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todomitoukei · 4 years ago

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Japanese vs. English Dabi A 293 Comparison

Chapter 293 gave us another great speech by Dabi, filled with all kinds of information. Similar to my post for the previous chapter, the official translation for chapter 293 has, unfortunately, once again made some changes in regards to Dabi’s speech due to its bias that I would like to share and explain here to give a better understanding of Dabi’s actual character rather than just leaving it at his American version.

Because Dabi said so much in this chapter and we will be comparing the panels from the Japanese version and the official English translation and taking apart the Japanese phrases, the rest of the post is under the cut (this post may or may not be just below 6k words)

The interaction begins with a short exchange between Dabi and Shouto as the former is hugging his younger brother mid-air while the others are still on the ground trying to take down Machia. In the official translation, Dabi begins by pointing this situation out to Shouto.

The two panels aren’t too different from the Japanese version, but this is another case of lost nuance. So here’s the original for comparison:

The speech bubbles read:

「向こうは楽しそうだなァ」

「可哀想になァ」

「おまえはこんなに辛いのに」

Breaking down the first line we get

「向こう ; mukou」-> other side; other party

「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle

「楽しそう ; tanoshisou 」-> looks fun

「だ ; da 」-> casual form of です (desu); be; is

「なァ ; naa 」-> sentence ending particle; expresses emotion/sentiment

= “The others seem to have fun, huh?”

Then we have the second line:

「可哀想に ; kawaisou ni 」-> pitiable; poor (interjection)

「なァ ; naa 」-> sentence ending particle; expresses emotion/sentiment

= “Poor thing, huh?”

And the third line:

「おまえ ; omae 」-> you

「は ; wa」-> topic marker particle

「こんなに ; konnani 」-> so; like this

「辛い ; tsurai 」-> bitter; painful; heart-breaking

「のに ; noni」-> even though

= “Even though it’s so painful for you.”

Someone made a post a few days ago where they made an interesting note about this part, specifically that last line, that I think is worth mentioning here: this situation is Dabi comparing his own past to Shouto’s present. Touya was in pain for so long until he burned to death because no one helped him (and by that I mean an adult that could’ve actually helped him and not his younger siblings). Similarly, Shouto has been in pain for so long and now that it’s especially obvious to those around him as he is in the process of being burned, no one is helping him and instead, they continue fighting each other. And while Dabi doesn’t know the extent of this, it’s true that Shouto has been vocal about his family’s circumstances and yet no one’s ever done anything about it. So while Dabi at this moment is primarily referring to the fact that in this very instant no one is immediately by Shouto’s side to save him, it’s also unintentionally pointing out how no one in charge ever looked at the teenager with a huge scar on his face who openly hates his father so much and thought to maybe at least ask him about it.

You can argue that that is interpreting too much because “Dabi doesn’t care about him” - but I think that Dabi not knowing enough about Shouto and seeing him as nothing but “Endeavor’s doll” and Dabi recognizing that Shouto is in a similarly bad situation as Dabi are two statements that can coexist, especially since he is right in saying that right there no one is helping Shouto. And, again, based on his broadcast and how much his speech has changed to be more polite and humble in contrast to his usual direct, rough ways, it’s important to recognize that Dabi has an understanding of people (and how to get to them).

So while his mind might be too focused on his hatred for Endeavor, there might also still be that ability to acknowledge that those around him are hurting, too. This is an important problem within the fandom (and outside of it) as far as vocabulary goes - a lot of people throw around the word empathy and how awful it is when someone lacks it. But empathy is the ability to feel someone else’s emotions. And you don’t need to actually feel what they are feeling in order to recognize their emotions, which is far more important. This understanding of someone else’s emotions is sympathy. Compassion, on the other hand, is not just understanding someone’s emotions, but also trying to alleviate someone’s negative emotions. So even if Dabi doesn’t care about people, he can still recognize when someone is in pain.

After this, we get Shouto’s only line of that chapter, and as much as I wished he was given more lines, this one’s so good, it’s okay there isn’t more:

Above you can see the English translation having Shouto say “But... you’re... burning up... too!”

For comparison, here is this same part in Japanese:

Starting with Shouto’s line, we got「てめェ。。。こそ。。。体が。。。焦げて。。。！」

This line already broke itself apart! How nice.

「てめェ ; temee 」-> you

「こそ ; koso 」-> for sure; emphasizes preceding word

「体 ; karada 」-> body

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「焦げて ; kogete 」-> to burn; to get burned (the dictionary form of this is 「焦げる」(kongeru), the te-form is used here to leave the sentence trailing)

= “YOUR body... for sure… will… get burned…!”

The reason I’m saying this line is so important is the emphasis on the “you” part through the usage of koso. The general content of the sentence already tells us this, but that emphasizing nuance doesn’t exist in English (unless you bold, italicize, and underline it). The line is important because we’re shown someone who is in the process of being burned alive, and yet his worry is on the person trying to kill him rather than anything else. He isn’t trying to argue with him, isn’t trying to protect himself - he’s simply saying: this is hurting you. It’s interesting because in the eyes of those around him, Shouto is the one hurting the most. But to him, it’s Touya who is hurting the most. To him, this isn’t the hero-to-be Shouto being fought by the villain Dabi. This is big bro Touya hurting himself for the sake of getting at their awful dad. And little bro Shouto is only thinking about his big bro.

Now for Dabi’s response, we get the line that particularly stuck out to me as far as the English translation goes: “Seriously, it’s great that you were raised with love.” What? If you read the fan translation, you might remember this line as “You’ve grown up to be so considerate - I’m happy for you little bro” - so which one is more correct? If you guessed the fan translation then, unfortunately, you are correct!

The Japanese line reads 「優しく育って嬉しいよ」

「優しく ; yasashiku 」-> ; tender; gentle; kind (adverbial form of「優しい」(yasashii))

「育って ; sodatte 」-> to be raised; to grow up; (te-form of「育つ」to indicate reason & means (this part results in the second part of the sentence))

「嬉しい ; ureshii 」-> happy; glad

「よ ; yo 」-> sentence ending particle; shows emphasis

= “I am glad because you grew up kindly”

First of all, an adverb is nothing other than an adjective that is directly affecting/describing the verb it precedes. So to understand that in reference to this sentence, you can ask the question “how was he raised?” - with the response being “kindly.” If you wanted to say “raised with kindness” on the other hand, you would have to turn the adjective into a noun. That part of the phrase would then be 「優しさで育って」As you can see, that’s not what it says in the original version.

More importantly, the word “love” is not part of this, so I don’t know why that word is used here. It really gives off a wrong understanding of what is actually being said here. The official translation makes it sound like Dabi is saying “I’m glad you were raised with love, while I wasn’t” sort of like a complaint?

We still don’t know exactly what Touya’s upbringing was like, but we do know that things gradually got worse over time, so with the assumption that he was raised in a more positive (not good, just better in comparison) environment than Shouto, the English statement then doesn’t make sense since he was “loved” too for a long time.

Besides, he is saying that in direct response to Shouto displaying his worry for Dabi, which says nothing about how he was raised but everything about what kind of person he is (a kind one).

Furthermore, it leaves out the part where Dabi says he’s happy about this. Instead, he just says “it’s great” - which is more something used when you can acknowledge a situation being good for someone else, even though you don’t have any particular feeling about it. It’s very objective, yet in the original, he is stating his emotions with this.

The official translation, in my opinion, just ends up turning the two against each other (more specifically turning Dabi against Shouto), when in reality, Dabi is happy that Shouto shows compassion for him here, despite Dabi currently trying to kill him. In other words, he is surprised by Shouto’s concern for him and happy to be proven wrong about him.

Next, we got「俺は大丈夫今とても幸せだから。」

「俺 ; ore 」-> I

「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle

「大丈夫 ; daijoubu 」-> alright

「今 ; ima 」-> now

「とても ; totemo 」-> very

「幸せ ; shiawase 」-> happy

「だから ; dakara 」-> because (indicates a reason for something)

= “I’m alright, I’m really happy now, so...”

There are two things to note here in relation to the previous phrase. First of all, notice how both phrases include the word happy. In the first phrase, the Japanese word is ureshii, whereas in this phrase it’s shiawase. Once again, this is a question of nuance.

Ureshii is more of an immediate feeling that you feel in that exact moment. It’s a feeling that isn’t going to last forever (for example the joy you feel when you receive a gift).

Shiawase, on the other hand, is a long-term happiness.

The way to interpret why he is using both these terms is that he uses ureshii as his reaction to Shouto showing that he cares. He most likely didn’t anticipate for Shouto to say something like that, so signaling his concern for Dabi made the latter feel joy in that very moment.

So what about the happiness he talks about in the second phrase, how is it different from the first one? Clearly, Dabi is not exactly someone you would describe as happy when looking at the overall picture. I think one possible explanation as to what the shiawase here refers to is that Dabi has accepted his situation. While it wouldn’t be accurate to describe his state as one of having moved on from the past - clearly - at the very least, through admitting to his past and having distanced himself from that dark place, he has been able to now be in a better situation, where he is allowed to just live rather than trying to prove himself to someone day after day.

The second thing to note is that you might be wondering why I ended the sentence with “...” when the official translation is “I’m fine, because I’m really happy right now.”

Well, it’s kind of an odd sentence, isn’t it? The sentence as it is right there is just giving us a reason. But a reason for what? In Japanese, it’s okay to omit the main clause (the phrase that would follow after this to explain what you just gave a reason for) when it’s obvious what you’re talking about.

This confused me for a little bit until I thought about what sentence came before this one. Right before this Dabi says “I’m glad you were raised kindly.” The sentence we’re looking at right now is an extension of that. And what came before that sentence?

Shouto saying: “Your body will burn too.”

See what I’m getting at?

As explained before, Shouto is essentially telling Dabi “I know you want to kill me, but this is going to kill you.” Now if you add Dabi’s two phrases to that, you get his response as “I’m glad that you’re so considerate. That makes me really happy, so it’s alright if I die.”

Many people have pointed out before that Dabi doesn’t care about whether or not he will make it out alive and this is essentially him confirming just that. His only goal is to ruin Endeavor and knowing he is doing that is enough for him to accept death.

He then continues to explain that joy of his with the next sentence:「見ろよあの顔」

「見ろ」-> look (volitional form)

「よ」-> adds extra emphasis after volitional form

「あの」-> that

「顔」-> face

= “LOOK at that face!”

With his goal being all about destroying Endeavor, seeing this man look so defeated right there is the first proof for Dabi that his plan has worked out. While he doesn’t know yet what the actual consequences for Endeavor are going to be after this, he certainly has damaged him.

The next line reads:「最高傑作のお人形が失敗作の火力に負けて死にそうだってのに。。。！」

「最高傑作 ; saikoukessaku 」-> masterpiece

「の ; no 」-> hierarchy particle (the word before is the general noun, the word after the specific noun)

「お人形 ; oningyou 」-> doll

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「失敗作 ; shippaisaku 」-> failed creative work

「の ; no 」-> particle to indicate possession, works like an apostrophe

「火力 ; karyoku 」-> firepower

「に ; ni 」-> indirect object marker

「負けて ; makete 」-> being defeated (te-form because another verb follows)

「死に ; shini 」-> going to die

「そうだって ; soudatte 」-> I’m saying it’s so

「のに ; noni 」-> shows disappointment (“If only that weren’t the case”)

= “I say it’s a shame that the masterpiece doll is about to be defeated and die by the firepower of the failed creative work.”

A lot of people take issue with Dabi yet again referring to Shouto as a “doll” here. Obviously, that isn’t a nice thing to say, but please keep in mind that Dabi doesn’t really know Shouto and with that also doesn’t know how Shouto feels about Endeavor. All Dabi sees is Shouto being a hero-to-be, just like Endeavor has planned. Keep in mind that Dabi used to be in Shouto’s shoes, which makes looking at Shouto be like looking in a mirror and seeing young Touya trying so hard to be what his father expects of him, yet failing over and over again. They were both born for that selfish purpose. They were never born to be people, but only born to be what their father needs them to be. And now that Dabi has broken free from that role, it’s natural for him to describe Shouto’s position as such to emphasize it in case the others haven’t understood that this is the reason for their existence and them being right there in that exact moment.

The final part says「グプっ。。。なァ見ろって！壊れちまってるよ！！ははは！！」

「グプっ ; gupuu 」-> special effects sound (I will explain this one in a second)

「なァ ; naa 」-> when placed at the start of a sentence it’s an attention seeker, kind of like a “hey!”

「見ろ ; miro」-> look (volitional)

「って ; tte 」-> to say (in casual conversation this can be used to repeat what one has just said to stress one’s own quote; can show frustration)

「壊れちまってる ; kowarechimatteru」-> be broken (unintentionally; regretfully)

「よ ; yo 」-> sentence ending particle to show emphasis

「ははは ; hahaha 」-> laughing sound

= “Hey, I said LOOK! He is completely broken, hahaha!”

As mentioned in the translation comparison for the last chapter, the chimatteru indicates that the verb it attaches to has happened unintentionally or has yielded regrettable results. We know that it is Dabi’s intention to hurt Endeavor - so him being broken is neither unintentional nor is it regrettable to Dabi.

So in this case it’s not so much about how Dabi feels. Instead, it’s probably more fitting to say that it’s about Endeavor. This situation has broken Endeavor (which is regretful), even though it had never occurred to him that the past could come back to haunt him (he has not intended for this to happen).

[edit because someone pointed out that (as mentioned for the 292 comparison) chimatteru can also be used to indicate something has been done completely, so in this case he is saying Endeavor is completely broken]

Now for the part that I neglected before: the special effects sound gupuu. The reason I have been holding off an explanation is simply that it’s not necessarily that important for the sentence, however, when I looked this up this was the result:

Yes, you’re reading that correctly: *slurp*

I had a good laugh about that. The holy trinity of the slurping brothers is complete (albeit Dabi doesn’t have the noodles to go with it)

Anyway, back to the serious stuff!

Next, we get this big panel of Dabi with the three speech bubbles. Notice that there are several ha to indicate that he is laughing.

The speech bubbles all put together read:「焦凍！！俺の炎でおまえが焼けたらお父さんはどんな顔を見せてくれるかなァ！？」

「焦凍 ; shouto 」-> Shouto

「俺 ; ore 」-> I

「の ; no 」-> particle to indicate possession, works like an apostrophe

「炎 ; honoo 」-> flames

「で ; de 」-> by

「おまえ ; omae 」-> you

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「焼け ; yake 」-> to burn

「たら ; tara 」-> when (focuses on the results that can come from this first part)

「お父さん ; otousan 」-> dad

「は ; wa 」-> object marker particle

「どんな ; donna 」-> what kind of

「顔 ; kao 」-> face

「を ; wo 」-> direct object marker particle

「見せて ; misete」-> to show (te-form to connect to the next part)

「くれる ; kureru」-> something was done for the speaker (being shown)

「かなァ ; kanaa 」-> I wonder

= “I wonder what kind of face dad will show me, when you get burned by my flames, Shouto!?”

The official translation added the “burn you to ash” part, which just adds more harshness to this than there already is. I’m not exactly opposed to that as I do recognize that he is being harsh here, however, this overall theme of adding words to make the villains sound harsher is just not what a translator is supposed to do so it is important to point it out.

Also notice the kureru, which is used when something was given to or done for the listener (i.e. a favor). Previously, Shouto has pointed out that Dabi would not survive his attempt at burning Shouto, either, and yet here he is wondering specifically what face Endeavor will show him. He isn’t just wondering what face this man will make, but what his reaction would be that his own failure has killed his masterpiece.

After Deku interferes we get this panel of Dabi and this is where the conversation between him and Shouto ends and his speech to Deku starts.

The Japanese version essentially says the same as the translation:「他所の家に首突っ込むなよ！」

「他所」-> another place; outside (one’s family or group)

「の」-> particle to indicate possession, works like an apostrophe

「家」-> family

「に」-> in

「首突っ込む」-> expression to poke one’s nose into another’s affair; lit.: “to thrust one’s neck into something”

「な」-> sentence ending particle; expresses emotion/sentiment

「よ」-> sentence ending particle; shows emphasis

= “Don’t stick your neck (nose) into other people’s family!”

After this, we get the part where Deku gives his speech with the “And guess what?! You’re not Endeavor!” part that was supposed to… reach what exactly?

Someone pointed out that this wasn’t supposed to be an “It’s your power!” 2.0 speech, because with Shouto, Deku wanted to get to him and help him. With Dabi, on the other hand, he is saying (and he literally is saying this) that Endeavor is trying to be better. And Dabi not being Endeavor means that Dabi is not trying to be better. That, in turn, means that Deku is watching this Endeavor, the one that is trying to be better, but someone like Dabi who isn’t trying isn’t something worth watching.

Anyway, regardless of what the point of that phrase was, Dabi’s reaction is mocking this obvious statement

The Japanese line says「はははそんな事が誰でもわかる！！」

「ははは ; hahaha 」-> laughing

「そんな ; sonna 」-> such

「事 ; koto 」-> thing

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「誰でも ; daredemo 」-> anyone

「わかる ; wakaru」-> to understand

= “Hahaha, anyone understands such a thing!”

Continued by this part.

The first line here says「でも俺はかわいそうな人間だろ！？」

「でも ; demo 」-> but

「俺 ; ore 」-> I

「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle

「かわいそうな ; kawaisou na 」-> pitiable; poor

「人間 ; ningen 」-> human

「だろ ; daro 」-> don’t you think?

= “But I am a pitiable human, don’t you think!?”

What’s interesting to note about this line is the use of ningen. Normally, you would more likely use the word「人」(hito), meaning person, when you put another word in front of it. After all, when you talk about another person (much like I am using the word right now) it’s obvious they are human, so you wouldn’t need to use the word human.

With that, Dabi specifically using the word human here is done in order to humanize himself to Deku. Not only is he asking “hey, don’t you pity me at least a little?” but rather he is saying: “I get that you think I’m just some low-life villain, but I am a human being with valid feelings, so don’t just ignore them because you don’t see me trying.”

Again - Dabi chooses his words carefully and this is no exception.

If you paid extra close attention, you might have noticed that the word kawaisou gets used again. But did you spot the difference? While in the first example the word is written in kanji as 「可哀想」now it’s completely written in hiragana. Why is that? You might wonder, and I did too. Keep in mind that the first time the word gets used here (written in kanji), Dabi is referring to Shouto. This time (written in hiragana) he is referring to himself. Kanji are generally used because it makes texts easier to read since there are no spaces in Japanese. Much like the rest of us, Japanese people are also born with zero kanji knowledge and learn about them as they grow up. Because of this, books for children tend to just be in hiragana (the letter Kota writes to Deku thanking him for having saved him is also written in just hiragana) so they can easily read them. With that, a text in all hiragana gives off a more childish, cute, innocent kinda feel.

Obviously, in spoken Japanese, you can’t hear that he is saying this word in hiragana. But we know that he is. So aside from him using the word human to make him more, well, human, he is also saying the word pitiable in an innocent way, which furthers the image he is trying to create of himself; that of an innocent human being that has been wronged. Because clearly, someone has to help the heroes see that villains are also people. As mentioned before, this is a common theme of the League of Villains and has most recently been brought up by Toga’s question to Uraraka of whether or not the heroes saw Twice as a person. Dabi is, in a way, asking that same question, just with several exclamation marks.

The second line says「正義の味方が犯した罪それが俺だ！」

「正義 ; seigi」-> justice

「の ; no 」-> particle to indicate possession, works like an apostrophe

「味方 ; mikata 」-> supporter

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「犯した ; okashita 」-> committed

「罪 ; tsumi 」-> crime

「それ ; sore 」-> that

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「俺 ; ore 」-> I

「だ ; da 」-> casual form of です (desu); be; is

= “The crimes committed by the champion of justice: that’s me.”

That first part seigi no mikata is sort of a set expression, but I wanted to break it down so you can see what the actual words are. It’s generally translated as champion of justice, knight in shining armor, crime avenger, or hero. Hero is obviously not the right translation here, since they just use the word hero for the profession. Champion of justice is just the closest to the actual words, hence I chose that translation.

The official translation is once again being biased with this sentence, this time though not so much to make the villains look worse, but to make a hero look less bad. While the Japanese version says that this “champion of justice” aka Endeavor has committed crimes that resulted in Dabi’s existence, the translation changed it to “did some vile stuff” which is seriously downplaying the fact that a Pro Hero, whose job it is to fight criminals, is actually a criminal himself! It’s just yet again a very odd change to make, especially given the fact that we know that Endeavor has committed crimes. So why make it sound like less here?

Okay, so you might be confused about this line if you read both the fan translation, as well as the official translation.

Again, the official translation says “evil is thriving” - the fan translation, on the other hand, says “evil will no longer prosper.”

To opposite meanings for the same short phrase. Why is that?

You see, the first line says「悪が栄えるんじゃねェ！」

「悪 ; aku 」-> evil

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「栄える ; sakaeru 」-> to prosper

「んじゃねェ ; n janee 」-> “isn’t it” (see explanation below)

= “Evil will prosper, won’t it?”

The reason for that confusion is that last part, n janee, because its meaning depends on the context, and with that, in cases like this, it’s less obvious which it is.

This is a rougher way of the casual n janai, which is a more casual way of no janai, which is a more casual form of no de wa arimasen. Or in simple terms: it’s very casual.

So what does it mean? Like I said, the meaning depends on the context.

The no is an explanatory particle and when paired with janai can be used for when you express an opinion, whilst seeking the listener’s opinion.

So you can treat it as a “isn’t it” in an affirmative sentence (when you express your opinion or talking about probability), but you can also use it to negate a sentence (hence the two opposite translations). The former can also be used when you’re making a point.

Knowing that it’s pretty much down to context, we have to ask what makes more sense. Is Dabi saying that evil will prosper, or is he saying evil doesn’t prosper?

To put this into context, you have to look at the surrounding sentences. Prior to this one, Dabi mentioned that he is the crimes of the hero system. In the next phrase, he talks about justice collapsing. Because of that, I think “evil will prosper” is a more accurate translation as justice collapses as a result of evil - unless you interpret evil as being about the heroes.

Anyway, the second line says「正義が側板するだけ！」

「正義 ; seigi 」-> justice

「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle

「側板 ; gakai 」-> collapse; downfall

「する ; suru 」-> to do (turns the noun it attaches to into a verb)

「だけ ; dake 」-> only

= “Justice will only collapse!”

If you look back at the official translation, it says “Justice is losing this war!” Meanwhile, the Japanese version doesn’t mention the words losing or war. While they still somewhat say the same thing, losing a war doesn’t inherently lead to irreversible, long-term effects. Instead, this situation is about more than just losing this war. The entire system is taking a fatal blow from this. Not even so much from this war, though. The reason Dabi is so certain that this will be the downfall for justice is that how are people supposed to still trust in this justice system when those that are supposed to defend it are criminals themselves? It’s more of a natural consequence resulting from a system that has been corrupt for far too long - the exposure is simply what will put an end to it.

The third line in that part is「俺はその責任を感情豊かな皆々様に示しただけだ」

「俺 ; ore 」-> I

「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle

「その ; sono 」-> that

「責任 ; sekinin」-> duty; responsibility

「を ; wo 」-> direct object marker

「感情 ; kanjou」-> emotion

「豊かな ; yutaka na」-> extremely; very

「皆々様 ; minaminasama」-> everyone

「に ; ni 」-> to

「示した ; shimeshita」-> pointed out; showed

「だけだ ; dake」-> only

「だ; da 」-> casual form of です (desu); be; is

= “I only pointed this responsibility out to all you very emotional people.”

What irked me about this phrase in particular in the official translation was yet again the choice of words. I get that Dabi has a rough way of speaking. But sometimes, he chooses to use polite words and that shouldn’t be erased.

So when the official translation makes him say “All I’m doing is showing you sentimental dopes who’s to blame for that!” It’s just a rude phrase. But in Japanese he says minaminasama. You might be familiar with the word minna or minna-san, with the san in the latter example being a polite suffix (kind of like Mr./Mrs.,...). Sama is similar to that but even more polite. So minaminasama is about as polite as you can go. There might not be a direct English equivalent to that level of politeness, but I think we can all understand that “dopes” is not a correct translation here.

The responsibility/blame part goes back to what Deku said to him. “You aren’t Endeavor” - no, he isn't. And no, he isn’t exactly trying to be better. But that kind of mentality only ignores the obvious fact that this all could’ve been prevented, had it not been for Endeavor and his own selfish goals. It was a hero - the “champion of justice” - that committed crimes just like a villain. But it’s unheard of for a hero to do such a thing. Society doesn’t get shaken at its core when it hears about a villain committing a crime. A hero, on the other hand, being found guilty of a criminal record, will lead to people doubting the integrity of heroes altogether and that is not Dabi’s doing. All he does is share the truth.

To round this speech off, we get one last phrase:

“The future coming down the pipeline… is one where all that schmaltz and lip service is gonna get blown away by the chaos!”

The Japanese line says「これから訪れる未来はきってキレイ事など吹けば飛んでく混沌だろうぜ！」

「これから ; korekara 」-> from now on; after this

「訪れる ; otozureru 」-> to arrive

「未来 ; mirai 」-> future

「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle

「きっと ; kitto 」-> surely; without a doubt

「キレイ事; kireigoto」-> glossing over; lip service

「など ; nado 」-> such as

「吹けば ; fukeba 」-> to blow (conditional form of fuku)

「飛んでく ; tondeku」-> to go flying (short for tonde iku)

「混沌 ; konton」-> chaos

「だろう ; darou」-> it seems; don’t you think?

「ぜ ; ze 」-> ending particle for emphasis (more casual/ruder version of yo)

= “Surely, if things like this lip service get blown over, the future coming after this will be chaos flying around.”

In Japanese, there are several conditional forms. The ba form, as used here in fukeba, is used when the preceding clause expresses a condition, which results in natural consequences. In this case, something happens in case pretty things get blown over.

Mirai is one of the words you can use to talk about the future in Japanese. This word is more intangible and more general rather than being about one specific event or person, so everyone will be affected by this.

And with that, we have made it through all of his speech from this chapter, congrats!

Something you may have noticed is that there are plenty of particles you can use at the end of a sentence, usually for emphasis. One of the most common ones you find throughout the chapter are yo and ze. Yo is a pretty standard one to show emphasis, whereas ze is more of a colloquial version of yo that has an assertive feel and is therefore usually only used when speaking in very casual conversations or to someone of lower social status than you. Dabi has used this on Endeavor before and is now also using it on Deku - aka his opponents.

Going back to the start of the chapter when Dabi is mainly focused on Shouto, though, he ends most of his sentences with naa. As mentioned before, this particle is used to express emotions/sentiment.

He also uses that during their first on-screen interaction during the summer camp. While I do think that Dabi is mainly still only seeing Shouto as an extension of Endeavor, I do think that there is also a part of him that does see himself in him and that can somewhat sympathize with him. He isn’t being as rough on him overall (verbally that is), and instead is trying to come off as more emotional, possibly just to appeal more to him.

To sum it up, there are a lot of things that just get lost in translation due to nuances that don’t exist in English. More often than not, though, the villains are being given harsher words, whereas anything related to heroes is softened. Dabi is constantly shown to be someone who puts great care and thought into the words he uses, so there is a lot of that emotional intelligence that gets neglected in the translation and then makes him seem more like someone on a random mission rather than someone who has put genuine thought into this.

There are still so many people in the fandom who, for some reason, think Dabi is in the wrong and irredeemable for having killed thirty people, whilst having the same stance as Deku in thinking that Endeavor is much better because at least he is trying.

While they should both be held accountable for their actions, Dabi has a good point when he said that heroes are to blame for his existence and that their crimes are what will ruin the justice system and not him.

Best Jeanist’s reaction to this whole situation was complaining that Dabi uses his personal past to shed a bad light on the heroes, which summarizes that exact problem of the hero society: That heroes are more concerned with their own image than actually being heroes who go above and beyond to bring about peace and safety.

Seeing Shouto’s reaction, being concerned about his big brother rather than himself, is at the very least giving some hope that at least one person on the hero side is able to see beyond the villain exterior and see them as a human-being - without needing a long speech for it.

We’ll have to wait and see how this is going to continue, but in more likeliness, the official English translation will continue to include its bias.

If you’ve made it this far - thank you so much for reading! This post was filled with a lot of information and trust me when I say some of these lines almost broke me as I tried to understand them. I hope I could clarify some parts of the chapter, though, specifically Dabi’s character, since the official translation loves to change his character.

#bnha #dabi #293 #translation #meta #boku no hero academia #bnha 293 #todoroki #shouto #touya #mha #my hero academia #mine #japanese

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consumeconstantly · 4 years ago

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The Only Antidote is a Kiss

Summary: Scarecrow always did come up with the most whacky chemical formulas to test on people. Red Hood gets dosed with his latest toxin, and the only way to cure it is with a kiss. The only candidate? Long time rival and almost enemy, Ladybird.

____________________________________________________

“No,” Red Hood said, resolutely. “No way in hell.”

Red Robin’s exasperated voice crackled over the comm. “Hood, if you don’t, you’re going to die.”

“Do you think I care? Death is better.”

“I would say that’s insulting if I didn’t feel the exact same way.” Ladybird nonchalantly twirled a yoyo at her side. “Besides, ten minutes is plenty of time to get him someone else.”

“You two are in the middle of nowhere. It’s thirty minutes to the nearest city.”

“Yeah, but the suburbs are always an option. You Bats always seem to miss the obvious solution.”

“I’m not kissing her,” Red Hood repeated.

“I know that you two are…” Red Robin tried to find a more delicate way to word their relationship, “Not always on the best of terms, but you are on the same side right now. Ladybird, you don’t want Red Hood to die, do you?”

Plying Ladybird was always easier than trying to convince Red Hood. The woman had a heart of gold. Today? No such luck.

“He’s not going to die,” Ladybird scoffed. “If he dies over this instead of the many, many, many assassination attempts that I saved him from, I’ll feel insulted. But I’m also not going to help. I’m not going to kiss an unwilling party, and certainly not one with a mug as ugly as Red Hood.”

“You’ve never even seen my face!” Red Hood argued from safely inside his beauteous red bucket.

“Yeah, well you’ve never seen mine either, and yet somehow, you have no issue with calling me disfigured every time our paths cross.”

“You’re wearing a mask. Only people who are horribly scarred wear full face masks.”

“Oh, so you’re admitting you’re ugly then?”

“No, I’m wearing a helmet, not a mask. Big difference.”

Ladybird barely stopped herself from bashing her head against the cement and steel wall. If the action didn’t break her mask, she would have considered going through with it. “God, this is why I’m not going to kiss him, Red Robin. Can’t you use one of those zeta things and drop in a girl for him to make out with?”

“You know they don’t work like that.”

“I wouldn’t know, it’s not like I’m in the Justice League.”

“Not for a lack of trying! We’ve offered you the position at least ten different times.”

“Yeah, on the condition that I get Red Hood to join up too. That certainly doesn’t sound like you guys actually want my help.”

“Nine minutes on the clock,” an automated voice reminded them.

“I say we blow this popsicle stand,” Red Hood pointed a finger up at the cement ceiling.

“Wow, what a stupendously original idea, Red Hood. It’s almost like the next thing out of your mouth might be something vaguely resembling intelligence. Oh wait, that’s right. We can’t get out of this hell hole because there’s three feet of cement on every side of us and we have no weapons that can help.”

“I haven’t had a crack at it, yet.”

“Be my guest. I’ll sit back and laugh at your failed attempts.” Ladybird reclined on a wall. “We both know that between the two of us, I’m the one who’s better at escape and solutions that don't require firearms. You don’t think with either one of your heads, you think with your AK-47.”

“My babies are all I need to get the job done. Your plans are always so unnecessarily convoluted.”

“They’re convoluted so I can cover my tracks instead of leaving evidence, debris, and dead bodies behind.”

“Uh, guys? Can you have your spat after Hood’s life is out of immediate danger?”

“No,” both of them chorused, immediately glaring at each other for speaking in sync.

“I doubt Scarecrow actually came up with a formula that will make you die if you don’t kiss someone of the opposite gender within ten minutes. That seems like the kind of chemical compound that’s featured in all of those really trashy romance novels, except instead of being unable to control your instincts, you die.” Ladybird considered the empty vial on the floor. “I’m confident that Red Hood can ride this out with minimal damage. Even if he does get horny, it’s not like he’s going to go for me-- drug induced state or not, he can’t stand my guts.”

“Can I just say that I don’t want to bank his life on that assumption?”

“It’s not like your life is the one at stake. Just try to get someone out here that can break down this welded door for us sooner, rather than later.” Ladybird gives Red Hood a once over. “Besides, if he does try anything, we all know that I’m more than capable of tying him up.”

“Hey, why don’t you use that Lucky Charm of yours?”

“Do you think I didn’t think of that already? That was one of the first things I considered.”

“So why didn’t you use it?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that after I do, I detransform within five minutes? Not a big fan of exposing my identity, plus it’s not like anybody’s in any real danger because we’re locked up here. Scarecrow’s tied up, the goons that welded the door shut on us aren’t capable of using their brains, and a team is going to bust us out in thirty minutes anyways.”

For the millionth time, Red Hood pounded his shoulder against the steel weld, hoping that something would give. Nothing happened.

A beep sounded.

“Ten minutes have passed.”

“See?” Ladybird crowed triumphantly. “I was right. Nothing’s--”

Red Hood fell to the floor, clawing at his chest.

“... happening. I jinxed it, didn’t I? I guess I’ll use it, then.”

Ladybird called for a lucky charm. No antidote fell into her hand. Just a sheet of paper, saying Kiss him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Tikki, don’t do me dirty like this!”

“Tikki? Who’s Tikki? What did the Lucky Charm give you?”

A wet cough sounded from underneath Red Hood’s helmet. He started to gasp for air.

Ladybird didn’t like Hood, but Red Robin was right. She had grown fond of him after saving his ass so many times. She wasn’t just going to let him die, especially not when she could help him. With a bone weary sigh, she knelt next to Red Hood.

“I guess we’re doing this, aren’t we? Red Robin, comms off.”

“Off? But Hood sounds like--”

“Off,” she repeated, firmly. “Or I’ll break them.”

The telltale sign of static ceased in her ears.

Ladybird held Red Hood by his shoulders, maneuvering his mask off.

“I hope you’re ugly,” she whispered.

He was not.

Even with blood on his lips, Jason Todd was unfortunately attractive.

“Gonna--” he coughed again, the spray of blood accompanied by a wheeze. “Bless me with your face before I die?”

“I can’t believe that you’re still snarky while you’re on death’s door.” Ladybird touched the full face mask that she added during her years as a vigilante in Gotham. She still has the usual Ladybug eye cover, so her identity is safe. But the noh mask provides a sense of safety to her. She’s loathe to take it off, but in order for a kiss to work, it needs to be put aside. With a sigh, she places it on the ground and places a hand over Red Hood’s startlingly blue eyes.

“Kinky,” he spat. Ladybird grimaced. Why she ended up on this mission alone with Red Hood was beyond her, but they always ended up in the worst situations together somehow, anyways.

Her lips descended on his.

Iron and sweat.

“Okay,” she said, wiping her lips with the hand that wasn’t preoccupied with shielding Red Hood’s eyes. “You feeling any better?”

He coughed again.

“Great, so Scarecrow was lying and I didn’t have to kiss you. You were just going to die anyways.”

She placed her noh mask back on, then pressed a button on her comm. “You’re going to want to speed up the whole backup team. Looks like Scarecrow was lying.”

“You’re kidding me. Scarecrow never lies--”

Red Hood sat up shakily.

“I’m fine, Replacement. Throat’s a little sore, but I’m fine.”

“Good to know his MO hasn’t changed,” Ladybird remarked. “I’d suggest that you wipe your face with something. It’s covered in blood.”

“And Ladybird cooties.” Red Hood used his forearm to wipe the blood off. Ladybird had to admit that the man was objectively good looking. The artist in her wanted to take a picture or sketch him. The shock of white hair, symmetrical features, and prominent nose. His eyes had a certain darkness in them, like he had seen the worst of the world, but there was still a clarity to them that said he was fighting against those injustices. “C’mon, you’ve seen my face, don’t you think it’s time to exchange the favor?”

“Backup’s arriving in three,” interjected Red Robin.

“There’s nothing in it for me.” Ladybird tugged the hood of her cloak down lower.

“Isn’t it weird that we kissed and I don’t know your face?”

“No.”

“You really are into some kinky shit.”

“Also no on that.”

“Then why not show me your face?”

“Stop being such a brat.”

“I know I’m older than you.”

“Bratiness isn’t measured in age, but in mental maturity. Which you have none of.”

“Please?”

“I’m almost tempted to take off my noh mask if only because that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say the word please.”

“If I say it again, will you?”

“I’ll consider it.”

“Pretty please, Ladybird?”

“... Fine.” She’d get a laugh out of this anyways, and the team was minutes away from picking them up.

She took off her noh mask to reveal the red and black domino.

Red Hood cursed.

@jasonette-july-2k20

it’s wild that yall are liking my fics when i basically vomit these things up im honestly scared to look back at some of the ones that have been posted because i do not proof read or edit

#poison #jasonette #you ever want to see what's under a mask?#only to find another mask?#Marinette's masks are like those russian dolls #never ending #maribat #jasonette july #jason todd #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #dcu

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majorsoapfan · 3 years ago

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The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode Titles Analysis

Now that the episode titles for season 3 have dropped, I’ve spent the last few days wondering and theorizing just what they could mean. Most of what I’ve gotten so far rests on symbolism, headcanons, potential theories and a lot of googling, but we all need some way of staying sane until season three drops, right?

Now this is just what I’ve come up with so far, I could be massively wrong in all of these, but these are just my predictions based on what I know of the characters and plot so far, previous ways of naming episodes and the very little I know of the comics.

Meet The Family

Now this one is very self-explanatory and we’ll most likely get to know our birdies very well in this episode. We’ll probably be seeing a flashback to the Sparrows as children fighting crime - maybe already being better at it than their Umbrella counterparts were when they first started.

I’m hoping that we’’ll see another montage of introducing the siblings as adults like we saw in season one with our Umbrellas - which had been so helpful to me at the time as I had started watching the show about a week before season two dropped. I had known absolutely nothing about the show when I started, I had only clicked on it because Robert Sheeran was in the card as Klaus with his pink umbrella and I thought he was pretty. I became a massive fan all because I had thought Robert was pretty and I was bored.

So yeah, I loved the initial introduction montage of the siblings as it helped me figure out who was who quickly without wasting time. And I think that doing something similar for the Sparrows will also help give a better and quicker insight into their personalities and how they work when we see them in episode one.

The World’s Biggest Ball of Twine

If you google ‘ball of twine’ it does mention that this is an archetype for an odd roadside attraction. Now if we’re going literal here, there are plenty of such attractions in the States, including one of just this in Texas, where our dysfunctional family had been last season. Maybe an indication of a road trip or even them fleeing the Sparrows and New York in order to regroup and figure out their next step without the birds circling in?

Ball of twine can also mean wrapping really strongly around something, especially as the material mentioned is usually very strong and durable. A ball of wool isn’t the episode title after all. Now this could mean maybe a family or an emotional issue that is massively at play here. Or more likely, the Umbrella’s and more specifically Five, are trying to figure out their exact steps and actions in the 60′s and just how badly they changed the past and future, both in the general sense of the world and for their own personal lives.

Ball of Twine can also mean wrapping around something tightly, so maybe a trap is being put in place or enacted. Either for the Umbrellas by the Sparrows, or the Umbrellas are trying to lure their counterparts into a trap to regain the upper hand.

Pocket Full of Lightning

Now the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this title is something like this being described or mentioned regarding a character and their abilities. Now the characters that come to mind immediately when referenced to this are either Vanya or Christopher. Or maybe it may have something to do with a team-up, more than likely the Sparrows and what can happen when they team-up and combine their powers.

But lightning also has a lot of symbolism in many different societies and periods and in all honesty, I feel like I have to mention this. Symbolism includes but isn’t limited to: illumination, destruction, punishment, inspiration and revelations. Lightning is also highly associated with the King of the Greek Gods Zeus. Maybe Marcus or Reginald?

Marcus is after all described as a natural leader after all, gaining perhaps a Zeus like image in the public eye?

Whereas Reginald on the other hand would definitely see himself as being as King and acts like it at times, using his children as his soldiers to advance his agendas. Zeus isn’t a very kind or forgiving God either so unlike Marcus maybe this has something to do with the Hargreeves patriarch?

Kugeblitz

Thank you Tumblr for having already given me the definition for this episode title when I had first found out the episode titles so I know that it means a black hole formed from radiation.

Luther and Five when I think of this title in terms of its definition a kugeblitz has me thinking of both space and science, as both topics are highly associated with these characters. Black holes have ties to space which Five who’s powers are teleportation and Luther who spent four years up in space both have ties to a title like this.

But of course we can’t forget the actual alien in the family Reginald Hargreeves. A black hole could be a reference as to what happened to his original planet, or maybe signalling a potential threat later on in the season. Will it cause another apocalypse or a warning for an alien invasion perhaps?

But it also might have links to a well known Umbrella Academy villain, Dr Terminal. I haven’t read the comics so I will admit to a lack of knowledge on this villain although I will Google him later. But as the season will be focusing on the Sparrow Academy and potentially any previous villains, Dr Terminal seems to be the most well known in the fandom and thus the most likely to make an appearance, whether in flashbacks or in person. A few people here seem convinced that this episode title will have something to do with him in some form.

Kindest Cut

When I think of this episode title, my first thought goes of course, to Diego. People can often get cut with knives and they are of course Diego’s preferred weapon of choice.

Maybe however they are referring to another powered sibling and what harm their abilities can cause. Top contenders after Diego of course, are Vanya whose power we know can cut after seeing what she did to Allison at the end of ‘The Day that Was’ in a moment of anger.

But if we go with the Sparrows then Alphonso is at the top of my list. His character sheet is mentioned as him bearing the scars from his years of crime-fighting. His power is assumed to be the voodoo from the comics and if he can transfer the injuries he obtains or inflicts on himself to others, this may be what this title means.

But, and this theory I think is the one that I’m most obsessed with right now, is that the episode title could be an adaptation of the saying ‘unkindest cut’. The definition for this is ‘a cruel or devastating injury or insult inflicted on you by a supposed friend’.

If we go by current timeline we’re in then my money is that Five may be joining the Sparrows either under duress or having worked out an agreement with Reginald that his siblings would be spared if he did. Only his family might not be aware of what Five has planned and agreed to and would only see the apparent betrayal of what they have all gone through together as a family. Of only seeing their brother join the team that probably want them dead.

But this betrayal may also be coming from the Sparrows and Sloane perhaps. Sloane is an inverse of Five in a sense in that while Five is driven by his desire to save his family, Sloane often feels like hers are holding her back from experiencing her dream of leaving. Maybe she betrays the Sparrows in some way by letting an opportunity to capture the Umbrellas flee or seeking them out as allies.

Marigold

According to what I can glean from the comics, marigold refers to the balls of light that eventually became the 43 super-powered children. So could we be getting an explanation as to how these supers came to be and why?

But like with episode three’s episode title, I can’t not mention the symbolism connected to this title. Marigolds often have conflicting symbolism today. In modern western society their bright colours often have them being associated with the sun and positive emotions and energy such as happiness, optimism and good luck. Not what I think the episode will be about.

But on the darker side of things, which is something that I do think has more ties into what to expect, is that they also refer to jealousy, grief, despair, mourning and cruelty. It is a flower associated with death and the Day of the Dead in Mexico and is said to offer protection from evil spirits. This connection with death is what I first thought of when I saw the episode title and the most obvious character associated with Death is none other than our ghost-boy Klaus Hargreeves.

Klaus as a character has a lot of ties to death naturally and I did see a post on here describing how Klaus will be entering the fourth stage of grief which is depression for both Ben and Dave during season three. This makes sense as they are now both gone in a way that not even his powers can reverse nor can he summon their spirits. Marigolds can often symbolize a despaired love and strong passion as well as well as pain and grief, so it could be a reference to Klaus’ depression over permanently losing both his closest brother and his love. But the main reason I do think that this episode does tie in heavily with Klaus is that it’s a mid season episode and so far that’s usually when Klaus undergoes most of his development. Maybe it’ll continue that way in season three.

Of course if Marigold will also represent a despaired love there are other options in the Umbrellas other than Klaus and Dave: Diego with both Eudora Patch (who is possibly still alive in this timeline) and Lila Pitts still bouncing around the timeline. Allison dealing with leaving her 60′s husband Raymond Chestnut and maybe trying to track down her ex Patrick to find out what happened to daughter Claire in this timeline and Vanya with love Sissy Cooper. Or maybe even Five and Dolores or possibly a love interest for Luther could be a reference to this title.

Explaining how the Umbrella and Sparrows came to be wouldn’t take the whole episode giving us time for some potential (doomed) love.

Auf Wierdershen

This is very likely to be a Klaus focused episode, even if Marigold isn’t.

The episode title is German for goodbye and Klaus is the character most associated with Germany. Klaus is the only character to have spoken German during the shows events so far and his name is of German origin (interestingly enough, all of the male Sparrows bar Ben, have their names tied to Germanic origin. Meanwhile, Fei’s name is of Chinese origin, Jayme has both Spanish and Hebrew roots, while Sloane is derived from an Irish surname Ó Sluaghhadáin). Not only that but it is considered fanon that Klaus was born in Germany just like Diego and Vanya’s roots are considered to be Mexico and Russia respectively.

Not only that but he literally has ‘goodbye’ tattooed on his hand.

‘Goodbye’ has many different interpretations for what this could mean especially if this is a Klaus centric episode like we are assuming. And like I mentionned above with Klaus going through the fourth stage of grief in season three, this might be the episode where he moves into the fifth and final stage: acceptance. Perhaps by having one last talk with Umbrella Ben in the afterlife or by trying to track down Dave after Vietnam and discovering he (seemingly - I do have hopes for Commission Dave later on) did live a long and happy life after the war.

Mending fences with Ben and both getting the chance to air their genuine grievances with one another and mend their relationship from the horrific state it was in at the end of season two might help Klaus find closure. Klaus and Ben both love each other but they crossed a lot of lines and hurt each other deeply with their behaviours last season and they deserved the chance to try and fix the issues as well as say a proper goodbye to one another. This could give Klaus the opportunity to say just that as well as moving into accepting Ben’s death once and for all.

And when it comes to Dave, maybe just knowing that Dave moved on can help Klaus move from depression into acceptance. He was more than fine with stopping Dave from enlisting in the army during season two even knowing that it would mean that Dave would never meet or fall in love with Klaus. He was willing to sacrifice his chance at love with Dave if it meant that Dave would survive. Perhaps if he knew that Dave had been happy and safe in his later life he could then move on and say goodbye?

And maybe by coming to terms with the departure of two of the biggest influences in his life, motivate Klaus to embrace a new outlook and control of his life and his powers?

Wedding At The End Of The World

This very clearly has ties to the very first episode of the show which is ‘We Only See Each Other At Weddings and Funerals’. Both have marriage and death connected in their titles. The characters that we know have been married so far out of our Hargreeves family so far is Reginald and Allison.

Reginald was married on his home planet when his wife died. Not a lot is known about her other than she was the original owner of Vanya’s violin in the original timeline. Maybe we’ll get information on her and just why Reginald left his home planet?

The next character married so far is Allison who so far has been married twice already (maybe they’re going three for three this time?). And judging by the episode title in season one, that event was the last time the Umbrella Hargreeves (bar Five) were all together as a family until they arrived for Reginald’s funeral. Maybe there’s a link there.

Or maybe this is referencing a whole other wedding that may be happening during the events of season three? I wouldn’t be surprised if Five reunites with Delores and decides just to get married to make it official. To paraphrase Klaus, it’s probably one of the healthiest relationships that family ever had regarding love.

Six Bells

Now this tile had me stumped for a good bit and it will probably make more sense when season three does drop and we watch the episodes, but for now I can just theories on it.

Bells have often been associated with religious services, which may tie in with the last episode, but can also be rung for important events or in deference of important people.

But what is really getting me is that the title is six bells and there are six Umbrellas left so far. Could the bells be in reference to something regarding them, some sort of trap perhaps? Which will definitely tie in in some way to the seasons finale:

Oblivion

Now like episode one this one seems fairly self-explanatory. This seems like Hotel Oblivion is finally coming into play here, meaning they are probably switching the order of stories from the comics. But the question is: if it is Hotel Oblivion, did the Umbrella’s enter the Hotel/prison out of free will or were they trapped here by the Sparrows? Anything goes at this point considering that it’s the last episode of the season.

But when it comes to the Hotel there are so many possibilities as to what happens here:

- Are all of the Umbrella’s trapped inside or did one escape and their other cell mate is a Sparrow perhaps (Sloane maybe for trying to leave the Sparrow Academy?)

- How will this set up the cliff-hanger for season four? Will all or some of the Umbrella Hargreeves be trapped in the hotel once the season ends and that helps set up the tension for the next season. Or maybe a break out of prisoners just like in the comics occurs and the Umbrella's are forced to deal with it?

-Where will this leave our Sparrows at the season end, because I know that we’re going to get attached (I know I will). Will some of them come with us into season four? Maybe they are split into two teams as the season ends, each containing a mixture of both Umbrella’s and Sparrows?

Well that’s all I have, maybe I’m right about some of it, maybe I’m all wrong, just need to wait until season three to find out.

#the umbrella academy #tua #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #marcus hargreeves #fei hargreeves #alphonso hargreeves #sloane hargreeves #jayme hargreeves #christopher hargreeves #christopher the cube #reginald hargreeves #the sparrow academy

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swan2swan · 4 years ago

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So, where do we go from here?

Camp Cretaceous Season 4 Prediction (LONG):

As much as I’ve argued that we need to stay on Isla Nublar the whole time, turning right back around after that final sendoff would be too much of a forced “Return to Status Quo” for a story that has propelled itself forward so much. The kids did it. They won. They got off the island. I feel like we've explored almost everything we needed to (what's left? The bamboo forests? The gardens?), and though we never saw Triceratops or Stygimolochs or got chased by Gallimimus, we can't just go back after everything's increased. The only Big Challenge remaining on the island is the volcano, and that's six months out.

But the story’s nowhere near done, because we have four major plot threads that need to be addressed before the show ends:

1. Most immediately, we have the dinosaur in the closet. Is it a baby Scorpios? Blue? A Monolophosaurus? A Dilophosaurus? A baby Ouranosaurus? A baby Baryonyx? Jeanie? We don’t know, but odds are that it’s going to throw a wrench into the kids’ plans to return home.

2. The state of Sammy's family and the ranch are still in flux; what will happen to them? Did they get all the money they needed from lawsuits? Does Mantah Corp have dirt on them? Are they going to try to interfere with Sammy because she Knows Too Much? They were set up as villains for a reason.

3. Darius and Kenji's strained relationship is a setup for future conflict.

4. We need to see Bumpy again. This isn't something that “needs” to come up, but the fact is that she's one of the main characters—bringing her back is essential to the story's quality, and we're not missing that thread. She either needs to get off the island, or we need to see that she lives afterwards.

Considering all of these things, I can rule out a lot of options: we're not getting chased right back by the Mosasaurus, and the creature in the ship isn't just going to wreck the engines and send them back. They're less than a hundred miles off of Costa Rica, so even if they're cruising at a cautious ten miles an hour, they should be able to see the shore within twenty-four hours, which means we're not going on an island-hopping adventure, either. You need dinosaurs, too, so nothing generic will happen.

Thus we can consider:

1: The kids are on the mainland of Costa Rica, and lost in the jungle or mountains. Just because they found their way back to mainland doesn't mean that they're going to find a port, and if their stowaway or the Mosasaurus causes problems, they can crash easily. If it's a Scorpios Rex baby, they'll have to hunt it and capture/kill it to finish their mission from this season. The problem with this option is that it just retreads the threat from the last season, which is boring; if it's a Monolophosaurus (or two), then it might not even impact things...so, I don't think the “kids in the jungle” plot is going to stick. I give this one a “D”.

2: The kids run into a patrol vessel before landing. Isla Nublar is under quarantine. While they're on the boat, their rescuers/captors unleash the creature (which could be Scorpios!), and now there's a tight opening adventure on the boat. Thrilling, but not much of a big season if it's just a navy vessel...which leads me to:

3: This is the only way I think we go back to Nublar, and that is if they meet up with a patrol boat, and then the creature in the hold (a small Scorpios???) rampages through the ship. They put it down, but the noise attracts the Mosasaurus, which wrecks the boat and puts them right back on Nublar—separated and with a bunch of adults alongside them. With a cast of much-more-plot-vulnerable adults to care about now (perhaps including Roxie, who joined the crew?), the stakes are higher and the kids are guides—maybe even separated at different points on the island. Not a big fan of this idea, though—again, it's retreading, and the number of excuses for “military-trained adults can't radio for help” is slim. So, I give it an “F”. But let's refine it a little further:

4: The kids get picked up by a patrol boat that is actually working for Mantah Corp—and they discover the dinosaur that has snuck aboard. Seeing an opportunity, Mantah Corp excitedly takes the kids to their secret base...on Isla Sorna. Though the dinosaurs on the island are mostly extinct and sick from disease, the abandoned island was perfect for a field laboratory. Specimens to study, buildings that already existed, a quarantine keeping prying eyes away...there's a whole organization here now. The kids escape from captivity (as they do) and find themselves wandering around a new island with new dangers: all around them are long-decayed skeletons of dinosaurs from the past, and hunting them are bizarre creations from Mantah Corp's labs. It's an island of ghosts now, and the kids need to escape...and perhaps, when they do, they find that they only have enough fuel to make it to one place: and it's the place they never thought they'd return to.

This plot covers pretty much every base—the stowaway, Mantah Corp, the relationships, and a chance to return to Bumpy—and gives them a proper, probable reason to go to Isla Sorna that isn't “Fate decided that it would be fun if they went to a different island”. I give this one “B-to-A” probability.

However...

There is one other major option:

Three. Year. Timeskip.

There are only two things holding me back from leaning into this: one is that it would deny us the sight of the kids reuniting with their families. We need that. We need some sort of triumphant return home. The other, simpler, more obvious problem is the monster in the hold; that kind of cliffhanger seems like it should come up. Obviously both of these problems can be solved via flashbacks, or a prologue, but...the need for new models and such would be an issue, because “budget” has always been a thing.

The other major problem, obviously, is the fact that the kids would need a reason to come back together. Maybe they all gather together for an anniversary and a dinosaur attacks them; maybe they're all being interviewed; but a far more interesting, compelling, and obvious motivation would be this:

Bumpy is alive and in danger.

Thus, all six kids (well...at least two would be adults now...) go running off to find and rescue Bumpy. They're bold and independent, rebellious and reckless: they each go to save their dinosaur friend, and they end up running into each other and ultimately facing Mantah Corp, who is one of the major power players in the prelude to Dominion.

This one has the ultimate story potential, in my opinon. You have Kenji and Darius meeting again with death glares because they left on poor terms. Ben has adjusted. Yaz and Sammy have had three years of yearning, notes, and problems (or maybe Sammy vanished...). And Brooklynn has had to forge a completely new life for herself, because she can't deal with internet fame anymore—everyone asking her about the island wherever she goes was just too much.

It directly sets the stage for Dominion, allowing glimpses of the world as it will be in the movie. Maybe the kids set more dinosaurs loose from Mantah Corp's (land-based in this one) laboratories as they free Bumpy. Maybe they become renegades and outlaws—forced to live in the wilds of California, Nevada, or Mexico. They're no longer looking for rescue, but for refuge. Maybe Claire has a sanctuary, a real one, that they have to get to. This would make it a full-scale adventure in a world filled with dinosaurs. Whatever they brought back with them is out there, too...and perhaps an old, scarred nemesis they never thought they would see again.

The biggest drawback to this is that the show hasn’t been running long enough for kids who started it to connect with the grown-up forms of the characters, but also...at the same time...it could work? I dunno, I give it “B” probability, A+ potential.

Other thoughts that could work in any of these:

Roxie is working for Mantah Corp. She's unemployed, combat ready, and bitter at InGen...also, she'd look great in a uniform.

Brand is involved in any mainland shenanigans.

Dodgson. Dodgson. Can we get Dodgson here?

#jurassic world #camp cretaceous #camp cretaceous spoilers #camp cretaceous season 4 #mantah corp #look you don't give an organization that cool of a name without making them the focus #but I feel strongly like it's going to be the 'captured by mantah corp' option #gives the highest stakes #and a secret lab on sorna gets them there #because let's be real: them accidentally going to sorna would be stupid #it's not going to happen #BUT #if they're TAKEN there?#sure wonderful do it that's great #love it #but also you really can't have Sorna be what it was or the enitre lore of the Jurassic World franchise goes up in smoke #but also by GOING to Sorna #you can EXPLAIN IT for everyone #hence why I think this is the plan #but again: they're NOT JUST GOING TO CRASH THERE #that would be stupid and even if it happens I am GOING TO KEEP SAYING THAT #jw:cc

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softboywriting · 4 years ago

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The Two Times You Ended Up In His Room, And The One Time He Ended Up In Yours | Poe Dameron

Summary: You and Poe are both x-wing pilots and you have both been mutually pining for each other for a long while. Things finally come to a head when you end up in his room one night on accident. [tw: PTSD discussion] [Set before films? but non specific] [established friendship] [mutual pining] [fluff] [established nickname]

Word Count: 5k

|Masterlist In Bio|

The first time you end up in Poe's room it's an accident. It is well past midnight and you're trying to avoid the guard who always flirts with you. He's really creepy and you just want to go for a walk around base to clear your head. Things have been tense and you just want a moment to breathe. Unfortunately you have absolutely no luck and you run into the aforementioned guard. His name is Karik. How could you forget, he tells you every single time you see him.

You turn down a hall toward the command center and there he is. He raises his hand and greets you like an old friend and you do nothing of the sort in return. Instead you turn around and go to the closest door, scan your all access ID and go in. You have no idea who to expect inside but you don't care. Explaining your issue will be easier to deal with than Karik.

In the low light of the bedroom you can make out an orange flight suit in the corner, a body on the bed with their back to you and a droid in the corner powered down. The droid is the dead giveaway. It's BB8. That means the man on the bed is Poe Dameron.

As if you had said his name out loud, he rolls over and flips on a small wall lamp beside the bed. He's topless, hair a dark curly mess, the gold chain with small ID tags he always wears glints in the light. Stars above, he is a sight to see. "Hello?" He asks sleepily, rubbing his eyes and making sure you're actually there. "Jumper is that you?"

Jumper. The nickname you earned from the x-wing pilots just over a year ago when your x-wing was going down and you emergency evacuated on a planet you had no knowledge of. You knew two things. Die in a fiery crash with the x-wing or possibly survive the fall on to the unknown planet and keep fighting with the resistance, but also possibly die upon impact. Obviously you survived. Broken and battered you landed in quicksand. It was Poe who rescued you only minutes after you landed. He had seen the x-wing go down and went to find you, or better yet, your body to bring back your ID tags. When he found you alive he was shocked. If he hadn't come after you, you'd have died in that quicksand, unable to move and sinking slowly. Truly you owe this man your life.

"Yeah, hey Poe." You chuckle nervously. Maybe explaining your sudden intrusion wouldn't be easier than dealing with Karik. Because of course it's Poe and he's your friend, and of course he's your commander too but on top of all of that you've got a massive crush on him. Like, you’re basically in love with him and he has no idea. "I-... was out for a walk."

"A walk?" He sits up and the blankets pool at his hips. "A walk into people's bedrooms?"

"Yes, no! No! I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk around base. There's this guy, a guard or something, he always tries to flirt with me and it makes me uncomfortable. Anyway I saw him and I just went into the closest room to avoid him."

"Oh. That's horrible, have you told him you're not interested?" Poe slides over on his bed toward the edge and adjusts the blankets. "Have you talked to anyone about it?"

You sigh heavily. "I've told him I'm not interested of course. I haven't brought it to anyone's attention because he isn't like...I don’t know?"

"It's unwanted attention. He's harassing you. Tell me who it is and I'll talk to them tomorrow."

"I don't want to start trouble."

Poe flips his blanket back. "I won't have anyone on this base getting harassed, let alone one of my best pilots."

"I-" your voice catches as you realize he's just given you a major compliment. One of his best pilots? Coming from Poe Dameron, the Poe Dameron? Your heart is going to explode. "Thank you," you manage to whisper while your brain and heart go a thousand miles a minute.

He chuckles softly, as if the compliment were nothing. "You know we have a recon mission tomorrow. You need to get some sleep. Should I walk you back to your room?"

"I can't ask that of you. I already woke you up and barged in your bedroom."

"It's no problem. I'm offering." Poe pulls back his blanket completely and slides off the bed, stretching as he stands. His black jogging pants hang low on his hips and you force yourself to look at BB8 in the corner. "Come on, Jumper. I need my pilots rested before they get behind the controls."

You nod and he opens the door, ushering you into the bright hallway. Karik is nowhere in sight and you're glad. It would be painfully obvious he was the one if he were lingering outside the door. "I think I'll be fine. You can go back to sleep Poe."

"No, I wanna make sure you get to your room unbothered." He runs a hand over his hair and scratches his side. It's hotter than it has any right to be. He's just being a human and you can't get your head out of the clouds. "You're in South Central quarters right?"

"Y-yeah? How'd you know?"

"I visited every day when you were laid up after your crash. Remember?"

"Oh yeah, right, duh." You shake your head and rub your neck. The scar there from the operation they did to reconstruct your shoulder is still raised. Your stomach churns as you think about how much of your body is scared from that crash. You're still alive though, and that's what matters.

Poe lays a hand on your cheek and fans his fingers out over your neck. "You still with me?"

"What?" You snap out of your trip down memory lane and look to the man in front of you. "Sorry."

"I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."

"No, no it's fine."

"Did you ever go to therapy for that or anything? It takes a toll on a person when they get that close to death." Poe slides his hand down to your shoulder. "I'm not saying anything is wrong with you because there isn't, I just want to make sure you're alright."

You smile softly. "Yes, I've seen someone, I’m still seeing someone actually. I promise I'm not going to crash anymore x-wings or let you down on a mission because I'm in my head."

"I don't care if you let me down or destroy a hundred x-wings. I care about your health, about you as a person not as just some pilot on my team. I never wanna pull you from the brink of death again but I'd do it over and over if I must, just to see you smile and fist bump me before you get in your x-wing again."

"T-thank you Poe." You swallow back the surge of emotion that courses through you. "I haven't- I don't really talk about it outside of therapy y'know?"

"You can talk about it any time with me. It's okay. I've been there and it's a dark place to come back from." He wraps his arm around you and pulls you into a hug. "You're not alone."

You bring your hands up and grip his back gently. It's warm, soft and smooth to the touch. He must use quality body wash. "Sorry I woke you up and now I'm like this."

"There's a time for everything. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Does the name Jumper upset you? I guess I didn't think of it until now."

"No, it's like a badge of honor. It's alright I don't mind."

"Okay good." He ruffles your hair and you swat at his hand. "You need to go to bed. Like I said, I don't need a sleepy pilot tomorrow."

"Yeah okay, Dad."

Poe smirks and folds his arms over his chest. "Dad? Or do you mean Daddy?"

Your jaw drops as you realize what he is implying. "Oh disgusting. You're sick Dameron. You're sick."

He laughs raucously, leaning on the wall as he catches his breath. "Oh man, your face was just priceless. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm joking. I'm not into that at all."

"Oh my- fuck Poe you are terrible!"

"I've been called worse honey." He pats your back and pushes you forward gently. "Seriously though, as much as I'd love to stay up all night with you, we both need some sleep. Let's get you to bed so I can get some sleep too."

__________________

Two days later you wake up from a nightmare in a cold sweat. You had gone down again, your x-wing careening to the surface of a planet you're unfamiliar with. This time you didn't jump out, trapped by your seat belt straps and you crashed with it. Everything felt so real and the moment you made impact you sat bolt upright in bed gasping for air. It's been over a year since the crash, you haven't had a dream like this in forever. You remember what Poe said, that you could go talk to him anytime. It's well into the early hours of the morning and you feel bad waking him up again, but you need something solid, something real. There are no missions for a few days so he can catch up on sleep tomorrow or something.

You put on your slippers and head out into the hall. You pass a few of the hangar crew, most likely the night shift, on your way down Poe's hallway. At his door you scan your ID and it slides open, allowing you to step in and hit the close button.

Poe stirs, rolling over in bed and looking at you. "Jumper? That you again?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"No, not at all. Here." He scoots over and pulls the blanket back. "Get in."

"I don't know if that's appropriate?"

"Appropriate? What is this grade school academy? We're adults and you're my friend and co pilot. I think you're allowed to get in my bed. Do you want me to make it an order?"

"No," you laugh softly at how ridiculous it sounds. You crawl under the blanket and snuggle down against the mattress. It smells like him, warm and rich almost like sandalwood and spices. "I'm sorry I woke you up. I just didn't want to be alone."

"Nightmare?" He asks, voice soft and deep in your ear. He's so close you're torn between being comfortable and being nervous. "Tell me about it?"

"I was going down in an x-wing and I couldn't evac because I was stuck and I was so scared." Your chest tightens and you take a heavy breath. "I was so scared of dying Poe. I shouldn't be, I know the risk I take everytime I get behind the controls. But I was so fucking scared I didn't want to die like that, I didn't want to..." Your voice breaks completely as a sob wracks your body. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Poe takes your hand and brings it up to kiss your knuckles. It makes your heart ache and everything feels surreal. You're a mess of emotions. He lets you cry it out, waits to speak until you've settled yourself down enough to breathe normally. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Mmmhmm."

"I get scared too. The first time I almost died I ended up in a sand dune alone with a cut on my head and a broken arm. I think I was eighteen. If some salvagers hadn't found me by tracking my downed x-wing, I'd have died of starvation and dehydration. I didn't know where I was or how to get back to civilization. I think about that flight every time something happens to my ship and my controls go dark for a moment. I had nightmares every night for two years. I still get them from time to time."

"Oh. I didn't know that happened to you."

"Mmm. I've been in a lot of dangerous situations and I'm sure I will be in more in the future. Being afraid of dying doesn't make you weak, it makes you human. Unfortunately PTSD is a very real side effect of traumatic events and we've been through a lot. I still go to therapy once a month because coping is hard."

You nod and squeeze his hand in yours. "Thanks for letting me stay in here for a bit. I just wanted to feel something real, to know the dream was just a dream."

"I understand. You're welcome to sleep with me if you want. I have to be up in a few hours to meet with Leia, but you can stay as long as you like."

You chuckle softly and wipe your face. You feel a lot better having cried it out. You're feeling a lot less scared of dying and being weak and a lot more giddy and anxious about being this intimate with Poe. "Is Poe Dameron asking me to sleep with him?"

"Only if you say yes."

"Mmm, only if you keep it above the waist." You say teasingly.

Next thing you know Poe is leaning over you. His hand slides into your hair, turning your face to him. In the dark room so you can't see him clearly when he is this close and your breathing stops. Is this happening? Is he actually making a move?

"P-Poe?"

"Above the waist." He strokes his thumb over your cheek. "That's the only stipulation?"

"For sleeping? Or you mean for-"

"I do."

A flush rises in your chest and you can feel your cheeks get warm just before the rest of your body floods with heat. "I didn't know you felt that way about me."

He chuckles softly and leans his forehead against yours. "Jumper, you're all I've wanted since the day I pulled you from the quicksand. I knew when I saw you almost ripped from my life, I needed you. You're funny, smart, quick, and a damn good pilot." He bumps his nose against yours and you let out a shaky breath. "I don't let just anyone in my room late at night, and I sure as hell don't share my bed with just anyone either."

"I can't believe...I was just teasing but- I've always wanted you t-"

He presses his lips to yours and you melt. Your body feels as if it completely dissolves, from your bones to your skin. You feel like putty held together by some fragile and unknown force, doomed to ooze out of your form at any second. He's burning up, body flush to you as he works his lips against yours ever so gently. It's even better than you imagined, he's so soft and warm, a gentle lover, and your heart stops as you think about how this can't be real. This has to be a dream. You're still in your room. This cannot be happening.

"Hey, you alright?" He murmurs, stroking some hair off of your face. "Did I read this wrong?"

"It's a dream. You're not real." Your chest swells with crushing sadness and you can't stop the tears that spill over the corners of your eyes. "This isn't happening. I'm going to wake up now."

Poe lets out a soft laugh. "Sweetheart you are awake." He leans over you and turns on the wall lamp. The room is flooded with a yellow glow and you see him, face to face. "See? I'm right here?"

You reach up and touch his cheek, the light stubble scratches against your fingertips. His loving eyes droop, a dead give away that he enjoys your touch. But why? Why would he wait so long? Why would he never say anything? You splay your hand flat on his cheek and rub your palm along the scratchy short hairs, thumb bumping his lower lip. "Why now?"

"Because I finally had an inkling that you were just as interested as I was. You're hard to read most of the time. I understand that though. You're private with your feelings and I'm your commander. I don't blame you for not flinging yourself at me. I've not been exactly forthcoming either, as I didn't want to be inappropriate as a person of authority."

"Right...but what is proving to me that this isn't a dream?"

"Well would a dream bite your shoulder?" He drops his face to your skin and lets out a hot breath over it.

"Maybe?"

"Would you feel it if it wasn't real?"

"I don't know."

Poe sighs heavily, forehead pressing to your shoulder. "This is not a dream. I swear. Do you want to get up? Go talk to someone else? Maybe fly the x-wings around a bit?"

"No. I want to sleep. You said you need to sleep too because you have a meeting with Leia early in the morning. Maybe if I fall asleep I'll wake up if it's a dream."

"It's not a dream." He leans over and flips off the light before he drops his weight to the bed beside you. "You'll see."

_____________________

Morning comes and you wake up to bright light pouring in through the small window beside the bed. Of course Poe has a good room with a window. Most of the base sleeping quarters have no windows and are very small. His is nice enough, definitely more spacious than a lot of the rooms you've been in. His bed is tucked in the corner, there's a bedside table, a rod built into the wall for clothes, a small three drawer dresser behind the door and a little indent on the wall the bed is against for storage where BB8 stays. He doesn't have much in the way of personal items on display. Only a few hygiene essentials in a basket on the dresser and a small box that looks like it might hold a piece of jewelry. There is a photo frame too, and it looks like a picture of the x-wing fighters.

Last night wasn't a dream, that much is obvious. You're in Poe's room and he is gone. You debate turning over and going back to sleep, or going out to get breakfast at the mess hall. Your stomach makes the decision and it says mess hall as soon as possible.

In the mess hall you take a seat with some of the other pilots. You know them well enough, a few of them you would call friends. You've never been one to be too social because in this fight, you lose too many people. One of the few people you call a friend is Vivi. She is a bomber pilot, knows the in and out of a bomber like the back of her hand. She's a bit of a gossip but she has been here with you since the day you arrived.

"Hey hey, how's it going?" Vivi asks as you place your tray in front of you.

"Good. I've got a few days off. I'm glad just to recoup."

"Got anything special in mind?" She asks with a little smirk.

You shrug and poke at the jellied fruit you've got on the plate. "Sleeping? Finding a place to take a hot bath. I swear I've got arthritis and I'm only twenty five."

"Mmm probably because you were a shattered heap of bones when Dameron found you. That shit doesn't heal back right y'know?"

"Mmm yeah probably."

"Yeah...so how long have you and Dameron been a couple?"

You nearly choke on your coffee and quickly grab your napkin to clean up your face. How in the galaxy did she know you and Poe spent any time together outside missions? "Excuse me?"

"I said what I said. I heard from Nupe that Karik told him that he saw you go into Dameron's room the other night, like well into the night too. I also heard that Trey and Garin saw you in the hall going to Dameron's room last night. So, how long?"

"It's not like that. Karik is the one who is obsessed with me, remember? His rumors are invalid. I was out for a walk because I couldn't sleep and I just ducked into a room to avoid him. It happened to be Poe's room. There is nothing going on."

Vivi chuffs. "So what about last night?"

"I went to talk to him about the crash. I've been having a hard time lately and- y'know what? I don't owe you an explanation." You stab a little harshly at your scrambled eggs and bring them to your mouth. You don't owe anyone an explanation about why you've been to Poe's room. Why does it matter? He's your friend and co-pilot. That's all anyone needs to know. So what if you kissed last night. You're still not sure it wasn't a dream. Sure you woke up in his room but that doesn't mean anything...maybe.

Vivi stays quiet, realizing she has crossed a line she wasn't meant to cross. The two of you eat in silence while the rest of the mess hall go about their own conversations. It's not until you're ready to take your tray to the wash station that Vivi speaks again. "I'm sorry I pushed you. I think you'd make a good couple. I just thought- well the way Dameron looks at you I thought something was definitely going on."

"The way he- what?"

"You don't know? He looks at you like you're the most incredible person he's ever seen, literally after every mission he gawks like a proud parent watching their kid win a race." She laughs softly to herself. "He is so in love with you and you have no idea do you?"

"Wait- last night...fuck. I have to talk to him."

"He's still at the command center with Leia and the others last I knew."

You pick up your tray and head for the wash station, passing it off to the droid there as you head out. You're starting to think last night was not a dream after all. If not, you've gotta talk to Poe as soon as possible. If rumor spreads that you're hooking up or sneaking around, whatever, you want to make sure that it doesn't affect either of you. You want a solid definition of your relationship no matter what it may be.

As you turn down the hall to the command center you run into Karik. The absolute last person you want to deal with right now. He's standing guard outside the command center, posted most likely, and you've got to get past him to get to Poe. As if the Galaxy hasn't given you enough to deal with in your life.

"Hey Jumper, where are you headed?" Karik smiles, arms folded over his chest to make himself seem bigger. It's like a bird, puffing itself up for first impressions on a mate.

"I've business in the command center."

"Do you? I don't have any orders to allow you in."

You roll your eyes and look to the doors beyond that open to reveal the internal workings of the command center. You make eye contact with Poe for a moment before the doors close again. "Why don't you double check?"

"I know my job. How about you? Do you know yours?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Karik shrugs and gives a rude smirk. "Nothing. Just don't know what a pilot would think they need to be in the command center for. You're not a commander or a sergeant."

"What's your problem Karik?"

"I don't have a problem."

"Really? Because you are acting like an asshole right now and if my memory serves me right you've never been one before."

"People change."

You scoff and smile to yourself. This is absolutely about you and Poe. He's blocking you because he's jealous. "You-"

"Jumper, hey you came to meet me?" Poe says as he jogs down the short hall behind Karik that leads to the command center. He stops and lays his hand on your shoulder, smiling softly.

"Of course, I was hoping we could talk soon. I didn't realize your meeting would go so long today."

Poe looks back at the closed doors and runs a hand over his hair. "We're just about finished. Did you get breakfast?"

"Yeah just came from there."

"Damn I was hoping to get something with you. I'm starving in here."

You look to Karik and then back to Poe and smile oh so sweetly. "I can grab you something before they switch over to lunch. Meet me in my room when you're done?"

"Sure. I'll be wrapping up quickly." Poe moves his hand from your shoulder to your neck and does a soft little cradle of your jaw before pulling his hand away. "You're such a sweetheart. I'll meet you there soon."

Warmth floods your body and grips your heart. So tender and loving. You're not sure if you're ready for that side of Poe yet. You glance at Karik and he is staring straight ahead, an unmistakable scowl of jealousy on his face. Good, maybe now he will leave you alone.

_____________________

"So Karik is the one who bothers you isn't he?" Poe asks, stretching his legs out in front of him. The two of you are in your room, wanting to talk in private from the rest of the base who are clearly very interested in your relationship. "I could sense he was uncomfortable with me touching you."

"Yeah, he's moving on though I think. I don't know." You pick at the bread you've brought to snack on while Poe finishes his jelly on toast. "I wanted to ask you about last night."

Poe looks over and you can read his expression as plain as day. He looks nervous, concerned that he has wronged you. "Yeah?"

"It wasn't a dream right?"

"No, it definitely was not. Are you uncomfortable?"

"No. No, I'm not uncomfortable with what happened. I guess I'm coming to terms? It still feels like a dream, like it feels hazy because I was so tired. Do you really actually like me like that?"

"Yes. I really like you." He chuckles and leans his head on your shoulder. "Jumper, you're the most amazing pilot I've ever seen and you're so incredibly beautiful without even trying. I don't know why I have waited so long to make a move. I suppose I was afraid I wasn't good enough."

"Not good enough? You're Poe fuckin' Dameron. You're the greatest pilot the resistance has ever seen, shit, that some of the Galaxy has ever seen. You're sweet and kind and you're so determined and dedicated. Poe, you're a rarity and any woman who gets to be romantically involved with you is so lucky."

Poe lifts his head and puts his arm around you. "I suppose you've hit the jackpot then."

"Me? Why?"

"Because I want to ask you out, Jumper. Be my girlfriend."

"Wh- we haven't even gone on a date Poe! How do you even know you want to date me let alone actually be in a relationship with me? This is a bit fast don't you think?"

"I know we have chemistry through the roof when we are together in the cockpit of a ship. We've got an undeniable connection when we are fighting side by side in x-wings and even more of one when we see each other on the ground. There is no way you don't feel that when we're together."

You smile to yourself. Of course you noticed all these things. They're why you've got such a crush on him. You and him have an unspoken connection that puts you on the same wavelength when you're near each other. You always thought maybe it was because he's such a good pilot that you just vibed with him. Two birds of a feather type deal. But it's deeper than that. He evokes a deep comfort, a sense of home and family that you no longer have. By the stars you never realized you are basically in love with him.

"Jumper?" He murmurs, hand cradling your jaw and turning your face to him. "Are you alright?"

"I think I'm in love with you." You mumble softly, eyes focusing in and connecting with his.

Poe smiles and lets out a laugh. "And I'm the one moving fast?"

"Shut up." You grab his face and pull him in for a kiss. He immediately melts into your grasp, reaching for your face and grinning into your lips. "You taste like jelly," you giggle as he pulls back and leans his forehead against yours.

Poe pulls you against his chest and you wrap your arms around him. "So is this a yes to being my girlfriend?"

"Yes. I'd love to date you Poe Dameron."

"Good." He presses a kiss to your head. "Because I don't know if I could keep pining after you."

"Pining? Oh please."

"Hush." He ruffles your hair and falls back on the bed, pulling you back with him. "Let me be the romantic I was born to be."

"I'm excited to meet this side of you."

He kisses along your jaw and hums. "I'm excited to show it." ______________________

end

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Header image by delicate-venus

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted works.*****

#star wars #star wars fic #star wars universe #star wars fan fic #poe dameron #poe dameron fic #poe dameron fan fic #poe dameron star wars #starwars #poe dameron x reader

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potterverse-united · 3 years ago

Text

In Loving Memory

A fanfic in which Snape and Harry actually talk it out a little and start to understand each other...

Rating: G / K

Summary: Harry has never really liked Halloween... for obvious reasons. A certain professor isn't really a fan either. Perhaps some healing is in the cards for both of them, after a trip out to a small village in southwest England. Takes place in second year, but it could honestly be any year at Hogwarts.

Read on AO3 Read on Fanfiction.net

A/N: I haven't written fanfic in forever, but I just watched every single Harry Potter movie in one day a couple days ago, and it sent me into a relapse of my 13 year old self's Harry Potter obsession (not to mention that I now live in Orlando and have been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter like 6 times in the last couple weeks). Oh man if my roommates ever find this they're gonna know exactly who wrote this…

O-O /*

With a flick of his wand, Snape slammed the door to his office shut, locking it beyond the hope of any student's best alohomora charm. He set out at a brisk pace toward the castle's entrance, glad to be escaping the merry cheers and shouts emanating from the Halloween celebration taking place in the Great Hall and, frankly, all throughout the castle.

As he turned a corner, he nearly tripped over a pair of legs and a stack of books. Idiotic, really. You would think that students would have the common sense not to sit where they could easily become a tripping hazard, but Severus had learned not to be surprised when 'common sense' was absent at Hogwarts.

A Ravenclaw, he expected. They were book smart, sure, but other than that, they could be incredibly dense, clumsy, and shortsighted. Or maybe Granger, though he imagined she was probably off getting roped into trouble with Potter and Weasley, perhaps with Hagrid and some illegal creature involved.

He had not expected the scrawny boy with round glasses and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead to be sitting in this dark hallway, far removed from the rest of the student body.

"Potter, I figured you'd be milling about and enjoying the festivities with your rowdy little friends," Snape spoke with a sneer. "What's a second year Gryffindor like yourself doing inside on Halloween night?"

Harry looked up, caught off guard by his professor who seemed to be wearing a heavier traveling cloak and carrying a crate full of items he couldn't quite see.

"I was, sir. I just… Well, Halloween isn't exactly my favorite night, professor."

Snape's head tilted back, eyes piercing through Harry's as if assessing the veracity of his excuse before, unbelievably, softening.

"I see," he answered. The potions professor pressed his lips together, the corners of his mouth slumping downward slightly, almost imperceptibly. "I'm not too fond of it myself." He shuffled the items awkwardly in his arms, turning to walk away.

"Are you going somewhere, professor?" Harry asked. After what had happened the previous Halloween, Harry wasn't sure it was the best idea for professors to leave the students unprotected, but Snape must have a good reason if he was. At Harry's words, he froze.

"As a matter of fact, I am," he answered in his drawling voice, turning back to look at his student. "I have business outside of the castle."

Harry nodded and shifted his attention back to the Transfiguration assignment he had been working on, expecting that his professor's patience for such an idle conversation had long since worn off.

Snape, however, continued to stare at the young boy, seeming to consider his next words very carefully.

"Perhaps you'd like to accompany me, Potter. My destination happens to be one that you may wish to visit."

"Sir?" Harry sat, confused.

Any hesitation Snape had shown at his initial offer was quickly covered by what could only be described as impatient certainty. "Come along, Potter. Unless you'd rather stay here staring at a blank roll of parchment?"

Blinking in surprise, Harry promptly gathered his things and trailed after the flowing cape of Severus Snape, down the hall and out of the castle.

O-O /*

Harry had to walk twice as fast as he usually did to keep up with the deceptively fast stride of his professor. They traveled down the lane a while, Snape charging ahead without so much as a glance back at the castle where students' delighted screams and laughs could be heard from half a mile away.

"I could help carry that for you, sir," Harry offered, seeing his professor struggle with the bulky items in his arms.

Snape's instinctive refusal died on his lips as he glanced down and met the wide, truthful eyes of Harry Potter. Eyes that could only remind him why he was bothering to drag the kid along with him on his yearly pilgrimage in the first place.

He nodded jerkily, not used to accepting help from anyone, much less the son of James Potter.

"Hold this," he said, transferring a large wreath of white flowers from the top of his overflowing box into Harry's awaiting arms.

Harry eyed the wreath curiously. Whatever he had expected the professor to be carrying, this certainly wasn't it.

"Where is it that we're going, professor?" he asked, shaking off the momentary confusion that had held him back from where Snape was walking ahead of him.

Snape made no move to meet Harry's eyes as he responded. "We are walking to the edge of the castle grounds, from which point we will apparate to a village in the southwest of England."

"Southwest England? Am I allowed that far from Hogwarts during the school year?" Harry asked curiously, wondering now if this was some ploy to trick him into breaking some serious school rules and getting sent home.

Snape's lip curled in a slight smirk at Potter's uncertainty. "As long as you stay with me, the headmaster can have no objection," his answer came, with an air of finality.

O-O /*

Apparation proved to be tougher to stomach than Harry was expecting, but his lack of an appetite at the Halloween feast served him well in that regard. Snape's firm grip on his arm helped stabilize him as their feet met the slightly damp soil of a small, sleepy town.

"What is this place?" Harry asked, turning his head like an owl to take in his new surroundings.

His professor looked down at him, a flash of concern and… something else behind his dark, inky eyes before it was easily masked by practiced impassivity. His gaze turned to the town in front of them.

"Godric's Hollow," he answered, seeming to lose himself in the line of small cottages and the old church standing silent in the middle. His voice was quiet, even softer than his usual reserved intonation, and there was a faraway look in his eye, like he was seeing more than Harry could see in front of him. "It is the birthplace of Godric Gryffindor, the invention of the Golden Snitch, and…" Snape paused, glancing down at the boy. "You."

Harry sucked in a shuddering breath.

"So that means…"

Snape gave a small nod, breathing out a sigh.

"Yes. This is where it happened."

Harry's knees suddenly felt like jelly. Snape must have recognized this, as he placed a firm, guiding hand on Harry's shoulder and led him through the quiet, leaf-covered street without another word.

As they neared the back of the church, Snape began to speak. "I had assumed you would have been brought here to visit by now. Twelve years of age, surely someone would have shown you where you're from." A kind of sadness formed in Harry's eyes, and Snape had to look away. "From your reaction, I can see I was incorrect in that assumption."

Harry nodded.

Severus clenched his fist, suppressing quiet rage at Petunia Evans who, looking back now, Snape should have realized would be unlikely to share fond memories of her sister with her nephew.

As they walked, Harry couldn't help looking at the streets, dimly lit with a warm yellow light. Bedroom lights in the small houses flickered out one by one, and he imagined that in each one, loving parents were kissing their children goodnight as they drifted off into content sleep.

This is where he would have grown up. A peaceful, happy life. A mum and a dad.

If, if, if.

Harry had long since learned that such thoughts only brought pain, but on the anniversary of their deaths, it was harder to push back those feelings. A deep sense of melancholy settled itself in his heart, pressing inward. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes before the brisk autumn breeze blew across his face and dried them all up.

So lost in his musings was Harry, that he didn't even notice where Professor Snape had led them to.

The man stood, unmoving, gazing over rows and rows of tombstones in a fenced-in cemetery next to the church. Harry came up alongside him and felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Would you like to visit their grave, Harry?" Snape all but whispered, calling his student by his given name for the first time, possibly ever.

The boy looked up in shock, realizing now what was before him.

"You mean they're in there?" he asked, though perhaps he should not be so surprised.

Snape's lips twitched in what was his attempt at a comforting smile. He gave a nod. "Come, I'll take you to them."

O-O /*

Harry walked in a daze as Snape led him through the meandering rows of graves. Graves of magical and muggle folk alike. Eventually, the professor came to a stop in front of an unremarkable tombstone, though the names engraved on it held more weight than any of the muggle residents of this village would ever understand.

It seemed there were others who had already been to visit, as flowers and letters adorned the site, no doubt thanking the couple for their heroic sacrifice and continuing to mourn their tragic end.

Somehow, it had never occurred to Harry that his parents were buried somewhere. That he could go to a place and stand not a meter away from where they lay in rest. Until now, all they had been were names and a story. A few shared memories, but other than that, nothing but words. Knowing that they were once here, physically present, made the loss seem all that much more profound. And for the first time, Harry could imagine what it would feel like to be wrapped in his mother's arms, for his dad to ruffle his hair playfully. They were real, even if they weren't here anymore. They were real.

Harry swallowed back the emotion, bringing himself back into the present. At some point, Snape had knelt to the ground and was now brushing leaves and dirt off the top of the tombstone. He turned his head, nodding to Harry. "Come, Harry, help me with these flowers."

Cold, muddy water seeped through the knees of Harry's trousers, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he sank to the ground and held the white floral wreath limply in his hands. There was something about being here, doing something to honor his family, that soothed the pain in his heart.

Snape set out a bundle of white calla lilies, tied up with a small black bow, and motioned for Harry to hand him the wreath. After adjusting it to his liking, he stood and admired his work.

Harry was at a loss for words. Following his professor's example, he stood and gazed down at their names once more.

James and Lily Potter.

He could understand, now, why he had been invited along on this trip. In fact, he was incredibly grateful beyond words for such an opportunity. He had never expected for something like this to give him closure, much less for it to come from Snape.

But there Snape was, silently paying his respects to his mother, and Harry couldn't even theorize as to why.

"Sir, I—I don't understand…" Harry spoke, breaking the somber silence that had settled on the graveyard.

Severus didn't need to guess what Harry was wondering about. It was only natural for him to want to know.

Though Severus would infinitely have preferred to keep his connection with Harry's mother a secret, he knew it would not have been fair to Harry. After all, he had had so much time, comparatively, with her, and Harry so little. Though certainly her son deserved it far more than he ever did. The world could be cruel.

And Severus could not deny his part in that cruelty all those years ago. It was his fault that Voldemort sought out Lily and James. His fault that Harry wound up an orphan. It filled him with immense discomfort now to be standing there, guilt heavy on his shoulders, with the one person who suffered most from what happened that night.

"You are, no doubt, wondering why I would come here, to this graveyard," he spoke, nodding at the tombstone and leaving no room for denial.

Harry looked to his professor, awaiting an explanation.

Snape stared straight ahead at the engraved names, taking in a deep, unsteady breath. "Your mother Lily was my very best friend in our first years at Hogwarts. My only friend." His look was somber. "It only seems right to come here and pay my respects when I can."

For a moment, Harry swore he couldn't breathe.

Snape, of all people? Aside from learning last year that it had been Snape trying to protect him and protect the Stone, the potions professor was notorious for not having a kind or gentle bone in his body. He was impatient. Unnecessarily harsh on his students. Hateful. Every thing he had seen tonight, however, called every preconception of the man's character into question.

"F-friends, sir?"

A humorless smirk crossed Snape's features as he looked down at the young child. "Yes, I suppose my dealings with you would make such a thought unimaginable. Unfortunately, your father and I never got along." Now that was an understatement. "Once again, my assumptions of you may have been too hasty. I was foolish to believe your aunt would outgrow her childish contempt for the wizarding world."

"You knew Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked incredulously, finding this whole situation more and more unbelievable by the second.

Snape let out a disdainful laugh. "Perhaps one day you will know the whole story, Potter. But for now, I'll say that if your aunt treats you at all like how she treated Lily when we were children, then your mother would be rolling in her grave."

Harry pursed his lips. He was still not used to people caring what his home life was like, but he supposed that his parents would wish it a little better than it was with his aunt and uncle.

The belltower on the church rang out across the dampened street, chiming half past 11 o'clock at night. Snape bent down to collect the letters that rested against the stone, shuffling them into a neat pile and placing them in a wooden box.

"Here," he said, handing the box to Harry. "I believe these ought to belong to you."

Harry felt his eyes again welling up with tears as he accepted the gift. "T-thank you, professor," he stammered, clutching the box tight.

"There's a lot more where that came from, believe me," Snape commented as he packed up the boxes he had brought. For the first time, Harry was seeing a different side of Severus Snape. He was witty in his remarks—when he wasn't trying to be cruel. He could almost imagine the boy he once was, who held his mother's friendship.

"More, sir?"

Snape nodded as if it were obvious. "More than a decade's worth, now. The rest are in the possession of the headmaster, though I suspect he will return them to you if you should ask."

Harry wanted to speak, but no words would come out. It was overwhelming, everything that had happened in the course of a couple hours. Being here, now, he had a backdrop in which he could imagine his life before. A mental picture of what had happened. It somehow filled a gaping hole in his heart that he hadn't realized was there, while tearing it to pieces at the same time.

"I'll be at the gate, when you are ready," Snape announced, stepping away from the gravestone. Before Harry could argue, he was gone, and Harry turned back to the engraved names of his mother and father, alone with them for the first time since that night eleven years ago.

"Hello," he said, awkwardly, not sure what one was supposed to say to his deceased parents. "I guess I want to say thanks," he continued, "for, you know, saving me." A chilly breeze swept past the grave, causing Harry to shiver. He wiped the dampness from his face, sniffling softly. "I wish you were here."

There he sat for several more minutes, allowing the tears to fall as they may, before heading back to the entrance of the cemetery.

O-O /*

Snape watched from afar as the boy sat alone by the grave. He looked so small against the backdrop of large tombstones and overgrown trees. Much too small to have experienced all the pain which he had in his short life.

He sighed. For ten years he had carried on this tradition – returning to Godric's Hollow on this most miserable of nights. Never forgetting the night eleven years ago that had changed his life forever. He considered it in some ways a form of penance, self-punishment for his stupid, thoughtless actions that brought about the death of the one person he truly cared for. It was about reliving the pain, allowing himself to feel it deeply, in his bones.

But now…

Seeing Harry here, his first time in the village since that fateful night…

Perhaps it was about healing. Growth. Like Albus' blasted phoenix metaphors, perhaps it was the beginning of a new chapter in the aftermath of what had happened.

It was time he passed on the tradition. Gave it to its rightful owner, the son of Lily and James Potter.

Oh, yes, he would still visit her grave. But it was time he stopped this selfishness. There was one who needed these visits more than he did. And it was the boy he had sworn to protect. He couldn't change what he had done, but he could change what happened next.

Healing – yes.

It was about time that everyone start to heal.

O-O /*

Just a little reminder down here to leave a comment and reblog!

I could be convinced to write a follow up chapter with Harry seeing his old house for the first time, just saying 👀

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #severus snape #severus snape fanfiction #godric's hollow #lily potter #james potter #jily

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stiles-halee · 4 years ago

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Kinkmas Day 3: Caught in the Act

"Oh my fucking God!" For a second, Stiles was confused. That didn't come from his mouth, at least not this time. He had been moaning the same phrase and other obscurities for the past twenty minutes or so, but this time it wasn't him.

"Oh my fucking God!" It was repeated again, by yet another voice, coming from somewhere rather close.

It seemed to be taking Stiles several moments to comprehend what exactly had just went down.

Let's rewind, shall we?

Stiles had entered the loft without being inviting, greeted by a scruffy, growly, wolf. Stiles and said wolf had had a sort of weird thing going on where either male would show up unannounced and they would proceed to perform certain. . . acts. Stiles called it a booty call when Derek came strolling, Derek simply called it causal sex.

Derek always acted like Stiles was unwelcome, and Stiles always liked to act like he was too busy for Derek, but the night always ended with cum on someone's chest.

Where were we? Right.

So Stiles came a knockin', except he didn't even knock. Grumpy wolf snapped his book shut and glared at Stiles, who only ignored him and stalked further into the loft. Stiles proceeded to look at the small hanging bookshelf Derek had recently installed on his wall, running his fingertips over the spines of the books. He was just getting invested when Derek shoved him into said bookshelf and shoved his hands down Stiles' pants. Moaning, groaning, sucking, and fucking did ensue.

What neither had planned for, however, was yet another unexpected visitor. Two in fact. Oh wait, nope, three.

Three members of the pack had just walked into Stiles being fucked in the ass, moaning like a whore.

"Jesus Christ!" Isaac cried out, quickly covering his eyes and turning. Cora was gagging, hands on her knees. Scott only stood there, mouth agape.

"What is going on- oh." Lydia proceeded to stroll in to join them all and see what all the fuss was about. It was then, at that moment, Stiles realized he was bent over Derek's desk, cock still in his ass.

Scrambling, he tore away from Derek, who casually zipped up his pants, while Stiles struggled to pull up his. He ended up tripping, but caught himself from completely sprawling out on the floor.

Meanwhile, the pack only stared, some eyes closed in fear, some eyes wide in shock.

"Uh. . ." Stiles began. He looked at Derek for help, but that was clearly a terrible idea. The man was looking as cool as a cucumber, though Stiles swore the tips of his ears were red.

"You want to help me out here, buddy ole pal?" Stiles slapped his rock hard bicep, shooting him a glare. Derek only raised a brow.

"I don't do that with my buddies or pals." Jackson cocked his head, arms crossed and looking amused. Apparently he had joined in on the fun at some point as well. Fan-fucking-tastic. Jackson would never let this go.

"I am scarred for life." Cora shook her head and looking pale.

"Have to say though Stiles, I am impressed." Lydia smiled innocently, while referencing to his now soft member. Talk about a boner killer.

Stiles turned a darker shade of red, while Derek leaned back against the desk that he was just spread out against. How was he so unbothered?

"Now wait a second. You guys are fucking?" Scott exasperated.

The loft grew quiet for a moment, before it burst into laughter. Isaac shoved Scott as though he had just said a hilarious joke, while Lydia simply shook her head as Scott's lack of brain cells. Jackson looked absolutely thrilled and Stiles could have sworn tears of laughter were forming in his eyes.

"Of course they are, you fucking dumbass. How did you not know?" Jackson was still laughing, barely able to get the question out.

"Hold up, you guys knew?" Stiles asked, voice growing squeaky.

Another round of laughter erupted and even Derek cracked a smile. What the fuck was going on here?

"How did everyone know except me?" Scott placed a hand on his chest, looking very offended.

"It was totally obvious." Lydia rolled her eyes.

"You can literally smell the sex rolling off of them." Isaac motioned to the two of them.

"Not to mention Stiles' scent all over the loft, and Derek's at Stiles' place." Jackson picked at a nail as though the conversation was beginning to boring him.

"Plus have you seen the looks the two give each other? The sexual tension is absolutely-" Peter started.

"Now when the fuck did you get here?" Stiles threw his hands in the air, looking to Peter who suddenly appeared.

"I cannot believe-" Scott began, completely ignoring the issue at hand, which was the fact that the entire pack had just walked in on them having sex.

"Believe what you see, honey." Lydia smiled again, looking at the both of them. "Well then, I think that the two have some unfinished business, perhaps we should make our leave?"

"I'm certainly not sticking around." Jackson raised his brows, before turning on his heal. Isaac followed after, as did Cora after shooting a glare at Derek, as if to say "this isn't over." Peter simply smirked and gave Stiles a wink, sending shivers down his spine.

The only one remaining was Scott, still dumbfounded.

"Scott, buddy-" Stiles began.

The boy raised his hand up, cutting Stiles off. "I need some time to process the fact that Derek Hale is fucking my best friend in the ass."

Stiles shrugged. "You know, that seems fair."

"But if you hurt-" Scott began

"Don't even try to pull that shit with me." Derek cut him off, shaking his head slightly. It wasn't like Scott would ever actually do anything anyways and besides, Stiles could talk him down from pretty much anything.

"Scott, we're just. . . ya know, I mean it's nothing serious or anything we just-"

"Does that mean we aren't on for brunch?" Derek raised a brow, egging on the situation. Stiles shot him a glare, he was so not helping.

"Scott-" Stiles tried to begin again.

"Nope, I've seen enough. Enjoy brunch." He gave a brief and awkward wave, before quickly running out of the loft, shutting the door behind him.

The two stayed in silence for a while, before Derek turned to him. "Shall we continue?"

"Oh my God, how can you still want to fuck after something like that?" Stiles widened his eyes. Were they not going to talk about what just happened?

Derek shrugged. "Guess I'm a bit of an exhibitionist."

"You kinky motherfucker." Stiles shook his head, but grabbed the man none the less.

#Sterek #sterekkinkmas #sterekkinkmas2020 #sterek fic #ao3 #ao3fic #teen wolf #teenwolf #Stiles #stiles stilinski #Stiles/Derek #stiles x derek #Derek #derek hale #kinkmas

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captain-danwilds · 4 years ago

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One Step Forward

Hi @avengerpercy! I realize I didn’t take Brazil’s timezone into account when posting this so I’m sorry this is technically late, but here’s your @aftgexchange gift. I hope this is good enough for you Cristal. This is my first time playing in the AFTG sandbox, so I wanted to live up to your expectations. I ended up using your prompt “Andrew and Aaron talking and solving their problems” for a little outsider POV Andreil fluff with a large helping of twinyards.

A few quick notes. Betsy and the joint sessions set the backdrop for this fic even though I am not a therapist and also not trying to make some statement about therapy in general (Personally I’m a big fan, but also recognize that Aaron really doesn’t seem to be in we’re in his POV.) I’m not trying to demonize Aaron or Andrew here. Aaron just fundamentally misunderstands Andrew. Also Raven King/Drake Incident references.

Ever since Aaron had found out Andrew existed, he’d felt unsteady. It wasn't just the sudden knowledge of how different his life could have been if Tilda hadn't decided to come back to get him or even if she'd just taken the other baby. It was the fact his brother was a mass of contradictions piled on top of each other and every aspect of their relationship was built on the idea of one step forward and two steps back.

Aaron wasn't an idiot. When the officer at the stupid game had mentioned Andrew, Aaron didn't expect his long-lost brother to immediately love him. This wasn't a television show. He knew by now that blood only went so far, that it hadn't stopped his mother from raising her hand to him or Uncle Luthor from sending Nicky away only for his cousin to come back a shell of himself. But he couldn't deny he wanted it to work desperately, for there to be another little boy out there whose life might be made better by having a brother in it.

His first step forward a letter that had to be rewritten at least twice because everything sounded wrong. His bedroom trash can overflowed with pieces of notebook paper crumpled in frustration or with ink smeared from tears he'd never admit to anyone he'd actually shed. Aaron must have spent hours writing the letter, typing it up in stolen time at the school library and sneaking to the post office while Mom had been out of it.

Hours completely wasted when the only reply was two words: "Fuck Off."

That should have been the sign to leave things well enough alone.

But instead, he'd taken the return address and written a second letter to "the guardians of Andrew Doe."

And instead of an answer from his brother, Aaron had gotten a voicemail saying Andrew had gone to Juvie.

Even the slightest hint of progress was met with resistance.

Gaining a brother meant losing his mom and never being in control of his decisions anymore.

Andrew lived by his own rules, an unspoken tally system of betrayals where Aaron would never be the one who measured up. Andrew wouldn't say it, because Andrew didn't say anything now that he was off the drugs. Aaron knew his brother only cared about him in context of proving that he'd never broken their deal. Until he called the whole thing off for Josten.

Josten, the idiot that would say things like "Andrew doesn't lie" as if he actually believed him. As if there truly was some magical code his brother followed that made sense.

"If you really don't care about Andrew, why does Neil bother you so much?" Dobson asked during their Wednesday session.

Aaron dug his fingers into the couch. He hated this. Hated that the only time he could get answers out of Andrew was when he was sitting in front of a shrink. A shrink who was undoubtedly on his brother's side. And that in order to get answers he had to rip himself raw first.

"I understand that therapy isn't for everyone," She'd said smiling gently during their first mandatory meeting freshman year. "More than that, therapy with me might not be your answer, so don't let today stop you from seeking help in the future if that's what you decide you want. I can direct you to one of my colleagues who you might feel more comfortable with."

They'd been meeting for almost a year now and Aaron still wasn't comfortable with her, no matter how many cups of hot chocolate she offered or how many smiles she gave. They'd come a long way from the complete silence and blank expression of his first individual session or even the harsh words the first time he'd shown up to Andrew's session, but it wasn't comfortable by any means.

The point was he wasn't about to pour his heart out to her even if Andrew wasn't in the room. With Andrew there, Aaron had no good way to answer the question without giving too much of himself away again, of being hurt when everything went to hell. Still, Aaron couldn't help but let the multitude of answers flow over him.

Because Josten waltzes in, every ounce of him screaming lie and danger, and this team bends over backwards for him. Because Aaron's seen enough to know Josten is dangerous. Because he will kill him if Josten doesn't keep his big mouth from bring the mafia down on them again before Aaron graduates and he can't handle another murder trial. Because Josten makes it so easy, throwing as many insults back as he gives. Those are the easy answers, because Aaron's life doesn't revolve around Andrew. He can hate Josten because Josten is a piece of shit who makes every aspect of his life harder.

But that's also not the whole truth. Because he saw the way Andrew looked at him in Baltimore, the tender movements in his hands completely at odds with the angry spark in his eyes. Because Andrew hates people touching him and yet he doesn't hesitate to wrap his hand around the back of Josten's neck. Because there's something aggravating in the way that Andrew can look at Josten and see something precious when he never looks at Aaron like that.

Aaron doesn't want to think his life revolves around Andrew, but his hatred of Josten certainly does. It’s partially jealousy. Why does this nobody get easy answers from Andrew? What makes him so special?

But the larger issue is that Aaron has seen Andrew broken. As much as Aaron wants to wish Drake away, he can’t. He’ll never be able to get Andrew’s face out of his head or the manic laugh left by the drugs. There are nights where he wakes up feeling like he still has the blood on his hands, that he’ll never be free of the feeling of Andrew knotting his fingers through his hair in worry when Andrew’s the one covered in bruises. Seeing his brother like that once was enough to break him. He doesn’t understand how Andrew can let Josten so close when Josten is a walking danger magnet. He doesn’t know what he would do when Josten inevitably hurts Andrew, because that’s the type of danger Andrew can’t just stab with a knife.

Betsy gave a small cough and Aaron knew he'd been quiet too long. He avoided Betsy's gaze to look at the clock. They were already a few minutes over their time. He wouldn’t have answered at all, just turned back to glare at Betsy until she dismisses them both for the day except he saw Andrew.

Andrew was still angled away from him on the opposite end of the couch. His mouth was still turned in a slight frown, but Andrew’s gaze had sharpened. Even months ago, Aaron might have missed it. It was a sign of amusement, slight exasperation maybe, but also one of want. Aaron had never seen that expression for any reason other than Josten, and now it’s directed at him.

“Josten isn’t safe.”

Andrew gave a huff that might even be considered laughter.

“I’m serious. You’re giving him the power to hurt you. Just because you don’t care about your own wellbeing, doesn’t mean I’m going to stand by and let him get away with it.”

“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.” Andrew waved his hand dismissively. “Which is good because you’re shit at picking the right battles.”

Aaron groaned. “And what do you mean by that?”

“Neil won’t hurt me.” He said it like it should be obvious, like he can’t believe Aaron missed something so fundamental.

“But how can you know that?”

“How do you know Kaitlyn won’t hurt you?” The words were thrown like a weapon to end this conversation.

But Aaron isn’t about to rise to the bait. Andrew seemed to think that every girl was just going to be another Tilda, that Aaron would let them hurt him for the scraps of affection. He knew Andrew didn’t decide Kaitlyn was safe out of the goodness of his heart, so his answer made no sense.

“Why shouldn’t I be worried about Neil hurting you?” Aaron repeated himself more directly, even calling the idiot by his first name as a sign of good will.

Andrew looked down at his hands, his right-hand tracing seemingly random places around each of the knuckles on his left. The gesture seemed both familiar and wrong. Finally Andrew took a deep breath and looked directly at Aaron.

“He listens when I say no.”

The words are simple, but Aaron can hear the depth of meaning there. He gave a slight nod.

Andrew must still see that he doesn’t fully understand, because he continued softly, “He promised he’d stay” before nodding at Betsy and leaving the two of them alone in the room.

Aaron doesn’t hear Betsy’s chipper goodbye or even comprehend most of practice afterwards. His mind is reeling and even though Andrew only gave him ten words, it feels like one hell of a step forward.

It’s only later at one of the Fox movie nights that Aaron realized why Andrew’s fidgeting looked wrong. He’d seen that gesture before. Andrew’s right hand gently tracing the scars on Neil’s as they sit side by side in silence, barely acknowledging each other but still taking pleasure in each other’s presence. It’s easy to miss the moment when Neil leans easily back into Andrew and Andrew only tugs their scarred hand closer.

Aaron hated that it’s this little action is what finally makes him understand. Andrew’s words about Kaitlyn no longer felt like a dig. It was his brother’s roundabout way of trying to phrase his relationship with Neil in a way Aaron would understand. When you love someone, the world seems safer with them in it. Andrew might not have said the word love, but he didn’t have to.

#aftg #aaron minyard #andrew minyard #neil josten #twinyards #andreil #aftg fic #my fic

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2lim3rz · 4 years ago

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Reunion After Death [40K FIC]

SO, I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO TO THE STARS HAHA, ANGST TIME! ANGST TIME DING DING DING, Y’ALL’VE HAD HAPPY SAD FLUFF TOO LONG!

Why am I so cheery about that? No clue, anyways have some Lorgar being dead, does this work in legit canon? NO! Turn the brain off and cry!

----

He awoke and there was.. an endless field. An endless field with the greenest grass he ever saw, with the most gentle of hills. Distantly, he saw a pond, maybe mountains. Taking a deep breath, the air was sweet and invigorating.

“Lorgar?” a voice roused him and he turned, his heart stopped.

“..Ferrus..? But- You’re-”

The man smiled, truly smiled until his eyes squinted. There was no lines of stress, only a healthy gleam of youth. His arms were no longer encased in metal. The sight was so foreign, so.. unsettling in a way.

“Dead? Yes, so are you, brother.” Lorgar stepped back at those words, took in well and truly how Ferrus Manus was dressed in traditional Medusian clothing. There was not one scratch or scar on his body.

Raising his own arms, Lorgar looked at them. He no longer had the skin he had as a Daemon Prince, neither did he even have the tattoos. It was… it was so liberating! So liberating to see the traditional Colchisian clothing on him. Yet where were they?”

“The others will want to see you, I’m sure, but someone else wanted to see you first.” Ferrus said and it shook Lorgar from his reverie.

“Me? Who?”

Ferrus shrugged with a smaller smile. Why was he so joyful to see him? Didn’t he know the part he played in his doom? Suddenly Lorgar felt a wave of what felt like anger before he realized what it truly was: Overwhelming shame.

“Someone who called himself your first father. He’s over there, at the pond.” the man raised his arm, pointing to the pond he saw earlier “We’ll be waiting at the tree on the hill. Take your time.”

Stunned, Lorgar watched as he walked away, whistling something. While he wanted to confront his brother on what he meant, he wanted to know whoever it was to claim to be his father. His father was the Emperor of Mankind before he forsook him.. was this some sick play of revenge? Giving him this taste of heaven and forgiveness before casting him out to a new hell?

How did he die? A heaven meant death. He already ‘died’ in a sense in his ascension, casting out his mortal flesh and blood to become a Daemon Prince. All he remembered was being in a fight.. a fight… that no details arose. He could not remember as he suddenly found himself looking at a man sitting by the water’s edge. He was so familiar.. why was he so familiar? Somehow it was not the Emperor, neither was it Kor Phaeron. The man was too thin, too wiry.

Turning around and standing, Lorgar fell to his knees.

It was Fan Morgal. While he could not recall the specifics over eons of memory, he could remember the blissful feelings. True familial love and not, what he now suddenly knew, was manipulative abuse.

“A shame we’re meeting this way, isn’t it, my boy?” his voice wasn’t the rasp it used to be, his resurrecting memory told him that. Just like him, he was dressed in robes, but it was odd. All Lorgar knew was the traveler's garb he wore.

He couldn’t speak as Fan approached him and hesitated.

“You’re..” Lorgar’s voice cracked. There was no helping it as it seemed the other found his resolve and hugged Lorgar tightly. With shaking arms, Lorgar returned the hug. Tears fled his eyes as he began to sob.

“I’m so sorry, Fan, I’m so sorry!” he felt as though he were a young boy in the arms of his first foster’s arms, it was almost liberating to felt himself blubbering his words “I- I didn’t know Kor Phaeron was going to.. I’m suh-such a disappointment and..”

Lorgar felt himself rocking slightly as Fan slowly rubbed his back.

“Hush, hush Lorgar. I’m not angry and I’m not disappointed. You just didn’t know, my boy. You just didn’t know..”

“But I could have changed! I could- I could have done something but.. but Tzeen.. and the others.. and then there was..”

“Hush Lorgar.” Fan’s voice turned more stern as he lightly pushed against Lorgar’s shoulders. The primarch let go as if the touch was fire, he still shook and clenched his fists. “I told you, I don’t hold any ill will against you. No! Give me a moment to speak now, you wily ulchao!”

Lorgar had began to protest against Fan Morgal. To try and ask why and of the things he had done. Yet he stayed quiet, both eager to have answers and still in shock of what was going on.

“It was only seventeen days I’ve had with you Lorgar. I.. admit I wasn’t the best of men, but I knew I’d make myself better the moment we had found you in that desert and it rained. That bastard Kor Phaeron may have lead you astray, but look at you now.”

Fan smiled, and though his bearded face was as though he was in his prime, Lorgar sensed the weathered age that loomed within “My boy’s all grown up! He became a leader for his people, shitty goals or not! You liberated slaves. And though you made those who followed you slaves of a different name, you stuck true to your goals and never wavered.That is something I respect, son. Besides, you’re going to find that.. in this place? The past doesn’t matter. Mistakes don’t matter.”

It hurt to cry so much, it did. It well and truly did as Lorgar looked to the ground and doubled over as though bowing. His first father was proud of him. Words that he never knew he needed to hear in all his life were spoken.

This time, Lorgar stood and lifted the man into a hug. Fan laughed heartily and Lorgar found him hiccuping along until his back was being playfully slapped. In return, the primarch placed the man back down.

“Now put me down, kid. You got brothers to see and I have kids to help.”

“You’re.. you’re not coming with me, Fan? I’m sure you’d enjoy meeting Ferrus- and.. brothers..? You sure they want to see me?” Sighing, Fan shook his head and patted Lorgar on his arm as if to encourage him.

“I think I’ve met him, he’s pleasant enough. I’m just as sure that he already told you that you’re meeting the other big boys, right?” Lorgar nodded slowly “Good. It’s not like I’m leaving you for.. oh.. a few hundred or however many years I’ve been gone, no. We’ll meet up right again soon enough and you can tell me all of your adventures, or we can tell stories just like old times.”

“..Just like old times..” he echoed back, taking a deep breath soon after and standing “Yes, yes I will. Thank you, Fan.” the man chuckled and waved Lorgar away when he began to search for a hill with a tree, and soon found it.

Just as he was halfway there, a massive winged shadow flashed overhead. It was much larger than the small songbirds he had glimpsed, and had the body of a human.

Sanguinius!

Lorgar looked overhead at the winged figure as he did a rolling flip in the air. Throwing his fist in the air and bolting out a cheer, Lorgar began to run for the tree and saw seven other figures standing beneath its shade.

He slowed his pace, his smile fading as dread took its place. There they all were! Konrad, with a healthy shine to his skin, no longer snarling. Then there was Magnus, red as can be! Perturabo, similarly to Lorgar in being bald, no longer did he have those head cables. Fulgrim, his fair and handsome appearance restored to its full humanity. With Horus, a companionable and happy grin on his face as he and Sanguinius embraced with laughter.

Two others, Lorgar did not recognize at first before it dawned on him that it was Mortarion without his respirator.. and Angron without his butcher’s nails.

He felt like the traitor he was to approach his smiling brothers. Well, not all of them smiled, but they certainly were all at peace. Nonetheless, he felt awkward and was the first to speak. Or would have if Angron didn’t stop him.

“Don’t you say it! Wise of the wise, pah! You ask the most obvious questions!”

‘Wha..what? What!” Lorgar was caught off-guard, blinking owlishly and stepping back with a yelp as Angron tackled him into a ferocious hug.

“Shut up! Shut up and just enjoy the moment you big word bastard!” Lorgar laughed at the new absurdity of the situation and at Angron’s words.

“Hey, thought I was that!” Horus barked over the new chorus of shouts and laughs. Angron soon let go and good-naturally slapped him on the back towards the gathering. A long moment of silence passed, they clearly awaited him to say something.

“You.. you all.. forgive me..? You forgive,” Lorgar paused, looking to the majority that had betrayed both the Imperium and their family “us?”

Sanguinius moved towards him as Fulgrim whispered something to Ferrus and the normally stoic figure cracked a snicker. Standing imperiously with his wings slightly flared, Sanguinius grasped Lorgar’s forearms and smiled.

“Of course we do, Lorgar. Why else are we all gathered here, laughing and carrying on? Sure, it was hard for some of us at first but.. you know..”

He turned and sent a look to Konrad who, despite his healthy appearance, gave an animalistic teeth-bearing grin with clattering laughter.

“We make it work!” the Angel finished, letting his arms go.

“Of course, you make it sound as if it was so easy, Sanguinius! Ferrus tried to chop my head of!” Fulgrim guffawed, just as Ferrus forced his brother into a headlock and harshly rubbed his knuckles on his head. The two shouted and yelped, playfully tousling with each other.

“We’ve forgiven and, in some ways, forgotten.” Mortarion shrugged from his post of leaning against the tree. Hearing his voice of what it was truly meant to be was off-putting.

“Don’t worry, we all looked at him like that when he first spoke.” Perturabo snorted.

“So.. we’re all dead then? All of us? How? I mean..”

It was Magnus who shrugged, responding with how they all couldn’t remember the circumstances of their deaths except for Sanguinius and Ferrus who only knew they were murdered by the other brothers when they saw them. The others, whose and if their deaths were known by the others, were told of how it happened. Which truthfully meant only Horus knew how he was killed.

“And that’s why you wake up.” it was Horus who spoke after.

“Wake up? But I’m dead?” When would this confusion end?

“Dead?”

“Mhm. You thought this could exist? Traitors never get what they want.”

Lorgar opened his eyes. He raised his hands, which trembled when they were revealed to be the same hands he had since his ascension. There was no heaven to be had. His brothers would never forgive him, not even the ones that were on his side.

#lorgar aurelian #fulgrim #perturabo #konrad curze #sanguinius #angron #mortarion #horus lupercal #magnus the red #fan morgal #2lim3rz writes

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natsubeatsrock · 3 years ago

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Should Lisanna have come back? (Part 1)

This might be a sign that I don't have much to talk about regarding Fairy Tail. I'm not sure that I would talk about this years ago.

But that's a good thing, right? After all, I'm a lot more suited to write this now than before Fairy Tail ended. My writing has greatly improved over the years. The kinds of posts I made back in the day are not as well written as the stuff I’m writing now.

Not to mention, I have the perfect template to structure my answer to this question. I don't think it's as simple as answering that one question. So, similar to my post about Stain from last year, I've decided to answer this by answering three questions: "Does it make sense that Lisanna didn't die?", "Has Lisanna impacted the series much since coming back?" and "Is there any benefit to Lisanna coming back?" Despite what fans will say, these are three different questions. And each question deserves its own distinct answer. As such, I've decided to break up each part into its own post. (read: I've learned from my dealing with the Stain question.)

Question #1: Does it make sense that Lisanna didn't die?

Answer: Yes!

Oh? You thought I'd have a different answer?

As it stands, this is not the first time I've answered this question. And every time I come to answer this question, I become more convinced that this is the right answer. It makes sense that Lisanna was still alive after the series.

Naturally, this is a controversial statement. Lisanna's return to the series has been treated as a bad thing. This is seen as one of, if not the worst things that Mashima has done for Fairy Tail. He took a character that had an obvious death and brought her back seemingly for no reason.

Of course, the latter half of that charge is the point of the next question. But, for now, it's worth talking about the first half.

If you read Fairy Tail, the idea that Lisanna was missing was hinted at long before we learned what happened. There are hints towards it even as early as the second chapter. Mirajane talks to Lucy about the scars Fairy Tail members have and hinted at her own scars. Later on, in the Lullaby arc, Natsu is asked by Kageyama why Mirajane has stopped working, somewhat rhetorically. (Consider that this exchange happened on a train.) We even learn that before the series started, Mira was an S-Class Mage. Something serious had to be responsible for that to have stopped.

Of course, the anime handled things differently. The episode before the Phantom Lord arc properly starts is "Natsu and the Dragon Egg". Lucy learns the story of how Natsu and Lisanna hatched Happy out of an egg. That episode ends with Lucy wondering why she hasn't seen Lisanna around the guild. There's a bit of an extra kick to this. If you've been watching the endings up to this point, you'll know the second ending ends with a frame of Natsu, Happy, and Lisanna. If you're watching this for the first time, you finally know who this is. And hopefully have an idea of what's up.

Fast forward to the Phantom Lord arc, and the truth is revealed. Mirajane and Elfman lost their sister after a mission went wrong. He attacked his sister after losing control of a take-over form. None of them have been the same since. Their sister was dead.

Only there's one problem with this. We're never shown that Lisanna died.

We're told that Lisanna is dead by her siblings. She's mourned over by her friends and family. She's presumed to be dead by the characters of the series. We even get to see the events that lead to her untimely demise expounded on in the anime. But even then, it never goes as far as showing that Lisanna was actually dead.

That may sound like a random and pedantic point, but it really isn't.

Consider this. Two arcs after Phantom Lord, we learn about Erza's past. An important person in her life was Rob. He's the one that taught her about magic and inadvertently led her to Fairy Tail. In Erza's backstory, he also shares a tragic demise, which works as the trigger for Erza unlocking her magic.

But there's an important difference between Rob and Lisanna: we actually see him die. We see his body drop dead, and his loss of life. It's not just something we hear characters talk about. It's something we see happen for ourselves.

This is one of the more frustrating things about character death: if there isn't a body, it's not confirmed. There are exceptions to this, but death isn't permanent unless you see the person in question die and confirmed dead. Mashima has gone on record to say that he doesn't feel he would ever bring characters back from the dead. At the same time, he does enjoy writing characters that seemed to have died come back seemingly from the dead.

One of the most famous examples of this is Captain America from Marvel. If you didn't know, Steve Rogers is a character that predated the Stan Lee era of the company. (They were known as Timely Comics at the time.) He was popular when the US was in World War II. Soon after it ended, he didn't find much sustainability.

However, as Marvel started to gain a new mythos and identity, he was formally reintroduced with the backstory that fans likely know about him now. He was on a mission and went under the ice for decades. Eventually, he was revived and became the leader of the Avengers.

Though, how is Lisanna's disappearance explained?

She was taken up as part of Anima in Edolas. When we finally see what happened that day, we see that her body was teleported to Edolas. With everything that happened to her, the other Strauss kids weren't unjustified for thinking their sister died, even if she wasn't with them. It's not as if what happened to her could have been more believable to them.

But the most important character in solving this entire situation may be one you'd expect: Mystogan. In the Phantom Lord arc, he's most well known for taking down all of the extra Phantom Lord branches. However, he's also responsible for collecting Makarov's scattered magic after Aria took it away from him. And, naturally, the character he tells these things to happens to be Porylusica.

And later in the Fantasia arc, he is revealed to be an alternate form of Jellal. In fact, he happens to be the Jellal that Wendy knew when she was younger. If there are two Jellals and one is clearly from Earth, where did the other come from?

These things are all clarified in the Edolas arc. He comes from an alternate dimension where people are almost the opposite of how they are. People in Edolas can't use magic freely. Therefore, their king has been using Anima to take magic from Earthland so he can use it for him-

I mean... so that the people of Edolas will be able to use magic as they want.

As you can imagine, Mystogan has problems with this, especially when it means turning the Earthland version of Fairy Tail, and the rest of Magnolia, into lacrima. Much of Edolas involves his orchestration of the plot to save both worlds. However, this also involves him sending people to Edolas from Earthland. He sends Gajeel and Lucy to Edolas and presumably could have helped Wendy and Carla. He even goes to Edolas himself at the end of the arc.

When Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Carla go to Fairy Tail's version of Edolas they actually meet Lisanna. They believe that it's just Edolas Lisanna, even as Edolas has versions of Lucy, Wendy, and plenty of other members of Fairy Tail. Though, there are some subtle hints regarding her true origin. As the guild is explaining their plight to the team, Natsu notices that Lisanna is leaving the guildhall. She'd have no real reason to leave if she wasn't somehow connected to them and we learn that's the reason she left.

Also, there's a fun little detail that I admittedly picked up from TVTropes.com. In the chapter cover for Bye, Bye Fairy Tail, the chapter where the characters start to return from Edolas, the members of Edolas Fairy Tail are symbolically wishing the other members goodbye. You'll never guess who's missing from this cover: Lisanna. Of course, other members are missing, including Mira. However, Lisanna isn't an insignificant omission from this cover.

Now I understand what one complaint might be. I'm able to make all of these explanations for Lisanna returning because we have the complete context for the series. Even if any of this makes sense, there's no way that someone who was reading Fairy Tail as it was coming out could have come to the conclusion that Lisanna not actually dying makes sense.

Consider the following: the director of Fairy Tail originally planned to treat Lisanna as if she hadn't actually died. Of course, that might not mean much to the anime we got considering she would be revealed not to have died in the manga either. However, consider that Shinji Ishihira, without the benefit of the Edolas arc, came to the conclusion that the most reasonable way to handle Lisanna was that she wasn't dead.

To be continued...

#lisanna strauss #lisanna's return #part 1 #fairy tail month: seven of these?#yes that's right #ANOTHER trilogy of posts surrounding lisanna's return #these started at two different times i swear

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octoberobserver · 5 years ago

Note

For the kids prompts, Can you do 45 and Reddie?

Hi Nonnie! Of course, I’m happy to fill 45. Thanks so much for the ask 😊 hope you like it ♥️

45) Kisses exchanged as they move around, hitting the edges of tables or nearly tripping over things on the floor before making it to the sofa, or bed.

Fuck Fight Club and Pretty Woman too

“You wanna fill me in on why you’ve been a grade-A asshole all night, Eddie?”

Richie was pissed. More pissed than Eddie could ever remember him being.

And it was all his fault.

Not that he’d admit it

He took his time hanging up his coat, staring doggedly at it and ignoring Richie’s piercing gaze burning a hole into the side of his head.

“I don’t know what you’re—

“Oh cut the crap, Kaspbrak, you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Richie practically growled, shirking off his jacket, draping it over the couch and throwing his keys onto the coffee table instead of the key holder in the exact way he knew drove Eddie up the wall.

Eddie did in fact know what he was talking about. His sour mood had not gone unnoticed among some of Richie’s associates the entire latter half of the evening. It hung over him like a dark cloud as he grew quiet and withdrawn, excluding when he threw more than a few barbed comments at one of the particularly obnoxious attendees.

But Eddie was never the type to give in this early on in an argument. Well, unless it was against his ex-wife back when they were miserably married and he just gave her her way to avoid having to talk for long periods of time. With his best friend/roommate, though? He only dug his heels in deeper. Always had. Since the day they met in third grade.

“No Richie, I don’t know,” he replied through a clenched jaw, snatching up the keys and depositing them in the little dish by the door, where they were meant to go, “why don’t you enlighten me?”

Richie stormed into the kitchen, wrenching open the fridge door roughly and pulling out a beer, twisting the cap off and angrily guzzling it.

Eddie watched him, a spike of irritation beginning to form under his skin.

Richie’s infuriation was infectious.

“Don’t throw the—”

The words died in Eddie’s throat as he watched Richie fling the bottle cap towards the garbage can like he did most nights, despite nine times out of ten missing the shot by a mile.

The cap bounced off the lid and clinked to the floor.

Eddie saw red.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Richie! Why do you always—”

“Were you jealous?”

Eddie blinked.

The atmosphere in the room began to shift.

Heat rushed up his neck, to his cheeks as Richie tilted his head, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Why would I be jealous?” Eddie asked, gaze lowered as he bent down to pick up the bottle cap. “You’re entitled to flirt with whoever you want.”

Richie snorted, and even though Eddie couldn’t see his face, he knew he was rolling his eyes.

“I wasn’t flirting with him, Eds. He was flirting with me.”

Eddie’s entire body tensed as he straightened up, shuffling over to the trash can and muttering over his shoulder, “Whatever. It’s not like I’m your boyfriend or something.”

He could feel Richie’s stare piercing into the back of his head as he continued, “We…we’re just best friends who get each other off, Rich. And that…that can change whenever you want.”

A beat of silence met those words.

Eddie refused to turn around.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He couldn’t decipher anything in Richie’s voice, it sounded almost robotic, but a dart of pain shot through Eddie’s chest, right under his scar anyway as he tried to prepare himself for what he had to say next.

“It means…” he began as evenly as he could, moving across the kitchen to get a glass, his back still turned, “if you wanna date, or…or fuck other dudes, or whatever…have at it. We’ll…we’ll stop this…” he waves a hand over his shoulder to where he estimated Richie was standing, “arrangement. No questions asked.”

Because if anything was obvious to Eddie after seeing him flourish tonight, it was that Richie…he deserved more. More than their little arrangement allowed. And Eddie would be damned if he held him back from that for his own selfish reasons.

Another silence followed his words. He had to turn around sometime. He knew that.

He managed to delay it just a little longer by walking over to the sink and turning on the faucet, resting his palms on the counter, hunching his shoulders, making no move to fill his glass. The rush of water almost drowned out Richie’s quiet reply, barely above a whisper.

“Do you wanna stop, Eddie?”

Hell no.

It had all begun three months earlier when Richie accidentally walked in on Eddie ‘punchin’ the upside down clown,’ as Richie so fondly called it. Their eyes had locked, Richie frozen in shock, Eddie in embarrassment. Richie could have hightailed it outta there, they could have brushed it off, marked it down as one of the hazards of being roommates and maybe, after a time, even laughed about it. Instead, Eddie had choked out Richie’s name, his cock still gripped in hand, so impossibly hard as Richie’s eyes began to lower.

They had just watched each other, breaths ragged as Eddie’s hand began to move, slowly at first, then gradually speeding up, pumping his cock hard, over and over and over, a surge of confidence flowing in him that was fuelled by Richie drinking in his every move, until his orgasm started to rake through him, causing him to cry out and begin to come all over his stomach.

That had lit a fire under Richie, he scrambling over to the bed and dropping to his knees, his giant hand covering Eddie’s, squeezing and moving in time with his jerks.

“Shit, fuck—Richie,” Eddie gasped, his voice broken as they pulled the last of orgasm from him together.

“Eds—I—can I…?”

Eddie had nodded, happy to grant him anything, whatever he could possibly want in that moment.

Turned out, what Richie had wanted was his mouth around Eddie’s dick.

Wildly, all Eddie could think as Richie’s head lowered to his lap was how Dick wants my dick.

He almost passed out when the wet heat enveloped him, hissing a little as his over-sensitive nerves tingled.

“R-Richie, oh my god,” he wheezed, his hand reaching up and clawing at his hair, pulling it tightly through his fingers.

Richie groaned, the vibration heading straight to Eddie’s cock and causing his back to arch off the bed.

It was then that Eddie realised three things.

One, the hand currently buried in Richie’s hair was covered in Eddie’s come, it smeared into his locks in a way that should have had Eddie recoiling in disgust, but instead sent a bolt of arousal through him, despite his exhaustion. Two, Richie’s mouth was ridiculously talented—the type of talented that could get a 41 year old man’s refractory period shaved significantly down—holy shit. Eddie may never call him a Trashmouth ever again after this. And three, Richie was rock hard. His erection pressing into Eddie’s side from where he kneeled along the bed.

At that revelation, Eddie’s free hand had wandered almost unbeknownst to himself, out to cup Richie through his pants, causing him to jump in surprise, his mouth pulling off Eddie’s dick with a pop that had him shivering.

They stared at one another, Eddie marvelling at Richie’s plump, crimson-stained lips that had a bead of Eddie’s come gathered in the crease of his mouth.

A beat passed where their eyes met, they on a knife-edge, the precipice of something unknown.

Then Eddie squeezed his hand a little tighter, causing Richie’s breath to hitch.

And the rest…was history.

It became a regular thing, then. Just them…tending to each other whenever they needed it. Quick hand jobs before Richie had to meet with an exec, sloppy blowjobs to celebrate Eddie’s promotion and Richie’s Netflix deal and one very memorable rim-job on the eve of Eddie’s one year ‘death-day.’

They hadn’t talked about it much. But they had unwritten rules.

One — don’t talk about Fight Club. AKA The Arrangement.™ So no spilling the beans to any of the Losers.

Two — don’t talk about Fight Club. Seriously. If the Losers found out they would be un-fucking-bearable and put a screeching halt to the most (and best) sex either of them had had in years. (Maybe ever.)

Three — no kissing. Eddie had deemed that a step over the line. Which, Richie had easily countered with, “Oh, so you can have my tongue in your ass, but not your mouth? Some logic ya got there, Eds.” But Eddie wouldn’t budge. So Pretty Woman rules it was.

And Four — no fourth base, going all the way, the whole enchilada, whatever you wanna call it.

They both agreed that that would definitely be over the line.

And so, with those firm set of rules alá Fight Club and Pretty Woman in play, Eddie and Richie made it work, it somehow slotting almost seamlessly into their daily lives, their friendship and cohabitation hardly changing at all.

Until Eddie’s green-eyed monster reared its ugly head, of course.

Except…that isn’t exactly true, is it? You were compromised from the start, asswipe.

Eddie ignored his inner-voice that sounded irritatingly like a thirteen-year-old Trashmouth as he shoved his glass under the water, letting it fill.

“That Eric guy seemed pretty into you,” he murmured, pivoting from the question as he shut off the faucet, “it would probably be a good idea to uh…call off The Arrangement if you wanted to call that number on your hand.”

He turned, then. Just in time to see Richie blink in surprise.

Yeah. Eddie had seen the exact moment the hot, young blond had reached across and playfully tugged on Richie’s hand, scrawling something onto the palm of it. It didn’t take a genius to know what.

“Eric’s a kid,” Richie snorted as Eddie’s eyes finally met his.

“He’s 29.”

“Exactly. He’s a millennial.”

“Your new fan base is made up of mostly millennials, Richie. And Gen Z’ers,” Eddie rolled his eyes, crossing the kitchen and realising in his haste that he had left his water but was too stubborn to turn back, trudging on towards the living room.

Only to have his way blocked by the garish, tuxedo T-shirt that Richie had insisted on wearing to his press junket despite Beverly desperately pleading with him no to. In compromise, she had designed him a very sexy faux-leather jacket that highlighted the breadth of his shoulders very nicely.

Not that Eddie noticed, or anything.

Liar liar pants on—

He slowly raised his gaze, eyebrows furrowing as he saw an enigmatic expression cross Richie’s face.

“That Ron guy seemed pretty into you.”

Eddie frowned.

“You mean Ross?”

“Whatever,” Richie waved a hand dismissively, his eyes bouncing around the room, “he was flirting up a storm with you at the bar.”

Eddie snorted, “Ross was just being friendly, Richie. He saw that I was on my own when you were—”

“He was flirting with you, Eddie. He couldn’t have been more obvious than if he shoved a rose between his teeth and asked you to tango.”

Eddie’s lips, the traitors, twitched at that. He cleared his throat.

“I’m pretty sure I know when someone is flirting with me, Richie.”

“Really?” Richie scoffed, the pitch of his voice climbing as he threw up his hands in exasperation, “see, I don’t think you do, Eds. Fuck, I’ve been flirting with you since 1986 and look where—”

He cut himself off abruptly, but it was too late.

Eddie watched as Richie froze, his eyes as wide as saucers behind his glasses.

His heart began to race.

“You…what? Rich—”

“Nothing, forget it,” Richie held up his hands in surrender and that’s when Eddie caught it.

The remnants of a dark smudge.

Eric’s phone number.

Or what used to be his number anyway.

Eddie’s own hands shot out before he knew what was happening, both grasping the larger hand and tugging it closer.

“Did you rub it off?”

He kept his gaze carefully trained on Richie’s palm as he heard his breath hitch.

“…maybe.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t wanna get ink poisoning—why the fuck do you think, Eddie?”

His grip tightened around Richie’s fingers as his eyes slowly lifted.

They stared at one another, the silence ringing loud in the kitchen.

“I…” Eddie floundered, desperately wracking his brain for some words to form a coherent sentence.

Don’t get your hopes up, Kaspbrak. You know how that always ends.

Richie must have taken his hesitance for a dismissal however as he heaved a heavy sigh and began pulling out of his grasp.

“Forget it, Eds, I’m tired and a little tipsy. I’m just gonna go to—”

“I was jealous.”

Richie stilled, his eyes darting back to Eddie’s, his hand still firmly in his grip.

“You were?”

Eddie heart hammered against his rib cage so hard he felt it might burst out of his chest Alien-style any second now.

What the fuck are you doing, dickwad?! This is not a part of The Arrange—

“Yeah, Richie, I was. Am. Jealous,” he swallowed the lump in his throat, squeezing Richie’s hand tight as he forced himself to continue. “I—that guy was hot and young and I’m not and—”

Richie closed the space between them, crowding Eddie back against the kitchen counter, bending his knees to catch Eddie’s eye.

“Eddie, trust me when I say this, man. You were the hottest person in that entire bar tonight.”

Eddie let out a loud snort, refusing to meet his stare.

“Yeah righ—”

Fingers clasped his scared cheek, forcing his head up.

His breath stuttered at the sheer sincerity in Richie’s eyes.

“I’m serious, Eds. I could barely take my eyes off you all night. I—all I kept thinking about was getting you home and…” he trailed off, his hand breaking from Eddie’s face to drag down his neck, chest, stomach, to finally rest, feather-light on his belt.

A bolt of arousal shot through Eddie’s abdomen.

Along with his mouth, Richie had very, very talented hands too.

But they were getting off track.

Shaking his head, Eddie forced his foggy, horny brain back online, stepping around Richie and trying to catch his breath. This was important, he couldn’t get sidelined with the promise of sex. He had known that this was a long time coming, pretty much ever since they started in the first place.

All good things must come to an end. Literally and figuratively…

“We need to call it off, Richie.”

He watched as Richie’s shoulders sagged, his entire body deflating like a balloon as he drained the last of his beer and shuffled across to the recycling, avoiding Eddie the entire way.

“Okay, Eds. If that’s what you want. Consider Fight Club disbanded.”

There was that almost robotic voice again. Completely void of emotion. So very hard to read.

“It’s…it’s not what I want,” Eddie found himself admitting before he could think better of it, “but it’s what you need, Rich. What you deserve.”

Richie whirled around suddenly, brow furrowed, eyes shining bright.

“What I deserve ? The fuck does that mean?”

Eddie sighed, not wanting to have to explain himself further but knowing he had to. Shrugging, he ran a hand through his hair, forcing himself to maintain eye-contact.

“You just…you deserve more than my dry hand-jobs and amateur blow-jobs, man. I—I know when we started this it was a way for us to blow off some steam but…you’re out and proud and deserve so much more than our arrangement. So much more than what I…”

He trailed off, eyes lowering.

“I just want what’s best for you, Rich.”

And it’s not me.

“Did it ever occur to you that I might already have what’s best for me?”

Richie didn’t sound robotic, anymore. Now he sounded downright incredulous.

“Uh—”

“No, ‘course it didn’t,” he continued, stepping closer, ducking his head to catch Eddie’s eye, “‘cause instead of asking me, you just went ahead and decided you knew what was best for me. But you’re wrong, Eds. So fucking wrong I—I don’t even know where to begin explain—”

He cut himself off, tilting his head to the ceiling as if asking the heavens for help. Which, for Richie, was really saying something.

Shit.

“Why were you jealous, Eds?”

Richie’s voice was small, now. Resigned. As if fearful of his answer.

“Was it—was it that a hot, young blond was flirting with me and not you?” he asked, tilting his head back down from the ceiling and staring straight into his soul, laser-focussed.

“Or was it that I was flirting with a hot, young blond and not you?”

Eddie’s heart leapt into his throat.

“I thought you weren’t flirting?” he gasped out, biting his bottom lip.

Richie let out an awful, humourless laugh, his eyes shining in a way that had Eddie’s stomach twisting painfully.

“Okay. Okay, Eddie,” he held up his hands again, taking several steps backwards, out towards the living room, “I hear you loud and clear. Say no more,” he paused, sounding more resigned than Eddie had ever heard him, lifting his shoulder in a one-armed shrug, “‘S like you said. We’re just best friends who get each other off. That can change whenever you want. I get it. Good night.”

Eddie watched as he turned on his heel and began walking out of the room.

“I was jealous that he was flirting with you and laughing with you and…fucking touching you when that was all I wanted to do!”

Richie stopped dead in his tracks.

Eddie scrambled forward, his mouth running away from him, “I was so fucking pissed that some hot fucking himbo got to drape himself all over you, without a care in the world as if you were free and single because—”

The rest of his sentence lodged in his throat.

He swallowed, taking a deep breath, staring at the hard line of Richie’s shoulders, his heart samba drumming in his chest.

Well, you’ve come this far, Kaspbrak.

“Because I…I want you. All the time. Not—not just since The Arrangement. Since…shit, since I was a kid. And these last few months have given me just a taste of what life would be like if I could…if I could have you. And I…I hate that it’s just made me realise that I want more. Not just hand jobs and blow jobs here and there. I wanna…I wanna flirt with you in public, and flaunt you on my arm and…and fucking kiss you goodnight and good morning and just because I feel like it. I wanna sleep next to you and fuck you and get a fucking dog with you. I want all of it. All of you.”

A horrible, heavy silence followed his words, marred only by Eddie’s gasping breath as he fought to catch it. His heart sank lower and lower with each passing beat. He couldn’t ever remember a time that Richie had gone this long without making some kind of noise, so he did what any good risk analyst would do. He started mentally making contingency plans for how he could salvage their friendship.

I’ll move out immediately. Leave the group chat for a while. It’ll be awkward, but eventually we might be able to—

“Himbo?”

Eddie gaped as Richie finally turned around, staring wide at him, a small but definite smile on his face.

“W-What?”

Richie’s smile grew bigger.

“You called Eric a himbo. I didn’t think you kept up with today’s slang, Eds,” he tilted his head, apparently amused as he started to close the distance between them.

“Really?” Eddie groused, staring at him, “that’s your response to everything I just said? What the fuck, Rich—”

Lips crashed into his, a large hand clutching his cheek and another squeezing his hip, propelling him backwards, colliding them both into the kitchen counter. Eddie let out a rough ‘Oomph!’ but there was no way in hell he was breaking this kiss. Whose dumb idea was it to enforce Pretty Woman rules anyway? To withhold oneself from a mouth as talented as Richie’s? That was just fucking martyrdom.

The kiss was feverish, desperate as they clung to one another, knocking over various knick-knacks that Richie insisted on keeping on the kitchen counters, Eddie’s tongue tracing along Richie’s bottom lip, his teeth nipping just slightly. He sighed as Richie groaned, opening his mouth and deepening the kiss, his hands raking up and down Eddie’s body as if he couldn’t decide where to rest them. Eddie buried his own hands in Richie’s hair, clutching tightly, using the leverage to do a little pushing of his own, shoving him back against the kitchen table.

Richie let himself be manhandled, stumbling backwards, almost tripping over his own feet if Eddie didn’t have a firm grip on him. The back of his legs bumped up against the table with a soft thump. Eddie’s grip left Richie’s hair to fly to his waist, tightening as he urged him up. Richie took a second to get with the program, too preoccupied with sucking on Eddie’s tongue to do much else. But eventually, he scattered the place-mats and newspaper and stress-ball from off the table and he heaved himself up, arms reaching down to clasp the back of Eddie’s legs, lifting him up with him until he was kneeling, knees either side of his hips.

The kiss broke.

Their eyes met.

Eddie’s heart skipped a beat when he saw moisture gathered behind Richie’s glasses as he stared at Eddie like he was the greatest gift he’d ever received.

“I’m in love with you, by the way,” Richie murmured, quietly but firmly, as if they were words he had long since lived with, “have been since I was twelve years old. In case that wasn’t clear.”

A little line formed between his eyebrows as he cleared his throat, “It’s—it’s okay, though. You don’t have to say it back or anything, I know it’s a lot and—”

“I’m in love with you too, dickwad. In case that wasn’t clear.”

They stared at one another, twin smiles gracing their faces before Richie leaned forward, capturing his lips once more.

This kiss was softer, slower, but god…

Eddie could feel thirty years of emotion flowing between them, as if Richie was pouring every ounce of pining, yearning, ache and love that he had ever felt for Eddie into it.

The burn of tears welled up behind his eyes as Richie’s hands clasped his cheeks, his thumb gently tracing his scar. They eventually had to break for air, but didn’t go far, their lips barely an inch apart as they heaved in breaths, until Eddie leaned forward again, pecking the tiniest of kisses against Richie’s mouth.

Fuck Fight Club and Pretty Woman rules.

Richie leaned up, returning the kiss that was more the pressing of smiles but still had Eddie’s stomach flipping with butterflies.

“God, Eds. I’ve wanted to kiss you practically my whole life.”

Eddie hummed, raking a hand through his hair and straightening his slightly askew glasses.

“I’m sorry I made you wait so long,” he sighed, resting their foreheads together, “I just…I just knew that kissing you would be too much. Would make me wish too much and hope too much and—”

“Me too,” Richie nodded, bumping their heads gently, practically going cross-eyed as he fought to keep eye contact, “you were right. I wouldn’t have coped with kissing you without constantly wanting more and hating myself for it. Even though I did anyway. Always have,” he laughed a little self-deprecatingly, “but ya know, I’m used to that.”

Eddie’s heart panged.

“Fucking Derry.”

“Fucking Derry,” Richie agreed.

“Dumb Eddie.”

“No,” Richie shook his head, leaning back to properly look at Eddie, “not dumb at all, Eds. We—that shithole fucked both of us up, right? All seven of us. So, don’t feel dumb about not picking up on my giant heartboner for you back in the day, alright? I…I did everything in my power to hide it ‘cause I was scared shitless. Homophobic clowns and Bowers, you know? And now…now we’re so fucking repressed I still marvel we managed to con ourselves into The Arrangement in the first place.”

Eddie snorted, silently agreeing until that snort turned into a groan, this one of discomfort as his knees gave a painful twinge.

“We’re too old to fool around on the kitchen table, Rich…” he breathed, his breath bouncing off Richie’s mouth, “my knees are fucking killing me.”

Richie huffed out a laugh, squeezing his hips and nudging him back down to the ground and shuffling to stand up himself.

“Fuck!” He hissed as his thigh roughly collided with the leg of one of the chairs, knocking it over with a clatter.

“As graceful as ever, Rich,” Eddie teased, reaching down to gently rub his palm along the back of Richie’s thigh, a small smirk spreading across his face.

“If you take me to bed, I can kiss it better. And other places too.”

Richie Tozier had never moved so fast in his entire life. And that included the time he was chased by a murderous space clown.

They collectively collided with no less than four pieces of furniture, one novelty-sized pencil that Richie insisted on keeping in the hallway, and tripped over a copy of Bill’s new book before they made it to bed. But that just meant there was more to kiss better.

They were allowed to do that, now. Kiss and so much more.

And all because they stopped living their lives using the ‘logic’ of two dumb ‘90s movies.

Read my other friends-with-benefits Reddie fic here

@tinyarmedtrex @reddiegays @richietoaster @and-thats-when-she-snapped

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #friends with benefits fic #they’re way too in love to make it work though #my fanfiction #hope nonnie enjoys

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gloves94 · 4 years ago

Text

Sunburn [Prince Zuko] 35

Warnings: Cursing Rating: PG-13 Pairings: Zuko/OC

Sunburn Chapter M A S T E R L I S T

My fan fiction M A S T E R L I S T

Presently, Toph, Katara sat on the edge of the beach house’s inner courtyard watching the three firebenders practice their bending skills from the comfort of a refreshing shade.

Tsai had been complaining to everyone about how much she hated Ember Island but when asked why she would just grumble and seethe in her own anger and frankly it was getting on everybody’s nerves. It’s not something she liked to talk about in particular. Of course, this time things were a lot better than the last time she was here. Not wanting to spend another minute inside of the house that brought such terrible memories to her she spent the majority of the day meditating by the beach in an attempt to ease her terrible headache. She presently wore a set of maroon traditional Fire Nation clothes similar to the ones that Suki and Katara wore.

She was currently walking back to the courtyard to sit next to the girls that were watching the boys train.

She watched as the three benders moved in perfect synchronization in elaborate firebending movements. Blasting arcs of flames and fistfuls of fire. She really wished she could’ve been paying more attention to where she was going but was more distracted by a shirtless body. Her eyes were glued to the prince’s toned torso. She looked at the way his perspired body seemed to glisten with the light as he moved swiftly. Had he always been that well-built? She knew he was strong from holding onto his arms so many times before, but his abdominals- Her mind went to an erubescent compartment of her imagination. Why had she never stopped to appreciate the royal sight before?

The three benders straightened and turned towards each other relaxing in their stances letting out a deep breath slowly.

Then it hit her. Literally. She groaned slightly when she ran face-first into one of the courtyard’s pillars making Toph laugh loudly from where she was sitting. She stepped back and glared in embarrassment as she walked over to where Katara and Toph were sitting.

“You’ve got something on your face.” Toph continued laughing.

The girl rubbed the red line that had formed across the bridge of her nose and prayed that hopefully it wouldn’t bruise. “Yeah, I hope it doesn’t bruise.”

“I meant droll.” Toph dead panned. Tsai swore she could’ve strangled her in the spot. Mortified that she had been caught in the act of checking out the Fire Nation’s former prince in such an obvious matter.

"Doesn't it seem kinda weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?" Katara suddenly said absent mindedly. Thankfully Toph seemed to be the only one to have witnessed her embarrassing run in to the pole.

“Think of it as hiding in plain sight. Besides, you think the Fire Lord is going to come and hang out here?” The red head explained raising both of her arms up in a casual shrug.

"Yeah," Zuko agreed from where he was sitting at the foot of a concrete fountain, rubbing the sweat from his hair with a towel. He said something. Tsai was certain she saw his mouth move when he was speaking but she wasn’t listening. Her teenage hormones getting the best of her.

“You guys are not going to believe this!” Thankfully Sokka interrupted her daydream. She shook her head shoving those red thoughts into a cranny in the back of her brain.

Sokka and Suki stood at the entrance of the courtyard both with excited looks on their faces.

"We were just in town when we found this poster." Suki explained with both hands behind her back. She nudged Sokka, "Show them, Sokka."

“There’s a play about us!” Sokka announced unraveling a parchment scroll he had been holding behind his back. He snapped it opened revealing a traditional drawing of Aang and the Southern Water Tribe siblings in fighting stances. Zuko’s face in the background. An image of the Blue Spirit’s mask hovering in between the two parties.

Everybody came in closer to take a look at the poster.

"Listen to this," Sokka said as he turned the poster back around so he could read it capturing everybody’s attention as he began to read out loud. "The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production from acclaimed playwright Pu On Tim who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage."

Suki leaned over his shoulder and read the last line, "Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players."

"Ugh..." Zuko groaned and made a disgusted face his shoulder’s dropping, "My mother use to take us to see them. They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year."

Tsai couldn’t help but snort a small laugh. She knew that Zuko was a fan of theatre. Go figure. It definitely explained his fanfare for dramatic antics.

"Sokka," Katara sighed in exasperation, giving her brother a bland look as she asked, "Do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?"

“Yeah,” Added Tsai crossing her arms over her chest taking a seat next to Zuko at the foot of the fountain. “We shouldn’t be slacking off. We still have plenty of training to do.”

"C'mon!" Sokka whined before looking at the two girls persuasively as he unrolled the parchment again and showed it to the group. "This is the kind of wacky, time-wasting nonsense I've been missing!" He smiled at them with an eager expression on his face. “And it’s until night! So, we’ll have all day to train,” He shot at the red head.

Katara rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and looking away with a baffled expression.

“Yeah, why not?” Mecha asked as he sat next to his sister. He rested an elbow on top of her head with the intention to annoy her. She slouched forward under the weight of his arm. “I’d love to see what trouble ya’ll have gotten into.”

She glared at her brother and pushed his scarred arm off her head.

She let out an exhale in defeat. "Sure, why not? How bad could it be?"

xxx

The theatre house was grand. Composed of golden arches and red roofs and ceilings which were traditional to the area. The theatre was packed, and the group shuffled into the highest and cheapest seats they found at the very top in a small private box.

Toph sat on the edge, next to her Katara, Zuko and Aang.

"Hey, uh..." Aang faltered as he was forced to stand back up. He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to act casual as he said, "I wanted to sit there." He said motioning to the spot next to Katara.

Zuko then lowered his hood and glanced at Aang strangely, "Just sit next to me, what's the big deal?"

Behind sat Suki, Sokka, Tsai and her brother both of them sipping on some Ember Island iced teas.

“I really don’t want to be here. There’s literally 1001 more productive things that we could be doing.” She complained to her brother. “Am I the only one that is aware that Sozin’s Comet isn’t slowing down?”

“Simmer down. You’re acting as if you’rethe Avatar” Sokka said with ease as he slid an arm around Suki’s shoulders. “At least one of us is!” She spoke sharply bitterly the edge of her eye twitching in frustration as she glared at Aang who didn’t hear her snarky remark. “You’ll have tomorrow to train and do your sun greeting meditations or whatever it is you do.” Sokka waved his hand indifferent to her attitude.

“Relax,” Mecha said to her. “This is just what we need. It’ll be a good way to get our minds off things.”

She sighed deflating a little.

“Besides I’m excited to see all of our parts!”

Aang fidgeted a little in the seats at the front as he struggled to find a seat next to Katara. "I was... just, uh..." Aang stuttered and glanced over at the brunette, who was peering at him oddly before looking back at the stage. He looked back at Zuko and cleared his throat, "I wanted to..." He sighed in defeat sat next to Zuko in defeat “Okay…”

"Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section?" Toph demanded, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat at the end. The theater lights dimmed signifying that the show was about to start. "My feet can't see a thing from up here."

"Don't worry," Katara stated in amusement, glancing at Toph from the corner of her eye before focusing on the stage once more, "I'll tell your feet what's happening."

Toph didn't bother to respond, as she heard the curtain being drawn up.

ACT I Scene 1

Sokka excitedly grabbed his sister's shoulder and pointed between them as their actor portrayals were revealed. The actress portraying Katara was an older woman wearing pounds of rogue cakey makeup on her face. "Sokka, my only brother!" She exclaimed dramatically with a loud sigh as she pretended to row a canoe through the moving cut-outs of blue waves.

"We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas, and yet never do we find anything fulfilling!"

Sokka’s actor had an overbite and his wig resembled more of a broomsticks’ end. He spoke next "All I want is a full feeling in my stomach, I'm starving!" He drawled out. The audience all laughed at the joke.

"Is food the only think on your mind?" Actress Katara asked in melodramatically.

"Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind," Actor Sokka retorted and pointed to his mouth, "And into my mouth. I'm starving!"

The crowd of Fire Nationers once again roared with laughter.

"This is pathetic." Sokka complained, leaning over his sister's shoulder and waving his hand towards the stage, "My jokes are wayfunnier than this."

Tsai let out a humorous snort as she leaned back into her seat, arms crossed over her chest. Her brother’s body language mirroring her own.

"I think he's got you pegged." Toph quipped with a laugh, and Sokka glowered at her in reply then sat back with a huff to continue watching the play.

"Every day, the world awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still we cannot give up hope!" Katara’s actress placed her hand to her chest and began to sniffle dramatically, "For hope is all we have," Her voice wavered with choked tears as she collapsed over the side of the canoe in an exaggerated manner. "And we must never relinquish it. Even...Even to our dying breath." She burst into fake tears lowering her head. Actor Sokka looked at her blankly and continued paddling.

Katara huffed and crossed her arms without amusement, "Well, that's just silly. I don't sound like that at all."

The row behind Katara all sniggered quietly behind praying Katara wouldn’t hear them. Toph however, felt no need to hide her laughter as she giggled maniacally. "Oh man, this writer's a genius!"

Katara scowled at her and stuck her nose in the air, closing her eyes in indignation.

It seemed like all Katara’s actress did was bawl dramatically, moan, sigh and cry about hope and feelings. Moments later the boy who was trapped in the iceberg came to the stage.

The actress portraying Katara stopped crying and sat up, turning to stare at the iceberg prop with wide eyes, "It appears to be someone frozen in ice. Perhaps for a hundred years!"

"But who?" Actor Sokka questioned loudly, "Who is the boy in the iceberg?"

Aang leaned forward on his seat in anticipation at his character’s introduction and great reveal. The eagerness on his face excited unmistakable as he learned even further to see the respectable actor that would portray the Avatar. Zuko glanced over at him, he then looked over his shoulder and saw that the Fire Nation siblings were watching the play attentively both of their attentions completely captivated. That’s right. They probably didn’t know that any of this had happened.

Actress Katara climbed onto the iceberg prop quickly, Actor Sokka climbing it at slower pace. She made a slashing motion with her arm and cried out, "Waterbend, hai-ya!"

The silhouette disappeared from view as the iceberg prop split in half. Smoke spilled out of it flooding the stage. It was time. The big reveal. The Avatar leapt out of the smoke and landed between Sokka and Katara’s actors. The actor struck a playful pose placing a hand on his- her hip and winking at the audience. The actress wore cake loads of rogue blush and a bald cap with a blue arrow as well as Aang’s traditional Air Nomad robes.

"Who are you, frozen boy?" Actress Katara asked in awe, reaching out as if to touch the other actress while theatrically clasping her other hand to her chest.

The petite actress portraying Aang laughed and spoke in a high-pitched voice, "I'm the Avatar, silly!" She balanced on the toes of one foot then twirled around, holding her arms out with another cheery giggle, "Here to spread joy and fun!"

Aang cringed and closed his eyes for a second before leaning forward becoming almost deflated, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. He made a choked noise, "Is that a woman playing me?"

Aang scowled and sat back in his seat with an irate huff, crossing his arms and glowering at the stage.

“Is it me? Or does that look like Ty Lee?” Tsai said more to herself than the others.

A replica of Appa made growling and roaring noises before leaping off the iceberg prop, revealing the three actors wearing furry pants to represent the sky bison's six legs. The replica landed to the right of the stage and ran across to the left side then disappeared behind the iceberg prop again.

"An Airbender!" The Katara actress gasped in awe, turning to look at the other actress after watching the Appa run around. She clasped her hands to her chest and dropped down to one knee as she exclaimed, "My heart is so full of hope, that it's making me tearbend!" She sobbed dramatically clinging onto theater Aang’s leg.

"My stomach is so empty that it's making me tearbend!" Actor Sokka wailed as he threw his arms up hopelessly then dropped to his knees, clutching onto Actress Aang's opposite leg and starting to cry just as dramatically as Actress Katara. "I need meat!"

Giggling cheerfully, Actress Aang ducked down, putting her arm around both of their shoulders after they had let go of her. She pointed upward with a cheeky smile, "But wait! Is that a platter of meaty dumplings?"

"Where?!" Actor Sokka asked excitedly, shielding his eyes and turning away from the actress in search of the alleged dumplings. "Where, where?"

Actress Aang laughed and shifted so she was sitting on the edge of the iceberg prop, playfully swinging her arm around as she chirped, "Did I mention that I'm an incurable prankster?" She crossed her legs and smiled cutely winking at the laughing audience.

"I don't do that!" Aang growled irritably as the audience continued to chortle, "That's not what I'm like! And-and I'm not a woman!" He threw his hands up in frustration as he slumped on his seat.

Toph cracked up and turned her head towards Aang, "Oh I think they nailed you, Twinkle Toes!" She continued laughing when Aang growled at her, lifting his head up to glare in her direction.

Scene 2 The scene changed, and a Fire Nation warship appeared on stage, the actor portraying Zuko poised near the front of the ship, looking through a telescope while a large man that was playing Iroh standing in the middle of the ship.

“Is this when you come out?” Mecha said to his sister in his classic style which never failed to show he could not whisper to save his life.

“You know when I come out!” She said to him roughly. “Not yet!”

"Prince Zuko," Actor Iroh called out as he held up a whole cake minus one slice towards the other actor, "You must try this cake."

"I don't have time to stuff my face!" Actor Zuko, dressed in armor and with a long ponytail, snapped as he turned towards Iroh’s actor, lowering the telescope as he did so. He turned towards the audience and clutched his fist in an assertive manner, "I must capture the Avatar and regain my honor!"

"Well, while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice." Actor Iroh stated then held the cake up higher before bringing it towards his face and proceeding to gobble it down noisily.

"You sicken me!" Actor Zuko spat in disgust, turning away haughtily to look through his telescope again.

The Fire Nation crowd once again laughed loudly. Zuko scowled and gestured towards the stage with his free hand, "They make me look totally stiff and humorless."

"Actually," Katara commented in complacent amusement as she crossed her arms, "I think that actor's pretty spot on."

He heard laughing coming from behind and turned to glare at the two Fire Nation siblings who were miserably failing at controlling their loud laughter. “They totally nailed you!” She couldn’t help but laugh loudly.

Zuko swung his arm out and protested, "How can you say that?" He asked looking back at them.

"Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages!" Iroh said.

"How can you say that?!"

Katara and the two siblings in the back smirked and looked at Zuko smugly. The backrow laughed even harder. Zuko grumbled and slumped down in his seat, frowning at the stage.

Several scenes passed by all of them portraying dramatically exaggerated personifications of Aang and his friends on their adventures as they traveled to the Eastern Air Temple and Ba Sing Se. Tsai and Mecha had been enjoying the play so far. They were learning so much about what the group had been through before they came into the story.

Scene 7

“Here’s where we come in!” Mecha nudged his younger sister’s arm excitedly as the last scene faded.

But- it didn’t happen. Yu Dao never came into scene. She looked at the stage before in disappointment their spirits faltering a little.

“Guess I’m not relevant enough to be in the play,” She sulked as she sunk into her seat.

Lights representing lightning flashed though the stage followed by fake sounding thunder as the Pohuai fortress came into view.

"The Avatar is mine!" Actor Zuko shouted triumphantly as he stood in front of a raised platform Actress Aang was tied to while several actors dressed as Fire Nation guards stood at the bottom. Actor Zuko looked to the left and pointed with a shout of surprise, "Wait, who's coming?"

A spotlight swung to the left, illuminating an actor wearing a massive Blue Spirit mask that covered his whole body. "I am the Blue Spirit!" The actor shouted as he clashed his dual dao blades together and tap danced in place, "The scourge of the Fire Nation here to save the Avatar!"

Waving his swords around, the Blue Spirit actor walked across the stage, the fake guards falling down as he past them. Actor Zuko ran around the platform and came up behind the Blue Spirit actor, throwing a red ribbon that was meant to be fire at the Blue Spirit actor's feet. The Blue Spirit actor jumped back to avoid the streamer then thrust his sword forward at Actor Zuko, who ran off stage.

"My hero!" Actress Aang cried out, pulling her hands from her restraints and leaping on top of the large Blue Spirit mask.

Zuko glanced over his shoulder Aang, the two giving each other embarrassed looks before quickly looking away.

The Blue Spirit actor continued to tap dance on stage before quickly spinning only to reveal an older actress with a tacky red wig standing on the other side of the mask.

“They’ll never suspect it’s me! The greatest traitor to the nation!” The actress who was wearing pounds of make-up and a promiscuous ochre colored kimono laughed loudly in a most irate laugh possible.

Tsai sprayed out her beverage like a whale and looked at the scene before in horror. She didn’t think she had ever heard her brother laugh so loud before. That’s right… The Fire Lord probably still thinks she’s the Blue Spirit. She facepalmed.

“This is such an inaccurate portrayal.”

Scene 8

A Fire Nation warship returned to the stage were Zuko’s Actor gazed out through a telescope once again and Iroh’s Actor played Pai Sho.

“Yoo-hoo! Boys!” Actor Tsai pulled out a hankerchief and waved at the warship with a sultry look on her eyes. “Wanna take me on a ride?” She giggled flirtatiously and winked at the audience.

“Hot Fire Pepper Flakes!” Actor Iroh gasped dramatically. “I guess we have to! What’s theworstthat could happen?” Iroh laughed heartily. As the actress with the red wig jumped on the ship gleefully.

“Uncle! This is not a cruise resort! I don’t want this colonial pest on my ship! Although… I can’t say no to such a vixen.”

“Is that really how it happened?” Aang quirked a confused eyebrow.

“It’s not!” Tsai cried out from the back with a red face leaning forward speaking between Aang and Zuko’s shoulders. “This play is so inaccurate! I mean- They paint me like some kind of whoozy!They totally missed the funeral. And my laugh does notsound like that!” “I think they got the annoying laugh juuust right.” Her brother sniggered earning himself a hard punch to the arm.

Zuko sat stiffly and brought a hand to his face to hide his embarrassment.

Scene 9

The backdrop was changed to that of the Freedom Fighters former hide-out in the trees and Actress Katara along with an actor portraying Jet, stood on a small platform attached to a rope that was hanging a few feet above the stage.

“Wait is that…” Tsai narrowed her eyes. “Is that Jet?” Her eyes went slightly wide. “You know Jet?” She whispered to Katara leaning over. “You know him too?” Katara whispered back with an embarrassed expression on her face. “Yeah, we had a thing-“She was interrupted by Zuko who loudly shushed the both of them not wanting to remember the little rendezvous Tsai had had with him. He certainly didn’t want to remember the two of them canoodling back on the ferry to Ba Sing Se.

Actress Katara began to mock sob loudly and Actor Jet, with a rose in his mouth held her close, "Don't cry baby. Jet will wipe out that nasty town for you!"He pointed at the stage briefly then lifted Actress Katara's chin up while a stagehand dressed in black pulled a large, blue sheet that was supposed to represent water, across the stage beneath them.

"Oh Jet," Actress Katara cooed in a sultry voice as the platform was raised, "You're so bad."

Katara blushed brightly and ducked her head, bringing her hand up to hide her face in embarrassment while Toph giggled unabashedly.

“Why are all the women in this play over-sexualized?!” A female voice in the back row protested angrily.

Scene 11

“Quit playing Pai Sho with my uncle!”

“As a woman from the colonies I can tell you, it’s notthe only thing we’re playing.”

“Ohohoho!”Actor Iroh laughed loudly and lecherously.

The audience roared with wild laughter at the vulgar stereotype of women from the colonies.

The girl hid her face behind her hands shrinking lower into her seat.

“That did nothappen…” She grumbled completely mortified. Not even wanting to see the weirded outlooks that the group was giving her. Her and Iroh had been close, but not like that!

Scene 12

“I can’t fight your bewitching spell any longer temptress! Kiss me!”

Mecha had a horrified look on his face as he watched the scene before where Tsai and Zuko’s Actors kissed on the warship. The girl had completely slid down her seat with a red face of mortification.

“That didn’t happen either, eh?” Toph snorted flashing the girl a teasing look.

“Not like that at least!” She roared out jumping out of her seat making several heads turn back to look at her. Zuko was wearing his black hood over his head back again he pulled it down so it would hide his equally embarrassed expression. He could almost feel both Katara and Aang looking down at him with teasing grins.

“That’s it! I can’t watch this anymore!”

“But Tsai- there’s about to be an intermission!” Her brother said sipping on his tea, regardless she exited the room and threw her own beverage away.

Some moments later after the Act I intermission the rest of the group joined her outside in outdoor balcony that lead to their private viewing box.

“I see what you mean by ‘they butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year.’" Tsai grumbled blowing a hair out of her face as he sat on the steps leaning against the railing.

"So far, this intermission is the best part of the play." Zuko grumbled taking a standing on the steps next to her leaning his weight on the railing as well.

"Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot." Sokka complained as he walked down the stairs with a bag of spicy fire jerky, taking a seat next to Suki a few steps from the bottom of the stairs. "Who tells bad jokes about meat all the time!"

"Yeah," Suki drawled in amusement and a hint of sarcasm, "You tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics too."

Sokka bit off a piece of jerky and exclaimed around it as he chewed, "I know!"

"At least this Sokka actor kind of looks like you." Aang retorted from his seat on the bottom steps, Toph standing in front of him with an amused look on her face, "That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all."

"I don't know," Toph quipped with a sardonic grin, "You are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys."

“Simmer down Aang, it’s supposed to be a satire.” Tsai explained calmly. “One written specifically to appeal the humor of the Mainland,” she said angrily covering her face with her hands. Aang scowled at the ground his pose mirroring hers. “Can you believe how they portrayed me? Just because I’m from the colonies!” She fumed at the stereotypical portrayal.

“Hey at least you’re in it.” Her brother rolled his eyes somewhat bitter he wasn’t even written in.

"Relax, you guys." Katara chided lightly from the top of the stairs, smiling gently at Aang when he looked up at her with a frown. "They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overemotional speeches hope all the time." She frowned when the others just looked at her skeptically, "What?"

"Yeah," Aang muttered, rolling his eyes slightly as he sat back down on the step, "That's not you at all."

“Am I a whoozy?” The red head asked dramatically her voice raised in a lighter pitch. As her shoulder’s dropped to the side.

“No.” Scattered voices reassured her.

“I’m going to murder whoever wrote this junk.” Zuko grumbled under his breath inaudible for the others to hear. What was the name of the playwright again Pu On Tim?

Toph shook her head, amused at how bent out of shape her friends were getting over the whole play. "Listen, friends. It's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth."

ACT II Scene 14

"Well here we are in the Earth Kingdom." Actress Katara said as she stood with Actor Sokka, and Actress Aang. In front of a background painted to look like Earth Kingdom buildings.

"I'd better have a look around to see if I can find an earthbending teacher." Actress Aang chirped happily, opening up her miniature air glider prop and jumping into the air while a cable lifted her up.

Toph leaned forward eagerly, "This is it! this must be where I come in!"

Actress Aang flew around the theater and over the audience before landing back on stage.

"I flew all over town, but I couldn't find a single earthbending master!"

"Here it comes..." Toph muttered, clenching her fists in anticipation.

The boulder next to where the trio were standing beside on stage was held up by a hulking muscular man wearing Toph's outfit as he rose out of a trap door the rock prop had been covering.

"You can't find an earthbending master in the sky, you have to look underground." The man rumbled in a super deep voice as he threw the rock prop over their heads.

Katara clapped her hands over her mouth to hide her laughter, Suki mimicking her while Aang, Sokka, and Tsai laughed freely and Zuko dropped the play parchment he was holding in shock.

"Who are you?" Actress Aang asked as she pointed at Actor Toph.

Actor Toph spat off the side and rumbled, "My name's Toph because it sounds like tough." He flexed his muscles, "And that's just what I am."

"Wait a minute." Toph frowned and turned her head to the side, straining to hear the words before using her finger to clear out her ear canal, "I sound like a..." She made a shocked noise, "A guy. A really, really buff guy."

"Well Toph, what you hear up there is the truth." Katara commented snidely, smirking smugly at the blind girl, "It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Are you kidding?" Toph exclaimed as she grinned from ear to ear, "I wouldn't have cast it any other way!

"So, you're blind?" Actress Aang asked curiously as she waved her hand in front of Actor Toph's eyes, which were covered by his overly long bangs.

"I can see you doing that." Actor Toph laughed then gestured with his burly arms, "I see everything that you see except that I don't see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth." He turned towards the trio and opened his mouth and screamed loudly at them, causing the actors to lean back and their clothes to flutter from the strong vibrations of the shout.

The entire audience grimace at the loudness of the roar. The backrow gazed in terror while Toph held onto the railings with an excited expression.

"There." Actor Toph said contentedly after he finished screaming, "I got a pretty good look at you."

Actress Aang giggled and clapped, promoting the audience to do the same while the other actors stared at Actor Toph in awe.

Scene 17

"Zuko, it's time we had thetalk." Actor Iroh said slowly as he stood on a metal bridge with Actor Zuko, who was now wearing a long-haired wig.

“I’ve had thattalk already Uncle.”

The audience laughed loudly.

Actor Iroh pointed at him, "About your hair. It's gone too far." Tsai’s actress sat between the two actors looking between the two with mock gasping expressions.

"Maybe it's best if we..." Actor Zuko flicked his hair as he turned his head away, "Split up."

He turned and walked away, Actor Iroh heading in the opposite direction.

“Oh no!” She gaped dramatically. “Will you stay if we have some tea?” She drawled on the last word coyly. Before letting out a loud high-pitched irritating laughter.

Again, cue for the audience to laugh.

Scene 19

It was the scene of Lake Laogai, but know with Actress Aang, Actress Katara, Actor Toph, and Actor Sokka, Actor Jet flailed around between the group, slashing his hook sword arm props around, while wearing a pair of crazy eye glasses, the tiny beads the represented his pupils spinning around to show that he had lost his mind.

"No, Jet!" Actress Aang exclaimed as Actor Jet spun around the other actors looked on with horrified expression. Actress Aang placed her hands on her cheeks and gasped, "What did they do to you?"

"Must." Actor Jet swiped his hook sword arm towards Actress Aang unsteadily, "Serve. Earth King!" He spun in place and swiped at Actor Sokka, who ducked, "Must...Destroy!" He fell to his knees and started making various agonizing noises as a rock prop floated down from above, and he crawled underneath it. "Oh!" he gasped as he fell onto his stomach, the rock prop covering his upper body before he pulled his legs underneath it.

"Did...Did Jet just die?" Zuko asked in disbelief, Tsai’s expression mirrored his.

"You know, it was really unclear." Sokka replied with a small shrug before going back to watching the play as if nothing had happened.

Scene 20

Actress Katara came to scene with a backdrop of the Crystal Catacombs behind. She smiled in a sultry manner as she approached Actor Zuko, "I have to admit, Prince Zuko, I really find you attractive."

A shiver went up Katara’s spine when she sensed a deathly glare coming from behind her. Zuko felt it too. They both did. Behind them Tsai’s eyes had turned into slits. Her jealousy getting the best of her the girl almost seemed to be emitting a dark green aura.

“Hey, um? You okay?” Her brother asked eyeing his sister oddly.

"You don't have to make fun of me." Actor Zuko spat harshly as he sat on a crystal prop with his legs crossed one over the other. His harshness caused Actress Katara to cringe before she batted her lashes at him.

"But I mean it." She sat down beside him on the prop, "I had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."

"Wait," Actor Zuko jumped to his feet and moved away from Actress Katara, "I thought you were the Avatar's girl?"

"The Avatar?" Actress Katara laughed coyly as she stood up and approached Actor Zuko seductively, "Why, he's like a little brother to me. I certainly don't think of him in a romantic way. And besides," She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "How would he find out about this?"

"You're getting up?" Sokka whispered as Aang stood up and exited the theater. Tsai followed after him not particularly enjoying the present scene and not wanting to sit through what she already knew was going to happen next.

"Can you get me some fireflakes?" Sokka settled back in his seat and put his arm around Suki's shoulders before sitting up to loudly whisper again, "Ooh, and some fire gummies!"

“That didn’t happen right?” Mecha leaned his eyes bouncing between his sister and the actors. Sokka let out a raspberry laughing slightly at the absurd question.

Both Zuko and Katara looked extremely uncomfortable and were avoiding all eye contact scooched away from each other awkwardly.

xxx

“Stupid play.” Tsai grumbled as she entered the small balcony area sulking. She was surprised when she found Aang there leanings on the balcony’s railing.

She blinked twice in surprise.

“Oh, I thought you went to get Sokka’s fireflakes.”

Aang remained quiet, his head bowed to the darkness before him.

“Hey,” She said approaching him. “If you want, I’ll go get them. The gummies too.” She said cluelessly.

“Is it true?” Aang said in a broody tone his eyes were lowered as he brooded. It was then that she realized he wasn’t emotionally well. “What?” She blinked twice in surprise now leaning next to him.

He remained quiet and she thought about the scene that had just happened.

“Katara and Zuko? What?” She couldn’t help but laugh a little despite her rash jealous reaction. “He wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale.” She laughed a little harder at the thought.

However, Aang did not find it the slightest bit humorous. He remained serious a sadness lingering to his usually bright eyes.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” She nudged him lightly. “I know this play sucks, but you have to remember it’s not true. I’m not a whoozy just like you’re not girly.” She shrugged her shoulders slightly. Aang still remained silent. Maybe she had said something wrong... “And even if you were considered to be girly- that would be okay. You know? Nothing wrong with that. Girls are awesome. I’m all for everybody embracing their- “she had begun to ramble awkwardly.

Aang exhaled a tiresome breath, “It’s Katara,” he suddenly admitted. She blinked twice in surprise. She did not see that coming.

“You see, I like her, and I thought she liked me too. I mean we did kiss once.” Aang admitted bashfully. She leaned on her fist and listened attentively. “But now I’m not so sure how she feels about me.” He trailed off.

“Aang,” she said softy and he turned to look at her. “We are in the middle of a war. You arethe Avatar. You should be more focused on thinking about howyou’re going to take down Fire Lord Ozai. Not how to woo a girl.” She explained reasonably both of her eyebrows knotted together.

“It’s not fair!” Aang busted uncharacteristically and straighten out his back. “I never wanted to be the Avatar! I never wanted this!” He snapped throwing his hands up in the air a rare frown on his face. “And Katara is notjust a girl!”

She looked at him with an unfazed expression. This childish tantrum was nothing compared to Zuko’s old outbursts. She was silent for a moment allowing his anger to simmer down a little.

“I-I’m sorry,” he apologized before once again hanging his head down. This time feeling even worse about himself after snapping at his friend. “I’m just worried that all this time when she looks at me, she all she sees is a little brother.” She hummed slightly before turning to look at him once again.

“You know, my grandfather was the wisest person I knew.” She began. “He had a lot of sayings, but I think one of the most obscure ones was about love. How’d it go again?‘One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love’”She quoted wisely. “He would also always say that ‘Our lives, too, are fleeting’, just like plum blossoms… If it really bothers, you that much you should just talk to her.” She advised. Aang quirked an eyebrow up and again turned to look at her as if saying easier said than done. “Katara obviously cares about you. Just tell her how you feel and ask her how she feels.”

He continued to look at her with that incredulous expression.

“You know, I’m actually going through something similar myself.”

She smiled at him faintly. Aang nodded a little in understanding. He was more than familiar about the amorous turmoil and ups and downs that she and the prince had had recently.

“I’ve messed up and - Spirits - You know Zuko’s messed up. I’m not expecting anything to happen, but I’m probably going to have to have this conversation with him soon.”

“What are you waiting for?” He asked.

“The right moment.”

Aang looked pensive for a moment before speaking. “I don’t think there’s a right moment.” He said wisely.

She sucked in her bottom lip and nodded while gazing out at the dark island before them. She hated to admit it but Aang was right. Didn’t have the time or means to set up some elaborate act to confess her feelings to him.

“You know, he really loves you.” She gave Aang a strange look. “I can see it. We can all see it.”

Xxx

"It seems like every time there's a big battle you guys barely make it out alive." Suki commented from her spot leaning cooly against the wall her arms crossed over her chest, "I mean, you guys lose a lot."

The group was currently on the intermission of Act II loitering around the corridor in between the balcony and the box seats dissecting their thoughts on the play.

"You're one to talk, Suki." Sokka retorted and he turned to look at her sarcastically, "Didn't Azula take you captive? That's right, she did."

Suki frowned at him and asked seriously, "Are you trying to get on my bad side?" She arched an eyebrow.

"I'm just saying." Sokka muttered in a smart-ass tone.

Katara walked into the corridor, looking around with a small frown.

"Does anyone know where Aang is?" Katara asked worriedly looking around the corridor for any sign of the young Avatar.

“Has anyone seen my sister?” Mecha asked as well as he finished his beverage.

"He left to get me fire gummies, like ten minutes ago." Sokka replied then pouted in irritation, "And I'm still waiting."

"I’m going to go check outside" Katara said walking away.

“If she comes back tell her I went to the restroom,” Mecha said over his shoulder as he left the group walking in an opposite direction.

Zuko remained sitting on the floor next to Toph. He looked up and observed as a boy dressed up as the Avatar came running out of a door down the hall, his arms spread out as he squealed happily pretending to fly.

Sokka stared at the boy as he ran past him and Suki and shook his head before looking over at his girlfriend leaning against the wall in front of him. "Hey Suki, what are the chances that you can get me backstage? I got some jokes I want to give to the actor me."

Suki straightened and stared at him with a deathly serious expression, "I'm an elite warrior who's trained for many years in the art of stealth." She said darkly. Her expression changed instantly, and she smiled brightly at him, "I think I can you backstage." She said cheerily.

Sokka blinked at her for several seconds then swallowed thickly and smiled at her nervously, "Great, let's go." She nodded and followed him down the hall, leaving Zuko and Toph sitting in the hall.

"Jeez." Toph shook her head in exasperation as she leaned against the wall between Zuko and the entrance to their viewing box, "Everyone's getting so upset about their characters.” She turned towards Zuko and smirked, "And you, you seem even more down than usual and that's saying something."

"You don't get it." Zuko muttered and he looked up at Toph with a frown that she couldn't see, "It's different for you. You get a muscle-y version of yourself taking down ten bad guys at once and making sassy remarks."

"Yeah," Toph snickered, "That's pretty great."

Zuko huffed and looked away from her, folding his arms on his knees and staring at the wall across from with an expression full of regret, "But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life and shoves them back in my face. My uncle...He's always been on my side even when things were bad. He was there for me. He taught me so much and how do I repay him?" He lowered his head to his knees and closed his eyes in shame, "With a knife in his back. It's one of my greatest regrets now and I may never get to redeem myself in his eyes…"

“And Tsai…” He ran a hand through his hair frustrated brining his hood over his head. “Everything I’ve done to her… Seeing it replayed all over again. And don’t even get me started on that stupid stereotype on women from the colonies.”

"You have redeemed yourself to your uncle." Toph stated matter-of-factly as she crouched down beside the older teen, resting her arms on her thighs, "You don't realize it, but you already have."

"How do you know?"

"Because I once had a long conversation with the guy." Toph replied, smiling a she remembered meeting Iroh after storming off and leaving her friends while they were being chased by Azula and her two friends. "All he would talk about was you."

Zuko lifted his head and lowered his hood, smiling slightly as he asked "Really?"

Toph snickered, "Yeah, and it was kind of annoying."

"Oh," Zuko looked away, but couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Sorry."

"But it was also very sweet." Toph continued. "All your uncle wanted was for you to find your own path and see the light. Now you're here with us. He'd be proud of you." She smirked.

“And Chili Pepper. Water under the bridge. Just talk to her.” Toph said encouragingly. “If you two suck it up I’m sure you’ll work out things and go back to making me want to barf my guts out.”

“How are you so sure?”

He wasn’t expecting Toph to punch his arm that hard.

"Ow!" Zuko hissed, rubbing his shoulder and frowning over at her. "What was that for?"

Toph smiled, "That's how I show affection."

“What are you guys up to?” Tsai suddenly approached them. It seemed like she was coming back from the balcony’s direction. She walked casually with her hands stretched behind her head seemed way more at ease than when she exited the Second Act of the play.

“I need to go wash my eyes,” she said bluntly using the fake excuse to leave the hallway and leave the two alone. “Hey,” Zuko stood up. “You okay?” He asked her concerned running a hand through his hair nervously. “The play… You know you’re not a whoozy. I don’t think you are either and I know neither does Uncle.” He nodded and paused for a brief moment. “And I think we should go backstage and teach Pu On Tima lesson.” He said determinedly popping his knuckle’s joints menacingly an angry look on his face.

She couldn’t help but smile a little and lower his hands at the suggestion of beating the living daylights out of the clown who wrote this trash. However as tempting as that was it would most definitely give them away.

The little boy form earlier ran out of the same door as before and stopped in front of the two of them. He smiled at the two and commented, “Awesome Zutsai costumes, but everybody knows Zutara is the superior ship.” The little boy said.

‘What the fuck is a Zutara?’She looked at the boy a perplexed look on her face.

“Also, your scar's on the wrong side." He pointed at Zuko’s face bluntly.

"The scar's noton the wrong side!" Zuko shouted angrily as the boy ran off. He yanked the hood back over his face with a scowl. She couldn’t help but bent over in laughter.

He turned around after shouting at the boy and turned to face the teen that was trying to stop her fits of laughter.

“And I don’t think your laugh is annoying.” He muttered cynically. Turning away from her. He suddenly felt hyper self-conscious about the ugly mark that scarred his face.

“Zuko,” she approached him with a loop-sided smile an endearing look in her eyes. She reached for the edges of his hood and looked at him before lowering it slightly. Aang was right. There would never be a right thing and this- this felt right.

“I love you.”

She wanted to say.

There was no embarrassment no crippling anxiety. It was just the honest truth. She successfully got halfway through the statement before being interrupted.

“What are you two dorks up to?”

An imaginary needle zipped on a record making a loud scratching noise that only the of them seemed to hear as they were brought back to reality.

She had never wanted to murder her brother as much as much as she did right now.

“Come on guys! Show’s about to start.” Sokka said casually. It sounded like he was munching on something.

Neither turned around and both heard how the rest of their friends all walked inside of the viewing box. They stood frozen in place not moving a muscle. Awkwardly petrified. She hadn’t even been able to lower her hands from the sides of his hood as she looked at him with a horrified bashful expression the color of her face blending with the roots of her hair. Zuko looked as if the air had been punched out of his gut. His eyes were large.

“Uh-“ She stammered and jerked her arms back to her side. “Act III is starting.” She said quickly before rushing inside to the viewing box before he had a moment to react.

“There’s no right moment.”She cursed Aang. ‘Idiot!’that was most definitely the worst advice she had ever received from anyone. Wasn’t he the Avatar? Wasn’t he supposed to be wise and all knowing?

She reached the box and stood aghast when she saw that the back row was full as Aang had taken a seat next to her brother and leaned forward sulking. Under normal circumstances she would’ve been concerned for her friend and presumed that the talk with his love interest did not go well, but she presently couldn’t care less. This was an emergency. She couldn’t sit in the front row next to him. Not after that – whatever the hell that had been happened.

“Hey,” she said quickly. “Can I-Can I trade seats with you Aang? I want to sit next to my brother.” She lied through her teeth.

Aang was too busy wallowing in his misery to do anything about it. “Tsai! Shhh,” her brother shushed her rudely. “Sit down, Act III is about to start I want to see if I come out towards the end.”

Zuko walked in and she felt caught like a deer dog caught in headlights. Instantly plopping down on the seat next to Katara who looked oddly at the girl that sat stiffly with her back at a perfect 90-degree angle.

She felt like she was sweating bullets and now she was stuck in this painfully awkward situation sitting next to him after his silent rejection.

She could’ve sworn she was sweating bullets. Even facing the Fire Lord hadn’t been this nerve-wrecking.

“Hey? Could you scooch?” Toph complained from the end before roughly pushing Katara to the side which pushed the two Fire Nationers against each other. “Much better.” Toph smirked triumphantly and sniggered lightly at the feeling of the rabbit-paced heartbeats of the two painfully awkward teenagers through the floor’s vibrations.

Tsai mumbled an apology before straightening out, he mumbled something similar.

Scene 22

Actress Katara stood on a fake submarine prop with Actress Aang, "I just want to let you know Aang, that I'll always love you." She placed her hands on her chest and sighed deeply with a wide smile, "Like a little brother."

"I wouldn't want it any other way!" Actress Aang chirped with enthusiasm taking Actress Katara's hand, both of them nodding at each other in a friendly gesture. Still beaming, Actress Aang snapped open her glider prop and raised it above her head as a rope pulled her up into the air while Actress Katara waved.

Aang gawked at the stage for a moment then flushed and yanked his hat down over his face, hiding behind his knees miserably. Katara glanced over her shoulder at him then looked away sadly.

‘What the hell was I thinking?’ Tsai’s mind was running a thousand miles an hour during her internal panic crisis. ‘He didn’t say anything. Why did he just stay quiet?’ She looked at him from the corner of her eyes his own golden orbs were attentively fixed on the play. A serious expression on his face. ‘He must think I’m crazy. Is it because I have a spirit in me? I’m so dumb. Why did I even listen to Aang? What the hell does he know about these things?’This was definitely the last time Tsai look love advice from a hundred and twelve-year-old.

She didn’t even notice that the scene was over.

"I guess that's it." Sokka commented as he stood up and stretched, "The play's caught up to the present now."

"Wait," Suki whispered, yanking Sokka back down and pointing towards the stage, "The play's not over."

"But it is over. Unless..." He trailed off and rubbed his chin thoughtfully before his eyes widened and he whispered in an overly dramatic and spooky voice, "This is the future!"

Scene 23

The stage was now pitch black. They all watched carefully as an actor portraying Fire Lord Ozai walked out from the darkness his sharp cheekbones and face being illuminated in a menacing lighting.

"With the energy harnessed from that comet, no one will be able to stop the Fire Nation!" Actor Ozai proclaimed evilly as an orange paper lantern was pulled across the now dimly light stage, the cut out comet passing over the throne.

"Father!" Actress Azula called out stiffly as she ran onto the stage and kneeled before oversized throne, "Zuko and the Avatar are at the palace! They are trying to stop you."

"You take care of Zuko." Actor Ozai pointed towards her and ordered harshly, before placing a hand on his chest melodramatically, "I shall face the Avatar myself!" He raised his hands and smoke filled the stage.

Actress Azula stood up as the smoke cleared, revealing that the Actor Ozai had disappeared. She turned just as Actor Zuko ran on stage from her left while Actress Aang was lowered to the stage floor.

"Aang, you fight the Fire Lord, I'll hold her off!" Actor Zuko instructed theatrically. Actress Aang nodded once and was pulled up by a rope out of the stage leaving Actor Zuko and Actress Azula alone on the stage.

Zuko’s eyes were fixed on the play but he wasn’t watching. Not really. His eyes bored straight ahead as he observed the stage confrontation between him and his sister. Something he knew was bound to happen sooner or later, but his mind was in a very distant place.

‘”I love-“ she had said. I love what? What was she going to say? Your face? Your costume? Wait- he wasn’t wearing a costume! Your jokes? Was it all a joke? Was she messing with his head?’ He looked at her from the corner of his eye. She sat stiffly her back completely straight. Her face twisted in an anxious expression as her eyes remained frozen starring at ahead at the play.

He would never know but internally she was having a meltdown. This had been a terrible. Terrible idea. Things had been fine! Well, not fine, but decent and now this happened?

His eyes lowered from her worried expression and he saw the way her hands were anxiously clutching and playing with the fabric of her clothes. He looked at them, the way her fingers squeezed her skirt and tugged at it.

"You are no longer my brother!" Actress Azula exclaimed, clenching her fists before flinging her arm out to the side. "You are an enemy!"

"No," Actor Zuko retorted and he pointed at Actress Azula, "I am the rightful heir to the throne!"

Actress Azula smirked slyly and narrowed her eyes, "We shall see."

He did it.

He placed his hand over hers. He eyed her expression from the corner of his eyes carefully looking for any micro emotion that might betray the mask she wore. Zuko felt as if it was the longest minute of his life when he felt her intertwining her fingers with his fitting perfectly. He saw the slightest of smiles bloom on her face. She turned to look at him from her peripheral vision and his expression mirrored hers. Both relaxed slightly at the gesture when their eyes met.

“HONOR!” Both of their attentions were once again captured by Zuko’s actor who raised his arms as if in pain after having been struck by one of Azula’s blue ribbons and wailed as he coiled into his destined fiery demise.

“And you!” He pointed at Tsai’s actress who had somehow entered the scene. “Scourge of the Fire Nation, the Greatest Traitor of them all! You will live the rest of your life in misery!”

Azula’s actress jumped and tossed the blue ribbons at her. “And you will neverhave tea again!”

Faux paper flames engulfed the actress as she also coiled in a fake fire wrap.

“Nooo! My tea!” She shouted reaching for the sky.

Actress Azula turned towards the audience and bowed along with Tsai and Zuko’s actors before being lowered through the stage’s trap door.

Tsai made a strangled noise as the audience began to cheer and applaud after Actor Zuko's apparent 'death'at the hands of Azula and the ‘imprisonment’ of the Fire Nation’s greatest traitor. Both starred in stunned disbelief at the stage.

This was their reality. Not hand holding in the comfortable darkness of a theatre.

Dread began to fill the group as they continued as the scene changed, the backdrop painted to resemble a red dragon's face.

Scene 25

The last and final scene of the play was the confrontation between the Avatar and Fire Lord Ozai. Like the rest of the play it had been depicted to appeal to audiences of the Fire Nation. In this version the Fire Nation triumphed over the resistance and defeated the Avatar. A terrible future which was not a distant reality.

"Nooooo..." Actress Aang wailed as she was circled with in a red cloth before the rope detached from her waist and she fell to the ground, the cloth spread out around her form symbolizing her consumption in flames. Ozai’s actor stood triumphantly above hovering from his throne with a cruel smirk plastered on his face. He then glanced over his shoulder as Actress Azula walked up behind him.

"It is over, Father." Actress Azula stated as she raised her arms triumphantly, "We've done it."

"Yes, we have done it!" Actor Ozai exclaimed and trusted a fist into the air dramatically before the space he was standing on began to rise up while papier mache and cut out flames surrounded him, "The dreams of my Father, and my Father's Father, have now been realized!" He threw his arms out and a massive Fire Nation banner unfurled behind him in a bold display of nationalism "The world is mine!"

The audience rose up with a vibrant cheer, loud applauding and deafening cheering as the audience clapped in a standing ovation over the triumph and victory of the Fire Nation over the world.

The group sat speechless in horrid disbelief at what they had witnessed. Aang swallowed the fearful knot that had formed in his throat and glanced away from the stage. Tsai felt her stomach churn uneasily as that haunting feeling of dread that kept her up at night returned to her. So much for getting their minds of things…

xxx

"That...wasn't a good play." Zuko muttered breaking the silence that had been lingering as the group walked down the worn path away from the theater.

"I'll say." Aang added flatly slouching as he dragged his feet away from the theater.

"No kidding." Katara muttered, crossing her arms and glaring at the ground. “Horrible,” Suki added from behind.

"You guys said it." Toph remarked with a scowl basically stomping her feet as she walked beside Katara. “I told you all it was a bad idea.” Tsai grumbled from the back. “But no- nobody everlistens to me.” She said dramatically. “I’ll give this one to you.” Her brother for once in his life agreed with her.

"But the effects," Sokka shrugged and waved his hand around matter-of-factly as he walked beside Suki, "Were decent."

xxx

Sunburn Chapter

M A S T E R L I S T

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