#i fell in love with her character at 16 and my past self is crying of happiness right now | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crhinge · 3 years

Text

Breaking Down The Classic Rom-Com

I feel like I haven’t written a fun post in a hot sec so lets talk about one of my favorite subjects: Rom Coms

According to wikipedia, a Rom Com, also known as Romantic Comedy, is “a subgenre of comedy and slice-of-life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles.” In the past, Romantic Comedies have also been called “Chick Flicks” but I think this is devaluing of both women and the romantic comedy genre.

The other day, I woke up to find that the most wholesome rom-com couple of all time reunited: Matty & Jenna (Aka Mark Ruffalo & Jennifer Garner). This got me thinking about the beauty of the Rom-Com and how unappreciated they can be. It has been years since we have seen a rom-com with the cultural impact of 13 Going on 30, and I would like to petition for more of them after a sad and painful year.

I can already hear the millions (in my head this blog is extremely popular) of comments “What about To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before?!?” “What about The Kissing Booth?!?” And too that I say, "Good Riddance!” If you’re rating your rom coms on a TATBILB scale, or even WORSE The Kissing booth, I feel sorry for you. Truly I do. So let's dive into the best Rom Coms of all time, but first...

What makes a Rom-Com good? Well let's start with a relatable as hell main character. I am talking a girl (sometimes guy), who has many flaws, but the audience can see themselves within her/him. Let's use Jenna Rink from 13 Going On 30 as an example. Well, she's literally a 13 year old in a 30 year olds body, but don’t we all still have a preteen hiding inside of all of us? She is 100% willing to be herself at every step, even if that means dancing thriller all alone. She touches on all of our insecurities, while teaching us how to break down our walls.

Rom-Coms also need characters to make realistic choices. This does not mean that the movie itself is realistic, but rather than you can understand the choices the characters make. Again, 13 going on 30 does a fabulous job of this. Obviously, Jenna traveling in time because of wishing powder is not realistic, but the choices that her and her past self make are. Due to the insecurities of her childhood and a need to feel included, relevant, and powerful Jenna pushes important people out of her life, which happens to so many people in the real world. These decisions force her to miss out on the love of her life, and ultimately, the story ends sadly: the love of her life marries someone else and she is left with tears, wishing powder, and an old doll house. That is until she is able to travel back in time and change the course of her life.

Lastly, Every classic Rom-Com couple needs to have chemistry. There. I said it. Hollywood loves just casting random famous actors without giving them a proper chemistry read. One great example of this is Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel in Safe Haven. Both fun, famous, Hollywood actors who have zero chemistry. Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner had more chemistry throwing back Razzles than those two did during an intimate sex scene.

Alright, now that we have broken down the requirements of a Romantic Comedy, let's jump into the best and worst of all time.

Best: When Harry Met Sally. 9/10. A classic. A tale as old as time. Both Sally & Harry are very flawed, yet relatable characters. Sally is too picky and particular, while Harry is a player. They both suck at relationships, but make rational decisions based on their motivations. We all have friends like these two and their chemistry is on point, both on a friendship and romantic level. They bounce off of one another splendidly.

Worst: Sleepless in Seattle. 1/10 I know, this is a strong take, but this is a terrible movie about a stalker. Meg Ryan (I don’t even remember her character's name) is the stupidest most unrelatable character I have seen in a long time. She is extremely unlovable, cheats on her SO emotionally, and flies across the country to stalk a man that she has never met before. And then you’re telling me that Tom hanks FALLS FOR HER? Nope. No. I refuse to except this. Plus, their chemistry in this is pretty mediocre (You’ve Got Mail is Way Better) and we only get to see them together once.

Best: 10 Things I Hate About You. 8/10. I was tempted to leave all high School Rom-Coms off this list, but Heath Ledger is my exception. Talk about likability. Kat is a strong, powerful, independent woman who learns how to be more vulnerable while still being a feminist badass. We all wanted to be Kat growing up. Meanwhile Heath Ledger is the classic bad boy with a soft side, and who wasn’’t into that? Both characters grow into new people throughout the movie making them relatable, complex, and realistic. Not to mention the angel that is Joseph Gordon Levitt, who keeps the audience up beat and smiling throughout the course of this Shakespeare tale

Best: My Big fat Greek Wedding. 10/10. Have you seen this film recently? Because it is an absolute DELIGHT and so relatable. It dives into the difficulty of family expectation and cultures merging. It also has the cutest proposal of all time with a realistic couple that fights for one another on a daily basis. You laugh. You cry. You get a dynamic cast with wonderful chemistry. You feel invested in the family and the relationship. Just a joyful wonderful film.

Worst: Something Borrowed. 0/10. If you’ve never seen this movie, don’t. Ginnifer Goodwin sleeps with her best friends fiancé and we’re supposed to be okay with it because she liked him first. Hard pass. And she ignores John Krazinski who is right in front of her. She is unlikable, unreliable, and makes dumb decisions that no one else would.

Best: He’s just not that into you. 9/10 I will go to bat for this movie. It follows several realistic storylines in a Love Actually manor, except they actual seem legit. A woman realizing her boyfriend is never going to marry her. A girl facing the fact that maybe some guys just aren’t that into her, and she isn’t an exception to the rule. A man slowly making the decision to cheat on his wife as they are growing apart. A woman realizing that she is worth way more than her bastard husband. A woman realizing that the person she’s sleeping with will never leave his wife for her. It's compelling, has realistic characters that we can relate to, and still warms your heart in the end.

Best: The Big Sick. 8/10. Okay to be fair, this is based on a true story so it automatically has realistic characters and decisions. Maybe I should leave this off of the list, but I wish this film got the recognition it deserves. Two lovable main characters who make mistakes that are understandable. Wonderful chemistry between Kumail and his girlfriend as well as her family.

Best: About Time. 11/10 This is hands down the best Rom-Com of all time and Potentially the best film of all time as well. If you don’t cry in this movie you do not have a heart or soul. The characters are SO insanely likable and adorable.It touches on the importance of family and valuing time and how little of it we have. The chemistry within the whole cast is palpable, and we can all relate to at least one character, whether it is the protagonist Tim, his wife Mary, his sister Kit-Kat, or his father.

Well it is important to point out the obvious here: this list is lacking diversity in a huge way. All but one of these movies follow a cis, straight, white couple, and that is extremely concerning. People have attempted to make more diverse rom-coms over the past few years, but they all seem to be lacking one of the three core components of what makes a rom-com great: Relatable, realistic, and great chemistry. For example. Crazy Rich Asians was a fantastic film, but the high level of wealth that Nick Young comes from, made his character difficult to relate to, and I’m sorry but the chemistry just wasn’t there for me. Always Be My Maybe’s characters fell flat and it’s not a film I would want to watch more than once. Love Simon made some huge waves for LGBTQ representation in the media, but that ending kiss was unrealistic along with his friends reaction to fining out he was lying, which left the movie anti-climactic by the end.

Now, the most recent film on this list was made in 2017. And before that 2013. So where have all the Rom Coms gone? Why don’t we see more of them. There are a few Rom Coms that could be contenders on the “Best” list from the last couple of years that include a small amount of diversity:

Yesterday 7/10. The big question here is does this count as a romantic comedy? The love story isn’t the main plot, but is definitely a large sub-plot. This movie features an interracial couple and is highly re-watchable. The main characters are entertaining, relatable, and have pretty good chemistry. We will see if it stands the test of time.

The Broken Hearts Gallery 7/10. This movie has gotten NO recognition. The main character, Lucy, is an extremely likable 20 something, not unlike our Ginnifer Goodwin in He’s Just not that Into You. The plot is fun and predictable but keeps you watching. I don’t know if this one will stay on my list long, but it’s definitely up there.

But here is my challenge to Hollywood: create some new, beautiful Rom Coms that celebrate diversity but that don’t throw away the relatable, realistic, and high chemistry characters that we are just waiting to fall in love with. It’s got like 16 ideas up my sleeve, so just give me a call Hollywood.

#rom com #romantic comedy #13 going on 30 #when harry met sally #sleepless in seattle #my big fat greek wedding #10 things i hate about you #something borrowed #he's just not that into you #the big sick #about time #yesterday #The broken hearts gallery

236 notes · View notes

fforsythiaaa · 4 years

Text

Sweater Weather Tarot

Y’all, never have I ever created fan art or anything... and I still haven’t. Because I can’t draw. But after @lumosinlove mentioned a Sweater Weather tarot deck, I had to cross over this amazing story (which you should 100% read immediately) with my only other creative talent -- reading tarot.

Click through for the Major Arcana as Sweater Weather. (Please, please, someone make my dreams come true and illustrate these.)

spoilers abound, read the fic first!!! 0 - The Fool - James The start of the tarot encourages us to think about the hopeful, confident feelings we have at the beginning of a journey. James is overly excited about welcoming Sirius to the team, about Lily’s pregnancy, then later about Coops and O’Knutzy. He’s a tad oblivious - the main caution that the fool gives us - but we all wish we had his optimism.

1 - The Magician - Dumo The magician is the one who sees all, knows all, and makes shit happen. Can you think of anyone who better represents creative problem-solving, using intuition to guide actions, charisma, power, benevolence? Daddy Pascal all the way.

2 - The High Priestess - Natalie Even though she’s a relatively minor character, it’s clear to everyone that Natalie knows exactly who she is and she acts like it. She’s a bad-ass who knows what she wants and gets it. That’s the high priestess - balancing our internal and external drives, goals, and motivations.

3 - The Empress - Lily I know, I know, put the pregnant lady on the card featuring.... a pregnant lady? The empress encourages us to embrace our compassion, empathy, and healing powers; she tells us to bring new things into the world, whether that’s literally small people or creative projects or new relationships. She’s so supportive of Loops, James, and Sirius that she deserves this (my favorite card!)

4 - The Emperor - The League Is is cheating to put a kind of abstract body here? The emperor represents the structures in our life that give us rules and regulations. Sometimes, that’s a good thing - we can all use a little routine and structure for stability. Sometimes it can feel oppressive. The League is responsible for bringing all our favorite characters together, but its power makes them feel scared of breaking the rules.

5 - The Hierophant - Minnie A hierophant is a religious leader; in the tarot, he taps into The Rules and uses them to provide guidance on the journey. Minnie, as Sirius’s agent, knows how to guide him along that traditional path as a star hockey player without too much damage to who he is inside. She’s going to work within the system to give the press some Brothers Black drama to distract other news, but she’s proud as hell when he snaps back at nosy reporters. She’s the best.

6 - The Lovers - Coops What did you expect??? In the Tarot, this card isn’t just about romantic relationships with others - it’s also about our relationship to ourselves. Sirius and Remus are both healing and building their relationships with their own identities throughout the course of their careers and lives in SW. Their growth together and individually is what makes them perfect for this card.

7 - The Chariot - Finn This card represents action, action, action - even if you’re not sure which direction that action is headed in. Finn dates June, kisses Leo, runs after Logan, shares their relationship with team... all of this to keep himself moving forward. Maybe it’s not a linear path, but he’s sure as hell skating running down it.

8 - Justice - the Blizzard Honestly I think this card is such a perfect pairing with the High Priestess. Justice asks us to think broadly about what is fair, to ourselves and to others. At Remus’s during All-Stars, Kasey sums up perfectly how Sirius's reaction wasn’t fair to anyone involved -- it’s a moment that really hit home for me what a stand-up guy he is!

9 - the Hermit - 36 Missed Calls It’s good to take time out to retreat and evaluate yourself, your life, your next steps. The hermit isn’t a “bad” card, by any means. But we can’t hide forever, and we have to choose when our self-reflection is going do the most good, for ourselves and for the ones around us.

10 - Wheel of Fortune - O’Knutzy The wheel reminds us that sometimes it’s best to go with the flow and trust that the right opportunities will present themselves at the right times. Sometimes you just gotta wait 8 years for your missing piece to show up, okay? I’m not crying.

11 - Strength - Sirius TW: coming out, being outed, abuse (mentions, not graphic) This card always gets me because the Waite-Smith illustration reminds us that strength doesn’t always look like we would assume. Sometimes it’s just surviving, just making it another day, even if you’re not doing the most “courageous” thing. It’s hard to not be out, it’s hard to come out, it’s hard to be outed. And it’s hard to experience abuse and hard to have abuse in your past. Sirius knows a thing or two about strength, okay, plus this card has a lion on it, so there you go.

12 - the Hanged Man - Leo Where the hermit retreats to do his self-reflection and thinking, the hanged man takes his time to reflect out in the open. His upside-down position represents considering that what’s expected of you might not serve you. The most observant guy on the team could teach us a thing or two about stepping back to step up.

13 - Death - Regulus Listen. LISTEN. Death is a great card to pull in the Tarot. It signifies the end of an old chapter and the beginning of a new one. When Regulus and Sirius cut off their mother and Reg agrees to come back to Gryffindor, he ends that chapter of the Black brothers’ lives, allowing a new one to start.

14 - Temperance - Arthur I’m 100% basing this on the snippet that Haz shared where Arthur tells everyone not to bring their relationship drama onto the ice. He’s clearly so happy, but there’s also a game to play and a cup to win. Balance, boys, everything in balance.

15 - the Devil - Paparazzi & Press Sure, we’re mad at the paps and want to characterize them as negatively as possible, but truthfully they’re more complicated. The paparazzi and the press represent the temptation of caring about what others think... it’s fine to care a little bit, but when you care to the point of sacrificing yourself and your own growth, you’ve given into a dangerous temptation.

16 - the Tower - Greyback, Walburga, and The Photo When everything falls apart in a spectacular mess, that’s the tower for ya. Greyback, Sirius’s mom, and the photo are the ones that set off the chain of obstacles that Sirius and Remus overcome in SW. Of course in hindsight we’re glad the tower fell so that we can build up a better one, but wow, did it have to suck so much? Like the death card, the tower also paves the way for new beginnings, but we can grieve the way it happened.

17 - the Star - Remus You thought it would be Sirius, didn’t you? Well the star is a “dreams come true” card, and Remus knows something about that. Even when his hockey career was ended before it began, he pivoted and created a new dream to go by; his dreams of love may have taken a back-burner, but now they’re coming truuuue <3 thanks for letting me be so corny

18 - the Moon - Logan The phases of the moon remind us that nothing is permanent. Even if there’s some mystery about what’s going to come next, our worries aren’t going to prevent the sun from rising. Logan was perhaps a little reticent to move from his “ignoring feelings” phase into “yay love amazing relationship” phase. He hid a little bit from himself and from Finn. But it’s all going to be great!

19 - the Sun - Julian & Adele We look to the sun for happiness, confidence, inspiring happiness in others -- the next generation is certainly a source of that. Hazelnuts love Julian and Adele because they represent how amazing life can be for our favorite Lions.

20 - Judgement - Hazel @lumosinlove She’s engineering the whole show. Us Hazelnuts can only wait with bated breath for her to bless us with the next chapters of Sweater Weather and Coast to Coast! 21 - the World - the Cup *knocks on wood* *throws salt over left shoulder* This card is the end of the journey in the Major Arcana and it’s achieving our goals - growth, love, stability, creativity, new knowledge, whatever your heart needs or desires. It’s not just about winning a championship for our characters.... it’s about living a complex and fulfilled life, with love, hockey, self-confidence, family, friends, and maybe a Cup, too. *knocks on wood again*

#sweater weather #lumosinlove #coops #o'knutzy #remus x sirius #sirius x remus #wolfstar #tarot #wolfstar tarot #fanfiction tarot #rider-waite #waite-smith #coast to coast #c2c #sw

194 notes · View notes

lady-charinette · 2 years

Text

I posted 9,953 times in 2021

153 posts created (2%)

9800 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 64.1 posts.

I added 5,942 tags in 2021

#miraculous ladybug - 1451 posts

#ml - 1238 posts

#adrien agreste - 565 posts

#ml spoilers - 483 posts

#chat noir - 448 posts

#miraculous - 423 posts

#art - 385 posts

#marinette dupaincheng - 383 posts

#luka couffaine - 288 posts

#ml art - 278 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#he actually bought it but stopped reading it after chapter 1 bc it was 'boring' and he couldnt understand why the female teacher wrote about

My Top Posts in 2021

More memes bc my brain is screaming

See the full post

288 notes • Posted 2021-11-19 16:15:20 GMT

On the bad days, when Adrien feels so overwhelmed and helpless and he hates himself and for what he is, Marinette is always there to catch him.

On a particularly bad day, all Adrien can do is fall to his knees and cry and hold onto Marinette like a lifeline, as if she was the only thing anchoring him to reality and keeping his sanity in check.

He would hate himself for not being better, not being good enough, not deserving of anything Marinette gives him, all her love and affection, her time and patience. Anything.

He deserved none of it.

And Marinette would kiss his tears away and smooth back his hair and say: "Did you ever notice how you love me?"

Adrien is confused, his head is pounding from crying, he doesn't know what she means.

So, Marinette shows him.

She shows him the little bulletin board he set up in the living room, with both his and her own schedules, important dates to remember or little day-to-day reminders.

"I'm often so forgetful when I have an ongoing project and that's the only thing I see for the next few weeks, I tended to forget to grab things for work, but you always post these reminders so I don't forget anything important."

Marinette moves to the kitchen, she opens the fridge. "You always pack me lunch and breakfast if I forget to eat in the morning. I never go hungry anymore at work thanks to your lunch boxes." She smiled so brilliantly, Adrien could've mistook her for the sun. "You learned to cook so many dishes, to balance me out, all I can do is bake, but you can cook better than Alya's mom."

Adrien felt giddiness fill his chest, a soothing warmth that always swelled up whenever Marinette complimented him.

Marinette walked over to Adrien and fell on her knees beside him, cradling his face like it was the most precious porcelain in the world. "You do chores a lot more than me, while I take naps during the day you make sure the house is clean and wash my clothes, you make sure to air out my work room so it isn't stuffy. You massage my feet and hands when I'm exhausted from work or bandage my fingers if I pick myself with the needles. You model my designs for me even after you had a long day at work and want nothing more than to sleep. You immediately go to the store if I crave something we don't have in the kitchen." Marinette's thumb brushed across her husband's cheek tenderly, wiping away the remainders of tears.

She kissed his forehead sweetly and Adrien sniffled, overwhelmed with emotion. "Whenever you do all these things for me, you never look tired at all. So let me do things for you too kitty, let me be there for you as you are to me. Let me love you like you love me too."

Fresh tears filled Adrien's eyes and he hugged his wife again, this time not out of his own self-loathing but his overwhelming love for her that threatened to consume him.

313 notes • Posted 2021-08-17 02:56:51 GMT

AU where Marinette and Adrien remember bits and pieces from Tikki and Plagg's memories about their lives and the past holders.

The problem is they can't place the memories and don't know if they happened in the past or present.

So, one day Ladybug asks Chat Noir:"...Did you accidentally cataclysm a church after they wanted to burn me at the stake?"

Chat Noir: "...They what"

477 notes • Posted 2021-10-28 14:53:27 GMT

Ep. "Truth" Spoilers without context:

502 notes • Posted 2021-04-03 13:25:41 GMT

Me @ every piece of media I consume:

1793 notes • Posted 2021-02-23 16:25:43 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

4 notes · View notes

crack--attack · 2 years

Text

I posted 7,992 times in 2021

21 posts created (0%)

7971 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 379.6 posts.

I added 82 tags in 2021

#destiel - 12 posts

#afghanistan - 12 posts

#supernatural - 10 posts

#my friends are talented - 9 posts

#felt - 8 posts

#spn - 8 posts

#debriel - 7 posts

#nandermo - 6 posts

#self re boopity snoop - 5 posts

#wwdits - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#stop defanging sam lmao he's so much more interesting when you take all his prickliness and callousness and sharpness into account

My Top Posts in 2021

Dean falling for Cas as a trans man and his struggles growing up with a father who said that men who like men aren't men at all are made worse bc as he falls for this angel he feels like he has to choose between Cas and his own identity as a man in the literal sense, and he was raised with a toxic view that love should always come first, and therefore falling for a man must inherently make him a woman so loving Cas means rejecting his own sense of self send tweet

28 notes • Posted 2021-05-24 06:36:23 GMT

Good morning all, I wrote a nandermo fic

Guillermo pauses, eyes wide. He tries to say something. He can’t.

“I killed a man because he made me angry. I have done this— many times.”

“That’s— that’s a mortal sin, you—“

“I do not wish to be absolved. I want to know why. Why do I feel this… this ache where my soul should be?”

Guillermo’s breath shakes as he exhales. The grate is thin, so thin that a determined man could crash through it and wrap hands around his neck, force the life out of him. “You feel guilt.”

“Why now? Why at all? Why— fuck-ing hell.” The last bit comes out as a pained gasp, and Guillermo can see the man’s head duck, his shoulders hunch. “Can we do this outside? It hurts in here.”

Read it here!

52 notes • Posted 2021-12-06 18:15:39 GMT

A dumb little doodle... for you...

66 notes • Posted 2021-12-02 16:17:32 GMT

Omg canon-compliant where Sam is dating some girl after the hell-ending of s15, and they're out on a date and the bartender brings them two drinks, one green one blue, and she laughs softly and says, "Cas and Dean."

Sam chokes on nothing, because he hasn't told her about his past yet, and he says "Excuse me?" She admits to being into the Supernatural books, talks about the hiatus until the final ones came out, and Sam is angry with Chuck for just a moment before realizing Chuck had to find a living somehow, and the girl says "It's a real shame, though. That ending made me cry." And Sam is about to say something about Dean dying being sad, yeah, but then she continues, "Dean never got to say it back."

And Sam is confused, because Dean never told him what happened, not really, and so he lies slyly, "What happened? I used to be really into those books, but I haven't read the final one yet."

And she says, "Well, you know how Dean fell in love with Castiel in Purgatory?" And no, no Sam did not know but she continues, "It turns out Castiel had loved him too, all these years, and he told Dean as much. There at the end. And because he was finally happy, admitting his feelings, the Empty took him before Dean could say he loved him back."

And oh, oh wasn't Sam an ass, oh how did he never realize--

"But I'm hoping for an epilogue," she says, "because I know Sam will bust Castiel out of the Empty. There's no way he won't."

And bust him out? Sam can't really do that. But maybe he can adjust Castiel a bit, not so much bust him out as... push him over to Heaven, instead.

Yeah, Sam thinks as he takes a sip of his blue lagoon, that's what I'll do.

The rest is up to Dean.

76 notes • Posted 2021-02-01 12:04:16 GMT

Here's your unfriendly reminder that Charlie Bradbury died on May 6, 2015, just 51 days before June 26, 2015... the day same-sex marriage was legalized in the US.

622 notes • Posted 2021-04-20 15:15:00 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #actually dying y'all I have no tagging system and never have

2 notes · View notes

shining-red-diamond · 3 years

Text

Ch. 22: Everyone We Love

Cast of Characters//Ch. 1//Ch. 2//Ch. 3//Ch. 4//Ch. 5//Ch. 6//Ch. 7//Ch. 8//Ch. 9//Ch. 10//Ch. 11//Ch. 12//Ch. 13//Ch. 14//Ch. 15//Ch. 16//Ch. 17//Ch. 18//Ch. 19//Ch. 20//Ch. 21//Ch. 22//Ch. 23//Ch. 24//Ch. 25//Ch. 26//Ch. 27//Ch. 28 (coming soon)

Words: 1.3k

Genre: Fluff, some angst

Pairing: OT8 x OCs

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of anxiousness and loss of family, medicine side effects, doubts of receiving love from others

Tears were dried off of Celestia’s face as she snuggled with the purring cat who was now given the name Byeol. Her nerves had calmed now that she knew her baby was alive, but she couldn’t help that she worried so much. Celestia had never been a nervous person up until the night she lost her family; and now, since being married and pregnant, she felt that she constantly worried about everything. It didn’t help that she still had nightmares at times.

“Will I be normal again?” she half sobbed as she met Byeol’s eyes.

San had gotten ready for bed and was turning off his light when he heard his wife make her comment. He scooted closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in a cuddle.

“You will,” he promised. “I know it’s been rough these past few days, but it’ll calm down soon.”

“I hope so,” Celestia sighed.

Byeol purred as she nuzzled her new owner’s pregnant belly.

“I guess you’re the baby until the actual baby comes, huh?”

San chuckled as he pet the cat. “She must really like you in order for you to snuggle her like that.”

“She won’t like me when I try to bathe her tomorrow.”

Celestia felt the baby kick, and Byeol immediately jumped off the bed to her little makeshift bed from two folded towels.

“I guess she didn’t quite know that Baby Choi is alive in there,” she sighed, but it was only a half-hearted laugh sort of sigh.

San focused all of his attention on his wife now. He had known her ever since they were children, so much so he knew exactly what her footsteps sounded like. Not even her nervousness could be hidden from him when she seemed to be near crying when her hands rubbed over the watermelon mound she had.

Immediately, he lifted her night shirt, exposing her pregnant tummy, and gently pressed his ear against it. His thumbs gently traced little hearts over each side.

“What are you doing?” Celestia giggled.

“I’m listening to the baby talking,” San shushed. They both knew the child didn’t speak in the womb, but San had his ways of comforting his wife when she was nervous.

“Can you show Mommy what a strong kick you’ve got?” San requested in a coo. “Please? If not Mommy, how about one for Daddy?” He then pressed soft kisses across his wife’s belly to sort of coax his daughter to respond.

One of the bedroom doors opened, and Dahae poked her head in.

“Oh, sorry,” she gasped. “I should have knocked.”

“It’s alright,” Celestia forgave her. “Do you need anything?”

“Just to use your bathroom,” Dahae shrugged as she bit her lip nervously.

“Is yours not working?”

“It is, but Joong’s got it occupied. He’s gonna be in there for the rest of the journey to Egypt, most likely.”

The couple then realized what happened: Hongjoong’s side effects had kicked in. As tough as the captain was, there were times where things were out of control.

“Go for it,” Celestia nodded.

Dahae dashed into the bathroom and shut the door without a second thought.

A few more kicks were felt, and San was pulled back to what he was doing. “What was thought?” he fake gasped as he “listened” to his daughter. “You want me to tell Mommy what? Oh, okay. I’ll tell her.”

He sat up, lifted his wife’s chin, and whispered, “She’s okay.” His hand rested over her belly.

“But the whole falling out of the sky,” Celestia whined as the memory of less than an hour ago flooded her mind again. “We were all spinning around so much, that the baby could’ve-”

“I know what would’ve happened, angel,” San interrupted her. “But we didn’t lose her. She’s alive and kicking within you as we speak. Yes, things could have gone way worse, but she’s okay. We’re okay.”

Celestia just laid down on her pillow. This wasn’t how she wanted her birthday to end, but she was happy that her child wasn’t hurt. She just hated that she felt so nervous and anxious in those situations, she didn’t know if she needed to see someone about it.

“I just don’t want to lose everyone I love the most, again,” she began to sob.

San’s heart broke hearing his wife make such a statement. Repositioning himself to snuggle against her, he kissed away her tears.

“You’re not going to lose any of us,” he swore with his whole heart. “Not me, not the baby, not even the crew. And I’m not gonna lose you.”

“I hate to interrupt,” Dahae’s voice chimed in as she returned from the bathroom, “but if you’d like, Celestia, I can bring you the doppler to have in here when you feel anxious. Listening to Baby’s heartbeat should help calm your nerves.”

Celestia nodded. “I’d like that. Thank you.”

As the HALA sailed through the night sky, the crew eventually settled in for the night, even though it wasn’t their regular routines for a few members. Hongjoong was still self-isolated in the bathroom with Dahae leaving him some water on his nightstand before she went to sleep. Celestia and San listened to their unborn baby’s heartbeat, and Yeosang and Phoebe visited with her cousin and grandparents over the phone as her grandfather was healing.

Wooyoung and Dinah, however, did their regular routine of talking and giggling about random things before they fell asleep as children would at a sleepover, their bedsheets keeping them warm. Their conversations would range from serious topics as saving various animals to goofy subjects such as which coffee drink tastes the best. Most of the time, the two would joke around and end up in fits of laughter that would sometimes earn them a “Go to bed!” from Jongho.

This night, however, Wooyoung was having doubts again. Ever since he was small, he had doubts creeping in his subconscious if he was ever really loved. Of course, he knew his crewmates and Dinah would give their lives for him; but still, it bothered him sometimes.

“Helvetica and Times New Roman walk into a bar,” Dinah began her joke, attempting to mask a grin. “And you know what the bartender told them?”

“Hm?” Wooyoung replied.

“‘Get out of here! We don’t serve your type!’”

It was a stupid joke, but after a long day of hiking and exploring, everything was the funniest thing on Earth. Wooyoung’s Elmo laugh broke through the silence, earning them a “Keep it down!” from Yeosang.

“Sorry!” Wooyoung called back before lying back down.

As the once cheery atmosphere began to die down, he released a heavy sigh.

“You okay?” Dinah asked him, her palm caressing his face.

Wooyoung nodded, but his girlfriend knew him too well. She pulled herself closer to him and rested her head on his bare chest.

“I love you,” she whispered. “You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“Why do you still doubt it?”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.”

Dinah sat up on her elbows and locked eyes with him. “Woo?”

He let out another heavy sigh. “I know you love me, Dinah, and I feel the same about you. I just have some bad memories that flood my brain at times. I don’t know. You know how my childhood was.”

“I’m aware.” She kissed his cheeks before lying back down. “But please, don’t ever think I don’t ever love you. You’re the best part of my life, Woo.”

A smile broke out on his face. “Really?”

Throwing a leg over his, Dinah whispered in his ear, "Is my favorite side dish French fries...extra salty?" She batted her eyes, eyelashes tickling his cheekbone.

Wooyoung chuckled. "You and your salty tastes."

"At least my attitude isn't salty."

The couple burst out laughing, earning them another knock, this time from Jongho, to keep it down.

@actuallythatwaspromise @barsformars @ezralia-writes @daybreakx @lilhwahwa @hongism @not-majestic-bluenicorn @treasure-hwa @flurrys-creativity @philosopher-of-fandoms @ateezlovenet (let me know if you’d like to be added to removed)

15 notes · View notes

dramatothethirdpower · 3 years

Text

Hello Me!

How Much I Loved It: ★ ★ ★ ★

Rewatchability: ★

Bingeworthy: ★ ★ ★

How Many Times I’ve watched it: ★

Favorite Episode: episode 16

Some of my favorite things:

I love that Ha Ni grows as a character so well all because she’s ashamed of who she’s become in front of past her. Like if past me showed up today would I drastically change how I live? Probably.

And oh my gosh the realization that she was such a little shit while having to deal with it and realize everything she put the people in her life through was hilarious

Seeing her get recognition once she starts to stand up for herself and really try was really satisfying

There were so many different kinds of relationship dynamics, and it was fun to explore them

For such a funny drama it sure made me cry a lot. I sobbed through the last episode, not gonna lie.

And Yu Hyeon gets to grow so much, too! It was wonderful seeing them grow together and support each other. I loved how his dad assumed he couldn’t handle it in the real world and then he did just fine.

It was so cathartic to have present Ha Ni have to forgive herself for her past selfs sake and being forgiven by her mom. I bawled.

With all the very heavy themes and moments it was still super funny and cute at times

I think the few episodes a week format really helped me binge this one, I think it might’ve dragged a little too much to keep me interested in the middle. I don’t know because then I’d be forced to take a week off and be excited again!

It was hilarious how her nephew had such a huge crush on her just like his dad had on her. When her sister was shouting that he was just like his father I lost it.

Things I hated

Does it really go that long in Korea without rain? Sometimes it felt like they weren’t trying to send past her back at all.

They got a little heavy handed sometimes connecting everyone and their pasts, like beyond belief coincidental meetings.

No one seems overly concerned about the implications - if she doesn’t go back, does present her stop existing? When she does go back, is she creating a separate timeline or is she going to send ripples through time?! I know it wasn’t that kind of show but it drove me a little batty

Overall this was such a sweet drama. I normally watch dramas where romance in centered and I didn’t think I’d like something that didn’t but this was really nice, I loved the focus on family and growth as a person and that while it fell firmly into the “adult” stage of life, which can sometimes make dramas boring, adding 17 year old Ha Ni really kept things fresh!

#review #kdrama #netflix #hello me

14 notes · View notes

ladyherenya · 4 years

Photo

My favourite thing this year has been the Korean drama Crash Landing on You (2019-20).

It has something of a ridiculous title (I’ve ended up calling it Crash Landing or sometimes just Crash). But, to be fair, North and South was already taken.

“I can go to Africa and even Antarctica but not here. It’s a shame that you live here.” “It’s a shame that you live there.” -- episode three

To my great amusement, every month or so, Netflix has sent me an email that’s said: “Don’t forget to finish Crash Landing on You” or “Remember this? Watch it again: Crash Landing on You” or “Rewatch your favourite moments - Watch it again: Crash Landing on You…”

And I’m like: NETFLIX! Seriously, WHAT do you THINK I’M DOING?

I have now watched Crash Landing on You five times.

There are several reasons for this:

I successfully dragged other family members down this particular rabbit hole, and in a pandemic season, when things have been unpredictable (or cancelled), rewatching Crash Landing has been an appealing and comfortably-familiar distraction, as well as the source of many, many long, analytical fandom-y conversations, which has been fun.

I needed to watch it more than once to straighten out all the pieces of the story in my head. With 16 episodes, each over an hour long, it’s one of the longest stories I’ve ever watched. I’ve seen other TV series with more episodes, but nearly all have been much more episodic, rather than telling one continuous story.

I kept noticing details that I’d previously missed because I’d been focused on the subtitles or that I hadn’t properly understood some cultural nuance. And some things are ambiguous in translation -- in a good way, a fodder-for-discussion way.

I have ALWAYS rewatched (or reread) my favourite stories. And Crash Landing fits right in with those. Someone in my family described it as: “Like Lord of the Rings on steroids!” However, I think it actually has far more in common -- visually and thematically, and also in terms of my willingness to discuss the characters as if they were real people -- with my favourite historical dramas.

In terms of story, Crash Landing is easy enough to summarise: A South Korean businesswoman is paragliding when a freak storm blows her across the border; she’s discovered by a North Korean captain, who hides her and helps her get home.

But I’m going to need more words to explain why I fell in love with it.

It is fascinating and, first time round, tense and unpredictable. It’s funny and very meta -- very aware of the tropes it’s playing with and of parallels and contrasts within the story. It’s visually and aesthetically pleasing, and the soundtrack grew on me.

There are a number of coincidences and a few ridiculous fight scenes, but the emotions are intensely real and so are the consequences. It has camaraderie and found-family and thoughtfully-complicated family relationships. There are characters I love, and characters who surprised me, and so much time given to character development! It’s romantic. There’s a fake engagement (a favourite trope of mine) and while I’m not a fan of love triangles, I liked how this quadrangle-tangle is handled. And the obstacles to the romance are satisfyingly realistic; characters have sensible reasons for the choices they make.

I love how the story uses flashbacks, particularly the post-credit scenes.

The final episode isn’t perfect, but given that a perfectly happy ending would, realistically, require the reunification of north and south, I thought it came very close.

Let me elaborate.

Cut for sheer verbosity, rather than spoilers. (I’m not allowing myself to list spoiler-ish examples or dive into analysing my favourite scenes, because then I wouldn’t just be here all night, I’d be here all week).

⬦ Fascinating, tense, unpredictable: I knew almost nothing about life in North Korea, so that was fascinating and made the story harder to predict, as I couldn’t anticipate what options the characters had or what obstacles might arise. And that isn’t the only reason I found it tense -- at different times, different characters are greatly at risk if discovered; there are occasions when characters are in danger of physical violence or are injured; and they have a couple of dilemmas to which there are just not easy solutions (See also: Obstacles for romance).

While I’m on the subject of the setting, although I cannot judge how accurate this portrayal of the north was, it’s portrayal of people as people was incredibly convincing. It’s a society where people have differences in personality and in circumstances. There are orphans begging in the market, people who can afford to stay in fancy hotels -- and a lot of people somewhere in between. In the military village, people have varying attitudes, tastes in clothes, privileges, standards of living, etc. Their lifestyle differs from that in Pyongyang, and also in other parts of the country. Amongst the military, some men are compassionate, some are corrupt and some are not obviously one or the other.

Moreover, it’s clear that corruption and villainy isn’t just in the north. In the south, as in the north, we see a range of humanity -- selfishness, good friends, complicated families, happy marriages, criminal behaviour, and so on.

I’ve read an article or two suggesting that the least realistic aspect is Ri Jeong Hyeok being such a sympathetic and honourable officer. I think it’s interesting that he clearly isn’t a typical captain -- he wanted a different career, he’s spent time studying overseas (in a democratic country), and, perhaps most importantly, his father’s position gives him protection from pressures many others face. He has the privilege of being able to afford to act with integrity, and of encouraging such behaviour in the men he leads.

⬦ Humour and meta: I’ve included these two together, because so much of the story’s self-awareness and intertextuality is humorous. I am very amused by so many things -- the village women’s interactions, Se-ri’s wit and banter, Jeong Hyeok’s facial expressions, the duckling's reactions, the way Ju Meok keeps comparing things to South Korean dramas:

Ju Meok: “I haven’t seen any drama characters that don’t fall in love in that situation. That’s how they all fall in love.”

(Because my knowledge of Korean drama is limited, there are a few cameos and references which I suspect would be amusing if one was in the know. The exception is the taxi driver singing, who was funny even without recognising the actor.)

I love the commentary that comes from all the moments when other characters witness the unfolding romance. Others’ reactions are often memorably hilarious -- some of my favouritest scenes fall into this category. (The customs officer! Jeong Hyeok’s dad!) They introduce humour and self-awareness into these moments, allowing the story to acknowledge “Yeah, we know these two are being ridiculous/sappy/emotional”. These moments reveal people’s attitudes towards displays of affection, particularly in the north, and their different attitudes towards Se-ri and Jeong Hyeok’s relationship.

And as their relationship changes, Se-ri and Jeong Hyeok’s awareness of being watched and commented upon changes, too.

Which leads me to…

⬦ Contrasts and parallels: So many scenes which echo/parallel earlier scenes. Most obviously, this allows the story to compare and contrast the north and south, but it also shows changes in time, differences between characters, and differences in relationships too. Sometimes all at once!

It means some plot developments weren’t totally unexpected -- it was Oh, of COURSE, we’re going to now see that character in this situation! or OBVIOUSLY we now have to see what this is like in the south!

But I thought it was really effective storytelling and I so much enjoyed spotting and analysing these moments.

⬦ Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jeong Hyeok: These two are the heart of the story and there are so many things I love about them. Like how, even though Se-ri is dependent upon Jeong Hyeok to hide and help her -- even though they’re initially hesitant about a romantic relationship -- they quickly become very protective of each other. Often to the point of willingly risking their own safety. Often to the point of exasperating the other. It’s great.

That’s not the only thing they discover they have in common. They share some interests. They’re both highly intelligent, driven, successful leaders (he’s a captain, she’s a CEO) who are very private, lonely people carrying around grief about their family and their past. Neither of them likes to reveal their emotions -- he tries to conceal his by suppressing his facial expressions and avoiding answering questions, while Se-ri hides behind play-acting.

I like watching Se-ri trying to get to know Jeong Hyeok. She isn’t deterred by his silences (unlike someone else) and she keeps the conversation going even when he doesn’t respond. She watches him closely, and says or does things to provoke a reaction. Poke, poke, poke.

And the time they spend together is really revealing. They share meals, they share a house. They see how the other responds under pressure, but also in various social and domestic situations. They see each other in a range of moods: calm, happy, grumpy, scared, tired, upset, unwell. Crash Landing takes advantage of spending sixteen episodes with these characters. Going through so many different experiences together, they learn a lot about each other -- about each other’s values, tastes and temperament -- and this means the audience gets a deeper, more nuanced understanding of who they are, too.

Se-ri and Jeong Hyeok are also well-matched in how they show they appreciate each other -- she delights in giving presents, and he is quick to notice things Se-ri might need or like.

And it’s very satisfying when they open up, or when they cry in front of each other, because you know that they don’t do this lightly or easily.

⬦ Obstacles for romance, love triangle quadrangle-tangle: I appreciate that the obstacles in this story are not contrived or fueled by needless misunderstandings. Se-ri and Jeong Hyeok have really solid, sensible reasons to be hesitant to first recognise, then admit to, and then act upon, a romantic attraction. Even once they realise that getting Se-ri home is going to take longer than they’d hoped and she’s pretending to be Jeong Hyeok’s fiancée, romance between them is still a road that leads nowhere. She isn’t safe staying in the north and he would endanger his family if he defected to the south, and they both accept that. And they’re reticent about sharing vulnerable feelings, and Jeong Hyeok is actually engaged to someone else.

But once they really open up to each other, the narrative conflict revolves around their circumstances, rather than doubts or misunderstandings they have about each other. Because the situations they face are dangerous and difficult, with no obvious or straightforward path to a happy ending, there’s quite enough tension to drive the story forward. They still have a couple of misunderstandings, but I like how they handle those, and I like that they don’t have more of them.

As for the love triangle, it doesn’t have the angst of someone torn between, or even attracted to, two people. Jeong Hyeok’s engagement has been arranged. Having feelings for someone else doesn’t change the foundation of that engagement, nor the pressure to please his family. He doesn’t love or know his fiancée -- not well enough to risk revealing Se-ri’s true identity to her. He’s honest with Se-ri and he makes an effort with Dan.

(I have a theory that, if he had been in love before, he might be quicker to recognise how some of his behaviour towards Se-ri fosters intimacy and sends her messages he doesn’t intend, but this is all new for him.)

He tries not to mislead or hurt Dan, but she’s hurt nonetheless, and I like that Crash Landing doesn’t gloss over that. It explores why she’s hurt, why she’s so reluctant to let him go and why their relationship never really worked. (Neither of them are good at communicating with each other, and I think she takes some of the things he does for her for granted, rather than recognising them as overtures and as opportunities to get to know him better.)

Dan is not just a romantic rival, nor a narrative complication, but a person whose concerns and desire are taken seriously, and who is given space to grow.

Which leads me to...

⬦ Surprising characters, thoughtfully-complicated family relationships: As mentioned, Crash Landing takes advantage of the amount of character development 16 episodes allows, and not just for its lead couple. I was surprised by how much my opinion of certain characters changed, as I came to understand them better.

The character I was most surprised by was Gu Seung-jun.

Each time I’ve watched this, I’ve liked Dan more. I have a lot of sympathy for her now. I also like her mother, even though she’s embarrassingly over the top, because she cares fiercely about her daughter and about advocating for her.

Se-ri’s dysfunctional family are more nuanced than I expected, too. In particular, I love the attention the story gives to Se-ri’s relationship with her step-mother. I was expecting Se-ri’s father to play a larger role, perhaps because he’s nominally the one with the power and influence, and at first Se-ri’s mother seems so passive. But it was really interesting to understand where she’s coming from, why her relationship with Se-ri is broken and sad. The steps the two of them take towards rebuilding their relationship are believable.

(On a related thought, I appreciate a lot of the choices this makes in addressing these women’s mental health struggles. One or two moments arguably could have been handled better, but on the whole it’s realistically optimistic, with enough detail so that we understand the seriousness -- the impact it’s had on these women’s lives.)

⬦ Camaraderie, found family and the ducklings: Se-ri doesn’t spend as much time with the village women as she does with Jeong Hyeok and his soldiers, and when she does, she’s play-acting, in order to keep her identity a secret. But I like how they nevertheless support her, and how meeting her sparks change their dynamic with each other. They grow closer and become much better at supporting each other. It’s really heartwarming.

We gave many of the characters codenames, so we could discuss them when we were still learning their names. (I was surprised by how long it took me to learn some of the characters’ names. Because so many were unfamiliar to me, they were harder to remember; I wasn’t always sure, from just reading the subtitles, how all of them were pronounced, and sometimes it was hard to separate the sound of the names from surrounding sentences, especially when, due to honorifics and titles and so on, subtitles don’t always match exactly what is being said.) Jeong Hyeok’s men are “the ducklings”, inspired by something I saw on Tumblr: Gwang Beom is “Handsome Duckling”, Ju Meok is “Drama Duckling” and Chi Su is just the sergeant.) I love how they function as a found-family, especially in contrast to Se-ri’s real family. They’re funny, loyal and caring, and in spite of their different personalities, work well together as a team. I enjoyed seeing the different relationships they have with each other, with Jeong Hyeok and Se-ri, and how some of those relationships change. And they’re so protective they are of Eun Dong!

Man Bok has an interesting arc -- I could have mentioned him under Surprising characters. I really like how he fits into this story, how he’s connected to the mystery Jeong Hyeok is investigating, how he becomes involved with the rest of the characters and has these moments when he plays a significant role. Or gets to be funny. I like the contrast and parallels too -- he’s in a different place in his life to the ducklings, and he gets opportunities to revisit past choices he regrets.

And I’m trying not to write essays about all the characters, and it’s ahhh, I have too many thoughts and feelings about them all!

⬦ Satisfyingly realistic: I like how -- one or two ridiculous fight scenes and an unrealistic paragliding scene aside -- things which happen have believable consequences. Particularly emotionally. We see men cry! A lot! And it always feels like a genuine expression of emotion, not gratuitous or overwrought. (Well, okay, there’s a very minor character who’s a bit over the top but he’s very minor.)

When one of the characters is gravely ill, she looks it, I found it oddly satisfying that she doesn’t have to be pretty all the time.

And I wasn’t sure if this belonged here or under “Visual details” but I love the attention given to Se-ri’s clothes. She cares a lot about fashion and in the north her clothing choices indicate that she cares a lot about her appearance, while making do with a limited wardrobe and still dressing for warmth. (I’m happy to handwave that she seems to have more clothes than would realistically fit in those shopping bags.) I appreciated the practical streak, and, as winter wore on here, became envious of one of her outfits.

I don’t personally like the style of Se-ri chooses for work, but it’s different it is from what she wore in the north and from what she wears at home -- her power-dressing is like a uniform or a statement of persona she projects in her working life, and not necessarily a reflection of her personal tastes.

⬦ Visual details: I love so many of the visuals. Gorgeous scenery, interesting settings and clever framing for significant scenes. The sky, a place without borders, often becomes a focus and there’s a thematically-relevant flight motif -- paragliders, birds and kites.

I did not start noticing the product placement until a rewatch, when I stopped to think about how often they went to Subway. The first time, it just seemed like a commentary on south-versus-north, and then I was just baffled-yet-amused by it all. (That sort of thing does not make me want to eat fried chicken...)

⬦ Soundtrack: The first time round, I liked the instrumental score and the presence of piano music actually in the story. As I kept rewatching, the rest of the soundtrack slowly but steadily grew on me, and I found myself liking the songs more and more.

Now I not only recognise them by name, I can recall most of them well enough to hum them and know which scenes they’re associated with. Which is a lot harder when the lyrics are in a language I don’t speak and so I can’t use them as a prompt for memory.

⬦ Flashbacks: Instead of “previously-on” segments, Crash Landing employs lots of flashbacks whenever it wants to remind the audience of something.

Sometimes, instead of just repeating part of an earlier scene, it takes the opportunity to show the same moment from different angles or from a different character’s perspective, or to juxtapose it with a different scene or to introduce new information. This was really effective. And when flashbacks were a simple repeat, I was usually happy to revisit important moments in the story (and sometimes, having a different person translating the subtitles meant there was a slightly different perspective on the dialogue).

Then there are the post-credit flashbacks, quite a few of which take places years earlier. I love how they’re puzzle pieces about the characters’ pasts and the connections between them.

⬦ The end: The first time round, after watching the penultimate episode I was so engrossed in the story and so invested in the characters that I had trouble sleeping and I went around the next day with this tight, anxious feeling, unable to get the story out of my head.

The final episode is an emotional rollercoaster. SO. MANY. FEELINGS. There’s one particular scene which packs a powerful punch -- it’s exceptionally emotional and beautifully filmed. I love it, but I’m glad we get the aftermath too.

It isn’t a perfect ending, but as I said, I don’t think there was a perfect ending was possible, not one that was both realistic and satisfying. But this comes very close. In the very final scenes, not everything is resolved or explained, and I like how that ambiguity is open to interpretation -- I like that there are some gaps for the viewer to fill in for oneself, however one prefers to imagine the characters’ lives going forward.

I know I could easily write another four thousand words about this story -- there are aspects I haven’t really discussed but this seems like a good place to stop. For now. I really like this story. I expect I’ll watch it all again soon.

#Herenya recommends things #Crash Landing on You #thoughts I have them #Yet another CLOY rewatch

53 notes · View notes

punchdrunkdoc · 4 years

Text

Updated K-drama list (4)

This list is getting looooong, because I’m well and truly addicted to these shows and can’t stop watching them.

I think its because each show is so self-contained - one series, 16-20 episodes and its done. A clear beginning, middle and a satisfying end. That, together with all the tropes in play (SO MANY TROPES!!) makes each show feel like a novel come to life. And when I start a good novel, I have to finish it in one go. This usually results in me staying up till 2am because I NEED TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS. And it’s the same with these shows. I’m getting very little sleep, but I’m having a hell of a good time!

FAVOURITES

1. Crash Landing on You

He’s from North Korea. She’s from South Korea. They never should have met, but they’ll change each other’s lives.

This was my first K-drama, and its still my favourite. The full cast of characters is great, the lead romance is ANGSTALICIOUS and its genuinely, laugh out loud funny (when its not making you cry or swoon).

Male lead: Officially the best boyfriend ever. With added dimples.

Tear-jerk factor: 4/5

2. Healer

The lives, and pasts, of a hot shot reporter, a spunky young tabloid journalist and a mysterious thief-for-hire intersect.

This was so addictive - the plot was tight and engaging, and this is one of the few shows I’ve watched where there didn’t seem to be a lot of filler. I loved the central 3 characters, and the romance was amazing. I especially loved that the male lead started off such a brooding loner, but he became super-affectionate as soon as he admitted his feelings. So many good hugs and lots of face-cradling in this one.

Male lead: Effortlessly beats up 2 henchmen while comforting his girl over the phone. What more do you need?

Tear-jerk factor: 1/5

3. Itaewon Class

A young man’s life is forever altered when he runs afoul of a powerful family.

This felt like a big step up in quality from everything else in this list, in terms of the production, soundtrack (which was brilliant), the lack of annoying sound effects, and just the overall ‘real world’ feel of the show. All of the characters were fleshed out and 3-dimensional, and they all had their ‘moment’ to shine. The story itself was gripping and so well done - some of the twists and reveals had me gasping! And what can I say about the 2 leads? I love them, both separately, and together. He is so wise beyond his years, and his journey will break your heart and inspire you. She is borderline sociopathic, but I adore her.

Male lead: Tenacious, principled, kind, innocent, caring, driven, loyal…and he can cook!

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

4. Descendants of the Sun

A special forces Captain meets a capable and beautiful trauma surgeon. They feel an instant bond, but their jobs and philosophy on life get in the way, threatening to tear them apart.

Halfway through this show, I seriously thought this might overtake CLOY as my No. 1 fav. I absolutely LOVE the male lead character, and the romance was beautiful…but it didn’t quite nail the angst and the last minute was a bit twee which dropped it down the rankings a bit.

Male lead: A cocky, charming, absolute BADASS with the most adorable, cheeky smile.

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

5. Love in the Moonlight / Moonlight Drawn by Clouds

A young woman poses as a eunuch in the Royal Palace and falls in love with the Crown Prince

I wanted to try something different so I opted for this period piece and OH MY GOD am I glad I did. The start had a really light comedic tone (and a lot of modern anachronisms - high fives everywhere!) and I loved all the identity-concealing hi-jinks. But then the romance kicked into gear and the DELICIOUS angst started flowing, and I became obsessed with it. It's like loads of bits of my favourite regency historical romances were mashed up and transported to the Joseon Dynasty. I loved it so much!

Male lead: Manages to look amazingly handsome despite all the period headgear, kicks ass with a sword, and doesn't allow himself to be manipulated by the corrupt officials surrounding him, which was refreshing. Also acts like an adorable goofball when he's in love.

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

6. My Holo Love

A lonely woman falls for a holographic AI and then meets his creator...

I love the concept of this show (I’m a big sci-fi nerd), and it was beautifully shot. The lead relationship is well developed and it doesnt fall into a typical love triangle. I’ve come to realise it utilises a lot of K-drama tropes (face-blindness! shared childhood trauma!), but it does it really well, imho.

Male lead: Tortured loner genius. My catnip.

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

7. Goblin

A 900yr old immortal guardian finally meets the ‘bride’ who will end his existence

Once I got over the slight ick-factor of the age difference between the two characters at the beginning, I really fell for this show and it’s world. It had me in tears. And I especially loved the secondary character of the Grim Reaper.

Male lead: Surprising innocent and funny for a 900 year old

Tear-Jerk factor: 5/5

8. What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim

An personal assistant decides to quits her job in order to get a life. Her boss has other ideas.

I loved the female lead in this - I’m a sucker for uber-competent people, and the actress is STUNNING. Her boss is self-centred, entitled and vain...but over time, somehow that just becomes endearing! Possibly because he’s played by Park Seo Joon, who can do no wrong in my book! The central romance is super cute - I can rewatch their scenes again and again.

Male lead: Like I said, somehow makes vanity and narcissism endearing. Also not afraid to get his shirt off and flash his 6-pack. Bonus.

Tear-Jerk factor: 0/5

9. Legend of the Blue Sea

A mermaid comes onto land to find the man she loves

The (literal) fish-out-of-water scenes in the first half of this show were hilarious - the actress is a comic genius! The romance was nicely done, and there wasn’t a lot of extraneous plot or too many characters. I couldn’t stop watching this one!

Male lead: Cocky, arrogant conman with a soft mushy centre

Tear-Jerk factor: 1/5

10. Fight for my Way

Two life-long friends decide to go after their dreams

I fast-forwarded large chunks of this (I wasn’t interested in the secondary couple at all), but it still made my favourite list because I love the leads - both as separate characters and as a couple. This is one of the best friends-to-lovers stories I’ve seen, mainly because you truly buy that these 2 have known each other their entire lives (their bickering and teasing feels so natural). And then when they take the next step, they’re so affectionate and refreshingly open with their feelings.

Male lead: The third Park Seo Joon character on this list! I love his contradictions. He’s goofy and childish…but can really turn on the sexy charm; he’s a badass MMA fighter…who loves when his girlfriend sticks up for him and protects him.

Tear-jerk factor: 0.5/5

11. Suspicious Partner

A young, hardworking lawyer has her life turned upside down when she is put on trial for murder.

This has been officially bumped up to my favourites list - partly because I’m now a massive Ji Chang Wook fan, and partly because I’ve rewatched scenes with better subtitles and its made it 10x better. Its still overly long, but the serial killer plot had some nice twists and it was central to the story, so it didn’t feel extraneous like some of these types of plots do. I really enjoyed the central romance - the 2 characters sparked off each other well and I loved their evolution from sort-of enemies to lovers. This is another show where I can endlessly rewatch their scenes together.

Male lead: Its Ji Chang Wook! He’s so good at playing serious guys who are secretly big dorks.

Tear Jerk factor: 0.5/5

NOTABLE MENTIONS

These are shows which I completed and really enjoyed but they had flaws which kept them out of the favourites list.

1. The K2

An ex-mercenary takes a job as a bodyguard protecting the illegitimate daughter of a politician. A sort-of Snow White retelling.

This started off really well, with some amazing fight sequences (hello, shower room scene!). However, the back half became too bogged down in double crosses and manipulations, and it focussed too much on the politicians. The writers did well to give these characters some layers, but they were all essentially doing bad things for the wrong reasons, and I just didn’t care about them. The show was much better when it was following K2’s journey. The romance also started off well, but was a bit underdeveloped (mainly because they barely interacted).

2. I Am Not a Robot

A man who is allergic to human contact finds companionship with a robot…or does he?

I honestly thought I wouldn’t make it passed a couple of episodes of this - the concept was just too ridiculous. But I’m glad I persevered, because it developed some real depth and some proper good angst towards the end and I LOVED the central relationship.

3. Extraordinary You

A high school student discovers she's a supporting character in a comic book

The plot of this was so unique, and the way the comic story played out interspersed with the characters 'real lives' was really well done. Plus the central couple were so adorable. It dragged in the middle section (several versions of the same conversations were had, and the same exposition was spelled out multiple ways for no apparent reason) which kept it out of my favourite list, but it redeemed itself with some good angst at the end, and it had a really lovely ‘epilogue'.

4. My Love from the Star

Alien stranded on earth meets an actress soon before he’s due to be rescued.

I finally gave this another chance, and I’m glad I did. The female lead got a LOT less irritating, and I enjoyed the present-day romance and all the flashes back to the past. However, the ending was really abrupt and disappointing (which kept it out of my favourite list). There should have been 1 less filler episode in the middle, and a decent, fleshed out finale instead.

5. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo

A young talented weightlifter experiences first love

Honestly, I wasn’t sold on this at first; the female lead was a bit much (lot of gurning and over-acting) and there was a weird disconnect between how she was described (big, overweight, manly, unfeminine) and how she actually looked (thin and beautiful!). But the back half of this show saved it; her relationship with Joon-Hyung was sooooo cute. He is adorable, and they were both so supportive of each other’s dreams. I finished this with a big smile on my face.

6. Because this is my First Life

A rational-to-a-fault software designer and an aspiring screenwriter come up with an unconventional way to solve their housing problem

When I started this, I thought it was going to be all light and fluffy (the main character's job in the beginning was to insert the product placement in Korean dramas - hello, Red Ginseng! - which I found hilarious and meta) but it had a surprisingly melancholic tone throughout and touched on issues of workplace harassment and gender roles. I didn't warm to the male lead until right at the end (which was probably partly intentional - he's very remote and closed off) but overall I found the story quite lovely. Plus it had a really great central female friendship and their conversations actually passed the Bechdel test!

7. Strong Girl Bong-Soon

A woman with inherited super-strength gets a job as a bodyguard for an eccentric young CEO

The lead couple in this are AD-OR-ABLE and I loved their relationship. But there was a weird tone issue in this show. The romance is super cute...but there’s a whole dark sub plot involving multiple women being held captive by a psychopath. I ended up fast forwarding most of that, and just concentrated on the romance.

THE OTHERS...

I finished these shows and liked parts of them, but they ultimately didn’t set my world on fire.

1. Her Private Life

A talented art curator tries to keep her professional persona separate from her fangirl obsession with a pop idol.

This was cute and I loved the central relationship - he was so supportive of her, and their interactions were refreshingly mature and their banter felt really natural. Ultimately, it was a bit forgettable (I’m not dying to rewatch any of it), and the last minute tacked-on childhood trauma subplot was really unnecessary.

2. Touch Your Heart

Star actress rocked by scandal works at a law firm to prepare for her comeback role

This starred the secondary couple from Goblin and I really like them, even though they are playing very different characters in this (more opposites attract, than doomed lovers). At first I found this too ‘cutesy’, but I’ve since realised the sound effects/graphics are a K-drama thing and not unique to this show, so I’m not as down on it as I was. I still had to fast forward a lot of the secondary romances which I wasn’t invested in.

3. Hyde, Jekyll and Me

A woman becomes involved in the lives of 2 men, who share one body

This stars Hyun Bin from CLOY and he is sooo watchable, especially as the slick-haired, glasses-wearing, uptight Seo-Jin. And the show started well...but quickly went off the rails into a convoluted, dragged-out revenge plot.

4. Melting Me Softly

Two people are accidentally cryogenically frozen for 20 years. They have to navigate the modern world and their new lives together.

Another good concept, but it ultimately descended into little more than a light work-place romance. Had a couple of good kissing scenes, but it was overall a bit forgettable.

And the DNF:

My Secret Romance

I started watching this because I was looking for something a little less PG - the characters have a one night stand in the first episode! But I couldn’t get passed the bad acting and cheap production.

Master’s Sun

I liked the premise but the 2 leads weren’t very attractive (at least in comparison to the insanely beautiful actors/actresses in the shows listed above). Call me superficial, but I couldn’t see myself spending 17 hours watching them and willing them to kiss.

214 notes · View notes

thecurseisinourblood · 3 years

Text

Obsession vs Love

Merry Christmas all! So I have a gift for you... I wasn’t going to post this until it was finished but I got into a bit of a rut, but I have been sitting on this for months. Originally this was meant to be a oneshot between Erik and Frollo and it turned into 16 pages of detailing Frollo’s progression of feelings leading up to and after seeing Esmeralda. Enjoy! General Mature content warning.

Claude Frollo reached the time in his life when he accepted a lot of things. His thirties were gone and he was grateful. This was a decade where he had been ravenous for status and particularly ruthless in character. Looking back, it seemed his repressed youth had blossomed during that time and his past behavior sometimes embarrassed him to this day. He had been moody yet confident in ways he never before experienced within his personality. Though never being wild, there was a crazed side of him that was manipulative and hungry for power over others, particularly in social interactions. Any witty insult that could roll off his tongue or opportunity to correct someone’s facts were never missed. His parents had been cruel to him and in these small ways it felt good to finally speak his mind without decorum. These were his selfish years.

“I am happy you have come out of your shell, but you have become absolutely unbearable to everyone,” Lucy said to him after insulting a woman who had been taking up his time with idle chatter in an attempt to catch his interest. “I finally don’t care what anyone thinks of me,” he remembered saying to her. It took him over thirty years to stop worrying about strangers’ opinions.

He had looked at women more. Admiring them, their pretty faces and perfectly toned bodies, but became frustrated speaking to them as most of them were self-serving or not intelligent. In his teenage years he would secretly leer at women, but it was in a more passive and curious manner. The sexual frustration became more exhausting than maddening over the years. No one could keep his interest, no matter how stunning. There was a time when he could charm a woman that would gladly take him to bed. As much as he longed for that experience, the thing he yearned for most was a connection that wasn’t hollow. So, when his personal assistant began seeing one of the two judges who mentored him, he became envious. Lucy and judge Remy became an item despite their twenty odd year age gap. During this time, Frollo was more distant with Remy than ever before. The elder judge would reach out to him as he had in the past, but Frollo wasn’t interested. It was childish, but to him it was a breach of trust.

Claude was the last one to figure out they were together. Despite knowing Remy was on a break from his wife, Remy always flirted with Lucy, so he thought nothing of it. Lucy should have been above such vulgar charm. Little did he realize they were in a full fledged relationship. Since Lucy was the only female he had ever been attached to, Frollo quietly simmered in his jealousy. “Why did no one tell me they were together?” Frollo looked ahead and clenched his jaw. Jean-Pierre watched Claude closely and saw his fight to remain collected. He never expressed himself, but Jean-Pierre easily detected frustration. How could I not see it? Is what the eldest judge imagined him to say instead. Frollo had a new nickname that was beginning to gain traction in the media. If the young man didn’t change his ways, it would stick forever. The Marble Judge. Jean-Pierre could see it causing issues down the line. “I’m sorry, dear boy. I genuinely thought you knew.” In fact, it had become quite apparent, but Claude wasn’t equipped to pick up on these emotional nuances. Jean-Pierre learned this early on when he began mentoring him out of college as an intern. Claude could pick apart a stranger’s motives, behaviors, even business plans like a computer, but as soon as the relationships grew closer to him, all of those observation skills became useless. Frollo had a lack of understanding of any form of emotional intimacy. He gathered it was because his parents never nurtured him. Though they all tried to cross that bridge with him, Frollo proved to have an impenetrable wall around his heart. Frollo turned to look at the old man. Did Jean-Pierre detect…jealousy? “How was I supposed to if everyone refused to inform me?” Jean-Pierre didn’t know how to answer that without offending him. Instead, he sensed a deeper issue. Frollo never approved of Remy’s flamboyant lifestyle and he was quite fond of Lucy. “Do you have feelings for her? Or is it because you find Remy to be an utter scoundrel?” Frollo’s skin paled and Jean-Pierre put his hand on the man’s back. “Why didn’t you tell her if that was the case?” He asked gently, but Frollo knitted his brow in anger. “That’s not it,” he tried to recover by acting irritated. “It doesn’t make any sense. We all know Remy is going to go back to his wife because he can only go so long without fucking a man. I know Lucy well enough to know she wants monogamy.” Jean-Pierre pursed his lips and removed his hand. Keeping his eyes on his, he kept the boy’s attention. “Relationships rarely make sense if you write them on paper, my boy. That is not what it is about. ” Frollo looked like he was at a complete loss of what to say next, as if Jean-Pierre gave him some profound knowledge...a revelation.

“Even if Lucy knows Remy will return to his wife, she wants to enjoy it while it lasts. He is a good man and I trust him with my life. So, do you think Remy is a scoundrel?” He asked again, to which Frollo shrugged uncomfortably. “A bit,” Claude grumbled. “And it is natural to like Lucy, she helps you with everything and is very kind. It can be natural to feel jealous, but don’t be too hard on judge Remy for it. You are fond of her, aren’t you?” He knew Frollo liked women, but never dated. To his knowledge, Frollo was still a virgin. Claude’s hands were folded on his lap, but they looked more like fists with their tension. “A bit,” Frollo said more reluctantly. His head had been pointing down for a minute, but he suddenly turned to Jean-Pierre. “Don’t--” He swallowed. “Don’t tell a soul,” Frollo said harshly. Jean-Pierre tried to hide the melancholy from his smile. He didn’t have the heart to tell him that everyone already knew. “I promise not to say a word.” It wasn’t until years later that Claude realized he had never been in love with Lucy. He assumed Lucy knew that in her heart all along. Judge Remy and Lucy were expecting their first child after a year. They married, to everyone's surprise. The ‘break’ from his wife turned out to be final. Remy was deeply in love with Lucy and appeared to have settled down from his swinger lifestyle. Remy once made fun of Jean-Pierre for having a child so late in life, only to walk the same path. However, after some years, Remy began to notice a blossoming friendship between Lucy and a man named Luc. He was doing business that required them to keep in touch and the conversations were growing longer. Remy asked Luc out to lunch one day and quite liked the man himself. Luc was easy to get along with and very attractive. He had never met someone so laid back and funny. As they spoke about Lucy, he could see a twinkle in Luc’s eye. It was the same as Lucy’s.

Ah, young love, and Remy knew that Lucy would never leave him for another man. Remy invited him over for dinners quite frequently. Lucy believed in monogamy, but in Remy’s opinion, love should never be restricted. Lucy was the love of his life and he wanted her to have the world. Luc was an amazing guy and Remy found himself wishing Luc was bisexual. After things developed, Remy had a decision to make. He approached Luc first. “I seem to have noticed that you are in love with my wife….” The expression on Luc’s face told him what he needed to know. The blood seemed to drain from his cheeks. Luc tried to laugh it off a little too late and Remy placed a hand on his shoulder. “I will love Lucy until the day I die,” Remy continued. “But I am finding myself missing certain things.” The judge never wanted to be tied down completely, but it had been a sacrifice he was willing to make for Lucy. He was physically more attracted to men, but his marriage to Lucy was the most fulfilling and euphoric experience he ever had. “You do not seem like a jealous man, Luc. In my mind, she will always be my wife. If you both accept it… I would like to see her from time to time…. If you know what I mean.” Luc readily accepted it while Lucy seemed conflicted. “Divorce you…. And marry Luc?” Lucy’s cheeks were flushed. “You spoke to him first?” “Yes, I did. You don’t have to be shy, my love. I am actually just a little sad that you didn’t tell me. Come on, you know me better than that. Why should I care?” he smiled and continued. “This could be good for us,” Remy took her hand. “I would still like to have private time with you and I will still speak to you like my wife. I will just be… a mostly gay husband. Luc is absolutely fine with it, as long as you are, but I understand if you would like to speak with him first.” Lucy blinked and knitted her brows. She was completely stunned. “Unless you stopped loving me when you fell in love with Luc…” Remy began, which was met with Lucy quickly objected. “And I thought you knew me better than that,” she said, a bit upset. “Oh, I was hoping you would say that,” Remy laughed. “So what do you say? We take a holiday every once in a while, I can have my fun with men again, and you and Luc can have the perfect marriage.” Lucy’s eyes began to water. She didn’t typically cry. She knew how Remy was, but his removal from all forms of jealousy still astonished her. She was just beginning to realize Luc was the same way. “Truly?” She asked him. “I will always give you anything you want,” Remy kissed her forehead.Then he laughed. “And you wanted to be monogamous. Life has a funny way of changing things, doesn’t it?”

~.~.~ By the time Claude turned forty, he gave up on finding a partner. Although, he promised himself not to shut anyone out. He talked to women at parties until he felt his ears would bleed. He attended the theatre often, but as time went on, he stayed at home even more. He went from drinking lightly on occasion to drinking a fair amount at home and at events. The Marble judge finally felt content once he no longer seeked fulfillment from others. He found more joy in his work, in meals, in his personal reading. He cooked more and generally took better care of himself than he ever had in his life. He lied to himself well about never feeling lonely, but there was to be another development. Delice came along a year later. A beautiful and young socialite who was charmingly cruel. Frollo knew if she had been around while he was in his ambitious thirties he would probably be poor on the street by now. She would have taken everything from him. Somehow knowing this, she still appealed to the apathetic part of his soul. They would make such wonderful wasps. As time went on, Frollo became increasingly drawn to her. He was starting to like her and become more comfortable. If it was a trap, he began to care less and less. He ached for someone. They had enough similarities and he adored her air of superiority. Frollo had never been perfect, often thinking there were plenty of people below him. They could judge others and be stuck up together. Delice was the closest thing he had to a crush since Lucy. Frollo never appreciated just how well his colleagues and friends got at reading him. “Delice has been on your arm for months and you actually smiled at her! You were eating her up! I’ve never been so disappointed in you,” Lucy chastised him after a political event. “It’s not like I am going to fuck her, if that is what you are so worried about,” Frollo loathed feeling embarrassed and often acted quite thin-skinned during personal conversations. Lucy called him out on his developing feelings for Delice and at this point, he didn’t even know if what he said was true anymore. “You say that now! I introduced you to plenty of sweet women and you let that snake in our circle like she is your friend. I know she is pretty, but god damn it Claude! You’ve heard things about her too and you know that she is literal filth. This isn’t high school.” “I enjoy our conversations and her company. At least when she speaks, she knows the subject. You know how hard it is for me to find a conversation worth having with these mindless people.” He was defending his actions and feelings more than standing up for Delice and they both knew it. “That is what you are going to say to me?” Lucy had never been this angry with him and she succeeded in making him feel like a teenager being chewed out by his mother. “Do you think I don’t know a man’s eyes when they want to fuck someone? Do you think she doesn’t know? I’ve seen you look at women, but you practically undress her with your stare every time she is close. I know you are one of the most brilliant minds in the world, but you are emotionally stupid. She will rip you to shreds with her teeth and spit you out.” She walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. “If you are that lonely, you need to find something else.” He remembered how broken he felt. Her speech opened his eyes and took away the joy he was experiencing for the last few months. Lucy was only trying to protect him and she was absolutely right. His eyes looked to the floor in shame. “I’m sorry, dear,” Lucy said sadly and gave him a hug. He couldn’t breathe. He stood there, unmoving. So, this is what a hug felt like. Wrapping his arms around Lucy, he trembled, keeping his emotions in. He held her tight. He was kidding himself all along. He wanted someone to hold forever. Though he wasn’t in love with Lucy, he knew he would have been happy to spend his life with her, but she deserved the true love she had. She was his closest friend and he clung to those emotions because it was the only time he experienced connection. When she left, he drank himself to sleep in his despair. His bed had never felt so cold. His life returned to how it was and he found that he didn’t miss those few months when he had Delice glued to his side. At the end of the day, none of it was real and he again became content living alone, being alone. He limited his interactions with Delice. She saw this and attempted to cozy up with Lucy, but was shot down. This is when he saw Delice become a bit more aggressive and sometimes trapped him in public conversations so he couldn’t leave. Yet… he couldn’t bring himself to even dislike her. He liked her ambition and her persistence and never treated her unkindly.

He remembered the events which led up to the day that would change his perception forever. Attending a theatre performance, he remembered a new ballerina named Christine. She did fine in performances, but Charlotte, judge Jean-Pierre’s daughter grew impatient with her. “She’s good, but she is so timid. It is a miracle she can dance in front of an audience. I think her being friends with Meg Giry is the only thing keeping her safe from Madame Giry’s wrath. She would probably cry at the drop of a hat!” It only took weeks before Christine was no longer in the ballet, but the choir instead. Her voice was undoubtedly incredible. Frollo’s eyes widened in surprise one night when the prima donna had some drama and they needed a fill. He immediately became curious. Rumors were circulating and it didn’t take Claude long to figure out why. There was only one Erik he knew with any clout, though most everyone simply referred to him as the opera ghost. He was the manager everyone feared and never saw. “Are you teaching Christine?” Frollo asked his distant, but long-term friend. He remembered the near indecipherable smirk on Erik’s mouth just below the mask. “That sounds more like an accusation than a question.” Frollo observed him quietly with as little expression as possible. Erik loved to get under anyone’s skin, especially his because he was ‘so uptight that it was foolish.’ Meanwhile, Claude thought Erik’s mischief was childish and petty. He was just an old, lonely man desperate to entertain himself. “Either way, I would like to know,” Frollo said. “Why?” Erik was purposefully difficult. “That question was not your intention.” Frollo turned his lips inward in a hard line with evident frustration. “Is the interest strictly professional?” Frollo clarified tartly. Erik poured them some wine for the two of them and there was a solemnity and an amusement sparkling in his eyes that Claude had never seen before. If Christine was timid… this wouldn’t end well for Erik. To this day, even Frollo was wary of the man. “For now,” Erik handed him the wine. Frollo didn’t know why, but he actually believed him when he said it. Perhaps Lucy was right. There was a part of him that was emotionally underdeveloped and despite being able to read people very well, he was sometimes easily fooled. He met Christine before one of the performances. She was incredibly sweet. He thought her apprehension would bother him, but it made it that much easier to be nice to her. She was shy and he made small frequent smiles because of her overall pleasantness. Christine was thoughtful and smarter than he anticipated. However, he got the vibe that the only people who could be mean to her were truly cruel because she had an air of sensitivity and gentleness.

“So, you are friends with Erik, then?” she asked lightly. Frollo gave her a small smile. “I guess you can say that.”

He could see why Erik would be drawn to her. She was not Claude’s type and he realized quickly that he could never be interested because of a lack of patience -- he was too old for that nonsense! Apparently Erik could read his mind for even thinking of such a thing, because later that night, he was on a warpath. Oh, Erik had raged at him so hard he worried the man would have a heart attack! Frollo’s eyes widened in shock at his demonic fury. He had never seen such an outburst. Wait -- now was he yelling at him because he so much as smiled at Christine? Why did he take Erik’s words for face value? The man was obsessed. Claude felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner. How many times in his life would he misread the emotions that were right in front of him? “I just wanted to meet her,” Frollo promised. “If that is the girl you like, you could do infinitely worse. If it means a damn thing to you, I approve,” though she was awfully young. He was unwilling to admit to his friend that he thought the union would be impossible. The age gap was too large. For someone as particular as Erik, he expected him to fall for someone more mature… Christine was twenty, but there was a girlish quality that left the impression on Claude that she had a lot of growing up to do. After some time, Erik calmed down. Claude was secretly trembling from the shockwaves of emotions that Erik swallowed him up in like a black hole.The man had a power that was practically supernatural. What frightened him the most was the despair Erik felt. Obviously Erik didn’t think a relationship was possible, but he was going to try anyway. What a fruitless effort! Claude shook his head when he entered his car. The poor man. Unrequited love was a nightmare that Frollo never really considered. He always imagined love to be a progression. Meet, go on dates, grow feelings over a substantial amount of time… What if one fell within moments? A cold chill traveled up his spine before reaching out like an icy hand around his heart. His frigid fingers gripped the steering wheel. If Erik could be afflicted with such blind and unreasonable love, could he also fall ill? Another week passed and although Frollo wasn’t actively seeking new information about Christine, he quietly observed the woman Erik was enamored with. He didn’t understand why the intense attraction to her, but to each their own. She looked like a doll. She was very sweet, but Frollo found himself wondering how Erik could handle her naivety. Perhaps this proved Claude was the bigger cynic afterall. He was too jaded to try to have a meaningful relationship with a woman half his age. At least women near his age had the same temperament: calm, thoughtful, mature…

Tired. Fate had a cruel sense of humor. Everything he thought he knew would be challenged. His world was about to spin. Frollo was thankfully by himself, away from his group to order a drink from the bar before returning. When it happened. Standing at the bar top, he did a double take when he saw Christine with….a friend?

Claude’s eyes were glued, his heart came alive against his chest as it never had before. If he had his scotch in his hand, it would have slipped from his fingers. Never before did he see a woman who looked like a goddess-- walked like one! The aura she exuded was so powerful that he followed her movement with his eyes without blinking. The girl had the fullest, darkest, and most curly hair he had ever seen. Her eyes were bright green which he had never seen a woman of her complexion have. Her plump lips were covered in a beautiful, matte red lipstick. Everything about her was so tasteful and perfect that he wondered if he was dreaming. If he breathed, he feared she would disappear like mist. Taking the scotch the bartender just poured for him, he used it to cover part of his face as his eyes raked over her body. Her cleavage was full, but not too much and she had such a small waist which led to wide hips. They now walked to the other side of the room. Seeing the full extent of the cut of her dress, her entire back was bare. Frollo didn’t realize a woman’s back could look so attractive. The slit on the side exposed the top of her thighs as she walked and they fit the rest of her body. There wasn’t a single inch of her that wasn’t flawless. The Roman sculptors would fall to their knees and beg to capture her beauty if they saw her.

His scotch was done in an instant. Not intending to sit before, he did so now, thankful that the bar acted as his cover for his leering and….the erection which was hard against his thigh. Thank the maker that he couldn’t get a tent in his suit trousers. He gasped softly, his heart racing. This woman took his breath away. “Hey, you, I haven’t seen you in awhile,” Delice sat at the bar stool next to him and he was so disoriented, he jumped out of his skin. “Jesus fuck,” he whispered and turned his eyes to look at her. She smiled prettily. Delice had a nice mouth and beautiful eyes. Instantly, they didn’t seem so impressive. “That’s a good introduction. Did I scare you?” she laughed. “Buy me a drink and make it up to me.” At this point he was going to need three drinks before the performance. He would use Delice as an excuse to do so. “Absolutely,” he said and ordered for them. He knew Delice’s drink of choice and he could feel Lucy’s eyes boring into the side of his face when he didn’t return after a few minutes. He couldn’t hear what Delice was talking about. He was thinking of the girl. He didn’t see her again… was she getting ready for the performance? “You men don’t even listen sometimes,” Delice sighed. Frollo was already on his third round of scotch in a matter of minutes. “I’ve had a rough day at work, I am sorry, Delice.” He was about to round up the tab when Delice ordered another drink and touched his hand with her fingers. He tensed. “I don’t think your P.A. likes me,” she wrinkled her nose and sneered. It was surprisingly attractive to look at. He hated that he still liked her. “Lucy?” he asked vacantly. “Who else?” she said irritably. “Do you have another one that acts like your mother?” If Frollo had been sober he would have been a lot more offended by what she said. “You’re not drunk already. Are you playing dumb? You aren’t usually this unattentive to me,” she pouted. His eyes dropped to her lips. Old habits. She was still tantalizing and she knew it.

Even when she wasn’t being nice to him, he never minded. He actually liked it and he understood why Lucy thought he had a problem and needed to keep his distance. “I’m sorry Delice, I am not myself today. I haven’t been feeling the greatest,” he lied easily and after paying for her drinks and another scotch, he walked back to his group. Lucy was glaring at him as if he had fornicated with Delice right there. “Why did you stay over there?” She asked in concern. “I saw you pay and drink like a fish.” Lucy wasn’t ever this uptight. Everything that was going on made Frollo incredibly anxious. He took another sip of scotch. He was a little drunk now. “Please, Lucy, I just need… a break for a minute.” Lucy frowned in confusion and nodded. “I am sorry sir,” she took his hand. “I am just trying to look out for you. She is bad news.” “I know,” he assured her. They sat down for the performance and his life would never be the same again. Looking at the playbill he casually skimmed through it, but his fingers trembled. Was she here? He blinked. Esmeralda Trouillefou. Making her professional debut. He could hear his pulse drummed in his ears. She was the ballerina they hired after Christine switched to vocals. This… this never would have happened to him if Erik hadn’t interfered. His blood ran cold. He could feel the voice of fate laughing softly in his ear. He was doomed. Watching her dance was agonizing. There wasn’t a single angle of her face or her body that showed an imperfection. Ballerina leotards were always an attractive item, but he had never seen a body like an hourglass in the corps before. Frollo’s blood rushed hotly through his veins and seared his flesh. A bead of sweat to trickle down the back of his neck. His eyes flew over her and only her. Her thick thighs… her thin arms-- her everything. Her massive hair was slick and perfectly contained in the usual dancer bun and her eye makeup was typical of dramatic theatre performances for ballerinas. Crossing his legs casually, he swore his erection never went down for the duration of the play. He felt heady and needed to calm his erratic breathing. He forced himself to stop watching at the end so he could become decent by the time the lights went up. They met that night and he was so unprepared to see her face to face that he came off cold and silent. She made a face of disapproval because of his lack of warmth and he felt his heart drop like a boulder in his gut because of the disappointment.What a great first impression. It wasn’t until later that he saw her parade herself like the perfect little trophy to every patron.It infuriated him so deeply that the next time they met, he insulted her without thinking of the consequences. Of course she would be a frivolous theatre whore! Why did he even think she might be sweet and mindful? Thank God Lucy wasn’t there that night, she would have given him a stern talking to. He began to envy Erik. At least Christine was approachable and modest, with a quiet intelligence that was beyond her years despite her fragility. Meanwhile, Claude was starved for a woman who flirted with the entire room like it was her job! Every man wanted a piece of her. He could see it in their eyes when they looked at her. He had never felt so much rage that his vision blurred. It happened. Cupid’s arrow pierced his heart. Just like Erik. Obsession gripped him like nothing else had before. He looked for news articles with her face and attended more performances. They were his sick pleasure in the beginning. She couldn’t even be compared to the ecstacy of a drug. She was his euphoria and he spent months in this crazed state where he would consume theatre performances like morphine. Scouring the papers that month, an introductory bio was published. He was mortified to find out that she had just turned twenty-two. He unconscionably memorized her birthday. At first, the fact that he didn’t care for her didn’t particularly interfere. It was lust that drove him and in his mind, the fascination would gradually wane. In a few months, he would wonder what was so special about her. For now, he wanted to drink every inch of her with his eyes when he could. It was then that he began taking Charlotte to and from her performances at least twice a week. Jean-Pierre appreciated the help and Claude couldn’t admit that it was for any other reason. Ah, but Esmeralda was vile! He hated everything about her! In the after parties, they kept their distance at first, but he always knew where she was socializing. She might as well crawl under the clothed tables with some of these men and service them right there! His fury and irritation soon became as intense as his desire. Any time they came near each other, they couldn’t be civil. Even her beautiful skin color became a matter of vexation. She wasn’t the typical ivory frenchwoman, but he saw her impress men that he knew for a fact were racist. There were a lot of french who disliked brown skin, Frollo being one of them. She challenged every perception he had of the world. “If you want to act like a theatre whore, at least try to be more subtle about it. You don’t see any of the others being so obvious. Have some dignity” He told her once away from everyone else when she demanded to know what his problem was. Of course she was highly offended and hurled plenty of fire back at him. By month two, Esmeralda was best friends with Charlotte and Charlotte asked him multiple times why he was so rude. No explanation could cover his behavior, so he blamed it on her being just as rude in the beginning. Charlotte was quick to defend Esmeralda. “Try to be nicer to her next time you see her or I will tell Papa to set you straight. You don’t know what she is like in private.” He remembered the day in the hospital when he waited for over eight hours for this girl to be born. The same girl, seventeen years later, was telling him to get his act together, lest she tell Jean-Pierre. He clenched his jaw and agreed to be more civil. He didn’t want to have an embarrassing, personal conversation, which would most likely make him feel ashamed of himself.

His fixation for Esmeralda never went anywhere like he anticipated, only increased as they both seemed to call a quiet truce. At least, when they had to make appearances. “Coquette,” he sneered under his breath in passing and she almost smiled. “Cad,” she cooed, unaffected. It burned his heart, especially when she found out she could ruffle his feathers by being a mixture of flirty and argumentative with him. She loved to flirt! When she flirted with him, it was a particular kind of teasing that set his skin aflame in concealed excitement, but it enraged him the most. It wasn’t real. It was mockery. Another month went by and things were becoming more difficult. He didn’t realize how close Christine and Esmeralda had become. Soon, the situation turned on its head and everyone but him completely adored her. “She is so great, I don’t understand why you are so mean to her,” Charlotte whined on the way home from a performance. She brought this up a lot and Frollo was growing tired of hearing it. “She isn’t particularly kind to me either,” Frollo said irritably. “So you both have a temper, I’m sure you two can start over. I’ve never seen either of you act like this. It just proves to show that you two got off on the wrong foot. I know you guys are very different.” “That is quite an understatement,” Frollo muttered through his teeth. It was month three since he saw Esmeralda for the first time and Erik was becoming more insistent that they meet. Claude avoided this moment for as long as possible. Erik knew everything that went on in the theatre and he was not ready to have a conversation about Esmeralda, or really any of his behavior when interacting with her. But soon, Erik put a hand on Frollo’s back as one of the performances ended. He hadn’t even seen where the man came from, as if he had teleported. Erik led him to a discreet area in the theatre which required his handprint for clearance. It wasn’t like Claude could run away. “I already told Charlotte that I would be speaking with you and her dad will be picking her up.” Frollo’s lips pulled in discomfort instead of the friendly smile he had aimed for. Once inside, they talked about Christine and her progress mostly. Frollo thought he might be off the hook, but he had been too hopeful.It was Erik’s turn to ask questions that he didn’t mean. “How about you, old friend? Have you found someone you are interested in?” Frollo’s skin prickled with anxiety. “No. I think I would tell you at this point if there was,” Frollo scoffed. The smile Erik gave was chilling and all knowing. His anxiety went off the charts. He felt like Erik was giving him a lie detector test where he already knew the results. “I don’t think you would.” Fear spread throughout Claude’s body and his stomach twisted with nauseum. “It’s Esmeralda, isn’t it?” The judge couldn’t hide completely from his reaction. His lips parted in surprise. Erik was the first one to suspect anything was amiss. “Don’t be ridiculous,” Frollo’s voice was tight in his throat. “You are the one who has been acting ridiculous!” “And you haven’t?” Frollo said defensively. “Don’t think I forgot you went off the rails because I spoke to Christine. Esmeralda irritates me, nothing more.” Erik laughed. He laughed! “You are obsessed! Ah, my friend has the same ailment as me!” Claude’s face turned white as a sheet. “Obsession will never be love, Erik,” he spat. It fell from his mouth and the opera ghost had never looked so smug. “So you admit it, then…And I disagree,” Erik waved his hand in an elegant dismissal.“My obsession has certainly blossomed and I can now say that I am in love. I would make the world spin the opposite direction. Christine must only ask it of me.” Frollo looked away and took a sip of his wine to refrain from sneering at the emotional soliloquy.That sentence seemed to be more for himself than for Claude’s regard.The thought of romantic love was beginning to repulse him more and more with each breath he took. “Your obsession might have turned into love for Christine, but that is not to be my fate.This is just an odd phase in my life. Us old men know how that happens. It will pass and I will forget it ever happened.” It would take Claude months for him to see just how little progress Erik was making with Christine. “That is not how hell works.” Erik became so sombre that the hopelessness seemed to overtake the room. Erik’s words were cryptic and they lingered in Claude’s head hours after he left. He would wear the obsession thin. If he was this fed up with Esmeralda now, his irritation would eventually make him sick of her. It had to. Month four approached.Though it was still his secret pleasure to watch her dance because it excited him to his core, he was beginning to feel less satisfied. It gave him hope that his obsession was finally waning. It was a false flag. Ever since things had reached a temporary calm, his feelings for Esmeralda were merely shifting without him realizing it. He attended the theatre less this month and most of his interactions with the ballerina were picking up Charlotte from rehearsals or performances. Jean-Pierre was having health troubles and since “Claude turned into such a theatre buff this year,” he asked him to continue helping him with Charlotte. Frollo didn’t tell him that he hadn’t been going much lately, especially when his father-figure looked so pale and uncomfortable. None of them wanted Charlotte to be taking public transport by herself and Claude was the only one without kids. “Of course I will help,” Frollo assured him. It was devastating for him, especially when he wanted to avoid the theatre entirely. Sometimes mid-day rehearsals ran long, sometimes they were short. Frollo was always punctual, so it seemed like more than half of the time, he was in an empty theatre sitting with a handful of others waiting for the rehearsal to be over. He observed Esmeralda, who always sat next to Charlotte on the floor when Madame Giry did her review at the end of each rehearsal. He noticed how sweet her face was despite Charlotte’s constant pestering. More than once, Madame Giry had to tell Charlotte to be quiet. There was never a moment when Esmeralda regarded Charlotte with irritation, which was more than what he could say about himself. He admired her gentle smiles. He had never seen them before. These were the private smiles she gave to friends and not to patrons. Frollo got into the habit of taking xanax much more frequently. Theatre parties were one thing because he could hide in a crowd. Picking up Charlotte when she was always hanging on Esmeralda’s arm was a more intimate experience. One night, the rehearsal ran exceedingly late.There would be a new open soon and Madame Giry wasn’t having it. He was waiting for about two hours for it to be finished.. Once it was, he silently thanked a God he didn’t believe in. It was the first time he saw Esmeralda dance in a few weeks and he was yet again surprised by how acutely she affected him. His skin was warm. Distance wasn’t enough. Charlotte emerged in her regular clothes, approaching with Esmeralda. He couldn’t help but feel tense. Normally, she avoided him. He frowned naturally and saw her look away, slightly miffed, which in turn annoyed him even more. “Uncle Claude, would you mind giving Esmeralda a ride home tonight? It is dark and Christine didn’t have rehearsal today, so there would be no buddy system.” Frollo couldn’t help his sigh of annoyance. This was not at all how he planned on spending his evening. “It’s ok Charlotte, he obviously doesn’t want to,” Esmeralda said in a gentle tone he had personally never heard her use. He had never been subjected to a teenage girl’s pointed irritation before. It was like daggers. “Uncle Claude, I swear--” “Alright.” Frollo put his hands up in defeat. He didn’t want Charlotte to finish that sentence. Charlotte’s excitement was childlike. It was apparent to him that she adored Esmeralda with every fiber of her being. Staying separated from them as they walked to his expensive car, they hopped in the back. Fate was having a hell of a time making him miserable, as there was an accident which caused the traffic to be more congested than usual. There was no taking an alternate route. Charlotte talked excessively. Looking in the overhead mirror, he could see Esmeralda up close with natural makeup and normal clothes. She was honestly more stunning now. She smiled at Charlotte again and his heart twisted. She was so exquisite... Another emotion came over him that he had never felt. Then, his heart began to beat faster. Tender feelings flooded his chest and suddenly he yearned for her to smile at him. His eyes darted back to the road. No… no he couldn’t. This was the fascination talking to him. He didn’t care what happened to her or what she wanted. The night would never end and when they finally reached Esmeralda’s apartment, relief swept over him. “Thank you for the ride, Minister,” Esmeralda said. Their eyes met and he wondered if this was the first time that they looked at each other without animosity. “You are welcome.” His voice was reluctant, but Esmeralda seemed oddly pleased. So, he could be civil for literally half a second. She flashed the smallest of smiles as she left. It wasn’t the large, carefree ones that she gave to others, but it still caused his heart to skip a beat in his chest. “See, that didn’t kill you!” Charlotte said loudly. Claude sat there for a moment. “I think it may have,” he said quietly and Charlotte thought he was joking. “Sure, Uncle Claude. Whatever.”

#Calligraphy

9 notes · View notes

helgaw321 · 4 years

Text

Takeru’s 155 Q&A

To start off things, let me share (again) one of my most satisfying works from last year, that is Takeru’s Q&A section from his 30th birthday anniversary book. Looking back, I think I worked on this one for almost one week, and It felt really satisfying to finish it on Takeru’s 31th birthday ❤️

Once again, enjoy!

(Disclaimer: All translations are done by myself, pls don’t repost without permission, thank you!)

===========

These are the questions sent by fans through Takeru's official LINE account. Thank you for all of your participation!!

1. Is there anything you would like to do or achieve in 2019? I'd like to do anything good for my body

2. If there is one day you're not Satou Takeru anymore, what will you do? Go to sauna

3. If there is one day you become a girl, what will you do? Sing Sheena Ringo's songs in the original key

4. If you can travel back in time, when would you go? Middle high school

5. If you are being reborn, do you want to be yourself again? Not really

6. If there is an "Anywhere Door", where would you like to go? The world's best views

7. Do you think aliens exist? Not in this solar system I think

8. 10 years from now, what kind of father do you want to be? I want to avoid using weird emoji

9. If you move abroad, which country would you choose? Maybe America or Canada

10. If you got the chance to direct a film, what kind of film and who are the casts? Horror. Because it seems difficult to explain, I'll do it myself.

11. If you have to become one of the characters you've played before, who will you choose? Shishigami Hiro

12. Among of the movies created in the past, is there any movie you like to have acted in? (Anything from) Ghibli

13. Who would you like to meet the most right now? And what will you ask him/her? Hanyu (Yuzuru)-kun. "Do you want to join Amuse (Takeru's agency)?"

14. Anything you want to overcome in this year? Coughing out when sleeping

15. If you can go with your mom on a trip, where would you like to go? I don't know. I'll go where she would want to go

16. When you see food with the name you see for the first time, do you dare try? Or you tend to play safe? I tend to take the challenge.

17. If you can meet your 20-year-old self, what would you like to say? Nothing in particular

18. What kind of present you would like to receive in last year of Heisei-era? Speakers that can be used in bathroom

19. Where would you like to go on honeymoon? The world's best views

20. What would you like to do in your last day of your life? I don't want to know that day is the end of my life

21. If you can take a long holiday, what would you like to do? Watch movies. Escape room games.

22. I love Takeru-kun's singing voice. If someday you get to sing in your next project, do you want to do it? I don't mind

23. If you weren't in the entertainment world, what would you do? I imagined myself to study something related to science-field in university, but I don't know what to do next

24. What else you like in sushi other than Kohada (gizzard shad)? Between tuna and salmon, which one do you like? Tuna. I also like squid and uni (sea urchin). And also button shrimp

25. If you become an invisible person, what would you want to do? State secrets investigation

26. Favorite movie? Kimi no Na wa (Your name)

27. Do you like sweets? I like it but I rarely snacking

28. Favorite smell? Morning forest

29. What do you like in osechi (traditional Japanese new year food)? Kamaboko (fish cake)

30. Favorite manga? Tenshi na Konamaiki (Cheeky Angel) (note: he said in Yakai before that his first love is the heroine from this manga XD)

31. Do you like to go to onsen? Yes

32. If you have your own favorite/most disliked body parts, please tell us! I won't say because it's embarassing

33. Favorite color? Navy blue

34. Favorite kind of noodles? Cold soba

35. Favorite season? Winter

36. Do you like horumon (cuisine made from pork or beef offal)? I like it more than average people

37. You went to lots of places during filming or doing promotion for movies, do you have favorite region? Also please tell us if you have a must-eat food there! Hitsumabushi in Nagoya

38. If i remembered correctly, you've said that you like your home, is there any other place you like? I also like hotel

39. Any recommendation for foreign drama? Friends

40. Favorite novel? Shigatsu ni nareba Kanojo wa (also titled April Girlfriend - by Kawamura Genki)

41. What do you usually add when you eat medamayaki (fried egg)? Salt and pepper or Shoyu

42. What do you usually add when you eat freshly cooked white rice? Karashi (spicy) mentaiko

43. Please tell us your order of eating sushi! Omakase (literally meaning "I'll leave it up to you", a special course when the customer leaves it up to the chef to serve)

44. What are your memories of doing Kamen Rider? Commuting in a crowded train

45. Please tell us a happy episode from filming Den-O! We sometimes would go to Jojoen near Oizumi Studio

46. Who is your favorite Imajin from Den-O? Ura(taros)

47. If you act as (Nogami) Ryoutarou right now, what kind of person you think he will be? I think people will not change that much

48. If you have a child, what name will you give him/her? I think 2 letters would be nice

49. Among the actors-actresses you haven't co-starred with, who would you want to work together with? Fukatsu (Eri)-san

50. Among all of your projects, which role is the most fun/memorable? Rookies was fun

51. Do you still continue to learn English? Yes

52. Among all of roles you've played, was there a moment when you think it resembles yourself? Probably no

53. Is there any place inside Japan you want to go? Never-visited islands

54. Is there anything you want to learn right now? I want to learn to dance

55. When you first meet a person, what is the first thing you will look at? I got this question a lot and until now I don't know the answer. I wonder what I will look at first

56. What role you want to try this year? As a runaway child

57. Among all of your projects, is there anything you wouldn't want to watch? Basically I don't want to watch it. I don't watch most of it.

58. If you can do a sequel, is there a work you want to do? Rurouni, Kanouso, Gibomusu

59. Is there any villain role from movie/drama/manga/novel that you want to do? I'd like to if there's any (interesting roles)

60. Before you do a crying scene, how do you usually spend your time? Depends on the scene

61. What is your description of "Kakkoii"? Taking the initiative in what people hate, and don't show off your action

62. You said that you didn't like saba no misoni (mackerel with miso), was it because you didn't like mackerel itself? When I saw "saba no misoni" in school lunch menu, I would be very dissapointed. I like mackarel though.

63. If you got an offer for main cast in Taiga drama, will you take it? I like that kind of question where you don't think "If it's the main cast for Taiga I'll definitely do it"

64. Something to do to keep you healthy? Sleep 12 hours

65. Do you have any actor friends? Everyone that gave their comments in this book

66. How do you feel when you work in Rurouni Kenshin kiri (` ・ω・‘) (note: this is the actual answer (i only changed hiragana to romaji/alphabet), kiri/kiru is to cut/slash in japanese, so maybe he just felt like slashing ppl all the time XDD)

67. Something that makes you feel "I can die peacefully after doing this"? Become Ajin

68. What is the scariest thing in the world? Please see video original version of "Ju-on"

69. Have you seen Aurora? No

70. When you take a bath, what part of the body you washed first? Head

71. In what moment do you usually can be yourself the most? I am myself mostly everytime

72. If fans reach out to you in your private time, how far can we go e.g handshake/photograph? It'll be embarassing to take a photo, so only handshake is good

73. We always see Takeru-san in the acting side, do you ever think of creating a movie? If I create a movie, I also want to act in that movie

74. You showed us for a short moment in Horoyoi ads, but I want to hear more of your singing voice! Recently, is there any song that you will definitely sing in karaoke? Marigold, no I'm lying. I don't have such song.

75. You always give your best during promotions for dramas/movies, but was there any tough times? Ehh you're so kind.

76. You said that you want to take a break in this year because you've worked hard in last year, did that feeling change? It's not like I want to take break, but I think my exposure level is decreasing compared to last year

77. In Kanouso, during the moment when you weren't supposed to cry but tears suddenly fell down, how to control such emotion? I looked at her (Riko) face

78. Is there any actor/actress you admire? If I tell you, you will be more aware of that person, so because I don't want you to have such thought, I won't tell you.

79. How did you spend your time during 2019 new year? I watched Unnatural with my family at home

80. What is your special skill? Othello

81. Do you use perfume? I don't usually use it but because we're making it (as anniversary goods) this time so I'm using that.

82. When thinking about Takeru-kun, your image is strongly tied with solving riddles, how did you get into it? Also how much time did you spend in 1 day? My first time was when my friends invited me to play escape games. As long as time allows me to do it, I can do it all day.

83. Among all of Hanbun, Aoi cast, who is your best friend? Kan-chan (Suzume's daughter)

84. If you meet a person that you want to befriend, are you the type who reach out to him/her, or wait? Reach out

85. Regardless of gender, what kind of person you're not good at? People who makes mistakes

86. What is your decisive factor when choosing a project? Whether I want or I don't want to do it

87. By any chance, is Takeru-san the type of genius person with photographic memory? I'm not that kind of person

88. What do you sing when you go to karaoke? Radwimps

89. Do you do any muscle training? I do but depends on the timing

90. When you go out with somebody you like on a date, in what situation do you like? Autumn leaves

91. Has anybody said to you that you resemble someone (in entertainment world)? Shouhei's wife (Kiritani Mirei) (note: why he won't say her name directly XDD)

92. Do you have any age restriction for marriage? I'd like to do it in my 30s if I can

93. Why do you become "a man lost in love"? What a good word to express it. Love is not something you experience several times, isn't it?

94. What kind of hair type do you like for girl? I like natural, not shaped ones

95. In what moment do you think girls are cute? When you see they are excited when I choose her in SUGAR

96. When you found a girl you like, do you actively "attack" her? Of course if I like her

97. Do you like a woman who will casually do body touch, doing upward gaze, and sort of the aggresive type? I don't like it at all

98. In what moment you think you can't help but liking a girl? When she casually do body touch, do upward gaze (note: so which one do you actually like LOL -- refer to Q97)

99. Between older and younger woman, which one do you like? I like both

100. What kind of girl do you like? Girls with narrow "strike zone"

101. What is the minimum requirement for your partner to marry you? I no longer have such requirement

102. As a man, what do you think of a man who keeps looking at his phone, keeps looking at the clock when dating a woman? It's not a good thing to do, it's like he doesn't care about his partner.

103. What do you think about a fun and easygoing girl? Girls with good sense of humor are good

104. When you have a girlfriend, what kind of homemade food will you make for her? Miso soup

105. What kind of make up do you like for girls? As long as she doesn't overdo it

106. I have a person I can't forget even after so many years, Does Takeru-kun have that kind of experience? Yes for a few years, but I don't know what will happen for 10+ years

107. I called my nephews and nieces with nicknames. Does Takeru-kun have any nicknames you want to be called with? I like Takeru-san rather than Takeru-kun

108. What sound do you use as your alarm ringtone? Default settings

109. You have a really beautiful skin. Do you have any advice for it? Moisturizing

110. Any activities you've been into lately? Alternate baths (also called contrast bath therapy) (note: a kind of bath therapy where you alternate between hot and cold baths.)

111. Where do you usually go? Most recent is gym

112. Do you still hate caterpillars? Sorry, but yes

113. Do you cook? Do you have any specialities? Nope

114. Where and how you usually memorize your script? I usually memorize it with my costars moments before shooting in the set

115. For Takeru-san who loves reading, how do you usually choose books to read? I'd usually pick friends' recommendation

116. When you sleep do you prefer to turn on or off the lights? Turn off. I can't stand even the lights from humidifier

117. In what moment do you think it's nice being an actor? When people are being nice to you

118. Things like clothes, bags, shoes, is there anything that you have to make sure it's in good quality before you buy? Towel

119. If you have one full day with your beloved cats, what will you do? Cuddling its cheek

120. If you are being reborn as a cat, who do you want to take care of you? Do you want to play together with Kochirou and Puchirou in Satou's family house? Yes. (note: Kochirou and Puchirou are his beloved cats currently living in his parents' house)

121. If you can have one more cat, what name will you give? At least not names in katakana

122. Are you a dog person? Cat person? Cat

123. As a cat-lover, which part of a cat do you like? Face

124. What is your favorite Kochirou and Puchirou's pose? When they become rounded like a ball

125. If you can have a dog, what kind of dog do you like? Shiba-inu

126. Beside cat, do you have any other animals you'd like to have? Dolphin

127. Where do you want to live? Shiodome maybe

128. Have you give your mom presents from home bakery? Yes. I think you can also make mochi with those

129. If you're doing a solo trip, where will you go? Canada

130. How do you get along with Nobu-san (from Chidori)? We were working together in a variety show and I ask for his phone number

131. You were famous among the older people from long ago, what do you think about that? I don't really care about the age as long as I still got the "waa" and "kyaa"

132. In what moment do you feel happy? When I solved a riddle

133. What is your favorite song from Takahashi Yuu-kun? Hachigatsu Muika (August 6) (note: he sang this song in his 30th birthday event)

134. If you have to give a score for your acting career up until now, how many points out of 100? 60

135. In the future, can you create an event where fans can meet you directly? Yes

136. You've said before that because you can't tidy your room up so your mom had to visit your house to tidy things up, is it still the same now? I've become independent now

137. I'm still a kid, an elementary school student. When I talk about Kamen Rider, there are some kids who get along with me, but there also kids who call me weird. Is it alright that I still love Kamen Rider? Please tell me. I was also called weird by my friends in my school days so it will be alright

138. Do you plan to go to Kyoto in this year? I already go there few times

139. In what moment do you feel the happiest? I can't decide between the moment when I saw at Ruroken's (sales) performance or when I managed to clear an escape game challenge, or when I was in elementary school when I got into Yu-Gi-Oh, I got Summoned Skull from a booster pack.

140. Was there a moment when you cried while watching a movie? Usually I cried watching touching movies

141. Between the roles you've played almost simultaneously, such as Ritsu in Hanbun, Aoi, Mugita in Gibomusu, and Kazuo in Oku Otoko, which one is the most difficult to play? Kazuo

142. Recently, is there a moment when you laughed so hard? I was hitting my knees laughing while watching Aiseki Shokudou (Chidori's show) at home

143. Please tell us an episode from Kouhaku! When I hesitated to wave my penlight, but then I saw Nomura Mansai-san was waving his so I decided to follow

144. Please tell us your recommended places to visit from "Rurouni-hon Kumamoto e". Nature is always recommended. Negative ions are good for the body. (note: "Rurouni-hon Kumamoto e" was a book about Takeru doing a trip in Kumamoto, promoting places especially those which were affected by Kumamoto earthquake. A portion of the sales were donated to support Kumamoto recovery)

145. You said in the past that you couldn't sleep for a long time, how is it now? Hm it's complex but I think my internal body clock feels off

146. When telling our thoughts about your movies/dramas, do you have any preferred ways that makes you happy? When you shared it in the internet

147. My son is telling me that he wants to be a voice actor and wants to go to a vocational school. As a parent, should I support him? Did Takeru-kun get your parents' support when you want to be an actor? My parents had no objection at that time. It didn't cost me any money. By the way, do professional voice actors learn in vocational schools? I support him to become a voice actor, but I'm not sure if it's the right decision to enroll in a vocational school to become a voice actor.

148. Among all the places you've visited during your work or private trips, do you have any recommendation for us? Salar de Uyuni (note: he went to this place for X photobook)

149. When you watch a movie, do you prefer to read the original story first or straight to the movie? If I want to enjoy the movie, I'd watch the movie first. If I want to enjoy the book, I'd read the book first.

150. Can I hug you when I meet you? Maybe no

151. Do you use washing machine for drying your clothes? What will happen to your clothes after that? Wrinkled

152. What is the most important thing or person to you? People who put their faith in me

153. Are you looking forward to expand your career overseas? Rather than wanting to work in a Hollywood movie, I prefer to think more on how to make Japanese movies more visible to the world.

154. Is there anything you'd like to do in your 30s, any target or resolution? I have a few in mind, but I'll tell you when I manage to accomplish them

155. Please tell us about your vision of living your life from now on! I hope I can do more of what I want to do.

(pic: https://satohtakeru.amuseblog.jp/blog/2019/03/30th-anniversar-1c47.html)

#Q&A #can-we-have-more-of-this-pleasee #30th-anniversary-book #photobook #佐藤健

19 notes · View notes

aaronhart93-archive · 4 years

Text

these are my confessions || aaron & alison

DISCORD THREAD FEATURING: Aaron & @alison-haynes

MENTIONS: @romanbeckett and luca regio (briefly @davieslandon @ellicfm @jayceelynd @finnthatcher89 @oflaurelthatcherisms @warmvlbes @kingsboroaurora)

WHEN: September 16, 2020

DESCRIPTION: so much??? aaron goes over to comfort alison when she breaks up with luca, alison tells aaron everything she’s been keeping from him about their relationship, they apologize to each other for like they 100th time, they promise each other not to get in the way of their romantic relationships anymore, aaron admits some jealousy

TRIGGER WARNINGS: mentions of rehab, crying, pregnancy, lots of typos, maybe a little bit of self hate on ali’s part, long ass thread because maci and I can’t stop typing?

Aaron.

To say Aaron was panicking was putting things lightly. He'd left the house so quickly, he almost forgot to put shoes on. His uber picked him up out of the pent. Ali's was close and this was New York; normally he'd walk or even take his own car, but this was so much quicker. "Ali?" He called out, swinging the door with his key. "Alison?" He called out, kicking his shoes in the corner. "What the fuck is going on?" He said, as he approached his very pregnant best friend.

Alison.

Alison didn't often send texts like the one she had sent to Aaron tonight. She was sure the other was freaking out, it was hard not to freak out after receiving a text like that one. He didn't know what was happening, hell Alison didn't even know what was going on. She sat on her couch in a pair of pajamas, her hair pulled back into a messy bun. It had been a week, and she had kept it all pent up, trying to figure it out. Trying to figure out what she wanted, and she felt like she had no one to talk too. But she needed to talk, and Aaron had always been her person, even if she had been trying to distance herself lately because Luca disliked Aaron that much. Alison sniffled, blowing her nose and throwing her tissue into the ever growing pile on the coffee table. Upon hearing Aaron's voice, she glanced up revealing her puffy red eyes. "I think Luca and I are over."

Aaron.

Ali had been crying. That was obvious to Aaron. It was evident by her swollen face and messy coffee table. His mouth gaped open slightly when he walked in on the sight, and his heart sank to his ass. He was thinking the worse case scenario. At first, he was thinking she lost the baby? Or was in labor? That clearly wasn't the case. Then when she spoke, his shoulders relaxed. Not because he was relieved they broke up, but because he was relieved she was just in one piece. "What happened?" He asked softly as he sat down next to her. He put a comforting arm around her and brought her in so that she could rest on his shoulder.

Alison.

Alison hadn't wanted to admit for a long time that maybe Aaron was right. Maybe Luca wasn't the person for her, and part of her knew that for a while, but she didn't want to admit it to herself, let alone Aaron. She thought maybe if she kept moving things along, things would get better. She did what she thought she should, she invited him to live with her, she introduced him to her daughter, yet the two were still fighting often. "A lot." She said, resting her head on his shoulder and sinking in. She wasn't even sure where to start. Should she start with Luca leaving to Sicily to care for a terminally ill family member? Or the fights that had been happening for the last few months. "I don't even know where to start, Aaron." She sniffled. "There is so much you don't know."

Aaron

Aaron sighed. He knew why there was so much that he didn’t know. Aaron has done a really good job of shutting her out while she had been dating Luca. He made it obvious that he didn’t like the fact that they were together and that he didn’t like Luca. Of course that would make her block him out when it came to all things Luca. She didn’t want to hear Aaron tell her I told you so, which — as much as he hated to admit this — is totally something he would say. “Okay.” Aaron sighed, rubbing her back as she spoke. “Then start at the beginning.” He suggested.

Alison.

Alison took a sharp breath, wiping the tears from her eyes. She needed to keep it together, there was so much happening, she couldn't just fall apart. Her album came out on Friday and she didn't know how she was going to hold it together for that, but that wasn't the problem at hand. "How much did I mess up this year?" Alison asked wrapping her arms around her baby bump. That was the one thing she knew wasn't a mistake, her baby boy. "I - you're going to hate me for everything I'm going to say." She whispered. She defended Luca so much this year, and Aaron had told her time and time again, and now she was able to admit it all to him.

Aaron.

The socialite furrowed his brows when she told him that she messed the year up. This year has been a challenge for them both — individually, as friends and as co parents. But she hadn’t messed it up. Not at all. She was having a baby, which Aaron knew was what she wanted. She was healthy. Des was healthy. Her career was thriving. “You haven’t.” He said, sighing. Even though Aaron could argue that he fucked up this year too. He just had to keep remembering all of the good things his hardships had brought him. That’s what Alison needed to do now too. His face twisted with confusion when she spoke next. “What is it?” He asked with a shaky voice.

Alison.

Alison was unsure where to start, but Aaron needed to know everything she had been dealing with this past year. “I haven’t been able to talk to anyone,” Alison said, pulling back from Aaron and wrapping up in a nearby blanket. “I couldn’t talk to you. About any of this, because I’m sure I would have heard I told you so. Or you would have told me to break up with him.” Alison knew Aaron well, and knew what he would say. “Luca and I....we argued a lot. But I couldn’t talk to you. And when you and I argued — I couldn’t talk to him.” Alison felt the tears fall from her eyes for the millionth time this week. “I‘ve had no one to talk to this year, and it has been the worst feeling in the world.” She reaches for another tissue, “Love makes you do stupid things, Aaron.” Alison knew that Aaron knew that, but she needed him to know that. “Everyone is going to think I have a broken family.” She said sadly.

Aaron

Aaron felt his heart pang when the singer told him that she felt like she had no one to talk to. He knew that that was partially his fault. He had done a great job of isolating her. Alison and Aaron had never fought like they had in the past several months. And Aaron had never felt so far from Alison; he could always guess what she was thinking, but lately they seemed to be on completely different wavelengths. Aaron swallowed hard. Looking at his hands, he nodded because she was right. He would have. That make him feel like absolute shit. "I'm sorry." He told her solemnly. He raised his brow because love had made him do really stupid things to these past few months. Like really stupid things. Which Alison knew. His demeanor changed a little when she spoke next. Now he was just confused. He adjusted himself on the couch to turn to face her completely, face twisting with confusion. "Where the hell did you get that idea from?" He spat.

Alison.

Alison had never felt so distanced in her life -- besides right after her brother had passed. After moving to New York, getting pregnant with Destiny, she always had Aaron. The pair could talk about anything and everything. This was the first year since meeting Aaron did Alison ever feel like she couldn't talk to him about things, and all this anger and sadness was pent up in the singer. Her mind went back to the night -- before her and Luca were dating -- when he told her that her family with Destiny & Aaron was a broken one. Now, her family really must have been broken. Her heart hurt at the thought. Alison reached for one of the pillows, holding it tightly against her chest as the tears fell from her eyes. "L-Luca," She sniffled out, "H-he told me our family was broken. You, Des and me. If one person thinks that," She squeezed her eyes closed tightly, "--I'm sure half the world has their opinion on it." Alison was pretty good about not caring what people thought of her, which she had to be, but right now she just thought the worst of other peoples opinions. "I--I must look terrible. Two kids -- not with either of their fathers. When people find out -- people are going to think I'm this big slut." The blonde said, clearly in pain.

Aaron.

He said what now? God, this guy really was a dick. How much more about him was Alison keeping from Aaron? He knew he was right about him all along. Aaron felt his blood boil and his face get red. He stood up, pacing back and forth while he tried to resist the urge to punch a hole in the wall. Breathe, remember what your counselors taught you. He repeated his counselors words over and over in his head. but he was so mad. How dare he? The Hart-Haynes family wasn't perfect, but they were far from broken. Destiny was one of the happiest little girls he had ever met. And it was Alison and Aaron who made that happen for her. He finally calmed himself down enough to the point he wasn't yelling. Well, he wasn't yelling loudly at least. "What a fucking asshole. And now look at what he's done..." he said, motioned towards the tall blonde. What he's making you think. Alison..." He began, sitting on the ottoman across from her. "This family is not broken. And you are not a slut. Who cares about what other people think? You have your loyal fans, your friends, me, Des who know your character. That's all that matters." He told her, speaking more calmly than he thought he could.

Alison.

Alison knew that Aaron had already disliked Luca, and this wasn't helping the case. Sure, the pair had their problems, but Alison did love Luca. Even if she knew for a while that maybe she shouldn't defend him the way she had been, or maybe she should have loved a little less, but either way she had been -- still was in love with the Italian man. This hurt like hell, telling Aaron things that had been said in private between the two but she knew it would help her feel better eventually. The fact Luca had called her family broken all that time ago still made her think about what other people thought of the family unit. Alison never saw her family as broken, she saw it as her family. "I - I don't know if he said it was a broken family -- but," She tried to remember back to the exact words, it was all blurred though. "I think it was a broken home." Alison rubbed her face, this had happened so long ago, but it still bothered her to this day. "He -- he said it back when -- when I asked if you'd have another child with me." She knew this would probably set Aaron off into a rage about her even forgiving him and why she had gotten together with him in the first place. But, Luca had been a person for her to lean on after her and Aaron argued about not having another child together, and she needed that someone. Every word that came from her mouth pained, "I never thought our family was broken," She whispered softly, looking into Aaron's eyes with her sad wet blue eyes, "I thought we were doing a really good job. You -- me -- Des. But, now maybe our family isn't broken," She motioned between the two of them. "But mine is." Alison said, setting her hand on her baby bump. "What is he going to think about his parents not being together?"

Aaron.

Aaron was almost hurt that Alison hadn't told him this before, but he needed to tell himself that there were things that Roman had shared with him that he hadn't told Ali. It was weird how they didn't tell each other every little thing about their lives anymore. They both had partners for that now. Well, they did... Aaron scratched his head and took several deep breaths. He really just wanted to scream or throw something or... He was just so angry, he could barely stop his body from shaking. He got up to pace again. "Alison. That's bullshit." He spat, even though he meant to calm her down. "We --" He motioned to himself then to Alison, "are amazing parents. And our family is far from fucking broken. And you and your son are not going to have a broken family either. Broken home...." he shook his head and mumbled. "Fuck that." He paced around some more, trying to calm himself down. He wanted a drink. So bad. He tried to focus on Alison and what he needed, but it was so hard when he knew where all of Alison's alcohol was. He paused for a few more moment, letting himself calm down. "Okay." He said, sitting down next to her. "So how did you guys break up?" He asked, wanting the full story. He wasn't going to say I told you so, but he was damn glad that Luca wasn't going to be living with his daughter anymore. "Talk to me." he said, softly. He was doing a great job of not punching that wall, but he still wanted a drink.

Alison.

Alison hadn't been in love -- well ever. Not until Luca, and now she was seeing just how stupid someone could be when they were in loved. She nearly let her relationship with Luca completely tear up her friendship with Aaron, something that had been years in the building, something she never wanted to give up. "I know we are. I just -- sometimes its hard not to doubt myself. Especially with how much I travel for work -- sometimes I feel like a shitty mom." She said quietly. Aaron and Alison always worked things out for them to arrange visits with Destiny when she was away on tour, and nightly facetime calls to the small blonde were a thing. No one who knew Alison would consider her to be a bad mother, but sometimes it was hard to not doubt herself. "I -- I don't have anyone to raise him with," She cried softly, "I'm all by myself, and what -- what if I can't do it by myself?" She cried out quietly. She wasn't by herself, she knew that Aaron would be with her every step of the way. Sure, he wasn't her sons father, but she knew Aaron wouldn't let her sink and drown. Alison shut her eyes tightly, looking over at him. "Theres been so many times," She whispered, "So many times where I just wanted to pull the plug. But, I didn't. For his sake." She said motioning down to her baby bump. "He deserves both of his parents, and I wanted to give that to him." Alison looked sadly in Aaron's direction, "Remember when I went to Rhode Island? After I found out I was pregnant? And I wasn't talking to you -- or Luca?" She asked, remembering that had been the time she came closest to ending the relationship.September 18, 2020

Aaron.

Prior to Roman and Luca, it was Alison and Aaron (and Des) against the word. Literally nothing could separate them or tear them about. The were such a power pair. Aaron could clearly remember the time that Des got in trouble in the beginning of her Kindergarten year at school. She had gotten into a fight with another kid at school. Des swore up and down that the other kid bit her which is why she started yelling, but her teachers didn't believe her. In came Alison and Aaron, all dressed up in their designer clothes and leaving busy days at work to come and get their kid. Aaron and Alison had made sure to clear the confusion up right away, of course, getting their kid out of trouble. The were iconic. They still were. "Hold on." He stopped her, holding up his hand. "You are not alone. You have me, Roman, Ellie, Landon, Emily, Jaycee, your friends Finn and Laurel, Aurora. The list goes on, Alison." He sighed. "Ali." He pleaded. "Your son is my daughter's brother. Meaning I am with you through this no matter what." He promised. "Not like there's anything you can do about this now, but you know that people can be good parents without being together. We are example number 1. it may have actually ended up being worse the kid and Des if you guys were unhappy and stayed together." He informed her. "yeah...I remember." He sighed. He hated that time. Like so much. And he hated thinking about it to. And he remembered Luca telling him that Alison wasn't talking to him either. "Were you guys fighting then?"

Alison.

Things in her life had always been complicated, before Aaron, she was a young singer in New York by herself, just trying to find her way. Then, after meeting Aaron and having Destiny, of course things were complicated. She was also someone who chose to put her life into the publics eye which screamed complicated. But nothing felt as complicated as what she was going through right now. She was truly just sad, sad that things weren't going the way she planned. Alison knew that Aaron was right though, she had a whole team behind her, an amazing team of people who were helping to raise Destiny, and with no doubt would be there for her son too. Alison felt warm tears roll down her cheek, looking to Aaron. This probably wasn't the right time to ask this, and it might have been a weird question. "Will --," The blonde sniffled sadly, "Will you be there when you know? I give birth?" She asked, her eyes gazing away from his face. "Because L-Luca was supposed to be the one to hold my hand through that -- and I-I can't do that alone." Alison knew that her and Aaron were doing a great job with Destiny, there was no doubt about it, and the entire time they hadn't been a couple. There were plenty of different kinds of families, and her family just didn't fall into a usual category. There was so much about that time that Alison hadn't told Aaron, mainly because she just couldn't tell him. He didn't want to hear it, neither did Luca. Alison shut her eyes tightly, "You know, during that time I was traveling a lot anyways, but every time I came home, we fought." She said. It had been before her and Luca were living together, well before that. It was mostly about you." Alison tried to keep her voice steady, but could hear the sad cracks as she spoke. "-But it was everytime I was home. You know, he didn't want me to tell you about the baby -- and I chose too. And he was pissed about it." She said, "He asked me one night if I had told you, he was the one who brought your name up, not me. So I told him that I told you, and I-I told him how you reacted and he went off the rails. He started asking me why I was telling him about how you think he is so shitty." Alison hated that she was talking like this. She truly did love Luca, and loved all the time they spent together, but she also had so much pent up anger and ranting was something she really needed to do. "I kept telling him that I didn't care what you thought about him, that I just -- that I loved him." Alison said, squeezing the pillow tightly to herself. "And he kept asking that if it didn't matter to me what you thought, why I always brought it up. And --," Finally Alison looked at Aaron, "I care about your opinion. You know I do, you're my b-best friend. Your opinion means the world to me, but I tried not to talk about you. But, I so badly wanted things to work with him. So I was telling him everything I thought he wanted to hear. I-I also remember telling him that I didn't want to spent the entire pregnancy miserable because everytime I came home we were fighting. That night I-I told him that I would try and keep my distance from you." Alison said, her eyes stinging, the words hurting as they came out of her mouth. How could she let someone else pull her away from her best friend? The only person who had been by her side for the last seven years, through anything and everything? But, she had been willing to, all because she loved him. "He went on about how I chose to tell you even though he told me not too, and got the exact reaction he thought I would, and that I should back off from you. And I tried, I tried really hard. God, I was so stupid." Alison shook her head, putting her face into the palm of her hands. "You should hate me." This was just the beginning, Alison had much more to tell Aaron that led to the break up and she wasn't sure how well he was going to take it all. But, talking was making the blonde feel a bit better.

Aaron.

"And by the way.... you are not a shitty mom. Aaron felt ridiculous for even having to remind her of that. She was away a lot, yeah, but that didn't make her a shitty mom. Alison was far better at dealing with Des' meltdowns, and always seemed to know the best ways to calm he down. There used to be times when Des was really little when Aaron would call Alison on tour absolutely freaking out and asking her how to handle on of Des' meltdowns. Aaron's life no doubt changed when he met Alison. They had both went through a huge transition together, and watched each other grow so much as people, and watched their careers grow as well. If Aaron had never met Alison, his life would be so different. He felt like he'd be a completely different person if they had never met. Aaron's face lit up at the mention of him being in the delivery room with her. He had a hard time believing that Luca wouldn't be around for the birth of his son, but he wasn't going to say no to Alison right now. He could remember so clearly being in the delivery room with her the first time - and lord was that something. In no way shape or form did he want to relive that experience, but he knew that Alison didn't either and the least he could do was be there with her to hold her hand. Again. "Of course, Alison. I promise I won't panic this time." He joked, even though he was pretty serious.

The billionaire's face faltered when Alison started telling him all about the time she had run away to Rhode Island after telling Aaron that they needed to take a break from each other. He felt so low then. He never thought that he would hear those words come out of Alison's mouth, and they hurt like hell. To find out that Luca was the mastermind behind that. That actually made him hurt less. It sounded kind of fucked up, but it was almost comforting to know that Alison wasn't the one who had come up with that idea herself. It just fueled the fire for his hatred for Luca, but right now he knew he needed to focus on Alison. "Ali...." He began, unsure of what to say. "I don't hate you. Stop that. You know I could never, ever hate you." He promised her. It was true. He was so mad at Alison when he was in rehab, but hate her? No, he could never. This was all so much. He couldn't help but to feel a little bit responsible for this break up. Maybe if he were nicer to Luca this wouldn't have happened. then again, he didn't regret anything. Maybe his delivery wasn't correct, but he was only trying to protect Alison and Des. "Okay..." he began. "What else?" Clearly, there was more to this story.

Alison.

Never in a million years had Alison ever thought she was a shitty mom, but now about to bring a second child into this world, a child who didn't have a father in the picture currently, made her feel a bit offsetting. The blonde with no doubt loved the child that was growing inside of her, but she did feel bad about the situation he would enter the world into. Alison could remember the first time she brought a child into the world, the crying, the screaming, the intense hours of labor, and of course Aaron there to help her through it. He wasn't calm, not even close to it, but just having him there to hold her hand made things better, and she was going to need that once again when she brought a new baby into the world. "Thank you --," She breathed out, a bit surprised by the fact he did agree to being in the room. Alison let out a sharp breath before continuing in on the story, "Well, even though I tried to patch things up that night, he took his dinner to his room and I sat alone -- the one night I was home in town -- to eat dinner. I was just, I was so stressed between fighting with you, fighting with him. I just needed to go. Which is when I went to Rhode Island." Alison said, knowing that Aaron remembered that week all too well. Alison needed that time though, while she was gone she hadn't talked to Luca, nor Aaron - unless it regarded Destiny. "I-I, that weekend was nice, Aaron. Destiny and I at the beach, for the first time in months I felt at peace." She told him. Even before she was pregnant, Alison and Luca had been arguing about Aaron, she had needed that space. Alison used the back of her hand to wipe the tears from her face once again, knowing this was a lot of information for Aaron to process. "When I came back, I went to see Luca after dropping Des off with you." She figured he had known that, of course she had gone to see her boyfriend when she returned to the city. "I got there, and the first thing he did was ask me why I ran off--," had needed that time to heal, to destress and be okay. The stress she had been putting on her body wasn't good for herself, nor her baby. Aaron and Luca both should have understood the space that she needed. When she had returned, Aaron seemed to understand it all a bit better than Luca did, which she was appreciative for. She didn't need anymore blow ups, she would have left again. "I said I had needed some space and that I didn't want it to feel like I was running. He was quick to tell me if I wanted space I needed to discuss that with him, not run. Did you feel like I ran that week? I-I didn't want to hurt anyone, and I know I did, but I needed to do what was best for the b-baby." That had always been the goal, doing what was best for her baby at the time. If that meant removing herself from a toxic situation, even if it was just for a week, then so be it. "He was sure to tell me that the only reason we fought was because I did what he told me not to do. I told him he could feel however he wanted about it, b-but I had my reasonings and I felt how I felt about it. Which made him ask me, how many times I was going to put you before him. I-I was doing everything I could to show him that I was putting him first, and not you. I-I just couldn't agree with that. Not telling you about the baby as soon as I found out -- that wouldn't have been fair." Alison froze for a moment, thinking back to the night she returned to New York, making sure to get all the details right. "I -I told him I didn't care if you and him didn't get a long, I told him all I wanted was for the two of you to be civil -- n-not even for my sake, but for Des and the baby. All I care about is their happiness," Aaron knew how much Alison loved Destiny, and how she would put her before anyone else, even her own happiness. Aaron was a parent, and Alison knew he would do the same exact thing when it came to the happiness of their child. "He proceeded to tell me that he would put aside his feelings so I could get what I wanted. That upset me so much, because I was doing everything. Everything I could to make things work, everything I could to be sure he felt like his feelings were being acknowledged -- but it wasn't enough. I-I almost broke up with him right then and there." She told him. Which was the truth. "I-I was sick of never being heard, it was always about his feelings, never about how I felt. And Aaron -- that hurt. Especially while carrying his child, I was emotional and I wanted -- I need to be heard." Alison reached for another tissue on the table, "I told him that I took a break from you for a week. That I couldn't do that, that you are my family and I need you around. I told him though that he was supposed to be my boyfriend, and the person who supported me through everything, and how I was sick of things being about his feelings and not mine. I - I told him I couldn't do it anymore, I told him I couldn't take the fighting." Alison knew Aaron was going to ask what changed, because this was so long ago now. When she went to Rhode Island, the blonde was still in her first trimester, now she was inching up to the eighth month of pregnancy and clearly her and Luca had been together since.

Aaron.

This was just so much to take in. He listened though. Very intently, matching the timelines up in his mind, and nodding along to show her that he was listening. This hurt him so much. Alison had gone through all of this and hadn't even told him about it. for good reason though -- their fights were his fault. Alison was right though, they were family and at the end of the day they would always out each other first. Aaron had thought about the few times that him and Roman had fought about Alison too. Aaron and Alison's relationship was weird and confusing , and hard for some people to understand. But it made perfect sense to Alison and Aaron. That was all that mattered to him. "I mean. At first I thought you were running, and took it really really hard. But Roman kind of knocked some sense into me and told me that you needed space and was probably really struggling. That week sucked honestly." He confessed, looking down at his hands. "it sounds like you guys argued a lot more than you lead on. I knew that guy was a dick. He sounds so controlling. I still don't understand why he didn't think I deserved to know. That's my daughter's brother." He sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you fought about me. That was never what I intended for. I want you to be happy with someone." It hurt him to hear that Alison was fighting with Luca so much and she felt like she had to lie to the father of her child about it. "Rhode Island was forever ago though." He pondered. "Why did you guys break up now? Have you been fighting this whole time?" He was so confused. And he'd feel awful if Alison had really been unhappy with Luca and that she had to keep that a secret from Aaron for months.

Alison.

There was still so much to the story of her and Luca, things that she had kept from Aaron this entire time. She loved Luca, hell she still loves Luca, but things hadn't been good since the beginning. Alison nodded slowly, "I was really struggling. Roman was right, I felt --," Alison took a moment to try and find the right word, "I felt like I was suffocating. Drowning -- I don't know, I j-just felt like everything was collapsing around me." She said honestly, biting down on her lip. "He's not a dick, I-I love him. But, there is just so much that happened." Alison took a deep breath, "I-I essentially broke up with him that night, but then he said he was going to take me to court. He said I wasn't going to keep the baby from him. I-I never said anything about that. B-but I was scared, so I told him we would make it work, we'd figure it out. So we did." Aaron knew better than anyone that Alison would never try to keep someones child from them. It wasn't in her to do something like that. She nodded when he asked if they had been fighting this whole time. "On and off. There were some really great times, there were. And I do love him. But, there was also so much fighting. " She said honestly, "Then you went to rehab. I-- I thought I should tell him. Right? I mean Des wasn't going to be with you, so I thought I had to be honest with him. At this point, I-I hadn't talked to him about you in months. Unless I said, I'm bringing Des to Aaron's. T-that was the only time you came up. This was the first real conversation about you in months." Which had been hard for Alison. She loved Aaron to pieces, so having to keep the good, the bad, everything in about him was hard. She knew Aaron probably got to talk to Roman about her, so he could imagine how hard it had been for her to just be silent.

Aaron.

Aaron was absolutely dumb founded when Alison told him that Luca had plans to take her to court. For of all, this was Alison Haynes. He wasn't going to beat her. There was no way. Second of all, no matter how many times Aaron had gotten into fights with Alison about Des - he would never ever threaten to take Alison to court. Never. And it never once crossed his mind. Aaron pressed his lips together and took a deep breath when she mentioned him going to rehab. He still hated that Luca knew about that, more so now that they were broken up. He couldn't blame Alison for telling her partner about it. Aaron told Roman literally everything going on in his life, so he didn't expect anything different from Alison and her relationship. "I'm sorry." He said again. He was sorry for so much. Being the cause of so much stress in her relationship, and he was just sorry in general that all of this was happening to her. She didn't deserve this. "So...where are you guys going from here? With the baby? Did he leave New York? I's find it hard to believe that he'd leave the city considering he was about to have a son." He was still so confused on everything that had went down between them, but Alison was providing a little more clarity. No wonder Luca hated Aaron; he was someone that Alison talked about all the time. He knew Roman felt the same way about Alison and Aaron's relationship and he was suddenly afraid that something similar would happen within his own relationship.

Alison.

Alison rubbed her forehead, not sure how Aaron was going to take the next part. She still wasn't sure how she felt about it, "He has a sick family member -- back in Sicily." She told him. Maybe Alison was a bad guy for breaking up with him when he was going back to take care of a sick relative, but she really wasn't sure how she was going to make the relationship work when the two of them were halfway around the world from one another, they could barely make it work when they lived in the same home. "I-I broke it off when he said he was leaving. Am I-I a bad person?" She asked quietly, "I-I know he should be there for his family member, but -- what about him?" She asked, motioning to her very pregnant stomach. "He didn't say when he'd be back, he didn't even say if he was coming back, and its so close to my due date -- I, I just didn't want to try and make it work anymore. Trying to make it work has been exhausting. I-I'm terrible, aren't I?"

Aaron.

Aaron sat back on the couch and looked straight ahead, just taking in all of the information he was hearing. He wasn't happy that Alison was hurting. Not at all. He was a little relieved to find out that Luca wasn't the one to break up with Alison -- he didn't know why that made him feel a little better. Maybe because it gave Alison more power in this? That sounded fucked up. Maybe it was because Aaron would really be tempted to knock his teeth out if it was Luca doing the dumping. Still, he knew Alison was hurting just as much. "I mean..." He began, unsure what to say. "You're definitely not terrible. And it sounds like he was in an impossible situation." He tried to empathize with Luca as much as possible, even though he couldn't ever imagine leaving Des. "If things were already going south while you guys were living together, there's no way you guys would have been able to make things work while he's in Europe. I think you made the right choice. Now it's up to him to decide on what kind of father he wants to be." He said, reaching out to rub her shoulder softly.

Alison.

Alison knew he was right. She wasn’t happy, she hadn’t been happy in the relationship for a while, and she just hadn’t admitted it to herself. There was no way she was going to stick around while he was halfway across the world and just try to make it work. Alison was the one who pulled the cord, she shouldn’t be as upset as she was, or at least that was what she thought. I dumped him, I have no right to be sad, but she couldn’t help but feel sad. Alison looked to Aaron with sad eyes, knowing that he couldn’t make the pain go away, but he could help by just being there. “I just wanted things to go right this time. I wanted to get married, I wanted it to all work out.” She said sadly.

Aaron.

Aaron knew that Alison was a hopeless romantic. Anyone could tell just by listening to her music, but Aaron knew Alison so well. Probably better than anyone else. "I know." The urge to say I told you so was so real, but Aaron was trying to be more compassionate. Something he learned after rehab. And he knew that wasn't what she needed and that she was most definitely already thinking that herself. "Alison. We have to promise each other that we aren't going to get in the way of each other's relationships again. We're both guilty of it." It sounded harsh, but it was something that needed to be said. "I'm sorry for being such a dick about Luca. Maybe if I wasn't you wouldn't have had all of these problems. I was just being a jealous, overprotective asshole. Truthfully, i didn't want another man in yours and Des' lives. You know I have this incessant need to be everyone's protector and the person that everyone can lean on. Yes, I hate that fact that Luca was an ex-con, but looking back on that now....I realize that it wasn't the only reason. So I'm sorry." He sighed. "C'mon." He told her, standing up and holding out his hand. "You need to go to bed. I'll stay with you until you fall asleep." He promised her.

Alison.

Anyone who knew Alison knew that she wanted the kind of love that you would see in romance movies, the kind of love that people dreamed of, and never did the blonde have that kind of love even if she wanted to. Aaron knew the kind of love that Alison was after, it was the kind of love she wanted since she was a kid. Hearing his next words broke Ali's heart a bit more, she knew that both of them had done wrong things to each others relationships. But it was hard, Roman & Luca were the first people to become serious relationships for both Aaron and Alison since the two had met and they didn't know how to handle it. But -- Aaron had fell in love with someone who was genuinely kind and someone who adored their daughter just as much as they did. Alison on the other hand fell in love with Luca, and sure Luca cared about Destiny and Alison, but it wasn't in the same way that Roman cared for her daughter. "I promise." She whispered out softly, shaking her head. "I-It's not your fault. This would have happened eventually anyways." She knew it was true. It would have happened eventually." The blonde said sadly. Sure, Aaron and Luca could have tried harder, but she was pinning this more on Luca. He never even wanted to try, or listen to her when she needed to vent about Aaron. Alison nodded slowly, grabbing his hand to pull her very pregnant self up to her feet. "Thanks." She whispered, and followed him down to her room.

#discord #alison #jesus crust

5 notes · View notes

braveskyered · 4 years

Text

Knights (Part 17)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

As mentioned before, please be aware that there may be some topics from here on out that you as a reader will find uncomfortable. Elaborating what they are in the beginning will be considered spoilers.

Do remember that this story is a work of fiction. Any similarities between characters or events to persons - living or dead - in our real world are purely coincidental.

Only those that have understood and thus agreed to the above have the privilege of continuing to read Knights to the very end with a clear head.

Do you understand?

Yes ←

Should you feel a trigger of fear within your mind and yet you do not know why, ask yourself this question:

What exactly are you afraid of?

Never forget that fear is to be confronted with determination, not through running away.

You do wish to move on from your trauma.

...Right?

Part 17: And You Got, You Got Me Begging Please

- - - - - - -

Arthur isn’t sure how to feel realizing that Elaine had fallen asleep on him again.

Elaine’s breathing became slow and even. She had one of her arms wrapped around his waist, her free hand gently grasping one of his own. Luckily, the TV remote is between them, allowing Arthur to turn down the volume so that it wouldn’t disturb her.

They have been dating for almost a year now, and as time kept passing, Arthur could always recall a sensation that he had trouble naming. All he knew was that he always had it upon feeling the rhythm of Elaine’s heartbeat, which would always attract his attention enough to where he could feel nothing else.

He had a hunch on what it is that he is feeling, but he always denied it. It couldn’t be, because he knew that he didn’t deserve such wonderful thoughts.

I love her. I love Elaine.

The horror that Arthur felt right after that thought process became a chill that would never fade. Never in all his time living has he ever told anyone those three special words in a romantic way, nor has he ever felt the desire to want to hold someone so tightly. Even though—No. He wasn’t sure if it was even possible for him. What did they call it? Being asexual, or ace, or… something? A romantic, or… aromantic? Wait… What was the difference between them all again?

After a brief moment of pondering, Arthur gave up trying to figure out the specifics. It doesn’t change the fact that these strange feelings swirling in his mind are beginning to hurt so much…

No. He won’t go there. It’s wrong. It wouldn’t work.

The feeling of something squeezing his heart became stronger. It wouldn’t allow him to breathe easily, and the terror he felt wouldn’t go away. He shivered as he looked around nervously, his breath shaky. The wraith could be lurking anywhere, waiting for the perfect opportunity to take him back to Tempo. To hurt Elaine and torture him even more to suffer pain and despair all over again.

He felt Elaine’s grip on his hand tighten slightly, snapping him out of his fear, however briefly.

“My star.”

He blinked at her upon seeing her look up at him with a smile on her face.

“You’re crying.”

Was he? Elaine cupped his cheek with her hand and rubbed away a tear with her thumb, the smile never waning. Arthur just didn’t understand. Why has Elaine always been so kind? So supportive?

No, he knew the reason why. He just isn’t ready to accept it.

“I love you, Arthur,” Elaine chuckled before moving to kiss some of Arthur’s tears away and whispered into his ear, “You know that, right?”

He does know, and it’s too good to be true. This is a happiness that he never thought he could have. He never knew that being loved like this would be…

You don’t deserve it.

He is aware of his sins, and all the pain, suffering, sadness, and despair that he had been through in his vain attempts to atone will never go away. He knew that he doesn’t deserve to be loved, but he knew that he couldn’t obey the wraith in that regard anymore.

You have no right.

He never knew that being loved like this would be so warm, so gentle.

“Do I… Do I have the right to love you back?”

Elaine only laughed before staring at him lovingly.

“I say you do, my star.”

Upon hearing those words, he knew that he had to accept what is now his new reality.

“Then… I love you, too.”

Her smile and gentle laughter is a sight he never wanted to forget.

I love her. I love Elaine.

He gave in to her embrace. It feels so warm and comforting.

And she loves me back.

He couldn’t remember the last time he cried happy tears.

- - - - - - -

There is nowhere to run.

“Arthur, I…”

There is nowhere to hide.

“What we did was…”

There is nowhere to escape to.

“I know you won’t forgive us.”

All he does in Tempo, or anywhere, is inflict pain and suffering on others, all for simply existing.

He knew that. He was told that. Constantly.

“YOU KILLED HIM!”

It didn’t matter that he never wanted it to happen.

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

It didn’t matter that he could only apologize.

“IF ONLY YOU DIDN’T EXIST, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!”

It didn’t matter what he did to atone.

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!

“Arthur, I was wondering…”

YOU HAVE NO RIGHT.

“Will you--”

…

“N-No. I’m sorry, I can’t…”

…

Arthur is roused from his sleep when he felt a gentle nudge. Opening his eyes, he saw that Elaine is next to him and awake, giving him the look that he knew and loved. He began to turn over to embrace her, but then he felt a weight press against his left side. He looked down and was greeted by the sight of Vivian asleep between him and Elaine.

Carefully, Arthur repositioned himself. He is on his side and brushed a few strands from his daughter’s face with his only hand.

With the way things are now, Arthur could never allow himself to sleep peacefully. The nightmares kept on coming, the painful memories of the persecution and hatred that was forced upon him, and all the regrets kept pounding at him in full force. Even on the days when he could sleep without the nightmares, the fear always remained.

But he knew it would’ve been a lot worse had it not been for his family.

For some reason, Arthur felt a tear trickle out from his eye. He assumed it was because he yawned too deeply.

Elaine muttered as she stroked Vivian’s head, “Our little girl, isn’t she wonderful?”

“As wonderful as Gwen and Percy are,” Arthur said.

Elaine giggled. The two then paused upon hearing a quiet moan, and immediately focused on their youngest daughter. Vivian started to shift, then opened her eyes and yawned.

“Good morning, little Vivian,” Elaine moved to position herself, all so she could on her elbows and gently nudged her daughter’s shoulder with affection, “It’s morning.”

“Mama…” Vivian’s face scrunched up as she mumbled, “Daddy…”

“Daddy is here, Vivian,” Arthur whispered as he used his only hand to gently hold Vivian’s own, “It’s time to wake up.”

Within moments, Vivian became fully awake. When she turned to Arthur, she grinned.

“No bad dreams allowed, Daddy.”

Arthur sat up upon hearing those words and stared at her.

Did… Did Vivian know what was happening? He couldn’t deny that whenever Vivian came to sleep beside him, the nightmares would cease, but… Was she doing this deliberately? Did she know what she was doing? Is she even capable of manipulating dreams?

“Something wrong, my knight?”

Arthur told Elaine what he thought, “I mean, I’ve been able to sleep well despite everything for the past few days, but…”

“If Vivian really is capable of doing that, then this requires further investigation,” Elaine sat up and held their daughter close, “Regardless, I know our darling Vivian just wants her wonderful daddy to be happy.”

Vivian giggled while looking proud of herself.

Arthur patted his daughter’s head before getting out of bed.

“Oh, I forgot to mention this before you fell asleep, but Gwen and Percy got your current arm fixed last night. After you put it on, what say we walk around town a bit? We won’t go to Kingsmen Mechanics today. Well, that, and Aunt Morgan said that she didn’t want Lance and Belle to see you until they went through a quote-on-quote “day of self-reflection,’ so to speak,” Elaine said as she used her hands to make air quotes, “So she’s over there now making sure they properly understand what they did regarding that stunt they pulled yesterday.”

Arthur isn’t sure if he should be sorry for what his uncle and Belle will be going through, since Morgan can be rather temperamental in more ways than one. He couldn’t help but recall one incident a few years ago back when Vivian was around six months old and they had no choice but to use a daycare service… and wisely decided not to think about it too hard when it resulted in the closure of three childcare facilities around Cantabile and its neighboring city as a result. That was something.

“Trust me, she tore them a new one. They won’t make the same mistake again.”

Leave it to Morgan to make her words stick. Still, Arthur couldn’t help but feel bad about…

“By the way, if you’re worried about Cayenne Pepper, I got word from Aunt Morgan that she’s been taken to the hospital last night and is on proper watch. From what Aunt Morgan gathered, the whole staff knows Cayenne at this point.”

…well, at least there’s that. Whatever happened to the Pepper family isn’t something for him to be concerned about. They hated him for killing Lewis, for ripping their family apart, and wanted him gone from their lives.

So Arthur left, just like they wanted.

Despite what his uncle had said, what Belle had cried and broken down about, and what Cayenne had done last night, Arthur couldn’t bring himself to believe any of them. He had already lost his place as a citizen of Tempo after being rejected.

“Daddy, I love you.”

He turned to look at Vivian and smiled.

“I love you, too.”

He knew not to think about the past, as it’s all behind him now. He decided to check on Gwen and Percy and see how his current prosthetic arm is.

After only two days, he truly wanted to feel the warmth of his family with both of his arms once and forever again.

- - - - - - -

“You know, for a desert town, this is actually quite nice.”

Under normal circumstances, Arthur would have agreed with Elaine as they were sitting on a bench outside the hotel’s entrance with Vivian in between them. However, after everything had gone wrong after Lewis died, Tempo had become all but a prison for him. The thought of this town becoming a prison for his family made him uncomfortable and tried to shove the mental image.

“But personally, I prefer the free range of the mountains back home,” Elaine said as she traced at the seams of Arthur’s sleeve with a finger, “It’s much less lonely, you know?”

“I feel the mountains are more protective,” Arthur said as he placed his hand over hers, “It felt safe. For me and the kids.”

“And it always will be,” Elaine smiled before pulling out the map on her phone, “It says here that there’s a few places we could look at, Tome Tomb being one of them. After that, what say we stop at that pizza place you told us about? I never thought we’d see the day where we all get to try the original Surf’s Up Surprise pizza.”

While Arthur felt really unsure about walking around Tempo out in the open, Elaine did assure him that she will not let anyone try to pull a similar stunt compared to what Lance and Belle did yesterday. Still, he didn’t think about packing a hat or anything similar before they left home. He does have a couple of scarves that he uses to help hide the faint burn scars around his neck, with the turtleneck sweater he is currently wearing, he doesn’t have a reason to use one. Of course, he could wrap one around his head, but not only is that not his style, it basically just screams “I’m in disguise,” so he knew for a fact that it wouldn’t be a good idea.

Gwen and Percy were still in the process of getting ready in their hotel room. Arthur did feel a little put off by the bandage that is on Percy's left cheek, but he chose not to press further when he was told that the boy had gotten into a fight with a wild animal, which isn't unusual. One would call it a gut feeling, but Arthur felt that there was something more than what actually happened yesterday when Elaine went to retrieve them.

In the end, Arthur couldn't care. He's just happy that his family, his light, his little mechanics, and his little girl are all safe from harm. He briefly felt a tug on his sleeve, and he smiled before lifting Vivian into his lap with both arms. Vivian giggled before hugging him, and as Arthur brushed his hand through his daughter's hair, he realized that he had forgotten to ask Elaine something.

"Hey, did you see this last night? It still feels a little cold."

He had Vivian turn her head for Elaine to see the section of their daughter's hair that's been cut.

"Oh, you also noticed that?" Elaine winced briefly before nodding with a straight face, "But yes, I did. I had Aunt Morgan look at her, and we think that once the ice magic around it wears off, it'll grow back."

"Ice magic?"

"Gwen. She wasn't able to figure out how to remove it yet. We know it's weakening, so it shouldn't be too much longer. Fortunately, Vivian can use the rest of her hair, so she won't be completely defenseless."

That made Arthur smile a little in amusement, "They got a little too rowdy, didn't they?"

Elaine held a look of annoyance and shrugged, "Yeah. It was. I've already talked with them about it, so you don't need to worry about anything. I ask that you don't bring it up with them, since they're a little embarrassed about it. But you know, kids being kids."

"You know we love them anyway," he smirked at her.

"Gee, thanks, Dad. We love you, too."

Arthur and Elaine looked forward and saw Gwen and Percy in front of them, both looking amused.

“You two about ready to go?” Elaine asked as she stood up, then turned to Arthur, “I can hold her.”

The twins nodded, and soon Arthur stood up and handed over Vivian to Elaine.

- - - - - - -

It’s strange.

Even though Arthur used to live here over seventeen years ago, and he still remembered the general area pretty well, he actually felt like he was walking around Tempo with his family like a group of tourists would. Would other people feel like this? He isn’t sure if Elaine would have the same feeling since she has lived in Cantabile in her entire life.

He had to admit, a part of him did wonder how life would have been if things hadn’t gone wrong.

“Thinking about something, my star?” Elaine smiled.

Arthur blinked and saw that the children were busy looking into a window of a sweets shop Arthur didn’t recognize. Looking over at Elaine, he shrugged, “I was just thinking about… possible outcomes we could’ve had.”

“Such as?”

“Like how you and I would’ve never met in Cantabile if I didn’t have Galahad. If that didn’t happen, I don’t know how we would’ve ever crossed paths. You don’t have a reason to ever come here in Tempo for a job by yourself, so we never would’ve met that way,” Arthur just kept rambling, shaking his head and shrugging, “Even back when I was a part of the Mystery Skulls, we never actually went further beyond the Mississippi River when going East, so the chances of them, or… technically ‘us’ back then, encountering your family would be rather… low.”

“Did the Mystery Skulls try to exorcise or exterminate any ghosts and monsters back then?” Elaine asked.

“Only the ones that were truly dangerous,” Arthur ran his fingers through his hair in thought before speaking again, “Back then, Vivi and Mystery weren’t that… eager to eliminate monsters. If anything, on Vivi’s end, she would just marvel at them and try to record a much information a she can, while Mystery made sure that she was safe. I really don’t know what made them change their stance on that.”

Before Elaine could respond, Gwen called out to them to ask if they could look at the candy with them to see which would be acceptable for Vivian to eat.

Both Arthur and Elaine looked at one another and nodded, then went into the shop with their children to see what treats all of them could enjoy.

They could always continue their conversation on that sore subject when they get home.

- - - - - - - -

Where… where are they?!

How could he have been so careless? To look away for one moment is what gave the chance for his family to disappear from his sights! This is bad…

Under any other circumstance, Arthur wouldn’t have worried as much. But this is Tempo, the town that had become a personal hell for him so long ago, and he did not want the children to be trapped like he had. He isn’t too worried about Gwen and Percy, because they’re old enough to find their way around places. Plus, the two of them have their own cell phones, so he quickly texted them and Elaine to find a place so they can reunite. But he knew that no one was holding Vivian’s hand the last he saw, and who knows where she could have gone.

Wait… Vivian can always just teleport to him, right? They’re not near the camper, and she doesn’t have any charms that could prevent her from trying to do that unless she’s too far away— but what if she can’t?!

His phone vibrated, and he quickly read the message. It’s from Gwen.

I found Percy. We’re on our way to the pizza place. See you there.

That’s a relief, but where’s Vivian? He put his phone back in his pocket and started to make his way to the restaurant that made the pizza he and his family loved so much.

“Wait… Arthur?”

No words could ever describe the chill that had frozen Arthur in his tracks at the sight of the woman in blue in front of him. It can’t be who he thinks it is. Just pretend that he doesn’t know and keep walking. Just pretend that Arthur isn’t his name--

Something threw itself against him.

“Arthur, it’s you! It really is you!”

The sound of the joyous laughter and the feeling of being hugged tightly should’ve been a happy moment. But the familiar shape of the woman, the voice, the familiar color of blue—

You are not to talk to her.

No. No. No. No no no no… no no no no… no no no no… No… No… No… No…

You are not to go near her.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no--!

YOU ARE NOT TO--

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO

NONONONONONONONONONONO--!

He screamed. He flailed. He shoved. He ran. He cried.

He has to get away. He’ll be burned. The fire hurts. He’ll be burned. Burned!

The pleas that attempted to reach his ears he tried to ignore. He can’t be near her. No, no! The wraith hates it when that happens and why did this have to happen and--

Elaine! Elaine. Where is Elaine? Gwen. Percy. Vivian. Where are Gwen, Percy, and Vivian? Where, where, where are they? Where where where where where are they?!

He’s still being pursued. He has to run. Run! Run or the wraith will punish him! Get away... He has to get away! He has to hide. Hide. Hide. Hide! Hide in a corner or just escape somewhere!

He found a place to hide. He has to call Elaine. Elaine. Elaine! Why can’t he dial?! Why must his fingers be shaking?! Did he hit the call button?!

“Daddy?”

The little voice pierced through the swirls of fear and madness that plagued Arthur’s mind. Looking down, he saw Vivian clinging to his pant leg. He quickly knelt down to place his hands on her shoulders and looked over her for any injuries. He didn't find anything, much to his relief.

“Arthur!”

He looked up fearfully to see Vivi Yukino standing nearby, looking out of breath. Wearing a dark blue coat with a lighter blue scarf, she looked like she was seeing the best sight of her life, judging from her smile. However, upon seeing Vivian, her smile quickly faded and soon looked hostile.

“You— AUGH!”

Before Arthur could process what just happened, Vivian floated in front of him and roughly slapped Vivi away with her hair.

“You little…!” Vivi growled, “Get away from Arthur, you monster!”

Vivian didn’t say anything as multiple rocks and pebbles from the ground quickly floated around her. With the movement of her arms, she sent the projectiles to Vivi’s direction, forcing the latter to back away.

What… What is going on? Arthur kept clinging to his head. What is happening?

The sound of Vivian screaming in pain, a sound she never made before, snapped Arthur back to reality. Looking up, he saw— WHY IS THE FOX THERE?! It has his daughter pinned to the ground. Immediately, he saw red and rushed forward. He has to get his daughter before the monster could eat her. The fox’s many tails roughly shoved him back.

“Stay back, Arthur! We’ll handle this!”

MYSTERY.

No no no no no--!

"Get off our sister!"

A blur of gold rushed past him before the sound of a fox screeching in pain filled his ears. Vivian is free, and Arthur wasted no time to rush to his daughter’s side and examined her for injuries. A few scuffs on her arms, but thankfully he didn’t see any blood. Vivian shook her head and looked up at Arthur before turning her attention to the chaos before them. When Arthur followed Vivian’s gaze, he saw a familiar golden-furred kitsune with a single tail attacking Mystery, his mouth tightly clamped at the back of the fox’s neck while attempting to scratch at its face with his claws.

“Percy…” Arthur whispered as he reached out to his son, “Get away…”

Elaine… where are you?

“You again?!” Vivi screeched as she somehow has a metal baseball bat in her possession and slammed Percy off of Mystery, “You’re not welcome here, monster!”

Mystery immediately saw Arthur holding Vivian.

“Arthur! Get away from that--!”

For some reason it felt oddly satisfying to see Mystery getting kicked in the face by a familiar yuki-onna. Before Vivi could strike back, the yuki-onna immediately transformed into a large black wolf and rammed her away from Percy.

“Gwen…” Arthur tried to reach out for his older daughter, “Stop… You have to run…”

Elaine… where are you?!

Vivi and Mystery charged forward, but now Vivian growled and flew straight at them with Gwen and Percy joining in the fight.

“That’s quite enough.”

A booming voice rang out as some sort of reflective magic forced the two fighting parties apart, enough to knock Vivi and Mystery off their feet. The children backed off immediately and returned to Arthur’s side, the wolf to his left and the fox to his right, with the youngest in his arms. The downed Mystery Skulls struggled to rise, but Arthur soon saw a greenish-blue aura surrounding them as they started to float upward, much to their shock.

“I must say, you have quite the nerve to attack my family unprovoked. Unforgivable, if you ask me.”

Arthur looked up and a large white nine-tailed fox that is larger than the other eight-tailed fox glaring at Vivi and Mystery’s direction, her body emitting the same colored aura. A chill went through Arthur’s spine, as he knew what exactly Niniane is capable of.

“Let us down or I’ll cave your skull in!” Vivi screeched, “I’ll make you regret making Arthur one of your puppets, you monster!”

Arthur's mind went blank. What? Did Vivi seriously just say that?

“Funny for you to assume I even did that, Yukino.”

Niniane brushed at her face with a paw, which allowed Arthur to notice that she has a small patch of black fur over her right eye, giving it the impression of a scar. Did she always have that? He couldn’t remember, since the last time he saw her monster form was over nine years ago.

“A vile creature such as yourself does not deserve to exist. In Arthur’s—” Mystery’s voice was cut off upon being slammed against the solid concrete below.

“I’d think twice before using Arthur’s name as an excuse for your actions as of late,” Niniane stood up on all four legs and slowly approached the downed kitsune and Vivi, “Believe me, I know what the two of you have been doing. You have exterminated countless creatures outside of humanity in his name for years now. I believe you did it so he would… feel safe enough to come back. Is that it?”

“If monsters like you never existed, Arthur wouldn’t have…” Vivi somehow broke through the restrictive magic and charged at Niniane, “None of this would have—AHH!"

“What did I just say?” Niniane glared as she had Vivi pinned to the ground with a front paw like a predator would do to its prey, “Did you seriously think that Arthur would be thankful that you have been eliminating beings similar to myself blindly left and right? Enough to where it’s caused multiple sacred grounds to be stripped of their faithful guardians and thus left to corruption by your actions? Enough to where you’re willing to murder children who had nothing to do with your revenge?”

Vivi made a futile attempt of pounding at Niniane’s paw with her bare fists.

“I suppose I will have to teach you a lesson. The hard way, that is,” Niniane sharply raised her other front paw, and slammed it down against the ground.

Arthur reached out to the white nine-tailed fox. No!

“VIVI!”

A loud crack ripped through the quiet air.

Arthur’s heart stopped. Did Niniane just…? …No. She missed Vivi’s head by less than an inch. She could’ve easily crushed her if she so desired and not regret it one bit. Regardless of Niniane’s reasoning, it did the job of shocking Vivi still, for she is frozen with genuine fear in her eyes. Even though he knew that he isn’t allowed to be near Vivi anymore, Arthur felt inclined to help her escape from Niniane’s clutches. But if he did that, then that meant that she will go after his family again.

At that moment, Arthur long knew with a heavy heart that no matter what, he will always choose to save his children first over anyone in Tempo.

“You are fortunate in that I know for a fact that Arthur would not forgive me if I ended your life right now. In addition, I am aware that you have a young son, and I do not feel like stripping a child so young of his mother today. Know that this is not an act of mercy from me, but a strict warning for both of you. I will only say this once, so listen well,” Niniane growled as she used her magic to bring Mystery closer so she could look down on them.

“If you do ANYTHING that threatens the safety of my distant grandchildren and their families again, I won’t just kill you. I will end you. Mercy in any fashion will not even cross my mind after this.”

“You just said that Arthur would not forgive you if you did that,” Mystery smirked, “Might want to rethink on your empty--”

“Unlike a certain filthy ‘dog,’ my words are genuine,” Niniane did something with her magic to constrict Mystery’s throat to stop him from talking, “And I doubt Arthur will forgive you if you had exterminated his children. Right in front of him, no less.”

There was a long silence and Mystery went still. The only sound that could be heard besides the gentle breeze is Vivi’s quiet response.

“…What?”

“Well? I thought that’s what you were doing? Hunting down Arthur’s family like vermin? Hm… I guess I was right.”

“You’re lying.”

“You doubt me? Hmph. Well, I know that you are not aware of this, so I will spell it out clearly for you. The one you know as Arthur ‘Kingsmen’ is a part of my family, and the children he fathered with my distant granddaughter are also my family. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he elected to hide them from everyone in this town,” Her eyes narrowed, and she snarled, “He feared that you would try to hurt them, and he was right.”

It wasn’t until his son nuzzled his snout against Arthur’s face did he realize that Niniane had just told the ones he never wanted contact with again about the existence of his three children. As the horror started to settle in, he felt his daughter’s presence become smaller. He looked to his left and saw Gwen back in her human form wrapping her arms around him.

“Daddy, are you okay?” Gwen asked, “You’re not hurt, are you?”

Arthur shook his head before gesturing to Gwen to get ready to leave. He looked up at the scene before him and saw Niniane nod in his direction, her attention still focused on the attempted killers of his family. Ignoring the sight of the remnants of the Mystery Skulls at Niniane’s mercy, he stood up while carrying Vivian, and started to walk away from the scene. Moments later, the twins comprised of a girl and a single-tailed fox, began to follow.

“Arthur!” “Arthur, please! Wait!”

Arthur stopped moving but didn’t turn back to what was behind him. He knew that Niniane wouldn’t kill Vivi, at least, because she knew and even said it aloud that he wouldn’t forgive her if she did, and neither would dare to strip a boy of his mother after losing his father so soon. He isn’t sure what Niniane will do to Mystery, but hopefully she’ll have a way to prevent him from trying to harm his son and daughters again.

Vivi’s voice could still reach him, despite being pinned under Niniane’s grasp, “A-Arthur! Please! W-We didn’t know! We didn’t mean to—We just wanted you to come home!”

He isn’t allowed to talk to her. The wraith made that rule very clear.

“Arthur, please! Listen to us! We need your help!" Mystery’s voice boomed in Arthur’s head, and he hated it, “We tried to stop it by ourselves for years now, but you’re the only one that can truly end this curse!”

Because he has Vivian in his hold, Arthur couldn’t use his hands to cover his ears. Vivi wanted him to return to the place that became his own personal hell? All it would do is allow the wraith to hurt him all over again, and he can’t allow the children to be imprisoned into such torture.

His son, who remained by his side as a fox, moved closer to him, “Dad… What are they talking about?”

He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to care. He only wanted his family, his children, out and away from Tempo. Away from the wraith. Away from the Mystery Skulls. Away from Mystery. Away from Vivi. Away from hell. They tried to kill his children, and now they’re begging him for help like they were old friends? Did they not know what the rules are? The rules that the wraith had forced him to follow for so long after they have been beaten into his very being?!

“Daddy? We should get going. I just got word from Mom,” Gwen held her phone out to him to show him the text message from Elaine, “She says we should leave this to Nana, so…”

“That’s fine,” Arthur felt like he could breathe again and readjusted his hold on Vivian. He thought about looking back to see if Niniane has to say anything, but quickly changed his mind upon remembering that it would also mean seeing Vivi and Mystery at Niniane’s mercy. He took a deep breath, then gestured to the twins before leading them away from the scene.

“Arthur! Please! Don’t go! We need you!”

Just ignore them. Ignore their pleas.

“Arthur!”

Ignore them. Ignore their excuses.

“Please! We need you to save Lewis!”

…Something snapped.

Never… had Arthur felt such fury.

“Arth--!”

He ran off with his children following closely behind him.

Even now, after all these years, they’re still delusional. What the hell were they thinking, clinging on to a ghost?

He gritted his teeth and tried to keep his breathing steady. He can’t break down in front of his children. He can’t. He has to stay strong for all their sakes even though he knows that he is so weak.

“Daddy?”

He looked at Vivian and then at his surroundings. Oh… He ran so far that he’s now in a rather empty L-shaped alleyway. Is this what being numb felt like? He couldn’t remember due to the fury that is now fading away. He slowly fell to his knees. It hurt, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It felt so cold…

He heard footsteps. One soft and another heavy. He knew who they were.

Percy curled himself around Arthur and Vivian before lying down. Gwen soon joined in to lean against Arthur and let Percy wrap his tail around them. He barely registered the feeling, but Vivian’s hair started to wrap around him.

Even though he felt so numb, why is it so warm?

“I’m so sorry, everyone…” he whispered, “I’m so sorry...”

None of the children said anything, which is a huge relief. Regardless, Arthur knew that sooner or later, he would have to tell them everything.

“I never wanted this to happen. If you had gotten hurt, or worse… I don’t want to go through that. Not again.”

“We’re okay, Dad. Really,” Percy finally spoke, his voice rumbling, “None of this is your fault. We’re not blaming you for any of this.”

Arthur leaned further into the fur of his son’s monster form. So much has happened in just three days, it’s become overwhelming.

“I just got word from Mom,” Gwen said while looking at her phone, “She said she’ll be here once she helps Nana Niniane handle the ones that attacked us earlier,” she looked up at Arthur, “Daddy, did you know that blue-haired lady?”

He nodded against Percy's fur, knowing that it would be pointless to deny it. Thankfully, Gwen and Percy were wise enough to not press him any further.

He knew that sooner or later he would have to tell them what happened. But for now, he can’t. Not like this.

When Elaine found them a few minutes later, the first thing she did was embrace her family.

- - - - - - -

Later that day, after spending almost two hours in the hidden alleyway to let Arthur recover, the family of five finally managed to reach the restaurant they intended to go to in the first place. Before, they had trouble finding it, but while the family was separated, Percy, who had already changed his shape back into a normal boy, told them that he got some directions from a local that knew of the restaurant, so that was helpful.

They were seated at a table, with Arthur and Elaine on one side, the twins on the other, and Vivian on a child booster seat provided by the restaurant to be seated between her siblings and her parents. They gave the waiter the order of the restaurant’s original Surf’s Up Surprise Pizza. When the waiter asked them to elaborate, Elaine described the pizza to him, which didn’t prompt a reaction until she mentioned the oysters.

“Oh, you mean the Mechanic’s Special! Good choice. That pizza’s been the pride and joy of this place for over a decade and a half.”

Arthur felt confused. Since when did the pizza go by that name? He glanced at Gwen and Percy and saw that they were looking at the dessert list. He turned to Elaine and saw that she is looking up at the menu written on a large chalkboard taking up a lot of wall space on one end of the establishment. He took a moment to then look at Vivian, who is scribbling away on paper with crayons from a kid’s set the restaurant had provided earlier. From the looks of it, no one seems to notice his slight unease.

…It’s probably a coincidence.

"I'm so glad the four of you are safe."

Arthur focused his attention on Elaine as she leaned her head against her hand, looking worn out, “Everyone, I’m so sorry. I never thought that we’d get separated like that. I’m sorry that all of you were attacked. But you don’t need to worry, Nana Niniane is taking care of them as we speak.”

Arthur wrapped his arms around himself, “What will she be doing to them?”

Even though they tried to hurt his family, he didn’t want them dead. They have their own lives to live, and he has no right to have any influence over that. At the very least, he knew that unless anything that happened to Vivi was her own doing, the wraith would blame him for everything else.

But the fact that Vivi and Mystery both now know that he is married with children is still difficult to swallow. It’s only a matter of time before the wraith finds out and tried to take the children away.

“She’s mainly giving them a big scolding, which is worse than Aunt Morgan’s if you ask me,” Elaine shrugged with an unsure smirk, “We’ll probably have to confront them again sooner or later, but hopefully they’ll think twice before doing anything like that to us again.”

Arthur gave a low breath of acknowledgement, then looked down on the table to think about the recent case of events now that he has the opportunity to think calmly. He thought back to when Vivi first embraced them, then recalled the bad reaction she had when she saw Vivian with him. The fact that Vivian even attacked someone unprovoked at all is…

He realized something horrifying.

It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t. If it is, then…

“Gwen. Percy. I need you to be honest with me. I’m not mad. I just- I just need to know.”

His family turned to him.

“They attacked you once before, didn’t they?” Arthur finally asked the dreaded question, “While you were out practicing yesterday.”

He immediately recognized the uneasy looks the twins were giving to one another. It’s just like those times when he would catch them staying up too late to work on their pet projects back home. The realization that they have been busted.

“Elaine, when I called you because I couldn’t get a hold of them on the phone yesterday,” he turned to her, his uneasiness spreading, “You suddenly ended the conversation. Was it because you saw them getting attacked?”

Elaine averted her gaze briefly to look at the children before nodding, “Yes. I saw the kitsune, the one called Mystery, fighting with Percy while Gwen was busy protecting Vivian. I didn’t see the woman with him, though.”

“That was because Vivian knocked her out earlier that day,” Gwen shrugged, still looking uneasy, “After we left you and Mom so we could practice, we were just having fun and games until all of a sudden that kitsune confronted us, saying we shouldn’t exist.”

“It was two against one, so we thought that we could handle it ourselves so long as we had Vivian stay out of the way,” Percy continued, then growled out what came next, “But then that woman ambushed us by attacking Vivian with some sort of ice blade. Thankfully, all it did was cut off a chunk of her hair. We immediately realized that we were outmatched, so we made the move to retreat.”

“I tried to call Mom to have her help us, but we were beaten into the ground, and Percy was having trouble getting up,” Gwen shivered before looking at her little sister, “I thought we were about to die, but right when I had that thought, Vivian just went out of control and sent the kitsune flying. After that, she somehow got the upper hand against the lady that was with him and threw her against the cliffside, which knocked her out. I didn’t care what happened to the kitsune, but I had to stop Vivian from trying to kill the lady, so I just took her, told Percy to change back, I turned into a wolf and had him ride on my back, and then we booked it.”

“Unfortunately, in our haste in trying to get away, we accidentally went further away from town. We decided to take cover…” Percy trailed off with a sigh before continuing, “…in a forest of some sort, then I called Mom to come get us. When we made our way out, thinking we were in the clear, the kitsune somehow caught up to us. That was when Mom and Aunt Morgan came and rescued us, and then we all returned back to Kingsmen Mechanics after that.”

Arthur pressed his head against his hands while trying to steady his shaky breathing. This is all too much for him to take. He had it all wrong. The Mystery Skulls had in fact discovered the children, and they tried to kill his family, just as he feared.

And they mentioned going to a forest. The only forest he knows of around Tempo is south of here. And down south is--

How could he have been so foolish?! So overconfident that nothing would happen?! Why? Why?!

“Arthur, it’s okay,” Elaine placed a hand on his shoulder, “Everyone is fine. Nana Niniane and Aunt Morgan all helped me protect them, and they all managed to hold their own. Everything is going to be okay, my star. Haven’t I always kept my promise?”

He couldn’t believe her. Not when—

“Still, there’s something I need to ask. Nana Niniane said something about them eliminating monsters and spirits in your name,” Elaine pointed out, “Maybe it had something to do with that cave incident that took your arm?”

“’Cave incident?’” The twins asked.

“Not now, you two,” Elaine shook her head to them before turning back to Arthur, “Do you know?”

Would it really? After the details of what happened after everything went wrong were made clear, no one said anything about lethally hunting down the paranormal.

Then again, people change their opinions over time.

“Regarding… Mystery,” Elaine slowly said the fox’s name, “Were you aware that he was a kitsune the whole time? When Nana Niniane had me return to you, he turned into a dog. A dog with glasses and a weird spiky hairdo. Which is weird since kitsune are typically deathly afraid of dogs.”

“He’s normally disguised as a dog, and we all thought of him as such. Or at least I did,” Arthur lifted his left hand and flexed the fingers, “The first time I remember seeing his true form was when he took my arm to stop the… you know. I couldn’t remember it happening at first, but…”

All that blood… that screaming… that terror…

That noise…!

“…I don’t want to talk about it, anymore. I’m sorry.”

He can’t go back to them. Not when-

“Here’s your pizza, everyone!”

His thoughts were interrupted upon hearing the waiter coming in to deliver their food. Elaine and the children perked up upon seeing the original form of the Surf’s Up Surprise Pizza being presented before them and started to dish up.

“Arthur, let’s not think about what happened earlier for now and just enjoy this,” Elaine smiled and handed him a plate with a slice of the pizza, “We’ll worry about it later, okay?”

It was hard to hear her speak those words, but Arthur knew that she had a point. There’s nothing he or anyone can do about the fact that his children were attacked by a former friend and the fox that took his arm, and he knew that Niniane is making sure that they will not be doing it again anytime soon.

He took the plate and tried to enjoy the food with his family, but he was still worried. No matter what, he knew that even now, his children are not completely safe.

Especially since there’s one more threat unaccounted for.

…

Hopefully the wraith won’t try to punish the children for protecting themselves from Vivi.

Otherwise not even his own fear will stop him from doing what was previously unthinkable.

- - - - - - -

“It was awesome that we got to try the original pizza that Daddy liked!” Gwen said happily.

“I know, right? But personally, I think the Surf’s Up Surprise our family makes is better,” Percy grinned brightly, “After all, you can’t beat the taste you grew up with that easily!”

Arthur had to agree as he and Elaine followed the twins with a drowsy Vivian in his arms, the pizza that Elaine’s family learned to make is better. It’s the one he had with his family ever since the twins were born.

The pizza made in Tempo, while delicious and he remembered the taste, only opened old… old wounds.

“Are you okay, Arthur?”

“I’m fine, Elaine,” Arthur gave Elaine a small smile, “Just… old memories popping up.”

“Good ones or bad ones?” She gave him a sad smile back.

“…Bittersweet ones.”

Elaine chuckled, then kissed Arthur on the cheek.

It was decided after their hearty meal that they return to the hotel and rest, mostly to let Vivian sleep in a proper bed and to let the twins work on their projects in the meantime.

If only this was a family vacation.

“So, instead of a left arm, we should try making a right arm instead,” Percy gestured to his twin sister with his hands, “And it probably needs to be a little smaller, too.”

“Well, it’s doable, and we have those leftover connectors for the joints, but,” Gwen thought out loud, “I wonder if we have enough of our allowance to get the circuitry for the hand…”

While watching Gwen and Percy talk about robotics, Arthur stroked the back of Vivian’s head to keep her relaxed, whispering sweet nothings to her. Vivian groggily giggled and nuzzled further into his shoulder.

“Even after all these years, you’ve always been a better parent than me,” Elaine laughed quietly.

Arthur shook his head in amusement as he and his family continued to make their way back to the hotel. Elaine made sure to make a detour around the block that the Mystery Skulls had encountered him before attacking the children, and Arthur couldn’t help but be grateful for her thoughtfulness.

He didn’t want to know what kind of lecture (or torture) Niniane had put them through, if any.

Not many people were in this part of the town, which made it more ideal for Arthur. Even then, not many people outside of his previous acquaintances knew of him, if at all. His uncle would be the one people think of first whenever someone mentions the Kingsmen name in town.

“Oh, hey, mister! Thanks for giving me those directions to the pizza place earlier! It was great!”

Arthur turned to the passerby wearing a pink suit that Percy spoke to and—

“Wait…”

The man before them stood still, his jaw loosely hanging in shock. It took Arthur a moment, since the man looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties and that his hair is finely combed, but he immediately recognized who the man before them is.

It’s Mr. Pepper.

Lewis’s father.

“You…” Mr. Pepper’s breath hitched as he looked at Percy and then to Arthur, “I thought you resembled him, but you’re really his…!”

“Sir?” Percy reached out to him, “Are you okay?”

You are not to go near them.

Arthur couldn’t bring himself to say anything as chills went up his spine and recalled the rules. He wanted to run, but Elaine has her hand firmly on his back. He glanced down at her and saw that she is carefully observing the interaction between Mr. Pepper and Percy.

You have no right.

“I…!” Mr. Pepper grasped his own face with one hand, looking too choked up to speak clearly, “Arthur, I…!”

The father of the Pepper family fell to his knees crying loudly, causing Arthur and his family to step back.

“Arthur, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I never meant...! We didn’t know that--!”

What is he crying about exactly? Arthur knew that there isn’t anything for Mr. Pepper or anyone in his family to be sorry for. They had every right to be angry at him for being the cause of their family being torn apart with Lewis dying.

…Right?

No, that can’t be. First Belle, then Cayenne, and now Mr. Pepper. Just what is going on?

“Daddy, what is he talking about?” Gwen asked, she and her brother both looking conflicted on whether they should help the crying man or step away.

Arthur really didn’t know. There is the typical conclusion one could get, but there’s no way that’s right. Still, what really caught his attention is Mr. Pepper’s jacket.

Why is Mr. Pepper’s right sleeve folded and stitched against his right shoulder?

- - - - - - -

…

I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry.

Why did this have to happen?

…

It’s so cold.

The truth has long been known.

This… has been long deserved.

…

Don’t run away. It’ll be fun!

Just like one of our many, many games…

…Right?

…

Stop! Stop!

I said I’m sorry!

I won’t go near them, anymore!

…

This warmth… I don’t deserve it.

Not after what I have done.

How could I have…?

…

I have yet to believe that.

- - - - - - -

Want you, need you!

Want you, need, (need),

Want you, baby,

You’re my fantasy!

Part 18: Paralyzed

#mystery skulls animated #msa fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #msa arthur #arthur kingsmen #msa #msa knights #elaine knights #gwen knights #percy knights #vivian knights #niniane knights

25 notes · View notes