Tumgik
#been having a really weird day so it was nice to see my son-in-law again
kidovna · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media
Mike Wheelie
2K notes · View notes
shanastoryteller · 1 year
Note
Happy birthday, Shana! 🎉🎉🌻🌻
Untamed or Naruto?
When Naruto is born, the nine tailed fox is pulled from Kushina along with her and it's only because of Minato's quick application of a seal that keeps disaster from becoming even worse.
Dozens of buildings and hundreds of lives are lost in the devestation. Still, it could have been a far worse attack, if Naruto had not been a suitable host for the demon.
It's a risk, one that Kushina screams at him for taking. The seal might not hold. Babies are not meant to be containers. It could kill their daughter, and sure, the nine tail might die along with her, but at what cost?
The seal holds. Naruto's strength holds.
The ordeal nearly kills Kushina and weakens her enough that she'll never again be an active duty ninja.
Minato sleeps at his office after that. Kushina doesn't even let him hold her until she's six months old and it's not until Naruto is almost two that she lets him move back into their home.
Still. Things aren't quite the same between them after that, when Kushina saw how he quick he was to sacrifice his daughter for the village.
Practically, she understands.
But no one has ever accused Kushina of being practical.
~
A container forced to spend their whole life fighting the fox will be weak. There's nothing for it - all their energy and chakra and time is spent subduing the fox, consciously or subconsciously.
Her daughter has been sabotaged from her first breath, made a target and given no way to defend herself.
"You want me to marry your daughter?" Kakashi squeaks, wondering if this is some new cruel prank she's playing on him. "She's a baby!"
But Kushina is serious. She's serious a lot these days, but at his question she almost smiles. "Not now. In about twenty years."
"Why," he starts, and then doesn't know how to continue.
"You're selfish," she says and his shoulders hunch. "Naruto won't be able to protect herself when people discover what she is and start coming after her. Minato has seen to that. My identity as the container was a well kept secret. Thanks to the attack, half of Konoha knows what Naruto is, and the other nations will hear of it, and they will come for her."
"I can protect her without marrying her," he insists, looking down at the baby in Kushina's arms. The idea that anyone, never mind him, will marry her someday is ridiculous.
"You're selfish," she repeats. "You'll choose her if she belongs to you."
Kakashi doesn't know what to say to that. He knows why Minato hasn't come home.
He goes to him, and his teacher just shrugs and says, "Don't you want to be my son-in-law, Kakashi?" Then, "Don't worry about it for the next twenty years. A lot can happen between now and then."
Gai hears he's been betrothed - uhg - to the hokage's daughter and congratulates him on an excellent political match and then takes pity on him and takes him to a bar.
It's his first time drinking and he probably shouldn't have let Gai goad him into a drinking contest.
~
Naruto is wary of people.
Some people love her, coo over her being the hokage's daughter and a brave little girl, patting her head and shoving sweets into her hands.
Some people glare at her, hiss about her being a demon who's killed the hokage's real daughter, and slam doors in her face and throw rocks at her back.
"Is it weird having a husband?" Ino asks while they make flower crowns from the days discarded flowers. It's the end to their first week at the academy and her parents are fighting - again - so Naruto had gone home with Ino instead. The Yamanakas are always nice to her.
Her mother doesn't want her to attend the academy, says its a waste of time and dangerous anyway. Her father says that the child of the hokage can't not attend the academy.
Neither of them had asked her what she wanted.
She pauses, thinking. Kakashi greets her and bows to her but he's ANBU, something she's not supposed to know but seems very obvious, so she doesn't really see him outside of when he comes by to talk to her parents sometimes. "No? He's not my husband yet anyway."
She's overheard him a couple times asking her father to find her a different husband, saying that he'll be bodyguard forever if only he doesn't have to marry her.
It hurts that Kakashi thinks she's a demon too. She'd always thought he was really cool and had thought it was nice that she'd have a nice, cool husband when she was older.
But she doesn't think she wants to marry someone who hates her.
~
The Uchihas aren't always nice to her, but Mikoto always is, coming over to her house to talk to her mother and dragging her sons with her, or keeping her door open to Naruto whenever she comes knocking.
Itachi stops coming early on, promoted quickly and no time to tag along to his mother's house visits. Sasuke is there and he scows and pouts but can be efficiently bullied into helping her get into whatever trouble she's decided is most worth her attention that day, so he's pretty all right, for a boy.
Naruto has to pay a lot of really close attention to people, because she never knows if they're going to be nice and mean, and the Uchihas aren't like the Yamanakas. Their reactions differ, so she has to pay attention.
Something is wrong.
Her mother doesn't believe her.
Her father doesn't listen.
She goes to Kakashi out of desperation. She tries to avoid him as much as she can, but he's the one person who might be able to convince her father that something is wrong.
"Ah, Naruto-hime, what can I do for you?" he asks, tone respectful. When she was younger, she liked that nickname. Now she knows that he's mocking her.
"Something is wrong with the Uchiha and you need to get my father to do something about it," she says.
His face is hidden by his stupid mask but she can tell he's frowning. "Why would you-"
She cuts him off, wanting this conversation to be as short as possible. He doesn't believe her either - shocker - but he agrees to look into because it's the quickest way to end the conversation.
Danzo is quietly, secretly, executed for treason. Madara Uchiha is listed as an active S class missing Konoha nin.
There are lots of talks about what, exactly, to do about the Uchihas, on how to handle their almost betrayal. Considering the outside manipulation, her father is inclined to ignore it, but something has to be done. Symbolically, if nothing else.
"If they feel excluded, then do something to make them feel included," Naruto says, nine years old and exhausted from the years of tension between the Uchihas and - well, everyone. Sasuke is so worried about his reputation that it takes ages to get him to do anything fun. It's almost quicker to get Shikamaru involved, which is saying something. "Do something no one else can question."
"Itachi or Sasuke?" her father asks, head bent over his paperwork.
She doesn't know what he's talking about. "For what?"
"Which do you prefer?" he asks.
"Sasuke?" she says, because Itachi is always very nice to her, especially after she helped prevent him from becoming a mass murderer, but he's never once helped her prank Iruka-sensei.
He nods and says nothing more and she rolls her eyes and goes to find something to do. Kiba has started training with Akamaru and she bets she can totally derail that without getting yelled at by Tsume.
A week later Sasuke climbs into her window and hisses furiously, "We're getting married?"
Huh.
Well, it looks like Kakashi got what he wanted.
She decided a long time ago she didn't want to marry him, and Sasuke is her friend, so this is fine. It's better.
Sasuke pats her shoulder and doesn't even yell at her when she ruins his shirt with tears.
He's already a better husband than Kakashi could ever be.
~
Minato is dreading today. Enrolling Naruto into the Academy had seemed like the right thing to do seven years ago, because what would people say about a hokage who didn't, but now that it's Graduation Day and he's going to have to deal with the gossip around the Hokage's daughter failing to even become a genin.
Iruka comes to drop off the team assignments and he does a double take when looking through them. "She passed?"
The chunin blinks and then asks, "Who, Hokage-sama? Haruno Sakura? It's rare for a civilian child, but her academic scores are quite high, even if her physical is lacking. She has a lot of potential."
He waves a dismissive hand. "No. My daughter."
The silence turns frigid and when he looks up it's too Iruka outright glaring at him. He's so taken aback that he can't even reprimand him for it. Iruka swallows, visibly forcing his face into less mutinous expression, and says, "Naruto is Top Kunoichi. That's why she's on the same team as Sasuke, who's Rookie of the Year, even though I was hesitant on putting them together when they already work so well together. They could use variety. Sakura is Dead Last, but only because of her physical skills. With the right teacher, she'll shape up quickly."
"Top Kunoichi," he repeats dubiously. "I've seen her test scores."
"Not since I took over her class, apparently," he says, and that tone should get him in trouble, but Minato doesn't care about that now. "Her previous instructor was ... biased. Under fair instruction, she excels."
She can't excel. She's handicapped, and it's his fault, not hers, but that doesn't change what she's capable of. "That's not possible."
Iruka's eyes narrow. "She's passed my tests. Now it's up to her jounin sensei."
Assigning someone with no biases is impossible, but he can at least assign someone who's never matched the shinobi art of lying about things they don't care about.
~
Naruto hopes this is a nightmare. Sasuke is pinching the bridge of his nose and not looking at any of them.
"Um," Sakura says hesitantly, "nice to meet you, Tsume-sensei."
She scowls at all of them. "I hope you fail. I have a clan to run! I don't have time to deal with untrained, undisciplined puppies!"
They probably shouldn't have broken into the Inuzuka compound so many times. Tsume has plenty of reasons to make their lives miserable. Or, well, hers and Sasuke's. Sakura's never done anything to her.
At least it's not Kakashi.
712 notes · View notes
pastel-rights · 8 months
Note
Rate your friends
oh this anon finally decided to come around [insert tracy happy here]
uhhh it'll be underneath the cut because it's gonna be. long as hell BWAHAHA apologizing ahead of time if I get sappy 😶‍🌫️
sap
sap
sapppp
Rina [ My first real internet friend 🫡]
RINAAA I see you. I see your art. I perceive you.
And, even if we don't talk as much as we used to in the past, you'll always be the first of many great people I've met. And, I really love and appreciate your presence in my life. Dare I say it was life-altering!!
Ocean, Shamia, Arella, and all your other ocs, I'm cradling them in the palms on my hands so so lovingly. I have so many things I need to tell you to be honest !! But goddamnit I have work every night so I'm always busy doing something wahhhh
Anyways.
New Shamia reference when? I need to draw her and her blonde bitchass dog [ jack ] again they're so funny and I miss them 😭
Blue [ My lifelong irl to internet friend ]
From an IRL friend to now an online friend, we just can't get rid of each other. You're so cool...
You don't use tumblr so, I won't talk much further... but I do appreciate you. And all your silly Itto shrine moments.
Tae [ My Beloved Wife 🫶🏼]
She's the Cro to my Lee.
The Shuichi to my Kaede.
The President Barbie to my Stereotypical Barbie.
The Kafka to my Bladie [ unfortunately /lh ]
Theeeee Raiden Ei to my Yae Mikooooo.
My wife is many things to me!! I really really love your art and your writing, and you're always so kind and funny and I just wanna grrrrr I just want to hold all your ocs and all your muses so close I love them all 😭😭😭
although
YOU.
YOU
FUCKING
ASSHOLE /lh
THAT ORPHY EDIT. THOSE KAFKA BLADIE EDITS. THAT PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP TRIO EDIT. TRYING TO GASLIGHT ME INTO THINKING EVERYONE ELSE ISNT REAL. THE MURDER. THE KIDNAPPING. THE DART. THE FUCKING DART. OUGHHHHHHHHH
I HOPE YOU FALL THROUGH THE SKY, JOHN. KER-FUCKING-SPLAT, BITCH. I think you've driven me insane. A little bit.
But.
We're so good we are so good. Don't even WORRY about it.
Tumblr media
Sam [ My Infamous Brother-in-Tumblr Law ]
Sam you're so. /pos
I think the Immortalpheus AU has permanently altered my perception on life.
Your writing is. well. it's painful /pos
You're so cryptic and really funny yet you and your sister make me say some weird shit during work. Like the uno cards and the Dazai shenanigans and Immortalpheus moments and whenever you drop some life shattering fics and shit you drop on others.
Crazy.
You're a very nice and fun person, all jokes aside!! You're very cool and very amazing and a delight to game with and just fun to be around??? your AU lore and your bots and everything is just so.
mwah
good friend good friend!!
french /j
Piano Immortalpheus forever immortalized isn’t that funny
Tumblr media
Navi [ My detective in arms ]
NAVI.
OUGH.
THOSE VERITY JOURNAL ENTIRIES.
IM SO.
OUGHHHHHHH
Your art and your way of expressing your characters and your son in your writing are just soooo good I rotate them in my head so often.
Whenever I see you posting about your crimes to Tumblr, I simply giggle. Get em, Navi!!
We don't talk very often but like. I'd love to talk more. plot. commit shenanigans. heart hands.
Tumblr media
Fifi [ fucking fifi /lh ]
I want to clasp my hands around your neck and rattle you violently /lh /pos
How are we friends /lh
We've been friends so long, it's kind of insane??? I remember first talking to you during Amy's opening event and everything just sort of spiraled from there... and every day with you is. an experience!! /pos
Still waiting for the Tower Bifty interaction fr fr [ they try to murder each other within the first five replies /j ]
Carrie [ my favorite mike enjoyer ]
CARRRIEEEEE
Number One Mike enthusiast the real Mike enjoyer.
Im always so giddy whenever you occasionally message me, even if it's just to check on me or show me how you torment Sam /lh and your writing and way of interpreting differing IDV characters and skins is so good??? I love reading them they make me so giggly.
Overall 10/10 friend would ramble to given the chance
Tumblr media
Pins [ my boss /ih ]
MAFIA FISHHHHHHHHHH
stunning
beautiful
talented
pink enthusiast
My actual best friend, dare i say the bestest friend in the world???? every moment I spend with you is a blissful and amazing moment, and you've been through so much with me and the fact you stayed throughout it all????
I'm just... really glad you chose to stick with me this long. I can be a very abrasive and impulsive person, and yet you care for me, even with all my flaws and I think that just... says a lot about you.
You're the Jade to my Chiaki.
The Rook to my Epel.
The Deuce to my Ace!
Also your art just solos everything I glow whenever I see it
Tumblr media
Skye [ my twst buddy !! ]
Grabs you
Holds you
Rattles you
Is friend.
Is friend shaped.
Approved /lh
Four [ floyd kinnie moment ]
Stop tormenting me with the take a break floyds you SCARE me
Never will be over the fucking
Ghostbusters Floyd edit
I flex my Beans Floyd in memory of you
You’re not dead I think you’re just somewhere in the distance squeezing someone like your life depends on it
10/10 friend when we ignore the four imposed breaks /j
Beth [ my favorite aesop and naib enjoyer ]
You.
Holds you gently.
The Aesop player
The Panda Naib haver.
The beloved
The silly.
✨ Beth ✨
Your art? Immaculate. I such a adoration for your art, and whenever I’m able to catch your drawing streams??? I’m just in awe!! Your colors and outfit inspirations are just so cute so nice so well done???
You’re so. You’re so cool uwahhh
Tumblr media
MarioGuy [ where do you keep coming from I know damn well it isn't the door /lh ]
I feel like you kind of just break into my house sometimes and make yourself known before randomly disappearing through a non existent back door /pos
You’re a delight to be around!! Every match with you is a bit. It’s uhm. Something!! /lh
Please stop breaking into my home
Tumblr media
Rice [ i occasionally remember that Mi Bianca thing and cry a little ]
Every time I see you pop up in my notifications I just smile and giggle.
We don’t talk often but you’re just so cool and awesome and your muses are so funky fresh and your art is so good and ????
Yeah.
Klai [ you. ]
You.
Chaos gremlin.
You never learn.
But you’re funny so I guess it’s okay.
Your art is so. It’s like a shiny gem 💎 and I WANT it. Holding it hostage.
My precious friend’s doodles.
Never trusting you to prime a cipher though. No hard feelings /lh
10/10 friend!! 0/10 decoder though /j
Orange [ ORANGEEEE my favorite chaos gremlin ]
ORANGEEEEE 🍊
So funny
So talented
So cool
So so cool
Your art is so good, you’re so funny and talented and a wonder to talk to. Your ideas are so creative so unique and yet so unequivocally you and I just…
I love it!!
Orange stop being so cool /j
Clown [ the greatest step-parent on the scene!! ]
This is utter insanity Clown you can’t be EVERY MUSE’S step parents there has to be a LIMIT!!!
A LINE in the SAND!!!!
Clown PLEASEEE
But also your art.
I’ve talked so much about everyone’s art
Yours reminds me of the feeling of waking up on a snow day and realizing school is canceled.
It’s always such a delight to see!!
And while every time you open your mouth, I get a little more worried about you, you’re so so cool /lh
Lupi [ you. x2 ]
imagine arson? imagine it no more im approaching your house at rapidly increasing speeds with my hello kitty lighter /j
Sleepy [ 🫡 ]
Sleepy!! 🫂 so cool,,, you’re so cool,,, /pos
Emma [ Sorry. Only one monster lover can exist in this server peacefully. GET EM. - emma ]
The caption says it all.
Also Tatya stop accidentally seducing all the muses or nearly getting stabbed or exploded or hypnotized you are worrying the GIRLIES! /lh
Al [ you have the vibes of the drunk wine family member in a /pos way ]
I don’t talk to you often but whenever you come around, it makes me so giggly. You’re very funny and your art slaps!!
Joe [ joe the silliest ]
JOE
Joe
Joe!
Your art? Funky fresh.
The lore? So interesting I love the little snippets I see floating around.
You’re so creative
Your Embrace is so funny they scream sacrificial lamb uncle who’s kind of fun at parties /lh
They’ve also got a really nice and warm personality, chaotic yet chill and relatable.
Kind of reminds me of Sam but without the entities 🫶🏼
Nakki [ you. x3 ]
Grabs you like a squeaky toy
That’s it that’s everything tbh
Kory, Boris, Brian [ and the rest of the McMun's Hut /lh ]
And this goes out to all my friends and acquaintances in the McMun’s hut! What is wrong with all of you /pos/lh (except you Boris, you’re an Angel)
Everyone there is super chill and super nice, and they’re a lot of fun to be around. So many differing personalities yet it’s always a vibe somehow.
24 notes · View notes
𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕨'𝕤 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟞
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15
Tumblr media
Chapter 6: On Our way
General POV
We actually did it Rosemary thought to herself.
We commandeered a ship. And the interceptor none the less.
She was well supplied and an easy ship to handle. She was a really fast vessel so she was almost flying over the waves.
Jack was a really easygoing captain. He told Will and Rosemary exactly what they needed to do. And helped them out.
It was really weird. But Jack was kinda nice. He was polite and gave Rosemary the captain's quarters.
So she would be as comfortable as she could.
He threatened her just a few days ago but he seemed like a completely different person. Or atleast that how he comes off now.
'My mother raised me by herself.' Will told Jack while he was polishing his sword.
'After she died, I came out here, looking for my father.'
'Is that so?' Jack said while looking at the sails and tightening them.
'My father, Bill Turner?' Will said as he put his sword down and walked after Jack.
Rosemary was reading a book she found In the captain's quarters and sat against the mast.
But she looked up when Will stood up and walked after Jack.
'It was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help.
Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter.
I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father.' Will was standing behind Jack making himself stand up straight. He wanted to know these answers.
Ever since Will came into the life of Rosemary and Elizabeth, he had been their big brother helped them in any way he could. He had loved Elizabeth from the moment he met her. And Rosemary was like sister to him. They are best friends. And she knew how hard it had been on him, that he knew nothing about his father.
Rosemary's POV
Good for you Will. Rosemary thought to herself.
I closed my book and stood up. I wanted to see this. I have known Will for eight years. And I have known every struggle he had from not knowing what happened or where his father is.
And I wanted to be there for him. Every step of the way.
So I walked up the stairs to the upper deck.
When I heard Jack say.
'I knew him.' Jack turned around towards Will and looked him in the eyes.
'Probarly one of the few who knew him as William Turner.
Everyone else just called him ' Bootstrap' or 'Bootstrap Bill' Jack said as he walked past will towards the helm.
'Bootstrap?' Will said to himself
'Good man. Good pirate.' Jack said while getting the rope of the helm. To get control over the stir'
I stood still.
Did Jack just say 'good pirate'? I thought to myself and laid my hand on my mouth. Because it was hanging open.
' I swear you look just like him.' Jack said to Will before getting his focus back to the helm.
'I'ts not true. He was a merchant sailor.' Will said not even doubting for a second Jack might have had a point there.
'A good, respectable man who obeyed the law. '
Jack was rolling his eyes while Will spoke about his father. And I was trying to hold back my chuckle.
I thought it was horrible for Will to learn that his father was not the man who he thought he was.
But goddamn this was a scene I liked to watch.
Jack swinged back towards Will.
'He was a bloody pirate, a scallywag' Jack said a little irritated and turned back to the sea.
While Will took out his sword and pointed it at Jack.
'My father was not a pirate!'
Which made Jack look up and roll his eyes even more then before. I could see him count to five before saying ' Put it away, son. '
'It's not worth you getting beat again.'
'You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement.' Will spat at him.
'In a fair fight, I'd kill you. '
'That's not incentive for me to fight fair, is it?' Jack said while he turned towards Will.
I was looking at this scene play out.
I was rooting for Will getting the answers he needed to. But I didn't thought it would take a turn like this. But before I could collect my thoughts and break into this conversation.
Jack motioned to me to hold on, and he pulled around the helm. Which made the mast fly towards them. Jack ducked and I was holding on to the stairs.
But poor Will didn't had the opportunity to do so. So he caught the helm against his ribs and flew off the ship holding the mast.
'JACK WHAT THE HELL' I cursed at him.
'You cant just throw Will overboard!?
We need him!!' I was shouting
Jack took Will's sword of the ground and made a hand signal to me. That I needed to stay quiet so I did.
'Now as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention.' Jack said towards Will.
'The only rules that really matter are these:
What a man can do and what a man can't do.
For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can't but pirate is in your blood boy, so you'll have to square with that someday.
Now me for example, I can let you drown. But I can't sail this ship to Tortuga only with Miss Rivers Savvy?'
'so' Jack said towards a really confused looking Will.
Jack swung back the helm so the mast was once again above the deck and Will could let himself fall on the ground.
I was about to run towards Will and scold to Jack. When Jack was holding his hand out towards me to stay put. And put Will's sword towards him.
'Can you sail under the command of a pirate? '
Jack threw the sword up and catches the front putting the handle towards Will.
'Or can you not?'
Will took the sword from Jack and looked up to him.
I was standing behind Jack my eyebrow raised towards Will
'Tortuga! ' I squeeled while putting my hands up.
'I'ts been so long since I've been there!'
Jack turned around towards me.
'Excuse me?
What would a lass like you, need to go to a place like Tortuga' Jack said with an eyebrow raised while looking me up and down.
'Jack Jack Jack. ' I said while shaking my head.
'How do you even think I have pants and a corset and even a blouse on me.
I went there once for a type of fabric I needed for a weddingdress and it was nowhere to be found except for Tortuga.
And I loved it there. So well I went back a few times.' I simply said. While tying my hair up in a high ponytail.
'Well Miss Rivers' Jack said with a smirk
'Please just call me Rose now' I said with a soft smile.
'Well Rose ' Jack said willingly
'I would have never thought you of all people went to Tortuga. Please tell me a bit more about yourself'
Will was rolling his eyes but sat up and stayed silent nodding to me to tell my story.
'Hmm, I'm not really a telling my story kind of girl. But since Barbossa already know's im around I don't see any problem anymore.
Well where to begin. My father was Commodore Rivers. He served for Mr.Swann
And did his job amazingly. He had me with my mother who was in London and watched Elizabeth when Mr. Swann was out for work.
Lizzy's mom passed fare before Lizzy could even speak. So she grow up with me.
But on one of the most easy journey's my father could have had. He got in a deep fog and the wind took up. And all of a sudden without a warning they were attacked.
By a ship with black sails. Captain Barbossa had heard that my father shipped expensive bottles for the king of England. And I think he wanted to take that to profit from.
Or it was just wrong place wrong time. '
I shrugged my shoulders.
'And well my dad fought to the bitter end. But lost against the captain of the Black Pearl.' I said with my eyes closed.
'And long story short. My mom killed herself. Mr. Swann wasn't having me staying alone in London as an orphan. So he took me in, when he went of to be governor of Port Royal.
He raised me and got me a good job.
That's it nothing really weird' I shrugged my shoulders and Will was shaking his head.
Jack was looking at me. You could see that he was thinking about something to say. But then saw land and smirked.
'Well here we are. Tortuga'
24 notes · View notes
Note
When I read about your platonic headcanons, I suddenly remembered that one scene from Inuyasha where the female mc called the male mc's antagonistic older brother "big brother" since she married him.
Which made me wonder, how would the family feel if we suddenly called the older uk bros "big brother" after officially marrying into the family?
this was distracting me all day, let's do it
uk brothers II headcannons II reaction to their sister in law calling them "big brother"
Tumblr media
England
when n.ireland wife called him "brother" he was embarrassed
you were that comfortable with him to see him as a brother figure
it couldn't be a joke from your husband, it wasn't his kind
that feels nice he will not lie
having a sister when he's been living with chaotic boys all his life ?
his own wife loves you so much
if arthur is mean to you she will not hesitate
sounds weird at first for him but ends up being comfortable with it pretty quickly
beyond happy that you accept him as your sibling
Scotland
"how's my favorite big brother ?"
oh ? he's big brother now ?
he is not "my husband's mean brother" anymore ?
haha, you must be joking
you're not
chill about it,
thumbs up and nice smile
cannot wait to play pranks on his favorite british little brother with his little sister
a lot of teasing from him but it's mostly all good feelings
Alistair's wife is tired of his antics, but
she secretly enjoys teasing arthur and you
chill big brother, really happy you're comfortable in the family
Ireland
was helping Wales wife with one of her sons, he agreed on keeping one of them ('8y old nation age')
when you came back to pick him up you said a fast "thanks big bro"
he didn't caught up the words at first, he just went with it
he really went with it easily
said to the child before they left the house "be a nice big brother just like uncle ireland right ?"
nice joke
his wife actually is the one who pointed out to him the "big bro" thing
"this child will not end up like a good big brother if he follows your steps"
he was offended by his own wife comment
he is really proud to achieve the big brother status towards his lil sis in law
Wales
Scotland's wife needed advice from him about personal issues
nothing bad, just advice
asking your husband brother's is a good thing, he knows him better
the others were busy, wales was available
his wife recommended you to ask him directly for help
she is an angel
he became that big brother you would open yourself to about your worries
"you've been that big brother figure i always missed from my own sibling, thank you so much"
he was so emotional about it
you were so grateful about being his little sister in law
not gonna lie, his wife is even more emotional about it
will tease scotland about that
N.Ireland
Surprised because of Ireland's usual distance from him
he didn't think his sister in law would bring him closer to him again
you were having a small dispute, or should i say you were scolding him for a random reason
you said "you should be more like big brother" pointing directly to him
he just ???
me ?
he won't let go of that now congrats
his wife sharply commented
"i don't know what she's talking about, you're not that great of a brother"
dramatic n.ireland + offended
it doesn't matter, his little sister in law said he was better than Ireland haha
will get special treatment as his favorite sister in law
wants the siblings rivalry, mostly with Ireland
author:
do i love the men or their wives interractions ?
27 notes · View notes
marvelmaniac715 · 1 year
Text
You know how human Chucky is really weird in that flashback in Curse of Chucky? I’ve wondered for a while, what made him that way in that scene? He’s been shown to hate kids several times, including in Curse. How can a man go from “you have your mother’s eyes ☺️” to responding to Alice’s “I’m scared!“ with “you fucking should be 🤬” in the same movie? This fic explores the events that led up to his decision to kidnap Sarah and Barbara Pierce and also briefly looks at his childhood in an attempt to explain the mystery behind his desire for a family that lasted about three months.
————————————————————-
When Chucky was a child, old enough to remember but young enough to not be embarrassed, he’d had a baby doll. Contrary to popular belief, he’d once possessed the ability to love others, to be nurturing towards small and often weak creatures. He’d loved that doll, he even had a little stroller for it. He’d act like it was alive and feed it, change it, rock it when it ‘cried’. His parents would often see their young son referring to himself as the doll’s ‘father’, and this desire extended to real babies as well.
When a neighbour had a child, he’d begged to be able to hold it for months, and one day, he’d been able to at a neighbourhood get-together. It had been a struggle to wrestle the child out of his grip, because within a few seconds of holding the baby he’d grown incredibly possessive over it, and could be heard screaming “my baby, mine!” He’d forgotten this incident as the years went by.
The night Chucky’s parents had died, he’d been taken to a new home, and had brought all of his possessions with him. The doll came too, but after extensive bullying and a few sessions with Doctor Mixter where he’d been told that he’d never be respected as a man if he played with dolls, he’d thrown it in the trash. This was the only loss that he’d ever cared about, and there was always a small hole in his chest that he couldn’t fill after losing the doll.
————————————————————-
It was a warm summer day, and it should have been spent outside. But instead, Chucky was dragged to Tiffany’s sister’s house to look at her new baby. He’d complained of course, he hated his girlfriend’s sister, and, to an extent, his girlfriend. It was fun at first, but Tiffany got so jealous whenever he killed on his own, and her laughter was so… grating. He’d love to spend time on his own, yet here he was, wasting a perfectly good day that could’ve been spent killing or drinking beers making nice with the younger, less attractive Valentine sister.
After a two hour drive, they’d reached the address. Wearily, Chucky stepped out of the car and glared at the front door. He had no experience with children, he had no clue how he’d cope. A memory tugged at the back of his mind, a summer day he’d spent as a child holding a neighbour’s new baby, but the exact details of this memory evaded him.
When Tiffany rang the doorbell (Chucky couldn’t bring himself to, he was still trying to make his escape) they were met by a dark haired toddler with light brown eyes. There was a moment of awkward silence, then Tiffany gestured to the boy.
“Chucky, this is my nephew Cooper. Cooper, this is Chucky, he’s-‘
Before she could finish her sentence, the boy burst into a grin and raised his arms into the air.
“Daddy!”
Chucky felt a strange fluttering in his chest, but he couldn’t explain why. Just before he could correct Cooper, he looked over his shoulder and realised that there was a man who looked a lot like Cooper making his way up the front path. Oh, that was Cooper’s daddy, the kid had only been spotting him in the distance.
Almost in confirmation, the little boy suddenly ran past him and threw his arms around the man’s neck, nuzzling into his shoulders. Tiffany cleared her throat and walked up to the man, dragging him by the arm behind her.
“Elliot, it’s so great to see you again! This is my boyfriend Chucky. Chucky, this is my brother-in-law Elliot.”
After a few polite greetings were exchanged, the four headed inside the house and made their way to the living room, where Julia Page-Valentine was sitting with her newborn baby, trying desperately to soothe it’s cries. When Tiffany stepped forward to put a hand on her sister’s shoulder, the woman smiled gratefully.
“Tiff, it’s so great to see you! Why don’t you sit down on the couch with your boyfriend while I try to settle the little one?”
That was fine by Chucky, he didn’t want to stand up for any longer than he had to. A few minutes passed, filled with polite yet meaningless conversation. Then, Julia gave up and decided to show off her baby despite the crying. Tiffany got to hold it first, and that was when Chucky learnt the name and gender. This was baby Rose Elizabeth Page-Valentine, born on the 5th February weighing six pounds. 
Tiffany tried desperately to calm down the baby, but nothing she tried worked. Sighing with defeat, she passed the baby to Chucky. And the strangest thing happened. The second little Rose got a look at Chucky, she stopped crying and began babbling happily instead. Chucky gasped as he felt something weird happen inside his chest. 
The fluttering returned, and with it, the sense that some sort of hole was being filled inside his heart. Coincidentally, the fluttering was mostly situated in the spot where Rose’s little head was tucked against his chest. This felt right in a way. He smiled down at Rose, making an attempt to actually try and rock her gently. 
He didn’t want to let her go. He didn’t want to give the baby back to her mother, he now had another reason to despise Julia. This was the answer, this was what his life had been missing. This was the way he’d finally feel whole again. He needed this baby, he needed a child, it didn’t matter how he got it. That memory of his childhood suddenly returned in vivid detail, and it was almost like that stubborn child had returned, screaming from the depths of his soul “my baby, mine!”
Tiffany smiled at the scene. She’d been wanting to have a child with Chucky for months now, but he’d always turned her down. Maybe this was the opportunity she’d been waiting for to finally convince him? Capitalising on this opportunity, she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and patted her niece’s mostly bald little head.
“Y’know Chucky, you’re really good with the baby. I think you’d make an amazing dad.”
Just like she’d hoped, Chucky grinned, not his fake ‘talking to strangers or victims’ grin, a genuine grin.
“You think so?”
Chucky would have stayed looking down at that baby for decades more, but suddenly, his phone rang. Quickly excusing himself, he went into another room and answered the phone. It was one of his friends, well, not ‘friend’ exactly. He’d pretended to befriend people his age so he’d seem more ‘normal’ in the eyes of society. He couldn’t stand any of the guys he made himself talk to. Still, he tried to speak in a friendly tone, creating the illusion of normalcy.
“Hey Greg, what’s up man?”
“Hey Charles, are you busy? A bunch of us are having a get-together in the nearby park in a couple of hours, there’s a couple I’d like to introduce you to, Robert and Sarah. Sarah’s pregnant with a little girl right now, and this is the first time she’s left the house in weeks, she’s felt really sick for the past few months, poor thing. Anyway, you able to come?”
With a small smile, Chucky nodded.
“Sure, just give me a couple minutes, I’ll be right there.”
7 notes · View notes
myherowritings · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
PART 4. HOW THE RICH SUCK THEIR OWN DICKS
SUMMARY. Todoroki Shouto was a wealthy, young CEO who inherited his father’s enterprise. You were a barista at a local cafe who wouldn’t mind some extra cash. One day, Shouto came in during an early morning shift and tipped you such a large sum of money, you were certain it had to have been an accident. To your surprise and complete pleasure: It was not.
PAIRING. ceo!todoroki shouto x barista!reader
WORD COUNT. 2.9k
GENRE. ceo/barista au, fluff, eventual smut
WARNINGS. enji makes an appearance bleh, enji being classist, enji...ew, okay i swear most of the chapter is shouto and y/n being cute though 
A/N. ngl i have genshin brainrot real bad at the moment but i still have motivation for ceo!shouto and ceo!shouto only u.u there are only 7 parts to this series so we’re at the halfway mark already AHHH i hope u enjoy reading and lmk what u think!! :3 xx sof
SERIES MASTERLIST
© myherowritings — all rights reserved. reposting, modifying, copying, or translating of any kind is not allowed. do not read my writing as asmr. do not plagiarize.
Tumblr media
Shouto’s day went from good to bad faster than it took to pull an espresso. 
It started off with a good morning text from you and having a brief, but pleasant, interaction at your work. Actually, the past few weeks have been going along a similar routine that he found himself settling into all too comfortably. You even upheld your promise of stealing him away one weekend to walk around the park, get food, and just have time to relax and be happy for once. 
Getting to be in your presence almost daily became so normalized in his life that even some of his employees heard about the cute barista with the best pastries. Yet, although he saw you often, he found himself wanting to talk to you more and more.
But for now, Shouto told himself to settle with starting the mornings off with you. They were the best mornings he’s had in a while and he didn’t want to sound ungrateful. 
Today, however, went sour fast after he heard his father was coming up to the top floor for a meeting with him. He didn’t find the idea of Enji visiting to be the most abhorrent thing, but the moment his father opened his mouth, Shouto quickly took that back. 
As expected, his father reminded him about the annual charity gala Todoroki Enterprises was expected to attend. Handfuls of galas ran through the year, but the once hosted by Naruhata Industries under the guise of raising money and awareness for the charities of choice.
In theory, a charity gala ball sounded humanitarian and a way for the upper class to give back, but in reality, most of the funds collected didn’t go to the actual charities, instead they went to paying for the venue, live bands, entertainment, the most expensive catering, decorations, and more. What presented itself as a charitable event in the eyes of the public was really a way rich people could flaunt their wealth and feel good about themselves for doing absolutely nothing to benefit society. A way for the rich to suck their own dicks, if you would. 
Shouto absolutely hated it. 
It was also a press opportunity and, in his father’s eyes, a way to gain public favor for the Todoroki business. Today, Enji attempted to tell him that bringing a date that fit the mold of high society was the best way for him to establish rapport through media coverage. Apparently, the image news outlets have placed on Shouto were either a heartbreaker and playboy with no care for other’s emotions, or a monotonous stoic who seemed like a robot with no care for other’s emotions.
In either cases, there seemed to be a theme of Shouto not caring for others. 
He sighed. 
“You can’t keep that image, Shouto,” said Enji with his arms folded across his chest. “If the media sees you with someone—a nice girl with a good upbringing—then your likeability will increase tenfold. If there’s no one you like, I’ll have to set up a date for you.”
For a while, he was torn between telling his dad to fuck off and trying to do as he said to keep peace within the family. But then, an image of you popped into his head.
“Actually, there is someone I like.” 
Enji narrowed his eyes. “Oh? An educated girl with wealthy parents?”
“There’s someone I like,” he simply repeated, the tone in his voice growing cold. 
He didn’t know anything about your upbringing or family nor did he exactly care. Shouto didn’t want to bring a date to the dumb gala, but if he had to, he would want it to be you. Only if you agreed, of course. But if you weren’t willing, then he had to face the facts that his father would most likely force a date of his own choosing upon Shouto. 
“That’s good you like someone, son,” Enji said through his teeth, “but we have to make sure it’s not some sort of...loose woman. That’d be even worse publicity—”
“I like someone and if you really cared about my happiness like you said you did, that’d be enough.”
There was a tense silence in the air. Shouto didn’t have enough fingers to count the number of times Enji had told him and his siblings that he would try to be a better dad. A caring dad who only wanted what was best for his children. A better husband for Rei. A better example for the public. The first few times, Shouto believed it. But Enji said the same things over and over again with no lasting change and Shouto was just fed up. 
After hearing the same lie told to him over and over again, it seemed to lose its weight. He seemed to lose his hope in his father ever changing.
Still, Shouto had to deal with him for as long as he lived. That much he knew as a son living in this society. 
But he hoped Enji at least had enough guilt to let him have this.
“Fine.”
Shouto blinked in surprise. 
Enji stated, “If you think your date can help your public image and not be a complete embarrassment to the business, you can bring them.”
That was the closest thing to approval Shouto would get today. He nodded and listened along to whatever else his father had to say, the only thing actually on his mind was thinking about how he would ask you out on a date to some stuffy gala. And hope that you’d say yes.
— ✩ —
“Wait, so, let me get this straight— You’re the CEO of Todoroki Enterprises and even after almost two months of knowing you, I had no clue?”
He inclined his head, looking solemn. “Yes, I’m sorry. Are you upset with me for not telling you sooner?” 
Initial shock aside, you couldn’t say that you were too surprised at the revelation. You knew Shouto was wealthy and probably in some high-up position in the business industry, but you never knew to what extent. A CEO? That had to be the highest rank in a company! And a company as well known as Todoroki Enterprises? 
The thought made you a little nervous. The guy you slowly befriended over the course of short cafe visits and silly texts was Mr. Todoroki? Or worse— The guy you stole away from doing work for a whole weekend was someone as busy as a CEO? You internally groaned. That had to be against laws of the universe or something. 
“I’m not upset, no,” you said with a shake of your head. “I just...can’t believe it I guess.” Eyes widening, you were quick to amend your words. “Well, I can believe it. You seem very intelligent and well-put together and, uh, rich! But I guess I just didn’t think a CEO would be so funny and kind.” You winced. “Oh no, is that mean to say?”
“I don’t think it’s mean.” He shrugged. “You’re right to say most people in this field aren’t known for their delightful temperaments.” 
You absentmindedly drummed your finger against your thigh, trying to process this new information. “So you’re Todoroki Shouto...and you want me to be your date to the Naruhata Charity Ball?” 
“Yeah. I know it’s a huge favor to ask, and I promise you can say no if you choose,” said Shouto in earnest. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to agree.” 
With a hum, you stretched your legs out under the table before crossing one over the other again. It was a Saturday afternoon where you had no work and Shouto managed to escape from his for a few hours of the day. You took him to your favorite ice cream place nearby and the two of you ate at a dining area outside the establishment. 
Just a mundane day as two friends hanging out with each other where you found out one of those friends was the chief executive officer of a billion dollar business headquartered in Japan. 
Totally normal, everyday occurrences, obviously. 
“And you need a date for this event?” you asked. In all honesty, you would be more than happy if Shouto asked you out on a date. He was fun and you enjoyed getting to know him. But these particular circumstances made you a tad bit more nervous.
“I normally wouldn’t need to bring one, but my father insists it’d help my public image and in turn the image of the company.” With a pinched look on his face, he took a bite of his ice cream. “In other words I bring a date or he picks one for me.” 
You weren’t the most caught up on super rich people drama, but it was almost infamous how estranged the Todoroki family was. Again, you didn’t know much but you did know enough to say that Todoroki Enji seemed like a Class A asshole. If you could help Shouto out with his weird dilemma, you saw no reason not to. 
“So this charita gala is like where they have those live auctions and silent auctions and get tipsy on fancy wine and champagne for hours right?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Yeah. Have you attended one?” 
“Not quite,” you said with a sheepish smile. “I’ve volunteered at one in school though. As one of those runners? It was fun. I got a bunch of those tiny complimentary candies!” Your mouth watered at the memory. “What kind of drug were in those candies? I’ve never had candy so good before!”
“The tiny, circular candies with the excessively big wrapper? The fruity ones?”
You shot up in your seat, excited he knew what you were talking about. “Yes! That’s the one!” 
The corners of his mouth quirked upwards. “I always see those at these types of events.”
“So… The candy will be there at the gala you want me to accompany you to?” 
“Most likely.”
“Can I take a bunch of those from candies there…?” you asked with an optimistic grin.
“I’ll be your accomplice in sneaking them out.”
“It’s a date!” you said before Shouto could get another word out. 
You’d be reunited with those yummy, fancy candies you’ve been separated from for far too long. What other reason did you need to agree? 
With a determined look on your face, you held your hand out for Shouto to shake to seal the deal. 
He blinked. “Wait. Did you want to discuss it some more? Maybe have a few days to think it through? I’m grateful, of course, but I don’t want you regretting anything.”
“No. I won’t regret it. I’d do anything to taste those candies again.”
Shouto looked unsure what to say. “Isn’t there some parable warning people not to be bribed by candy?”
“Not to take candy from a baby?”
“No. Not that one.”
“That’s the only one I know.”
“Never mind then.” 
The two of you exchanged confused looks before letting out fits of laughter. You weren’t sure if either of you knew exactly what the other was laughing at, but the moment was an enjoyable one nonetheless. 
“Yet another reason to bring me to that fancy event— I’ll make sure you’re entertained all the way through,” you playfully bragged, smoothing down the front of your shirt. 
“The event will definitely be more bearable with you there.” He licked a small bit of his ice cream from his pink spoon, making a sound of approval. “But you can change your mind about coming at any time, Y/N.”
“I won’t,” you said, holding a pinky out. “Pinky promise.”
With what seemed like a bashful expression on his face, Shouto extended his own pinky to interlock yours. You sealed it with a kiss and a heart, like you were a kid again. 
“Now, am I supposed to be in love with you at the gala?” you asked nonchalantly, finishing off your last bite of ice cream. He offered you a spoonful of his and you tried not to grow too flustered at Shouto feeding you his dessert. You murmured a quiet, “Thanks.”
He gave you a small smile. “You’re welcome. As for being in love… I don’t think that’s necessary. Just pretend you like being around me, I think.”
Under the table, you nudged his shoe with yours, pulling a face. “I don’t have to pretend about that, silly.” 
“Ah, well,” he paused, offering you another spoonful of ice cream, “I don’t either.”
“I’m glad.” Then, “Is this strawberry? I was never a big strawberry ice cream fan but for some reason this tastes so good.” 
You ignored the nagging voice in your head that said maybe it wasn’t so much the ice cream flavor but who you were enjoying it with. 
The two of you finished his dessert in peace and after cleaning up the area with a napkin, Shouto turned to you with an intent look on his face.
“Before the gala, would you mind if I talk you shopping so you could pick out what to wear?” he asked. “I would pay of course— It’s the least I could do to say thank you.”
You shook your head. “You don’t have to thank me! You’re my friend and I want to help.” You thought about it for a moment. “And get the candy.”
“Anything for the candy.”
“Exactly,” you said in complete seriousness. “But I wouldn’t mind going shopping with you. You could help me decide what to wear! I’m not exactly sure how to dress for an event as fancy as this.”
“You could wear anything to the event and still look amazing.” His words were ones of flattery but his tone sounded completely genuine. 
Heat rose to your cheeks at the compliment. “Look who’s talking— You’re practically runway ready no matter what time of day.”
“I’ve never walked a runway before.”
You stifled a laugh at his literal interpretation of your words. Cute. “Me neither.”
He looked confused at why you were grinning, but it still brought a smile to his own lips.
By now the sun had begun to set and Shouto was walking you to the train to see you off before you went home.
“Can I pick you up next weekend in the morning?” he said. “So we can get your outfit for the gala?”
“Sure! I’ll text you my address.” 
He nodded in contentment. “And again, you don’t have to worry about any costs.”
“Is this why my friends have called you a sugar daddy?” you teased, bumping your shoulder against his as you walked down the street, side-by-side. “But thank you. Shopping will be fun— We can even match colors!” 
“Mn.” He looked between the both of you, as if trying to picture what colors would complement each other. 
You crossed the sidewalk in a comfortable silence, enjoying the scenery by Shouto’s side. A few times, you even felt his knuckles brush against yours and you had the undeniable urge to hold his hand. Would that be weird? you asked yourself before deciding against it. 
Just because he asked you to be his date for the Naruhata Charity Ball didn’t mean he actually liked you, right? It was just a favor from a friend to a friend.
Something about that though made your stomach unsettled. Maybe part of you wanted it to be a real date— Wanted this to be a real date. 
“So I won’t be seeing you tomorrow,” you said after a moment’s silence, trying not to look too dejected. 
You knew he’d still text good morning and good night and ask you random things throughout the day (all of which you found really endearing, by the way), but it was still different from seeing him in person. Even though your time together in the morning was small, they still were enough to make your day. The thought of your waking hours being so entwined made you nervous, but for some reason it didn’t bother you as much as you thought it would. In fact, it was sort of...nice. 
“I’ll see you Monday morning, right?” you asked hopefully, though you were already fairly certain of the answer.
Shouto nodded. “Of course. It’s already marked on my calendar.”
“Ever the flatterer, hmm?” 
“Not flattery, just the truth.” He pulled his phone out and showed you his (rather packed) calendar app. To your surprise, a little reminder that said ‘See Y/N :)’ was marked on his Monday schedule. 
Unable to stop the beam from spreading across your lips, you hid your face in your hands. Gosh— Did he have to be so cute? He was making it harder and harder to only like him as a friend. And even now, you weren’t sure if you liked him only as a friend.
But you pushed those thoughts away.
That was something to deal with at a later time.
When you reached the train station you normally took home, you turned to Shouto, giving him a big hug. He was tall and warm. You could feel his lean muscles through his button-down shirt as you rested your head against his chest and arms around his waist. 
“Thanks for today,” you mumbled. “I’ll see you again soon.”
After a pause, he gave you a hug back, hands rubbing hesitant circles on your back in a way that made you smile. “Text me when you get home safe,” he said as you both reluctantly released each other from an embrace.
“I will,” you promised. “You do the same! Later, Shouto!” 
And with that, you waved goodbye and boarded the train, unable to shake the unwavering grin on your face all the way home.
Tumblr media
a/n: when shouto started feeding y/n spoonfuls of his ice cream i cried (T▽T) that’s so cUTE OF HIM LIKE PLS SIR STOP BEFORE I FALL MORE IN LOVE WITH U !! >:O he’s such a sweetheart ahhhh,, i hope all the fluff made up for the brief appearance of endeavor ಠ╭╮ಠ  FHDJKF 
what to expect in the next part:
shopping for the gala time !! 
y/n struggles with their fEeLiNGs~ part 2
oh my, y/n has to try on dresses? oh my, it’d be a shame if they needed help putting it on :o *fake gasp* 
yeah things get just a lil steamy but shh
2K notes · View notes
lunastwilightblog · 3 years
Text
The Volturi are the good guys and Bella is the up-and-coming villain
I’m on my computer for this as I know it might be long, but bear with me (insert Emmett pun here) 🐻
So wait - the Volturi are the good guys? But didn’t SM write them as the bad guys? 
Well, yes, SM did write Aro and co in as the antagonists of the series, but bear in mind that originally she didn’t write most of New Moon to happen, or the entirety of Eclipse. There was Twilight and Forever Dawn, which we’ll sadly never read. Her vision of the Volturi and their role as the evil villains who wanted to separate Edward and Bella became distorted as she had to flesh them out more and show their role as the governing body.
Then she wrote the Illustrated Guide and revealed their history and the horrors of the world without their authority; with the Romanians being as brutal as they were, the constant terror humans lived with and the fracturing of the world into many unstable and violent vampire-ruled empires (plus with way more children of the moon running about, probably as far west as - at least - central Europe). 
When the Volturi were coming to power they were laughed at with the idea of their law, a significant reason the Romanians didn’t take them seriously. But now they are extremely popular.
This isn’t just because Aro created vampires to go out and sing his praises. Volturi rule has been a blessing for both humans and vampires.
For humans it’s the obvious: they are not living their lives in fear, they are not subject to massacres (except if caught in newborn warzones), their population has been able to grow and expand, modern medicine and technology have been able to flourish, society is much more stable, people need to flee areas much less (if ever) so they can stay put and complete research/live to meet their grandkids/etc, and not have to serve a vampire in the local castle. 
For vampires it’s actually quite similar: with the human population growing to as large as it is today when at the time the Volturi came to power it was (estimated to be) only 210 million globally, vampires have been able to grow to even greater numbers also, and feed more often than before. If a vampire 2000 years ago killed 5 people in a town it would be an outrage the humans would certainly have noticed, however kill 5 people in a place as big as London, LA, Paris, Singapore, Bucharest... it would likely not be noticed very much, if at all (depending on who you kill).  
Humans like to measure things in percentages. Those 5 people is a huge number to a town of 2000 - that’s 0.25% of the whole town’s population. It would be talked about, and relatives of the dead/missing would all know each other. Yet kill those 5 in a city of 12 million (as is London), that’s only 0.00004167% of the population. And chances are, the dead humans’ families don’t even live in the area (or could be in another country entirely) never mind know each other to realise there was a mass murder.
So vampires, as long as they hide from humans, as is the only law (besides no immortal children or consorting with werewolves), they have a lot more freedom nowadays than they did before the times of the Volturi. There are so many people that they can easily get lost in a crowd, move internationally, and not be pressured for allegiance by a local vampire warlord (before meeting Aro, Caius ran afoul of the Romanians, and he barely escaped with his life).
With there only being one authority, and one that does not interfere with your day-to-day life, is a dream come true. As long as they don’t break this law that is very easy to abide by, they can do whatever the f*** they want.
Carlisle would have never been able to get a job as a doctor if he was known to be a vampire, nor could any of the Cullens have entered education of any form. They’d be stuck sneaking into libraries after closing, and googling. Edward would have never met Bella (neither would Edward’s ancestors have immigrated to America - in fact, Europeans may have never discovered America in the first place. The whole Cullen coven aside from Carlisle might never have been born).
So what the Volturi have done (despite many of them having not-so-savoury personalities corrupted by hunger for power or violence) is bring peace to the world, get rid of tyrants, increase the food supply, allow a greater amount of freedom, and the first kind of trials and justice ever seen in their world. Sure, Aro uses trials to find new talent, but it’s still a world away from before.
Which leads me on to the events of Breaking Dawn, and Bella.
So. Maybe controversial, but: the Volturi did absolutely nothing wrong in Breaking Dawn.
They turned up thinking a serious crime had been committed. They stopped to talk (which Vladimir certainly never would have done!), considered the evidence and processed new discoveries and discussed their legality, decided there was no crime to punish, and left with only the informant dead. Yes, Irina had been innocent in the way that she strongly had believed she had been telling the truth and her memories must have presented good enough evidence to Aro initially, but their witnesses had come to see justice being served, and in the vampire world that is execution. Aro could have continued with prosecuting the Cullens for something he now knew was false, or execute Irina instead.
(Side note: she did kind of deserve it too. She didn’t bother to check her evidence, she wanted revenge for Laurent’s death so her accusation wasn’t coming from a place of good intentions but instead she was willing to have her friends and family killed for Laurent. She was also forcing Aro into a position where he had to prepare himself to kill Carlisle, whom we know he cherishes. Remember also that Aro turned down Laurent’s application to the Guard because he’d followed the Romanians for a while, so he won’t have been entirely trusting of Irina anyway, her having been Laurent’s mate).
Anyway. Onto Bella.
So Aro’s impression of Bella after New Moon seems to be positive. Why? Well, through Edward’s thoughts he saw that Bella was able to keep The Secret. He had heard how much she wanted to be a vampire. In addition, Marcus showed him how strong Edward and Bella’s bond is. Both of them knew, that if E & B’s love was almost as strong as Marcus and Didyme’s, that no matter what Edward currently said or thought about Bella being turned it was invalid. If Bella were dying, he would turn her for sure, which happened. Then the obvious, that Edward had already proven he could not live without her.
Bella was trustworthy and probably going to be turned. Alice showing proof was just a formality so Aro could say he had evidence rather than admit he’d just made assumptions (and Alice having had that vision may act as proof that his assumption was correct).
Therefore, from Aro’s perspective, Bella was a human who wanted to become immortal so much that she would rather die than not, and she was already following his law. She was no issue. 
Yet.
Bella, knowing the law, should have been very grateful that she was left alive. Edward not being executed and she not being killed or forcibly turned on the spot... Aro had been very nice to them.
And again, in BD, he was very nice to them. Some people will inevitably say that he was weak in not killing them all. I mean, they stood beside Vladimir and Stefan! They have an army of wolves fundamentally opposed to vampires! Aro has lost Good Reputation Points by sparing the Cullens. He held as close to a trial as vampire society has ever had, and rightfully pronounced the Cullens innocent.
So shouldn’t Bella like him? He has spared her life and the lives of her loved ones more than one, and proven that he can be spoken to and conversed with properly and is willing to admit he was wrong. With Aro, we know it’s important to look more at what he does than what he says, and what he has done is be very kind to the Cullens (though who knows about the future?).
Yet Bella was creeped out by him when they met and interpreted him as a threat to Edward’s life. As she loves Edward, she’s always going to be of this mind, and first impressions are important.
Vampires are stuck with the mindsets they had when turned. An example of this is Esme, who was turned after her baby died and she tried to die too. She is permanently feeling maternal. She was turned only days after giving birth. Before knowing this, Bella even describes her as maternal and the mother of the family. Huilen also has a lot of care for Nahuel, being his aunt, because of her love for Pire, and while she was dying, Pire begged Huilen to raise him. Joham does not seem to have this parental love for his son and daughters; he never really knew Pire and was never affected by her love for Nahuel, and did not meet him until years after he was born. He’s only genetically a parent. He doesn’t have the protective mindset. When he was turned, he was a curious scientist (in fact, it was even why his creator turned him). He sees the world and people as things to study.
Anyway.
When Bella was turned, all she was thinking about was Renesmee. She begged Edward to get the baby out and didn’t care for her own life.
And she will be forever stuck in this high alert, must-protect-my-baby mode. Then for weeks as a newborn vampire, she was thinking of Aro as a threat and preparing to fight him. Compounding that, he was a threat to her daughter.
Both of these things will have had a significant effect on who she will have become after her newborn phase ended. It is impossible for Bella to ever like Aro now, even if she tried.
Her dislike of him, and willingness to fight against him, will be forever engrained in her brain.
This is dangerous.
Bella found the Romanians weird, but she didn’t dislike them per se. She would probably be willing to stand with them against the Volturi again.
We can take an educated guess and assume that sometime they will rise up again - and Bella might stand with them (though I highly doubt any of the other Cullens would).
Bella was not a problem for Aro until she stood beside Vladimir and Stefan. 
Here is this vampire who can block most of his coven’s gifts, stuck with an intense dislike of him, who he has seen with his own eyes stand with his enemies. He has every right to be nervous now. Her love for her mate is almost as strong as Marcus’s bond to Didyme - how strong is her bond to Renesmee? Likely more. Aro knows the threat in that. He knows that Bella may be viewing him in the way Marcus feels when he thinks of taking revenge on whoever killed Didyme.
Nobody wants the Romanians back in power. Those who lived under their reign and those who have heard first hand stories told to them all know very well that life under Vladimir would be horrible, brutal, awful for all beside his close coven members (though considering he had a very large coven that was often squabbling amongst itself, it was probably miserable for a lot of them too).
But Bella is young. She has no memory of the world before the Volturi, and knows no one with first hand experience of that world other than the Volturi. She will have heard that it was horrible, but she has no emotional or personal connection to the near-ancient past, and vampires who lived during that time are disappearing. No one lives forever.
Then, she is American. Like Garrett, she values freedom, and the Volturi are the only oppressive vampire force either of them has ever known. Despite them being the least oppressive in vampire history, Bella and Garrett haven’t experienced the alternative. They are a government that is at times harsh, is corrupt, and executes people. They go to war and they obliterate their enemies. Bella doesn’t see that the Volturi is the least bad government her world is ever going to get, and that they’ve granted her so much freedom. She is unable to see that because, in her youth, she has nothing to compare them against.
By standing against the Volturi, Bella isn’t just standing against Aro, Caius, and Marcus. She is standing against the peace they have brought between vampires, against humans living without fear, against modern civilisation itself. She stands a representative of the next world order, and Aro can sense it.
294 notes · View notes
therealvinelle · 3 years
Note
Hi, love your metas and your fic. I think you mentioned somwhere that at the end of BD Aro was trying to prevent the fight. What were his motives? According to Edward, the Volturi are cowards, but I didn't get this feeling. Caius was begging for a battle, the guard vocally proclaimed willingness to die for the cause... hell, Jane had to be restrained from running to Bella and punching her in the throat. And I find it unlikely that their leader is less brave than them. Explain Aro's brain pls
Thank you so much! That’s really nice of you to say. And sorry for the late answer.
And explain Aro’s brain, whew. That is a very big question with a very long answer and this post will be a manifesto by the time I’m done. But you wanted Aro’s brain explained so manifesto it is.
So, before we go anywhere I have to make the distinction between Aro of the books and Aro of the movies. Those two are different people.
Starting with appearance, because casting does a lot for me and if a big deviation is made it better be like Ruth Wilson as Marisa Coulter, which is to say it better fit the character. Also, disclaimer, I think most of Twilight was miscast, and especially the Volturi. I’m forever dying at Caius looking like Lucius Malfoy. However, this is an Aro post, so we’re highlighting Aro.
Aro of the books is a twenty-something Greek with skin that has petrified and eyes covered in a milky sort of film, which totals to him looking perfect, as all vampires do, yet frail. When he walks it looks like he’s gliding. This is an otherworldly, ancient, inhuman being. He’s energetic and excitable, yes, but if anything that should add to how very other he is. Casting Michael Sheen is a clear signal that the movies were going in a completely different direction with Aro. Sheen is a great actor who played what he was given perfectly, but what he was given was a very different character.
In New Moon the book, Aro first rejects Edward request because this is Carlisle’s gifted son, and more, this is not what the Volturi do. They are not hitmen. It’s just a big no all around.
Bella enters, and the Aro she meets is a very polite and gracious man who’s delighted to see the human still alive, and pleased Carlisle’s son won’t be suicidal anymore. However, Edward fully intended to step into the sunlight in the middle of Volterra, specifically to provoke the Volturi, and he has broken the law with Bella. Further, Edward makes it clear that he fully intends to walk out of Volterra with his human still human, and that she’ll die of old age if he gets his way. Edward’s contempt of the law could not be more clear. However, Alice shows Aro that Bella’s fate is sealed, she turns or she dies. The law will be upheld. Aro is glad to hear it, and lets the Cullens all go home.
All in all, it’s a very tense occasion where Edward has put Aro in a difficult position, because he’s trying to force him to kill his best friend’s son, and Aro goes “YES THANK GOD” when Alice finally gives him an out.
New Moon of the movies was not this. Starting with the flashback (because I’m being thorough), Aro executes a lowly criminal himself.  I object to that, I think that’s a menial task and Aro doing it himself made the Volturi look less regal, not more. Cut to the present day, Aro rejects Edward’s request because he doesn’t want to waste his gift. We get the whole meeting with Bella, and Aro… well I don’t know why he does any of the things he does. This guy never mentions his friendship to Carlisle, tries to kill our plucky heroes three times in the space of one minute (one, gives Felix the order to kill Bella, stopped by Edward. Two, moves to decapitate Edward, stopped by Bella. Three, he’s about to eat Bella, stopped by Alice), and when he lets them go it feels terribly convenient.
This was a guy written to be the villain of the series, and it showed.
Cut to Breaking Dawn part I’s ending scene, and while I love the song choice for the scene, and fully agree that Aro considers misspelling Carlisle’s name to be a capital offense, the scene itself… we are presented with a villainous, power-hungry megalomaniac who’s just waiting to strike against the Cullens.
We then get Breaking Dawn part II, and I haven’t seen that movie in years but I remember the fight scene well enough. Aro kills Carlisle with the biggest grin on his face, and gives the go-ahead to his Volturi to kill the surviving Cullens and their witnesses.
Contrast that with canon, where Aro’s first words to Carlisle are «Nothing would make me happier than preserving your life today». Now, he’s making it very clear that this meeting will most likely end with Carlisle’s death, but he’s not happy about it. He’s certainly not going to kill him with a smile on his face and laughter in his heart.
The movies needed a hammy villain, and that’s what Michael Sheen played. It is not who Aro is, at all. And he’s not the only character this happened to, but again, this is an Aro post so I’m not going to start raging like Don Corleone about what they did to my boys.
So, with the movies firmly expelled from the post, let’s look at the Twilight series from Aro’s point of view.
Or, rather, we’ll have to start earlier because Aro’s decisions throughout the series are pretty clearly motivated by Carlisle. And that means considering, “why is Carlisle so important, anyway?”
Consider these things: one, Aro is gifted with the power of knowing every single thought a person has ever had. He knows your soul. Two, Aro is the leader of the supernatural world, he has been for over a thousand years.
How many friends does a person with that power and in that position have?
Three, who does Aro even come into contact with?
Starting with number three, for Aro it’s going to be 1) criminals, 2) Volturi guard hopefuls, 3) Weirdos like Laurent who are wasting Aro’s time.
(“But what about the guard!” Well, while we observe close interpersonal relationships between Aro and Jane, and Aro and Renata, and one can assume Corin to be close to the wives, the distinction between Volturi coven and Volturi guard remains. The guards are servants, in some cases beloved servants, but servants nonetheless. It would be inappropriate and weird for Aro to start slumming it with Demetri and Felix)
So, Aro doesn’t get out much, which brings us to point two. The people he does meet, and who are willing to entertain a friendship with the Volturi leader, are going to be people who want something. And that might work for some rulers, Louis XIV built Versailles specifically to make his subjects do this for him, but he had something to gain politically from that. Aro does not, his power is supreme without a need to tolerate brown nosers. More, with his own and Marcus’ gifts, he’ll know right away that he’s being used for power. He would get nothing out of it.
Finally point one, Aro’s gift. Say that we have a vampire who’s not a weirdo and who thinks Aro’s a cool dude. Well, the question now is, who would ever want a person in their life who knows all there is to know about them? I wouldn't want anybody to know every thought I've ever had, I certainly would never seek out a person to know me that deeply when I could just go find normal people to be friends with instead. Not to mention how incredibly unequal such a friendship would be.
In short, I don’t think Aro has any friends.
Enter Carlisle a very amiable person who cherishes Aro for his personality, and doesn’t mind having his mind read. Aro just found a unicorn. Carlisle on his end likes Aro so much that he lives with him for decades. Even if you want to read their relationship as platonic, that’s still a very strong friendship.
Point being that Carlisle is unbelievably precious to Aro, and so very unique. Aro has lived for over three millennia, and never met anyone like this before. There won’t be another Carlisle.
This in turn makes him willing to stretch as far as he can to preserve that friendship and, as the plot thickens, keep Carlisle alive.
Fast forwards to 2006, and Aro is sitting in Volterra minding his own business when Carlisle’s son walks into town demanding his own execution. He has not committed any crimes. Not only is assisted suicide not something the Volturi even do, but this would ruin Aro’s friendship with Carlisle. Even if Carlisle was miraculously understanding of Aro killing his son (which I can’t imagine he would be), this would never leave the air between them. Carlisle could never be around him again after something like that.
So, Aro turns down Edward’s request. “Stupid Volturi man ruining my dramatic suicide, I’ll show him who’s boss!” Edward replies, and runs shirtless into the sunlight. I’m sure Aro was just dying, you had “The Sound of Silence” playing as he stared into nothingness because how is this happening to him. A whiplash of an hour later, Bella is alive again, Aro is happy, we can be done with this now, right? Right?!
No, Edward says, we cannot be done with this. He’s still refusing to turn Bella.
And so we get that whole New Moon exchange where Aro very tellingly shoves the part where Edward WALKED INTO THE SUNLIGHT IN VOLTERRA under the carpet and out of the conversation (for comparison: Irina is executed for false testimony and Bree for breaking a law she didn’t know existed), and he even allows Bella to leave human when he could easily have bitten her himself to keep the Cullens honest. This guy went out of his way to be lenient and show the Cullens good faith.
And then a few months later Irina walks into Volterra, bearing memories of what is unmistakably a Cullen immortal child.
Aro may care for Carlisle, but this is the guy who killed his baby sister so he’d still have Marcus’ gift. He will bend far, very far, for those he cares about, but he will not break. It’s duty above love, Volturi above Aro’s personal preferences. An immortal child is not an offense that can be tolerated, and so it’ll be Didyme 2: Aro Kills Someone He Loves Boogaloo.
By now I think it should be quite clear why I think Aro was trying to prevent the fight. Battle would have meant Carlisle’s certain death.
(And that’s even assuming the Volturi won the fight. With Bella there, there was a chance the Volturi wouldn’t prevail. But even before Bella started showing off, Aro was very much hoping this wouldn’t be another Didyme situation.)
398 notes · View notes
gojo-x-reader · 3 years
Text
Red String of Fate
Relationship(s): Gojo Satoru x F!Reader
Warnings: slight swearing, slight manga spoilers
Tags: Soulmate AU
AO3 Link: here
Words: ~2.3k
Request:  “Hello I'm actually not sure if I'm supposed to put put my request here? well, if its not supposed to be here, then please ignore it. Anyways, can I ask of you to share your thoughts on Soulmate AU w/ Gojo around 12 to 16 yrs old where he can see signs of who's soulmate is whos meeting his possible fiance who turns out to be his soulmate (I asked that age bc first meeting! he's from a noble clan and its really weird he doesn't have fiance or something) Sorry if its confusing and Thank you!”
Gojo Satoru was twelve years old when his Six Eyes began showing him the red strings of fate. Every person’s string was different. Some of them stretched on for what seemed like an eternity, almost seemingly never reaching the other end. Others were shorter, connected to the person they stood next to (whether they knew of their existence or not). And unfortunately, on some, Satoru could see the end of the string, but it dragged behind someone, unconnected to another human.
Satoru had told his mother about the strings as they appeared. Those are strings that lead one to their soulmate, she had explained to him. Everyone has a soulmate, but not everyone is in love with theirs. There are different kinds of love in this world.
Satoru’s parents were soulmates, but they did not love each other; that much was clear from how his father treated his mother. He never hit her or anything, but he didn’t treat her like an equal; more of a vessel that gave birth to an heir. He only interacted with his wife when necessary, the two not even sleeping in the same room at night.
For that reason, Satoru was scared to meet his own soulmate. He had one, that much was clear by the bright red string tied around his left pinky that stretched on for kilometers. He didn’t want to end up like his parents.
Gojo Satoru was fourteen years old when his father announced that he would be marrying you, a girl from the Kamo clan. You were the youngest daughter in the secondary branch of the family, just a year younger than him. Tomorrow, the two of you would meet for the first time.
You were nervous about tomorrow, for several reasons. Number one, you had heard the rumors about Gojo Satoru--the first member of the Gojo clan to be born with the Six Eyes and  Limitless, the two inherited techniques of his clan, in a hundred years or so. That meant, in a nutshell, he was much stronger than you could ever hope to be, as someone who hadn’t even inherited the Kamo clan technique (which is why you were being shipped off to another clan). Number two, you had heard rumors of his personality, somehow both cold and carefree at the same time, but one hundred percent a horrible personality to be combined with your timid and quiet nature. And number three, you almost resented him because now you were stuck in an arranged marriage and you saw how well that worked out for your parents.
Tomorrow arrived, and the maids dressed you up in the finest of kimonos, hair ornaments, and even makeup. You weren’t particularly into girly interests, more interested in training for when you enter Kyoto High in a few years; the feeling of foundation and lipstick felt foreign on your face.
You arrived at the main hall, escorted by your uncle (the head of the Kamo family), your parents, and a few maids. You normally didn’t wear a kimono often, except for very special occasions, and you have never been in one for this long. Graceful, you were not, and tripped a few times because of the geta chosen for you to wear with the kimono. Each time, the maids were swift to grab ahold of your arms and stabilize you. They even helped you sit down as you awaited your future fiance and his parents.
Gojo Satoru’s parents arrived before he did. They apologized on behalf of their son, citing that he was on he was back from a mission. You were jealous, he wasn’t even in high school yet and was already being assigned missions. While you weren’t powerful in comparison to Gojo Satoru himself, you could still hold your own against your older cousins and had a decent amount of cursed energy.
Gojo Satoru’s parents seemed nice enough, but the chemistry between them resembled that of your own parents; they tolerated each other, but that was it--no love, no spark, nothing. You wondered if his parents were also put into an arranged marriage. You could sympathize, but you also secretly hoped that the two of you wouldn’t end up like your parents.
You poured tea for your future in-laws, hands shaking slightly, a few drops of tea spilling. As you sat the teapot down, in came Gojo Satoru himself, dressed in a simple black kimono, but the sash was not tied tightly. His hair was touseled, and stained with either dirt or blood (you hoped it was dirt). Despite his unkempt look, he was gorgeous, with bright white hair and eyes blue like the sky matching neither of his parents. Despite the color differences, he took mostly after his mother with her soft features.
When he made eye contact with you, he froze, looking down at his left hand, and then back to you. Before you could even greet him, he immediately fled the room, both his parents calling after him, leaving after him.
That was a bit painful; your first time meeting him and he leaves immediately seeing your face. You weren’t sure how your self-esteem would recover after that blow.
About twenty minutes later, Gojo Satoru’s parents came back, empty-handed without their son. He refused to meet you, but they promised he would come around eventually. So, your family said your goodbyes and left the Gojo estate.
Once your family arrived back at the Kamo estate, your uncle slapped you across the face, blaming you for what transpired with the Gojo family. It was your looks, your lack of femininity that obviously scared your fiance away. Not even makeup or the finest materials could fix it.
So what, if you weren’t “feminine”? Being “feminine” doesn’t exorcise curses, now does it?
You grumbled an apology, leaving to your room and locking the door behind you. You started crying, ruining the makeup that took the maids hours to do, but not even bothering to care. It took a while to get out of the kimono, but you changed into sweatpants and a large T-shirt and left the offensive material on the floor. Neither of your parents bothered to check in on you, but the head maid did. She cleaned up your makeup and brought you some of your comfort foods. She was more of a mother to you than your own, and you were always grateful for her in your life.
The next time you would meet Gojo Satoru, there would be hell to pay for embarrassing you like this.
Gojo Satoru was sixteen years old when he next met his fiancee, this time on the battlefield rather than mitigated by their families. Kyoto was short by one for the Kyoto Goodwill Event, so you were allowed to join as the sole first year. You were glad for the opportunity because that meant you could finally pay back Gojo Satoru for the embarrassment you felt two years ago.
You were told you had great potential as a jujutsu sorcerer, already being promoted to Semi-Grade 2 as you entered Kyoto High. Of course, you weren’t even close to your fiance who was promoted immediately to Special Grade upon entering Tokyo High. While the power difference between a Semi-Grade 2 and a Special Grade was immense, you weren’t going to let that stop you. You held a lot of pain in your heart for how Gojo Satoru rejected you from one glance, refusing to ever see you again that day.
This was Gojo Satoru’s first Goodwill Event, as last year he was only a first-year and the spots were full from the second and third years last year. Since last year, Kyoto had won, the event was held at your school. Not a single second or third year at Kyoto believed they even had a chance to win this year, as Tokyo has not one but two Special Grade students this year participating in the event. There was only one Grade 1 sorcerer on the Kyoto side, a third-year, while the others were a Grade 2 or Semi-Grade 2. The goal was to stick together; power in numbers. While the two monsters Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru could take out the entire Kyoto team singlehanded most likely, the others on the Tokyo team were rather weak, at only Grade 3.
So, the Kyoto side would stick together, avoid conflict. The goal was to exorcise curses, not necessarily fight each other.
The six of you stuck together, exorcising curse after curse. It was strange, as several minutes passed and you hadn’t even encountered one of the Grade 3 Tokyo sorcerers. You felt the hairs on the back of your neck stick up, then a voice behind you announcing, “Hello~”
You turned around quickly, barely able to avoid an attack. There he was, Gojo Satoru in the flesh. He was much, much taller than last time you saw him, now towering over you like a tree. On his (admittedly) handsome face was a smug grin, his bright baby blues peeking out behind round black shades. He held his hands in his pockets in a carefree manner. Almost not like he just attacked you and your senpai.
You glanced back briefly. While you were somehow lucky to avoid the attack from your fiance, your senpai behind you was not. The attack left them unconscious, back against a tree and blood running down their head.
While reading headfirst toward your fiance probably was not a good idea, only rage flowed through your head. You may not have inherited your clan’s cursed technique, you inherited a similar technique but more closely to your mother’s Zenin clan’s technique. You could manipulate shadows, not to summon shikigami, but rather to form weapons.
You summoned the shadows to form a sword, raising it to strike Gojo Satoru. But it reached just centimeters away from his body before stopping, almost like an invisible forced kept it in place, unable to move it further. You stared at your hand in surprise.
“Now, now, is that any way to greet your fiance?” Gojo Satoru asked, grin widening.
“Are you really though?” You asked, jumping back cautiously before he could ready another attack. “You didn’t even want to meet me two years ago.”
He placed his hand onto his chin in thought. “Hmm, I suppose that’s true. Tell you what, land a hit on me and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Bastard,” you called to him, switching your shadow weapon to a bow and arrow, pulling back the shadow string, and releasing it toward him.
Gojo Satoru held up two fingers as the arrow stopped in mid-air, much like your sword earlier. “I don’t think that’s my name, sweetie. Bad luck for you today. Seems like we’re just a bad match.”
You were frustrated. How the hell was he doing that?
A siren sounded out through the forest. The match was over; Tokyo won, only because Gojo Satoru had distracted the Kyoto group while Geto Suguru handled the stranglers and the remaining Grade 3 sorcerers were able to exorcise more curses than your side.
Gojo Satoru disappeared before your eyes, but you heard a whisper in your ear from him, “I’m feeling generous. An hour before the individual matches tomorrow, meet me in the garden. I’ll explain everything.”
So, that’s how you found yourself out in the garden at 8 am, shivering from the morning chill. The garden was huge, but somehow you figured your fiance would be able to find you.
“Yo,” he called out, startling you from your thoughts. “I didn’t think you’d actually come.”
“I don’t think highly of you,” you admitted. “You embarrassed me two years ago and my uncle thinks I’m a disgrace to the family now.”
“Yikes, that seems a little harsh. Not like I annulled the engagement or anything. I just was going through some good ole teenage angst then, nothing more.”
“Still going through some ‘teenage angst’?” you questioned.
“Oh, you know, just the normal amount. I died a few months ago and it reset me back to typical teenage angst levels.”
“You what? ”
“But that’s a whole different story. We’re talking about why I left two years ago after seeing you.” He brought a finger up to his lips. “This is top secret. Can’t tell anyone.”
You nodded.
“So, my Six Eyes. I’m sure you’ve heard all about them, being in the Kamo clan and all. It turns out I can also see the red string of fate that brings soulmates together. My parents are soulmates, but they have a shitty relationship.”
“Okay.” You could relate, your parents also have a shitty relationship.
“And they’re the only pair of soulmates I’ve ever known. So,” he grasped his left pinky in yours, “when I saw that red string of mine connect to yours, I panicked. Didn’t want to be forced into a relationship with my own soulmate and end up like my parents. Call me a sappy romantic, but I wanted to meet you and get to know each other on our own, not because we’re in an arranged marriage.”
You couldn’t help but blush. Here was Gojo Satoru, your fiance, one of the strongest jujutsu sorcerers in the world, proclaiming that you were his soulmate. It seemed ridiculous, but you didn’t think he was lying. Suddenly, all the resentment for that time a few years ago left.
You took your pinky out of his, looking away from him in embarrassment, then stated, “There’s nothing that says we can’t do all that while still being engaged. Lets.” You took a deep breath, looking straight at those brilliant blue eyes past his sunglasses, then continued. “Let start over. Get to know each other the right way and see where this takes us.”
He grinned. It was the first time you saw him smile with pure happiness behind it. “I like that idea, soulmate.”
515 notes · View notes
holykillercake · 3 years
Text
Coin Stealer
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Trafalgar Law x psychic!Reader
word count: 3.3k
summary: Law does not believe that you can see dead people, so you crochet him the strange-looking beanie of the strange-looking man that walks around the Polar Tang. 
highlight: ¨I´ll give a chance to the uniform, and I´ll only address you as Captain when you behave as Captain.¨
warning: You are entering Trafalgar´s room. 
notes: Bello, ma people! This is the 3/3 part of a lovely anon request in which the s/o makes them a thing with crochet! This time is Dr. Heart Stealer edition!! I really enjoyed writing this, and it got a little long, but I did not want to cut off important things. Anyway, I hope you like it!
Tumblr media
𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞!
Tumblr media
¨Hey, Bepo! Have you seen Law?¨
¨Y/N! I don´t know where he is... I´m sorry.¨
¨Oh, it´s ok!¨ you patted the mink´s shoulder, giving him a warm smile. 
You were never a big fan of his constant apologetic personality, but you couldn´t deny that you missed it during your time apart from the crew. 
The Heart Pirates had parted ways a long time ago when your Captain decided that the time to put his life-long plan in action had finally come. The crew split into three parts, and each one followed a different path. 
After the sudden disappearance of the Strawhats, the Paramount War, the Rocky Port Incident, and Law obtaining his title as a Warlord of the Sea, you were the first to depart, remaining in Sabaody Archipelago, waiting for the owners of the Thousand Sunny to return. You fought alongside a fishman called Hacchin, a weird guy that reminded you of Black Leg and other allies to protect the ship. 
Next to leave was Law, who sailed to Punk Hazard, where he formed a partnership with a crazy scientist bastard. Then the rest of the crew went on their own towards the island where you would meet once the plan was concluded.
The trajectory was not smooth by any means, but you did it, all of you. And now you feasted along with the Strawhats, celebrating whatever it was that you did not understand. Maybe they were like that, or maybe they didn't understand the risks you would take from now on. 
Anyway, the crew seemed to be in need of some music and fun, and you were too busy looking for your Captain to care about that.
In the midst of the evening breeze, the crackling of the fire, and the barrels of beer crashing in celebration, you saw the answer you were looking for.
Of course.
¨If I didn´t love you...¨ you growled as you made your way out of the island to reach the Polar Tang. And let´s face it, that was a detour.
You went straight to your room, where Law would probably be sipping coffee, napping, or just running from the crowds. And just like you, it has been months since he stepped on his own ship and slept in his own bed. 
So maybe you could cut him some slack. 
However, as you approached the room, there was no smell of coffee. No smell of coffee and no light snoring. Just a stillness carried with heavy emotions and your boyfriend, sitting in the dim light holding tight the crochet piece you gave him years ago. You swayed in place, expecting that thing you made to provoke him to be at the sea bottom.
¨Wondering why I kept this?¨ he asked. 
¨Not really.¨ you replied. ¨But I am surprised. Am I disturbing?¨
¨You never do.¨
You jumped on the bed, sitting beside him and resting your head on his shoulder.
¨YN-ya... do you know how he...¨ the question struggled to come out.
¨Peaceful.¨ 
¨Hm.¨ he nodded.
¨I don´t like when he smiles, though. It creeps me out.¨ His body bounced slightly as he joined you in a chuckle. 
¨Remember when you gave me this?¨
¨Of course, you almost kicked me out of the ship!¨ you giggled with the memory.
¨You were really annoying back then.¨
¨Hey! Objection!¨
¨Objection rebuffed.¨ he smirked and moved on the bed, pulling you to lay down on his chest.
You told him to shut up before cuddling in, not falling asleep immediately. None of you said much. Instead, you enjoyed the calming and comfortable silence of each other´s company. 
It has been a while since you had that. 
You remember every moment of your early days as a Heart Pirate. You and Law hadn´t started on the best terms, but he needed you - well, your skills - and you were given a good deal. 
The pivot of your history together began on a chain of coincidences. The first one being both of you docking on the same island. The second one was him finding a rare coin for his collection, the same one you would later slip into your pocket. 
You wandered around towns using the beautiful art of distraction to get anything you wanted from anyone. Watches, necklaces, wallets, and, well, coins? It was all he had in his pocket, and since it was a cute one, you decided to keep it. 
Some called you a thief. Some called you a burglar, and some may even have called you a big son of a bitch. But the thing they all had in common was that none of them knew exactly who they were calling those names. 
The thing is, you messed up the first rule and made eye contact with him. Well, it was more of you not being able to take your eyes off of him. He stood out in the crowd, and you had gotten cocky. So when he later found out about the missing coin, it did not take him long to connect you to it. 
A lot of things went through his mind. He felt frustrated because his Haki failed him, annoyed for the trouble he would have going after you, and intrigued by the touch so light he did not feel at all. 
Or that is what he kept telling himself. 
Yes, he was interested in someone with skills like yours, but maybe there was something else he would not admit. The way you looked at him as if you had deciphered his entire life and found the missing pieces of his puzzle. Even the ones he tried to hide. 
That night he went out for your head. Or better, your heart, literally. 
You were enjoying the comfort of your hotel room, eating some snacks, and playing with your new commemorative coin when he materialized himself by the bed. You instantly knew something was about to go down.
Oh, fuck.
That situation got pretty tense pretty quickly, both ends asking things, and no one willing to offer any answers. The stakes were high, glares cutting the air like blades. It did not help to ease the mood when in the sway of his hand your heart popped out of your chest. 
Long story short, his plan was never to drag you to the Polar Tang. Law wanted you to go willingly, joining his crew in exchange for your heart. However, the unfortunate variable he did not consider in the equation was that you would not go down without a fight. So by the time he reached the ship, he noticed the gentle fresh breeze ruffling his hair. 
You know, since his hair was usually covered by the hat. 
...
THE FREAKING HAT!
The next morning when he returned, you were waiting for him with a satisfied smirk bending your lips, the hat on your head, and the coin dancing between your fingers. 
At some point, you had stolen it, and once again, it passed unnoticed by him. That was not a good night for the Heart Pirates. And that was also the night Trafalgar Law realized a couple of things. The first, he needed you on his crew. And the second, you were going to be the death of him. Or maybe the aneurysm of him, he would not give you such credit. 
¨You´re late.¨ you said, amused, and his grip tightened around the sword.
¨What´s your name?¨ he repeated the question you dodged several times during your last encounter. 
¨What´s with the dog?¨ you pointed at the tall, white polar bear wearing a uniform. Law pursued his lips, breathing heavily through the nose.  
¨I am B-¨
¨Bepo-ya don´t talk to he-¨
¨Your name is Bepoya?¨ you ignored the man, bumping into his shoulder as you walked towards the mink ¨Hi, I´m Y/N! Nice meeting you.¨  
The polar bear looked back and forth at you and his Captain, not knowing how to behave in this situation, so he apologized and stepped farther back. 
¨Alrighty, now that we are all introduced, shall we go?¨ 
¨What?¨
¨Come on, Law, focus.¨ you snapped your fingers multiple times, teasing him. ¨You came here to pick me up, right?¨
¨No. I want my hat back.¨ He tried to grab it, but you ducked in time, holding the hat on your head with both hands. It was so soft. 
¨How about a trade? The coin for the hat.¨
¨How about my hat for your heart? Do this, and I won´t...¨ his words died in his mouth as he clutched his pockets. 
¨Looking for this?¨ You held your heart, wrapped in a cold and gelatinous box that you retrieved when you bumped into him minutes earlier.
How could you fool him again? He kept seeking answers that explained why it was so easy for you to outwit him, and his expression showed. 
¨You´re getting close, Law. Put your little trash can to work.¨ you tapped your temple, smiling mischievously at him. 
¨YN-ya, you know I can kill you, right?¨
¨Yeah, but you won´t.¨
¨How do you know?¨
¨I got a sixth sense for these things.¨ 
The rest of the conversation did not take long to come to an end. Amid sarcastic comments and threats to each other's lives, what should have been the pinnacle of the moment became a random passage in the Heart Pirates´ logbook.
¨So, YN-ya, do you want to join us? You´re gonna have to wear a uniform and address me as Captain.¨
¨I´ll give a chance to the uniform, and I´ll only address you as Captain when you behave as Captain.¨
Law sighed, giving himself a carotid massage ¨Ok. Let´s go.¨
He walked a few steps ahead of you and Bepo, wondering why he spent so much effort on an arrogant thief that wouldn't even call him Captain.
You quickly became friends with the polar bear, even apologizing for calling him a dog. He strangely apologized for your apologies, culminating in what would almost make the notorious Surgeon of Death suffer a stroke.
¨What the hell is that?!¨ you shouted when the Polar Tang entered your field of vision ¨That´s not a ship!¨
What if I am claustrophobic?
The ya thing is a schtick?
Death? That´s a little borderline controversial for a doctor.
Trafalgar more like Trafraude!
On occasions like that, Law wondered how peaceful and quiet would be the sixth level of Impel Down. From a current perspective, your initial interaction served as a vaccine, creating the necessary antibodies Law would need to deal with future pirate alliances. 
The crew got attached to you very quickly. Your adventurous spirit, your stunts, and street trades fascinated them. Losing bets against you seemed acceptable, your card tricks and the thing of guessing the numbers they thought was like fuel for a good day at work.
Law didn't seem to mind that much. After all, you wouldn't get him on his nerves if you were busy with them. However, one day, you let slip something that caught his attention. 
¨YEAH! That´s exactly what she looked like! How did you do this?!¨ 
Law heard Shachi´s roar, followed by a wave of surprised ´ooh´s coming from the kitchen, where the majority of the crew hunched around the dinner table. 
The doctor leaned against the door, silently observing what could possibly be more important than keeping the ship working. He had been drowning in files all night, and now he decided to have a coffee break. That mess early in the morning did not make him happy. 
No one seemed to be too intimidated when he cleared his throat, announcing his presence. Everyone greeted him with smiling 'good mornings' and turned their attention back to you.
 ¨What is going on here?¨
¨Captain did you know Y/N can see dead people?!¨ 
The coffee left a bitter aftertaste on his mouth.
¨What?¨
¨Yeah, Captain!¨ Shachi yelled on Law´s face, earning a death glare ¨She just described my mom!¨
¨Really, Y/N-ya? Now you´re a magician and a psychic?¨ he asked, taking the seat across from you. 
¨The perks of being me.¨ you shrugged. 
¨Do you see more dead people here?¨ 
Yes
¨No. But you sound a little skeptical, Law.¨ 
It was way too early for that discussion, but your biological clock didn't seem to care. Whenever Law came with his teasing, you would be ready to strike back.
He gave everyone a lecture about empathic accuracy and how good you were reading cues communicated by words, emotions, and body language. Or some crap like that. 
¨Ok, let me see if I got this right.¨ You shifted in the chair, hands moving in the air ¨You can pull organs out of people´s bodies, cut them in pieces without killing, switch their souls, but you do not believe that I can see dead people?¨
He tilted his head, but not giving you an exact answer.  
¨Do you wanna know what I think?¨
¨No.¨
¨I´ll tell you anyway. I think you have something you don´t want people to know, like a soft spot or a tragic past.¨ you sought the answer in his eyes ¨I´m guessing a loved one who died?¨ 
Overall, he was not wrong. You were a master in reading people´s body language, but you were not a jackass. So when the slight twitch of his mouth cleared up your doubts, it was time to stop. 
You knew how it felt, soft spots, tragic pasts, or late loved ones. There was no need to go further and throw more salt on his wounds. Hopefully, that taught him a lesson. 
An awkward silence ensued while everyone watched the scene, uncertain how to act, fearful that an extra spark would make everything explode into massive destruction.
¨Whatever.¨ he sighed ¨Show´s over. We´ll be reaching land in a few days, and we should be preparing to dock.¨ 
When everyone left the kitchen to go about their businesses, you remained alone with the figure that constantly wandered the submarine. He didn't do it in a creepy way. Despite his extravagant makeup and the intimidating aura, he was not a bother.
And it wasn't like he was there all the time, definitely more than anyone else. His passages were guaranteed on the days when Law was more sensitive. For bad or for good. He would look after him from the distance like a parenting figure. 
¨Who are you?¨ you murmured under your breath. 
For the next few days, Law made sure you were too busy to foster discussions about dead people or paranormal abilities.
When your services stealing rare supplies or getting answers to your Captain's questions you weren't required, you would help him with mountains of paperwork.
Only this time, he had outdone himself.
He managed to assemble the annual check-up of the crew, the inventory packing list, and the update of the logbook at once. This last one could easily wait until after you docked. But that freaking workaholic sadistic surgeon would not let this opportunity slip. So you pulled several all-nighters writing, signing, and stamping, all without exchanging a single word.
When you emerged, a few miles from land, you barely enjoyed the fresh breeze and sunlight. The crew hopped around, getting ready to put their feet on the continent as you sat in the kitchen profusely grouchy.
Your brain was fried, burnt, carbonized. 
¨You´re not coming?¨ Penguin asked, and you shook your head. ¨It´s been a while, Y/N, you should come.¨ you shook your head again. ¨I guess you´re not buying anything for the Captain´s birthday as well.¨
An incohesive question came out of your exhausted being. Penguin couldn´t help but feel sorry for you. ¨By the time his birthday comes up, we will be underwater, so everyone is preparing.¨ 
¨Do I have to?¨
¨No!¨ he chuckled ¨He doesn´t really like it, but we still buy him something.¨
¨Why?¨
¨´Cause he is a good Captain!¨ he said and sprunt out by the voice of someone calling him, waving goodbye at you. 
 It wasn't that you didn´t think Law was a good Captain. It was just an inherent nature of yours to clash every time you looked at each other. 
But on such occasion, you could combine the useful with the pleasant. After all, you were grateful because he gave you friends. Of course, he was the unfortunate by-product that came with them, but you could handle him. 
So fighting against your will to stay and sleep, you forced your way out to the solid ground, hoping to find the most random store someone could wish for, a haberdasher. 
Much to your delight, you did it. You picked a burgundy color wool and the first hook you put your eyes on and returned to your soft bed. 
The chances of you having scared your crewmates by staring at the blank for hours were high. In reality, you wanted to memorize and come up with a pattern for the strange-looking beanie that man wore. 
It had no pompom at the top like Penguin´s. Instead, two long pieces of fabric ran down from each side with heart-like things hanging.
When the sixth day of the tenth month arrived, Law´s desk was cluttered with presents. You had decided to wait until you were done with work and heading to bed to give it to him. 
After conquering that task, you locked yourself in your room, where you stayed until you had it finished. For some reason, you bothered to buy a box to put it in. Whatever.  
On the sixth day of the tenth month, Trafalgar Law could not focus on work. Every slight movement of yours, every bathroom break got him jittery, rehearsing words that wouldn´t make you hate him more. 
Not that you ever hated him, but you didn´t talk, so he didn´t know. After some time starting small talks and being ignored, you just gave up trying. 
By the end of that night, he had given up too. So when you placed the golden-yellow box on his desk, he couldn´t vocalize his feelings. It became just another silent night. 
Chests tight and hearts clogged with unspoken words. 
Law did not work for the next couple of days, and if he left his room, no one saw. The gifts on his desk were not even opened. Everything was left the way it was. 
Maybe you had crossed a line. 
As you marched up to the room at the end of the hall, several paths popped into your mind. You could act like you didn´t care, so what if you left? You had been alone for so long, it wouldn't make any difference! Still, something was begging you to apologize. To ask to stay, because being there was good, everything you never knew you wanted.
You were ready to pack your bags and have your title as a Heart Pirate retracted when you woke up one morning, finding a note on your desk telling you to meet him in his room. Your nails dug into your sweaty palms. Where did this tightness in your chest come from?
When you set foot in the room, your eyes hovered around. It was the first time you saw Law's room. It was exactly how you thought it would be.
Keeping your gaze locked on his was more difficult. He was sitting in an armchair near the foot of the bed. From afar, his appearance remained neat, as always, but as you approached you saw the circles under his eyes even darker. A thing you didn't think was possible.
For the first time, you didn't know how to read his expression. And seeing him vulnerable like that made your stomach drop. So you prepared yourself for the worst. However, to your surprise, all he did was ask you questions. 
No snarky remarks. You just talked.    
That day something changed. And from that day on, Law had found someone to help him carry the unbearable weight he had on his shoulders, and you found a place to call home. 
                                                             ...
¨Y/N-ya.¨ he called you, who was a cuddle away from sleeping.
¨Hm?¨
¨Before you left, in Sabaody...¨
¨Uhm.¨
¨You stole the coin again, didn´t you?¨ 
You giggled and pulled the commemorative coin from your back pocket, snuggling closer to his body and feeling the vibration of his chest as he chuckled.
Tumblr media
Extra notes: I hope you had enjoyed it! It came out a little too long, but I have been feeling like I´m limiting myself when it comes to the number of words... I don´t know, I´m confused. 
Anyway, is that pink and red that I see on the horizon?
221 notes · View notes
clarawatson · 3 years
Text
It Only Takes A Taste (3)
Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x [Fem]!Reader (GN pronouns, fem coded stuff, but I’m not sure where this is going as a larger work so we’ll say Fem!reader to be safe) Summary: Jack comes for dinner, I guess. W/C: 2345 Warnings: none yet! A/N: this one got a little long, oopsies. AO3 Where am I in this series? 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 |
The bed had been so warm and comfortable you hadn't wanted to get out, but the thought of seeing Aaron again made your heart grow three sizes. You'd been texting back and forth for the last couple of days, just small awkward stuff. He likes to text emojis. He's precious. Of course he's precious. 
He comes in as you're serving your first customer of the night—a sobbing thirty-year-old man who can't even order his pie without spluttering in tears. Is it favouritism to get excited by Aaron turning up? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. 
"Hello," you smile. There's a hundred things you could have called him, but he's too cute and your brain doesn't want to work. 
"Hi," he grins back. "Can I have a coffee, please. Here."
"Yes you can." Aaron splits his bill between the counter and the tip jar. "How was your day,  Aaron?" 
"Boring paperwork. Couldn't concentrate."
Concern furrows your eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"
"Huh? No! I kept thinking about seeing you." There's that sunshine smile again. You might even match it yourself. He points to the cake that's still in the display tin. He's in earlier in the night than usual, so there's a lot more range to choose from. "Is that carrot cake?" 
"Sure is. Do you want some?" 
"Please." 
You serve him a slice and let the coffee machine splutter and fight with you. He stabs his cake with his fork and looks like he has an out of body experience the moment the cream cheese icing hits his tongue. That's a face you want to see again under different circumstances.
"Joe?"
"Me! And Joe's recipe. I sort of mixed it together and prayed."
"Then mark me a religious man." Aaron smiles. You can't held but smile back at him.
"It's a bit early for you to be in," you say. It's not an issue, just means you got the earlier shift. Finishing at 1am instead of 7am. Plus, Aaron looks nice in the daytime. Very nice. The afternoon light suits him.
"Didn't have a case," he shrugs. 
You've googled him since getting his business card. “Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner, Section Chief of the BAU”. The fuck did that even mean? BAU was the Behavioural Analysis Unit, which was still mainly a mystery, but you think it’s maybe just an over-glorified way of saying ‘they look inside people’s heads and hope for the best’. He’s got a handful of news reports that you’ve practically memorised. 
Okay, that’s a little obsessive. Don’t admit that to him. 
He wasn’t the ‘untouched by darkness’ that you’d thought of him before, his work face held all the darkness his smile did not. You hoped you never had to see the serious man who stood before the cameras. 
“How’s Rita?” Aaron asks. He’s cut the top off his carrot cake, saving it for later. He looks at it longingly every now and then, then he scoops just a little bit of the cream cheese and lets it rest on his tongue.
“She’s good. Restless. She’s happy for the due date to arrive.” She’d also asked you to be the baby’s godparent. Rather forcefully, actually, it had felt a bit strange. That was the only reason you hadn’t jumped at the opportunity. You’d do anything for Rita, but saying yes in that instant would had felt strange. Almost… wrong, maybe.
Aaron knows you’re thinking about it. He puts his fork down and shifts in his chair, waiting for you to continue. He doesn’t fill the silence between the two of you. You think about telling him, but then Lola’s bustling through the door and grabbing her apron.
“Hot stuff, when can I go for a smoke break?” is the first thing Lola says to you. She pulls chewing gum out of her mouth (yes, pulls. She sticks her fingers in her mouth and pulls it out as far as it will go without snapping) and Aaron moves his cake around his plate a bit. Does he not like it? Don’t be silly, he asked for it. Requested it. Whatever. You put his three cookies into a plastic bag and slide it across the counter to him.
“Lola you only just came in.”
“But I want to know,” she whines like she’s a teenager with an after school job, not a thirty-five-year-old woman who works at the diner full time. “Hey, Rita’s been acting weird, right? Is that a pregnancy thing, or?” Lola rubbed her nose on the back of her wrist and sniffs. An action you’re all too familiar with by now, and of course she was doing illegal substances in the bathroom before she started her shift when there’s a legitimate federal agent in the diner.
 “Oh,” Lola says as she looks at Aaron. She looks at you, raises her eyebrows, and nods like she’s impressed. “I take back telling Rita she was a liar." Even without knowing the context of Rita and Lola's conversation, you know Rita had told Lola how pretty/handsome/gorgeous Aaron is. "I’m going to go clean some tables.”
She grabs the cleaning supplies and heads out into the dining area. The door swings open, banging against one of the booths, and you’re immensely glad Lola doesn’t scream 'watch it’ at them. A curly haired blonde woman (gorgeous, mind you) touches Aaron’s shoulder and he sits up straight, smiling, and your heart plummets a little bit. Just the tiniest amount. 
“Jack insisted we switch over here before I go to parent/teacher interviews.” As if on queue, a well mannered, sandy-haired boy sits next to Aaron and grins too much like Aaron. Aaron’s son. You can put two and two together. Profiler or not.
“How was school?” Aaron asks. Jack shrugs.
“It was school.” He learnt that from his dad, there’s no question. 
“Well, in that case. Jack, this is my friend Y/n. Y/n, this is Jack.” Jack extends a hand to shake in greeting and looks really shy about it. You shake it quickly so he doesn’t feel like a kid who’s been roped into doing adult things. There’s a pile of colouring-in pages Joe’s printed off at the local library beneath a cup of crayons that Jack’s eyeing off. 
You grab a sheet and a crayon, raising an eyebrow in invitation as you turn around to Jack. 
“Yes please,” he says, grin growing across his face. “Thank-you.”
“You’re welcome. Wonderful manners.” Jack grins even bigger and you think he, too, might combust just like his dad. Stardust! That’s the movie you were thinking of. When Yvaine sees Tristan she shines, literally, the star inside of her just can’t be contained. That’s Aaron and Jack, and the way they look when they smile. 
Aaron’s sister-in-law looks at you with a cocked head, like a curious cat. Like she’s waiting to pounce. But… curiously pounce. Like she's sussing you out. She extends a hand in greeting.
“Jess. Aaron’s talked about you.”
There’s no response but to look sheepish. This seems to greatly please Jess, who smiles softly and rubs the back of Aaron’s head affectionately. They have a long history together, it’s too familial to be just a relationship born through marriage. 
“I’ll see you later then, Rockstar,” Jess says.
“Bye,” Aaron and Jack say together. Aaron rests his cheek on his hand, watching you as Lola hands you three orders she’s taken while you’ve been talking to Aaron. Jack leans over and whispers to Aaron about his homework (it’s a whisper that belongs on a stage) as you wrestle with the coffee machine. 
It’s been grinding it’s way down to not working for a while now. Ever since you met Aaron, actually. Joe’s said he’s going to fix it, or get a new one, but everyone’s in a state of non-commital until Rita has her baby.You’ve got no idea why, it’s just the way things are. Good luck, maybe? Or luck in general? 
Somehow you get Aaron talking about Shakespeare. It might have been Jack’s doing, to be completely honest, but one moment you’re trying to make the froth… well, froth… and the next you're listening to Aaron talk animatedly about Othello. Jack's young enough to not think his Dad's passion is embarrassing. 
"Have you watched Othello?" Jack asks, a question that Aaron's neglected to ask you. "I'm not old enough to yet." 
"I haven't seen that one yet, but I've seen Much Ado About Nothing."
"Is that the one with the olive gardens?" Jack asks. Aaron frowns, eyes searching for the answer in that big beautiful minds tonight.
"Yes," he says finally. "That was the one with the olive trees."
Jack giggles. "There was kissing in that movie." 
"Lots of it," Aaron agrees. You're not sure you're talking about the same film, but it's cute to see the two of them interact. 
"With the guy who plays Lockhart in the second Harry Potter movie?" You ask. Jack laughs just like his father. It's all light and mirth. He nods in confirmation. 
"His name is Kenneth," Jack says like he's familiar with him. When Aaron smiles, you know Jack's his whole world.
It’s not long before Aaron realised he’d brought Jack in without asking if he wanted anything. The afternoon rush had died down, leaving you in the space between out-of-work and dinner. You make the most chocolate-y hot chocolate you can for Jack when Aaron says he can have one. Well, Jack says the best bit is the froth, so it’s more child-size-hot-chocolate-in-an-adult-mug-full-of-froth. Jack loves it. He slurps at the chocolate, which leaves a giant frothy mustache over his top lip that won’t go away no matter how much he licks at it.
When he’s done you let him come around to the kitchen to wash his face, because no amount of wet napkins is going to fix that mess. Jack can’t reach the sink, so you fashion a step out of old milk and bread crates. Joe gives him cake batter to taste before realising that he actually has no idea who Jack is. Aaron watches from the kitchen door with a smile on his face. You don’t catch it until Jack jumps off the crates and takes your hand, leading you back out. Aaron’s fingers brush your hand as you pass him. Electricity sparks between the two of you that's completely unavoidable. The two of you recoil involuntarily.
Aaron gives you a small smile of apology. You give exactly the same one back. Lola legitimately gasps like she too felt the electricity between the two of you. Surely that was just something that happened in movies? Or in books? That’s not a real thing, right? But Aaron brushes past you again, as if he’s making sure as well, and it’s there again. Only it’s like your whole arm becomes pins and needles, not just a quick lightning spark.
If it’s like that every time you’re with him, your not sure you could even go beyond lusting after him and giving him coffee and meals every now and then. Aaron drops his gaze, then follows Jack to the front of the counter. 
They stay for dinner (because Jack insists, he wants the nachos) but the rush comes early and there’s really not much time to talk to them, so you almost miss them leaving. Almost. You’re serving the angry couple at table three (are they angry at you, or each other? Who knows, you don’t, but they’re taking it out on you) when Jack taps your hip. 
He’s very patient as you finish the order (somehow you figure out what they want between the curse words) and bend down to him. He hands you a folded piece of paper.
“This is for you,” he says. “I did it.” You’re about to unfold it, but he insists that it belongs in your apron pocket until you can look at it with no rush. That’s a kid who knows what it’s like to have a very busy parent. So you tuck it away safely and mess with his hair, which makes him grin from ear to ear.
“See you later!” Jack yells as he runs to Aaron, who’s waving goodbye with a doggy bag full of Jack’s unfinished dinner.and his keys between his fingers. 
“I’ll see you later,” he mouths as the noise in the diner starts to rise. Without thinking you blow him a kiss, which he catches effortlessly and kisses the fist closed around it before slipping out. 
When you get to the kitchen Lola’s already in the midst of teasing you. 
“You like him,” she says with all the confidence in the world. There’s not point denying her, so you just nod. It’s met by a chorus of ‘ooo’s which, to be honest, you really didn’t need. It made the diner feel far too small.
When everything dies down you remember the paper Jack had given you. You wipe the milk and spaghetti sauce off the counter, then make sure it’s dry, and unfold Jack’s page. It’s the generic colouring page Joe’s printed out, but Jack’s tried to make the generic waitress look like you. Well, you if you had purple hair and green skin. It’s a start, you guess, there’s an apology from Aaron on the back. Makes it worth it.
You move a couple of postcards on the corkboard aside and put Jack’s picture there instead. Joe pretends not to notice, but when Lola goes out the back with one of her customers, Joe comes round the front and presses a finger to the page.
“Good kid,” Joe says. He nods a couple of times then turns to you. “You know he and his dad come as a package, right? You fuck up one, you fuck up both.” Joe’s first wife had three kids that weren’t biologically his. He’s still mad at himself for not taking the kids seriously and only turning up for their mom.
“I know,” you say. 
Joe strokes your cheek as he passes and kisses your forehead. It’s all the praise you need. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
taglist (if you want to get added, just inbox me, and if I’ve missed you I am so sorry): @willowrose99 @genevievedarcygranger @maryosprinkle @kleff03 @yoshigguk @samanthareid06 @typical-leo @leilanixx
100 notes · View notes
newswcanonprompts · 4 years
Text
Skywalkers are immortal eldritch fucks (there’s so many ways this can go)
1. How does being half-force affect Anakin as a force ghost
Anakin... wasn't properly dead. just a bit too present, a bit too lively, and that if only someone pulled hard enough on the veil, he could be made to bleed again.
Anakin just keeps coming back to life, And so do Luke and Leia when they die.
"You've done it, you've killed Anakin fucking Skywalker. Wait, why is he standing behind you? Where's his body gone? Oh fuck, what is that expression? Oh no!"
This happens to Vader and terrifies the f*ck out of literally everyone
the man is the son of the Force, yes? how could he "become one with it" if he basically already was part of it? or at least, made of it?
It'd be either kinda horrifying or basically a regenerate-your-limbs get out of jail free card
Anakin turns up in Luke's temple one day, like "hey turns out I can't die"
Luke is just happy to have a Dad
imagine the backlash if that little factoid ever went public. "What do you mean Darth Vader can't die???"
"You mean he's alive right now????"
Obi-Wan realising he can't have a peaceful retirement in the afterlife because Anakin's apparently immortal now
Anakin starts trying to figure out how to make Obi wan immortal too
Ahsoka is so confused at everything
"You look a lot like the Hero with No Fear from the Clone Wars. Are you his grandson or something?" 
"Nope, I am him." 
"Freaking weird Jedi and their not aging."
 2. how terrifying it would have been if during the Dooku fight in AOTC his arm just regrew the moment it was cut off
3. them realizing this during the clone wars: CHECKMATE BITCHES
imagine the propaganda if there was a General who literally couldn't die
the Seperatists wouldn't know which way was up anymore
Anakin realised he had this sort of ability during the clone wars it would be hilarious to see him just throwing himself at things
he could protect his men better
Imagine how distressing it would be for a shiny to just see their general die and then come back seconds later
And Rex being like "Yep, the general does that."
just rubbing his eyes. and being completely done
Imagine the bitching sessions with Cody "At least yours resurrects! Mine just runs off without his kriffing lightsaber and armor all the time!"
clone boys have a heart attack whenever their general just decides to regrow limbs
rex faints the first time he sees anakin's arm grow back.
instead of the whole "my general keeps losing his lightsaber" it becomes "my general keeps losing his arm"
"My general keeps dying."
"Oh, how many have you been assigned to now?"
"No, no, he gets better again afterwards."
the 501st never tell the shinies that their general is immortal because the vets like to fuck around like that
it's kind of a right of passage for shinies to almost have a heart attack when the general comes back from the dead
Anakin is basically just the "if all else fails" option at that point because no matter what happens to him, he will be back at the temple annoying the hell out of everyone before dinner time
Anakin gets mortally wounded and is like "Well, I'll see you in five."
Droids: * shoot Anakin *
 * Anakin: * dies * 
Anakin, 5 minutes later in the middle of a crowd of droids: SURPRISE BITCHES!! * Murders them all *
Anakin dying to Dooku at the end of Attack of the Clones and then coming back and Dooku just being like "Fuck this shit I'm out."
him coming back and chasing dooku with his arm
Imagine the moment they find out Anakin can come back from the dead:
Ahsoka and Obi-Wan just sobbing their hearts out and then suddenly he's behind them like "Hey, bold of you to presume I'm mortal."
He pulls a Percy Jackson, and walks into his funeral.
mace windu utters a quiet "are you fucking kidding me"
next time anakin dies, his funeral includes a "welcome home anakin" banner
Mace stops letting the Yoda Lineage have funerals because they don't stay dead
They keep having funerals for Anakin just as an excuse to have a party
what if politicians don't know this. like the first time he dies during the war, and all the diplomats are there. Except Padme. She knows all and is just there to see the chaos.
They're usually private funerals, so they can keep inviting new people to screw with
"general skywalker just died"
"senator he's right here"
"i saw him die protecting me right before my eyes"
"senator do you need the healers?"
Obi-Wan, just watched Anakin go splat at the bottom of a ravine:
“ANAKIN!!”
Anakin, popping back into the mortal coil just behind him: “Yeah? What's up?”
obi-wan finding out about a Anakins thing and keeping it a secret,
so one day anakin dies and the whole council is like, mourning
obi-wan is just rolling his eyes and saying “it’s fine he’ll be back”
everyone thinks obi-wans having a mental breakdown
but then anakin walks into his funeral with a cup of caf and sunglasses and flashes everyone a peace sign
All of Yoda’s lineage (except dooku) and padme know.
"can you guys not cover me in white next time? it's pretty boring"
"can i get, like, glitter? is that a thing? make it a thing"
Skywalkers can also breath in space.
They just don’t have to breathe. 
4. THE FORCE IS A PROACTIVE PARENT IN THIS (AND AGENDER) (THEY/THEM PRONOUNS)
during the time it takes for him to resurrect, the force and anakin talked.
Bc that's the only time he could talk with a tangible parent.
he learns about palps that way
one time Anakin dies twice in one day
turns out the ability has a bit of a cooldown time so everyone's just panicking a bit because he should be back by now
then he appears like three days later
Obi-Wan's like "You bastard."
"Gotta keep you on your toes."
Really his parent just wanted some more time with him, and who was he to refuse?
a cracky! anakin basically having annual dinners with The Force because of how often he dies in the clone wars
in this verse the clone wars was created so Anakin & his parent The Force can have family dinners
Mortis, but instead of All That Nonsense, it's just a nice episode of meet the parent
padme dies, and then at her funeral she comes back, but force sensitive.
force sensitive, immortal, padme amidala. The seppies are going DOWN
The Force wills Padme to die because The Force wants to meet their daughter in law
It does this for basically everyone Anakin cares about
sometimes anakin and padme just drop dead, and wake up a few hours later bc they had a family dinner to get to.
"I'm going to kill you" is suddenly the literal way for Anakin to say "I love you"
Anakin dies on Mandalore and Satine witnesses it and she's horrified and doesn't know what to tell Obi-Wan but then she sees Obi-Wan talking to Anakin and she's so confused
So if anakin kills you and you’re someone he cares about you come back to life immortal.
Death By Skywalker basically being a way of becoming immortal is gonna fuck with the war so much
when Palpatine tells Anakin to kill all the jedi he thinks Palpatine is telling him to invite all the jedi to his Force Family Dinner
One day the entire Jedi temple just dies all at once, and comes back a couple hours later, to the confusion of literally everyone (including the Jedi)
yoda is frequently killed to spend time with the force because after 900 years the two of them are tight as fuck
Anakin doesn’t have attachment issues in this bc hey, people die all the time! :)
He also ends up being worshipped as a demigod.
More Angsty version of this: young anakin kills palps bc he thinks he'll resurrect, but then the tangible form of the force appears and explains that he was the sith master.
Palpatine would probably actually try to get Anakin to kill him, because hey! Free immortality! Don't mind if i do!
5. Imagine if this was something he discovered as a little kid. Anakin going off to visit Qui-Gon in the force and Obi-Wan wondering what eldritch beast he has ended up with as a padawan
"Anakin what are you doing?"
"I'm making master Qui-Gon a friendship bracelet?"
"...master qui gon?"
"yeah! i gave one to my parent yesterday and master qui-gon said he wanted one too!"
"Your parent? when exactly was this yesterday?"
anakin being a convoy for dead masters and their old padawans like Weed Dad qui gon jinn and his Struggling Son obi wan
anakin has two parents
Parent and Mom
1K notes · View notes
rpmemestorehouse · 3 years
Text
2010′s Internet Memes Starters
Change wording as needed
“Are you frustrated?”
“What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I-”
“Let me tell you why that’s bullshit.”
“Oh stop it, you.”
“Aww yiss.”
“France is bacon.”
“That’s cute.”
“Lie down. Try not to cry. Cry a lot.”
“Has science gone too far?”
“...said no-one ever.”
“We need to go deeper.”
“Do you think this is a motherfucking game?”
“NOPE.”
“Oh baby, a triple!”
“Brushie brushie brushie~”
“Spooky scary skeletons!”
“FUCK YEA.”
“You could stop at five or six stores, or, just ONE.”
“You hear about video games?”
“Release the kraken!”
“Will you fight? Or will you perish like a dog?”
“ ‘It will be FUN’, they said!”
“You’ve been GNOMED!”
“Deal with it.”
“And not a single fuck was given that day.”
“It’s a double rainbow!”
“The rent is too damn high!”
“You jelly?”
“Challenge accepted.”
“Come at me bro!”
“Pootis!”
“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?”
“Are you a wizard?”
“Bitch please!”
“I know that feel bro.”
“Shut up and take my money!”
“I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”
“NO.”
“I hope you step on a LEGO.”
“That really rustled my jimmies.”
“And then a skeleton popped out!”
“I’ve seen some shit.”
“gEnIuS!”
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
“This isn’t even my final form!”
“You had one job.”
“Kill me.”
“Majestic as FUCK.”
“Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about [insert]?”
“I swear on me mum...”
“You have no power here!”
“REKT!”
“What a time to be alive.”
“If I pull that off, will you die?”
“It will be extremely painful...for you.”
“FUCK THIS GAY EARTH!”
“Hide the pain Harold.”
“Local man ruins everything.”
“Mom, get the camera!”
“I cri evrytiem.”
“The struggle is real.”
“I am the one who knocks!”
“Perfection.”
“This is the darkest timeline.”
“I’m about to end this man’s whole career.”
“I regret nothing!!!”
“I lied.”
“I’ve seen enough [insert] to know where THIS is going.”
“Oh god why-”
“Everyday I’m shufflin’-”
“You wot mate?”
“Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked...”
“Man door hand hook car door-”
“Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, vomit on my sweater already, Mom's spaghetti-”
“Oppa Gangnam style!”
“When [place] is ashes, you have my permission to die.”
“I only cried for 20 minutes.”
“Pepperidge Farm remembers.”
“Go home, [Name], you’re drunk.”
“Fuck me, right?”
“I should buy a boat.”
“2deep4you”
“Apply cold water to that burn.”
“420 blaze it!”
“That’s a nice new [insert]. It would be a shame if something happened to it...”
“I too, like to live dangerously.”
“You know nothing, [Name].”
“I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“Does this look like the face of mercy?”
“It was me, [OWN NAME]!”
“Stop trying to make [insert] happen! It’s not going to happen!”
“You merely adopted the darkness.”
“See? Nobody cares.”
“I will find you, and I will kill you.”
“I understood that reference!”
“Listen here, you little shit-”
“It’s an older meme, sir, but it checks out.”
“Ravioli, ravioli, give me the formuoli.”
“How do you do, fellow kids?”
“Ow, the edge!”
“*teleports behind you* Nothing personal, kid.”
“Pee is stored in the balls.”
“We have food at home.”
“You must be new here.”
“Goats are like mushrooms, if you shoot a duck, I'm scared of toasters.”
“ERMAHGERD BERKS-”
“That’s the evilest thing I can imagine!”
“Dammit Moon Moon!”
“When u mom com home and make hte spagheti-“
“When will you learn? When will you learn?! THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?!”
“helo would u like some of this hot choclety milk?”
“Be strong, [Name]. Be strong for Mother.”
“Ayy LMAO.”
“Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.”
“Shrek is love, Shrek is life.”
“Heard you were talking shit!”
“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”
“Look at me. I’m the captain now.”
“This could be us, but you playing.”
“They played us like a damn fiddle!”
“I came out to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now.”
“I’m in me mum’s car, broom broom!”
“Hand me the aux cord.”
“Press F to pay respects.”
“Trust nobody, not even yourself.”
“Anime was a mistake.”
“It’s just a prank, bro!”
“Don’t talk to me or my son ever again.”
“Are ya winning, son?”
“Had it not been for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered you.”
“I lived bitch!”
“You just have to say that you're fine, when you're not really fine, but you just can't get into it because they would never understand.”
“*chuckles* I’m in danger.”
“That wasn’t very cash money of you.”
“They had us in the first half, not gonna lie.”
“DEEZ NUTS-”
“Alone on a Friday night? God, you’re pathetic.”
“Why the fuck you lyin’? Why you always lyin’? Mmmm oh my GOD, stop fuckin’ lyin’~”
“You’re gonna have a bad time.”
“I’m at soup!”
“IT’S TIME TO STOP!”
“Congratulations, you played yourself.”
“I’m you, but stronger.”
“This is fine.”
“Hello darkness my old friend~”
“Sosig.”
“Jesus Christ, it’s Jason Bourne!”
“I have crippling depression!”
“WE ARE NUMBER ONE!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, kiddo.”
“Take a fucking sip, babes.”
“Brother, may I have some oats?”
“God I wish that were me.”
“Ah, I see you’re a man of culture as well.”
“Oh, worm?”
“Hewwo!”
“Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?”
“Am I a joke to you?”
“Let me in. LET ME IIIIIINNNNN!!!!!”
“You know I had to do it to ‘em.”
“Why is the FBI here?”
“Oh no baby what is you doin’???”
“Hey man, you see that guy over there?”
“Buenos días, [Name]!”
“Hey there demons, it’s me, ya boy.”
“Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.”
“Then perish.”
“Somebody toucha my spaghet!”
“My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.”
“Weird flex, but okay.”
“I’m baby.”
“STONKS!”
“OK, boomer.”
“Yep, this one’s going in my cringe compilation.”
“This is so sad. Alexa, play Despacito.”
“Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.”
“All right then, keep your secrets.”
“They did surgery on a grape.”
“It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.”
“Look how they massacred my boy!”
“Bro! You just posted cringe! You are going to lose subscriber.”
“Wait, that’s illegal.”
“Bro, I’m straight-up not having a good time.”
“Gonna cry? Gonna piss your pants maybe?”
“I’m gonna do what’s called a pro gamer move.”
“Say sike right now.”
49 notes · View notes
preemshots · 3 years
Text
johnny + the nomads lore
Tumblr media
alright, i know this is a screenshots blog but i'm going to go ahead and start dropping some juicy lore tidbits as i dig them up. part of what i'm doing outside of just photo diarying is shard hunting, and BOY is there a lot the game likes to hide in those little shards for idiots like me who like to read so we can write unnecessarily accurate fanfiction! 
full disclosure, i know jack shit about the TTRPG/cyberpunk 2020 rulebook except what i read in the wikis. 
so here’s my lore roundup so far of everything i know about johnny joining the nomads
we know johnny likes to narrate v’s quest objectives. here’s the first mention where he says it himself: 
Tumblr media
during the voodoo boys quest "transmission" there's a shard in the maglev tunnels beside the ice bath, presumably from brigitte's research into johnny in the first place:
Tumblr media
okay, so the timeline is this: johnny joins the nomads after trying and failing to rescue alt. johnny hides out in the badlands for some years. then he and rogue come back to night city and nuke arasaka tower help alt escape the arasaka subnet by uploading liberator to their network once and for all.
this ultimately makes sense. in alt’s flashback, we meet santiago, who is a nomad/connected to nomads, joins rogue and johnny when they're trying to get alt back, and eventually becomes the leader of the aldecaldos. 
part of santiago’s TTRPG lore is that he, johnny, and rogue have to lay low in the badlands with nomads after they storm arasaka headquarters (i am aware the game takes many liberties with the original lore so who knows the full accuracy of anything from the original rulebooks)
ENDING spoilers: in the rogue+johnny storming AHQ ending, it's revealed that rogue has a son while they're prepping for the job. if you eavesdrop on her calling him while you're at the afterlife, you hear her tell her son to (paraphrasing here) "pull over and look at the stars", which immediately made my brain go to: nomad, badlands, santiago = dad? maybe. (santiago also canonically has a son according to the TTRPG lore)
this immediately reminded me of another interesting shard that i believe you can find in multiple locations around night city: “"what REALLY happened in arasaka tower?“
Tumblr media
i love this dang shard. at first i thought it was just a cute conspiracy with some juicy gossip (and i love how 99% of the shards that mention johnny in this game are reminding us that he's not a real rebel, he's a poser) but it brings some interesting shit together
one: it tells us where johnny got his hands on the nukes! he and the nomads jumped a militech convoy and jacked some bombs! 
which is never directly explained, even as saburo arasaka is interrogating him shortly before using soulkiller. very nice of johnny to protect his homies like that. 
...or maybe he didn’t. saburo emphasizes that the dead don’t lie like the living do, and we don’t know what exactly arasaka did to johnny’s construct in mikoshi. 
it also explains why the obvious media narrative is that militech nuked arasaka, a nice neat political bow to the end of the fourth corpo wars, which is an entire section of the TTRPG lore that makes my eyes cross when i read it. 
it also makes the star/nomads ending extremely interesting, because i originally believed it was the ending where V’s journey deviates the most from rewalking johnny’s path... which also has weird implications if the johnny’s nomad era is being kept from v. 
(this also leads into my belief that the star ending/the devil ending are narratively two sides of the same coin, but that’s a WHOLE ANOTHER POST for another day.)
TWO, just straight up the fact that they turned the raid where they actually obtained the nukes into an action flick BD that pretty much ANYONE could watch. who the hell was doing that?? 
well, who else other than the guy who johnny (optionally) punched the shit out of for filming alt's death: thompson, media guy, and according to rogue, “bad luck”. because you know, recording your crimes is straight up evidence that can be used against you.
during the alt flashback we meet thompson, and just after that in cyberspace before meeting alt, johnny tells v that he has no idea what happened to him and that they never worked together again. 
oh, johnny, you lying bastard man
this is blatantly untrue, and if V even had two braincells and better memory than a goldfish they'd know this--in the first flashback sequence where johnny and rogue nuke arasaka tower, thompson is on the comms as they ride the AV towards AHQ, questioning their plans and use of violence. 
which leaves me with some questions, like where the fuck is thompson, why does johnny keep lying about this, why doesn't johnny say almost anything about how you interact with the aldecaldo clan nonstop throughout the game when he himself may have been a member of the family for some time?? is he continuing to protect the nomad clan that saved his ass? we know that a lot of his flashbacks are unreliable at best, that johnny changes shit up as desired when presenting V with his memories.
in 2077, you can also find that there’s a remake of “badlands raid” in the shard “new release braindances” that is pretty much everywhere. that shard doesn’t add much, but does mention something along the lines of “many people don’t know the ending of the original” which probably means johnny punched thompson out for filming again, or something. 
my running theories: rogue ditched santiago and the aldecaldos with johnny and thompson to nuke arasaka tower, and when johnny died she was stuck looking for (heavily implied by johnny here:) corpo sellout ways to survive.
adam smasher obviously has something to do with this since johnny/rogue's vendetta against the guy isn't entirely clear beyond the smokescreen of "he killed johnny and he sucks". i have done 0 research into this though i'm tired of typing okay
i obviously cannot be certain i have found everything related to this in the game as i’m not even done with this playthrough where i’m trying to pay attention, but i hope this is fun for someone else to dig into. 
enjoy, fellow silverhand freaks
EDIT: additional findings
ALRIGHT I HAVE DONE MORE DIGGING AND I AM BACK WITH MORE NOMAD/JOHNNY FINDINGS. these ones are kind of a bummer but VERY interesting.
there’s a shard called “excerpts from a history of the nomads by bb pires” that goes into detail about how nomads came to be
there’s an interesting quote in it: It's hard to imagine a group less inclined to wandering than farmers, but in fact they were the ones who sparked the age of nomads. Natural catastrophes, crops ravaged by bioplagues, armed conflicts and martial law allowing corporations to speculate and privatize land - all this forced them into a life on the road.
when you ask johnny why he wants to take down arasaka, he begins by referencing this himself!!
Tumblr media
it’s a little awkward to imagine a nomad V doesn’t also know what he’s referencing, but hey, V is the fool because we are as players and that’s only one life path... so sure.
johnny also has unique dialogue during this scene about a nomad origin V, telling them that he’s been trying to understand how V thinks, and came to the conclusion that “their family was a crutch” and essentially made them stupid because they always had a safety net (lmao johnny calling v privileged basically)
BUT this also may reference why johnny would find it confusing as hell that V doesn’t immediately share the views he does when nomads, in terms of values, seem to be more aligned with johnny than V is. but once again V is the fool for a reason and this is all my own speculation so YOU KNOW.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, at the end of chippin’ in, when you ask johnny what he meant by letting down his friends... santiago is named directly
Tumblr media
i thought this was interesting since the only glimpse of their relationship that we get is seeing johnny meeting santiago via the alt flashback for the first time.
so now it’s obvious that while johnny and rogue were with the nomads their friendship developed, and johnny went on to disappoint santiago in some way by being his normal dickhead self
but HOW? how did he disappoint santiago? is santiago even still alive?? did smasher kill santiago and is this why rogue mentions during chippin’ in that she wants smasher to “settle a score” moreso than avenge johnny??
the only additional hints i have are from this shard, which you can find at the aldecaldos camp: “nomads at ground zero”
i’m just gonna transcribe here and bold for emphasis:
It was no secret that Night Corp offered generous pay and, in some cases, free cyberware and biomonitor upgrades to anyone willing to help clean up the crater of radioactive rubble at AHQ ground zero. Some firsthand accounts recall the incessant ticking of Geiger counters, like the loud buzz of cicadas in summer. In retrospect, we can only guess how many "crater cleaners" lost their lives to radiation sickness shortly thereafter. Both the city government and Night Corp have claimed casualties were kept to a minimum, while providing no official statistics to substantiate the claim. That being said, they have never been under pressure to release such figures. After all, most rescue, engineering, and rubble cleanup teams were not local Night Citizens, but nomads. Surprised you didn't know? Don't be. It is a fact many history courses tend to overlook. The city employed hundreds of nomad mercenaries, primarily from clans in Aldecaldo nation. These nomads were hungry for gainful work and the city needed experts who were not only experienced but brave enough to knowingly put their lives on the line - all so Arasaka could one day erect another tower in its place. But history is not without its sense of irony. These nomads, who so deliberately live outside our so-called "system," came to its very rescue. Not for the first time. And not for the last.
a main theme we find in this game is the idea that the system of corps and exploitation cannot be stopped by grandiose rebellious gestures--no amount of samurai songs, assassinating mayors, or even planting nukes in towers will change things. yet johnny, his friends and mercs at atlantis in the 2020s, including rogue, chose to rebel any way they could, thinking it better than not. johnny criticizes her lack of rebellious spirit CONSTANTLY in 2077.
but ultimately, johnny, trapped in mikoshi, didn’t get to see the outcome of what detonating the AHQ nukes did to night city’s fragile ecosystem. rogue, however, did--and likely watched their former allies, the aldecaldos, be forced to take dangerous work at AHQ’s ground zero (from lack of other opportunities as detailed in this shard), then die from radiation sickness throughout the following decades, all as a result of what she and johnny did to try and fight the system. and she also watched all the former mercenaries of atlantis be hunted down by arasaka.
so rogue sees firsthand what the cost of rebellion is and johnny doesn’t. and nomads, considered the most free of any of the factions we encounter in the game, are the cost.
179 notes · View notes
Text
Stalker X Stalker, Part 2
First part
Next
Perma tag: @nathleigh
Stalker x Stalker taglist: @aespades
Tim wheeled his bike into the alleyway nearby and set the alarm to call him if someone messed with it beyond the normal ‘must touch cool thing’ instincts.
Once he was sure that his bike couldn’t be easily stolen, he turned back to where Marinette was waiting for him.
She struggled with her phone with her gloved fingers. His lips twitched into a grin and he took a moment to school his face into a neutral expression before he started over.
After a second, her head turned to look at him and she flashed a wink, pocketing her phone.
“Cheers!” She chirped, flashing him a wave.
Tim raised an eyebrow at her behind his domino mask. “I hate to break this to you, but that’s a British thing.”
He could only see the top half of her face, and yet he was sure she was pouting. “Kwami, this is Canada French all over again.”
“Canada --?”
“They speak the language all wrong,” she said, as if that made it make more sense.
“I feel like you’re implying that I speak English wrong.”
“Would you rather I say it outright? ‘Cheers’ is a cute word and it sucks that Americans don’t use it.”
“Is this really a hill you’re going to die on?”
“Not just a hill I’m going to die on, it’s the hill.”
He scoffed lightly at that, then turned to get the door for her. The moment they stepped inside they tensed. The silent stares pressed in on them on all sides and he felt Marinette shuffle just the slightest bit closer to him as they took their place in line. The Gothamites continued watching them -- no, they were watching her -- warily, and of course they were (new people in costumes usually meant pain for them).
Well, he could assure them she was safe, at least.
He slowly, carefully, threw his arm over his shoulders. Marinette’s hand twitched towards the arm on instinct to throw him off, but otherwise she didn’t give much indication that what was going on was weird. There were a few more tense seconds before people turned back to what they were doing, visibly relieved by the fact that she was apparently on the good side. Chatter started back up.
Marinette relaxed slightly under his arm and he gave her shoulder a little squeeze in a weak attempt at comfort.
“Kwami, I forgot how much being a new hero sucks.”
“Vigilante,” he corrected her absently.
She rolled her eyes. “At least try and make it sound like you’re not a cop with a bird theme.”
He sputtered, pulling away to cross his arms over his chest. “Hey!”
“Am I wrong?”
“Yes!”
She rested her hands on her hips.
“We break laws!”
She snickered. “So do cops.”
Tim… didn’t have a retort for that. Luckily, he didn’t need to have one, because it was their turn to order. Neither of them hesitated and within a minute they had their drinks and were out the door. They waved for the few cameras pointed at them on their way out, false smiles lighting up their faces, and then quickly ducked back into the alleyway to have their drinks in privacy.
“I’m going to start going places as Red Robin more often since it seems to mean I’ll get served quicker,” joked Tim as he leaned against the wall.
She gave him a puff of laughter and then pulled the bottom of her mask up to take a sip of her caramel frappe. He watched her expression for a moment and then decided that it must have been good because she didn’t instantly recoil. He pulled his coffee to his lips and took a confident gulp, only to choke.
“Shit,” he hissed, fighting the urge to spit it out.
Now that he knew what to look for he could see the pain behind her eyes.
“It’s really bad,” she informed him, purposefully just a moment too late in her warning.
He huffed a little, looking at the cup in his hand. It’s an iced coffee! How do you even mess that up?
There was a beat as the two vigilantes considered their options, before giving each other shrugs and downing their drinks. It may have been bad, but at least it was caffeinated. Marinette, lucky her, had an easier time of it because she’d gotten whipped cream with hers. He was tempted to snatch the drink from her hands to have something to wash down the cup threatening to sully the good name of coffee for him…
But he didn’t have to. She smiled and offered him the last of her whipped cream. He squinted at it suspiciously as if expecting it to be poisoned. After the coffee incident just a moment before he wasn’t about to take any chances.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s actually good, promise.”
“If you’re lying I’m taking back vouching for you to Batman,” he told her.
Her eyes crinkled with mirth.
“I’m serious! If it’s terrible I’m marching back to the Batcave --!”
“All the way back?”
“Yes! All the way back to the Batcave! And I’m going to revoke my vouching!”
“Oh noooooo, not the vouching!” She said, bringing her hands to her cheeks in mock terror. When he continued to ‘glare’ at her she snickered and assured him that: “It’s fine, I’m pretty sure it’s from a can.”
He squinted at her, because canned whipped cream was still far below his normal standard, but he did end up taking it. It was… okay.
“See? Not poisoned.”
“Very suspicious thing to say unprompted but okay.”
She grinned, reaching over to swipe some cream off his nose. “You’ll die in exactly four hours”
He rolled his eyes. “Hm. I guess I should go home and work on making an antidote, then.”
“Yeah. Good luck with that. I’ll see you later.” She leaned forward and pressed her mask to his cheek in a sort of kiss before heading off.
He watched her leave, smiling to himself. He leaned back against his motorbike absently, thinking.
Well, he supposed he didn’t need to watch her to make sure she was safe anymore. She was Ladybug, she could take care of herself in a fight…
But then a thought occurred to him: she couldn’t detect him when he had been watching her earlier. He bit his lip anxiously. Sure, he was trained to evade detection but did he really want to chance it? In a place like Gotham the ability to tell when you’re being watched is an absolute must.
Okay. Fine. He’d watch her just a little longer…
~
Marinette frowned when her phone rang while she was doing some late-night work.
“Yeah?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep, M’lady?”
A wide grin stretched across her face and she fell back in her bed. “Chaton! And here I was thinking you would never call!”
Adrien laughed. “Well, our time zones don’t exactly match up and I forgot that your sleep schedule is less of a schedule and more of a suggestion.”
“Fuck you, too, then.”
He laughed and she could hear him shifting around on the other side. She heard him zip something up on the other side and she lit up. “When’re you coming over?” He sighed and that was all it took to let her know that he had bad news. The momentary silence afterwards as he tried to figure out what to say was a good indication, too.
“I can’t, unfortunately. The Son of Hawkmoth moving away right after he gets jailed isn’t a good look. The United States Government isn’t that eager to have me, either.”
She wasn’t about to give up that easily. “Just steal the horse miraculous from Fu and come over illegally.”
He snorted. “Yeah, no, straight up disappearing is even more suspicious, thanks.”
Marinette frowned. She supposed that made sense…
She pulled her cat plush over so she could rest her head against it. “It’s so boring without you.”
“You’re making new friends, right?” He questioned, concerned. “I saw on the news that you’ve met the other vigilantes already.”
“Yeah, I guess… but they clearly don’t trust me.”
“Well, did you trust me when we started out?”
“No…”
“So give them time. They’ll realize you’re the best person on Earth soon enough.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, obviously. They’d have to be blind not to notice that.”
“Well, one of them is called Batman --.”
“I’m hanging up on you.”
He laughed at her and she smiled as she burrowed into her plush.
“Thanks, Chaton.”
“Anytime. Now, go to sleep.”
She rolled her eyes and hung up on him without promising him anything.
~
He leaned against the concrete of the roof, head on his arms to prevent scratching up his chin as he watched her through the window. He kind of worried about her having the blinds open like that, anyone could look in at her, but at least she closed it at night.
Still, he couldn’t deny that it certainly made things easier for him. She did most things by window light -- to save electricity, he theorized -- so he didn’t have to work all that hard to keep track of her.
Currently, she was working on stitching some pieces of an outfit. Her tongue poked out of her mouth a little when she concentrated, he had learned. A tiny part of him wondered if she did that as Ladybug, too, and he just couldn’t see it under her mask.
He kind of wished he could ask. Maybe one day he would (if they ever got close enough for him to reveal he’d been watching her without her knowledge, of course).
His phone buzzed in his pocket, pulling him from his thoughts, and he groaned to himself as he synced his earbuds and picked up.
“Yeah, B, what do you need?”
~
Listen, Marinette liked her job. She had the privilege of designing most of the outfits she did and that was a lot of fun -- certainly more fun than working solely on commissions -- but… sometimes she just wants to be told what to do. Artist’s Block is real and it fucking sucks.
Thankfully, Gotham gave quite a bit of inspiration. The difference between Gotham and Paris was striking. Paris was pristine; lots of tourists meant keeping the city in a constant state of newness, all bright colors and surfaces so clean you can see your reflection in them. Gotham, on the other hand, felt exceptionally lived in; graffiti, decaying buildings, cracked sidewalks…
She found a nice vantage point that overlooked the city and looked out over the horizon. That was another difference between the two: the height of buildings in Gotham was far more varied than those of Paris. It was more interesting to look at, she thought.
(It had been a point of annoyance at night as she could no longer jump from rooftop to rooftop with ease, but that’s not the point here.)
Maybe she could do something inspired by all the different heights. Audrey would probably like a dress like that.
She smiled walking to a nearby gargoyle. Red graffiti dubbed them Charlie, and who was she to not use his preferred name?
“Hello, Charlie, may I sit on you?” She joked quietly.
Charlie did not answer, not that she really expected him to.
She perched herself on the gargoyle’s back and pulled her sketchbook from a secret pocket in her leather jacket. She hummed tunelessly as she sketched out the shape.
Layers of different lengths -- and different colors, too, of course, she thought as she pulled out some colored pens (what’s the point of different layers if you don’t make it rainbow?) -- and oh it definitely had to trail a little in the back for the drama…
Artist’s block hit her like a too-high wall on patrols as she stared at where the bodice needed to be. What should she do? Obviously it needed to be relatively simple otherwise she risked the dress being an eyesore but…
It was just her luck that the moment she came to a decision about what to do for the bodice and accessories is the moment the first water droplet hit her sketchbook. She pulled her gaze to the sky and noticed the storm cloud overhead.
Shit, it was starting to rain.
She looked back down at her sketchbook, irritation spiking under her skin.
Option one: tough it out and continue drawing so she doesn’t risk forgetting the idea she’d had.
Option two: don’t risk her outfit (or her health, she guessed) and just head inside like a sane person.
… Marinette chose option one. She wouldn’t be herself without the occasional bad decision.
She drew her jacket over her head and hunched over her sketchbook as she continued sketching out her design.
Except, after a few minutes, she didn’t feel the beat of the rain on her jacket. She blinked a few times because she could still hear the rain nearby and she started to wonder if she had died somehow before she caught the sound of someone moving just out of her seeing range.
She turned her head to see a man holding an umbrella over her head, her jacket falling back to rest on her shoulders.
She gave him a once over. It was a little paranoid, she could admit, but she was in Gotham; it paid to be cautious. He was wearing a thick trench coat and gloves, which was a big red flag. He also had open posture -- more open than was natural, actually -- what with his slight slouch and hands spread wide in a somewhat placating gesture. The only good thing was that he was keeping a respectful distance, even standing a bit in the rain in order to avoid crowding her.
… well, he had an umbrella, at least.
She gripped the gargoyle tighter with her legs just in case he decided he wanted to try and push her, then turned to face him more.
“Hi,” she said carefully.
“You know, it’s illegal to be up here,” he said, flashing her an almost blindingly white smile.
She grinned. “You’re breaking the law, too, then.”
“Yeah. I won’t tell on you if you don’t tell on me.”
She reached a pinky out and, after a second’s hesitation, he returned the gesture.
Deal made, he wiped some of the water away with gloved fingers and took a seat beside her.
He clearly trusted her more than she trusted him, even allowing his legs to hang over the side of the building. She wondered why, vaguely, but she couldn’t exactly go and ask...
So, instead she smiled and said: “Thanks for the help. Water stains are a bitch to get out of leather.”
“You’re welcome, but I really can’t believe you went out without an umbrella in this city of all places.”
She shrugged sheepishly. “I’m a little new here, to be honest.”
She watched him carefully out of the corner of his eyes. The man frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by her laughter.
“I’m kidding, I’m not stupid enough to genuinely tell someone that. I was just going for the Manic Pixie Dream Girl aesthetic.”
His shoulders relaxed in a way that would have been imperceptible if she hadn’t been trained to check body language. She let herself relax her grip on the gargoyle a little as well; he had been concerned about her right then, he was probably pretty safe. Safe enough to not strain her legs too much, at least.
“Well, I do like your aesthetic,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows. “The Manic Pixie Dream Girl stuff, my outfit, or what I’m drawing?”
“All of it. But mostly the outfit.”
She felt a faint blush rise to her face but she brushed him off with a: “Yeah, thanks, but I’m not about to start taking fashion advice from a guy in a trenchcoat.”
He gasped and brought his free hand to his chest in mock offense. “Excuse you, this is peak Gotham fashion!”
“It’s shady, that’s what it is.”
“That’s what Gotham fashion is!”
She couldn’t have rolled her eyes harder if she tried. And she did try.
Her gaze fell back to her work and she sighed as she pulled out her pens and started working on finishing up her sketch.
“So, what’re you up here for?” She asked because she didn’t want to risk him getting bored and leaving with the umbrella.
“Hm? Oh, I do photography in my spare time. Figured I’d scope out some new areas.”
“Know all the best places in Gotham?”
“You have no idea.” The man flashed her a grin. “It’s been a while since I’ve gone in person, though, so I figured I’d get some update shots.”
“Well, if we both need to go sightseeing around Gotham for our things, why not do it together?”
He raised an eyebrow at her but she could see the way his lips twitched downwards with concern. “Trust me that much already? We’ve just met.”
“Well, you seem like a nice guy...” She smirked. “And I could totally beat your ass.”
He scoffed and unbuttoned his trenchcoat to prove to her that he did, in fact, have muscles hidden beneath all those layers and she laughed before she noticed the shirt he was wearing.
Holy shit. She’d made that shirt. He was wearing one of her shirts. She could see the gold stitching partially hidden beneath his collar, and fuck maybe she was concerned about all the wrong things.
Her eyes narrowed in on him just slightly. He clearly wasn’t actively hiding the shirt and didn’t seem concerned that he had shown her, which meant he:
a) didn’t know she was MDC,
b) saw her as just another artist,
or c) was showing her on purpose so she could make an informed decision about being his friend.
So… he didn’t seem to be a threat to her.
Maybe she could do some checking up on him, though, just to be safe.
She smiled. “I realize I never got your name. Probably would be a problem if we’re going to be spending more time together from now on.”
He grinned. “Yeah, it’s kinda hard to be friends with someone if you don’t even know their name. I’m Tim Drake.”
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” she said, watching his expression carefully.
He remained impassive. She wasn’t sure what that meant -- or if it meant anything at all, for that matter.
She pulled out her phone and offered it to him, taking the umbrella so he could type his number in with both hands. That done, she stuck the phone back in her pocket and smiled up at him.
“I’m stealing your umbrella, by the way,” she informed him, grip tightening on the handle in case he tried to take it back from her.
He grinned and made no move to do so. “If you must. Can you at least walk me inside the building before you run off with it?”
She giggled. “I guess I can do that, yes.”
~
It had been a long time since Tim had fanboyed this hard.
If he was any younger, he would have fallen back on his bed and squealed like a person in those old movies. As it were, he still wore a dopey smile.
He had MDC’s number! And not her work number, because he’d already had that, this was her real number!
And, even cooler, she might just let him go with her to get inspiration! Who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to watch one of their favorite artists do their thing?!
… oh, yeah, also the protection thing, obviously. That was the whole reason he was doing this, after all.
It would be so much easier to protect her if he went out with her on these excursions. Just being around men tended to ward off potential assailants. It was perfect!
Which meant he wouldn’t have any reason to follow her for her own protection anymore…
Wait, what about when she needed to go out for chores like groceries? She’d still need to be safe for that! Gotham is a scary place! What if someone tried to follo -- what if someone tried to mug her or something dangerous like that? No, she still needed his help!
Yeah, no, he has to do this. It’s for her own safety.
130 notes · View notes