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ineffable-romantics · 9 months

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Some thoughts on why and how I believe Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship would incorporate sex/why I do not read them as wholly asexual:

This is something I've seen the most discourse about in this fandom, and I've had a few thoughts of my own that I really wanted to expand upon in a full meta/character analysis post. I do understand that this can be a contentious topic, so first, let me clarify a few things:

First of all, this is going to be long. Tbh it probably won't be that organized either. I ramble and I'm not very good at editing, so just... you know. Be warned. (*Hi, it's me from 2 days after writing this; I'm really not kidding, it's LONG)

These are all my own thoughts. They might not be hot takes, because recently I've seen more than a few people come to the same conclusions on a lot of these points as I have. But I've also had these notes in my drafts for about a week and a half now, and have been continuously adding to it as things have occurred to me. This post is essentially just somewhere for me to collect the separate but related meta I've been kicking around in my head.

I fully respect anyone who does see and prefer an asexual reading of this relationship. These are my own thoughts and interpretations as someone who is not asexual. I am in the LGBT+ community, so while I do know a few things about the asexuality spectrum, I am by no means an expert.

This is NOT something I expect, need, or even necessarily want the show (or, God forbid, Neil's tumblr ask box) to address. Tonally, it's just not that kind of show. Newt and Anathema's sex scene was very much played for laughs, and it worked for that reason. If the show found a way to address it in a way that was both appropriate for the tone of the show and ultimately satisfying, then great! But there is so much more to this relationship than sex, and I didn't need a kiss to confirm their love, so I certainly don't need a sex scene. As immortal beings (as I assume they'll stay) there is so much of the rest of their lives we'll never get to see. You can headcanon them as asexual and potentially be right. I can headcanon them as not and be equally potentially right. Again, these are just a collection of my own thoughts, because I think the question of sexuality (or lack thereof) is just as interesting a facet of these characters as any other.

Note: Tbh I've been second-guessing this whole post and debated deleting the whole thing several times for being silly or unnecessary, bc I don't want anyone to think that this is the only thing I care about when it comes to this story/characters. But if nothing else, it's inspired me to write in a way that nothing has in a very long time, so I've decided it's worth continuing, if for no other reason than that.

This is going to be a mixed bag of textual reading, subtextual reading, and a full-on reach or two. It's been a while since I've been in an English class, but if my teachers expected me to find a deeper meaning behind blue curtains, you can expect me to read too deeply into the symbolism of a loaded rifle or an ox rib. (This is probably not what my professors had in mind when grading my literary analysis papers but oh well) My point is, if it feels like a reach, I'm as aware of it as you are. I am in no way saying that all (or even any) of my points made were deliberate on the part of Neil or the actors or the writers or the directors. I am no longer the delulu Apple Tree Yard child of my youth, I promise.

If anything said here is in any way offensive or hurtful to anyone in the asexual community, please do not hesitate to message me or comment and let me know exactly what it was. I promise you it is not my intention to do so, and am happy to clarify or outright edit anything that reads that way.

With all that being said, let's talk about why I think Crowley and Aziraphale would absolutely fuck nasty incorporate sex into their relationship.

Note: I am out of practice with essay writing, so I think I'll just go down the bullet points of notes I have been making, and expand on each as best I can

Food

Where better to start than with Aziraphale's introduction to Pleasures Of The Flesh? (Just a heads up, this entire post may feel very Aziraphale-heavy, and with good reason).

This might be the least hot take here. We've all seen the Job minisode. We've all seen That Scene.

Whether this was intentional or not, the symbolism here is off the charts. Eve was tempted by an apple. So why not go a similar route and tempt Aziraphale with another fruit, or cheese, or bread, or literally anything else for his first experience with food? Instead, we go with a huge, glistening slab of fresh meat that he proceeds to absolutely go feral upon, moaning and gasping into his meal while Crowley watches with what definitely doesn't look to be disgust or even satisfaction with a good temptation. There's surprise at the ferocity of Aziraphale's appetite, certainly. But ultimately he looks to be intensely fascinated by it, while the thunder crashes, the music crescendos, and the earth literally shakes around them.

(It's also interesting to note how very little it takes for Crowley to tempt him with the ox rib. One murmured suggestion, a bit of unwavering eye contact, and vavoom Aziraphale immediately meets him in the middle.)

Cut to Aziraphale devouring the rest of the meat with Crowley splayed back on a makeshift bed, drinking wine and continuing to watch him indulge through half-lidded eyes. Outside a thunderstorm rages while they're learning secrets about each other in warm flickering firelight. It's cosy, it's intimate, and if they'd thrown in a bearskin throw blanket, it might as well be a post-coital scene straight out of Game of Thrones.

The next time (chronologically) we see them discuss food is when Aziraphale "tempts" Crowley with oysters in Rome. So Crowley first tempts Aziraphale with meat and then Aziraphale tempts Crowley with what is widely regarded to be an aphrodisiac. Interesting.

And then chronologically after that, the Arrangement begins to form, which has always reeked of a friends with benefits situation. Just to throw that in there.

It's What Humans Do

In the very first episode, we're shown Gabriel's obvious disgust and bewilderment towards Aziraphale eating sushi, calling it "gross matter" and being proud of the fact that he does not sully his body with it. Aziraphale initially tries to defend his own enjoyment in it, before passing it off as something that humans do, as something he simply has to do in order to blend in (which we know very well is not the case).

He does this again in season 2, passing off Nina and Maggie being in love as "something humans do". But it isn't, is it? Angels are beings of love, and can sense it, and understand very well what it is... up to a point. Even romantic love is obviously within their wheelhouse, given what we now know happened between Gabriel and Beelzebub (we'll come back to them).

What the "humans do" that angels wouldn't understand is messy, physical forms of love.

But here's the thing: Aziraphale and Crowley love doing what the humans do. They love drinking, they (or at least Aziraphale) love eating. They love music. Crowley loves driving and sleeping and watching rom-coms and sitcoms. Aziraphale loves reading and doing magic and earning little licenses and certificates for achievement in his various hobbies. They love to playact at being human so much that they've stopped playacting and started building a genuinely human lifestyle for themselves and with each other.

Once together in an unambiguously romantic sense, why do we think they wouldn't also want to explore one of the most prominent, intimate, powerful human expressions of love and desire with each other?

Angels, Demons, & Asexuality

Here's where I really want to clarify that in no way do I mean that sex is necessary for a healthy, fulfilling, and loving romantic relationship, or that the lack of desire for sex makes you any less human. Asexuality is a sexuality as valid and human as any. What I would say is that it is definitely in the human minority compared to allosexuality.

Angels and demons, on the other hand, are predominately asexual. Sexless/genderless unless Making An Effort. (Which, btw, is a concept introduced as early as the original book; why even bring it up as a possibility? Why not keep angels/demons being sexless/asexual as a hard and fast rule, if not to open up the potential for later use? Chekhov's Effort, if you will. And isn't that something that Aziraphale in particular is shown to do time and time again? He makes an effort in French and driving and magic, doesn't he?)

And this is why I don't believe Aziraphale and Crowley necessarily need to be asexual, narratively. There is already a huge amount of ace rep within the angels and demons (and no, not just the horrible ones. Muriel also doesn't "drink the tea" and has no reason or desire thus far to Make An Effort, and there are certainly other angels and demons who aren't horrible like the archangels seem to be who likely wouldn't Make An Effort either).

The central conflict for Aziraphale and Crowley is that they are on their own side, the ones who went native, the ones who are so different in so many ways from their respective hives. It would make sense for them to also break away from traditional angel/demon asexuality.

I say "traditional angel/demon asexuality", because I would also like to note that I would absolutely not rule out demisexuality for either of them. This post is being written to as a response to people who specifically believe that they (like the rest of the angels/demons seem to be) would be sex-averse in a relationship, and that it wouldn't be a factor in their relationship. I could easily read them as demisexual, but I do think there would be no real way of verifying this, because they've never been able to form as close an emotional relationship with anyone else but each other. Certainly not in heaven, and I can't imagine they would be able to form that kind of attachment with any of the humans, who they love and emulate but ultimately regard as the separate species they are. So yes, they could either be allosexual or demisexual, in my opinion.

Then again, now that I think about it, Making An Effort itself could be a great metaphor for demisexuality, since they would be entirely sexless/asexual until they have enough of an emotional connection with someone to consciously manifest otherwise. Since the other angels and demons don't generally form those types of emotional connections with anyone, there hasn't been a precedent for it.

Except...

Brielzebub

We do have a precedent for it now, don't we? Gabriel and Beelzebub fell in love. They are a direct foil for Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship, speedrunning right through their courtship and finding their happily ever after on the other side of things.

For being such a 1 to 1 comparison, it feels deliberate that they did not kiss. They held hands, they were gooey with each other, but they did not kiss. That feels like such a deliberate thing to omit when you know what's to come at the end of the episode between Crowley and Aziraphale.

And going back to the food = sex metaphor for a moment, let's notice how even as they fell in love over the years, even when pints and crisps were there on the table in front of them, they never felt the desire to reach out for them. They didn't need to. It's a date (love story) even if you aren't eating dinner (sleeping together).

Yes, I know Jim liked hot chocolate. No, I am not counting it because I don't consider Jim and Gabriel to be the same person with the same proclivities, and Jim was highly suggestible at the time anyway.

Gabriel and Brielzebub's big happily ever after moment (as of now) was one between two asexual supernatural beings. They did not need to kiss to drive the point home. They showed what Crowley and Aziraphale could have, if they would only acknowledge it.

Crowley & Aziraphale's Dissatisfaction

But they do have that already, don't they? If you really think about it, what do Gabriel and Beelzebub do with each other that Crowley and Aziraphale don't already? They hold hands, they spend time together, they create little rituals, they give gifts, they're visibly and verbally affectionate with each other, etc. They are more or less already in a romantic asexual marriage relationship with each other, aren't they?

And it doesn't seem to be enough for either of them.

At the beginning of the season, Crowley is immediately shown to be unsatisfied with the way things are. Obviously part of it comes from living in his car, but it seems to be more than that (especially since Aziraphale makes it clear that the bookshop is just as much Crowley's as his, implying that he could have been living there the whole time and is choosing not to, for some reason?). You could argue he's feeling unmoored without Hell telling him what to do, but isn't that what he wanted? Isn't that what he still wants, by the end of the season? All season long, he's never indicated the desire for a new job, or a new project. He stopped the apocalypse because he wanted the freedom to openly spend time with Aziraphale, to spend his time on Earth however he sees fit. Until Gabriel arrives, he has exactly that (minus a flat).

So where does the dissatisfaction come from? And if it represents anything to do with his relationship, what does he want out of it that he isn't getting already?

I think Crowley only really comes to the realisation of what he's missing when Nina names it for him, not only putting them in the category of romantic, but physical (outright asking if they are sleeping together). These two posts [1], [2] go into more detail about what I mean, but I think it really pushes him into acknowledging that their relationship is more human than either of them have stopped to consider, and what that might mean as far as everything a human relationship can entail.

After all, Nina and Maggie only advised that he should talk to Aziraphale, make clear his feelings. The decision to kiss him, to tip them over the edge from nonphysical to physical, that was all him. And no, kissing isn't sex, but I wonder how taboo even that might be in the kind of all-encompassing asexuality most angels seem to identify with. (If they're disgusted by food and drink, I can only imagine what they think of snogging, much less sex.)

Aziraphale doesn't have this moment of someone observing their relationship from the outside. He loves Crowley, and as of 1941 probably even knows he's in love with him in a way that Crowley doesn't understand yet. Which makes sense, since love is technically his job, he'd be more likely to recognise it for what it is.

However, Aziraphale's reference for romance and relationships is Jane Austen. It's chaste. It's dancing and dinner and doing sweet things for each other and roses and candles and handholding. He contextualises his love for Crowley in that soft fantasy sort of way, where it's there, it's obviously there, but it's neat and easy and unspoken. Not to quote Glee in this, the year of our lord 2023, but it's all very "the touch of the fingertips is as sexy as it gets".

Someone should tell that to Aziraphale's face, then.

I'm not going to pretend I know what Michael Sheen's script notes were, but there were definitely some Choices™ made. Because yes, there were plenty of moments in both seasons with Aziraphale looking at Crowley in a sweet, loving, smitten way. And then there were moments that were yearning.

But yearning for what, exactly? All of those sappy Jane Austen tropes already apply to the two of them. So why are there moments where Aziraphale is looking Crowley up and down like the last eclair in the window and licking his lips and visibly exhaling like he's trying to get in control of himself (see: Bastille scene + Crowley telling Muriel to ask him if they have any other questions about love)? Why is Aziraphale not only unconcerned when Crowley shoves him bodily up against a wall in s1, but staring at his lips and a beat too late in noticing Sister Mary's arrival? Why are some of his lines so suggestive? I'm sorry, but the car ride after the church explosion might as well have been the beginning of a Pizza Man porn with a really weird Blitz theme. If even my mother picked up on that vibe, I can't imagine it wasn't intentional on part of both the dialogue and the delivery.

(This section may feel like more of a reach/joke, but I'm really only 20% joking. These are writers and actors who are EXTREMELY good at their jobs; they know what they were doing here.)

More importantly, I don't think Aziraphale is even aware that there is more to what he wants. He lives in the Jane Austen fantasy and it never even occurs to him that he might be interested in anything further. It never even occurs to him that, as an angel, there is anything further to be interested in in the first place. Until Crowley forces it to occur to him. Just like I believe Nina forced Crowley to confront the idea that romantic love is what he's been feeling all along, I believe Crowley forced Aziraphale to confront the idea that physical intimacy is something he's been wanting, without even realising.

Aziraphale's Hedonism

Expanding on Aziraphale for a moment. We talked about his relationship with food, but we all know that Aziraphale is defined by his love of things that Feel Good.

It isn't just that he and Crowley love human things. Aziraphale loves the best of the best, or at least his version of it. He doesn't just love food, he loves going to fancy restaurants. He doesn't just love clothes, he loves soft, cosy, warm, plush clothes, or shiny, flashy, bougie fashion. He loves the warmth of tea and cocoa, loves getting drunk, and sitting in a comfy chair in the sunlight. He doesn't just experience, he indulges.

Given the emphasis put on things that Aziraphale loves just because they Feel Good, it feels narratively strange to assume that he wouldn't enjoy the feeling of being touched, or that he wouldn't be willing to try it, at least once, with someone he cared very deeply for. And just like the ox rib, I think that once he gets the first taste of things, he would absolutely tip over into complete and utter self-indulgence.

Dancing

I also think that dancing could be construed as a huge metaphor here. After all, we're told flat-out that angels don't Dance. Except one.

I would argue that Aziraphale, in fact, Made An Effort to learn how to Dance. He threw himself into the gavotte with delight (at a Victorian gay club; noted) and worked hard to be good at it. He's chomping at the bit to Dance with Crowley, working up the nerve to ask him with undeniably romantic intent and eagerness. So, angels don't Dance... unless they Make An Effort to do so.

We are told that demons, on the other hand, do Dance, but not well. Makes sense, since they're the ones who would want to encourage a deadly sin like lust, but have as little understanding of human love and physical intimacy as the angels. Crowley, however, is shown to be an excellent dancer at the ball, especially in his compatibility with Aziraphale.

(But Aziraphale WandaVisioned the ball so everyone knew how to dance! Yes, he did. However, the rest of the brainwashing doesn't seem to affect Crowley in any way, and they did actually live through the time period where this sort of dancing was a social norm; I'd be surprised if he never needed to learn. After all, the demons can't spell either, and Crowley is at least functionally literate, as far as we know.)

As of today, it's also been confirmed that when Aziraphale asked Crowley to dance, Crowley replied with "you don't dance." Not "WE don't dance". So going along with the metaphor, Crowley is just now discovering that Dancing is something Aziraphale is interested in at all, much less with him, and not denying that he himself is interested in Dancing. In his defense, I believe he was asleep for a few years while Aziraphale was learning the gavotte, so he wasn't exactly aware of Aziraphale's hot girl summer.

Love Languages

I want to expand on that; Crowley and Aziraphale's compatibility. Specifically in regards to their individual love languages.

We all know Crowley's love language is Acts of Service. I don't think there's any debate there. He loves it, Aziraphale loves it, they're both aware of it, we're all aware of it, God and Satan are aware of it, no surprise there.

You may disagree with me, but I believe Aziraphale's love language is Physical Touch, for a number of reasons. One of which being his aforementioned hedonism. Aziraphale likes things that Feel Good, remember? He likes soft clothes, and well-worn books. Neil himself has said that they like holding hands. And any time he is taken by surprise (Brielzebub getting together, the wave of love in Tadfield, etc.) what is the first thing he does? Reaches out for Crowley. He stops him with a hand to the chest in the pub. He leads him by the hand to the dance floor. He guides him by the waist in the graveyard. He reaches out during the entire Brielzebub scene, whether he can reach Crowley or not. Despite his own turmoil, he grasps at Crowley's back during the kiss.

The one time Crowley reaches out for him (not counting the kiss yet; we'll get there), he is aggressively pushed against a wall (by someone he loves and trusts) with a complete and utter lack of concern (and perhaps some interest, depending on how you read it).

And when he isn't reaching out for anyone, or there isn't anyone to reach out to? Well, he's wringing his own hands together, squeezing his own fingers, as if to find that physical comfort in himself.

So. With that theory in mind, we have Aziraphale (Physical Touch) + Crowley (Acts of Service). Throw in 6000+ years of deep love, cherished companionship, and forcibly repressed longing, and there is a very real potential of this combination resulting in fierce sexual compatibility. Where Aziraphale would want to touch and be touched, to indulge in physical pleasure with someone he adores, in the same the way he indulges in every other fine thing in his life. And where Crowley would want to indulge him in return, to give him everything he wants, and to take pleasure in Aziraphale's pleasure, in the same way he enjoys watching him take joy in food everything else.

So Aziraphale is an angel who is insecure about his own less-than-holy desires, who would want to treat Crowley like a luxury to be touched and cherished and adored. And Crowley is a demon who has, over the millennia, been unhappy about how they've been forced to deny even their friendship with each other, who would want Aziraphale to feel comfortable and safe and encouraged to indulge in earthly delights. That sounds like a stunning recipe for sexual compatibility to me.

"You said 'trust me'" / "And you did"

Just like the Job minisode, the Blitz is RIFE with symbolism (intentional or otherwise). This one will be quick, but I did want to touch on it because I thought it was interesting. Maybe I'm reaching at this point, but I'm assuming you read the tin.

First of all, Crowley not wanting to admit to never firing a gun before; comes off as someone who very much does not want to admit to their crush that they're a virgin ("You must have done this lots of times!" / "Umm.... yyyyyeah.")

(You could make the argument that Aziraphale having a firearms license and a Derringer in a hollowed-out book is symbolic of him not being a virgin while Crowley is. I disagree, for reasons I'll go into later, but it's a valid reading. However, I see it more like keeping a condom in your wallet; it's there in case you need it, but the opportunity has not yet risen no pun intended.)

More importantly, the theme of this entire minisode is trust. We already know they trust each other with their lives against the rest of Heaven, Hell, and the world. But specifically, this is about the importance of having complete trust in your partner in a charged, physically vulnerable, intimate moment, where the only danger is between the two of you.

Aziraphale needs to believe Crowley would never hurt him if he can help it. Crowley needs to trust Aziraphale's unwavering blind faith in him. Frankly, it all feels very symbolic of two people deeply in love losing their respective virginities with each other.

The trick is a success, and they share an intimate candlelit dinner in which they reaffirm their faith in each other. Aziraphale also begins to voice his agreement with Crowley, that maybe Heaven's rules shouldn't have to be as black and white as they are, and that there are benefits to... blurring the lines, shades of grey, wink wink (at which point even my mom was like, whoa guys, this is a family show).

Btw also: Can we all agree how much it looked like Crowley was getting ready to get a lapdance in that one scene? You know the one.

Also also: "Aim for my mouth"? Come on.

The Birds & The Bees

Now that I think of it, there's also something to be said for the fact that Crowley and Aziraphale are both obviously familiar with where babies come from (how they're made and how they're born) while the other angels aren't.

Something something Aziraphale and Crowley fundamentally understand sex and reproduction in a way the other angels (and probably demons) very much do not, nor have any desire to.

Probably not important. Just thought it was worth mentioning.

The Kiss™ & Religious Trauma

The Kiss. Where to even begin?

This has definitely been the hardest one to start, because there is so much going on here that I definitely won't be able to cover it all, and will certainly miss a few things here and there.

Aziraphale's reaction to the kiss afterwards is the most interesting to me. And I don't mean directly after, I don't mean the "I forgive you" part. I mean the way he touches his lips when Crowley is no longer in the room and he no longer needs to save face, when he is completely alone. Had it been directly after the kiss, it would have been rightfully read as horror, or disgust, a shield to discourage further action.

It's not. It isn't just a touch, it's a press. As desperate and angry and unexpected and imperfect as the kiss had been, Aziraphale is pressing it into himself, recreating the feeling as best he can. Beneath all the poor timing and shock and hurt from their fight and fallout, I think it's fair to say that it was something he enjoyed. Something he doesn't think he should enjoy, something that Feels Good that he only allows himself to indulge in when completely alone.

Remember, Aziraphale's idea of love is Jane Austen and gentleness and courtship and fantasy. If he'd ever even considered kissing an option, it might have been gentle pecks, cheek kisses, forehead kiss, hand kisses. Soft, safe, chaste affection.

Crowley's kiss turns all of that on its head. He introduces physical intimacy in a very real, very messy, very human way that I don't think Aziraphale ever even considered could apply to them. Considering what other angels are like and what they look down on, even Aziraphale's Jane Austen fantasies probably would have been considered taboo.

So for their first kiss to be rough and desperate and passionate in the way it was, of course he was confused and in shock. It was deeply physical, and as overwhelming and awful as it was in the moment, it Felt Good. Enough that he grasped at Crowley and kissed back, if only just for a moment, before stopping himself. Enough that he actively pressed it into his lips afterwards, in private, to remember.

I adore how Neil has decided to evolve these characters past the first book/season. More so in this season, Aziraphale and Crowley have both become such interesting allegories for queer people on either side of the spectrum of toxic religion. Aziraphale in particular obviously, because he is the side that so desperately wants to believe, to make a difference, and to unlearn all of the propaganda he's been fed over such a long time. Just like so much of organised religion, there is so much that he is told, time and time again, that he should not want, that he is silly or stupid or outright wrong for wanting. It reminds me so much of the severe Catholic guilt one might feel for wanting/engaging in sex for the first time, and the stigma of being queer layered on top of that.

What is so critical to Aziraphale's character is that he goes on wanting, and more than that, actively pursues. He was convinced to go up against Heaven and Hell and stop all of Armageddon because he wanted to go on listening to music and eating lunch and reading books and enjoying the simple company of the person he cares most deeply for, even if that person is supposed to be the enemy.

All this to say that if angels are as generally asexual/sex-averse as I believe them to be, narratively speaking, it would make sense for Aziraphale to be singular in that regard as well. Mirroring his first experience with food, it would make sense for Crowley to be the one to first introduce this new messy, physical, human dynamic between them, for Aziraphale to hesitate (obviously we are at the Hesitation phase at the moment), and then (eventually) for him to dive in wholeheartedly, to absolutely glut himself on this new thing that Feels Good. It would make sense for his character development to show him overcoming his metaphorical Catholic guilt and pursuing the sexual intimacy most (if not all) of the other angels would scorn.

(I can't help but remember that plot idea Neil described from the unwritten sequel, with Aziraphale in a hotel room trying to watch a full porno by way of the free 2-minute teaser clips so he wasn't technically sinning by paying for it. I so hope this is used in season 3, because gosh, I wonder why Aziraphale would suddenly be so interested in observing human physical intimacy after 6,000 years. Lonely and doing a little surreptitious research there, angel?)

Crowley, on the other hand, is the queer person who has broken free from his toxic religion. He prides himself on being his own person, on their his own side. He doesn't have the hang-ups Aziraphale does. He doesn't worry that he's going to be judged or cast aside for wanting things he's not supposed to. So it only makes sense for him to be the first one to suggest/initiate physical intimacy. It makes sense for him to be the one who "goes too fast" (another fantastic example of this dynamic beginning as early as s1; what is that conversation in the car meant to represent, if not Aziraphale being overwhelmed by the intensity of their relationship, and his fear of succumbing to it when he believes he shouldn't? It's also interesting that this is the first conversation to take place in Soho, just after watching Aziraphale realise he's caught feelings for a demon, with the red glow of lust serving as the backdrop).

Do I think the kiss in and of itself was sexual? No. I think it was a passionate and devastating last-ditch effort on Crowley's part to convey the way he feels for Aziraphale. Not just that he loves him, but that he loves him in the most human way possible. But I do think that the kiss represents how they can move forward from here, and what they might want to explore with each other once they feel free enough to do so.

In Conclusion

I am sure, deep in my bones (unless we are explicitly told otherwise), that this was both of their first kisses no, I'm not counting the gavotte, and that neither of them have ever thought to do anything else physical with the humans while they have been on Earth. Like I said before, they adore the human race and lifestyle in general, but ultimately view them as a separate species altogether, and they seem mostly happy to keep to themselves and each other, unless otherwise necessary. I just can't see either of them being drawn enough to a human to pursue anything close to sex. If Crowley in particular has had anything to do with sex in the context of temptations, I'm positive he would be inciting lust amongst the humans themselves, not involving himself directly. At least not that directly.

So, like every other human experience they've had on Earth, sex is something new that they could explore together, just the two of them, on their own side. A deeply intimate, tangible declaration of their love and everything they've gone through to earn it. A visceral finger to give both Heaven and Hell. A renewed appreciation for their corporations and for each other's. A enjoyable method for immortal beings to simply pass the time in each other's company. A new and exciting way to Feel Good, and all the variations that come with it.

You might agree with this post, or you might not. Whether this is something that is ever addressed or not, it doesn't matter to me. This is a brilliant love story either way, and I genuinely feel so privileged to witness it.

But I just can't find it in myself to imagine, given everything we know about these two characters, that sex isn't an experience they would both consume with wholehearted enthusiasm, curiosity, and profound, ineffable adoration.

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Bonus feature: the very silly notes I made to myself that inspired this post

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runningfrom2am · 3 months

Text

cold nights // part eighteen

summary: you showed him colours he knows he can't see with anyone else.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 3.8k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: tribute!reader and mentor!coriolanus, r is very sweet (too kind for this world. literally.), sunshine x grumpy trope kinda, he falls first, violence typical for the source material, depictions of mental illness, also she's is very smart (as she should), district twelve!reader.

a/n: hiii posting this early bc bestie and i are ab to start a 24 hour readathon! if i'm not active for the next day, that would be why. anyway wish us luck!! also i didn't edit this as thoroughly as i should have so i'm sorry lol

my asks are also open to talk about this series! (i do have emoji anons open now too!)

send me any and all of your thoughts! here!

series masterlist // playlist

You called out of work indefinitely, after that. You didn't want to quit, you wanted to love your job and you honestly couldn't see yourself doing anything else but right now, you just couldn't. Luckily, the girls who worked down at the library were incredibly understanding according to Lennox, who was sent to deliver your letter of leave and apology.

It had been close to a week when you finally ventured out to the back porch to read rather than rotting in bed all day staring at the ceiling. Your mother made you tea, and insisted she come sit with you. You enjoyed the company.

"Would you like to talk about it?" She asks, just as you're turning the page. Under normal circumstances, you'd resort to Romeo and Juliet, but now you feel like you couldn't stomach it. So, Much Ado About Nothing would have to suffice.

"I'm okay, Ma." You say softly, giving a slight shake over your head as your eyes fly over the faded lettering on the page.

"Lennox told us what happened, you know." She adds after a beat of silence.

You look up at her, frowning. "I'm sorry. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"Don't be, dear." She shakes her head quickly, gently resting a hand on your thigh. "I wish you had told us. I wouldn't have invited him in that day, I could have told you he stopped by and we could have made a plan. I shouldn't have sprung that on you."

You sigh, pursing your lips and closing your book. "I didn't want you to dislike him, that's why I didn't tell you. I thought... I wanted to come home with at least something positive to talk about. And I thought that if I gave it enough time, thinking positively about him, I could try to contact him without seeing... that."

She smiles sadly at you. "You really love him, huh?"

"How could I not?" You admit quietly, staring at the cover of the book on your lap. "He was the first person there to show me kindness, to make me feel like I wasn't alone." You explain. "It felt... Like Romeo and Juliet. Star-crossed lovers, because of course I didn't think I could really have him. I was living in a dream, in a way."

"And now?" She prompts you to continue, thrilled that you are finally opening up.

"Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps."

She chuckles, gently rubbing your leg. "So that's a yes, then."

"How I wish it was not." You groan, reaching for your cup to drown your predicament in tea.

"Your brother," She sighs, gently removing the book from your lap. "came home that night just... just shaking with anger. And he looked me and your father in the eyes and said he was going to kill Coriolanus. He was set on it." She explains, and you look at her.

"He said that?" You ask, and she nods.

"I could see it in his eyes, he meant it, and we were so confused. Because, after all, it had been Coriolanus and Sejanus who came to the door seeking help for you, and your father told me Coryo looked like a ghost- bless him." She chuckles slightly.

"What I mean is... Your brother is not immune to violence, either. He would hurt someone for you, I know it. Just because you don't wish him to, doesn't mean he doesn't love you so much that he would do anything." You mull over her statement, chewing passively on your lip. "And boys... boys just do things differently than you and I would. Or Lucy Gray would. I bet if you asked her about Billy Taupe, Tam Amber, or little Clerk Carmine, that she'd tell you they've all had their moments. But boys aren't treated fair in this life, so sometimes, they don't fight fair."

"Coriolanus killed someone, Ma."

"Why?" She asks. "Lennox told me you saw it. Why did he kill that boy?"

"Because..." You shake your head. "He was trying to kill him, first."

"Okay, well-"

"But that I can understand, given the circumstances." You quickly explain, guilt settling in your stomach like a weight as you put your mug back down. "It was after. Bobbin had so clearly already passed on, and he hit him again. It was anger, and it was not necessary. A waste of precious time he didn't have but he did it anyway and that... that scared me."

She hums, listening to you intently. "If it helps, dear, and this is my honest feelings... I still think he is a good man, with a good heart." She says. "I know what you've seen is... gosh, it's unfathomable, and I wish I could take that pain from you, but I really do think that if you still feel anything for him you should talk to him."

Your eyes snap up to hers, and you look scared.

"I've only met him once, but gosh, the way he looks at you, and how he spoke about you, he thinks you put the stars in the sky." She grins, trying to relax you by taking your hand. "No problems have ever solved by hiding. And even if you turn out to be correct, that he's never been who you thought he was, you'll get peace by having answers. And even so, he deserves that peace too."

"I... I'll think about it." You nod softly, reaching for your book again.

"Hello? Boys?" Lucy Gray calls out, walking into the small house Coryo and Sejanus have been occupying.

"In here!" Sejanus calls back, and she follows his voice into the small kitchen where he's attempting to make something to eat.

"Ooh, what's for lunch?" She asks, sitting herself down at the dining room table.

"Eggs... I think." Sejanus laughs. Lucy Gray had been coming by to try and keep them company, and she did really like spending time with Sejanus. Coryo didn't have a whole lot to say, though.

"Yum." She giggles, sitting up straight to look into the pan. "Where's Coriolanus?"

"Guess."

"On the back porch staring at the trees?"

"Pretty much."

Lucy Gray sighs, pushing herself up. "Okay, well, The Covey and I are going to the lake tomorrow. It's a hike out, but it's beautiful. You guys should come."

"I'll be there, but I don't know if we can convince blondie." Sejanus nods toward the back door.

"Oh, I'll convince him." She smiles smugly, brushing past him and out the door.

Lucy Gray finds out quickly that apparently she had guessed wrong- he was sitting on the porch, like he had been every day, but today he was reading rather than just staring out at the mountains. "What are ya readin'?" She asks, standing in front of him.

"Nothing that's any of your business." He grumbles, not looking up from the pages of the worn down book.

She leans over him, attempting to read it upside down. "Ah." She grins. "Romeo and Juliet? Good choice."

"What do you need, Lucy Gray?" He asks, closing the book and glaring up at her.

"I've come to extend and invitation to you, we're all going to the lake tomorrow. I think you should come."

"No, thank you."

She rolls her eyes, arms crossed over her chest. "You didn't chop off all those beautiful gold curls just so you could never see Y/N again, did you?"

His eyes visibly brighten at that, only for a moment. "She's going?" This was the chance he was waiting for. He intended to go to your house that following morning, maybe pick up flowers on the way, a book, or some kind of peace offering, but Sejanus and Lucy Gray shut that down very quickly. Even though he cut his hair almost as soon as he got back to this dump they called a house, they said you still needed time.

"Mhm." Lucy Gray nods, smiling at him knowingly. "She hasn't been working, so I was able to book her for the day."

Had Lucy Gray talked to you about this yet? No. But she knew it would do him some good to get away from this house for a day, whether you were there or not, and she knew that deep down you would want to see him again. A group setting was the best way to do this for everyone. She knew he would be easy to convince, but getting you to agree would be the hard part.

"Okay, okay yeah. I'll come." Coryo nods, looking down. He doesn't know what to do with himself, but he feels like he should be doing something to prepare somehow.

"She's still... sensitive. So be nice."

"I have never not been nice to her."

"Never said you have." Lucy Gray raises an eyebrow at him. "I meant be careful. She may not want to talk to you. I won't tell her you're coming so I can at least get her out the door."

"Why not?" Coryo asks, immediately knowing how stupid that sounds when Lucy Gray lets out a laugh. "I mean, I don't want to scare her off, so she should know. Please be honest with her." He pleads.

Lucy Gray's eyes soften at that. "Okay, you're right. But I'm not tellin' you if she says no. You still have to come." She points at him and he sighs.

"Okay, whatever. Sure."

"You're both just rotting and making it worse for yourselves. You need to get out." She says as she walks back inside, leaving him alone to read.

Coryo smiles to himself as he picks the book up again, continuing where he left off even though he's already read it five or six times.

"You're gonna be fine just fine, Y/N/N. I promise." Lucy Gray assures you as you walk down the path toward the forest where the Covey and Sejanus were waiting. With Coryo.

"I won't let him near ya." Lennox adds, kicking a rock aside as he walks in front of you and your friend.

"Whatever you want, sweetheart. If you want space, tell him. I talked to him about this. He knows not to push you." Lucy Gray whispers to you and you nod, teeth digging into the softness of your cheek.

"I know." You say quietly, arm wrapped around hers. You loved going to the lake, and you've been a couple of times since you've been back, but you'd be lying if you said you weren't hesitant to bring him with you. If it goes poorly, you don't know if you could ever go back.

"Yeah, I gave him a stern talkin' to. Put the fear of god in him, he'll be on his best behaviour." She giggles.

"You didn't actually scare him, did you?" You laugh nervously.

"Of course I did." She says, but you know she's just joking.

"Is Billy Taupe coming?" You ask her after a moment.

Your friend wrinkles up her nose and shakes her head. "No, lord, no." She chuckles. "He's off with that Mayfair. Real class act, they are."

You giggle, squeezing her arm. You take it as they're broken up, at least for now. "I'm sorry, Lucy Gray." You add and feel her shrug under your grip.

"I'm done with him this time." She tells you, shaking her head. "I can't trust him no more."

"One foot in sea and one on shore." You comment and she looks at you, a smile pulling on her lips as she gently pulls you closer, leaning her head on your shoulder.

"Y/N!" Maude Ivory greets the two of you first, running up and throwing her arms around your waist. You jump slightly at the sudden contact, making every effort to catch her with nothing more than a slight gasp and a smile. "I've missed you!"

"Hello, dear." You chuckle, running your hands over the length of her blonde hair. "It's only been a couple of weeks, and you do know where to find me."

"Your friend has a gift for you, come on." She grins, letting you go only to grab your hand and pull you up the rest of the hill.

When Coryo sees you, his instinct is to push his hair back out of his face. That can't happen, so he settles for shifting on his feet and gripping the flower he's holding in his hand as you avoid his gaze and he avoids your brothers. Of course you would hide from him- he doesn't fault you for it. You were nervous, he could tell. And of course Lucy Gray neglected to tell him that Lennox was coming, though, he understood why.

He just wished you were angry at him. That would be far preferable to you being afraid.

"Y/N, hi." Sejanus greets you and you smile at him, giving a quiet wave as you adjust your bag over your shoulder. You packed your book and a blanket with some cherries you picked from the tree behind your house to share with everyone. You can see in your peripheral vision that Coryo has gotten a haircut, but you can't bring yourself to look at him just yet. Or comment on it.

"Alright, let's get movin'! The sun is only up for so long." Lucy Gray claps, not forcing you to have to say hi to Coriolanus before she's urging the group on.

Coryo looks at you as everyone else starts walking, and you nod through everyone to go ahead of you. You hate the idea of having people behind you that you can't see.

Then, finally, your eyes land on him. He smiles, hoping you would want to walk with him.

"Go ahead." You say softly, quickly looking up ahead and Lennox has stopped to wait for you.

"Oh, uh, this is for you." Coryo takes a step closer, holding the yellow daisy out to you that he picked on the walk out. Apparently, you didn't want to walk with him- you just didn't want him behind you. That was a thousand times worse.

You look down at it for a moment, reminding yourself quickly to take it instead of just staring. "Thank you." You reply quietly, delicately plucking the flower from his hold.

"Yeah, of course." He grins, not wanting to give up your attention just yet. "I... I'm really glad you agreed to come."

"It'll be nice. The lake is beautiful." You tell him, glancing over at your brother.

"Come on!" He calls out, impatient. "They're gonna leave us in the dust."

You hold back a sigh as you feel Coryo's eyes on you. You guess you will be walking with him, after all. "Coming!" You smile at him.

It's fine- he's fine. He won't hurt me.

You look up at Coryo, and his eyes are still on you. "Shall we?" He grins, gesturing to the path ahead of you.

Okay, he looks normal. His eyes are normal. Blue, sky blue. Gentle.

"Let us go." You grin at him, holding tightly onto the strap of your bag as it rests across your chest. You look back down at your feet as you walk, mindful of the roots and sticks that may trip or scratch you. You spare a glance at his feet as he joins your side on the narrow path.

Lucy Gray knew that even with her warning that Coryo would likely corner you, but she kept a close eye on you even from up ahead while she talked to Sejanus and practically dragged Lennox along with them so he would give you at least a little bit of space.

You walk in silence for a long time. The trees get thicker as you separate from the meadow and the town, isolating you only further, but you didn't feel unsafe. Not really.

Coryo would take what he could get, but he had to try to talk to you eventually. When he planned out this trip in his head the night before they were set to board the train, he had hoped that the days and nights would be spent together. That you'd say you understood, that you were happy and okay and yes! You would love to take him to the lake you frequented, just the two of you, and 'Oh, we should bring a picnic and just spend the whole day there. It will be so much fun!' And he'd get to see your smile without it quickly fading and he could hold your hand and get that second kiss that he never thought he would receive and everything would be perfect.

He never considered himself much of a dreamer, but something about you made that change. After he got to feel his lips on yours, then on the soft skin of your shoulder and his hands on your waist or locked in yours, there was no going back. He was all yours.

"So," He starts talking after only about an hour of walking. You were almost there, so you took a sharp breath in. You could talk for forty minutes. You could do it. And you wanted to, you remind yourself. "This is quite a hike, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes." You nod. "But we aren't far out now. It's worth it, I promise." You say, eyes still locked on the ground just in front of you.

"Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful walk, just... long." He comments. "And lots of bugs."

"Yes..." You chuckle nervously.

"What's it like?" He asks, desperate just to continue to hear your voice,

"The lake?" You ask, risking a look up at him. His lips form into a smile and he nods, urging you on. "Well," You swallow, trying to organize every detail you remember from last summer, before the games. "The water is very blue, and quite clear. There's a dock, we have the most fun jumping off of it."

Coryo watches your expression intently, trying to inhale every word. You pause, and your face lights up with remembered joy. "My Pa put a rope swing up here for us kids when we were young, and a few summers ago I went to take it- I climbed as far back up as I could before jumping. Then, I felt the branch jerk and I grabbed it tighter, it ended up wrapped around my leg on the way down and I got stuck." You recall the injury, but you're almost laughing. "I got this massive red burn all up the inside of my thigh, and then Lennox ripped the thing down." You giggle, and Coryo swallows. "He was joking, just pretending to even though it was my own fault, but the branch broke clean off and me and Lucy Gray tried to jump out of the way and ended up falling straight into the water."

He laughs with you at that, shaking his head. "Well, I hope your leg wasn't serious." He watches you and you're quick to shake your head.

"No, gosh no." You giggle. "Not worth pulling the whole thing down over, but it wouldn't have been kind to the next kid who swung- that's for sure. So it was probably for the best."

"Fair enough." He shrugs, eyes still glued onto you.

"I'd rather get a burn then have that big ol' thing fall on Maude Ivory or CC. They were just little at the time." He nods. That sounds just like you.

"So you've been friends for a long time, I take it?"

"Well, yes. Since they got stuck here, pretty much."

"Stuck here?" Coryo asks, looking up ahead at the group that was still just within sight.

You look up as well, just to make sure they weren't in earshot. "The Covey isn't District." You explain, voice lowered. "They used to travel everywhere to perform, but then when they got here peacekeepers rounded them up. Executed all their parents, and the kids got stuck here." You tactically leave out the part about his father being the commanding officer at the time.

"Oh."

"I think that's why Lucy Gray can't get over Billy Taupe." You add quietly, watching your friend as she laughs with Sejanus up ahead. "He's one of them, they have so much history. They're on and off, but she'll never abandon him. Not when they've been through so much together. They're the oldest- they've had to take care of the rest of them for almost their whole lives."

Coryo doesn't know what to say. "That's... yeah. I can imagine it would be hard to move on when they're so tied to each other."

You hum in agreement. "Anyway, we met when they were begging outside the market. They set their instruments up and were playing for tips just so they could eat, so my parents stopped and invited them for dinner. They've been with us ever since."

"Your parents are really good people." He comments.

You look up at him, a small smile tugging at your lips. "I told you that, didn't I?"

"Well, you told me they weren't rebels. That doesn't mean they're saints." He jokes.

"Feels like anyone less than a saint these days is considered a rebel for one reason or another." You argue, but there's no harshness at all behind your tone.

"Regardless, your parents are safe." He says, hoping that you've forgotten about his father being a peacekeeper general.

"Well, thank you." You laugh slightly, shaking your head. "How is Tigris, by the way? And your Grandmother? Have you spoken to them since you've been away?"

"I've called a few times, yeah. They're doing well." Coryo smiles. "Tigris is taking some time off, she's working on some different projects at home."

"I'm glad to hear that." You smile. "They must be missing you."

"So they say, yeah." He chuckles.

"It's hard to be away from home." You tell him. "I know it all too well."

His smile drops steadily, but he just nods. "Yes. At least I have the guarantee of returning."

You try so hard to steer every conversation you have away from the games, but it never seems to work. People have so many questions, so many comments, and it's a shame that Coryo is no exception. You suppose that was inevitable. He's one of very few people who somewhat know what you went through.

You really wish you had met him some other way.

"I'm sorry." He quickly apologizes, sensing your shifted energy. "That was... I shouldn't have said that."

"No, no. It's okay." You insist. "I just... Everyone wants to talk about it all the time. I can't escape it."

"I should have known better. I'm sorry." He says again, taking in a deep breath. "I wanted to be different. I try so hard to not make you think about it and I should have remembered that before I said anything, I just-"

You shake your head, frowning as you look up at him. "I wouldn't expect you to." You tell him. "If I'm honest, you're the one person I think I am okay with discussing it with."

Coryo has to fight back the smile threatening to pull at his cheeks from the relief. You weren't planning on never talking to him again. This was a great sign. He opens his mouth to speak when he hears shouting from up ahead.

"We made it!" Lucy Gray cheers, and sure enough, he can see the lake appearing through the trees.

"Coryo, you gotta see this!" Sejanus's voice follows.

"We made it." You smile, happy to change the subject. "Come on, the water is going to feel so good."

Then, you're jogging up ahead of him and pulling your bag off to leave on the dock.

taglist: @soulessjourney , @that-veela-girl , @dreamyysouls, @rockstarbfs , @maysileeewrites , @baybieruth , @kitscutie , @fratboyharrysgf0201 , @totallynotkaibiased , @stelleduarte , @secretsicanthideanymore , @bejeweledreverie , @drewsandsebastianswife , @niicole-87 , @queenofshinigamis , @innercreationflower , @nallasstuff , @scorpiolystoned , @iovemoonyy , @thatmarvelchick19 , @wearemadeofstardust0 , @regulusblackcore , @puredreamagination , @fantasticchaosthing , @becauseseaotters , @secretsicanthideanymore

okay suddenly tumblr isn't letting me tag more people than this so i just made some cuts unfortunately :') i just left the max amount of people i could whose users i recognized and see in my notifs all the time :) if you're not on here and you should be i'm so sorry!

also this taglist is closed now!! if you’d like to get a notification when i update, turn on my post notifications!! i promise i won’t spam y'all :,)

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bloodyymaryyy · 2 months

Text

Gossip girl xoxo ~

F1 grid x driver! Reader

Side note : I don't know why it took me so long to write this but here we go

The reader is a driver on red bull at checo's place

Request : no

Part 2 /part 3 / masterlist

It all started when y/n a young talented woman joined the f1 in red bull racing, having won 2 World titles at f2 finally getting the recognition she deserved.

When she was younger she looked up on a lot of drivers that had retired by the time she joined at 2019 like Sebastian Vettle, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Michel Schumacher, Niki lauda and a few others.

Having her room filled with posters, signed photos, cups, shirts, pictures of her and her idols, paddock passes and everything.

Her childhood crush on Jenson Button was a best kept secret,. Very few knew about her crush and she preferred it that way because it was going to be awkward because if it got out, because come on they work together in a sense, he had interviewed her multiple times.

Driving along side max both at 17 had both good days and bad, with competition racing against your idols, your friends was a bit of a struggle in the beginning but as the months passed they all learned to not take whatever happens on the track outside of it and then she and a few others like Max, Charles, Lando, Oscar, Pierre and some other people getting more serious with the races.

The fans favourite moments were when before they race they waving at one other from inside of their cockpits, or traditions they did before the race, or even when they gathered around gossiping when and if they could whenever they were. Outside at a cafe? Yes!, at their hang outs? Yes!, at their grid walks? Yep! And the fan favs at press conference and before the races. Twitter going crazy about that.

There are so many talks.

When you spend almost half of your time on a place With so many people, either loud or whispers you Will learn so many things and hear so many things which you probably shouldn't hear or know but it's hard to not acknowledge them like an engineer from Mercedes fucked someone from redbull in hopes of learning information about the car so Mercedes could be better.

Or that a redbull engineer got his wife little sister and best friend pregnant the same month that he got his wife pregnant With his second child.

Some times you hear rumor regardless of whether that may be true or not....

Christian horner talking and fucking a girl from his team which when you learned that you didn't know what to do because Christian was a father figure to you and Max having shity fathers. Be cautious when you were around him? Desapointed? Sad? Or disgusted? You didn't know for sure either way and you went to max first with the information you had. At first he was just like you. A wave of emotions washed over him like it did to you, then you both discuss and decided on what to do and that was to wait and see if it's true or not, to not tell anyone nor his wife which you were close to or anyone for that matter and never mentioned it again... Verbally anyway when you saw him texting someone in the presence of his wife you exchanged looks, knowing looks or side eyeing each other when you saw them together talking a few meters from everyone else whispering . Which a few months later the texts of them were linked and you learned that a week or so from the first race of the season when you were tagged in a post about it

(Side note: I took actual tweets of that because I can't be bothered to make fake ones but also I am trying to edit it to have her be mentioned in them)

Hey I am gonna do a part 2 because it doesn't let me put more than 10 so.... Sorry

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mazeinthemiroh · 1 year

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Hiii, first of all I love your works soooo much you're such a good writer.

I'm craving some ansgt (with happy ending) so I was thinking of a 2 part scenario with ateez : 1. You've have a big fight 2. You're making up . Or just one of the two if you're too busy . Or anything ansgty if fine . Sorry I talk too much . Have a good day /night <3<3<3<3

ateez in an argument with their s/o (part 1)

genre: ANGST, hurt, drama 😩

word count: 2.6k

warnings: cursing, general toxicity, obviously loads of angst

a/n: sorry this took me so fricking long to do, i wanted it to be perfect for you 🙏 let me know what you thought and send a request in the askbox for part 2 of this so you can be notified when i post it. anyone else who wants to be tagged in part to let me know~ hope you all enjoy <3

edit: here is part 2

hongjoong

"why are you so angry about all this?"

"you gave me a reason to be angry, y/n. a very good reason."

this is what it was like on the way home. constant bickering and arguing and shouting at each other. now that you had ripped the door open to your apartment and marched into your shared bedroom, you knew the arguments were only going to continue.

"and what reason was that?" you looked him dead in the eye now. your faces were edging closer and closer to his, a defiant glare sparkling in your eyes. hongjoong glared back. his eyes were just as powerful as ever. calculative. observant. deadly.

"you knew what you were doing," his tone was lower than usual, venomous to the ears. "you knew i hated him in the first place. but you just had to have your fun."

"i was just talking to him!" your voice had an extra kick of volume now, trying to dominate and squash his intimidating presence. this was a task that proved very challenging.

"it's not my fault your jealous of every other person i speak to," you defended

"but he's not every other person though!" you could see the vein in his neck show from the intensity of his emotions. "it was him. that's the point of all this. you just wanted to get back at me for the little argument we had earlier. so you did what you thought would hurt me the most. well, there you have it. well done, you hurt me."

"wow know what, if you think i would ever intentionally hurt you, that hurts me more than anything. and maybe if we're arguing all the time, maybe we shouldn't be together at all," the tears came as quickly as they fell. you had grabbed your coat and bag, heading for the door. you didn't think anything else could hurt you. but you were wrong.

what hurt the most was that he didn't stop you.

seonghwa

seonghwa could barely look you in the eyes right now.

"look, i don't want to argue," his tone was soft, but there was a twinge of urgency that came with it. he didn't know what to do anymore. he was exhausted. he was worried. he was everything but happy.

"i don't want to argue either, hwa" you gazed over at him, looking dejected and uncomfortable. you weren't sure why you kept calling him by his little pet name because you were far from being playful at this moment. you crossed your arms over your chest as you spoke up, "but it's either we talk about this or we don't talk at all."

"why do you have to make everything so difficult?" seonghwa snapped, now looking at you with eyes of cruelty. your heart dropped.

"why does everything have to be such a big deal? why can't you just let things go?" seonghwa's voice seemed to be getting louder and louder with each question. or maybe that's just how it felt.

"you're in this relationship too, hwa" you did decide to hold onto that pet name after all; it felt like the only endearing thing you had left to say. your voice grew quiet. you didn't want to argue. you just wanted to fix this. but it felt like you were the only one.

"do you not want to fight for us? why can't you just accept that we haven't been okay for a long time," your breath heaved quickly, but your slumped posture looked like you'd been defeated. "and the only way to sort this out is by talking about it."

seonghwa scanned your face and shook his head, looking away once more. his prior outburst had settled down and now he just wanted to be alone.

"i'm done talking now," seonghwa muttered, closing his eyes. he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, but the hopelessness took over. "i'm done fighting for this."

you'd have never thought your boyfriend to give up so easily on something. but your relationship? you? that was something that you'd always figured he'd stick by for.

yunho

yunho had unlocked the door to your shared apartment at 2:37 in the morning. on coming home before this, he made sure to tiptoe around the apartment, hop in the shower as quietly as possible, get ready for bed as silent as anything, before making his way to the bedroom.

"oh," he muttered in mild surprise, not expecting to see you awake. you had a book in your hands that you were scarcely reading, and the lamp to your side shining bright against the darkness. "you're awake?"

"i am actually," you say in a short, sarcastic tone. your jaw tightened as you carefully placed your bookmark between the pages and set the book aside, turning off the lamp in the same movement.

yunho stood there for a moment. the room felt still and cold. he looked at you, curled up with your back to him now. he could feel the sadness fizzle in the air. he knew he messed up but he was so tired. so, so tired.

crawling into his side of the bed, he gently tugged the covers over him, not saying a word. he didn't want to speak, but he felt he owed you at least something.

"i'm sorry" he murmured, eyes flashing closed as he breathed a shaky breath out.

"how many times have you said that this week?" you replied, weakly. you were tired too. tired of his excuses, his empty promises, his apologies. they felt like nothing anymore. he had let you down too many times.

he replied with nothing. he had nothing else to say. he thought it would be wise not to say anything at all. just sleep will do. sleep for a clearer mind. even being as tired as he was, he couldn't for the life of him drift off. and neither could you.

it was a long night for both of you. and while you were inches away from each other, you could have never felt farther away.

yeosang

you had been trying to get your boyfriend to talk to you for about 15 minutes now. it was a chore. it was exhausting. but you knew something was wrong and you weren't going to let him suffer alone.

"you really like pushing people to the limits, don't you?" yeosang snapped in response to your persistence. he glared at you with watery eyes, his lips pressed in a firm, straight line.

"i'm concerned for you," you retorted back, "what, am i not allowed to care about my boyfriend anymore?"

yeosang looked away from you. he was usually quiet but this was different. it was a painful type of quiet. you knew your boyfriend all too well to know he wasn't alright. and you didn't want him to be alone and wallow in his feelings.

you took in a deeper sigh and tried a softer approach. "you can tell me anything, yeo" you slid an arm around him, but his head leaned away from you.

"you care too much, it's suffocating" yeosang closed his eyes and shook his head, "i just want to be left alone, what don't you understand about that?" his tone was harsh. you had never seen him like this, which confirmed that he wasn't himself at all.

but his brutality got to you, and before you knew it, you started tearing up. you knew you should be supportive and just accept his wishes to leave him be, but it was hard to go on when you knew he was upset. you felt so torn.

"i'm sorry," your voice cracked underneath the pressure of emotion as you began to leave the room. there was nothing more you could say to him.

yeosang finally lifted his head, his eyes following your figure as you walked away from him. there was a distinct lonely feeling that filled his heart, making it ache. the absence of you weighed heavier on him than anticipated, and he missed you. god, he missed you.

maybe he didn't want to be alone after all...

san

you had come over to spend time with your boyfriend... initially...

it wasn't your fault. you just got a bit side-tracked. yunho and wooyoung were there and it had been a while since you had spoken to them. it was such a pleasure seeing them again since you got on so well.

but san's mood was depleted. his energy zapped. he phased out of reality as you continued to chatter away to his friends, staring at the wall with a glaze over his eyes. he hadn't said a word all night.

it was only until the others left that you actually gave him attention. and that was when you realised you hadn't spoken to him all night.

"you okay, sweetie?" you placed a hand on his bicep, getting him to look into your eyes defiantly.

"don't call me that" he grumbled and pushed your hand away, his arms crossing over his chest.

"what's the matter with you?"

"i invited you round so you could spend the night with me. but you were so much more interested in wooyoung and yunho." san glared at the floor. he realised how pathetic he sounded. how desperate his tone was. but he didn't care at this point.

"i hadn't seen them in a while, san. if you wanted it to just be me in you then you could've dismissed them," you held your ground, shaking your head at his childishness. "besides, you could've joined in the conversation instead of moping about by yourself, my god."

you rolled your eyes and moved away from him in a huff. san sighed and didn't move from his position. he couldn't tell if he was being unreasonable or totally justified. all he could tell was that he was hurt and angry, so the tears stung his eyes.

"i don't get a lot of time with you, y/n," he sniffed, "but by the looks of it you were having more fun talking to them than we've had in a long time."

his jaw clenched as he felt your presence stand there, taking in his thoughts, before leaving the room altogether.

mingi

"it was just a performance, y/n. it's not a big deal."

it was a big deal. at least, to you it was. you've been supporting mingi for as long as you can remember. from the moment he debuted, you were always behind him, encouraging him from the sidelines. and his career flourished. it amazed you just how quickly it did. and with his talents came more opportunities and privileges at award shows.

you didn't realise one of those 'privileges' would be to sexy dance with another idol.

"not a big deal?" you stared at him, wide-eyed and amazed by his words. at first you wondered if you were just overreacting. but his careless brush-offs turned the alarm bells off in your head. "mingi, you have got to be kidding me. she was practically grinding all over you. i had to watch that happen, among all the other thousands of people watching."

"and so what if they watched?" mingi's voice rose in volume, causing you to flinch at the sudden severity of his voice. despite having a deep voice all the time, mingi never used such a harsh tone towards you. it made your heart drop. "it's my job. they watch me do performances all the time. just because this performance happened to be with another idol doesn't mean anything."

his words hurt you more than you could say. but your hurt was spat out in anger, something you couldn't control beyond this point.

"everyone is saying how good you look together," your voice lowered in defeat, "how you should be together. even other idols are saying that."

"is that what this is about?" mingi breathed out a laugh of disbelief before his eyes turned serious, "you're just insecure."

you would have never thought he, of all people, would say that. you lowered your head and stared at your feet.

he only realised how much he hurt you when a tear trickled down your cheek. but by that point, it was too late.

wooyoung

"y/n, i'm not in the mood."

this was a phrase you were hearing all too frequently from your boyfriend. it was enough to drive you crazy. but you had kept silent, up until now. now was the last straw.

it was like he hated you. every time you touched him he would withdraw. even light touches like holding hands or linking arms; he wanted none of it. this was so unlike him. he was the one that usually initiated the physical affection. cuddles were his speciality and he couldn't go seven minutes without holding you. and you love that. but now, everything was one-sided.

"you're not in the mood a lot these days," you commented. your intent was to sound harsh, it really was. but all he could hear was the hurt and pain in your voice, and that tugged at his heart a little. "have i done something, woo?"

"don't be like that," wooyoung sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"no but seriously. are you not attracted to me anymore? has something happened between us? what am i missing?" you pleaded for him to answer you.

"shut up, you sound ridiculous" he snapped, a firm glare shooting into your eyes. there was too much swirling around in his mind for him to take everything in. to take in how he sounded and what he said to you. you could see the unbothered, thoughtlessness in his gaze and saw that he had just given up.

"not even gonna dignify me with an answer, huh?" you sniffed back your tears as you got up from your seat, grabbing the coat you had only recently left on the chair, and making your way for the door. you needed to get away.

if he wasn't going to dignify you with an answer, you weren't going to dignify him with your presence.

jongho

you let an exasperated laugh out, but things were far from funny. in fact, you genuinely couldn't believe what you were hearing right now.

"let me get this fucking straight," the increase in volume of your voice told jongho to run, but he was no coward. he stood his ground and stared at you expectantly. "you think that your job is more important than mine? is that what i'm hearing?"

"i never ever said that," jongho immediately shot back, not missing a beat, "but my job is more physically, psychologically and emotionally demanding. that's just a fact."

"why is this a fucking competition?"

"it's not" jongho practically growled his words back. he couldn't believe that you were both caught in an argument that was so trivial. "i just get exhausted when your moaning about the struggles of your job when there's so much going on with mine."

you shook your head, arms crossing over your chest as you gritted your teeth. "am i not allowed to express myself to you? to tell you my worries? that's what boyfriends are supposed to be there for. if you're not willing to do that then-"

"then what? then i shouldn't be your boyfriend?" jongho spoke before he could think, a tendency he never had. he was losing his head to the heat of the argument; he let his emotions get the better of him.

raising your eyebrows in surprise, you stepped back from the one you loved most. you couldn't read his expression, but you sincerely hoped he regretted those words.

"if that's how you feel, then maybe you shouldn't be" your voice was soft now, weak and without sustenance. shoulders lowering, you gazed at the floor, feeling your cheeks heat up tremendously.

a hopelessness fell upon you both. the atmosphere felt so thick it was suffocating. it felt as if the light that was once between you had been extinguished.

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hellishattempt · 5 months

Text

𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 - false positive

cr 101strk on twitter, src from pin

🢥 summary : celebrity!au jjk men and rumours swirling around your established relationship, wc 2.4k 🢥 series includes : choso, fushiguro toji, geto suguru, gojo satoru and nanami kento, part two of five 🢥 content : celebrity!au, female reader, mostly angst, some fluff, married, body dysphoria, pregnancy, photoshopping / body editing, miscarriage, sickness, blood, fake newspaper used, paps being an ass, lying, use of pet names, suggestive content if you squint so hard your eyes are almost closed, i hate winter so this is set in like summer, jasper simping for nanami the entire time, the ending is what it is, not proofread we die like robins /ref

. . . BEING MARRIED TO AN AUTHOR has its perks, especially when you're a reader yourself. you always got to read the first drafts, and the second, and the final drafts before anyone else, including your husband's editors. nanami claimed that if it wasn't good enough for his wife, then it wasn't good enough to be published. you always thought that was a bit extreme, but you loved his writings either way. however, sometimes it was hard to find the time to read the latest chapter he sent you, because your job drained you. you were an influencer, and had currently signed a promotional deal with koh gen do, a popular japanese makeup brand. recently, you were barely home, busy with photoshoots and videos for koh gen do, on top of the content you had to make yourself.

neither of you really liked the limelight, nanami especially. you were young and naive when you joined social media, rising quickly to popularity. it was something you enjoyed, and you still do enjoy it, but it felt more like a tiring obligation than an aspiring career. you blame the paparazzi, nanami blames societal expectations, although he's not the paparazzi's biggest fan either. throughout your dating, and going on six year marriage, you and nanami have had your fair share of scandals. this one had to take the cake, however.

you were out, doing one of the last rounds of photoshoots for your endorsement deal. nanami was home, trying to churn out the latest chapter on his to-do list. he wasn't very successful. the mostly blank document had two words on it: CHAPTER THIRTY in the fancy font you had selected to be chapter headers. any attempt to write after that failed. every paragraph had been written, rewritten and deleted. so the buzz of his phone was a welcomed distraction.

it was an article post from red sun times, a relatively newer newspaper company in japan. nanami preferred them because they were quieter, at least compared to japan newsline or tokyoto sistership news. but the article title cause a deep frown to wrinkle nanami's sculpted face.

. . . "IS NANAMI KENTO'S WIFE PREGNANT?" was in big bold print on your phone screen. you didn't see it right away, but your makeup artist did. she got your hairstylist's attention, who read it just before your phone shut off. they both began to pepper you with compliments.

"congratulations, nanami okaa-san!" aki, your makeup artist beamed. your eyes widened at the term. 'okaa-san' literally translated to 'mother' of which, you were not. she should've used 'oka-san', which meant wife literally, and ma'am respectfully. "you look so skinny, i couldn't even tell!"

"yes, congratulations! how did nanami-san respond?" your hairstylist added, smile wide on his face. "better yet, how did your families react? oh, i bet they were overjoyed."

you sat there confused, racking your brain over what the two were referring to. "wh-what? what are you talking about?"

they stared at you with blank faces, their excitement slowly fading into a confused expression that matched yours.

"y-your pregnancy," aki stuttered out, as though it was obvious.

"pregnancy? i'm... i'm not pregnant," you stated, getting out of your chair. "who told you i was pregnant?"

"we just saw the news flash on your phone," your hairstylist defended, gesturing to your phone. "there was an article from red sun times and the title read: is nanami kento's wife pregnant?"

"i'm not pregnant," you repeated, growing in frustration. the fucking nerve. "do i look pregnant?" you snapped, causing the pair to furiously shake their heads and protest the article. you scoffed, grabbing your phone and your bag, storming out of the dressing room. the directory of photography called after you as you exited the studio, but you paid no attention to him.

safe inside your car, you opened the article. you also had a slew of texts and missed calls from your husband, but you didn't have the patience for him right now. the article was crudely written, at best. red sun times had been losing subscribers and readers lately, and this seemed like a last ditch effort to get their subscriptions up again. it didn't make sense to you, however. neither you nor nanami were a-lister names in the celebrity world. nanami didn't even consider himself a celebrity. sure, you both had a hefty fan base, but it was nothing compared to some of the other celebrities of japan, like the model gojo satoru or the mma fighter fushiguro toji.

it didn't matter, anyways. it wasn't the words of the article that hurt. it was the pictures. all them were of you with nanami on your latest outing. your anniversary was coming up, and nanami always got really sweet around that time, taking you out on dates on the days leading up to your anniversary. your anniversary was in three days, and a couple of days ago, nanami had taken you to a strawberry farm where you each filled a bucket's worth of strawberries, that were then all eaten on the picnic following the farm. the picnic spot was the riverside where he had proposed about seven years ago. you had an amazing time, and fell a little bit more in love with your caring husband. his sensible attention to detail, his doting words, his thoughtful actions, all of it made the date, and your relationship, perfect. now this article and its malicious pictures tainted that saccharine memory.

. . . THE IMAGES HAD CLEARLY BEEN EDITED. that's what your logical brain was trying to scream at you, but your emotions weren't listening. a small bump had been added to your stomach in each photo, your hips had been wider, and in a couple, your breasts had even been adjusted, as though they were full with milk. you felt sick. it was so hard to tell the difference between what was edited and what wasn't. did you really look like that? did red sun times even have to adjust these photos? "you look so skinny, i couldn't even tell!" the words of your makeup artist bounced around your pounding head. if you were so skinny, why did she still assume you were pregnant?

you had tried so hard that day to look pretty for your husband, wearing his favorite yellow sundress of yours, with the sweetheart neckline and puffy sleeves. nanami always said he preferred your natural look, but you had still glossed your lips, tinted your cheeks a faint pink and dusted your nose with highlighter. you had tied your hair up with a soft yellow ribbon, curling the loose strands. you had checked your reflection at least fifteen times before deeming yourself fit for the day. you had looked good in the mirror, so why didn't you look like that in these photos?

tears threatened at your eyes, but you swallowed them with the lump in your throat. you were almost home now, and you were sure that nanami had seen the article. he loved the red sun times because they didn't do stupid stuff like this. guess they just lost another reader.

"darling?" nanami's voice rang out as you entered your home. he walked into your vision, looking worried. you hadn't answered your phone at all, hadn't even read any of his texts. "oh, koibito..." his voice softened as you raised your head to meet his gaze.

you look so despondent with your watery eyes, and sullen posture. you hadn't even removed your shoes before he had scooped you into his arms and you were sobbing into his shoulder. you don't know how long you stood there in the foyer of your home, everything silent except for your choked breathing. there was a dark blemish on his wool sweater now, but nanami waved it off when you tried to apologize.

he guided you to the living room, helping you sit on the grey sofa that you had bought together six years ago. nanami worked wordlessly as he removed your shoes and coat; he took your phone and bag, placing them on the stand by the front door. a high pitched whistle echoed from the kitchen, and moments later he returned with a cup of steaming sencha, your favorite kind of tea. you felt so pathetic, sitting there sniffling while your husband tended to you.

when he returned for the final time, nanami had changed into a black t-shirt, and sat on the leather ottoman opposite from you. his elbows rested on his knees as nanami watched you sip the tea he had made you. he didn't speak, but only because he couldn't find the right words.

nanami prided himself on his syntax and vocabulary. he was the type of person who always said the right thing at the right time, it's why being an author was the only career option he cared for. but here, you sat in a stifled silence. he knew he should say something, but what? what were you were supposed to say in a situation like this? you were clearly distressed, and it was nanami's role as your husband to offer you words of encouragement, but his tongue was dry.

if nanami was honest, he almost wanted there to be some truth to the article. you hadn't exactly been trying for kids, but you hadn't not been trying. kids was something you both knew you wanted, but you hadn't discussed it in further detail. reading further into the article and viewing the photos made it clear that it wasn't true, at all. nanami knew almost immediately that when you saw this, you were going to breakdown, and he would be there to pick you up. so he ordered your favorite ramen, made your favorite tea and held you in his arms until you had calmed down.

nanami knew that you would believe the edits, that you would see yourself like that. despite how much he praised your body, you hated it, and he hated that. anytime you made some side comment about your stomach or thighs, it almost started a fight. he loathed the way you saw yourself, and nothing he argued stuck with you.

in the last few months, however, nanami was starting to see some progress. you stared less in the mirror with your meticulous eyes, pinching flaps of your skin between your fingers. you began to buy less healthier foods, and stopped mentioning the stupid diet you had placed yourself on. you wore clothes that you specifically avoided unless you had nothing else to wear, because of the way they displayed your figure. he knew that this article had erased all of that progress.

"i'm sorry, nani" you croaked, curling your knees into your chest.

"shh, no, koibito," nanami disregarded your apology. "you don't ever have to apologize about your emotions, especially not to me." he moved from the ottoman to take the spot next to you, pulling your small frame into his. one hand held yours while the other stroked your hair amorously. "the article was cruel, and any person with a heart would be reacting the same as you. don't worry, i've already called their editor and he said he doesn't know why the piece was published when it wasn't supposed to. it's being removed as we speak."

your heart welled at his words. he was so patient and understanding. moments like these made you love nanami more. and it gave you the confidence to tell him the truth.

"kento," you began, pulling away from him slowly. you used his given name over your nickname, nani, for him. you only used it during fights or confessions. he immediately perked up. "i..." you sighed. words were always nanami's thing, not yours. "i'm not upset about the photos."

"oh?"

"okay, well, i am, but for a different reason than you think."

"and what reason is that, koibito?" his tone was emotionless, as if he hadn't decided how to respond yet.

"i know you think it's because i'm always stressing about my body and the way it looks, and you're worried because i haven't been fretting over how i look as much, right? well, that's because i was pregnant, and i decided i couldn't care about that when i had bigger concerns, like the tiny life in my stomach." it became harder to speak, your sentences broken by tears and sobs.

"...was?" nanami's voice cracked, and his misty eyes matched yours.

you nodded, "was. i... i had a miscarriage."

"w-when?"

"about a week ago. i was about a month and a half along."

"you mean that time you canceled girl's night because you were sick? you told me that it was just your period, and you sent me out to get you stuff from the store." nanami's brows furrowed.

"yeah, that's.. that's right." you took a breath to steady yourself. "there was just blood everywhere, and i was a wreck and i didn't have the courage to tell you. i know how badly you want kids of our own, and i just didn't want to hurt you."

"hurt me? baby, you were the one hurting, and i just played it off like it was normal. i feel terrible."

"you couldn't have known," you reassured him. "but that article, and those photos, it just tore me apart all over again. that's how i should look, that's how i want to look, but i lost that part of me, that part of us."

nanami didn't respond at first, just reached back out for you. you both sat there, quiet sniffles and crying the only sound in your home. he continued to comfort you, even though you felt like you should be offering him comfort. after all, nanami is learning that you were pregnant and now no longer pregnant all at once.

"koibito," he murmured after a while. "i want you to know that i love you no matter what. i don't care how you look or how you don't look. you're my wife, and i didn't marry you because of your body and figure. i married you because i fell in love with your laugh, your smile, your unpredictable personality, and all the other beautiful things about you. i'm always going to support you and love you. and if you want to be pregnant, then i'm happy to oblige."

you laughed despite your sadness, swatting at him playfully, which elicited a "what? i'm serious!" from nanami.

"shut up," you muttered, still chuckling. he smiled, happy to see that you were laughing along with him. nanami pressed a kiss to your temple, humming an "i love you" against your skin.

you snuggled deeper into him, craning your neck to meet his eyes. "i wanna be a mom, nani."

he wrapped both arms around you, meeting your gaze. "then a mom you shall be, my koibito."

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faislittlewhiteraven · 12 days

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Been having some ISaT tech level and timeline (as in 'when backstory things happened') thoughts and want to ramble a bit:

Tech

ISaT's setting is based on your classic sword and sorcery fantasy JRPG so its easy to assume that tech wise everything is 'fantasy medieval' and call it a day but consider:

Body Craft is at bare minimum is magic sex changing surgery (earliest known equivent in our world dating to 1930) that any old person can learn to do safely on themselves in only a few months, and more likely has many many broader applications like regular old surgery, the 'combat healing' Mira and Sif use, etc.

Cameras and photos are rare enough that Odile comments on it (namely she's happy the group get a photo in the House due to them being 'so rare') yet are also common enough that everyone in the party knows about them and doesn't question the existence of a camera beyond being surprised that the mirror was one. (In our world cameras date back to the 19th century, with the earliest manufacturing of them being in 1839).

Printing presses and ways to make plenty of paper to feed those presses given absolutely everyone in this game can read, expects everyone else to know how to, and both mass produced book series and newspapers are a thing. (Note: Printing presses have existed since waaaay back but it's the mass paper manufacturing that makes newspapers and The Cursing of Chateu Castle possible that really has my eyebrows raised here, especially since neither Siffrin or Odile find either odd in any way, indicating such things are common everywhere, and while newspapers have been around since 1604 in our world, mass produced fantasy books didn't really take off until the start of the 20th century).

Food production and storage: despite being in the middle of a national disaster that almost certainly cut off trade networks and access to most suppliers for literal months now, Bonnie, a small child, is able to easily get their hands on fresh Pineapple, curry ingredients (for samosa), potatoes, plantains etc with no issues or anyone commenting on this being unusual or lucky. Oh and the only character who even brings up the concept of potential starvation is the Fishing One, and only in a sort of 'we're not at risk now but sooner or later...' kinda way due to noticing that the fish they fish up for fun are disappearing and likely being frozen. So yeah, that heavily implies Vaugarde has very good food storage tech/Craft (possibly better than ours), and likely also good food production and harvesting tech/skills also.

The Island's incredible knowledge of the stars: while the oldest known orrery in our world is dated from around 205 to 87 BC (ancient Greek, earth centric model), the fact Sif -who would've learnt this as a child/teen- is so very certain that stars are big balls of fire made up of gas is interesting as that's something our world couldn't prove the theory of until around the 1900s (note: it'd been theorized a LONG time but Sif talks like its complete facts to them . Additionally the earliest existing record of a telescope in our world dates to a 1608 patent and we see one of those in game.

Post posting EDIT: A wonderful user qds-place pointed out that Mirabelle has anti-anxiety medication in her room. This is in both ISaT and SAaP and though we're not sure what form the medication takes (pills? Valium? Megitech esc Craft boosters???) the fact they specifically have 'anti anxiety' medication at all (as opposed to idk dragging Mira off and drugging her through the gills) is kind of impressive and if it IS modern anti anxiety pills those could be as recent in creation as the 1950s! So um. Some high levels of tech implied in chemistry there <3

So... yeah. All this, plus the fact that the highest tech implied area, The Island, literally specialised in the study/Craft of turning wishes into reality (for a long enough time period that Wish Craft is culturally so ingrained in the King and Sif that they do it without thinking and it seems intertwined with their nation's religion) has been completely erased from memory to the point anything heavily associated with them has been forgotten, and also we only ever see Dormont aka a little village well away from the cities, it's not hard to conclude that you can basically justify giving the ISaT world any level of tech you want, so long as you lock any of the truly 'setting breaking' stuff like planes and rockets behind The Island's forgetting curse (I would've said trains too but thinking about it trains were invented in 1802 so it's honestly easy to imagine that they totally exist in the ISaT setting/Vaugarde but aren't ever on screen because rail is way too dangerous to consider using while the Curse is active and potentially time freezing things on the tracks).

Side note: We know absolutely nothing about Vaugarde's transport system but as a fan of fantasy RPGs it is honestly a travesty I have yet to see a fic that has flying dragons/wyverns or other fantasy mounts in setting. Like, ok yes, the party would probably have wanted to use those but maybe they don't like the Curse and fled? Maybe the King's Curse targeted them first? Maybe all their handlers dropped the heroes off in Dormont and said 'Well Saviors it's been fun, but well me and Scales here are off to Poteria until things wrap up so best of luck to you' before buggering off?

This isn't really a serious complaint just. Me reminding myself/potentially other fanwork writers out there that there's a lot about the setting we just don't know about and limiting all travel to walking, horse drawn carriage and boat is not actually required. (Also please mix up travelling to the Island. Boats are a wonderful classic and have great thematic vibes for Sif's original leaving of the Island but like. Imagine the sheer in-universe wtf of the memories of The Island suddenly coming back and people on the north coast suddenly realising there's a massive bridge, subway or underwater tunnel leading there that everyone just forgot about - potentially filled with all kinds of Sadnesses that need taking down. Or Warp Panels in a House of Change, idk XD).

Timeline

Canon notes first:

Bonnie is a preteen (8 to 12), Mira and Isa are in their early to mid 20s (with Isa slightly older), Sif is late 20s to 30, and Odile is 40+ Nille is stated to be around 18 to 20.

Siffrin ran away from home when they were a teenager (13 to 17? 18?) and this is heavily implied to be when the Island was Forgotten.

Bonnie (in ISaT specifically*) says that Nille told them that when it happened all the adults were talking about it, hence why they think The Island is close to their village. *In Start Again a Prologue, Bonnie says that they themself remember the adults talking about the Island disappearing, which er. Is a bit impossible given they likely weren't even born yet when that happened but that can be explained away by AU differences, InsertDisc5 still finalising details between SAaP and ISaT, and/or OG Siffrin having been in the loops so long they weren't actually listening when Bonnie was talking and just 'scripted' in their head something 'close enough' to what Bonnie was saying to get the idea (note: mentioned that idea before in my post here on the differences between the House and King in Start Again vs In Stars and Time for anyone curious so er please feel free to give that a read if you haven't already).

Odile mentions remembering 'when it happened' as well and has been 'travelling for years'.

The King 'appeared out of nowhere' sometime in his adulthood, and lived in the city of Corbeaux for a few years before he became the King.

The King became the King as was freezing people in time long enough before his attack on the House of Dormont that everyone inside knew he was coming, there were a wall's worth of newspaper articles about him, and everyone was expecting Euphrasie to defeat him.

Mirabelle's quest began 'almost a year ago' and Sif lost their eye 'recently'.

Thoughts on the above:

Calculating when The Island was forgotten:

Sif being mid 20s to 30 and having run away from home as a teen means that The Island has to have been forgotten somewhere between 9 to 17 years ago with nine only possible if he ran away at age 17 and is only age 26 now, and seventeen being the far opposite if he ran at age 13 and is currently 30.

To narrow down the timeline: Given Sif ran away from home because he 'didn't want to eat his veggies' and 'just wanted to scare [his] parents a little bit' it's probably safe to assume Siffrin was likely on the younger end of the teen spectrum (teens run off all the time sure but with loving parents and over veggies? That screams 'kid who has not yet learned that freaking out the parents will get their ass grounded and/or yelled at a LOT and is therefore best saved for doing fun forbidden stuff that ideally the parents will never find out about' XD) Additionally given Siffrin can't remember his age/birthday etc but Isabeau outright says near the beginning of the game "But you're older than most of the people here?" meaning Sif must be visibly older than Isa or Mira, so he's probably closer to 30 than not.

Those alone would imply the Island likely disappeared closer to the '17 years ago' side of things BUT Nille (tops 20 years old) told Bonnie that "[the Island's disappearance] was all the adults would talk about for ages" and kids usually can't remember anything prior to 4 years of age so with that in mind...

I'd say The Island most likely disappeared between 13 to 16 years ago.

Nille stuff:

This is more a general mention but. Nille is tops 20 years old. Bonnie is between 8 and 12 and doesn't remember their parents at all.

This means Nille ran away with Bonnie and gained emancipation and custody of Bonnie (if Vaugarde has formalised that kind of legal stuff) while she was at most 12 years old herself and could have in theory been as young as 6..!

Regardless, it's very likely the original home situation was that bad, Nille deserves a ton of credit for raising Bonnie as well as she has and I'd say it's very VERY likely she had a lot of help from villagers in Bambosche and/or the local House of Change in doing so. ...But also Bonnie is very adamantly 'my sister and village' and not 'my sister and [specific names who live with us]' so there's clearly by the time Bonnie was 4 or so they were living in their own place so... Yeah. Lotta drive for independence there too it seems (so the party might have more trouble adopting Nille into their group post ISaT than Bonnie might expect).

King stuff:

Already an adult 13 to 16 years ago so at bare minimum 33. Given his vibe probably much older though.

Newspapers get printed pretty quick though for there to be so much speculation and research done into his background so quick, either Vaugarde has some form of fast messaging system (something like a Chappe telegraph on top of the Houses of Change? Odile I think does mention that they'll have a message sent to let Nille know they'll be returning Bonnie...) or the King was freezing stuff for IDK around a month or two before reaching Dormont? Alas can't find out how long it takes to walk across all of France out very easily (I'm sure the numbers are out there but my brain is pudding rn) but if we had those numbers we could probably make some guesstimates based off the rough sketched map of Vaugarde InsertDisk5 did... Which I would link but apparently the tumblr post I had it linked on has been deleted???? 'wails at this very unhappy development'

Mira's journey and Sif's eye:

We really don't know a lot but almost a year ago gives us somewhere around 9 to 11 months to spread the journey out along and after eye removal surgery the patient can out and about as soon as 2 to 6 weeks after, maybe sooner with magic healing (though full recovery/growing used to the changed spacial awareness -which Sif clearly does not have- probably can't be sped up and takes around 3 to 6 months) so um. I'd guestimate Sif's eye injury is really recent; like two months ago tops recent. ...Which sorta explains a lot of why Bonnie is not dealing with it right now and also why the others might be trying to avoid bringing it up (since Sif clearly loves avoiding the issue but they haven't yet realised that maybe they really should bring it up even if it annoys them anyway?)

Odile with some Ka Bue speculation:

When it comes to The Island, how did Odile, presumably living in Ka Bue at the time, remember 'when it happened'? Was the Island well known enough even on the other side of the world that it's disappearance made waves? Or was Odile herself or someone she's close to paying attention to the region? (Like maybe her dad or a friend is/was into politics or trade, keeping up with overseas news and got concerned it could happen to Ka Bue? I'd say 'I remember when it happened' line implies it was more immediate knowledge than being informed by a messenger much later though...)

As for Odile's 'years of travel' I have to wonder, what's left behind for her in Ka Bue? She brings up going back there quite a bit, might just miss home and possibly her father if he's still alive, but given it took her years to get here for something so personal rather than idk 'materially rewarding' I think Odile might have some kinda family estate or something back in Ka Bue... Something she wasn't worried about potentially losing while far away, but solid enough to want to return to, beyond her father who she'd definitely want to see again if he's still around. (...But given how open she is to chilling about Vaugarde a few more months with the others, I really don't think he is alive, since well, given their respective ages and travel between Vaugarde and Ka Bue apparently taking years, there'd definitely an uncomfortably high chance of him passing away while she's gone and that seems like the thing that'd stress Odile out so... Yeah. Probably got an estate in Ka Bue she'd like to take the Family to visit/possibly sell off if she decides she'd like to live with them in Vaugarde so... Just my off the cuff headcanoning here and hoping that gives others ideas or something).

---

Anyway that's all the ramble I've got in me so... yeah! Hope this was interesting and useful for those needing a bit of a 'possible tech'/timeline calcs breakdown for the Island + a few more vague things and um. Probably will post a long winding ramble about my attempt at a ISaT Selkie AU fic I've been working on next <3 (Not to be confused with looped-140-and-counting's already existing and quite wonderful Selkie Siffrin AU which already has a completed oneshot fic, a snippet of sequel, two snippets of prequel/Sif flashbacking and I believe a comic too, all of which I highly recommend <3)

#isat #isat spoilers #useful notes #in stars and time #speculation ramble #isat timeline notes #hope some of my isat fans out there find this useful for their fanworks <3 #I know its pretty basic stuff but I find having things laid out clearly handy for working out backstory and what to change in AUs so yeah =#i link interesting things. read selkie sif fic rec plz #isat nille #isat siffrin #isat bonnie #start again a prologue mention! (sorry there's not more than that XD)#thinking too hard about what I can and can't get away with in the big beautiful void that is 'left open to speculation' worldbuilding <3 #the forgotten island allows so many shenanigans people are not taking enough advantage of and I will call this out XD #also isat features a surprising amount of 'more modern-ish' tech or magitech that can basically do the same or better so like #Also had way too much fun wiki walking and going 'ohhh that's more recent than I thought. Cool!' and would highly recommend it #please ramble back to me your own random thoughts and notes as I love them even if I'm never sure as whether or not (or how) I should reply

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spnhunter4life · 1 year

Text

Familiar

Summary: Sam, Dean and Y/N are on a case, and it turns out Y/N is just the monster's type.

Word Count: 8.2k

Warnings: reference to nonconsensual sex, canon typical violence

A/N: I've had this one done for a couple of weeks, but things have been very busy and so I just finally got around to doing a reread/edit of it. I hope everyone enjoys it!

This one includes the writing prompt "character A flipping positions and shoving B against a wall 'now this seems more familiar doesn’t it?'"

I don't remember where I found this. I have a list of prompts I saved, but didn't include who posted them, so if you happen to know where this came from, let me know and I'll give credit to that person.

Also, I've had someone ask me to be tagged in new stories I post. I am happy to do this, so if anyone else is interested in being tagged, let me know!

Masterlist

I met the Winchesters for the first time five years ago when I was 22. I was in college and had just moved to a new dorm building that turned out to be haunted by a ghost. I had been the next intended target when Dean and his dad stepped in and saved me. That was the last time I would see either of them for a long time, but I never forgot the faces of the people who had saved my life.

After that experience, I was obsessed with the supernatural. Dean and I had talked a little bit before they left town, and he told me about how he and his dad traveled the country killing monsters. I wanted to do that too. I wanted to be able to save people’s lives the way they had saved mine.

So a couple months later I dropped out of school and started getting ready to hunt. I signed up for a gym membership and started going everyday as well as taking boxing and Krav Maga lessons. My life had given very little opportunity for me to build muscle or learn to fight. But I wasn’t stupid enough to go into a fight with a supernaturally strong creature completely unprepared.

I gave myself a year to get in shape and learn to defend myself. During this time, I put every spare minute I had into research. I looked into what kinds of monsters were out there, how to kill them, which ones were most common. While doing all this research, I ran into a man named Bobby Singer. He had all kinds of helpful information and taught me how to track them down. I started the process of purchasing weapons I would need and also saving up money.

Once I felt ready, I set off on my first hunt. The overwhelming satisfaction I felt at saving a person from the ghost that had been haunting them was too much to ignore. I knew without a doubt now that this is what I should be doing with my life. So I went on another hunt. And another.

Things were a little rough going at first and I got more injuries than I cared to admit – fighting a trained professional in a controlled environment wasn’t the same as going up against an angry monster – but my fighting skills improved and things started going smoother soon enough. I didn’t regret my choices.

I ran into Dean a little over a year later. I was looking into what I suspected to be a witch and had stopped for lunch at a local burger joint when I saw him. I recognized him immediately and went to talk to him. It took a little bit for him to remember me, but he did. When he asked what I was doing so far from home, I told him what I’d been up to since the day he saved my life. He seemed surprised and impressed. Apparently the people he saved didn’t often take up hunting afterwards.

When I asked after his dad, he told me that they were starting to work separate cases on occasion. They still hunted together too, but not as often.

Since we were both in town for the same reason, we agreed to work the case together. It was difficult at times, learning to rely on another person and factor their thoughts and opinions into what we were doing. I’d never hunted with someone else before. In other ways, though, it was so much easier. I decided I kind of liked having a partner. Dean and I worked well together.

He must have thought so too, because the day after we finished that hunt, he asked if I wanted to come with him to look into a string of suspicious murders a couple states over. I’d been hunting with him – and occasionally his dad – ever since.

About nine months into our new arrangement, his dad went missing and so we picked up his brother Sam from school to help find him. Adding him to the mix had been another adjustment. That was two years ago now though, and we’d all found an easy rhythm together.

“We should go check this out,” Dean said, sliding the newspaper he’d been looking at across the table to Sam and pointing at one of the articles.

We were at a diner waiting for our breakfast to be brought out. Sam scanned the article.

“I don’t know, Dean,” Sam said, passing the newspaper to me when I motioned for it. I skimmed the article Dean had found.

“Come on, Sam. Three murder suicides in under two weeks. That’s weird,” Dean insisted.

“It is weird. I just don’t see how it’s our kind of weird,” Sam answered.

“Y/N? What do you think? You agree with me, don’t you?” Dean asked, confident I’d back him up. We typically saw things pretty eye to eye. Not always though.

“Well, actually I agree with Sam. There’s nothing here that really makes it sound like our kind of thing. But,” I continued, saying the word a little louder to stop Dean’s protest. “It’s only a few hours away and we have nothing else to do right now. So we might as well go check it out.”

“Alright, fine,” Sam agreed, sighing at the triumphant look on Dean’s face. “But I really think we’re wasting our time.”

“Right. Because we’ve got much more important, productive things going on here,” Dean said sarcastically.

“It’s never a waste of time,” I said. “Even if it ends up being nothing, making sure people aren’t being killed by something supernatural isn’t a waste. What if we decide it’s not worth checking out and it turns out it is our kind of thing? Then those deaths would be on us.”

“Ok, yes, you’re right. I already said we could go check it out,” Sam said.

“Well thanks for the permission, Sammy. I really don’t think we could’ve moved forward without it,” Dean snarked.

“Bite me,” Sam answered.

“Alright, cut it out you two,” I scolded.

The waiter brought our food out and we spent the meal trying to come up with ideas of what we could be dealing with. We didn’t come up with much since we had so little information to go off of. Dean paid our bill and we were just heading out the door when something occurred to me.

“Oh! What if it’s a siren?” I suggested.

“A siren? From Greek mythology? Like in The Odyssey?” Dean asked.

“What?” Sam looked at his brother in surprise.

“What?” Dean asked, a little smug and a little offended.

“What do you know about sirens?” Sam asked me, moving past his shock at Dean’s knowledge.

“Not much,” I admitted. We reached the car and I climbed into my usual spot behind Sam. “All the vics have been couples though, right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Dean confirmed, turning in his seat to face me. “Is that important?”

“All I really know about sirens is that once they infect you they convince you to kill someone you love. The only siren case I’ve heard of had several husbands killing their wives before it was stopped. So maybe in this case once the men realize what they’ve done, they kill themselves.”

“Seems like the best theory we’ve come up with,” Dean said. He backed the Impala out of the parking spot and headed out of town towards the highway.

“Let’s get there and do some digging around before we settle on a theory,” Sam cautioned. “But say you’re right. How do we kill it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve already given you the extent of my knowledge on the subject.”

“Okay. Well at least we have a starting point. We can look into it more if that still seems like the most likely scenario after we’ve investigated things a little bit,” Sam said.

Apparently deeming the conversation finished, Dean turned up the music. I leaned my head against the window and watched the road blurring by.

~~~~~

The bar we were at was crowded, the music was loud, and the guy I was talking to was cute. Not stop and stare cute, but cute enough that when he came over to where I was standing at the bar and started flirting, I flirted back.

“So how long are you in town for?” Cute guy asked. I vaguely noted Dean in my peripheral vision, making his way to the bar. If I’d been paying attention, I would have noticed how irritated he looked. But I was trying not to notice him. He and I were just friends and would never be more. I’d accepted that. It meant I couldn’t let myself be distracted by him when there was a guy standing right in front of me who was interested.

“Don’t know yet,” I answered, giving him my best flirty smile. “I’m definitely here for the night though.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Dean interrupted. “Come on Y/N. Sam’s waiting for us.”

“Woah, hey, come on man,” cute guy protested. “You can’t just come in here and force her to leave. We were in the middle of a conversation.”

“You were, were you? Sorry pal, but we’ve got important things to do. Go find someone else to bother.” Dean grabbed my arm and pulled me with him, away from the bar and towards the exit.

“Dean!” I hissed as I was forced to follow along behind him. “What is your problem?” I asked when we made it outside.

“What’s my problem?” Dean echoed, letting go of my arm and turning to face me. “What’s your problem? You know what we’re after here. What made you think it was a good idea to offer to go home with some random guy who for all we know could be the siren?”

I scoffed and started to walk towards the car, but Dean grabbed me again and pushed me up against the building. He stepped in close and put an arm on either side of my head, effectively caging me in.

“What are you doing?” I asked. It didn’t sound quite as irritated as I wanted it to. His close proximity mixed with the few drinks I’d downed had me too overwhelmed to hold on to my anger.

“Next time you’re wanting to scratch an itch in the middle of a case where the monster we’re after seduces people into murder, just save us the trouble and come to me instead,” he instructed. Then before I knew what was happening, he leaned in and kissed me.

I gasped in surprise and he used the opportunity to lick into my mouth. Finally catching up to what was happening, I wrapped my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through his hair and eagerly kissing him back. I never could have predicted this, but I was so thrilled it was happening.

He made his way to my neck. He kissed a couple of different spots before finding a spot he liked and starting to suck and nip-

I woke up with a jolt and a gasp. I quickly took in my surroundings and realized I’d fallen asleep in the back of the Impala.

“You ok?” Dean asked, turning in his seat to look at me. I realized we were parked outside a motel. The engine turning off must have been what woke me. I briefly met his eyes and was immediately bombarded with the images from my dream.

“Yeah,” I told him. I managed to successfully fight the blush that tried to rise in the presence of the very man I’d just been dreaming about. It wasn’t the first time I’d had this sort of dream about the older Winchester. I doubted it would be the last.

Dean went inside to get us a room. We unloaded our bags and made a plan. We decided the boys would drop me off at the police station to talk to the sheriff while they went to question the medical examiner. We would meet at a diner a few blocks away from the police station when we were done.

“What’s the connection between all of these people?” I asked Sheriff Jones once I’d introduced myself and explained why I was there.

“Connection?” He asked.

“Yeah. This many murder suicides in this short of a time, there’s something going on here. Maybe you’re wrong about the suicide part and it’s just flat out murder. Maybe it’s some sort of messed up pact these people made. There has to be something that connects them though. So what is it?”

“As far as we can tell, there is no connection between any of them. Sometimes these things just happen,” he said.

“How long have you been sheriff?” I asked. He was starting to get up in age, probably in his mid to late 50s at a guess. I assumed he’d been a police officer for a long time.

“Almost 20 years,” he informed me proudly.

“And in those 20 years, how many times have you seen something like this? Three different couples killing each other and themselves. One after another.”

“Well… never,” he admitted.

“Right. So what’s the connection? Graduated from the same high school? Go to the same gym? In a bowling league together? There has to be something that connects them other than them all being married.”

“Actually, they weren’t all married,” Jones corrected.

“I was told they were,” I said.

“The last couple wasn’t. They were roommates, but as far as I’m aware, that’s as far as the relationship went.”

Damn. Did this throw a wrench in my siren theory? Not necessarily. Just because they weren’t together doesn’t mean one of them wasn’t secretly in love with the other. Or maybe they were really close and loved each other in a non romantic way.

“Great. I’m gonna need a list of close family and friends of all the victims,” I requested.

“What for?” He asked.

“To find the connection. You figure out the pattern, you have a chance of stopping it from happening again,” I said frustratedly. How were these idiots not investigating this further? Did they really believe it was just all a coincidence?

Jones gave me a list of names and I left. I scanned the list on my walk to the diner, trying to figure out where to start and how long it might take to talk to these people. I rounded a corner and ran into an extremely attractive man.

“Sorry!” I apologized as he nearly spilled the coffee he was carrying.

“No worries,” he said, flashing a charming smile. “No harm done.”

Had I not spent every day of the past three years sharing close quarters with the most attractive man I’d ever seen in my life, I might have been caught off guard and turned into a mumbling mess. But my time with Dean mixed with the quick thinking and lying that was sometimes necessary for hunting meant I was able to keep it together.

“Still. I should have been watching where I was going.”

“Well in that case, I was just on my way to get some lunch. How about you make it up to me by coming with?” He offered. It only took me a few seconds of consideration to make a decision.

“Sorry, but I’m busy. I’m on my way to meet a couple of colleagues for a kind of work lunch,” I told him.

“Ah. Well, maybe next time,” he smiled.

“Maybe,” I agreed, knowing there wouldn’t be a next time. I sighed as I continued my walk to the diner. He was awfully good looking. Under different circumstances, I probably would have taken him up on his offer.

I walked the last couple of blocks and noted that the familiar black car wasn’t in the parking lot. I went in, found an open table that would fit all three of us, and sat down. I had to wait about ten minutes before Sam and Dean walked in.

“Hey. What did you find out?” I asked once they were seated.

“Not much. There wasn’t anything unusual about the bodies as far as anyone could tell. The ME did say that based on the most recent body, she wondered if the suicides weren’t actually suicides though. She’s looking over the other two bodies again to see if it could have been staged to look like a suicide,” Sam told me.

“That qualifies as not much to you?” I asked. “I mean, granted it doesn’t really up the weird factor. But what if they missed something else too? Something they wouldn’t know to look for?”

“That’s exactly what I said,” Dean said smugly.

“Whatever. I’m not having this discussion again,” Sam told his brother as the waiter came over. We rattled off our orders to him and waited for him to leave before continuing.

“Did you find anything?” Sam asked.

“No. I do have a list of people for us to talk to though,” I answered. I took the list out of the pocket I’d tucked it into after folding it up and handed it to Sam.

“What, the cops have a suspect list?” Dean asked.

“No,” I snorted. “Whether or not this ends up being our kind of case, I feel bad for the people in this town. Their idiot sheriff doesn’t even think it’s worth looking into. It’s an open and shut case as far as he’s concerned.”

“What’s your list then?” Dean questioned, leaning over to read over Sam’s shoulder.

“Close family and friends,” I answered. “I’m hoping we can figure out what connects them all.”

“Right,” Sam said. “It’s not like we can monitor every single married couple in this town on the off chance they might get murdered.”

“Actually, they weren’t all married,” I told him. “I guess the last two were just roommates.”

“There goes the siren theory,” Dean sighed.

“Not necessarily. It still could be,” I said.

“How?”

“Sirens don’t target married people specifically,” I explained. “They just make you kill someone you love.”

“So you’re saying they were living together as friends but secretly in love?” Dean asked.

“Maybe. Or maybe not. Love doesn’t have to be romantic.”

The waiter brought out our food and we made a plan as we ate. Dean wanted to check out the crime scenes first. Sam argued that we might get more information from talking to people. I wanted to side with Dean because I really wasn’t looking forward to interviewing ten different people, but I had to agree with Sam. Might as well get this part out of the way. We could look at the victims’ houses after.

~~~~~

Several hours and too many interviews full of crying loved ones later, we stood in our motel room going over the information we’d gathered today. The ME had called an hour ago and confirmed that it was flat out murder, not murder suicide. We hadn’t gotten any useful information out of any of the people we talked to today though, and we were all a little frustrated.

“Alright, well the roommate vics were extremely close,” Sam recapped, thinking out loud. “Which means Y/N’s theory on them loving each other pans out, leaving a siren as the most likely culprit. But how are we supposed to find it? We still don’t have anything that links these people together,” Sam grumbled.

“And why is it killing people?” I added. “Usually they leave the killing to their victims. Maybe we missed something.”

“Or,” Dean cut in, standing up from the chair he’d been in. “We'll find the answers we need at the crime scenes. Which I said we should look at four hours ago.”

“Yeah, Dean. We know,” Sam snapped.

“Let’s just figure out our next step,” I interjected.

“Maybe we should do some research on sirens. It would be easier to track it if we can figure out where they live, how they make people do what they want, that sort of thing,” Sam suggested.

“C’mon Sam, we’ve spent all day doing research on the victims. Now you’re telling me you want to do more research?” Dean complained. “What we should do is go to their houses. I’m telling you, if we want answers, that’s where we’ll find them.”

“Maybe, but we still have to know what we’re up against,” Sam pointed out. “Why don’t you and Y/N go check out the houses. I’ll stay here and research,” he suggested.

“Fine. Let’s go,” Dean said, satisfied with this compromise. He went outside and I heard the Impala’s engine roar to life a few seconds later.

Sam grabbed his laptop and settled in to work while I grabbed my coat.

“Let us know if you find anything,” I said. Sam assured me he would and then I followed Dean out the door.

We decided to split up to cover ground faster. Dean would drop me off at the first house and head to the second house himself. When he was done there he would pick me up and we would look at the last place together.

Dean parked outside the first house, a small blue one with a row of flowers planted along the front of it.

“I’ll call you when I’m on my way back,” he told me as I was getting out of the car. He drove away and I walked into the house, ducking under the police tape strung up on the door.

The first room I walked through was the kitchen. Other than a few unwashed dishes in the sink, it was spotless. I knew the murders had happened in the bedroom, so I didn’t expect to see much in the rest of the house, but I was looking for any sort of clue that would lead us to the siren. I took a quick look at the pictures on the fridge but didn’t see anything that would help.

The next room was the living room which was also clean. A cursory scan of the room told me these two were huge movie fans. There were several movie posters hanging up on the walls, an entertainment center overflowing with DVDs, and a little box full of old movie tickets. I didn’t know how this could be a connection with the other couples, but it was clearly a big part of their lives, so it was worth making a mental note of. Other than that, I didn’t see much. A brochure for a yoga class stuck underneath a pile of magazines on the coffee table. A framed picture of the two skiing was hanging on the wall. I noticed a coffee mug with what I assumed was the name of a local bar printed on the side. I made another mental note of both the yoga class and the bar just in case.

Then I moved on to the bedroom. Even if I hadn’t known ahead of time what happened in here, it would have been pretty clear. There was a bloodstain on the bed and the blankets were rumpled, like there had been a struggle on top of them. One of the pillows was knocked on the floor. The nightstand on the left side of the bed had been knocked over, a picture frame shattered beside it. And there was a second blood stain on the cream carpet.

I braced myself, turning off the part of my brain that wanted to be horrified and turn away from the scene. I looked around the room for any sort of clue as to who the siren might be or where it might have gone. It would be a lot easier if I knew what exactly I was looking for. Sam was right. We should have done the research first.

After thoroughly searching the bedroom and the bathroom and finding nothing, I made my way back out of the house. I wasn’t quite ready to give up yet, but I was getting more doubtful that this wasn’t something the real FBI should be handling. I stepped back outside and saw the cute guy from earlier walking past. He heard the door close behind me and looked over.

“Oh, it’s you,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he answered as I walked towards him. “I do believe that’s a crime scene you just walked out of. Not exactly legal.”

“It is when you’re FBI,” I told him, pulling out my badge. It identified me as agent Y/N Perry.

“That explains why I haven’t seen you around before,” he said, not seeming overly surprised by the news.

“What are you doing here?” I asked again.

“I live next door,” he told me. “I didn’t really know them. Terrible what happened though.”

“It is,” I agreed. My phone rang and I took it out of my pocket, seeing Sam’s name on the screen. I excused myself to answer it.

“Hey, Sam. What did you find?”

“Have you heard from Dean?” He asked urgently.

“No, why?” I asked, immediately worried. Before he could answer, everything went dark.

~~~~~

Sam’s POV

“What do you got, Sam?” Dean asked immediately upon answering my call.

“Not much, but I think I’m starting to figure out more about this siren,” I told him. I hadn’t had time to gather much information yet, but what I had found mixed with a quick phone call to the ME was starting to clear things up.

“Like what?”

“So get this. When sirens… put you under their spell or whatever, it leaves high levels of a hormone called oxytocin in your blood.”

“So?”

“So, I called the ME and asked her about it. There were high traces in three of the victims. The female victims. For whatever reason, this siren is going after the women, not the men.”

“Son of a bitch! Please tell me you called Y/N before you called me,” Dean said.

“Why? Aren’t you together?”

“No,” Dean growled out in a tone of voice that suggested stress and frustration. “We split up to move faster.”

“Alright. Well don’t worry. I’m sure she’s fine. I’ll call her now,” I said, trying to calm him.

“I’m going back to get her. I’ll call her on the way.”

Before I could argue that he was already worked up enough and should just focus on driving I heard a thump, Dean grunting, and then the sound of his phone clattering on the ground.

“Dean!” I yelled. No response. I hung up and headed outside. I needed to find a car. Once I had one ready to go, I started driving to the closest address on the list.

~~~~~

Y/N’s POV

The first thing that registered in my mind was the way my body was shaking. I heard a distant voice calling my name as consciousness slowly found me. It took a few seconds for me to fully wake up and process what was happening. The shaking was due to the hand on my shoulder, trying to jostle me into consciousness. The voice was Dean’s, and it wasn’t distant. It was right in front of me.

My head was pounding. I tried to remember what happened. I was outside waiting for Dean. Sam called. Then what?

“Y/N!” Dean said a little louder. I opened my eyes and immediately closed them again, hissing at the pain that shot through my skull from the bright light in the room. Someone must have hit me over the head. Who? No one else had even been around. Except for that guy I bumped into earlier. He must be the siren then.

I felt a surge of frustration at my stupidity. How did I miss it? I knew it was weird that he just happened to be outside that house.

“C’mon. We should get out of here,” Dean encouraged, pulling me to my feet.

“Just a minute,” I pleaded as a wave of dizziness rushed over me upon standing. I braced my hand on the wall beside me.

“What happened?” He asked. “You didn’t answer the phone.”

Once the dizziness passed, I slowly opened my eyes. The pounding in my head was intense, but it was more manageable when I took things slow.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Who, the siren? Dead,” he told me. That was good news I guess. I didn’t know how much help I’d be in a fight right now. He was almost entirely supporting my weight. Then something occurred to me.

“How?” I asked, looking up at his face. “We don’t know how to kill them.”

“Well I had a machete with me. I couldn’t walk in here completely defenseless. When I saw him standing over you, I cut his head off. Apparently that’s all it takes,” he explained.

I looked around the room, searching for the body, and realized this was the house of the first murdered couple. We were in the living room.

“He brought me in here?” I asked.

“Well. It was close by. And there isn’t much chance of anyone walking in. Made it easy for me to find you, too. How are you feeling? Ready to go?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I told him. My head was still pounding, but the dizziness was gone.

“Good,” he said, carefully turning me to face him. “I was really worried about you.” Then he kissed me.

I so badly wanted to be able to enjoy this. I’d dreamed about it so many times but never imagined I’d ever build up the courage to tell him how I felt. Or that my feelings would be reciprocated.

I placed one hand on the back of his neck and gave myself a couple of seconds to be sure my balance was good. Then in one quick motion I stepped to the side and used the hand around his neck to shove him face first into the wall.

“Ow! What the hell?!” He yelled, clutching a hand to his bleeding nose.

“Where’s Dean?” I asked, watching closely for any indication he was about to run or attack.

“I am Dean!” He insisted. He held a hand out placatingly and took a step towards me.

“Stay back,” I warned him. I reached into my boot and grabbed the silver knife I kept there at all times. “I know a shapeshifter when I see one.”

He dropped his hands and stood up straighter, a cocky smile gracing his mouth. He started to walk in a slow circle around me.

“What gave me away?” He asked casually.

“A few things,” I answered, rotating my body to keep him directly in front of me at all times.

“Like?”

“Where’s Dean?” I asked again.

“Oh, he’s fine for now. Just a little tied up at the moment,” he smirked.

I lunged for him, hoping to catch him by surprise. He easily blocked the knife I had aimed directly at his heart and threw a punch that caught me in the stomach. The force of the blow knocked the breath out of me, but I recovered quickly and slashed out with the knife at the hand that was reaching for my hair. He hissed in pain and quickly withdrew his hand.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” the fake Dean growled. “You know you can’t win. Might as well save yourself some of the pain.”

My head was killing me and the dizziness was threatening to return and become a very serious problem. I waited for his next attack. I didn’t have to wait long. I saw his muscles tense to move and then he closed the distance between us quickly.

He reached out for the hand that was holding the knife, trying to force it out of my grip without touching it. I took advantage of the way he focused on the knife to kick his knee as hard as I could. His knee buckled and I used all the strength I had to push him into the wall behind him. I pressed the knife to his throat.

“Where is Dean?” I demanded.

“What gave me away?” He asked again. I couldn’t believe the arrogance. Did he really not care about anything but the fact that I’d seen through him?

“I’m not going to ask again,” I threatened, pressing the knife just a little harder into his skin. “Where is he?”

“Quid pro quo,” he offered. “Answer my question, I’ll answer yours.”

I seriously debated just killing him, but decided to humor him just this once. He wasn’t going anywhere and I’d get the answer out of him one way or another.

“First of all, Dean wouldn’t just sit there waiting for me to wake up. He would have just carried me out. Secondly, he has a scratch on his jaw that hasn’t healed all the way yet. That particular scratch is missing from your face. Third, if he’s not sure which weapon to bring with, he always chooses his gun. Silver kills a lot of things, so it’s usually the safest bet. Also, where’s the body? You said you killed the siren, but there isn’t a body. And as far as that goes, you don’t have a machete either.”

“Hmm. You’re observant,” he said. “Not observant enough though. Otherwise you probably would have seen this coming.”

His hand shot up and grabbed my wrist, pushing the knife away from his neck. He pressed hard on the tendons there until I was forced to drop the knife. Then he spun us around, pressing me up against the wall. He pinned both of my wrists to the wall and leaned in close, his breath brushing my face.

“Now this seems more familiar, doesn’t it?” He smiled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I spat.

“No?” He mocked, pressing his cheek to mine and talking directly into my ear. “You’ve never dreamed about Dean pressing you into the nearest wall and kissing you breathless? I think you have. Many times. As recently as just a few hours ago.”

I whipped my head to the side to look at him. He grinned triumphantly.

“That’s right. I’ve been inside your head. I know exactly how you feel about this pretty boy of yours.”

I bristled at the way he had stolen Dean’s face, tried to use it against me, and was now flaunting that fact.

“You don’t know anything,” I spat. He just continued as if I hadn’t said anything.

“That’s why I chose you. It was pure coincidence running into you, but you’re a very attractive woman, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”

“Give what a shot? Murder? News flash, you’ve already done that. I’d suggest branching out and finding a new hobby.” I pushed lightly against his hands, testing the possibility of breaking free. That wasn’t an option. He was holding on tight, and I wouldn’t be able to beat him in a battle of strength.

He smiled and kept ignoring me.

“You see, I had to turn into you first to get in your head and see if you fit what I was looking for. It was a shock, of course, to find out that you’re a hunter. But it turns out you did fit my needs, and you and your friends were so far off the mark, I knew I’d be safe enough.”

“What do you mean, I fit your needs?” I asked. I had a plan to escape his hold, but as long as he was content to talk, I wanted answers.

“Well you’re in love of course,” he said.

“So?” I didn’t bother denying it. Like he said, he’d already been in my head.

“So,” he answered as if I was being extremely stupid. “Isn’t it so much better being with someone when you’re in love?”

I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. Being with someone? What was he talking about? What did it have to do with murder?

I felt a wave of horror and disgust wash over me as I understood his meaning. He’d posed as the men the women were in love with and slept with them before murdering them both.

“If it’s any consolation, they died happy,” he told me. “Well,” he amended. “The women did, anyway.”

“So what?” I snarled. “You thought you’d come in here looking like Dean and I’d just take my clothes off for you? Just like that?”

“Well, not just like that. But I figured you’d be willing enough once I had some time to convince you.”

I remembered how he had kissed me before. I assume that was the kind of convincing he was referring to.

“We still could, you know,” he offered. He brushed his lips gently against mine and I jerked away. “You can pretend I’m him and I’ll give you what you’ve always wanted.”

“Right before you kill me, you mean?”

“Well obviously I can’t let you live,” he said.

“I think I’ll pass,” I said. I drove my knee up as hard as I could into his crotch. He may not have been entirely human, but he still went down as hard as any human man.

I dropped down to pick up my knife, doing my best to ignore the pain the quick movement caused in my head. I didn’t give the shapeshifter time to recover. I immediately turned to him and drove the knife into his heart. He gasped in shock and pain and then collapsed, unmoving.

I rose to my feet and made my way – a little unsteadily – out of the house. I was pretty sure I had a concussion and that fight had taken all the strength and energy I could muster. As I stepped out of the house, a car came screeching down the road and parked next to the only other car on the street. I didn’t know if I could really handle it, but I prepared myself for another fight.

The driver door opened and a tall man stepped out. Sam, I realized when he called my name. And the car he was in was the Impala. How had he gotten it? Sam ran over to me and put a steadying hand on my shoulder.

“Are you ok? What happened?” He asked.

“Where’s Dean?” I asked, ignoring his questions.

“I don’t know. I’ve been looking for both of you,” Sam said. “I found Dean’s car at the second house, but no sign of him. I was hoping I’d find him here with you.”

Just then we heard a muffled banging noise coming from the other car on the street.

“Stay here,” Sam told me, drawing his gun as he walked towards it. I was in no position to argue seeing as the dizziness was returning and I was struggling to keep my balance. He stopped by the trunk of the car. “Dean?”

“Sam! Get me out of here,” I heard Dean say from inside.

“Just a second,” Sam breathed out in relief. He tucked his gun back into his jeans and went around to the front of the car in search of the keys. He pulled them out of the ignition and then opened the trunk. Dean jumped out, fuming. He was down to just jeans and a t-shirt, the shifter having stolen the rest of his usual layers.

“Where is it? I’m gonna kill it,” he seethed, marching towards the house. He paused momentarily when he saw me swaying on the sidewalk and then hurried over to me. He wrapped my arm around his shoulders and put his own around my waist to help me stay balanced.

“What happened? Did the siren do something to you? Where is it?” He asked.

“It was a shapeshifter, not a siren,” I told both him and Sam who had followed close behind his brother.

“Was?” Sam questioned.

“It’s dead,” I said.

“That explains why my clothes are gone,” Dean said irritatedly. “Why is it that we seem to be leaving behind a trail of shapeshifter bodies wearing my face?”

“Well, you’re an objectively good looking guy. Maybe they just can’t resist all the girls they know they’ll get with a face like that,” I teased.

“Alright, well you’re obviously in even worse shape than I thought,” Dean said, half teasing half genuinely worried. I guess I haven’t ever said anything to him before about him being attractive. This concussion was loosening my tongue apparently. “Sam, you mind getting the body? I’m gonna get Wobbly here to the car.”

“Why can’t we just leave it?” Sam asked.

“Because I want my clothes back for one thing,” Dean replied. “And for another, I don’t want to be blamed for yet another set of murders.”

“Good point,” Sam agreed. He headed for the house.

Dean turned us towards the car and the movement caused me to trip a little on my own feet. The adrenaline was fading away, leaving me helpless to fight off the dizziness that I thought had disappeared.

Rather than let me stumble my way to the car, Dean moved the arm he had around my waist a little higher on my back and put his other arm under my knees, scooping me up in his arms and carrying me. I couldn’t be bothered to keep my head held up and rested it against his chest.

“What happened?” he asked, referring to my balance issues.

“He caught me by surprise and hit me over the head. I think I have a concussion.”

“You thought he was me, so you didn’t see it coming,” Dean said. He adjusted my weight so he was able to open the car door.

“No. He looked like someone else. I turned my back to take a call and he hit me. When I woke up he was pretending to be you,” I explained.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he sighed as he gently set me down, careful not to hit my head.

“Why?” I wondered.

“He took me out too. Only I didn’t even know he was there. If I’d been paying attention better, I could have stopped him before he got to you,” Dean said, ashamed.

“Not everything is your fault, you know,” I told him. I saw Sam step out of the house, a large body tossed over his shoulder. “This isn’t on you. And it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s over.”

I could tell he didn’t agree with me and he would beat himself up over this for a while. But he left to open the trunk for Sam and I was too exhausted to try and convince him otherwise.

~~~~~

An hour later Sam was watching over me while Dean went to take care of the body. I sat on the lumpy couch and held a bag of frozen peas to the back of my head in an attempt to bring down the swelling. I’d taken Ibuprofen as soon as we got to the motel and both the headache and the dizziness were slowly starting to fade. I’m sure finally sitting still helped the situation too.

“Why do you think it killed them?” Sam wondered aloud. “I mean, how did he choose his victims?”

“He chose women that he considered beautiful and that were in love. He turned into the man they loved and when he was done with them, he killed them,” I answered even though he hadn’t actually been expecting an explanation.

“He told you?” He asked, surprised.

“In way too much detail,” I said.

He was quiet for a moment.

“You know what I don’t get? If it wasn’t a siren then where did the oxytocin come from?”

“The what?” I asked.

“Oxytocin. It’s a hormone that sirens infect you with,” he explained. “Actually, Dean was on his way to warn you when he got ambushed. I told him that all the women had high levels and so it looked like they were the ones being targeted.”

My face drained of blood at the reminder of what that thing had done to those women. Of what he’d tried to do to me.

“I know what it is,” I told him. “And it’s not specific to sirens. It’s a naturally occurring hormone in the body. Ever heard of the love hormone?” At his nod I continued. “It occurs during childbirth, breastfeeding… and sex. That’s why he wanted women that were in love. He said it’s so much better that way.”

Understanding showed on his face alongside a mix of horror and protective anger.

“Y/N… he didn’t?”

“No,” I assured him quickly. “Not me anyway. I figured out what he was too quickly.”

Relief replaced the other emotions on his face and he stayed silent as he processed this new information. Then he wrinkled his brow in confusion.

“You said he chose women that were in love,” he said.

“Yeah,” I confirmed.

“So why did he go after you?”

I was practiced enough at hiding my feelings for the older Winchester from both brothers that I didn’t even have to hesitate to come up with an explanation.

“I guess he found me attractive. Per his usual pattern, he turned into me to see if I was in love with anyone and found out pretty quickly that I’m a hunter.”

“Then why did he turn into Dean?” He asked.

“He was pretending to rescue me,” I answered.

“Right, but why? What’s the point? If he wanted you dead, he had the chance. There was no reason for him to mess with you that way.”

I didn’t have a reasonable explanation for this, so I stayed quiet.

“He wasn’t just going after you because you’re a hunter. You fit the profile he was after and he wanted to-” he cut himself off and considered his wording. “He wanted to… complete his usual pattern. Because you’re in love with Dean,” he surmised, smiling a little bit at this conclusion.

I decided silence was the best option here. I couldn’t possibly contradict his completely accurate deduction. I wouldn’t outright confirm it for him, but I wasn’t going to deny what we both knew to be true.

“Y/N.”

More silence.

“Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll drop it,” he promised. I sighed.

“You know you’re not,” I told him.

“Then why don’t you do something about it?” He asked.

“There’s nothing to do about it,” I answered. “He doesn’t see me that way. And that’s fine. I’ve accepted it.”

“How do you know he doesn’t feel the same if you don’t tell him?”

“Sam, I’m really not in any condition to do anything to you right now, but I swear if you say anything to him, there’s going to be hell to pay in a couple of days,” I warned.

“I’m not going to say anything,” he said, offended by my assumption. “But I really think you should tell him. You guys are so great together. I think you would be good for each other. And I would be very happy for you.”

“Thanks, I guess. My head hurts too much to even consider thinking about this right now,” I told him.

“Alright, fine. I’ll let it go,” he conceded. “For now.”

“That’s all I ask.”

After that we sat in companionable silence while we waited for Dean to get back. Sam turned the TV on. I closed my eyes to block out the light and just listened to it, finding it to be a suitable distraction from the day’s events.

Dean got back probably twenty minutes later by my estimation.

“Hey, how are you doing?” He asked as soon as the door was shut behind him.

“A little better,” I told him.

“Good,” he said. He took the peas from my hand and gently felt the lump that had formed on the back of my head. “I think the swelling might actually be going down a little bit.”

He took the now room temperature peas to the freezer and switched them out for a fresh bag. He handed it to me and then sat down beside me, putting his arm around me.

“Is this ok?” He asked. He didn’t know the details that Sam did about the shapeshifter’s intentions, but he knew that I had been attacked today by a guy wearing his face.

“You don’t have to tiptoe around me,” I told him. “I know it wasn’t you. For the record, I knew the whole time it wasn’t you. I’m fine. I’m not traumatized and I’m not afraid of you.”

“A simple yes would have been fine,” he teased, pulling me closer into his side.

Movement from Sam’s direction had me glancing at him. He just smiled at me, looking meaningfully at Dean and then winking at me. I would have rolled my eyes if the action wouldn’t hurt my head. Instead I pointedly looked away from him. Things with me and Dean were fine the way they were. I wasn’t going to mess it up now just because Sam knew about my feelings.

A romantic relationship with Dean was something I wanted, but not something I needed. This right here – sitting together with my two best friends, knowing that even though I was temporarily unable to defend myself should it be necessary I was still safe and protected – this was all I needed. At least, that’s what I’d continue to tell myself.

Chapter 2

Tags:

@123passwort

#supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #familiar #reader insert #dean winchester #sam winchester #case fic #monster of the week #sam winchester x reader #sam winchester x platonic!reader #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x platonic!reader #writing prompt

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okay-babe · 2 months

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Hiya Dot! Sorry for the random ask but I am so in love with your writing that it single-handedly got me into this accursed fandom, and now I'm wondering where to start with other authors. Do you happen to have any fic or author recs??

Hi there, anon! I'm so glad you asked because I definitely have some author/fic recs that I'm more than happy to share with you/anyone else who comes across this post!

Before we begin though, shout out to all of the people I mention below! I hope none of you mind being tagged/linked but let me know if you do and I'll remove everything asap :)

1. Starting off strong, we have the amazing @jyoongim! She's been my mutual since I think like day one or two of me creating this account, and I honestly cannot think of anyone more kind or welcoming. Plus, their writing is amazing! Like genuinely so good, I cannot recommend her highly enough. 2. Also, if you're into smut, I am always utterly baffled at the quality of @hazelfoureyes' work. Like, as someone on the ace spectrum, I can say very firmly that sometimes, I don't want to read smut, but even so, I will always read a new post from Hazel when I see it because they're just so well written that I simply cannot wait lol. Plus, their sense of humor is just *chef's kiss*. Love them, truly. (Note: I used they/them here because I don't know Hazel's pronouns, but if anyone does and they aren't gn feel free to let me know and I'll edit this post asap) 3. Additionally, if you like headcannon style writing @a-hazbin-reader is incredible. I've spent actual hours on her page just reading through some of the absolute art she posts there, and it is always a treat. Plus her interactions with her readers are usually either hilarious or incredibly sweet/kind, so it's a good time all around.

As for story/specific fic recommendations, I do have a few of those too!

1. The Deer Dolly series by @ohproserpine (Genuinely incredible writing and a killer story line). 2. You & Me for the worst eternity to come by Notafraidtosimp on AO3 (Definitely not your typical x reader series, but I love everything about it and would never forgive myself if I didn't use this opportunity to share it with everyone). 3. The Partners in Death... and Life series by @safination (This might just be my favorite Alastor series I have ever read, the writing is incredible and I simply cannot recommend it highly enough). 4. Even Death Can Never Part Us by JuliaRobHURTS on AO3 (This is an amazing ongoing long-fic that makes me gasp audibly every time I see that there's been an update. The way the characters are written is utter perfection every time).

I definitely forgot some amazing fics/authors here in my haste to get this posted before class, so everyone should feel more than welcome to comment some other recs if they want to! <3

#.talks #alastor x reader #hazbin hotel x reader #.recs

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loremaster · 8 months

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CHAPTER 0: Stampede on the Amaterasu Express

(fitting that this should be posted on Zilch's birthday! EDIT: it was not in fact fitting because it was not in fact Zilch's birthday. whoever started posting Zilch stuff got me good T_T EDIT AGAIN: It WAS Zilch's birthday - the real one! I was right all along!)

Everything starts out pretty much the same.

A teeny little guy wakes up in a room full of umbrellas and is delighted to learn that his name is Yuma Kokohead. He catches his train at the last minute, but turns out there's an impostor in the room. Uh oh! Who could it be?

Aphex and Pucci use their Quirks Fortes to find out if there's anyone else aboard, and there isn't... but then Pucci hears something. Footsteps. Lots of footsteps, actually. Gaining speed on the Amaterasu Express. Yuma tries to look out a window, but there are none.* Tensions rise.

Aphex wants to head to the control room and stop the train. "So what if we don't know who's out there? I can take 'em!" Zilch disagrees. "You idiot! That's exactly what they want us to think. We're far safer in here. Do you want us to reach our destination alive or not?" Melami sides with Aphex. "This is too suspicious to ignore. I think we should see what the matter is. What if there's someone out there who needs our help? What if... it's a real fashion disaster?" Pucci agrees with Zilch. "If we keep the train running forward, we can wait to confront whatever's out there until the local law enforcement can help us... It's too loud to be any regular person..." Zange remains staunchly neutral. "We wouldn't even be having this discussion if this train had any windows! Damn Amaterasu, trying to show off this pointless automated technology... I bet this whole thing is a trap anyway!"

Meanwhile, Yuma is having an invisible crisis.

And then, from Yuma's perspective:

MYSTERY LABYRINTH TIME!!!!! Yuma explores the train cars with the detectives' belongings here in the ML instead of IRL. After gathering evidence, he is able to deduce that the many footsteps approaching the train are actually not humans, but a stampede of animals, presumably controlled by the real Zilch Alexander. He unmasks the hitman within the Labyrinth and they have a pose-off.

And the true culprit's soul is reaped in dazzling fashion!

But from the other detectives' perspectives...

Zilch literally just drops dead in the middle of an argument.

Melami: "Gasp! Aphex, you killed him!" Aphex: "What the--! I did not!! He fell forward!" Pucci: "...there's no heartbeat... He's... actually dead..." Zange: "That didn't look like heart failure to me." (sending the video footage to his phone)

Now with Aphex's rival out of the way, he, Melami, and Yuma can stop the train and finally see what awaits them outside!

Ohhh yeahhh, that's right. The hitman stole all of Zilch's clothes.

After Zilch strips a corpse and gets his clothes back, they are met at the station by Swank and the Peacekeepers, who are pissed that their boy is dead and also naked. Yakou intervenes as usual, and the whole crew goes to get boba!!!! Yayyyy!!!

*This post was written before I checked a screenshot of the game and realized the dining car DID have windows. Oops. So, either this AU there's no windows, or this is how it goes down instead:

I think even Shinigami could solve this one.

NEXT: PROLOGUE

#rain code #master detective archives #mda:rc #boba au #yuma kokohead #zilch alexander #aphex logan #melami goldmine #pucci lavmin #zange eraser #abcd art

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austenpoppy · 6 months

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Comparison of Ron and Hermione's contributions in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I will willingly admit this post was written out of pure spite, tired that I was of seeing people claim Ron had barely contributed to anything in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or at least way less so than Hermione.

So you know me, what do I do in this sort of case ? I decided to analyse closely what exactly Ron and Hermione did in the book, on different levels and in different ways to completely understand what went on.

Edit: I changed some scores slightly by adding or removing points, and had to recalculate everything, though it didn't change anything to my conclusions; changes are highlighted in bold

List of Ron and Hermione's accomplishments/contributions in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

So of course, to begin my analysis, I needed to list all of their concrete contributions and accomplishments. To be absolutely fair to either of them, I did not take into account feats of bravery that did not ultimately directly help or save anyone (so I did not count Ron begging Bellatrix to torture him instead of Hermione), but I did count elements in which one or the other protected, helped, or saved someone else.

I also listed any Duelling Feat or any fight Ron and Hermione had with Snatchers/Death Eaters/others that had to do with fighting against dark forces or people (I therefore did not include the fact that Ron punched Draco Malfoy during the Battle of Hogwarts).

Anything that helped Harry in the Horcrux Hunt or in getting Voldemort down was taken into account, however small, even if it was just knowledge regarding the Trace (this bit of knowledge allowed the trio to dispel the theory that Death Eaters had found them because Harry still had the Trace) or the location of the Lovegoods, or conjuring up a flask to get Snape's tears. I however omitted intelligent remarks that didn't move the plot forward directly (so for example, I did not include Ron's shrewd comment after he read Mundungus Fletcher's mind).

As Ron and Hermione's feats had to be concrete, I also omitted moments during which Ron was the buffer between Harry and Hermione, or during which one or the other recomforted/or tried to recomfort Harry/the other. I however judged that Ron leading the Horcrux Hunt for months was worthy of being listed, because he took on a major responsibility that helped the trio as they tried to move forward with the Hunt.

To make you understand how I proceeded, each point listed is a thematic element; so several actions from the same event can be listed as separate elements. The chapter in which the element listed happened/was referred to is mentioned after each element.

Ron

1. pretended to be Harry with the help of Polyjuice when he was part of the “Seven Potters” operation (“The Seven Potters”)

2. stunned a Death Eater right in the head from a flying broom (“Fallen Warrior”)

3. saved Hermione in the Tottenham Court Road Café when she didn’t notice that Rowle and Dolohov were going to attack the trio by lunging across the table and pushing her sideways (“A place to hide”)

4. cleared up the café on Tottenham Court Road with Harry after the fight, at Harry’s command (“A place to hide”)

5. gave information to Harry and Hermione regarding the Trace (“A place to hide”)

6. rugby-tackled Mundungus Fletcher when he tried to dive for the stairs (“The bribe”)

7. spied on Ministry workers with the Invisibility Cloak and heard that only the most senior Ministry members could connect their homes to the Floo network (“Magic is Might”)

8. convinced Harry and Hermione that Stunning three Ministry officials was not a good idea because a pile of unconscious bodies would be suspicious, and therefore suggested to use Fred and George’s products (“Magic is Might”)

9. snatched Red Cattermole’s bag without the latter noticing it before Reg Cattermole went back home (“Magic is Might”)

10. pretended to be Reg Cattermole with the help of Polyjuice Potion and convinced Albert Runcorn to take Nosebleed Norgat to ultimately take hair from his head (“Magic is Might”)

11. warned Harry and Hermione that Ministry officials knew there were intruders in the Ministry and that the trio had five minutes at most to leave the place (“The Muggle-Born Registration Commission”)

12. made the most of an uproar cause by the colleagues of some balding wizard to size Mrs. Cattermole and get her out of the Ministry through the fireplace, saving her and getting her away from the real Reg Cattermole – trying to deter other Ministry officials from scrutinizing the situation (“The Muggle-Born Registration Commission”)

13. prevented Harry and Hermione from saying the Taboo (Voldemort’s name) many times, after noticing that it felt like a jinx (“The thief”, “The Goblin’s Revenge”)

14. escaped from a gang of five Snatchers after being captured by them by hitting the one holding him in the stomach and grabbing his wand before Disarming the one who has his wand and Disapparating (“The Silver Doe”)

15. managed to steal a wand from Snatchers and brought the spare wand with him when he came back, which ended up replacing the one broken by Hermione (“The Silver Doe”)

16. saved Harry’s life by jumping into icy water to retrieve Harry who was drowning and by cutting the Horcrux to stop it from strangling Harry; also retrieved the sword of Gryffindor from the icy pond (“The Silver Doe”)

17. faced mental torture at the hands of Voldemort but won against Voldemort’s taunts, resisted possession and destroyed the locket (“The Silver Doe”)

18. learned about the existence of the Taboo during his time away and alerted Harry and Hermione that there was one (“Xenophilius Lovegood”)

19. knew approximatively where the Lovegoods lived (“Xenophilius Lovegood”)

20. led the Horcrux hunt for months while Harry obsessed over the Hallows, not only to search for the Horcruxes but also to gather the team’s spirit (“The Deathly Hallows”)

21. subdued Wormtail with the help of Harry, and took his wand (“Malfoy Manor”)

22. imitated Wormtail to reassure Lucius Malfoy that nothing particular was happening (“Malfoy Manor”)

23. Disarmed Bellatrix Lestrange with Wormtail’s wand (“Malfoy Manor”)

24. saved Hermione by pulling her from under the wreckage caused by the collapse of the chandelier detached from the ceiling by Dobby, and Disapparating after catching a wand thrown at him by Harry (“Malfoy Manor”)

25. was the one who suggested the trio should double-cross Griphook by swapping the real sword of Gryffindor with the fake and give the fake to Griphook to buy enough time for the trio to escape (“Shell Cottage”)

26. pretended to be Dragomir Despard during the trio’s break-out at Gringotts (“Gringotts”)

27. stunned a wizard who was lunging for Hermione’s throat (believing her to be Bellatrix) (“Gringotts”)

28. Stunned Goblins with Harry and Hermione (“Gringotts”)

29. helped Harry cast gouging spells to blast the ceiling apart and facilitate the trio’s escape from Gringotts, after they observed Hermione do it (“Gringotts”)

30. was the one who suggested that the students who were in the Room of Requirement could help them find the other Horcruxes (“The lost diadem”)

31. designed a plan to destroy the cup of Hufflepuff, by remembering the Chamber of Secrets had Basilisk fangs; told Hermione that she should destroy the cup of Hufflepuff (“The Battle of Hogwarts”)

32. managed to imitate Harry saying the word “open” in Parseltongue to open the Chamber of Secrets (“The Battle of Hogwarts”)

33. saved Gregory Goyle’s life by hoisting him on Hermione and he’s broom when the Fiendfyre conjured up by Vincent Crabbe engulfed the Room of Requirement (“The Battle of Hogwarts”)

34. grabbed Hermione with Harry to put her to the floor so she wouldn’t be hit with spells (“The Elder Wand”)

35. threw spells that collided with Harry’s and were cast to repel an Acromentula trying to get inside Hogwarts (“The Elder Wand”)

36. told Harry and Hermione to get back so they wouldn’t be hit by the galloping desks of Minerva McGonagall (“The Elder Wand”)

37. prevented Hermione from casting a spell on Grawp; had she done so Grawp would have crushed “half the castle” (“The Elder Wand”)

38. cast “Wingardium Leviosa” on a twig and waved it into the air to stop the Whomping Willow from moving around; he was spurred on by Hermione’s remark (“The Elder Wand”)

39. broke Voldemort’s Silencing Charm by standing up to him and yelling “He beat you!” (“The Flaw in the Plan”)

40. took down Greyback with Neville (“The Flaw in the Plan”)

Hermione

1. pretended to be Harry with the help of Polyjuice when he was part of the “Seven Potters” operation (“The Seven Potters”) (note: I did not consider that Hermione fought off Death Eaters - or managed to - during that operation because in my opinion, Kingsley Shacklebolt was clearly referring to his own actions when he reported what happened)

2. stole books about Horcruxes from Dumbledore’s study and told Ron and Harry what she had learned about Horcruxes from reading them (“The Ghoul in Pyjamas”)

3. packed elements that could be useful for the Hunt, including a batch of Polyjuice Potion that she stole from Mad-Eye Moody, clothes, the Invisibility Cloak, Essence of Dittany, Puking Pastilles, Nosebleed Norgat, Decoy Detonators, Muggle money, and the tent (“The Ghoul in Pyjamas”)

4. Apparated the trio to Tottenham Court Road (“A place to hide”)

5. Stunned Dolohov while she was underneath a table and out of Dolohov’s sight (“A place to hide”)

6. Obliviated Rowle and Dolohov at Harry’s suggestion (“A place to hide”)

7. cast “Diffindo” to free Ron from the ropes holding him, though she left a deep cut (“A place to hide”)

8. dragged the waitress from the café on Tottenham Court Road’s body out of sight of the windows at Harry’s command (“A place to hide”)

9. cast an “Hominum Revelio” at 12, Grimmauld Place to check whether the trio was really alone or not (“A place to hide”)

10. remembered that the locket was in the cabinet in the drawing room of 12, Grimmauld Place when the Order was cleaning the house (“Kreacher’s Tale”)

11. Disarmed Mundungus Fletchers at 12, Grimmauld Place (“The Bribe”)

12. put Phineas Nigellus’ portrait inside her bag as she remembered he could travel from Grimmauld Place to Hogwarts (“Magic is Might”); later cast a black blindfold with the spell “Obscura” on him to prevent him from seeing inside the tent (“The Goblin’s Revenge”)

13. spied on Ministry workers with the Invisibility Cloak and heard information that indicated where Umbridge’s office might be (“Magic is Might”)

14. Stunned Mafalda Hopkirk using a non-verbal spell (“Magic is Might”)

15. pretended to be Mafalda Hopkirk with the help of Polyjuice Potion and convinced Reg Cattermole to take a Puking Pastille, before yanking hair from his head when he started throwing up (“Magic is Might”)

16. pretended to be Mafalda Hopkirk with the help of Polyjuice Potion and convinced Albert Runcorn to take Nosebleed Norgat to ultimately take hair from his head (“Magic is Might”)

17. duplicated the locket with a “Gemino” spell so that Umbridge wouldn’t notice the locket was gone (“The Muggle-Born Registration Commission”)

18. cast a Patronus, though with difficulty, to help Harry deter Dementors from coming near the group comprised of Harry, Hermione and Muggle-Borns (“The Muggle-Born Registration Commission”)

19. Apparated the trio in a forest after casting a Revulsion Jinx on Yaxley because Yaxley had got hold of her and Hermione had unwillingly get Yaxley in the Fidelius Charm cast on 12, Grimmauld Place (“The thief”)

20. saved Ron’s life with Essence of Dittany after having Splinched him (“The thief”)

21. was the first to cast protective enchantments around the tent (“The thief”)

22. noticed that the locket was having a negative influence on Harry (“The Goblin’s Revenge”)

23. figured out with Harry that the sword of Gryffindor could destroy Horcruxes because it was Goblin-made and Goblin-made swords imbibe only that which strengthens them, in this case Basilisk venom, and that Dumbledore had made a fake sword of Gryffindor because he knew the Ministry wouldn’t let Harry have the sword if he put it in his will (“The Goblin’s Revenge”)

24. saved Harry’s life after Hermione cast a spell on Nagini to force the snake to get away from Harry; dived aside to avoid it from striking her and one of her spells smashed the windows; cast a Blasting Curse charm that “flew around the room, exploding the wardrobe mirror and ricocheting back at them, bouncing from floor to ceiling”, though it also broke Harry’s wand (“Bathilda’s secret”, (“The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore”)

25. took care of Harry by getting the locket, stuck to Harry’s chest, away with a Severing Charm; she also cleaned the wound caused by Nagini and put some dittany on it (“The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore”)

26. understood that the symbol of the Deathly Hallows was important after seeing it around Xenophilius Lovegood’s neck at Bill and Fleur’s wedding, on Ignotus Peverell’s headstone at Godric’s Hollows and in The Tales of Beedle the Bard (“Xenophilius Lovegood”)

27. designed a plan so that the Death Eaters who were at Xenophilius Lovegood’s house could see he was not lying about Harry’s presence: she got Ron to put on the Invisibility Cloak so that his presence wouldn’t be known, waited for Xenophilius to appear at the top of the stairs before Obliviating him and destroying the floor so that the Death Eaters could see the trio right before Hermione Apparated them away (“The Tale of the Three Brothers”)

28. cursed Harry’s face to make it unrecognizable so that the Snatchers wouldn’t see it was Harry (“Malfoy Manor”)

29. lied under torture done at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange that the sword of Gryffindor was fake (“Malfoy Manor”)

30. cast Glamour Charms on Ron to modify his appearance so he wouldn’t be recognized during their break-in Gringotts (“Gringotts”)

31. pretended to be Bellatrix with the help of Polyjuice Potion (“Gringotts”)

32. had to do most of the talking in trying to convince Travers and in trying to get the different Goblins to let the trio access Bellatrix’s vault (“Gringotts”)

33. cast a Cushioning Charm to soften the fall of the trio after they were thrown off the cart (“Gringotts”)

34. cast a Shield Charm to slower the people trying to catch the trio (“Gringotts”)

35. used “Levicorpus” to help Harry get the cup of Hufflepuff (“Gringotts”)

36. cast “Impervius” to protect Ron, Harry, the goblins and herself from being too badly burned after spells were cast on objects in Bellatrix’s vault (“Gringotts”)

37. Stunned Goblins with Harry and Ron (“Gringotts”)

38. was the first to cast gouging spells to blast the ceiling apart and facilitate the trio’s escape from Gringotts (“Gringotts”)

39. destroyed the cup of Hufflepuff (“The Battle of Hogwarts”)

40. Stunned Gregory Goyle in the Room of Requirement (“The Battle of Hogwarts”)

41. cast “Glisseo” so the trio would escape two masked Death Eaters (“The Elder Wand”)

42. cast “Duro” on a tapestry so the two masked Death Eaters pursuing the trio would face a wall (“The Elder Wand”)

43. cast a spell to blast Fenrir Greyback away from Lavender Brown (“The Elder Wand”)

44. conjured a flask and gave it to Harry so Harry could retrieve Snape’s tears (“The Elder Wand”)

Conclusions

From this you can see that in terms of sheer numbers, Ron and Hermione's contributions are roughly equal (40 for Ron, 44 for Hermione). Considering that depending on the way I managed the two lists I could have added some elements for Ron (e.g., telling Dobby to bring Dean, Luna and Mr. Ollivander at Shell Cottage in "Malfoy Manor") or removed items for Hermione (e.g., casting the "Diffindo" spell on Ron at the Tottenham Court Road café), I consider a 4-point difference to be negligible. For reference, I would consider a point difference above 8 (1/5 of Ron's contributions) significant.

Weighting-analysis of Ron and Hermione's contributions

Of course simply listing their feats and contributions was not enough, since all of them are not as impressive, were not as important, had unwanted consequences, or were the result of negligence, a mistake, or something else. So I also had to weigh on each of the items listed. To be fair to Hermione, I also added two "mistakes" for Ron that were not part of his contributions.

My point system is of course very subjective, but I think most will consider it fair. I calculated Ron and Hermione's points separately and only did the total in the end to try to be as unbiased as possible (though I did check that the number of points I would grant to one was equal to the number of points I would grant to the other for a contribution of similar nature).

Point system

+ 0.25 = small contribution

+ 0.5 = medium contribution; small duelling feat; small or medium element pertaining to the protection of others and/or reaction time in a dangerous situation and/or evaluation of a dangerous situation and/or defence or escape against unwanted forces

+ 1 or + 2 = important contribution; duelling feat; important element pertaining to the protection of others and/or reaction time in a dangerous situation and/or evaluation of a dangerous situation and/or defence or escape against unwanted forces

Bonus points

+ 0.5, + 1, + 2, or +3 for skill or particular display of intelligence or creativity (more bonus points can be added depending on the situation)

+ 1, +2 or +3 if the situation is risky and/or required particular bravery (more bonus points can be added depending on the situation)

+ 2 or + 3 if the element listed had to do with saving someone’s life, protecting someone from danger, or taking care of someone else

+ 5 for destroying a Horcrux

Malus points

- 0.25 or – 0.5 for a small mistake (especially one that hurt another person or could have endangered them)

- 1, - 2, or – 3 for a bigger mistake (especially one that really hurt another person or could have really endangered them)

Ron

1. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (the situation was very risky; Tonks and Ron were continuously and furiously followed by Bellatrix Lestrange)

2. + 2 (impressive duelling feat) + 3 (the situation was very risky; see above) + 3 (for skill)

3. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (he saved Hermione and sacrificed his own safety to do so) + 2 (the situation was risky) + 0.5 (for his rather quick reaction time)

4. + 0.25 (small contribution)

5. + 0.25 (small contribution)

6. + 0.5 (medium contribution)

7. + 1 (important contribution) + 1 (the situation was risky)

8. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (for the creativity and intelligence shown in the design of the plan); however - 0.25 (the plan backfired slightly due to Reg Cattermole's dedication to being present for his wife, though it's very likely this would have happened even if the trio had stunned him, since Stunning Spells wear off)

9. + 0.5 (medium contribution) + 0.5 (for the skill it took to take steal somebody else's bag without them noticing)

10. + 0.5 (medium contribution)

11. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky) + 2 (for his ability to get the information to Harry and Hermione rapidly)

12. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was very risky) + 1 (he got Mrs. Cattermole away from the Ministry) + 2 (for his quick-thinking)

13. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (this is one of Ron's very underrated contributions to the Hunt; think that literally every time Ron prevented Harry or Hermione from saying the Taboo, he prevented the Trio from being captured: what's more, it happened at least three times on screen, but there were undoubtedly dozens of moments like this one) + 1 (Ron's intuition told him something was off with Voldemort's name because his brain had picked up on a pattern even though he couldn't pinpoint what was amiss exactly)

14. + 2 (he escaped from Snatchers on his own) + 2 (the situation was very risky) + 3 (for the mad skill it took to escape five assailants, retrieve your wand and steal one of theirs)

15. + 2 (I already counted Ron's skill in the item above, but this was for having thought about bringing the spare wand)

16. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (he saved Harry's life) + 3 (he did so at great risks to himself) + 2 (for thinking about taking the sword of Gryffindor at such a moment)

17. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (had to endure mental torture and had to show great bravery) + 3 (he had to resist possession) + 5 (for destroying a Horcrux)

18. + 2 (important contribution)

19. + 0.25 (small contribution)

20. + 2 (important contribution)

21. + 2 (important contribution) + 1 (the situation was risky) + 1 (for his synchronisation with Harry and for thinking about taking his wand)

22. + 2 (important contribution) + 1 (the situation was risky, considering Lucius Malfoy suspected something was wrong) + 2 (for his quick-thinking) + 2 (for the skill it took to credibly imitate someone he'd barely heard)

23. + 2 (impressive duelling feat) + 3 (the situation was very risky) + 3 (for the skill it took to Disarm Bellatrix Lestrange; another underrated moment for Ron because people dismiss this considering Bellatrix was surprised, even though she had time to turn toward Ron...what do people think duelling is, exactly ?)

24. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (he saved Hermione's life) + 3 (he did so at great risks to himself, considering that he didn't have any wand at that point and had to quickly take Hermione from under tons of broken glass)

25. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (because this was a great plan)

26. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky)

27. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (he protected Hermione from being attacked and hurt) + 2 (the situation was dangerous) + 2 (for his quick reaction)

28. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky)

29. + 0.5 (medium contribution)

30. + 1 (important contribution) + 1 (because this was a good idea)

31. + 2 (important contribution) + 5 (for designing the plan that ended up with the destruction of the Horcrux) + 3 (the plan was brilliant)

32. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (for the skill it took to credibly imitate a word he had heard twice in a foreign language he didn't understand)

33. + 3 (the situation was very dangerous) + 2 (he saved Goyle's life and he alone made that choice since he was holding the broom, but other people influenced or could have influenced his decision) - 2 (he risked Hermione's life in doing so)

34. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky, spells were flying everywhere) + 2 (he prevented Hermione from getting hurt) + 1 (for his quick reaction time)

35. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky and he had just lost his brother) + 2 (for his quick reaction and skill)

36. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (he prevented Harry and Hermione from getting hurt) + 2 (for his quick reaction)

37. + 1 (important contribution) + 1 (he probably protected people from terrible unwanted consequences) + 2 (for his quick reaction and his quick-thinking)

38. + 0.5 (medium contribution)

39. + 1 (important contribution) + 3 (the situation was very risky) + 3 (for the sheer nerve of standing up to Voldemort)

40. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (the situation was very risky) + 2 (Greyback was a tough opponent, but Ron was not alone when he took him down)

Supplementary malus points:

When he Disapparated after he left the Horcrux Hunt and ended up in a gang of Snatchers: - 1 (and reminder for everybody that the person writing this does NOT hold Ron responsible for what happened with the Horcrux and for leaving the tent); it could have had very negative consequences for Harry and Hermione but effectively it had none

When he nearly yelled Dobby's name at Malfoy Manor: - 0.5 : it could have had terrible consequences had the other Death Eaters head him but effectively it had none

Total: 183.5

Hermione

1. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (the situation was very risky; Kingsley and she even got followed by Voldemort for a short while)

2. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (the information was essential, getting her hands on the books required creativity on Hermione's part and required for her to plan ahead and think about what the trio would need)

3. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (all the elements that Hermione took in her bag ended up essential in the following months and demanded that Hermione plan ahead and think about what the trio would need; stealing Mad-Eye Moody's whole stock of Polyjuice Potion also required creativity on Hermione's part)

4. + 0.25 (small contribution)

5. + 1 (duelling feat, but she was out of sight) + 2 (the situation was risky); however - 1 because her slow reaction time forced Ron to push her aside, which means he didn't have time to defend himself) - note: if you want to know more about why I say that Hermione had a slow reaction time, I suggest you take a look at my analysis of Hermione's flaws in the last book

6. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (for the skill it took to succeed in doing a spell for the first time)

7. + 0.25 (small contribution); however - 0.5 because she cut Ron deeply

8. + 0.25 (small contribution)

9. + 0.25 (small contribution) + 1 (Hermione's caution was warranted and wise)

10. + 2 (important contribution)

11. + 0.5 (small duelling feat)

12. + 1 (important contribution) + 3 (for the intelligence shown in having thought about it)

13. + 1 (important contribution) + 1 (the situation was risky)

14. + 0.5 (medium contribution) + 2 (for skill, considering she used a non-verbal spell)

15. + 0.5 (medium contribution)

16. + 0.5 (medium contribution)

17. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was very risky) + 3 (for the intelligence shown in having thought about it)

18. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky) + 2 (this helped protect others)

19. + 0.5 (medium contribution) + 0.5 (small duelling feat) + 2 (the situation was risky) + 1 (for her quick-thinking); however -0.5 because the reason Yaxley got hold of Hermione is in my opinion because her reaction time was too slow to begin with; Harry was the one who had to take her hand to get away in the first place

20. + 2 for saving Ron's life (I'm only counting +2 because what really helped Ron was to have thought about packing Essence of Dittany, and I already took that into account) + 2 (for not completely losing her wits) ; however - 3 for having Splinched him in the first place

21. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (though Harry and Ron might have thought about it, those Charms were really important in protecting the trio and she was the first to think about it)

22. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (had she not realised it, who knows what could have happened ?)

23. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (deducting those elements were essential for the next part of the Horcrux Hunt, and showed great intelligence)

24. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (she was faced with Nagini) + 3 (she directly saved Harry's life) + 2 (though not a duelling feat, her knowledge of spells and quick-thinking ought to be rewarded); however - 3 for breaking Harry's wand

25. + 2 (took care of Harry when he was delirious)

26. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (for having made the link between the different elements she had found)

27. + 1 (important contribution, but didn't have to do with the Hunt directly; the trio could have left without it impacting the Hunt) + 1 (the situation was risky, though the trio could have gotten away before it getting risky) + 2 (her plan probably protected Xenophilius Lovegood) + 3 (the plan was brilliant)

28. + 0.5 (medium contribution, it ultimately had very little impact since the trio was brought to Malfoy Manor and Bellatrix Lestrange recognized them anyway) + 2 (the situation was pressing) + 1 (this helped protect the trio if only a little) + 2 (for her quick-thinking)

29. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (the situation was awful, and she had to endure torture) + 3 (for her quick-thinking) + 3 (for the sheer nerve of lying to Bellatrix Lestrange)

30. + 1 (important contribution)

31. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky)

32. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky) + 3 (for having pulled off the Bellatrix impression)

33. + 1 (important contribution) + 3 (the situation was dangerous) + 2 (she prevented the Trio from getting hurt) + 2 (for her quick-thinking)

34. + 2 (important contribution) + 1 (the situation was pressing) + 2 (for her quick-thinking)

35. + 2 (important contribution) + 1 (the situation was pressing) + 2 (for creativity)

36. + 2 (important contribution) + 3 (the situation was dangerous) + 2 (she prevented the trio and goblins from getting hurt)

37. + 1 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky)

38. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was pressing) + 2 (for her quick-thinking)

39. + 2 (important contribution) + 5 (for destroying a Horcrux)

40. + 0.5 (small duelling feat) + 2 (the situation was risky)

41. + 2 (this helped the trio get away from Death Eaters) + 2 (the situation was risky) + 2 (for her quick-thinking)

42. + 2 (important contribution) + 2 (the situation was risky) + 2 (for her quick-thinking)

43. + 2 (important contribution) + 1 (the situation was risky, but she was under the Invisibility Cloak) + 3 (she probably saved Lavender Brown's life)

44. + 0.25 (small contribution)

Total: 170.75

Conclusion

While factoring other elements such as the importance of the contribution in helping taking down Voldemort or fighting against dark forces in general, the level of dangerousness in which the contribution happened and the levels of bravery and/or sacrifices required to accomplish the feat, the level of intelligence or creativity involved, quick-thinking, quick reaction time, the level of skill involved to accomplish the feat, mistakes... You can see that Ron and Hermione's contributions are still roughly equal (according to my point system, Ron has 182.5 points and Hermione has 171.75... This is probably due to the fact that Ron not only destroyed a Horcrux but was directly responsible for designing the plan that allowed Hermione to destroy another -granting him + 10 points directly-, and to the fact that Hermione made more mistakes with rather terrible consequences - so Hermione has more malus points), and the point difference between them may seem important, but as I said I consider a point difference to be significant when it hits the bar of 1/5 of the lowest score (here 1/5 of 171.75 = 34.35, yet the point difference between the two scores is 12.75).

Nature of the Contributions

Ron and Hermione are different, and contributed differently to the Horcrux Hunt. I decided upon 8 categories: Strategy/Tactical Thinking; Research, Planning, Knowledge; Deductions; Duelling Feats and Fights; Quick Thinking in dangerous scenarios (which does not correspond to situations requiring a quick reaction time, those are counted in different categories depending on what it ended up doing, but is more akin to "presence of mind"); Resistance against Evil; Protection of others; Leadership. I thought that to really understand Ron and Hermione's profiles, I would put each item listed above in one or more of the categories but also count the points I attributed to each item in my weighting-analysis. There are in the end certain items that did not fit any of the category and that I thought best not to include.

Ron

Strategy/Tactical Thinking: 8 (4.75 points), 25 (5 points), 30 - knowing how to use people to one's advantage - (2 points), 31 (10 points), 37 - spatial reasoning - (4 points) = 25,75 points

Research, Planning, Knowledge: 5 (0.25 points), 7, (2 points), 11 (3 points) 15 (2 points), 18 (2 points), 9 (0.25 points) = 9.5 points

Deductions: 13 (6 points) = 6 points [reminder: this is not a representation of Ron's capacity for deduction, since there are many intelligent remarks I did not include in my analysis; this category only shows deductions that moved the plot forward)

Duelling Feats and Fights: 2 (8 points), 6 (0.5 points), 14 (7 points), 21 (4 points), 23 (8 points), 27 (5 - 2 points - I deduced the points granted to him for protecting Hermione for that category = 2 points), 28 (1 point), 35 (6 points), 40 (7 points) = 43,5 points

Quick Thinking in dangerous scenarios: 3 (5.5 - 2 - I deduced the points granted to him for saving Hermione for that category = 3.5), 9 (1 point), 11 (5 points), 12 (6 points), 14 (7 points), 16 (10 - 3 points - I deduced the points granted to him for saving Harry's life for that category = 7 points), 21 (4 points), 22 (7 points), 31, (10 points), 32 (5 points), 34 (7 - 3 - I deduced the points granted to him for saving Hermione for that category = 4), 36 (5 - 2 - I deduced the points granted to him for saving Harry and Hermione = 3), 37 (4 points) = 66 points

Resistance against Evil: 17 (13 points), 39 (7 points) = 20 points

Protection of others: 1 (5 points), 3 (5.5 points), 12 (6 points), 16 (10 points), 24 (8 points), 27 (8 points), 33 (3 points), 34 (7 points), 36 (5 points) = 57,5 points

Leadership: 20 (2 points) = 2 points

Hermione

Strategy/Tactical Thinking: 27 (6 points), 34 (5 points) = 11 points

Research, Planning, Knowledge : 2 (5 points), 3 (5 points), 6 (5 points)- I'm referring to her knowledge of spells -, 13 (2 points) 14 (2.5 points) -idem-, 21 (4 points), 26 (4 points), 30 (1 point) -idem- = 28.5 points

Deductions: 10 (2 points), 12 (4 points), 22 (4 points), 23 (5 points), 26 (4 points) = 19 points

Duelling Feats and Fights: 5 (2 points), 11 (0.5 points), 19 (3.5 points), 24 (7 - 3 points - I deduced the points granted to her for saving Harry's life for that category = 4 points), 37 (3 points), 40 (2.5 points), 42 (6 points), 43 (6 - 3 points - I deduced the points granted to her for saving Lavender's life for that category) = 24.5 points

Quick Thinking in dangerous scenarios: 17 (6 points), 19 (3.5 points), 27 (7 points), 28 (5.5 points), 29 (11 points), 32 (7 points), 33 (8 - 2 points - I deduced the points I granted to her from preventing the trio from getting hurt for that category = 6 points), 34 (5 points), 35 (5 points), 37 (7 points), 38 (5 points), 41 (6 - 2 points - I deduced the points I granted to her for allowing the trio to escape for that category = 4 points), 42 (6 points) = 78 points

Resistance against Evil: 29 (11 points), 39 (7 points) = 18 points

Protection of others: 1 (5 points), 18 (5 points), 19 (3.5 points), 20 (1 point), 21 (4 points), 24 (7 points), 25 (2 points), 36 (7 points), 41 (6 points), 43 (6 points) = 44.5 points

Leadership: 0 point (I did not count what happened at the Lovegoods as "Leadership" because trusting one person at one given moment to carry out a plan does not show, to me, that they are "the leader"; otherwise I would also count other plans made by Ron as examples of him being a Leader).

Conclusion

This to me so clearly shows what Ron and Hermione's strengths are. In terms of "Resistance against evil", both have roughly the same amount of points, while the point difference in "Quick Thinking in dangerous scenarios" is not significant according to my arbitrary cut-point (above 1/5 of the lowest score), showing that both Ron and Hermione are strong-willed and are quick-thinking in dangerous situations.

Hermione is in the lead in the categories "Research, Planning, Knowledge" (with a 19 point difference, the 1/5 of the lowest score being 1.9) and "Deductions" (with a 13 point difference, the 1/5 of the lowest score being 1.2). For the first case, the reason is obvious: out of the three members of the trio, Hermione is the one who thinks about what kind of knowledge, what tools, what objects they will need. She's also generally better at casting spells/ doing magic. The second case offers a bit less insight, because Ron's observations that did not directly make the Horcrux Hunt progress/had no real impact were not included even though many of them were brilliant. However, I think it does show that between Ron and Hermione, Hermione is the one who makes deductions that help move the plot forward.

Ron is in the lead in the categories "Strategy/Tactical Thinking" (with a 14.75 point difference, the 1/5 of the lowest score being 2.2) and "Duelling Feats and Fights" (with a point difference of 19 points, the 1/5 of the lowest score being 4.9). Again, not surprising. Despite people's inexplicable tendency to think Ron only showed his Strategic skills in Book 1, Ron is a very good tactician and strategist (Hermione is a good strategist when it comes to politics, but not war). Ron, unlike Hermione, is a fighter/soldier, with quicker reaction time and more impressive duelling feats. It shows in the sequence at Malfoy Manor when Ron and Harry are fighting together; the two are completely synchronised.

Ron being ahead in "Leadership" is only a reflection of the fact that Ron is Harry's second-in-command.

The category that I was most interested in was "Protection of Others" since Ron ended up being slightly ahead, too (with a 13 point difference, the 1/5 of the lowest score being 8.9). I think it mostly reflects the fact that Hermione has knowledge that helps protect people and or save them while Ron goes above and beyond to protect people in the heat of the moment (which means Ron got more bonus points).

Overall conclusion (for now...)

The hypothesis presented that Hermione contributed much more to the Hunt than Ron is quite absurd indeed.

#hp #ron weasley #hermione granger #harry potter and the deathly hallows #yes i am that petty #i regret nothing

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tyunni · 2 years

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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤhow you met enhypen - maknae line edition

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤenhypen masterlist | library | hyung line ver.

a/n: MAY IS BACK IN TOWN BABY 🙌🙌 WHAT'S UP Y'ALL I'M FINALLY FINALLYYYYY BACK UGH anyways i've made u wait so long for this didn't i 💀💀 finally the maknae line version IM SORRY LMAO and if u can tell i wrote the jungwon one separately for a diff post but it blended in so...

genre: high school au, fluff, v v v v slight angst; wc: 2.8k+ warnings: cursing (esp in jungwon's part, be careful!), mentions of vomiting but nobody actually vomits, getting chased by a dog, if u find anything else please lmk!!

김 SUNOO

February 14th, also known as valentine's day. the day of letters, confessions, flowers, heart-shaped chocolate, and candy; the day of love!

you and your friends had decided it was a good idea to confess to your crushes! so the day before valentines day you were running around the stores buying chocolate and writing love letters that you would later slip into their lockers and hope that they didn't reject you.

you fancied this boy in your math class, 100% sure that he also felt the same way about you. you guys flirted back and forth and you could feel a real connection between you two, so you decided it was the perfect opportunity to confess your feelings to him and ask him out on a date. but everything... didn't go as planned.

as you walk through the school entrance, you notice a crowd surrounding one of the students' lockers. you can't help but peek, curious as to what all the ruckus is about. and as you get closer and closer to the locker you catch a glimpse of it. it is adorned with flowers and glittery stickers, the decorations are stunning! a pink sticky note - which you assumed was a confession letter - stuck right in the middle of the metal door.

wow... honestly the owner of that locker was extremely lucky! oh, and there she was. pushing through the crowd, her jaw dropping in shock at the sight in front of her. you could see her eyes brim up with happy tears as she peeled the note off and read it, orbs glancing around the hallways hoping to catch her secret admirer.

you assumed she already had a boyfriend or a guy in mind, and to your dismay you were correct.

there he was, your crush, walking up to the happy girl and wrapping his arms around her waist as he pulled her in to plant a kiss on her lips.

you were the first to leave the crowd that was now slowly dying down, hand clutching harder onto the box of chocolates you had bought for the boy you admired - who completely led you on, by the way.

you had decided it would be better to sit your first period out, to mend your broken heart… by eating the heart shaped goodies you were supposed to give to him.

you leave the school building and find a place where no teacher would spot you, sitting down on the cold concrete as you munched on the delicious chocolate.

you grab your phone and text your friends that the plan didn't work, disappointed and frustrated over the fact that he flirted with you while he had someone else. were you going to be anyone's first choice?

you feel your eyes brim up with tears, so before you wet your phone with them you put it away, sighing.

a few minutes later you hear someone's footsteps. too lost in the thoughts to even care if you got caught by a teacher, or even worse, the principal, you simply brace yourself for the scolding you're going to have to endure.

yet instead, a soft, quiet voice snaps you back reality.

"hey, are you okay?"

you feel a tap on your shoulder. quickly wiping away more tears that were threatening to spill out, you turn your head to the side, your wide glassy eyes meeting his sharp ones.

isn't that the boy your friend, sunghoon, hangs out with… why was he here? wasn't he supposed to be in class? or maybe his confession didn't go as planned either. but who would say no to kim sunoo? and why exactly is sunghoon hiding inside a bush?

"i'm okay…"

the boy doesn't look convinced at all. he rummages through his pocket and hands you a tissue, offering you his bright smile. you can't help but smile back, thanking him for being so kind. as well as scolding him for skipping first period.

"well i saw you crying all alone, how could i not come up to you and help you out?"

"just say sunghoon convinced you to skip, sunoo, no need to come up with dumb excuses! i can see him, by the way."

you hear the rustling of the bush sunghoon is currently "hiding" in and you can see the top of his head disappear under the leaves.

sunoo snorts, throwing his hands up in defeat. "you caught me! we are skipping."

after a few minutes of silence, well… more like a few minutes of you blowing your nose, sunoo speaks up.

"so… what happened? did you get rejected?"

he takes a seat beside you, staring at you intently as you put aside the now used tissue, waiting for an answer.

"well sort of. what about you? did you get rejected as well?"

your eyes meet his once again, but this time his are the ones widened. he chuckles nervously before pulling out a bouquet of flowers and a confession letter, stretching his arm out for you to take the items.

"i'm about to find out…"

양 JUNGWON

it's a cold rainy day, students already in their respective seats listening to their teachers go on and on about something they're too tired to pay attention to. adults hunched over their desks in their offices, typing away and then mindlessly stopping to reach for their mug as if on autopilot - never once tearing their eyes away from the screen adorned with countless of numbers and words - and sipping their coffee. their fingers that were previously wrapped around the mugs handle now moving back to their keyboards and softly pressing down on each letter.

it was so peaceful, so calming...

and yet here you were, sprinting for your life, your clothes drenched by the rain and throat aching from all the screeches and yells you had been letting out ever since that damn dog decided it was a good idea to chase you away from the bus station you were waiting for your only way of transportation at.

god why did it have to be you of all people?! you were already running late for class, but now you were quite literally running. your aggressive stomping disrupting the silence that had once taken over the streets.

unfortunately for you, there was no one around to hear your embarrassingly loud cries for help. your legs were already getting tired, ready to give up on you, probably resulting in you busting your kneecaps and getting bit.

i mean yes, it was a small dog, but wow was it mad! its abrupt barking rang through your ears as you pushed further and overstimulated your already sore muscles.

and just as you took a turn from the alleyway, there he was, your only hope.

a boy, probably somewhere around your age, a backpack slung over his shoulder as he calmly and peacefully walked his way to school. probably because he wasn't getting chased by an angry animal. hmph, lucky!

you swallow your pride and muster up all the courage - and all the air that's left in your lungs - to yell out to him:

"EXCUSE ME, SIR!!! SIR?! HEY, YOU!!! FUCK-" is he deaf or something?!

you take a deep breath in and try your best to catch up to him, the cold air hitting you square in the face, making your eyes fill with tears and your nose turn redder than the roses in mrs.park's garden that you had previously stomped all over while trying to not get teeth marks - of that small imp its owner likes to call their dog - on your thigh. but you have to suck it up, he's the only person around and you can't risk getting your asscheek bit. that beast has been on your tail for 10 minutes now, one more bark and you swear you're going to lose your sanity. yet he still can't seem to hear anything, making your already mad self now furious.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! WHY CAN'T YOU HEAR ME YOU BITC-"

and just as you were about to finish cursing the poor, oblivious boy out, he turns around to face you - plugging out his earbuds that were playing an unfamiliar melody - with a little 'eh?'

it's like a question mark is visibly floating atop of his head, his nose scrunched up in confusion, eyes like ones that would remind you of a curious cat now turning even bigger and rounder at the sight of some random ass high schooler, who looks like they'd gone through hell and back, getting chased by a dog.

his dog.

"MAEUMI?! STOP RIGHT THERE!!!"

you watch him run right past you with an angry scoff. that's all you can remember. other than hearing him scold, who you assumed was his, puppy for scaring you. everything else was a blur, your heart beating out of your heaving chest as you try to calm yourself down (and not vomit all over your shoes), hands on your shaking knees as you pant and cough.

great. now there's really no way you're going to make it to your first period.

"oh my god, i am so sorry!! i thought i locked the dog door before leaving and-"

his eyebrows furrow at the sight of you slowly laying down on the cemented ground, not even caring about the fact that it was probably extremely dirty.

"...are you okay?"

"do i LOOK OKAY TO YOU?? YOUR DOG JUST CHASED ME DOWN LIKE 10000 BLOCKS AND I'M TWO SECONDS AWAY FROM BLACKING OUT AND YOU GOT THE NERVE TO ASK ME THAT?! I'M OBVIOUSLY NOT OKAY YOU DUMBASS."

it's like he felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of an exhausted you, your seemingly soulless body sprawled out on the ground, eyes screwed shut and mouth spilling out foul curse words.

he couldn't help but snort, finding you adorable, yet a tad bit scary.

"what are you laughing at?? like owner like dog i guess, you're both assholes."

you scoff, finally opening your eyes after a good minute of trying to regain your breath, only to have it taken away by the sight that you see in front of you the second your heavy eyelids lift up.

the boy you were previously cussing out is kneeling right in front of you, his face inches away from yours and a smile plastered on his face, his dimples adorning each side of his cheeks, making him look even more innocent and hard to stay mad at.

you shriek in surprise at the sudden close proximity and shove him away, huffing and puffing, mumbling something about "personal space".

"hey, um... i'm sorry about what happened earlier, i swear maeumi is a nice dog!"

he chuckles awkwardly, and you can't help but smile. maybe because he's extremely adorable, maybe because what he said was unbelievable 'cause his so-called "nice" dog had been chasing you for 10 minutes straight, or maybe because of how ridiculous this whole situation is in the first place? but the atmosphere is definitely lighter, and you're glad whoever saved you from that puppy wasn't a creepy old man.

"it's okay, i guess. i'm not quite sure that..." you point to his dog, circling your finger around its form as you do so, "... little devil is nice, but i'll take your word for it."

the cute boy takes notice of your jacket, HYBE high school.

"guess my 'little devil' caused you to be late for class. my apologies!" he bowed, scratching the nape of his neck out of embarrassment as he did so.

"dude, it's fine! i was running late anyway, i'll just skip the first period."

"well, judging by your jacket i think it's safe to assume that you go to HYBE. you're lucky i go there too! i know a great ice cream shop, i can treat you to something if you'd like? then we can walk to school together."

"sweet! walking with you sounds better than getting chased by maeumi." you chuckle, shuddering at the thought of having to run as fast as you did a few minutes prior ever again.

"oh, right. speaking of maeumi, i need to take him home and lock the dog door properly this time. would you mind joining me? we still have 40 minutes before the second period starts and i live nearby."

"sure, let's go! what's your name by the way?"

"yang jungwon," he says, picking up his pace as he whistles for maeumi to follow along. "you?"

"y/n l/n." you answer, jogging up to him, ignoring the cries of your sore muscles.

にしむら RIKI

you had caught him stealing glances at you from time to time, eyes wandering your way and then darting right back to his notebook that he shields away from everyone else in the classroom, including his closest friends.

you are convinced he's making fun of you, i mean there's no other explanation to it!! he hates you, for sure!

whenever his upperclassmen friends visit him during lunch, their eyes always land on you as they enter the classroom and you can see the smile that's tugging onto their lips when they look away, snickering a bit.

are these guys really that bored?! i mean, what's so amusing, why do they always pick on you? and you didn't even do anything to that nishimura kid either!!

you can't help but shoot them a glare whenever they aren't looking your way because 1. they're SO loud, 2. you can feel their eyes boring into your soul as they giggle and chuckle, you have to pretend to not notice their gaze that's set on you and you only for whatever reason.

now, usually, you don't even bother paying any mind to their disruptive noises and constant teasing of their younger friend, but this one day in particular you decided to be a bit nosey.

seeing that they snatched nishimura riki's most precious possession, his notebook, out of his hands you couldn't help but be curious as to what he was hiding in the first place.

and looking around the classroom, you're glad to find that it's not only you whose eyes are set on the mystery that is niki's journal.

although it was shut as fast as it was opened, you could have sworn you saw a doodle resembling none other than you. or maybe you're just imagining things, why would he draw you if he dislikes you enough to poke fun at you with his buddies? maybe he gave you an ugly mustache, or drew a booger.

you opt to go back to eating your delicious lunch, seeming that your peers had done the same with a glint of disappointment in their eyes at not being able to find out his secrets.

yet you, and everyone else except the upperclassmen that were cooing at him had failed to notice the blush that had crept onto the boy's cheeks, his shakey pupils wandering your way yet again as if to make sure that you didn't see what he was trying so hard to hide for quite some time now.

he sighs in relief as his eyes land on an uninterested you who's back to eating bread and scrolling through their phone, and he goes back to yelling at his friends for almost exposing him in front of everyone! the noise making you want to rip your ears off because they're just so irritating.

after a few days of the boys' increased teasing and glances your way, one day you had decided that you'd had enough. and the thing that had pushed you off the edge was two of the "let's all collectively agree to bully y/n" friend group members, one being the infamous riki and the other you assumed was jay park, supposedly "talking shit about you" in another language.

you decided to step your foot down! being an asshole is one thing, but being an asshole while talking down on others in another language is a low blow!

your name leaving the older male's lips for the 50th time that day followed by a string of words in japanese had ticked you off. were they even trying to be discreet?!

you scoff, your chair screeching against the hardwood floor, resulting in everyone's eyes being set on you as you stand up and stomp over to riki. your palm hitting his desk, surely you would have winced in pain if it weren't for your pride,

eyes narrowed down at the boy who had been mentioning your name to his buddies for as long as you can remember, you move your face closer to his, causing him to move his back. he swallows dry, the proximity being so close that he can't help but blush, butterflies roaming his stomach at your sudden bravery, heart fluttering because just one face twitch and his lips would be on yours.

"listen, nishimura, do we have a problem? if you have anything to say then speak to me directly, got it?! no need to talk shit in japanese, i'm all ears."

"... i said i have a crush on you."

taglist: @hyukaas @yeonify @junityy @uygmoeb @sunghun @krewified @eternallyhyucks @pshjae @marknaeroni @feyregels @yyx2 @koishua @kac-chowsballs @echo-of-a-writer @w3bqrl @liz-riz @duolingofanaccount @goldenhypen @sungniverse @enhasimpeu @sieuneo @acciomylove @soobin-chois @anik-4 @yjwfav @ja4hyvn @ddeonubaby @deafeningballoonnacho @squiishymeow (bold means i can’t mention you, if you want to be a part of my taglist fill this out!!)

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king-paimon · 7 months

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Houseki no Kuni Chapter 105 Thoughts:

Hello everyone. I hope you have all been well, considering the hectic and honestly devastating month this has been for many people across the world. It's sad how awful real life can be. I'm so sorry to everyone who is affected directly and indirectly. Though words can only do so much, I sincerely hope things get better for you all.

Now then... regarding this chapter.

This was definitely a spectacle. So much happened and though we had an idea of where the chapter was going to go because of the last pages from the previous chapter, it still managed to catch me off guard. I don't think anyone saw a literal "deus ex machina" ship to appear, but at the same time... of course that would happen. Ms. Ichikawa loves pulling stunts like this. Whether it's good or not is up for debate. More on this later.

But the one thought that came to mind after reading this chapter was: "Finally." We are truly now in the final stretch of Phos's story, and I couldn't be more happier for them... BUT that feeling got muddied when I saw the bottom of the final page.

Another hiatus.

Sigh. I'll also touch on this in this post. But for now, I'll share my thoughts on this chapter with you. These posts always end up being longer than first intended so sorry in advance! As always, please feel free to share what you think on here too!

(Just so you know, I was extremely tired when I wrote this so it may be convoluted in some areas. I'll likely tidy it up later after I get some proper rest. Hope you enjoy it regardless!)

The Deus Ex Machina Ship: Why??

Was anyone else surprised that the object Brother Eyeball was carrying was a piece of Lunarian technology, that seems to only activate under the extreme heat of a sun that's about to consume the planet? I certainly didn't see it coming at all and I don't know how to feel about it at the moment.

Based on everything up until this point and Phos's comments here, it's evidently clear that Aechmea planted it there for this specific occasion. My question is why? Why did Aechmea bother in leaving this for Phos?

Perhaps Aechmea hoped Phos would take the new remnants of humanity and create a new society once again on a new planet, sort of like what Adamant did for the Lustrous. Maybe this was some twisted/backhanded way of thanking Phos and giving them another second chance of surviving? I don't know, but if it's the Lunarians' weird way of trying to save Phos, it's kind of pointless. Like Phos said, running to another planet would only be a temporary solution since everything was going to be consumed by the dying stars eventually. Even though the little rocks and Eyeball still take the ship in the end just to survive a little longer, I don't really see the point of it either.

(Edit: Made small change here and included the page that I forgot to add.)

The only reason I can come up with for this ship to being there is that Aechmea knew of another place in space that wouldn't be affected by the dying suns and he wanted Phos and their new remnants of humanity to go there. But I honestly I believe that theory fully, so I don't know.

What do you guys think? Is there a reason why the lotus flower ship was intentionally left behind, other than Ms. Haruko just wanting a reason for Phos to be along again? To me, the only thing that was clear was that this ship was left for Phos and whoever else was with them that would only activate when the planet was going to be destroyed.

But this leads me to my next questions and segment...

Burning the Bridge: Phos's Final Actions

Unlike the lotus ship, Phos's actions in this chapter did not come as a surprise to me. Phos had long accepted that they were ready to finally disappear. And before the ship, it looked like the other beings were fine with it as well.

It was only when the ship appeared that the others expressed their desire to exist just a little longer, which completely understandable and I don't fault them for feeling this way.

It's touching and sad how Phos made sure that all those beings, including the final pebble that was introduced in this chapter, made it onto the ship so they could escape while Phos choose to stay behind. More on that in the next segment.

But back to Phos and their final decision to stay behind. So, we know that the ship was intentionally left for Phos by Aechmea and the Lunarians. And though it was used in the end, Phos chose to stay. Now my question is... was Phos's final decision to stay on the planet still part of Aechmea's plan, or was it part of the Professor's plan?

I've hypothesized in an older post that I thought that while Aechmea was a frightfully powerful being who was able to predict Phos's actions and successfully manipulate them, he wasn't truly omnipresent nor omnipotent since he couldn't predict everything and there were individuals that were not totally under his control.

I want to believe that Phos's final actions fall into that category. Part of me really wants to believe that Phos not getting on the ship was a final middle finger from the Professor through Adamant to Aechmea and everything he stood for.

But then again... this could have been an outcome Aechmea expected, too. It's honestly hard to say how much of everything that had happened was still going according to Aechmea's grand plan since it wasn't made clear if Aechmea knew of this memory of the professor that Adamant held onto.

Sorry for the ramble. I'll just say that unless I'm told otherwise, I'll believe that Phos's final actions was their final act of defiance towards Aechmea, in the name of the Professor.

I can only hope that Phos will finally be at piece once that bridge is burnt to the ground.

So, now that it seems like Phos's story is going to end, albeit in several months... there are still some elements in this story that have not yet been resolved. But after re-reading this chapter, I have a theory for one of them.

The Identity of The Last Passenger of the Lotus Ship (my silly theory)

This is a silly theory I came up with to try to explain one of the last mysteries of this story. It's been proven untrue, but I still want to keep it here because I still like it and had fun coming up with it!

One plot point that many others have brought up before, that I've admittedly forgotten over and over again, are the Ice Floes. These mysterious creatures played a unique role in the beginning but had quickly lost their relevancy in the story.

Now that the planet is about to be destroyed, it seems the Ice Floes will forever lose their significance in this story, though they hadn't been relevant in a long while. Well... I have a theory and it relates to the last member of Phos's little pebble family.

In this chapter, Ms. Ichikawa made it a point to have Phos collect this one last pebble and put on the ship. Though all of the pebble beings are unique to one another, this one is the most different from all of them. For one, it's significantly smaller than the other pebbles, almost the size of a grain of rice. And unlike the others, it hasn't spoken once, though Phos could sense its very faint presence, so it is sentient to a degree.

With all of this in mind, I couldn't help but wonder why Ms. Ichikawa included this in the story now? Why did she make pages dedicated to Phos collecting this pebble right when the planet is about to die? She had to have done it for a reason, but why? Why is this teeny pebble important?

Well, here's my theory: This teeny tiny pebble is what's left of the Ice Floes.

I came up with this theory based on a few things.

My first clue is the location where it was found. Judging from the details in these pages, this tiny pebble was in the middle of a dried up ocean.

The second is the type of rock I think it is. Ms. Ichikawa incorporated a lot of rock and mineral information in this story for her characters. I'm not sure if that's the case in this instance, but please allow me to indulge in my rock nerd side for a bit. I strongly believe it is a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks are formed when bits of pre-existing rocks, inorganic material, and/or bits of once organic life forms accumulate and gradually get compacted and cemented together. This type of rock is found everywhere, but especially in the ocean.

The third and most supportive piece of evidence was Phos's comments on page 16.

Phos recognizes that this pebble is similar to the other rock life forms AND it's consciousness had been there since the beginning of the earth, meaning it's much older than nearly everything on this planet, including Phos and Eyeball. To me, this cemented my theory.

Of course, this is just me guessing. And I'll admit, when I went to look up the Ice Floes again, the HnK wiki states that Eyeball and the Ice Floes are connected, so I could very much be wrong. It was still fun to theorize haha

Please tell me what you think!

Edit: Well, it looks like that theory was incorrect. Oh well! I still had fun coming up with it. Thank you @laloyoungblood for letting me know.

The End Is Near and Yet So Far...

I've said it many times before and I'll say it again: I can't wait to see how this story ends. And if the story is going to end at 108 chapters, I'd be so happy, and the ending of this chapter had me excited for the final climax of the story...

Until I saw the excerpt at the bottom of the page.

Houseki no Kuni won't be returning until the spring of 2024... And we just barely came back from the other hiatus...

Now don't get me wrong, waiting through hiatuses is nothing new for me and I'm glad more mangaka are trying to prioritize their health and happiness than trying to rush their stories because of a deadline.

But these hiatuses are a bit annoying, I'm not going to lie. If there's one thing I know I won't miss with this series, it's the many, many hiatuses Ms. Ichikawa had done.

I know it'll be okay in the end. There are more important things going on in my life now, so I know I won't dwell on it for much longer. But at the same time, I just want this story to finally cross the finish line. We're so close to the end, and yet the goal post is moved again.

I just want to see this story end soon. And I hope it'll be worth it.

Okay! That's all for now. Thank you to everyone who reads and responds to my posts. I love all your responses. I don't know how many of you will stick around when I stop doing these posts, but I'm honestly really grateful to you.

Hope the rest of the month goes well for you all! Stay safe out there.

#houseki no kuni #land of the lustrous #hnk spoilers #hnk #hnk thoughts #hnk phos #haruko ichikawa #hnk spoiler #lotl #hnk phosphophyllite #hnk theories #hnk chapter 105 #personal thoughts #hnk meta #hnk manga #hnk manga spoilers

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lostbookreader · 2 years

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Not So Secret Feelings

You have been friends with the Sam and Colby crew for a while now which is great except for the feelings towards a certain dark-haired boy that you can’t shake so Corey and Jake help you guys confess to eachother….

It was another slow morning in the house since no one really had any plans until later in the day which is rare nowadays with everyone's busy schedules. Like usual though you were not able to take the opportunity to sleep in like the rest of your roommates, so you were sitting in the living room editing your new video and enjoying the quiet while you could. Finally being able to focus and not feeling tired you were able to knock out a majority of it before you felt the couch sink next to you and have a kiss placed on top of your head.

Looking to your left, Colby had a smile on his face as he was watching the video play on your screen “This was probably one of my favorites we’ve done for your channel. Also good morning gorgeous I didn't think anyone else would be up yet.”

“Good morning Colbs. I've been up for a while and my brain wouldn’t let me sleep anymore so I figured I would try to get this edited before we go meet up with Corey and Jake.” You say before you quickly stop the video so you could cut out the part where you stuttered.

“Woah hey why are you deleting it you should keep it,”

“Absolutely not,” you say while letting out a laugh, “I hate it when I stutter, especially this bad. Plus I don’t want to see any comments about it”

“Well I like it and who cares what they think it shows them your human,”

Shaking your head you mumble about not needing the mix of comments about your stutter and the body or outfit comments that would definitely be in the comment section of this video. Quickly deleting the clip and saving it before Colby could do anything, you miss him looking at you and the sad look on his face. But you both continue to bicker about it as you continue to edit.

The video was just a you and Colby collab which definitely aren’t rare for either of your channels but it was one you were nervous to post. It was one where you bought each other's outfits and revealed them to each other with a try on portion at the end. You both had a blast being able to hang out and film a light hearted video but these ones tended to get more comments leading into the fans thinking you were secretly dating. Which isn't the case. You guys are just best friends that have very flirty and joking personalities which you've tried to make very clear to the fans.

You and him are in the middle of one of your bouts when Sam walks in laughing at you two,

“It’s nine in the morning and you two are already going at it? Just kiss already.”

“Very funny Sam. Why don't you kiss Colby instead?” you say with a laugh which caused the boys to join in as well. Shutting your laptop you stand and start walking towards the stairs, “I'm going to go get ready. Remember we have to meet Jake and Corey for lunch at noon!”

You don't remember when your feelings started for Colby but they have been around for a while and as hard as you try to you can't get rid of them. Ever since Kat introduced you to the group, you and Colby definitely hit it off right away and you were connected at the hip right away which is why after a while you think you started developing your crush. No one in the group knows except for Kat and Corey who picked up a couple months back and have kept it secret for you since. It still hasn't stopped them from encouraging you to admit your feelings for Colby. Which you haven't done obviously. You don't want to jeopardize what you have with him over the silly butterflies you get when you look at him.

What you don’t know is that Colby feels the exact same way about you and just hasn’t built up the guts to confess to you. The only people that know about his feelings towards you are Sam and Jake and just recently Corey. He found out thanks to Jake at a party a few weeks ago making a jab at Colby if he doesn’t make a move on Y/N he was which of course made Corey freak out.

“What's got you so down already this morning man?” Sam asks while tossing a pillow at a zoned out Colby.

“Nothing dude, just thinking. Y/N was editing the video we filmed the other day where we picked each other's outfits and she was so down on herself about her stutter but there's something more that's bugging her. So I'm just figuring out what.”

Sam just shook his head and looked at his friend, “When are you going to ask them out man? It's been what? Almost three years now?”

“Yeah something like that. I just don't want to ruin what we have. No offense but they just get me and it's never been awkward between us. If we started dating and it didn't work out I would be losing a best friend.”

“Except you would work out dude. You guys are literally a match made in heaven.”

“You're hilarious dude, it's never that easy. I'm going to go get ready.”

Ironically enough you actually decide to wear the shirt Colby bought for you in your video but work it more into your style. It was a cropped tight fitted red shirt that you decided to wear with your favorite black cargo pants, a necklace Colby got you guys for christmas last year and your favorite converse. With some extra accessories thrown into the outfit you made your way downstairs.

Kat and Colby are at the bottom talking about how Sam always took the longest out of everyone to get ready, but Colby stops when he sees you and smiles, “you're wearing the shirt I bought you!”

“Of course I am. I told you I liked it. I just didn't feel like me.” You say as he grabs you and pulls you into a hug.

“I thought you looked great but I definitely like your outfit more.” He says while he glances down and notices the necklace you have on.

“You two are adorable please tell me you didn't plan on wearing the same necklace today?” Kat asks while she gives you a quick hug and you mumble about how it wasn't planned.

Kat definitely always tries to get some rise out of you whenever Colbys is around, probably to try and get you to slip about your feelings for him. Thankfully you haven’t. Yet. The games continue throughout your lunch with Jake and Corey and like most social situations you and Colby tend to mostly talk to each other rather than with the group. Which caused you to miss them discussing the plan on getting one of you to confess to the other.

The plan happens a few weeks later when all of you are hanging out at the house having your usual pizza night and watching movies. You and Colby are sharing the big bean bag chair cuddling with a blanket while everyone else has their spot on the couch. Corey and you had kept making eye contact throughout the night where he would be making kissy faces at you and Colby and other silly faces which you responded with eye rolls and hiding your face in Colby’s neck.

At some point Sam needed to go to the bathroom so everyone was either on their phones or talking to one another. Colby and you were looking at his phone and you made a joke about him liking a random Instagram photo about you two dating which then in turn led to you being tickled.

“Colby please! I can’t breathe. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” you gasp out in between laughs which makes him smile.

“That's what you get for making fun of —--,”

He didn't get to finish his sentence because of Jake and Corey both standing up and the later exclaiming, “I can’t deal with this anymore. You two need to confess your feelings for each other.”

Corey picks you up and throws you on his shoulder while Jake takes Colby’s arm and takes you guys to Colby’s room.

He sets you on the ground before putting his hands on your shoulders and shakes you a little bit, “You two do not get to leave until Colby knows that you are madly in love with him,” before he turns to Colby and points at him “and until y/n knows that you have loved them ever since we met them. Do I make myself clear?”

You two just stand there limply staring at the two while Jake continues, “He and I will be outside to make sure but also know that we have three cameras hidden which we will be checking. So no trying to lie or scheme to get out of this. This has gone on long enough and we want you both to be happy. Now go.”

They both turn and walk out of the room shutting the door behind them, leaving you and Colby standing there not knowing what to do. You were the first one to break, not doing well with the silence and nerves building inside you.

“I am s-s-s-so sorry. I didn’t know they were going to do this and now it’s gonna be awkward. I get it if you don't feel anything for me. I really do. My feelings just kinda happened and came out of nowhere. I was just going to let them die out b-b-b-but they never did. I-I-I wasn’t going to do anything or tell anyone but then Kat and C-C-Corey found out and they have been trying to get me to do it since. Now it's awkward. B-b-but I can promise you I am okay with staying frie-,”

Your rambling gets cut off by Colby placing his lips on yours and him lightly cupping your face. Definitely hesitant to fully do it to try not to scare you but your eyes flutter shut and kiss back. He slowly wraps his hand around my hips as I cup his neck to get us even closer than before while he deepens the kiss by gently biting your lip and slipping his tongue inside to brush with yours. You're not sure who pulls away first but you are both smiling as you catch your breath.

“You are so cute when you stutter,” He whispers while he rubs your cheek and watches you bite your lip.

“If my stuttering gets you to kiss me like that every time then I suddenly love when I do that,” you chuckle before finally looking at him with a smile.

You both laugh before he looks at your lips one more time before kissing you again. He keeps it soft before pulling away too soon, “I know we just skipped a step or two but is now a good time to ask you if you will go on a date with me?”

Laughing, you nod your head yes before you pull him into another kiss.

#imagine #colby x reader #sam golbach #colby brock imagine #sam and colby #fluff #imagines #fanfic #colby brock

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