#imagine if they were often weirdly SUPER quiet
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It’s a good thing that the boys had cute little button eyes when they were babies, because imagine if they had big ol eyes instead, like
#rottmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt splinter#turtle tots#rise of the tmnt#I just wanted to give the babies staring moomin eyes lmao#*gives Raph and Donnie long tails BECAUSE I CAN*#they look cute with them#side note but why were Leo’s eyes white initially#I actually wondered if he instinctively shut an outer eyelid for protection since they were in a dangerous situation#either way it stood out hm#anyway I love the babies#imagine if they were often weirdly SUPER quiet#and they would just#s t a r e#turtle art tag
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Dawn sat in the treeline behind her childhood home, peering up towards the window of her old room. She felt like her stomach was tying itself into a knot, making her feel a weird nausea. There was no way in hell she was going to go into the town itself. Absolutely not. But... she wanted Akari’s old things. The more she thought about it, the more curious she was. Dawn only had gotten to look through the old pages of the pokedex and photos when she was super young, and she felt they’d be better off in her hands than her mother’s.
‘Do you think you could get them if I showed you an exact picture of the attic in my head? I don’t think I even want to be teleported inside.’ Dawn looked to Esme, who would soon nod in response. Slate eyes slipped closed, Dawn imagining the attic in her head.
It was dusty, and full of cobwebs. Some of the spots in the attic had insulation poking out, which Dawn had to crawl to avoid when she was young. There were boxes stacked in the open areas. A lot of it was her mom’s old coordination stuff, mainly outfits. Some of the boxes were her father’s old things. Ayako stuffed most of his belongings into those boxes when he went missing, shoving them up into the attic. Was she even sad over his death? Dawn found herself wondering, quite often. She’d never even seen Ayako shed a tear over him. Old journals of his, trinkets and devices he’d tweaked...
And then there were the boxes of her great grandmother’s items. They were placed separately towards the small window in the attic, as it was the only source of light. Dawn moved them away from everything else when she was younger, and Ayako never moved them back. Even after all this time... Dawn would bet a million pokedollars it was still in the same spot, untouched. They overflowed with her items. Old clothes, photographs, the old pokedex... back when Sinnoh was Hisui, back when a majority of the people were terrified of pokemon.
Dawn kept focusing, trying to paint the clearest picture of the attic that she could in her mind. It must have done the trick, because suddenly, a series of boxes poofed in next to her. Not only did she get Akari’s things, but also her father’s. Esme obviously knew she was lingering on those thoughts, and reacted appropriately. She let out a quiet sneeze as the dust from the items settled, sniffling as she carefully opened the box.
Thankfully, everything was there, just as she remembered it. Dawn didn’t want to spend too long looking through everything, but her eyes did linger on a photograph placed on the top, protected by a frame. It was... a celebration, or a festival of some kind. There were a myriad of people, long dead now, in the picture, celebrating, smiling, and having a good time amongst themselves. Some of them looked weirdly familiar, but Dawn didn’t have anyone to really ask at this point. She’d close the box back up, giving Esme a hearty scratch behind her ears.
“Thanks... I feel a lot better having this stuff over my mom. And thank you for... grabbing dad’s stuff too. I don’t think she’ll ever notice any of it is gone anyways.” There’s a faint smile that only grows a little bit more when Esme rubs her face along Dawn’s hand. “Let’s get out of here and back to the Chateau. I can find some good places for a lot of the pictures in here.”
#👻 ic.#👻 drabble.#just a little thing bc i. really wanted her to have all of akari's old stuff very badly :')#i think the only one who can rly tell her anything abt akari is. giratina at this point#gira: oh! yea this guy who was a big simp for my dad. volvo or something. wanted me to kill ur great gma but i didnt just to make him mad :)#dawn:#dawn: this explains so much but also so little.
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hii I love your blogs sooo much you're really talented (I just needed to say it sorry) so straight to the point, I already made 2 requests to you and I really enjoyed your writing so I would like to make another again. As I'm clueless about what to request I'll just ask for random hcs for konoha 11, idk if it's too much but if so then you can do with Neji (I love him so much), Kakashi and Naruto. Thank you in advance and sorry anything ^^
RANDOM KONOHA 11 HEADCANONS!
FEATURING: naruto, sakura, shikamaru, ino, choji, neji, rock lee, tenten, kiba, hinata, and shino
WARNINGS: mentions alcohol, drugs, food, bugs, and the tiniest nsfw mention if you get the joke. hehe
A/N: AHHHH ANONN this seriously made my day, im so so glad you enjoy my work!! 💖
NARUTO
you know how we all have “the chair”, where we throw all of our dirty clothes onto?
yeah, imagine that, but from the seat to the fricking ceiling
its just a GINORMOUS MOUND of clothes, you wonder how he even goes through that many clothes so quickly???
definitely shoves it under his bed whenever guests come over (somehow)
holds chopsticks really weirdly. but it works.
asked tenten to put his hair into space buns to mimic his sexy jutsu and went around flirting with the village
jiraiya was so proud of him T-T
comes up with the WORST pickup lines
they’re so bad, its almost charming. almost
has gone AWOL multiple times, disappearing from everywhere, just everywhere
it scared you a little, so you searched the entire village for him
you finally found him sitting on the ledge of a cliff, gazing out at the vast sea
concerned and panicked, you cried out to ask him what was wrong
he turned to you with a crestfallen, devastated look on his face and said,
“i bought shrimp ramen instead of chicken ramen.”
you’ve never searched for him after his disappearance ever again.
SAKURA
100% makes origami shurikens and chucks them at you
they are deathly precise and deathly sharp. seriously, how are these not illegal weapons yet???
writes threatening motivational notes to herself on the mirror
“u got this!” “make sure to smack naruto today!” “ino sucks!”
her backpack would always be way too high up on her back. idk why but. it would
does her hair all nice and pretty before she goes out but once she arrives to her destination SHE KEEP. TAKING. IT OUT. and redoing it over and over and over again
like it’s impossible to make eye contact with her because she’s holding a bobby pin between her teeth while braiding her hair
her guilty pleasure would be hostess treats
ding dongs are her favorite. don’t ask me how i know, i just know.
eats the yellow starbursts just to spite naruto and all her haters
loves small lap dogs, she think’s they’re so cute and cuddly
but she especially loves chihuahuas
they’re so feisty and naruto HATES them, so of course she had to go and get one for herself
dresses the poor dog up in little bonnets and jackets and ties its tiny fuzzy hairs into pigtails
she and the chihuahua are not that much unlike <3
SHIKAMARU
this man is a god at shogi but he absolutely SUCKSSSS at cup pong.
is this an ick? idk. but he is absolute trash at this game.
it gets even worse when he’s got a couple drinks in him
tries to calculate the velocity and acceleration and angle and shit but his shot is always a good two feet off BYE 😭
just mutters an “aw, shit” before awaiting his turn again
hates checkers, loves chess
“checkers is for WUSSIES” - shikamaru nara
i said this in another post, but he is Very Good at whistling
like that’s his hidden talent
can copy any tune with the perfect pitch and rhythm
speaking of, he can do really cool tricks with his tongue
like making a four leaf clover, touching the bridge of his nose with it, flipping it upside down, you name it
he has slanted, scrawled handwriting, to the point where it’s almost illegible
wbk he cheats in school SO OFTEN. but he never gets caught. he’s not stupid, he just couldn’t care less about his classes.
thinks weed and e-cigs are stupid, cigarettes are where it’s at
you just can’t replicate the feeling of taking a drag from a cig after a long, tiring day
plus he looks hella cool while doing it B)
INO
teaches the boyz™️ how to braid their hair
like they all gather in a circle around this feisty fashionista and fail attempt to braid their hair
sakura was just fuming in the sidelines
“OI, INO-PIG, THAT’S A DUTCH BRAID, NOT A FRENCH BRAID!!”
yeah, ino 🙄
the only one that can actually do it is neji because a) this man is talented af and b) he’s got the long hairrr
ino probably envies his thick, sleek hair because hE’S a bOy
also asks everyone for their blood type and zodiac signs and tells them if they’re compatible with her or not
and definitely judges you for your sign 😣
“oh, you’re a gemini? hmm, what a shame...”
makes bouquets for her favorite people and kin assigns everyone a flower
only assigns the pretty nice ones to the people she likes (sorry sakura, you’re out of luck)
one of her favorite hobbies is crafting! she’s really good with details and small things so she loves making those miniature dollhouses and stuff
also really good at watercoloring. especially painting flowers and landscapes
also i feel like she would be really good at playing any instrument because of her skilled hands
can play a badass flute solo. period.
CHOJI
would honestly rather die than get anywhere NEAR an asparagus
he just thinks they’re so gross and bitter and NOT SALTY
he always eats his yakiniku a little bit undercooked because he’s way too impatient to wait for it to cook fully. who do you think he is??
whenever he cloud gazes with shikamaru, when asked what he thinks a cloud looks like, he just says some sort of food
“oi, choji, what does that one look like to you?”
“a... yakiniku grill... with... pineapple rings on it! ooh, and a wagyu steak right there!”
he thinks pringles are an abomination to society. where’s the crisp? where’s the grease? where’s the saltiness?!!!
asks ino to teach him how to do his hair all fancy and the two of them devote an entire day learning different hairstyles
it’s his new favorite thing to do now :D
he really likes crayons!!!!
like he’ll write with them, draw with them, color with them, do everything with them
he’s even tried to eat them. he said they tasted good.
definitely had the 128 crayon pack WITH THE BUILT-IN SHARPENER, and everyone thought he was the coolest kid in town
he ate it UP, he even scored some bbq dates with the ladies
i also feel like he loves basketball, and he has a MEAN slam dunk
like his vertical isn’t that high, but the man can REACH
he loves when people laugh at him when he challenges them to a 1v1 and then proceeds to absolutely destroy them <3
NEJI
he seems like a cucumber kind of guy.
just cucumber
like i feel like he puts it in everything; soba, salads, sandwiches, his face, yeah
it’s mellow and cool, just like him!
speaking of, i feel like he lives for spa days and facials
it just lets him be alone in his little cucumber scented world for an hour or two and he gets damn clear skin from it as well
seriously he has PERFECT skin. flawless. not a single blemish. his cheeks feel like baby butts they’re so smooth.
i feel like he’d be a god at solving rubik’s cubes, don’t ask me why
like if anyone scrambled theirs on accident they would just take it to neji and he’d solve it in the blink of an eye
CAT PERSON!!! loves the little meow meows
who are we kidding, neji basically is a cat; agile, aloof, does silly things without trying to, very cute
he just feels akin to the little fuzzballs and he thinks petting cats are extremely therapeutic. good for the soul
he is a golf man. he would take his juniors golfing and everyone thinks he’s uncool. cmon neji let them go to the skate park at least T-T
also very good at karaoke, definitely surprised everyone once he got a few drinks in him since he started serenading you
LIGHTWEIGHT!!! do not get more than one shot of alcohol in him. he will go berserk.
i also feel like he’d really love photography; not taking pictures of people, but of nature
he loves taking a quiet stroll through a pretty forest and snapping pictures of all the unique flora and fauna
it’s so serene ︶ ‿ ︶
ROCK LEE
100% milly rocks everywhere
gai got in on it too once he asked what lee was doing
“is that what all the youthful cool kids do these days!”
they also dab together. a lot
DO NOT BE SEEN WITH THESE TWO!!! you are not associated with them.
definitely is the one breakdancing in the middle of the dance circle at a high school party
he’s mad skilled at it too
headspins and windmills galore
challenged naruto to a dance-off and completely OBLITERATED him
lee then asked if naruto wanted a rematch, this time with one hand tied behind lee’s back
naruto obliged, and he STILL lost
RIP naruto and his fangirls, they all scrambled to lee afterwards T-T
i feel like his favorite subject is science
not the boring physics equations and laws and theories but the fun EXPERIMENTS
definitely has singed all of his hair off one time and he went to gai blubbering to help him grow back his precious hair
but he loves experimenting with different combinations and chemicals to get different reactions each time
created a potent love potion and carried it around with him all day one day
and it was actually working
girls were flocking to him left and right, staring at his lips and his face
he was so abashed at the sudden attention
heck, it even worked on sakura
“oi, lee-san!”
“hehe, yes, sakura-san?”
her eyes shifted downwards to his lips and his heart thumped harder
“hey... lee-san?”
“what is it?”
“you have something on your lip. we’ve been trying to tell you all day but you just winked and blew kisses at us.”
legend has it lee has still not recovered to this day.
TENTEN
has THE prettiest handwriting. and she can write SUPER fast
it’s like a superpower
like she transcribed five pages of a report in less than two minutes with perfect handwriting
naruto is so jealous.
she is also super good at origami! those diligent, accurate hands aren’t just for throwing things
taught sakura how to make shurikens but does NOT endorse any violent uses of them
she can replicate all of her weapons with paper and they can actually function, it’s so cool
made paper kunai knives one day and the wholeee village wanted to get their hands on them
i feel like she’d listen to mitski. idk i just get those vibes
LOVES BIG DOGS!! especially fluffy wuffy samoyeds
like man’s best friend?? no, GIRL’S BEST FRIEND!!
hugs and cuddles and squishes all the big dogs
she thinks small dogs are spawns of satan
sakura and her have definitely quarreled over this
but at the end of the day, all dogs are adorable fur babies, so she lets it slide :,)
KIBA
kiba always looks SO GOOD in photos you take of him, candid or not
like you could just whip out a camera and snap a photo of him at any given moment and he would look perfect
you framed a picture of him yelling at akamaru for peeing inside the house
it’s pure artwork
i feel like he tries to swagger around with his hands shoved in his pockets but it fails MISERABLY and the girls are wondering if he broke his leg or something 😭
kiba just walk normally. for the love of god please just walk normally.
he tries to slump back in his chair really low but one time he slouched way too low so he slipped off of his chair and onto the ground LMFAOOOO
he just wallowed there... in shame...
also.. he LOVES when the girls put makeup on him!!
he tries to act like he hates it. but it secretly gives him so much confidence
not to mention the girls hyping him up are a huge ego boost
okay the inside of his jacket hood is the warmest. thing. EVER!!!
seriously, no wonder this dude is so happy-go-lucky all the time, he’s living in literal heaven 24/7
it’s like you’re sleeping on a cloud inside a warm, cozy bed during a cold winter morning
10/10 would recommend letting him give you his sweatshirt when you’re chillin with a hair tie ❤️
HINATA
always smells like lavender soap. always
also has the cutest pencil pouches with little puppy faces and kawaii things
oH and she has those mini yoobi highlighters, she thinks they’re so cute (and functional!)
everyone flocks to her to try them out and marvel at the cute tiny highlighters
and they try to steal them from her but she doesn’t even stop them because she’s too timid to 😭
naruto goes BALLISTIC over them
she lets him have all of them <3
tennis girl!!! tennis girl.
all of her opponents always underestimate her because she’s so timid and shy and quiet
but she has a KILLER serve
and then she takes her opponents to the slaughterhouse with a complete shutout ;)
she’s really athletic believe it or not, she can beat most of the boys in a mile run and she has incredible endurance
i feel like she really loves velvet scrunchies
she just thinks they’re so pretty and they keep her hair soft so they’re cute and functional
also takes the PRETTIEST notes!!
color codes, dividers, headers, you name it, it’s all super readable too its insane
everyone asks her for her notes, not to study but just to appreciate the pure artwork that it is ^w^
SHINO
shino is SO easy to prank
“how do you catch an eyemaster?” *cue naruto and kiba snickering*
“eyemaster bait. that is because—”
even when everyone’s laughing their asses off, he still continues to explain his answer since he does NOT GET THE JOKE
tried his hand at writing haikus
here’s his best one so far:
“Bugs are amazing. That is because they are bugs. Bugs are very nice.” - Shino Aburame
VERY proud of it, since it took him weeks to perfect
praise it, pls
had one of those ant farms and bug-catching kits as a kid
and he would fill the kit TO THE BRIM. LIKE IT WAS HEAVY BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY BUGS.
he loves the little chitters of the different bugs
he had jars of different bugs all lined up on a wall shelf in his room
collects silkworms off of trees and sticks them into his pockets (no i definitely did not do this as a kid...)
HELP I FEEL LIKE he would record a timelapse of his ant farm growing and upload it to youtube with a movie maker title screen that says
“my ants”
if you enjoyed this post, likes and reblogs are much appreciated :) feel free to request here, and make sure to read the rules first! have a lovely day everyone <3
#naruto#naruto x reader#naruto headcanons#naruto imagines#naruto uzumaki#sakura headcanons#shikamaru headcanons#ino yamanaka#choji akimichi#kiba headcanons#kiba inuzuka#hinata hyuuga#hinata hyuga#shino aburame#neji headcanons#neji hyuuga#rock lee#kiba imagines#shikamaru imagines#hc
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Ey, good to know that the headcanon requests are open! I was wondering if you could do one of the main 6 as MC's best friend? Like, what kind of stuff would they enjoy doing with them, how would that relationship feel like, stuff like that!
Bonus point if you write about how would they act towards an MC who has a crush/is on a relationship with someone else, I am mostly thinking about the other 5. I don't know if this may sound weirdly specific, I just think it's cute to imagine for example Julian giving you relationship advice for, like, Muriel or Nadia haha.
I hope this request is not too troublesome or long, but as an end note I must say that I love your work and that I am in love with the way you write. I hope you have a nice day!
Aww omg thank you for your kind words! I’m so sorry this took forever to get out haha. I burnt myself out with writing but I’m falling back in love with it.
I really hope I did this justice, this was a ton of fun! Platonic headcanons are so much fun to write 10/10. I hope you’re having a good day/night anon, and I hope you enjoy!
Main six (not really x MC but hush) x MC best friends helping with crushes
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Julian
You two are such besties it’s not even funny
He loves you so so much and loves helping you out (even if his love life is a disaster most of the time as well)
The two of you have sleepovers all the time do not @ me
Gossip, painting nails, going to bed at such awful times, the whole ta do. Since you were specific with relationships with him we’ll do Nadia
So this is not main story so let’s say he has his memories
LOVES the fact that you like Nadia, totally had a crush on her as well, I mean who wouldn’t?
Knows what she likes and would help you plan out dates and how you would ask her out. Wants to know all that happened. Give him the deets!
He’s protective, but supportive and sweet making him a wonderful friend. Terrible with secrets though. Terrible.
Asra
Y’all are already besties but you get even closer
Asra has THE BEST sleepovers. Even when you two live with one another you can tell when it’s sleepover time
Makes AMAZING snacks and tea, you two make a pillow fort and stay up super late talking. Faust loves burrowing through the fort
Oooh boy we’ll say he gives advice about Muriel. Since they are also best friends and ugh this was one of my fav parts of Muriel’s route (when it was flushed out well)
Um, you liking Muriel?! He would die. Tell him EVERYTHING! Did you kiss yet? A date? Does he like you?
100% would help you plan dates and gifts. Wears the worst disguises to follow behind at restaurants for the story and to make sure his two best friends are doing okay
One of the best advice givers. One of the worst advice followers. Keeps a secret like he’s a safe. Always says he loves you, draws out the words but he means it because he does love you
Nadia
Nadia is the best one out of the main six for friendship. The BEST
You two go on shopping sprees, hang around the palace, she loves going out with you as friends and just talking
All of the main six have sleepovers with their friends. Do not come for me, I will die on this hill. Nadia’s sleepovers rival Asra’s.
Pillow fights, long baths, long talks, a ton of gossip and just talking. She loves talking with you, about anything and everything. Adores hearing about your love life
When she hears how you like Portia sleepover is canceled and it’s operation get the MC and Portia together
She gives the best advice (and follows advice) and has the best ideas for gifts. And you better tell her what happened on your date with Portia.
Nadia is a very loving and warm friend. She (and Portia) give the best hugs as well.
Muriel
Awww so Muriel would take a little bit to warm up to you with friendship
Once he does it’s soft friendship hours. Sleepovers don’t happen super often unless you two were doing something and it got late
The chickens love you :]
Very soft friend. Stiff hugs. Takes him a little while to warm up to hugging but once he does you’re being lifted off the ground in a breathtaking bear hug
Quiet listener. Doesn’t really do advice but will listen to you talk. Figuring out you like Asra was no trouble
He’s protective of you and Asra so he’d give Asra the same “hurt them if you dare” talk he gives you. But after…
Advice advice ADVICE! He knows what Asra likes and would have fun planning little dates and gifts with you. Loves seeing his friend’s in love. Would tease Asra a little as well.
He is like a SAFE. Better than a safe even! Best secret keeper. The BEST. He’s a quiet friend, but a warm one as well.
Portia
Portia and Nadia are some of the best friends you could ever ask for. Portia gives you food she’s made at random times
Sleepovers every week when you two aren’t exhausted. Pepi loves playing with you when you come over
She’s not the best advice giver but boy is she loving and protective. If someone hurts you you’d better hide the shovel otherwise Portia will be digging a grave
Her hugs are the best. The actual best. If you’re taller she pulls you down to bury your face in her shoulder. World cold. Portia titty soft and warm kind of thing. Pats your head at random times. Boops your nose. All the platonic touches
Loves love life talk. Loves crush talk. She’s like the main character’s friend in a teen romcom, all the gossip about her friend’s crush. So it turns out yours is Lucio.
It’s uhh...a shock to her. You like...Lucio?
The most chill out of the main six with crushes. Squeals, but let’s you do your own thing for a majority of it. She helps when you struggle or ask. Teaches you to make cookies to give to Lucio
She gives you so many baking lessons. Most of which ending up with the two of you passing out in the pillow pile due to the amount of sugar you take in.
Also a safe. Way better than her brother. Locks her lips and throws away the key.
Lucio
The type of friend to burst into your house like: “wake up bitch you will NEVER guess what just happened”
Not the best listener. Sorry, he really likes to talk. You’d have to shut him up. He loves listening to your problems (laying on his stomach with his legs up lol) but he just runs his mouth
Also one of the worst secret keepers. He seems fine at first but then he lets things spill at the WORST TIMES
Talking about crushes really brings out his whole romantic side
Finds out you like Julian and he will bitch, moan, and laugh
He’s so meannnnnnn. But in the friend way that makes you smash his face with a pillow.
Yes he would help you with dates. He would want to dress you. And help you pay for gifts. Knows Julian pretty well but rocky relationship so he does his best to let you do your own thing
You two wreak havoc upon the palace at night
Sliding around the floors in your socks with Mercedes and Melchior charging at your heels
He never fails to make you laugh when you feel down though. He’s amazing emotional support.
#the arcana#the arcana game#the arcana headcanons#julian devorak#portia devorak#lucio morgasson#muriel#muriel of the kokhuri#asra alnazar#nadia satrinava#julian headcanons#portia headcanons#lucio headcanons#asra headcanons#muriel headcanons#nadia headcanons#main six x mc#friendship headcanons#lol slowly but surely I will get through these
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Announcing Your Relationship ~ Min Yoongi
You sat and waited patiently as you always did backstage hearing the raucous of the boys walk down the corridor as their interview came to an end. Their smiles were wide which quickly brought you some relief, feeling the sofa dip beside you.
Yoongi’s wide smile was the first thing you saw, feeling his arms drape around your shoulders. “You seem happy,” you giggled, allowing your head to rest against his shoulder, lacing your hand in with his.
“I don’t have to pretend anymore; do you know how good it feels?” He whispered in response, tapping against the back of your hand.
“It feels weird though, it feels like we’re still doing something wrong, even though we’re not.”
It had taken the two of you a long time to get to the moment you found yourselves in, to be able to be with each other in public and not have to lie. Three years of anyone’s life would often feel lost in that time, but finally being able to be open about your relationship with Yoongi made all of it seem worth it.
The boys had all sat around on the other chairs around you, grabbing themselves drinks, smiling across at you both, knowing better than anyone else the struggles the two of you had faced.
“So, how did the interview go?” You finally asked, looking around at them all, sitting up and away from Yoongi so you could get a better view of his expression.
“Good,” he hummed, “they asked about you, but we handled it well, so there’s no need to worry.”
Whilst it was easy for him to sit and tell you not to worry, he knew that would never stop you from doing so. Two weeks later you found yourself curled up on the sofa of your apartment waiting to watch the interview broadcast, with the boys already in America to continue with their promotions.
You were lost on your phone for much of the programme until you heard the boys be introduced, sitting through them answering the usual questions about the album, the fans, their interests, before your name was finally mentioned.
Your body stiffened, turning the volume up on the television as you heard the interviewer ask, “what’s it like having a girlfriend when you’re such a public figure.”
Naturally all the boys turned to Yoongi who stared down at his hands that rested in his lap, “it’s hard,” he mumbled, slowly turning his eyes up to look at all the fans. “But it’s definitely worth it, it’s important for me to make the band and my relationship work.”
“And they’re super cute too!”
“We love having Y/N around.”
You chuckled as Jungkook and Jimin chimed in defending you both, resting their hands against Yoongi’s shoulders to encourage him.
“What took you so long to introduce your fans to Y/N though? There has to be something going on,” the interviewer continued to push.
You could sense how uncomfortable it was all beginning to make Yoongi feel as he sunk down in his chair. When you’d spent so long denying everything and keeping quiet, suddenly having to be so open was a hard change to come by.
“I wanted to protect her, I wasn’t going to risk moving too quickly and things falling apart. Three years might be a long time for some, but I wasn’t prepared to risk it, Y/N means too much to me, but now feels like the time is right.”
Luckily for you both the interview quickly diverted onto a new subject as Namjoon tried to pick back up on a few things they were working on for the album. The boys had always been the biggest fans of your relationship, and they weren’t about to sit back and watch someone try and attack your relationship.
Once the broadcast was over, your phone was quick to vibrate, barely seeing who it was, you quick to answer.
“Did you watch?” His voice excitedly asked, “it’s so funny watching myself talk about you so publicly.”
“Of course, I watched,” you hummed, “have you heard anything about the reaction? What do your fans think about it all?”
As important as your relationship was, you knew that he also valued the fan’s opinion for it was them that had placed him into the fortunate position that he found himself and allowed him to find you.
“They seem to be happy, I don’t want to check it too much, as much as their opinions matter, they also don’t. Nothing they say is going to change my mind, especially when they know I’ve spent three years already happy with you.”
You stretched yourself out across the sofa, letting go of a heavy sigh, “it weirdly feels like such a relief just to have it in the open, I thought I’d be terrified, but I’m not.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Yeah, of course.”
In the background of the call you could hear the frequent yells of the boys, whilst you couldn’t quite decipher what was said, mentions of yours and Yoongi’s names appeared several times. What followed was the sound of your phone pinging several times, whilst staying on your call, you were quick to look at the notification.
Your screen soon became flooded with photos of the two of you that the boys had seemingly taken over the years, accompanied with the caption, ‘we’ve waited three years to share all of these, look how happy they are.’
“Have you seen?” Yoongi’s voice questioned as he heard you gasp.
Your head nodded, taking a few moments before responding, “won’t you guys get in trouble for all of this?”
“Why?” He nonchalantly asked. “We’re not doing anything wrong; you’re forgetting that they’re aren’t any rules anymore, we don’t have to creep around anymore, we can be open and in love.”
“Say that last bit again,” you whispered, allowing your eyes to close.
“The bit about being open and in love?”
Hearing him say the words felt like a dream, you’d imagined how it would feel if one day the two of you could go public, but over time that possibility felt like it was slipping further and further away.
“It sounds pretty cool,” you chuckled, “and the boys are incredible as well, I didn’t even know they’d taken half of those photos.”
Their small album was made up of candids that they’d taken when neither of you thought they were looking, but one thing was clear in all of them, that they were desperate to get across to the fans, the two of you were incredibly happy with each other.
“Apparently they’ve been saving them up for quite some time so when the fans knew about the two of us, they could defend us with cute photos.”
“They really said that?”
“Of course,” he laughed, rolling his eyes as the boys continued to run around the studio, only wishing you could see the chaos that had ensued. “You forget that this relationship isn’t just the two of us, there are six other boys who would happily get involved in everything.”
Your smile grew, staring around the empty apartment, it was hard to admit you just missed Yoongi when the boys also played such a huge role in your life.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to come and see you guys soon now that I actually can.”
“I’ll get something arranged, just leave it with me.”
---
Masterlist
#bts#bts imagine#yoongi#yoongi imagine#min yoongi#min yoongi imagine#bts scenario#bts reaction#bts drabble#bts one shot#bts fluff#yoongi reaction#yoongi scenario#yoongi drabble#yoongi one shot#yoongi fluff#suga#suga imagine#min suga#bangtan#bangtan sonyeondan#kpop#kpop imagine
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Bitter-sweetness (Loki x Reader)
Loki comes to visit the reader after they send out a drunk text
A/N: Another part of my Loki x Reader Winter Series! This is also an AU after Ragnarok where the Asgardians have settled on Earth. As always, Gender Neutral Reader!
Warnings: Language, Alcohol Use, Angst, Implied smut
You considered yourself to be a responsible person to a certain degree. In fact, you prided in your ability to make rational decisions about your day to day adult musings. Yet here you were, alone in your home, a whole bottle of red wine downed, complete inhibited from making sure you didn’t make a terrible decision.
This was your first holiday away from home. Living in the big apple had its perk, especially since you managed to land a job working at Stark Industries but living alone, while your closest relative lived three states away was not as glamorous as the shows made it out to be. You swore you would be able to handle it, after all, this had been quite a successful year for you career wise. And yet, the horrible emptiness expanded the moment you finished speaking with your sibling over the phone.
Reality hit. You were here alone, and that was just scratching the surface of it all. You had gotten along well with your co-workers and the supers you would run into often but it wasn’t the same. There was no way you would budge and plea for them to spend this ‘merry’ time with you, humiliating. And so, while not the healthiest of coping skills, you drowned your depression away with a little lady known as Lambrusco.
Being a lightweight, the red wine quickly put you in an inebriated state, fixated on feeling sorry for yourself and the impeccable loneliness. You cried, you laughed, and you sang depressing melodies in effort to bring your spirits up, but to no avail. You eventually ended up surfing on social media through your phone, twisting your mouth at the cloy pictures of families and friends celebrating together in their homes. What a bunch of bullshit. You resisted the temptation to instant message your old friends, knowing it would just be filled with a myriad of cuss words.
Your mind then wandered on texting your co-workers, clinging onto a childish hope of maybe one of them coming to your rescue and joining you in drinks and sobs. You flipped through your contact list and came across your most recently added. It was a 5 digit number, but that wasn’t weird for you. Tony would often have these weirdly set up numbers for some of the team members to maintain contact without having calls traced by ill intending foes, and you ended up with some of them through exchanges and other occasions. You weren’t really sure how it worked, but it was kind of like a trading card game you had with your co-workers. Obtain Thor’s number, Caps’ number, Dr. Banner’s number, Romanov’s number. It was stupid but it passed the time.
You squinted your eyes, attempting to decipher which Avenger’s number this was. However with the room spinning and your happy-go-lucky state, you didn’t bother to figure out who it was, and you began to text the unknown number with the best of your ability.
Helloo,,,,this is (y/n) and....comeover I have fun stuff to do...:) :) :)
Perfect. And with much gusto, you tapped on that send button, throwing your phone casually on the side of your couch. It wasn’t like you really expected anyone to answer or to come over, and it wasn’t like you really cared at the moment. Without any hesitation, you reached for the wine bottled and took a last swig, with only drops remaining of the sweet warm nectar. You felt the relief in your throat and closed your eyes, slowly drifting into a quick nap, completely disheveled on your couch.
Not ten minutes would pass before you heard a loud and obnoxious pounding on your door. The loud rapping sent you flying off your couch and in a frenzy. You cleared your throat and scurried over to your front door.
“I’m going, I’m going!” You yelled, not having a moment to sort out what was actually happening. But the room continued to spin, and you figured you were still heavily drunk.
You undid your locks and open the door wide open, only to be greeted by the cold winter wind and the last person you had expected at the moment.
“What in the seven realms are you trying to prove here?” It was Loki, standing tall and menacing over you. He held a small cellular phone between his thumb and index finger, showing you the drunk text you had sent him.
It was Loki’s number. You had completely forgotten that your coworker had given you the number after laughing about Tony giving Loki a method of communication and how Loki was entirely clueless on how to use the device or what it’s purpose even was. Your coworker had a know in with the security manager who programmed Loki’s phone and got his contact number through suggestive means. Again, part of the stupid little game, and you had mindlessly added the number onto your contacts.
Fuck. You guessed he had figured out how to use it.
“Ah, shit.” You sputtered casually. “I didn’t think anyone would have come!”
He raised an eyebrow, looking at you incredulously. “You’re wobbling.”
Wobbling. Loki’s accent was distracting enough most of the time. But hearing him say a silly world like wobbling sent you in a laughing spree. It was uncontrollable laughter, where the more you stared at him the funnier it would become. It was apparent that Loki didn’t find this funny in the slightest.
“Wobbling, pfft. Woooosh.” You retorted, making fluttering movements with your fingers.
“Wait.” He began, his mind beginning to calculate and process. And finally it hit him. “You’re drunk. Are you foolish or just this stupid?”
“Both maybe.”
Loki groaned, shoving you inside your living room and closing the door behind him. Immediately he began to smell the heavy scent of alcohol coming from you, as well as quickly taking notice of the empty wine bottle and wine juices leaked on your coffee table. Also you wouldn’t stop laughing, continuing to giggle until you fell backwards onto you couch.
Loki narrowed his eyes at you. “Having a good time here? I see you’ve laid waste to that wine bottle.”
“Oh yeah.” You responded proudly, throwing your arms up in the air. “Nothing else to do here, but to see just how much I can drink till I stop making sense. Which is...now!”
“Really now?” He responded sardonically. “You look like an absolute mess.”
“Screw you.” You dejected at him knowing full well that wouldn’t offend him in the slightest. “Why are you even here if you’re just gonna be like this.”
“Would you rather I leave then?” His arms were crossed over his chest now, long legs and feet firmly planted on the ground. He looked very intimidating, but perhaps because of your state, he also looked extremely masculine and handsome. You never noticed how broad his shoulders actually were, or how defined his jawline was. You imagined being held in those strong arms and hummed pleasantly.
“No, I like you being here.” You said in a sing song manner, swinging your head back and forth.
“Are you sure that’s not the alcohol talking for you? I wouldn’t imagine you meant to send that message directly to me.”
Loki took a seat across from you on the couch, continuing to shoot you looks of improvement, but concern as well. You continued to fixate on his looks despite this, suddenly wanting to see how his skin would feel on your hands.
“It wasn’t really meant for anyone. But I actually feel a lot better knowing it was you.” Even through your mashed up words, this was actually true. If it was Tony or a coworker or, lord forbid, anyone of the Avengers receiving this and coming over to lecture you about your substance use, your humiliation would have no bounds. There was still a sense of a professional relationship to maintain with them and if those boundaries were broken, maybe that would mean your job as well.
However, the moment you saw Loki standing at your door, you worry had instantly vanished. It was funny, but Loki was the only person who you could be yourself with. There wasn’t any authoritative nature to him, and you felt you didn’t need to prove anything while he was in your vicinity. He was just as lost as you were during this year in dealing with Stark Industries and the team. Also you both had bonded a bit with having a natural disdain for large crowds and ‘stupid’ people in general. You weren’t proud to be shit talking about others, but it made some work days bearable for you.
“Perhaps this is the moment where I as why you’ve drunk an entire bottle of red wine on your own. Even I can tell your natural tolerance isn’t very good.” Loki said, motioning for you to begin describing whatever had tormented you for this evening.
You sputtered again. “It’s stupid. I didn’t even mean to drink the whole thing. It just happened. Stupid bottle.” You really didn’t want to talk about, fearing how much control you would lose. You couldn’t put Loki in an awkward position, with you bawling over the fact that you miss your family or that you feel completely alone in such a large city. You knew Loki’s situation, you knew how much conflict he had experienced during the past year, what with settling down on Earth after Asgard was destroyed. Your human woes paled in comparison to what both him and Thor had encountered, why minimize that?
“Are you not comfortable with discussing this with me?” He asked, his voice firm. There was no malice in it but some sense of ease.
You shook your head. “I am sooo comfortable with you. I’m just not really comfortable with myself.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that.” He continued, but you remained quiet mostly because you began to feel sick. “But I do know, even in Asgard, we drank for both our victories and for our losses.”
You pondered on this for a bit and then sniggered. “I suppose a loss for myself. Because lord knows no one wants to be around me.” Here we go. You were beginning to be dramatic once more, drowning in your melancholy. “But noooo I have a lot of friends and people who like me right? Because that’s what everyone expects right? For me to be content with everything?”
Loki remained quiet but not for a loss at words, but simply because he knew listening would be the best way to tackle this situation. His body language changed and he turned his body to face you, full attention and focus. But of course, you were far too deep in your downward spiral to have noticed.
“I’m supposed to be this independent, responsible adult who knows what they want or want to do.” You continued, your voice beginning to break. “But I still feel lost. And stupid. And wobbly.” You sniggered again, not being able to hold back to stupidity of the word.
Loki rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why humans always enjoy over complicating their own personal matters when the solution is staring them right at the face.”
You stopped giggling and furrowed your brows. “How am I over complicating things? I feel like shit because it’s been a whole year of me living in this city and I haven’t made one single valuable connection with anyone. Don’t be telling me that is an easy thing to solve.”
It was as if you had completely forgotten you were still tipsy.
“You do realize you could have just contacted me.” His words seemed to have echoed across your living room, sending a strong pang of guilt into your chest.
“What are you talking about?” You words meshed with one another, unable to articulate your frustration.
Loki pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “I really do have to hold your hand for everything don’t I? As long as I am here in this forsaken city working for that piece of human garbage that is Stark, you don’t have to spend your evenings alone.”
You blink in total bewilderment, not really buying into his intentions or his words. “Don’t do that. Don’t just do that because you feel sorry for my pathetic ass.”
“Are you daft?” Loki responded with an elevated voice. “What indication of pity have I presented for you? What you need to realize is you have absolutely no reason to have this display of misery if companionship is what you seek.”
Your eyes widened as your focused in on the details of his face. Even though he had become quite angered by your stubbornness, he continued to be beautiful and ridiculously attractive to you. A strand of his dark locks fell over his face, making him even more desirable than you could have imagined. His piercing blue-green eyes were just as captivating as the last time you saw them. What would you have sacrificed for the opportunity to absolutely melt into him? To take in his scent or his heat. Maybe to even dig your face into the crook of his neck, providing you with much security.
Evidently your body began to move on its own as you leaned forwards to him, plopping yourself ungainly between his arms and his chest. Loki instinctively pulled backwards only causing you to fall further onto him until you were completely laid down upon his chest. He kept his arms slightly above you, unsure whether you’d be fine with him placing them on your back or on your waist. You sighed contently, nuzzling your face and fists into his chest. He was very warm, and you could hear the thumping of a heart deep within him.
“This...is not the best position to be in.” He said, a minute after laying there awkwardly with you.
“Heeey Loki.” You began, some mischief in your tone. “Let’s do it.”
You swore you heard him gulp heavily. “No. Especially with your inebriated state.”
You chuckled, your best attempt at being sly. “I’m sorry I didn’t think about you at first. I guess it didn’t cross my mind that you’d want to do anything with me.”
You finally felt his hands gently rest on your back, fully trusting of your total comfort with him.
“I’m going to reveal something to you but I don’t want you to tell anyone else. This is solely for your ears.” He began, piquing at you interest.
You plopped your head upwards to have a better look at him. “Oh?”
“I don’t come to New York solely for Stark. In fact, he’s become quite disdainful of me as you know. I go out of my way to come here because of you.”
An uncontrollable smile formed over your face. But again, that could have been the alcohol.
“You’re a foolish human. But...you are my foolish human. And you don’t need to be alone as long as I am here. I know how much this time of the year means for you, and I wouldn’t want to see you like this again.”
Before he could continue, you lifted your upper body to plant a much desired kiss on Loki’s lips. You didn’t care if you still reeked of cheap wine or if it was an impulse of your needs, but you deeply desired to still feel him skin on yours. You became even more eager once you felt him return your kiss, aggressively and longingly. His lips were so soft and tasteful and you pleaded mentally for him to explore your tongue with his. You pulled back briefly, your eyes watery and full of drunken bliss.
“I love you so much.” You said without much thought or meaning. You knew you didn’t fully convey those emotions yet, but the timing felt right.
He stared at you with his mouth slightly agape, his eyes also full of bliss and desire. “Don’t say that just yet. But I do too.”
The remainder of the evening was spent quietly as Loki adjusted himself to a much more comfortable position where he could fully encircle his arms around your frame. You melted into him, greedily closing your eyes and drifting away into a peaceful slumber inside his hold. You continued to be lulled by the thumping on his chest, your own matching his in full connection.
#loki x reader#loki x you#loki x (y/n)#loki#loki of asgard#loki odinson#loki imagine#loki fanfic#loki imagines#loki fanfiction#loki drabble#loki drabbles#Loki Laufeyson#loki friggason#loki (mcu)
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Oooh, super intrigued by your hot rake about adjusting and not emancipating, tell me more!
thank you so much for asking about it, anon!! (cue obligatory reminder to everyone that i love asks and would love to receive more 👀)
so, when any characters go through a lengthy and transformative (often traumatic) experience that’s out of reach for most people, like war, there’s a comedown at the end of it. there’s a realization that nothing can ever be the same that’s both comforting and horribly alienating. the want to go back home, to return to somewhere safe and mundane, is twisted; the individual is so changed by what they experienced that they can never fully back, because what they’re really longing for is a return to innocence.
in the WWI novel all quiet on the western front by erich maria remarque, young paul baümer and his fellow soldiers’ state of mind is described like this:
“we were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces (...) we are forlorn like children and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial—i believe we are lost.”
in lord of the flies by william golding (whose premise is very similar to gone’s), when the boys are rescued:
“and in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of a man’s heart (...)”
what i mean to say is that, when books are about the trauma of unusual circumstances that isolate themselves from most people, there’s a palpable sense of tragedy and loss of innocence. while gone has this in spades, i feel it’s mitigated by an indulgent ending where the kids are emancipated from their parents, their trauma having aged them prematurely. with this decision, i feel mg is saying the children of the fayz fundamentally can’t live as children; they have to take on adult roles “apart” from their families and society in general.
not only is this terribly sad, but given how mg weirdly skimps on the reunion of the kids with their parents and how sam’s relationship with his mother was broken by the end of the series due to something she did before the fayz even began, it comes across as a bit of a cheat.
in lord of the flies, the implication is that ralph and jack and the other surviving boys will have to readjust to normal english society despite the intense trauma they’ve suffered; in all quiet on the western front, one of the most sobering and tragic events in the whole novel is when paul returns to his family in germany and feels almost nothing but despair, numbness, and bittersweet regret, to the point where he’s glad to return to the front that has traumatized him. in gone, we don’t get that same cathartic sense of tragedy, despite the series constantly foreshadowing it via sam’s concern over the legal consequences of his actions in the fayz and his overwhelming despair over not saving more kids.
even astrid turning away from her parents and leaving with sam at the end of fear doesn’t have nearly the amount of tragedy it should, since she’s a 15-year-old girl so alienated from her parents that she has nothing to say to them—instead, it’s presented as bittersweet but ultimately right that astrid feels she belongs to sam. it’s ultimately a testimony to their trauma-induced, convenience-born romance instead of to the trauma she’s undergone. even the kids moving in together has a fanservice-y tinge to it.
i feel it’s a disappointing ending and does a disservice to the genre that mg is trafficking in; it’s a get-out-of-jail-free card. the kids don’t have to face the traumatic consequences of living as the powerless children they once were, which i feel would be much more impactful.
i mean, imagine if sam, astrid, and diana were forced to really rebuild their relationships with their parents. imagine if they had to go back to high school. it would be traumatic and difficult, but what the kids really need is not more independence, but parental guidance. they need therapy and love and compassion, and they just wouldn’t get that same amount from their fellow fayz-sufferers. the kids can understand and empathize with each other, but that doesn’t mean they would be good for each other; if anything, making a bunch of traumatized kids live together without adult supervision, essentially mimicking the superficial circumstances of the fayz, seems like a good way to effectively re-traumatize them and make sure they stay isolated and co-dependent.
now, maybe that’s an unfair and pessimistic take. i can see lots of people thinking the opposite—that the kids living together is actually good and therapeutic—and i think that’s fine! but i think an essential part of books about young people experiencing trauma is the “reintegration into society” aspect, and the kids living together at the end of gone seems to fly into the face of that, as that in itself is an unusual, privileged circumstance that many of their fellow survivors (including edilio!) can’t attain. also, i don’t like that it’s portrayed as a bittersweet but ultimately good and right decision by the kids to emancipate themselves. it’s what they want, but—like paul being glad to return to the front—it’s not what they need.
basically imo what these kids need now is their parents and families, not special circumstances and added independence. :(
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Welcome back, everyone!
A quick note before we begin: after the previous recap a couple of lovely friends and anons explained to me some discrepancies in my work, mainly about how Fox's semblance functions and how much info we’ve gotten on that previously. They're worth a read if (like me) you haven't read After the Fall and would like a more accurate picture of this whole project. However, I have to admit that sadly past!me didn’t think through the usefulness of those posts and tag them appropriately... so they’re just somewhere in the mess that is the “rwby” and “mymetas” tags. Still, I wanted to acknowledge their existence, both for your potential use and as another disclaimer along the lines of, “I’m reading what amounts to a sequel and recapping as I go. Prepare for a bumpy ride.”
We're on chapter five now (of twenty-two! Holy god I’m slow!!) and truth be told I actually enjoyed this opening. We're in Yatsuhashi's head this time around and he's likewise enjoying Vacuo's Meeting Spot, an "artificial oasis" that reminds him of his mother's healing gardens. I wonder what "healing" means in this particular context. A generalized benefit to your body, mind, and spirit in the form of meditation? Or a more literal, magic-based healing with its roots in aura use? In a world with RWBY's possibilities, a healing garden that someone like Ozpin might run—let's take time to settle ourselves and reflect—vs. one that someone like Jaune would create—let me use my semblance to literally heal your wounds—are rather different things. I'd be interested to know which category (or another) Yatsuhashi's mother falls under.
Regardless, it's a satisfyingly quiet scene. Yatsuhashi comments on both the beauty of the oasis as well as how that beauty, in turn, raises the desert in his eyes. Nothing like not having to deal with a hard landscape to make that landscape seem more bearable, alluring even, and this moment managed to capture that feeling rather well. The only downside is that, in a recurring theme, I once again got whiplash upon realizing that Yatsuhashi is not standing alone in the peace of the early morning, like the description had led me to believe. Apparently Velvet is there. As well as the whole freaking student body! Myers* has this strange habit of writing one kind of scene only to suddenly reveal that the scene is actually radically different from what his writing had encouraged you to imagine. Yatsuhashi is going on about healing, natural beauty, and the peace of an early morning. What's peaceful about dozens of students speculating beside him? Have you ever met a school of sleep deprived young adults dealing with a surprise announcement before breakfast? That’s as far from peaceful as humanly possible.
Mood, kid.
(*Also yes, we're working to write Myers' name correctly this chapter. If I'm going to drag his work so much the least I can do is not add an additional 'e' to his name lol.)
Along with the entirety of Shade Academy to break the peace, Yatsuhashi tells us about dromedons and mole crabs. The former, according to the wiki, is a "camel-like Grimm that can spit acidic venom" and also sports an armored hump. Fun! The latter, according to Yatsuhashi, is a "horrifying" creature that "slept just below the sand and could cut a person in two with their massive claws." And they're the normal, non-grimm animals! Screw Salem. Humanity needs huntsmen just to keep people safe from the everyday wildlife. Crabs cut people in two, Zwei is capable of being set on fire and launched at a mech... it's a miracle that anyone ever steps outside their home.
I do write this with full knowledge that Australia exists, but still.
As Yatsuhashi moves away from thoughts of killer crabs, we begin what is easily the strangest bit of repetition this chapter. Yatsuhashi's shoulder is sore from having tried to break down the hideout door and I'm going, "Wait no, you used your sword” and frantically flipping back through my PDF. To Myers' credit, there is a detail that suggests Yatsuhashi uh... rammed the door? I think? Last chapter he "Stepped forward and Fox heard him grunt with exertion." That's the only thing I can think of that would explain his shoulder unexpectedly being sore hours later: if he'd charged it instead of doing something insane like, oh, I don't know, trying the doorknob first. Odd choice of continuity, but okay. What's super weird though is that Myers repeats the detail again:
Yatsuhashi crossed his arms, then grimaced as a fresh pain shot through his shoulder. Come on, Aura, he thought. Do your thing.
I'm sorry, how badly did you hurt your shoulder? Why does a supposedly intelligent student immediately resort to what is apparently somewhat serious self-harm when faced with a closed door? Why is Myers choosing this of all things to tell us about? Is this incredibly random shoulder injury going to hinder Yatsuhashi during the test? Spoilers: I don't think it does considering that I searched for "shoulder" in my PDF and there's just a lot of hands on shoulders coming up, but nothing that, at first glance, seems to make this kind of set up necessary. So I say again: weird.
Meanwhile, weirdness doesn’t even acknowledge the continued inconsistencies with aura. Jaune heals a cut on his cheek instantaneously, but hours later Yatsuhashi needs to gripe at his aura to hop-to already? So either Jaune’s aura is far more powerful than the average person’s (never established outside of Pyrrha’s “You have a lot of it” comment), or Yatsuhashi really hurt his shoulder that badly. Hard enough that with the rest of the night and early morning to heal him, his aura is still working overtime.
Alrighty then.
So the whole student body is just kind of hanging out, striking up casual conversations. Velvet asks how Yatsuhashi is doing and he says he's fine, "Thanks to you." Wait... what did Velvet do? I mean yeah, she was there last night and she's here now, but so is the rest of the team. I don't really recall her helping Yatsuhashi in any specific way. As is the norm now, I remain mildly, endlessly confused by this novel.
But we don’t have time to delve into the gratitude attached to events I’m not actually sure happened. There’s more chit chat going on as everyone tries to figure out why they've been summoned so early in the morning. "It's not always about us," Velvet says and I nod along in agreement even though I know, as a reader, that it's absolutely about them. "As I'm often reminding Coco."
Coco fires back with how it "could be about us," noting that it would be pretty coincidental if something else was going on right now, plus Rumpole may have realized they were out last night. (Remember, Yatsuhashi wasn't subtle about trying to break down that door). This is one of those moments where I agree wholeheartedly with Coco's logic, but kind of hate to encourage the 'It's all about us' attitude. Velvet might be smiling, but as previously established this is an ongoing theme within RWBY's characterization that it could really stand to do without.
Yatsuhashi then offers some "unsolicited advice" about how Rumpole could afford to slow down some and "let things come at their own pace," to which I respond, "Huh?" Where in the world did this come from? Previously the whole group—including Yatsuhashi, considering he didn't speak out against it—was concerned that Rumpole wasn't doing enough to track down the Crown. That is, do more, move faster, get it done already. You haven’t gotten it done? Okay, we’ll do it instead. Now he's providing this subtle criticism in response to a meeting, as if that's an inherently odd or bad thing for a headmistress to do. You want the woman to do extra work faster but slow down when it comes to her actual job?
It reads to me like Myers is trying to put a lot of wise-sounding dialogue into Yatsuhashi's mouth—you know, the Asian character who keeps bringing up things like meditation and mindfulness—but hasn't bothered to think about whether that dialogue makes any sense. Of course, we then immediately backtrack to reveal that his comment was really about Coco not pushing the team too hard, but... that's not what he said? And Coco clearly didn't get the message. And the hidden meaning of the words didn't come across too well if your reader is squinting at what was said until the author has to straight up go, 'This is what Yatsuhashi actually meant.' Maybe just... have him say that? Give us some significant looks towards Coco, at the very least. Something to clue us in here that Yatsuhashi is (weirdly) blaming Rumpole for Coco's flaw.
Then he just ruins the whole scene further by mentally commenting that if all this extra work was hard on them, "what would it do to SSSN?" Ugh, look. I don't even like SSSN very much. I didn't shed a tear when they left the main series and would shrug if they ever came back, so you know the story is ragging on them too much when I'm standing up for the group at the bottom of my Character Adoration list. The duality of 'SSSN is so incompetent I don't even know how they're alive' and 'That, in comparison, makes us the best team ever' got old forty pages ago, yet I have the distinct feeling it won't be letting up any time soon.
Headmaster Theodore finally arrives to break up this thrilling conversation and the students erupt into thunderous applause. "It was what [he] expected. It was what he inspired whenever he appeared." That... is absolutely hilarious. This guy is so much of a showman, so insanely over the top, that he expects people to treat his everyday appearance as a spectacle worthy of praise and they agree. You know who he reminds me of?
The king himself, Alex Louis Armstrong. I'm digging this already. It's absurd and I will forever question RWBY's ability to balance comedy with its darker tones... but I'm counting this one as a win so far. There's got to be something to praise about this book.
Just as important, we get a description of Theodore's positively insane outfit. I immediately googled to see if someone had drawn him and the fandom did not disappoint. I'm not going to include the image here in case the artist, Edisu, doesn't want their work reposted like that, but I highly recommend you check out the link and get a visual.
The only thing left to say about this fashion monstrosity is that he has a "flowing gray-blue cape, the color of a stormy sky." I'll let our favorite textile engineer make my point for me:
Honestly, between Ruby's cape and Weiss' hair someone is going to end up in trouble one of these days.
In this world free of horrific cape tragedies, we've segued into a flashback which is, frankly, kind of boring compared to the others we’ve gotten. It's just the group meeting Theodore, information and characterization that could have easily been distributed to the audience in the present. It's starting to feel like the structure of including a flashback each chapter is hindering Myers somewhat, just because every chapter doesn’t necessarily need one, but that’s far from the biggest issue to tackle.
We learn that Theodore (really Rumpole) did a bunch of research on all the students involved in the Vytal Festival and they're very pleased that Team CFVY has joined them now, despite the horrific circumstances. We again hear about how judgmental Coco can be, that her judgements are rarely wrong... but if they are wrong she's the last to admit it. So really that's less of a 'This character has good instincts about other people' and more 'This character is just, as said, judgmental and then stubborn about it when she’s wrong.' Theodore, however, seems like a cool dude:
“Ah, she speaks!” Theodore strode toward Velvet. His voice softened. “You didn’t fail, my dear. You fought. You stayed, far longer than anyone would have asked or expected of a student. And now you’re here. Do you want to be here? Will you fight for Shade the way you did for Beacon, Velvet Scarlatina?”
This is great. This is the kind of reassurance I would expect from a headmaster who, thus far, has received a fair amount of praise. Unlike his students, Theodore understands the risks Beacon students took and when it was time for them to make a life-saving retreat. He's inspiring while also being empathetic and honestly? That's the most I've had that 'You're a good person' sense from RWBY in a very long time.
Now watch Theodore turn out to be evil lol.
He cuts the tension of the serious conversation by proclaiming that if any of them doubt whether they should be here, they should take it up with him via a fight. Theodore announces this while striking a pose. I say again:
We then get some more reflection on how Theodore compares to Ozpin:
Ozpin had believed in you before you did, almost like he knew your true potential, despite what your transcripts or fighting abilities looked like. Theodore believed you had potential, but you had to earn it and prove yourself to him first.
I agree with that and I'm pleased to see that this time the comparison didn't involve criticizing Ozpin in an effort to build Theodore up. It’s likewise a useful description and I think it provides us with at least one interpretation of why the RWBYJNR group has discarded Ozpin so thoroughly. The addition "despite what your transcripts or fighting abilities looked like" implies that Ozpin sees potential in everyone. It doesn't matter how presumably flawed you might be—in physical strength, like Jaune; in morals, like Lionheart— Ozpin will see the good in you and give that good a fighting chance. That's why he's the one tasked with doing something as crazy as uniting the whole world because he's the one person capable of seeing that potential in literally everyone. That much is true. But the flipside of this is that, unlike when in interacting with someone like Theodore, no one expects to have to work for Ozpin's faith, his praise... his trust. With Theodore you have to "earn" the respect he gives you right from the start. With Ozpin it's free! So surely that means such faith extends to every possible situation, right?
Which is when you run into trouble. When the situation is no longer "I'll give you a chance in my school" but something much more serious like "I'm risking the whole world on your character." Ozpin is an optimist, but he's also cautious as hell (with good reason), so though he sees the potential in everyone he knows he can't let his own hope for humanity blind him to reality. That person might betray you. They might turn on you. They might give up and hurt you in the process... even if you want to believe that people are simply better than that. Wanting doesn’t make it so.
If someone who had as little interaction with Ozpin as Team CFVY did nevertheless developed such a strong sense of, "Yeah, he believes in everyone!" then it seems likely that Team RWBY, already sporting a special connection with him, thought they were shoe-ins for every possible secret and task they might ask of him. Their time at Beacon was defined largely by both intentional favoritism and coincidences that could arguably be read as such. Ruby gets to go to Beacon two years early. She gets to be team leader. The sisters stay together despite teams supposedly being random. Team RWBY goes on missions not meant for first years. Team RWBY is given a nudge-nudge-wink-wink about The White Fang so that they can do what they’re able to help. Team RWBY was friends with Pyrrha, next in line for the Maiden powers. They got used to Ozpin simultaneously solving all the real problems that showed up and letting them play at being important, all while the rest of the school had to follow normal rules. They’re special. But then Beacon falls, the game is over, and they're blindsided by having to earn trust and privileges in the real world. Playing at huntresses in the safety of your headmaster’s school is over and Ruby in particular never got that there was a massive difference between that and a real war where the fate of the world hangs on your trustworthiness and ability to keep it together. It’s why she announces to the Argus guards that she is a huntress while attacking the people she’s meant to protect.
Which would be a fantastic arc to give them if the show ever had someone sit the group down and tell them how childish and selfish they're being. Instead, they're still being handed that trust and privilege—you can go into Atlas despite stealing from the military, you get your licenses years early, you get to carry an incalculably valuable relic around—while likewise still getting mad that the adults around them don't give them more. This comparison here, though realistically just a throwaway passage in a novel rather iffily connected to its original series, starts to highlight the excellent situation RT set up... and then didn't do anything with.
But I've gone on about this long enough. There are just two other things I'd like to point out about this flashback. The first is that it may help us get a handle on Ozpin's age (if we're willing to accept these books as canon, despite their other inconsistencies). Earlier we're told that "Headmaster Theodore’s whole style should have been ridiculous for a man likely in his forties, maybe older" and here, in describing their different approaches, we get "Headmaster Ozpin, who had been younger but seemed much older." So that could potentially put Ozpin his his late 30s if he's noticeably younger than Theodore in his 40s. Or, in his 40s if the "maybe older" part is right and Theodore is in his 50s. I can’t imagine that Theodore is in his 60s. Not much to go on, admittedly, but I'll take whatever I can get. The interesting thing is that if Ozpin really is that young and Qrow is now (presumably) in his early 40s, wouldn't that have made them basically the same age during his Beacon days? Perhaps even giving us an Ozpin who was younger than his oldest students? I don't know. It's really less of a definitive piece of information and more messy speculation to add to the pile—which is par the course for RWBY nowadays.
The second detail I wanted to point out was that despite all their supposed differences, Headmaster Theodore and Professor Rumpole have a very Ozpin-Glynda relationship going on. For all the cosmetic changes it boils down to the same dynamic. Both headmasters are powerful, quirky men who at first glance appear to be rather useless at their jobs, requiring the confident headmistress to swoop in and manage the daily running of a school. Those two do the heavy lifting while their bosses work wonders from behind the scenes (a la The Wizard). When I read Rumpole chastising Theodore for claiming he investigated the students, or when she reminds him that there isn't time to have an impromptu duel with his students, I couldn't help but think about Glynda reluctantly letting Ozpin invite Ruby to Beacon early, or cleaning up the cafeteria while he shrugs off the mess. To be clear, I don't necessarily mean this as a criticism, just an observation. In truth I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it adds to the overall sense that Shade is just Beacon with a slightly different coat of paint. As I've mentioned previously, for all the text's insistence that Shade isn't like the other schools, the story hasn't done a good job of demonstrating that cultural difference in any meaningful way and similarities like this only add to the feeling that this isn't really a unique Kingdom—or at least not one with a firm enough identity to be persuasively unique. Same rule breaking team sneaking out on their own mission. Same secondary team who’s talented, but not as special as the protagonists. Same strange man with his responsible woman running the school. The details differ, obviously, but the structure feels largely the same.
As mentioned above, once the flashback ends Theodore tries to spar with one of the students but is quickly shut down by Rumpole because, you know, they have a meeting to hold. Apparently there have been complaints lately from the local security about Shade students interfering with official huntsmen business.
“I told you it was about us,” Coco muttered.
Coco, when you hear that people are pissed that you, an unlicensed student, are disrupting the careers of professionals every night the takeaway should not be, 'Aha! I knew it was all about me.'
Yatsuhashi at least provides a more nuanced perspective. "This wasn’t right, though. If they hadn’t interfered, those Huntsmen would have kidnapped an innocent person." He's right. They did help someone, but what they've failed to learn is that an individual good deed does not excuse the unlawful steps they took in getting there. If Team CFVY had just been out on the town and happened to spot some shady characters pulling shit, then put a stop to their kidnapping, that's fine. That's heroic. What is not heroic is them going out with the express purpose of fixing a situation that trained professionals told them they should not be trying to fix—key word being “trying,” given that they all understand Rumpole’s worry that they’ll make things worse. It was enough to send them back home last night... after Yatsuhashi failed to break into the hideout. The problem is not the "I helped someone who needed it" part but rather the "I'm arrogant enough to think that my presence is necessary" bit.
If having students conducting investigations was wanted or necessary, it would be a part of the curriculum: acknowledged or otherwise. AKA yes, Ruby. It would be very helpful if you'd head on off to Mountain Glenn, under the observation of a seasoned huntsmen, and report back if there's any dubious activity going on over there. Ozpin said, 'Yes please' to the extra (highly controlled) help while these professionals are saying, 'No thanks.' The fact that Team CFVY acts is if they're justified in continuing this investigation—and worse, that the story keeps validating those feelings—undermines their otherwise heroic actions. RWBY really is a series that struggles with giving its protagonists compelling reasons for getting involved in the fight. ‘Because I want to help’ might be a noble motivation, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. The Mountain Glenn mission was like a chef allowing a talented, aspiring teen to help them with a dish, all of it done under their tutelage. Team CFVY’s investigation is like the teen sneaking into the kitchen after dark to doctor all the prep for the next day’s cooking under the assumption that they’ll make it even better. Hell, maybe they will! But that’s not the point. Your help was not invited — explicitly denied, actually —and there’s a very good chance you’ll mess something up.
So because this group of eight continually insists that they know best, the whole school is required to stay on campus after nightfall. Huzzah!
It’s just too bad these consequences hurt others just as much as Team CFVY. The other students are pissed about this. I would be too! Team CFVY remains adamant though that they did the right thing, no guilt here, relying on the reader inaccurately comparing ‘saving lives’ with ‘losing free time off campus’ in order to come out on Team CFVY's side. They still fail to understand that helping people is not the reason they’re being punished.
Theodore and Rumpole reiterate that they are working on a solution and that no one else should be getting involved. Team CVFY is no more persuaded by this speech than they were the previous ones. The announcement then segues into discussion of the former Haven students which produces... boos from the audience?? My god, what is wrong with this school? I mean I get it, school is brutal—both in real life and fiction—especially when the social dynamics of your school are written much more like a high school than a college, but usually if characters are going to drag new students it's in the semi-privacy of a bathroom or an empty hall. Groaning over the existence of war survivors in front of your headmaster is a level of confident cruelty I didn't expect.
Then again, RWBY is the show that gave us Cardin pulling on Velvet's ears in the middle of the cafeteria, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised.
Theodore quickly bypasses the whole 'A decent number of my students hate these other students' issue and instead acknowledges that it is "difficult to adjust to a new school, an entirely new group of classmates, and most of all to life in Vacuo. Yet some of you have been separated from your original training teams.” Which is a nice way of saying that a good number of these teammates are dead. So what's the solution here?
Reinitiation Ceremony!
I'm sarcastic, but in all honesty I don't hate this idea. Far from it. Partly because I have a strong love of competitions in shonen-esque stories. Tests, trials, the obligatory tournament arc... they've always been some of my favorite parts of a series, largely because they allow the author to develop whacky and creative challenges that show off important characterization. See: Killua using a skateboard during the tunnel run before deciding that if Gon can manage running it, he can too; or Izuku using the mines and a piece of scrap to blast himself ahead of Bakugo and Todoroki. The structure of such tests forces characters to demonstrate creativity and critical thinking skills alongside strength, and that in turn reminds us of why they're our heroes. RWBY managed this a little bit with the Vytal Festival, but overall I don’t think the teams did anything particularly impressive to win. Team RWBY worked together, Nora hit people really hard with her hammer, Weiss' injury pissed off Yang enough to tap into more power... it was all stuff we had seen before and very little of it required planning or creativity. The Vytal Festival functioned more to set up the plot developments of Volume 3, which is fine, though for a while I had hoped that we would get a huntsmen license exam to do this sort of work... which obviously didn’t happen. Disappointing, but we’re at least getting something like that here.
So I love the concept. I even love the general reasoning behind holding the ceremony at all. Anyone who had spent five minutes on this blog knows that I think the groups need to learn to play well with others. Yet I also can't deny that the team dynamics provide stability for these characters, even if they've come to rely on that stability to an unhealthy degree. We've got students whose teams were presented to them not just as a professional tool, but their primary support system. You live with these people, attend all the same classes, spend your free time together, and survive life-threatening situations on a fairly regular basis. It's work, family, and friendship all rolled into one, so if the headmaster suddenly says that you get a new team, that's a whole lot more devastating than just learning that you've got a new project group to deal with. It shouldn't have come to that—a school looking to teach a profession that requires working with a wide variety of individuals should never have told four students to rely one each other and each other alone—but now that we're here you can't just break them apart with no notice. Especially with a traumatic war going on. It's hard to come to a new school, meet new people, learn a new culture... so let me rip away the one piece of familiarity you have left.
Of course, I don't really think that the teams will be broken up irrevocably, if at all. Rather, I simply want to acknowledge that despite my appreciation for these kinds of stories and despite my desire that the teams get some distance... it shouldn't be done like this. Even more-so when it’s abundantly clear—to us if not the instructors—that this little stunt is causing their students to re-live a whole bucket load of trauma. Yatsuhashi thinks about how this feels like an “out of body experience” and “It reminded [him] uncomfortably of the evacuation of Beacon Academy… He felt his breath catch in his throat.” Coco’s order to stick together “[brought] him back to the moment,” re-emphasizing that he was lost in the past for a while there. He’s clearly struggling.
Now, to be fair, this could all fall under the category of flawed characters. Meaning, anytime something awful happens in fiction we can interpret that as a skill on the part of the author: they wanted to write a scenario where the teachers are screwing up and unintentionally hurting their students. Or they know they’re hurting their students and consider that to be an acceptable sacrifice under the justification of ‘They have to get over Beacon at some point!’ There are lots of ways to paint this as Myers/RT writing complex, human characters who make ambiguous choices—a testament to their ability to write “realistically.” But to be frank I don’t really buy it. Simply because I’ve had a lot of experience now with how RWBY handles subjects like trauma and it’s only rarely been written respectfully and engagingly. I could be proven wrong as the novel continues, but it seems more likely that Myers wrote the instructors coming up with this test, wrote Yatsuhashi panicking over it, and intends to continually imply that these two things are separate plot points. Bringing both together in a narratively useful way would require acknowledging the instructors’ motivations—Why this test? Why now? Do they realize the harm they’re causing? If so, do they think it’s worth it?—and then coming to some sort of resolution, either via some recovery on CFVY’s part due to the instructors’ choices (this test did help us move past Beacon), or the instructors learning something about empathy and trauma via CFVY’s reaction (we never should have done this). I highly doubt we’ll get either.
Thus, everyone is (justifiably) horrified. The teams are gone and either the shock of that made Team CFVY prioritize feelings of safety over strategy, or they're just not going to demonstrate any of the intelligence I look for in this kind of arc, because they immediately start obsessing over staying together.
He needed to keep his team close to him. Especially Velvet. If they weren’t separated, they couldn’t be assigned to different teams.
Yatsuhashi, that is not at all what Rumpole told you:
“It’s already begun,” Rumpole said. “Everything you do from this moment forward will factor into your evaluations for new teams.”
Where in the world did you get the idea that you wouldn't be assigned a new team so long as you stuck with your old one? If I were one of the instructors here that choice would make me more likely to separate them. "Everything you do from this moment," Rumpole says, meaning that how they respond to this information is a part of the test. The team that panics and refuses to separate is the team that either can't function without one another, or at the very least believes that they can't. They're not willing to work with others and thus they're precisely the type that needs to learn this skillset. You're the ones they'll want to give new teammates to.
Of course, fate has different ideas about how things should go down. And by "fate" I mean "A completely ridiculous plot device." Team CFVY is separated because... the crowd is large I guess? It’s ridiculous. Four fighters already standing beside one another and who are now hyper-focused on staying together are not going to get swept away by a Shade size crowd who probably also want to stick with their own teammates. There are far better, far more convincing ways to keep them apart. Ozpin shot students one-by-one into the forest! Literally anything other than what we got, really.
Still, that’s what we wound up with. Yatsuhashi and Coco both try to keep the team together only for the immense power of other people existing putting a stop to their plan. Alrighty then. Before they’re dramatically swept away on different ships, however, we do get two other noteworthy bits of information that I'd like to end on. The first is Rumpole’s announcement that “When you reach your destination, your goal will be to locate a gold figurine and bring it back to the school” to which Fox replies, “Great. Glad this is fair for everyone. Who can see.” And you know what? He's right. Maybe Fox and I will both be proven wrong (I feel like I'm writing that a lot this chapter...) but unless there's some miscommunication here or a surprise in store, a goal of "locat[ing] a gold figurine" is indeed a sight based challenge and, when placed in a test that is deliberately separating Fox from his team, puts him at a severe disadvantage.
The second is simply that the year levels of the students will not be a factor in the creation of new teams. “What year we are? Yatsu thought. This can’t be right. How could a first-year keep up with fourth-years?” to which I respond, "Um... that's the entire show?" The webseries RWBY is about how Team RWBY, starting out as first years, has surpassed everyone around them, to the point where they're now beating the best team in Atlas. Time-wise they're still second years—far as I can figure out, anyway—so if second years can beat elite military operations, a first year can stand toe-to-toe with second, third, and fourth years. More crucial to Yatsuhashi's thought process—because as an in-world character he doesn't necessarily know what Team RWBY has been up to post-Volume 3—he's still seen how well first years did at Beacon. Ruby was let in two years early. Pyrrha is such a phenomenally talented fighter her face is on their cereal boxes. A first year, Yang, went on to compete in the Vytal Tournament final (even if it was rigged. Yatsuhashi doesn't know that), and Team CFVY fought beside a number of first years at the Battle of Beacon. Now, you all know that I think education and experience are damn important. I'm not saying Yatsuhashi is flat-out wrong to question whether there would be any issues attached to slamming, say, a first year, two second years, and a fourth year into one team (especially when you consider practical questions like going to classes), but the general takeaway of "How could they keep up?" seems a tad strange. You know first years can keep up. You watched it happen, both in your former school's curriculum—first years get to go on an upper-level mission—and in real life battle. This knee-jerk response reads as even worse after five chapters of looking down on Team SSSN. Team CFVY really thinks highly of themselves, huh.
Honestly, it feels like our authors didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the implications of the dialogue/thoughts they’re giving to the characters which is, again, par for the course at this point. Like the questions attached to the test, this feels less like giving Yatsuhashi a flaw (he, as an in-world character, hasn't bothered to think through whether his knee-jerk assumption about first years is supported by his experiences) and more like a flaw of the creators. That sounds like a legitimate concern—in the same way that Yatsuhashi's advice to Rumpole sounds generically wise—but poke at it a bit and you start finding a number of cracks. An author who is well aware of the world they've built and strives to adhere to it might have had Yatsuhashi acknowledge some of the amazing things he's seen first years do and still conclude that there are problems with this decision. That's legit. As it stands, Yatsuhashi just sounds ignorant and (again) overly confident, which I don't trust to be a moment of character insight as opposed to an authorial blip.
Which is about where we end. The team is split on different airships, no one is happy about it, and we're left with this somewhat unsettling image:
Headmaster Theodore was waving and whooping, like it was all some terrific game, while Professor Rumpole watched silently, her hair whipping around in the wind and an unsettling grin on her face.
This gives me some hope that the story will treat the problems attached to this test respectfully. The description of Theodore acting "like it was all some terrific game" is a mark against his character and Rumpole straight up has an "unsettling grin on her face." Is she one of the baddies? Potentially. Will I ever again get adult characters who aren't depicted as inept, traitorous, or just so flawed that they unwittingly cause great damage to their students? Probably not. These two desires remain constantly at war with one another. RWBY introduces issues that the story should tackle, but the only issues it acknowledges are those attached to the adults. So we have everyone doing a range of iffy things, but only the elders are likely to be punished or (better yet) learn something over the course of the tale. The double standard remains so strong across the franchise that at this point I just want to raise a THE ADULTS DID NOTHING WRONG banner and call it a day. Not because they're actually free of mistakes or even, at times, downright cruelty, but because if our protagonists constantly get that free pass I'm not sure why everyone else can't too.
Anyone for a spot of denial?
But I've now written nearly twice as much as the actual chapter in question. It's time to stop! At this rate I’ll have written the equivalent of five Before the Dawns in my attempt to recap just one. #yikes
Until Chapter Six 💜
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YONA GREENSPAN is a 21 year old FEMALE WEREWOLF, who looks a lot like SARA WAISGLASS. YONA spends time at Traceless because HER PACK IS THERE AND SHE LOVES OPEN MIC NIGHTS AT THE CAFE. SHE is known for BEING AN EXCITABLE WEREWOLF AND BANGING OUT THE TUNES.
Hometown: Nyack, New York
Current Residence: Traceless
Special Abilities:
Yona is a werewolf, and fairly standard as it comes to abilities. Even when not shifted, she is faster and stronger than she looks, and has particularly good stamina. She has relatively good control over her shifts, and only starts to wolf out when she is really excited.
It does not seem like she has any other special abilities due to being a werewolf. However, she is moderately convinced that if she keeps trying to test out various powers, she will find another one out. She has a list of options that she has eliminated.
Apart from the supernatural stuff, Yona enjoys and has an ear for music. Her aunt and uncle put her into piano lessons when she was little, and she spent a lot of time practicing. She can pick up a guitar and get some chords down, but she doesn’t really like it as much as keys and singing. It can be difficult to get her to stop singing, and she isn’t very quiet about it.
Character Background:
tw: death, death of a mother, neglect of child
Arielle Greenspan had a one night stand after a night out with a friend of an acquaintance, and promptly put it out of mind until she realized that she was pregnant two months later. Arielle decided having a baby would be a great idea, and proceeded to get fully into baby fever. Playing it by ear, Arielle had her little girl, and shifted most of her work to home. Arielle’s younger brother Joey, completely bewildered by the concept of children, asked bluntly if the dad was in the picture. The answer was no, and Joey did not get much more information out of his sister than that.
As for the child, she had a pleasant early childhood. While Yona would color within the lines, she had an odd way of doing it. Yona wasn’t stupid, but she never had the finest grasp on common sense. She was an affectionate, exuberant little girl who she loved following her mom around, leading her Uncle Joey to call her a duckling. Joey enjoyed being the fun uncle, but he had never imagined that he would need to be anything more than that. ‘Godfather’ was supposed to just be a formality- a title to say that you wanted to be there in the kid’s life, right? He never seriously considered that he would have to lose his older sister so soon.
Joey had literally just gotten married three months ago, and had been looking forward to child-free adventures with his wife Genevieve for the foreseeable future. And now he had to worry about a kid who couldn’t be trusted not to put a fork in the electrical outlet? He seriously considered what would happen if he put up his six year old niece for adoption, but after Arielle’s funeral, Yona pouted and wouldn’t let go of his hand for two hours, so he had to keep her. Surely he could still get to go on his adventures as long as he found a good babysitter.
Yona’s childhood and adolescence were a little odd. She was always left under the care of somebody when Joey and Gen got the traveling itch, but those were often eccentric friends that were clueless about what to do with a kid. Sometimes her aunt and uncle brought her along on their adventures, and she was left to roam around European cities untethered. Joey and Gen read exactly zero parenting resources, and they were proud of it. Most nine year olds don’t receive a vibrator for their birthday without explanation, for example.
As sex-positive an environment as the Greenspan home was, Yona was left to the mercy of the American sex education program for any actual guidance. Twelve year old Yona, brimming with questions, asked the teacher if it was normal for girls going through puberty to “grow hair in weird places, feel really emotional all of a sudden, and have your body start to change?” After vehement reassurance that of course this was normal along with some arcane-looking diagrams of the human body, it took Yona three months to realize that it was in fact not normal to change into an entire wolf once a month. Her uncle and aunt agreed that this was very weird, but Gen had always been really into learning about the paranormal and mythology in general. After taking Yona to several obviously fake psychics and to meet up with some guy on Craigslist that sincerely believed that he was a werewolf but definitely wasn’t, Gen had almost given up hope.
On a trip when she was thirteen, Yona started talking randomly to a lady in a pie shop (she loved chatting with strangers and her aunt and uncle rarely stopped her).. and the woman happened to be another werewolf. Since werewolves had a good sense of smell in identifying their own kind and other supernatural species, the stranger lady asked Yona some tentative questions. Latching immediately onto this random woman she had just met (she said her name was HJ), she had a very informational and oddly calming conversation. Only after sharing more information than you should probably share with an adult stranger and promises from HJ for help finding a pack in New York agreed to join her very first pack did she grab her Aunt Gen. Unfortunately, HJ didn’t live in New York, so Yona had to join a pack with a whole bunch of strangers instead of her chill new adult friend. And the new pack was pretty nice. Yona thought that being part of a pack was way better than having to deal with the painful shifts on her own in the backyard.
Getting to join her own secret grown-up pack prompted Yona to start acting out more. She stayed out late, threw parties at the house when her aunt and uncle weren’t home, and pulled some truly epic pranks. The weirdest part was that Joey and Gen didn’t seem to notice or care. She would skip school sometimes and nobody at home would even mention it. All she wanted was to be noticed. She played up how much alcohol and drugs she was doing (basically nothing), and her aunt and uncle completely ignored it. She tried sleeping with some okay boy at her school when she was sixteen, but felt gross afterward and decided for once maybe she didn’t want every speck of attention she could get. She had been planning on telling her aunt matter-of-factly about that, but decided to keep at least that much to herself. It took Yona a full year to figure out that oh, she was interested in girls instead. Something about telling a pretty girl that she painfully turned into a big gray wolf every month made her feel insecure. It didn’t help that Yona found herself absolutely infatuated with just about every woman she met. Some crushes were deeper than others, but her feelings always felt real, exciting, and devastatingly painful. From her perspective, love was both brutal and amazing, and she wanted nothing more than to find it- even if it hurt. Still, it took Yona another year to admit out loud that she was gay (so gay), and desperate. What really pissed her off was when she came out to her uncle and aunt, only for Joey to reply with a casual, “Yeah, we’ve known since you were twelve.” Well it would have helped if someone had given her a hint!
Yona moved out of her aunt and uncle’s as soon as she had her high school diploma under her belt, and tried to figure out what she wanted to do with herself. Apparently, her mom had been on track to be some sort of superstar consultant. Most of the estate was funneled into a trust set up for Yona. Uncle Joey had told her he couldn’t figure out how any of that money stuff worked, and had done what the financial advisor guy who was in charge of the trust told him to do with the money. Yona didn’t feel like a trust fund baby or anything, but it was nice to know that even if she messed up, her mom had wanted to make sure she was okay. A lot of the time, Yona wondered if her mom would have been proud of her.
After moving out, Yona left her New York pack on good terms, and bought a motorcycle. Her aunt had shown her how to ride (it had only led to two near-wrecks), and this seemed more cinematic than buying a junker car that stood a chance of breaking down to drive across the country. She had been accepted at a couple of colleges (she’d kept her grades up well enough in spite of everything), but did not feel strongly about going to school when she felt weirdly stuck. Her aunt and uncle had never felt like parents, and she fantasized about discovering herself out west. Riding across the country (and getting hella lost in South Dakota… how was she supposed to keep the two Dakotas straight?) was a formative experience. It was a good thing that she had werewolf strength and instincts because Yona did not get any less naïve through this experience.
Eventually, she wound up in Seattle, which Yona thought was a bit like New York through a puddle. She didn’t really know if she even liked Seattle (mostly she just didn’t get it), but she did learn that there was a super cool-seeming café that catered to people like her. Or, well, werewolves plus a whole bunch of other species that Yona had not given a thought further than “they exist” to. For some reason, the café people wouldn’t let her bring her motorcycle into the shop so that she could have it on the other side of… well, wherever she wanted to take it. Anyway, Yona decided that she liked Traceless pretty well, and also really liked the idea of getting in on those open mic nights. Traceless was a lot better than trying to get lost somewhere even more frustrating than the Dakotas, so she stuck around. She enrolled in college, and half by-accident joined a new pack. It was great! She got to see HJ again and actually be in a pack with her. A lot of the Bonfire Pack lived in a cluster of houses in Traceless, and Yona enthusiastically moved in one with HJ. To anyone that asked, HJ was her aunt, but they were also not related in any way. Her new pack was a lot more dysfunctional and much less organized than her first pack, but Yona liked it better that way. After about four years in Traceless, she was one term away from graduating in the fall term, and not sure what she planned to do with herself apart from pitching in around the pack’s camp.
(ooc: lisa, 29, she/her, pacific)
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Complexities Unknowable Chapter 3
Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23274334/chapters/57175900
Chapter Two link: https://tha-best-url-evar.tumblr.com/post/614327945408987136/complexities-unknowable-chapter-two
MasterPost
Relationships: Established Relationship Dukeceit, eventual intrualiceit, background analogince.
Warnings: Remus says some things (mentions of biblically accurate angels, gore art description), food mention, mild sleep deprivation, cursing. As always everyone is sympathetic. Roast me if I forgot something.
Word Count: 1,851
Remus was, once again, sitting on the counter in the light side kitchen. It was an ungodly early hour of morning, so the Commons were deserted. He was supposed to be waiting for Morality, according to the spiteful little plot Dee had offered him that he hadn’t listened to all that well, but he surmised it meant he was supposed to fuck with a light side, so… Duh. Of course he was in.
Truth be told, three out of four of the self-proclaimed ‘light sides’ hardly bothered him! They were stuffy prudes, sure, but their insults slid off his back like blood off of steel. As long as he was doing his own thing with Deceit alongside him, everything was fine (he was still pointedly ignoring the existence of another Creativity). But looks like what Deceit wanted to do was torment Patton into, like, repenting? Or something? Like he said, he wasn’t listening.
Anyway! Waiting and watching was what he was doing! And doodling, because sitting still was literally impossible in Remus’ experience. Thankfully, he soon saw the paternal trait springing down the stairs. Straightening his back, The Duke put on his best intimidating face (which he thought looked rather silly, but Deceit assured him was very unsettling). He set down his sketchbook and blurred his edges. It didn’t work very well up here, but it was a little trick that they’d all- Virgil included- learned years ago. Honestly, he just used it to get cheap scares every now and then.
Patton strolled into the kitchen, whistling some jaunty tune and holy shit , Remus had figured it was some shtick, but was he just a cartoon character all of the time ? That was- sure, very adorable- but mostly all the more entertaining to scare!
“What’s up, Dilf!?”
Patton shrieked, nearly dropping a mug. With wide, startled eyes, he found the source of the noise. Said source watched the emotional trait force his expression into something amicable, laughing loudly.
“Um- good morning, Remus! I, uh, didn’t see you there.”
“That was the point, MoMo,” Remus replied, dragging his claws screechingly down the side of a cabinet; Patton winced at the sound.
“Can I help you with anything?” Read: Why are you still here? Sometimes Remus wondered if he was too good at his job!
“Nope! Just enjoying the atmosphere, sketching, terrorizing…” He flipped onto his back, throwing his arm out and presenting his open notebook.
“You draw?” Patton seemed weirdly happy about that fact, managing a more natural smile. Seemed he thought he’d found something to work with, but that was likely to change.
“Of course I do, I am Creativity, after all! Here .” He handed over the sketchbook with a Cheshire smile. The creative trait had ensured it was flipped open to a detailed depiction of a being composed of several flaming rings, all of which absolutely covered with bloodshot eyes. It had an indiscernible amount of wings that could only be counted as ‘too many’. In the center of the rings was a swirling black void (a type of ink that took Remus weeks to conjure properly, thank you very much).
He watched carefully as Patton studied the image, looking bemused.
“It’s an angel!”
That seemed to only confuse the moral side more, making him tilt his head to a few different angles to look at the drawing. But he still didn’t seem upset by it, oddly enough.
“It certainly is an interesting interpretation,” He responded at last, “and all of these little lines must have taken you forever, that’s so impressive!”
Truth be told, they had taken a while, and Remus was very happy that the effort had been noticed- but that wasn’t the point!
“That’s nothing,” he took the sketchbook back from Patton and flipped through more pages. Aha! This would fuck him up, for sure! A full-color illustration of someone hung up on a meat hook, rib cage pried open like a spike trap to reveal very painstakingly rendered organs. He was actually quite proud of this one.
The only response that Patton gave, however, was a slight wrinkling of his nose when he first saw it, followed by more quiet observation.
“What do you think?” Remus prompted, watching as Patton set the drawing back down on the counter and began to assemble things for breakfast, seemingly unaffected.
“I wish I could draw that well, but I’m still not super good at it,” he said admiringly.
“I had to crack open my own ribs to make sure it was accurate, you know!”
Morality yelped at that one- score one for Remus! Finally!
“You wanna see my re-imaginings of my favorite Final Destination deaths? I’ve painted some with real- well, conjured- but real enough blood!”
But Patton didn’t even flinch this time; he looked more determined even!
“Art is a healthy outlet for expressing yourself,” he was almost certainly parroting Logan there, and he even seemed to believe the statement. Perhaps Remus would have to be a little more creative to get more reactions.
. “I agree! I didn’t expect you to have such an open-minded point of view. I’ll be sure you’re the first side to know when I make my next amateur taxidermy sculpture! Emphasis on the amateur!”
“Great!” Patton practically shouted, very stubbornly staring at the stove.
Before Remus had the chance to continue, the distinct sounds of Logan and Roman arguing their way downstairs met his ears, and he cut himself off. That was enough for one day, he decided. And anyhow, he looked forward to trying new ways to bother Patton next morning.
Deceit rose into the shadows of the Light Side commons with a smirk. It was an awful hour of the night, which was part of the plan. Not only was Patton the first awake in the morning, he was also often the last to sleep. Deceit supposed that Logan was looking after Roman and Virgil’s sleep schedules nowadays, which made it much easier to catch the artificial patriarch alone. That isn’t to imply that Dee had been tracking their schedules or anything, but the overwhelming lie that Morality surrounded himself with made him easy to track- especially in the night, when he had to pretend even harder that he was fine without the presence of his little family. Deceit entertained the idea that he should feel bad for the side, and maybe he did somewhere deep down. Deep, deep down. No, further than that.
Regardless of any such feelings, he was here to mess with Patton. Still unnoticed, he watched quietly as his target scrolled through Netflix, illuminated only by the dim glow of the television. The side looked so tired that he could’ve passed as a corpse, but gave a tiny smile after finally selecting whatever it was he was going to watch.
Wait. Wait. He was watching that ?
Deceit stared at the unmistakable green text that was the intro to The Good Place playing across the screen. If there was one thing he was expecting Patton to watch (Cartoons? Friends reruns? Slime videos?), it wasn't his own favorite show.
“Hm.” Deceit hummed.
In response, Patton shrieked and fell halfway off the couch. His head darted around until he finally spotted Deceit, who had slid down to sit on the sofa as well.
“Oh- um- good evening, Deceit! Wow, today is just full of surprises!”
“ Surely you won’t mind if I join you? This is one of my favorite shows, after all.”
Patton fixed his position so that he was no longer partially on the floor and looked the snake up and down. He paused the episode.
“ Really ?”
“Really,” and then, after some trepidation, “Honestly.”
Suddenly, Patton lit up dramatically, a happy smile stretching across his face. Fuck, wrong direction, Deceit wasn’t supposed to be cheering him up!
“I’m surprised that someone like you would like it,” Deceit continued hastily. Patton’s smile fell a little and he tipped his head in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean ,” He lounged back against the couch, “I didn’t think you’d approve of a show where all of the characters are such bad people .”
“What?! The whole point is that they aren’t bad!” Good, Back on track .
“Oh? Then what are they? Last I checked, the main character was very selfish .”
“I- okay, I see what you’re trying to do,” Patton turned to face Deceit entirely, “But they’re- they also-”
“Also what ?” Deceit was also sitting sideways on the couch now, his eyes glinting. He was certain that he’d talked the trait into a corner, which was why he was so utterly unprepared for Patton’s response.
“It’s, like, they all start off not great, but that’s because they were all set up for failure before the afterlife! They had it hard before dying, but when they were finally given the chance to actually get better, then they got better! They aren’t perfect , but they care about each other! And I think it really shows that sometimes, somebody can be wrong over and over and over again, but that doesn’t mean that they’re hopeless, or that they’re a bad friend, or…” He trailed off, looking down at his lap and blinking very quickly. “Or that they’re a bad person.”
Suddenly, Deceit wasn’t that sure that he wanted to see Patton upset anymore.
After a very uncomfortable silence that lasted far too long for his liking, the scaled side realized that he should probably be the one to say something.
“That’s… a very in depth analysis, Morality. I’m inclined to agree with you.”
“Thanks,” Patton replied. When he looked up, his eyes held an odd recognition. It was a look that no Light Side had ever given Deceit, but they gave it to each other plenty of times. The side in question wasn’t sure if he liked it, but he sure knew that he was uncomfortable.
“So… The show…” He prompted.
“Oh, right!”
Patton pressed play.
Deceit had planned on doing some more provoking of Patton as they watched, but he found himself rather caught up in the program. The conversation he did end up making with the other incidentally slipped into chatting about their shared views on the show. It was almost nice. Maybe. Whatever.
After a few episodes, Deceit elected to return home for the night. As he was sinking out, he heard a sleepy voice bidding him farewell.
“G’night, Kiddo.”
He popped up in his bedroom after that, eyes quickly landing on a half-asleep Remus half-watching Saw 4 . The lights were dimmed to a glow, and the TV’s volume was so low that it might have been inaudible to anyone other than the more animalistic sides.
“You didn’t have to wait up for me,” Deceit murmured warmly, sitting beside his fellow Dark side. The trait yawned and rubbed his eyes, instinctively leaning into him.
“Wanted to,” he responded, voice groggy, “How’d it go?”
Deceit snapped his fingers to change into sleep clothes, reaching across Remus to flick off the lamp. As he settled in to semi-watch the movie, fingers automatically moving to card through his partner’s hair, he carefully considered the question.
“Fucking. Weird.”
Chapter 4
Tags: @deceits-left-glove @princemesscharming
#my writing#fanfiction#fanfic#sanders sides#ts#sanders sides fanfiction#Complexities Unknowable#deintruality#intrualiceit#dukeceit#demus#moceit#intruality#tw cursing#tw sleep deprivation#minor analogince#ya know as in blink and you'll miss it lol#creativitwins#patton#remus#deceit
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and he called her love amongst the snowflakes
Summary: Being a princess is no guarantee of a perfect Christmas. Spending the next two days snowed in with her brother's hot bodyguard just might be, though. Rated T for language. ~6.8K. Also on AO3.
A/N: Merry Christmas, @owlways-and-forever! It was an absolute delight to be your @cssecretsanta2k19. I hope you’re having a wonderful time with your family - in the meantime, here’s a little bit of a modern royalty AU for you!
Super thanks to @snidgetsafan for her last-minute beta skills, and @let-it-raines for her help with a title.
Tagging the usual suspects: @kmomof4, @thisonesatellite, @profdanglaisstuff, @ohmightydevviepuu, @scientificapricot, @optomisticgirl, @spartanguard, @winterbaby89, @thejollyroger-writer, @searchingwardrobes, @snowbellewells, @stahlop, @teamhook
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
~~~~~
“What do you mean, you and Dad won’t be home for Christmas?”
“Now Emma,” her mother sighs. “I never said that. I just said we won’t be home on Christmas Eve.”
“Oh, like that’s better,” she grumbles under her breath in a manner very much unfitting of the Crown Princess of Misthaven.
“Emma.”
“Ok, fine,” she concedes with as much attitude as she thinks she can get away with. “What do you mean, you and Dad won’t be home for Christmas Eve, a totally separate thing that’s not at all like Christmas?”
Her mother - Queen Mary II of Misthaven, if you want to get official, though Emma doesn’t quite want to when she’d rather act childish about Christmas - doesn’t even bother to respond to that particular bit of sarcasm. “I know you’re upset, sweetheart, but there’s nothing to be done about it. The snow’s just coming down too hard, and it’s supposed to keep up tomorrow too. As much as we both want to be home with you and your brother, neither of us can control the weather.”
What’s the damn point of being Queen, then, Emma thinks, mostly jokingly. Mostly. She still has a small self-preservational instinct, however, so she does not voice this out loud.
“We knew this was a possibility when we went,” her mother continues. “We knew the weather might turn. We hoped it wouldn’t, but we had to go anyways. We couldn’t miss this hospital opening, Emma, not when they named it after your grandmother. At the end of the day, we are here to serve our citizens.”
Emma mouths the last words along with her mom, having heard them many times. It’s not quite a catchphrase in their family - that distinction goes to her father’s very sappy “I will always find you”, the one thing that can reliably make both his children gag - but it does get repeated an awful lot. Call it their motto, or something. The lines just get more blurred when your family life and your professional life is so entwined.
“I’ll miss you,” Emma finally says after letting the line sit silent for a moment. That’s what this all comes down to, after all - as much as Emma understands why her parents had to fly across the country, and as much as she knows that they can’t control the weather, it’s Christmas time, and she wants to spend it with her parents.
“We’ll miss you too, sweetheart, and your brother too. Dad and I will be home as soon as we can, okay?”
“Okay, Mom.” What else is there to say?
“They’re waiting for us, but I’ll talk to you later. Give Leo a kiss for me. I love you, Emma.”
“Love you too. Say hi to Dad for me.”
As comparatively well as Emma holds it together on the phone, that evaporates as soon as the call disconnects and she lets out a screech of frustration. It’s immature. She doesn’t care. She’s allowed to want her family on Christmas… Eve. Eve.
(It’s technically still the night of the 23rd, but it’s the principle of the thing.)
Barely seconds later, a dark head pops into the room. Killian Jones - her brother’s security officer. Emma wouldn’t say she has a crush on him, but… she kind of has a crush on him. He’s just so goddamn handsome and charming, and she’s only human, even if she is the princess. They don’t cross paths very often - just on summers and school holidays, when Leo was home from boarding school and now from uni - but when they do, Emma can barely tear her eyes away. Damn, can that man wear a suit.
(Mostly, Emma just blushes a lot whenever he’s around, embarrassed by her own lustful thoughts. It’s a miracle no-one has called her on it yet.)
“Everything alright in here?” he asks, craning his neck towards all the corners, as if some kind of assassin might have made it through multiple layers of security at the palace just to crouch in the corner of a private sitting room. Just doing his job, she guesses. “I thought I heard some kind of shriek from the hallway.”
Emma colors a bit at being caught. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just —” She abruptly cuts off. “Is that an entire tub of cheese puffs?”
It’s Killian’s turn to turn a bit pink. “Aye. Your brother is playing one of his games, and you know how he gets. Likes his junk food.”
“Spoiled rotten, you mean.”
“I’d never say that,” Killian protests.
“Yeah, says the man bringing a tub of cheese balls up from the kitchens when His Spoiled Highness still has working legs!”
“You know, it sounds an awful lot like you’re deflecting, Your Highness,” Killian points out. His eyes still manage to twinkle with restrained laughter, even if his ears are still red.
He’s caught her, too. “Just a bit frustrated, is all. You know the stormfront going through up North?” Killian nods. “Mom and Dad got caught in it. They won’t be home tonight after all, and probably not even tomorrow. So… it’ll just be me and Leo for Christmas Eve, I guess.”
“I’m sorry, lo — ma’am,” Killian says softly. He does that, sometimes - start to say one thing, before quickly course correcting back to propriety. She’s always wondered what he’s trying to say - she’s never quite figured it out.
"It's not your fault," she shrugs. "Unless you've got some weird weather powers you've been hiding from me." It would just figure that Killian was the one who could control the weather; just one of the many secrets she doesn't know about him. "When are you heading home? You didn't get the Christmas shift, did you?"
Killian scratches behind his ear as just the tip of the cartilage flushes red. She can't imagine what he has to be embarrassed about; regardless, it's kind of cute.
Not that she's watching. That closely. (All the time.)
"I traded shifts with Mulan," he explains, referencing Emma's own security agent. "She's got... something with her girlfriend's family. Kind of a last minute thing."
"Looks like you're stuck with us, then," Emma comments, trying to tamp down the excited little butterflies in her stomach and the voice in her head that screams score! Very dignified.
Killian grins back. "Looks like I am." They smirk at each other for a minute, some camaraderie simmering between them with an undercurrent of something more. "Well, I'd better get the prince his cheese puffs," he finally says, shaking the container for emphasis. "I'll see you around, Your Highness. Let me know if you need anything."
(It would be horribly foolish to tell him you, so she doesn't say anything at all.)
———
By the time Emma makes her way down for dinner, the snowstorm has started in earnest - big, fluffy flakes that accumulate as soon as they hit the ground. In the little sitting room overlooking the gardens where her family takes informal meals, the swirling flakes make her feel like she lives in the little house in the middle of a snow globe. As much as she wishes their parents were here with herself and Leo, she's simultaneously glad that they're not out in the middle of this.
Leo flings himself into a chair with all the grace of a nineteen-year-old boy. Emma tries not to sigh too loudly at the way his limbs fly every which way, banging against the table and rattling the dishes; she's not willing to turn into her grandmother yet, thank you very much. She loves her brother, but somewhere along the line, he's developed an attitude that's hard to live with. Probably something about the independence of university going to his head, making Leo think too highly of himself. Maybe some girl out there will find it attractive - with their mother's hair and eyes and their father's strong jawline, he'd be a catch otherwise.
(She really must be turning into Grandma Ruth, if she's thinking that kind of thing.)
The one thing that's noticeably absent from Leo's little display is Killian. "Where's Lieutenant Jones?" she asks as the kitchen staff bring in plates of chicken and potatoes and asparagus to place in front of the pair of them.
Her brother shrugs. "I dunno. Probably having dinner somewhere."
That would make sense. It also brings into stark evidence that he's probably doing so alone; around Christmas, the palace always operates with a skeleton crew of staff so that as many people as possible can spend time with their families. There's no reason he couldn't just eat with the two of them. "Did you invite him to join us?"
Leo flushes red and mumbles something at his plate as he reaches for a dinner roll - not really an answer, but at the same time, more than enough of an answer.
“Leo…”
“I didn’t think of it, alright?”
Emma sighs heavily, before standing from the table to track down her brother’s security agent. It doesn’t take much searching; Killian is right outside the door, thumbing through his phone. He hurriedly stows the device away when he sees Emma, practically snapping to attention. “What can I do for you, ma’am?”
“Nothing, really,” Emma says. “You can stand down, or… whatever. I just wanted to see if you’d like to join us for dinner.”
“Oh, that’s really unnecessary —” he protests, but Emma’s determined.
“I know, but still. It’s kind of weirdly quiet around here, and there’s more than enough food. You don’t have to, obviously,” she hurries to clarify, “but it’d be nice to have you there. I’d appreciate the Leo buffer, at least,” she even jokes.
“Well when you put it like that…”
He follows. And of course there’s enough food, and of course he’s perfectly charming, and of course he has the presence of mind to suggest watching a Christmas movie after dinner to get them just a little more into the spirit of the season. Killian fits like that - unobtrusive, the way a good agent ought to be, but also charming and seemingly super-aware of how to cut through some of that sibling tension that always inevitably exists between Emma and her brother.
The movie is an old classic - one with dancing and singing and two reluctant people falling in love. Emma wouldn’t have expected Killian to like this - would have pegged him more for an action movie fan, or something like that - but he smiles and bobs his head along with the music. Leo is a different story altogether - after not even an hour, he’s already deserted the lounge for his room and video games, leaving Killian and Emma alone together.
“So what would you be doing tonight? If you weren’t here with us.” Emma’s clarification isn’t necessary in the least; however, she’s sitting close enough to touch Killian on the couch, and the thrill of it all is making her babble.
He’s gracious enough not to mention it, at least. “I’ve got a brother,” he explains, “and he and his wife have a little boy. Max. Really cute kid; let me dig out my phone, I’ve got so many pictures on there.”
The little boy on the screen can’t be more than four, with a wide and silly grin on his face and a dinosaur shirt to complete the picture. He’s just as cute as Killian promised.
“That was at his birthday last month,” Killian smiles fondly. “Four years old - growing so fast. Anyways, I usually spend my holiday with them. My sister in law has a huge family, and they’re always happy to let me tag along. Too kind, really.”
“I’m sorry you’re having to miss that,” Emma replies with genuine regret.
Killian shrugs; Emma has already proven she wouldn’t be nearly as gracious in the same situation. “There will be other years,” he explains. “All things considered, it’s not so bad, spending the holiday with Leo and your lovely self.”
“I think you’re the first and only person happy to be spending Christmas with that ball of teenaged attitude,” Emma jokes.
“It’s not so bad,” Killian deflects. “I’ll admit, the constant quips and eye rolling can be a bit much some days, but he’s a good kid underneath. Did you know he paid for all his roommate’s books for the coming semester?”
“No, I didn’t.” Emma shouldn’t be surprised, but she is. She’s gotten so used to the snarky terror her brother acts like around their family that it’s shocking to hear that it’s not always the case.
“Like I said - he’s a better kid than he lets on.” They watch the screen in silence for a few moments; they’re coming up on the finale. Perhaps Emma can convince him to watch a second movie with her afterwards. “I suppose he didn’t tell you about his girlfriend then?” Killian asks with a laugh.
“Leo’s got a girlfriend?”
“He would if he’d just ask her,” Killian snorts. “Her name’s Britta. You’d like her, I think - she doesn’t put up with any of his nonsense. Which, just between you and me,” he says from the side of his mouth like he’s confiding a secret, “he sorely needs sometimes. Anyways, she lives one floor up in their dorm. They have Intro Geology together.”
“He’s really doing alright?” Emma asks softly. Leo is, more often than not, a little shit, but he’s still her little brother. She still just wants the best for him, most of the time.
“He’s really doing alright,” Killian confirms. “Don’t worry - I’m keeping an eye on the boy. For all of us.”
The warm feeling that leaves in Emma’s soul carries her through the rest of the night.
———
Christmas Eve dawns much the same as the evening before - cold and snowing to the point of a whiteout. Emma isn’t particularly pleased about that turn of events, especially since it means that there’s almost no chance in hell of her parents getting home that day.
At least it’s a good opportunity for her to get a lot of work done. Being the crown princess means commitments to various charities and foundations and plenty of reading to come along with them, not to mention the never-ending stream of correspondence. A day just to focus on the things that have been accumulating on her desk will be good for everyone involved.
At least until the power flickers out.
It’s midafternoon, just when the light is starting to dim, and she’s been working on editing a proposal someone sent her via email. She technically can do it in the dim light, but it’s… not fun. Emma doesn’t particularly enjoy squinting. There’s generators at the palace, of course, but they’re directed towards the most essential functions - security, heating, and minimal kitchen operations. Lighting, for better or worse, isn’t included on that list - nor is wifi signal. She’s stuck.
On a hunch, Emma wanders down to the kitchen, to find Leo and Killian raiding the cabinets for candles and snacks. She should have figured; two young-ish guys, food was obviously going to be the priority.
“This sucks,” Leo gripes. “First, Christmas gets screwed up, and then this. Unbelievable.”
“To be fair, the electric company can’t really help the snow,” Killian points out as he extracts a roll of cookies from a cupboard. “A lot of electrical infrastructure is still above ground. It’s easy to get knocked out.”
Emma shoots Killian a sidelong look before swiping the same cookies. “How do you know so much about this?”
“You pick up a few things when you read, Your Highness,” he winks back.
“Are you guys done?” Leo interrupts. “Not everyone wants to watch your thirsty asses flirt all night. I’m not that desperate for entertainment.”
“Oh my god, Leo,” Emma groans back. It’s much more fun to watch how Killian turns bright red to match Emma’s own embarrassment.
“Look, just because the TV is out, doesn’t mean I want to deal with this.”
“Ok, what would you rather do then?” Killian asks in much more measured a tone than Emma would have been able to muster. Probably the benefit of not being related to Leo.
The younger man shrugs. “Scrabble?”
Killian snorts at that, though Emma doesn’t quite understand why. “Are you sure?”
“I like Scrabble,” Leo defends. “I’m going to kick both your asses.”
It’s as good an idea as any to spend a snowed-in afternoon.
———
A couple hours later, Leo is singing a different tune as Killian plays the last of his Scrabble tiles.
“Make sure you mark my latest points, lad,” he prods with a grin. “I want to make sure my lead is really cemented.” Killian has proved to be an invaluable ally in Emma’s personal quest to knock her brother down a peg; unfortunately, Leo is less enamored of the effort.
“Whatever. This is so lame,” the prince says, pushing back from the filled board. “I’m going back to my room.”
“Oh, c’mon, Leo, it’s just a game —” Emma protests, but her little brother is already out the door.
“I thought he said he liked Scrabble?” Killian asks, starting to collect the little tiles back into their bag.
“Oh, he does. He just likes winning, and usually he can beat the rest of us. Finally met his match with your fancy words, I guess,” she jokes, though it kind of falls flat. It’s hard for the punchline to land when its subject has already stormed out of the room.
“Ah. Well, I apologize for that.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Emma excuses. “Though if you don’t mind, I’m not sure I’m up for a rematch - at least not of Scrabble.”
“You got something in mind, Your Highness?” Killian smirks.
“Have you ever played cribbage?”
“Once or twice. I could be persuaded.”
“I’ll get the board then.” Emma stands up, but pauses before actually leaving to do so. “And call me Emma.”
She leaves the room before she can see him react, but barely catches the soft trail of his words as she passes through the door.
“As you wish… Emma.”
———
It turns out, Killian is lying about having played “a time or two.” Either that, or he’s extraordinarily lucky.
(Cheating isn’t fully off the table, either, but she’s trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not that he makes it easy.)
“So that’s fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, fifteen eight, fifteen ten, fifteen twelve, fifteen fourteen, pair is sixteen, and three pair is twenty-two.”
Emma groans as he moves his red peg around the outer curve of the board. They look like such a cliche - Emma in her pajamas, Killian with his tie loosened, sitting in front of a roaring fire with candles scattered on all the flat surfaces as they play cribbage on the floor. The typical picture of two people caught in a power outage. Touching, really. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but you’ve got the proof right in front of you. A damned good hand, if I do say so myself. What’ve you got there?”
“Utter shit,” Emma proclaims, tossing her cards down on the carpeting. “Run of three and a fifteen for five, plus a fucking useless ace. Absolutely jackshit.”
“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Killian cranes his neck to see where her cards are strewn on the carpeting. A nine, an eight, a seven, and that stupid ace. Nothing. “Never mind, it really can,” he laughs. “Tough luck, love.”
That little word - just a small endearment - hits her like a brick. That’s what he keeps trying not to say, all these times. Love. It just took a few permissions from her, and several more drinks than either one should have indulged in, for him to let it slip.
(She just might like it - being called love.)
The real question is what he means by it. It could be a verbal tic; it could be something more. Emma knows how she feels, her persistent crush, but it’s hard to tell how Killian feels behind his unflappable professionalism. Or maybe it’s not professionalism - maybe it’s just how he feels? God, she just can’t tell, and it’s about to drive her crazy.
Emma spends a lot of time studying Killian for the rest of their game. She doesn’t really discover anything new - she already knows the way that he laughs and smiles and teases - but it cements, somehow, that he’s a really good guy. She already knew that, really, but tonight has really driven that home.
The longer she watches him, and the stronger her conviction comes, the more she wants to do something about it. Maybe it’s the rum; maybe it’s the ambiance. Whatever it is, Emma wants to know just how he feels too, and hears herself talk without thinking.
“Hey, Killian, can I ask you something?”
“Of course, Emma,” he smiles.
She shouldn’t continue - should just keep her mouth shut and her dignity intact. Drunk Emma doesn’t agree. “I was just wondering —”
By some miracle, a face-splitting yawn interrupts her sentence, saving Emma from herself. Because she was definitely about to say I was just wondering if you, like, like-like me. You know, like middle school.
“I think it might be time for bed there, love,” he laughs, seemingly oblivious to the butterflies he just set swarming in her stomach. Love. God, she’s a sap, and one who reads too much into things at that. “What were you saying?”
“I… can’t remember. I think the yawn knocked it right out of my head,” Emma lies with a laugh. “You’re right, I should get some sleep. You too - you know where there’s a guest bedroom, right? You’re totally welcome to use it.” A stupid thing to say, all things considered, but Emma has progressed to babbling to cover herself.
“Aye, I do,” he assures her. “Now come on, love, up you get and off to bed you go.”
Love.
Emma goes to bed floating on a happy cloud made of rum and his endearments, certain the pairing will only bring her the sweetest dreams.
———
The dreams are sweet. The morning is decidedly… not. The room is too bright where sun seeps through the shades, and her mouth is too dry, and she can already feel the beginnings of a killer headache encroaching behind her eyes. Revenge of the rum, or something.
A glass of water helps a bit, as do a couple of painkillers, but Emma is still less than pleased to hear the knock on her door. She’d much rather spend the day in bed, Christmas together-ness be damned, but there’s traditions in this family she can’t run away from, and every year since Emma was very young, they’ve passed out holly sprigs and candy canes to the visitors at the gate.
Killian smirks when she opens the door, apparently finding some sick amusement in the death glare Emma shoots in her groggy state. God, it’s just patently unfair that he still looks so attractive while she’s so hungover - even in yesterday’s suit and shirt. He’s not quite all buttoned up yet - still a bit of chest hair peeking out the top and his tie hanging loose - and it only makes him look even more delectable.
(Is that still a way that people describe hot guys they have chemistry with? Truthfully, Emma is a little too foggy to know or care.)
“Well don’t you look festive,” he teases. “Is this what they call high spirits?”
“No, that was last night.”
“Touche, love,” he laughs. “Do you think you’ll be ready to greet the people at 10:30? That should give you and Leo an hour or so for the meet and greet. Your mother’s speech is scheduled for noon - though I suppose you’ll be tackling that if she doesn’t make it back in time?” He phrases it like a question; it’s not.
Emma groans at the prospect. “Don’t remind me. And don’t jinx it!”
“Sorry, sorry.” His eyes crinkle when he smiles at her - an extra little detail Emma hadn’t noticed before, but now can’t stop seeing. “I’m sure you’ll be brilliant.”
“Yeah, well, I’d rather not have to be.” And it’s true; Emma’s perfectly capable of giving a speech, and has done so on multiple occasions, but her mother’s annual televised Christmas address is something else entirely that Emma would rather avoid at all costs and if at all possible. That all depends on her parents being able to make the flight, however. “How’s the weather today? Any better?”
“Have you not even looked out your windows today?” Killian prods gently. Emma isn’t quite sure when they switched to this teasing relationship they’ve apparently established, but she thinks she likes it.
“I was a little busy trying to avoid all trace of sunlight,” she shoots back.
“Well, it’s a lovely, crisp day,” he promises. “I don’t see why your parents shouldn’t be home for Christmas.”
Just to hear it out loud is a huge relief, even if she has enjoyed their little bonding exercise the past couple of days. No matter how much fun she’s had with Killian, it’s still Christmas, and she still misses her parents.
“I’ll see you at breakfast?” Emma asks tentatively, hoping he’ll say yes, scared that he’ll say no.
“I’ll have the kitchens whip up something particularly greasy,” he winks back.
———
The morning is cold, but just as clear as Killian had promised. As much as Emma had grumbled this morning, she actually likes this bit of Christmas tradition - shaking hands, giving their visitors well-wishes, making sure to hand out candy to all the children. It feels like the true spirit of the holiday - giving not for the thanks, but for the smiles, and because it’s the right thing to do.
Still. It’s cold, and as much as Emma had appreciated how wide Killian’s eyes had gotten when she had emerged after breakfast in a full-skirted green coat dress, her skirt and hose don’t offer much protection against the weather. Pants would have been a much more practical choice, but there are expectations for days like these, and a skirt is part of that.
Her relief is palpable when they finally make it back inside. God only knows where Leo gets to - he’s off the hook, at least - but Emma treks back to her mother’s formal office as soon as her winter wear is sorted. As much as Emma hopes it won’t come to that, her mother’s annual Christmas speech is scheduled in twenty minutes, and if Queen Mary is still on the road, Emma will be expected to fill in. It’s not something she’s looking forward to; spontaneity like this never is, though she knows she’ll only have to read from a prompter.
Killian beats her there, somehow; by the time she arrives in the antechamber outside where television cameras and lights are already set up, he’s crouched under the tree, fiddling with the lights and offering an excellent view of his ass. Nice.
He catches her staring, of course. “Anything I can help you with, Your Highness?” he asks with a smirk.
“Nah, just taking in the view,” she winks back. Any fears she might have had about last night only being a product of the outage and the rum are largely quelled by the way he’s acting today - not quite just like normal, but not in a bad way either. Closer. More intimate. More… something.
Emma’s face settles into something more contemplative as she reflects on the change - something Killian, of course, doesn’t fail to notice. “What’s on your mind, love?” he asks, tilting his head in concern and curiosity.
“Nothing, nothing,” Emma hurries to say at first before reconsidering. She still wants to make a move, to see where they stand; more than that, she wants him to know just how much these past few days have meant to her. With that in mind, she takes a deep breath and tries to be a little brave. “I just… I guess I just want to thank you, Killian.” Emma makes sure to look right in his eyes as she says it so he can see how much she means it. “This wasn’t the Christmas I expected to have, obviously, but it’s been… wonderful, really. And you’re a big part of that.”
“Oh, Emma, you don’t need to —”
“Yes, I do,” Emma interrupts. “I know this probably wasn’t how you planned to spend your Christmas - not when you’ve got your brother and his family to spend time with. But it meant a lot that you were here, even if you didn’t want to be.”
By the time Emma finishes, Killian has flushed a brilliant red - even more than just his ears. “About that, love…” he says, tugging at his hair. “It really wasn’t quite as out of my hands as you believe. Please believe me - there’s no reason to thank me.”
“I don’t understand.” He had switched with Mulan, of course - she knew that already, he had told her as such - but that didn’t change that he’d ended up here for much longer than he should have been, thanks to the storm.
“You know that I switched shifts… but not when.”
“What does that matter?”
“Well, it matters because when I told you that I’d be around, that I’d switched… I hadn’t, actually. I arranged that with Mulan afterwards. There was no conflict with her girlfriend’s family, I just… I wanted to be here.”
As surprised as Emma is by the revelation, she still feels like there’s something she’s missing - whatever would make him want to stay when he could have avoided it. “Why?” She asks softly, taking a step closer into Killian’s space. This feels like the kind of conversation to require close proximity - foster emotional intimacy, or something like it. As Killian proved in scrabble last night, he’s the one with the words.
Emma can see Killian swallow as he stares down into her eyes. “I wanted you to have a nice Christmas, love,” he replies, just as softly. Tenderly, even. “I could tell you were frustrated, and upset, and… I know it was the height of hubris to think that I could make that better, but I wanted to try. If I could help make it a happy Christmas for you, love… I wanted to try.”
“For me,” Emma breathes - more a realization than a question.
“For you.”
It’s impossible to miss the earnestness and truth in his words and gaze. That desire Emma felt last night to kiss the daylights out of him has been simmering on low ever since they parted for separate beds, but it flares up again at his confession. He did that for her, because he wanted to make her happy. Carefully, Emma takes that last step into his space, so close that their bodies nearly touch. Slowly, she trails her hands behind his neck and up into his hair to draw him down, lips mere inches apart —
A commotion in the hallway barely gives them a moment to break apart before Emma’s mother bustles into the room. As much as Emma has spent much of the last three days wishing her parents were here, now feels like the worst possible time.
“Mom, you’re home!” she manages to gasp weakly. Killian discretely steps away again; though Emma understands why, she’d much rather continue what they’d started - without an audience - than watch him retreat back into professionalism. Especially when moments ago, she’d just gotten a preview of what his hands might feel like against her skin.
“I couldn’t miss Christmas, now could I?” her mother asks, hugging Emma tightly. “I didn’t want to leave you to take care of the Christmas speech either; I know that kind of thing isn’t your favorite, and you’ve had no time to prepare besides… but oh! It’s just so good to be home again! Your father went to try and track down your brother…”
The queen keeps rambling as she strips off her gloves, but Emma doesn’t pay much attention. Sometime in the last handful of minutes, Killian slipped out the door altogether, leaving only Emma, her mother, and her mother’s security head. She missed her chance, it appears.
(And after all they’d shared these past days… Emma could just screech with the frustration of it all. It’s becoming kind of a habit.)
———
Emma hopes to talk to him after their interruption - tries to talk to him, even, searching for him across rooms. But it’s Christmas, and her parents are finally home, and it’s so easy to lose track of time and get caught up in the hustle and bustle of things. By the time Emma can break away from the festivity for a few minutes, Killian has already slipped out, quietly replaced by Mulan. She knows that he won’t be back for several days - more than earning a vacation and time with his family after giving up most of his Christmas with her and Leo.
She should be able to talk with him once he’s back at work, too; after all, he’s only got three days off (she knows this for a fact - she asked Leo, any hit to her pride be damned). But by the time Killian is back at work, so is Emma, with charity appearances and daily meetings and everything else her usual schedule entails.
Maybe it’s fate that they don’t meet again until New Year’s Eve. Maybe it’s just fortuitous scheduling. Whatever the case, Emma doesn’t get a chance to speak with Killian until the annual New Year’s Diplomatic Gala, of all places.
It could be for the best, maybe; Emma can’t deny that she looks fantastic. Her dress tonight is silver and drapes elegantly across her body, creating a kind of vintage aura, topped with pinned waves, a rich burgundy lipstick, and long white gloves. The diamond and sapphire tiara is just the topper of it all, the icing on the cake.
(Emma’s always liked sapphires, but tonight, the stones don’t seem nearly as blue as his eyes, no matter how much they catch the light.)
She sees him across the room the moment she walks in, along the wall in another tailored dark suit, and she could swear that his eyes follow her too. Killian has a dress uniform, she knows - he wore it to the Armed Forces charity ball last year, and looked quite dashing at that - but tonight’s not the time for that. Tonight, the idea is to be as unobtrusive a presence as possible since he’s on duty, not that it’s going well. It’s hard for Killian to blend in with that face and that suit - or maybe Emma’s just attuned to noticing him.
Regardless, it’s still not the time to talk anyways - she’s still being escorted into dinner on the arm of the Ambassador to Glowerhaven, and there’s still a banquet and dancing to come. Maybe, if she’s lucky, she can steal away later; maybe, with even more luck, she’ll be able to pull Killian along with her.
(They’ve got unfinished business, and Emma still wants to learn how he kisses.)
The garden balcony off the ballroom isn’t exactly an ideal location in late December, but it’s the only place Emma knows she can get a few blessed moments away from the crush of people inside. It’s cold out, nearly trying to snow again; a few rogue flakes drift from the night sky to land on her bare skin. There’s a handful of heat lamps scattered about, but they only do so much, as do Emma’s gloves. This hadn’t been one of her brighter plans, Emma knows, but she and Killian had been making eye contact all night across the room, and she simply couldn’t wait any longer to slip away and hope he follows her.
Just as Emma’s preparing to abandon the plan and head back inside, a warm weight drops on her shoulders - the faux-fur wrap she’d discarded at the dinner table earlier as it got in the way of her eating. Killian smiles at her when she turns her head to meet his gaze.
“I thought you might be cold, love,” he explains. “We can’t have you catching a chill.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think much about the weather when I came out here - I just wanted a little time alone,” Emma admits. “With you.” The last part is added hurriedly when a flash of embarrassment streaks across Killian’s face, and he looks like he might make an utterly unnecessary run for it.
“We never finished our conversation from Christmas, did we?” Killian almost looks a little bashful about the subject, ducking his head and tugging at the hair behind his ear. It’s adorable, truly, not to mention a little fascinating - the way he shifts back and forth so rapidly and confidently between seeming like a smooth master of seduction and a bashful boy who isn’t quite sure what’s happening, but is happy to be there. Fascinating, in the best of ways.
“Oh, I thought that conversation was plenty finished,” Emma teases. She even sways into his space flirtatiously to underline her point, finding some kind of boldness within her that she wasn’t certain she possessed. It must just be something about Killian that brings it out in her. “If I remember right, we were about to move on to… how would you put it? Much more pleasant exchanges, or something like that?”
“Something like that,” he mumbles back. “If I crossed a line the other day… I’m sorry if I overstepped, Your Highness —”
“It’s still Emma,” she corrects with a smile, reaching out to lay a hand on Killian’s arm. “And you didn’t overstep. I was right there wish you.”
“I’d just hate to think that I pressured you into something —”
“Killian, did you want to kiss me on Christmas?” Emma interrupts.
Killian pauses. Emma wasn’t aware a human person could turn that red. “Yes,” he finally admits - just one simple word that sets her heart a-flutter.
“Well, that’s lucky, because I did too. Still do, honestly.”
“You do?” Killian looks like he can’t quite believe his luck.
“I mean, yeah. Christmas could have been… honestly, straight up depressing. But you made it better. And I… I like you. I mean, I’ve been attracted to all this —” she waves a demonstrative hand — “for a while, but I like you. It’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s stupidly picturesque, and I want to kiss you at midnight. If you still want that too.”
Killian breaks into a wide smile. “What if I don’t want to wait for midnight?” he asks, moving so close into her space that she can feel his breath on her face. She twines their fingers together where their hands finally meet. “What if I still want to kiss you? Now?”
“Then I’d say…”
Emma never bothers to finish the sentence, opting instead to lean forward and meet Killian’s lips with her own. Her high heels put her at the perfect height to just barely need to tip her head upwards to find a perfect angle. Killian’s lips are soft against her own - gentle and teasing at first, almost like he’s just trying to learn the shape and feel of them before anything else, but he’s more than happy to deepen the kiss when Emma sinks her hands into his hair to pull him closer. He tastes a little minty, like he just popped a mint before coming out to speak with her - a fact that seems impossibly endearing, even through the pleasurable haze of their kiss. She can feel his hands through the fabric of her dress, firm and warm at her hips, like he’s keeping her safe even now. The kiss is tender, and passionate, and perfect.
(Then Killian tilts her head with calloused fingers at her chin to adjust the angle and sweep his tongue into her mouth, and she gladly stops thinking much of anything at all.)
“That was…” he breathes when they finally separate, breaking apart just far enough to rest his forehead against her own.
“Well worth the wait,” Emma finishes. And then laughs, unable to hold it back. “You’ve been holding out on me, Jones.”
“Call it the magic of Christmas,” he teases back. Fireworks start going off around them; though Emma hazily wonders for a moment if they did that, somehow set off literal fireworks to match the metaphorical ones bursting between them, before she realizes it must be the new year. They completely missed the countdown - not that she cares.
“So how does one go about dating the Crown Princess?” Killian asks, already leaning in for another round of kissing. “I think that just might be my New Year’s Resolution.”
“Stick around, and you’ll find out.”
She’s got a lot of plans for them.
#captain swan#cssecretsanta2k19#cs ff#captain swan ff#modern royalty au#my stuff#and he called her love amongst the snowflakes#princess!emma#bodyguard!killian#and one hell of a snowstorm#merry christmas!#my writing
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Hello!! Um, if possible, may I get a haven box matchup for BNHA? I am having a hard time deciding between romantic or platonic but um..lets go with romantic? I am demisexual and bi-romantic!! My pronouns are she/they and u can call me um... 🐰 anon maybe? If its not taken!! Oh, and thank you in advance!! Take ur time, lovely!!
🥰🥰
So, physically, im kinda chubby and pear shaped. I have pink hair in a kinda scruffy pixie cut. Im a little tall at 173cm. I like pastels and dusty, faded colors, and my aesthetic is a mix of whimsical and comfort! I have blue-green eyes but tbh they look almost more grey, and theyre kinda droopy and sleepy.
I am..an awkward person. Like, I am really timid and softspoken. I stutter a lot, and I get nervous a lot, and I have trouble speaking up. A lot of the time I don’t say much at all because I don’t wanna talk over others. Um, well, I do have generalized and social anxiety though, so that probably contributes to my meek demeanor. I’m also very clumsy and perform poorly under pressure. Im a bit of a mess I guess, but I’m working on getting better, so I’m a bit proud of that at least.
I’m an infp and a cancer, and that combination is..pretty fitting for me. I’m very sensitive and emotional, and I am constantly daydreaming. My imagination is very active and I often have my head in the clouds, and I’m a bit idealistic. The anxiety I struggle with conflicts weirdly with how idealistic I can be, though, because I often find myself fearing for the worst while hoping for the best.
I care a whole lot about people who are close to me, though its only a small circle that really manages this. Im the token mom friend in my group, and I tend to take care of my friends and always try to be a support for them. Being honest, I can be kind of nosy when something is troubling someone, but it’s with good intentions?? Im sure it’s still annoying though.
I’m a lot more open with people I’m close to. When I’m comfortable around someone I’m a super goofball, and quite playful. I like to play small pranks and get up to mischief, but I draw the line at anything that is even slightly harmful, or anything that causes any emotional distress. I am very silly and I don’t mind being a goof if it makes people I love smile or laugh!!
I’m not very practical, and I’m not good at making decisions. I’m notoriously indecisive. Despite being kinda overemotional and timid, even I have times when I’m stubborn and headstrong. Specifically, when it comes to protecting my loved ones, my beliefs, or animals.
My interests lay on the creative side of things!! I do digital art, baking, embroidery, I play the ukulele, and I like to write! I also love self care and just taking it easy, so I often make my own bath supplies and candles. In particular, bath bombs, bubble bath, body butter, stuff like that!! I just like smelling nice and feeling clean and soft! I kinda have low self confidence, but that sort of thing makes me feel better. Also, I may seem a bit “uwu” I guess lmao, but im actually super into horror, angst, etc, at least in fiction! The music I listen to tends to be more along the lines of alternative rock, pop rock, and metal, but theres times when I just wanna chill to some indie or lofi too!
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Hello and Welcome my Starlight!
The Haven box includes:
- Match up
- Sun drop
- Old habits die hard
- Out of your shell we go!
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I'd match you up with
Uraraka Ochaco, Uravity
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Sun drops
- At first I thought of Deku (And Sugawara/Yaku but then I remembered they were in the wrong Fandom)
- I was going to pair you up with Deku but then I remembered Uraraka
- Then insert me having an indecisive moment as I choose carefully on who to pick
- Uraraka won! (obviously-)
- OKAY HEAR ME OUT THIS DYNAMIC WOULD BE ADORABLE
- Uraraka is a very bubbly and friendly, she will definitely help you with social situations
- She is good at reading people, this would definitely help
- with her around, it's never gloomy
- She would always be there to sit down and listen no matter what
- This right here is the "UwU couple"
- Uraraka and you would just Y E S
- Though she is very bubbly, she tries to help you cope with everything
- Like she will stay quiet just so you can talk
- She even tells her friends to let you voice out your opinion! (If she saw that you wanted to say smth that is)
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Old habits die hard
- When you first met her friends , she was so nervous that she acted like a robot at some point
- CUDDLES FOR DAYS
- She would often play with your hair and it calms her down
- CHEEK KISSES
- She loves to nuzzle herself in your arms
- Since she is shorter than you, she always finds herself back hugging you and attempting to put her head on your shoulder.
- This one time she tried putting her head on your shoulder with the assistance of her quirk but it ended up badly ckhdisbdjdihsbw
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Out of your shell we go!
“C’mon lovely! It’s just my friends,” Uraraka said as she wrapped her arms around her girl’s waist. “B-but, you know how I am with other people!” The taller female retorted. “And what if-“The green-blue eyed female started. “No more what ifs! They are really good people, they won’t judge us,” Uraraka then said as she held the taller’s hand. “If you are uncomfortable, I won’t force it,” She added as she smiled softly. As the taller female looked down at her with loving eyes, she decided what to do. “Fine,” She muttered. “Hmm? What was that?” The Auburn haired girl said. “I said, fine, let’s meet them,” She said a bit louder. Uraraka squealed and smiled brightly. “Don’t worry! There’s only 4 people. Just to keep it simple and all,” She then said as she hugged the pink haired girl and chuckled. “You sure though? I know how your anxiety gets, please don’t push yourself,” She added. “I’ll be fine as long as you are there,” Uraraka’s lover said as she wrapped her arms around the shorter. She then placed her head on her head briefly.
And soon enough, the Dekusquad was all together. “Guys, this is my girlfriend!” Uraraka said happily. But really, she is nervous. She was afraid of what her friends would think of her. Would they accept her as is? Will they leave her? Her fears were quite obvious to her lover. So, the green-blue eyes female held her hand as they waited for their reaction. “Ribbit! That’s so cute. Ribbit!” Asui started as she smiled. “I hope you two would have a wonderful relationship together,” Iida then stated with his robotic arm swing. “What Iida said,” Todoroki added. “I hope you two are happy always,” Midoriya said as he smiled. Uraraka was almost brought into tears as her friends supported her and her love. “I hope you all don’t mind me here,” The pink pixie said as she looked away. “Of course we don’t mind! Right, everyone?” Midoriya said. “Ribbit! You are always welcomed,” Asui said as she smiled. “Thank you all so much! This really means a lot to me,” Uraraka said as she hugged Tsuyu. “Yeah… Thanks!” The taller said as she joined in awkwardly.
“How long have you two been together, Ribbit! If you don’t mind me asking,” Asui said as she let go of the two. “A few weeks now,” Uraraka said with a smile.
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Author's note
First off, Thank you so much for requesting! I hope you enjoyed this match up. Secondly, I don't really understand the whole demisexual and biromantic, so I apologize if this was not what you wanted. I can change it if you like- And of course you can be 🐰 Anon! I'm also a INFP-T and a cancer~
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Sick Days - Chapter 5
Okay, chapter 5 is here! Virgil and Gordon are getting the spotlight this time 😄 But don’t worry, I will be getting back to Alan in the next chapter, I’m not done with him yet... 😈😁😅 (Someone needs to hide him from me, lol..)
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4 of fic.
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Gordon pov
Three o’clock, it was his favourite time of day, he thought with a grin as he waited at the school’s pick-up zone with his school bag. It was the crazy rush hour, the pickup zone filled with kids, young and old.
Younger kids were running about and playing with each other, some kids were getting picked up, others were taking on their phones or waiting for a bus. Teachers were trying to keep everyone under control, making sure no one ran onto the road and in front of a moving car.
He usually would have Allie waiting with him, they would talk about anything and everything. Share a funny joke, plan a prank, anything...but today he didn’t have his little partner in crime with him because the kid had gone home sick.
They had pulled him out of class to tell him that Virgil was only picking him up today, that his brother had gone home sick. But they didn’t tell him how sick the kid was, just that he went home sick with some kind of cold.
It couldn’t be that bad, surely? Alan didn’t seem that sick this morning. Though he’ll admit, the kid had been acting a bit weird this morning…
He grinned as he spotted his brother’s bright green pickup truck drives into the school’s entrance. That car was probably one of the most well-looked after cars there was, his brother taking great pride in his car. He swears his brother is in love with that green machine...
“Heya Virg!” He grinned up at Virgil as he threw his school bag into the back of the truck, opening the front passenger side door. “What took you so long?” He asked with a grin as he jumped into his seat. “I was dying of old age over there..”
Virgil shook his head with a slight chuckle, “Hello to you too, Gordon…”
There was a smudge of car oil on Virgil’s cheek, unnoticed by the Apprentice mechanic and volunteer firefighter, which was hilarious, he thought with smicker as he closed his door, doing his seat belt up.
Virgil looked at him suspiciously, not liking the look on his face. He gave Virgil an innocent smile, which admittedly just made Virgil more suspicious. “Well...did you have a good day, Gordo?” Virgil asked as he indicated into the main school traffic, away from the pick-up zone.
“Meh, it was okay, I guess..” he shrugged as he leaned back into his seat, his uniform getting all wrinkled. Not that he really cared, he hated the thing. It was so bland and boring, plus uncomfortable at times. “Would have been better if swimming practice wasn’t cancelled..”
“Why was it cancelled?” Virgil questioned as he tapped the steering wheel, waiting for the car in front of them to move. School time traffic was always the worst, and they haven’t even gotten out of the school’s grounds yet!
“The swim teacher called in sick, and the substitute teacher was sick as well, so no swimming for me..” He pouted, crossing his arms across his chest. “Like how am I going to win the Olympics if I don’t practice my swimming?”
Virgil sighed softly with a small smile, “You got plenty of time to practice kiddo, you’re not even sixteen yet..” and would not be for at least a couple more years, and the age limit for entering the Olympics was sixteen and older... “But I'll take you to the local pool on the weekend if you want?”
“You would?!” he grinned, bouncing up like an excited puppy. “You’re the best Virg! When I win gold, I’ll pay for you to go to the best art college there is! Or whatever college you want to go to really…”
“You don’t need to do that Gordy..” Virgil smiled at him, looking pretty touched. Virgil turned his attention back on the road, traffic starting to move again and before long they were on the main road. “I’m fine with just being an apprentice mechanic, it's enjoyable work, and it brings money in..”
“But I thought you wanted to study art or something?” He asked, looking at his brother in confusion. “But went with the apprenticeship instead because we needed the money?”
“Well, that's not the only reason, but yes, money was a factor, unfortunately..” Virgil sighed softly as he drove the car around a corner, “I would love to study art or even engineering, but as you said, we don’t have the money to spend on that…”
Virgil’s grip on the steering wheel tightened momentarily before loosening again. “And honestly? It’s not that big of a deal Gordy, I’m fine with it..” Virgil smiled at him, “I'd rather you guys get your education unhindered by expenses and stuff...”
“Yeah well...the offer still stands,” he said as he shifted in his seat, looking out the car window. “I win gold, you go to art school or engineering school or whatever..” He waved his hand lazily in Virgil’s direction, trying to seem like he didn’t really care about it, but when in truth, he did.
“I’ll hold you to that then..” Virgil chuckled, only half-joking.
It was quiet in the car for a bit after that, Virgil concentrating on driving while he just zoned out into his own little world where there was no school or homework, Just swimming, the wonderful sea and heaps of fun…
He snaps out of his daydream as Virgil turned down a street, in the opposite direction to their house. Huh? What’s going on? He thought as he straightened up, his curiosity peaked.
“Um, where are we going? Home is that way…” He points in the direction they should have gone, looking at Virgil in confusion. “Did I miss something?”
“I gotta pick up some groceries, we’re pretty much out…” Virgil explained as they stopped a red traffic light. “And with Alan sick, it would be a good idea to stock up on food anyway...”
He grimaced at the reminder that his little brother was sick in bed right now, “Is he okay? I mean...do you know how sick he is?” He asked softly, concerned tinting his voice as he looked over at Virgil. “I know there’s this nasty cold that is going around the school, I really hope he didn’t catch that…”
One of his friends had caught it, and they had looked so terribly sick, face pale as can be, nose irritated red and raw as they would constantly be wiping or blowing it. Last he heard, they had been forced to stay home as they had gotten too sick to even leave their bed, let alone go to school.
That was a week ago, he hasn’t seen them since… so he really, really hoped Alan did not have that cold...
“From what Scott had told me, it seems to be a pretty bad cold..” Virgil sighed heavily as the light flashed green, the car starting to move again. “Other than that, I’m pretty much in the dark as well…”
He sighed leaning against the window, watching the buildings fly by them. Sometimes he would imagine Virgil’s green hunk of a pickup truck was a giant plane, taking him somewhere filled with adventure.
He had no idea where that idea had come from, but he found it very fun to imagine all the awesome scenarios. Sometimes there would be a little submarine, it would be yellow as that was his favourite colour, and it would take him to the bottom of the ocean floor, letting him explore the sea to his heart's content.
He shared this little daydream fantasy with Alan, who would come up with all sorts of crazy ideas. One of them being that he has his own ship, a spaceship that could explode all the space and still be home for dinnertime. A bright red spaceship to be exact…
They could spend hours playing pretend in Alan’s or his room, imagining that they were daring explorers heroes, out in the unknown, saving lives like their heroes and having lots and lots of fun…
He often joked that it would make an awesome tv show, people would go nuts for five dashing young heroes… Alan would just look at him weirdly like he grew another head…
They turned into the local supermarket car park, Virgil having to drive around a bit before finding a park as it was busy at this time of day.
“So...can we get more celery crunch bars?” He grinned at Virgil as they made their way inside the store. “I’m almost out of them…”
“We’re just getting the essentials, Gordon…” Virgil gave a long-suffering sigh as he grabbed a shopping trolley, “not junk food…”
“You wound me, brother!” He gasped in horror, holding his hand over his heart dramatically. “Celery crunch bars are not junk food, they are an essential part of a growing boy’s diet!”
“Why didn’t I just leave you in the car?” Virgil muttered softly to himself as they walked down a shopping aisle. “Fine, you can get them-“ He fist bumps the air in victory, “-but only a couple! I swear those things are full of super…”
He deliberately ignored that last part, running down the aisle to get his precious treats…
#thunderbirds#thunderbirds are go#thunderbirds fanfiction#Gordon Tracy#Virgil Tracy#alan tracy#Scott Tracy#sickfic#normal au
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*insert fish and grape emoji here* for the oc ask meme!
I’m gonna pick Rin again, cuz I’ve been working on his dumbass story more often lately and even though he’s changed a lot, him and his basic personality have been the oldest oc I’ve stuck with
🐟 What was your OC like as a baby? What were they like as a child? A teenager? An adult? How do you think they’ll develop ten years into their future? Twenty years? Will they live to old age?
As a baby, he was one of those weirdly quiet children that, while all the other babies were screaming, just laid there in silence and looked at you with his weird, calm, little baby eyes.
As a child, when his mother was still alive, he was a pretty outgoing and talkative child. He loved to go on “adventures” in the backyard and to the park with his mom and brother and was constantly trying to show off new things he’d learned to do. After his mother died, however, he became more withdrawn, quiet, and anxious as he tried to make his presence as little as possible to avoid catching his father's attention. This personality lasted most of his younger years at Claw, as well. Only coming out of his shell a bit when he started to make friends with the kids his older brother had befriended.
As a teenager, he was a little like pre-mob Teru. He was kind of a little bastard that became arrogant and self absorbed and really only gave a shit about himself and like two other people. And his only goal was to prove how tough he was to everyone around him. This mindset really only changed after he watched Suzuki scar one of his best friends, and he was so freaked out by how Suzuki talked about and treated his friend like he was just an object to be used, that he began to stop caring about Claw's opinion of him.
As an adult, he’s a pretty relaxed guy. He’s 23 years old and has pretty much figured himself out, and figured out what he wants outta life. He’s quiet and blunt and still a little arrogant, but only because he knows he’s good at what he does. He is a bit sullen and distant because he’s very unhappy with his current situation and sees no way out from it. But, beyond his kinda pissy attitude, he’s actually a pretty decent person who just wants the option to be kind and live a normal life.
I’ve written several different routes for his future, but I still haven’t been able to decide which way I want to take for him. One option is him finally getting out of Claw once it’s disbanded, and having a happy relationship, and reconciling with his older brother and basically getting the life he’s always wished he’d had. Another is him violently losing a person he truly cares for, leaving Claw and actively working to take it down from the background, kind of like Shou, only to have all of his plans discarded and getting beat to the punch when Mob defeats Suzuki instead, when Rin had this whole, elaborate plan (that definitely would have failed) to kill him. And he ends up getting recruited by Joseph to work as a mercenary (the same job he had in Claw) for the government, to hunt down loyalists to Claw and other dangerous espers.
As for twenty years later, or living to old age; if I decide to let him be happy, that may be a possibility, and he’d be a weird, kinda goofy, chill guy. Like, the super friendly, socks and sandals, dad at the bbq. Sorta like Mobs goofy ass dad. But, if it goes the other route, and he ends up working for Joseph, I kind of imagine that he won’t live past 30. That route, for him, is full of pain and anger and resentment and he’ll probably end up in a situation that ends up getting him killed simply because he becomes much more hostile and arrogant and hateful over time.
🍇 Does your OC have any bad habits? Does your OC have any addictions like smoking or drinking? How did they fall into these habits and why?
He’s got a few bad habits in his personality. He won’t let anyone get close, and even if they do manage to get close, he actively tries to push them away. On top of that, he’s a bit of a liar. If a lie can get him his way or allow him to take an easier, less conflict filled route, he’ll lie to get what he wants.
As for addictions, he does smoke. It’s mostly a stress thing, but he’s constantly stressed and pissed off, so he’s constantly smoking. He drinks occasionally, but mostly just for fun, so it’s not really an addiction.
Pushing people away and lying are shitty coping mechanisms he’s developed over the years. After his mother died, and then seeing his childhood friends change and become violent, arrogant and dangerous because of Claw, he’s found that it’s easier to push people away and keep his distance than it is to let them in and face potentially losing them in the future. Same with the lying. He used to be a very honest, trusting kid. But, he grew up in Claw, surrounded by adults who didn’t care who they hurt or what they had to do to get to the top. So, he quickly learned that lying and hiding your true intentions was an easier and safer option. As for the smoking, again, he was very young when he came to Claw and was mostly surrounded by adults, with a handful of teenagers (his brother included) being the exception. He’d seen several of the adults smoking and, after catching his brother and his friend picking up the habit, he got curious and started to steal cigarettes from them and it basically stuck from there.
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7 Tell-Tale Characteristics Of The INFP Personality
Comprising only four percent of the population, the imaginative INFP is a rare Myers-Briggs personality type that stands out from the rest. As an INFP myself, I’ve found that I frequently instinctually recognize other INFPs, sometimes after only a few minutes of conversation.
INFPs are complicated, magical, mysterious beings, and for a while I thought (in typical INFP fashion) that something cosmic was cueing me into the presences of others who share my four letters. After thinking about this for a while, I’ve realized there are some more earthly continuities that bind us together.
So, here are seven characteristics of the INFP personality type that will help you recognize when you encounter one of us introverted-intuitive-feeling-perceivers, too.
1. We’re selectively observant
INFPs think about everything — and then think about everything again, reliving it all in their dreams. It’s no wonder so many of us are writers and artists; it helps to have a space where we can externalize at least some of the thoughts buzzing in our heads.
When someone says something that seems unusually or even unnecessarily critical or thoughtful, like a hyper-specific statement about a small detail that most people wouldn’t bat an eye at, I know I might be talking to an INFP. That’s not to say that we’re super-observant — sometimes we’ll miss logistical details because we’re caught up thinking about something much larger (or weirdly specific).
For example, I took the same route to and from school every day growing up, usually spending the whole time staring out the window. But when I started driving myself, I discovered I didn’t actually know the way! During all those years riding the bus, I’d noticed countless details about the trees or specific signs, and of course I’d thought about many large-scale problems and questions, but I didn’t memorize the twists and turns of our actual route.
When someone is deeply observant and sensitive to the world around them but also gets so caught up in moments that they temporarily forget the existence of time — someone who’s willing to talk about everything with me until the sun comes up but forgets to check the time of the last train home — I’m pretty sure I know their personality type.
2. We’re deeply self-reflective.
When someone casually mentions complex personal observations about the nuances of their own mind early on in a conversation, you might be in the presence of an INFP.
For example, Fernando Pessoa, a Portuguese poet and intellectual from the 1920s — whom I firmly believe was an INFP — wrote an entire book consisting of observations of his own mind. Called The Book of Disquiet, it’s written from the perspective of several of his alter-egos and contains statements like, “My soul is impatient with itself, as with a bothersome child; its restlessness keeps growing and is forever the same… I attend to everything, dreaming all the while… I’m two, and both keep their distance.”
3. We have a strong sense of compassion and empathy.
Though we spend a lot of time thinking about ourselves, INFPs are not self-centered. Actually, I believe that our self-analytical minds generally make us very compassionate and open to others, because by observing our own thoughts, many of us (like the aforementioned Pessoa) come to the conclusion that we are fragmented beings, constantly in flux. This allows us to relate to many types of people — because we’ve seen them all in ourselves.
INFPs tend to worry a lot about how others are doing. We’re the kind of people who’ll ask if you’re okay, then become convinced that you’re lying when you promise that you really are fine.
Nicknamed “the Mediator personality type,” INFPs will never be content with lives dedicated only to themselves and their own achievement, nor will they be satisfied lodged in systems of inequality and complacence. We truly value compassion in ourselves and others, often above all else.
It pains us greatly when others are in pain, sometimes so much so that we take on that pain. This can be harmful, especially in relationships, where we may take on the entirety of the other person’s mental weight. Wanting to be close to the people you love can backfire when you have a mind as open and malleable as an INFP’s, because this sort of exchange can be like carrying another person’s backpack while hiking, then falling down the mountain under the weight of it, thus ending the entire expedition.
When someone seems at once very compassionate and emotive yet also hesitant, perhaps afraid to open up too much, this person might be an INFP.
4. We’re creative dreamers.
Growing up, my grandfather constantly said to me, “Earth to Eden,” and I’ve heard this expression from others in countless forms. I’m always “in my own world,” a “space cadet,” etc. When I meet someone who seems “out of it” — distracted, elsewhere — but who also seems to truly want to listen to what I have to say, I might be in the presence of an INFP.
Being dreamy has its perks and consequences. Many INFPs are great writers — J. R. R. Tolkien and William Shakespeare were some of our own — and we don’t spend all that time elsewhere thinking about nothing; our imaginations make us artists and visionaries, and they allow us to come up with big, grand ideas about how to make the world a better place.
Unfortunately, sometimes this compromises our ability to deal with the minutiae of daily life, and it’s often hard for INFPs to reconcile the grand vistas we discover in our mind with doing small tasks like cleaning the house, remembering dates, and completing tax forms.
5. We can be awkward and quite self-conscious.
Like many introverts, INFPs can be quiet and reserved. Even when we get comfortable around certain people, we’re rarely able to escape the coil of our own self-awareness, which wraps around us like a well-intended but overpoweringly cloistering grandmother’s hug.
INFPs can be a little bit — and I say this with all the love in the world — awkward, unsure of what to do with the collections of bones and flesh we have been given.
Certainly, we can be graceful in situations we are comfortable in. I, for one, have always thrived when performing on stage, and INFPs can ace interviews and presentations when we get into a groove. In conversations, we breathe sighs of relief when we can talk about things we’re interested in or know a lot about, or when we can listen to someone else talk.
But when making small talk with people we don’t know well, we can be identified by visual cues like shifting around on our feet, struggling to make eye contact, and not knowing where to put our hands. When I see someone squirming like an insect under a microscope at a bar or party, I take this as a hint that I’m not alone. Of course, many personality types share this trait (even some extroverts), but when combined with other INFP traits, awkwardness can be a surefire clue.
6. We love people almost as much as we love being alone.
One of my best friends is an INFP. She’s one of the sweetest people I know, yet sometimes she doesn’t reply to me for a week at a time. This doesn’t bother me, because sometimes I do the same thing.
As INFPs, we crave connection on an extremely intense level, but shallow interactions (like simple text messages) can be taxing. We aren’t satisfied with small talk, but once we meet someone we click with, we can easily spend all our time with them.
I sometimes can intuit an INFP’s presence when I meet someone who seems closed-off, even unfriendly, but who opens up in a big way once a layer of ice breaks. Maybe we’ll have a super awkward conversation when meeting for the first time, then suddenly one of us will say something very emotional, or unexpectedly revelatory, and then — if the other person takes the bait — the river starts to flow.
Even so, no matter how connected we are to someone, we always have to come back to ourselves and the natural world. We treasure our solitude, partly because we feel no one really understands us except for, well, us — and often we don’t even understand ourselves. Spending time alone and in nature can be immensely healing and re-energizing for INFPs, and we crave a good balance of solitude and meaningful human connection.
7. We’re hungry for meaning and inspiration.
We experience the world intensely, and it doesn’t take much for us to have spiritual, life-changing experiences. On the other hand, if we stick to routines and don’t spend any time stepping out of our comfort zone, we quickly become dissatisfied.
I recognize other INFPs when I come across someone who loves going on adventures, but not of the sort that others typically find interesting. INFPs might love exploring weird parts of the world like abandoned places, and a rundown old mill can be as beautiful as a royal palace to an INFP’s mind. We might enjoy taking road trips and frequenting the kinds of places that are easy to fill with our own creative observations.
There are so few of us INFPs. In a world designed around small talk, hierarchies, and competition, we dreamers have to stick together.
Source: Eden Arielle Gordon
#Eden Arielle Gordon#infp#infp thoughts#infp things#infp personality#infp traits#infp problems#infp advice#introvertdear
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Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2016
I think everyone will agree that 2016 had “Impending Doom” written all over it, and as a result a lot of pop music became very depressed very quickly, and as such, I’m less enthusiastic about this list than some of the previous ones.
Disclaimers:
Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.
Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.
My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.
I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.
For a year that was so cataclysmic worldwide, 2016 was pretty mundane for me, so let’s just skip to the albums that came out that year and which I consider relevant to my tastes. Obviously (and unfortunately) there was David Bowie with Black Star. We should have known we had jumped right into the Worst Timeline when the year started with the death of Bowie. Nine Inch Nails also released Not The Actual Events, which was pretty good, and as I said previously I consider Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams to be more of a 2016 than a 2015 album. And then there was the biggest surprise of all, the return of Enigma after eight years of silence, with the very good Fall Of A Rebel Angel (even if A Posteriori is still my favorite “modern” Enigma album). EDIT: I forgot Ghostlights by Avantasia. Took me YEARS to listen to it & realise how good it was.
But no. Surprisingly enough, my favorite album of the year wasn’t any of those. It was... oh god, that title. Here we go. It was I Like It When You Sleep for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It by The 1975 - which I like to call “The 1975′s second album” instead, because what the hell, guys. Anyway. It had been a while since I had found a new band I’d consider to be one of my favorite bands. I really liked Chocolate from their previous album but that was it. But this one? What a breath of fresh air. A Change of Heart, She’s American, Please Be Naked, The Ballad Of Me And My Brain, Somebody Else, The Sound, This Must Be My Dream? That’s only the songs I listened to on a loop and that’s already nearly half of the album. Great music, love the vocals, but I especially love the writing, full of strange and awkward details and lines that make everything feel so alive. The first time I listened to some of these songs, some lines actually got a chuckle out of me, like the American girl wanting the narrator to fix his teeth, or him hopping on a bus to ask the passengers if someone found his brain, or his girlfriend complaining about his shoes and his songs then immediately adding “I thought that you were straight, now I’m wondering”.
As someone who’s constantly puzzled by human relationships and tends to act super awkwardly, all of this is extremely relatable. So yeah. Album of the year, love this band - impatiently waiting for that fourth album!
As far as unelligible songs go, as you can guess I’m furious The Sound (The 1975) wasn’t a hit because I was and I’m still listening to it on a loop. And that’s about it. Wait there’s also Kids by One Republic. It was super good. Apart from that, there’s also one (1) elligible song that I’m gonna put on the 2017 list instead because I really struggled to find enough songs I liked for that list, and that particular one is elligible for 2016 thanks to the French year-end list and 2017 thanks to the US year-end list, so eh.
Time for some honorable mentions.
This Girl (Kungs vs Cookin’ on Three Burners) - Number one of the year here. Every time I heard it (and I heard it a lot) I enjoyed it until that wretched drop.
Fast Car (Jonas Blue ft Dakota) - Not a good cover, but I love the original so much I’d be lying if I said I hated this completely.
Sucker for Pain (Lil Wayne & Imagine Dragons) - No, that slow, heavy, tortured beat that all recent Imagine Dragons songs have doesn’t work on topics like being a natural at something, being a believer, or describing thunder. It does work, however, with a chorus saying “I'm just a sucker for pain”.
Cheap Thrills (Sia ft Sean Paul) - Sean Paul, and a song about having fun without any money. Everything I want from an average hit song on the radio.
In the Night (The Weeknd) - This would be much higher if I didn’t find The Weeknd’s upper register slightly painful to listen to.
J’ai Cherché (Amir) - Hey look, the guy France sent to Eurovision that year. He’s still around, too. He’s pretty good, and that song is super cute.
Ride (21 Pilots) - Not the last time they will appear on this list.
Je Suis Chez Moi (Black M) - Pretty good song about racism, and the singer explicitly calls out a far right political figure who said some pretty terrible shit about him, and it’s a good answer.
Perfect (One Direction) - This is just Style by Taylor Swift all over again except slightly less good. But as I said before, copying good songs isn’t always a bad thing.
Human (Rag’n’bone Man) - Would definitely be on the list if listening to it didn’t feel like working.
Into You (Ariana Grande) - The last cut. The ending is wonderful and explosive, it’s just a shame that the entire song doesn’t sound like that.
And now... the list.
10 - Stressed Out (21 Pilots)
US: #5 / FR: #9
Defining song of the entire year, whether you liked it or not.
Fortunately, as you can see, I liked it a lot, even if I don’t have anything interesting to say about it.
9 - Don’t Be So Shy (Imany, Filatov & Karas remix)
US: Not on the list / FR: #2
I often joked that the melody sounded weirdly similar to Goldman’s “Envole-moi” by singing the lyrics of the verses over the Don’t Be So Shy verses, and it fits nearly perfectly. But apart from that, great song, great remix, very overplayed but never to the point of being annoying.
8 - I Took A Pill In Ibiza (Mike Posner)
US: #15 / FR: #29
There’s nothing I could say about this song that Todd hasn’t said before in what I consider to be one of his best reviews, if not the best, so here it is.
7 - Heathens (21 Pilots)
US: #21 / FR: #23
Super ominous and tense. It’s rare when a mostly grey song looks interesting, and this one definitely does. I also like the ending a lot. Don’t hang out with too many toxic people, guys, they will influence you over time.
I had no idea this was made for the Suicide Squad movie until very recently and frankly I wish it hadn’t because it’s way better on its own, especially the hand grenade line which works a lot better as a metaphor for self-destructive tendencies.
6 - Starboy (The Weeknd)
US: #58 / FR: #16
As I said before it took me ages to like The Weeknd. His voice is great but I found most of his songs fairly boring or disliked their lyrics. And then he teamed up with Daft Punk and to be honest, I didn’t even care if the lyrics of this one included weird lines about drugs on furniture, the beat was completely worth it and the singing was great. Not enough to put it on my mp3 playlist, but a delight every time it was on the radio.
5 - Faded (Alan Walker)
US: Not on the list / FR: #11
I adore this post-apocalyptic, contemplative music video. The music itself has this weariness and this quiet despair that felt super relevant, and even the drop is a bit slow instead of energetic. I usually don’t like this kind of song but this one found the perfect balance. If we really need to have more sad, exhausted hit songs, more like this, please.
4 - Closer (The Chainsmokers)
US: #10 / FR: Not on the list
I usually don’t like love songs if they are just that, random love songs without a good melody or good colors or good stories. If the melody isn’t particularly great and the colors boring, it needs to paint an interesting picture, and the more details the better, even if they are super awkward, like, as I said previously, in some of The 1975′s best songs mentioning bad shoes, or people’s jobs, or how a car smells like.
So yeah, what I’m trying to say is that my favorite thing about this song is the over-abundance of weird and kind of off-putting details that most people consider to be its main flaw. To each their own, I guess.
3 - Never Forget You (Zara Larsson & MNEK)
US: #46 / FR: Not on the list
See, this is one of the reasons why I decided to make these lists: to find great stuff I missed over the years. I discovered this song while making the 1.0 version of the lists on a google sheet in early December, and now this has a spot on my mp3 player. And it’s so weird because this song shouldn’t work. The drop is ridiculously lifeless compared to the soaring quality of the chorus and it actively works against the rest of the song. It takes a while to get used to it and I’m still not entirely sure it does work, at all.
But what can I say, framing is, once again, everything, and songs about imaginary friends are super rare, and that music video made me cry and catapulted this song from “that’s pretty good” right into the “holy shit that’s fantastic” category. And it made me rewatch Where The Wild Things Are, so yeah.
2 - Perfect Strangers (Jonas Blue)
US: Not on the list / FR: #70
This, on the other hand, stayed on my mp3 player for about two years, and the music fits the lyrics perfectly. It’s not a groundbreaking song, it’s not even that original, but in such an average year for pop music, “happy energetic song with beautiful colors and nice lyrics” meant the world to me. It’s kind of telling that it was enough to put it as high as #2, though.
1 - Hymn For the Weekend (Coldplay ft Beyoncé)
US: #73 / FR: Not on the list
And with this, Coldplay has officially topped as many of my lists as Linkin Park. If, back when The Scientist dropped, you had told me how much I would love this band in the future, I would have laughed pretty hard, but here we are.
But yeah, it’s one of my favorite songs on the album and it’s a super weird combo of heavy and aerial sounds, soft and super colorful notes, and I love the lyrics that completely mirror that feeling, feeling “drunk and high", “poured on a symphony when I’m low, low, low”. A great party song that’s also strangely melancholic. Exactly what I needed.
And then the Seeb remix happened and added a truely fantastic drop on top of an already great song, like turning the saturation up and adding little pulsing lights and transparency effects and shit. It’s sincerely hypnotic and visually so complex and fragile I’m afraid I won’t be able to draw it if I ever attempt to turn it into a synesthesia drawing. Just like A Sky Full of Stars, I was driving the first time I heard that remix on the radio, and I wasn’t expecting that drop at all, and I was gawking.
Godspeed, Coldplay, I’m so glad you’re still a positive force in my life, especially in these trying times.
Next up: Oh my god are you telling me that after 15 years I can finally put a song from that other band at the top of one of my lists
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