#like wow it's almost like Language is super important to the story | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

writer-darling · 11 months

Text

Are You Ever Dreaming of Me?

Chapter 5: Gorgeous | Read Chapter 4: Invisible String!

I NEVER USE Y/N OR ANYTHING LIKE IT THANK YOU SO MUCH :)

Rating: T - T ((for now, but there WILL BE explicit stuff later sooo (18+ MINORS DNI)

Pairing: Ezra (Prospect, 2018) x F!Reader

Warnings: Good old enemies-to-lovers trope. age gap (10 years). Nothing super descriptive for Reader but they are described as having hair. Tension, ofc, especially sexual tension out the wahzoo. Adult language. Alotta feelings and things of that nature. Banter. Flirting. It’s E-to-L, you know where this is going. Feral Ezra (he starts at a 72.8% but ends up at about a 55.9% in this chapter). Discussions of loss: parental. Mentions of food and alcohol. If there are any that I missed, please inbox me to let me know and I will add them in :)

Word Count: 7.2k

Summary!: You and Ezra spend the night sharing stories over food and drinks. You share stories of loss, of joy, encouraging a new connection between you two. Leading to a sense of hope between you both in this newfound friendship.

A/N: REWRITTEN AND REFORMATTED ON: 12/28/23

******

“You should take it as a compliment

That I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk

You should think about the consequence

Of your magnetic field being a little too strong…”

Ezra smiles broadly, glad that you agreed to the plan. The bonus is that he didn't have to grovel as much as he figured he would have to. He takes you to his quarters and asks that you wait for him a moment while he heads inside.

You hear him shuffling around in there but you don’t ask him what he’s doing, instead trying to calm your inner nerves. You don’t have much time to really think though as whatever he’s doing, he’s done with quickly. He smiles as he comes out of the tent, his pack on his shoulders now. Without another word, he turns and begins to lead the way, the two of you falling into step together. He makes sure to match his pace to yours, not wanting to overwhelm you or make you feel rushed.

"So," he says after a few seconds, trying to sound light and casual. "What do friends talk about, then?" You grin and look over at him with a teasing smile.

"Are you telling me you don't know how to make friendly conversation?" You ask, just not able to keep yourself from teasing him. The sound of leaves and shrubs crunching under your feet as you two walk becomes a quiet rhythm in the background.

Ezra laughs, amused by your jab. “Didn’t we agree no jokes?” He asks, though his tone is lighthearted. You shrug in response, smiling to yourself.

“Old habits.” You quip. He chuckles and rolls his eyes.

"Of course, I know how to make friendly conversation. Just want to know how you get things started." He says, still taking the teasing in good humor. His tone is lighter now, the tension from earlier broken by the laughter. "Go on, you start. What topics do friends discuss in your experience?"

"Well... we're starting over, right? So, then I guess we talk about our lives." You shrug. "Our histories, how we got to where we are, all that stuff." You say, your hands behind your back as you walk with him.

Ezra smiles, nodding along as you speak. "Good idea," he says. "Sounds like a good place to start. Okay, but here are some rules. We need full honesty, okay? No more games, no holdin’ facts back. I want to hear everythin’, and I want it straight from the source. No secrets, no bull..." He laughs, a smile on your face. "Just the truth. We got a deal?"

"Wow, you're really taking this starting over thing seriously, huh?" You ask. "Ok, deal." You say.

"I am, and I want you to do the same, alright?" Ezra asks earnestly. "No half-truths, no white lies. I'm puttin’ everythin’ on the table." He asks again, a hint of seriousness in his voice. "This is really important to me."

You notice the seriousness in his tone and look over at him for a long moment. His dark brown eyes are almost obsidian in the light of the moon through the trees. They’re as serious as ever and you feel your heart thump loudly in response. "Alright, deal then." You say earnestly.

Ezra smiles, relieved at your response. "Good, I'm glad you're takin’ this seriously too," he says earnestly, his face full of warmth. "So let's start with... the start. Where did ya come from? Family, home life, all that stuff, tell me about it." His expression is a little hesitant, maybe thinking you’re going to change your mind. But when your expression turns pensive, you can see the relief in his eyes. His smile quickly returns, and he nods, ready to listen.

"Ok." You say, smiling softly at his genuine curiosity. "Where did I come from? A planet a few lightyears from here named Amorna. A prospecting town. My family dynamic is a little unusual, but it's a good unusual I guess." You shrug the shoulder nearest to him lightly. "My biological father’s been out of the picture since before I was born. So I was raised by my grandmother, my uncle, and my mom." You say.

Ezra listens intently, his expression soft and attentive as you tell him about your life, about your family. There's a look of sympathy in his eyes as you talk about your father, and he can feel his heart pang in sympathy for how much it seems to have affected you. When he speaks, it's with a kindness and sincerity he's never shown before. "That can't’ve been easy," he says, shaking his head. "You're strong to have gotten through that. And it sounds like you were raised in a family that loves you."

There's a sadness in your eyes as he says that first bit. "Yeah, my father is a deadbeat. He really let me down." You say before you quickly move on. "The rest of my family is great though, they’ve been my support my entire life.”

"What can you tell me about ‘em?" He asks, seeing that you want to shift gears and he follows your lead easily.

"They're amazing, all super hardworking. My mom and my grandma were like my parents. Mom played the role of the ‘dad’, while my grama was the ‘mom’."

Ezra smiles, feeling happy for you. "Your mother and grandmother must have been some incredible women." He says, imagining the strength they must have possessed to raise such an independent, strong woman as you. "And what about siblin’s?" He asks, his tone curious. "Do you get along well?"

You shake your head a little in response. "Only child." You add. “I wish we could’ve been a bigger family but after my birth, which was complicated for my mom, well… she decided she didn’t want to go through it again.”

“Complicated in what sense?” He asks before he quickly backtracks respectfully. “If it’s too personal, I completely understand.”

“It was a hard birth. She didn’t know she was pregnant and I was almost a miscarriage.” You say quietly. He goes quiet at that, his face understanding and somber.

“I’m sorry for your mother. I can’t imagine that was an easy thing to go through at all.” He says sympathetically. You nod for a moment as you think about your mom, smiling a little sadly as you realize how much you’ve missed her all this time.

“Yeah,” You finally say with a small sigh. “It’s not all bad though, I guess due to that, I was spoiled rotten.” Your smile is light-hearted now and he laughs, his mood instantly lifting and the atmosphere around you both soft and warm once again.

“Oh? So that explains the bratty behavior, then, eh?” He teases. You pretend to be mock offended, turning to look at him with widened eyes.

“A brat?? Me??? How dare you.” You say but your tone is humored. Your eyes twinkle with mischief and Ezra swears his heart stops for the briefest of seconds. His cheeks go rosy for a moment and he averts his eyes as he reminds himself to be friendly.

“Well, it uh, it sounds like you're lucky to have each other," he says earnestly. "I have sisters and we’re close in age, so it was always incredibly packed at our place." He shakes his head, still smiling softly.

You nod. "Yeah, I am lucky. For them both.” You agree before you turn to look at him with curiosity in your eyes. "So, wait, you've got sisters?? How many? And how old are they??" You're genuinely curious.

He smiles at your curiosity, but he nods when you ask about his family. "Yeah, I've got three sisters," he says, clearly happy to finally answer your questions. "My little sister, Shira... she's the youngest, she’s 35, my baby sister," he says softly, a look of pride on his face. "And I've also got two elder sisters, Dalia, 44, and Danni, 45. But they might as well be twins, they're so similar." His smile turns into a chuckle as he thinks about them. "It's one big family, I'll tell you that much."

You smile at the way he seems so proud of his sisters, as he speaks with such clear adoration for them. "Yeah? What about your parents? What are they like?" You ask him.

Ezra smiles thoughtfully at the question. His face softens as he thinks, a nostalgic aura around him as he remembers his past. "They were wonderful," he says. "They were the kind of parents that every kid wishes they had. Lovin’ and kind, but also fair and understandin’. They always did their best to help me grow up to be the best person I could be.” He laughs softly. "I know those are just sentiments that every offspring shares, but I mean it. My parents were very special people."

You hear the past tense he uses. You don't want to pry but you can't help your curiosity. "'Were'? They've... They've passed away?" You ask.

Ezra sighs, his expression turning sad. "Yes, they have. They were in an accident... a while ago. I've been dealin’ with the loss for a few years now, but I'll admit it's still hard sometimes." His expression turns wistful as if he were looking back on all his precious memories with them. But he snaps out of that mood quickly, shaking his head slowly. "It's okay though. I've got a great support system - my sisters - and my parents taught me how to be a good man. I'm just... tryin’ to live up to their legacy."

You can't help it as you place a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze of comfort. "I'm so sorry." You say sincerely as you look into his eyes. "I had a stepdad from the ages of 10-14, he passed away too and it was the hardest thing I've gone through, yet. His death was slow and honestly traumatic. I can't even imagine what I would do if I lost my mom too." Your eyes are gentle and sympathetic as you look at him

Ezra looks at you, his expression filled with gratitude and sincerity. "Thank you," he says softly. "It means a lot to me that you understand. A lot of people seem to think I should be over it already, but I don't think you can ever really 'get over' somethin’ like that." Your kindness seems to have calmed him a little bit, and he smiles genuinely. "This all happened a while ago, but I swear some days I wake up and it’s like it all happened just yesterday.” You nod, knowing exactly what he means.

"I hate to say it but... you don't get over it. Not with something like that. You know that saying, 'Time heals all wounds'?" You ask him.

Ezra nods earnestly, knowing exactly where you're going with this. "Yeah, I'm familiar with the sayin’." He says, his expression serious. "But the truth is, I don't think time can heal all wounds." There's a twinge of sadness in his voice as he speaks, but he shakes his head and clears his throat. "Time heals some wounds... And it can dull the pain of others… at the very least make them more tolerable. Some wounds, though, you can never really heal properly, even with time."

You nod, surprised that he caught on so quickly. "Yeah, exactly. Especially when it's such a profound loss like a parent... You don't 'learn to move on' or 'get over it'. You accept that it's happened, eventually, and learn how to adapt to life without them. Even if it's the hardest thing." You say.

Ezra nods at your wisdom, impressed at the way you've articulated such a complex concept so succinctly. "Exactly, yeah." He says, glad that you understand. "The loss never really goes away, and the pain never really heals... but the wounds... they hurt a little less eventually. It's a lot like physical wounds, I think. There are some injuries that leave permanent scars, but you can learn to live with them. And eventually, you can learn to exist in a 'normal' life again... even if you'll never be the same."

You nod, in complete agreement.

"Yeah, for sure..." You trail off, unsure of what to say next for a moment. "I'm sure your mom and dad were as amazing as you say." You say softly,

"They truly were," Ezra says earnestly. "My mother... She was the strongest person I've ever known. She was beautiful, smart, and kind, and she never once let me think I could be inferior to anyone else. Even the times we were as poor as can be. She made sure I always felt like I mattered, and she always listened to me. And my dad... He was the funniest person I've ever met. His smile could light up a room, and he never let any situation get him down." He smiles fondly, clearly thinking about happy memories. "I miss them, but I hold on to those memories of them."

You can't help it as your eyes widen at his words. "You're... You're not gonna believe this but... that sounds just like what I would say about my mom and my stepdad..." You say, almost incredulous. "My mom always used to tell me I had to 'look out for number one' a.k.a myself, and my stepdad was a huge jokester. He could be serious when he needed to be, but he preferred to make people laugh and be at ease."

Ezra's eyes widen in equal shock, his expression one of pure amazement at the similarities between your descriptions. "That's... That's incredible." He says, his voice disbelieving. "My parents raised me to value strength and courage above all else and to help others whenever possible. And my dad could always make me laugh to the point of tears!" He smiles, his eyes full of wonder. "Now you have me curious. What about your grandmother? Your uncle? Tell me about them," He asks, clearly interested and wanting to hear more about your family.

"They're also the best." You say with a fond smile. "My grandmother was strong-willed, So intelligent, and insanely hard-working, the trait both my mom and I got from her. Patient with me, but hard on everyone else, A wonderful cook, and very sassy," You both laugh at that.

Ezra can see in your eyes how much you miss her. “When did you lose her?" His voice is its softest yet, his tone again understanding. It’s clear he won’t push this subject if you decline to answer.

"A few years after my stepdad." You with a small, morose smile. "It wasn't easy for any one of us when we lost him, not at all. That and other stuff led to her health declining pretty steadily. But she passed peacefully in her sleep and at least I have that comfort that she didn’t suffer like my stepdad, ya know?" You ask. He nods softly.

"And your uncle?" He prompts softly. You smile a little more.

"Sort of a father figure. He's still living with my mom back home. He's the oldest and she's the baby so he protects her as much as he does me. He really stepped up after my stepdad passed." You say.

"You seem like you had a really lovin’, supportive family. I'm glad you all had one another to lean on when things were tough." He puts a hand on your shoulder. "You’ve come from a really good place, and I’m certain you can bring even more of that goodness to the universe."

You flush slightly at his subtle compliment and thank him. He suddenly stops and so do you as you see the river he mentioned earlier, realizing now that you both were so wrapped up in the conversation that you didn't even hear it. "Oh, the river. Where's the place to eat that you mentioned?" You ask him, scanning the area.

Ezra’s smile remains warm. "Right over here," he says, leading you through a small patch of trees. The terrain is uneven in spots, and it's a little rocky, but he does his best to guide you safely through the potentially rough ground. "This is the best place to eat near the river," he explains. "It's right on the water, so you have an absolutely gorgeous view on one side, and a nice cliff overlookin’ it all that we can eat on. Trust me, it’s solid enough."

You manage to keep up with him, letting him lead the way and doing your best to follow and stay close. He smiles at your determination and slows his pace a little bit to make sure you're not having too much trouble. You make it to the spot, and a gorgeous view opens up before you.

Just as he promised, there's a perfect area for eating, a cliff full of lush grass sits overlooking the water. Beyond the river itself is a breathtaking view of the forest in the moonlight. The water bubbles as it rushes over the gravel and stones below. If it wasn’t dark out you’d be half-tempted to jump in for a swim. It's really a stunning sight. "See? What’d I tell ya?" He asks with a smile, his arm stretched out wide to gesture around at the natural beauty around you.

"Wow... this is incredible!" You say with genuine awe in your voice. "But wait, where do we get the food from?" You ask him.

Ezra laughs a little bit at that. "I packed picnic provisions earlier, so all we have to do is lay out all the food right here." He walks over to his backpack and starts pulling out a variety of packs. He's got all the typical picnic items: sandwiches, fruit, etc. "The greatest part of it," he adds, his smile still on his face, "is that we brought drinks too." He reaches into the very bottom of the pack and brings out two aluminum cans with tabs. It’s cider, you realize.

You smile at him and see him bring everything out. "Is the cider the alcoholic kind??" You ask with genuine intrigue as you begin helping him organize the food and set it between you two.

Ezra's smile turns mischievous at your question. "Course it is," he says with a grin and a small wink your way. "The best way to wash down food on a picnic is with alcohol! I tried to bring only the best, you know?" He looks like a kid at Christmas as you two prepare everything, his excitement evident in his tone as he speaks with such confidence and enthusiasm. "And we've got some of the finest right here with us."

"Where in Kevva's name did you get alcohol from? The rest of the crew would kill for this stuff!" You say with a giddiness in your tone. You haven’t had alcohol in a long while. It was forbidden on expeditions, just as was other contraband, like his herbal cigarettes, but you’re glad your earlier suspicion about his hidden stash was correct.

Ezra's smile turns sheepish as he speaks. "Well..." He trails off, not sure how you're going to react to his answer. "It helps to be the boss’s right-hand man." He laughs softly with a small wink as he hands you a can. "As long as we're clear that this is just between us, I'm happy to share. This is rare stuff, right?" He asks, his eyes wide and curious, looking like his mind has already started to imagine the cider's taste.

"Insanely rare." You say, grabbing the can and reading it over. "Oh man, those bastards back at camp would go nuts for this."

Ezra laughs at your words. "Well then, it's a good thing we're as far away from them as possible." He says, already imagining the two of you sitting and enjoying the rare, forbidden goods right in front of you. "Now, are you ready to finally taste this glorious cider, or would you prefer we quench our hunger first? I'm kind of starvin’, but I'm happy to let you choose."

"Let's eat first." You say. "I haven't had alcohol in a while and we're gonna need some food in our systems to avoid getting drunk immediately." You say as you grab a sandwich.

Ezra nods at that, setting down his cider for the time being. "Sounds like a good plan to me," he agrees, his hungry stomach growling a little bit. He moves to grab a sandwich of his own, taking a bite and chewing happily.

You two eat together and for once, the silence is comfortable and pleasant between you two. There’s still some tension there underneath, but it feels warm and almost electric. He takes a little break from his eating to speak again, his eyes sparkling as he smiles at you.

"I have to say, I'm really enjoyin’ this so far. I'm happy that we're hangin’ out."

You smile and nod. "I never thought I'd say this but... I feel the same way. Hanging out without so much uneasiness... it feels good." You say, finishing your own sandwich happily.

Ezra smiles at your response, looking down at the food and savoring his own last bite. "Well, you know what they say about makin’ friends," he says with a soft laugh. "Sometimes, all it takes is a couple of drinks." He winks at you, his tone playful. "But you and I, we didn't even need that," He counters with a bright grin. "So, just imagine how good we're gonna be when we do drink."

You laugh softly. "As long as this night doesn't end with us getting drunk and trying to shoot each other's heads off, I'll be happy." You joke. Ezra laughs boisterously at your words, finding your dark sense of humor both funny and endearing.

"How 'bout another deal?" he says, holding his hand out between you two like you're about to shake on it. "No drunken shootouts tonight. Does that sound good to you?" He asks, his smile growing wide as he awaits your response.

You grin and slip your hand into his. "Deal." You say with a grin, shaking on it.

Ezra smiles broadly. "Then we understand each other," he says, nodding his head happily. "Now that we’re on the same page then, how ‘bout that cider?" He asks, his smile wide as he reaches over and grabs the bottle. "Shall we take a small sip, in solidarity of our new friendship?" He asks with a mischievous grin. You grin, knowing he's been eyeing the cider since he mentioned it. But you can't lie, you have been too.

"Hell yeah." You respond.

Ezra laughs at your response, popping the tab on his can and pouring a little bit into two paper cups. He hands you one and you both toast with smiles. "Just a small sip," he reminds you, lifting his own cup to his lips to take a small drink from it but not taking it just yet. "This stuff's much more potent than you'd expect, in my limited experience with it. Wouldn't want you to get wasted and puke on all this beautiful food." His tone turns playful at that last bit and you grin. Now he takes a slow, small sip from the cup, his eyes wide as he takes in the cider's flavor.

"Oh please, if anyone's the lightweight here, it's probably you." You retort with a playful eye roll but still, just take a sip. It is strong, but it's really good too. It immediately makes your chest and throat feel warm, but it sits well in your stomach, making you smile. Ezra smiles at your response, clearly taking it as a joke.

"Well... we'll find out soon," he says, sipping again. "Whaddya think?" He asks, his eyes sparkling as he looks at you. "Is it as good as you hoped?" He asks, leaning forward intently as he awaits your response. His attempt to impress you is adorably obvious.

"It's really good." You respond, taking a bigger sip. "Man, I didn't even realize how much I missed something as basic as alcohol." You mumble with a soft laugh.

Ezra chuckles at that, taking another sip from his own drink. "I know, right?" He asks, smiling widely at you. As he speaks, the cider's effects are already starting to kick in. He's finding himself growing warmer, more at ease, and he's feeling happier - and a little more relaxed too. "Is it just me, or is this stuff amazin’?" He asks.

"It is." You agree, feeling the same way.

You two spend the next half hour like this: eating, making conversation, and drinking cider together. It's such a nice time, one you haven't experienced with him before, ever. The night drags on and soon the stars are out. You lie down when there's a lull in the conversation, feeling buzzed and full and happy. It’s damn near perfect.

It all passes by in a blur of laughter and conversation, your talk flowing like the cider. You enjoy each other's company, finding yourselves lost in the moment - and as the night draws to a close, the cider's effects begin to become more noticeable. You feel warmer than usual, especially in your face, and there's a slight hint of euphoria beginning to set in. It's a strange sensation, but a pleasant one. Time flies by, and before long, the night sky is lit up with millions of stars, filling your view with a truly beautiful sight.

You lie back on the grass under you and just use up a minute to watch the night sky, taking in the constellations and the pink luminescence of the full moon.

Ezra lays on the grass next to you, looking up at the stars with a fond smile on his face. He sighs at the natural beauty of the universe, letting the night wash over him. "This is honestly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," he says, looking at the stars with reverence. "The stars are truly breathtakin’... It's incredible to think that we only know ‘bout such a small, insignificant number of ‘em. Even as space-farin' travelers... our knowledge is still so limited on the true expanse of space. Just ‘magine it: infinite galaxies, and universes at our disposal. Just knowin’ that there are trillions more that we'll never see, with infinite more planets - it's both awe-inspirin’ and humblin’ at the same time."

You can't help it as you laugh softly at what he says, half from drunkenness and half from good-natured humor. Ezra chuckles at your laughter, finding himself unable to contain a wide grin of his own as his mind begins to drift. He's never felt this... loose and at ease before. It's a pleasant feeling and a pleasant change of pace. All of that stress and pressure that comes with helping run a team have melted away, and it feels like he could just enjoy this night forever. This is what he wants, and the realization brings a sense of calm with it that is hard to explain.

"Tell me," he asks, turning his head to look at you, "what are you laughin’ at?"

"You." You respond honestly, your eyes still on the sky above you. "Even while drunk you still manage to talk a lot. It's impressive." You say, looking over at him with a playful glint in your eyes even as your smile is genuine and kind. Ezra laughs at your words, his face growing brighter in his blushing.

"Well, it's not somethin’ I do intentionally," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I’m just a verbose individual, drunk or sober. Can’t help it. It's my gift and my curse." He sighs, but he can't help the broad smile that comes to his face.

“I’ll say,” You respond with a good-natured laugh as you slightly sit up on your elbows, looking over at him. “I mean, c’mon, what was that you said the other day?” You clear your throat and suddenly crank out your best Ezra impression, an awful attempt at a Southern accent and all,

“If we hold that equivalent exchange persists in this space then we must give somethin’ of ourselves in order to build somethin’ new, in order to purge the bowels of this fecund wood for treasures made our own. Some of us have the proclivity for greatness while most do not. And those ambitious masses are the sacrifice this forest demands so that the true diviners can stand atop the mountain of corpses and claim their riches.” You’re both surprised you even remembered a sentence of that, let alone the whole thing. He grins, looking over at you and laughing at both the awful impersonation and impressive recall.

"Does that mean you wish me to shut up?" He asks, his tone playful. "Cuz if you prefer silence, I'm happy to oblige.”

"Are you kidding? The day you go fully silent is the day Kevva herself will come down from the heavens and end us all." You say, laughing a little more. "Besides, it's never really bothered me." You add sincerely with a light shrug.

Ezra laughs at your words, finding himself at a loss for a response to your comment.

"Honestly, I used to think you were so talkative just to impress the crew." You remark. He shakes his head, scoffing.

"Did ya really peg me as such a kiss-ass?" He asks. You shrug and make a 'small' gesture with your index finger and thumb, laughing again. He laughs too. "Suppose you've got a point," he says, clearly amused. "But, not really for them..." He admits with a pointed look your way. When you meet his eyes he grins, winking a little and making you avert your eyes bashfully. He pauses, his eyes still on you, and his tone turns sincere and soft. "It's honestly been an… unexplainable night," he says, his smile growing wider as he speaks. "I've never... enjoyed myself like this. Maybe I’m jumpin’ the gun but I have to ask: do ya feel like I'm your friend yet?" He asks with a genuine smile, turning his body so he's fully facing you.

"Well, let's see: shared our pasts? Check. Ate at least one meal together? Check. Drank together without having any issues? Check check." You say with another soft laugh. Before you turn your face slightly towards his, your eyes now sincere as you let the mood grow a little more serious. "Yeah," you say softly. "I think we're friends."

Ezra smiles warmly at your words. He's feeling really good - more at ease than he's felt in a very long time - and to hear that, well... it means more to him than you could understand. He gently takes your hand and gives it a little squeeze, his smile growing warmer with each moment. "I'm happy to hear that," he says with a sigh, "because I've really been enjoyin’ spendin’ time with you too. It's been a long time since I've felt this at ease around someone." You smile and return the affectionate gesture.

"Well, considering how dangerous our jobs are, that doesn't surprise me. It's hard to trust anyone out here, isn’t it? It's hard to really open up and be vulnerable when you're constantly in danger or preparing to be in danger." You say.

Ezra chuckles quietly, nodding his head in agreement. "That's very true," he says with a smile, squeezing your hand again gently. "This job can be absolutely cutthroat. A lot of prospectors will sell out the people they love just for the slimmest chance at a better payday. I'm not a fan of that kind of behavior, but it's definitely prevalent in our field." He looks down at you and smiles earnestly at you, pondering his next question. "Do you feel... safe around me?" He asks in a soft, caring way.

You meet his eyes and look over at him for a long moment, considering his question seriously. "You know... even though we were sworn enemies only hours ago... yeah I do. I always have. Even that other night outside my tent. When you grabbed me... I didn't feel unsafe. I didn't even feel scared. I put my weapon away as soon as I realized you weren't a threat, which if that had been any other prospector, I would've just shot them." You say, incredulous at your realization.

Ezra was not expecting that answer. His heart begins to race as you explain how you felt that night, and he finds himself at a loss for words. He can feel himself beginning to blush again, something he knows he can’t blame on the cider. He's not quite sure just how to reply to what you've just said. "That's... That's quite the compliment," he says after a pause, smiling at your words. "I'm... honestly, I'm sort of dumbfounded. I really don't know how to respond." He laughs quietly. "You... really didn't feel that scared of me?"

"Not at all." You say honestly, looking at him again. "I should have been... but now that I'm thinking about it... even when I despised you, I still felt much safer around you than I have anyone else on our crew." You say that like you can't believe it and that's because you truly can't.

Ezra's eyes seem to brighten up at your words, and a grin comes to his face as he hears just how safe you felt - and still feel - around him. His blush grows more intense as he looks over, unsure of just how he should respond. He doesn't want to say anything wrong - because in that one moment, he feels like he's just been given an incredibly precious gift. "That... means more to me than I can even put into words," he says softly, his voice a little shaky as he speaks. "Makes me really happy to hear."

You smile. "What about you? Do you feel safe around me?" You ask him, curious. You notice his hand still hasn't released yours but you don’t make an attempt to pull back from his grip. His touch is warm, firm in yours. It feels… almost natural.

He nods immediately, his tone turning serious as he speaks. "Absolutely," he says, his voice quiet and soft, as though he's trying to hide the feeling from himself. "I... I do feel safe around you." He pauses for a moment, and then adds, "It's the first time on this planet that I've felt safe. I can't describe it. I really can't." He takes another moment to look at you, a sincere smile on his face. "And I'd be lyin’ if I didn't say that that means... well, a lot."

You grin, feeling a rush of pride as he admits that he also feels safe around you too. You sense a sudden shift in the air between you two. Something more... vulnerable. Intimate. "Can I ask you something?" You ask, your voice softer and quieter as you try to find the right way to ask this next question.

"Course, you can ask me anythin’," he replies, a soft smile still on his face. He finds himself leaning forward a little bit at the change in tone, his focus entirely on you. "What's on your mind?" He asks, his eyes are soft and sweet. He seems to relax further as he speaks.

"Earlier... when you told me the truth about how you felt about me... you said I 'grew on you', right? Well, I guess I wanna know: was there a specific moment that you can remember where you went from hating me to liking me?" You ask him, seeming almost bashful as you speak.

Ezra chuckles quietly at your words, amused by how timid you seem. "Well... it's a little hard to pinpoint one moment, exactly." He says, his smile growing as he speaks to you. "I think it was more of a build-up effect. The more we spoke, the more I... I don't know. The more I found myself enjoyin’ your company, I guess? It really happened quite suddenly, but I realized that I found myself anticipatin’ our talks more and more." He nods to you in confirmation. "Does that make sense at all?"

You nod, and look over at him. "Our 'talks'?" Your tone is teasing again and playful. "I think our fellow prospectors would call it 'feuding' and 'bickering'." You say with another laugh. You finally pull your hand from his.

He looks down as if just now realizing he was still holding your hand. He misses your touch immediately. You grab both of your cups and refill them with a bit more cider, taking another swig, and letting the warmth of it run through you. He thanks you as you hand him his and laughs in response to your words, his smile growing wider at your teasing tone.

"Well, they can call it whatever they please," he says with a grin, "I'd be hard-pressed to call such a thing 'bickerin'. It was just two people... gettin’ to know each other." He takes a sip of his apple cider as he speaks, the warm feeling still present. "I rather enjoyed it, actually. The... the feudin." His last two words come out in his own teasing tone, and he looks at you with a playful smirk.

"Oh yeah?" You ask. "Those times we almost drew our weapons on each other would disagree." You retort, feeling warm. "I'm surprised we've never actually taken a shot at each other."

Ezra laughs at your words, finding himself unable to argue against that point. There have been quite a few moments where you two could have fired on each other... but you didn't. "Yeah, that is strange, ain’t it?" He asks, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "And we've certainly had more than our fair share of opportunities to end each other, huh?" There's a playful snark to his voice, but he doesn't disagree with you. "Would you prefer it if we had, then? Taken a shot, I mean." He asks with a smirk.

You grin, meeting his eyes, "Mmm... maybe." You say with a light shrug, though you're clearly joking. "No." You admit right after. "I've seen you in battle, and while I'm a good shot, you're much quicker on the draw than I am." You say, impressed.

"I've got good reaction speed, for sure," Ezra says with another smile. "As much as I hate to admit it though, you've got some good instincts while we're in battle." He pauses, taking another sip of his apple cider. "Maybe I should be a little more cautious in our future 'bickerin'?" He asks, laughing a bit as he speaks. "It might just save my life if you can pull it off." He smiles cheekily at you, laughing all the while.

"Oh?" You challenge, raising yourself up on your elbows. "So does that mean you want to have us be mortal enemies again?" You ask jokingly as you look over at him.

Ezra shakes his head, laughing at your words. "Oh no," he says, "I think I've had enough of bein’ enemies for a while at least. I'd prefer a night of peace." He takes another sip of his apple cider, still laughing as he speaks. "Perhaps I'll change my mind before the night's done, but... right now, I'm feelin’ like bein’ friends for at least long enough to enjoy this nice, quiet time together." He smiles at you warmly as he speaks.

You smile at that. "I can do that." You say in agreement. "This night has been... so different than what I thought it would be… in a good way." You clarify there at the end.

"I completely agree," Ezra says in confirmation. "This has been unlike anythin’ I've ever experienced... for me, this night has been life-changin’." He's silent for a moment as he considers exactly what he wants to say, and then he speaks quietly. "I'm not sure how long such a thing could last between us," he says, his tone becoming a little softer as he looks down at you, "but... I'm hopin’ this isn't the last time we get to share somethin’ like this with one another." In a very rare moment, the words just come straight from his heart. You look over at him and feel yourself shocked for only a moment. There's a clear vulnerability in those words and you feel compelled to respond in kind.

"It won't be." You promise. "I... I liked this." You say, and take your final drink, feeling the effects of the cider wash over you again.

Ezra smiles at your words, finding himself unable to contain his joy. "I did too," he says sincerely, "I really did." He sighs as he runs another hand through his hair, his voice growing soft as he speaks. "It's... it's been a really long time since I've had a moment like this. I... I can't tell you how important this has been." The look on his face is one of pure sincerity, and his voice is quiet as if he's speaking a secret to you. "I truly appreciate this."

You smile. "Any time."

You two spend another half hour talking under the stars before you both decide it's getting late and you should head back to camp, feeling a little more sobered up now. You feel sad at the idea of your time with him ending but there's a sense of hope and potential in the air between you two.

Ezra smiles as you both make the decision to leave, but there's still an undeniable sadness in his heart. He had hoped that the moment would never end... but all good things, right? He stands up, offering you a hand as you get up.

The walk back seems shorter than the going to, but you attribute that to your sadness at the prospect of the night ending. As you two reach the quarters, he turns to face you once more, his pack on his back. "Thank you for this," he says with a smile. He walks you back to your bunk and gives you a quick, reassuring smile. "I'll see you at breakfast, I expect?" He asks with a small grin.

"Yeah, definitely." You say with a soft smile. "I'll see you in the morning, Ezra. Get some sleep." You say kindly.

Ezra nods, giving you one last, warm smile. "I will. Sleep well." He gives you an understanding nod, and with that, he turns and walks away to make his way to his bunk. He stops, takes a look back, and gives you a quick, genuine wave of his hand. You wave back and he doesn’t step into his tent until he hears your tent zipper shut.

He can't stop smiling as he walks into his tent, and the thought of what just happened has him feeling quite excited. He has no idea what the future has in store for you two, but he's got a feeling you’re going to become good friends.

******

Ok, not gonna lie: I'm really proud with how this story is going. Now, things have changed between Ezra and Rookie. Should we start placing bets on who caves first??? Anyway, that’s it, thanks a million, hope you all enjoyed, and see you in the next one!

Tag List: @pedrocentric @luz-introvertida @castleamc @moralesfish @klara-luise18 @supernaturalgirl89 @december-gal1 @pbeatriz @castleamcc @hillarymurray4 @supernaturalgirl @supernaturalgirl20 @sherala007 @littlemisspascal @practicalghost @donnaa @scorpio-marionette @kayleezra @amandanik23 @maxpbxtch97 @mandy-sings @lowlights @shadesofnerdlygrace @harriedandharassed @carefulnowprincess @amneris21 @horton-hears-a-honk @xdaddysprincessxx @trickstersp8 @mswarriorbabe80 @permanentlydizzy @teddy2510 @bitchwitch1981 @jedi-in-crocs (hope it’s ok that I’m tagging you all!)

Links!

Join the Tag List here

Ao3 link here

TikTok here

Story Playlist here

The Masterlist here

Read Chapter 6: It’s Nice to Have a Friend!

#pedro pascal #jose pedro balmaceda pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x female reader #pedro pascal x f!reader #pedro pascal fanfiction #ezra prospect #prospect 2018 #prospect film #ezra x reader #ezra x you #ezra x female reader #ezra x f!reader #ezra prospect fanfiction #crossposted on ao3 #writer darling #are you ever dreaming of me?

42 notes · View notes

chibivesicle · 1 year

Text

Trigun Stampede Episode 5 - subtle we are not; Monev the Gale, we only knew you briefly

Another Saturday morning has come and gone here and it means the next episode of Trigun Stampede. Still pushing that breakneck pace and jamming in more world building. For this week, I’ll start with the location map highlighting that we are in the Windmill Village. Which is the remains of a crashed ship that has a lot of windmills to provide power.

The episode starts with an establishing shot of the lack of wind at the Windmill Village. A man is speaking over the radio, clearly a sort of televangelist type with the fire and brimstone sort of pseudo-Christian worship. And if you’ve watched the original Trigun anime, you will immediately recognize that the radio preacher is Wolfwood’s VA, 速水奨, Hayami Shō, stylized as Show Hayami in English.

As his sermon continues there is a shot of two people kneeling in prayer before a sort of eye of god/cross banner in their home.

The two of them continue to listen to the broadcast, their hands clasped together and we get a shot of the younger child looking nervous before it cuts to the OP.

This opening segment establishes that there is a sort of hard line religious group and these two people are worshipping it, or at least the mother based on the awkward body language of the child.

Our next shot is of Meryl driving as a religious radio program is on the radio and she’s ready to change the station, also telling us that it is around 50 degrees C on this desert planet at the moment!

Don’t worry though, Roberto is here to info dump and tell us that the religious group around plant worship is newly established - only around for a few years in the Stampede timeline. While they discuss the social cultural context, Vash and Wolfwood are sleeping soundly, somehow Wolfwood is able to do so with a half smoked cigarette.

Since Roberto doesn’t want to really have an actual conversation with Meryl, he decides to mess with her and make up some story about the red desert sand around them - which of course scares the shit out of her and then she almost hits the carcass of a giant dead bug. Which when they inspect it, Wolfwood somehow is able to explain it was killed with a single one handed strike from a ‘person’.

Wow dude, way to try to cover that you aren’t an ‘undertaker’ and are a trained assassin. Are you even trying to blend in Wolfwood? I’m going to guess that Wolfwood likely knows who could have done this - perhaps not the specific individual but that he knows it was a modified human by the Eye of Michael.

They go onto investigate the ghost town further and conclude it died due to the lack of consistent wind. The entire exchange between Meryl and Wolfwood about it is just weird. What was the point of Wolfwood commenting that using wind power is dumb for Meryl to try to correct him that it is a flawed form of power if there is no wind?

The scientist in me has more of an issue with this set up of wind power is unreliable. If you don’t have a plant, your plan would be to have both wind power and solar. Since we don’t see any clouds at all on this desert planet. Additionally, when you do live in a desert it is almost super reliable that you will have wind power; I never got over how windy the desert is and how sunny it is when I lived in the desert. The solution for this plot point is a combination of wind and solar. You have advanced technology even if some of it is lost - you can have solar panels. Of course this then creates the issue of you need another piece of the puzzle to explain why plants are so important in this world.

It was always my understanding of the manga that besides generating power, the idea was that the plants also helped to stabilize the local environment for terraforming needs as highlighted in the anime episode and series of manga chapters around Little Arcadia (and the rest of the Nebraska family). Even if you had wind and solar power it was the extra special stuff that the plants helped to add to the local environment made it livable and arable for farming if one put in the time and effort. Little Arcadia implies that something from a plant sort of escaped into the land and the family that nurtured it were able to create a little oasis in the desert.

The group explore the area and Vash picks up a strip of cloth that is covered in dust before he’s shot at by gunfire. Someone is attacking him! Wolfwood rushes in with his weapon uncovered and yells at him to take an action.

I have to admit I’m missing the dramatic reveal of his Punisher from the original anime and manga, it always indicated that things are serious. Now, he’s just there and ready to go. The scenes keep flipping back and forth between the worried kid, Rollo and the action of the giant man in a mask with machine guns for arms. The kid overhears his mother talking with others about how he’s supposed to be the next sacrifice to god having been a child born on a windless day. Studio Orange is clear - being subtle is not their storytelling style in this. We know that young Rollo knows that he’s up next for some sort of weather/ritual sacrifice to save the town and of course he makes a run for it into the desert.

Vash gets cornered and Wolfwood shoots him only for the camera to make sure that we know that little vials inject something into him that allows for rapid healing. Wolfwood knows this man they are fighting has similar technology that he has so - yeah - it harkens back to his statement of punching the desert bug with a bare hand.

The two run away for the moment, with Wolfwood almost dragging Vash along. We get them in an alley catching their breath and Wolfwood is already insulting and muttering about how pathetic Vash is. And the fact that he knows that Vash is hiding something about this Windmill Village.

It cuts to what is for the first time clearly defined as a flashback. I get it, they wanted you to not be sure if you were seeing parallel actions between Rollo and Vash but with a heavy nudge that this is likely a flashback and that kid might have something to do with the giant monster chasing them and yelling “Vash the Stampede!”

Vash finds Rollo when he tried to run away from him and that he was bringing him back for his mother who was very worried about him. Rollo through his conversation with Vash is trying to decide if he should trust Vash’s [likely naive] advice and return to meet his fate of a certain death or continue to run.

Of course Vash is clueless to the dark sacrificial plot and instead promises that he will get the proper medicine to heal Rollo. Since this is full time perma-sad Vash, we know by time he completes his quest to save the kid, he would have arrived too late!

The flashback then has Rollo going alone with a lantern to some part of the structure where he encounters our fine Doctor, the blonde girl who is barefoot and is restrained by some sort of grunts for the Eye of Michael who knock him out with a drug.

The flashback has the girl stating that she’s not the same as Rollo, that she’s actually and angel and that he’s totally different. The statement that she’s angel would make me think plant, but the fact that she doesn’t have the weird markings on her bare arms imply that she’s not a plant like Vash and Knives but more of a rather confident girl.

Rollo gets strapped to an exam room table, injected with all sorts of stuff and the Doctor explains that he’ll age rapidly but won’t die of his sickness if he can regenerate etc etc.

And this allows us to learn he is a ‘successful’ experiment living at least 5 years as his superhuman form. The girl still thinks he’s a possible failure but the Doctor seems pleased enough and is using his hatred of Vash not saving him to drive his anger. I guess. The experiment scene also wants to hammer home that he is indeed Rollo, as at least 5 years later, he returns home to visit his mother before destroying their home which Meryl and Roberto inspect. We can hear the radio is still on with the Wolfwood VA talking while they look around. Interestingly, Roberto states it looks like this all fell apart 20 years ago.

If that is the case, the incident with Rollo running away from home and being rescued by Vash happened ~25 years prior, Rollo became his unnamed form, went back home 20 years ago, likely killed his mother and destroyed the place and then went back to the base?

While they inspect the rubble, Meryl finds a photograph of Rollo as a baby with Vash holding him that clearly his mother had taken. Thus, the timeline that Vash is older than he appears is being confirmed but with all the info dumping that Roberto does - he’d know that Vash is older wouldn’t he?

While Roberto and Meryl are being good investigative reporters Rollo is fighting with Wolfwood and Vash, but Wolfwood is looking a bit rough and spits out his cigarette to pop out his own regenerative vial as he watches Rollo pin Vash against the wall.

These vials don’t appear into Volume 8 of Trigun Maximum with a full explanation from Wolfwood after he rescues Vash from Knives ark after fighting with Chapel, Livio and Legato. This was after the 7 month time skip when Vash is kidnapped and imprisoned by Knives and Wolfwood eventually is able to brute force get him out of the ark through the combination of sheer willpower, a tacit understanding of Vash and the regenerative vials.

Vash is trying to get through to Rollo’s humanity which shows a shift as his facial display goes from Venom-ish from Spiderman to a regular man. The reason this character looks like Venom is that Yasushiro Nightow is a huge fan of Spiderman and designed him as such in the original manga. Vash is there pleading about his promise but it is obvious that he failed to save him.

Wolfwood then cracks open the vial, heals himself and then shoots Rollo through the head with the laser beam function of his gun. The scene shifts to Vash pleading for Rollo to wake up as Roberto and Meryl watch and Wolfwood hangs back. Wolfwood finally breaks the situation by stating that he’s dead and that he is not waking up. Vash rushes at Wolfwood to grab him by the collar demanding why he killed him to which Wolfwood replies with ‘Mercy.’

He goes on to further admit that Rollo had become a monster, lost his humanity and even if he didn’t kill him, the man would not return to who he was.

This the starts the first of Wolfwood’s lectures/philosophical debates with Vash about how it isn’t always possible to save everyone and not hurt them. Vash is someone who is able to say what he wants to see have happen but has no way to implement it in reality. However, since we are going at a rapid pace there has been no time for Wolfwood and Vash to get to know each other as just friends; their debate both in the anime and manga only happened after they spent some time with each other for it to really show the differences between them.

This is an even more black and white interpretation of the difference between Wolfwood and Vash. We do get excellent animation of Vash’s own shock here in his eyes which I was very impressed with. Wolfwood’s facial expressions are a bit more muted in this episode, it seems if he glances to the side that is the most he can do for any sense of remorse/frustration. Furthermore, it sort of makes it a Vash versus Wolfwood, when in reality it is Vash versus Knives with Wolfwood straddling the middle ground in life philosophy.

The group silently leave the Windmill Village as the wind begins to pick up. With the sacrificial death of the child born on a windless day, the windmills are all able to spin and begin to light up the ghost town in the night.

Back at Knives HQ, Conrad is informed of Rollo’s death by Zazie, stating that he was killed by another one of them. The blonde girl states he was Nicholas, but Conrad corrects it to the Punisher.

Which makes it clear that he was involved in the creation of Wolfwood’s current state and abilities.

The episode then ends and the credits roll. The first thing I did was double check the credits this time to confirm the blonde girl’s identity since I didn’t think to do so in other episodes if she had made a ‘hrm’ sound or not. And there at the bottom of the first page she is and she’s indeed Elendira the Crimsonnail.

So, as of this point, Elendira appears to be a young girl, but since Rollo was ‘made’ at least 25 years ago in the current timeline she can appear to be a young girl at the moment. It also looks like she will not be a trans woman either - unless we get more backstory for her.

It is clear that the terminology for the Gung-ho Guns no longer is a thing in Stampede and they are popping up in a new order.

Rollo is Monev the Gale from the manga and anime. The whole association with the Windmill Village is more than enough to make that connection as well as the events happening over 20 years ago since the original Monev was imprisoned for ~20 years by Legato. He shows up to cause total chaos in hunting Vash for Legato taking out lots of innocent bystanders in the process.

In the anime the climax of the action is when Vash shoots off his face shield and almost kills him with his hidden arm machine gun at point blank. This was such an emotional scene where it is first the we really see Vash almost lose it in the slow build up to this point.

The manga makes it even more dramatic, with the close up on Vash’s face as he holds his long colt to his face as he’d had to break his arm off to escape the handcuffs/chains.

Both tense scenes end with Vash breaking down in tears by thinking about his past relationship and conversations with Rem. With that we get the total emotional release of all of his anxiety, sadness and fears in a very cathartic scene.

What sort of hero has to hold himself in a hug as he weeps in pure frustration and loss? It really was a great reveal of how Vash’s own moral compass and code is struggling with the reality of his own circumstances and existence and he does not know what to do.

However, it doesn’t matter that Vash is compassionate and merciful to Monev, he’s eventually killed by other Gung-ho Guns several days later; crucified of course.

Things to ponder and take away from episode 5.

Honestly, I’m sort of really trying to scrape together my conclusion. In a narrative sense this episode does nothing to advance the plot. Sure, they have some themes that occur but all we did was repeat episode 4. We introduce that Wolfwood is not good and Vash is good. Wolfwood chooses violence and Vash does not. Wow.

Additionally, the lack of inner monologues and thoughts from the characters is making it harder to understand them. Apparently, we are to infer everything from these characters through their actions alone. Can a TV show do that and succeed? Yes, but Trigun Stampede is not Black Sails. The original anime and manga have a lot of inner thoughts to show the conflict and issues characters are dealing with and it is completely missing from the story telling in this anime.

Themes:

1.) Religious groups prey upon and use desperate people - this is painfully obvious the entire episode. Rollo’s unnamed mother is willing to give him up in order to save the town by bringing them wind and salvation from God. Rollo clearly is questioning his faith and runs off into the desert to save himself - by likely dying from another fate. The televangelists over the radio started more than 25 years ago and continue to do their work - though Roberto refers to them as a new cult. In the manga, we know that the ships crashed ~150 years prior to the current events and the Eye of Michael state that they are ~130 years old working in the background for most of the time humans have been struggling to survive on the planet.

It also implies that the Eye of Michael sees no issue with taking unwanted children to form them into tools to achieve their goals - though I wonder if it is actually an independent group like in the manga or something else that Knives created and set into motion in this version?

2.) A pure pacifist cannot make impactful change - Vash convinced Rollo to return to his mother and Rollo wasn’t able to verbally state his own fears to Vash dooming him to his terrible fate. Vash, you really aren’t a good listener or you can’t read people’s body language after over 100 years? Vash at least is able to fire his gun again and works hard to defensively fight Rollo shooting at buildings and structures to slow him down or distract him but by not facing him head on, he is going to lose.

3.) Sometimes you have to pick the worst option - this is shown by Wolfwood killing Rollo. Granted, since Wolfwood is on the same side, it is in his own best interest to kill Rollo to conceal his own identity - though his blunt statements aren’t really helping him to not look like an obvious assassin. This is most likely supposed to mirror the moral conflict between Vash and Wolfwood when Wolfwood shoots Zazie the Beast in the anime and Vash and him get into a very heated argument about it. We also have absolutely no context for why Vash refuses to kill in episode 5 nor why Wolfwood feels obligated to kill.

Stampede is going through the motions, using specific lines and dialogue, but it isn’t working since we really don’t get that feeling that Vash sees all life as sacred. There is no declaration of this land is made of love & peace. Or how he freaked out when he shot B.D.N.’s lackeys and had to stop them from bleeding out. The manga does a good job early on of establishing his no killing rule and the anime takes it to the next level. Meanwhile, the manga and anime establish Wolfwood as a more compassionate and complex character.

We just have very 1 dimensional characters who seem to do one thing in the plot and that’s it.

4.) The mix of Buddhist & Catholic ideology that underpinned the original work is only at a surface level - Upon my recent watching and reading of the manga, it refreshed me on how the entire series is very much using philosophical and moral arguments that are a mix of Buddhist and Catholic ones combined. There is the idea of humans by nature existing in a state of suffering and that are naturally born with sin, thus requiring a religious way to deal with that sin. That Vash struggles to live an impossible moral code and that Wolfwood has crushing Catholic guilt through his own actions and decisions to protect others. Knives is clearly a fallen angel but that Vash can’t be a hands off sort of distant angel either watching but not doing.

I’m not here to make any sort of strong religious statement, more that the original work used these to religions as the foundation for the moral and philosophical struggles that the main cast face in the story. Vash has to actually become critical of his own morals while Wolfwood sacrifices himself not only to save the orphanage but he also saves Livio. Livio then also learns that despite all the terrible things that he has done is still a person worth saving and caring for and that he too is redeemable and can be forgiven. Meryl has to learn of her fear and bias toward Vash when he protects her with his angel arm and then accept him as is. It is just all these things worked well in the story and I appreciated how they were used in the manga and original anime.

Stampede instead is adapting these concepts on the surface level. Characters are saying similar lines and doing similar actions but that doesn’t mean it replicates the original feelings.

5.) Missing those dramatic sunglasses scenes - Due to the high octane nature of the action in this sci fi series, I find myself missing the ‘I mean business when I put my sunglasses on’ scenes with both Vash and Wolfwood. Wolfwood frequently dons his own sunglasses when he has to get down to business or is trying to appear cool and collected. But when the two of them are less stressed or in non-dangerous situations, they are without their sunglasses.

Escape from Pain is an anime only episode, but it highlights how Vash did his mock kill to allow Julius and Moore to escape. Wolfwood steps on his sunglasses that Milly slapped off of his face, likely because he himself is upset that Vash upset Milly. He won’t allow Vash to put them back on to hide his own emotions and look serious when he hurt Milly’s feelings through his fake actions.

Which is then balanced out with the humor where he reaches over, grabs Vash’s gun, pops out the bullets, squeezes it to show it is a rubber bullet before he rapidly reloads it with one, and shoots Vash at point blank range.

I’ve also realized how much I liked Wolfwood’s reveal of his own personal tools in the anime. You want to take me on, allow for me to show you that I mean business.

Characters, comments & observations:

1.) Vash - continues to be passive; but finally is spurred into feeling some sort of rage when Wolfwood kills Rollo. He apparently tries to do everything himself and trusts all adults at their word. However, since this version of Monev didn’t kill and harm countless innocent people, we don’t get the full emotional breakdown of Vash. This makes it hard for us to connect with his pain and suffering that his personal code has caused him. It doesn’t make us feel how much of a struggle it is for him to continue to hold himself to his impossibly high standards. Instead, he just looks sad and passive. Furthermore, I feel the longer they don’t have him explain his moral code the more muddied it becomes; they missed their chance to have him clearly state “I will not kill!” which is sort of ironic with how blunt the story is otherwise. This also fails when Wolfwood was a priest and Vash could always give him shit with “Thou shall not kill!” and he actually did not kill. 2.) Meryl & Roberto - do their best as the senior/junior reporter team. We don’t get a lot of development from them other than that Roberto knows how to scare her and she’s decent enough to find a pristine photo of a younger Vash. They honestly don’t do anything to advance the plot since they hide during the shoot out and are both info dumping for us. I’m also starting to get tired of Roberto’s perpetually half untucked shirt look. I get it, he’s supposed to be messy but can you at least switch between it being the right side, the left side or both? Instead, it has been consistently the right side for the first 5 episodes when we know they’ve at least had time to clean up a little. This isn’t a low budget anime from the 80s and 90s where you have no choice but to animate something out of order (I’m looking at you bus in Muder Machine where Wolfwood’s cross is on the top of the bus before they pick him up in the desert). At least the bickering between Meryl and Wolfwood is minimal at best, but they were only together for a short time during the episode.

3.) Wolfwood - is not doing a good job of hiding he’s a trained assassin with similar tools and tricks that Rollo/Monev the Gale had. We know that some religious organization that worships plants clearly recruited him as a young child and he was subjected to treatments and experiments. Hopefully, it will at least reveal that he was not directly involved with team Knives. With the obvious nature of this work, they will likely beat us over the head when we get to Wolfwood’s backstory as an orphan taken into the Eye of Michael and trained to work for them. However, since he doesn’t seem to be a compassionate and likeable guy trapped between his own unfortunate circumstances, who tried to escape his teacher and therefore those obligations it is hard to feel for him. He’s just angry, aggressive and bitter lashing out at everyone.

4.) Rollo/Monev the Gale - we only knew you briefly. This version gave us a new backstory for you. You are an explanation for Wolfwood’s own background and the technology behind the assassins. Does this work for me? Sort of. Rollo achieves the goal of being someone who knew and trusted Vash in the past to only be hurt by those actions; like Hopper the Gauntlet and Leonof the Puppet Master. But his character also has to do double duty to explain that there is biotechnology that can turn children into super killing machines by physically altering them, giving them rapid regeneration skills at the expanse of aging them quickly and we know that Wolfwood is using it as well.

What is lost in Stampede’s version is the humanity of Monev the Gale and Vash’s inner conflict to not stoop to the level of killing. Monev had no issue with killing innocents and lambasts Vash for not fighting him head on, civilians be dammed.

But it is when he’s defeated that Monev begs for his life that his humanity is shown to still be there - despite being forced to train in isolation for 20 years. Was he a deep character in the original manga or anime? No, but his own mortality and that realization of his own actions turned the tables on him showed that he still very much had basic human needs and emotions.

Instead, Wolfwood puts Rollo out of his own misery by killing him and we never get to see if he still had those human emotions only by him revealing his real face behind the mask as Vash apologizes. Which doesn’t have the punch the barrel of a gun to the eye socket does as you cry out for mercy.

My two cents on the rapidly aging sci fi aspect of the story

Anime Wolfwood was a normally aging guy who trained as a child to about adulthood before he fucked off to do his own thing for a number of years, but based on how he acts and looks it is safe to say he’s late 20s to early 30s.

Manga Wolfwood suffers from unclear retcon with a wishy washy timeline for his backstory. One reading is that he was recruited 6 years prior to the 2 year time skip - so, 4 years before the start of the manga he joined the Eye of Michael when he was 11-ish and did stuff and got shot enough to age him up to mid-20s ish when he first meets the group in the desert. This very condensed timeline for him means he dies around 17 or 18 at the end since the kids don’t recognize him. However, there are flashbacks with the young girl who Livio liked and we see her as a clear adult in the manga when Livio protects her implying that they were likely older when they entered the Eye of Michael and started the rapid aging bits. With this information it means Wolfwood and Livio are in their 20s instead. I’ve found support for both of these interpretations in the manga so I’m just not going to take one or the other and keep it unclear since it is vague.

Honestly, between these two scenarios, I preferred anime Wolfwood since his actions and words made more sense coming from a normal aging adult than a young kid who sounded so world weary at times it broke my immersion from the story when reading the manga. But that is my opinion. I’m not against the idea of him having a regeneration serum that has a karmic tradeoff. It was almost overkill when you realize he was a religiously trained gunman from a young age and trapped by his circumstances. Tug at your heart strings more that Wolfwood dies even more tragically young. . .

Anyhoo, that took me off course.

Predictions for the future: 1.) Another bad guy of the week for episode 6. Who will it be? Who knows? The introduction of all the characters is not the same as the original anime or Maximum so your best guess is as good as mine. Elendira, Zazie, Livio, Legato, Grey - any of them are possible. We still have a ways to go to reach July on that map and there is an orphanage at the halfway point. Does this mean Wolfwood will die by then? 2.) Characters likely dropped. Dominique the Cyclops, Rai-dei the Blade, Midvalley the Hornfreak. I very much liked all of them and how chaotic they were. Oh well, they would seem too campy in this sleek sci fi series.

3.) Moar action! Move frantically forward with no character development and only action. Action action action. Please let the story breathe - at least have them stop for donuts? Or have Vash mistaken for a cat? Or fight Wolfwood for spaghetti? You can’t keep up this level of depressing without some humor - that was key to the Vash-Wolfwood dynamic as well.

All in all, episode 5 was weaker than episode 4, which was weaker than the first three. This episode has not advanced the plot, explained anyone’s motivations beyond that Vash is running away and now sort of heading towards July, that Meryl and Roberto want their story and that Wolfwood has to make sure he gets there. I’m not sure who the intended audience for this is, but I’m pretty sure I’m not it.

Studio Orange continues to demonstrate extreme technical skills with their animation but the lack of a coherent understanding of narrative structure, character development and world building are killing this for me. The story lacks any sort of emotional core or heart. Just slapping a known series onto 1D characters and making them look pretty. And without character inner monologues we have to take what characters say at face value when interacting with others.

#trigun anime #trigun stampede #trigun manga #trigun maximum #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #meryl stryfe #roberto deniro #monev the gale #rollo #elendira the crimsonnail #zazie the beast #meta #trigun stampede meta #trigun stampede episode review

72 notes · View notes

bebepac · 1 year

Text

Holiday Vibes 🎄

I am participating in @choicesficwriterscreations holiday event 2022.

I am also participating in @choicesflashfics prompt #21 “it looks like Santa threw up in here.” will appear in bold

I am also participating in @choicesholidays prompt well that’s the holiday spirit which is the overall theme of this story.

Series: School Dayz

The Book: TRR (no royals)

Pairings: Liam x Riley

Word Count: 1036

Song Inspiration: Silent Night by the Temptations

Warnings and Ratings: None. Everyone. A total fluff piece.

Original Post: 12/18/22 at 10:45PM EST.

“Thanks for driving me to the mall today, and driving me around when Jaiden can’t.”

“It’s no problem, and I like driving you around, makes me feel manly. Like i'm a super boyfriend.”

Liam’s face turned bright pink.

“I…..said that out loud didn’t I?”

“You did but it’s okay. And you are a ‘Super Boyfriend.’ I like that you’re always adorkably honest with me.”

The smile faded from her face and her face was replaced with a serious look.

“You know, the car accident sliding on the ice during the storm really scared me Liam.”

“I know it did, but I’m glad you and Taylor were okay. When I saw your Jeep…. My heart stopped, Riley. I was so worried you were hurt.”

Liam took her hand and held it.

“I’m okay. It means a lot that you care so much.”

Riley gently squeezed his hand in return. She still had bruising to the side of her face, and arm because when they skidded out of control, Taylor wasn't wearing her seatbelt, and Riley reached out to hold Taylor back, when the airbags deployed.

“I just want you to know I do, and I’ll drive you around as long as you need me to or want me to.”

“Thank you Liam.”

“You’re welcome. So what’s on the agenda for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Well if you want to hang out with us for a bit, we might be doing some Christmas tree decorating. Dad said you could stay for dinner.”

“That sounds nice. He’s warming up to me, don’t you think?”

“Yeah maybe he is. I mean as much as my dad can warm up to people.”

When they pulled to a stop in front of the Brooks’s residence Riley laughed at the look on Liam’s face.

“Whoa…. Looks like Mr. Brooks has been busy.”

“Dad loves Christmas, it is by far his favorite holiday.”

When they left the Brooks household that morning, there was no Christmas decor up. Coming back that evening the yard was filled with Christmas decorations

and the house had been strung with lots of Christmas lights.

Liam grabbed some of Riley’s shopping bags to assist her bringing them inside. No one appeared to be nearby, so Liam spoke freely.

“Whoa…. It looks like Santa threw up in here.”

And the Brooks family came out the woodworks like ninjas, starting with Mr. Brooks.

“No Liam, tell me how you feel about our Christmas decorations.”

Taylor burst out laughing from the couch as Mr. Brooks stepped out into the foyer holding yet another a string of Christmas lights.

“Damn Liam. You just like stepping on landmines don’t you?”

“Jai! Language!” Mrs. Brooks exclaimed.

“I’m sorry. I’m just not used to a lot of Christmas decorations. My family doesn’t really do holidays like this. I think it’s really nice.”

Ren affectionately rubbed Mr. Brooks’s shoulders.

“Jason and I grew up in the foster care system, and holidays were hard when you were living in foster homes at the holidays. We both vowed if we ever had families, we would celebrate. It’s very important to us. So we always go all out.”

“Wow, I really meant no disrespect with what I said.”

“It’s okay Liam. Go help Riley put her presents away in her room, and you can come back and help us decorate.”

Liam hurried and helped Riley put her gifts in her closet to hide them and almost ran back down stairs to the living room area. He looked excited to be helping with decorating the Christmas tree.

“That’s some very meticulous placing of the Christmas ornaments Liam. I could almost take a ruler to those and i’m sure their spacing would be identical.”

“I don’t want to mess the tree up Mr. Brooks.”

“You can’t mess decorating a Christmas tree up. At least not on my year. I like bright colorful trees. So does Taylor.”

He pointed to the box of ornaments. There were so many different colored ornaments and trinkets in the box. “We bring out the crazy. Next year is Ren and Riley’s year, they like a silver and gold tree with white lights.”

“And Jaiden, what about you? What type of tree do you like?” Liam asked Jaiden.

“I don’t care either way, as long as there are presents for me under said tree.”

“Seems legit.”

Mrs. Brooks had disappeared from the decorating and had been in the kitchen for a little bit and emerged from the kitchen with a tray sitting down first a tray of cookies, then coming back shortly with a tray of cups of hot cocoa. Mr. Brooks was still admiring their handiwork.

“I think it’s time.”

Ren looked at Jai. “You know what to do.”

“I’m on it Mom.”

As the lights in the living room started to dim slowly, Jason’s favorite Christmas song started playing over the living room surround sound. It was never officially Christmas in the Brooks’s household unless he heard The Temptation’s version of Silent Night.

When the song hit its iconic first verse, the Brooks’s living room, the Brook's tree erupted with colorful light.

There was silence for a few moments while Jason wrapped his arm around Ren sipping some cocoa.

"This was a good one, Ren."

"You're right it is. Liam, you did a good job."

"Thank you sir."

After dinner Mr. Brooks pulled Liam aside.

"Yes sir?"

"What are you doing for Christmas, Liam?"

His face turned bright pink.

"Nothing, my Dad will be away, it's going to be just me and Leo. The cooks will make us dinner."

"What does your father do for a living Liam?"

"He's a corporate lawyer. They call him Constantine the Cutthroat."

"Sounds like he's a great lawyer."

"He is. Just a crappy father."

Jason looked at Liam sympathetically.

"You and your brother have plans now. You're spending Christmas Eve and Day with us."

"Seriously Dad?!?!"

"We'll have plenty of food, and it's the least we can do, because Liam refuses to take gas money to chauffeur you around."

"Thank you Dad."

Riley hugged Jason.

"You're welcome, Jelly Bean."

When Riley's dad left the room, she turned to Liam with a huge smile.

"See! you were right, my Dad is warming up to you. This is huge."

Liam smiled back at her. It was a bittersweet moment for Liam, but deep down the excitement outweighed the sadness. This was going to be the first Christmas he would really be celebrating since the passing of his mother.

#bebepac writes #cfwc holidays 2022 #school dayz #liam x riley forever #choices fanfiction #liam x riley #christmas fics #choices fic writers creations #choicesflashfics #choicesprompt

72 notes · View notes

rinadragomir · 2 years

Text

Julie Plec and convenient diversity 🙃

Okay so when I found out they chose a British guy to play Dimitri I was a bit upset but in a super chill way cause 1)he looks fantastic 2) British accent kinda reminds me of Russian so I thought they not gonna have any problems with working on it.

Then my Tumblr friend made a post and I found out they erased that part of him. TV show Dimitri is not Russian anymore. I was kinda confused cause 1)then why would he have a Russian name👀 2)what about the fact that Rose spends the whole book in Russia, what about Roza, what about half of their jokes😟

BUT TODAY 🤡I FOUND OUT 🤡WHAT THAT PIECE OF HUMAN 🤡SAID ABOUT THAT CHANGE 🤡

Okay it's not a literal quote but it's almost it:

Dimitri is not Russian anymore, you'll be fine with it when you learn more about that amazing man playing his role.......It was important for us to convey the spirit of modernity, to show today's world with all the diversity of its cultural idiosyncrasies. Accent, origin and race do not matter because we are all part of the same community.

That clown living her clown life 🎪

Okay let's see

So she put 1) diversity is important, we all different and it's cool to show it AND 2)why diversity if we're the same person? 🥺 IN ONE FUCKING SENTENCE?!?!????!

Julie Plec literally said: OF COURSE diversity is important, we have Black Americans! Latins, Chinese guys...or not Chinese, I mean asian people = only Chinese right? And of course ...*whispers* I can't remember more..... um.....what? Turks? what is it? Turkey? Like ...Turkey on Thanksgiving day?🥺Yeah? Russian? Russia... sounds familiar where is it👀ugh nevermind some white dudes, they sound like British anyway

I forgot to mention I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST THE CAST they're babies and they do the best they can, their acting is the reason I watched that trailer✋they just do their job and do it perfect

I have BIG ISSUES with creators of this show

⚠️Before some of you start with your American "um bitch u know dat black people live in Turkey and British people live in Russia and Latin people live in Romania" I'll say: they definitely MIGHT live there, tho I've never seen anything like this in any of these countries (I live in one of them and I've been in two others

But after Dimitri being a British announcement, there's no way Rose is Turkish. No fucking way. No one actually cares about the diversity. Diversity is a thing ONLY when it comes to people who live in America.

When people from Turkey, Russia, Romania even slightly open their mouth EVERYONE SHUTS THEM UP with "um....white dudes talking again 😴we have Black and Asian people, others don't actually exist👁️👄👁️)

If you think that "WOW we have a cool beautiful black girl as a lead, finally some good fucking food, finally a WELL WRITTEN WOMAN OF COLOR"

no think again😍you really believe that a woman who thought "ugh....idk all of these Turkish and Russian....ugh language, traditions are so hard🥺" will MAKE AN EFFORT?! To write a proper black lead girl? Seriously? I have some news

If you look at the cast and think "we have a proper diverse cast! That's so great! Different cultures were so important in the books, I'm sure tv show creators will explore this topic even deeper" you're poor innocent silly soul, that's who you are.

👉🏻IT'S NOT ABOUT AN "AdApTaTiOn" IT'S ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THESE BOOKS AND THEY DON'T WANT TO, BUT THEIR LITTLE DAMAGE BRAINS CAN'T COME UP WITH THEIR OWN NEW UNIQUE STORY (and even when they can, it's so fucking bad, no one wants to watch it), SO THEY TAKE A POPULAR TITLE AND MAKE THEIR OWN SHIT PRETENDING IT'S ALL THE SAME CAUSE THEY DIDN'T CHANGE CHARACTERS NAMES. 👈🏻

And a little reminder how people look outside of England and the USA for my beloved Julie Plec and people saying "real diversity is here, who needs these white guys on the screen" (Turkish, Romanian, Russian)

#va #vampire academy #fuck julie plec #julie plecphobia #yesyes #anti julie plec #rose hathaway #dimitri belikov #lissa dragomir #christian ozera

135 notes · View notes

sirjuggles · 1 year

Text

Worm Reading - Part 5, Arc 5 Hive

Back at it! Taking notes as I go this time, so expect more short reactions to individuals moments/sentences.

Ahhh a good ol’ Bad Guy Council Meeting! We get our first looks at a whole bunch of the other villains in this town. Interesting to see where the Undersiders fall on the power scale: clearly above lowlifes like Skidmark, but otherwise pretty low on the hierarchy. I’d assume our team could mayyyybe go toe-to-toe with Faultline’s crew but it depends on who gets the drop. Would definitely lose to Kaiser’s crew. Coil is very interesting, but I’d assume his hi-tech goons could overpower the Undersiders. Trickster and his team are interesting out-of-towners, but I’d assume if they’re surviving on the road they’re capable of taking care of themselves.

I do feel like I’ve seen the name Faultline crop up in Worm Fandom posts in the past, so I feel like this character may end up being important? I don’t remember in what capacity though. Curious to see what her powers are.

Ok, once again we see Brian being abusive towards Rachel. And I get that he thinks it’s justified. But just from the language he uses you can tell this is something he gets from his dad. I don’t like it. If the only way you can control someone is with violence, does that make it ok?

Hero names “Assault” and “Battery” ugh it’s such a terrible pun. I hate it and it’s perfect.

We haven’t seen Shadow Stalker in action yet but as Grue’s nemesis I am covertly half-rooting for her. I hope she’s cool, I hope she kicks ass.

Lol hell yeah punch Emma in the face! Nothing good will probably come of this but frankly it’s been a long time coming.

Aww good job Danny, your girl needed a hug. I think that’s about as well as he could have handled that.

Oooh ok we’re going into a parent meeting at school about the bullying issue. Predictions: Danny is going to try and stand up for Taylor. He might blow up in a full rage outburst, he’s been holding that in for a long time. I don’t think they’ll actually have any success within the system though, Emma and her dad and their posse are too secure to face consequences here. However, if this goes really bad, I can see Taylor tip past the point of using her powers, which would be a disaster but would be a huge leap forward for the story, forcing her powers into the open and causing all sorts of interesting consequences.

Wow ok that went almost exactly how I expected. I had some hope at the beginning that all the documentation and obvious severity of abuse would tip the scales, but of course not. So we have yet again postponed Taylor going supernova on her bullies with her powers. I am becoming more and more convinced that’s the only way this is going to end.

Ok, we’re in the middle of the team-up raid on the ABB warehouse. Oni Lee is absolutely terrifying, honestly I’m not sure how you pin down someone with that sort of powerset. Hopefully he tires out at some point, but even then I assume he would just escape. The ability to bring items/weapons with him as he teleports and duplicates is super powerful as well. EDIT OH THAT WORKS ON THE BUGS TOO.

Ok Warehouse Raid is still ongoing, but Taylor has just demonstrated to Coil, Faultline, and Trickster’s teams that she can step up and take leadership to salvage a bad situation. I think that will not go unnoticed.

The eyeballs thing is BRUTAL and we are hardcore supporting my previous point!

Great job in the fight, great job on the outcome, top marks all around!

Awww Rachel is making a friend and doesn’t know how to feel about it.

Ok yeah vindication #CutRachelSomeSlack

Interlude 5: Gregor the Snail - Ok, some interesting worldbuilding. I like basically everyone on Faultline’s crew, especially... no yeah pretty much all of them. This definitely seems like the kind of group who can both notice and appreciate how Taylor handled the Warehouse situation.

Most interesting development here is the introduction of a potential person/group creating new parahumans. I had a suspicion this topic would crop up. It is, frankly, very well-tread ground for modern superhero media. I suspect in this case the answer will be not nearly as simple as it first seems. There is almost guaranteed to be some sort of consequence or side effect for handing out powers.

#parahumans #Worm #Wormblr #Wildbow #Worm Readalong #Mine

22 notes · View notes

fapper · 2 years

Text

okay story time.

i have like an unbelievably stupid soul crushing crush on this one guy who is a TA. like today i waited all day for his office hours like giggidy like oh hehe i cant wait for the clock to hit 5pm so i can go to office hrs bc im gonna see him yay!!! ^_^. UNTIL. his WHOLE VIBE WAS OFF. his body language to the way he was speaking to me etc. like boy seriously didnt care like. omg. he acted like he was the most important and hot person in the room NO YOU ARENT. YOU ARE AN ASIAN NERD WHO LISTENS TO ANIME OSTS EXCLUSIVELY. I ASKED HIM A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT CLASSES HES TAKING NEXT SEM and he had the nerveee to act like he didnt care. like he seriously had enough of me IM DEADDD LMFAOOOOO IM TRULY DEAD i looove how i can drain a man its so awesome.

shitty things he said/did all within 30 minutes:

1. scoffed when i mentioned this other TA who is super helpful so i asked him whats so funny why would u laugh and he had the nerve to monotonely reply “i was laughing in a sarcastic manner”. HELP ME LORD IDONT CARE IF IT WAS SARCASTIC WHY WOULD U LAUGH BC I LIKEHIM AND ARE U MAKING FUN OF HIM?? KYS

2. he was explaining shit sooo bad like he was so unhelpful ummm. now im insecure bc what if all the TA’s talk with each other about me. like shit talk abt me. he was acting sooo bored and out of it like wow i dont care that youre tired fucking hELP ME AND DO YOUR JOB KYSSSS

3. immediately left my side to help another guy who just entered the room skull emoji. my vibes were simply too clean for him

4. was very surprised that i was mongolian? he thought i was chinese skull emoji like he almost laughed when i told him that.

5. he was showing me his homework and when i grabbed my phone he said “dont you dare take a picture” and i said no im checking my notifications thank you????? HELP ME>????????????/

6. obviously did not care when i was talking abt classes that i was planning on taking next sem (he was completely out of it he did not gaf LMFAO)

yeah after that… AFTER ALL THIS SHIT…… I LEFT THAT BITCH! i left the fucking room unable to bear the fucking rancid atmosphere that this guy had created. i bounced lmfao and i didnt even say goodbye and when i stood up to leave the room got quiet and he said bye but i didnt say shit like FAWKKKKK YEWWWW LIKE YOU CANA CTUALLY GO DIE IN A DITCH LIKE HELLO>>>>. KILL YOURSELF WOW WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE.

TLDR: got surprised when the shitty guy was shitty towards me

20 notes · View notes

stellarbisexual · 1 year

Note

7, 8, 20, 22, 58

7. Post a snippet from a wip.

I have no idea if I'll ever actually write-write this, but I've got lots of notes for a Reddie The Holiday AU, and here's a bit of dialogue from Reddie's meet-cute:

(Eddie answers the door)

R: Wow. Stan the Man didn’t waste any time going for an upgrade, I see.

E: Am I supposed to understand what any of that means?

R: Richie, I work with him. Is he around?

E: Oh, he’s not--I’m actually just staying here. We swapped houses for vacation. I’m in from England.

R: You don’t have an accent.

E: I’m American; I just live there. Eddie.

R: Nice to meet you. Stan never goes on vacation--are you sure he didn’t get thrown in the clink for homicide? He and his ex just had a pretty rough breakup.

E: I’m sorry to hear that. But yeah: he’s staying in my incredibly tiny cottage in Surrey.

R: No shit. He’s probably miserable; Stan can’t stand the cold.

E: I think he’ll be okay. I have a fireplace. And a dog to cuddle with.

R: That sounds romantic. What are you doing in Hell-A?

E: (heavy sigh) I had to get away. Long story.

R: Sounds like it. Color me intrigued.

E: Did you need…?

R: Nah. I’ll bug him when he gets back. Which will be…

E: Two weeks.

R: So you’ll be here two more weeks. (Eddie nods.) Hm. (Reaches into his pocket for a business card.) If you need anything--someone to show you around or just tell you where to find a corkscrew…

E: Oh thank God, I’ve already gotten lost in there twice. (Gestures back at the house.) I’ll probably take you up on that.

R: (Rocking back and forth on his heels) I hope so. You liking it so far?

E: Yeah. I didn’t expect it to be so fucking windy, though.

(Wind picks up and blows a piece of detritus into Eddie’s eye)

E: Ow. Shit shit shit.

R: How’s that for timing? Lemme see.

(R takes it out)

R: I think you’ll live, Eds.

E: Eddie.

R: Eds.

E: How ‘bout I start calling you Riches?

R: (walking back to his car; throws his arms open) I’d love it, Eds. (re his card) Hang onto that.

E: (mimes tearing it up)

R: Was that a Swingers reference? Be still my little heart.

E: I don’t know what that means, either, so no.

R: I’ll come bug you another time if I don’t hear from you.

E: I don’t doubt it.

8. Post an out-of-context spoiler from a wip.

I swear this isn't a copout, but my brain is truly broken this morning and I can't figure out how to do this. XD

20. Do you prefer writing AUs or canon fics?

I love both tbh but my absolute favorite is a SLIGHT AU / canon-divergent. I love writing that shit, reading that shit, you name it.

22. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

I love this question! I want everyone to answer this question because titling is so interesting to me! It truly depends on the fic or story or whatever, but I almost always title it somewhere during the writing process. Usually about midway through, I'll have an "a-ha" moment where the title will reveal itself. That's not always the case, though; sometimes I go in with a ready-made title and sometimes I'll finish something and have ZERO IDEA what to call it. And then it becomes "Untitled" for longer than I want it to, or I go through the agonizing process of figuring out a name and not being happy with what I've chosen. "Zero Characters Left" is probably my favorite title that I've come up with. :D

Fun fact: for The Naturals, the title was important to me, so I did a mind-mapping exercise to intentionally lead me to it, and I think it worked super well. Sometimes it doesn't work at all, though.

58. Do you have a favorite piece of figurative language you’ve written?

This is actually something that I feel like I used to be *really* good at (and it's my favorite thing to do writing-wise), but I have this nagging feeling that I can't do it anymore, like I've "lost it" with age or something. For that reason, it's probably something from a fic from, like, 15 years ago, lol.

#THANK YOU FRIEND #jouissants #memes #writing stuff

6 notes · View notes

soulmate-game · 3 years

Text

Hawkmoth was a bitch, and Marinette meant that with every fiber of her soul. Fu was also a bitch, and Marinette actually had good memories of the guy. Not many, but she had some. The fact that the guy got two ten-year-olds to become super heroes and fight a supervillain for him kinda soured those memories, though. But with Chat Noir not allowed to leave his house? Yeah, even as young as they were it only took about a year to find out who HawkMoth was and another year to take him down.

Except, that left Marinette alone. The final battle took her mom away, and Chat had to move out of Paris after his dad was arrested. Luckily Jagged allowed her and her papa to move into his house in Gotham, and everything was…

Well, it was okay. For about a month.

Then her dad was gone too, and she had no way to talk to Jagged, and the police were scaring her—

Yeah, that was the basic order of events that led to where she was now. Pushing fourteen years old, ex-superhero, protector of a magical box of gods, stealing the tires off of a very nice motorcycle.

Marinette was tempted to just take the whole thing, she loved bikes and knew she could drive it. But the thing had more security than she knew what to do with, and the fact that it belonged to Red Hood… she didn’t want to deal with trackers today, thanks. So the tires it was.

Should she maybe care more about the fact that she was stealing from a vigilante with a violent streak? Maybe. Did she? Hell no. For all she knew, maybe Red Hood was a bitch too. (Yes, she was still learning English slang. She was fluent by educational standards, but learning how to curse in a foreign language was fun and she still had a little bit to go. Her few street friends were very happy to help).

A shadow dropped down in front of her, and Marinette’s hero instincts kicked in. The tire iron she was using cut through the air, slamming right into the side of Red Hood’s knee.

—*—*—*—*—*

“Hood,” Batman’s voice grumbled over the comms, instantly grabbing the attention of everyone else who was on the comms. It wasn’t as gruff as he usually sounded, in fact it almost sounded like… he was trying not to laugh?

“Did you get gassed by Joker?” Dick asked before Jason got a chance to respond. “Need backup?”

“No,” Batman responded, sounding a little more composed. “Not a rogue. But Hood, I need you to join me at my location as soon as possible.”

Finally getting the chance to talk, Jason responded a little warily; “Sure, B. Wait,” he blinked at the location that was sent to him. “Isn’t that where my bike is parked?”

Batman didn’t respond at first, only the sound of labored breathing— again, as if he was trying not to laugh. “Just get here, Hood.”

Sighing, but not too mad since the night had been fairly quiet so far, Jason decided to humor the old man and head over. When he could see the cape-clad back of Batman, he easily leapt over the last roof and sauntered over.

“Okay, B,” he had his thumbs tucked in his pockets as he drawled. “What’s the issue?”

Batman was grinning. As in, actually showing amusement. And he just pointed down, straight at Hood’s bike.

Jason rolled his eyes under his helmet, turning to look. At first he didn’t see anything amiss, until he saw movement and looked harder. Oh. Oh, holy shit.

“Is that a kid?”

“Yep,” Batman’s grin grew.

“Is she… stealing my tires?” Hood was so, so glad he wore a helmet that hid his expression. Because… wow.

“Yep,” Batman finally lost his composure, chuckling. “This seems like Karma, don’t you think?”

“And you just watched her so you could rub it in,” Jason groaned, throwing his head back in exasperation. Of course he would. Nobody knew it (except the other heroes who knew him) but Batman was a petty little jerk when he wanted to be. He bought the whole Daily Planet just to spite Clark, for crying out loud.

“Don’t adopt her,” Batman said as he stood up, patting Red Hood’s shoulder. “It looks like she’s almost done.”

“Shit,” Jason hissed, looking down to see that she was, actually, very close to being done. She had already had one tire completely free by the time he had arrived, and now she was only seconds away from getting the other one completely free.

He took a quick assessment— she was tiny, and really thin. Definitely a street kid, he thought, though he didn’t recognize her. He knew most of the street kids that stole to get by, nowadays, which meant she must have been fairly new. But even though she seemed to know what she was doing, her small frame made her take longer unscrewing the tires than it normally would have taken. Sure that she wasn’t a threat by any stretch of the imagination, he jumped down. His plan had been to startle her a little by showing up out of nowhere, but he didn’t want to scare her too badly. Just make her jump a little.

But he had underestimated her, it seemed. Without wasting a second, she jumped up and swung her tire iron at his knee. He cursed, she was a lot faster than her had been expecting. He was able to move so that the weapon only clipped the side of his knee, his knee pad thankfully taking the worst of it. She still hit hard enough to make him stumble and hiss in pain though, which was an accomplishment.

That’s when she abandoned her weapon and her tires, darting to try and escape only for Batman to drop down and block her escape. Though really, it was the grin Batman had that scared the girl most of all, apparently, making her slowly back away from him.

“Please stop smiling,” she begged with a faint French accent to her words. “It is not natural.”

That made Red Hood laugh, already recovered and right behind her. He plopped a gloved hand on her head.

“I know, it’s creepy right?” He joked. “What’cha doin’ stealing my tires, kid? I kinda need them to drive anywhere,” he was careful to keep his voice light and devoid of any anger. He wasn’t really upset, all told. It would be hypocritical of him if he was.

She looked between the two vigilantes for a moment, clear intelligence behind those bright blue eyes as she seemed to consider something. Suddenly she pulled away from Red Hood and stepped away from his reach, straightening up and trying to look tall.

“My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” she said as firmly as she could. “My father was Tom Dupain, he was killed in a mugging three months ago. We were living in a house that our family friend leant to us after my mother’s death six months ago, and we moved here from Paris. I haven’t been able to contact him, and the police… I don’t trust them,” she admitted, clearly seeing this as the chance she had been waiting for. “I have been living on the streets since my father died. I am sorry for trying to steal your tires, Monsieur Red Hood. But it was a risk I had to take.”

“Did you expect us to catch you?” He asked, crossing his arms as he re-evaluated the girl. She was a lot stronger than he had assumed earlier, both physically and mentally. She seesawed her hand to indicate ‘kinda’.

“Even if you didn’t, I could make good money off your tires,” she justified with a shrug. “To me, I would win either way.”

“Who is your family friend? Can he help you now, take you in?” Batman asked, moving forward and kneeling down to be closer to Marinette’s height. Neither he nor Jason had missed the part where she was an orphan, but they had expected that considering what they had caught her doing. And they both knew that she wasn’t likely to take any apologies they tried to offer very well. It was best not to show pity, or she might get angry.

Marinette frowned. “... Our family friend is Jagged Stone. He lets me call him Uncle Jagged,” she told them, clearly expecting the disbelieving grunts they gave. “I mean it! You can call him, he might even be looking for me! I—“

“We know,” Hood assured her, now kneeling down as well. Man, she was short. “Calm down, we know you’re telling the truth. Jagged has made several public announcements about his missing honorary niece, we just didn’t recognize your name right away. And Jagged doesn’t have access to very many pictures of you, those he does have the Mayor isn’t allowing him to show because that spineless jackass—“

“Language, Hood.”

“—Cares more about keeping bad press off the air than finding a kid, even if it’s a world famous rockstar who’s asking. That’s probably why you haven’t heard anything, the mayor’s keeping it off the radio and not many reporters are brave enough to take the story and get on his bad side.”

“Oh…” Marinette took a deep breath, fighting the tears that were threatening to rise up. “He has been looking…” she sniffled, curling in on herself a little. “Can you take me to him?”

“I think we can do that,” Batman agreed, standing up. “I’ll contact him. Red Hood, can you handle everything here until I give you a place to meet up with Jagged Stone?”

Jason nodded. “No problem, B. Come on, little rabid pixie. Step one of gettin’ you back to your uncle is to help me fix my bike back up.”

Marinette sighed, shoulders dropping. “All my hard work, undone…” she playfully complained. But in the end she didn’t argue or fight against it, she just sat down and helped him reattach his tires.

All the while, Jason’s family kept teasing him over the comms. Clearly they were also thoroughly amused by the cosmic display of karma.

“...Monsieur Hood,” Marinette asked once they were done repairing the motorcycle and he had given her his too-big extra helmet. He tilted his head a bit to show he was listening. She squirmed. “Can… can we stop by my hideout? I have something really important I have to get.”

Jason smiles gently under his mask. She might not have been a street kid for very long, but she really did bring back some memories for him. He got on his bike and held a hand out to her.

“Sure thing kid. Wanna grab something to eat after? Can’t have a reunion on an empty stomach.”

She gave him a lopsided smile— not quite overjoyed, but definitely hopeful and thankful. Maybe this was the end of her streak of bad luck, she could only hope.

“Only if you don’t mind, Monsieur Hood,” she agreed before taking his hand and letting him help her onto the bike.

“No skin off my back, pixie,” he assured her. Then they were off. He followed her directions until they got to an abandoned building about three miles away, not in a good part of town at all but at least not in crime alley. Marinette easily led him through the building, skirting around other piles of ratty blankets and up broken stairs until they got to the badly-maintained top floor. She led him over to an almost invisible door in the concrete wall that pulled out to reveal what was probably a broom closet once upon a time. It was crowded with what looked like junk and empty boxes, along with a few blankets and two or three changes of clothes that were clearly her’s. A few belongings scattered around— a book, a small pink purse, and… Marinette came out of the pile of mess holding what had clearly been a very carefully hidden box. She also grabbed the purse and slung it over her shoulder, but didn’t seem worried about anything else.

Jason frowned at the box. It wasn’t that big, but it was clearly made of old wood. There were intricate carvings that were painted pink, in a symbol that was itching at the back of his mind. He recognized that symbol, but from where?

“Ready to go, kid?” He asked as he thought about it, getting a nod from Marinette. Twenty minutes later they were at a Batburger, sitting in a shaded booth that couldn’t be seen from the street.

She never let the box out of her sight. She kept it on the seat next to her, and Jason noticed that she tried to keep one hand on it at all times. But when she spoke, now her French accent stood out to him even more than before. But why—?

And then it clicked. Paris. Hawkmoth. Ladybug, Chat Noir, magic artifacts called Miraculous. Wonder Woman had raised a fuss when the heroes disappeared, declaring that something was wrong but she couldn’t put her finger on what. Then the magic users they trusted were called in, and returned from Paris with the grim news that the former Guardian of those artifacts had activated a failsafe and passed the guardianship on to someone else while erasing his own memories at the same time. But nobody knew who he could have passed it on to, so Batman had been given the green light to do all the research he and his team could into the Miraculous box to try and help track it down.

And here it was. The carvings were in pink now, which might have been the “cosmetic change” that Constantine had mentioned might happen when the box changed guardians. He had found the box full of super powerful magical artifacts… in the hands of a newly orphaned street kid who couldn’t have been older than fourteen at best.

What the hell?

“...” Red hood reached into his pocket and pulled out an old receipt and a sharpie. He scrawled on the back of the receipt and handed to Marinette. The girl was halfway into a bite of her burger when he did, and blinked at him owlishly before swallowing and cautiously reaching out to grab it. She frowned at the numbers scrawled there.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“My contact info,” he explained. “I won’t ask questions about why you have that box,” he watched her instantly stiffen but continued as casually as he could; “but it doesn’t matter. You can call me if you ever need help with anything, kid. Help with that box, help if you get in trouble in Gotham again, or even if you’re having a bad day. You can call me for whatever, got it? I don’t care if you think it’s stupid, if you can’t talk to anyone else in your life you can always call or text me and I’ll do whatever I can. Got it?”

“...” Marinette sniffled for a second and looked down at the table in silence for a second. “... what if I want your motorcycle?” she joked, but the watery tone of her voice gave her away.

Jason laughed, patting her head. “I need my bike, but we can talk about getting you your own once you are old enough to get a license. You almost done? Bats says that Jagged is ready to meet you, I can take you to him right now.”

“Yeah, lets go!” she was newly energized and shoved the last bite of burger into her mouth greedily. “And Red Hood?” She asked as they headed out to where he had parked.

“Yeah, kid?”

“Thanks.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Permanent tag list (I remembered it this time!)

@rosalineandrosemary @neakco @justanotherfanficlovinbitch @trippingovermyfeet @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @bigpicklebananatree @fantasylover-92 @prongs-flowers @jumpingjoy82 @prettylittlebutterflie @queenz-z @literaryhiraeth @waffelyunsure @deathssilentapproach-blog @waiting247 @theirlmikan @unoriginalmess

#maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #dc x mlb #dc x miraculous #soulmate-game #platonic jasonette

1K notes · View notes

americasass91 · 3 years

Text

The Shield and the Sweater

Hello lovelies! This little fic came to me when the lovely, beautiful, talented @stargazingfangirl18 asked a very important question on her blog. Would you rather be enemies to lovers with Steve Rogers or friends with benefits with Ransom Drysdale. Well my greedy ass wanted both. Thus the birth of this story. I also turned it around a little to make it fit into Siri’s 5k Soft Dark Challenge! I’ve never written anything dark before. Also not sure if this classifies as soft!dark or if it’s more dark. But it’s one of those! If that makes you uncomfortable, then please don’t read it. This is also my first time writing a threesome, so let me know if it sucks! I hope you enjoy it! 😘

General prompts:

8)The town golden boy isn’t as sweet as everyone thinks.

Dialogue prompts:

3)”Oh, honey, you weren’t supposed to see that.”

11)”I’ve waited a long time for this, sweetheart.”

Rating: Explicit(if you’re under 18, please leave)

Words: 6.2k(this one got away from me, sorry)

Warnings: soft!dark/dark themes, unprotected sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, threesome(M/M/F), manipulation, language, model!Ransom being an asshole, Steve not being who you think he is

“And I really think if everyone pitches in to make these changes, it’ll really make a difference in the long run.”

Wow, so this is how you were going to die. In your whole 20 something years of existence, you never thought boredom would be your cause of death.

Sure, you were the lead Accountant at Stark Tower and these monthly meetings were mandatory. But did you really have to be here to listen to Rogers go on and on about how we can ‘improve our working environment’? Why did he even care anyway? He was barely ever here as it is.

You must have been zoning out worse than you thought because next thing you know your coworker, Janet, is poking you in the side and pointing towards Steve.

With a quick glare sent her way, you move your gaze to the Captain. He is giving you the same look he always does. Like he’s disgusted with you. “I’m sorry Miss Y/L/N. Am I boring you?”

A scoff escapes your mouth. “No, not at all Captain Rogers. I just love when people who are never here seem to always have an opinion on how things are run and how they could be better.”

He narrows his eyes at you. “Do you have a problem with me, Y/N? Cause if you do, I’m sure there’s a way to solve that.”

You stand up and match his expression. You lean forward with your hands resting on the table. You can’t help but notice the Captain drops his gaze to your cleavage that’s now on more display than before. But just as quick as it was there, his gaze rises back up to meet your face. “Is that a threat, Captain Rogers?”

“Oh, it’s more than a-“

Tony quickly stands up and claps his hands together. “Okay! Meeting adjourned! You two, come here!”

You quickly straighten yourself up and make your way over to Tony. You always try to make sure you show him as much respect as you can. He’s your boss after all.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark. My emotions got the better of me. It won’t happen again.”

He nods to you. “Thank you, Y/N. I accept your apology. But what I’m not understanding is why Steve here wanted to fire you?”

You both turn to look at Steve who has a sheepish expression on his face. “Yeah, sorry about that, Tony. She just seems to bring out this ugly side of me. I’ll try to keep it more contained next time.” He then moves his gaze to you. “Sorry, Y/N. I promise to be more professional moving forward.”

He makes a quick exit, leaving you shocked that he apologized at all. Ever since you started here almost a year ago now, you’ve been at each other’s throats. It was your fault really.

It was your first week and you were in the break room grabbing some coffee when you overheard a few of your coworkers making fun of Steve for being a virgin. Now, you weren’t sure if it was true but you wanted to fit in so you made your way over to the group and asked if anyone calls him Captain Virgin. That earned you some big laughs. But the laughter died down quickly as Steve entered the room to grab some coffee. Judging by the glare he gave you, he heard what you had called him.

You went straight to Tony after that to apologize. You really didn’t want to get fired. But you wanted to make sure Tony heard the story from you before Steve got the chance to talk to him. To your utter surprise, Tony found the name hilarious and gave you a high five, saying you were going to fit right in.

Well long story short, it’s almost a year later and Steve is still getting called Captain Virgin. Oh but don’t worry, he has names of his own for you. His favorite is Tony’s Pet. For some reason, it really eats at you when he calls you that.

But the one thing you hate the most about Steve?

Is how utterly, hopelessly, and desperately attracted you are to the son of a bitch.

That happened in your second week when you went to use the complimentary gym and saw him beating the shit out of some poor punching bag. Your panties and your workout were definitely ruined after that.

The more you fought with Steve, the more you just wanted him to bend you over any surface and have his way with you.

It was despicable how horny you were for him. You were pretty sure all he’d have to do is snap his fingers and point to the floor in front of him and you’d happily drop to your knees and take him down your throat.

So that left you leaving work every day in a horny state. You started by taking care of it yourself when you got home. But after a while even that wasn’t cutting it. Then you started bringing home one night stands. But after the 4th disappointing non-orgasm, you gave up and just learned to live with it.

Sure, you could attempt to start being nice to Steve and maybe ask him out. But you were pretty sure he hated you. Plus you have way too much pride to actually do that.

So that leads to now. It’s Friday night and your workday is almost over. You’re inputting the last few numbers from the last expense report in your pile.

You get the last number put in when Janet approaches you. She sits on the corner of your desk. “So, you coming tonight?”

You take your glasses off and lean back in your chair, stretching your arms over your head. “Coming where?”

She rolls her eyes at you. “Oh, come on Y/N! You know we go out almost every Friday night. You never come and you always say you will!”

You start to clear off your desk and put things back in their place. “Yeah well I could. Or I could go home and sit on my ass and do nothing.”

“Well, that explains why it’s looking a bit bigger lately.”

Janet’s jaw drops as she directs her gaze at Steve, who is now standing in front of your desk.

You smirk and lean on your elbows towards him. “You like looking at my ass, Rogers?”

He scoffs. “Well when it takes up that much space, it’s hard not to notice. But here, I came to give you this.”

He hands you what looks to be a 10 page expense report. “Sorry it’s late, I’ve been busy, you know. Saving the world.”

You ungraciously take it from him and throw it in your to-do pile. “That can wait until Monday. I’ve got plans. We’re going to-” you look towards Janet for clarification. “Lavo.” You turn your gaze back to Steve. “Yeah, we’re going to Lavo. So this will wait til Monday if that’s okay with you, sir.”

Steve does his best to move his bag and jacket subtly towards the front of his pants so you won’t notice his growing hard-on. He hates how turned on he gets when you guys get into it. And then you call him sir? Jesus. He clears his throat. “Of course, I'm the one who turned it in at the last minute.”

Janet speaks up quickly. “You could always come with us! It’ll be fun!”

You grin widely at him. “Yeah! You could finally get your cherry popped, Captain Virgin.”

Steve can’t help the blush that covers his cheeks. “Uh, I can assure you my cherry has been popped since the 40’s. But thank you for your concern. And thank you for the invite, Janet. But i think I’ll stay in tonight.” He takes out his phone and sends a quick text before turning around and walking towards the elevators.

Wow. He didn’t even try to retaliate. You shrug your shoulders and grab your purse before standing up. “Alright, I’ll go! But on one condition!”

Janet claps her hands in excitement and starts walking with you towards the elevators. “Sure, anything!”

You press the button for the lobby. “You are going to be my wingwoman. Cause this girl definitely needs to get laid.”

😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈

Lavo is super packed by the time you guys arrive. Of course you all had to go home and change.

You decided to go with a simple, yet effective, little black dress that showed off just enough to get men’s attention.

Thankfully you are able to score the last table. The waiter comes over and gets everyone’s drink order. You decide to stick with your favorite. You don’t want to get too drunk on the off chance you find someone to take home.

About a half hour into hot office gossip, Lucy, who is sitting across from you, taps your arm. You raise your eyebrows in question towards her.

She subtly nods her head towards the bar. “Okay I’m pretty sure the hottest guy I have ever seen is checking you out.”

You can’t help the smirk that crosses your face. “Yeah? Which one?”

“You can’t miss him. He’s fucking hot. Like no comparison to any of the other dudes sitting up there.”

You glance down at your drink and quickly finish the remainder. You stand up and adjust your dress, pushing up your breasts in the process. “Well, then I guess it’s time for a refill.” You wink and turn to make your way towards the bar.

It doesn’t take long for you to spot him. And boy was Lucy not kidding. He was fucking hot. Brown hair, blue eyes, and a smug smirk that would normally turn you off. But on him it worked. And who even looks that good in a fucking cream colored cable knit?

You go up to the bar, not too close to Mr. Hottie of course, and patiently wait for the bartender.

Hottie McHothot not so subtly moves his gaze up and down your body. He must like what he sees. “Hey honey, have you ever raised chickens?”

Uh. That’s definitely not the first thing you expected to come out of his mouth. You look over at him with confusion on your face. “Uh, no. Why do you ask?”

He just shrugs his shoulders. “Just kinda figured you might. Cause you sure can raise a cock.”

Okay, you’ve definitely never heard that line before. You crack up. You’re pretty sure you even snorted on accident. Once you collect yourself you ask, “Has that line ever worked for you?”

The bartender makes his way over to take your order. After reordering what you had before, you turn towards Hottie and wait for his answer.

“Not sure, my buddy told it to me yesterday so this is the first time I’m using it. Did it work?”

You shrug your shoulders. “I don’t know. It was pretty cheesy.”

“Yeah, maybe. But it got you to laugh. So I’d say mission accomplished. Name’s Ransom. What’s yours, pretty girl?” He holds out his hand for you to shake.

Ransom. Now where have you heard that name before? You accept his hand shake. You can’t help but notice how much bigger his hands are than yours. Jesus. You could already feel your panties getting wet.

“My name’s Y/N. Ransom, that sounds familiar. Do I know you?”

He releases your hand and goes to take a sip of his bourbon. “Well, I guess that depends. Do you read magazines or have you seen the side of the city bus lately?”

You quickly wrack your brain. You don’t read many magazines. But the bus drives by you everyday on your walk to work. Holy shit! That’s it! He’s in his underwear on the side of the bus. You’ve drooled over that picture plenty of times.

“Oh, yeah! I remember now! I’ve seen you on the bus! What’s it an ad for? I can never really get past the almost naked man. A bit distracting on my way to work.”

He smirks as he briefly glances down at your breasts. “I’m glad you know my work. It’s an ad for Calvin Klein. For their new line of men’s briefs. Sorry I’ve been a distraction.” He sends you a wink.

Fuck. He was a model. And a popular one at that if he’s in an ad for Calvin Klein.

“I didn’t say I minded. You can make it up to me you know.” You wink back. Holy shit. Were you really flirting with a model?

“Yeah? Well, how about we get out of here and I’ll show you a fully naked man.”

Okay. Cheesy line number 2. Was that really going to work on you?

Yes.

Yes it was.

“Let me just go grab my purse.”

Drink forgotten, you go back to your table as quickly as you can without looking desperate. “Sorry, girls. But this is where I leave you.”

Janet glances down at her phone. “We haven’t even been here an hour yet! Where are you going?”

You send her a wink. “I’m leaving with that guy! You guys know him! Remember that ad on the side of the bus?”

They all turn their gaze to him. And they all make it very obvious. He just waves and sends them a smirk.

“Holy fucking shit! That’s the new Calvin Klein guy! Oh my god you lucky bitch!”

“Wait! Listen. We’ll let you go on one condition.”

You furrow your brows in confusion. “Okay?”

Janet gives you a naughty smirk. “On Monday I’ll need a report on if they had to stuff his briefs to get that delicious looking bulge or not.”

You give her a naughty smirk of your own. “I can totally do that.”

😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈

Monday morning you were all smiles as you stepped off the elevator and headed towards your desk. You give Janet a wink as you pass by her. She quickly makes her way over just as you sit down. “Um, excuse me hoe. But is that the same dress you were wearing Friday night?”

You quickly grab the cardigan you always keep in your desk out and put it on and button it up, attempting to look a little more professional. “Maybe.”

Janet opens her mouth in shock. “You stayed the whole weekend with him? You little slut! How was it?”

You turn on your computer and grab for the expense report of Steve’s you left in your to-do pile. Then you turn towards your nosy coworker. “Well, if you must know, yes. I did stay the whole weekend with him. And I’m pretty sure I was in an orgasm-induced coma the whole time. It’s all kind of a rough, sticky, mind-blowing blur.”

“Are you going to see him again?”

You shrug your shoulders as you put in your login information on the computer. “I haven’t decided yet. While the sex was the best I’ve ever had, he’s kind of an ass. Talked about himself and all the famous people he’s hooked up with since becoming a model. I honestly kept initiating sex just to make him shut up.”

She gives you a look like you’re stupid. “I’m not seeing the issue here. So what if he talks about himself a lot? The sex was amazing. You need to lock that down girl.”

You roll your eyes at her. “That’s the thing, Janet. He doesn’t do relationships. He told me so multiple times. Plus I’m pretty sure he was texting another chick in between our ‘sessions’. I suppose if I’m desperate, I’ll get a hold of him.”

“You know you could always just have him on backup for sex. Like a friends with benefits situation.”

“Janet, I’m in my late 20s. I’m too old for that kind of relationship.”

“Exactly, you’re in your late 20s! This is the perfect time for that kind of relationship before you settle down and get married! Have one last final hoorah!”

“I can’t have this conversation before caffeine. I’m going to get coffee. You act like I’m dying soon or something.” You turn to walk away but then remember you were supposed to tell her something. “Oh yeah and by the way. The bulge is definitely not stuffed.”

You give her a wink and then head to the break room for some much needed coffee. When you see who’s in there, you almost contemplate going downstairs to a different break room.

Steve is standing at the counter, preparing his coffee. He turns when he hears you come in and gives you a once over. “Well, look what the cat dragged in.”

You grab a mug out of the cabinet beside him. “Sorry my appearance isn’t up to your standards today, Rogers. I was a little...busy this weekend.”

He takes a sip of his coffee to make sure it’s right. Then he moves out of your way so you can get to the coffee, but still staying close. “Busy getting run over by a truck? Cause that’s kind of what you look like.”

You pour yourself a generous amount of coffee and take a long sip, letting the bitter liquid slowly make you human. “Yeah, well. I was busy getting fucked all weekend, Rogers. But I know your little innocent mind wouldn’t know what that’s like.”

That wipes the stupid little smirk right off his face. He almost looks pissed. He moves even closer to you. Almost pressing himself right up against you. So close that you can smell his coffee-scented breath. If you were wearing panties, they’d be ruined.

“Not all of us feel the need to sleep around. Some of us are looking for a real connection. Not just a one night stand of meaningless, mediocre sex.”

You press yourself just a little closer to him, his chest now touching yours. “Oh, it was anything but mediocre. Maybe if you actually got some, you’d know what that feels like.”

He leans his head down until his mouth is next to your ear, his left hand now resting on your hip. “You really need to stop insinuating that I’m a virgin sweetheart. If you were nicer to me, I’d show you that I know how to fuck.” With that he backs up and heads out of the break room.

You let out the breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. Jesus Christ. You swear you almost came.

And if you were nicer to him? Fuck him. He’s not nice to you either. That’s okay. You have someone who can scratch this itch.

You pull out your phone and send a quick text.

To: Fuckboi

You busy tonight? I could really use a release.

The reply came almost immediately.

From: Fuckboi

Didn’t get enough of my cock this weekend huh? I suppose I could make myself available.

You roll your eyes and quickly reply with your address and what time to be over.

The rest of the day passes by slowly. It takes you half the day to enter Steve’s expense report. God he’s descriptive. At least it’s completed. You can’t really say that much for the other Avengers. They usually half assed them and made them barely acceptable.

You are shutting down for the day when Steve approaches your desk. You remove your glasses and look at him expectantly. “Is there something I can help you with, Steve?”

A blush creeps it’s way across his cheeks. “Um, I was actually just wondering if you had time to go over the new expense report forms? They should be a lot easier to fill out.”

You glance down at the clock on your computer. Ransom is going to be at your place in about 20 minutes.“Can we do it tomorrow? I have company that’ll be showing up at my apartment in like 20 minutes.”

His hopeful smile falls. His face is now unreadable. “Would your company happen to be whoever you spent the weekend with?”

Confused, you grab for your purse after getting your computer shut down. “Actually, yes. Should I have asked your permission first?” You attempt a joke to ease the sudden tension.

He pulls out his phone and starts typing furiously. Wow. You weren’t aware he knew how to text. You hear it ping with a reply before he angrily puts it back in his pocket. “Sure, we can do this tomorrow. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of your whoreing around.”

Your jaw drops in surprise. Sure you guys were always throwing jabs at each other. But he’d never said anything like this before. And in such a mean tone.

You round your desk and stand right in front of him. “Fuck you, Steve.”

You hurry towards the elevators before he can see the tears that have welled up. You couldn’t let him know he had that power over you. Asshole. Thank god Ransom was coming over. Hopefully he could fuck what Steve just said right out of your head.

😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈

You’ve lost count of how many orgasms Ransom has pulled from you with his mouth when there’s a knock on your door.

Ransom looks up at you from his kneeling position on your living room floor. “Did you invite someone else to join us, pretty girl?”

You scoff and push him away so you can stand up. You pull your dress down as you make your way towards the door. “Yeah. I can barely handle just you. I’m pretty sure if we added someone else, I’d actually die.”

You open the door and gasp in surprise. “Steve? What are you doing here?”

He rubs the back of his neck nervously. “Look, I know you probably already have company but I felt really bad about what I said to you earlier today and wanted to apologize.”

You have so many questions. “How did you know where I lived?”

That sheepish smile makes its appearance again. “I may or may not have looked in your employee file.”

You shake your head. “And you felt the need to come all the way here and apologize? Why not just text me?”

“It would only have felt right to me to do it in person. I really am sor-”

You feel a pair of arms wrap around you from behind. “Well, who do we have here? Why is Captain America at your door?”

You turn your head to address Ransom. “He just came by to apologize to me. I think he was just leaving.”

Steve has a disappointed look on his face. “Yeah, I suppose I was.”

“Awe, what a shame. I thought you were gonna ask him to join us, pretty girl.”

Steve’s eyes grow wide at the thought. You quickly speak up. “No, I don’t think he’d be comfortable with that. He’s a little old fashioned.” You give him a sincere smile. You didn't think that was a bad thing.

Steve looks back towards the elevators and then back to you. He clears his throat. “What if I wanted to join you?” Seeing your wide eyed look, he quickly adds, “Only if Y/N would be comfortable with that of course.”

You contemplate what the consequences could be in your head. But then you get distracted when Ransom starts grinding his hard on against your ass. “Come on, pretty girl. Make a decision.”

The next word comes out of your mouth faster than what your brain can process. “Okay.”

😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈

Now you were standing awkwardly in your bedroom with Steve and Ransom looking at you expectantly.

You’ve never done this before so you’re not sure how this is supposed to go. “So, um. How do we start exactly?”

Ransom smirks and comes up behind you. “I think you should call the shots, pretty girl. If you’re okay with that, Steve?”

With the mention of his name, he walks towards you and places his hands on your hips. “I think that’s a great idea. Can I kiss you now?” He places his hand under your chin and raises your face up to meet his. “I’ve waited a long time for this, sweetheart.” With that, his lips meet yours. It’s explosive. You quickly wrap your hands around his neck and press yourself up against him.

You get so lost in the kiss, you forget that Ransom is there. That is until he presses his lips against your neck and presses himself against your ass. It presses you even further against Steve, making you feel his excitement against your lower belly.

You’re so overwhelmed already and you’d barely started. You may not survive this evening.

As you move your hands down to remove Steve’s shirt, Ransom is unzipping your dress, pressing kisses to every inch of exposed skin.

Without breaking the kiss, Steve moves his hands around to unhook your bra so he can get his hands on your breasts. He pinches your nipples, causing you to moan into his mouth. He moves his lips to your neck, sucking on your pulse point.

After successfully removing your dress, Ransom stands back up and turns your head to connect your lips. He starts rutting his clothed hard on against your naked ass. His left hand reaches around to bat one of Steve’s away so he can squeeze your breast.

Steve takes the hand that had been swatted away and moves it down to your soaking wet core. He starts lightly circling your clit. Just enough pressure to make you mewl.

You reach behind you with your left hand and tug at the waistband of Ransom’s briefs. “Off.” You moan out as you take your right hand and start attempting to take off Steve’s jeans. He smirks into your neck and helps you out. He barely gets them unbuttoned and unzipped before you’re reaching your hand into them and his boxers to grab his cock. It feels big.

Ransom grabs your left hand and places it on his now free cock. You wrap your hand around it and give it a squeeze before you start pumping your hand up and down. You do the same to Steve’s, making the both of them let out grunts against both sides of your neck. Steve increases the pressure on your clit a little. Still not enough.

“Nee-need, you. Please.” You weakly moan out. Ransom moves his mouth up to your ear. “How do you want us, pretty girl?”

You reluctantly pull away from both of them so you can think. You decide to be greedy. You point to Steve. “I want you to lay on the bed, please.”

He does as you ask. Putting his hands behind his head as he awaits further instructions.

You get on the bed and straddle him. You turn around and reach your arm out for Ransom. “Want you behind me.” You lean over and open your bedside drawer to grab the lube and toss it at Ransom. He smirks as he straddles Steve’s legs and gets behind you. He uncaps the lube and starts coating his cock with a generous amount. “Need my cock in that ass, pretty girl?”

You hold up your hand. “Wait.” You lean down towards Steve and give him a quick kiss. “Are you okay with this?”

He nods his head. “As long as you are.” You raise back up and smile at him. You turn your head and look at Ransom. “I’m assuming you're okay with this?”

He just smirks and squeezes some lube out so that it slides down the crack of your ass. “More than okay, pretty girl. Need me to stretch you out first?”

You smirk and pull him in for a quick, filthy kiss. “I think it got plenty stretched out this weekend.”

He matches your smirk. “You little slut. Wanting both of our cocks stuffing you full.”

You whimper as he lands a smack on your ass. Leaning up on your knees, you grab a hold of Steve’s cock and start running his tip up and down your folds. He places his left hand on your right hip and his right hand on your left thigh. “Condom?”

You quickly shake your head and pause your actions. “On the pill. Unless of course you’d be more comfortable with one.”

He shakes his head. “No, just making sure.”

You turn back to Ransom. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready for you.”

He nods and places his hands on your shoulders, waiting somewhat patiently.

You slowly sink down on Steve’s cock. He’s stretching you out so deliciously. It burns in just the right way. Ransom may be longer, but Steve is definitely thicker.

After you get fully seated on him, you take a minute to adjust. It only takes a few seconds. You turn your head towards Ransom. “Okay, I’m ready.”

He removes his right hand from your shoulder and grabs the base of his cock and starts pressing against the tight ring of muscle. He’d been in there a lot over the weekend. But it was still a tight fit regardless. He doesn’t go as slow and sheaths himself to the hilt, causing you to moan out in slight pain and pleasure.

Holy fuck. You feel so full. You think you might die. That is until Ransom removes his cock until just the tip remains and then forcefully thrust back in, causing you to grind on Steve’s dick.

Steve grunts out from the movement and starts thrusting up into you the best he can from his position. Ransom wraps his left arm around you and continues his thrusts, not letting up his pace. You don’t even really have to move, the both of them doing it for you. They somehow find the perfect rhythm. Each of them pulling out and pushing in at the same time. One of your hands is behind you, resting on the back of Ransom’s head while the other is resting on Steve’s chest.

Steve sits up suddenly and pulls you in for a kiss. “Like being stuffed with both of our cocks, pretty girl?” You hear from behind you. “Yes. So good. So full. Gonna cum.”

Ransom removes his arm from around you and reaches down and starts circling your clit. “Do it. Cum all over us. Make a mess.”

Steve can feel you squeezing him. “Please, sweetheart. Need to feel you cum on my cock. You’re gripping me so good.”

You explode. You clamp your eyes shut, seeing stars behind your eyelids. You let the both of them fuck you through it.

Ransom’s hips stutter. The fluttering around his cock is too good. He cums with a shout of your name, filling up your ass to the brim. He gives you a few more thrusts before he pulls out and collapses beside you two.

Steve’s been patient while you come down from your high. He lays back down, pulling you with him so that your chest to chest. He bends his knees and grabs onto your hips. “You ready, sweetheart?” You raise up, both of your hands on each side of his head. You give him a nod.

That’s all he needs. He starts fucking you, hard and fast, chasing his release. He can feel it building. He just needs to feel you come undone around him again. He moves one of his hands and starts circling your clit with his thumb. “Need you to cum for me again, Y/N.”

You shake your head. “Can’t. Too much.”

Ransom sits up beside you. “I know what she needs.” He reaches over with his left hand and wraps it around your throat, squeezing gently.

It makes you clench down on Steve’s cock. “Yeah? That all you needed, sweetheart? A hand wrapped around your pretty throat? I know you like it. Can feel you squeezing me.” He picks up his pace. The only sounds that can be heard are his grunts, your breathy monas, and skin slapping against skin.

It doesn’t take long for your orgasm to hit you. This one is somehow even more intense than the last.

You must’ve blacked out for a few seconds because the next thing you know, you’re waking up in between Steve and Ransom.

Steve smiles down at you. “There she is. We lost you for a second, sweetheart.”

You feel drunk. You smile goofily up at him. “Did you cum?”

Just as you ask that, you can feel his release seeping out of your overused cunt. Then you feel cum leaking out of your ass. You hide your face behind your hands in embarrassment. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

Ransom removes one hand while Steve removes the other. “Nuh uh uh. No hiding allowed, pretty girl. I have no regrets.” He looks at Steve. “Do you?”

Steve smiles down at you and leans down to press a soft kiss against your lips. “None from me. You tired, sweetheart?”

You let out a big yawn and nod your head, slowly closing your eyes. “Get some rest, pretty girl.” That’s the last thing you hear before sleep takes you.

😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈

You wake up sometime in the early morning, stretching out your sore limbs. You know you have a dumb smile on your face. But you can’t help but notice your empty bed.

You sit up and hiss at the deliciously sore feeling between your legs. You grab your robe and slip it on. You can smell coffee coming from the kitchen. You giddily make your way out of the room and down the hallway. They both barely just come into view, still unaware you’re there, when you hear Steve speak.

“I thought you were going to be an asshole to her? Make her see I’m not that bad.”

You hear Ransom next. “I was an asshole to her. I’m sorry I dicked her down so good that she wanted more.”

Steve scoffs. “I never gave you the okay to fuck her!”

“You also didn’t tell me it was off limits. Look you got what you wanted right?”

“No, actually I didn’t. I didn’t pay you so we could have a threesome together.”

What the fuck? Steve paid Ransom to help him get in your pants?

“Ok, how about this? I’ll give you all of your money back if I can fuck her one more time before I go? Then we’ll be squared away.”

Steve seems to be conflicted. “Fine! But this is the last time Ransom. I have to get to work anyway. After this, she’s mine. And make sure she’s not late for work herself.”

Before you have time to react, Steve rounds the corner and sees you standing there. He has a deer caught in headlights look. Ransom comes up beside him and sees you. “Oh, honey, you weren’t supposed to see that.”

You slowly start backing up towards your bedroom. Steve moves towards you, stopping once you put your hands up. “Stay away from me! Both of you! I want nothing to do with either of you!”

Ransom moves past Steve and grabs onto your arms. “Oh, please. You’d fuck us again if we wanted. Wouldn’t you?”

You spit in his face. “Fuck you, Hugh.”

He gets a sinister look on his face. “Wrong move, pretty girl.” He looks toward Steve. “Don’t worry, I’ll fuck the brat out of her. You better tell her boss she won’t be in today.”

Your eyes go wide at his words. You start thrashing against him, trying your best to get away. Steve has had enough. He comes over and yanks you away from him and presses you against the wall. “You better calm down, sweetheart. I’ll treat you like a princess if you can be my good girl. Can you do that?”

You shake your head. “Why would you think I’d want anything to do with you after finding out you paid someone to help get into my pants?”

He gives you an evil smirk. “Because if you don’t, I’ll just have to release the tape of last night on the internet. Let everyone see how much of a slut you actually are.”

You narrow your eyes at him. “You’re bluffing.”

He smirks and turns his head towards Ransom. “Show her.”

Ransom gets his phone out of his pocket and swipes at the screen for a second before turning it in your direction.

Holy shit. They weren’t bluffing. There you were, getting fucked by the both of them. That would ruin you if it got out. Not only would you get fired, but your parents would probably disown you. You’d never have a normal relationship again. You’re fucked. Even more than you were last night. How had you not noticed they were recording it?

Ransom must have read your mind. “I set my phone up while you were busy with Steve’s fingers on your cunt and his tongue down your throat. I think you need to ask her again Steve.”

Steve grabs your chin and moves your gaze onto his face. “I’ll ask you again. Are you going to be my good girl? Let Ransom fuck you one more time and then it’ll just be me and you?”

You drop your gaze to the floor. You feel a tear run down your cheek as you whisper out, “I’ll be your good girl.”

Taglist: @stargazingfangirl18 @drabblewithfrannybarnes @harrysthiccthighss @lllols @patzammit @quxxnxfhxll

Steve Taglist: @donutloverxo

#captain america #dark!steve rogers/reader #dark!steve rogers smut #model!ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale smut #siris5ksoftdarkchallenge #this sweater wearing menace #shield throwing daddy #steve rogers smut #steve rogers #chris evans #chris evans smut #steve rogers x reader

576 notes · View notes

atalho-s · 3 years

Text

Light Up The Dark

Part 2 | We are accidents waiting to happen

pairing: bartender!tom x famous!reader

warnings: smut +18 miniors dni, swear words?, drinking, let me know if anything else!

words: 5.0 k

a/n: english it’s not my first language, so i’m sorry for any mistake! I don’t have a taglist yet, but if you want to be tagged in the next chapters let me know!!

PART 2 if you want to read part 1 click here!

It was already Saturday. The day Y/n took for herself. Writing was extraordinary, but she loved having a day off to take care of herself. She spent the day doing things she enjoyed, whether it was lying in bed watching a movie or trying to cook something.

After the fateful day of writer's block she started writing like crazy, so she didn't feel guilty about taking a day off without thinking about her characters and how they would get out of the challenges she had created for them.

The fateful day. For some reason she kept thinking about that damned Brit with that accent. For a moment she'd been scared that she'd been seen by paparazzi hanging out with the mysterious bartender, or even some picture of him leaving her apartment. But nothing came out in the news on the gossip sites, which made her relieved.

As much as she deserved to have fun once in a while and wasn't doing anything wrong, she still didn't want to bring attention to herself and even less to a guy who wasn't even famous. She was afraid to put anyone who wasn't famous in the media. Fear that one day suddenly, this person might be persecuted because of her.

Anyway, it had just been a crazy night. Nothing much. And she didn't intend to see him again. So she had nothing to worry about.

Sitting down in the kitchen counter with her familiar cup of coffee she got lost in some thoughts. Why hadn't she stopped thinking about him ever since? It had been a great night, but that was all. She didn't even know him well.

Maybe it was because her creative block had been broken after being with him. But obviously it was just a coincidence. She had just felt inspired after a distraction.

She shook his head away from the thoughts and placed the cup in the sink. She took a deep breath and thought about what to do next. But before she could think of anything else her cell phone started ringing on the counter. She was almost jump by the sudden sound, seeing the screen indicating that it was Milla, her agent, who had become one of her best friends.

- Hi Mil! - she said after sliding the screen.

- Good morning baby. - she said on the other end of the line. - Ready for the party?

- Party? What a party? - Y/n asked confused starting to wash the small amount ofdishes she had soiled.

- How you don't know? I thought I sent you the invitation on your email and I even sent you a message!

- Bestie, I haven't seen my email or message for days. I was super focused on the book, my writer's block finally went away.

- Really? I knew that would go away! You were worried for nothing. What did you do to go back to writing? - Milla asked and Y/n smiled a little.

- Well... I just went out to chill out a bit...Nothing much.

- Y/n getting out on weekdays? And even on the days you're writing a book? That's what I call grow. - she said and Y/n rolled her eyes laughing. - I'm even afraid to invite you to parties, because I know when you're writing you hate to go out... But it's good to know that you're getting out of your routine a little...

- Yeah, sometimes it's good to breathe new air. - Y/n replied drying his hands on a towel. - But what party are you talking about?

- A party of none other than Emma Brown. - Y/n snorted. Emma Brown was a great actress who to tell the truth she didn't know much, she only knew her from a couple of her movies, but other than that she didn't know much about her.

But what she did know was that she had some also famous friends of questionable taste. They were those famous people who only knew about money, women, cars and mansions. But she was tipped for a theatrical adaptation of one of her books and she wanted everything to come out perfect. She was very afraid the movie would end up ruining her work.

- Do I really have to go? - She asked in a tearful voice.

- Yes you have! It's going to be a really fancy birthday party for her, all the famous people in the industry are going to be there. You know you have to socialize with these people. Who knows, you can make some important friendships...

- Milla... I don't know... I don't need important friendships. I don't need anyone to stand up or approach others for interest.

- I know you don't need anyone for that... I just meant that you're very isolated, you need to make connections, understand? I know it's hard because you hate all that fame and stuff. But if you want the adaptation of your story to be good, there's no way... Besides, one of the great directors you left me on the list to research will be there too. So it would be really cool to kill two birds with one stone. - Milla said and Y/n sighed. She was right, if she wanted everything to work out she had to at least have a conversation with these people. It would be weird to refuse Emma's invitation to her birthday. It would just show that she was uninterested.

- Okay... You won ok? - She said and Milla gave an excited squeal. - But I won't stay long!

- Okay, okay... Just for you to go is great! Andrew will be there shortly for you to choose a dress. -Andrew was her stylist and she practically jumped every time Y/n had an important event, because it was rare for her to go. Good thing he didn't just have her as a client, because otherwise he'd be bored out of his mind for a long time.

- Okay Mil, thank you... I love you! - She said and Milla said goodbye hanging up the phone.

It was late afternoon when Andrew arrived at her apartment with several suitcases and bags in both hands. He really had brought up thousands of options. But Y/n ended up choosing a slightly shiny black dress that went just above the knee with a V-neck. Something cute, but nothing too fancy.

He did her makeup. Which wasn't too heavy either, as she hated things that were too heavy on her face. Finally she put on a mid-heeled sandal in the same color as the dress and her sparkly earrings. Before Andrew left her apartment satisfied with the result.

It was almost 7:30 pm when a black car that would take her to the party location arrived in front of her building and she got out enter the backseat right after. She was apprehensive. She hated socializing to tell the truth. Large crowds and cameras really made her anxious.

After almost 20 minutes the car stopped in front of what appeared to be a large gate. Several paparazzi showed up and started taking pictures of her car surrounding her or even tapping on the window a little, asking her if she could talk to them. Which she obviously ignored. The driver introduced himself to the doorman and he opened the gate letting the car pass and stop in front of a luxurious mansion.

Some people were coming in and others were standing in front talking. She saw that there were some familiar faces of the media. Actresses, actors, singers, famous people of every imaginable type.

She opened the car door and walked out towards the large entrance. She smiled at a few people, nodding her head as she passed and found herself in a crowd of people as she entered the place. There really were a lot of people, despite the place being even bigger inside. Many with fancy drinks in hand and chatting. A song playing on the background.

She walked deeper into the room and took a quick look around trying to find the birthday girl. After a few minutes she found her near one of the sofas. Y/n walked over and stopped beside her, causing Emma to stop her conversation with two more people and look at her.

- Happy Birthday! - Y/n said in the friendliest way possible and Emma smirked and hugged her lightly afterwards.

- Thank you! Glad you came! - she said, breaking out of the hug after a few seconds.

- Your party is very beautiful, I loved the decoration. - Y/n said looking around. Indeed Emma had decorated the place in a simple way, but at the same time fancy and beautiful.

- Oh thank you... - she said, still smiling. - I'm very happy that you accepted my invitation, we have a lot to talk about since maybe we'll work together, right?

- No problem, obviously I would come... - Y/n said and almost punched herself because she was very fake in saying that. - But we really have to talk!

- Well, I was talking to Jim just now... I can give you his number later... He's a great director and I think it would be great for your adaptation... - Emma said and Y/n thought that she was really interested in that adaptation, because she was even talking to the possible renowned director, which surprised her. She thought Emma was a little more oblivious to her books and even movie stuff. She thought she was one of those famous actresses who expected others to come after her, not being interested in the work itself, but only on the fame and money. - We love your book! I think it has great potential for a grand adaptation.

- Wow, that is good to hear! Thanks a lot! - Y/n said sincerely this time. - I'll love talking to him too...

- Sure! - She looked behind Y/n and motioned to someone from far away. - Hey Jim! You can come here? - She asked speaking loudly for him to hear and Y/n turned around watching the director approaching after saying goodbye to someone. He wasn't much older than she thought, maybe in his early thirties, he wore a small beard that fit his face and short hair, but with curls that jutted out around his head. -That's Y/n... Y/n that's Jim...-Emma said when he got in front of her and Jim held out his hand with a smile.

- Nice to meet Y/n, we finally met... - he said and Y/n shook his hand also smiling.

- Nice to meet you Jim! - She said and Emma sat in one of the armchairs indicating for the two to sit, which they did next.

- Do you two want something to drink? Champagne?- Emma asked and they both accepted as she motioned for someone from far away to bring them.

- Well, I found your book very intriguing Y/n... I can say I haven't slept for a while... - Jim said laughing a little and Y/n smiled. - It's a very well written story, I loved the plots and it has a great resolution. I think I would make a good 2 hour movie with all this material... - he said and Y/n paid attention until something took her a little out of focus. Something not. Somebody.

It was the waiter, and not just any waiter. It was Tom. He came into her vision and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Maybe it was a mirage or she was mistaking him for someone else. But when he approached she was sure it was him. He came with a tray with drinks in one hand. He was wering a white dress shirt, with black pants. The typical pattern of a fancy party waiter. But he was beautiful. Y/n felt a shiver for a moment and tried to hide it by looking back at Jim who was still talking about his plans for the possible movie.

Maybe Tom didn't even remember her. She was just a one-night stand, he should do that with a lot of girls out there, so it wasn't something new to him. As soon as he arrived, he handed one of the glasses to Emma beside her and Y/n felt her breath quicken a little. She didn't know why she was so nervous. It was just a waiter she had slept with a few days ago.

- Excuse me... - he said and Y/n looked up at him quickly seeing that he was right in front of him. -Here it is miss...-he said looking her in the eyes and then winking at her, wich almost make her shrink in her chair. He held out the tray for her to take one of the glasses and she did, looking away at Jim.

- So, what do you think? - Jim asked taking the glass from the tray and Y/n took a sip of his surprise drink.

- Sorry? - She asked guiltily for having been distracted.

- About us meeting and having a meeting next week? That way I can show you my idea better. - he said and Y/n smiled.

- Of course, that would be great! - she said and Tom walked away not looking in her direction again, which left her disappointed for a second. She would going to love looking into those eyes again.

- Perfect! - Jim replied excitedly and started talking about other things as well as Emma.

They talked for almost an hour, until Emma went to talk to other people and Jim said he was leaving as he had some work in the morning. Y/n sat for a while and finished drinking the last of her champagne and placed it on the table in front of her.

She thought about leaving. She had already done the important interactions for the night. So, she had no reason to stay there. But she kept thinking about the damn waiter. Would it be weird to go talk to him? Maybe just say hi? But she doubted he would want to talk to her. Besides, he was working. She didn't want to get in his way.

Getting up from her chair and straightening her dress, she forced her steps towards the exit, but stopped midway as she saw Tom walking into what appeared to be the kitchen with the tray tucked under his arm. She looked at the exit door and sighed. Okay, if she went to him just to say hi, it wouldn't hurt would it?

Y/n turned and headed in the direction that Tom had gone. She couldn't even believe she was doing it this. She would looked ridiculous in his eyes. But she choose to ignore the little voice of reason again. Passing by a few people, and walking out into a empty hallway, she opening a single door at end. She closed in behind her and turned to see that Tom was on his back piling some boxes in a corner. His muscles in that outfit made her feel tempted somehow, so she swallowed hard. He turned at the sound of the door closing and looked at her with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

- Looking for something madam? - He asked with a smirk.

- Actually... - Y/n thought of some excuse, maybe it would be better, so it would seem that she was there for something else and not for him. - Yeah... I was looking for the bathroom, I think I take the wrong direction...

- Yeah...Actually, the bathroom is on the other side of the hallway... - he said leaning against the kitchen counter and looking her up and down, making her feel completely vulnerable. After his eyes roamed her legs and bust, they came to her face and he grinned.

- Okay, I'll... - Y/n started saying and turned around taking a few steps. But she stopped midway, closing his eyes, tearing himself apart from the inside out of embarrassment. She turned around again seeing that he was still watching her, now with his arms crossed over his chest, wondering what she would do next. - You remember me don't you? - She asked fearfully.

- Of course I remember darling... - he said, practically intensifying his accent in that nickname that was so perfect in his voice. Y/n took a few steps forward also crossing her arms. - How could I forget the famous writer Y/n?- He raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes with his last sentence.

- It really was an...- She looked at her feet trying to find a word. - Interesting night… - she finally said and he chuckled, making her look up.

- Very interesting indeed... - he said putting his hands in his front pockets, pulling himself away from the counter and heading towards her. Y/n wanted to say goodbye and leave, run away as fast as possible. But she couldn't, every move he did was too tempting, so she just stood there watching him get closer and closer to her. He stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes, smiling slightly.

- What are you doing here? Do you work as a waiter at parties too? - Y/n asked curiously.

- My boss sometimes receives proposals for us to work at these rich parties... - he said with a shrug.

- Oh... Nice... - she said crossing her arms. - Well...Now I really have to go... - she said trying to get away from it one last time.

- Why did you really come here love? -Tom asked tilting his head a little to the side and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

- I told you, I was looking for the bathroom. -Y/n looked at his face trying to be firm, but saw that he still wore that smirk. Why did he have to be so confident like that?

- Oh sure... Just like you also looked for some excuse that day for me to leave, but failed miserably?- he asked making a thoughtful face and she still hadn't decided if she wanted to slap him or kiss him.

- Why did you leave without saying goodbye tho? - She asked ignoring what he had said.

- So that's why you came after me? Are you hurt that I didn't leave you a goodbye kiss? - he said pouting.

- Of course not, I just... I don't know, it would be nice to say that you were leaving and that you wouldn't stay for breakfast... - Y/n said looking to the side, avoiding those brown eyes that intimidated her.

- Darling, I'm not that type guy, sorry...

- What type of guy? - she still avoided looking at him.

- The type who stay for breakfeast. -he said taking a hand from her pocket and taking her chin gently, making her look at him. - But if you want some fun I'm at your disposal. -he said and she bit her lower lip lightly making him deviate his eyes towards her lips. - Do you want darling?- he asked quietly and Y/n seemed to be transfixed by her touch. She was surrendered, she couldn't deny it. Maybe even hypnotized.

- I...- she said with a little shaky voice. - I don't know...

- Yes or no?- he asked looking from her lips to her eyes and she felt her breath getting heavy.

- Yes...- she just spoke as a whisper and he smiled satisfied.

- How about you meet me in 15 minutes in the bathroom of the pool house? - He said and she just shook her head slowly. Tom released her chin and backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off her, and then walked away leaving her alone with her heart racing.

Y/n took a deep breath and tried to place herself in what had just happened. Did she really want this? Her mind could try to hear the voice of reason, but it was drowned out by her body's reaction. She wanted to feel him again.

She walked away quickly, passing several people who were talking loudly or who were already drunk. She looked around and saw the door that led to the back side and sneak there, getting out and feeling the slightly chilly night air, closing the sliding door behind her.

She saw the pool that had some people around it and a little further to the right a door that opened into another closed space. Probably the pool house. She walked over there, trying to hide it so no one would see her, and went inside. She closed the front door slowly and headed towards the bathroom.

The place was dark, with only the lights outside. So she was holding her hand into to some stuff until he found the door. She went in and turned on the light. The bathroom was spacious, with a large sink and a huge mirror in front of it. She closed herself off and looked at herself in the reflection.

That was crazy. She had never done that at parties. Not even when she was drunk. And now she was there, looking forward to what might happen. In fact she knew what was going to happen, just as she knew when she invited him up to her apartment that night. But even so, she felt butterflies in her stomach in anticipation.

After almost 10 minutes of waiting she heard the bathroom door open and she turned in the direction, feeling extremely anxious. Tom came in looking over his shoulder and closed the door soon after, looking at her with an opening grin. He locked the door slowly with one hand and came towards her in a hurry.

The next thing she felt was his lips pressing against hers urgently. He kissed her like it was the last thing he would do. Running her tongue over her lips asking permission and Y/n opened it slowly letting him explore her mouth with his burning tongue.

She ran her hand around the back of his neck pulling his hair and he responded by holding her waist tightly. Tom walked forward and she leaned her back against the sink counter. Making him lift her with agility, sitting her down on the cold surface and getting between her legs. She grunted in surprise against his mouth and he broke the kiss for air. Kissing from her neck to her collarbone and she closed her eyes feeling his touch.

- Tom... - she said in a low voice. - You won't get in trouble if you disappear like that? -he now kissed her neckline and squeezed her thigh with desire.

- Not if we're fast darling. -He spoke a bit husky, moving his kisses to her earlobe, biting lightly and she moaned low. - And despite loving your sounds, you will have to be silent. - He looked at her smiling maliciously. - Promise? -He spoke touching her nose with his lightly, looking at her closely, and she nodded making him attack her lips next.

Still kissing her he pulled the hem of her dress up a little and she bit his lip making him smile against the kiss. Her fingers reached her inner thigh and then moved up to her panties. Tom put the fabric aside with one of her fingers and passed one slowly at her entrance feeling her wetness.

- Always ready for me aren't you darling? -He said pulling his mouth away from hers, staying just a few centimeters away from her. She moaned softly again and he smiled as he pulled her fingers away and replaced them around her thighs pulling her closer to the edge of the sink. He started to finger her really slowly and she bite her lips, trying to control her moaning. Tom keep his pace just watching her face squirm with pleasure. After seconds he removed his delicious fingers making her almost protest out loud, makind him smile even more. If wasn't for the rush he would definitively make his time with you.

Y/n then put his hands on the collar of his shirt and opened the first buttons. Kissing his neck with desire, making him squeeze her thighs in response. Biting her lips he unfastened his belt and then the buttons of his pants pulled them down along with his boxers, revealing his cock. He pulled her in for one more kiss before taking the condom package from his pocket and opening it, meanwhile Y/n was kissing uncovered place she could reach, from his face to his chest, opening more buttons of his shirt.

Tom adjusted the condom on his cock before taking a few thrusts. He moved even closer to her, if that was even possible, and gave her a peck.

- Ready? He spoke softly against her lips and she nodded almost in despair, wanting to feel him inside her more than anything.

He smiled once more and slid his cock easily as she was completely wet. Tom growled low against her ear and Y/n bit her lip so no sound could come out. He started to move, after she was more adjusted to his size, at first slowly and starting to increase his pace with each second.

-Fuck... - he cursed softly against her ear and she pulled the hair from his neck with one hand, while the other squeezed his shoulder. The more he increased the pace she felt as if she were coming off the ground. - So tight darling... - he said between small grunts. - Feels so good...

- Tom... - Y/n spoke and he increased the pace even more making her moan with the sudden sensation of pleasure and he muffled her sounds by sticking his lips on hers.

-Shh… - he said after moving his lips from hers and Y/n tried her best to keep the sounds to herself, but he filled her perfectly and made her feel so good that she couldn't help it. Tom smirked and put his hand over her mouth, covering her moans. - Can't contain yourself? -he said and kissed her neck giving light bites and hickeys. -You're so easy for me, love... Look at you...- he spoke in a low voice, while still holding his hand firm in her mouth and kissing below her ear. - So easy...- he said going faster, as if it were possible, and bit his lower lip trying to contain his own moans this time, touching his nose to her cheek.

- Please…- she managed to speak muffled against his hand, feeling her orgasm quickly building.

- I know sweetheart... - he said making her feel his heavy breath into her cheek. -I got you ...-he finally said and that was enough for her orgasm to release with force, making him also come right after her with one last muffled grunt against her neck. He continued to move slowly for a few more seconds, before coming to a complete stop. The two of them with their breaths out of control. Reaching their high.

After a few minutes Tom took his hand from her mouth and soon after took his member out of her slowly. The two were silent the entire time. Y/n felt empty as soonTom walked away to clean up, still half dazed from all the pleasure she just felt. He cleaned himself up and discarded the condom, zipping his pants and turned around, buttoning his shirt right away. Y/n didn't take her eyes off every move he made and he smiled approaching her.

- Want some help darling? - he asked standing in front of her and she held in his arms before he helped her getting down from the sink. She felt a little dizzy and if it wasn't for him holding her she thought she would fall. - You're right? - he asked still holding her on her waist.

- Yes...Thank you... - she managed to say.

- Well, I have to go, before they notice that I'm gone... - he said, releasing her.

- Of course... - Y/n said. - Tom… - she didn't know what to say. It might be the second time they'd done this, but it still felt like it was the first and she felt somewhat embarrassed. Maybe because she wasn't used to casual sex.

- See you soon? - He said giving a quick kiss on her cheek, fixing his hair in the best way he could and winking as he walked away, going to the door and unlocking it. He got out and closed it behind him while she back staring into the mirror.

She took a deep breath and was trying to figure out what to do next. After cleaning her up she finally got out of there. She crawled to the door and managed to get through the party without the weird looks she thought everyone would send to her when they bumped into her. For some reason she thought everyone would know, but obviously not. She felt weird doing that at an party, it really wasn't like her. But why did she feel so good?

She looked around before heading out of the house, but she didn't find Tom in her vision and she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She wanted to look at him one last time from afar, but at the same time she didn't. Maybe that was the last time they were going to do that. She didn't think she'd find him like this anywhere else, and she didn't intend to go to the bar he worked at just to get another night with him. Besides, that's what she was, just one night, just a "quickie" in the bathroom. And everything was fine. He was that for her too, so what did it matter?

For a moment she felt his head fill with ideas. Y/n had a perfect plot for her story now. She had to go home and get back to writing right away. Calling the driver from a distance, she practically ran towards the car.

#tom holland #tom holland smut #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #bartender!tom #bartender!tom x writer!reader #waiter!tom #waiter!tom x reader #bartender!tom x reader #bartender!tom x famous!reader #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland angst #tom holland imagine #tom holland series #tom holland x you #tom holland x famous!reader

101 notes · View notes

overthinkinglotr · 2 years

Text

Everything in the Amazon lotr series makes perfect sense when you learn that the show runners have literally no experience working on tv shows. None. 😂 J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have barely any experience in the entertainment industry. And like if you check their IMDb, their only credits are a Flash Gordon screenplay for a movie that wasn’t made and “uncredited” writing on the 2016 Star Trek movie (meaning they weren’t an official part of the production but talked to J J Abrams every now and then.)

The only way I can praise the Amazon show is the way you’d praise something written by a kid…”like wow this is your first try? Your first time ever working in tv and writing a fantasy story? This is good for a first try! Nice work! Your mom should hang it on the fridge!” The real question though is like, why didn’t they give biggest budget of any tv series ever made to people who had literally ANY experience showrunning ahsjndndnd.

To be honest I’m baffled at people who say this show is “desecrating tolkien” because like…first off, desecrating tolkien can be super cool. He sucked sometimes. Second, “desecrating tolkien” implies they were creating a story that had something specific to say about Tolkien, and they knew how to use their medium to convey what they wanted to say. But like…they didn’t. The Amazon series can’t desecrate tolkien, it’s relying on tolkien as a crutch to tell an amateur story that would be literally totally incoherent without you filling in the blanks with prior knowledge gained from the books and from other better adaptations.

I’m baffled at people trying to act like Amazon is being progressive with this series when its sorta like…the peak of conservative Hollywood nepotism? Two upper middle-class white dudes with literally no idea how to run a tv show because they have never been part of the process, ever, were gift wrapped the highest budget for any tv show ever made— not because they deserved to make the most expensive tv series ever made, but because they were upper middle class white dudes who happened to know famous people in Hollywood. People work in television their whole lives for the chance to be a showrunner and these two mediocre white dudes who have barely done any professional writing were handed the most expensive tv series of all time.

And it shows! It explains why the show doesn’t feel as expensive as it is. The process was “run” by people who literally have never needed to understand how creating a tv show works.

Everything feels so clumsy, unfocused, and generic because it’s being showrun by people who do not have enough experience to know what they’re doing.

It feels like someone’s first published work because it is. there’s some vague generic theme about being corrupted by darkness but it’s portrayed with all the grace and subtlety of showrunners who have no experience telling stories professionally, don’t understand how to do it, and so are just turning to the audience and flatly saying what the themes are supposed to be in bland boring language. (They couldn’t even find relevant quotes from the books to use instead— at least then it would sound pretty. Tolkein’s language is almost entirely absent from the show. :P)

There’s a lack of specificity— the tone veers wildly from “epic and idealized like the Pj films” to “relentlessly gory and cruel like GOT,” and almost no quotes from the books appear in the show despite language being so important to the feel of middle earth— because the showrunners are too busy struggling to learn the basics of showrunning for the first time to figure out things like “how to set a consistent tone.”

Characters turn to the camera and spoon-feed the audience information like we’re stupid and constantly reiterate exposition from previous episodes because the show runners have never worked on tv shows before, and don’t have enough confidence to trust the audience to understand anything.

The pacing is so bizarre and wonky, and the introductions of important characters/McGuffins is so clumsy, because the showrunners have never done this before ever on any tv show.

The show doesn’t look like the most expensive tv show of all time (even though it is) because the show runners don’t understand how to budget visual effects effectively. Tons of expensive labor is wasted on dream sequences and meaningless one-off plot beats that don’t add anything to the story when they could’ve been spent on the actual important emotional story moments.

And of course the way the show handles gender and race is so hollow because it’s driven by two white male nepotism hires tackling these topics for the Very First Time. They decide to handle sexism in middle earth by making it a world where patriarchy just doesn’t seem to exist(?), but they’re also not willing to actually genuinely imagine what that would look like. so we get a world where “there’s no patriarchy” but most the warriors/leaders are still men, all the women still dress in feminine clothing/hairstyles and all the men have masculine clothing/hairstyles, no women are butch and no men are effeminate, a woman fighting/showing up in battle armor is framed as a big cool reveal, and every single relationship is suffocatingly heterosexual (and there isn’t even the possibility of queer relationships/homoerotic subtext.) They had three POC play some of the side characters but were careless in how they handled them, in a way that’s a disservice to the talented actors— for example the character they marketed as “the first black elf in tolkien” is immediately thrown into a plotline where people are racist to him for being an elf and then he’s captured into slavery and spends a few episodes in chains driven around by white orcs with whips in a way that makes you realize the creators were too white to think about the optics of this. They also don’t tackle the root issues with the way tolkein portrayed race (the idea that different races are different Species with immutable personality traits) and just take his racist assumptions for granted. Meanwhile, every scene where people are “fantasy racist” against white blonde Galadriel for being an elf is handled with all the grace of a white teenager who just realized racism was maybe Bad writing their first fiction story saying Deep Things About Society for a high school assignment. Can you imagine how much more thoughtful writing we would’ve gotten from literally ANY of the far more talented experienced female and poc directors in Hollywood, people who understood how to tackle gender/race in their writing and who understood how to actually run a show? But no, the show has to be handed to two white dudes who have literally no experience writing for tv and no relevant credits, just because they’re white men who are well connected, and we have to trust tHese people to condescendingly explain the importance of diversity to us like we’re children. And then we have to pretend to like it because theres a massive right wing backlash against the show for being “so woke” (when it isn’t). ANSJSJJDJDJD

I just kinda…don’t understand? Why give so much money to people who have no experience and don’t know what they’re doing? People whose only qualifications are being random white dudes who know famous people?

It feels like such a waste of money and resources to throw so much into what’s essentially a training exercise for people who’ve never run a show before. The Amazon series is longer than the first two PJ films but it doesn’t feel that way because the showrunners don’t understand how to use a medium they have never worked in.

Like Peter Jackson had never directed anything on the scale of LOTR, but he had directed plenty of movies (with the writers who later partnered with him on lotr) before he was allowed to make it, AND had spent years pitching his scripts around Hollywood and helping develop the technology used for the visual effects. Heck, Ralph Bakshi had made animated movies before, and Rankin/Bass had worked on tv specials. As much as all those adaptations are flawed like?????????? I genuinely don’t understand why you wouldn’t hire more qualified people for the most expensive tv show of all time. or even just. Anyone who had literally any qualifications at all.

But I guess I’m thinking about this all wrong because…their lack of experience is likely why they were hired. Because of the complicated legal and rights issues happening behind the scenes, Amazon likely didn’t want to hire anyone who would have a coherent vision and a clear idea of how to execute that vision. The show needed to bow to the mandates of Amazon but ALSO the copyright issues (they don’t have the rights to actually adapt most of the stuff dealing with the history they’re adapting), the mandates of the Tolkien estate (who were allowed to make whatever petty changes they wanted to the story at any time) and the mandates of New Line Cinema (who were allowing Amazon to ape the style of their movies to get l publicity for their brand but are also completely willing to enforce copyright and demand change if they felt Amazon was stepping on their toes, and etc etc). Amazon needed inexperienced people who would go along with whatever they were told to do. Someone who had a clear vision and knew how to execute it would fight against the dumb corporate mandates. Someone who has literally never worked in tv before would assume Amazon knew best and do whatever they were told.

I don’t know, I feel the same way I do about the hobbit films where it’s just—it’s such a waste? It’s such a waste. It’s such a waste of time and a waste of labor, on a project that (because of weird corporate nonsense) has no clear artistic vision and only exists to be part of a lucrative Brand(tm.)

I won’t be watching the next season— I assume the the future seasons will be “better” because the show runners have now had their very first season of experience working in television ever (good for them and congrats on breaking into the industry for the first time etc etc), but that doesn’t change what a massive corporate waste the first eight hours were— again, that’s longer than the first two PJ films but it doesn’t feel like It because it’s so directionless and devoid of a clear artistic vision. Idk as long as the only Lord of the Rings adaptations we’re legally allowed to get are massive Mega corporate ones funded off the suffering of all the underpaid Amazon workers who die in the warehouses, you would think the adaptations would at least be good XD. Again, can you imagine what more experienced and talented directors with a long history of working in TV, and who were free to execute their artistic vision, could’ve done with such a giant budget? Can you imagine if corporations didn’t waste an entire season of television as the world’s most expensive training wheels for people who’d never seriously worked in tv before? Can you imagine how much good art we could get if Hollywood was actually a meritocracy? Idk dudes, idk.

#i said i wasn’t gonna talk about the Amazon show again but ajdjkdkf #ok now I’m done #lotr #anti rop #ahsjdjdkd #but I learned how inexperienced the show runners were and am Baffled #i have friends in the entertainment industry and???????#they actually have to Work to become showrunners or directors???#theyre told they need Experience?????#XD GUESS NOT #i feel like I must be missing something because it’s so confusing #but yeah rings of Power #rings of power definitely exists doesn’t it

722 notes · View notes

earlgreytea68 · 3 years

Text

Tagged by @setting-in-a-honeymoon!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

An even 200!

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

Um. 3,328,002

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Six:

Inception in the lead with 67 fics

Sherlock with 56

Fall Out Boy with 36

Doctor Who with 14 (this number is incorrect, I have written waaaaay more than that, they just live on LJ and DW)

and then one each for Sports Night and The Office (UK)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Nature and Nurture

Saving Sherlock Holmes

Working on the Edges

The Radovljica Apicultural Museum

John Watson’s Twelve Days of Christmas

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes I get busy or depressed or sick, etc., and I fall behind, but I try to respond, for a number of reasons - they give me so much joy that I want to acknowledge that they have brought my joy; it is so wonderful to see what people to respond to and love and laugh at and cry over, it definitely makes me a better writer, and so I want to acknowledge that, too; and comments when I’m in the middle of posting a fic are especially helpful to me because they often result in me tweaking what’s coming next in response to questions I see people have that indicate I’m not being clear enough, or maybe I’m not hitting the tone I want, etc. And so I like to respond to be like, “Thank you! You have no idea how important and wonderful this is to me!”

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, wow. While I actually think I can write good angst, when I do it I try to have it in the middle of the fic, so that it gets properly resolved to give you a nice, happy ending. I’m sure someone’s going to be like, YOU ARE FORGETTING THIS HEART-WRENCHING THING YOU WROTE, but all I’m coming up with right now is that, in my long Doctor Who ‘verse I wrote, I did a fic in which their family dog died. That was pretty angsty. (omg I just scrolled down to see how I ended this story and OH MY GOD ahahah I forgot that I wrote this after I’d broken up with the Tenth Doctor and so it ends with Brem being like, “Plus, my father is useless so I have to hold the entire family together all the time” hahahaha what an extra-angsty ending, Brem, my love lol)

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do sometimes! I feel like most of my crossovers make some amount of sense. Like, okay, maybe you wouldn’t think to cross Inception with Fall Out Boy (this was a special request) but I think the premise of the fic makes total sense. And I once crossed Oliver with Brem, but those were my first two beloved precocious fic songs, so that made some sense, too. And I still think Inception and Sherlock crossed together made SO much more sense than actual seasons of Sherlock lol. So I guess if I had to choose the craziest I would go with the Doctor Who/Gossip Girl crossover I wrote lol. But wait, that one actually also made sense as I wrote it, I think, so I’ll go with the Sherlock/Fall Out Boy crossover because that was just bonkers.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. I wrote a fic that was really horrible to Mary in “Sherlock.” I hate Mary. I feel like I can say that now. I haaaaaated Mary. But in those days “Sherlock” was an incredibly tense fandom to be part of and if you didn’t say that you loved Mary all the time forever and always then people were like !7@((!*(@(!& at you. I have a million massive warnings in all caps all over the fic, like, DON’T READ THIS IF YOU LIKE MARY, and people still would leave rude comments on it lololol. And then we wonder why I left that fandom lol. (I mean, many people in the fandom were wonderful, and I don’t always have REASONS why I leave fandoms, it’s not like anything is that logical or rational. But it wasn’t a very fun time to be in Sherlock fandom. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do. My smut almost always has to be advancing some kind of emotional beat in the characters’ relationship. I’m never super-explicit because usually the whole point of the scene to me is what the characters are thinking and feeling, not really what they’re *doing.*

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Sometimes my fics show up somewhere without my knowledge. People are really good about letting me know when that happens.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yup!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes!

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

This is like asking who my all-time favorite child is.

14. What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have this high school Peterick AU that I started at the beginning of the pandemic. For some reason, when schools shut down, all I could think about was all these bands that wouldn’t get formed because the kids couldn’t go to each other’s houses, like Pete Wentz couldn’t just show up at Patrick Stump’s to hear him play. So I started this story where Pete and Patrick meet right before the pandemic hits, and then everything locks down and they’re stuck Facetiming each other and coming to the realization that their soulmate is on the other side of the screen.

Anyway, I actually think this fic is super-hot?? And I never think I write hot things, but it’s got a hot phone sex scene and I’m really happy with it and I would love to finish the story...except that the pandemic turned out to be...this. And in my head, Idk, I thought there’d be this triumphant moment where everyone would be like, “Yay! We can see each other now!” and Pete and Patrick would reunite, and instead everything petered out into, “Can we see each other now........????? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “ and I didn’t know what to do with that in my fic, it made it not as neat as I was wanting it to be.

But I hate to lose that hot phone sex scene hahaha. And also after the hot phone sex scene Patrick adds “Hotline Bling” to his and Pete’s shared Spotify playlist they’ve been working on and I’M SORRY, I FOUND THAT SO CHARMING, PATRICK STOLE MY HEART WITH THAT MOVE, anyway, as you can see, I love so much about the fic and I really want to find a way to make it work and maybe someday I will the end.

15. What are your writing strengths?

My dialogue.

Also I think I write the same story over and over (person realizes that they’re deserving of being loved for exactly who they are), but I think I’m REALLY GOOD at that one story lol

Also I like to think that I write family relationship stuff fairly well, like, Idk, I love doing that stuff, whether found family or biological.

Oh, and I think I usually get the ratio of angst::happy ending pretty good (in my view for my personal preference lol).

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don’t think I’m especially good at smut. I’m terrible at paying attention to things like setting, what the characters are wearing, what the characters even look like, etc. As mentioned above, I tell the same story over and over and over, and I’m okay with that, but yeah, I’d be bad at telling a story where people aren’t, like, nice people who you’re rooting for.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think I couldn’t do it, because I don’t speak any other language, but I’m always happy when people translate my fics!

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Doctor Who. Although maybe, like, New Kids on the Block self-insert stuff counts from junior high??? But Doctor Who was first published.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Please see above re: favorite child lol

I tag every writer who wants to do this and I hope every writer does this because I always think these are fascinating!!

31 notes · View notes

fatiguing-thoughts · 3 years

Text

Change of Heart - Paul Lahote x Reader

Request: “Hey, since you don't feel comfortable writing about the poly imprinting thing the other anon suggested, I have an idea based on what they said that maybe you could write instead. So instead of the reader imprinting on both, a reaction type of thing for when the reader had a crush on one, but falls in love with the other with time. If it is preference style, you can get to show both situations (crush on Embry, but falls for Paul later and vice versa)”

this is the crush on Embry -> falling in love with Paul version

Having a mother who was obsessed with the beach was the reason that your life turned out the way it did.

That’s where you met your best friend, Embry Call.

His mother worked at the souvenir shop, she frequently brought him to the beach as well. So time after time of running into each other and playing together as kids-- you grew up hanging out all the time.

Despite you living and going to school in Forks, you guys saw each other at minimum three times a week. And as you got older, you only hung out more. Even into young adulthood.

You guys did everything together. School dances when your moms forced you into going, going to see the movies either of you were dying to watch, and simply hanging around doing nothing. It was like you were dating, but if dating meant that you were merely best friends. No kissing, the awkward touching of hands here and there.

But overall, you and Embry connected deeper than anyone else. You would stay up talking all night, picking the brains of one another’s minds. Listening to music together, singing your favorite songs. Sometimes you stared a little too long at his lips, but that was besides the point. You guys were friends.

I had grown quite the crush on Embry, but I knew deep down that it wouldn’t be worth risking the friendship. I could never risk anything awkward between us. I have never felt this comfortable around another person before, and I doubt that I would find it again. So holding Embry close to my heart as a best friend was an idea that I was well acquainted with. I’d grown to accept it.

Though, as time went on, he began to gain some newer friends, which was normal. What high school boy didn’t hang out with other boys? The only issue was, it seemed to tear into your Embry time.

It was fine, really. Embry’s happiness was my top priority. But when he finally introduced me to his friends, I’ll admit I felt pretty excited. To finally meet some new people, to find friendship in those other than Embry.

Embry was always my best friend, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a bigger circle. He spoke so highly of them all, how could I not be thrilled to meet them?

So when I did, I could say that I was both incredibly nervous, yet excited.

“They’re gonna love you.” He reassures me on our way to Jake’s house.

“How do you know that?” I ask, fiddling with the rip in my jeans.

“Because, I love you. You’re the best friend anyone could ask for. They’re gonna think you’re a lot of fun and super cool, because you are.” He smiles that signature Embry Call grin.

Friend. Ugh. Get it together, (Y/N).

“Thank you, Em.” I smile back.

“Of course.”

The drive to Jacob’s was quick from Embry’s considering they both lived in La Push. Pulling up into the house, Embry led me into the garage where they were working on Jacob’s project car, the rabbit. Embry would never shut up about it, his eyes brighter than the sun whenever he talked about how much fun it was, how he enjoyed finally being able to exercise his mechanic skills.

“Hey guys, this is (Y/N). (Y/N), this is Jacob, Jared, Quil, and Paul. We have a few classes together.” He points at them as he says their names.

“Hi.” I wave shyly.

“(Y/N), I know you haven’t been here yet, but don’t worry. I’ll quickly become your favorite. Don’t stress.” Quil walks over, putting his arm around your shoulder and chuckling.

“Oh great, thanks.” I roll my eyes. “You really weren’t kidding, Em. He’s nuts.” I giggle.

“Wow, okay. Thanks for putting in a good word, Embry.” Quil laughs, walking back to where he stood.

I quickly found myself growing comfortable, no wonder why Embry found good company in these guys. They were all so nice, so down to Earth.

One in particular caught my attention, Paul. He was handsome, well built for his age. He seemed to be just as friendly as the rest, too.

I watched as Embry and Jake worked on the engine, peering over the side of the hood.

“Do you know anything about cars?” A charming voice rings out behind me.

I turn over my shoulder and see Paul, I felt a blush begin to rise to my cheeks. Why did he get me so flustered for absolutely no reason?

“Uh, yeah. A little bit. Embry talks my ear off about them, plus I have some cars I like myself. But mechanical wise, they run circles around me.” I smirk.

“Nice. They’re teaching me a lot more, I’m probably at the same level you’re at.” He chuckles, his deep brown eyes piercing into mine.

“No you’re not, (Y/N) still runs circles around you. I’m the best teacher around.” Embry teases.

“Well, you heard it here first. Looks like I know more than you about cars.” I tease.

“Might have to teach me some stuff some time.” He smirks.

I felt the blush creeping onto my cheeks again, so I bent my head down, glancing down at my feet, before returning his gaze.

“Maybe.”

Embry looks between us, discomfort slightly showing on his face, which left me a bit confused.

The drive back to my house was a bit awkward.

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

“I just... I got the vibe that you and Paul hit it off really well. Which would be fine, but he’s a bit of a... player. I just, I don’t want you to go through that. He’s a great friend, but he’s not a good boyfriend.” Embry gently tells me, looking into my eyes with his chocolate brown ones.

“I see.” I swallow, looking out the window.

I was unsure of what to say. Paul seemed like a nice guy, but Embry wouldn’t steer me wrong.

Over the next few weeks, I began to spend more and more time with them all. I grew to adore them more than I ever thought I would, they were just as important to me as Embry was now, my romantic feelings finally subsiding for him. Quil quickly became the impish friend that Embry told me he’d be, Jared was an absolute clown, Jake was beyond friendly, very caring.

And well Paul... Paul was someone that really left me blushing almost constantly. He hung onto every word that left my mouth, and I did the same for him. He was sweeter than sugar to me, even if he was less of that to the rest of the group and everyone else. He had a certain softness in his voice, in his body language with me. Paul talked to me like I was the only person in the room, but Embry’s warning loomed over me like clouds over the rainy Forks sky.

As time went on, Embry warned me again. He even spoke to Paul about it, apparently. Paul had told me about it one night while we were talking just the two of us. We begun to hang out just the two of us, yet I never let him call it a date as per Embry’s warning.

While he was at first surprised I wouldn’t go on a date with him, he was persistent because he knew how I felt. He knew the connection we had. He was upset that I always reciprocated the flirting, but was always far too hesitant to make any larger moves.

“Embry, I haven’t seen any other girls since you brought her to hang out.”

“I don’t know Paul... I don’t want (Y/N) to be the same as every other girl for you.”

“She’s not, she’s different. You know that. I really like her, I never felt this before. She won’t say yes unless you’re okay with it.”

“Don’t make me regret this, Paul.”

“You won’t.”

Paul would hold my hand when I would get scared during horror movie night. He would pick me up for hangouts for the pure fact that he could drive me home, despite me being able to drive and having my own car. He would give me his hoodies when I would grow cold, whispering about how they looked better on me than him. Paul grew protective over me, always making sure that every adventure we took together, he would be there to make sure I stayed in one piece due to my clumsiness. Paul truly thought I was this fragile piece of glass that could shatter at any moment.

He would surprise me with my favorite drink from Starbucks when I was having a rough day at work. The way he would always have to touch me, whether that be resting an arm around my shoulder, holding my hand, or resting a hand on my thigh or lower back. All of the above sending my nerves in a frenzy. He was protective, slightly jealous. He didn’t like when guys checked me out, so he made it known I was his when he would press a kiss to my lips, then smirking at them, pulling me into him.

I loved the feeling of when he would pull me into his lap, his strong arms wrapping around me. The way he held me at night, like I was the only thing that mattered in the world-- it was a beautiful feeling. It was crazy to hear the stories of the hot-headed boy, because with me he wasn’t like that. He was patient, kind, and loving to no end. Did he have his moments where his temper would flare up? Of course. Everyone does, but I tried to help him get to where he wanted his temper to be. We worked on new ways to cope, we made a lot of progress for him.

He was everything you could ask for in a guy, he was nothing Embry warned me about. Everyone noticed that Paul had softened immensely, he was calmed down. He was “whipped” according to the guys, which I didn’t stop him from kicking Jacob’s ass for that one.

“Damn, Paul. (Y/N) trained you well.” Quil teases, only to be pulled into a headlock.

Our first kiss was sweet, it was gentle. Paul’s large hands held my face like he was holding the most fragile thing in the world. He treated me like a princess.

“Wanna go get lunch before we hang out with everyone? I’m buying.” He offers.

“Sure, but you’re not buying my lunch.” I giggle over the phone.

“Why not? It’ll be a date.” He chimes.

“I don’t know... What’s in it for me?”

“Uh, going on a date with the hottest and sweetest guy in all of La Push.”

“Oh, Jacob’s taking me on a date?” I tease, knowing that would drive him a little nuts.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” He chuckles into the phone.

“I just might be, when’re you picking me up, Lahote?” I giggle.

“I’m actually outside already. Surprise.”

So we went out to lunch, and it was really fun. It always was a fun time with Paul. Going to hang out with the guys was great, though something was off with Jared. He played it off, continuing to tease Paul and I.

Embry grew to support Paul and I, though he told me he was my second pair of eyes. He was watching Paul like a hawk, hoping he wouldn’t break my fragile heart.

But when Jared got sick with mono and stopped coming around, I had to be there for him. He was beyond hurt when he saw Jared hanging out with Sam Uley. Why would he up and leave the group? No explanation, nothing. Jared avoided all of us like the plague.

Paul was devastated. That was his best friend, how could Jared lie to him? How could he ditch him like it was nothing?

The issue was, is that Paul had a hard time expressing his emotions. Even though he was sad about the situation, he grew to be angry. He would huff and puff, pacing the room, yelling about how Jared was being an asshole and how he had no idea what to do.

It was fine, really. You knew that he was going through the ringer and he still treated you like a princess.

“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t even realize how much I was yelling.” He would apologize, walking over to you sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to calm down after your attempts to do so were futile.

“I understand, you’re going through a rough time right now. But I’m here for you.” I smile, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“I love you.” He presses his forehead against mine.

“I love you, too.”

Chills ran up my spine, I had felt butterflies like never before. Paul gave me feelings I never knew existed.

But soon, he grew feverish. His skin was burning hot and he grew testy. He snapped at everyone, and seemingly for the littlest of things. I thought it was strange, as this was a side of Paul I had never seen. We had to leave Jake’s one night, as he grew incredibly protective over me... almost animalistic. He almost lost it on Quil when he started play fighting with me, I just took him out of there, leaving the guys in the garage. I was met with concerned eyes all around, but I knew Paul wouldn’t hurt me... I just had no idea what had gotten into him.

He held onto me like his life depended on it.

“I’m scared, (Y/N).” He whispered into my neck.

“Why Paul?”

“Jared and Sam... they look like they’re waiting for me. I can’t stand it-- they’re hovering over me all the time. I can’t deal with it.” He huffs.

His feverish skin almost burning mine, just as it had been the last few days.

“I’m sorry Paul, maybe try to avoid them?” I offer up my advice, but it met with a mere sigh from his lips.

“They keep telling me I have to break away from everyone. That I’ll have to leave the friend group, that I’ll have to leave you. They’re lucky I didn’t kick their asses.” He huffs.

His words shocked me, they left me speechless. Why would they be saying that?

“Why would they say that?”

“Hell if I knew. I just ran out of there before I punched someone. I know you don’t like when I hit people.” He chuckles.

“I’d rather you didn’t.” I smirk.

But I couldn’t shake his words, I didn’t understand why they wanted him? Why they wanted him to cut us all off?

He soon fell asleep while I rubbed circles into his back, trying to soothe him once again. I heard my phone go off on the table next to me.

It was Embry asking if I was okay, to which I told him yeah. He didn’t need to know the worries plaguing my brain.

But the next few days, Paul got sicker. He started changing before my eyes, growing insanely fast. His body temperature continued to climb. He told me that Sam and Jared wouldn’t leave him alone, but he was only getting angrier at them and holding onto me tighter.

“They keep saying they don’t want me to hurt you.” He would sigh, his face visibly distressed.

And then told me that I couldn’t see him for a while. He cut off all the guys completely, and I hadn’t heard from him since; he wasn’t even answering my texts.

Embry was worried sick about me, despite everyone being upset at Paul’s sudden change and departure from our lives. He would come and check up on me, absolutely stunned to see the shifting moods I had.

One minute, I was fine and 110% certain that Paul wouldn’t up and leave with no warning, and the next I was a blubbering mess. Embry did his best to make sure that I wasn’t left alone for too long, as he was afraid I would become the next comatose Bella Swan. I mean, kudos to him for caring but that wouldn’t happen. Or maybe just yet, as the longer Paul was gone the less I seemed to care about anything else. It just felt like a part of me was gone, like the puzzle piece fitting my heart together was missing.

So a few days later, I made some of his favorite soup and made my way over to his house.

I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. It was locked so I couldn’t let myself in, but I knew where Paul’s bedroom window was. I peeked through and saw him peacefully sprawled out on his bed, the sight bringing both relief and a smile to my face. But then I heard some whooping noises from the back of his house, causing me to investigate.

I look and see none other than the infamous Sam Uley and Jared Cameron, he looked very different since the last time I had saw him. It felt like forever ago since that night.

“(Y/N), what’re you doing here?” Sam asks with a concerned tone.

“I needed to see Paul.” I demand.

“Go home, (Y/N). He doesn’t want you to come around anymore, he doesn’t want to be with you anymore.” Jared looks deep into my eyes, his words punching me in the gut.

His eyes were hard, as were his features, but I knew he was full of shit. But the words still hurt for just a second. For just a second.

“What the hell are you guys doing to him?” I look at them with eyes set to kill.

“What? What did he tell you?” Jared asks, eyes widening with concern.

“Calm down.” Sam urges, putting a hand out in front of Jared.

“He won’t tell me anything anymore.” I hiss. “But before he stopped answering me he was so afraid of you guys! Always following him around, telling him what to do. Telling him to stay away before he hurts me! Paul would never hurt me, asshole!”

I was fuming now, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop myself. Paul was a tough guy, nothing really broke him like their warnings and constant following did. The sudden changes he was experiencing, he had no idea of what to make of it as he was given no answers.

“I watched him change in front of my very eyes, this is beyond some bullshit about him wanting to leave me, Jared. This is not normal.” I stomp my way over to them.

“(Y/N), stay back.” Sam’s hand gestures up to me. “Jared, calm down.”

“Sam, don’t. I’m done with this, I want my boyfriend back. Jared, what the hell got into you, too?” I raise my voice at him, causing him to flinch.

“Hello? Earth to Jared Cameron? What’s your deal now, asshole?” I yell again, poking his bare chest.

But that’s when rage took over Jared’s body. Something I had never seen before. Jared was always goofy, so nice. I had really only seen Paul so angry, and even then-- this was a different level.

“(Y/N), move back now.” Sam yells.

This time, I listened. I took some hesitant steps back, almost tripping over my own feet.

Jared’s body was almost vibrating at this point, that’s how fast it was shaking. I just stared in awe, Sam’s voice was booming, though.

“(Y/N), move back!” He yells again.

I bring myself to take a few more steps back, but this time I did trip over my feet.

Jared suddenly moved like he was bursting out of his own skin, and in some way he did. Sam pushed him back to create some more distance, but overall in the end-- Jared turned into an enormous wolf. An enormous wolf that snarled at me, but overall didn’t do anything to hurt me.

“What the hell?” I blink my eyes, before running towards Paul house.

That’s when I see Paul running towards the situation.

“Paul, run!” I say, trying to grab a hold onto him, but he gently, but very quickly, shook me off.

He too, burst out of his own skin, turning into a giant wolf.

“What?” I whisper to myself.

I watch as Paul jumps onto Jared, listening to their snarls and growling. I stared astonished, as Sam looks over at me with sympathetic eyes.

After a few moments, Sam orders them to stop. And they did, they walked into the woods and came out with some jean shorts on.

“Come here.” Sam says, helping me off the ground.

“Is this... is this what was going on?” I breathe out.

“Yeah, you’re gonna learn a lot today.” He sighs, clearly unhappy about me knowing.

“I’m sorry.” Jared exhales. “It’s hard to control your anger when this starts, and then I had to lie and everything. I’m just sorry.” He smiles softly.

“All good, understood now.” I smirk.

Though I was still uneasy. What did all this mean?

“Paul?” I merely whisper, looking up at his face.

He had grown a lot, got even more muscular since I had last seen him. But he refused to meet my gaze.

“Paul, please look at me.” I beg, reaching out to grab his forearm.

He hesitates, almost afraid to.

“Paul if you think I’m afraid of you, I’m not. Please look at me.” My pleading voice almost cracking.

I needed to see those deep brown eyes I had loved so much. The ones that brought me endless joy, endless love. But he wouldn’t budge.

“That’s not what I’m afraid of right now.” He chuckles sadly.

He was still looking over my head, refusing to meet my gaze.

“You owe it to the both of you to figure it out, Paul.” Sam nods.

“What? What’re you talking about.” I turn to Sam.

But as I turn my head to look back at Paul, I finally caught his gaze. A small smile crept on his face, until our eyes met.

That’s when his jaw fell slack, his face completely softened. It was like he was stuck in a daze of sorts.

But what I felt was good. I felt like the world had stopped spinning, I felt like Sam and Jared were gone, it was only Paul and I. I couldn’t tear my eyes away as this overwhelmingly great feeling pressurized around my entire body. This was something far more intense than what Paul and I usually had felt, and even before I thought we had intense feelings.

No, this was different.

I had no idea how to even stand anymore, I felt like my knees were going to give out.

“Finally, some good news.” Jared huffs, grabbing both of us out of our trance.

“Okay, please explain things.” I look back to Paul.

“Okay.” He breathes a sigh of relief, before he pulls me into a rib crushing hug, spinning me around.

I felt the air leave my lungs, this actually hurt. He sometimes accidentally hugged me too hard, but this was surreal.

My breath hitched as I whimpered out and “ow” which caused Paul to quickly let go, profusely apologizing.

“Sorry, I forget my own strength. Still not completely used to it.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Okay, so let me get this straight. Vampires run rampant through Forks and the rest of the Olympic Peninsula? Right, so that’s what made you guys phase. And then you can’t be around people for a while because it’s an enormous secret that only the pack and their imprints can know. And Paul imprinted on me, but I still don’t know what that exactly means, but we can go over that. But then, you guys protect everyone from said vampires and destroy them. Now you’re super warm and strong and the rest of the group you expect to join soon? Because you all have it in your blood?” I ask, looking at Sam.

“Well, you seem to really listen. But yes, It’s likely that Quil and Jacob will, we don’t know so much about Embry but it’s possible. Has he been acting strange?” Sam raises an eyebrow.

“He texted me about a fever earlier, but he’s been normal enough.”

“Well, you suddenly disappearing might set him off.” Jared chuckles.

“What? I can’t see him anymore?”

“Not until he phases, any of them. The secret is important.” Sam looks at me with empathetic eyes, Paul’s hand immediately resting on my lower back.

“I have to disappear out of my best friends’ lives? I don’t even phase!”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s too much of a risk right now. Over time, we’ll see what happens.”

My heart sank, how would they forgive me for disappearing indefinitely? For blowing them off? I was growing anxious at the thought.

“They’ll forgive you when they understand, it just takes time.” Sam nods.

“Okay.” I whisper.

“Alright, Paul. Explain imprinting.” Jared smirks, looking over at us.

“Right now?” Paul looks at Sam, but Sam only nods his head, signaling for him to begin explaining.

“Paul? Just talk to me, we always talk about anything and everything.” I lay my hand on his comfortingly.

He seemingly melted at my touch, just as always.

“Well, the thing is, it’s not our choice. And I want you to hear me out before you say anything, please.”

“Of course.” I grew nervous at his words, but I knew that was nervous, too.

“Well, so it happens to some of us, not all of us get so ‘lucky,’ if you will. It happens when you see a certain person for the first time after you phase. When you look into their eyes, it’s just... it’s pure bliss. You just know, you know it’s your soulmate. But, that doesn’t mean romantic, it could be platonic. In reality, it’s up to them. But for us, you’d do anything, be anything for them. A friend, protector, a lover. We just... we need to be near them. I need to be near you, and I always did, even before all of this complicated shit. I was always protective, but I can’t imagine I’ll ease up, it’ll probably get worse so I’m sorry in advance, but overall, I want you to know that you hold the reigns.” He softly smiles, looking into my eyes with a pleading look.

“Oh, I see.” I murmur, looking down at my hand for a second, trying to process the situation.

His face fell, and it looked like someone punched him in the gut, Jared and Sam grew a bit worried.

“Wait, that wasn’t me rejecting you. I’m just... I’m thinking. It’s just a lot to take in. I love you, more than anything. I’m glad it was me and not someone else, I am. As long as you’re happy about that. But I just need to understand it. I feel a physical pull to you, so I feel it, too.” I smile softly, thinking about when he refused to look into my eyes.

“I’m very happy that it was you.” He grabs onto my hand.

“So why didn’t you want to look into my eyes?” I mumble.

“Because I didn’t want to bare the thought of it not happening with you, though I don’t think I could change anything about us, ever. Imprint or not, (Y/N), you’re stuck with me.” He chuckled. “But only if you want me.”

“Of course I want you.” I nudge his shoulder.

After that, it was just playing the waiting game, waiting for my best friends to phase, too. I was left with so many calls and texts I couldn’t answer. Embry showing up to my house, knocking to no avail. Leaving, sadness deep in his eyes. Though, he eventually became angry. I knew he was going to phase soon, I watched from afar how he was growing more hostile, and how he was changing physically. Soon, I’d have my best friend back.

Paul was right, he grew more protective, more worried about my every move. It was clear to us all that he was more protective than Sam and Jared were over Emily and Kim. It was easier to understand everything with Kim and Emily being apart of this all, as they knew where I was coming from.

But, it was the waiting game that was killing me. Thankfully, Paul was around to pick up the pieces after leaving my best friends behind, no notice given. He held me when I grew sad, feeling guilty for having to leave their lives.

Paul was unwavering, loving me endlessly. __________________________________ Word Count: 4796

#paul lahote #paul lahote x reader #paul lahote imagine #embry call #embry call x reader #quil ateara #jared cameron #sam uley #jacob black #leah clearwater #seth clearwater #twilight

281 notes · View notes

twstarchives · 3 years

Text

Make the Most Out of Life

Card: Dorm Uniform - SSR Characters: Ace, Cater, Riddle, Deuce, Rook, Heartslabyul students

Chapter 1

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM - LOUNGE—

Ace: Cater-senpai, put the card you picked back into the deck and I’ll shuffle it well.

Now that they’re all mixed up, I’ll guess which one your card is. Hm~...

The card you picked… is a five of diamonds!

Cater: Ehh~! Wow! How did you know~?!

Ace: Hehe, I used mind-reading magic on you. …Just kidding.

This is a magic trick using the “key card” principle.

It’s one of the most basic card tricks to be able to guess which card your spectator picked.

Anyone can do it if they learn the trick. Well, I also think you kinda need to be good with your hands to do it.

Cater: You said that was really basic, right? So can you do any other tricks, Ace-chan?

Ace: Hm, aside from cards, I can do a few kinds of table magic using cups and coins and things.

Cater: Really? Show me how to do an easy one! Maybe something that could impress the ladies at parties~☆

Ace: Sure! ...Well, that’s what I want to say. But I can’t just show you one for free.

Cater: There’s the catch~ Ace-chan, you’re actually pretty underhanded.

Ace: Well, yeah. You gotta make the most out of life.

How about you take over hedgehog care duty for me one time?

Then I’ll teach you two card tricks and one cup trick, as detailed as I can ♪

Riddle: You two. You look awfully excited for some reason. Have you finished your homework yet?

It’ll be off with your head if you’re just messing around instead of doing your work.

Ace: Oh, Dorm Leader! Perfect timing.

Could you pick one of these cards?

Riddle: Hah? What is this all of a sudden?

Ace: C’mon, just go with it. Give us five minutes of your time.

A little recreation is important for students to bond more. Right?

Riddle: Honestly… I suppose. …Alright. I’ve picked a card.

Cater: Riddle-kun, let me see which one you picked. ...King of hearts, huh?

Riddle: And what was the purpose of doing this?

Ace: Now I’m going to guess which card you picked.

Riddle: Oh, I see. You’re practicing clairvoyance magic.

Cater: Mm~ This is a little bit different.

It’s a magic trick. Ace-chan’s really good at them.

Riddle: A magic trick? Hmm… I’ve never seen one before.

Ace: Put your card back on top of the deck. Then I’ll shuffle it really well.

…Hey, Dorm Leader. Don’t look away; watch my hands carefully.

Now that the whole deck is shuffled, I’ll let you hold onto it.

Riddle: Okay…

Ace: I’m going to snap my fingers and focus on the cards. And then…

The one you picked will appear inside my jacket’s inner pocket!

Make sure to tightly hold onto the cards with both your hands so they don’t escape.

Riddle: …I don’t believe these cards have magic cast on them. How would they escape my hold?

Ace: C’mon, just go with it. …Ready? One, two, three!

Riddle: …Nothing happened.

Ace: Heheh! You’d think!

But inside my inner pocket… Look! One of the cards got away from you!

Riddle: !

Ace: This card is… the king of hearts! This is the one you picked, right?

Riddle: Yes. That’s correct.

Cater: Amazing! That’s way more advanced than the trick you showed me earlier.

Riddle: And… he didn’t use magic to take that card from my hands?

Ace: Nope! It’s just a trick.

Riddle: How does this work? And how did you know which card I chose? At what point did it get inside your pocket?

Cater: Ahaha! Riddle-kun, now you’re so invested in it~

Ace: I reacted the same way when my big brother first showed me this trick.

Riddle: Oh? I didn’t know you had a brother.

Ace: I never talked about him with you? He’s a Night Raven College grad.

And he was in Heartslabyul!

There’s not a lot to do for fun when you’re living in a dorm.

So he just played around with playing cards to kill time, and ended up building his magic repertoire.

Cater: So your brother taught you magic tricks?

Ace: Sorta… He didn’t just nicely teach me how to do them or anything.

It was more like, I watched him do them over and over again and learned by copying him.

Cater: I get it. So you’re the “skill stealer” type.

You’re super good at remembering things, huh, Ace-chan? And you’re a quick thinker.

Ace: I guess ♪ For most things, I can copy them after watching them a few times.

Unlike a certain clumsy goody-two-shoes, I’m pretty advanced.

Riddle: Since you’re so proud of your memorization skills, why don’t you show us?

By memorizing the rules of the Queen of Hearts and the timeline of magic history.

Ace: Gegh… That’s a whole different story! I suck at memorizing facts!

Riddle: Next week, the freshmen have a magic history quiz, don’t they? Deuce told me about it.

If you get any red marks, you won’t be having a seat at our Unbirthday Party next weekend.

Ace: Man… I thought I could distract you with a magic trick, but we’re back to talking about school…

Cater: Distractions don’t work against Riddle-kun, Ace-chan.

Riddle: Ace, what is your answer?

Ace: Yes, Dorm Leader!

Chapter 2

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM - HALLWAY—

Ace: Hm hm hmm~♪ Hm hm hmm~♪

Deuce: You look like you’re in a good mood, Ace. You’re humming to yourself.

Ace: Well, you know~ Today’s the Unbirthday Party.

They’re serving way fancier food than they normally do, and our demon dorm leader isn’t going to nag us if we don’t do our homework...

It puts me in a humming mood.

Heartslabyul Student A: Haha, you’re right. But we also have to focus on getting ready for it.

Ace: The freshmen are in charge of setting up for the croquet match and painting the roses, right?

Deuce: Yeah. First we should feed the flamingos and hedgehogs and clean their pens.

Ace: Okay, I’ll go take care of the hedgehogs.

Deuce: Then I’ll take the flamingos. When we’re done, let’s meet up in the rose maze.

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM - LOUNGE—

Ace: Alright, time to hurry up and take care of the hedgehogs.

C’mere, food!

Here, your water!

Cleanup next...

‘Kay, I’m done.

Heartslabyul Student A: Ohh, there, there, widdle hedgehogs. Make sure you woll as hawd as you can for the croquet game today, okay~?

Hedgehogs: Chee chee!

Ace: Egh, that’s weirding me out. Quit baby-talking to the hedgehogs.

Heartslabyul Student A: Oh! S-Sorry, force of habit... This is how I talk to my cat at home.

Ace: Hedgehogs don’t understand human language. Isn’t it pointless to talk to them?

I mean, you can’t communicate with animals unless you use their specific animal language anyway.

Heartslabyul Student B: But the dorm leader talks to them with human language all the time.

Heartslabyul Student A: Yeah. Well, he doesn’t use baby-talk like me, but still.

Heartslabyul Student B: Even if animals don’t understand your words, you can still get across how much you care for them.

Heartslabyul Student A: Yeah! The dorm leader even said, “It’s important to have good communication with your hedgehog and flamingo in croquet.”

“You should regularly take care of them to build up mutual trust.”

Heartslabyul Student B: I often see the dorm leader taking care of the hedgehogs even when he’s not on duty.

Ace: Our demon dorm leader really does that? Hmm.

That’s great he’s got a little kindness in him, but why doesn’t he ever show it to us students?

Heartslabyul Students: A-Ahaha...

Ace: Anyway, are you guys almost done cleaning? Next we gotta go paint the roses.

Heartslabyul Student A: Oh. I’m going to throw out the trash from cleaning those pens, so you can go on ahead.

Heartslabyul Student B: I’ll help you take it out. Ace, could you lock up the hedgehog cages?

Ace: Okay~♪

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM - ROSE MAZE—

Ace: (Alright. Now we have to hurry and paint the roses...)

(The dorm leader won’t see the back of the trees. So maybe I can just focus more on the places he can see.)

Riddle: Everyone!!

Deuce & Ace: Yes! Dorm Leader!

Riddle: Have you seen the hedgehogs anywhere near here?

Deuce: I haven’t... Did something happen?

Riddle: Every single one of them has disappeared from their cage.

Ace: Huh?!

Riddle: Whoever was in charge of taking care of them must’ve forgotten to lock it... Find the perpetrator! It’ll be off with their head!!

Ace: (No way, seriously?! The last person to lock the cages... was me...)

D-Dorm Leader! Shouldn’t our first priority be to find the hedgehogs?

Riddle: O-Oh... That’s true.

Hedgehogs are extremely cautious. It’ll be very difficult to track them down if they dug holes to hide in.

...What will I do if we never find them...?

Deuce: D-Don’t worry. We can find them... No, we will find them!

Ace: It hasn’t been that long since they disappeared, right?

Deuce: I’ll look around the croquet field!

Ace: I’ll try the other side of the dorm.

Riddle: I’m counting on you.

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM—

Ace: Crap... Is this my fault? No, I made sure to lock the cages... Didn’t I?

........

I don’t know! I wasn’t paying attention when I did it; I can’t remember...

If the dorm leader tries to figure out who the perpetrator was, he’ll find out I was in charge of locking the cages. And then...

Riddle: OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!

Ace: ...*shivers*

I-I have to find all the hedgehogs before Dorm Leader Riddle does!

Chapter 3

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM—

Ace: I-I have to find all the hedgehogs before Dorm Leader Riddle does!

...Or so I thought, but... where would the hedgehogs even be hiding?

I’ll search online using my phone... uhh, what does it say?

Hedgehogs are related to moles... They dig tunnel-like holes to nest in... Gegh!

So that’s what the dorm leader meant when he said they could dig holes to hide in!

They have timid temperaments... So maybe they ran somewhere without a lot of people. I’ll go try the woods.

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM - WOODS—

Ace: HEY!! ...Wait, would I put them even more on guard if I yell?

I remember at my friend’s house, their dog would come running at them the second it heard the sound of its food dish...

Well, I did bring some food. I’ll try making noise with the dish.

(Clatter clatter...) (Rustling!)

Ace: Ah!

Hedgehog: Chee chee!

Ace: That worked! I can’t believe the hedgehogs came out. I’m an absolute genius.

Now I have to catch it... Ah!

Hedgehog: Chee! Chee chee!!

Ace: Hey! Don’t run away!

Agh... It ran back into its hole in the ground! It’s so tiny, like a rabbit hole. I can’t even fit my arm in there...

Maybe if I gently poke it with a tree branch...

Hedgehog: Hiss~! Hiss!!

Ace: Oh no, it’s angry now. And it went further in!

C’mon, guys... Please? I’ll lose my head if I don’t get you to come back. And besides...

Riddle: ...What will I do if we never find them...?

Ace: Dorm Leader Riddle is really worried about you. He really loves you guys, you know?

So please, come back...

(They don’t understand human language. There’s no point in telling them this...)

(Rustling!)

Rook: You appear to be in trouble, Monsieur!

Ace: AGHH?!

Y-You scared me! Don’t start yelling out of nowhere! Anyway, who are you?!

What’s someone from another dorm doing at Heartslabyul?!

Rook: Hahaha, apologies for frightening you.

I’ve actually been behind you ever since you set foot into the woods. Perhaps I hid myself too well?

I’m the vice dorm leader of Pomefiore, Rook Hunt.

I had a reason for coming to Heartslabyul, but I’ve finished what I needed to.

I just thought I’d take the chance to watch the wildlife while I’m here, so I was in the middle of a stroll.

Ace: O-Oh, I see.

Rook: But then I encountered you—bent down on the ground, plagued by a grim resolve just screaming “Le miserable!”

Ace: So you saw everything... That’s embarrassing.

Well, I guess I don’t need to explain anything. I’m really busy right now, so could you go somewhere else?

Rook: Are you sure? I was hoping I could assist you with capturing those animals...

Ace: What?! Do you have any ideas?

Rook: Why don’t you try coercing them with animal language? Hedgehogs should be able to understand mole-speak.

Ace: You think I can speak an obscure language like mole-speak?!

You don’t even learn that unless you major in Animal Languages in university, let alone in high school!

Rook: I know a fair amount of mole-speak. I’ll teach you, so try to coerce them.

Ace: If you can speak it, please just do it yourself...

Rook: Non, non, Monsieur Heart. They’re very sensitive creatures.

Suppose I did get across to them—I’m still a stranger to them. They wouldn’t come out of their burrows for me.

Ace: (The party starts at 3PM. And it’s already a little after 2... Ahh, man...)

...Okay. I’ll do it!

I’ll try to learn mole-speak in one go.

Rook: Excellent spirit! Now, listen closely to how I pronounce them, and watch the way my mouth moves...

Chee chee! Jee jee chee! (Don’t be scared. I won’t do anything to you.)

Ace: (...He didn’t move his lips at all. That sound came from his teeth and tongue, like he was making a tsk! sound.)

——Alright, I memorized it. “Chee chee! Jee jee chee!” (Don’t be scared. I won’t do anything to you.)

How was that? Did I say it?

Rook: Marvelous! That pronunciation was truly wonderful. You really are capable of learning in one go.

Ace: I might forget it right after, so hurry and tell me what to say next!

Rook: Oui, the next phrase is...

Ace: Jee jeejee! Chee cheechee chee! (Come out. Everyone’s worried.)

Hedgehogs: ...Chee... cheechee.

(Rustling!)

Ace: I-It worked! The hedgehogs are coming out of the hole!

Rook: Oh, fantastic!

They could feel your passion in the words you spoke, Monsieur Heart!

Ace: One, two, three... Good, they’re all here.

Hah... Now I won’t be losing my head...

Um, Rook-senpai... right? Thanks a lot for your help!

Rook: Of course. Roi des Roses truly does have a fine servant.

—HEARTSLABYUL DORM—

Riddle: It’s already been two hours since the hedgehogs escaped... and we haven’t found a single one.

Ace: Dorm Leader~! Dorm Leader Riddle~!

Riddle: Ah...!

Ace: The hedgehogs were there! I found them all!

Riddle: Thank goodness...! You guys aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?!

Ace: They’re all safe. Ow, ow, hey! Don’t climb on my head!

Riddle: Hehe, they seem to like you very much.

I’m so glad you found them... Thank you, Ace.

Ace: ...Hah. I wish he’d smile more like he’s doing now instead of always being nagging and angry.

Riddle: Hm? Did you say something?

Ace: Oh, just that... something like this is no problem if I’m doing it for you!

‘Cause I ace everything!

#ace trappola #personal story #dorm uniform

125 notes · View notes

lovlydovlyjaycie · 3 years

Text

Ævi - The Protector

Hey, so this is going to be a mini series on something I have tried to do before. But I thought of a different way to make it shorter and to make it make more sense. I hope you like it, this idea has been in my head for honestly.. a couple of years now lol. I just decided I really want to put it down somewhere. And where is better than here? Am I right?! lol

Summary: This is set in 2010. There are no such things as superheroes. Right? Maybe Iron Man, but that is it. It has to be. Y/n was just trying to celebrate her birthday, but that quickly changed when she got a gift from a mysterious man.

Warnings: Non so far

Characters: Y/n, Bjorn Ironside, Ragnar Lothbrok, OC Emma, OC Lars, OC Sanna, OC Nils, OC David Mentioned: Iron Man, Odin

Part 1

It was Summer 2010, my birthday. Growing up I always thought there is no such thing as super heroes. But recently that has changed. Now there is a man that calls himself Iron Man. It sounded insane. But I thought, of course America needs another crazy thing to stand out with. I never expected something like that to happen here, Goteborg Sweden. Never, not in a million years, but it did. On my birthday of all days. It’s a long story..

Like I said it started on my birthday. It was a warm Summer day. I had planned to celebrate my birthday in the woods, so we were all allowed to do whatever. We were celebrating me twentieth birthday. I was so excited, I got to see a lot of my old friends from high school, college and even some from middle school.

My friend Emma, Lars and Sanna were helping me getting all the liquor. “So many people are gonna come! It’s like a reunion, we haven’t seen a lot of people since high school.” Emma cheered. She was always so excited to party. I’ll have to say me too. I loved being with my friends and having a great time.. drinking.. but also seeing everybody of course. Sanna was always a little on the background she doesn’t like to be the center of attention. Totally fine. And Lars I met in college. He also doesn’t really care for parties. Just for the guys that might be there. And I totally get that.

“I’m excited too! Can’t wait to hear what everybody has been up to.” I smiled at Emma. She has been my best friend since we were basically babies. We’ve always been inseparable, you could say that we are sisters at this point.

After we got all the alcohol from the liquor store we went to the woods. We brought a lot, but everybody is also bringing their own stuff. This is going to be a crazy night.

So many people had shown up. I also think that people just heard there was a party and came, cause there are some faces I’ve never seen before.

When it was getting darker people started turning on the lights of their cars. It gave such a cool effect. Lars was standing next to me. “So the people from your town.. how openminded are they?” He said questionably. “Pretty openminded.. and I heard that Sven over there with the yellow shirt is very openminded.” I smiled at him. “Hmm, I’m gonna check him out for his openmindedness.. I’ll report back to you.” He said walking away. I laughed at that.

“Hey can you help for a second?” Emma came running towards me. I turned around a bit startled. “Yeah, what happened?” I asked her. “Somebody got his car stuck and we need to push it out.” “And you think I’m strong enough to push a car out?” I asked smirking. “Well.. No.. But the guy who got the car stuck is Nils.. aaannddd I know you have had a crush on him since forever. Soo.. just come.” She said as she pulled me by my arm towards where ever that car was. I did have a crush on Nils, but that was high school and I haven’t seen him in two years. So I don’t know if those feelings were still very accurate.

Coming closer to Nils’s car I saw him standing by it with one other guy I haven’t seen before. His friend was quite short. “Hey Nils! I found some muscle.” Emma said pointing at me. Nils turned around. Yep, I definitely still have a crush on him. He had dark curly hair and dark blue eyes. “Hi.” I said awkwardly. “Hey! It’s been a while! Happy birthday y/n!” He said as he gave me a hug. “Thank you.” I smiled at him. “So.. you got your car stuck?” He looked down a bit embarrassed. “Yup, I’m an idiot. Would you mind helping?” “I don’t mind, I do have the muscle after all.” I said as I gave Emma a pointed look. “Alright I think me, David and you can push the car and Emma you sit in the car to reverse it... Oh sorry this is David by the way.” He gave me a wave. “Well sounds good to me.” Emma said and went to sit in Nils’s car.

“Ok, you ready? lets push.” We were standing in front of the car with our hands on the hood. We were all trying to push it and Emma was pushing the reverse. But nothing was happening. “Alright again, give it all you got!” Nils said jokingly. I took a deep breath trying to push the car as hard as I could. And then it almost flew back. “Wow! Nice! I really didn’t want to call someone for this. Guess the reverse finally worked.” Nils said as Emma climbed out of the car a little out of it. “That was no reverse.” She said. “Oh well. It’s out, that’s all I care about.” Coming closer to the car I saw two small dents where I had put my hands to push the car. Did I?.. I shook my head. It had to be the reverse. “Well thanks for helping me.” Nils said turning to me. “Yes, no problem.” I smiled at him and I felt my cheeks turning hot. “So how have you been all this time?” He asked. “Good, uhmm, I’m studying history right now. Very interesting.” He smiled at that. “You always loved that subject.” “How’d you know?” I asked him. “Well I sat behind you in class. I could see how well you payed attention to that.” And I felt my cheeks turning hotter. “You didn’t like history then?” I asked avoiding his gaze. I didn’t want him to see me blush. “Not really, but I liked the class. There was this girl I had a huge crush on.” Now I was trying to avoid his gaze to not look disappointed. “Oh who?” I asked. “You.” He laughed. But I could only stare at him with big eyes. “What! Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked shocked. “Well you also didn’t tell me.” He said as a matter of fact. “Well is als.. Wait, how did you know?” I asked him. “Emma just told me.” I turned around. “Em.. Where did she go?” She and David had left us by the car. I looked around and in the distance I could see her waving at me. I just gave her the finger.

“Welp.. the secret is out then I guess, that’s embarrassing.” I said. “No it’s not, cause now I can ask you on a date.” I was again a little shocked how easy this was. “So, waht do you say? Do you wanna go on a date with me?” He asked. “Yes, sure, I’d like that.” I don’t think the smile I had on my face will ever leave. “Great! you wanna take a walk and just catch up right now?” I nodded my head. This is the best birthday ever.

We had been walking for a little bit, just walking around where the party was at. Some people went in to the woods to do some ‘funny business’ Like nobody would notice.

“What is the era you’re studying right now?” Nils asked after a while. “Right now it’s everything Viking. Pretty interesting really. About their beliefs and how they lived also the language. Some important figures in that time as well.” He nodded. “You like that era?” He looked at me. “Yes, I feel like a lot of Sweden is shaped on the era and...” “Happy birthday.” A tall man said to me in English. He handed me a gift and a card. Looking back up the tall man had already turned around and walked away. “Who was that?” Nils asked. “I don’t know.” I told him. “I’m just.. gonna check I guess.. that was strange.” I said as I walked the direction the man went. “Do you want me to come with you?” Nils asked. “No I’m fine!” I yelled back as I picked up my speed.

I was walking further into the forest. I could hear the people from the party in the distance. It was very dark out here so I got the flashlight of my phone to try and see better. When I shone it up I was startled by a figure. “GOD!” It was Sanna. “What are you doing out here?” I asked her. “I was following you.. Who goes out into a forest by themselves.” She stated. It was kind of stupid of me to do, I could get lost. “Why are you out here?” She asked. “This man who spoke English gave me a gift and then walked away towards here.” She gave me a look. “And you decided to follow this strange man by yourself.” Sanna said as she crossed her arms. “I guess that was not very smart of me.” “Nope it certainly was not. What did he give you anyway?”

I looked at the gift and the card the man gave me. I decided to open the card first. ‘Happy birthday! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’ In English again. Sanna was looking over my shoulder. “Do you know anybody that speaks English?” She asked. “No I don’t.” In the card there was a drawing of a tree. “That looks like Yggdrasil.” I said quietly. “What is that?” Sanna asked. “It’s Viking.. It’s the tree of life or it’s what they believed the tree of life is.” I explained. “What’s in the box?” It was wrapped in white paper with a golden bow. I pulled on the bow and opened the box. In it there was a white rock with a golden glow to it. Something in me wanted me to touch it and never let go. Like I needed to protect it with all my strength. I had never seen this rock before, but it felt like it was part of me. Like a stuffed animal you got when you were a baby and had sentimental feelings for, no one could touch it, it was yours. That was what it felt like. I decided to pick the rock up out of the little box. It fit in my hand perfectly.

“It could be a nice.. big necklace?” Sanna said a little questionably. I decided to humor her and put it up to my chest. When I did It started glowing white and gold. I tried to pull the rock away from my chest but it was stuck. All of a sudden there were these golden white lights swimming around me. “What are you doing?! Drop the rock!” Sanna said distraught. “I can’t!” I yelled. This was freaking me out, what were these lights. Sanna came over to me trying to grab the rock from me. But when she touched it she flew back in the air. The lights became brighter and brighter. They were almost blinding me. I finally was able to let go of the rock, but it didn’t drop it was going into my chest. It was burning me I had never felt this kind of pain before. I was screaming my lungs out. It hurt so much. And my eyes were hurting from all the bright lights surrounding me. I put both my hands over my eyes to shield them. As soon as I did I felt like I was floating, but as soon as that feeling came it went away and I landed on the ground with a thud.

Looking around I was in the same place in the woods as I was before It was only day now. The trees looked smaller. Or did I become a lot bigger. I looked around me for Sanna, but she was nowhere to be seen. I only saw the card laying next to me. I picked it up. And gave it another look. I looked around for the stone, nut it was gone. “What the hell was that?” I said under my breath. I tried to find the rock that.. I don’t know what it did. It must’ve been a dream. But I couldn’t find the rock anywhere. I stood up and decided to walk back to where the party was before. Maybe if it’s early enough there are still some people. But when I got there nobody was there. But it looked like nobody had ever been there. I decided to walk to the spot where Nils’s car got stuck, but even the tires that had damaged the ground before was gone. “How long was I out for?” I asked nobody but myself. Looking around there were no traces at all of anybody. How is that possible? I decided to walk towards the road. It wasn’t too far. But even the dirt road that would lead to the main road was not there. Was I lost? It did seem like the same place only the trees looked smaller for some reason. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” The main road was also gone. What was happening?

I looked around again, just for any sign of anybody. I have to be lost. Looking around again I saw a dark figure in the far distance. It looked like a woman. “Hello?! I think I might be lost, where is the nearest city?!” I Yelled at her. But there was no answer. “Hello?!” I did not want to stay here so I decided to walk towards her. As I came closer I could kind of make out her face. She had high cheekbones and eyes that felt like they were staring into your soul. “Hello?!” I yelled again.

All of a sudden there was a knife being put to my throat. “Who are you?!” I was taken a back. “Uhm I.. I’m y/n. I’m just lost, if I was trespassing I’m so sorry.. I., I just don’t know where I am.” I was stammering. “Who where you talking to?” The man asked. “That lady over.. there..” But she was gone. “Are you with the English?” He asked. “I.. No I’m not with the English. Look I don’t know what happened. Something strange happened and now I’m here. I don’t know where I am and I just.. I don’t know what happened just please don’t kill me.” I begged him. He pressed the knife closer to my throat for a second before putting it away. “Come with me.” He said while grabbing me elbow and dragging me with him. “Where are you taking me?” I asked struggling to get out of his grip, but he didn’t answer only held me tighter. “Who are you?” I asked. “Bjorn.” He said and looked down at me.

He had a few scars on his face. Now really looking at him he looked out of time. His clothes or armor looked Viking. His hair was braided but the sides of his head were shaved. On his belt there was a sword. It looked Viking as well. “Where are you taking me?” I tried again. But nothing. This time I was hitting him just trying anything for him to let me go. “You’re making it harder for yourself.” He said as he tried to grab my other arm. “No!” I yelled and he flew back by a golden white force. I froze. Did I do that? I looked at my arms and they were glowing that same glow I had when I touched the stone and then it slowly faded away.

I looked up at the man named Bjorn. I didn’t mean to do that. He looked just as shocked as I felt. He slowly stood up and put his hand on his sword. “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m so sorry.” I said. “What are you?” He asked. “I.. Human?” I mean how do you answer a question like that.. “Who send you?” He asked probably trying to understand what happened. “I.. Look I don’t know how I got here and what’s going on.. I just don’t know, ok?” I told Bjorn. He looked up at the sky. I followed his gaze up. But there were just clouds. “Did He send you?” He asked looking at me. “Who?” I was a bit confused by the question. “Odin. Did Odin send you?” That only confused me more. And then in the distance there was a snap of a twig. Bjorn quickly pulled out his sword in the direction the sound came from. He quietly walked over to me. “Come with me, I will not hurt you.” I looked around towards where the twig snapped briefly before nodding. “Just please tell me where you’re taking me.” He nodded before we started walking again. “To Kattegat. You’re going to see my father, Ragnar Lothbrok. He is the king.” What? that didn’t make any sense. “Is this real?” I wondered out loud. “What?” Bjorn asked me. Did I fall back in time? That’s not possible.. Right? But Bjorn looks like he really dresses like that. It doesn’t look like some kind of costume. I sighed. I’m just going to ask. “What year is it?” He stopped in his tracks. “What?” I sighed again. “What year is it?” He looked confused. “Its nine-hundred-sixty-five.” I looked at him with big eyes. “Can we go now?” He asked and started walking and I followed him straight away. “If your father is Ragnar Lothbrok.. Does that make you Bjorn Ironside?” Now he stopped in his tracks again. “How do you know that? You were send by Odin right. He’s the all father.” I didn’t know how to answer that. How do I explain I know this, because non of this made any sense. “I.. I just.. know?” I didn’t know how else to answer that question. He searched my eyes trying to see if the answer was there. But he didn’t say anything. He just motioned for me to follow him again.

After a while of walking we came to a town. It looked outdated. the houses looked like the ones I have seen in books, but now they’re really here. They looked old, but you could see they were just made. The people in the town all kind of looked the same like Bjorn. They either had armor on or wore dresses I had seen in museums and books. Now I felt like the one out of place with my jeans and t-shirt. “This is Kattegat.” Bjorn said putting his arms and pointing around. Everybody we were walking past looked questionable at me. I felt very out of place. Straight ahead there was a house. A longhouse. It stood out from the rest, it was far bigger than any of the houses we walked past. My guess would be that Ragnar would live there. And then I was standing in front of the longhouse where people were guarding the doors. Bjorn motioned for me to come in, so I followed him. The guards gave me a weird look as I walked in.

Inside there was a big and beautiful chair in front and center, covered with fur. “Father!” Bjorn Yelled. There were some people inside cleaning, servants maybe? “Son!” A man yelled back he came out of somewhere behind the throne with open arms. Bjorn walked towards him and gave him a hug. “What did you hunt for? You were not gone for very long.” he asked Bjorn. “I didn’t get the chance. I found her.” Bjorn said as he pointed at me. I looked up at them still standing by the door. “Who is this? A new servant?” The man asked. “No, this is y/n. I found her in the woods by herself.” He told him. The man walked over to me. “Is she with the others?” He asked. “I don’t think so.” The man walked around me. “Why is she dressed like that?” He turned around and asked Bjorn, but Bjorn just shrugged. So the man looked back at me looking for answers. “This is how I dress.” I didn’t know what else to tell him, it was the truth. “Father.” Bjorn said and nudged his head, motioning for him to come to Bjorn. They started talking in hushed tones. “I think she was end by Odin. I the woods she glowed a golden color. Not like I have ever seen before. She could be here to protect us. But..” Bjorn shook his head. “But what?” The man asked quietly. “I don’t think she remembers.” The man looked back at me. “Maybe her memory will come back and she can help us.” The man patted Bjorn on his shoulder.

“Where are my manners? I am Ragnar Lothbrok. Welcome to my kingdom.” He said as he made a bow. This was all strange. This couldn’t be happening. Being sent back in time? That happens in movies. Not real life.

...

Let me know what you think and if you wanna be tagged :)

48 notes · View notes