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purrincess-chat · 4 years

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Will You Be My (Fake) Lover CH5

It’s here! Finally! Are you excited? Get excited! Canon who? We don’t know her. And truthfully, she doesn’t even really know herself

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Chapter 5

“Has the Prince of Gabriel brand found his Princess? Exclusive interview inside!”

Lila glared down at the magazine in her lap as she sat on her usual park bench waiting. On the cover was Adrien down on one knee fitting Marinette’s foot with a glass slipper. It seemed as though they were more committed to this lie than she originally thought, but she could use this to her advantage. The more people invested in their relationship, the harder they’d crash when they finally fell, and she couldn’t wait to watch.

I: What’s your favorite quality about Marinette?

A: How kind she is. She’s always thinking of others before herself, and I admire that so much.

Lila could gag. All this pretending had to be eating Marinette up inside knowing that none of those things were true. That Adrien didn’t love her. Perhaps if she prodded her enough, Lila could get Marinette to snap. That would ruin any possible chance she had with him after this. Lila may have run into a detour with Marinette’s friends, but taking Adrien away from her permanently was worth the extra effort. That way there wouldn’t be anyone else to save her next time.

“There’s been a change of plans,” Gabriel’s voice sounded behind her. “Many people are quite pleased with my son’s relationship with Miss Dupain-Cheng, so I’m afraid that I cannot hold up our bargain.”

“Don’t worry. I have something else to offer you, Mr. Agreste,” Lila said. “I have reason to believe that Marinette and Adrien are faking their relationship.”

“And what evidence do you have to support such claims?” Gabriel asked, quirking a brow.

“I’m working on it, and I assure you I’ll be able to prove it if I attend the Agreste Foundation gala coming up soon,” she said with a sly smile.

“I’ll put you on the guest list, but I feel your suspicions may be a misguided cover up for your jealousy. If you cannot prove their relationship is a farce by the end of the gala, then perhaps it’s best if you and I cease negotiations,” Gabriel said, and Lila whipped around to face him.

“But-”

“I have no need for petty schoolyard drama especially at the expense of my son’s reputation. You have until the end of the gala in three weeks to prove your claims, Miss Rossi,” Gabriel said with a finality before rolling up the window.

As the car drove off, Lila’s jaw clenched, her hands gripping the magazine so tightly the sides crinkled between her fingers. She glanced down at the pages of her spread to find them overrun with Marinette and Adrien’s adoring smiles, the singular image of herself caught in the folds of the page. Rage boiled from her core up to her throat, and she tossed the magazine with a scream.

Gabriel wanted proof? She’d get him proof.

***

“Good evening, beautiful.”

Adrien smiled at Marinette as she entered his bedroom, seated at his piano while his fingers moved across the keys and filled the room with a soft melody. Nathalie stood off to the side to supervise, but Marinette found her attention drawn to the bouquet of roses resting atop the piano.

“They’re for you,” Adrien said, following her gaze, and she blinked, cheeks heating up.

“What for?” She asked, trailing her fingers over the petals.

“Do I need a reason?” He chuckled. “You deserve them, that’s why. You’re smart and kind, and you make me happy. That’s all the reason I need.”

She knew he was hamming it up because Nathalie was in the room, but she couldn’t help the smile on her lips. Fake or not, it was the first time anyone had given her flowers, and she had a feeling they carried a message of genuine gratitude for helping him as well.

“Thank you. They’re beautiful,” she said.

“They have tough competition.” He winked, his fingers trilling out a new melody, faster, lighter, sweeter than before, and Marinette bit her lip. “They’re also an invitation.”

“Oh?” Marinette quirked a brow.

“The Agreste Foundation has a formal event coming up soon, and I was hoping you’d be my date,” he said. “It’s a lot of boring adult stuff usually, but if you were there, it would be way more fun.”

“Of course, I’ll go with you,” she said, and Adrien relaxed a little, a content smile curling on his lips as he flicked his gaze back down to the keys. “I actually have an invitation for you too. My parents want to have you over for dinner one night when you’re free since you’re my first ever boyfriend.”

“Really?” Adrien stopped playing, his hands freezing on the keys as discordant notes squealed, and Nathalie cleared her throat, urging him to continue playing. “Sorry. Can you check my schedule, Nathalie?”

She scrolled through her tablet without looking up, the blue light reflecting off the lenses of her glasses.

“You have free time on Thursday after dinner, so I will let the chef know you will be dining elsewhere that evening,” she said, and Adrien perked up.

“Thank you, Nathalie!” He beamed, and Marinette offered her a small smile of thanks. Nathalie nodded in acknowledgement before flicking her gaze back to her tablet, and Adrien continued playing.

Marinette took a seat on the bench beside him, closing her eyes as the melody echoed around the room. Even if it wasn’t real, Marinette was happy getting to spend so much time with him. In a way, she felt like they were closer than they’d ever been, and most of her nerves had been squashed from the very first time they kissed. Knowing that Adrien felt comfortable enough with her to go through with all of this in the first place said enough about their relationship. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

She blinked her eyes open at the brush of skin against her own as Adrien reached an arm around her to play the keys at the end. He smiled at her as he trailed his fingers along, pulling her in closer, and she giggled as he nuzzled his nose against her cheek.

Moments like this made her wonder if his feelings would ever change. The softness in his eyes as he plucked a rose from the bouquet and offered it to her seemed so real, and the tender way he touched his lips to her cheek made her heart skip at the thought. She loved him so much, and more than anything, she wanted him to love her too. And why couldn’t she? There was no harm in wanting or hoping. In the end, she’d only hurt herself, so why not?

“You have five more minutes,” Nathalie said, and Adrien flicked his gaze back to the keys, seeming a little disappointed.

“I feel like time moves too quickly when I’m with you. I always find myself wishing we could have just a few more minutes,” he said as the song came to a close. “I don’t feel like a very good boyfriend.”

“I don’t mind. Whenever I get to see you and for however long, I treasure every moment,” she said, turning his chin to face her and cupping his cheek. “You’re an amazing boyfriend.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He frowned, leaning into her touch. “It’s just hard to say goodbye all the time.”

Marinette felt her cheeks warm under his gaze as Nathalie’s watch beeped, signaling the end of their visit. It was moments like these that made her head spin. He seemed so sincere that even she had a hard time figuring out if he was pretending or not.

“Thanks again for the roses,” she said at the front door, glancing down at them.

“A beautiful girl deserves beautiful things,” Adrien said with a smile before leaning down to kiss her good night.

One hand cupped her face, his thumb tenderly tracing her jaw as the other hand pulled her closer at the waist. It was a stark contrast to the way he had kissed her just a few nights prior at the party. He was so gentle and delicate as if she were a flower he didn’t want to damage, and such tender affections only made her heart beat faster.

“Good night, beautiful,” he murmured against her lips when they parted.

Gabriel watched from his office door, lips pursed as Adrien slid his hand down her arm, twining their fingers until they were forced apart as Marinette was escorted out, remembering similar such nights with Emilie all those years ago. He’d give anything for those nights now, and he envied Adrien a little for getting to spend time with the girl he loved so dearly. It made Emilie’s condition weigh so much heavier on his heart.

“Adrien is very sweet to her,” Nathalie said when she entered a few minutes later as Gabriel sat with his chin resting on his fist in thought. “I got what you asked for.”

Gabriel arched a brow as Nathalie presented him a small pink sketchbook, and he flipped through each page of colorful designs with a blank expression.

“Do you think you’ll have time to design her a dress and have it made before the gala?” Nathalie asked as Gabriel paused on a page, tapping his finger.

“It seems as though Miss Marinette already has the perfect dress,” he remarked, setting the notebook in his lap and snapping a picture with his phone.

“Will you modify it at all?” Nathalie asked as he closed the cover and offered it back to her.

“I don’t believe in tampering with another artist’s vision. The dress is fine as is, and it will mean more as a gesture of good faith in their relationship if we replicate it as she designed it,” Gabriel said. “See to it that Adrien returns her sketchbook.”

“Yes, sir.” Nathalie nodded before retreating from the room.

Adrien was in sitting at his desk when Nathalie peeked in, a content smile on his face as he typed on his phone. It had been a while since she’d seen him so happy. Not since Emilie was still around. His eyes lit up more these days, and his entire countenance changed any time Marinette was around. It was clear to see how much he cared for her. Just like Emilie, Adrien wore his emotions on his face, and Nathalie was glad to see him happy for once.

“Adrien?” She knocked.

“Come in.”

“I found this on the stairs. It must have fallen from Marinette’s bag,” she said. “Can you return it to her?”

“Of course. Thank you, Nathalie,” Adrien said, setting it next to his textbooks. “Also…would it be possible to finally go on a double date with my friends? I know you’re already making so many accommodations so Marinette can see me, but it would mean a lot to me if I could take her out properly.”

Nathalie observed his pleading expression before a smile broke over her lips.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said before taking her leave.

Adrien sat back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the arms of the chair before a cheeky grin curled on his lips. He reached for his phone, snapping a picture of the notebook.

guess what i have? He typed, chuckling to himself as he awaited her response.

how?? She replied a few seconds later.

Nathalie found it on the stairs. it must have fallen out of your bag. ill give it to you tomorrow. He said.

Thanks!

but not before i look through it. He said with a smiling devil emoji.

no! some of them arent finished yet!

you’re so talented. I’m sure they’re all great.

Her reply was a worried face.

can I peek? just a little?

ok but dont laugh! She said.

why would I laugh?

some of them are old and silly…

like this one? Adrien attached a drawing dated a couple years prior of a small Marinette in a dress with pink bows, and her response was a monkey covering its eyes.

I think it’s cute! He said with a heart.

it’s embarrassing!

dont be embarrassed. everyone starts somewhere you should have seen me when I started taking fencing lessons for the first time. I barely knew how to put my helmet on. He said then added, you’re really talented. all of your new designs look amazing you’ve improved a lot.

I guess… She said with a sweat drop.

well, I know. you’re incredible, and I’m lucky to have a girlfriend as awesome as you. He said, watching her typing bubble.

you’re pretty awesome too. You’re really smart and athletic and sweet and hot.

I mean!

Objectively speaking

You’re a model so like

of course you’re hot

but it’s not like I’m really saying you’re hot

You are but

in a totally normal way!

Adrien chuckled at her text stream, feeling oddly amused.

Thanks. You’re pretty hot too. ;) He said.

I DIDNT MEAN IT LIKE THAT!

why not? I’m flattered.

…

But I have a question though. He said.

Am I hotter than this? He sent a picture of a candle.

why?

ya know. because flames are hot ;)

I’m breaking up with you. She said with a laughing face.

no don’t break up with me! I’m hot D:

all this time I thought you were cool… She said.

Well that was your first mistake im super lame.

Youre not lame! just your jokes.

wow! after I compliment your designs and you insult my jokes. that’s cold Marinette.

She sent a laughing face and heart in response.

I would have been more impressed if you asked if I could bake cookies on you since youre so hot and my parents are bakers. She said.

teach me more oh wise and hilarious queen of jokes.

fine. I guess ill train you. She said with an eyeroll.

I am honored

She sent back another laughing face, and he bit his lip and changed the topic.

this dress is really beautiful. He said sending a picture.

thanks! I got inspired after our photoshoot and wanted to design a princessy ballgown. I really like how it came out.

I bet youd look beautiful in it

Her typing bubble flashed for several minutes, disappearing every so often for a few seconds before returning.

thanks. She said finally.

can I ask a favor? He typed.

what?

will you design something for me? It can be anything I just want it to be from you. He asked.

Of course! Id love to make something for you!

yay! :) He paused for a moment before adding, one more thing?

yes?

Can we keep talking for a while? You and I are friends but theres still a lot I don’t know about you. Plus it will be good for us to know stuff about each other.

He held his breath as he watched her typing bubble.

sure. what do you wanna know?

everything :)

They talked for hours during which time he learned that she liked gardening, watching makeup tutorials, and meditating with her mom. She was deathly afraid of snakes. She had a scar on her left foot from when she was 7, and she secretly liked to sneak fresh cookies when her dad wasn’t looking. It was the first time he’d really opened up to someone about himself too. He told her things even Nino didn’t know, and he fell asleep that night smiling at his phone.

The next morning, he sent her a good morning text and resumed their conversation as he prepared for the day. As it turned out, Marinette was not a morning person which he already assumed from the many times she came to school late. It was kind of amusing to picture – a sleepy Marinette clinging to her pillow as she begged for a few more minutes. Incredibly cute.

At school, he peeked around the row of lockers, watching her smile down at his most recent text as she typed a reply. The fondness in her expression made his heart flutter, and he jumped a little as his phone buzzed.

are you going to hold my sketchbook hostage all day? where are you? She asked.

turn around. He said, and he crept up behind her as she read the message.

“Boo!” He pinched her sides, and she startled with a gasp, spinning around to face him.

“Oh, you finally showed up,” she said with a grin, cheeks pink from his prank. “Do you have my sketchbook?”

“Oh, was I supposed to bring that?” He tilted his head to the side before retrieving it from his bag with a smirk. “Returned safe and sound.”

“Thank you,” she giggled as he kissed it softly before handing it over.

“I wrote you something inside,” he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “You mean so much to me I wanted to express it, so read it later when you get home, okay?”

“O-Okay!”

“Nino, remind me to call my dentist. I think I’m getting a cavity from sugar overload,” Alya called out as they approached. “You two are seriously cute.”

“Yeah, bro, you make me look bad,” Nino said, fist bumping Adrien.

“Sorry, but I have good news,” Adrien said. “Nathalie is clearing my schedule Saturday afternoon so we can all go on a date finally.”

“Whoa, legit? That’s awesome, dude!” Nino patted his shoulder.

“We can all go do an escape room together then get ice cream afterward,” Alya said, clapping her hands together. “We’ve been dying to go do one, but it’s way more fun with more people.”

“Yeah, sounds awesome,” Adrien said. “It’s our first official date. I can’t wait.”

“Only took your pops a month to let up.” Nino rolled his eyes, and Adrien sighed.

“Honestly, that’s quicker than I thought he would. I thought we’d have to wait until I turned 18 and moved out,” Adrien joked as they headed to class.

Lila glared around the row of lockers as they left, jaw clenching. She was losing momentum trying to prove their façade. The longer this went on, the more confident they were becoming, and the easier it was to fake it. She’d have to find some dirt on them during their date, or else the gala would be her last shot at getting favors from Gabriel.

***

“Is all of this really necessary?” Marinette asked as her father set the table.

“We’re having your first boyfriend over for dinner. I’m just trying to make sure he feels welcome,” Tom said, placing oven mitt-covered hands on his hips.

“By fattening him up? You’ve made enough food for 10 people!” Marinette gestured to the large ham and numerous sides covering the table.

“He’s a growing boy, and if he wants to date a baker’s daughter then he must know how to eat,” Roland added.

“Not to mention she’s part Italian. He will have to get used to big meals with family if he wants to stay,” Gina said, pinching Marinette’s cheek.

“Just promise me you guys will be cool. Don’t embarrass me,” Marinette pleaded, and Sabine flashed her a reassuring smile.

“We’re all just excited for you, sweetie. Adrien is a nice young man, and we just want him to know he’s accepted here,” her mother said, cupping her cheek.

“We will show him what a real family dinner looks like. Not the quiet lonesome dinners he gets at home. That’s not how it’s done!” Roland crossed his arms over his chest.

“Just don’t show him my baby pictures. Please?” Marinette pressed her palms together as the doorbell sounded.

“He’s here! Go let him in, my fairy,” Gina urged, and Marinette took a deep breath before opening the door.

“Hey.” Adrien smiled, leaning in to kiss her cheeks and planting a soft kiss on her nose before holding up another bouquet. “I brought you these.”

“Oh, how romantic. What a sweet boy,” Gina cooed, and Marinette screwed on a smile despite the tension in her spine.

“Adrien, you’ve met my grandma,” Marinette said. “This is my grandfather.”

“A pleasure to meet you, sir,” Adrien said, shaking his hand.

“A firm handshake. Very good, the boy knows how it’s done. I’m glad to see a younger generation keeping up tradition. You will make a fine husband to Marinette,” Roland commented.

“Grandpa!” Marinette puffed her cheeks.

“Roland, they’re only 14,” Sabine said pointedly.

“Puh, ‘only 14.’ My grandparents were 16 when they married. They wanted to marry before my grandfather had to go fight in the war!” Roland said, and Marinette sighed as she retrieved a vase for her bouquet.

“Oh, why rush to settle down? Let them live a little,” Gina said with an eye roll.

“Mom’s right. They can get married when they’re ready,” Tom added as they sat down, and Marinette’s face fell into her hand.

Adrien eyed her, a small smile curling on his lips.

“I’d only marry Marinette if I truly make her happy. She’s a wonderful girl, and she deserves the best,” he said, and everyone in the room cooed in unison, clutching their hearts.

Marinette peeked out between her fingers, and Adrien shot her a wink.

“So, tell us more about you, dear. What does Adrien like to do?” Gina prompted as Tom served the first course.

“Well, I’m a model for my father’s fashion company. I play sports and piano, and I’ve also been taking Chinese lessons since I was little,” Adrien listed.

“My, my so busy,” Gina remarked.

“What sports do you play?” Roland asked.

“Mainly fencing, but also basketball, lacrosse, and karate,” he said, counting them on his fingers.

“How do you ever find time to spend with Marinette?” Roland’s eyebrows raised, and Adrien cast her a fond smile.

“I make time. She’s so important to me.” He placed a hand over hers.

“With how sweet you are, we may not even need dessert,” Gina said with a laugh.

“Marinette is very easy to be with. She’s so genuine and caring, all I want to do is make her smile.” Adrien batted his eyelashes at her, and she bit back a smirk, pushing his chin with her finger.

“You are such a schmooze,” she teased.

“Well, I’m glad to see my granddaughter has chosen such a fine young man to court,” Roland said. “Your children will be very successful. I can feel it.”

“Roland, they’re only in college,” Sabine chided.

“You and I met in college. Don’t you remember, dear?” Tom said, wrapping an arm around her. “I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that I wanted to marry you someday. I’m sure it’s the same for Marinette and Adrien.”

“Dad!” Marinette growled.

“Tom.” Sabine gave him a warning look.

“That’s for them to decide in a few years, I know.” He held up defensive hands.

“Oh, what’s the rush. Not everyone has to settle down so young. I think they should travel a bit while they can,” Gina said. “If you two are still together when you’re 18 and no longer under papa’s radar then I will take you both on a trip! Greece is so beautiful in the summer, ah, who am I kidding? It is gorgeous all year. You kids need to see the world.”

“That sounds fun. I’d love to travel,” Adrien said, and Gina nodded knowingly.

“Of course, you would, dear. The world is a big place. I’d offer to take you sooner, but I understand your papa is…strict.” She winced, and Adrien quirked a brow as if to say that was an understatement. “Marinette and I are going to Italy for her next birthday. I’m so excited for you to see my home, my fairy.”

“I can’t wait either, grandma,” Marinette reached out to take her hand.

“Your dad won’t let you travel, but maybe he’ll let you come spend Christmas with us this year. We always pass out yule logs down in the bakery before we have a big Christmas dinner,” Tom said.

“I’d like that a lot.” Adrien smiled.

“When is your next fencing tournament? Maybe we’ll take a little time off to come watch you,” Sabine offered.

“In 2 weeks, but you don’t have to do that. I’m sure you’re very busy.” Adrien held up cautioning hands.

“Nonsense. We always have time to support family.” Tom patted his shoulder.

“Oh! I have a friend in London who is a great pianist. I can introduce you to him. Maybe he can give you some pointers,” Gina added.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks, Mrs. Dupain.”

“So formal. Call me Grandma or Nonna,” Gina insisted, waving it away.

“When you have time, you and Marinette should come by my house. I can teach you how to make bread the old-fashioned way,” Roland said.

“Oh, yeah. Thank you.” Marinette eyed Adrien who seemed to curl into himself. “You’re all so kind. Thank you for inviting me into your home.”

“But of course, my fairy. You are our family now,” Gina said as Roland cut him a slice of bread.

Adrien eyed it on his plate in silence as the conversation shifted, and after a moment, Marinette reached out to place a hand over his. He jumped a little at her touch, flicking his gaze to hers. She raised a brow at him, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before turning back to his meal.

He was perfectly polite during dinner, and to Marinette’s relief, a surprisingly good sport amidst all of the marriage discussions. But Marinette could tell something was off. The slight intonation of his voice, the way his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes…He seemed sad almost, but he did what he always did: hid it until they were alone.

“I’ll bring the hot chocolate up when it’s ready,” Sabine called as Marinette and Adrien headed up the stairs to her room.

Adrien remained quiet as he climbed up to her balcony, leaning against the railing with a sigh.

“Sorry. I know they’re a lot to deal with,” she said, awkwardly shoving her hands into her pockets.

“Actually, I really liked it,” he said, staring out over the street. “This was the warmest and most inviting dinner I’ve ever had.”

“Then what’s wrong?” She asked, and he trained those tortured eyes on her. “Hey-”

“I can’t do this.” He shook his head. “Your family is so kind and loving, and they care about you. They want to take me on trips and come to my fencing tournaments. Your dad wants me to spend Christmas with you! All because they believe we’re in love. Doesn’t it drive you mad?”

Marinette averted her gaze, and he ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t do this. They were so kind to me, and all I’ve ever done is lie about loving you,” he said, pressing his lips together. “They’ll be devastated when they find out, and I don’t want to hurt them.”

“Adrien…” Marinette started, pacing over to him. “I know the risks of all of this, and I made my mind up when I decided to help you. From the very first time we kissed in front of everyone, I committed to this.”

“Yeah, but-”

“But nothing,” she said, cupping his face in her hand. “I agreed to this because I wanted to help you. Because…I care about you.”

“Marinette…” He winced. “You’re important to me too. That’s why I can’t hurt the people you love.”

“Who says you’re going to?” She held her arms out. “In a few months when things die down, we can announce that we broke up mutually and that there are no hard feelings then continue being friends. No one ever has to know.”

Adrien searched her expression before lowering his gaze to his shoes with a sigh.

“I really don’t deserve a friend like you,” he said with a short laugh. “You really are amazing, Marinette, and I hope you know how much you mean to me.”

She pulled him in for a tight hug, and he leaned into her embrace. In that moment, he felt so fragile, and she wished that she could take all of that hurt. It was hard enough living with her own pain, but somehow knowing Adrien cared for her this much hurt worse. That he would rather be unhappy than hurt her or her family. She was falling more in love with him the longer this went on, and she knew that it would destroy her in the end. But she didn’t care. If she could alleviate his torment even for a little while, she’d do it in a heartbeat.

“I have Gina’s world-famous hot chocolate- oh!” Sabine paused in the window upon seeing their pained embrace. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Adrien said, pulling away and running a hand across his cheek. “I just got emotional. You’ve all been so wonderful and inviting, and I’m not used to that.”

“Oh, honey,” Sabine said, setting the tray on the table and cupping his face. “No matter your circumstances, you are always loved here.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. I’ve had a wonderful time here tonight,” he said with a genuine smile.

“I’m glad to hear it. My husband and in-laws can be…a lot to handle,” Sabine said with an apologetic wince.

“It’s okay. I know they’re just happy for us,” Adrien said, wrapping an arm around Marinette’s waist, and Sabine smiled.

“Enjoy the hot chocolate, you two. It’s a pretty night out,” she said before climbing back down.

“Thank you,” Adrien said once her footsteps faded. “I feel like I don’t say that to you enough.”

“You’re my friend, Adrien. I’ve got your back,” Marinette said, and Adrien smiled, leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek.

“Thank you,” he repeated softly, and Marinette’s face warmed.

“You’re welcome,” she said, passing him a mug.

“To friendship,” he declared, holding it up, and Marinette eyed him a moment before clanking her mug against his.

“To friendship.”

#miraculous ladybug #adrinette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain-cheng #fake dating au #my writing

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behindheremeraldeyes · 4 years

Text

title: his wife

summary: After finding out Sakura is also at the Astronomy Research Facility, they’ve been meeting every night to investigate the place. One night, though, he sees something that leaves him worried about his wife. Could she even be called that anymore, though? — Canon Universe, Based on Sasuke Retsuden.

a/n: So… it took me a while to post this because of my tests and because of, well, life itself, but… It’s finally here! This story came to my mind as soon as I finished reading Sasuke Retsuden, and I still can’t believe such beautiful book actually exists! Here it is, @corazonmazapan ! I really hope you enjoy this one, and please, leave me your comments!

The bell rang like every other evening, and almost immediately, hundreds of shelves were dropped to the floor. The clinking sound of metal reverberated across the construction site, blending with a wave of relieved sighs just to compose a raw and tired symphony. The loud, crackling spines indicated that another day of hard work had finally come to an end to all of the prisoners around the institute, and if anything, that was a reason for them to celebrate.

Every day, hundreds of men worked under terrible conditions for over 12 hours just to hear the deafening sound of their temporary freedom. Normally, after the bell, It didn’t take long before heavy steps marched in unison across the dry and frozen courtyard, staining the common ground that separated the east and the west buildings with a mix of dirt and sweat. They walked close to each other in order to preserve the heat from their aching bodies, and amongst the many voices chattering in that horde of prisoners, the only wish that could be heard was to return to those dark and freezing cells so they could say goodbye to another day of their eternal sentences.

For all of those men, that was a moment of pure joy and relief, as if they had just finished another normal day of work, and even if they knew that was not really the case, perhaps, it was better to think like that instead of facing the harsh reality of the incarceration. They wanted to return to the closest thing of a home they had, where they could eat something, chat about useless things and gamble until the lights were turned off and exhaustion eventually lulled them to a dreamless sleep.

That was the best part of their days, for sure. A part filled with darkness and silence, where all of them could finally slip away into oblivion and enjoy their well-deserved rest.

Well, at least most of them would. For one of them, the real job was about to begin.

Amongst all of those prisoners who were trying to renegade their past and who wanted nothing more than to survive another night, a man walked around those dark corridors with extreme precision and dexterity. He moved around that rocky dungeon like a dancer moving across the surface of a lake, not letting anything escape his sights, and taking note of every new detail that had been modified since the previous night. For darkness itself was a familiar path to his skilful eyes, Uchiha Sasuke had no trouble in finding his way towards the infirmary, especially since he already knew the directions by heart. After finding out exactly what could be found in that place, it didn’t take long for him to draw a map in his head.

During the previous week he had spent alone in that place, not even once had Sasuke considered getting some medical help from the current doctor of the institute. His cellmates would always return from the infirmary saying the old man was no warmer than the walls that surrounded them, and that he never really cared to help anyone. They called him a sadist, who was always trying to test some new medicine on the prisoners, and most of the men suspected he was the cause of so many deaths that had been occurring lately.

He was a monster a lot worse than Menou. And needless to say, it was a relief when he suddenly disappeared and a new doctor came in his place.

Unlike the previous one— unlike that entire place and everything that had once stained the hearts of those men— the new doctor was kind and gentle, treating every one of them as humans and not just diseases. She was always worried about her patients, never judging them for their actions in the past, and always making sure to give them her best. In other words, she was a gift from heaven to those poor souls. They didn’t deserve her, but they were really glad to have her— someone— taking care of them.

As soon as the rumours were proven right, it didn’t take long before the prisoners started to like her, and of course, it didn’t take long before they spread the word of how pretty that woman was. They talked about how smooth her hair looked, her shiny eyes and her delicate curves; and at first, none of that talk actually mattered to the Uchiha. He figured that most of that men hadn’t been with a woman in so long that it was very likely that those words were actually filled with lust and yearning instead of logic and discernment. Their manly needs were certainly speaking for them, and he could only hope that doctor knew how to take care of herself around those potential beasts.

Still, he had nothing to do with that. Until, well, he had everything.

It was right after he was poisoned by Menou that the Uchiha realized that all of those words that had been used to describe that doctor were actually being used to describe his beloved wife. Sakura had infiltrated the Astronomy Institute in order to aid him in his mission, and even if he was extremely glad to have her by his side once more, it was safe to say he grew more and more conscious of the men who decided to visit the infirmary. A sense of protection started to take over his thoughts, and whenever he heard someone talking about the new doctor and her physical traits, it wasn’t easy for him to just sit and ignore, especially when it was Jiji who started the whole thing just to piss him off.

It was his wife they were talking about, after all.

Still, Sasuke knew better than to let his emotions get the best of him. Their mission and their secret identities depended on his composure, and he was not a child to jeopardize everything over nothing. He simply remained calm, told her to be aware and even gave her a ring to keep track on her if things eventually went south. It was a ring made with his chakra and his birth stone, and as soon as the men started to see it decorating her finger, they would realize that she was not a single woman.

Or, at least, that was what he was hoping for. It was not like he had actually heard any word about the doctor wearing anything new around her slender fingers. Later, though, he found out the ring really was a bit inconvenient to wear while examining the patients, so his wife chose to keep it safe in her pocket.

Not that he cared, though. He certainly didn’t.

It didn’t take him more than 6 minutes to reach the infirmary, and as soon as he got there, the door opened to reveal a happy prisoner leaving with his arm bandaged. The red cloth tied to his neck matched the soft color that tinged his cheeks, and Sasuke told himself that that blush was just a mixture of relief and the low temperature. Another man would sleep a little better because of his wife’s healing hands, and that was the only thing he should care about.

Even though his hand was clenched, the Uchiha managed to brush those unnecessary feelings away as he finally entered the infirmary. “ Sakura.” He said, softly, as her name rolled out of his tongue. He used his knuckles to gently knock on the aluminium door, making his presence known as he walked inside, careful enough not to catch her by surprise. “Are you ready?” His dark eyes searched the room, stopping only when they met her emerald ones beaming at him.

“Eh, Sasuke-kun?!” She smiled, her cheeks gaining color almost as immediately as her eyes widened in a joyful surprise. “ You’re quite early tonight.” She simply spoke, and it was possible to tell her eyes were examining him, looking for any trace that indicated that there was something wrong with him. "Did something happen? You’re not hurt or anything like that, are you?”

“Tch. You worry too much. I’m fine.” He stated, calmly, and he watched as her shoulders relaxed a bit. As always, his wife’s overprotective side was showing, and even if he didn’t want her to worry about him, it was impossible not to feel the slightest joy at the thought of having someone caring about his wellbeing like that. “I just came straight from the construction site, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay then…” Sakura smiled, then, clearly convinced by his words. “If you want some water or something to eat, there are some supplies inside that cabin.” She gestured to the cabin on the west side of the room, the pen in her hand leading the direction. “Eat as much as you want.”

“And how about you?”

“Don’t worry about me!” She motioned with her hand, shaking it from left to right in front of her face. “There’s enough for both of us this time. I went to the kitchen today and gently asked the boys if I could cook something on my own. They took the ingredients from a secret compartment, so I bet the quality is better than the stuff they serve for you guys at the cafeteria.”

“Hn.” He nodded, then, moving towards the cabin so he could take a look at what she had got them. As expected from his wife, she always managed to find ways to get what she wanted without too much effort. Her kindness and her gentle words were perfect for undercover missions, helping her through people’s tough facades and discovering their hidden secrets. They would give her all the information she needed, and more than that, they would give her things normal people would never even dream about.

Sakura is a sly and smart kunoichi. And because of that, he was going to eat something that didn’t taste like crap for the first time in weeks.

When he opened the cabinet, not only he found a couple of bottles of clean water, but also some energy bars and her famous soldier pills. She took them anywhere she went, and even if they don’t really taste that well, they make him feel a lot better after a day of hard work.

Next to the pills, there were also 3 bento boxes and a couple of oniguiris, and he couldn't find the right words to express his gratitude as soon as he tasted the tomato inside of one of them. She had prepared them just the way he liked them back when they were genin, and the innocent surge of nostalgia warmed his chest at the memory of his younger-self tasting those rice balls with her during their travels.

“Thank you for the food, Sakura.” He thanked her just as he swallowed the second tomato oniguiri. Truth was, he had been starving since earlier that day, and it was quite refreshing to taste something that was made especially for him after so long.

“You’re welcome, anata.” She smiled, happily, sparing him a quick glance before returning to her paperwork. “Shall we start then?"

“Don’t you wanna rest a bit before, Sasuke-kun?”

“It’s fine. I don’t need to rest.”

“Okay, then…” She shrugged in acceptance, her lips curling up at her husband’s dry sense of duty. "I just need to write down some details of the last patient’s physical examination first, then we can focus on the investigation. Shouldn’t take me more than 5 minutes. Is it okay? You can just sit on one of the beds if you want…”

“Hn, you’re taking this fake job too seriously.” He spoke, a sly smirk decorating his face. “Just tell me when you’re done.”

“Hai!”

Her soft voice filled his ears as he slowly walked towards one of the many empty beds of her infirmary. More than anyone, he has always known how diligent his wife is towards anything that involves her medical duty, and just because they were undercover, it didn’t mean she would ignore her patients when they needed her most.

She was too responsible for that, he knew.

And all of that responsibility within her made him proud of the woman she has become.

After hours of hard labour, Sasuke discovered that waiting without doing anything was quite relaxing. As he sat on one of the beds across the room, his wife stood near her desk, scribbling something on her clipboard and completely unaware of the world around her. Sakura was completely focused on her notes, and for he knew it was important for her, Sasuke just stood there in silence, waiting until she was done with whatever it was that needed her full concentration. His trained eyes were observing his wife as she was doing her job, and before he knew it, he started paying attention to her body’s secret language.

She looked serious like that, wearing her pristine-white lab coat. Pink lips pressed in a thin line, eyes half-closed while observing her notes and a single, rebel lock of hair falling forward to brush her left cheek. Even if he hated to admit it, he understood why all of those prisoners immediately became infatuated with her. Not only she’s a kind and gentle doctor, Sakura is also the prettiest woman he has ever seen, and not even once in all of these years has he doubted that statement. Having her so close to him after so long only served to reassure him of the things he already knew by heart, and at times like that— times where they could simply rest and enjoy each other’s company— that he reminded himself of how strong their connection is.

It goes beyond their bond as teammates and as fellow war heroes; and their beloved daughter exists to prove his point. Together, they’re a very powerful duo, and no distance in the world can ever break them apart.

No distance and certainly no insect— as Jiji claimed the other night when they were walking back to their cell.

Her presence around those men was probably just leaving him a bit uneasy, and he was certainly worrying over nothing, for sure. After all, she will always be Uchiha Sakura.

Right?

“And it’s finished!” She exclaimed, her voice bringing him back to reality. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she stretched her tired torso, and a childish smile crept onto her lips as she unceremoniously let the patient’s file fall on her messy desk. “And the most frustrating part is that I know all of my work is for nothing since the director will probably throw my report away.”

“Well, at least try to think the prisoners are thankful.”

“Are they?” She asked, truthfully, looking at him with a soft expression. “I mean, you must hear them saying something about me, right?”

“Aah. I do” He said, closing his eyes and trying to ignore most of the things the prisoners actually said about his wife.

“… And?”

“And what?”

“Well… What do they say about me, Sasuke-kun?”

“Tch. They like you, I guess. They say you’re kind and that they’re feeling better after you came to the institute.”

“Really?!” She smiled, her eyes beaming in excitement. “It’s really nice to hear that! Some of these guys have never even seen a doctor in their entire lives. It’s hard not to sympathize with their life stories.”

“Hn, I bet it is.” He scoffed, bringing his leg up to the bed and looking away. Even if he knew his wife was truly concerned about those men’s health, there were certainly other things more urgent crossing their minds whenever they talked about her. Those imprisoned men have long forgotten what it meant to be civilized, and not being able to reveal his identity drove him insane sometimes.

Everything would be easier if he could only warn the others that she was his wife. Perhaps, he thought, they would back off or at least stop saying those indecencies around him. She was a married woman, after all. That much they knew.

Or so, he thought.

“Sakura, I think we should get started.”

“Oh, yes, you’re right, sorry.”

She chuckled, finally taking off her lab coat and hanging it on the back of her chair. She fixed her shirt, and when she turned around to get her black gloves from a box behind her desk, something unusual caught his eyes. It was as round and white as he remembered from their younger days, and it was simple enough to pass unnoticed by the people from the forgotten country that was Redaku. Sakura was wearing her clan’s round crest instead of the Uchiha fan, and he was sure his expression mirrored his inner astonishment.

His eyes were glued to the old-new crest on her back and slowly, he stood up and started walking towards her. His eyebrows were arched, his lips were slightly parted and for a moment, it was as if he didn’t recognize his own wife with that circle on her back.

What was going on there?

Could it be that she packed her old clothes instead of her regular ones? He knew her body hadn’t changed much since she was a single woman, but still, what the he—

“I'm ready!” She spoke cheerfully, as she was definitely glad to have finished all that mandatory paperwork, and it was easy to say excitement was starting to grow on her at the idea of resuming their investigation. “Shall we?”

“Sakura…” His voice was low and alarmed, and her soft expression suddenly changed into a curious one.

“Eh? What’s wrong, Sasuke-kun? Are you not feeling—“

“What is this?” He said, looking forward and straight at her.

“What is what?” She turned around, as if looking for something unusual around the room.

“This.” He pointed at her, and instinctively, she started touching her cheeks with her hands and looking down at herself as if in search of any stain or rip. Her head moved around, swaying her pink hair, until she lifted her head once more to look at him, a blank expression taking over her face.

“Is there something wrong with me?”

“Yes.” He answered dryly, scaring her. “I mean, no, not really, but… Why are you wearing this shirt?”

“Is there anything wrong with it? It’s such a comfortable shirt.” She adjusted the hem of the shirt, playing with the frontal zipper as to make sure everything was okay. "I don’t think I understand your point.”

“You’re not wearing your clothes, Sakura.”

“Oh…” Her eyes widened and her lips formed a pout at his words. She blinked once, twice; and slowly, she opened her mouth. “What?”

“Tch, you’re not wearing the Uchiha crest. Why not?”

“Oh!” She smiled, finally understanding her husband’s point. "Well…” She started, leaning back against her desk. She crossed her hands across her chest, carefully looking at him as if to try to understand his words. “It's not like I can wear the Uchiha crest here, right, Sasuke-kun.”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean by why not? It’s because it would blow up my cover, of course.”

“They know my name here.” He said, flatly, his arm simply resting next to his body.

“They know your name is Sasuke. They don’t know you’re the Uchiha Sasuke.” She stood up straight, her green eyes locking with his. “The director doesn’t really care about who the prisoners are. They don’t need your files, let alone your last names… But I’m a part of the staff here. I had to give them my documents, sign papers… They had to know who I am.”

“And that would be…?”

“Haruno Sakura.”

“Tch. Great.” He scoffed, an annoyed expression taking over his face.

“What's the matter, Sasuke-kun? Why are you so upset?”

“Hn, I’m not. I just didn’t know you would actually change your married name for this mission.”

“Actually, it’s not my married name. I’ve told them I’m a single woman so they wouldn’t ask more questions about family and other relationships.”

“What?!” His voice escaped his lips louder than he had initially planned, surprising her a bit. Sasuke was clearly annoyed at her statement, and if he were to be honest, he didn’t really know why.

Logically thinking, his wife was only doing what was best for the mission. She was hiding both of their identities and their village’s location; and she was keeping them all safe. More than just the two of them, Sakura was also thinking about Naruto, Sarada and all of those patients that were relying on her. All she had to do was tell those people her maiden name and pretend she was a single woman again.

It was really no big deal.

Still, just imagining his wife— who was now just his single comrade and not his wife anymore— amongst those thirsty men infuriated him. It drove him mad with a feeling he couldn’t quite name, and it made him worried about what could happen to her. It was not like he believed that any of those men would actually respect a married woman if they lost control over their hormones, but still…

Whenever he was away in his missions, knowing his wife was proudly wearing the Uchiha crest made him feel less lonely in that big world. Even if it was just a symbol, it was important for him to know he was not the only one wearing it anymore, and he knew from the bottom of his heart that his wife respected and cherished his clan’s history as much as he did. Though if the blood of his family doesn’t run in her veins, she displays the crest proudly on her clothes, and that alone made him feel safe for reasons he couldn’t quite explain. Knowing it was not there anymore — knowing they were not really married in that fake adventure—made him feel distant. Insecure, even. It was stupid of him, he knew, but it was not like he could force himself not to feel any of those things.

“Tell them you’re married.”

“…What? Why would I do that now?”

“It’s for you own safety.”He said simply, not wanting to dwell into more details of his emotional reasons. "You don’t know these men. You don’t know what they could do to you if they had the chance.”

“Oh, and do you really think that me being actually married will change anything if my fake husband is miles away from here? Come on, Sasuke-kun.” She giggled, clearly thinking her husband was delusional. If not for their mission, she would probably be laughing at her husband’s sudden jealousy attack.

“You can say I’m here.”

“And risk compromising our mission? Definitely not.” She shook her head, hiding her hands inside her pockets. “Why does it matter to you, anyway? I actually thought you would find it exciting to fool around a little just like when we were single.”

“I am not single anymore.” He said, simply, as if it wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world. "And neither are you.”

“Well, I know, but…” She sighed. "Why do you care so much about it, Sasuke-kun?”

“Hn, can’t I just worry about you?”

“Not like this.” She said, lifting a challenging eyebrow at her husband. “Don't tell me you’re actually jealous, Sasuke-kun.” She teased, earning nothing but the judgmental stare of his stoic face.

Her accusing words hit him deeper than he had expected, and it took him quite a lot of effort not to break his perfect poker face. Uchihas don’t get jealous. They’re above such illogical emotion, especially when they’re already married to the said object of jealousy. It was silly to even consider something like that. Sure, he’s also a man made of flesh and seeing all of those men trying to approach his wife made him a bit mad and overprotective, but he didn’t consider it to be jealousy.

“…This is ridiculous. I’m not jealous.”

“Then why do you want those men to know I’m married?”

“I've already told you, Sakura. It’s for your own safety!”

“And I’ve told you I don’t believe you.” She stated, her eyes still connected to his. There was a childish tone to her voice, and if anything, that only served to annoy him even more.

“If I tell you I’m jealous, will you say you’re married?”

“It depends. Are you?”

“Definitely no.”

“Then I won’t say anything.”

“Tch, you’re annoying, Sakura.”

She giggled once more after his words, taking a step back and carefully pushing some papers away from her desk so she could sit there. Her legs dangled over the metallic edge, and if anything, Sasuke was confused regarding her true intentions. Knowing his wife, there was just no way she would just let go off that matter so simply, and he couldn’t help but observe her with his skilled eyes.

“You know…” She started, a soft blush tinging her cheeks. “This certainly brings back some memories, don’t you think?”

“How so?”

“Oh, come on… Uchiha Sasuke calling Haruno Sakura annoying.” She smiled. “We just can’t seem to leave some old habits behind, right?”

His eyes widened for a millisecond, and he realized that, indeed, it felt like they were once more their younger versions. She was the annoying Haruno Sakura, the only girl he has ever loved and he was once more the stoic Uchiha Sasuke that was searching for redemption. They weren’t quite traveling like back then, but they were together outside their village, and they could only rely on each other to get back home safely.

Side by side, they were fighting enemies and infiltrating places for the sake of their village, and while they did so, their feelings for one another only got stronger. Haruno or Uchiha, he has always harboured a great affection towards the pinkette, and with the passing years, that affection has naturally turned into love. He already loved Haruno Sakura back then, and fate made sure to create a bond between them that not even he could destroy. She’s always been a part of his family, and when she started to use his last name, well, that was just a mere formality for him.

Her last name didn’t really matter, he realized. It never truly did. Their bond was greater than that, and it was not like he couldn’t keep them at bay for a couple more days until they could both head back home.

It was not like the strongest kunoichi in the world wouldn’t be able to take down whoever pissed her off. His wife has proven him many times that she can protect herself, and if anything, he would once again have to find it in himself to trust those polished skills of her.

“Hn, it’s different now.”

“How so?”

“We're adults now. We’ve changed, don’t you think? Sarada exists to prove my point.”

“…Indeed, you’re right.” She chuckled, crossing her ankles. “We did it all together. Just you and me. Sasuke-kun and Sakura. Isn’t it enough?”

A pang of guilt made his heart skip a beat, and soon, Sasuke realized his emotions had taken him too far. He was behaving like a teenager all over again, and as always, she was the one to bring him back to reality. Once again, he had lost an argument against his wife’s logical words. He really should start practicing more.

“Aah. It is.” More than enough. He nodded, closing his eyes for an instance as he organized his thoughts. He heard his wife’s feet touching the ground once more, and soon, she was standing close to him.

“Finally you agree with me!” She said, dramatically throwing her arms up in defeat. “Shannarou, we don’t have time for this. We’re here to help Naruto. I can take care of myself if any of those guys come after me. I’m a shinobi, too, remember?!”

“You’re right, Sakura.” He said, nodding in acceptance. “I’m counting on you to take care of those insects, then.”

“Insects?”

“Never mind.”

“Well, I’ll take care of them, too.” She said, cheerfully and absentmindedly, as she walked past him, softly patting his left cheek with her gloved hand. “Now let’s just go, Sasuke-kun.”

“Hai!”

And so, after leaving it all behind, the power couple left the infirmary and went out in order to find out more about what was hidden in the darkness of the Institute. They worked together, completely trusting each other, as their actions were in perfect synchrony only years together could grant them.

It would be a long and busy night for the couple, for sure.

And if anything, Uchiha Sasuke could use that chance to spend more time with Haruno Sakura— that annoying girl who would, one day, become his wife.

——————————

The commotion began during their short lunch break. He was sitting at the cafeteria alone near the rocky window, eating whatever it was that looked decent from his plate, when one of the prisoners gathered a bunch of his friends and started talking a little too loud for his own liking. Normally, the Uchiha would ignore those silly and stupid conversations, but as soon as the pink haired doctor’s name was mentioned, his ears perked up as he focused on every word shared amongst those men.

He knew he should just let it go, but it was stronger than him. As a ninja, he had to know.

“You won’t believe in what I’ve found out! It’s a tragedy!” One of them said, drama tinging every syllabi of his sentence.

“What’s wrong, man!? What happened?”

“It's Sakura-sensei…”

“What about her?”

“I went there to pay her a visit, and then, I swear it felt like a good time to make a move.” He started, Sasuke’s hand clenching in a tight fist.

“And then what?! Did you do it?! Did you go for it!?” The other man asked, his eyes shining in curiosity.

“And then… She told me she has a fiancee waiting for her at home! She’s a compromised woman, gentlemen! With a ring and all!”

“What!? You can’t be serious!”

“Sakura-sensei has someone she loves already?! No! It can’t be!”

“Unfortunately, it’s true…She said they’ll get married as soon as she returns home.”

“Crap, of course a woman so beautiful like her wouldn’t be single.”

“Yeah…Her fiancee must be a lucky man.”

“Lucky and stupid, for sure. How could he let his beautiful wife come to an all-men prison so far from their home? He must be an idiot, for sure.”

A sly smirk took overs lips, and as he took a sip of what he believed to be a soup, Uchiha Sasuke decided to simply accept those words. Of course his stubborn wife wouldn’t just accept his suggestion and say she’s already married, he thought. Still, it was already enough. He accepted his new title as the lucky and stupid fiancee for the moment, until the day when they could both go home, and once more, be husband and wife.

fin.

#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfiction #assume retsuden #ss fanfic #sasusaku fic #myssfics

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dotthings · 4 years

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Okay SPN 15.04, here we go, where I feel weirdly self-conscious about posting a meta post about an ep that had so much meta on itself and now I’m going to write meta about it, so it’s meta on meta on meta, while I’m having my feelings.

THAT COLD OPEN HOLY CRAP DIRECTOR JENSEN. As a director Jensen always pulls out warm performances from actors and he’s a really kinetic director too. That opening fight sequence I held my breath for a lot of it.

BENNY OH NOES IT’S BENNY (this must be the character Jensen said was one of his favorites and the actor came back to set for one day to do it). “I’ll see you on the other side, brother.” Thanks so MUCH, spn, I thought I was over this and then you come in and reopen that and now I’ve got feelings gdi. Benny was a good friend to Dean. My heart hurts.

Ohshitohshitohshitohshit demon blood Sam. Noooooo. And he kills Dean. I can never erase these images from my mind, thanks a LOT spn.

Just a nightmare of Sam’s except no probably not given Sam’s god-wound, so wow this maybe happens on one of Chuck’s other worlds, that’s fine, oh that’s okay I’m fiiiiine, it’s fine. *covers face*

So we have a flip on early S14 here where Dean was turtling to cope with his trauma which is a healthy thing to do but hiding from the world wasn’t going to fix anything so Sam coaxes him out with a hunt. Dean coaxes Sam out with a hunt only I don’t think hunting works for Sam the same way, it’s not Sam’s mental comfort food the way it is for Dean, but still I appreciate the mirroring there.

Sam’s struggling with Rowena’s death and I think those horrific AU nightmare visions aren’t helping much either, but it’s clear he’s feeling the loss. Her loss, all the recent losses.

Dean trolls Sam with real bacon, which seems like Dean is maybe trying to cheer Sam up by pranking him and trying to cheer himself up via food pranks. Dean has quite the case of the munchies in this ep.

I noticed almost every scene Dean is snacking or drinking from his flask. How’s that whole “Cas walked out and left apparently for good” working out for you Dean, wow, you’re suspiciously chipper while stuffing your face and drinking and Not Talking About It. Did Sam and Dean talk about where’s Cas? Who knows, the ep didn’t mention it, hey SPN you needed a Cas mention, OH WAIT THE EP IS GOING TO CALL ME OUT FOR SAYING THAT.

Seriously though, this is very Dean MO, and I have thoughts about his mood in this ep and how Cas’s absence was felt, and what it means, I’ll get to that later, but even before the last scene Impala talk, I was thinking Cas is a reminder of pain--and no it’s not all about Dean’s anger at Cas, it’s not because Dean is angry at Cas. Cas is a reminder of some things Dean just isn’t coping with very well and part of the problem is Dean cares so much.

So Dean’s snacking and drinking and Sam is feeling the weight of them knowing all the scary things out there while people go on obliviously with their lives and I’m not sure if Sam is envying them or Sam is feeling some existential angst about the state of the world, how people can go about their lives unaware there are real monsters ready to pounce and tear their lives to shreds. And feeling the weight of the job they do in every bone of his body. Sam’s in a dark headspace.

Ok I admit I was not thrilled to see Becky again given her previous episodes and role. SPN’s later in-canon fan characters were much more nuanced and successful and respectful depictions of fans. But as with many other things, this era of SPN is revisiting some things to move them forward in a different way than before, and subvert some things that needed subverting and Becky has had--wait for it--character development. How about that.

Yes, Becky, run, you do not want anything to do with Chuck. Run, Becky run. I’m rooting for her now. RUNNNN.

Along with finding a more constructive way of channeling her interest in the Winchesters’ lives, and having a satisfying fandom creative life and a full life of her own, Becky has funko pops of Sam, Dean, and Cas. LOL. I see you spn.

Dean, still with the case of the munchies. So this is like the eating a whole pint of ice-cream after a break-up, only Dean does it with junk food while hunting vampires.

I enjoyed this conversation between Becky and Chuck about writing immensely. Becky is actually right. Speaking myself as someone who’s suffered from writers block for a while, it’s miserable, and not writing just perpetuates the cycle. You feel cut off from an important part of yourself. And--oh here we go getting meta within meta--I find writing meta on SPN a positive outlet.

“Writing is writing.” Damn Becky’s takedown of Chuck’s derisiveness about fanfic was sizzling and oh excuse me Chuck, what is it you think you were doing with those Supernatural books about your favorite story. Even though he’s the creator, I know. But still. Also seems to be a sly comment on how male-authored “fanfic” based on someone else’s characters or historical characters gets to be professionally published novels and nobody wants to admit it’s fanfic but it is, but women write fanfic and women write novels based on someone else’s characters or historical figures and it gets derided.

Did not expect commentary celebrating the creativity and validity of fanwork of women in particular an episode of SPN, especially not with Becky of all people, but here we are.

Uhhhh is Chuck writing this episode, as it happens? I am seriously uneasy now. What is going on. What is real. Which is what I think Dean is going through because of Chuck and OUCH the Winchesters think they’re free but they’re not but also they are their own people and Chuck isn’t controlling them but it’s like he’s still making the framework?? Or would this case just be happening on his own and Perez is just messing with our heads in this script right now.

Oh damn because this ep wasn’t sadness enough now here we go with the Jack parallels. “I can’t control this.” “I’m a monster.” “I killed someone I love.” Parents doing anything to save their out of control teenage kid or does he need to be killed, so the parents are Cas, while Sam and Dean are Dean.

Interesting that Dean lowered the gun and didn’t kill Jack, but tells Sam they would do that for Jack if it was necessary. You didn’t, though, Dean. You couldn’t go through with it any more than those distressed parents of the vampire teen.

Becky is voicing various non-dire fan complaints here, every lane of the fandom is being gently called out right now. Hahaha including lack of Cas mentions in an ep that pointedly is not!Mentioning Cas because it’s not a mistake there’s actually reasons for that which is just lampshading how much Dean is pointedly Not Going to Talk About Cas.

“Where they sit around doing laundry and talk” -- again every lane of the fandom should feel very called out right now. Seriously, fandom lanes that hate each other’s guts all have that common factor of craving more domesticity, and would like to see the laundry ep of SPN and for many, it has better include Cas, or we’re working through our need for this via fanfics or fanart. Even Jared and Jensen have expressed interest in a “Winchesters do the laundry” kind of episode.

But here’s the thing--here’s the thing about SPN...it depicts domesticity. In small bits of pieces. Even in this ep there’s domesticity. SO HA. It’s not that SPN is against depictions of domesticity, it’s definitely in the toolset of its storytelling, to give the characters more layers, to make their lives seem more real, but there needs to be mostly an action plot because that’s the genre so they mostly kill monsters and we only get nibbles of domesticity.

Becky and Chuck arguing about Chuck’s incredibly dark story ending, after Becky criticized him for the story not having enough bite, was so interesting. While the episode’s dark story ending was actually quite well done IMO and not overdone and yes it’s bleak but it’s supposed to be. So it’s not that sad is always terrible writing, no. It isn’t. But its overuse has been a raging hot topic in spn fandom for years and SPN is a hopeful narrative as well as a bleak one. Overuse of loss of hope and misery can hurt the story, causes a number of fans to become desensitized and lose their emotional engagement for it (which has happened to be at a couple of points in SPN’s long run). So that conversation interested me a great deal, yes it did.

So.....SPN had its current biggest of the biggest of ultimate big bads, the ultimate power God himself, the author, and made him the enthusiast for overuse of the misery pr0n like that’s the only smart way to tell a story. The season’s big bad villain is a misery porn enthusiast.

I’m just gonna....sit here and absorb that for a moment.

Oh and this while all the PR for the show keeps warning us about how sad this story is and how bleak the ending will be, not a happy ending show. Are they warning us? Are they trolling us and misdirecting? Because they made their villain a misery pr0n fanboy and this intelligent, self-aware positive depiction of Becky the fan taking him to task for it.

I feel like could be headed for every story needs its darkness and its light, you need the darkness to appreciate the light, and you need some light or the story is less meaningful. We’ll see.

“I’m a writer,” says Chuck and then takes away everyone Becky loves and then unmakes Becky. This is a purposeful depiction of a writer creator as a sadist. It’s a diabolical reversal on the Stephen King’s Misery scenario. Becky played the deranged fangirl in the past, who kidnaps an object of obsession, now she’s the victim of the deranged sadistic writer who breaks into her home, destroys her life, and then effectively kills her because of his own obsession with making Sam and Dean wretchedly miserable because he thinks that’s the only way to make the story exciting.

*blinks*

In the last scene, oh thanks Sam, for vocalizing the Jack connection.

Hey Dean, that’s really a nice speech and yes Sam did give you a great pep talk but Sam wasn’t the only one who told you what you did still has meaning. This is like 15.01 where Dean is pointedly erasing Cas again despite Cas very obviously having done something Dean refuses to acknowledge. In 15.01 it was Dean leaving Cas out of his us vs the forces of evil speech to Sam, despite Cas having spent most of the ep shooting ghosts in the face and saving Sam’s life twice. Sam and Cas both have given Dean pep talks about the meaning of what they do but only Sam pulled Dean out of it...uhhh yeah that’s not writer error or canon ignoring Cas. That’s Dean trying to push Cas out of his mind. Something there hurts so much Dean isn’t dealing with it right now.

As I said, as I’ve been saying, it’s not so much that Dean is that angry at Cas. It’s not just about Mary. Or about Cas keeping things from him. Although those are all valid reasons for Dean’s hurt and anger. Dean seems to be afraid or hurt over more than that. And his love for Cas, IMO, is part of why this is weighing so heavily. What does he fear. I think it’s connected to the whole existential crisis about Chuck. What if none of this is real. I’ve talked about that in other posts, if none of this is real, if Dean still doubts, then what if what’s between him and Cas isn’t real, what if Cas doesn’t really care about him because none of it real.

Dean valiantly puts a brave face on things here, they keep going, they keep fighting for the sake of those they lost, no matter what, “keep putting one foot in front of the other.” Which makes sense. That’s how you honor those you’ve lost. It’s just that I don’t think Dean has really reached that. He is Not Dealing with an awful lot of stuff here. And we have seen again and again how hard Dean reels from losing loved ones. So what’s going on with Dean here. This is a healthy concept, but not if Dean is just whistling past the graveyard again. This might look like character development except look at what’s been going on with Dean. How deeply losing Mary, losing Jack affected him. The impact of those losses needs to be acknowledged and dealt with in order to truly move on and move forward. It’s like Dean is voicing a healthy outlook but isn’t actually experiencing it. I think Dean is posturing because if he lets all the hurt it right now, it will devour him.

There’s also the part where Sam and Dean have in the past displayed a lack of ability to just keep on keeping on if they lose each other, so they used to sell their souls, or violate the other one’s wishes and autonomy, or let the darkness free, but we’ve also seen them let each other go, and “keep putting one foot in front of the other.” Sam and Dean have done both ways with each other. Dean didn’t exactly just keep on keeping on no problem when Cas died at the end of S12.

Sam voices the other side of things, he can’t just move on right now. He’s feeling all the losses. They’ve piled up and piled up and it’s crushing him. Sam says he "can’t breathe” at times. He brings up Jessica, a loss he suffered 14 years ago.

So Sam and Dean are airing the two aspects of loss and grief on SPN. One the one hand, you don’t just give up and quit because of loss. Honor who you’ve lost and keep on fighting. But losses are deeply felt, and it’s not all okay either. Sam and Dean don’t just shrug off these losses because they have each other. That’s not how this works. They need more than just each other and SPN is increasingly having more and more open dialogue about all of this.

S15 so far has been so much about the impact losing people they love has on Sam and Dean, and why their isolation isn’t a good thing.

And there’s Chuck, the big bad, typing away to add more misery. Because Chuck gets off on giving them loved ones and taking them away, over and over and this isn’t presented as a good thing or a satisfying thing or a desirable thing or a celebration of anything.

#Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Chuck Shurley #Becky Rosen #spn #supernatural #supernatural spoilers #meta #Sam and Dean: a work in progress #Destiel #Team Free Will #Jack Kline #Castiel

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my-miraculous-headcanons · 5 years

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Heres some heacanons for the pv (what the show should have been personally): the thing that seperates brigettes timeline from marinettes is in the pv timeline its brigettes mom who is ill and not felix's leading to felix being more loved and secluded and brigette missinf mom and distant making her develop seperation anxiety and a fear of lonliness(hence the clinginess)

Personally, I don’t care as much for the PV as I care for the original starting concept of everything, when Marinette was named Marietta, had more of a straight cut to her pigtails, and was known as the Mini Menace Ladybug.

I’m also… not the biggest fan of Felix or Marinette’s personalities in the PV. The darker themes were great, I loved everything from a design point of view, as well as the other characters, Alan, Claude, and Allegra, but I don’t think I would have been able to stand the show with a love square like that. It would have been infuriating. Regardless of the reasonings behind their personalities, Felix and Marinette’s behaviour in the PV really rubbed me wrong.

If I were to personally change the show to fit something more to my liking, using the first concepts and the PV as inspiration, I would have changed a LOT more than simply whose parents were more unfortunate.

Let’s start with Marinette:

Okay, to start off… I LOVE this version of Marinette. I love her hairstyle and ribbons a whole lot more than canon Marinette. I love her civilian clothing, and I love the much more menacing look that she has when she’s Ladybug, using a mask with white covering over her eyes. I also love the fact that’s she’s older.

And I can’t say enough how much I love that her suit’s not just magicked on. (Don’t get me wrong, I love the magic of the whole show, but I also really love when magic doesn’t do everything for you. Yeah, here’s a magical indestructible super suit, but you’re gonna have to put it on and take it off yourself!)

THIS Marinette, who was previously named Marietta, is cunning, daring, stealthy, and efficient. She still has all of my favourite qualities that Current Marinette has, being smart, creative, and strategic. But there’s a lot of differences; Concept Marinette clearly isn’t a goody-two-shoes, for one.

LOOK at this intense look in her eyes. Those are the eyes of someone on a fucking mission. Those are the eyes of someone who isn’t going to let anyone stop her, no matter what. If that means being a wanted criminal and having to avoid the police at every turn, then so be it.

This is a Marinette who’s combined with not only the cute and quirky Marinette we have currently, not only the stern focus we have in Ladybug currently, but ALSO with the TOTAL BADASSERY that was unfortunately cut out altogether in the final production. This Marinette is cute, focused, and sly. And clearly not afraid to hurt anyone, if the state of that officer is anything to go by.

This Marinette never had troubles making friends. She’s ALREADY confident and outgoing. This wasn’t the kind of girl who would sit quietly in class and never make meaningful relationships with her classmates. This is the kind of girl who didn’t NEED magical jewelry to shine. Instead, the magical jewelry found her BECAUSE she shined so brightly.

I mean, seriously, look at this. I don’t know about you, but this isn’t the kind of ballsy attitude you get just because some new kid gave you a pep talk. Clearly she was already born with it, and is assured of her capabilities. This is the confidence of someone who’s BEEN confident for a very long time.

This is the Marinette I’m dying for. This is the kind of main character I would be utterly entranced by. It doesn’t need to sacrifice all the other quirks that we have with Current Marinette, all it does it adds on to her and makes her the type of hero I would have followed to the DEATH as a kid.

This is the Marinette who still designs, who still bakes, who still gardens, who still probably does that adorable butt wiggle thing when she’s excited, who still squeals in delight and still makes handmade gifts for her friends.

And this is ALSO a Marinette who’s broken the law on multiple occasions, will expertly kick your ass in the name of good, super suit or not, is probably BOTH a bad influence and a good influence on the people around her, has powered on and made more connections in the fashion world than other teenagers her age would have had the guts to do, and doesn’t solely use her powers in the face of other magical happenstances. This girl will use her powers on regular old drunkards if the situation calls for it. She has NO mercy, and is perfectly fine on her own.

Of course, she isn’t alone, is she?

The Mini Menace: Ladybug is partnered with another Mini Menace, and his name would be Chat Noir:

Now, don’t get me wrong, as much as I love the Mini Menace concepts of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Beanie Boy here isn’t my favourite concept of catboy.

Believe it or not, my favourite concept art of Chat Noir is the one that’s a good mixture between both Felix and Adrien. A combination of Adrien’s general friendliness, awkwardness, and genuine playfulness, while still having Felix’s emotional distance, willingness to be a little mean-spirited at times, and the capacity to be deceitful.

THIS is my Chat Noir. He’s full of genuine expression that is in no way a façade to win Ladybug over, bright and silly and mischievous. This is a boy who would probably laugh at someone who slipped on a banana peel, but would still get up to help that person back onto their feet, still laughing the entire time. This is also a boy who would make light jokes and tell dramatic stories to make you FEEL as though you’re close friends, even though he hasn’t told you a single thing about himself.

This is a person who knows how to be completely distant while masquerading as an open book.

And I need to add, I LOVE this concept of Adrien, which seems to place somewhere in the beginning when they were transitioning from Felix to Adrien as a character. This Adrien is amicable, smiling in in the company of another friendly face, and has an open expression. This seriously does NOT look like someone who dances around in a skintight leather catsuit at night, breaking the law and provoking policemen. And that’s what makes it brilliant to me.

The ONLY thing that seems similar between Chat Noir and Adrien is that they both manage to stay emotionally distant while putting up the mask of someone who isn’t. The brilliance of this is that they do it in completely different ways.

Current Chat Noir’s openness isn’t a joke, as far as we’re concerned. Current Chat Noir is TRYING to be as open as possible, his attitude is how he really want to be. Concept Chat Noir is different, instead USING that goofy attitude as a shield. He’s still Adrien, but part Felix as well, very attached to their protective bubble and not willing to slip out their cover.

Speaking of Felix, we should dive more into how we connect Felix and Adrien’s vastly different personalities.

To put it simply, Felix is kind of a jerk. And Adrien… isn’t. Felix doesn’t let anybody force him to do anything and will outright tell you to get lost. Adrien’s kind of a doormat and would sooner sacrifice his personal comfort for the sake of other people around him.

Felix is willing to use his bad luck abilities to purposely hurt a girl who has a crush on him simply because she’s walking towards him. Adrien’s the kind of guy who would stand still and let any girl who likes him cling to him like a leech, whether he’s uncomfortable or not. How could you possibly mix those two personalities together?

Well… pretty easily, honestly.

Felix acts out and does pretty mean-spirited things when he’s annoyed or just doesn’t want to deal with things. He’s selfish and cares little for what other people think of him. Adrien does, though. He cares about what other people think, his father especially, and wants people to like him.

This Concept Adrien is still going to be selfish and do mean-spirited things from time to time. He’d probably make use of his misfortune abilities by ruining the days of people who are just plain rude, taking great joy in their misery. That kid from earlier who made some gross comment about girls? Use a little misfortune to tangle his shoelaces together and make him late for class. That teacher who for some reason takes pride in failing his class? Gets his tie stuck in a paper shredder, wonder how that happened. Someone laughs at his use of a cane? I hope you like spraining your ankle and having to use crutches for a little while.

Concept Adrien still really cares about making good impressions to people who deserve it, however, and would refrain from pulling pranks or using his misfortune on those people. Marinette is on that list. She’s probably at the top of the list, honestly. Class president, super popular, probably the most sweetest girl in school, and strong enough to protect all her friends with raw strength alone? Yeah, definitely someone he wants to make a good first impression with.

Concept Adrien is a good person with some gray areas. He might enjoy other peoples’ pain too much, at times, and some of his ‘pranks’ can go a little overboard. His reasoning for helping Ladybug here and there will probably be for personal gain, rather than out of the goodness of his heart, and they won’t be very close to each other. Concept Adrien can be a little manipulative when he wants to be and can trick people into telling him the information he wants to know.

And yet, Concept Adrien is still firmly on the Good Human Being side of the scale. If he hears someone on the city streets in need of true help, he’ll be there. While he remains distant, afraid to tell too much about himself, he still very deeply cares about his friends and will be there for them when he’s needed. And while he has the power of pure destruction and misfortune at his fingertips, he never uses it for anything extreme.

Speaking of powers…

Chat Noir having added powers like this excite me. And I’m really excited by the fact that he’s seemingly capable of calling upon these powers outside of the magic suit— it gives credence to my theory that the original concepts were that Marinette and Adrien are CONSTANTLY infused with magical power. It doesn’t only ever exist when they change into the super suits. All that strength, agility, and their magical powers are well within their capabilities at all times.

I love that Chat Noir’s powers are more diverse. He has more up his sleeve than a simple Cataclysm, like how Ladybug has more than just the Lucky Charm. Ladybug’s also capable of literally restoring any damage caused by another Miraculous.

And, speaking of abilities and Ladybug, let’s dive onto her side now.

This Ladybug doesn’t have new magical powers necessarily like Chat Noir does, but what she DOES have is an entire arsenal of different weapons, all in one yoyo.

This absolutely feels like something more inline with the Ladybug Miraculous, considering it’s literally all about good luck and creation. It makes absolute sense that she should be able to imagine whatever weapon she wants and have it mimicked through her yoyo. Bombs, swords, staffs, and even a shield that’s probably capable of cutting through things like butter. It also falls in line with Concept Marinette’s personality. She’s willing to go to extreme lengths to accomplish her goal, so in comparison to Current Marinette, Concept Marinette would likely think of a whole host of different weapons to help her out.

I mean… remember that scene in Malediktator where Ladybug’s Lucky Charm was a fucking. machine gun. You remember how she just picked the laser pointer off it and threw the gun away? Yeah. Concept Marinette would not have done that.

You guys can probably tell what the common theme of the concept universe at this point is. Darker, more violent, more morally grey, and full of much more weapons, powers, and villains unrelated to magical influence.

There’s SO MUCH more I want to get into, I’m justing dying to delve more into Concept Hawkmoth/Gabriel, the kwamis, Concept Origins, Concept Love Square, Concept Fu, Concept Plot, etc, etc. But at this point the post has run on for much too long. This took me long enough that I had to stop for the night and fall asleep. I’ll expand more if anybody asks, I suppose.

#Maximilian Speaks #answered #anonymous #Original Concepts AU #Miraculous Ladybug #ML #Pre Production Concepts AU #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Marietta Dupain-Cheng #Marinette Dupain Cheng #Adrien Agreste #Ladybug #Chat Noir #Mini Menace #long post #Love Square

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wetalkinboutbooks · 5 years

Text

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Summary: People lived because she killed.

People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine. (Taken from Goodreads)

Our Ratings:

→ Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

→ Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: We Hunt the Flame is a rich Arabia inspired fantasy with characters that you easily fall for (like the two of us with Altair lmao). Personally, we wouldn’t classify the romance as an insta-love, it’s more of an insta-annoyance and gradual build up to feelings. The story keeps you on your toes and Hafsah does an amazing job at tying in different plot points together. Also, it’s got that amazing unlikely group of friends trope :’) SO if you haven’t already, check out this book we highly recommend it!

Spoiler-Full Discussion Below...

The Good:

→ The Premise and Characters

Kae: So we start off with Zafira hunting in the Arz, a forest that is full of darkness. Once you go into the Arz, there is no coming out. But our girl Zafira is a baddie and she can travel the Arz without much trouble. She can always find her way out. She hunts in the Arz for her village because it is an icy, barren land and it is their main source of food. The thing is, Zafira is a woman so no one can ever find out she is the famed Hunter of the Arz, or she’ll probs get like, banished. But her two best friends, Yasmine and Deen, know her secret and keep it safe. Along with her sister and bedridden mother. Zafira has acquired this wonderful hunting skill from her father, who taught her everything she knew so she could fend for herself and well… Those skills came in hand because he got lost in the Arz one day, kind of went crazy, stumbled out, then tried to kill his family. So Zafira’s mother did what she had to do and killed him to save her daughters. She (Zafira’s mother) has been plagued by nightmares since.

Geena: Kae outlined the premise of Zafira’s story really well! On the other hand we have Nasir, the crown prince of Arawiya and one of the most feared assassins across the caliphates. He’s also hated by literally everyone in his life… especially his dad. Nasir was raised (See: forced) into becoming the Sultan’s weapon, killing anyone that dared to oppose him. We find out that Nasir’s mom, the Sultana, died ~mysteriously~ when he was young and after that his dad went batshit crazy essentially. Nasir does everything as a means to get his dad’s love and approval (even though he likes to pretend that he’s just doing shit just because ‘i have no life so might as well kill’). Nasir ends up falling for some servant girl, who’s tongue the Sultan serves to him in a golden box. After that he is very angsty like, “I can’t love anyone :( ” Or so he thinks.

Kae: Then we have our secondary characters. Like, the ‘friends we made a long the way’ characters who all def were trying to kill one another but it’s cool now ‘cause they love each other :)

Geena: The magical artifact was the magic of friendship :’)

Kae: LMAO YES. So we have Kifah, she is from Pelusia and she is a badass legendary warrior who is fast as lightniiiing, WILL ABSOLUTELY kick your ass with a staff (she won’t hesitate, BITCH) and she’s also really pretty and tall and she brings her own snacks and seasoning. I can relate because I too, bring seasoning and snacks when I know they will be needed. Kifah is funny, sarcastic, and one of the few people that has a witty retort to Altair and his tomfoolery. She also has a thing for Altair.

Altair, we love him! He’s a big buff boi with pretty eyes and a dazzling smile. He also makes a lot of dick jokes and is an absolute CHILD. But we love him for it and so does Kifah. They have the hots for each other. My boi doesn’t have good aim and he killed his homie on accident but we’ll get to that later. He is the #1 general in Ghameq’s (Nasir’s father) army and is ordered to tag along with Nasir on this unintentional road to friendship. He is the sunshine in Nasir’s life and Nasir HATES IT BECAUSE HE’S AN EMO BOI.

Geena: ALTAIR IS THE SUN TO NASIR’S MOON HONESTLY. ALSOO, we got our two best boys that unfortunately didn’t make it to the end :/ Deen, aka the boy that loved Zafira enough to go on an impossible quest with her and then die for her too. He’s Yasmine’s older brother and an absolute sweetheart who wears his emotions on his sleeve when around Zafira. In a way, he was Zafira’s first boyfriend who she didn’t love romantically. Deen proposes to her and she’s like *radio silence*. I DIED AT THAT KAE…. SHE WAS LIKE “NO COMMENT”

Kae: RADIO SILENCE LMAOO SHE WAS. She pulled a, “okay but like the arz tho…”

Geena: But yea! Deen literally dies in the first few chapters because of Altair’s shit aim…. No one ever hand him another bow and arrow again plz. So like I’m thinking Hafsah made him super sweet the first few chapters just so we would be devastated when he died like 5 chapters later or something.

We also have our wise old Safin (essentially an immortal Elf but like cooler) Benyamin, who is centuries old and a book nerd (relatable). He and Kifah join Nasir, Altair, and Zafira later on in their quest, and he seems to know a lot more than he lets one. We learn that Benyamin is the living embodiment of that one meme “Baby jordans, never worn - for sale” bc of his baby that didn’t make it :/. He wants the whole crew to be like a little family so bad that he enforces the word “zumra” aka gang on them and overall he was sly but sweet nonetheless and he too…. Kicked the can… all for the zumra :’(

→ The Ride or Die Relationships

Geena: One thing that Hafsah Faizal writes really well is the friendships between Zafira and the small crew that knows that she’s actually the Hunter that’s been keeping them fed for years. Zafira’s absolute best friend, Yasmine, supports Zafira in all her decisions EXCEPT for the decisions where Zafira parades as a man. Deen I suppose is the same as Yasmine, except he’s less snarky. It’s canon that Zafira would lay down her life for Yasmine, and not to sound like a weirdo but Zafira was wildly jealous when Yasmine got married to Misk... like “ugh now I have to share my bestie with a man??” only explanation is that Zafira is bi confirmed. Also, where we had Zafira ready to die for Yasmine, we also have Deen ready to die for Zafira (and he does...😭). IDK how Deen was hot, smart, sweet, and everything in between and he still died. Hafsah gave us the perfect man and was like “yeea FUCK that, the only love interest will be leech-scars sad boy.” ANYWAYS, The Zafira-Yasmine-Deen triangle is a whole “I would die for you” thing, whereas Yasmine is more of a “I would kill for you” and I think that’s beautiful :’)

Kae: Alrighty, so we also have the relationship between Altair and Nasir. They aren’t as close as Zafira, Deen, and Yasmine. At all. But they kind of have this “if it were not for the laws of this land, I would kill you” thing between them and it’s hilarious. Nasir is constantly like, “I can and will kill you, you bastard brute of a man” and Altair is like “do it bitch, I dare you” and Nasir tears up and stomps away like a brat. But as this journey continues, Nasir gets a newfound respect for Altair because he soon learns Altair isn’t a dumb brute at all and is actually pretty bright. Did we mention they’re brothers? Yeah, that’s a thing. But Nasir doesn’t learn this until the end of the story. Did Altair know the whole time? Yes. Did he swear to their mother to protect him? That as heavily implied so also yes. SO now Nasir is like, “oh noooo, I wanted to kill my brother and was also ORDERED BY MY BITCHASS DADDY TO KILL HIM” then boom goes the dynamite and Nasir finds that he can be a good boi. ANYWAYS WE LOVE ALTAIR IN THIS HOUSE.

Geena: OKAY SINCE KAE MENTIONED IT, AND THE WHOLE ALTAIR-NASIR THING. See since I have poor reading comprehension, I didn’t realize that Altair had promised to protect Nasir. SO THIS BRINGS ABOUT THE QUESTION of the servant girl, Kulsum, that Nasir realizes is working for Altair. The same girl that appeared around the time Nasir’s mom “died”, so does that mean Altair had sent her to help console his brother 👀 Does Altair feel partly responsible for the Sultan tearing out Kulsum’s tongue?? If so… both Altair and Nasir need mad therapy

The Bad:

→ The Sea Monster

Kae: So, this isn’t inherently bad and we honestly have nothing bad to say about the book, let’s get that straight. But we wanted to mention it because it was eh. So we have a sea monster scene when Altair and Nasir are on their way to the island. It’s from an old folktale they’d heard growing up, that sea monsters lurked in the sea. They end up running into a sea monster and it is blind and attacking their ship. It is following them by sound so they eventually realize they need to shut the hell up. But then there is our wonderful golden buff boy, Altair. He starts singing, taunting the sea monster and Nasir is like “BOY IF U DONT-” but then his singing kills it. Apparently, the monster hates music and song? So there’s that. It as a very quick scene and I kind of wish I was longer and more dangerous. I wanted some bloodshed! Maybe a sunken ship! But it was still okay.

Geena: Kae said everything that had to be said about that scene. And I agree, it was cool to have a monster from the author’s folklore, but at the same time, it didn’t really add much to the story other than the fact that Altair knows how to sing (whether he can sing well is a different story).

The Ugly...Crying:

→ The Lion and The Sultan

Geena: This is going to be very cliche but the ugliest thing in this book was the Sultan, our main villain, who is later revealed to be controlled by the Lion aka some ancient ifrit-safin hybrid dude that was the cause of all of Arawiya’s problems. First off, we find out near the end that the Sultan is possessed by the Lion because Nasir’s mom had a big swig of dumbass juice and gave the Sultan a pendant from the place where the Lion was imprisoned. So, following his mother’s “Death” Nasir watches the Sultan’s descent into a sort of madness and suffers under his dad’s abuse. The Lion is also Nasir’s Mom’s Ex so you can imagine what kind of shitshow that was. The Lion is also coincidentally Altair’s dad, and I’m guessing the Lion was like “fuck them kids” because he wanted Nasir to murder Altair... his only son :/ ANYWAYS, the Lion is a terrible dad 0/10 should ever have kids.

ALSOOO THIS BITCH WAS OUT HERE CONTROLLING ZAFIRA HALF HER LIFE??? And was instrumental in her dad’s death, since he’s the embodiment of dark magic -- which makes up the Arz (evil forest) -- we learn that the Lion coaxed Zafia’s dad into entering the forest and essentially turning him mad, which lead to her mom killing him. AND IN A WAY, he can control Zafira?? Or at least get into her head.

Kae: Geena said everything perfectly. The Lion is a skank bitch and we HATE HIM. But if we hate him, that means he was written really well so HELL YEAH HAFSAH. Now to the Sultan. The Sultan, like Geena said, is possessed by the Lion. And upon learning that in the book, I kind of felt bad for him and Nasir. Nasir remembers when his father was kind and loved him. He has watched the decline of the Sultan and this drastic change from kind to 100% evil as fuuuck. The Sultan has no control over this and Nasir just wants to please his father to get that love back from him. He sees small flashes of the man the Sultan used to be, but they are very quick and sometimes he almost misses it. The real Sultan is stomped out by the Lion whenever he peeks through.

Geena: Like can the sultan see the shit that the lion is doing? BRO THAT WOULD BE TORTURE! Oh my god, when they finally break the spell on him there are going to be so many tears between Nasir and his dad.

Kae: YOO WHAT IF IT’S LIKE HE CAN SEE EVERYTHING OUT OF HIS OWN EYES BUT CAN’T CONTROL IT? DUDE NOW IM EXTRAAA SAD.

Geena: What’s sadder than all that? THE FACT THAT OUR FAVOURITE HIMBO, ALTAIR, GOT LEFT BEHIND. At the height of the action as Nasir and the surviving zumra are escaping we find out that Altair never makes it to their escape ship…. Even though it was Altair’s powers that helped them escape. And then we find out that he’s stuck in the Lion’s lair…. Thinking that no one cared to look for him… scuse me while I weep…. Hafsah didn’t have to do him like that 😭

Kae: OKAY MOOD. YOU SAID IT PERFECTLY. And like, she wrote that part so well. Because you know how sometimes the reader knows something the characters don’t? Like, NONE OF US, THE READER OR THE CHARACTERS realized Altair was left behind until Hafsah mentioned it. It was heart-shattering. And everyone is instantly like “shit shit shit shit we fucked UP. We have to go back.” But they can’t go back. So everyone in this feels horrible. Altair feels horrible because he thinks his friends (and beautiful warrior crush) have left him behind. Nasir feels horrible because he left his brother. And the rest of the zumra because they left their friend. Also, the reader, because we see how all this shit went down. It’s just a whole roller coaster of emotions and ALTAIR IS LOVELY AND WE WANT HIM BACK. But this also leaves potential for him to switch sides and join his evil father. It’s totally a possibility and we do NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO OUR FAVE. OUR HABIBI (because he calls Nasir that and Nasir, the brooding death prince hates that) HAS TO COME BACK SAFE AND UNHARMED... fin

Conclusion

Geena: That concludes our review, we didn’t really touch on the romance and so on but it’s how you say… a slow burn? Also, we had so many thoughts about the characters because they’re all soo interesting and have their own stories that we LOVED. Hafsah did a great job at world-building and introducing her individual characters gradually, she didn’t just slap us with like six characters at once and call it a day. AND HER PLOT TWISTS??? POETIC CINEMA… As a self-proclaimed dunce, I did not see half of them coming, every single thing I thought would happen didn’t happen. For example, I thought that Benyamin was Altair’s dad at some point. Overall, this is a great Arabia inspired fantasy with engaging characters and a fast-paced plot that keeps you guessing what’ll happen next. I give it 9/10 (-1 for Altair’s suffering).

Kae: Ngl I totally forgot about the romance. “It means nothing” GAH THE FOOL. BUT YES. I can’t believe we forgot the romance and their collar bone touching. Also the inevitable ‘omg I just caught you coming out of the bath and now I see your scars oooo’ and honestly tho mood because I wouldn’t avert my eyes either. ANYWAY, the world-building is beautifully written as were the characters. Geena is right. Everyone has their own stories and the time was taken out to tell each one. None of the characters were dumbed down and neither were their backstories. They all had their own personalities and interests and quirks. The fantasy, the magic, and the history was rich. There was never a boring moment. I give it a 10/10 because I was super entertained and the slowburn was to die for. BUUUT. I’m still SICK that Deen was killed off five minutes into the adventure because I would’ve loved to see him giving Nasir the ~death glare~ whenever he looked at Zafira ASJDADKLJK.

Geena: IM CRYING, YES I AGREE 100% Wish we had gotten that good ol’ Deen-Nasir beef.

Kae: omg it would’ve been such a good beef because I feel like they would absolutely become friends at some point and HATE that they respect each other. WELP. THAT BE ALL, FOLKS. READ THIS BOOK CAUSE IT’S GOOD.

#We Hunt the Flame #Hafsah Faizal #book review #booklr

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