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keyleth-clay · 2 years

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Critical Role Character Meta

I just wanted to take a second to acknowledge certain character choices and common themes that I’ve seen the CR cast make with their main campaign characters over the years.

*Obligatory disclaimer that these are just my opinions/perspectives, and not meant to suggest that these recurring themes are necessarily intentional on the cast members’ parts, or that these are the “correct” way to read these characters.Also, feel free to add onto the discussion!

Travis (Grog, Fjord, Chetney) – The biggest commonality here is themes of masculinity and strength. Does your strength and rage define you, and how do you know when to use it. Yes, Grog is a 7.5-8 foot tall goliath berserker barbarian, and fits into the “dumb jock” trope with little difficulty, and it would be so easy to play him as the stereotypical dumb jock, with all of the toxic masculinity that comes with that – hell, Kevdak and the rest of the Herd fit that bill to a tee. But when they beat and pillage and destroy whatever they want, simply because they can, Grog is the one to stand up to them terrorizing an old man and say this is wrong, this is not what our strength is for. “It all comes down to one word, really: family. Before I was a part of this group, I had no family. Pike took me in, I met all of you. And I had a purpose. So before that, I would be down to fuck anything up, anytime, no problem. I still kind of am. But I realized that if I fly off the handle too soon, it screws over my family. That's no good, because I care about you.”

In the same vein, pretty much the entirety of Fjord’s character arc through campaign 2 is gradually unlearning all of the toxic masculinity he learned from Vandran. Now, that’s not to say that all of those ideas were intentionally taught to him, nor was everything he learned from Vandran bad. But he still felt the need to pretend to be somebody else, someone less emotional and less willing to acknowledge vulnerability, in order to be taken seriously and be respected. I couldn’t help but notice, but after Fjord broke his pact with Uk’otoa (U’kotoa) and started talking in his actual voice, he started being more emotive, he actually said when he was afraid or uncertain or even just uncomfortable, instead of just pushing it down and pretending that he wasn’t affected. One could argue that the entire joke of Fjord being weak is only funny because he’s a half-orc and a man, somebody that’s “““supposed””” to be strong.

And then, with Chetney, it’s right there with his lycanthropy. It’s I’ve got this super cool ability that makes me tall and strong and gives me claws and fangs and it’s awesome, except he doesn’t have it as under control as he thinks he does, and he’s unwilling to acknowledge the downsides, even after attacking a teammate – and let’s talk about that, shall we? Let’s talk about this strong, raging creature within him that he lost control over, not long after having a serious and vulnerable heart-to-heart with Orym, and ended up clawing him up. Even while he was in the throes of bloodlust, he was apologizing. Even the “Recognize The Alpha” tattoo/motto, and how it’s based in the (debunked) idea of alpha wolves, and how it also has come to represent the (bullshit) idea of alpha males, but it’s never something he uses to act like he’s better than everyone around him, it’s never a point of ego. Rather, it’s emblematic of the through-line of these characters: that strength is only what you make of it, and being stronger than others doesn’t mean you’re better, it means you have a responsibility to use that strength to lift others up.

Taliesin (Percy, Mollymauk, Caduceus, Ashton) – Taliesin literally talked about this on an episode of 4-Sided Dive, but he didn’t go super in-depth with it, and also I’d already planned on making this post then, so :p.

Honestly, the biggest thread between these four is that all of them scream The Refusal Of The Call. How all of them looked at their backstory and immediately turned their backs on it and powerwalked the fuck away. When asked during the Q&A after episode 4 of campaign 1, Taliesin says that “[Percy] has no interest in going home yet, ‘cause that’s terrifying. So we have not dealt with that.” Mollymauk hears the name Lucien and says fuck that, fuck him, that’s not me, that’s not my life, I want nothing to do with him. Caduceus’ ENTIRE THING was that he was the one that stayed behind, that he even felt guilty for going out and adventuring like Calliope wanted for her life. It’s not quite as clear with Ashton, but they’ve made it very clear that they don’t want to go looking for the Nobodies, he doesn’t need to know anything more of what happened that night or since then. On top of that, Taliesin mentioned at some point that whenever Ashton came into money, he ended up spending it all on booze and gambling – which, when he’s trying to get out of a very steep debt with Jiana Hexum, doesn’t seem like he’s trying all that hard.

Laura (Vex, Jester, Imogen) – The thread that I tugged on for Laura’s characters wasn’t really something that I could sum up in one simple statement. I think there’s two things that really stand out to me. The first is this running theme of loving mothers and distant fathers – but that love is never perfect, and that distance isn’t always intentional or malicious.

Elaina loved her children dearly, and they loved her, but they were taken away when they were only ten, and she died while they were gone. Syldor only cared about the twins because of his own reputation, and that coldness was something that Vex could never fully forgive. Marion adored Jester, and Jester certainly didn’t feel like her childhood was bad, but Marion’s own fears and her business led to her keeping Jester indoors and secret for so much of her life. Babenon loved Marion, and if circumstances had been different he would have loved to be a part of Jester’s life from the get-go, but circumstances were not that kind. He didn’t even know she existed until she walked into his bar, and once she was there, he didn’t believe that he deserved to be a part of her life. Relvin might have been a good father to Imogen in her childhood, but as soon as her powers began developing he pulled away, keeping her isolated from the rest of Gelvaan, and keeping her away from him – Imogen goes so far as to speculate that he’s happier with her gone, because he’s uncomfortable with her seeing into his head. I don’t think a feeling like that comes out of nowhere, especially not when the person saying it can read minds. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about Liliana yet, or why she left, or even if she left rather than being killed or kidnapped or something. But I think that her love and protectiveness of Imogen is clear, considering it’s her that always shows up in her dreams, urging her to run from the storm.

The second thing is the masks that these characters put up. Vex tries so hard to be confident and in control, whether that be in a fight or through snark or while flirting or bartering. At moments she can be a bit bitchy, but never for long and she makes sure to take responsibility for any time that she gets too harsh towards someone. But it’s the moments that that mask of control falls, the “Do I look like I come from money”-type moments, that show her heart. Jester is pretty much the opposite; she’s always big smiles and pranks and goofy stories. She’s light and peppy and energetic, which is often genuine, but also becomes her armour when she’s vulnerable. The way that she forces a smile and pretends to not be crying, during the pirate arc and later leading up to Travelercon, are absolutely heartwrenching because it’s such a departure from how we typically see her. Imogen’s mask is much more straightforward, and much more of a foundation for the character. Because she can read minds, and she has to constantly act polite, act like the thoughts of everyone around her doesn’t weigh on her every damn day. Her mask is the shields she keeps up in her mind, and when she’s around too many people, it is constantly on the verge of falling.

Liam (Vax, Caleb, Orym) – Everyone brings up grief and loss as a major through-line across Liam’s characters, and that’s true, but that’s not what I’m going to dive into here. There’s an interesting theme across these three, of this… sort of question, of characters starting from humble beginnings, and what forces them onto the path to greatness? How does a half-blooded runaway with sticky fingers with a dead mother and a shitty father become a Paladin of the Goddess of Death? How does a small-town farm boy with a love of books end up on the fast track to becoming an elite magical assassin? How does someone who is essentially a town guardsman end up travelling across the continent, across the ocean, and help to uncover conspiracies and end enormous threats and discover long-lost civilizations? It feels like it’s very common for people to go into creating their DnD characters with the knowledge that they’re going to be Going On An Adventure, and that they could very well end up as some sort of Chosen One, or going toe-to-toe with dragons and gods and demons and the like, but it never feels that way with Liam’s characters. They’re all just average people who somehow found their way onto this path.

Marisha (Keyleth, Beau, Laudna) – Marisha’s characters, like Laura’s, have two different commonalities across them. The first is kind of similar to Liam’s, in that they all have some sort of expectations and importance placed upon them that they don’t want and didn’t ask for. Keyleth only ended up going on the Aramente because her mother failed – and she wasn’t asked, she was chosen for it. Beau was literally kidnapped by the Cobalt Soul and essentially forced into monk training, which she very loudly complained about for a long time. Laudna was fucking killed, and then was unintentionally brought back to life, and now she’s got the woman who murdered her in her head, and granting her her warlock powers (which she didn’t really need – remember, she’s a sorcerer, and was already a sorcerer before she died).

The second is that they are all, in some way, off-putting. Off-putting by design, no less. Keyleth’s simultaneous awkwardness and bone-deep, stubborn conviction makes it difficult to hold a conversation with her at times. Beau is brusque and abrasive, and for a long time, kept people at arm’s length. Laudna’s fucking dead – she’s scary and weird and dripping ichor and vomiting bees? And I love that Marisha leans in to that, that she doesn’t make her characters easy to like or overly kind and sweet.

Ashley (Pike, Yasha, Fearne) – The dichotomy of gentleness vs. ferocity. Pike is sweet and compassionate and is a cleric of a goddess of redemption, but she’s also tough as hell and, as we all know, a monstah. Yasha is a barbarian with the power of the Stormlord at her back and rage in her veins, but she also is soft spoken and awkward and collects pressed flowers and her greatest crime was simply falling in love. And Fearne has her soft, breathy voice and wide-eyed “innocence” in this world that she’s not a part of, who steals things because she loves them, but then she also steals things. She can summon a wildfire with a flick of her fingers, she can shapeshift into wild animals, she has her feral side with fangs and claws and viciousness. All of them are soft and sharp at the same time, and neither side is a more accurate version of their character.

Sam (Scanlan, Taryon, Nott/Veth, Fresh Cut Grass) – You know, I was originally going to try to come up with some character trait or narrative element that this fandom hasn’t talked to death about yet, but fuck it. Yes, the biggest commonality here is that Sam makes the most ridiculous fucking characters – the stereotypical horny bard (fun sized), the pompous rich boy who’s never been in a fight, the shrill and alcoholic goblin, the fucking Southern Hospitality Robit. But then he gives them so much heart and soul, so much depth, that they’re no longer ridiculous. He gives them “Well, that's just it. I'm a really good liar”, and “No, Taryon's on the floor, weeping, holding his necklace,” and “They made me everything that I thought I was: not pretty, not good, just not,” and every conversation F.C.G. has had regarding whether or not they have a soul. Sam sees these goofy, fun, ridiculous characters, and decides that they also have a story, and it’s one worth telling.

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sepublic · 2 years

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You know, it’s a damn shame that the official lore didn’t go with the idea of every Knight of Ren having Ren as a surname of sorts, a title like Sir; Everyone rightfully assumed that Kylo Ren wasn’t the only one, and I think it’s much cooler if they all share in that name. They’re all dedicated to the Ren; Plus it shows a group cohesiveness, adds a uniformity to their names whilst still having some individuality, implies a sense of brotherhood, and of course that they all are ultimately known by the philosophy they embody first and foremost.

It’s like being newly christened, which, I like to think that similarly to Kylo, the other Knights of Ren replaced their names with new ones, in addition to the new title. Just adds a bit more pomp and circumstance, the Catholic motif to a group clearly fashioned after the crusaders. The title makes the Knights a united front and whole, even interchangeable, as Ren, just its many facets. For fun, I like to think that the official ceremony in which one is knighted is referred to as being renowned... Now renowned as a Knight of Ren, plus the obvious pun.

And Ren as a universal title adds an additional intrigue to “Ren”, the leader before Kylo; Given his claims that he’s nobody and that Ren isn’t actually his name, there’d be plenty of implications if he didn’t have an individual name himself, just the title alone. Like the only thing we can pinpoint for a fact about this dude’s identity is that he IS a Knight of Ren, but... That’s it, and it fits with how he claims to be the group’s face and representative. Ren only cares about being a Knight of Ren, he himself doesn’t matter and it aligns with him having dedicated his life to the philosophy.

Additionally, Ren being shared also makes Kylo look less indecisive (granted he very much is), because if we go by canon implications, it’s like he couldn’t decide between being his childhood name of Kylo and assuming the title of Ren as tradition, so he just slapped them both together and called it a day. Which does happen sometimes when companies merge for example, but regardless. Plus, this theme could lead to some humorous misunderstandings, like Hux calls out “Ren!” and they all turn to face him. Hux, exasperated, specifies Kylo Ren; The surname is second-nature to all and they truly see it as a part of themselves and who they are.

I just think the title of Ren has a nice, noble and dignified ring to it; It adds a nice spice and flavor to character names that would otherwise be another Glup Shitto in the lore. There’s a weight to a name like the Knights of Ren, and I want to incorporate the formality it implies. Just look at these;

-Vicrul Ren

-Cardo Ren

-Marinda Ren

-Massif Ren

-Bazzra Ren

-Fyodor Ren

-Ushar Ren

-Ap’lek Ren

-Kuruk Ren

-Trudgen Ren

With their known leaders being Kylo Ren, and before him ????? Ren.

#Star Wars #knights of ren #vicrul #cardo #ushar #ap’lek #trudgen #kuruk #fyodor #bazzra #massif #Marinda #Ren prime #kylo ren

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duhragonball · 1 year

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Dragon Ball Super 098

This episode: we talk about Universe 9.... while we still can!

So we’re only a minute or so into the Tournament of Power, and already a bunch of guys have decided to gang up on Goku. This was something Universe 9 really seemed to want to do back at the Zeno Expo. They couldn’t defeat Goku one-on-one, and they couldn’t do anything about the Zenos ruling that the losing universes get erased. But they could make Goku look like the villain of the whole thing, so that no matter what happened, everyone would target Goku and Universe 7 first.

Which is less strategy and more... spite, really. Eliminating U7 doesn’t actually save U9, since they still have to survive the other six teams. It’s sort of like how they plotted to assassinate Frieza a few episodes back. The big theme with Universe 9 is that they’re craven and desperate, and they’ll do just about anything to win... and then they lose anyway. I suppose that’s fitting, since the Grand Minister said theirs was the lowest score for average mortal power. The Zenos were planning to erase eight universes, but if he could only pick one, it would be Universe 9.

We already know the Danger Trio or whatever they’re called. Basil does kicks and steroids, Bergamo uses his opponents’ own power to defeat them, and Lavendar has poison, which would be extremely dangerous in a match like this where there’s no way to use an antidote or other healing item.

But Goku saw all these guys at the Zeno Expo, and he‘s got them all scouted. He uses a ki barrier to protect himself from Lavender’s poison and goes on the offensive.

The U9 team also has Roselle, one of the handful of fighters with a natural flying ability. Except he gets shot down by Frieza in this episode, and Frieza starts torturing him for the rest of the runtime.

Goku might be in trouble while he’s surrounded by the Danger Trio, but then Vegeta jumps in to rescue him, and they take on all the Niners by themselves. Roh gets cocky and sends all his available fighters to take out Goku and Vegeta, which make it eight-on-two, but...

Vegeta doesn’t care. He jumps right in the middle of the Danger Trio, unconcerned with their Dangers’ Triangle combo or whatever it is. Also, Goku goes after one of them, which disrupts their move.

Oh, this lady is named Hop. She’s some sort of Cat Lady, because Universe 9 is really front-loaded with furries.

Also, Hyssop (the big blue guy there) has ice powers or something, so he freezes Vegeta’s arm in ice.

So Hop and Lavender think they have Vegeta cornered, but he ducks out of the way when they try to attack him and they wind up hitting each other.

That distraction allows Goku to take out these two dudes, Chappil and Comfrey. Chappi has iron skin, though I’m not sure if he means literally or figuratively. Comfrey... I don’t think he has a gimmick. He just looks like the Gillman from Creature of the Black Lagoon.

So they both get eliminated, and then Vegeta eliminates Hop. With authority!

Uh... who have we got left? Uh, this red dude is Oregano, and he has... uh... webbing. That’s it.

Yeah, so Vegeta goes Super Saiyan and eliminates Oregano and Hyssop. For those of you keeping score, Universe 9 has just lost five fighters in a matter of seconds....

Well, actually they lost six fighters, because Sorrel got eliminated off-screen. Okay, so Sorrel’s kind of my favorite one, because she has a really cute design, and I kept forgetting which team she was on, and why I couldn’t remember her doing anything in this tournament. Well, that’s because she’s on this team and she got eliminated off-screen two episodes into this arc.

They cut to 18 after Sorrel explains that she was eliminated, so I’m left to assume 18 did the honors. Anyway, my big gripe with Sorrel is that she’s a bunny rabbit, and there’s someone else on the team named Hop, which is what they should have named the bunny rabbit character, but they gave it to the cat lady instead. Fuck Universe 9 forever.

Well, we still have Roselle, right? No, because he was so desperate to escape Frieza that he jumped out of the ring and eliminated himself. Roselle is relieved to be safe on the bleachers, until Sidra reminds him that he’ll die anyway if they lose the tournament. Ha ha. “If” they lose.

Let’s pause here to savor Roselle’s existential dread. His life has come down to a choice between three dooms. He can stay in the ring and get tortured by Frieza, or he can lose the tournament and get erased from existence, or a miracle happens and he gets to go back to Universe 9, which seems to be a total dump from the way everyone talks about it.

So it’s down to the Danger Trio, who find themselves pushed back to the edge of the stage, and they decide to put everything they have into a combination ki blast. I forget what they called it. Danger Dipshit Blast, maybe. Trio Triangle Taser? Who cares?

So Goku and Vegeta do a Final Flash/Kamehameha combo and they turn Super Saiyan Blue while they do it, and gee, I wonder who comes out ahead on this exchange?

Yeah, the Danger Trio get eliminated, so that’s it for the Universe 9 team.

The Zenos erase Universe 9 right then and there. And as the universe itself is wiped out, so too are all of the fighters and gods representing U9.

All that remains is Mohito, the guide angel assigned to Universe 9. Since the angels were exempt from erasure, Mohito is all that’s left of the Ninth Universe.

He seems more relieved than sad.

So where did Universe 9 go wrong? Let’s try to figure that out while we rock out.

youtube

Like the protagonist of the song “Detroit Rock City”, Universe 9′s team got in too big a hurry and ended up taking big sloppy chances. Roh sicced as many fighters as he could on Goku, hoping that he could eliminate Goku quickly and build momentum. But even if that worked, would it have made that big a difference? They still would have had a long road ahead.

As it was, Goku proved to be more than those eight fighters could handle, and then Vegeta and 18 joined in to help. Did they just think Goku’s own team would leave him out to dry? Actually, maybe they did expect it to turn out that way, since the U9 team failed to support Roselle when he needed it badly. I get the impression they’re not big on teamwork in Universe 9.

And the whole gambit went wrong so quickly, there wasn’t even a chance for Roh to call it off. They really should have scattered when Vegeta showed up to help Goku, but by the time they realized their mistake it was too late.

From a storytelling perspective, wiping out Universe 9 is an awesome story beat, because it demonstrates early on that the Zenos weren’t kidding about erasing the losing universes. They’re not even going to wait until the tournament ends to do it. They start erasing losers as soon as posssible. And this forces the remaining competitors to think twice about running wild in the ring. If they pull a grandstand play like Universe 9 did, then they might very well meet the same fate.

Also, it’s just cool to have Universe 7 sweep an entire team in one episode like that. It sends a powerful message that Goku and Vegeta are not to be trifled with. Challenge them at your peril. And 18 and Frieza are nothing to sneeze at either. If you try to push Universe 7 around, you will find yourself pushed out of the ring.

#dragon ball #dragon ball super #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #tournament of power

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minaramen · 2 years

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Nagi Rokuya - 16 Idol Album - Part 3: Threads of seven colors that connect all of us

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Nagi: Since I didn’t have much freedom as a child, the moments I spent with my brother were very special to me

Nagi: As we grew up, both me and my brother became more and more busy and we spent less and less time together. However, the one I told you…

Nagi: Is an important memory that I will never forget

Yamato: His Highness reading for you, the very same man we met… it’s hard to imagine, but apparently it really happened

Iori: Certainly a heartwarming, cute picture of him with Rokuya san doesn’t really come to my mind

Sogo: And the book you were reading was “The Little Prince”

Mitsuki: You idiots, he’s Nagi’s big brother! No matter what, Nagi will always be important to him

Tamaki: He was pretty clumsy, wasn’t he? I mean, Setocchi

Riku: You were playing online together recently, right?

Nagi: Yes, we played Shogi

Yamato: Shogi?! Can that guy even understand the rules?!

Nagi: Fufu…I’ve heard that Bernard trained him

Mitsuki: I see…so he isn’t only taking care of a kingdom, he also put all his effort in doing something with Nagi

Sogo: Why did he choose Shogi? I mean, there are similarities between Shogi and political affairs…

Iori: Yes, there are many other online game he could have chosen

Nagi:...because my mother loved it. Shogi. My brother didn’t actually tell me the reason behind this choice, but…I think that’s why

Tamaki: I see, your mum…

Riku: Ooh, I see…it’s kinda moving, isn’t it? Knowing about Seth san and Nagi before, in North Meir

Yamato: I’m relieved that you get along again, just like when you were children

Nagi: …No!

Riku&Mitsuki&Iori&Yamato&Sogo&Tamaki: What?!

Nagi: He threw a fit and hung up the call just because he was losing. Before we started he told me to go easy on him, since it was the first time he played

Nagi: Since there has been no apology yet, we’ll continue this cold war a little longer

Mitsuki: C-cold war…

Iori: You know, hearing you guys talking about a cold war makes my blood freeze, since it sounds like a national matter

Tamaki: Y-you need to reconcile! Should we send some ousama puddings to North Meir, as a sign of reconciliation

Yamato: Let’s send some Japanese sake as well. It’s damn cold, over there. We could tell him some hot sake would be amazing

Nagi:...fufu, it’s okay. We already know how to reconcile. Thank you, guys

Nagi: We’re just having fun experiencing things that we couldn’t do when we were children

Mitsuki: You couldn’t even have a quarrel, right?

Iori:...so, just watching over you is okay?

Nagi: Yes! Just like horse riding, we’re slowly matching our paces

Riku: Horse riding…oh, during “Welcome to the kids room” you actually showed a picture of you and Seth san riding horses!

Nagi: Yes. He didn’t use his spare moments only to read me a book. We also went horse riding together, and sometimes he also helped me with studying

Nagi: The time I could spend with my brother meant everything to me

Sogo:...In these moments, you can only wish this time to last forever, to be allowed to stay in that sparkling dimension for the rest of your life…

Nagi: Yes. Just like every musical score ends at some point, even a novel needs to come to an end

Nagi: I wanted those beloved moments to last for the rest of eternity

Nagi: However, I eventually lost sight of what was essential to me. Just like it happened in “The Little Prince”, one day I grew up and I lost sight of what was essential to me

Tamaki: But what kind of book is that? Is it the story of a prince living on a planet?

Riku: Well…it’s the story of a Little Prince living on his little planet. At some point, he fights with his beloved rose and goes on a trip

Riku: It’s supposed to be a children’s book, but if you read it when you’re an adult you can understand so many things…it’s really…really deep

Nagi: The Little Prince experiences many different encounters during his trip, each of which teaches him something. The most important theme of the book is that “the essential is invisible to the eye”

Yamato: The essential is invisible to the eye…

Iori: It’s different from the impression I initially got from the title, but apparently it's a book which is loved and read by people of all ages

Mitsuki: There are many things I can sympathize with, maybe because I am now an adult

Nagi: Yes. There are experiences that everybody has, sooner or later

Nagi: Anger, jealousy, resentment, hate…all these feelings imprison one’s heart and make them incapable of seeing what’s really important

Nagi: I don’t want that to happen to me once again…I know how essential you guys are, to me

Nagi: It’s invisible to the eye, but I know they do exist inside my heart… threads of seven colors that connect all of us

Sogo: Seven colors… they’re threads that nobody can break

Tamaki: There’s no reason for these threads to break, Nagicchi!

Iori: Even if it happens, we will do whatever it takes to find each other again. Even on the opposite side of the world

Yamato: You know, Nagi, I expected you to be some kind of quiet, snobbish dude…but I was wrong

Nagi: What…?

Yamato: You’re the kind of dude who immediately offers his help when somebody isn’t doing well

Yamato: When you were the one who wasn’t doing well you just backed out and went to North Meir all alone. That day, I reflected a lot

Yamato: I had been spoiled by your kindness, by your careful heart. That’s why I’m watching you now, Nagi

Mitsuki: Even if you don’t feel okay, we will always be here for you. Just be sure to hold the link tight, okay?

Mitsuki: Because I will be here to help you, no matter what, as many time as you need

Nagi: Yamato, Mitsuki…

Tamaki: Unfair! I also want to do some kind of speech where I say how amazing Nagicchi is!

Riku: Me too, me too!

Sogo: Ah, me too…

Iori: W-well…me too…

Nagi: Oh…! Apparently, there is no place I could hide even if I ran away! You can start, then, Iori!

Iori: M-me…? Well…

Iori:...I will never forget…the night of the Music Fest…you sang and danced, just to make us smile…

Tamaki: When I used to act selfishly, y’know, at first, you never got angry at me, and we did many things together and you seemed the one who enjoyed spending time with me the most… that made me so happy

Sogo: You were the one telling me that “Dear Butterfly” would have been a song loved and treasured by everybody. Thanks to you, I could really appreciate myself

Riku: You told me to sing the precious songs written by Sakura san as the center. When our voices shake a bit during the lives, you’re the first to help us by improvising something

Yamato: By doing so you keep us connected, Nagi

Yamato: If you stay with us, we will never lose sight of each other

Nagi: Fufu…I’m about to cry…

Nagi: The magic that makes me smile…something that can compete even with Kokona, is definitely the idols’ magic

Riku: That’s right! The seven of us definitely use a lot of magic in order to make our fans smile!

Nagi: Wah…! We’re magical girls…!

Tamaki: Mahou Shoujo Magical★Ainana?

Iori: Please, stop. You’re giving me more than one reason to get angry

Yamato: Can it at least make me younger? This kind of magic

Mitsuki: Younger, mh? Old man!

Yamato: Just a little bit. A little bit

Sogo: It’s not that we can really practise magic, so… how about Young Idols★Sing a song and dance Ainana?

Tamaki: Ahah! Super!

Iori: Please, stop, Osaka san. I thought you were the one suggesting that Idolish7 would have been a good name for us

Riku: How cool…! Which one do you prefer, Nagi?!

Nagi: Okay, bring me a switch bottom! I’m ready to hear more options!

Yamato: Ah, I’ll be your scribe

Iori: Ah… you’ve just stolen the best role one can get from this situation…

Mitsuki: Did you really hate the idea of proposing something so much that you even applied for writing? You’re a damn dirty player, old man!

Yamato: What are you saying? Of course it’s because I’m the leader. It’s the kind of role where you need to watch over the others without interfering

Tamaki: Yes! How about me?! What other roles are there?

Nagi: I nominate you vice-president of the commission! The president, of course, is me!

Tamaki: Wow! Sounds cool!

Sogo: What kind of commission is that…?

Riku: Well, it must be the commission to settle a special name for Idolish7…?

Iori: I’m sure that just Idolish7 is more than fine

Nagi *thinking*:.....Haruki. Thank you for leading me to Japan

Nagi *thinking*: Because even if the relationship with my brother is what it is, I still have my friends

Nagi: Hoo..! This meeting will last until tomorrow morning! Be prepared!

Riku&Tamaki: Yay!

Mitsuki&Iori&Yamato&Sogo: Y-yay-...?

Nagi *thinking*: If you asked me now, “Are you happy?”, I would not hesitate in answering…

Nagi: This will be a very, very happy night…!

End

Next up: Momo’s Winter Date

#16idolalbum #nagi rokuya #idolish7translation #Idolish7

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whispertrolls-archive · 2 years

Text

Since my dash is quiet, I have thoughts, and my corner of this rotating hellscape is sound asleep, I’m gonna go off about someone I didn’t expect to grow on me and also explain why his theme is “Addict” by Silva Hound, aka this song fits him so perfectly and you’d never know it at a glance, or even after you’ve known him for a while and it’s entirely because he doesn’t want to see it in himself, let alone show it.

Also, shoutout to @contrastparadoxx and @memurfevur for breathing actual life into this man, I owe you both my life and one of my absolutely massive candy bars that I’m self-medicating with

Also also, warnings of abuse, drug use, addiction, mentions of sexual assault allegations and a lot of other stuff being hinted at, but not explicitly mentioned below the cut

Aurumi Faurux, one of Rutaci’s thus innumerable and counting descendants, is the pinnacle of longing, lust, inability to heal, and refusal to recognize one’s true nature. This man lives with a brightness in his eyes, a fire in his heart, and a fatal flaw of self-conditioned naïveté that clouds a majority of his judgements.

He’s far from the smartest troll that I have, but, contrary to popular belief and even my own previous judgements on his character, he’s less of a fool than what most realize; in fact, it comes across as genuine because he’s so deep in denial out of fear of the truth that he’s convinced himself not to learn from his past experience.

He’s a terrible liar, but he’s an even better actor. He was a prodigy, a child of the stage who grew into a young adult that reached for the stars. He was a broadway star, on to big things, but to say that he was in control was a far cry from reality. Nope, Aurumi’s manager had a firm grip of his life in the wings, all but maneuvering him like a puppet on a string. He was trained young and bore his lessons deeply: Lowbloods and mutants speak only when they are spoken to, they do what they’re told by highbloods without question, and their rightful place is to entertain and be subservient to those above them.

He’s tragic, a kind young man who lost everything when a hands-on gesture in fondness was mistaken for, and twisted into, something far more sinister by a colleague who envied what Aurumi had. Overday, he found his stars ripped away. He found that his name no longer shined in the glow of neon lights. He was blacklisted and cast aside, shocked, confused, and now with no direction in his life.

He eventually had a stroke of luck in finding his way to a city that, for the most part, couldn’t care less who he was or had been. He found work at a club as a performer, at least finding a silver lining where one would be hard-pressed to seek out even a glimmer. Luckily for him, his employers bore a will to help him settle in, though Aurumi carried an unexpected burden from his prior nights: The prior control that ruled his life had resulted in a sense of learned helplessness. Aurumi grew convinced and conditioned to believe that he was best leaving decisions about himself in the hands of others.

Maybe it was by a stroke of luck that his new bosses were willing to work with him in exchange for his services. He had a way to earn a living, and they had a stunning new asset to add to their repertoire. They planned everything from his outfits to his setlist, and Aurumi took to the task like a fish to water. His skills from his former life set the stage ablaze, and Aurumi flourished. Whether it was commanding the eyes of the audience or catering to any clientele who could buy his time, life couldn’t be better.

Or so you’d think. In spite of his riveting performances and the shimmering golden silks and jewelry that adorned him, it likely doesn’t come to shock that so much of his life is a façade. He never stopped suffering from the effects of abuse, betrayal, and immeasurable loss. As with many who rose and many more who fell from fame, he, too, had fallen victim to a poor decision turned into a crippling addiction, too blinded by the lights to see his way out of the path of devastation.

He knows how to hide, and he hides well, more often that not. He hides a life of pain and grief behind a well-placed needle and the glow of his own flames. He hides a fear of truth and a cynical dread behind such a heavy veil of foolishness that even he believes it. It is, to a point, within his nature to be too forgiving and to see the best in everyone he meets while also painfully avoiding their flaws, but it’s one of many demons that he struggles with. He reconstructs himself to be as palatable as possible to those that are, without any doubt in his eyes, better than himself. He will suffer if it means pleasing someone else, but he consistently reminds himself, wholeheartedly at that, that it’s worth it to be cherished and loved. No one will toss him aside if he’s everything that they could possibly want, and what’s it going to hurt to play another role?

The grim reality of Aurumi’s life, that which he runs from night and day, is that a boy dancing on a set of strings grew into a man who became so good at what he does that he even manages to fool himself. He’s addicted to the madness of the entertainment industry, and he’s addicted to the feeling of being seen, held, and remembered, whatever it may take to achieve those means. It’s like a high for him, one that he clings to so desperately because he doesn’t wish to turn even a blind eye on the lows in his life. While he fights the demons that could, tragically, save him by destroying the spark that he clings to with a deathly urgency, he gives in to the ones that he believe protect him.

He’s headlong and knee-deep into forces that, if he isn’t careful, could destroy him.

#Aurumi #Aurumi Faurux #Yeah I went off but y'know what it's great #I just really love my characters OK #character analysis

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harrowharkboygf · 3 years

Text

rating the locked tomb characters by how good their met gala outfits would be

gideon nav

we can surmise from the “rapier with skulls puking other skulls” quote that gideon’s personal style, if she wasn’t beholden to the ninth house dress code, would be Loud and Tacky and A Lot. therefore, i think she’ll go all out with the theme. her outfit might not look objectively good per se — it will probably be a little too excessive and not super classy — but she will absolutely fulfill the theme and she will have fun, and that’s the most important part! 9/10

harrowhark nonagesimus

oh harrow will go all in on this. she will definitely be of the opinion that all guests should have to submit an essay explaining exactly how their outfit fits the theme, and she absolutely will get annoyed at the people who just wore simple black tuxes and dresses. she‘ll start planning her outfit months in advance, and it’s going to be incredibly complicated and very symbolic. her outfit is probably be a lot creepier and more goth than the rest of the guests, but it’ll still go perfectly with the theme anyways. 10/10

ortus nigenad

how much effort ortus puts into his outfit will depend SOLELY on what the theme was. if he thinks it’s a stupid theme he’ll put in zero energy whatsoever, and if he thinks it’s a good theme he will put in the work and come out with an outfit that’s definitely creative, even if it doesn’t look super great and is a little bit of a stretch on the theme. 7/10

judith deuteros

judith definitely does not care. she does not care at all, and if you asked her what the theme was, she couldn’t even tell you. she wears a simple black tux or black dress every year, and yes she looks hot as fuck and very classy and all of the gay girls on twitter go wild over it, but it’s not particularly creative or befitting of the theme. 3/10

marta dyas

marta cares a lot more than judith does, but she still focuses more on the event itself than the outfit; she’s more excited to dance, talk with her friends and acquaintances, and see other people’s outfits. if the met gala didn’t have a theme, she’d still be happy, but since it does, she’ll try to fit the theme as best she can! she refuses to sacrifice her own comfort or ability to dance in favor of an outfit though, which is very fair of her. no matter what, though, she looks good! 6/10

coronabeth tridentarius

oh you KNOW corona is acing this. she starts planning for her outfit a year in advance, but unlike harrow, she’s way less pretentious about it and willing to do something that might make fun of herself a little or make others laugh. she makes sure to call everyone she knows who’s going to make sure that their outfits won’t be too similar. she also makes sure that ianthe and babs’ outfits go good with hers. it’s the bane of her existence that judith won’t go to the lengths that she does. she fits the theme perfectly, she’s creative about it, and she looks hot as fuck. 100/10

ianthe tridentarius

as mentioned above, ianthe’s outfit is always designed to fit with coronabeth’s. it’s always very similar — not quite the same, but very close. same idea, slightly different execution. it’s always fitting with the theme, and looks really good objectively, but there’s a lack of investment and heart that ruins it a bit, especially next to corona’s extravaganza. still, when she’s next to the other guests, she definitely wins. 8/10

naberius tern

babs cares WAY more about looking good than he does about fitting the theme. his outfit is always a lot less creative than and themed than ianthe’s and corona’s. he never sidesteps the theme entirely, but he often refuses to go all the way in favor of not looking too weird. this is kind of a moot point, since he always looks a little weird anyway. 5.5/10

isaac tettares & jeannemary chatur

the awful teens were coordinating outfits each year, and each year they desperately want to fit the theme and do something cool, but they’re a little TOO eager about it. there’s always either a little bit too much going on with their outfits for the message to be fully cohesive, OR they didn’t go all the way because they were too embarrassed to do so. however, they definitely try their best and that’s what matters! 7.5/10

abigail pent & magnus quinn

abigail and magnus treat the met gala like a halloween party. they’re committed to the theme, but not in the militant, obsessive way that harrow and coronabeth are — it’s more that they have fun planning their coordinating outfits because costumes are fun! often their take on the theme is very nerdy and sweet, but maybe not super well done. still, they compliment everyone on their outfits and are so genuine about it that they get points anyway. 7/10

palamedes sextus

pal could honestly care less about the met gala, but he attends anyway and spends the whole night deep in conversation with anyone who will talk science with him. as such, his outfit is. Very Lacking. cam usually designs it for him and it fits the theme pretty well and looks objectively good, but he gets points off for not coming up with it himself. 5/10

camilla hect

pal and cam don’t wear coordinated outfits, but they are still somewhat cohesive, as cam plans them both. camilla’s outfit is definitely much better than palamedes’ is — it fits the theme and is more creative and she just generally looks hotter. however, she’s not putting the same level of energy most of the people listed above. but it’s fun, it looks good, and she passes the test. 7/10

dulcinea septimus

dulcie’s attitude towards the met gala would be very similar to magnus and abigail’s in that she treats it like a fun opportunity rather than a life-or-death situation, but she definitely leans more “tasteful” over magnus and abigail’s typical style of “dorky”. she follows the theme closely and she looks good! 8/10

protesilaus ebdoma

pro always goes with dulcie, and he just dresses in an outfit that she’s planned to be coordinated with hers. he’s a little bemused at the intensity of some of the others, but he goes along with the whole thing because it makes dulcie happy. points off for not coming up with his own idea, points added for looking very dashing regardless. ortus is fuming at how well-put-together his outfit is. 5/10

silas octakiseron

silas shares the same all-or-nothing attitude that ortus has towards the theme, but when he approves of the theme, his execution comes very close to beating out harrow’s outfit in terms of Drama and Sophistication. his outfits are often a little impractical — they’re hard to walk in or require elaborate props to be transported alongside him — but they’re worth it. 9/10

colum asht

colum just wears a suit the same color as whatever silas’ outfit is that year. boring! 2/10

augustine the first

augustine tries his hardest, but he never quite nails the theme. somehow, it always goes straight over his head, so when he explains it to people, they’re always like “*confused head tilt* hmmm, okay now i think i get it! huh!” he looks,,, fine in it, and he tries. he tries! 4/10

mercymorn the first

mercy’s sense of style in general is very good, so she always comes in a dress that’s fashionable and well-designed. the problem is that she actively abhors the idea of a themed party; she actively campaigns to the organizers each year to not do a theme. she thinks that everyone who does the theme is ridiculous. as such, she ends up with a low 3/10

cytherea the first

cytherea has a good Idea for the met gala every year, but for some reason — she bites off more than she can chew or she fails to accurately articulate her vision or she procrastinates until the last minute — that idea never translates into an actual outfit, so she always falls back on a simple, soft clinging dress. fashionable, but unfortunately not very standout-ish. 3.5/10

gideon the first

gideon (original flavor) just wears a boring black suit every year. THE most boring black suit ever. 1/10

pyrrha dve

okay, admittedly we haven’t seen that much of pyrrha in canon, but from what we do know, she is smart and talented and funny and good at everything and has a dramatic streak and is incredibly hot. therefore, i think we can surmise that she’ll absolutely nail her met gala outfit. it’ll fit the theme, it’ll be very original and very well-done, and she’ll be sexy as fuck! good for her! 15/10

john gaius

he wears the exact same black tux every year. the same one. he pays no attention to the theme whatsoever. this is very confusing, since HE is the one who organizes the met gala and picks the theme! weirdo! even worse, john makes a point to give backhanded compliments to people he thinks don’t fit the theme or don’t look good. bitch! -10/10

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dreamkidddream · 3 years

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I’d like to request hc’s of the Brothers and Diavolo reacting to an MC that’s so cute, she could pass off as a doll. If she stands perfectly still, she could pass off as a full sized doll until she moves again. She has adorable doe eyes, wears cute clothes (Lolita fashion or just has an anime girl style), and even makes cute desserts. If the usual MC was weak and frail to them already, Doll!MC seems so dainty, precious, and fragile; these guys would ban paper if she ever got a paper cut.

Oooooo this is really interesting! I can just imagine Doll!MC just making everyone so scared every time she moves because they could probably hurt themselves just bumping into a wall because they look so fragile lol. These were short, so hope you enjoy!

Update: here’s part 2 with the other Undateables!

The Brothers and Diavolo Reacting to Doll!MC

Lucifer

...maybe he made a mistake in picking you for the exchange program after all

You just look so delicate, and just so pure.

You have definitely made cute little snacks and brought it to him while he locked himself in the office with paperwork

He lowkey highkey likes it no matter how he brushes it off with the usual thanks. Keep doing it, MC, he really appreciates it

When you get in trouble and he gives you the usual lectures, he can’t look into your eyes for long

Geez, he already can’t stay mad at you for long but now he can just feel his resolve cracking

If you get hurt oh Diavolo prepare for helicopter parent Lucifer

As soon as you accidently cut yourself in the kitchen (it would be the tiniest cut, barely noticeable), you’re no longer allowed in the kitchen unsupervised and can’t handle anything with a sharp end (whether its a butter knife or kid proof scissors that would be safe for Luke to use unsupervised)

“Let me do it for you, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Lucifer, thank you but I’ll be okay. It’s just a frosting spatula it’s not sharp-”

Will punish his brothers 10x worse and demons 100x more if he finds out you got hurt (doesn’t matter what the injury is, could be so much as a paper cut there will be hell to pay)

Constantly checks on you when he can’t see you in person

Handles you so lightly that you barely feel his touch

Move over Belphie, you’re the baby of the house now

Mammon

Protective x100000

Is still tsudere around you, but doesn’t insult you as much

Who are you kidding as soon as he looks into your cute doe eyes, he forgets what he’s saying

Complains about having to do stuff for you but doesn’t mind at all really. He loves it because it feels like you’re depending on him, and that makes him feel worth something.

“C’mon human, let the Great Mammon carry your books! You’re gonna hurt yourself and I don’t feel like hearing Lucifer’s mouth today!”

It was just your planner and a small recipe book that Luke gave you, and it weighed less than 10 pounds but okay. You don’t complain either when you see that he genuinely wants to help and do these things

Basically your loud guard dog and secret service agent rolled into one

He’s gotten into trouble more than once for “protecting you”. A student barely bumped your shoulder and Mammon already tackled him. Lucifer was not pleased (but he secretly understood)

He can’t help it that you’re weak and surrounded by hungry demons! It’s a pain to go through this much effort to just protect you, since you look so helpless

MC he’s just worried that you easily break if a demon so much as breathes on you but he likes that he can protect you because he knows that he can keep you safe. You’re just too cute and sweet okay??

Also stand in his room after watching a horror movie to freak him out and he’ll be sounding like Mariah Carey lmao

Leviathan

RURI-CHAN IS THAT YOU??!

Is for sure having an otaku/weaboo freakout moment

You blend in with figurines so well, every time you come into his room he asks you to stand next to them so he can feel that his collection is complete

He does it sometimes when he streams so people can think he has a rare limited-edition life sized doll that they can’t get. Makes him feel superior

DRESSING YOU UP IN COSPLAY 100%

You’re like an anime character but in real life and he does not know how to handle it

Can’t stare into your eyes, it makes them too flustered because he’s used to seeing it in his otome games and not from an actual person that he likes

Who needs maid cafes when he has you? You even dress and make anime themed desserts (once he built up the courage to ask you to make it for him)

Has to calm his beating heart every time he talks to you, you’re too precious for him MC!

Your like his very own idol, minus the singing and dancing. However, if you can sing and dance....

Levi.exe has stopped working

Satan

Thought you were a real doll until you introduced yourself

He really thought that someone brought you to life Pinocchio style

You looked like a princess from the many stories that he read, and he was smitten

Treated you so graceful and elegant like until he had his rage moments, which he told you to stay far, far, far away from him until he calmed down completely

Secretly placed a hex on you to where if someone tried to attack you or touch you with harmful intentions, they would be somehow be subjected to looking at their worst fear

You were wondering why that random stranger was just staring wide at you with extensive terror, but then you saw Satan grinning, so you left it alone. You thought it was just some weird demon thing

Loved when you made him cat-themed desserts

If you wore cat ears while doing it, he will turn extremely red

If you meow for him, he won’t know how to handle himself

Asmodeus

You are just the cutest thing he has ever laid his eyes on!!

Besides from himself of course, don’t get it twisted he’s still #1

He has most definitely had more than one photoshoot done with you both. And you guys have been trending on the Devilgram a couple of times already

Really you guys trend at least twice a month, and his fans love you!

They always ask where he got the doll from but he always laughs and says that “it’s a secret”

Imagine their shock when they see you walking and talking at RAD, some are amazed and some are downright scared

Fashion shows!

He lives for dressing you up in cute clothes. Your style already suited you and he had great tastes so the new outfits he got you were just *chef’s kiss*

The cute little desserts that you made for him, he always posted it on the Devilgram before he ate it. They were just so cute MC and he couldn’t not show his fans!

Is the most careful brother when it comes to keeping you out of danger. He refused to let his body or skin damaged, and he wasn’t about to let it happen to you either! You are both way too dainty and fragile to let anything happen

Also spa days and self-care nights weekly!

You’re the perfect match made just for him MC

He finally has someone that can understand his struggle of being beautiful, bless you MC

Beelzebub

Soft boy is scared of touching you :(

He towers over you, and he’s scared to even be near you

It takes some time, but he starts to warm up to you

Is always gentle with you, no matter the scenario

Holding hands? He is hardly gripping your hand, said hand fitting loosely in his

Getting hugs? He’s meagerly holding you, not wanting to crush you

You once complained to Beel that it wasn’t fair to get half done hugs (if you were hugging, you were getting a real hug, not a scared one).

He made you swear that if he was hurting you to let him know, so now you have your very own signal to use for him just in case

He was very tempted to wrap you in bubble wrap and just carry you around like that

He LOVES your sweets, even more than Luke’s and Barbatos’

No matter the size, he loves them, mainly because you made them and it was made with love, just for him

It always makes him feel so warm inside, and he doesn’t feel his appetite gnawing at him like usual

No one is dumb enough to try anything with you both in his presence and not, unless they want to end up either a: deep into the ground or b: into his stomach

You just make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and he just loves everything about you. He just loves you

Belphegor

Hm, you look cute

For a human

Acts like he doesn’t care, but you’ve caught him blushing before (he still does it too)

Won’t outright admit that you’re charming in your own little way, but he does in his sarcastic way like usual

“MC, you’re such a half-pint. You’re like my personal sized teddy bear.”

Has cuddled with you like you were his personal teddy bear (and still does, but you don’t complain at all)

Has a secret sweet tooth and eat your desserts whenever you make it just for him (and he doesn’t even share it with Beel, that monster)

Demons just have to look Belphie in the eyes, watch him flex his claws, and they all of a sudden forget about whatever they were planning. Good

He hates that you look so fragile, but at the same time he kinda likes it

You just look so soft, and you’re just so kind

It makes him feel like he’s protecting and caring for you, and that makes him feel calm and peaceful

Please make sure that he’s okay MC, he’s scared that he’s gonna mess up again

Diavolo

The Prince of Hell is both surprised and pleased at your appearance

Do all humans look this charming or is it just you??

If someone as soft as you can survive living and going to school with demons, then this is great

Knew that you weren’t a doll, but still liked to admire you like one

Has asked more than once for pictures, you are just too enchanting!

Wants to have a portrait painted of you so he can hang it up in the castle

LOVES you baking for him! Loves when Barbatos does it too (even though it is kinda part of his job), but it feels different with you. It feels...domestic in a sense. Makes him feel like Diavolo, your friend and very interested in being your boyfriend, instead of Lord Diavolo, the prince that will be residing over Hell in the future

No one would be foolish enough to hurt you. If someone was, they wouldn’t even get the chance to lift a finger before they were directly dealing with him. Don’t take his kindness for weakness, he still is a demon after all, the future King of Hell to be exact

Was scared of touching you at first, but quickly grew out of it! He can handle his own strength, and you guys also have a signal to use just in case he does squeeze a little too tight

Will want to dress you up in royal clothes (if you were okay with it). Nothing is wrong with your current style, as a matter of fact it suits you! He basically just wants to play a fancy game of dress up/have a fashion show with royal clothing

Will take 100s of photos, no exaggeration

Asmo will be jealous, so be warned

Plus, he wants to know how his future lover/ruler would look in a crown so he can start taking measurements. You can never be too ready, right MC?

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blzzrdstryr · 3 years

Text

Human weaknesses

Yandere!Xiao x gn!reader

CW: Yandere themes

Wordcount 1057

Xiao wants to hate humans - there’s more than enough reasons for that. Humans are pesky, greedy and filthy creatures, so preoccupied with the small bubbles they live in they can’t see anything past it, they destroy forests and rivers turning peaceful and picturesque landscapes into their stifling and crowded cities, and most importantly they stole you and the little of time you could share with him.

Yet he doesn’t - he can’t really, not when half of you is human and no part of yours in Xiao’s eyes should be called “filthy” or ”pesky”. So he resigns himself to coming back to you like a loyal hound every week with an unnerving punctuality, standing his vigil outside of your door just like he is doing now.

“Ah, you’ve come to visit”, you finally open your door and beam at him, giving him your most heartfelt smile and Xiao feels something inside of him begin to stir. He suppresses this feeling in less than a second, shifting his attention from your face to the attire you’re wearing - it’s no longer a battle regalia of the fabled adeptus, but a simple hanfu, fit for some weak and pampered noble.

The sight doesn’t bring any pleasure to Xiao, it irritates him instead just as much as your house - both too small and too big, full of appliances you don’t actually need, or the smell that comes off of you - too human now to ignore, or the sound of people coming from the windows.

Xiao doesn’t like any of it, just an idea of you living among humans, eating their food and greeting their faces on a daily basis enough to summon a sour taste in his mouth.

“Yes, I did”, he simply states, taking a seat at the offered place, as you hurry around preparing a tea and taking out a portion of almond tofu you made before his arrival. A swell of warm sensation swells inside his ribcage as he takes a bite of your meal, it’s taste bringing the memories of days long past.

You chat about your day and life in general, as Xiao eats your cooking, unbothered by his silence and inexpressiveness. It was always like that between you two, with your voice filling up the air and Xiao simply enjoying it’s sound.

“Is it your final decision?”, he asks when you almost finish your story, ending on the introduction of your new neighbors: “about.. living amongst humans”.

You stop in your tracks and look at him with a measured and careful gaze, eyes squinting as you examine his face. Your hand reaches for the still untouched cup of tea, before retracting, and you lower your eyes, adopting that pensive and faraway expression.

“I don’t really know”, you say after a short pause and get quiet again. Xiao can feel that you want to say something more but need to collect your thoughts first, so he waits for your next words, his back straight and eyes focused on your face.

“I think I will live here for a little while, decide how much this lifestyle suits me”, you finally continue, lifting your gaze again and looking at him: “after all a little change is always needed”.

“Is it really?”, Xiao finds himself sharply snapping back, his eyes widening from surprise at his own words: “You’ve spent centuries in Juyeun Karst, do you really need to live with humans now?”.

You sigh in return, your look turning somewhat pitiful as you hear his voice and Xiao hates it more than anything. Why do you look at him like that?

“Yes, I’ve spent centuries living amongst adepti and all this time I felt unfit”, you grab the no longer steaming cup and bring it to your lips: “It’s just a part of me, Xiao, and I think I’ve neglected it for far too long. I can feel my human part, crying and aching, all because I couldn’t accept that not both of my parents are wise and mighty adepti”, you take a sip.

Xiao lowers his gaze too, processing your words and thinking what to say next.

He could point out that you’re now too old to empathize with any people living here, as millenias of experience will quickly overshadow the novelty of living among such short-lived and frail creatures. He could say that you’re breaching your contract with Rex Lapis, but he suspects you will quickly rebuff him on that - you pledged to serve Liyue and you can still serve it in your new human life. The already present headache exacerbates as he comes to the simple conclusion: you won't change your mind now, then, no matter what and how he says that, except one thing.

He could exploit your human side, the one that sometimes makes your behavior so irrational and hard to grasp - he could make you feel sorry for him - the last yaksha doomed to fight and bleed until the day he dies.

Despite his standoffish behavior and general distaste for the human crowd Xiao is aware how some humans view him, not a legendary and fearsome slayer of demons, but a tragic figure destined to eternal suffering. Wangshu inn is the noisy place after all, welcoming all sorts of people, be it historians and scholars, or fools too obsessed with the legend of five yakshas to miss this place.

“That’s how”, he starts, solemn and quiet, words feeling to foreign for his mouth. He doesn’t meet your gaze, knowing what kind of impression he gives off or tries to. Lies and acting aren’t his forte, neither is a clear display of his sentiments, but if it means that you’ll return Xiao will gladly do it again and again.

“You’re one of the dearest people to me”, he hears a sharp intake and the sensation of your eyes lingering on his down casted face grows tenfold: “I don’t want to part with you”.

The silence lingers again, it’s pressure suffocating you both, yet you don't move, your heart loudly beating in your ribcage.

“I see”, you finally respond, sensing how your face burns for some reason: “I will try not to dishearten you then”, you vaguely conclude, but Xiao can sense it - the doubt and the pity. You won’t leave him, because it’s an incredibly human thing to do - be ruled by one’s emotions.

#yandere genshin impact #Yandere Xiao #Yandere Xiao x reader #Yandere genshin #Yandere genshin impact x reader #Yandere genshin x reader #Male yandere #Yandere x reader #yandere imagines #my writing

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fictionalgirldetective · 2 years

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Right so I am still very much not over Ace quoting Shakespeare in episode 9. Like

A) “there are more things in Heaven and Earth Agent Park.” Is such a zinger and The Bard would be pleased with the delivery

B) he’s right but Agent Park kind of is too and Ace just completely sidesteps his point in the name of ~literary flair~ and also definitely because he’s peeved lol

C) it’s from HAMLET. And it’s one of HAMLET’S LINES. Ace being compared to an angst-ridden young man who feels isolated and is consumed with a task that fulfills a need for purpose and ends up procrastinating acting on anything that would take him forward at all until circumstances force him to act with little choice left as to what to do or how to be who he wants to be…fits really well and fills me with a vague anxiety. Hamlet put off avenging his father because he doesn’t know how to go about it without hurting his mother specifically and the people who care about him generally, so he keeps trying to make things right completely on his own (which skews his perception of events) and forces him to push away and hurt everyone who loves him and wants to stand by him. The only person he doesn’t lie to or hurt is his best friend, who ends up in a position of holding him as he bleeds out, biting back an I Told You So because what good is that in the face of losing someone you love? AHHHH. Ace doesn’t parallel him in every way, but he definitely has a similar relationship to Rebecca as Hamlet has to Gertrude and he tries to fix things on his own and there are certain ThiNgS he won’t act on and ends up damaging because he’s holding back or lashing out and not actually communicating ever. AhhhhhHHHHH.

D) the scene where Amanda tells Ace that he isn’t really the Good Guy™️ that he thinks he is reads so much like Hamlet’s “Get thee to a nunnery- wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” line to Ophelia. Like one is saying to the other that what they put into the would is poisonous and pathetic despite their best efforts, and that they shouldn’t try. To be clear, Amanda’s line came from a place of deep hurt and frustration and betrayal and Hamlet’s was aimed to hurt Ophelia so badly so that she’d leave him alone so that he could accomplish what he needed to without having to worry about her, soooo they are definitely not the same, but I think that the effect is kind of the same.

One couldn’t track direct parallels through Ace’s arc this season with Hamlet’s story, but I think that a lot of the themes are the same. Ace is under immense pressure from his father, tries to protect and look out for his mother, tries to expose and bring to justice an insidious father figure who misuses his power, pushes away and snaps at people who’s advice he can’t accept or thinks isn’t relevant, betrays and hurts people he used to have intimate relationships with for complicated political and moral reasons, and is wrestling with questions of love and honor and honesty and purpose and action and morality.

Iiiiiim just hoping that in this case the cursed key counts as the poisoned foil and that Ace’s story gets to keep developing beyond the Creepy Blue Realm. He is way less far gone than Hamlet was anyway, and probably has significantly better hair.

#nancy drew cw spoilers #nancy drew cw #hamlet #shakespeare #yelling #ace [redacted]

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babybluebex · 3 years

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buggy code [bucky barnes x reader]

➽ pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader (y/n) ➽ word count: 4.1k ➽ summary: everyone on the team has nicknames, and you wonder why bucky doesn’t like the one you gave him. ➽ warnings: mentions of injuries, insecure bucky ➽ a/n: enjoy!

Everybody had a special name for the Winter Soldier. For mostly everyone, he was Bucky. It fit him; short and curt, the hard K sound in the middle demanding attention. Bucky didn’t quite care for any other name. He had lived his entire life being called Bucky and, even after waking up in a different world than the one he left, he didn’t think a name change was in order. Nobody did.

And then I came along. The nicknames started as a joke between me and Thor when I couldn’t pronounce his hammer’s name right (in my defense, the name starts with M-J-O and only gets worse from there). Jokingly, one day, I called it Mojo, and Thor laughed. I don’t think that Y/N is a particularly hard name, but Thor found a way to butcher it every single time he spoke to me. The joke bled out from Thor and me and into me and Tony, which then led to the whole team having their own name for me. Wanda called me “ducky”; Steve called me “little one”; Thor used every nickname for Y/N that he could find (which was different every day, but the theme was consistent); and Tony called me “kiddo”.

However, once the nickname precedent was set, nobody bothered to tell me about the Bucky situation. He was nice, albeit cold at times, and I had only seen him truly angry once. I had called him James. He got quiet and I saw a muscle in his jaw jump as he clenched his teeth, and he said, “Don’t ever call me that again. You hear me? Ever.” He absconded from the room quickly, leaving me and Steve alone, and my heart sank. I felt like an absolute shitbag for upsetting Bucky like that. Steve sat down next to me quietly. Steve was one of those quiet and understanding types, and he cast a glance at the door that Bucky had stormed out of.

“That was… Odd,” Steve said.

“You mean you don’t know what that was about?” I asked.

“No,” Steve said. His brow furrowed, and he mumbled, “No clue.”

“Should I apologize?” I asked.

“For what?” Steve asked, turning back to me. “You did nothing wrong.”

“I still upset him, even if I didn’t mean to,” I shrugged. “I… I dunno. I feel like I should.”

“If you want to,” Steve said. “He’ll probably get mad at you for trying to apologize.”

I scoffed. “What’s new? Bucky’s mad at everyone, all the time. I just… He never snapped at me like that before.”

“Don’t take it to heart,” Steve told me, and his icy blue eyes helped convince me.

The door to Bucky’s room was closed like always, but even the energy that came from it made me uneasy. It was quiet-- again, not abnormal-- but it frightened me. I hated saying sorry; according to some, it was one of my major character flaws. I felt sick to my stomach as I knocked on the door. Would he even answer? I felt the burning of tears in my eyes, and I pawed them away with the sleeve of my sweater just in time for the door to swing open. My breath caught in my throat once confronted by the White Wolf, and I could barely stutter out, “I… F-Fuck, I’m so sorry, Bucky.”

His jaw was tight, his eyes unwavering. I couldn’t stand when he did that. I understand where the whole “no emotion” thing came from, but it was infuriating sometimes. This wasn’t Russia. I wasn’t Hydra. Finally, Bucky took a deep breath, and his demeanor loosened up. “Don’t,” he said softly. “Don’t be… S’not your fault.”

“I still feel like an asshole,” I mumbled. “I was just joking around--”

“The way you do with Thor and Stark and all of them, I know,” Bucky interjected. “But you didn’t…” He paused to sigh, and he brushed his hair behind his ear. “You did nothing wrong, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart was new. Bucky didn’t play the nickname game like the rest of us did, as evident earlier. He called Steve brother every so often, usually whilst roughhousing after a mission, but sweetheart was something that he had never called me before. He must have seen how I bristled slightly, because he said, “Oh, so Wilson can call you sweetheart just fine, but I can’t?”

“That’s different,” I replied quickly.

“How?” Bucky countered instantly. He looked like he was only in his thirties, but he had the arguing skills of someone his own age. Fuck, he annoyed me. “How is Wilson any different from me?”

“That’s not--” I began. “Wilson always calls me that. You don’t call me… Anything.”

Bucky hummed quietly. “So, you’re telling me that, as long as I don’t call you what Wilson calls you, you’ll tolerate the nicknames?”

“That’s not what I meant, Bucky,” I said. “I meant that you never, ever had a nickname for me.”

“Maybe we should change that,” Bucky said, and his lips quirked into a smile. “We have a long night ahead of us. You should go try to get some rest… Baby.” With a cheeky wink and a smile, Bucky closed the door in my face.

Bastard.

Bucky was right. The night was long and ended with more of us limping back to the Compound than walking normally. Bucky and Steve took care of each other when they got banged up in a fight, and, as the youngest (really, second youngest to Peter, but he never normally came on smaller missions like this), Steve usually took it upon himself to take care of me too. My shoulder was killing me in a way that it never had before, and I wasn’t sure that it wasn’t dislocated in some fashion. I sat on the couch in the common area, nursing my arm and trying to ignore the pain enough to gauge if I was tired enough to attempt sleep, and I expected the sudden presence behind me to be that of the super soldier. “Hey, big guy,” I chuckled. “Can you check out my shoulder?”

A cold hand landed on my bare skin, and I jumped in shock. Vibranium was less than fun to experience when unprepared. I had identified a super soldier, yes, but the wrong one. “Looks swollen,” Bucky observed.

“No shit,” I mumbled. “You scared me; thought you were Steve.”

“Sorry,” Bucky said easily. “Yeah… I’m no medical expert, but, based on how swollen and red it is, I’d say you fucked your shoulder up pretty good.”

“Gee, really?” I said and rolled my neck to pop it. “Thanks for your input, Dr. Barnes. Can I get a second opinion?”

“Woah, hostile,” Bucky chuckled. “I’m sure Strange can fix that up for you, baby.”

I nodded in agreement, choosing to ignore the nickname. If I ignored it, it would go away… Right? Bucky noticed, though, and he said, “What? Not into that name? Okay, I’ll come up with something else.”

“Or don’t,” I shrugged absentmindedly, and I hissed in a breath as my shoulder exploded with pain. Definitely dislocated. “Fuck.”

“Oh, jeez,” Bucky mumbled, and he moved around in front of me. He lowered himself to my height where I sat, settling himself on one knee, and his warm hand landed gently on my arm. “I learned about this a long time ago… I think I remember how to put it back into the socket.”

“I’m sorry, but fuck that,” I laughed. “I’ll get Strange to do it.”

“If I mess you up even more, I give you permission to yell at me,” Bucky said. “Let me try. Yeah?”

I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Fine,” I acquiesced.

Bucky shuffled himself closer to me, putting gentle but firm hands on my upper arm. He sat there for a moment, something happening in his brain, before saying, “C’mere, you.” His hands fell down to my waist, and he carefully tugged me further to the edge of the couch to allow himself closer to me. Something bloomed in my stomach when he grabbed my waist like that, but I pushed it aside. This was neither the time nor place to get horny. He replaced his hands on my arm, and the tip of his tongue poked out of his lips as he carefully maneuvered my arm, testing its mobility. He noticed my winces of my pain, and he finally mumbled, “Alright. On three, I’m gonna tug your arm this way. There’ll be a pop and it’ll hurt, but it should be back in place. Alright?”

“Yeah,” I said. I felt like I would pass out from the pain. “Hurry it up.”

Bucky nodded, and his vibranium hand carefully squeezed my thigh. “Grab my hand if you need to,” he said. “Alright… One--”

He tugged my arm sharply away from my body, and there was a sickening pop. I cried out in a mixture of shock and pain, and then a tepid anger. “You said three, you shitbag!” I groaned. “What happened to two and three?”

“Must’ve miscounted,” Bucky said, smiling and chuckling. “Feel any better?”

I rolled my shoulder hesitantly, but found there to be virtually no pain. There was an ache, sure, and maybe a torn muscle, but the joint seemed to be back where it belonged. “Yeah,” I said. “A lot, actually. Thanks.”

“No sweat,” Bucky said. He smiled and chuckled, then added, “You said my name when you yelled.”

I tried to recall only seconds earlier, but the moment was a blur. “Did I?” I ask. That was embarrassing.

Bucky nodded. “You called out ‘James’,” he told me.

My eyes widened, and my heart jumped into my throat. “Oh, fuck,” I mumbled. “Oh, shit. Bucky, I’m really sorry.”

“No, no,” Bucky said. “It’s fine. Don’t stress. I actually don’t mind it.”

“Mind what?” I asked.

“Being called James,” Bucky said. “It’s been a while since I was called anything but Bucky or the Winter Soldier or… James’s nice. Short and sweet and… Nice.”

“Why did you…” I began, and I pressed my fingers into my palm. “Why did you get so angry when I called you that earlier?”

Bucky sighed. It was a heavy sigh, the sigh of 90 years worth of emotions threatening to be released. “I… I don’t know,” he said finally. “I really have no idea. I guess because it was different. It was like my old life. You were trying to be nice and funny, and nobody…” He swallowed thickly, and his gaze dropped from mine. “Everybody still sees me as the Winter Soldier. Like, they think I’ll break at any minute, and Bucky will be gone. Nat and Wilson and Steve can tell you all about dealing with him, if you want to know about it. But you don’t see me like that. You see me as someone kind; even before the war, I was never really the kind type. You see me as someone different than what everybody here-- everybody, period-- sees me as. You don’t see me as Bucky or Sergeant Barnes or whoever. You see me as--”

“James.” I whispered.

“I’m not used to people like you,” Bucky continued. “I… I think I was confused. And I get mad when I’m confused. I’ve always done that. I didn’t--”

“James,” I repeated, firmer and louder. I wasn’t testing the name. I was addressing him. My hand went to his face, resting gently under his jaw, and I tilted his head up to look at me. “Don’t. I understand.”

Bucky gave me a small smile, the most he could muster when he wasn’t telling a god-awful joke, but he didn’t try to remove my hand. His eyes, as blue as the sky on a clear day, were watching me. Not watching; I had seen him watch someone. There was something more in his gaze that I couldn’t quite identify, and it scared the shit out of me. It was friendly, I could sense that, and I had a suspicion on what it was, but I didn’t want to know for sure. Eventually, I took a deep breath, and I took my hand off of his face. “You should get some sleep,” I told him. “You need it.”

“Right,” Bucky nodded. “You do too. Come get me if that shoulder starts bothering you; I’ll see what I can do.”

“Sure,” I agreed. “‘Night, James.”

There was a silence before the super soldier responded to me. “‘Night, bug.”

“Bug?” I scoffed.

Bucky shrugged. “Just trying something out.”

I nodded and kept my place on the couch as Bucky worked himself to his feet, and he left the room quietly. I watched him leave and I pressed my palms into my knees before I started to stand. However, my endeavor was interrupted by Steve hitting his knuckles against the doorframe. He certainly had heard our conversation. His arms were crossed and he was giving me a strange look, and I huffed in frustration. “What do you want, Rogers?”

“Buck had a girlfriend he left behind when we went to war,” Steve began. “Always talked about wanting to marry her when he got back.”

“And?”

Steve smiled. “She used to call him James. Never Bucky; James. I’m sure that’s why he got mad.”

“Oh,” I mumbled lowley. “I had no idea.”

“I didn’t either, until recently,” Steve said. “But guess what? He called her ‘ladybug’. ‘Bug’ for short.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I needed help. I tossed and turned in bed for hours, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in that didn’t aggravate my shoulder too much, but, just as I was always about to drift to sleep, a spasm of pain woke me up. I had taken painkillers hours before and I was tempted to take more-- the kind that brought sleep this time-- but I remembered what Bucky had told me. Come get him if I needed help. I truly didn’t want to take him up on that offer, but I was sure that he was awake. I probably wouldn’t be bothering him. I hoped not.

I zipped up my hoodie as I carefully maneuvered through the Compound, trying to move quietly. Years of training under Nat’s tutelage had taught me how to be as silent as a ghost, but I was always worried that I would fuck up somehow. We were safe, though, and I had no reason to be on high alert. Finally, I wound up in front of Bucky’s door, and I saw the door cracked open. Bucky was the sort of guy that valued privacy, and he always had his door closed unless he wasn’t in the room.

“Oh.” A voice rumbled from behind me, and I turned to see Bucky. His hair was rumpled, his eyes tired and hooded. He wore sweatpants and a thin white shirt, the bulge of his dog tags visible under the collar. I heard the soft whirring of his arm in the silence of the hall, and he added, “There you are. You weren’t in your room.”

“Were you looking for me?” I asked.

“I was going to see how your shoulder was,” Bucky explained. “It’s been bothering me all night.”

“Been bothering you?” I repeated and stifled a laugh. “It’s been hell for me. I can’t sleep at all.”

“You took meds?” Bucky asked, and I nodded. He moved closer to me, and he added, “Drank some water? You might be dehydrated.”

“I’m fine, James,” I mumbled. “I just figured that you would be up too. My head’s still buzzing from tonight. Even without the shoulder, I don’t think I could sleep.”

I didn’t even realize that I had called him James. It felt natural now. “Well, I am awake,” Bucky chuckled. “I’m not gonna sleep tonight either. We’re about an hour from sunrise anyway; that’s sorta a foregone thing now, huh?”

I nodded. Bucky’s eyes canvased me, sticking to my shoulder and arm, and he mumbled, “Your one arm’s limp. Is it just your shoulder or your whole arm now?”

I looked at my arm, hanging at my side as my other was in my pocket. I could feel the shooting pain every time I moved it, but, when it was still, it was a dull throb of sorts. I relayed this to Bucky, and the wrinkles in his forehead grew deeper as he listened. He wordlessly took my uninjured arm in his warm grip and tugged me into his room. A single lamp was on, the curtains drawn and the bed made impeccably, as if he had never even touched it. I’m sure the tidiness was a result of his military training; Steve and Wilson were the same way. “I read something,” Bucky began. “About skin-to-skin contact. How it helps relieve pain and improve heart and lung function.”

I scoffed as I sat on the corner of his bed. “Yeah, for newborn babies,” I told him.

Bucky sighed jokingly. “Do you want my help or not, bug?”

Bug. Ladybug. “I didn’t really come for help,” I said. “Just company.”

“Just company,” Bucky repeated under his breath as he sat down next to me. “I can do that.”

“Can you?” I asked with a smirk. “Are you sure?”

“I’m not totally inept, Y/N,” Bucky said. “I can make conversation.”

“I know,” I sighed lightly. “Just teasing you.”

“You tease me so much that one would think that you don’t actually like me,” Bucky said.

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I like you,” I said. “Sometimes, I don’t think you like me.”

“Yeah, don’t take it personal,” Bucky said softly. “I sorta turn a lot of people off. The whole murderous, brainwashed soldier thing tends to do that.”

“That’s a shame,” I said. “You’re actually a pretty cool person.”

“Even when I’m killing people?” Bucky asked with a chuckle.

“Especially then,” I said, playfully pushing his shoulder. “Not too many girls are into that, but I’m in the same business, so I like it.”

“Into it?” Bucky repeated with a smile. “Like… In what way?”

“I think it’s cool,” I said. I knew what he was pushing for, and I guess that I was giving off that impression, coming into his room in the early morning for “company”. I had meant it in earnest, but, now that I thought about it, it certainly sounded like I had come to fuck him. “Not the whole… Being tortured, but… I admire that you’ve turned this into something that can help people.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Bucky said. “To help people…”

I saw his humor deflating. There was more he wanted to say, far more. If I knew Bucky, though, he was fit to clam up, and the conversation was about over. “You are helping people, Buck,” I offered. “Keeping them safe, protecting them…”

“Protection can only get you so far,” Bucky said, standing up and rolling his neck. “Y/N, when you’re like me, you’re never sure if you’re really helping. People tell me that I am, but I’ll never be certain. It’s a fucking curse, one that I haven’t turned it into anything good.” He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.

“Well,” I began softly, standing up. I joined Bucky at the window and carefully took his hand, and I examined the metallic knuckles and the different slants of vibranium that made up each finger. I thought he would pull his hand away, tell me to stop, but his hand only whirred quietly and closed around mine. “Let me be the one to tell you that you are helping people. Like tonight, not only did you take down all of those goons, but you helped me.”

“What help did I do?” Bucky scoffed.

“I mean, it’s not fully healed, but you made my shoulder better,” I said. “Bucky--” I reached up for his face and pressed my hand to his rough cheek, and I forced his head down. His steel-blue eyes met mine, and I took a deep breath. “You are good. You are a good man and I will do whatever you need me to in order for you to believe that.”

Bucky was quiet for a few long moments, then he finally whispered, “You don’t need to do anything.”

“So you believe me?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Bucky whispered. “You don’t want to help me.”

“Why not?” I huffed, dropping my hand. “Do you think you’re too far gone?”

“I don’t think it,” Bucky said. “I know it.”

“James,” I said, my emotions biting through my words. My eyes stung and my throat was tight, and I knew that I was seconds away from crying. “You are not too far gone. You know how I know?” I surged closer to him and put my hand flat on his chest to feel his heartbeat, and I said, “You’re alive. As long as you’re alive, you can get better. Stop being stubborn--”

“I’m stubborn?” Bucky laughed. “You’re so convinced that you can fix me that you won’t take no for an answer.”

“I don’t want to fix you,” I said quickly. “I want you to know that-- Fuck. Look at me, you prick.” Bucky fixed his eyes on my face, and I put my palms on his cheeks. He couldn’t look away. “James Buchanan Barnes, you are a good man. You help people. You are magnificent. I know it, everyone here knows it, and I will not rest until you see yourself the way I see you.”

The air between us was tense, and Bucky lifted a hand up to his face. He enveloped my small hand with his, his warm fingers carefully brushing mine, almost like he couldn’t believe that someone was holding his face so tenderly. He lowered his eyes, then lifted them back up to meet me, and he dropped his hands.

With that, his entire body language changed. The wrinkles in his forehead disappeared, his shoulders fell, and he let out a heavy breath. His bottom lip fell open as he looked at me, and I whispered, “Do you feel better?”

He nodded slowly, a lock of dark hair falling into his eyes. “I like the way you say my name,” he told me. I gently pushed the hair from his face to behind his ear, and he swallowed thickly. “Say it again. Please?”

“James,” I said softly. “Buchanan. Barnes.” I took a deep breath, and I quietly laughed, “Bucky Barnes. You are the greatest man I’ve ever met.”

Bucky put his hands on my waist and pulled me flush against my body, and he hugged me tightly. His mouth buried into my shoulder, and he held me for what felt like hours. He needed it. My tears finally fell, and I sniffled as I wrapped my arms around his muscled body in order to squeeze him tightly. “Are you crying?” Bucky whispered, his lips hitting my shoulder as he spoke.

“I just…” I began. “I love you, James.”

I didn’t know what to expect when I finally confessed to Bucky what I had tried to deny, but he stayed still. He barely had a reaction, unless you count a sigh as a reaction. Finally, just as I thought my anxiety would burn a hole through my stomach, his hands fell down my body, skating just above my hips and down to the backs of my thighs. With the strength of a thousand men, he pulled me up into him, wrapping my legs around his waist, and he pulled his face out of my shoulder to let me see his pink cheeks and radiant eyes. He said nothing as his lips pressed against mine, and I instantly kissed back. My Bucky, my soldier, my love, my James. The world felt right.

“I love you too,” Bucky whispered. “Y/N.”

“Did you really…” I started. “Do you call me ‘bug’ because… Because of ladybug?”

Bucky tilted his head as a soft smile came over his pink lips. “Did Steve tell you that?” He asked. I nodded, and he gave a little laugh that rumbled in his broad chest. He carried me to the bed and set me down carefully, and he laid down next to me. My head easily laid on his chest and his strong arm went around my body, holding me close to him. There wasn’t even an inch of space between us, but I loved it. “Yes and no. I got the idea from that, but it means something different. That girl back then, her name was Dot, so ladybug made sense… But you’re a different kind of bug. You’re a bug in the sense that you’re not supposed to be here.” He carefully tapped his forehead, and he closed his eyes as my finger replaced his. “You’re a bug in my code. I didn’t want to fall in love after everything I’ve done, but… Fuck, you managed to get in there.”

“Glad I did,” I whispered, placing a kiss on his forehead. “My James.”

“I’m glad you did too,” Bucky whispered. “My little bug.”

#bucky barnes #sebastian stan #marvel #avengers #mcu #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #sebastian stan angst #sebastian stan fluff

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mycrofts-gunbrella · 3 years

Text

Caring is the Greatest Advantage- Mycroft Holmes x Reader (Part 11)

A/N- Okay so this is just a short 2k fill in chapter! It’s kinda cute and kinda sad but it was too long to add to the last chapter, and it doesn’t fit in with the theme of the next chapter (though it sets it up quite nicely!). The next chapter is likely going to be a bit angsty but I promise it’ll have a rewarding ending to it! I hope to have it written and up sooner rather than later but, until then, enjoy this little piece.

Word Count- 2028

The ten minute drive from Baker Street to the Natural History Museum went by in a flash- most of it being spent by Mycroft giving you a mental tour of the building's various rooms and the 'most appropriate route to take'. Though it did also take a minute or two for you to convince him to not get everybody kicked out for a private visit, no matter how many people were there.. Admittedly, you hadn't been to the museum for 6 years or so now- after living so long in London it feels less of a luxury being only round the corner from it- but walking through the doors made you feel like a child again. Entry to the museum was free, but that didn't mean you didn't see Mycroft swiftly pushing a few notes into the donation bin at the front before guiding you forwards. Glancing up, you eyed the blue whale skeleton that hung from the ceiling and frowned. Mycroft caught your look and spoke up.

"Ah yes, Hope has been a relatively recent addition to the museum. She was found dead on an Irish beach back in 1891. It's a rather beautiful marvel to gaze upon, though, large as she is, she doesn't quite fill the hole in my heart that was left after my beloved Dippy was removed." Your eyes scanned the skeleton of the large mammal once more before looking back at Mycroft. "I did try to convince the board to keep the diplodocus somewhere but all attempts were futile. There's only so much force you can put into such a topic without exposing yourself as-"

"As a man who loves dinosaur bones more than he loves people?" Mycroft shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"The very thing." Lifting your arm, you rested your hand at the crook of Mycroft's elbow to encourage him to move on.

"When we get home and have dinner we can raise a toast in Dippy's honour.. but for now, my mind's been taken over by that huge statue of Darwin." And the pair of you headed off, your hand very much staying place at Mycroft's arm as you wandered through the rooms- Mycroft more than willing to reel off facts about every deceased animal of history and, more often than not, even impressing the workers with his spiel of facts. Though you were very much enjoying wandering aimlessly through the room of human evolution, you most definitely noticed the pull from the man beside you as he was eager to reach his beloved dino-pals. As you turned the corner into the slightly darkened dinosaur room, you tripped over your feet slightly as you felt Mycroft stop in his tracks, his eyes wide and taking everything in. He looked as happy as a boy at Christmas and, quite frankly, it was adorable. You nudged him slightly when he still didn't move. "You okay?"

"Sorry, it just seems as though, no matter how many times I come here, it always feels like the first." He had shaken his head as though to bring his thoughts back to focus before taking a few steps into the gallery and leading you over to the skeletal remains of a Baryonyx. "The name Baryonyx roughly translates to 'Heavy Claw' from the Ancient Greek's 'Barys' meaning heavy and 'onyx' being claw or talon." He spoke, his voice smooth and relaxed as his fingers brushed over the board that announced the name of the creature within the glass. "It was also an excellent swimmer which it would use to its advantage while hunting." You listened to his every word as he spoke, grinning as he excitedly told you how many teeth it had and it's preferred techniques for capturing food before he moved you onto the next one.

"Oh these beauties have always been my favourite." You almost whispered, taking in the sight of the huge triceratops skull. You barely noticed Mycroft's hand shift from his pocket until you felt the heat of his palm against the small of your back, fingers squeezing slightly by your hip as he spoke.

"Mine too. Sherlock used to say they were boring and that we might as well have gone to the zoo to look at rhinos. He ended up spending 5 months trying to prove that the rhinos were descendants from the triceratops and then avoided me for 3 weeks when he realised there was no connection at all."

"That sounds about right. Though I can't imagine Sherlock enjoying it here very much anyway.." Mycroft began to guide you to a small bench just off the side to sit down, still giving you the view of the beautiful dinosaur bones.

"He didn't. When we were much younger he would kick off until Mummy and Father would tell us it's time to go and I had to go with them.. Then as we got a little older and Sherlock properly found his legs, he would simply run from the doors round to the science museum. Of course mummy and father had to follow him as he was so young, but one time I decided to stay here. They didn't realise I hadn't followed them until it was time to go home 5 hours later." Mycroft spoke quietly.

"Found his legs? That's at, what, four? Five? How young were you?"

"I was 9 the first time, I think." Now, Mycroft, you don't just 'think'; you know. Your hand moved to rest above his own on his knee, brushing your thumb fondly over his knuckles. "But it isn't all bad. Some of my best days as a child were spent here, and a lot of the staff were very kind and would teach me extra facts that weren't displayed. There was one gentleman who even gave me his own copies of some books that they had here. I'd wander the whole museum in time but I always found myself back here on this bench just.. watching. This room felt more like home than my very house sometimes. It was the room where I could escape the real world and find peace. Eventually Mummy, Father and Sherlock stopped bothering with the visits because Sherlock found the science museum boring after he'd prove them wrong on something each time, but I'd still pop back in on occasion without them.. Coming to think about it, I've never actually brought anybody here with me at all." You squeezed at his fingers and settled back into the bench.

"Well I am incredibly glad that I found out about your little interest, and I feel even more honoured that you let me come here with you." You beamed. And it was the truth. Evidently, this little museum meant much more to Mycroft than you could have ever imagined and it warmed your heart to know that he trusted you to see him nerd out over some bones.

"Eventually I used this very building as the scaffolding to build my mind palace. My files on Sherlock, very appropriately, are nestled in the human biology room. But most people's information is either stored in the entrance, where Dippy remains over Hope, might I add, or in a few of the rooms I find less interesting.." You didn't have to ask to know he was referencing 'that room with all the bloody rocks'. "I love most of the galleries too much to taint them with information on people that aren't important. The likes of Gregory and Doctor Watson now reside in Hintze Hall as the years have passed." His eyes remained focused in front of him, unblinking, as though he was wandering the very halls at that moment.

"And where.. where are my files?" You had to ask, really. Since he was on the subject anyway. "If you've put them in the marine reptiles room when you know I'm terrified of the ocean I shall never forgive you." Mycroft's hand flipped beneath yours so the pads of your fingers brushed before he blinked and looked over to you, a small smile on his face.

"Here." Oh. Well that's.. something. You shifted to give him a quick kiss on his cheek, knowing he wasn't overly fond of PDA and tugged him to stand.

"And on that note, I think we should go and grab some lunch before you make me cry in front of the dinosaurs."

---

After lunch, you both spent a few more hours walking from room to room (and of course circling round to the dinosaur gallery again) before you decided to call it a day at 4pm. Before departing, you headed towards the toilets that happened to be beside the little gift shop and you had a browse while Mycroft was occupied. Grinning, you picked up a deep blue plush triceratops and stroked a finger across its back. It was just small enough that, after purchasing, you could hide the little guy in the loose fabric of the sweatshirt you wore, acting innocent as you waited back outside near the wall. After going to the bathroom yourself, the pair of you headed outside where a car was waiting for you. Sliding in the back seat, you couldn't contain your little gift anymore.

"Surprise!" You laughed, producing the small toy from under your clothes and into the hands of the man beside you. He studied it briefly before beginning to laugh himself as he reached into his inner pocket and handed you the matching dinosaur, though purple in colour. "God, we're such children aren't we?" You noted as you swapped plushie companions, each of you brushing a finger on its nose as though it were a small pet. "I daren't think what your colleagues would say if they knew you were now the proud owner of a baby triceratops teddy that's.." You glanced at the tag. "..Suitable for children aged 12 months plus!"

"Probably nothing as bad as if they realised said triceratops was going to take proud placement on my desk at home." He beamed. "Thank you, this really does mean a great deal to me." You knew he wasn't just talking about the toy that rolled around his long fingers and you shifted to rest your head lightly on his shoulder.

"We can come back any time. I, for one, know I'll never get bored of looking through the galleries.. Or I'll never get bored of watching you light up as we walk through said galleries. Either or works, really." He hummed in response, his emotions slightly overwhelmed from the day and its revelations into his past. "Plus there were about 10 other little dinos in the shop and I've always been one to want a full collection.. so, if we pace ourselves, that's at least 10 more trips."

"13.. Although that could be tripled if we take the colour variations into account."

"Oh, of course! Can't half-arse a collection or it's just pointless."

"I concur."

"That's settled then. Almost 40 more trips to finish off our collection.. And thennnn we can move onto the figurines." Mycroft let out a laugh beside you and tilted to rest his head atop yours for the remainder of the journey home.

---

The evening between you was shared over a meal (where, as promised, a small toast was made to the memory of Sir Dippy) before Mycroft sat to finish the papers for Greg. Eventually you collapsed into bed at a relatively reasonable time, groaning at the throbbing in your legs from the day's adventure before finally slipping into rest.

---

The next day passed relatively quickly. The morning was spent visiting Greg in his office to drop off the papers before the pair of you took a small stroll through the streets of London. Eventually, Mycroft and yourself even got a text message from Sherlock giving a (albeit half-arsed) apology for his behaviour the day before and the rest of the day was spent in bliss. That was until exactly 17 minutes after you got back home when Mycroft's mobile began to ring. He swallowed deeply, showing you the caller ID of the person he had been dreading to speak to post-Eurus and answering.

"Ah, yes.. Hello, Mummy."

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benjaminmoorepaint · 3 years

Text

red: the color of...grantaire?

Figured I might do another meta post like the one I did for Marius to address the myths and misconceptions surrounding certain characters, so it's Grantaire's turn!

I'm sure we all know Grantaire quite well...a sensitive starving artist, with his Apollo as his muse, and a cynic who pragmatically points out the flaws in Enjolras's idealism, which they quarrel over.

Let's unpack that!

Grantaire is most likely middle class if not wealthy, he is certainly not poor. We don't know what he's studying (if he's studying at all) but he is nevertheless a quintessentially Parisian bourgeoise "student", much like Bahorel. "A rover, a gambler, a libertine..." As the foil of "severe in his enjoyments" Enjolras, Grantaire is a pleasure-seeker, indulging in the excesses that Enjolras disdains.

Again, though we don't know what Grantaire is studying (and I suspect he's just Bahorel-ing it) he's clearly an educated man, judging by the references he throws into his speeches, and he mentions that he once was a student of Gros.

So is he really an artist? He might have been an apprentice at some point, but it's clear he was not particularly enthused by it. After all, discipline is something that Grantaire…lacks. And because it's Grantaire, you can't completely discount the idea that he made it up just for a pun (though I do find that unlikely.) But it's a triple (quadruple?) play--it's important not to take this quote too far out of context because he's actually saying several things here.

It is a shame that I am ignorant, otherwise I would quote to you a mass of things; but I know nothing. For instance, I have always been witty; when I was a pupil of Gros, instead of daubing wretched little pictures, I passed my time in pilfering apples; rapin is the masculine of rapine. So much for myself; as for the rest of you, you are worth no more than I am. I scoff at your perfections, excellencies, and qualities. Every good quality tends towards a defect [...] there are just as many vices in virtue as there are holes in Diogenes’ cloak.

Gros was a well-known neoclassical painter of the time, and I believe Hugo's inclusion of him here is a jab at the neoclassicists, as Grantaire doesn't seem to care for him.

There's a pun! "Rapin"--term for a painter's assistant--is the masculine of "rapine"--to steal.

So he likely means he stole the apples intended to be painted for a still life, which fits his careless attitude... but he's ironically putting himself down for it too, and at the same time

putting his companions down, saying they're no better than him even if they do have more "good" qualities because each good quality has a corresponding downside, so what's the point, really?

You can see that even in this small sample of his speech that Grantaire often has layers upon layers of meaning in what he says. He's a smart guy! But that means you can't always take what he says at face value, as Hugo says, he's constantly "reasoning and contradicting" himself. So let me invite you further down into what I think his real meaning is here (though now firmly into the depths of my own conjecture, so others may have different interpretations.)

I would speculate that "the rest of you" who he professes to mock refers mostly to a specific person, you can probably guess who. After all, Enjolras is surely the paragon of virtue among them, and you could certainly argue that his good qualities edge on being flaws. I think Grantaire is right about that, and it's a sort of theme we see pop up again and again--the Bishop's generosity does hurt the women he lives with, Valjean's self-sacrifice hurts Cosette, and Javert is someone who's tipped all the way over to his virtues being vices.

But like, man, come on. Seriously. "I scoff at your perfections, excellencies, and qualities." Dude. We all know that you're obsessed with this man.

And you might notice that this is just a whole lot of Grantaire talking and talking over people, never letting anyone else get a word in. It's not a debate, Grantaire never actually debates anyone, let alone Enjolras. The idea of Grantaire debating Enjolras and making him see the flaws in his idealistic revolution is wholly a fandom invention.

The closest we get, really, is Grantaire trying to convince Enjolras to send him to the Barriere du Maine...and Grantaire doesn't come out of that looking so good.

“Do you know anything of those comrades who meet at Richefeu’s?”

“Not much. We only address each other as tu.”

“What will you say to them?”

“I will speak to them of Robespierre, pardi! Of Danton. Of principles.”

“You?”

“I. But I don’t receive justice. When I set about it, I am terrible. I have read Prudhomme, I know the Social Contract, I know my constitution of the year Two by heart. ‘The liberty of one citizen ends where the liberty of another citizen begins.’ Do you take me for a brute? I have an old bank-bill of the Republic in my drawer. The Rights of Man, the sovereignty of the people, sapristi! I am even a bit of a Hébertist. I can talk the most superb twaddle for six hours by the clock, watch in hand.”

I won't bother going too in-depth here since you're probably familiar with all this--Grantaire talks a big game and then fails to follow through. And we see one of two red waistcoats mentioned, neither of which are worn by Enjolras.

Grantaire lived in furnished lodgings very near the Café Musain. He went out, and five minutes later he returned. He had gone home to put on a Robespierre waistcoat.

“Red,” said he as he entered, and he looked intently at Enjolras. Then, with the palm of his energetic hand, he laid the two scarlet points of the waistcoat across his breast.

So yeah, it's actually Grantaire who wears red, at least canonically! I know their popular red/green color scheme comes from the musical, but it might be fun to reverse it sometimes...I think Enjolras would look great in a nice emerald green, and he'd be more likely to wear that, actually.

Why? A red waistcoat like would be a very obvious, in-your-face political statement--perfect for Bahorel, the other red waistcoat wearer, but Enjolras is actually a lot more reserved and less reckless than fandom sometimes makes him out to be. Wearing something that blatant isn't really his style.

The real question is, why does Grantaire, of all people, own one? Why has he read Prudhomme and the Social Contract and the Rights of Man?

Grantaire is not a super sympathetic character. He's a man of means, talent, intelligence...and he wastes those gifts and privileges on doing nothing, he has no aims in life, he does not aspire to do better or make the world better. He may be Enjolras's foil but I would also contrast him with Feuilly, who has spent his life dedicated to improving himself and the world despite the challenges he's faced. He's obnoxious to women, denigrates his friends for their beliefs, and is generally useless. He's given the opportunity to change and he squanders it. He's not so much cynical (because that's a belief) as he is indifferent, which is arguably worse. His indifference can certainly be read as symbolic within the group, their belief versus the apathy of the world.

But, layers upon layers...Grantaire does have a good heart hiding underneath all that. What I've been getting at all along here is that he does care; he may say he doesn't, he may even believe he doesn't, but he does, clearly, care. He says he hates mankind; he loves people. He says he scoffs at his companions; he admires them. He declares himself indifferent, yet he can't help but talk about the sufferings of the world.

Which isn't to say that simply caring absolves him of anything. Up to this point, he's still just been a useless layabout. What does absolve him (narratively speaking) is the first time, possibly the first time in his life, that he chooses to act. He chooses to take a stand. And this transfigures him, as Hugo says.

Grantaire had risen. The immense gleam of the whole combat which he had missed, and in which he had had no part, appeared in the brilliant glance of the transfigured drunken man.

At the last moment, he chooses to believe, and Enjolras finally accepts him.

One last thing: Grantaire never calls Enjolras "Apollo". Furthermore, he's actually the only one who couldn't have called him "Apollo". The only line where this nickname is mentioned is as follows:

It was of him, possibly, that a witness spoke afterwards, before the council of war: “There was an insurgent whom I heard called Apollo.”

Who could have called him that? Not Grantaire, he was fast asleep during the whole thing. So I choose to believe it was Prouvaire…he would.

#grantaire #meta

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binniesthighs · 3 years

Text

call me babydoll | reader x chan

soooo shhhh this actually a part one shhhh but i’m just trying out writing out different things and getting out some of my ideas outta my head that i’m really excited about, this one being one of them!! for now...just pretend that this is just a regular ol’ drabble hehehehe. this part is the set-up chapter (shhh i mean drabble)

One

Pairing: self insert, female reader x bang chan

Genre: fluff, smut, and angst

Tags: (overall) bodyguard au, moderndayprince!chan, bodyguard!reader, secret agent au, royal au, action and peril, plot driven, running out of time, slow-ish burn, growing feelings, softswitch!chan, hardswitch!reader, some skz side characters, jeongin third wheel and comedic relief LOL, travelling, chan being expensive and having a lil bit of a superiority complex, flirtyyyy chan, bits of mystery, explicit language, mentions of food and alcohol, idk think like 007 vibes hehe

CWs: guns and gun violence, a shooting in a ballroom, mentions of blood

Word count: 4.6k

Parts

ONE | TWO

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here early.”

“Well, expect the unexpected.”

“Don’t turn the motto back at me. I’m sick of hearing it so many damn times.”

“What? You and I both know that it’s true. You’re here early too, so, technically you don’t get to say anything.”

Jeongin straightened his bow tie, then patted down the sides of his perfectly ironed tux with not a crinkle to be found. Knowing him, it was a miracle that he hadn’t messed it up in some form yet. He promptly took out his pocket square to clean off his glasses.

“You’re looking nice. Seems like they don’t mind spending money now on you these days.” He blew off the flecks of dust on his lenses.

“They know that they get their return on their investment. And thank you.”

You smoothed down the sides of your dusty pink dress that nearly went all the way down to your ankles. Had you any other choice, it would’ve been something different, but, dresses were really good at hiding your thigh holster compared to the slacks you usually favored. You didn’t mind the times that you would have to put on a pretty dress, it somewhat reminded you that there was normal life outside of your job. Not to mention, they had started sending you jewelry as well. You always had liked the look of a diamond necklace.

“You do your research for tonight?”

Jeongin nodded, then took from his pocket his phone to read over the details.

“I’ve done a background check on everyone attending, we shouldn’t have any issues. It’s already a low risk event anyway. Charity is never something to get too worked up over, but, you never know with the detail that some of these people come with...who they might be tied to...”

“--The only people we can trust is ourselves.” You nodded with arms crossed.

“Expect the unexpected, I know.” He slid his phone back into his inside suit pocket to adjust his cufflinks.

“--Nervous?” You took note of his fidgeting actions.

“Nervous? No. I’ve been through this before. You know that.”

You flicked your partner right on his forehead strung with his white hair. You had really wished that he had picked a less conspicuous color, but he had strings to pull that you didn’t.

Jeongin cleared his throat, “You do your once over?”

“Do you even need to ask? I did it hours ago and when we arrived. You know that I’ve done this before too.”

“I know. I know.”

Jeongin looked out at the vast circular atrium that made up the center of the hotel. Several stories down under the glass rooftop, you could hear the faint sprinkling of the intricate fountain which smelled of copper. A bit further down, you could see the tips of the tree branches from the indoor landscaping. Across the way, a door slammed with residents tucking in their ties. The two men you had recognized from the roster: a simple thing which made you feel at ease. Your young partner must’ve started to have an effect on you. A sense of unease seemed to quell in your neck. You always listened to your hunches.

“W-what do you think he thinks of us?” Jeongin broke the silence.

“Well,” From inside the room you had waited outside, you could hear his distant murmuring, so you lowered your tone. “I think that he has yet to trust us. It’s only been a few weeks. He doesn’t seem like the kind to give himself up easy. That, and I’m sure his resentment of his father must have some influence.”

“You think he hates us?”

“I think he hates his father for hiring us. I mean, wouldn’t you? His old security detail, he had them for years.”

“I guess so. But, we’re not like his old detail.”

“No. We’re not. I don’t think he gets that yet. I think he sees us as one more way his father has a hold on him.”

“It’s not like he can do much else about it when his dad’s a kin--”

“--No, no, thank you, really, it’s lovely. Some of your best work. Thank you.”

Chan swung open the door to his room, stopping Jeongin right in his sentence.

“Ah. You’re here already. That’s...punctual.”

As dazzling and showy as ever, Chan looking nothing short of a magazine model. For a prince, he had certain...appearances that he had to maintain. Today, it was a velvety and maroon suit jacket with a white button up. On the collar, two matching brooches had been perfectly placed, and they were silver like moonlight in the shape of English ivy and adorned with diamonds. On his lapel, he wore the royal insignia of the lion and the wolf. Behind him, you could see his slew of stylists cleaning up their makeup kits and obscene assortment of designer dress shoes for him to pick from. You had thought before that he even smelled like royalty: stuffy white roses with a hint of priceless cognac.

Jeongin bowed his head respectfully. “Everything has been prepared for tonight. The rest of your guards are surrounding the building, and I’ll be corresponding with them as needed, your Highness.” He tapped at his earpiece.

Chan drew his attention over to you, giving you a rather lusty glare. Over the past couple weeks, you had gotten used to it. He was a prince to every extent of the word. If there was anything that he had wanted, he simply had to ask. It drove him insane that all he could do was merely look at you. You had wondered if he harbored anything else for you besides the way that he would devour the curves of your shoulders and hips.

“Fox. Bee. You look nice tonight. I like seeing you dressed up. Makes me feel less out of place.”

You couldn’t help but let out a little sound of discontentment over his rather affectionate nickname for you. You and your partner had been introduced to him as F and B. Quickly he had figured out Jeongin’s codename as Fox, considering that he had done a poor job picking out one that wasn’t related to him at all. Anyone could tell that boy was fox-like, and he also just wasn’t that creative when it came to picking out a name for himself. B, or Bee as he had decided, was your name; as in bumblebee. After learning about Fox, he figured that there was an animal theme going, so Bee seemed to fit best in his oponion.

You tested his glare with your best, “Thank you, your Highness.”

Jeongin gulped. “Your assistant should be waiting downstairs with your itinerary. She told me that you should meet her first off.”

“You work too hard F. Have some fun tonight, hm? But don’t...drink too much. You’re responsible for my life remember?” Chan clapped his bodyguard on the back.

Your partner nervously laughed and adjusted his glasses once more: his preferred tic.

“And Bee?” Chan rose a brow to lean into close and whisper. “Stay close, alright?”

“Of course, your Highness.”

Chan let out a little scoff after getting one more proper look at your frame. “Damn. You really are stunning. Just a little too dangerous for me though.”

You rolled your eyes, dishing him outa, “Whatever you say, your Highness.”

Jeongin threw you and annoyed glare before tracing after Chan as he sauntered down the hall to the glass elevator.

“Bee? You coming? Or do you have something better to do?” Chan’s voice called down the hall with an echo and a little teasing gesture of his hand.

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

It had been seven years since you had chosen this line of work, and each time that you had to go to one of these things, you hated them more and more. Not because they were hard to control--they were easy--but you just hated how many superficial and self-absorbed people that they could fit into one room.

The air was filled with the scent of champagne bubbles and too much Chanel No. 5. From corner to corner of the room, and even next to the ice sculpture of the lion and the wolf crest, silk, satin; velvet and the best cotton could be found. Long gloves covered the arms of ladies with wrinkling skin, and tweed vests held in the guts of men who indulged in their food just as much as their mistresses. All this effort just to appear as if they had given one care about the philanthropic efforts of the royalty.

Several neatly dressed waiters passed you with golden platters of hors d'oeuvres made of ingredients so expensive, they would’ve cost the same amount as the generous donations made by the attendees. If you could’ve, you would’ve scooped up as many of them as you could, just to eat all of their copious amounts of money yourself, but, there was somewhere a rule that you had to keep your hand to yourself when you were on duty. The best that you had to look forward too was take-out to eat at 3 in the morning with Jeongin later.

Buzzing chatter filled your earpiece while each of the additional guards gave their hourly report.

“Damn. It’s fucking colder out here than I thought. It’s fucking summer.” One of them joked to the tune of the other guards laughter.

“Stay focused.” Jeongin scolded over the line. “Don’t leave your posts until your shifts change.”

While he was a timid man, Jeongin was not one to mess around. Son of the director, he knew that he had big shoes to fill. After pleading for years for her to admit him into the academy, she had agreed. Everyone knew the reason why she didn’t want him in this line of work. Too many dead. Too many missing. In some ways, he was also yours to look after.

You trailed after Chan who was busy talking to his assistant and his publicist. While he nodded at their words, you knew that he must’ve been barely listening. Chan never really was one for formality, but much rather enjoyed simplicity and pleasure. Jeongin and you had somewhat of a bet going: out of all the guests, you had liked to bet which one he would take with him to his bedroom. Since you had all the profiles of the guests, you liked to bet a little money on which one it would be.

Jeongin had guessed it to be the heiress and daughter of a tycoon who had made a multi-million won donation in the name of his company. It was ironic; his very company was a big-scale pollutor who liked to make nice with the crown. She was conventionally very pretty: long legs, a thin frame, she was educated and looked as if she could hold somewhat of a conversation...not like that mattered to him.

You had predicted it to be the foreign CEO who had just started business dealings with the crown. While she might’ve looked a bit stuck-up and prim, she was intimidating, and a challenge. Chan loved challenges. Chan also had a pension for pretty boys with a bit too much money on their hands--usually inherited--and with nothing much else to do other than dote on him. There were plenty of those attending the gala tonight.

Chan snaked through the crowd, bowing his head at all of the Good evening, your Highnesses and the It’s a pleasure to meet you, your Highnesses. Every few moments or so he would take a bite from a golden plate and then pop it into his mouth. The whole night long, he would hold his glass with him and it would get refilled for him without him even needing to ask. You sometimes liked to pretend that in some places, they must’ve assigned someone to watch him from afar to make sure that he would never need anything before it was given to him. It wouldn’t have surprised you.

“Having fun Bee?” Chan languidly rolled his head back, swirling his glass.

“As much fun as you are.” You quipped.

“Anything that I should be concerned about?”

“Nothing of concern.” You stated matter-of-factly. Had you matched his flirting tone, you knew that you wouldn’t hear the end of it for the rest of the night. “Fox. Report?”

“Nothing that I can see. No one has been tagging you.” Jeongin had staked himself up on the upper balcony of the banquet hall room, and had been watching for as long as you had been following after the prince. “You sensing anything strange?” His voice tickled in your in-ear.

“Just a bunch of the normal crowd.” You kept your tone down low. “He’s rubbing noses with the usual. You’ve seen too?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”

You followed Chan to his seat nearest the front of the room which had been fashioned into a stage with a clear glass podium in the center. Right in front there was one more crest decorating it. Chan had ensured it to be so: he had wanted everyone to know that this was all for his charity.

“It seems like our bets aren’t working out. He hasn’t talked to either of the...suspects.” Your partner changed his choice of words knowing that the other guards were listening.

From the opposite side of the room both the heiress and the CEO stood with thin glasses of wine in their lithe hands. Chan had in fact walked right past them, and didn’t even notice.

“Tonight is going to be a long night.” Jeongin sighed over the line.

You politely pushed past attendees with a raised hand and a sweet smile. You had found that when you smiled, you had appeared less intimidating.

“Oh wait...what’s this?”

“What?” You whipped your head around after Jeongin’s interjection. “What? Do you see something? What’s the call?”

“Relax! It just looks like he’s approaching someone he wants to talk to. I think both of us are about to be proven wrong.”

“Ah, shit.” You sighed. “Don’t put me on edge like that.”

“I’m only trying to entertain myself.”

“Name. Who is it? You’ve got the roster.”

You partner was quiet for a minute, and you watched from a distance as Chan approached the man leaned over a martini seated at one of the perfectly decorated tables.

“Uh, I think that he’s Lee Minho. Some kind of royalty from somewhere else. Pretty low ranking from the looks of it. I think that he made a donation himself...and it’s...damn, larger than you would expect.”

“Should we be concerned?”

“No. Seems harmless.”

“Thank you for coming,” You made out the words that Chan had mouthed. He drew a chair next to the unknown man.

From what you could tell, Lee Minho was handsome to the full extent of the word: nearly all of his physical features were exemplary and his suit appeared to have been fitted to perfect for him; likely one of a kind. He too wore an insignia on his lapel, but it was one that you hadn’t recognized before. He had immaculately styled hair that had some kind of rebellious and boyish charm to it. The man had a kind of mystery about him too: you had been able to pride yourself in being able to read people, and it had saved your life on more than one occasion. But with him, there was something that you couldn’t place.

“Do they know eachother?” You asked Jeongin.

“Not that I know of. School friend maybe? Seems like all the royals send their kids to the same schools.”

“Hm. That would make sense.”

“Enjoying yourself?” Chan said.

Lee Minho nodded, and rose his glass to clink it with the prince’s.

“Do we think that he’s our...suspect?”

The stranger dipped his head into his hand as he listened to Chan speak. A flirty gesture that you had seen a hundred times or more. Still, the way that he inspected Chan, it wasn’t adoring. Or at least, you didn’t think that it was.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“What the hell are you yapping about?” One of the other guards snapped over the line.

“Um, classified stuff.” Jeongin quickly explained. “Above your paygrade. Don’t worry about it.”

“Fox. Watch out for him tonight.” You snuck over to a corner of the room where you could watch the two of them more discreetly.

“Affirmative....” Your partner paused. “Babydoll.”

“Pffff--Babydoll??” The same guard stifled his laughter. “You call her Babydoll, Fox? Damn, you all must be closer than I thought. Didn’t know that I was missing out on some of the action--”

“--Ever heard of a codename, Three?”

“Babydoll’s her codename.”

A grin crept over your lips. “Expect the unexpected.”

You had almost gotten distracted enough to miss how Lee Minho had leaned over to whisper something into the prince’s ear. After he had done so, Chan laughed out a little, then reached his arm around the other man’s chair comfortably.

“They’re...cozy.” You updated your partner.

“I’m trying to cross-check where he might know him from.”

Chan’s assistant and publicist finally slipped away with giddy little smiles. In many ways, you were jealous of them. They could leave whenever the wanted, eat what they wanted...

Jeongin scoffed. “Well, turns out...nothing. I can’t find anything.”

“Nothing?”

“Negative. I’m not seeing any crossover.”

“So they really are strangers?”

Your partner sighed. “Looks like neither of us are cashing ou--I mean--finding the suspect.”

Under your breath, you wondered aloud, “Who are you...Lee Minho?”

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

The night drew on longer with the rest of the formalities: the formal dinner, followed by several speeches from important people while dessert was being served. It all led up to the final act: His Royal Highness, Prince Chan’s speech. On several neat notecards marked with the crest, he held them in front of him while he ate his last bits of Mont Blanc Chocolate Pavlova. Even the name of the sweet itself sounded pretentious. Granted, it smelled delicious--as many expensive things did.

You stifled a yawn from your little set up on the edge of the room. At least you should’ve been able to sit, but it turns out that sitting is also against the rules in this line of work. A couple other security and bodyguards had joined you at the edge: some of their heads nodded with sleep, and the others looked as if they had taken one too many energy shots. Luckily, your stamina had been well crafted.

A fancily dressed MC made his way up to the podium and the room filled with applause after the last speaker had said all of their correct mandatory words.

“It is my honor to introduce to the stage, our wonderful head benefactor of this organization, His Royal Highness, Prince Chan of the Crown.

Applause tenfold of before erupted through the whole room and it wasn’t even an afterthought for the every attendee to stand up from their seats in an ovation. It was a force of habit for you, but you found yourself clapping as well.

Chan rose with grace, and re-buttoned his jacket with finesse. A blinding spotlight found him and it made the diamonds adorning his beck wink brilliantly. Even more blinding was his pearl white, and perfectly trained smile accompanied by his wave.

Thank you. Thank you. He mouthed.

“It’s like he’s a frickin’ movie star.” Jeongin groaned.

“Might as well be with the way that they treat him. You know deep down they’re all just terrified.”

Chan made his way up to the stage in all of his regality, and the applause didn’t stop until he cleared his throat. A collective groaning of a couple hundred chairs squeaked when everyone sat back down.

“Thank you everyone, really. I wanted to thank you all for your generous support in your donations to this organization, as well as your association with the crown. I’m sure that all the beneficiaries of your donations are beyond thankful compared to me. Without you, this would not be possible.” Chan spoke with grandiose gestures, as usual, but this time, he had found you on the side of the room. “Listen, aside from being a prince, I’m also just a person. A person who knows what it means to struggle, to--”

“--I can’t listen to this anymore.” You whispered into the quiet room, and to your partner.

“Just a few more hours.” He droned. “I almost wish that something would happen so that we don’t have to sit though much else of this.”

“Be careful what you wish for.”

In the corner of your eye, Lee Minho shifted in his seat, but still kept his undivided attention to the stage. You figured he must’ve been just like the rest of them: enamored by the flashiness of the crown--and Chan. He had a way of putting a spell on people: it was the kind of spell that a prince of deception had crafted after years of being kept under lock and key.

“--Anyway, what I’m trying to say, royal or fanciful we all might be, in the simplest way, we’re all just people, therefore this is what connects us all. Thank you.”

Chan was gifted yet another standing ovation that was somehow even more thunderous than before.

“Yeah right.” You scoffed. “People born into money. There’s a difference.”

Chan gave his last waves, then a clamor echoed from the back of the room. At first, it had just sounded like the same raucous laughter you had heard all night, but then it shifted to something different. The sound of laugher turned into shouting, then screams: high pitched and piercing. You had seconds to respond, head whipping around the room to catch sight of the confused prince. In your in-ears, the the sound of gunshots echoed with rapid-fire speed. Machine guns. Shouting commands barked in your ear, and muddled with Jeongin’s string of demands and questions.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE? REPORT! REPORT!”

Your heart instantly started beating into hyperdrive, and your legs sprinted as fast has physically possible

“THEY’VE GOT GUNS!” A shrill and cracked voice of an older woman wailed from the back of the room.

Immediately after she had said so, shots fired into the darkened room with sparks, and the metallic sound of bullets hitting the marbled ground followed.

Chan looked around in his panic for you, petrified on the stage. You slung your gun out from your thigh holster and latched onto him with all of your might.

“TH-THEY JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE IN THESE VANS. THEY’RE ARMOURED, WE CAN’T--”

“Get the fuck down there and secure the exists!” Jeongin growled into his mic. “B--is the prince secure??”

“Secure!” You yelled back. Using your body as a barrier, you led the cowering prince through the mass hysteria of the crowd.

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Shit.” Chan shook under your iron grip.

More shots fired into the room and bodies parted like the sea and fell over each other.

From the balcony, you had caught Jeongin aiming his own gun at the chaos below.

“I’ll cover you! Fuck! There’s so many of them! Get him to the car out back--Three, Six, meet B out there! Three!? Six!? Report!”

“Three and Six are down F!” One of the guards panted. “I can provide cover out back!!”

“Who’s speaking??” Jeongin bellowed, then aimed from above at one of the intruders. Your only focus was on weaving you and Chan out of there, but you had seen one of them in a blur. Each of the men with guns wore dark grey suits with black ties and leather gloves. Each of them wore their own crest: and it was all red.

“Bee?? Bee???” Chan shouted out for you, and jumped every time the crack of a shot echoed in the ballroom.

“I’ve got you, your Highness. We’ll be out soon. Keep your head down and listen to me.” Your arm held to him tightly, and you soon found the exit nearest. There was no telling if there would be more of them outside, but you loaded your gun quickly just in case, and pointed it out.

“Jeongin, get your ass down here!”

“Jeongin? Who the fuck is that??” Chan ducked down to hide himself behind your frame.

His name had slipped on your tongue, but that hardly mattered.

“I’ll be down in a second!!!”

“Don’t fucking waste time up there when I need you down here!!”

“Two! Two Reporting!!” A man suddenly yelled in your in-ear. “I’ve made it out back and I’ve secured the exit. The car is safe!!”

“FOX! Now!”

Your partner heaved, “I’m coming, I’m coming!!”

You kicked open the exit door, gun’s still blazing, however one one else could be found on the other side.

“Thank God,” You sighed.

“Oh shit, I’m gonna be sick.” Chan had turned paler than white, then stumbled in your arms.

“Hey, HEY!” You held him upright. “It’s gonna be alright. I’ve got you. You’re safe. You need to trust me. Your life is in my hands and I’m not giving it up easy, got it?”

“O-okay.” He stammered, then attempted to straighten himself.

“The Prince is outside, repeat, The Prince is outside. Two, are you in position?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Other than the fact that you had just escaped absolute peril, the evening was unbearably pleasant. Crickets chirped in the summer evening, and the humidity of the night smelled gorgeously of the lake that was near-by as well as the vast array of flowers that had been purposefully landscaped around the hotel. Chan’s uneven steps scraped at the gravel walkway.

Since you had canvassed the whole building well, you had known exactly where the getaway car was, but you were still careful.

“Bee. Bee!” Chan blabbered. “Have-have I told you yet that I-I’m in love with you?”

“No, you haven’t Your Highness.”

“I fucking am. If I die tonight, I want you to know that I am ridiculously in love with you, and fuck, I wanna--”

“--I’m sorry, Your Highness, respectfully, but now is not the time for this and you are not dying on my watch.”

Somewhere off in the distance, frogs croaked, and the splashing of fish in the lake plopped at the surface waters. You turned a corner to finally see Two waiting his his gun raised. He was a bit of a shorter and scrawnier man, but something about him told you that where he lacked in strength, he must’ve made up for in agility.

“I’m out! I’m out!” Your partner gasped, and over the in-ear you could hear his running footsteps. “I’m almost there! I’ll be there in a second!”

“Your Highness,” Two bowed and opened the car door. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. You can call me Two or J. Either you prefer.”

Jeongin came bounding around the corner with heaving breaths and his clothes askew. His glasses which just barely held onto his face had a crack on them and his knuckles were covered in blood.

“Let’s go.” The younger man prompted.

“In the car you go, Your Highness.” You motioned for him to do so.

Chan whimpered like a toddler.

You shoved his body in, “Stop that. Get in the car.”

“I’m in love with you Bee!” He yelled out, “I’M FUCKING IN LOVE WITH YOU BEE!”

Jeongin slammed the door in his face with a bit of a chuckle.

“He’s delirious.”

“Mm.” your partner smiled. “Sure.”

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writertitan · 3 years

Text

Wildflowers

pairing: levi x f!reader

word count: 2347

themes: reader pov + levi pov, day of wedding shenanigans, literally nothing but fluff, levi being a sentimental puddle of goo and not admitting it

requested by anon

As the sunlight tickles your face and wakes you, one hand reaches out like it normally does to find Levi. When you find emptiness, you frown for a moment, opening one eye to confirm he’s really not on his side of the bed like usual. It’s not until you see the small piece of paper on his pillow that it fully registers in your brain why he’s not there, and your heart swells suddenly as you sit up, a grin stretching across your face.

You carefully pick up the piece of paper and look down at it, Levi’s neat handwriting scrawled in one simple sentence that sends your heart racing.

See you at the altar. Don’t be late.

Your engagement ring glints in the morning sun as you place the little note on your nightstand and get up to prepare for the most important day of your life.

Why couldn’t he get it right?

Levi huffs in frustration as he adjusts his tie for what feels like the hundredth time. He’s watching his reflection in the mirror, fingers fumbling with the fabric until he stills his movements at the sight of Erwin coming up behind him.

“You look fine,” his friend chuckles, raising a thick brow. It’s silent for a moment, and then he speaks to Levi again. “Nervous?”

“No,” Levi says, a little too quickly.

He is nervous.

Not because he’s having second thoughts, or because he’s unsure. In fact, he’s never felt so sure of a decision in his life, and that’s saying something for someone who already lives with no regrets.

He’s nervous because he wants today to be perfect. Not just for his sake, but for you, too.

This isn’t just the happiest day of his life, it’s the happiest day of yours, too. And Levi will be damned if he doesn’t make sure he doesn’t give that to you.

There can’t be a hair out of place, there can’t be one mistake. But it’s already starting. He can’t get his tie right. It looks just a little crooked each time he adjusts it.

Erwin chuckles again and moves to help Levi, adjusting his tie just so until he sees Levi glance in the mirror and visibly relax. He barely did anything, but he knows Levi’s just in his head.

“You look great,” he assures Levi, a large hand on the smaller man’s shoulder. “The picture perfect groom, actually.”

Levi rolls his eyes and hopes that his heart stops fluttering soon.

Once Erwin’s gone to check on a few things, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the picture he swiped before leaving your shared home. It’s a photo of the two of you, your right cheek squished against his left one to get as close as possible for the photo that you took yourself. Unnecessary, really, but you did it to be cute. There’s a huge smile on your face and you’ve never looked so happy. Levi even has a hint of a smile quirking up his lips, but his real smile is in his eyes, bright and warm and looking straight into the camera.

He stares at it for the longest time. It helps calm his nerves. He wants to see you that happy today, if not happier.

When he puts the photo back in his pocket, he glances at his reflection in the mirror and groans in irritation.

His tie’s fucked up again.

Your mom and your best friend are running around you, finishing up the last few tasks before you have to get going. You’re pulling and tugging gently at your hair while you stare at yourself in the mirror, frowning to yourself.

“What is it?” your best friend asks, coming up behind you.

You glance at her through the mirror and sigh, then look back at yourself.

“Do I look okay? Do you think my hair will stay in place?”

Your friend laughs, and gives you a warm, knowing smile.

“Nervous?”

“No,” you say, a little too quickly.

You are nervous.

With another sigh, you turn to face her instead of gazing at her through the mirror, letting a shy smile peak out.

“Okay, you got me,” you admit. “I just want everything about today to be perfect. Me included.”

“Let me ask you this. If Levi came down wearing a burlap sack, would it bother you?”

In all honesty, it wouldn’t. So you say so.

“No. I just wanna marry him,” you whisper.

“Exactly. And from what I gather, I don’t think Levi cares if you come walking down the aisle in a burlap sack with twigs in your hair. No matter what, it’ll be perfect, because it’s your wedding day,” your best friend reminds you.

“Thanks,” you sigh, but this time it’s a pleased and relaxed sigh.

She’s right. Today is already perfect, because today is your wedding day. And you’re marrying the love of your life.

Your mother pops her head in, her eyes lit up with excitement.

“Time to go!”

Neither you or Levi wanted anything extravagant. Everything about your relationship was about enjoying the simple things in life and your engagement and wedding was no exception.

Since the very first time you’d seriously begun discussing marriage, you’d dreamed of your wedding with Levi. Now, seeing it come to fruition exactly how you’d hoped, it took your breath away.

The garden you were getting married in was blooming with flowers and vines and plants of all sorts, and the warm spring sun shone down on the little wooden altar on the other side of the garden, where you could make out Erwin’s hulking form and a familiar slender form before being whisked away to gather a few last things, including your bouquet.

When Hange shoves a bouquet into your hands, they give you a knowing grin and a little wink.

“Don’t tell him I told you, but Levi picked those out himself,” they say, and your heart skips a beat as you stare down at the little bundle of flowers.

You immediately know that most of them aren’t from the garden itself, but are a collection of small wildflowers in the surrounding area. Levi’s not exactly fond of flowers, but he once said he prefers wildflowers. You had agreed with him.

When Hange’s hand lifts to your hair, you look up at them again, puzzled. Hange shows you the little blue wildflower in their hand, smiling again.

“Levi also picked out your something blue,” they explain.

Your cheeks heat up as Hange nimbly secures the flower into your hair.

And then you’re being guided back towards the little ceremony spot you’d picked out weeks ago with Levi.

Instantly, your eyes meet the soft grey ones you fell in love with so long ago. It’s only been less than a day since you’d last been able to stare into that familiar gaze, but all day you’d craved the sight of him. As soon as Levi registers your face, his eyes soften the way they do when nobody else is around. It’s a look only reserved for you, and the fact that he feels safe and in love enough to show the small group of people how he looks at you in private, makes you nearly tear up.

Everything else fades away and, although you know that you’ll be right next to him just moments from now, it feels like forever that you’re walking towards him. You have to silently remind yourself to keep a slow pace.

But when Levi’s hand extends, reaching for you, you can’t help hurrying the last few steps so your hand can clasp in his and you can link your fingers together as you take your rightful place beside him.

You’re still looking into his eyes. You’ve barely registered that there’s someone speaking, trying to marry you two together.

The words are just aching to leave your mouth, though.

I do.

The ceremony is small and beautiful. It’s exactly the way Levi had wanted it, and he knows it’s exactly the way you wanted it, too. Just him, you, and the people closest to the two of you in the whole world.

It’s such a small ceremony that it immediately blends into the little reception you’ve planned with him.

Levi’s too busy kissing you to realize that there’s already a celebration taking place. The moment he’d been granted permission to kiss his bride (what an outdated speech), he seized the opportunity.

He’s kissing his wife. His wife. His wife.

He’s kissed you probably millions of times over the course of your relationship. There’s always magic in each kiss, but this one is powerful. Maybe the speech isn’t so outdated after all. Maybe there really is power in words. Because when Levi’s told to kiss his wife, there’s a shock of electricity that shoots from his head to his toes.

When he pulls you away from you, it’s half his choice, half everyone else’s choice, because suddenly the small crowd you’ve invited to witness your marriage is collectively around the two of you to share hugs and congratulations.

Levi pretends to be irritated, but his hand remains locked around yours and he squeezes it tenderly to let you know he’s happy, even though you know he’s happy. He shares a few soft smiles with his loved ones, but he never takes his eyes off you for more than two seconds.

Beautiful.

You’re absolutely beautiful.

You’re always beautiful, but today, you’ve never looked more beautiful. Levi eyes the blue wildflower tucked away into your hair, the sight of making his heart go crazy in his chest, and then he eyes the bouquet of wildflowers he’d collected for you after making Hange swear not to reveal his secret.

As everyone collectively starts moving towards the little cottage in the garden to have a small and quick reception dinner, Levi takes a moment to fall behind just enough to have a moment to himself. He takes out the identical blue wildflower in his pocket to inspect it.

The two flowers - the one in your hair and the one in his pocket - had been growing together when he’d spotted them earlier. The prettiest ones in the field, if you asked him.

Even though Levi was adamant that most wedding traditions were silly, he had remained steadfast in two of them, apparently. One being that he wanted to spend the day apart, to make the moment of joining together forever that much sweeter. And two...something blue.

He knew that it was more of a tradition for the bride to uphold but he had seen those pretty blue flowers and instantly decided to twist the tradition a little to fit your love together. You had your something blue and he shared it with you.

Levi tucks the flower back into his pocket gently before moving to be next to you again, his hand finding yours naturally.

You look to him with a gaze full of love, and he offers you a smile.

“We’re married,” you whisper into his ear, making him shiver in the most delightful way.

“Glad you understood what all that was about,” he teases back, but you just smile even wider, always knowing what he really means when he makes a sarcastic little quip like that.

“I love you too,” you tell him.

He loves you so much that it makes his heart swell almost painfully in his chest. But he’ll keep that to himself.

The sunset is painting the sky purple and magenta and orange, and you’re tugging Levi along to go and watch the sunset together, away from the others. Not that they’d even notice; everyone’s had a little too much to drink, you included, and are just having a good time.

“Just sit down,” you urge Levi, tugging him down underneath the little wooden altar you’d gotten married under just hours ago. The flowers and vines winding around the wood are still vibrant and not yet wilting, surprisingly, and sitting under it offers a fantastic view of the fuschia horizon, with hanging vines and flowers from the altar framing it to offer the most gorgeous sight.

Even sitting there, watching the sky darken, hand reaching up so you can gently finger and tug at the flowers that frame your eyesight and give you such a spectacular view, such a spectacular memory to sear into your mind, there’s still something - someone - even more stunning.

You turn to look at your husband, who is already looking at you.

“You’re supposed to be watching the sunset,” you chide him, but the smile on your face erases any sort of playful irritation in your tone.

“I’d rather look at my wife,” Levi says simply, so casually, and yet you can see the tips of his ears tinging pink.

“Oh really?” you ask with a shy smile, gazing at him from under your lashes.

“She’s the better view.”

Now his voice is a whisper and he’s leaning in.

You’re leaning in, too.

It’s not the second, or third, or fourth kiss as husband and wife; you’ve been kissing Levi all day. You’ve already shared countless kisses as spouses. But this one marks the finality of your first day as two married souls.

Once you pull away from the kiss, you move to sit between Levi’s legs. Your back rests comfortably against his sturdy chest. His arms wind around your middle. You smile to yourself and close your eyes when you feel his lips at your neck.

You stay like that until the sun fully sinks beneath the horizon, and when the first stars start to twinkle their hellos is when your loved ones start calling out for you.

“What are you two doing?! Nothing nasty, I hope!” Hange’s voice is the loudest of all, unfortunately.

You laugh quietly as you slowly stand with Levi, his hand finding yours like always, and you lean in to kiss his cheek.

“Let’s go back and start herding everyone home, husband.”

At that, he actually chuckles. Levi’s soft grey eyes are a little brighter when he answers.

“Okay, wife.”

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