story. Yuu confides in Malleus in 3-24 that they’ve lost their dorm as collateral in a deal. Malleus then abruptly changes the topic to gargoyles. He points out that although they look scary, they serve an important function as a type of drainage spout to protect buildings from the elements. “They look frightful, and yet they are beings devoted to the preservation of the home. Sometimes, what you see with your eyes is the complete opposite of the truth.” Finally, Malleus advises Yuu to keep fighting for their dorm, as he too would hate to see Ramshackle be seized and turned into a noisy establishment. This is PERFECT, we need more of THIS sort of Malleus-Yuu interaction 😭 He’s still communicating in a quirky way and sharing his interests but he also manages to impart sage advice to Yuu, which they use to deduce the truth to Azul’s “indestructible” contracts. Give us more of this every book, please.

Properly reprimand him when he actually makes mistakes or endangers others.

I cannot tell you how insanely frustrating it is that Malleus gets let off easy for the transgressions (whether major or minor) he commits and the danger he puts his peers in. He should be held to the same standards as his peers and treated the same too. If some rando mob student or another dorm leader would get into trouble for starting a fight, then Malleus should also be held accountable when he abuses his magic (which he KNOWS he has an abundance of compared to his peers) to "prank" others. He should not get special treatment or get put on a pedestal just because of power or social status.

Give Malleus opportunities to demonstrate his abilities as a leader.

Diasomnia is known for having tons of Draconians (Malleus fan boys), right??? So show us what makes him worthy of being followed and revered beyond his lineage and the power he was born with. Don't tell me they just mindlessly worship him for his title and strength. What has he done to earn their respect and loyalty? What makes him fit to rule over them? Surely not just noble blood?

Instead of telling us about Malleus’s greatness, how about we actually get to see him show how great he is? No magic, no physical prowess. Put him in a tough situation where he cannot handwave the problem away and force him to use his brains to come up with a creative solution on his own. We kind of got a glimpse of this in Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles, since Malleus was not allowed to use magic for the course, and that was just small stakes. I would like to see more scenarios like this which force Malleus to confront issues and to think outside of the box. This would help us see how he fares on his own, how he thinks, and how he reacts when he cannot rely on magic as a crutch. Who is Malleus without his magic? That's what I want to know.

#twst #twisted wonderland #Malleus Draconia #Yuu #Lilia Vanrouge #Azul Ashengrotto #book 3 spoilers #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #question #notes from the writing raven #Malleus Draconia critical

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somedaylazysomeday · 1 year ago

Text

A Boon - Part Five

Thranduil comes to visit you in Esgaroth - one ruler to another.

Thranduil x fem!reader

Rating: Mature. Minors DNI.

Word Count: 3,600

Warnings: the pressures of ruling, romantic pressures, mentions of alcohol, mentions of mortality, sleeplessness, weapons, brief fear of intruders

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You surveyed the stretch of boards ahead of you. These boards were still yellow, freshly hewn from fallen trees. They were bright against the gray waters of the lake and the gray-brown of the older, weathered boards that made up most of Esgaroth. Still, you were displeased. “This is progress, but it still leaves at least a ten minute trip by boat to reach the shoreline.”

“Surely that is short enough, Queen?”

You shook your head. “We are discussing farmers. At the end of a long day in the fields, they may choose to swim rather than wait for a boat or fall asleep at their oars. We can hardly afford to lose any farmers. We shall have to continue construction.”

“But majesty,” one of your advisors protested, “if we continue, we will block the lake. Kings Thranduil, Bard, and Thorin will surely object.”

It was a fair point and you nodded to acknowledge it. “Then we shall simply have to be more creative as we search for solutions.”

“Perhaps a bridge of some kind, far off the water…” one mused.

“My queen!” an official called. You turned, already knowing what you would find. As you had expected, Thranduil waited on the main boardwalks of town. “Elvenking Thranduil of the Greenwood has arrived and wishes to meet with you.”

You waved back, made your excuses to your advisors, and started back up the wooden boardwalk toward the small elven delegation. The trip was not short, but Thranduil never seemed anything less than endlessly patient as you walked.

When you finally arrived in front of the elves, Thranduil gave an elaborate bow, took your hand, and pressed a lingering kiss to your knuckles. “My lovely Queen of Esgaroth.”

“Thranduil.”

A look of amused exasperation crossed his beautiful face as he straightened and you stifled a laugh. Thranduil had been officially courting you for months and he still insisted on keeping to the utmost standards of society. You, however, eagerly dropped his title whenever you could get away with it.

“I have business with King Bard, but I could not resist halting our progress to visit the famed Beauty of the Waters.” Thranduil leaned closer. “Why is it that I never find you in your throne room?”

The reception hall had been your coronation gift from the Kingdom of Greenwood. It was ostentatious to a remarkable degree, especially when set against the backdrop of Lake Town, but it had been the only thing that stopped Thranduil’s complaints about the rest of your coronation. The ceremony had been plain, certainly - perhaps even stark - but there were other things in Esgaroth that needed funds. It seemed a shame to waste gold on yourself.

“We both know that real business takes place outside of a throne room,” you reminded Thranduil. “Besides, I worry that Smaug will come back to steal the ridiculous gems from the walls.”

Thranduil sniffed, pressing a hand to his chest. “I hand-picked every one of those gems. They remind me of your eyes.”

“They’re… all white?” you reminded slowly.

“Yes,” he agreed, unperturbed. “But I did not choose them for their color. I chose them for their sparkle. Their fire. That is what matches your eyes. They are your defining feature, you know.”

For all that you thought he was an arrogant, over-confident ass sometimes, Thranduil did know how to deliver a compliment. To hide your flustered state, you asked, “How long will you stay?”

“I must be in Dale by sunset,” he told you, regret in his tone.

With a glance around, you scoffed. “You must leave in minutes if you will arrive there by sunset! You might have just waved from your boat as you passed by.”

Thranduil was unbothered by your caustic tone. “Ah, but then I could not have done this…”

He swept his long robes back, lowering gracefully onto one knee. The people Lake Town drew closer behind the elven guards, watching the scene with eager expectation.

After an appropriately long pause, Thranduil started, “My dearest queen of Esgaroth… You enrapture me. You have always done so, from the time you were a bar maid, and it has been my delight watching you rise to the challenges of being queen of what was once called Lake Town.

“Our kingdoms have been joined in matters both of diplomacy and trade to the benefit of all our people. I believe it is time we join in a more permanent alliance.” Thranduil paused, looking up into your eyes with a wide gaze of his own. “Will you agree to be my queen?”

You smiled down at him, wrapping your hands around his. “No, Thranduil.”

An appreciate chuckle ran through the crowd. Thranduil stood, not looking distraught in the least. “Very well. We shall depart for Dale. Accompany us to our boat?”

“Of course,” you agreed, placing your hand on his proffered arm. You chatted pleasantly on the way back to the elves’ boat as the people of Esgaroth called sympathies to Thranduil and wished him better luck the next time.

Thranduil had been proposing marriage to you since the week after your coronation. It had become something of a spectacle for your people to watch his attempts. There was even a betting pool on how long it would be before you gave in. It was a salve to your ego that there were a number of people who bet you would never agree to marry Thranduil at all.

“I shall return soon,” Thranduil announced, brushing your knuckles with his lips once more before he climbed into the elegantly carved boat.

The elven guard who had been trailing behind you paused by your side for a moment. “Your highness?”

“Yes?” you asked expectantly.

“It was the bar maid line, was it not?”

You smiled despite yourself. “Among other things.”

The guard shook his head. “I begged him to reconsider that section.”

“I believe you.” You offered a small smile to the elf. “Thranduil is a victim only of his own hubris.”

The guard hastily stifled a laugh before he climbed into the boat. You waited long enough to wave as they rowed swiftly across the shining waters of the lake. After an appropriate amount of time, you strode to your office, waving away teasing questions about when you would finally allow yourself to be caught.

There was far too much to be done.

Lake-Town - or Esgaroth - was not what it once was, but not all of the changes were negative. Most of the people who had survived Smaug’s attacks had chosen to follow King Bard to settle Dale, but Esgaroth had kept almost a third of its original population. And the town was bolstered by the ever-flowing tide of merchants and travelers who chose to settle on the lake instead of further into the mountains.

Yes, Esgaroth was growing and changing, developing into a fine community with the makings of an actual economy. There were days when you questioned whether you had been made queen as a joke of some kind and if the townspeople would take it away from you. But there had been no hints of that.

It probably aided your rule that you weren’t queen full-time. You still ran the Ripple, though you had needed to hire additional help for when you were fulfilling royal duties. Contributing to the local job market - and alcohol provisions - definitely helped your popularity among Esgaroth residents.

The Ripple was nearly empty when you stepped inside. Storr beamed at you from his place behind the bar, giving a bow so deep that you worried (or hoped) that he would bash his forehead against the shining wooden surface.

“My queen!” Storr cried, drawing the attention of both patrons. They lifted their tankards at you; they knew you well enough to know that was the only acknowledgement you truly welcomed. “To what do we owe this honor?”

You scowled at him. Storr didn’t take the expression to heart. You had largely left him in charge of the Ripple when you were doing other things around the town, and he had handled the responsibility with grace and a level head. You appreciated everything he did for you and your business… and both of you knew it.

Still, you filled your tone with steel and venom as you said, “This is my bar, Storr. If you’ve forgotten, perhaps it’s time for me to find a replacement.”

Storr only laughed, and the sound made you smile back at him. You accepted his brief hug when he had stepped around the bar. “You know I hate when you bow to me.”

“Why else would I do it?” he asked, patting your shoulders as you pulled away. “Kirna and Kell say hello.”

“Give them my love,” you said instantly. Storr’s wife Kirna had been one of your staunchest supporters even before the town had decided to make you its queen. And his son Kell was wise beyond his four years… and far more energetic than you remembered being as a child.

“Of course.” Storr sighed. “I know you are far too busy, but remember that you have an open invitation to come for dinner.”

“I am never too busy for friends,” you protested.

Storr cut you off with a loud laugh. “You’re too busy to sleep and eat, let alone visit with lowly town residents.” He winked at you, continuing before you could refute that statement. “While we are on the subject, what brings you to the Ripple this afternoon?”

“Honey mead.” You glanced toward the back room where you stored the mead as it went through the process of fermentation. None of the casks were visible from where you stood, but you looked anyway. “I need to bottle a few casks. That double batch should be ready for consumption next month.”

Storr grimaced. “That will be a busy night. Will you be here to help?”

“I- will do my best,” you said carefully. Sadly, the truth was that you couldn’t know for certain where you would be when the mead was ready. It all depended on what was happening in the town. “I’ll see if I can find someone to come up for extra support for the first few nights.”

The first sign you had of an impending conversation was that Storr followed you to the fermentation room. He had always avoided it, claiming that the smells gave him a headache.

“What is it?” you asked as the door closed behind him. There was a tangle of fear in your stomach as you waited for whatever news he had.

“Nothing bad,” he assured. “More a question than a concern. But you will dislike it.”

That did nothing to soothe your nerves. “Go on.”

“Perhaps you should consider hiring additional help on a permanent basis,” Storr said, clearly choosing his words with care.

“I… did hire help…” you reminded slowly. “We have five employees for you to manage, and I assist here as often as I can.”

“You do, and everyone appreciates your dedication to the Ripple.” Storr’s gaze dipped to one of the casks, studying it like it was fascinating. “But the demands of being queen mean that you can’t be here when you say you will, even if you do your best to come. And the problems will only grow worse when you marry Thranduil.”

The stinging ache of guilt in your chest was frozen in place at the unexpected conclusion to Storr’s point. “Thranduil? He has no bearing on this situation. I have no intention of marrying him.”

Storr aimed a dry look in your direction. “I heard he proposed earlier.”

“And I said no,” you told him. “As I always do.”

“Yes, but you will not refuse him forever.” Storr shook his head, looking somewhat mournful at the idea. “The two of you have been courting for almost two years. Marriage is the eventual goal of courtship, is it not?”

“Technically speaking…” you trailed, trying not to look as uncomfortable as you felt. With a sigh, you chose to confide in your friend. “I will not marry Thranduil. I cannot. It could never work between us, not for any real length of time. He sees me as I am and is blind to the way I will be. The years will weigh me down in a way that will not happen to him. If I am the only one to see our future clearly, it is my burden to keep him from making that mistake.”

To your surprise - and mild hurt - Storr seemed to find that amusing. “Such disdain for your Elvenking, even after so long a time… But now, as back when you first met him, I believe you may be misjudging Thranduil.”

You huffed out a sigh. "I do not understand you, Storr. First you claim to be concerned that I will marry Thranduil and now you seem to be angling for that very result. Was my argument that unsound?"

"No, I think Thranduil is more determined than you seem to believe."

You opened the first cask of honey mead, letting it hiss slowly as you moved to the next. With the sound of a half-dozen snakes filling the room, you turned to Storr and frowned. “I believe I am at least his match in determination, if not more. You should not be so certain that he will convince me.”

Storr dragged a hand over his face. “I am not trying to start another competition between he and you. Or even myself and you. I am simply saying that you are more likely to listen to reason.”

“And how has marrying an immortal elven king become a reasonable option?” you demanded.

“When you started courting him.” That seemed like a jest and you narrowed your eyes at Storr. He made a helpless sort of gesture. “What I mean is that he pressed your courtship. He encouraged your placement as queen of Esgaroth. Now he is insisting that the two of you be married. Maybe it is not reasonable for him to push for this, but your reasons for fighting him are ones that will be to his detriment, not yours. Do you want to marry him?”

You began pouring the settled mead into gallon jugs. They would be prepared for the final fermentation process when you were done, and ready for consumption only a few weeks after that. You had hoped that the delay in your answer would distract Storr, but he watched you and waited patiently.

“That is not the point,” you said eventually, avoiding the question entirely. “Thranduil does not think about the future.”

“I disagree,” Storr said decisively. “I believe he thinks almost exclusively about the future. Most elves do. We now get enough of them in here to know. Maybe Thranduil just believes the present outweighs the future.”

“He is wrong.” You punctuated your point with a sharp slap, using the motion to force a cork into the mouth of a bottle.

“Have you explained your reasoning to him?”

It was a fair point, and you grimaced. “No. But only because he has not given me the chance.”

“Then he will only keep asking,” Storr pointed out. “And he may eventually grow discouraged by your refusals.”

You laughed at that, and Storr eventually joined you. It was difficult to imagine Thranduil being discouraged by much of anything. He pursued what he wanted whole-heartedly until he had gotten it, without exception.

But still, you were thinking about Storr’s words long after you had bottled your mead and left the Ripple. In fact, you were thinking about them so hard that you had trouble falling asleep that night.

It was ridiculous, and you were half-tempted to take Storr up on his offer only to lecture him at his home. The day had been long and your body was exhausted… but your brain refused to stop tossing up possibilities for the future, and you were dragged reluctantly along for each scenario.

When the knock sounded at your door, you were grateful for the interruption.

However, you were not so grateful that you left behind the light, elven-forged short sword that Thranduil had gifted you. He had intended it for decorative purposes, meant to adorn your hip as you were crowned queen, but he had warned that elvish weapons only dulled after hundreds of years of constant use. The short sword would serve as a handy weapon if your unexpected guest was less friendly than you wished (or far too much more).

When you opened the door to find Thranduil on the other side, you let the blade dip until the tip was nearly brushing the floor. The Elvenking’s dark brows were arched high on his forehead, his gaze moving quizzically from the sword to your face.

“Late night sparring practice?” he drawled.

You shook your head and stepped aside to let him in. “I was not expecting to see you again tonight. Did you not arrive in Dale by sunset?”

“I arrived with time to spare,” Thranduil assured you, closing and locking the door securely behind you both. “You need a larger home. One befitting the role of a queen. If there are none in Esgaroth to your liking, I could always have something constructed…”

“Thranduil, focus,” you commanded, watching the glow of amusement on his face. “What happened? Why are you not in Erebor now? I thought you were meant to be treating with King Thorin?”

“I seem to have offended him,” he said, offering an unconcerned shrug. “He ordered me to leave and I believed it was best to oblige him. His youth gives his temper an unwise edge.”

“He’s older than anyone I’ve ever met,” you argued, grimacing at the dry look Thranduil gave you. “Present company excluded, of course.”

“That may be,” Thranduil sniffed, “but it makes him ill-suited for leadership, especially in a situation like ours, in which so many kingdoms occupy such a small space.”

“His people seem to believe his leadership is excellent,” you countered. “As do the people of Dale. Besides, I believe your opinion has not been requested.”

“And yet it should have been,” Thranduil climbed the ladder up to the second floor of your home with ease and remarkable speed, offering a hand to pull you up the ladder after he had reached the top. “Considering that mine is the largest of the kingdoms. And I hope to make it still larger when our kingdoms combine.”

You sighed. “I lack the energy to have this argument once more. Not today. Can we discuss something else?”

“Of course,” the Elvenking soothed, drawing you into his arms. You settled in that embrace, your cheek pressed against the delicate weave of Elven fabric. It did not muffle the steady beat of his heart, and you were thankful for that. “Perhaps you would like to tell me why you are awake so late.”

“I… would rather not,” you hedged. If you even hinted at the way Storr’s words had been eating at you, Thranduil would consider you as good as wed. And while you disliked the idea of him losing interest and moving on, your concerns were valid enough that they demanded a solution. “Why are you here, Thranduil? I am happy to see you, but-”

“-but I was hardly expected,” Thranduil finished for you. “As I said, Thorin removed me from the halls of Erebor, but Bard is still there. I decided to send my guards back to the Greenwood rather than stay in Dale. And when I saw the candlelight behind your shutters, I came here instead of returning to my own kingdom.”

“Because it’s closer for you to return to Erebor tomorrow?” you asked.

Thranduil laughed softly. “You know Thorin well enough to know that I will not be welcomed back into his kingdom for at least a fortnight. No, I simply concluded that my time would be far better spent here.”

You stared up at him, making note of the soft fondness that filled his haughty, fine-boned face. “You… are too kind.”

“Do not mistake my honesty for simple flattery,” he told you, pressing a kiss to your temple. “I enjoy your company and I prefer to think that you like mine as well. No, I know for certain that you enjoy my company. I would know if you did not - you are far too honest not to have told me so.”

You huffed out a laugh despite yourself and Thranduil smiled. With the barest hint of pressure against your lower back, he urged you toward the ladder that took you up to the highest floor of your home. “Come, it is surely past time for you to be in bed.”

The idea of the Elvenking himself ordering you to bed would have made you laugh if only it sounded less appealing. So you let him shepherd you upstairs and into bed. When you had gone to answer the door, you had only pulled on the minimum amount of clothing to protect yourself from the lake breezes. It took only moments to undress once more.

Thranduil never suffered any crisis of confidence, so he stripped bare and slid between the sheets beside you. The warmth of his body next to yours put you in an even deeper state of relaxation, especially as his hand found yours beneath the cover of your quilt. His thumb traced gentle strokes over the back of your hand, almost hypnotic in its steadiness.

Maddeningly, you still could not fall asleep.

---

Author's Note - There is definitely going to be a second part tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

#fanfic february #fanfic february 2024 #lord of the rings #the hobbit #the hobbit thranduil #thranduil #elvenking thranduil #thranduil x reader #thranduil x you #fem!reader #reader #reader insert #reader insert fanfiction #reader insert fanfic #reader insert fic #not suitable for minors #minors dni

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