#yeah i know it's only the first show and i'm jumping to conclusions but like 😭

[magefeathers]

despite the mixed feelings about RCA as a company, right now I'm really glad that sleep token just recently signed with a new label, because it means new music Is Definitely Happening, At Some Point. Because right now, looking at the first show, everything about the way this tour is laid out looks like a victory lap/farewell tour

[m1guelsgf]

done for the night ii

axel kovacevic x reader

hello all! i hope u all like this part!! took me a little longer bc of finals. it's 5am and i need to sleep. lmk if i should start a pt.3 bc i do have tons of ideas and also for seperate oneshots and other fics for axel

canon divergence in this one :p

my requests are open! please send me some for any of the ck characters (but esp axel) but you can also just yap to me, i love to yap. been thinking about writing for kwon...

that's it from me! thx for reading <3

taglist:

@munson-mayhem @angieslove06 @arywry @karmaswitch @thisistherealmekitty

miguel and johnny returned with kenny the next afternoon. devon confessed to what happened in the woods and gave kenny her spot. kenny forgave her. sensei's seemed to be working well together. everything seemed like it was on the up and up. until...

"what do you think about kenny?" demitri came up to you with a curious expression, eli trailing not too far behind. kenny was sitting in a corner with devon, the both of them laughing and talking.

"kenny? i'm glad he's here." you responded from your spot at the mirror. you were doing your makeup, wondering why everyone had to meet in the girls room every time before matches. "he's gonna do great." you liked kenny, he was a cool kid and a great fighter. you had no doubt he would rise to the occasion.

"see, man." eli tapped demitris arm. "you're being paranoid."

"i'm not. he's gonna screw us." demitri raised his hands. "showing up the same time as silver? bad omen."

"you're being dramatic, mit." lately, if it wasn't one thing with demitri, it was another. he spent the rest of last night venting to you about the yasmin ordeal and you wanted to tell him he was in the wrong but you didn't want to argue with a debate champion. you were choosing your battles but it was hard because battles kept coming left and right.

"yeah, we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions." sam agreed from besides you. "he came all this way to help us."

"i'm not saying it's happened yet but we know that silvers gonna cheat. the only question is how?" demitri shot kenny a look.

"i'm gonna go over the numbers devon gave me with our sensei's." you got up and left the room with no plans on meeting with the sensei's unless you crossed paths. you just needed some air. between dojo drama and axel, you were feeling overwhelmed. you wanted to talk to him and ask him why he left so abrubtly after you kissed, but you also felt wrong mingling with a rival dojo. if any of the miyagi do's saw you talking to him they would definitely get the wrong idea. or the right idea, seeing as your first conversation with axel resulted in a kiss.

there was two hours until the next match. enough time to go for a walk on the beach to clear your head so you could fully support your teammates. before the doors to the elevator could shut, a hand stopped them. axel walked in, looking at his phone. his tall frame immediately stiffened when he saw your face.

"hey, axel." you started, knowing he wouldn't make the first move to speak. he nodded in acknowledgment. "it's good to see you."

"it is?" he looked at you, a crease between his brows. your reaction to his kiss last night made him think you wanted nothing to do with him.

you nodded. "yeah. it's always good to see you. where are you going?"

"needed some air." he sighed out in response.

"me too. everything is a little too much in there." you thought back to robby and tory, demitri and eli, kenny, and your sensei's.

"same." between sensei wolf, zara, and you, axel was stressed. he knew he would do good but he was half a second behind, his precision faltering in his performance at practice in the early hours of the morning. sensei wolf, of course, did not let it slide.

the two of you stood in silence until the doors opened. the both of you exited and fell into a nice, silent walk together. you didn't even need to speak to one another. it was comfortable.

you walked down to the beach and there was more people during the day than at night. you managed to find a spot to sit and he sat next to you. looking out at the ocean, you put your attention on the sound of the people walking by and talking, the ocean, and music coming from the bars in the background. however, even with all the noise, you couldn't drown out your thoughts. you didn't even have to fight but you could feel that your team wasn't on the same page. you could feel a loss coming if they didn't get it together. they needed to trust

each other again but it would never be that easy. on top of that, you felt as if your choice of new friends could make things worse if they were to find out. you were torn, wanting to be there with your friends for an important moment in all of their lives but also to disappear into the background of barcelona with axel. why did he have to be on the opposing team? why couldn't it be simple?

axel, on the other hand, was only able to think about you. he already knew how to deal with pressure. he knew what his body could and couldn't do. he knew the ways sensei wolf would push him. he had been trained for this. his life was his sport and maybe that was the problem. he was never allowed any time to let anyone into his life. he was the best in karate and nothing else and you still saw him. not just the talented fighter, you saw axel. and you wanted him. he wasn't going to just let you go like that. he knew it wouldn't be that easy but he never backed down from a challenge.

bracing himself for the possibility of rejection, he cleared his throat. "do you want to get dinner tonight?" axel asked, finally turning to look at you.

"tonight?" he nodded. "yeah, i would love to." you nodded, blush creeping onto your face. "we should probably head back."

"no." axel grabbed your hand. it wasn't forceful, but gentle and assertive all at once. your stomach did a somersault. "let's sit for a little while more, yeah?"

"okay." he didn't let your hand go and you didn't make a move to let go either. it was nice, being able to just sit with him by the beach and melt into all the people coming and going. it felt natural, like you were meant to be here in this moment with axel.

axel wasn't used to this kind of softness in his life. he was built on routine and structure. his life had always been goal oriented. rarely did he have moments to just sit and think. a couple serene minutes went by and your phone started ringing.

"miguel d. is calling"

"sorry, i have to take this." you stood up and answered your phone. "hey."

"where are you? there's only an hour until the next event."

"i went for a walk to clear my head, i'll be back soon."

"okay, because i could really use some support. everyone's focus is all over the place. it's like they don't care if we lose." miguel sighed into the phone. your heart skipped a beat. here you were with your attention on axel.

"i know, they're gonna exhaust themselves fighting each other before they get to the mat."

"yeah." miguel laughed a little. "i wish you had chosen to compete for a spot. it would have been nice to have you and sam on my side. we're outnumbered."

"it's gonna be okay. it will get worked out."

"i hope so."

you looked back at axel. "i'll be back soon, okay?"

"okay."

you hung up the phone and gave axel a tight lipped smile. "i have to go."

"what about tonight?" he stood up, taking a step towards you.

"i'll see you at nine." you waved goodbye, leaving him standing there in the sand. axel looked forward to getting his matches out of the way and being able to properly take you out.

***

axel was good at shutting down his emotions. emotions didn't help his karate. precision and discipline were all he needed on the mat. still, he couldn't help the jealousy that plucked his heartstrings when he saw you and miguel talking. the way you looked at him, you made him seem incredibly important to you. the way you were smiling and laughing, blocking the playful jabs he sent your way. axel wished it were him.

"sam, come get your kid." you managed to jab miguel in the stomach after his playful assault.

"ow!" miguel dramatically threw his arms up.

"that's what you get." sam laughed and he placed an arm around her shoulder, pressing a kiss to the side of her head which axel did not see.

the matches began and you couldn't help but be immersed in axel's fights. he was doing amazing, as usual. he was lazer focused and no one stood in his way. he was untouchable. you were glad you weren't fighting, or else you would be majorly distracted by the way he would shoot a look at you after every point he gained. you just couldn't look away from him. he was magnetic.

once miyagi do faced their first opponent, furia de pantera, you felt all the anxiety of the day rushing back up.

demitri stubbornly and stupidly refused to tag in eli which resulted in the panthers landing the first point. sam managed to land a point on their female captain but eli refused to tag in kenny and tagged sam again. she managed to hold her own for a while, blocking and countering every strike. they weren't letting her tag out because they could tell she was getting tired keeping up her defense. almost all the panthers got a turn with sam, all of them incredibly quick and strong. diego, or "spanish hawk" as demitri called him, getting the last round. he blocked another of sam's kicks and swept her standing leg. sam fell to the floor with a shout. she fell on her ankle at an excruciating angle. the entire arena could hear a loud pop as she hit the ground. you grimaced at the sound of her cry in agony. the spanish team all looked at each other with concern and diego was apologizing profusely as the referee ushered him away.

"sam!" miguel rushed to sams side as she held her ankle in the center of the mat, rolling around in pain.

"medic! we need a medic!" daniel larusso rushed to sam's other side, frantically trying to help.

back in the locker room, the medic was putting a brace on sams ankle. "we managed to get the swelling down but you need to stay off of it for the next few days so it can heal."

"so does that mean...?" sam asked, eyes already teary because she knew what was coming.

"you're not gonna be able to finish competing." the medic and daniel talked for a minute before she left. sam was holding miguels hand, resting her head on a pillow while letting silent tears stream down her face.

"refs said it was an automatic forfeit. we can still fight the next match in 30 minutes." johnny came back in the room. "automatic forfeit. bullshit."

"she's not gonna be fine in 30 minutes johnny. medic said she can't fight." daniel said pointedly.

"well, we have to do something. we need a female captain to continue." johnny shot back. everyone was exchanging worried glances between each other and then they all turned to look at you.

you looked around you, to make sure you weren't imagining things. "me?"

"yeah, you." johnny nodded. "you got 3rd place at the all valley. doesn't get much better than that."

"you all know i don't fight anymore right? i haven't trained since the all valley. it's been months. what about devon?" you quickly tried to defend yourself.

"believe me, i'd love to but you're the better option for captain. if you had fought me in the woods you would have kicked my ass." devon smiled at you, encouraging you to take the spot but you felt anything but encouraged. your heart was racing, threatening to jump out of your chest.

"i can fight." sam said from her place on the bed while trying to get up. her face contorted in pain as she tried to move her injured foot.

"woah, woah. stop. no offense babe, but if you fight you're just gonna get us all eliminated. i wanted to see you on that podium, but it just wasn't your time." miguel kissed the top of her head and sam could only squeeze her eyes shut and say goodbye to her dream.

"so what's it gonna be? you gonna let all your friends down just because you're scared." johnny questioned you.

"i'm not scared."

"then what?"

you took a deep breath and looked at everyone. robby and miguel both had the same puppy dog expression that made it incredibly hard to say no. devon and kenny both nodded at you in approval. hawk shot you a pleading look. it was all too much again. "i need a minute."

without another word, you quickly walked out of the locker room and into the arena. competitors walked past you, not paying you any mind. you were no one to them. you felt invisible again. your mind didn't stop racing though. you didn't know if you were ready to compete for the world championship of karate. you also didn't know if you could let your friends down like that. you walked aimlessly for a minute before someone tugged you into an obscure corner.

you fight instict kicked in, being incredibly anxious, so you did the first thing you could. you swung your fist right into their face.

"ow." a familiar voice answered the punch. "it's me." axel held his cheek with one hand, rubbing the spot where you hit him.

"axel! i'm so sorry!" you immediately rose your hand to touch his face, gentle this time around. "i didn't mean to hurt you."

"it was a good punch." axel was smiling, trying to make you feel better about it. "but i've had worse."

you frowned, knowing what he was referring to. "i'm still sorry."

"it's okay. where are you going?"

"nowhere."

axel looked at you. he could tell something was off. your responses were quick and breathless. "are you okay?"

you nodded instinctively. "yeah. yeah. yes. i'm good."

"are you sure?" he felt a wall coming up between the two of you and he didn't like it. "you can talk to me."

you let out a little sigh, trying to relax as much as possible with him. you didn't know whether you could trust him or not with him being on silver's team and you felt a lump in your throat preventing you from being honest. "yeah. i saw your matches. you were amazing." you were as honest as you could be. he was killing it.

"thanks." axel looked you up and down, noticing your tense body language. your arms were crossed and your foot anxiously tapped the ground.

"how do you do it?"

"what?"

"how do you stay undefeated?"

axel looked at you, curious as to where this was coming from. "i train hard. i stay focused. i use my strengths and know my opponent's weakness. i only ever lost once. never again." you were nodding along as he spoke. "why?"

you inhaled sharply. you wanted to tell him. "it's complicated. i'm-"

"she's gotta be around here somewhere." robby's voice was faint but distinct.

"i wish find my phone was a little more precise." miguels voice approached closer.

"those are my friends, i gotta go." you gave him an apologetic look. "i'll see you tonight."

you left axel, once again, and immediately faced miguel and robby. "hey, so i know this isn't ideal-" robby started, already preparing a speech in his head to try to convince you.

"i'll fight." you cut him off.

"what?" the two asked, equally confused at your turnaround.

"i'll fight. i just need a gi. and some training." you looked at the time on your phone. "match starts in like 20 minutes right?"

they nodded and very quickly ushered you back into the locker room. "she's gonna fight." robby announced, and everyone's eyes lit up.

daniel larusso smiled, proud of your decision. "you can handle this." he spoke as he tied the headband around your head.

"now go get dressed, our captain's gonna help bring you up to speed." johnny placed a hand on robby's shoulder, giving you an encouraging nod.

"sam..." you started and she immediately stopped you.

"it's okay. i trust you. we all do." sam gave you a supportive smile and nod.

the miyagi do insignia on the back of your gi has meant many different things for you at many different parts of your life. this time it meant redemption, to finally fight for the right reasons.

robby and your sensei's did the best they could to prepare you for the match, stressing defense and not letting them land a point on you. don't do anything too risky. you could leave it up to your team, at least in this one, to score the points.

stepping out onto the mat was even more intimidating than you thought it would be. you were no longer a spectator. you were an enemy. more than that, you were a spectacle. a shiny new toy. you felt eyes on you from every angle, terry silver smiled at you. kreese eyed you curiously. tory looked at you in disbelief. she couldn't believe that she might have to face you for the first time since the all valley where she's not even sure she really won any of her matches.

"replacing samantha larusso as captain for the miyagi do team is y/n l/n." the announcer did his job, making your name sound incredibly grand next to all of these excellent fighters.

then there was axel.

he was staring at you, as per usual, but with surprise in his eyes. your gaze softened. the most you could do was give him a discreet nod of acknowledgment and face the two fighters in the center.

miguel started the match this time around. it was miyagi do v. redentores. he was doing great, just unable to break his opponent's defense. he glanced over his shoulder and looked at you, tagging you in. "you got this."

your adrenaline carried you as you bounced on your toes, waiting for your opponent to strike. he looked you up and down, scoffed, and then started attacking.

you were agile, jumping nearly 6 feet in the air when he tried to sweep your leg. you landed on your feet. "ais!" you shouted, throwing a fast combination of punches and kicks that your opponent dodged. you backed him into a corner until he tagged another girl on his team. she was mainly kicking, using her legs more than any other part of her body. you saw an opening and took it, blocking her next kick with one arm and then sweeping her leg from beneath her, axe kicking her while she was on the floor.

"point!"

"let's go." you ran over to robby, tagging him in. "it's time."

"come on, captain." miguel clapped his hands together and watched the scene fold out in front of him.

he very easily got the second point but his last opponent was simply too quick for him to land a point on.

"robby, tag me!" kenny called out.

"no, me!" hawk said in return.

"tag me."

"do not tag him!"

robby was able to take a breath and centered himself before tagging in kenny. it was amazing, but not surprising, that kenny won the winning point. while on top of your shoulders, he flipped off terry silver and your heart swelled with pride. of course, you had your own beef with terry (who wouldn't after he made you break wooden boards that were so thick that it drew blood and wrecked your hands) but kenny finally stuck it to him. kenny was free from the intimidation and cruelty that is terry silver.

across the room, even in the embrace of your team and sensei's, you felt the familiar sensation of being watched. of course, it was axel and for once he looked happy in the arena, not just determined. you smiled back in his direction before you had to leave the mat.

"y/n, that was awesome." devon came rushing to your side. "i almost forgot that you can jump that high."

"more of that." johnny fist bumped you as miguel grabbed your shoulders and gently shook you. when he let go, you noticed axel walking right in your direction. he wasn't even looking at you. he walked directly into miguel with his shoulder, making miguel stumble, and then past you guys like nothing.

"what the hell was that?" miguel said, very confused and annoyed. he thought he had been imagining the death stares that the iron dragon leader had been shooting him from across the mat all day. the two hadn't even faced each other yet. he couldn't think of a single reason why the guy wouldn't like him.

"i don't know." you looked back at axel who was staring at you and miguel. you shot him a questioning look before turning back around but axel watched you go.

there was only 5 minutes until the tie breaker with cobra kai. after an emotional pep talk and a quick talk with your sensei's on areas of improvement, you were ready. you were even excited. your confidence was steadily rising and your team was more in sync than ever. you were ready.

"nervous?" miguel asked approaching you

at the edge of the mat.

"not scared though."

he laughed a little. "you know, when i first met you, this is the last place i thought we would end up."

"yeah, me too. i didn't think the annoying, scrawny, little kid would be one of the best fighters in the world. never seen that one coming." you teased and he rolled his eyes.

"yeah, yeah, yeah. i didn't think ugly betty would be my best friend, fighting by my side in the world tournament of karate." he referred to the era before you got contacts where you wore unflattering glasses and had no sense of style.

you smiled. "oh shut up..."

"you know, i'm really happy we became friends."

"me too, miggy."

he draped an arm around your shoulder. "best chance i ever took."

you rolled your eyes and shoved miguel away from you. "you were the most risky chance i ever took. being your friend put a target on my back."

miguel rose his arms in defense. "hey, hey. let's not bring up the past now. remember when your friends broke into my girlfriends house-"

"better to leave the past in the past." you laughed a little. "thank you, miguel. none of us would be here if it wasn't for you." you looked down at your hands. "i wanna apologize-"

"don't." he stopped you. "you apologize like every month. i already forgave you for everything, even before you came back to the our side. you're a major reason we all made it here. i wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. you don't have to keep apologizing.

you did your time."

you remembered meeting miguel when he moved in next door and encouraging miguel to take the karate classes. it felt like yesterday for the both of you. miguel's your best friend. nothing more, nothing less. you had been through a lot together. you're grateful he was able to forgive you. you knew the two of you would be friends for a long, long time. without another word, you hugged miguel tightly. he hugged you back just as tight. "our match is about to start."

from afar, axel watched the interaction with a broken heart. of course, you were in love with your best friend. he never stood a chance against miguel, the guy who completely changed your life. seeing you in miguel's arms put a pit in axels stomach, one that threatened to swallow him whole. if he was fighting, someone might actually be able to land a point on him. he never felt this before and he didn't know how to stop it.

the last match was incredibly close but miyagi do won. robby took the win for you for you guys in his last fight against kwon. you don't know what exactly happened but he honed in on all his skills, letting go of whatever was keeping him from performing at his peak. he kicked kwon's ass and everyone was proud of him. your sensei's even let the team hit the streets for the night as long as you all got enough sleep and you didn't do anything they wouldn't do (terrible words to come out of johnny lawrence's mouth).

"you guys seriously aren't going out tonight?" you stood up from your vanity, finished getting ready. it was 8:45pm. miguel was sitting on sam's bed next to sam while devon was in your shared bed.

"nah, it's gonna be a chill night in." miguel rested his head on sam's shoulder. her crutches rested on the wall besides them.

"kinda disappointed we didn't get to see more of barcelona." sam frowned.

"me too."

"i think you two should go out." you said, looking over your shoulder as you grabbed the door handle. "you can always meet us at the bar. come on devon."

you waved devon over and she followed you out of the room. once in the elevator you sighed. "okay. you remember the plan right?"

"i go to the bar with the team and tell them that you're training. if i get back before you do, i tell sam the same thing." devon nodded.

"i really appreciate you doing this for me, dev."

"of course. so are you really not gonna tell me who it is? is it kwon? i saw you two talking at the bar." devon asked, eyes wide and full of a youthful curiosity.

"it's not kwon. ew." you laughed. "when i do decide to tell everyone, you'll be the first. i still need to test the waters. see if i can trust him, you know?" you replied, looking at the time on your phone. you hated to group axel in with silver but he was the captain of silver's team. you felt like you couldn't be sure about his intentions with you and you hated it. he's been nothing but sweet to you.

"okay." devon accepted. "just call us if anything goes wrong and it's a sneak attack."

"i don't think it is, but i know you guys will come running if i need you." you smiled warmly at her. "thank you, again."

"anytime. plus i know you'll have my back when i'm off doing secret boyfriend things."

the elevator doors opened and you stepped out. "be safe okay?"

"okay." you nodded and watched the elevator close, devon going back up to the boys room.

as if on queue, the neighboring elevators doors opened and axel emerged. he was immediately drawn towards you. you had on plenty of shiny jewelry but he was drawn to your eyes the most. you captivated him. he almost forgot the scene he witnessed in the arena where you and miguel couldn't get your hands off of each other. almost. he still had his guard up, especially now after your surprise entry into the sekai tekai. he needed to know if he could trust you. "i didn't think you were coming since..." he trailed off.

"because i'm captain now?" you asked and he nodded. you looked around. "we're not in the arena anymore. we're done for the night." you gave him a reassuring smile. "you look great." you took his hand that was outstretched to you. he was wearing a white knit longsleeve and brown pants, black belt with a silver buckle and black chuck taylors. it was nice to see his personal style and how it compared to the vibe he gave off in the arena.

"you too. let's go?" he asked and you nodded, walking out of the hotel. you started walking in the direction of the beach district but axel stopped, keeping you in place.

"what are you doing?"

"this is a date. you think i would let you walk?" axel asked, amused at your confusion. a taxi pulled up and he opened the door for you. "after you."

you were caught off guard. "thank you." you got in the taxi, axel coming in next to you. you had somewhat limited dating experience. you dated eli before he broke up with you to date moon and you dated robby for a few weeks after he got out of juvie before he started showing interest in tory. it was like every guy you dated eventually left you for another girl but axel was focused on you. you felt small under his gaze. you never had someone pay so much attention to you.

"don't thank me. it's the least i can do." he squeezed your hand and you smiled at him, resting your head on his shoulder. axel couldn't help but lean into your affection. he also couldn't help but worry what your intentions were. were you and miguel trying to get in his head with a sick joke? was any of it sincere? he pushed the thoughts away as best as he could and kept you close as the ride went on.

axel paid the driver as you guys left the taxi. you were in front of a restaurant and bar that your friends passed on last night in favor of the tapas bar. this one was definitely more low key and atmospheric. the lights were dim purple and blue and the music was a soft instrumental. axel did all the talking, speaking spaniard spanish, which you weren't expecting at all.

you two were led to a table in the corner, by a window with a good view of the street. it was a truly romantic setting, with roses in the center and two candles illuminating your table. you two were silent for the first minutes, enjoying the music and exchanging glances and smiles after ordering food and drinks.

"we should start talking right?" you sighed. "one of the main reasons i like being with you is that we don't need to talk, but we have to get to know each other at some point. right?"

"right." axel nodded, thinking of what he could say. "that was a nice point you got on nichols. you can jump really high. maybe even world record." he tried to keep it light.

"thanks." you turned red under his compliments as you bit your lip. "is it okay if we don't talk about karate right now?" axel froze. martial arts were his whole life. what else could he talk about? you could tell he wasn't ready for that so you decided to try and break the ice. "have you ever been here before?" you asked.

"once, on my last trip to spain. me and zara came here after a... tournament." axel smiled sheepishly, mentioning karate after you asked him not to.

"are you and zara close?"

"not really."

"how come?"

"competition. in our dojo, there can only be one number one. in the tournament, we can work together because we both want to win, but outside of the tournament we don't even really talk." you hated to admit it to yourself but hearing that was a relief. you didn't know what you would have done if they were a thing. "sorry, you don't want to talk about karate."

"no, i'm sorry. it was kind of unfair to ask. i mean we're competing in the world tournament of karate." you laughed at yourself a little. you were nervous but you could also tell he was nervous as well.

"okay, why did you take the captain spot?"

now it was your turn to freeze up. "i know larusso got hurt, but why you?" you tilted your head to the side a bit. "not like that! that was rude i didn't mean why you, i meant-"

"i know." it was the most you ever seen him talk at once and you almost didn't want to stop him. "i stopped fighting a few months ago. i lost a tournament. 3rd place. i tried to stay out of all the drama. i dedicated myself to school. i didn't think i would compete again." you took a deep breath. "i stopped fighting because i hated who i became when i learned how. i have regrets, a lot of them having to do with my teammates. this is my chance to fight for the right reasons. i owe it to them."

the silence weighed heavy. axel took in your words. "don't you owe it to yourself too?" he asked.

before you had a chance to answer, the waiter came over with the water you both asked for. you took a sip from your glass and when you met axel's eyes he was still waiting for your answer. you realized then that axel would never let you avoid or evade anything with him. you admired it. you had the tendency to shut down when it all got to be too much.

"i don't know." you shrugged. "it's complicated."

"sounds like it." axel's foot bumped your under the table. "sorry."

"it's okay." you bumped his foot back and then you two were playing footsie. it felt nice to be giggling with a boy you liked. you felt like a normal girl who could go on a date. you almost forgot what it felt like to relax before meeting axel.

you two recieved your food and about halfway through enjoying it, you froze. "what?" axel asked. he followed your line of sight out of the window until he saw miguel walking up to the entrance of the restaurant. "what's he doing here?" his entire demeanor changed. miguel's entrance made axel completely tense up. you were tense too but once you noticed axel's composure, everything clicked. the constant glares in the arena, his tendency to roar whenever your team was front and center to one of his matches, the shove he gave miguel earlier today. axel was jealous. it was amusing when it finally sank in. axel was jealous of the closest thing you ever got to a brother. you basically saw miguel as a germ and axel thought the two of you were together. the thought of a romance made you wildly uncomfortable because he was literally like your brother. it was like he completely missed any sam and miguel interaction. you noticed him holding open the door for sam but it was like axel was completely missing the big picture again.

"i invited him."

axel's heart dropped. he looked at you and you were smiling. proud of yourself. he felt sick. everything he tried not to think about you was true. you were using him, playing with him. he let himself get carried away with the idea that you could actually like him. "you what?"

"oh yeah, i told him to come. thought you should finally meet him." you pointed over his shoulder and he turned around, seeing miguel and sam kissing while swaying together. "and his girlfriend. sam."

axel went red with embarrassment and he quickly turned back around to face you. he didn't know how he could miss that. the two never left each others side on the mat until she got injured. he was the first one to run to her side when she got hurt. now, rethinking all the interactions that he seen between you and miguel, he may have been reading into some things. he turned back to you, shameful blush all over his face and ears.

"did you really think i was with miguel?" you scrunched your nose like miguel had cooties or something. "he's a brother to me."

"i'm sorry-"

"don't apologize to me, apologize to him." you couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "you're cute when you're jealous, axel." he felt his face burn even hotter. taking his hand in yours, you looked into his eyes. "i promise you can trust me."

he stared into your eyes and he was able to see that you also needed the reassurance. you weren't some master manipulator, you were a girl with stories and he wanted to hear all of them. he wanted to tell you his stories and create new ones with you. "and you can trust me."

at the same time, sam and miguel were seated at a table across the room. miguel's back was turned towards your table but sam had a clear view of the exchange.

the two of you had long forgotten sam and miguel, leaning over the table to kiss.

it was a syrupy sweet, playful kiss. your lips moved in time with the guitar playing in the background. you were giggling, and you could feel his smile against your lips. he gently bit your lip and you gasped, pulling away to peck his lips a few times before trailing your kisses away from his lips. you kissed the side of his mouth, all over his cheek, and over his jawline.

"i like you." you whisper when you get close to his ear.

"i like you too." he leaned into yours. "you wanna go?"

"okay." you nod and he stands up, taking your hand and leading you out of the restaurant.

the two of you spend the rest of the night kissing on the beach, both of you finally able to be yourselves with the other.

sam spends the rest of the night trying to focus on miguel and not the fact that you were macking it with the captain of terry silver's team.

[sluttycinderella]

Razorgate: an empirical, peer reviewed study*

*there is nothing genuinely scientific about this, it is merely a result of mental illness and unemployment.

So we all saw this right?

But after this bomb was dropped I began to get curious about the other slittenings. Did they use the same razor for all of them and no one had noticed? Do they actually own more than one razor? And if they don't, if this is truly the only phrazor, then I don't think I have to tell you that raises a lot of questions.

Firstly, I went back to where this all began, Phil's Birthday stream, to identify the razor that carved the very first slit and forever cemented itself as a part of herstory:

Now that is very clearly the Manscaped logo, no question about it. Here’s a high quality photo of the logo for comparison:

(You can also clearly see in the Twitter post that it says "Manscaped" across it but I like to double check my work and I also wanted to prove that they were both Manscaped)

And it's a good thing I did double check because OP made a CRITICAL ERROR in their post! They claim that the razor in question is the Lawn Mower 4.0 when in fact it's the Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra! Unlike the PUNY, PATHETIC, UNMANLY 4.0, the Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra comes with an interchangeable foil blade, a USB port, and a more advanced spotlight!

How could OP be so careless? Dan and Phil would never own an outdated razor! They require only the finest in ball shaving technology!

Also fun fact: The first appearance of the Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra on the Manscaped YouTube channel falls right in between the dapg return announcement and their first video back so make of that what you will...I for one shall be sculpting my own hill out of the very earth itself, "Manscaped Sponsorship Hill", I encourage you all to join me.

So after spending far too long researching the intricacies of razors that shave an organ I don't even have, I now needed to check if it was the same razor being used in every slittening:

Here they are side by side for comparison, left is Phil’s birthday, middle is the We're All Doomed post-premiere, right is Dan’s birthday. Now it appears the WAD one is missing the logo but I'm going to go ahead and chalk that up to the poor quality of the clip I found (if anyone has a better version PLEASE hit me up so I can confirm my hypothesis). And considering the photo taken in the aftermath seems to show Phil holding the 5.0 Ultra:

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's the same thing.

“But,” I hear you shouting, “so what if Dan and Phil used the same razor for all the streams? They already said they only owned one razor so who cares?” Well this isn’t so much about proving that they’re the same razor as it is establishing a baseline. It’s hard to trust basically anything Dan and Phil say lately, what with piggate and the “pillow” bar and the fake view from the Phouse, knowing that they aren’t lying about only having one razor (to the best of our knowledge) is crucial in figuring out what exactly is going on. Remember, we’re doing science here.

And with that in mind: In my professional opinion, I can say that for all three slittenings, the Manscaped Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra was the weapon of choice.

Sidenote: I went down a bit of a rabbit hole of Manscaped reviews during all of this and apparently Manscaped razors are kind of just a scam. This razor is $109 and they try to trick their customers into subscribing to their "Peak Hygiene Plan" which you don't actually need by offering a deceptive discount and hiding the terms where people aren't likely to see them. So yeah, fuck Manscaped and I for one think we should cancel Dan and Phil for not ethically consuming under capitalism.

But that's beside the point, we know that they indeed only have one razor and that that razor...is for balls. What does that tell us?

Conclusions

There are a multitude of conclusions one could jump to in the light of such a revelation, I shall display them in a convenient numbered list for your viewing pleasure:

One of them prefers to use straight (lol) razors to shave their...you know...I don't actually know if this is a thing people do or if it's even possible, people with balls please sound off in the comments, thank you

Only one of them actually shaves in which case I support them as an infamous pussy hair enthusiast (iykyk)

They share a razor (Please, God, no, that's actually disgusting)

Either way, this thing was on someone's balls and then it touched both their faces so I really hope they cleaned it properly!

Alright, so that whole exploration may have been a bit useless, it indeed only confirmed what we had already been told, but I spent literal hours comparing photos of ball hair trimmers and I'm not one to admit defeat. Consider yourselves peer reviewed, Dan and Phil, and maybe check out Beardscape instead! Apparently they have better, more comprehensive razors for the same price.

If anyone even more demon than me has any corroborating evidence (maybe of them using straight razors at any point or anything else razor related that they've said in the past) please let me know so I can take it into consideration! Thank you all for your time.

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Still With You | A Jeon Jungkook Series | Chapter Ten

Summary: You decide to take a break from Jimin and Jungkook but things don't go according to plan when they both show up during your late night shift Pairing : Luna (reader) x Jungkook and Jimin, f2l love triangle Word Count: 4.3k~ Warnings: Explicit language and a heated discussion a/n: Barely edited per usual 😅 Start from the beginning

"Hey Luna someone's here to see you" I hear Grey yell from the front of the store leaving me picking up the cleaning supplies I had been using moments ago and bring it up front. 

"Oh Jimin, hi! I forgot that you were coming tonight" I say putting everything away. "Yeah I just wanted to make sure to get this to you as soon as possible" he says with a shy smile handing me the pepper spray. I give him a shallow bow in thanks and place it in my back pocket for the time being. 

"So, how was your day Noona?" he asks, hoping he can stay around a little longer. "It was okay, Grey came over and hung out for a little bit and then I took her to Bora for a snack before work" I say glancing over towards Grey for a second. 

"Oh...you took her to Bora? That's cool" he says and I can see that he's a little upset at the mention of it. "Is everything okay?" I ask before continuing the conversation. "Yeah I was just thinking that maybe Bora could be our thing" he says shyly. 

He's really not that confident and cool guy he made himself out to be from our first interaction which is honestly quite adorable but I decide not to mention it.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that! I just liked the place so much that I wanted to show her" I say apologetically. "It's okay don't worry about it, it was silly of me to think that" he says rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "No it wasn't, we can always go again soon if you'd like?" I say and I see his eyes light up at the offer. 

"Are you asking me out on a date Noona?" he asks, jumping to conclusions and getting some of that playful energy back. "No it's not a date" I chuckle at him and roll my eyes. "We're still getting to know each other better remember" I say playfully pushing him. 

"Yeah I know I just wanted to tease you" he says with mischievous smirk, "But when did you wanna go? I'm free tomorrow if you are!" he asks looking hopeful. 

I see Grey waving at me and telling me to tell him no for some reason so I decide to trust her and go along with it. "I actually have some stuff I need to do tomorrow but I'll text you okay?" I say hoping he'll understand. 

"Oh okay yeah that works too. Well I better get going then, I have an early morning class so I should probably get some sleep" he says before giving me a quick hug. I guess that's going to be a regular thing between us now and as much as I hate to admit it it gives me butterflies every time.

We say our goodbyes and he waves at Grey on his way out to which she responds with a nod of her head. Once he's gone and down the street and out of earshot I make my way over to the register where Grey is. 

"So why did you want me to tell him no again?" I ask sitting on the stool next to her. "Don't you need time to figure things out with Jungkook before you start going on dates with Jimin?" she says turning towards me. 

I take in her words and she has a point there, I know how Jungkook is and although it's only been a day that doesn't mean that I can push him to the side just because I don't know what I want. "Yeah you're probably right. I'll let Jimin know that I need some space too I guess" I say knowing that I really do need to start taking things more seriously.

~~~~~~

A week passes by and I find myself back at work daydreaming. 

I've been trying to think of all of the different ways that things could go between Jungkook and I, but I'm just too scared to act. My brain has been full of 'What ifs' and I'm too afraid of what the consequences of those 'What ifs' might look like. 

I hear the chime signaling a new customer coming in and I see Jungkook walking through the door. He stops in his tracks for a second, both of us just staring at each other before he takes a deep breath and walks over to me. 

"I thought Grey was supposed to be working today" he mumbles and breaks eye contact with me. "She was, but something happened with Smokey so she asked if I could cover. He's fine though, just got into something and messed up her apartment" I let him know in case he might've been concerned. 

"Oh, okay that's good" he responds and we stand there in silence for a bit. "How have you been?" I ask taking notice of the dark circles under his eyes and his disheveled look. "Could be better" he says continuing to mumble before clearing his throat and asking me the same question. 

"I'm okay, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and-" I start but get interrupted by the sound of yet another customer walking in but my eyes widen in horror seeing that it's Jimin.

"Hi Noona!" he greets coming in with a big smile. He copies what Jungkook had done just moments before, stoping in his tracks now taking in the sight of Jungkook and I at the register. 

"Jungkook..." I start trailing off. "Is this the reason why you needed more time to think? Because you're dating someone else?" he says through gritted teeth starting to raise his voice. "Jungkook please we need to talk but we can't do this now" I whisper trying to hopefully encourage him to keep his voice down. 

"No I think now would be a perfect time Luna" he says in a stern tone that I've never heard from him and storms outside, hovering by the entrance clearly waiting for me to follow. 

"Sunghoon?" I call out hoping the kid isn't too far. "Yeah Noona?" he says peaking his head out from around the corner. "Can you watch the store for me? I'm gonna take my break a little early" I say keeping my eyes on Jungkook. "Sure, is everything okay?" he asks noticing my stiffened posture. 

"Yeah everything is fine I just need to talk to Jungkook for a sec" I reassure him, taking my store vest off and placing it behind the counter. He does as he's told and walks behind the counter as I drag myself outside, dreading the impending doom that is this conversation.

Jungkook stands off to the side now, a cigarette held between his lips as he takes a drag and blows it out when he sees me leave the store. 

"When did you start smoking?" I ask, surprised at his new habit. "Really?" he say harshly "That's what you decide to focus on? Luna cut the crap and tell me what's really going on. Are you dating him?" he says, face flushed from the emotions I can see that he's trying to hold back. "I'm not dating him" I answer plainly, not really knowing how to describe my relationship with him. 

"So what, are you guys sleeping together?" he spits out bitterly. "What the fuck? Jungkook no! Why would you even think that?" I say surprised at his attitude. "I saw the way he was looking at you, like he had been caught doing something wrong when he saw me back there. Is he the reason why you wanted space? So you could mess around with him and see if you liked him before you decided to come back and settle for me?" he says starting to get angry. 

"Jungkook what's gotten into you?" I ask concerned for him. "What's gotten into me? No, what's gotten into you? What happened to being honest with each other? What happened to trusting each other? Fuck Luna what happened to loving each other? You told me you love me and then you pull shit like this? Stringing me along and stressing me out thinking that I lost the most important person in my life because I let my feelings get mixed up. Making me think that it was my fault when all along all you were doing was playing with me because you just liked the attention" he says spewing out things that I never thought he could ever say, let alone think about anyone. 

I catch a whiff of alcohol mixed with the cigarette smoke making me understand why he's acting like this. "Jungkook you're drunk" I say sternly trying to stay strong and keep my emotions in check. I don't want to break in front of him, not like this. 

"Yeah so what? Trying to find an excuse to push me off just because you know what I'm saying is true. How could you be so selfish? Treating me like I'm just some little play thing that you can come back to when you've had your fun. Well guess what Luna I'm done! I'm not waiting around for you hoping that you'll some how love me the way that I love you" he scoffs bitterly pausing for a second " I guess I should say loved because I don't think I could ever love someone like you seeing your true colors now".

I hear the door open behind me and Jimin comes out to jump in and defuse the situation "I think that's enough" he says calmly coming to my side. "Last time I checked I wasn't talking to you" Jungkook says coming closer to him. "Jungkook no, stop" I say quickly blocking him from doing something stupid, "Please let's talk this through later when you're sober okay? I'll text you and we can meet up tomorrow" I say trying to bring his attention back over to me. 

"I don't want to talk anymore. I saw what I needed to see. I'm done!" He says shrugging me off. "Be careful with her. She'll kick you to the curb too once she's bored" he warns Jimin before walking off with a slight sway in his step.

"You okay?" Jimin says turning his full attention to me once Jungkook has turned a corner. "Yeah I think so. I've gotta get back to work though so I'll see you later okay?" I say giving him a pained smile before walking back into the store. 

"Did you want me to come pick you up?" he offers, walking in behind me. "No that's okay I should be fine. I haven't really seen or heard any sign of them in a while so I think they might've gotten bored" I say in reference to the stalker that I had been dealing with earlier this week. 

"Are you sure? I don't have class tomorrow so I really don't mind" he tries one more time. "It's okay, I think it'll help me process things easier if I go alone" I say offering up an explanation for my refusal. He nods his head and sighs in defeat and departs soon after that. 

"Are you okay?" Sunghoon asks me, clearly seeing how upset this all has made me. He's worked here since he was 16 and is in his second year of University now so we've known each other for a while and he's become somewhat of a little brother to me. 

"Not really" I say trying to blink back the tears that I can feel forming. "You can go to the back and take a minute if you need to, I didn't hear much but I know he said some hurtful things to you" he says placing a hand on my shoulder as somewhat of a way to provide comfort. I nod my head and walk back into the break room to take a breather.

'Is what he said true? Was I just toying with him because someone else came along? What the fuck am I doing? What do I really want?' I question myself while trying to take deep breaths to calm down. I let a few tears fall before quickly swiping them away knowing that I really do need to collect myself and stay professional. After a minute or two I'm able to put on that customer service persona that I need to sport for the rest of the night and make my way back out. 

"Thanks for that" I say placing my store vest back on. "It's fine don't mention it" he trades places with me but hovers by the counter clearly wanting to say something. 

"You want to know what happened huh?" I question with a half smile. "Only if you're comfortable with telling me" I let out a deep breath and decide to tell him bits and pieces of the story throughout our very uneventful night.

"So let me get this straight, you're basically in a love triangle with Jungkook and that other Jimin guy?" I nod my head and wait to answer more of his questions. "But because you've been friends with Jungkook for so long you're afraid that if you date that you might have a messy breakup and you'll lose your best friend?" I nod my head again and I watch as he formulates a few more questions in his head. 

"But based off of Jungkook's reaction tonight it seems like you might already be losing him right?" I nod my head but this time decide to elaborate on the subject. 

"He seemed like he was really drunk though so I know he definitely meant some of the things he said but he kind of just jumped to conclusions based off of one look and ran with it. I need to talk to him when he's preferably sober so I can reason with him a bit more" I finish. 

"What does Grey think about all of this?" he questions, curious to see another perspective. "She's been pushing me to make up my mind since day one so I know she's irritated with me. I have no doubt that Jungkook has been bothering her about me this past week so she's probably about to confront me about it too" I say trying to mentally preparing myself for that conversation.

"Have you made up your mind yet? Do you know who you want to be with?" he asks leaning in a bit more, now clearly invested in the whole story. "I thought I did, until Jungkook's outburst tonight. I want to be with him, but not if he's gonna be acting like this. I can't do this whole jealous overbearing boyfriend type of relationship. Like yes some jealousy is hot occasionally but I don't want to have my partner think I'm cheating on them or something based off a single glance" I run my hands through my hair and take a deep breath before continuing. 

"This isn't even the first time he's acted like this towards me. He blew up on me the day after he told me he loved me because his hyungs were flirting with me and he couldn't take it" I say getting irritated just thinking about that day again. 

"So that's why he hasn't been around lately. I was kind of wondering since he used to spend a lot of time around here, like almost everyday" he says now connecting the dots. 

"Yeah and Jimin has been the polar opposite of Jungkook, caring, understanding, supportive, so it's been making this decision even more difficult. I know I've only known him for a while but we seem really compatible. We like the same movies, listen to the same music and we like the same food" I say listing off our similarities.

"But do you like him?" he says cutting off my list. "Of course I like him" I say surprised at his question thinking it had been made obvious. "No but do you think you could fall in love with him?" I take a second to ponder his question and I feel stuck, not really knowing the answer yet. "I mean I think so... I don't know? Don't you think it's a little too soon to be thinking like that?" I question. 

"You don't have to be in love with him already but don't you think that's the point of a relationship? To eventually fall in love?" I take a second to contemplate his word and I feel like I'm getting even more confused. "Yeah I guess you're right" I say "But I still don't know what to do" I finish running my fingers through my hair for the nth time today. 

"Maybe you should just focus on what you're going to say to Jungkook. I'm sure you guys will work things out, and even if you don't then there's your answer" he says trying to simplify the situation for me. "Yeah you're right..." I trail off and he is quickly pulled away by a customer who seems to be in a hurry.

I spend the rest of my shift going through the motions until I'm finally able to go home. Walking back I take that time to breathe and force myself to take a look at my life and what I want out of it. 

Jungkook has been an amazing friend and I think he would be an incredible boyfriend, or at least I thought he might. Now I'm not so sure, which scares me. Was he just pretending this whole time to be someone that he's not and now I'm just now seeing his true colors? There has to be something else that's going on with him but I have no idea what it could be. 

I take out my phone to send him a text to at least ask if he got home safe but it bounces back showing me that he's already blocked me. I'm not surprised at this point but I'm still a little hurt at the fact that he just wants to cut me off for this. 

I agree what I did was fucked up and I should've talked it out with him instead of pushing him away so I guess I deserved it. I strengthen my resolve and decide to go to his house in the morning to talk things out. No doubt he'll have a hangover so he won't be going anywhere that early.

Opening the door to my apartment and being greeted by silence used to give me peace of mind but after that envelope showed up on my doorstep I've hated being faced with it every time I return. 

My mind is racing with all that I'm planning to say to Jungkook so I decide to turn on the TV to drown out all the thoughts that are running circles around my head. 

I set an alarm on my phone for eight so I can go to the store before Jungkook wakes up to get stuff that'll help with his hangover and right as I reach for the remote to press play on the Netflix show I've been planning to catch up on I'm interrupted by a sound outside my door. My heart goes into overdrive and I wait a few seconds before getting up to go check. 

Making my way over to the door I'm greeted with, yet again, another red envelope, this time having been slipped under my door. They know that I'm home, they wanted me to know that they're still watching me. 

I decide against opening the door this time and look through the peep hole instead to see if they're still in the hallway. The hallway looks empty but I know better than to open the door so with shaking hands I pick up the envelope and take it over to the couch.

I open it up and see that this time it's pictures of Jungkook, Jimin and I from tonight inside the store, me arguing outside with Jungkook as well as Jimin and I talking outside afterwards. 

I try to visualize what our surroundings had looked when we were outside to see if I could remember if there had been anyone outside that could've been the one taking pictures of us but no matter how hard I try with just the shock of seeing Jungkook my whole attention had been solely on him. 

Jungkook's face is still crossed out in all the pictures but this time written on the back of one of them are the words 'GOOD RIDDANCE!'. Whereas on the back of one of the pictures of Jimin and I are the words 'Who the fuck is this?!?!?' with his face circled a bunch of times. 

Seems like no matter what guy I'm with this person doesn't like them. Makes me think that the sick fuck is not only obsessed but also in love with me. What the fuck did I ever do to deserve this? Why is all of this suddenly happening all at once? No matter what I do I can't seem to catch a fucking break.

I pick up my phone and call Grey, not wanting to bother Jimin this time and she luckily picks up on the fourth ring. "This better be good?" she lets out groggily, clearly upset that I had woken her up. "Stalker guy is back" I say simply and hear her bed creaking signaling some kind of movement on her end. 

"What the fuck? What happened this time? Are you okay?" she says hoping to get some more information about what we're dealing with. 

"Yeah I'm fine, surprisingly it didn't bother me as much as it did last time. I'm more pissed than anything. Like what about my life is so interesting? I'm just an average person working an average job and doing average things. Why would my life be remotely interesting?" I say exhausted with the added annoyance of this guy showing up again. 

"In case you haven't noticed Luna you're kinda hot. Hell if you weren't my best friend I might even go for you" she teases. "Grey this isn't helping" I whine. "Okay okay I'll stop. What did the stalker guy do this time? Was it another envelope?" she questions. "Yeah but it was only pictures from tonight" I say preparing myself for having to tell her everything that happened.

"Did something happen tonight?" she questions and I can tell she knows there's something else going on. "Jungkook came by the store looking for you" I say and I hear her mumble a curse under her breath. "Luna I'm sorry, he's been coming around every once in a while to check up on you and see how you're doing. I didn't tell you because he's still my friend too you know so-" 

"Grey it's fine, it doesn't bother me" I say cutting her off. "Okay good, I feel like I'm always put into an awkward position between the two of you so I never really know what to do. Plus he usually calls or texts me before coming" she explains further. 

"Yeah well he was drunk so I'm not surprised he didn't let you know" I say rolling my eyes at the thought. "He was drunk? Did he say something?" she says and I can tell she's already wincing. "Boy definitely gave me a piece of his mind that's for sure" I say rubbing my temples. "You okay?" she asks hoping he didn't do too much damage.

"Yeah, he came in and then Jimin came in a few minutes later and he jumped to conclusions and assumed that we were dating and/or sleeping together. He basically called me an attention whore and that I was playing with his emotions so I know he's just hurt and trying to hurt me too in his drunken state. I know that wasn't him, or I hope it wasn't. I've seen so many drastic changes in his character lately that it's starting to scare me. It seems like he's changing into a different person and I'm not sure if that's the kind of person I want to be around, let alone date" I let out honestly. 

"So what are you gonna do?" she asks, hoping to help me at least start to voice it all. "I guess I'm just gonna tell him how I feel, one of the last things he said to me though was that he was done and he didn't want to talk anymore so I'm not even sure if he'll talk to me even if I tried. I'm planning on going over to his place in the morning and bringing him stuff for his hangover so I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he let's me in or not".

"And if he doesn't let you in?" she questions. "Then I guess I'll have my answer" I say and lay down, grabbing one of the throw blankets I have and crawling under it. "I should probably let you go though since I woke you up. Thanks for answering" I say, thankful that I have someone like her to count on. 

"Yeah no worries, let me know how things go tomorrow okay? Let's meet up afterwards and go to Bora, I know that'll probably cheer you up, plus I owe you one" she says nonchalantly. 

"You just want to go to Bora again to see that guy huh?" I tease. "No! I- I just really like their macarons okay! It has nothing to do with him" she denies nervously. "Whatever you say" I say after laughing a bit at hearing how flustered she sounds. 

"Goodnight Luna" she says with a monotone, "Goodnight Grey" I say and end the call, lock my phone and will myself to sleep, tossing and turning soon leading to a well earned night's rest.

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[your-nanas-house]

𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮, 𝓲𝓭𝓲𝓸𝓽?

◇ Pairing: Neil Lewis X best friend!Reader

◇ Warnings: fluff, sadness, mean parents, Neil's made up childhood, friends to lovers, kiss, tuna

◇ Summary: Neil has to bring his girlfriend to the Christmas dinner with his family, the problem?... He doesn't have one so he asks his best friend.

◇ Note: Another amazing collaboration with @mrkdvidal1989. First fic of the new "event" 'From love to Love'.

Neil froze hearing his mother's words over the phone. His eyes widened in shock while Y/n walked in front of him, peacefully sorting out movies while humming. Unaware that her best friend was just going through a hurricane of thoughts at the ridiculous demand of his mother.

You take her or don't bother to come, she said, and after not getting any response for a couple seconds, she hung up with a sigh of annoyance. He knew how his mother was but usually… he didn't care too much. Usually the whole family would just pick on him “playfully” because of the fact that he was still single, just running his store for a living. Suddenly breathing got heavier and the humiliation set in, as he sighed moving quickly. Passing by Y/n, he rushed to his office, in need of a moment to deal with his own feelings.

“I can’t” were the first words that left Neil’s mouth since the call ended, it was crazy and dangerous and he was pretty much regretting having picked up the phone that morning, he would have lived better without knowing those annoying news. 

He had to go back “home” for Christmas… back to his childhood house more like, as he never truly felt there like home. After a couple of years now going there just to spend Christmas all together like they used to do. A fucking nightmare. How could he survive, he thought, his hands covering his face in pure desperation, so worried and pissed to go there… he was off age, why couldn’t he do what he wanted?

That’s how his colleague and friend found him, leaned on his desk, at the edge of crying.

”Man, I'm just trying to help.” Jonathan shrugged, after he came quickly to the Gumshoe right after Y/n’s shift ended, passing by her at the door with a smile. Neil huffed with helplessness. He knew that his friends just wanted to help him with the issue, but nevertheless it was.. more than frustrating. Pacing back and forth he stroked the hair at the nape of his neck, thinking intensely. Looking… for a solution that wouldn't require making himself look like a fool in front of his best friend.

“And how the fuck am I supposed to ask her, huh? Not that I intend to.” Neil hissed, gesticulating in desperation “I can’t do that! Especially not to her, I have been stuck celebrating all those awful events, forced by my parents… She would come willingly. That would be—” Jonathan interrupted him quickly, shaking his head “Man, calm down! we don’t even know if she can, I’m just telling you that you should try. You always say that everything is way more fun when she’s around so why not try to fight this by using her..help, huh?” the man suggested, proud of himself as he waited for Neil’s reaction “she even likes to dress up and trust me, bet she would be way happier to come with you there than to participate at another of the events here in the show” he commented quietly.

”How can you know that?” Neil snapped, as he registered only the first part of the sentence, his mind jumping to the conclusion that Jonathan was spending a lot of time with her. Jealousy racing through his veins in a second. 

Seeing it, Jonathan rolled his eyes at the reaction. 

”Yeah, and maybe.. maybe you two could sort that weird… “friendship” out.” He suggested, gesturing in the air as he spoke. ”No need to get snappy, man. She seems to like only one geek, and you already took that spot.” He joked eventually, wanting to ease the atmosphere. It worked, as Neil smiled weakly. 

It was true, they were friends ever since Neil approached her in the third grade asking about the sandwich she had. For her the tuna sandwich was the grossest thing in the world, but little Neil had shiny eyes at the thought of it. She called him gross and he pushed her. That's how their friendship started, ironically. 

She sure was perfect and that way Neil wouldn’t have ruined their every-year plans.. Christmas Eve together and a quick meeting at Christmas, like always. They could spend even more time together if she agreed to go with him.

Huffing, he sat down in the armchair as he ran his hand through his dark hair. Was it really a good idea? he wondered silently, glancing a couple of times towards Jonathan, who was still standing there awkwardly. Even if she wasn’t in the store anymore, he should have called or gone to her apartment but… he couldn’t leave Gumshoe, right? 

He remained lost in his thoughts for a couple of minutes, coming back to reality hearing a soft knock on his office door. His baby blue eyes snapped up as he sat better on his chair, surprised to see Y/n back there, a smile on her face. “Sorry to interrupt the …meeting, I just left my scarf in your office Neil, so I came back to get it. It’s pretty cold outside, I was freezing…” she revealed continuing to ramble while walking to the small sofa in his office, grabbing her scarf before heading back to the door. Neil was forced now to ask her, it looked really like faith. 

“Weenie—” he spoke abruptly, making her stop mid step, and turn around to face him with a raised eyebrow, the nickname catching her attention immediately like every time, just like the way he said it. Instead of the casual, easygoing tone of his, he sounded.. nervous and awkward. The tone that Y/n knew too well, which piqued her interest just as much as the old nickname that they have been using for several years. “What, dink?” she asked with a soft smile on her face. Jonathan just staring at them with wide eyes and toothy grin, seeing how the stare they shared couldn’t be one of just friends.

Neil looked at his feet awkwardly, not knowing how to start. 

”Yeah, tell her, Dink.” Jonathan mocked playfully, earning a soft slap on the back of his head from Y/n, who scolded him and reminded him that she was the only one that could call Neil like that and he should have respect for his own boss. One stern glance from Neil was enough to make him lift his hands in surrender.

”Alright, alright. I got the message.” He said, slowly heading to the door. 

Just before the door closed shut, he shot Neil one last look that was basically saying “tell her, idiot!” 

A sigh pushed past the nervous man's lips as he was left alone with his best friend in the office. Neil had no energy and will to play around the topic, so he just took a deep breath approaching her closer. 

”Look… if I had any different choice, I wouldn't… I wouldn't try to pull you into it..” He started off, sitting on the desk in front of her, looking down at his hands, making her quite nervous. But without a second thought she lifted his chin with her hand, making him look in her eyes. 

”You can pull me into anything as long as you follow, you know that— Stop being so nervous, now, I’m starting to fear that it’s something big and concerning” She urged, feeling that something wasn't right… not with how he was trying to avoid eye contact with her. 

”Are you involved with the mafia, Dink?” She held back a giggle, using her best poor Italian accent to try to ease the tension and his mood, successfully as he giggled back. 

“Are you trying to perform as Robert De Niro, now?” he huffed amused “You are still doing it wrong” Neil added, commenting on her performance “Lies, you’re just jealous of my skills. Bet someone could actually mistake me for him, bit of makeup and I look just like him” she joked, her smiles switching slowly into a soft one when Neil spoke softly to deny it “You are beautiful… so shut up” he quickly added the last part to ease the awkward tension. She chuckled as well, sighing as she sat at the chair in front of the desk.

”So.. tell me. What do you need, Neil?” Y/n asked seriously this time, so he mirrored her body language. 

”Okay so… My mother said… well, more like forced me? Obligated me… to bring at the christmas dinner a girlfriend and… and she said that if I don't I.. I shouldn't even come.” He stuttered out nervously again, glancing at Y/n as she kept listening to him while nodding. She didn't say anything, as she knew that it wasn't the end of the story. Neil knew it too. 

”andithoughtthatyoucouldgowithme” he spat out really quickly, breathing deeply just at the end of the sentence, almost passing out. 

Y/n tried not to laugh at that, nodding as if she understood everything he said to her “Now.. I have known you for years, Dink. I know what you said but you know how much I like to see you in such a state, huh. Ask it better” she requested, humming while crossing her legs smugly, waiting for Neil’s next move.

He scoffed at that, of course she wanted that... and he was going to give it to her like every time “Fine! You dick.. Would you come with me… please” he asked, showing her his pleading eyes, earning a chuckle from her “First, I’m not a dick. Second… of course I will, you dork” she answered, leaving a couple of seconds of silence before giving him her final answer, creating suspense between them.

Neil was just nodding sadly, sighing softly as his hand rested on her small shoulder, patting it twice “I know that you would have….wait what—” he raised his voice quickly, his eyes snapping to hers as his mood changed completely “You’re not joking, right?” he asked to make sure he could celebrate his victory. Y/n just rolled her eyes before she got up, kissing his cheek exaggerating the noise. 

”I’m not, but now I need to run if I want to make it to the bus. See you later, send me the details.” She said quickly, running through the door with a smile. 

Neil sat there in silence for a moment before exhaling loudly. Then a slow smile appeared on his lips. 

. *time lapse* .

The snow kept falling down on them as they waited in front of the big mansion, looking at each other every now and then

”You can do it… we can do it. Together.’’ she reminded him as soon as she felt his nervousness, squeezing his hand in her own. 

Neil exhaled, straightening his back as he glanced at her. She nodded, and they went to the door, knocking before they'd change their mind. Here we go, no backing away now. Neil knocked, and they waited a couple seconds before steps approached the door, swinging them open and showing the silhouette of Neil's mother. 

”Oh, Neil… you're here.” She said with a fake smile plastered on her face. Then her gaze fell on Y/n and her eyes shone with respect. Y/n really was a pretty girl, nice features, styled hair and a very pleasant body, she was also all dolled up like Neil asked her, just for that dinner��� ready to support her best friend as best she could. ”..and who's that?” the older woman asked, reaching out to Y/n, who shook her hand with a smile. 

”That’s Y/n. My.. girlfriend.” Neil informed his mother, stuttering for a second, glancing at Y/n when the word girlfriend left his mouth. 

His mother just nodded, lifting her chin up higher with a smaller smile.

”Come in.” She said, opening the door wider and closing them behind them.

It will be a long night, Y/n thought seeing the rudeness in his mother's eyes. 

. *couple hours later* .

Y/n clenched her jaw again that night, hearing the two-sided comments towards Neil. He was quiet most of the time.. before he wasn't, as his younger brother threw an insult towards Y/n this time. 

”Watch your fucking mouth.” He barked at him suddenly, surprising everyone by the table. His father's eyes widened, and a little smile appeared on his lips. George gasped in shock, as it never happened before that Neil would actually stand up for himself. He'd either ignore him or just stutter out some insult back. 

”Neil” His mother scolded another time throughout the dinner, and Y/n was fed up. She scooted back, and the chair squeaked, scratching the wooden floor from the sudden movement. 

”Are you serious? This little brat insults him all night and you won't say anything, but when Neil stands up for me, you dare to scold him?” Y/n spoke up in a harsh, stern tone. The icy gaze in her eyes was enough to make everyone go quiet. 

”I… I..” His mother stuttered out, still shocked. 

Neil got up suddenly, heading to the door as he needed some fresh air. That whole “Christmas” dinner was a nightmare. 

Y/n and Mrs. Lewis kept glaring at each other, and as the older woman opened her mouth to continue arguing, her husband's fist slammed at the table, startling her. 

”Enough! Are you happy with ruining our Christmas dinner?” His low voice boomed at her, as he had enough of her backhanded compliments and rude talk. Seeing the situation, Y/n decide to leave as well, grabbing one of the tuna sandwiches from the plate standing on the table, fully knowing that Neil didn't manage to eat anything. Just some baked potatoes but she stole most of them from him. Rushing through the corridor, Y/n noticed that his jacket was gone, so she didn't hesitate to get out of the house. 

Looking around, her heart pounded, not seeing him anywhere. Only as she looked at the other side of the road she noticed him, sitting on the bench despite the cold wind and falling snow. 

He was visibly upset, with red cheeks and nose, tucked into his big jacket to keep some warm, and snowflakes in his dark hair… he looked beautiful. Even more than usual, she thought. 

Even though she was heading to him, he didn't hear her steps or the crunching of snow under the sole of her boots. Only when she stood in front of him, Neil looked up at her face with teary eyes, making her expression soften. 

She didn’t say anything, just moved her arm to show him what she was hiding under her coat, a small smile on her face. Neil looked at her, glancing down at the thing she was offering to him, a smile breaking on his face as well.

“A gross tuna sandwich for the grosser boy I know” she sang, moving the food closer to Neil, her cold flushed cheeks making her look like a kid “Come on… take a bite or do you need me to feed you, huh?” She teased, handing him the sandwich after she moved it in tiny circles in front of his face, so that he could sniff its smell. 

Neil grabbed it, brushing his warm hands against her cold ones before sticking out his tongue like a kid, just like when he was younger.

Y/n watched him take it,  before she sat down on the cold bench next to him. She didn’t talk, just leaned her head on his shoulder, sneaking her hand in his pocket to hold his bigger one in hers.

They stayed like that for some minute, in silence and now in each other’s arms ‘’Don’t listen to them, Dink…’’ she whispered, watching his side profile as he ate his sandwich. Neil was clearly lost in his mind for a while as they just sat there, getting covered with snow. Several minutes passed before Y/n attempted to talk again. 

”I don't regret coming here with you.” She confessed, making him look at her, surprise written all over his face. 

”How come?” He asked, confused. Neil couldn't think of a single reason for why she would actually be happy about coming on the Christmas dinner to his family. It went.. horrible. 

Y/n shrugged, playing with his big long fingers. 

”I mean… I don't know.” She backed off a little, feeling a little ashamed of her confession. Neil could see that she wanted to say something else, but doubt crept up her mind. He grabbed her chin suddenly, surprising her and himself as well, making her look in his baby blue eyes that looked even more charming with the white snow in the background. 

”Tell me.” He asked more like commanded in a quiet voice. Suddenly the atmosphere between them got more.. intimate than fragile like before. His gaze didn't falter for a second, as he boldly starred in her eyes. 

Y/n felt like that moment would pass soon if she didn't take the change.

”I.. I liked.. playing your girlfriend.” She spoke up, matching the volume of his voice. Neil’s eyes shifted down, looking at all the features of her face separately, carefully and taking his time. The intention in his eyes was visible, and made Y/n’s breath deepen as her heart started pounding in her chest. 

”I like it too.” He whispered, subconsciously leaning in, reducing the distance between them with each second. 

Without a second of doubt, Y/n moved closer, tilting her head up so he could reach her lips more easily. 

Even though they both knew it was coming, the sensation that went through their bodies was.. shocking. Knowing each other for years, neither of them would expect to feel… such fireworks while kissing. 

Her soft lips moved against his slowly, sensually without any rush. Neil was completely frozen, not moving at all as he didn't want to ruin the moment. Y/n wasn't as shy, as her hand reached his cheek to keep him closer. In their minds the kiss lasted for hours, yet it was barely a minute before they ran out of oxygen. Parting in need of a breath, Neil leaned his forehead on hers, letting out a shaky breath. Silence between them lasted for a couple minutes.

”Neil…” She started out.

”I know.” He cut her off, earning a chuckle. 

”Neil…” She started again ”If you don't confess that you love me, right now… I'm afraid I'm going to throw up. I feel your tuna in my mouth.” She whispered, making him burst into laughter. 

Shaking his head he grabbed her face in his hands, his eyes shiny and hair a mess, hanging over his forehead. 

”I love you, Y/n.” He said, still smiling so widely, and she giggled out loudly. 

”I love you too, Dinky…. I'm freezing by the way, could we go back inside? Not in the dining room but maybe in your room. I was always curious to see your childhood bedroom” she revealed, a bit too eager to know more about Neil's past.

With that the young woman stood up, offering her now hopefully boyfriend her hand. It took Neil a couple of seconds to take her hand finally, since the priorities came first, aka his tuna sandwich, leading her himself back towards the house and upstairs to his bedroom. 

Nothing had changed much during the years, his little brother George received more useless stuff while her older sister Margaret wasn't living there anymore so her useless stuff was all in her own house.

As soon as they walked in the bedroom, Neil made sure to lock the door, past trauma of people walking in his room without asking just to annoy or piss him off came quickly back. Y/n didn't seem to mind though, her eyes kept wandering around as her hands worked on the buttons of her coat “I have a gift for you by the way” she informed Neil with a smile, her beautiful eyes now stopping back on him “but…I won't give it to you till you go wash your teeth. I don't want to risk getting another tuna kiss” she murmured, shivering at the idea, making Neil laugh and nod as he headed to his own small personal bathroom to do as she said.

Coming out again, his eyes locked with hers— she was now sitting on his bed, leg crossed with a small rectangular present next to her body. A small smile on her face. “Come on, open your gift, Dink” She encouraged him, watching how he walked closer with a childlikeness hidden in his eyes.

Neil carefully took the wrapped object, working on the paper to open it carefully, stealing glances at Y/n who was watching him with his same mood.

“You like it?” The young woman asked softly, studying her best friend's reaction “it's an old noir movie… I heard your discussion about it with Jonathan in the Gumshoe and I managed to find it.” She added anxiously, seeing no clear reaction from him. Her lips parted for the third time, ready to ask for clarification again but she didn't need to, since Neil's lips pressed against hers— his arms wrapping around her smaller frame as his big hand cupped the back of her head to keep her in place. It really looked like one of those kisses characters shared in old movies… so rich of passion and love.

The position was quite uncomfortable though, so they changed it after a couple of seconds, his arms now holding her hips firmly against his body and her arms hugging his neck to keep him closer to her. No tuna this time.

Taglist:

@gabile18 , @mrsfullbuster500 , @rex-ray , @elizamalfoyy, @eovjjj @wife-of-magic-monkeys , @jeremiah-va1eska , @gothamchic16, @rabbiteggz , @dieg0brandos-wife , @rottenecstasy , @lazyexcuse , @teh-vampire-bunny , @lobotomy-lover , @slasher-smasher , @sleepycreativewriter , @mrkdvidal1989

[pablitogavii]

Gavi x his celeb crush all up to you!

Idea: You and Gavi met through social media :)

y.n.bebe

Barcelona, Spain

In love with this city <3 Might stay forever!

liked by pablogavi and 20K others

comments:

brunaa: obsessed with you! <3. liked by y.n.bebe

cameroon: you have the best photographer ;)

y.n.bebe: yes I do!!

pablogavi: I can show you around :)

y.n.bebe: sure :)

gavigavi: whaaa!??

gavisgirls: she's gorgeous! does pablo have a crush?

DM chat:

pablogavi: hey! what do you want me to show you the city??

y.n.bebe: oh hi :) didn't think you were serious abt that?

pablogavi: why not??

y.n.bebe: idk hehe let's do it this weekend if you are free?

pablogavi: i'm down :)

pablogavi story

showing her around Barcelona today :) @y.n.bebe

y.n.bebe story

touring Barcelona with @pablogavi today :)

y.n.bebe

Spotify Camp Nou, Barcelona

Thank you so much Pablo, it was a great game! <3 tagged: pablogavi fcbarcelona

liked by pablogavi, pedri, ansufati, fcbarcelona and 50K others

comments:

pablogavi: <3 liked by y.n.bebe

gaviragf: who is this girl now!? did they just start talking over ig?

gavifanss: yeah he asked to show her Barcelona and now she is wearing his jersey?? couple??

gavipedrifans: even pedri and ansu liked!?? so they know her too?

gaviragirl: he's mine back off!!!

cameroon: didn't know you were a football fan ;)

y.n.bebe: shut up!! LOL

gavira: maybe this is her bf?? let's not jump to conclusions

pablogavi

Sempre Visça Barça! Back to #6 ;))

liked by pedri, ansufati, y.n.bebe, fcbarcelona and 70K others

comments:

pedri: everything comes back to those who are determined and patient hermano! proud of you! nobody deserves it more!

pablogavi: gracias hermano! let the duo from the past return <3

fcbarcelona: #6 coming back after the big Xavi! Make us proud chico!

pablogavi: big boots to fill but I will do my best like always <333

gaviraa: guys!! if he just got his number back that means he gave it to her since it's not available to be bought yet!!!!

gavifan: joder! you're right!!

pedrigavifanbase: that's so cute! they are both young and beautiful and she seems like a sweet girl :)

gavipablo: she liked!!!!!!!!!! I'm so invested!!

A few days after the game..

y.n.bebe

Paris, France

I missed you Paris, my beautiful home <3 Let the fashion show week begin!

liked by cameroon, pablogavi, aurorapaezg and 50K others

comments:

gavifans: she's just a normal girl and her best friend is one of the designers which is why she is going to the event for those saying she is famous because of Gavi!!

gavipablo: ikr! she went to fashion shows for years back and I think cameroon is her bf??

pablitoogavira: idk if he is her bf but this girl is so freaking beautiful!

pablogavi: miss you btw :/

y.n.bebe: come visit me then so I can show you Paris :)

gavirafamfans: Aurora liked too!!!!!!!

cameroon: stunning like always <3

y.n.bebe: thanks fake bf LOLOLOL

pablitofanss: JAJA she just clarified that! :)

A week later..

y.n.bebe story

so I showed him Paris today...@pablogavi

pablogavi story

Paris with the best tour guide. Thanks princesa <3 @y.n.bebe

And finally..

pablogavi and y.n.bebe

Did we fall in love in the city of love? Yes we did!

liked by 90K others

comment:

aurorapaezg: you have no idea how nervous he was when you invited him hehe!!

gaviragirls: now it's official! our boy is taken :/

gavisfans: but this girl seems really sweet

gavipablo: plus he was the one who reached out to her first so she is not looking for fame like some other did!!

pedri: youngster got heart eyes for you!!

y.n.bebe: hehe I have my eyes only for him too

ansufait: congrats hermano!

pablogavi: gracias hermano!

cameroon: happy for you amiga mia <33 the fact that recorded this bruhhh!! LOLOLOL

y.n.bebe: we love you <333

pablogavi: from real bf to fake bf, we appreciate you hermano :)

gavipabloo: JAJAJ this is priceless!!

Hope you liked it :)

[actual-changeling]

you know, i was getting all sorts of ick feelings from the apology dance, and I'm so glad you pointed that out as not actually very cute or romantic in one of your posts, because yeah. it wasn't.

anyways i also just really love all of your crowley meta it's so well thought out and everything about trauma and healthy relationships i- it's just all amazing, so thank you (and sorry for the rambling lol)

Thank you! And never feel bad for rambling, I love rambling with people about this show.

The apology dance is such a sore spot for me, the entire first episode is, really. At first it seems - cute, funny, you laugh, and then don't think about it too much.

But then you do think about it and suddenly it is everything but romantic.

I might write a whole meta post about it at some point but the summary is basically as follows.

Aziraphale calls Crowley to meet him in the café and we're literally starting off with "don't say anything" for no reasons, but alright. Then he talks around the point, lies to Crowley's face, and eventually brings him to the bookshop only because Nina sped the whole thing up with the naked man comment. Aziraphale does not warn Crowley, doesn't say anything, nothing. Just jumps it on him.

THEN he refuses to "ask him properly", expecting Crowley to play bad cop and do the dirty work.

When Crowley tries to be a fucking adult about it and actually talk to Aziraphale in private, Aziraphale is already not listening to him. We get the "exactly" question, Aziraphale ignores every single issue Crowley points out because he has already decided what he is going to do. What he wants from Crowley is not a solution - he wants him to say "yes and" and do what he has in mind.

He THEN behaves like a fucking five year old with his "You're at liberty to go". I am holding myself back here but in short, this is a manipulation tactic. He is LITERALLY guilt tripping Crowley.

Crowley is incredibly taken aback and rightfully hurt, and Aziraphale feels bad and goes back to begging him for help - and Crowley almost says yes. He is about to say yes because he loves him and wants to keep him save.

Aziraphale however, for fucking childish reasons, goes back to his temper tantrum and throws "if you won't, you won't" into Crowley's face, sits down, and watches him leave. After HE called HIM for help because again, he didn't want help. He wanted a "yes of course aziraphale do you want a massage too or maybe a cocktail?"

But nooooo, of course it's Crowley who needs to apologize, and the fact that he is forced into doing the dance by Aziraphale is such a funny haha romantic laugh moment and not at all the fucking climax of Aziraphale's entire manipulation tactic.

Yeah. Fuck that, is my final thought. Conclusion: not funny, someone get Crowley into a healthier environment asap.

this turned into a little meta post i hope you don't mind rip i'm in a mood today

[honeyjars-sims]

3.32 You Should Be Proud

After the episode where my Dad was eliminated from Drag Superstar aired, we didn’t get a chance to talk. He was doing his typical viewing party at Roy G. Biv’s and though I was there, Dad was bombarded by fans and phone calls. 

It’s probably for the best, though. I wouldn’t have known what to say. No matter how much I keep trying to put my past behind me, it keeps coming back around to remind me of all of my disappointments and mistakes.

The next morning, though, I manage to catch him alone.

“I guess we need to talk,” he says, and I agree. We sit on the couch.

“First of all, I just want to apologize for talking about our personal business on television,” Dad begins. “I wasn’t really thinking about how that might affect you.”

I shrug. “I mean, you didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. And it’s not like you gave a lot of details or anything.”

“Maybe not, but it still wasn’t right. I’m a public figure now, and I promise to be more careful about what I say about my family in public.”

“A public figure, huh? Don’t go getting a big head, now,” I smirk.

“It’s too late for that.” Dad chuckles softly and once the laughter tapers off we sit in uncomfortable silence.

“I’m sorry, too,” I say finally. “I wasn’t thinking about how my behavior was affecting everyone else, either. And it cost you your dream.” I thought I’d moved past the guilt I had from my partying last summer, but apparently there are still consequences left to face.

“Oh, Johnny, no,” Dad says, putting a hand gently on my shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself for this. The timing wasn’t great, but the only one responsible for my performance on the show is me. Besides, I think my elimination will work out in my favor anyway.”

“Really, how so?”

“Look at this,” he holds up his phone and shows me his Social Bunny feed. “I’m trending! People can’t stop talking about how I shouldn’t have been sent home. I’m already booked out for the next two months!” 

“Wow, that’s amazing!” It seems like everyone is blaming Diamond Adair for Dad’s elimination. Sucks for her, but at least it takes some of the heat off of me. “Two months is a long time to be gone, though. Do you think you and Pops will be ok?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t we be?”

“Well, it’s just that you guys were having some disagreements about me, and you’ve been traveling a lot…”

“Oh, that? We didn’t even realize you heard our arguments. But that was just a bump in the road. We worked through that weeks ago.”

“You did? Well, that’s a relief.” I feel my shoulders relax. I never would've forgiven myself if my parents split up because of fights they had about me. It's good to know that's not something I'll have to worry about.

“We’ve been together for 20 years now. It’s going to take more than a couple of disagreements to break us apart. I’m sorry if we worried you.”

“That’s all right.”

“Let’s make a deal. Can we promise to just talk to each other about what we’re feeling? It seems like we’ve been avoiding the actual issues by jumping to conclusions.”

“Yeah, I promise I’ll do better about that.” I'm noticing a common theme around my conversations with people lately, and I'm realizing I need to just trust that the people in my life will be there for me when I need them.

“Good. So will I. I don’t think we’ve told you, but Pops and I are very proud of you.”

“Proud of me? For what?”

“Well, you’ve been working really hard–not just at your job but with being more responsible and taking care of yourself.”

“Yeah, but–” I start to speak but Dad cuts me off.

“No ‘buts’,” he tells me. “You’ve come a long way and that’s something to be proud of.”

This isn’t how I expected this conversation to go. I thought I'd walk away feeling like I'd ruined Dad's life, but instead I feel hopeful. Maybe Dad is right and things really are getting better. Maybe I do have things to be proud of.

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[faulty-writes]

Hello, I'm asking as an anon cuz its my first time requesting and I'm kind of nervous but I was wondering how would bakugou,deku,todoroki(+iida if you want<3) react to they're significant other doing the bumpy ride trend? where they balance a thing on their head and dance? Example : https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eWBDUeWgMXI and then they get very flustered lol love u<33

[ Oh God, is that what the kids are up to these days? Welp, best of luck to them! I know my limit for headcanons is usually three, but we all know how much I love Iida so he had to be included in this. So I hope you enjoy this rare, four-character headcanon set. P.S. Love you too, anon. ]

"What the hell are you doing!?" Katsuki couldn't care less about the 'trends' extras were trying. The only type of social media he liked was about heroes. Still, he was curiously angry when he walked into your room to see you balancing something on your head while moving around. The fact that you were having trouble keeping that thing on your head made him roll his eyes.

He thought you had enough common sense to know when to quit following this stupid trend. However, you didn't and he wasn't shy about sharing his opinion. "Why are you wasting your time doing this, dumbass? Trends are only for extras with nothing else to do!" You tried not to let him bother you, after all, you were just having fun.

He usually didn't care about anyone's safety but his own. But damn it, you were different. When you tried to balance dangerous or heavy things on your head while dancing, he'd scold you. "Idiot! Be careful, damn it!" He'd snatch whatever item away from you and quickly replace it with another before flushing as he admitted, "I just...d-don't want you to get hurt, dumbass."

Most believed Katsuki could not laugh or find humor in anything that wasn't someone else's misery. But after some time of seeing you perform this trend continuously. He couldn't help but smile. Yeah, it was a rare sight to see him smile, hell even see him happy. But damn if he didn't admire your determination and that cute look on your face whenever the particular item you were balancing on your head fell off mid-dance.

Izuku would more than likely respond to seeing you perform the bumpy ride trend with curiosity, after his initial surprise. His curiosity would lead him to research everything about this particular trend. He would even watch videos of others performing it, trying to figure out what the most effective strategy is to master it.

Naturally, due to his desire to save and protect others, he'd make sure you always performed the trend in a safe environment. In addition, he'd make sure you used safe items to balance on your head. Usually, he'd help you gather empty bottles or provide one of his All Might plushies for you to use.

You'd usually assign him to record your attempts on your phone so you could upload them later. While he was uncertain about this, he did it because he wanted to help you and show his support. Of course, he was particular about how he would record you. He'd always make sure he was standing at the correct distance, that it was the correct angle, and that the lighting was good. No surprise, you ended up getting a bit impatient with him.

"H-hey it's okay…maybe w-we can look over my notes to s-see what you're doing wrong, y-you'll get it eventually!" He'd always have some encouraging words for you whenever you failed at your bumpy ride trend attempts which was appreciated considering you usually took your frustrations out on him.

"Um…are you alright?" Shoto's initial response to seeing you perform the bumpy ride trend is confusion. He doesn't bother with social media or understand its trends. This leads you to have to explain it to him which only confuses him more.

Before jumping to any conclusion about whether this trend was safe or unsafe, Shoto would observe you performing it. This would help him determine if he should intervene or not. He knew he didn't have a right to tell you what you could and couldn't do. But as your significant other, it was his job to protect you no matter what. He'd do that even if you hated him for it.

His concern eventually led him to suggest alternative trends you could do together. He knows that you'll probably argue with him, but he also knows that it's important to do things that strengthen your bond in romantic relationships and frankly, if he could convince you to do alternative trends with him, he could keep you safe.

He would congratulate you when you finally managed to dance and balance something on top of your head without it falling. But he's unsure exactly what to say which leads him to flush as he struggles to find the words. "That's nice…I am…happy that you accomplished what you wanted to." He still wouldn't understand it, but he'd try to be proud of you in his own way.

"I strictly advise against this form of social entertainment!" It was no surprise that Tenya found social media trends to be a waste of time. The fact that said trends didn't have any academic or structural value added to his distaste for them.

Even after conducting thorough research regarding the "bumpy ride" trend, he still doesn't approve of it, but he knows his disapproval won't sway you from attempting it. So, he overanalyzes it and creates a structured plan to help you perfect and achieve your desired outcome.

Despite not wanting to share his or your "personal" life on the internet, he agrees to document your attempts at this trend. "Are you most certain you wish to perform this again?" The videos he records are typically unedited, which gains your account numerous followers who like to point out his strange way of talking and the fact he's constantly chopping his hands in front of the camera in your videos.

After some time, he finds out that your classmates know about the bumpy ride trend and your videos which he helped upload to your social media account. Even though he feels embarrassed, he explains the pros and cons of the trend. He also explains why he supports you and how he will continue to do so until you master your techniques to accomplish your desired outcome.

[happypotato48]

Century of Love EP 7-8 Unhinged Tangent Thoughts

I'm back from vacay and back to back doctor appointments, so this one a little bit late. anyways who ready for some DRAMA!

Yeah and i'm a descended of some ancient chinese emperor according to wikipedia it nothing special hunny.

This scene is the most lakorn thing ever. like he just hugging a crying woman and both Juu and Wee treated it like they just saw them made out or something.

Calm thy Titties Wee, and idk maybe talk to your man first before jumping to conclusion.

Stupid gay rock i know you like drama but come on man!

Daou is so freaking good in this EP man, he came a long way and i'm looking forward to more of him preferably with more other BL partners. look look, DaouOffroad are great and all but i need All the BL guys to kiss each other and not just limit us and themselves to this branded pair bullshit :P

My heart!!

Gaslight gatekeep girlboss. this lady is E-V-I-L-!

Ok fuck it i'm taking this man as my future husband number 2.

I loved that Grandma pointed out the risk of messing up the stone. but i also understand Wee very bad but understandable willingness to use it. cause she the only one whose been there for him all his life.

Grandma came through with the logic of using the stone on her body. this is such a great way to make Wee give up.

I knew this was coming but it still hurts nonetheless.

Why are you doing this to me show. cute flashback after the break up, you're so mean.

Tropey lakorn scene number 2.

I'm not bothered much by San giving the stone to Wad here cause he's a 100+ years old and very old fashion when it come to honor and other junk.

Now For EP 8.

Oh my. OH OH OH OH! my heart skipped a beat from how hot this man is in this get up.

Future husband number 3. What >.> i haven't date any one ever in my life and now i'm hungry for men!

He's moving on baby boy, just let him love you god damn it!

Ok i like to point out that the hugs game between these two had been top notch. cause yeah some other BL shows maybe did more with physical intimacy but hugging always been a weak spot in a lot of BLs.

*dead*

Bit on the nose but she's serving. no note this outfit is perfect for the villain revelation.

I loved her. this woman deserve her money, i already forgave her for all the angsts she put my boys through she's just that fun to watch.

And now i'm ordering pizza. product placements never works on me but random food, hmm. hell yeah i'm a pig.

Chu called her strawberry in thai btw. it's orginate from the word ตอแหล *Torlea which means liar or bullshitter. people just started using strawberry because the word sound alike.

Grandpa you're dying and you're still this horny? respect bro.

My baby you're so cute when you're terrified out of you mind.

พระเอกมาแว้ว!

EP 7 was so good ya'll buttttt yeah EP8 definitely felt rushed idk maybe this show would be better with 12 EPs so the conflict and separation could be more impactful. or maybe draw out the separation for 1 ep longer and have the resolution play out in the last two EPs. anyways the angsts maybe too short and not perfect but Daou and Offrode did an amazing jobs from what they've been given.

[plaguevampyr]

I don't care what you say about CJ from Regular show!!! I'll keep siding her, she's been wronged by Mordecai and Margaret. I'll defend her with my life!!!

Yeah, she's short tempered, jumps to conclusions that leads to misunderstanding and gets upset easily, but you have to acknowledge the reasons she's mad, she has the very rights to be because of how much both Mordecai and Margaret runs over her. She's in between the issues between them while she's still dating Mordecai. She never wanted to deal with Margaret and Mordecai's bullshit because she has nothing to do with it, yet she's involved, and she's the one who ends up getting hurt because of them. (I've literally been in a similar situation as her so I've sort of relate.)

It's not her fault.

Everyone who says badly about her relationship with Margaret and Mordecai never tried to look at her perspective and just look at her from third person. All they see is anger and rage in her.

Mordecai is selfish and self centered, Margaret just never let's go when she knows he is already dating CJ. And HE messes up his relationships with the both of them because he's too indulge in his own selfishness and love triangle type of bullshit and never considered and reassured how CJ feels.

Mordecai emotionally (physically too, after kissing Margaret in the Christmas episode) cheated on CJ multiple times, of course CJ would easily jump into conclusions Mordecai is being intimate with Margaret. Plus! Mordercai barely even reassured CJ, he only ever does when something goes wrong and he fucked it over. He keeps apologizing (not only to her but to everyone) yet never changes his way. Like I said earlier he's selfish and self-centered, in a sort of way he never realizes it.

Don't get me started with Margaret, she still tries to hangout with Mordecai multiple times, being intimate with him too and admit she still have feelings for him WHEN SHE KNOWS HE'S DATING CJ, I get moving on is hard, but why still love Mordecai when she's also literally the one who left, these two are so obsessed with each other that they had CJ involved that has NOTHING to do with their issues just because she's dating Mordecai. She should have kept it to herself and been mindful about it. CJ was right for saying "why didn't you get it right in the first place?" (I'm probably misquoting it but it's still similar to what she said. I'm really lazy looking back at all the episodes. Because I did it yesterday.)

Everyone's so mad at CJ for beings upset so easily over the "smallest" thing and they never atleast try to look in her perspective that Mordecai and Margaret did her wrong.

Imagine how you feel if you were emotionally cheated on by your boyfriend because of his ex. She never asked to be in between Margaret and Mordecai's drama. She just wanted to love Mordecai but she never wanted to sign up for the crap Mordecai still has with her ex.

CJ deserves better after getting wronged by both of them.

You guys also say you need more BPD representation in media but you guys hate CJ and can't even handle her (took these words from my friend on Facebook when I first made this Regular Show rant). She's literally the coolest person ever, and but you guys just decide to ignore all of her good traits for her flaws and consider her immature. It's the same way how people with BPD are so perceived (as someone with BPD).

Every good thing about CJ is so overlooked. But dude, she's literally honest with herself! She's so genuine. Mordercai had to fuck it up because he can't choose between her and Margaret while still dating her. (Again emotional cheating)

[zoe-oneesama]

ONE MORE EPISODE LEFT TO WRITE! CONGRATULATIONS!! 🎉🎊 Based on everything we’ve seen up to this point in-show, what are your thoughts on Nathalie, her Catalyst akuma and Mayura villain persona, and the Heroes’ Day Season 2 two-parter after your fresh rewatch of the episodes?

I'll be watching both parts at once, but since I'll probably have to rewatch part 2: "Mayura" when I finish my own part 1, I'll mostly focus on Part 1: "Catalyst", with some bleed in from Part 2. I'll be taking a linear critique of the episode in a stream of consciousness way.

To start, "Heroes' Day" is not a real French holiday, yet Marinette's parents say it's come again "just like every year", implying that this has been going on for multiple years? Implying that a Hero Day based off your local superheroes have been happening for YEARS while Marinette and Adrien are in the same class, in the same school year....make it make sense.

Of course, this could be a totally in universe regular holiday that USED to be about just doing good deeds for a day that they adopted to theme around their superheroes, what do I know.

About those good deeds...Marinette deserves slack here. She does good deeds for her friends all the freaking time, but the first part of the two episodes puts a lot of pressure for her to not only do a Good Deed but a Good Enough Good Deed, which to me defeats the purpose of a good deed. You're supposed to do good deeds for the sake of being kind and improving the world, not for...recognition. Or maybe they're being graded...

This feels like a dropped plot line, which is a shame because this was actually a decent lesson for Marinette for once about taking on too much and pressuring herself. Except for Chloe, Marinette is the only person demanding Marinette do a Good Enough Deed, to the point of making a promise she couldn't keep. (Though it's dumb she feels pressured thanks to CHLOE of all people, when all the richest girl in Paris is offering is her own autographs). Yet they only go part way and nearly completely drop this plot line in the second half.

You know, instead of that scene of Adrien meeting Marinette on the steps and assuming he's not invited, they could've used that time for Marinette to admit to Adrien that she panicked and is struggling to keep to her word. Marinette could've actually confided in Adrien, showing their friendship by allowing her to be vulnerable with him about how she was feeling inadequate compared to everyone else and how these feelings spurred her into trouble. This also would've been a great lead in for the end of the two parter:

In Part 2, the picnic/taste testing that Marinette promised but had no time for? It still happens. How? According to Adrien at the end of his speech, the class "jumped at the chance to help". Would've been nice to see any of that, or see any REAL conclusion to Marinette's issue in these episodes, which was putting too much pressure on herself and not telling the truth when it became overwhelming. Even her mom tells her that bravely admitting when you've messed up is heroic, but...Marinette never tells anyone.

On screen anyway.

By having Marinette tell Adrien, Adrien could've rounded up the class to make the picnic happen. And Marinette should've been distraught - this was supposed to be HER good deed yet THEY did all the work! She failed! And then the class disagrees. She does good deeds all the time! Checking in on Ivan after he was an akuma! Breaking Juleka's picture curse! Bringing Marc and Nathaniel together! A single day can't compare to the number of things she's done for everyone here! And now it's their turn to do something for her!

And then she's brought to tears and kisses his cheek in thanks blah blah blah you've seen canon. Instead it's treated as a "oh yeah, we did that thing with Marinette in the first part, uhhh, that's resolved now, okay?" What a waste.

Actually I'm sure this is a completely dropped plot line because Adrien says "Like Rose said earlier" when she didn't say anything.

Where were we? Oh right, Lila's first sighting in a whole season.

Alya here says Marinette is jealous of Lila for trying to hit on Adrien (or in the French, "seduce"~ lol). I'd just like Alya to remember that for later when she actually believes Lila when she says she doesn't have feelings for Adrien, but we all know continuity doesn't live here.

Speaking of, I'm not surprised how many salt fics paint Lila's (first) mom as an idiot. Right after Lila tells her mom that Principal Damocles is also stuck as an akuma thanks to Ladybug's "incompetence", a giant floating balloon of Ladybug floats past her bedroom window.

Woman, how you gonna believe that Paris' heroes are incompetent on the word of your daughter while Paris throws a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in her honor? (I also assume this woman doesn't talk to anyone other than Lila despite apparently being out of the house so often that they don't even share breakfast together. Sure ZAG.) But at least I get to enjoy Gabriel deliberately poking the bear by bringing up Volpina when she was completely and utterly irrelevant. That did in fact make me laugh.

Oh, this is something that I only just put together, but Alya says her good deed was going to the Mayor and getting him to sign off on making the school accessible for disabled students, and we see in this episode on-wards that the school has a ramp. I HAD noticed the ramp in Season 3, but I had completely forgotten that Alya talked about it here at the end of Season 2. So, wow! Good continuity detail, Zag! You get one gold star. ⭐

(though that ramp is hella steep)

I was about to also praise the continuity of Gabriel bringing up financing a Ladybug movie, since that seemed to be setting up "Animaestro"...but then he says it's playing that day (on EVERY tv channel?!). But..."Animaestro" was the movie's premiere...So I guess there's another in universe Ladybug movie ( funded by a fashion director?) that we'll never see. U_U

Damn, I was gonna point out the nepotism of hiring your primary sponsor's son to voice act the male lead, but I guess I can't anymore, bummer 😗

I do make a mental note of the things Lila is calling Ladybug as she's cycling through news coverage. "Liar. Traitor. Coward." Just...interesting. Where did Ladybug lie? Where did Ladybug betray Lila? Where did she run and hide? Interesting, interesting, interesting.

And betrayals only happen when there's trust between you, in order for Ladybug to "betray" Lila she would've had to have Lila's trust or loyalty to begin with.

Even here she didn't accept the akuma as willingly as she did in "Chameleon", but she still greeted Hawkmoth like an old friend, and is DELIGHTED to ruin everyone's Heroes' Day and traumatize them with her illusion for a chance to help Hawkmoth succeed, just to get back at Ladybug. Yikes.

Lmao, not the unfinished png photoshop background on the flute. Great quality check, guys.

I do think this is the first time I actually thought Hawkmoth did something smart. After putting all his eggs in the Audrey/Style Queen basket and then handing the basket to Chloe/Queen Wasp, I wasn't too impressed with him, but this plan was actually good. (I mean it should've PARTIALLY fallen apart once people saw both the Unakumatized Ladybug AND Chat Noir now that we know people can reject their akumas, but sure. We didn't know it at THIS point, so it seems smart.)

But all this energy could've just been channeled into making the ultimate doctor akuma. I mean, you literally made a Miraculous Holder Power Booster with Catalyst, so I'm just saying what we've all been saying~

"I know, it wouldn't be very heroic to use my powers on my personal business" - GIRL at this point YOU'VE EARNED IT, SCREW what Tikki says!

This does make it the second time someone's told Marinette to just come clean to her friends. Why did they drop this plot line after pushing it so hard?!?!?!

"You don't have enough cake for me, do you?" Sir, did you pull a muscle with that leap?! I guess the intention of this scene was that Marinette was ABOUT to come clean to her friends but Adrien's excitement put the pressure for her to pull off the picnic back on. Again, there is no solid conclusion for this part of the story, Marinette just festers on it until there's akuma stuff to deal with. Wait, maybe the mass akuma outbreak is how she really got out of it... "Sorry guys I TOTALLY had this whole thing planned, but, you know. Akumas. Lots of them. Couldn't do it."

How satisfying. 🙃

"Heroes' Day is now...meaningless!" This is like in Christmas movies when people say Christmas is RUINED because a tree caught fire or Santa didn't come. Did the Whos in Whoville teach you nothing, that's the not the true meaning of Christmas and Superheroes are not the true meaning of Heroes Day when you set it up as a reoccurring holiday where people go the extra mile to be kind to one another!

Sorry, this is nit picky, like really nit picky, but don't create a fictional holiday that's about joy and kindness and then "ruin" it by something only tangentially related. I know it's totally just to get the plot going forward, but I'm too old and have seen this too many times (mostly in Christmas media) and it starts to grate on you. Just make the holiday a new one in tribute TO the heroes, then it can be ruined by the heroes turning bad, otherwise you're killing your message about the Everyday Heroes doing Good Deeds to Keep the World a Kind and Happy Place by putting all the weight on the SUPERNATURAL EXTRAORDINARY FIGURES THAT NORMAL HUMANS COULD NEVER COMPARE TO!

*huff huff*

So...Sabrina should know what's up with Lila at least a little, right? Since Ladybug firmly believes Volpina was involved, right? Well, based off some spoilers, MAYBE (strong maybe, this is speculation entirely), Sabrina might finally be using this knowledge. You know, 3 Seasons later. Maybe. They've been doing pretty decent at pulling stuff from earlier seasons, even if it DOES feel too little too late, so it's possible that Sabrina will FINALLY remember this moment with Ladybug.

"You're Rena Rouge and you didn't tell me?!" You didn't tell her you were Carapace either, but I see this is where it freaking starts with you young man. I remember this being a funny moment but hindsight has ruined it, so, thanks for that "Rocketear". 🙃

See, THESE are the Adrien/Chloe moments that I wanted: annoying sibling energy 100%. But alas, this is ALSO ruined. Chloe is calling it her Miraculous, give me MY Miraculous, putting down Chat Noir as Ladybug's "underling". This was never going to work.

Wow, Nora totally nailed it: "If he's talking to Ladybug, then Ladybug and Mr. Whiskers are still on the good side!" I thought she was supposed to be the dumb one?

Anyway, that's part 1 (or at least most of what I have to say about it). As a stand alone, this feels like a huge lead up, which I think gets mostly paid off on the akuma side of things...and definitely not on the Marinette side of things. Wah wah.

I don't have many feelings on Nathalie, Catalyst, or Mayura since they're barely in the first part (or not in it lol) and when she is in it she feels very OOC - smiling a lot, shy glances to the side, all in to go full Team Rocket with Hawkmoth. Up until now she's been so peripheral that seeing her main stage (though again, just barely) is so jarring.

Well, we'll see her "shine" in the next part I guess.

[fellthemarvelous]

Warning: I use sarcasm when making points.

I have things to say. (And I'm going to be extremely snarky while saying them.)

Y'all, I love Crowley just as much as anyone else, but the way some people think that defending Crowley means it's necessary to villainize Aziraphale is just gross.

Yeah, Crowley is super easy to sympathize with. We all care about him.

But like...some of these Aziraphale hate takes are insane. (And no, haters, I don't actually want to hear from you unless you want to give me even more fodder to work with.)

"Aziraphale shows compassion for everyone except Crowley." (Actual footage from the very first episode, just to name one example, but okay. I guess sheltering someone who was supposed to be his mortal enemy under his wing was a senseless act of cruelty.)

"Aziraphale doesn't love Crowley." (Wait, I totally utilize my heart eyes for people I don't love too!!)

"Aziraphale has never actually trusted Crowley." (They only helped save the world together though. Weird. And then there was that time in 1941 where he trusted that Crowley wouldn't shoot him in the face while their miracles weren't working.)

"Even in second season when Crowley says "I'm a demon, I lied" Aziraphale doesn't think of Crowley's pain, he was busy being sad for himself. Before this Aziraphale even says "I'm like you now" as if being demon is worse thing than killing innocent children and animals." (Whatever the hell this is.)

This one is just really special. Congratulations on walking into the point and somehow missing it at the same time? That's exactly what makes the system so fucked up in the first place and why Crowley doesn't tell anyone that Aziraphale lied to Heaven. This moment wasn't about Crowley. It was about Aziraphale. Crowley knows the pain and trauma that comes with falling and he doesn't want Aziraphale to experience that?? Aziraphale is allowed to be scared and sad because like, I don't know if you know this, but when you've been indoctrinated into blind obedience, going against the grain is actually really fucking scary because the punishment is terrifying. This is why so many religious abuse survivors relate to Aziraphale?? Also, a demon like Hastur would have killed the animals and the children, so....

"I can not in my sane mind think that Crowley could ever trust Aziraphale with his trauma. He would never share anything that was done to him. Because chances are if he did, he would just be invalidated and belittled. Or worse, he would have been blamed even for it since he is a demon and that's what he deserves (which Crowley already believes to be true)." (What?!?!?!)

Aziraphale, most compassionate and kindest angel there is, would mock Crowley's pain? The same Aziraphale who has been mocked and abused (verbally, mentally and physically) by his superiors would turn around and do the same thing to Crowley when Crowley is the only one who has ever understood him? Aziraphale, the angel who gave the demons a chance to walk away from his bookshop without being hurt, would mock Crowley? Aziraphale, the same angel who had to sit there and listen to Shax mock him and belittle him relentlessly while he protected Jimbriel, would invalidate Crowley?

"Aziraphale only loves Crowley as an angel and not a demon." (Yeah, look how disgusted he is...planning a whole ball just so he could hold hands and dance with his demon. Eww.)

"When Crowley asks for the holy water instead of asking for why he needed something that was so dangerous he immediately jumps to conclusions and then hurts Crowley even more."

I mean other than the fact that we saw what happened to Ligur in season one when he got doused with the holy water, I can't imagine why Aziraphale would be so hesitant to hand something like that over to the love of his life. And he finally did hand it over, knowing he would never be able to forgive himself if Crowley did use it to end his own existence. Not to mention that Hell actually did plan to kill Crowley with holy water at the end of season 1. I would totally jump at the chance to give someone I love something incredibly dangerous to them, but I guess I'm built differently. 🙃 And who cares about Aziraphale's feelings on the subject anyway, am I right?

"Crowley has no reason to trust Aziraphale." (I know right? Aside from the time Aziraphale gave him the holy water even though it scared him or the time he used a human magic trick to save Crowley from having to go back to Hell again or the time he protected Crowley's identity by playing along with Bildad the Shuhite so Heaven wouldn't know he was actually a demon or all the times Aziraphale has offered Crowley sanctuary in his bookshop or when they performed their half miracle together or when they literally swapped bodies.)

"Aziraphale chose Heaven over Crowley because he thinks Crowley is beneath him." (I mean he sacrificed his own happiness to go back to Heaven too, but why bother exploring that when we can all just hate Aziraphale for doing what he thinks is the right thing to do? What even are shades of grey?)

Like I get it. I do. Aziraphale leaving was very upsetting because we wanted to see the Ineffable Husbands get their happy ending. But whenever I see people talk about how rejected Crowley feels, like Aziraphale feels rejected too. You get that, right? And I'm not saying he was right for asking Crowley to go back and become an angel again, but he wants Crowley to be safe and he mistakenly believed it would be that easy.

Just because Aziraphale has a lot to learn doesn't mean he's wrong for going back. Just because Aziraphale has flaws doesn't mean he's bad. Crowley isn't the only one suffering and heartbroken.

And we all saw that the Metatron gave him no time to begin grieving over what just happened. Instead Aziraphale turned around, put a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes, and stepped onto the elevator because he is going to try and make changes even if he has to do it all alone.

How would revolutions get started if people saw no point in trying to change things for the better?

I leaned into bitch mode in this post. It happens.

[midnight-light]

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Characters AGAIN~!

So I decided to do ANOTHER character post, because I played through the DLC's not that long ago, so let's just dive right into this shall we~? (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's; Teal Mask and Indigo Disk Spoilers ahead! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.) Starting with my new favourite character~! (Sorry not sorry Arven!) KIERAN

Where do I start???

Upon first meeting him, my inital impression was; 'Aww, adorable wet cat boi! He needs a hug!

Throughout the course of teal mask I began to feel REALLY bad because well...

How dare the game make me lie to that face-

I went into the DLC's practically blind, so his change in personality, while I saw it building up in Teal mask, still got me HELLA off guard in Indigo disk.

Like DAMN boi!

I personally really liked the idea of the theory of the toxic chain (Though I know it was not what actually happened in the game) twisting Kieran's desires, that might just be me though.

For those who might be curious...yes, yes I did use Ogrepon against Kieran.

The fact that he was so desperate to beat Juliana/Florian (Player Character) That he used a master ball to catch terapagos and then recklessly used the pokemon that he barely knew anything about... said something

I liked the overall character arc for Kieran (though I wish I could have given him a hug at the end when he apologized)

Definitely throwing him onto the therapy bandwagon with Arven though.

CARMINE

Moving on to Carmine, I...had a mixed first impression of her.

She agitated me at first, but I knew i was only looking at the surface so I didn't want to jump to conclusions

and damn was I glad that I didn't, she proved to be an enjoyable character.

She started to win me over when Kieran tells the player character, "Actually, she was tearin' the shed apart, trying to find a third mask for you before you got there..."

That finally tipped my dense brain off that she's not all mean and that she does care, just doesn't exactly show it in front of others.

she completely won me over when she told me I could sucker punch Drayton (I love him but sometimes I stg-)

When she was genuinely showing worry for her brother during Indigo disk I just kinda sat their like; "I did this, and I'm sad that I did this." regretti spaghetti was hitting hard.

She also paid witness to Kieran nearly DYING near the end of indigo disk, not to mention helping with battling terapagos... and so...

*Yeets her into the Therapy Wagon* That makes the therapy count four now. (I never mentioned this in my previous character posts but Arven and Penny are ALSO in the therapy bandwagon) Whose next?!

DRAYTON

This guy

THIS GUY.

Don't get me wrong, I love him as a character

But sometimes, SOMETIMES, I want to punch him.

For me at least, he's like the older sibling that LOVES to annoy the hell out of his younger siblings.

but I wont lie I was definitely giggling a bit under my breath when he swaggered up to Kieran and called him "Ex Champion"

It was like he'd been WAITING to say that in revenge for when Kieran beat him and dethroned him from his champion spot.

He is cunning and I love that to bits.

he knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he dragged you into joining the league club and getting you to challenge the elite 4 + Kieran.

"I've got a feeling you're trying to play puppet master." He was not just trying, he was playing puppet master rather successfully.

BRIAR

This may turn into a rant but here we go regardless!

At first, I thought; ah a professor, surely she must be pretty responsible!

and yeah at first she was decently responsible for the students she was in charge of.

Then I started getting near the end of indigo disk

Madam, I know that Kieran is a strong trainer, but also, let him mentally spiral in peace.

Also the fact that Kieran literally says this; "Ms.Briar can be so reckless sometimes... I feel like I always have to keep an eye on her."

Okay, mild concern is officially rising.

'Terrastrialize Terapagos' she says, Ah yes, let's terrastrialize this pokemon that was only JUST caught and we know nothing about, that's totally safe!

Now we're BOTH to blame for Kieran and Carmine requiring therapy!

Despite this I don't hate her

but GodDAMN she nearly gave me a stroke-

[graendoll]

I finally watched the finale of 911 season 7 and my thoughts are below the break.

I have a lot of feelings about what they did and some of them are pretty "oof". Anyway, I realize I swept into Buddie fandom like two months ago and fell deeply in love with Buck and Eddie but after everything that is happening in fandom and in the show, I may slip back out as quickly as I came in because I'm not sure I can deal with the ship wars between now and season 8.

So yeah, if you want to hear what I think about where everything ended up, keep reading. Also...still a Buddie shipper in case it needs to be said 😅

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT PROCEED W/CAUTION

First, Eddie's story has me absolutely heartbroken even if I suspected a lot of it. Chris calling his grandparents, him leaving even if temporary. I knew it was coming and it still hit me really hard. I know Gavin was considering pulling back so I get it. And Chris will obviously still be a part of Eddie's narrative but ouch that hurt.

Next, the scene between Buck and Tommy was just icky to me. Daddy kink is one of those things I filter out of fic because it's a major fucking squick so the fact that Tim Minear put that on my screen against my will nearly had me throwing hands. Any positive I was trying to find in their date interaction was quickly vomited out all over my coffee table.

I'm not optimistic about Tommy leaving quickly in season 8 for any reason. The date was very much a get to know you situation and while I thought Tommy was being a bit harsh about Bobby, I can guarantee the BT's are probably drooling over the implications of that scene.

(This is one of the things seriously impacting my desire not to watch this show anymore.)

On to Hen and Mara - I am very glad we have a mostly resolved situation with Mara going in to season 8. Honestly this whole story line felt unnecessary and written for the sake of drama. The show is feeling very soapy and while I was giving it the benefit of the doubt because of how much the writers were trying to do in 10 episodes, they better knock that shit off. It's a far cry from the writing of episodes like Buck Begins. (The second reason I may not watch anymore.)

Also, every once in a while Athena does something that makes me absolutely despise her character and this episode was one of those situations. Her jumping to conclusions and threatening Amil was just, rushed, overly dramatic and felt unnecessary

If you needed to get her to Amils house for the cartel arrival, maybe have her go without homicidal tendencies?

Honestly the only storyline that got any room to breath in this episode was Eddie's.

Which brings me to my final thoughts, specific to Buddie and the future of that ship in canon.

First, that will is never going to come up again. It belongs to us now. The writers have elected to ignore it for three seasons and it's never going to come up again, unless Eddie actually dies.

Second, the continuation of BT and the loss of Christopher is like a fucking death knell for Buddie in canon imo. I hate it, but without Chris, they are no longer a little family. Whatever magic was happening with Buddie up to the shooting scene has not been recaptured, and I'm not sure it's ever going to be at this rate, especially I'd the writers don't fix their soapy garbage.

Am I old and cynical? Yes. Does that make me wrong? Maybe...but right now what we have is Buck happily engaged in a weird Daddy kink relationship, Chris, one of the main points of connection between Eddie and Buck, out of the picture, and Eddie probably finding God and repenting for his sins.

Okay I made that last part up but it's a real fear!

In either case, I feel like we were horribly ship bated all season, and it was done only to create buzz for the show on a new network with a new queer character.

I miss when fandom didn't have access to creators and didn't feel like a place you could win because the BTs are going to be A NIGHTMARE for the rest of the hiatus and frankly I don't want to deal with toxic ship wars while we all wait for season 8.

So yeah, happy season 7 finale? 🤣

[malleux]

freedom. | quest for tyr [III]

[main page] | [t.o.c] | [spellbook] | [ << | >> ]

young adult!atreus x reader

-> synopsis: The only times you had ever experienced adventure was through your books. It was hard to live an exciting life while trapped in Alfheim.

You know you're meant for something greater than wasting away underground.

[loosely based on the events of Gow: Ragnarok]

-> chapter warnings: all chapters contain spoilers, cursing, anxiety, vomit mention, fighting, fight scene not accurate to canon, blood, injuries, trauma mention

The day before was nothing compared to the pain you were in today. 

Just opening your eyes was a task that seemed to take all of your energy, and your body was so stiff that the smallest movements hurt. Breathing, speaking, literally anything seemed impossible as you slowly sat up the next morning. 

Atreus was by your side the second he heard you curse under your breath, gently helping you up and handing you a plate of whatever leftovers were scavengable from the night before. You ate slowly, listening to him, Kratos, and Mimir formulate a plan for the day. 

"Earlier, I saw a mine down below, and Mimir saw tracks to another train we could take down there. Hopefully it'll be just as safe as the last one," Atreus smiled at you reassuringly during his last sentence, remembering how much you hated them.

You pursed your lips and side-eyed him. You were appreciative of the gesture, really, but heights just really weren't your thing and an old contraption that had your death written all over it didn't help.

You didn't take long to get back to traveling. You didn't feel like holding the trio back from anything they wanted to get done just because you were a little hurt. You could grin and bear it. 

The pain was almost worth it as you saw more pretty views on the mountain top. 

"Father..." Atreus interrupted the peaceful silence. "What if a war with Odin isn't just Tyr's to fight? What if it's ours too?" 

"War is not the only way." Kratos responded. 

"But we're gods. Better gods. We're trying to stop Ragnarok, to help people, and what if the only way to do that is war?" 

"Atreus." 

"I'm just not sure we should immediately jump to that conclusion." You said a bit nervously, "My home was— and still is— torn apart by war. It's not something you really want, especially when you've experienced it."

"Wh— I thought you were on my side!" Atreus whined, turning to you as he continued to walk backwards. 

"I'm on your side with stopping Ragnarok." You shrugged, "I just really, really want to look for any way that doesn't involve war. It's not fun." 

Atreus continued to argue with you as you came upon the rest of the train tracks, but you knew it wasn't a serious thing. He had a playful glint in his eyes— one he had often when he decided to mess around with people. 

You watched in almost awe as Kratos lifted the train and realigned it on the tracks. It amazed you how he barely broke a sweat— he must have been an incredibly strong god. 

Atreus was the first in. Then Kratos and Mimir. 

They looked at you expectantly and you shuffled your feet, looking to find a solid way up into the creaky, wooden cart. You really, really didn't want to go in. 

A hand appeared in front of your face. 

"Here," Atreus helped hoist you up, keeping you steady as the train car squeaked once more under the added weight. He remembered your apprehension and patted your shoulder. "We'll be fine. We don't have much farther to go now." 

"The Kraken hatchling gave you a stone." Kratos pointed out as the train began moving. His voice was a good distraction from your incessant urge to look out the window and scare yourself even more. 

"The Kraken...? Oh, Dinner. Yeah, it's covered in algae. I was thinking we could show it to Brok and Sindri when we got back. Here." Atreus tossed it to his father, who pocketed the stone. "Okay, we came looking for Tyr because we don't trust Odin, right? If you think about it, war could— uh oh—"

The train became shakier and shakier, it's noisy wheels creaking even louder. You stand up in a panic, frantically looking over at your companions, but they look just as confused. 

A creature— a Grim, you recalled— grabbed onto the window ledge closest to Kratos, trying to scratch its way inside. Kratos quickly punched it and sent it flying, but there wasn't much time until another Grim appeared in its place. 

You swallowed your nerves and raised your spear, using the butt of it to knock out a Grim from the window on the other side. 

"Skjalfa!" You cried, sending them out just as quickly as they were coming in. You wanted nothing more than to use your favorite little fire spell, but with a wooden train like this you knew you'd probably set it on fire too. 

"Atreus, look for a brake to stop the train!" Mimir called out, "Should be a lever of some sort!"

"I found it— but it's stuck!" 

"Try harder!" You shook out your hand as you hit a Grim that had actually made it through the window. You grabbed it and threw it back out, hitting two others that threatened to enter and sending them all back. 

"I'm trying! But— it's—" 

The lever broke in two. The handle flew out of the window you were guarding. 

You all could only stare at each other for a moment before the train began to fall— the one thing you prayed to the Nords wouldn't happen. 

"Shit." Atreus grabbed your arm and pulled you between him and Kratos, presumably to shield your fall or protect you from the rest of the Grim. "Shitshitshitshitshit—"

"Ow!" You yelped as you hit the ground. 

Kratos was up before you could even fathom what was going on. He pried at the opening at the top of the train, climbing out and yelling out a rough "Get up!" before taking out his axe and disappearing from your sight. 

He reached back down once he returned, grabbing both you and Atreus and setting you down on top of the cart. You were definitely put down more gently than Atreus, but you wouldn't point that out. 

"I can't believe we surv— are you serious?" Atreus was frustrated now, more Grim coming from seemingly out of nowhere to attack you. 

You whipped around to survey your surroundings, choosing to stay further away from the heat of the fight. The headless troll that laid to your right told you what Kratos had done earlier, and you silently thanked him for making things easier. 

You pointed your spear at Grim that tried to tag-team Kratos or Atreus, choosing to save your magic energy and use some Dark Elf skills. An energy beam shot out from the tip of your spear, slicing the unsuspecting Grim in two. 

This continued for only a few moments longer, then you finally could drop your weapon. You still held onto it tightly, though, still on guard. You jumped down to rejoin everyone. 

"That was crazy." Atreus breathed out. 

"You said it, little brother." 

"That was awful." You shuddered. "I hate heights. I also now hate trains. I knew something was going to happen." 

"You jinxed us, then!" Atreus teased, "You can't sit there and think bad thoughts and then expect good things to come. You gotta look on the bright side." 

"I didn't jinx shit." You mumbled, watching as Kratos looked around for where to go next. "I was looking on the bright side. I felt like I was going to pass out, and if I was unconscious at least I wouldn't feel it when I died." 

"That's— that is not what I meant. Just, come on, I think Father found something." 

It was a small crawl space, which all things considered could be either better or worse than falling off of the side of a mountain on a train. 

Atreus went first, then you, followed by Kratos. You noticed he always took up the back— probably to protect you both from whatever may sneak up behind. Smart. 

"Quite the mouth you had back there, lad." Mimir broke the silence. 

"It's just a word." Atreus rolled his eyes. "I've heard way worse from Br-"

"The word does not matter. You lost control." Kratos reprimanded. His voice was always stern, but this held an even harsher tone. 

"We were falling. Through the air." Atreus defended, "I thought we were gonna die." He gestured to you, "She says it all the time!"

"She was not raised the same way you were. What is acceptable for her is different from you. Is that truly what you wish your last words to be?"

You were glad that was Kratos's view, because the second Atreus brought you into it your heart seized. You did not want to get scolded by Kratos. 

"No." Atreus gave up arguing. You thought that was a wise choice. 

"In moments of crisis, panic does nothing. Harness it. Let it serve you." 

You let his words sink in as you came across another area, this time finally in the open. You kind of wanted to laugh— Kratos wasn't even talking to you, and yet you held onto his words more than you'd ever held onto your own father's. Kratos had a lot of wisdom, but Atreus wouldn't heed it. 

You figured it just be a father-child thing for you and Atreus to never listen. 

"What is this?" You looked around the area in a bit of awe, taking in the wooden structures and water wheels around you. 

"The Jarnsmida Pitmines, lass." Mimir answered joyfully, as if he was reminiscing on something. Probably some memories that he has in that infinite brain of his. 

"Look on the ground. Tracks." Atreus pointed out, "They must lead into the mines." 

"And what exactly is in these mines?" You stood beside him, eyeing Kratos once more as he studied the area. It seemed like every place you went to had some gods-awful puzzle just to make it through and it made your brain hurt. 

"Hopefully Tyr." He smiled at you, and you pursed your lips into a half-smile in return. Your adrenaline was wearing off and the impact from the train crash made your injuries from the Dreki feel brand new again. 

You took a deep breath, only being able to inhale so deeply, and nodded. "Hopefully. I just want him to be here and us not just find another clue and be on a wild goose chase." 

"This is a super prominent mine, I'm pretty sure. If he's anywhere in Svartalfheim, he's gotta be here." 

Atreus's words did little to comfort you, but you couldn't say much as Kratos summoned him to help with a mechanism to open the mine. 

You reached into your pocket and toyed with a piece of paper— the one Sindri gave to you before you left. You didn't have time to read the rest of the spells he had written down for you, so you pulled it out to scan over it. 

You already knew the three first ones, even if you hadn't gotten to use most of them yet: 'Logi: fire. Sverð: sword. Verja: defend.'

Turning the paper over, you saw three more spells written down in neat handwriting— characteristic of Sindri. 

'Iss: ice. Kanna: search. Ausa: water.' 

You hummed. One of these spells was not like the other. Every one of them seemed self-explanatory, except for Kanna. What could it mean to search? Would it help you find something? 

Folding the paper back in your pocket, you took a deep breath and closed your eyes. You felt like you'd have to have an idea of what you were trying to search for, so you sent your intentions to something simple. 

You'd ask for it to find anything with magic in it. 

"Kanna."

You waited for a second. You waited for something— a feeling, a voice, a tug, anything. Assuming nothing had changed or you'd done the spell wrong, you opened your eyes only to gasp out loud. 

Everything around you was covered in a very, very translucent light blue. You looked around— the weapons on Kratos's back glowed a bright blue, much more opaque and noticeable than the blue that spanned the rest of the terrain. Your own spear emitted the same light, as did the palms of your hands where you felt the burn when you did your fire spell. 

Atreus's bow was blue, and so was Mimir's head. Small rocks that blocked entrances glowed as well— rocks that you or Atreus could easily use Skjálfa to destroy.

Ah. Kanna did work.

And from the way Kratos, Mimir, nor Atreus said anything about the sudden shift in color from the original terrain, you could assume you were the only one seeing it. 

You whispered the spell under your breath again and slowly, the blue hue faded from your vision. The mines were restored to their normal, dull brown color. 

'Kanna.' 

Your intention this time included living things— bugs, monsters, whatever. 

The blue crept back into your vision like a rapid flood, but this time the brights were different. You could see Kratos and Atreus shining brightly as they worked together. Mimir's blue flickered a bit, but it made sense. Was the decapitated cursed head really alive? 

You could see little glowing dots shining through rocks like x-rays, showing you where all the little bugs hid underneath. 

More brights caught your eye as they moved towards Kratos and Atreus. 

"Guys, watch out!" You called, "Logi!" 

Fire erupted from below the feet of the monsters. You were able to see them easily with how they shined against the rest of the area. 

You were aware of many more, but this was starting to hurt your eyes. You turned off the spell and rubbed your eyes. They felt sore— sunken in deep and dryer than usual. You'd definitely have to use this sparingly, or risk a massive headache.

Kratos and Atreus quickly took out the few Wretches that threatened them and as soon as it began, it was over. 

The three of you— plus Mimir, but you really couldn't figure out if he counted as a full person or not— stood in front of a crane, watching water flow through it. A large wooden box blocked your path to the next ledge of land. Your hands were on your hips and nobody spoke, trying to find something to help you get across. 

"Looks like the water powers the crane that's keeping the cargo up." Atreus pointed out. 

"Think freezing it could stop the water?" Mimir suggested. 

You quickly held out your hand, aiming it near the end of the crane where the water flowed out. "Iss!"

Ice crystallized in the middle of the flow, encompassing part of the crane in cold fractals. The water built up on the other side of the crane and began to pour out of one of the sides, effectively stopping the flow from hitting the water wheel that was beneath it. The cargo box lowered and you made your way across.

"When did you learn that trick?" Atreus asked as you continued to push forward, coming across the next stupid little platform of puzzles. 

You shrugged. "Just got a little help from some people." 

"Atreus, Y/n, come."

You headed towards Kratos, who assumed a squatting position near the next contraption you came across. Atreus automatically stepped into his hands and was hoisted up onto the wood, and then it was your turn. You assumed he wanted you to do the same, so you quickly followed and hoisted yourself the rest of the way up. 

You explored the area for a minute, Atreus straying away from you for a second before he spoke up. "Father, there's a gate up here heading towards the entrance to the mine. If you can get up here, we'll need your help lifting it." 

"If..." Kratos mumbled under his breath.

"Oh come on, you can jump that! Your knees aren't that bad."

"Atreus." Kratos warned. He used his axe to freeze a water flow that was causing a platform to move unstably and jumped across. 

"I hope you can make that jump!" Atreus joked again and you elbowed him in the side. "Hey!"

"Give the man a break." You laughed. 

Kratos soon joined you both and you headed towards the entrance of the mine. It was covered in debris and a gate that seemed quite heavy. Atreus was right about needing Kratos's help. 

"I sure hope Tyr is here..." He mumbled. 

"Atreus, we seek information." Kratos reminded him. Atreus rolled his eyes. 

"I know. Stop acting like I'm trying to start a war."

"Yet you do not say otherwise--"

"Brothers, maybe we can lay this to rest a bit, eh?"

You were thankful for Mimir's interjection. It was always awkward to be in a a group with two people arguing, but it felt a bit more powerful between Kratos and Atreus. They were both very prominent, strong presences and you knew enough about them already to know that neither of them were likely to back down should the conversation get more heated. 

Kratos was right-- you didn't want to start a war. Atreus had told you numerous times that war wasn't his intention, but once more Kratos seemed right to you. He wasn't denouncing it very hard. He may be against the idea of a war, but he wasn't taking many precautions to truly prevent it.

You continued on in silence, helping out if needed but mostly staying in the back. This wasn't your journey— you were just lucky enough to be allowed to tag along. You did what you were asked, including helping Atreus push back a cart that blocked the way to the mine, finally revealing the rest of the entrance and—

"Sindri?" 

The dwarf waved awkwardly, as if he hadn't just appeared out of nowhere for the second time in Svartalfheim. "Got something else for you." He waited until you all were near to continue. "Since you're currently lacking a light source--sorry-- and have no way of seeing exactly what untold horrors lurk in the dark, these will help."

"Thanks for making me feel better." You mumbled under your breath. Sindri gave you an apologetic look before pulling out three... things. 

"Okay, back to your exploring now. Off with you."

"Thanks Sindri," Atreus commented, "What, uh, do you mean by untold horrors?"

You were wondering the same thing, but Sindri gave no answer. You all put away the light sources that he had given you and turned back to where the dwarf stood, but he was nowhere to be found. 

"How does he do that?" You tilted your head. 

"No idea." Atreus sighed, but then turned to you and grinned. "Let's get going. It looks like the actual entrance to the mine is blocked, but there's gotta be another away."

"This way." Kratos began moving. 

"Nice. Not a dead end. Let's see where this goes."

You jumped down from a ledge into a deep pit-like area. A few Wretches came from the shadows, but you all were able to quickly cut them down. They were nothing more than a nuisance now-- this weird lizard things were so annoying. 

Atreus used his bow's sonic vibrations to break a few rocks to reveal a crawlspace. You internally cringed at the tight quarters. After being locked up your whole life, you didn't necessarily want to be trapped again in something even smaller. Nevertheless, you followed after Atreus with Kratos once again taking up the back. 

"It certainly smells like we're headed into a mine." Mimir piped up. 

"I think I can hear the water too."

"Slow down, Atreus. Take care. Be ready."

If Kratos had a bad feeling, then you did too. Especially once you heard the loud, gurgling roar of a monster when you crawled out of the space. The area you were in now was rather open and spacious, save for the pillar in the middle, the numerous Wretches that seemed to swarm around your feet, and the giant... creature across the room that grew angrier by the second. 

"What the Hel that?" You grabbed your spear and held it across your front. 

"It's called a Bergsra." Mimir answered, his voice echoing through the cavern as Kratos took out a few Wretches. 

"Its like the Grim if Thor decided to procreate with them." You huffed, kicking a Wretch that decided to bite your ankle. "Ugly and huge."

The Bergsra did not like your analogy and yelled out loud enough to shake the cavern walls. You watched as Kratos landed his first hit against it, and decided to join in on the fun. You ran towards it while Kratos distracted it, but you must have severely pissed it off when you called it an offspring of Thor. The Bergsra turned toward you and knocked its head back, lurching a giant green blob out of its mouth in your direction. 

"Verja!" You quickly yelled out. Defend. 

Light emitted from your non-dominant arm-- the one that wasn't holding your spear-- and you instinctually held it up as the blob came closer. It didn't hit you, instead exploding across the large bronze shield you had managed to conjure. 

You looked at your arm in surprise. In hindsight, Verja was a lot more self-explanatory than you'd expected. Especially considering the spell next to it-- Sverð-- was literally sword. 

Another green blob was coming your way. Kratos had been knocked back for a second and Atreus was attacking from long distance, so the Bergsra's attention was once more turned towards you. In a split decision, you rushed towards the creature and it's blob, using your shield to hit the poison back at it. It hit the Bergsra in the face and it roared out in pain, clawing at its face. 

Kratos was back up and threw his blades towards the Bergsra's back. They latched on and he propelled himself forward, kicking it down and landing on top of it. Using his bare hands, Kratos grabbed the head of the monster and twisted. It came off in a loud, gruesome snap and you had to look away from the scene just to keep your breakfast. 

The Wretches stopped attacking as the Bergsra was killed and crawled back into the little nooks and crannies that they came from. And it was over. 

"Ugh, the smell these things leave behind is so gross." Atreus groaned.

"A small consequence for disturbing their home." Kratos replied. You tilted your head at how he almost  humanized them. 

"...Let's keep moving."