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twelvegods · 3 years

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late night stroll

pairing/s; fred weasley x fem!reader

warning/s; none

word count; 5.2k

summary; a late night stroll ends up with fred weasley discovering a rather rebellious little hufflepuff that promptly turns his world upside down.

a/n; they call each other miss heartbreaker and mister loverboy affectionally no don’t touch me,,, anw this was supposed to be my fred fanfic’s first chapter but i changed the flow of the story now so it’s an imagine instead. a portion of this was inspired by that one fred imagine where they also bump into each other in the kitchens (i looked everywhere but can’t find it gah)

the painting swung open soundlessly and a certain flash of yellow darted past, keeping high alert for any noise or movement that wasn't yours. even in your night things, the hufflepuff still sported an immense amount of house pride; bearing a yellow wool sweater and bee striped pajamas.

it had just chimed half past one in the morning at hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry and the castle was well put under a deep sleep. if a teacher were to catch you roaming about well after hours and sneaking out of the kitchens, it was inevitable that you'd be in detention for what could possibly be months.

probably even more if filch and that bloody cat of his were the ones to find you. everyone knew just how much he blew things out of proportion.

just like you were doing so now, robes fat and heavy, tied together to form a makeshift sack to carry the dozens of treacle tarts and pumpkin pies you'd been offered by the house elves. you really only visited the kitchens whenever you couldn't sleep, often even to do a spot of homework, and tonight was no different. usually, after a warm cup of cocoa has done its job, you'd find your eyelids grow noticeably heavy and promptly pass out.

but the best thing about being a badger was the spotless record and quite possibly the stereotype that came with it. it didn't hurt either that everybody paid more attention to the blatant rule-breaking gryffindors or the chaotic slytherins who were always looking for a fight with one another.

because of this, the hufflepuff basements were always the least patrolled after the ravenclaw towers. you found a way to always work this to your favor.

you were humming contentedly to yourself as you neared the stack of barrels leading to your common room, mind drifting elsewhere and foggy with sleep. before you could reach the barrels though, you found yourself literally stumbling into someone's chest, a soft 'oof' emitting from the both of you, and you landed flat on your behind, bag of tasty treats clutched tight to your chest to avoid spilling them all over the floor.

immediately, your blood turned ice-cold as the other person reached out a hand to help you up. before you could register the mop of tousled red hair or the freckled face, your head was bowed and you were already apologizing.

"i am so, so sorry, professor! i couldn't sleep and i just—"

"bloody hell, keep it down, would you? if you don't, an actual professor might come 'round and then we'd both be sorry."

you blinked in momentary confusion as you finally faced the stranger, who sported a massive teasing and shit-eating grin on his face. relief flooded your system when you realized you recognized the ginger.

"oh! weasley!"

"...oh?"

"yeah, you're in my year, right? along with your twin?" you wracked your brain for the name that belonged to the specific twin. "...george, was it? and you're fred?"

it was such a miniscule thing to others, but for fred weasley, the action rendered him speechless. it was a rather rare occurrence that he was identified correctly, used to having to tell people—even his own mum—of who he is. and, yeah, this girl might've probably just taken a shot in the dark at it but fred appreciated it all the same.

"uh—yeah, i'm fred."

you had recognized the weasley twin almost immediately because not only were they in your year or in a couple of your classes, but because you'd played against them and their house numerous times in quidditch. they were also known to be ruthless beaters and you could vividly remember a broken arm of yours last year no thanks to them.

you also knew that the twins were practically infamous with the constant pranks and jokes they pulled on just about everybody. there were a number of times that you were warned to stay away from them and the gryffindors entirely if you liked the color of your hair.

"by the way, what're you doing out here after hours?" the cheeky grin made its way back onto his face as fred crossed his arms. he shrugged nonchalantly. "just curious."

"i could ask you the same thing actually." you shot him an identical smile back and made to step around the boy with your robes still cradled against you, but was blocked from doing so once again. at least this time you didn't land on your ass.

you had to look up at the sixteen year old boy who, for some unfair reason, was already a head taller than you. "yes?"

"you're barefoot." fred found himself blurting, glancing down to the girl's toes which were colored a dark yellow color. probably gold if he squints.

he didn't know why he didn't let her pass. something about her intrigued him, probably something to do with the fact that he was in her year and didn't notice her until now. a rebellious gryffindor like him? surely he would've noticed.

you chuckled. "and what of it? it makes less noise that way."

fred raised an eyebrow at this. "quite the veteran, aren't you?"

"quite." you nodded officially, fiddling with your robes, which drew fred's attention. "surprised you haven't noticed actually. i've only been sneaking out every other tuesday."

fred snorted at the joke and gestured to the bundle in your arms. "snacks, i gather?"

you nodded again. "was only supposed to be a cup of cocoa but the elves insisted i take them, said i might get hungry."

you revealed the numerous tarts and pies gathered in your robes and giggled. "they were right, i'm ravishing right about now."

just then, heavy footsteps rounded the corner accompanied by the sound of a clattering lamplight. filch.

fred heard it first and quickly acted upon pure instinct. you barely had any time to react as he pulled you into a secluded alcove that fred and his brother have used on more than one occasion.

"who's there?" filch's voice called out, his cat mewling softly as he stepped into the hall. "i heard voices! show yourselves!"

if anything, fred pressed himself closer to you as you started to breathe heavily with panic. and when breathing like that in an alcove that echoed, it tended to get rather noisy, so fred slowly cupped your mouth as you stared at him with wide eyes. with his other hand, he gestured for you to be quiet and calm down.

they stayed like that for a good two minutes, just silently communicating with their eyes, before filch huffed and walked away, calling out to his cat to follow. but they waited a little more, ears straining to hear that filch's footsteps weren't coming any closer and only then did fred peek his head out to check if the coast was clear.

you peeked out as well before he could tell you to. your fingers were shaking with adrenaline and your heart was beating so fast. but you’ve done this a hundred times before? surely the pace of your heart didn’t have anything to do with the good-looking gryffindor boy in front of you?

fred turned to you, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "i think—"

"—we should get back to bed? yeah, yes, definitely." you nodded eagerly. "i think i'll go first."

you waved at him before he called out to you in a confused whisper. "where are you going? we're from the same house anyway so let's head back together."

"i...what?"

"i said—"

"no, i heard you. but... fred, i'm not in gryffindor." you took a moment to bask in the surprise that had fred sputtering like a fish. "i'm a hufflepuff."

you grinned as he glanced at the entrance to the hufflepuff basement a little ways away, speechless.

he couldn’t believe he didn’t piece it together, or see your house colors on your robe when you showed it to him. admittingly, it was a little dark.

at that, you turned away, tapping on the barrels until the biggest one slid open to reveal a short hallway that went down. with fred watching as you turned back around, just before entering, you waved.

"don't you remember breaking my arm during quidditch last year?"

he didn't.

and as he walked back to the gryffindor tower, fred startled with the realization that he hadn't asked for your name. he'd apparently broken some rebellious hufflepuff's arm, who was bloody fit on top of it, and he didn't even get a name.

back in the dorms, george squinted at the light that bled through the now open door as his twin walked through it. he watched fred as he collapsed on his bed face down before george smacked him with a pillow. what the hell was he sulking for?

"where's my pie?"

fred groaned into his pillow and george raised an eyebrow.

"you forgot, i take it?" he sighed and received another groan in response. “what took you so long, anyway?”

fred was saying something but with his face pressed against the pillow, it was just muffled chatter. george smacked him again. “i can’t understand you, you git.”

fred lifted his head, “i ran into a hufflepuff on the way to the kitchens,” and dropped his head back down.

in the dark, george’s face was plainly confused. “a hufflepuff? are you sure?”

fred made a sound that sounded like ‘yes’.

“alright then, what’s her name?”

fred rolled onto his back, staring at the top of his canopy bed. “i forgot to ask. and i think i insulted her by assuming she was a gryffindor.”

george frowned. “and...?”

“and,” fred huffed, sitting up and facing george’s bed in the dark. “apparently, i broke her arm during a quidditch match last year.”

“you’re joking.”

“wish i was.”

“you broke her arm and you don’t even know her name? bloody rude of you.”

“will you two shut it? i’d like to get some shut eye before i flunk transfig tomorrow, thank you very much.” lee jordan huffed in the bed next to fred’s, glaring at them in the dark before turning his back on them. “her name’s [y/n]. i commentated that match, mate. and as a matter of fact, fred, you were very rude. didn’t even apologize, not once.”

lee clicked his tongue and promptly fell back asleep.

fred looked wide eyed at george, who could tell that his twin brother already had something brewing in his head.

“whatever it is, it can wait ‘till tomorrow. i’m going to go to bed now, starving mind you.” george stage-whispered at fred and turned over.

fred just sat there in the pale moonlight filtering through his window, cooking up a plan to see you again. and apologize of course.

and so, for the entirety of the next day, fred weasley would catch your particular head of hair practically everywhere… just before you ducked out of sight.

he’d been tracking you down incessantly since breakfast, even going as far as to send underclassmen after you with an invitation to meet with him, which he has yet to hear a reply from. he didn’t understand why your face grew paler with every note. but alas, the day was only halfway through and that left plenty of chances for fred to cook up some plan to sidle right back to your side.

george and lee were particularly unsettled as to why you’ve suddenly been dropped onto fred’s radar after a chance encounter and why he was so adamant about meeting you. they wondered if he’d found yet another prank victim and could only hope that he wouldn’t have you sprouting a lizard’s tail before the yule ball. but when they asked, their confusion only skyrocketed.

“i want to ask her to the ball.” he shrugged during potions, his concentration focused entirely on the bubbling cauldron in front of him that he didn’t notice the startled look his best mates shared.

“the ball, mate?” lee queried, handing his partner the container of dried billywig stings when he asked for it. he leaned his elbows on the table as he gestured airily at the twins in front of him. “isn’t that a little, you know, coldhearted for a prank?”

“coldhearted?” fred turned, eyebrows furrowed. “why would my asking [y/n] to be my date to the ball be coldhearted? and why would i prank her?”

george tried to read his brother’s expression, only to blink in surprise at what he saw. the bloke was being genuine. “bloody hell, you’re serious? i thought you only wanted to apologize?”

“damn, what exactly happened last night?” lee gaped at the sporadic turn of events.

fred was known for being a little bit of a flirt, dating through girls as fast as hermione reads through books. just last week, he was swearing up and down that he’d go stag, saying he wanted to be the hottest bachelor available for the ladies.

fred just faced the wideye potion they were concocting, lifting a shoulder to shrug. “magic, if i had to guess.”

when his friends weren’t looking, he took the chance to glance across the room to where you stood with your partner, cedric diggory, your potion simmering and finished in front of you. he watched as you idly flipped the page of a thick textbook, talking animatedly about one of the passages with the hogwarts champion.

he watched as you huffed, mocked cedric, and tucked your hair behind your ear, then moved to eye the scar on the exposed side of your elbow, no doubt a reminder of the injury you mentioned that he'd gifted you. he winced at how much of an arsehole he probably seemed last year, where he didn’t even bother to apologize when the bludger he sent for you that ended up winning the match also ending up giving you an oblique fracture.

he knew of the details now because it was the first thing he hounded for shortly after breakfast, madam pomfrey tutting all the while.

he watched, unable to peel his eyes away, as you turned your head and met his gaze. fred barely had time to smile before you abruptly looked away, cheeks pinking. your reaction confused him; why were you acting like you didn’t know him? why hadn’t you responded to his letters?

surely, being tucked in a secluded alcove while evading possible consequences bonded you somehow?

with your face flaming, you stared at the open book in front of you, not quite digesting the text or whatever it was your best friend was trying to discuss with you. mid-sentence, cedric noticed that your eyes had glazed over and glanced towards the back of the room where fred was now openly fixated on you.

“pretty boy weasley’s staring at you again. can't believe he's been at it since breakfast.” he shook his head in disbelief as he nudged your shoulder. “what you did to get his attention, i’ll never know.”

“he calls you pretty boy diggory, too, you know. him and his twin.” you snapped, brows furrowed and cheeks still warm. “and i told you; i just bumped into him last night.”

“i’m aware they call me that, and let me rephrase; i'll never understand.” cedric then gestured at your pockets, stuffed with letters and notes from the particular ginger. “also, a ‘bump’ doesn’t receive that much attention. reckon you made quite the impression.”

you rolled your eyes, waving off his statement. “he’s going to prank me, or stand me up, whichever comes first, ced. i know it.”

“oh? how so?”

“i just do.”

cedric leaned his hip on the table, a mocking smirk evident as ever. “‘you just do’? have you asked him?”

“you don’t just ask someone if they want to prank you, you twit.” you scoffed. “correction; you don’t just ask frederick bloody weasley if he wants to prank you.”

“right, so you don’t just ask fred weasley if he wants to prank or stand you up.” he pointed out, playing along.

“that’s exactly what i said.” you glared at your best friend for making light of the situation.

he lifted his hands in surrender. “just checking.”

the conversation was cut short as professor snape started his rounds of inspecting the completed potions. since you were up at the front of the class, he approached your cauldron first, taking his time to examine the concoction. when he deemed it acceptable, he just nodded and turned his nose up, moving onto the next pair.

the warning bell tolled just as the professor finished his rounds and announced to the class. “to those with potions worthy of my approval, you may collect a few vials from them. hopefully, they’ll help you keep attentive when i’m handing out instructions, unlike mr. henley over here.”

timothy henley seemed to shrink as professor snape sneered at him, but thankfully did not take away points from your housemate. you made a mental note to hand him some of your potion later.

professor snape then turned on the weasley twins, just before you were all to move to your next class. snape eyed fred as he was still looking over in your direction. “and mr. weasley, perhaps not too attentive.”

cedric gave a loud cough, appearing to hold back laughter as your face burned even brighter.

once classes were over, you finally had time to aid cedric in his search for anything that could help him with the second task. you’d arranged to meet at the library all the way across the castle, but you remembered that you owned a couple books on underwater lore so you figured it best split up to take a detour by your dormitory.

you now ducked under the threshold of the main barrel leading out of your common room, the strap of your bookbag still digging into your shoulder from all the books weighing it down despite dropping off some stuff. as you set foot in the hallway outside of the passage leading into the hufflepuff basements, it was there that you found fred waiting, leaning against the column directly opposite you, tapping his foot.

"bit different," he spoke once he caught sight of you, looking up and around the well lit hall. "meeting you here in broad daylight, i mean. must be the lighting."

stopping dead in your tracks, you debated whether turning back was a good idea when he looked up and found you frozen with indecision. too late now. you watched as his face broke out into a smile and he walked to meet you, his long legs making short work of it.

almost as if disobeying you, your lips twitched upwards at fred's shot at a joke. you slowly started walking towards the end of the hall and found him following you. because of that, you walked faster.

"did you need something, weasley?" you kept your focus trained forward, knowing that if you looked him in the eyes, it was game over. you shifted your weight. “i’m in a little bit of a hurry.”

everything was different in the daytime. you were different in the daytime.

he glanced at your shoulder, down to your bag, and, before you could react, lifted it onto his own. “where to?”

you sputtered, reaching for your belongings, but he just ducked out of reach, a wide grin on his face. “honestly, what’s with you?”

he shrugged with the shoulder that wasn’t held down. “you weren’t responding to my letters, so i figured you preferred a more direct approach.”

“you just can’t take a hint, can you?” you sighed, resigned to the fact that this was your life now and that fred was matching your pace.

“if you bothered to read my letters, you’d know that i want you to be my date to the ball.”

“i actually did read them, but you’ll have to excuse me if i don’t plan on being humiliated any time soon.”

fred stopped walking, staring at you like you’d wounded him. “why would you be humiliated if you went with me?”

it wasn’t like you could just keep walking, cedric needed those books, so you paused as well, a little ways in front of him, and crossed your arms.

“i’m sure you’d be a great date if you were sincere, but knowing your reputation, this—” you gestured between the two of you. “—is anything but. it’s just a cruel joke.”

“a joke?” he blinked, his expression turning confused. then realization dawned upon him. “wait, what? no, i’m not—this isn’t—why would you even think that?”

you snorted, all but rolling your eyes. he was really convincing, you had to give him that. no wonder the entirety of the castle fawned over the redhead. he had charm.

“because that’s who you are, weasley. it’s what you’re known to do.”

fred stood in stunned silence while you, seeing the opportunity, took back your bookbag. he let you.

you waved as you turned your back on him and walked away. “see you around, lover boy. don’t forget to report back to your twin that your attempt at a heartless joke failed.”

he just watched you leave without another word.

once you were a good distance away, you all but ran towards the secluded nook at the farthest part of the library, one that was yours and cedric’s particular spot, ever since second year. here, light was dim and noise was at an all time low.

when you reached it, you huffed and dropped the bag—which was practically bursting at the seams now—you’ve been lugging around on the table, taking the seat across from the gray-eyed boy who looked startled to see you.

he stopped flipping through the book on the table and stared at you as you unpacked. “what are you doing here? and where’s fred?”

“hullo, [y/n]. i missed you and thank you so, so much for helping my desperate arse.” you mocked, taking the liberty of greeting yourself when cedric practically ignored the fact that you’d both agreed to meet here. you pulled out a thick textbook, made yourself comfortable, and began flipping through the pages for anything helpful.

“did something go wrong?” he asked after a beat and you looked up, frowning.

“what do you mean ‘did something go wrong?’, he tried asking me to the yule as a joke.” you scoffed, dropping your attention back to the book. “didn’t get very far, though. i saw right through him.”

cedric kept on staring.

you scowled, eyes snapping up. “what?”

he sighed, shaking his head at your cluelessness. “can’t believe you turned down a genuine date to the ball.”

“genuine?” you waved away the term. “you and i both know fred weasley doesn’t have a single genuine bone in his body.”

“let’s see,” cedric smirked, leaning back in his chair, ticking off fingers as he spoke. “he asked for my permission to take you, wrote formal letters asking you out, had them delivered, and even waited for you outside of the common room for a more direct approach, did he not?”

you gaped. “he asked you for permission? why? and why do you know he was waiting for me?”

he nodded. “simple. i just asked him if he wanted to prank or stand you up after potions, even after your protests about that. he was quite nice about it, said he wanted to get to know you better and, i quote, ‘what better way to do so than at a proper ball?’ then i merely suggested he wait you out, knowing how stubborn you can be.”

cedric watched, satisfied, as numerous emotions passed through you. “if that doesn’t scream ‘genuine’, then i don’t know what will for you.”

you sat there in stunned silence, struggling to form words as he leaned his elbows on the table, locked his hands together, and rested his chin on the tops of his knuckles, all while sporting a smug look on his face. “so remind me again why you’re here?”

“oh helga,” you breathed. “i was so heartless, i practically insulted him as i left. i’ve got to—”

you swallowed, your throating having suddenly gone desert dry. “i’ve got to apologize somehow.”

“that’s what he was trying to do, too, you know. for last year.” cedric gestured to your arm before looking back down at the book he was studying.

as if you’d been struck by lightning, you hurriedly tried to pack your things but cedric just waved you off, not even bothering to lift his head. “i’ll take care of that, you go get your man.”

you shot him a sharp look as you brushed yourself off. “he’s not my man, ced.”

he looked up when your steps faded away and watched fondly as you rushed out of the library, shaking his head with a small smile on his face. ever since last year, you and fred had been dancing just outside of each other’s social circles, and cedric knew it was a matter of time before you met.

he knew you’d caught fred’s eye long before today, having gotten to know fred during the summer. he also knew just how much you liked fred, even after the quidditch match last year, as much as you tried to repress those feelings.

“not yet anyway,” he muttered to himself. then he turned back to the stacked assortment of books that were supposed to help him breathe underwater and hopefully not drown him. “now, where were we?”

meanwhile, you’re now hustling up the staircase towards the gryffindor tower, the only place that makes sense at the moment because you didn’t know enough about fred to know his usual whereabouts, or know enough about fred, period. but it seemed like luck was on your side as his towering height seemed to make him stick out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the students headed back to their common room.

“weasley!” you called, waving your arms in the air like a lunatic and attracting the attention of literally everyone around you. “weasley, hey!”

his hulking figure seemed to slow to a halt, eventually turning around to meet your determined gaze. he had seemed to be in a conversation with someone, but you couldn’t see who because from what you could tell, they were much, much shorter than he was. only when you saw the head of flowing red hair did you figure that he was talking to ginny weasley, his younger sister.

a small smile seemed to grow on his lips at the sight of you approaching him as well as a prideful glint that shone brightly in his eyes when he crossed his arms. “well, well, well, if it isn’t miss heartbreaker herself.”

you finally came to a stand in front of him, smiling in greeting at his sister, who smiled back as she not-so-subtly elbowed her brother in the ribs. he yelped at the gesture and rubbed at his side, giving ginny a ‘what the bloody hell was that for?’ look.

“looks like you won’t be needing any more advice, brother, so i’ll be taking my leave.” she shot you one last smile before walking towards the direction of the fat lady’s portrait.

as soon as she was gone, you turned to fred and blurted out the first thing that came to mind; an apology. “i’m so sorry for reacting the way i did, i should have listened to you, not to mention i was absolutely judgemental towards you—”

you were so focused on getting your own apology out, you didn’t realize that fred was doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

“sorry about your arm, i knew how much of a jerk i was then, and i guess i should’ve been a little more aware of how i might’ve come across earlier—”

both of you stopped, bringing the somewhat one sided conversation to a halt, and practically tripped over what to say next.

“sorry, what were you saying?”

“no, you go, i interrupted, i’m sorry.”

“it’s fine! i just—”

with a dry bout of laughter, you cut yourself off, running a hand through your hair. fred’s eyes followed the movement. “we’re going in circles.”

fred seemed to pick up his confidence once again. “well, i’d like to dance circles around you, [y/l/n]. at the ball.”

you blinked up at him. “you know my name? i don’t remember telling you.”

“i have my ways.” fred’s grin was wider than the cheshire cat. you rolled your eyes as he chuckled. “right, well, i need to formally and properly apologize for breaking your arm.”

“what, this thing?” you momentarily touched your scar and waved off the statement. “old news, weasley.”

fred then gestured down the corridor, meaning to walk with you, and you did just that back down the steps. “what made you come see me? or change your mind about me rather?”

“cedric. made me realize i treated you unfairly.” you hummed, turning at him with a sorry look on your face. “sorry again about what i said.”

“sticks and stones.” he waved it off, shrugging. “believe it or not, you’re not the first person to react that way towards me.”

“oh, i believe it.” you laughed, absentmindedly touching your hand to his bicep. almost immediately, you felt the muscles flex just beneath your fingertips, and your face flared red. “sorry.”

“s’alright.” he shrugged and offered up the rest of his arm. you took it. “consider this practice for the ball.”

“i haven’t said yes, you know.” you teased, knowing full well you were going with him. you wanted to get to know the guy you spent huddled with in a secluded alcove a little better.

fred seemed to follow your train of thought, a mischievous look crossing his face. “shall we find another alcove and see if i can convince you?”

to anyone else, it looked like another hogwarts couple strolling their way through the courtyard. but to each other, they looked like someone worth getting to know. and who knows, maybe it could develop into something a little more.

but for now, apologies were set and expectations were hammered down. no more judgements were held between the two of them as slowly but surely, they found a safe place in one another.

“hey,” you spoke up after a beat of silence of just soaking up the last of the sunshine before sunset. “you up for another late night stroll tonight?”

“what’s this? a hufflepuff on a rebellious streak?” fred grinned, throwing his arm over the girl he’d eventually come to love. “we’ve barely started hanging out, don’t tell me i’ve already become a bad influence on you?”

you playfully knocked aside the boy you’d surprisingly find yourself growing fond of. “you wish. i was always this badass.”

“i’m so taking you as my date to the ball.” fred laughed, messing up your hair. “whether or not you agree, you’re mine.”

“how very alpha male of you, weasley.” you rolled your eyes and pushed him away, but the small smile on your lips betrayed your actions. was it getting hotter? or was it your face again?

fred watched as you fixed your hair, eyes bright. “call me freddie.”

#harry potter imagines #harry potter x reader #harry potter x you #harry potter one shot #harry potter fluff #harry potter angst #harry potter smut #fred weasley imagines #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x you #fred weasley one shot #fred weasley angst #fred weasley smut #fred weasley fluff #mine*

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lonely-lost-soul · 3 years

Text

Where Loyalties Lie

(Technoblade X reader)

Request 3: Can we get a little angsty fic or headcanon of Techno trying to get the reader to leave L’manberg?

Requested By: Anonymous

~~~

“Tubbo please take a deep breath,” You followed him around the rubble as he paced restlessly.

“I’m president of a crater (Y/n)!” The boy pulled on his ears with a loud whine, “What am I gonna do. I can’t believe Wilbur blew it up-” He felt your hands touch his own and gently pull them away from his oversensitive goat ears. “What am I gonna do? I-I’m a kid…” You frowned, moving to cup his cheek with your hand. He nuzzled into it desperately, welcoming the comforting touch of someone who he considered family.

“You’re going to get through it because you’re strong.” You told him, “and so brave little ram.” He flushed pink letting out a whine of protest especially because he was still surrounded by most of his friends.

You watch as Quackity walked over to the both of you and placed his hand on Tubbo’s shoulder squeezing it, “We’ll rebuild. We’ll be right behind you Tubbo.” He smiled at the kid and you couldn’t help but smile over at him.

“Thank you both. Truly.”

There was one thing that had you were worried you may come to regret, and that was not taking Technoblade’s hand as he fled from the country. You were close almost touching it, he looked like he wanted to beg for you too but one desperate cry from Tubbo had you pulling away. He looked heartbroken but at the same time, you saw understanding in his deep red eyes.

Family came first.

That day he pulled you close pressing a soft kiss on your forehead, “I’ll be back for you.”

You murmured a soft I’m sorry, turning to find Tubbo to make sure he wasn’t injured or dying. The thoughts of the festival replaying in your head, you couldn’t go through that...not again especially because now Tubbo was officially on his last life. Tommy couldn’t fathom how you didn’t blame Technoblade for what happened that day, but to you, two things were clear: one was that Tubbo didn’t blame him which made it easier on your end to forgive him; two Schlatt was manipulative and overwhelming as fuck you can’t blame someone for something they were peer pressured into doing. Speaking of Tommy you ended up finding Tubbo and him in the rubble that day, the taller male was pressing cloth to Tubbo’s bleeding arm desperately, when you took over and Tommy seemed grateful.

However, you had to push your possible regrets aside and focus on the new nation you’d help build, and build it you did. You worked endlessly for months on end creating a lovely new nation for people to live in, Tubbo had dubbed it New L’manburg. You felt his pride and happiness, he just loved seeing everyone together again and happy once again. Finally, the server felt somewhat normal after all that destruction, even if there was a Techno-shaped hole in your heart. Things changed rather quickly when Tubbo was, in your eyes, manipulated to exile Tommy by Dream. You had tried to argue for the boy saying that not only was he Tubbo’s friend but just a kid. You were shut down harshly by not only Dream but Tubbo as well, the look in his eyes was filled with so much loathing and frustration. It’s the first time he ever snapped and was harsh to you, you felt your own frustration bubble up in your chest. You turned on your heel and marched back up into your house, you were not going to put up with this behavior. When you slammed the door shut, and turned around to find Technoblade standing in your living room, with your cat purring fondly on his shoulders; you almost screamed.

“Heh- why are you scared it’s just me?” The hybrid complained his nose scrunching up, “Don’t be cringe- oof-” Techno grunted as you threw your arms around his waist, the man flushed to the tips of his ears and looked away from you, Taffy hopped off his shoulders disgruntledly, “Yeah, yeah, I missed you too.” He pet the top of your head tenderly and you looked up at him with a smile.

“What’re you doing here Tech? If Tubbo finds out he’ll have your head.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t find me then huh?” He mused lips, quirking into a smile, and you nodded in agreement. “Other than that just running some errands. I’m in retirement now you know. I have to say that ‘New L’Manburg’ is certainly a name.” He did air quotes around the name and you nudged him,

“Be nice.”

“Boo Cringe. I’m a Blood God starlight. I don’t do nice.”

“Bullshit,” You punched him in the arm, “Tea?”

“Please.” He cracked a smile as you walked over to your tea kettle heating the water and grabbing some tea bags.

“So, you came here to run some errands huh? I almost thought you missed me?” Technoblade shuffled a little behind you, how could you read him so perfectly? It was complete and utter bullshit. You heard him click his tongue distastefully behind you and you couldn’t help but smirk cheekily,

“Get off my back woman.” He stated gruffly as you laughed, “but I guess I do miss you a little bit.” You smiled fondly and softly cooed at him and he let out another scoff,

“A little bit?”

“What is this interrogation? You a cop now?” You placed his tea in front of him and he took a sip,

“Yeah, we’re gonna need to do a strip search. Drop your pants.” Technoblade choked on his drink, face turning the darkest shade of red you’ve ever seen from him. You howled with laughter sliding down in your seat beside the man.

“I changed my mind. I didn’t miss you at all, you’re a terror.”

“You love me, admit it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He murmured looking at you with a sudden softness that was out of character for him. You didn’t notice the change but it was there, oh if only you knew how much of what you said was true. He did love you. He ran his tongue across his teeth and reached out to interlock your hands within his own.

“Come live with me.”

“Tech…”

“I’m in retirement now. I’m going to get some turtles hopefully, maybe some other pets while I’m at it. There’s a lot of room...It gets lonely all alone you know. It’d be nice to have you there with me.” He watched hesitance flicker across your face again just like the day Wilbur blew up L’Manburg. Your thoughts went to Tubbo and how much he needed you, especially now that Tommy was exiled. However, you were also brought back to a few moments ago where Tubbo snapped at you for trying to help. You took a ragged breath and pushed his hand away, he frowned sadly bringing his hand back down to his lap.

“I need to be here for Tubbo. He’s a kid Tech...way over his head. Dreams sniffing around him like a dog looking for his next victim to manipulate. I can’t let that happen, not to him. I know he’s President of this nation and you hate him for that, but he’s my brother and I love him. He’s a tough kid with a lot of fire, but I can’t just leave him in the dust. I love you,” You reached up and cupped his cheek and Technoblade felt his cheeks burn at the implication, “but I can’t leave until Tubbo is safe.”

“I’ll convince you one day.” Technoblade shot back even though his heart ached, that you wouldn’t be coming home with him. But Technoblade wasn’t known for giving up. He was stubborn as hell, he’d win you over yet. You’d come home with him, he’d confess to you and he’d make you the happiest person in the world. You just...didn’t know it yet.

“I’m excited for the day you do Tech.” You snickered softly, you both were startled by harsh knocking on the door.

“That’s my cue. See you soon Starlight,” Technoblade hummed slipping right out the window, you watched him go longingly. You shuffled towards the door and opened it slowly, on the front steps stood Tubbo who was rocking nervously on his feet.

“Hi…”

“Hey LR...you okay?” Tilting your head to the side,

“Is LR supposed to stand for little ram?”

“Problem?”

“No…I suppose not.” He murmured before clearing his throat and straightening his back, “I wanted to talk with you.”

“Oh?” You raised an eyebrow watching him nod his head sternly, you walked outside and closed the door behind you so you could lean on it. “Shoot,”

You watched as Tubbo swallowed thickly, “First off I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. It wasn’t fair of me to snap.” He watched you nod a little urging him to continue, “however, I am the President now and you have to respect my authority.” Eyebrows furrowing together in frustration you opened your mouth to counter him but he held up his hand, “Dream has an idea of how to rule. He can steer me in a better direction-”

“Pardon me?” You let out a disbelieving laugh, “A better direction? Tubbo, are you forgetting everything we all fought for, we fought him for independence. He killed us!”

“He might’ve changed!”

“He exiled Tommy!”

“He deserved it!” Tubbo shouted back as your nose scrunched up, “He’ll steer me in a direction that you never could!” He snapped before realizing what he said, he slapped his hands over his mouth eyes widening to the size of saucers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that-”

“Go home Tubbo.”

“(Y/n) please,” He reached out towards you and you held up your hand,

“Go reset the day. You need rest,” You frowned, turning back into the house “see you tomorrow.” Inside the house you shut the door on him and slid down onto the floor, you brought your hands to your mouth and swallowed thickly. A part of you wished Technoblade was still here just so he could tell you to get over yourself, he wasn’t skilled in the art of comforting others, but he could make you laugh. To keep yourself sane you reminded yourself that Tubbo was a child and needed you now more than ever, especially if he thought Dream was dishing out good advice. But you were hurt and a selfish part of you wished you could just go live in retirement with Technoblade and not worry about the new country forming, but you couldn’t ditch Tubbo.

Running a hand through your hair you sighed loudly, one might wonder what exactly could Tubbo do to make you listen to Technoblade’s offer. Honestly, you had no idea if anything would make you do that unless of course they just started executing people or something ridiculous like that.

Restless was how you’d describe the rest of your night, you tried to sleep but after a few hours of tossing and turning you gave up. You decided to make yourself a ‘healthy’ midnight snack, a small bowl of mac & cheese, you didn’t care, you were sad. You sighed softly scratching behind your cat’s ears, “It’s just you and me against the world Taffy isn’t it?” Her purrs rang in the air as she snuggled against your hand, distracting you just enough to swipe a noddle from your bowl. “You fat bitch!” You hissed as she ran off back up the stairs, you leaned back in your chair and sighed, literally nothing was going your way today. Just as you finished up your snack you heard a soft ping upon your window, turning to the sound you noticed your neighbor Phil awake in his house. He held up a hand and waved at you through it, and with a small smile, you waved back. He shuffled back into his home, I guess you both were insomniacs together, Techno knew how to pick a certain type of friend it seemed.

You walked back up to your bedroom and slid under the covers once more, maybe you were wrong and things were going to get better.

Months went by and nothing seemed to change much to your disappointment. Tubbo and you were still a little rocky, you had forgiven him for his harsh words but he always put Dream’s and even Quackity’s opinion before your own. When you came back from visiting Niki one day and saw wanted posters of Technoblade all around the country you almost had a stroke. You confronted Tubbo about it and only half answered you before running off when Quackity called him. That worried you, he normally didn’t like lying, especially not to you.

The same day you were walking into the market to get some fresh fruit when a hand shot out from the wanted poster and pulled you behind it. You were held flush against someone’s chest who chuckled gruffly, you recognized that chuckle anywhere. “Techno! What’re you doing here?” You asked looking up at him with eyes filled with concern, “don’t you know you’re a wanted man?”

“I think that just makes this all the more exciting.” Techno mused running his fingers through your hair, “Plus it’s not like anyone here can catch me.”

“Wrong I could catch you.” He dared to laugh in your face,

“Sure you could, and I’m half sheep.” Technoblade mused and he watched you huff cutely, “Don’t get all huffy at me you know I’m right.” You only waved him off, “seriously though I’m here to do some trading with Phil.”

“Oh…” You gave a nod, “Will I see you more frequently then?”

“You could see me all the time if you moved in with me.” Techno joked again and was surprised to see your face fall a little. Are you serious? Was he getting you to crack? “Starlight?”

“Ask me again in a few months and I might say yes,” You teased brushing the question off swiftly, Technoblade didn’t pry but he could tell you were almost convinced. Just what was going on in this country to make you want to leave your little brother? “Now shoo, go see Phil before he gives up on you.” You gave him a little shove and he stumbled off with a huff sticking his tongue out at you in the process.

After that encounter, you didn’t run into Technoblade for another very long stretch of time. About a month or so after that encounter, Tubbo had shown up at your doorstep a complete nervous wreck. He begged you to help him, claiming he needed diamonds for an upcoming project and wanted you to acquire them for him. “Tubbo I don’t understand why I need to go on this trip? I have diamonds I can just give you. You know I don’t care.”

“But I feel bad about it,” Tubbo argued with you “please just do this for me.”

“You know I’ll do anything for you. If you want me to get them this way I’ll do it. I should be back tonight is that okay? Do you need them sooner?” Tubbo looked relieved as he took your hands in his own,

“No tonight is perfect!” The boy chirped sounding more like himself than he has in months, you couldn’t help but smile. You ruffled his hair a little before kissing his forehead,

“Then tonight you shall have them, Little Ram.”

Tubbo helped you gather the materials you needed for a trip down into the mines, Tubbo even gave you some fire resistance potions. You thanked him for the potions before putting on your armor and heading down into the tunnels. As you were down in the mine the concept of time was always an illusion, so when you finally found diamonds for Tubbo and you left the cave you were surprised to see the sun was just setting. You hummed softly to yourself walking back into New L’manburg excited to show off to Tubbo you couldn’t help but wonder what he needed them for in the first place. However, when you entered town you were greeted by a gathering going on at the center. Everyone seemed to be there clad in what looked to be butcher’s outfits, your vibe was immediately thrown off eyebrows furrowing in concern. Quackity was giving some sort of speech and that finally drew your eyes towards the podium, locked inside a cage was a fuming Technoblade. You rushed towards the group, pushing past Ghostbur and a blue sheep, and grabbed tightly onto Tubbo’s arm.

“Tubbo what the fuck is happening?” He tensed turning towards your face. It was no secret that you and Techno were friends, this wasn’t good at all.

“(Y/n)! You’re back early!” He spoke nervously rubbing his hands together as Quackity turned towards you,

“Welcome back!” Quackity hopped off the podium with a smirk, “Fundy grab them.”

“Quackity hey wait a minute-” Tubbo started as Fundy roughly grabbed onto your arms pinning you in place,

“Ow hey! Watch it! Let go of me!”

“Get your hands off them!” Technoblade snarled nostrils flaring grabbing the bars of the cage tightly.

“Quackity you said we’d leave them out of this!” Tubbo argued and your jaw dropped staring at Tubbo, “You promised!”

He waved Tubbo off with a scoff, “they’re just as bad as Phil, Tubbo. She needs to be punished. We can't play favorites when trying to run a country. We’ll execute Techno then deal with the other traitors.”

“Execute?” You choked, “you can’t be serious! Tubbo you cannot be serious, since when are you okay with public executions?” He refused to look at you, his hair covering his eyes, he only nodded his head in Quackity’s direction.

“Do it.”

“Tubbo!” You shrieked watching Quackity grin maliciously, moving over to pull the lever that would allow the anvil to fall and crush the man below it.

What happened next was a cluster fuck, someone began trying to set off TNT, and Quackity pulled the lever. It fell rapidly towards Techno and he pulled something out of his pocket, in a flash of bright colors and bursts of light Technoblade was ripped apart and pulled back together again. He was alive, Technoblade really doesn’t ever die. He hopped on top of the anvil and jumped the bars of the cage, Fundy had long since lost his grip on you, he noticed Dream ushering him inside a cavern and he paused a moment. The hybrid turned towards you holding out his hand one final time, the world seemed to stop a moment and it was just you and him. His face held a desperate look in it, almost pleading you to take his hand within your own. You flashed back to the day Wilbur blew the country up, Tubbo called your name you glanced over your shoulder once towards Little Ram. You reached into your bag and dropped the diamonds you found for him on the ground, you grabbed Technoblade’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Technoblade smiled and yanked you forward, leaving a heartbroken Tubbo in your wake.

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disfordevineaux · 3 years

Note

Not sure if you take requests or if it's been done already, but Chase headcanons on a day off from work?

I certainly take requests, this being a new one, so thank you for it!

To start, I definitely think Chase has the inability to fully switch off from work so would end up, in some shape or form, working on his day(s) off. Either by choice or force. As we saw in the book adaptation of the show, Chase organised the monitoring and attempted apprehension of Carmen Sandiego around Poitiers, which pretty much took up all his time (apparently hardly eating or sleeping during it and appearing grumpily disheveled because of it). So time off from work seems like a rarity. I mean, we have ALLLLL seen his apartment/conspiracy board house. Anyway-

Everything he does is done with time efficiency in mind. He can’t waste time or be slowed down. He ends up getting tired of repetitive actions, such as paperwork and daily activities but does it as he knows it has to be done. His only form of lively excitement comes through work and is the first in line for a new activity/case aka vice. Then giving it his all 24/7. E.g his total deep dive and obsession with the conspiracy board Carmen/VILE case. It takes over EVERYTHING. It seeps into his home life that merely exists as a necessity for living, a place holder for his time during work periods. Not being successful completely annihilates him, body and soul. Never satisfied even when it is solved and certainly not when he can’t crack it.

Back when Chase was at Interpol, he would be the first person to work overtime on weekends. 7 day work weeks are for the ones who have no life and/or family aka Chase. I mean, someone has to do the work out of normal work hours. He enjoys being in control of what happens around him (mad vibes it’s a coping mechanism of some kind) and would be the one to set up and maintain as much as he could within his workforce. Priding himself on his versatility when it comes to being apart of every step of the process. No delegation, no leading really, he does it all himself as he is all he needs, he is the only one he can trust to do the job right, and the way he wants it done.

He just can’t slow down because when he does it clearly send him into a downward tailspin that borders on aggravated depression. Frustrated and dejected at the same time. (We all witnessed that pile of paperwork looming over and surround him in s2, oof, it was SAD) Making downtime, essentially, scary, as if the time ‘wasted’ is slowly picking away at his career.

Chase would all or nothing his time off. Either getting 4 months of domestic tasks done in 5 hours on a Sunday or would spend 29 hours in bed not moving. There is no in-between. Full efficiency and organisation or nothing.

Chase most likely isn't allowed pets in his apartment complex so in a petty attempt to get back at his landlord, would periodically feed and take care of the stray cats around the neighborhood in his downtime and before and after work. Despite feeding feral/stray cats being illegal in France, he’d do it anyway out of spite at first. It would take no time at all before he’s named every one of them, picked his favorites and in full cat-dad mode.

Chase is a devoted patron of his local gym, but only between the hours of 2am-4am. Last time he went during daylight hours, other people were there.

Sometimes, when he does want to do something, Chase would end up spending too long deciding what he wants to do. This is the only time in his life where he is indecisive about his own actions and subsequently, his mental and physical well-being. Ironic huh.

I don’t think he’d get out much, especially not to proper social interactions such as clubs, bars, restaurants excreta. He seems as though he prefers his own company, or is at least used to it. If he were to go out, it would be to work-related events. Thus an excuse he would tell himself he should at least show his face. But he’d end up regretting going to the faculty Christmas party at a bar as he ends up drinking solo until close because he can’t stand most of the people he works with, forgetting he was actually at a work event.

Every month or so on his days off, Chase would discover his dead plant, as he finally had time to take in his surroundings. At this point just being a ceramic pot full of dirt and would wonder why the hell he has a pot of dirt in his apartment, forgetting it was ever a plant. As if religiously, he’d go out, buy a new plant and place it back in the same spot where the old one was. He’d instantly forget about it and never touch it again. After some time, it would soon die and revert back to a pot of dirt and the process would repeat again.

He’d end up doing all the daily smoking he missed out on due to not having time, suppressing the urge through mints throughout the day. It appears as if he is in the process of quitting or in remission, but that’s not completely true. After work hours at night, he’d knock down an entire pack to make up for the missed smoking chances through the day.

Little to no dating life. No explanation needed.

His days/nights off work are where he’d do most of his eating. When he gets a chance, he would make bulk meals and if not buy items that are easy to make quick meals with. If eating at home, he is always doing something else while eating. You can’t waste precious time.

When he’s feeling particularly good about himself, most likely after a good workday, he would put in the special time to make himself something special. Truly devoting some of his precious time to it.

#i know u prob wanted some more fun ones #but it just felt too ooc to write such #hope this is some how okay #chase just has that vibe of 'work or nothing'#thank you for this ask #sorry it took me so long #chase devineaux #carmen sandiego #disfordevineaux ask

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vintagedolan · 4 years

Note

heyyy, how about if you’re going on dates w grayson and he tells you he’s a single dad and has a daughter! and introducing you to her 🥺

big oof this one GOT ME and I got carried away, enjoy!!!

You weren’t bored, but it was seeming more and more like he was. Fidgeting with the hem of your dress under the table, you watched him type furiously on his phone, attention devoted entirely to whatever was so consuming. It was your fifth date with Grayson, and he’d always had his phone close by, but never like this.

“Am I boring you?” You asked, a bit more sass in your tone than you really intended.

“What? No! No, no not at all, it’s- um... well,” he mumbled, obviously unsure of what to say. “I just have a... situation, that I need to figure out.”

“You wanna elaborate on that?” You asked, confused. You watched him battle with himself for a moment, debating on saying what he was about to say.

“My daughter’s sick. She’s with the babysitter, and apparently she’s running a fever. I need to get home, I’m really sorry.”

Only one real word of that registered.

“Daughter? You have a daughter?”

“This wasn’t how I wanted to tell you. Shit. I’m sorry, I’ll pay for your uber and everything, this isn’t at all how I wanted this to go, I swear I was gonna tell you, tonight actually-”

“Gray, Grayson, slow down. It’s alright, I get it. But an uber is gonna cost you a fortune from here, why don’t we just go back to your place and I can get a ride from there.” You tried to calm him down a bit, already rising from your seat.

“I... uh...”

“I don’t have to go inside, I totally understand if you don’t wanna tell her you were on a date. But it’ll save you about $50 bucks.” You knew that the money didn’t really matter to him, but in all honesty you just wanted to spend a little more time with him if you could.

“Okay. Yeah, okay. Let’s go.” He casually dropped a hundred bucks on the table and reached for your hand, leading you out of the restaurant, down the stairs and to the car. Glancing in the backseat as he backed out of the parking space, you couldn’t help but notice that it was entirely empty.

“No carseat?” You asked. Even in the dim glow of the dashboard lights, you could see his blush.

“Wasn’t sure it would be the best wingman on a date. It’s in my garage at home,” he admitted.

“I bet the base is a bitch to take in and out of here,” you mused.

“Oh god, it’s actually awful. Wait... you don’t... do you?”

“No, I don’t have kids. Just been around them a lot. What’s your daughter’s name?”

“Raleigh. She’s two and a half, and spoiled rotten,” he added, shaking his head a bit as he started down the road.

“Oh, I bet you had nothing to do with that,” you teased, rolling your eyes. Based off how he’d treated you thus far on your dates, you knew he gave his daughter the world and more.

“I blame her uncle Ethan, or her grandma. Girl has more outfits than I have space for in my house,” he chuckled. There was a happiness in his voice you hadn’t heard yet, a pride he got from talking about her.

“Is her mom still in the picture?”

“No. She left when she was about 6 months, said it was too much. We rushed into things, I was too excited to be a parent I think, and she just wasn’t ready. I got full custody pretty soon after that, so she’s all mine now. It’s hard, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

“Well, she sounds like the luckiest girl in the world,” you smiled. Pictures were running through your head now of Grayson as a dad, holding a little curly haired girl in his arms, rocking her, playing with her down on the floor. It was the most flattering light you could see him in.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I just - I really, really like you, and I didn’t want to scare you off,” he mumbled, nerves back in his voice.

“I get it Gray. But hey, I don’t scare that easy. Kids are cool,” you shrugged. Sure, you weren’t expecting this at all, but it wasn’t going to do any good to freak out over it now - that would only hurt Grayson. You’d at least give it a shot, see how you felt. So when he reached over to take your hand you let him, squeezing back in reassurance that you weren’t going anywhere just yet.

When you got back to the house, he parked beside an unfamiliar car - the babysitter’s, you realized - and came around to help you out.

Just as you were about to offer to wait outside, he spoke up.

“Would you wanna come in? If she’s feeling any better she’ll probably go right to sleep, and we could still hang out. It’s totally okay if you don’t want to, I would understand, but-”

“I’d love to meet her,” you smiled, taking his hand and letting him lead you to the house. Your heels clicked on the concrete as you approached the front door, waiting for him to unlock it.

You stepped inside when he held the door open, immediately comforted by the homey vibe of the house. It was mostly minimalist - white walls and dark wood broken up by the arrangement of toys scattered around.

It wasn’t until the babysitter came around the corner that the attention shifted.

“Molly, hey, sorry about all this, she was totally fine all day. Must be a stomach bug,” he was saying, but you were just looking at the little girl in her arms. Raleigh was smaller than you’d expected her to be, her little frame wrapped up in footie pajamas adorned with little rainbows. She was a spitting image of Grayson, her features just a bit softer than his - dark hair curling around her ears and her neck.

You watched as he quickly got the cash out to pay her, passing it to her and then immediately reaching for his daughter, as if he couldn’t wait another minute to have her in his arms.

“Hey pumpkin. I missed you. Yeah, you don’t feel so good, hmm? You’re burnin’ up,” he was cooing, immediately slipping into dad mode, your heart melting into a puddle at the sight. She curled up into his neck, hugging onto him as she sucked on her pacifier - but her eyes were trained on you, even as Molly waved goodbye and left. You waved at her softly, not wanting to scare her.

“Raleigh this is Y/N, she’s daddy’s friend. Can you say hi?”

She lifted a tiny hand to wave at you, and then she pointed, mumbling something behind her pacifier.

“Blue? Yeah, her dress is blue, you’re right,” Grayson praised, somehow understanding her.

You weren’t sure who was more surprised - you or Grayson - when Raleigh reached out for you with both arms, asking you to hold her.

You didn’t hesitate, scooping her up and placing her on your hip. She started to run her little hands over the fabric of your dress, occasionally squeezing it in her fist.

“She never goes that easily to people, it took her a month to even look at Molly without crying,” Grayson said.

“Well, I guess I’ve got the magic touch,” you said, somehow immediately summoning karma down on top of you for your tiny little ego boost.

There was only a retching sound of warning, and then you could feel hot liquid going down your chest.

“She just puked on me didn’t she.” It wasn’t a question - you didn’t even have to look to know exactly what happened.

“Holy fuck. Holy fuck I’m so sorry,” Grayson was more than flustered, but he hadn’t moved in the slightest. It wasn’t until Raleigh started wailing that either of you moved.

“Hey, hey it’s okay, it’s alright,” you murmured, trying to comfort her, all your attention moved to her. When you looked, she was covered in her own puke, face red as she screamed. You turned, heading down the hallway, checking doors until you found a bathroom. It was all instinct and babysitting experience after that.

You calmed her down as best you could, stripping her out of her soiled pjs and getting a washcloth, running it under warm water and starting to clean her up. You sang a little tune you remembered from when you used to babysit, and it soothed her enough, her sobs turning into sniffles.

“There, see, look! All better! All cleaned up,” you smiled, tickling her little belly. “Let’s get you some medicine and find where your daddy went, yeah?”

The two of you found him in the living room, headed towards you armed with baby wipes, a towel, a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. He seemed shocked that his daughter wasn’t crying, and he sat everything down on the couch, reaching out for her.

“Y/N I’m so sorry, this whole night is a disaster,” he groaned, putting the back of his hand to Raleigh’s forehead.

“Believe it or not, I’ve had worse dates,” you laughed at the absurdity of the whole situation.

“I brought you a change of clothes. I’m sorry about your dress, I’ll buy you a new one,” he offered, sheepish smile spreading across his face. Raleigh was already started to doze off - you could tell by her face that she felt better already.

“Eh, it was on clearance anyways, no biggie. But I will take the sweatpants offer,” you grinned, going over to get the clothes and taking the baby wipes with you for good measure.

You headed back to the same bathroom, stripping down and changing out of your dress and into the much more comfortable joggers and t shirt he gave you, making sure to wipe your chest down just in case before you got dressed. You tried to get your dress clean, but it was futile - you’d have to put it in the wash or just call it a loss and toss it.

So, you went back out towards the front door, sitting the crumpled up fabric on the floor before heading back out in search of Gray. To your surprise, he was in the kitchen, already cooking away with the baby monitor in close proximity.

“How do I look?” You grinned, making a show of the outfit, being sure to point out your heels. He laughed, a belly laugh that you hadn’t heard before.

“Honestly? Sexiest I’ve ever seen you, truly,” he smiled, reaching back to get a few more things from the cabinets.

“Raleigh already down?”

“Oh yeah, she’s always been a great sleeper. Thank you, for taking such good care of her. I think she just needed to puke and get it over with, she already seemed a bit better when I put her down. So, it looks like we still have the night to ourselves after all.”

And that night ended up looking like the two of you cuddled up on the couch with vegan mac and cheese - your dinner had been cut short after all - with a movie on the screen, baby monitor on the table beside you. With each minute that passed your doubts started to fade away - maybe this was what you really wanted after all.

#blurb #grayson blurb #goodnight im going to my GRAVE NOW #anon #ask #c:raleigh #g:blurb

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girlboss-molina · 3 years

Text

Be Who You Are (No Compromise)

A Julie and the Phantoms Modern Royalty AU

Chapter 2: A Tale of Punches and Pancakes

AO3 Link

Words: 9389

-----

Alex POV

...

The jet ride was nice from a glance, but insufferable for Alex. His wish to leave his anxieties in Tambor? Yeah, he knew that was bullshit. As the miles passed, his stomach bubbled and knotted more and more until he had no room for the small wrapped chocolates in the dish at the back of the plane. The fluffy clouds seemed to taunt him with their serenity, making him feel out of place with his disgust, anxiety, and anger.

Why, why, did he have to be put in an arranged goddamn marriage when he was nineteen? The gods hated him, for sure.

He was back to considering options in his fake-your-death-to-get-out-of-it plan when Luke finally broke the silence.

“Dude, you okay?”

“Have a guess.” The sarcasm in his voice was tangible.

“Yes?”

“Have another guess.” Alex barely smiled at Luke’s laugh. “I just… I hate this. Julie’s awesome, dude, she’s one of my best friends. But I don’t want to marry her.”

“I feel you,” Luke responded. “I really, really want to get you out of it.”

“Thanks.” Alex went back to staring at the clouds.

…

As the plane touched down, the rumbling shook up the nerves in Alex’s stomach, and he had to shut his eyes and focus on his breathing and the feeling of Luke’s hand on his. He did his best not to crease his vest as he leaned over, holding on tight.

When he felt the motion in his ears stop, he carefully opened his eyes, relieved when he wasn’t nauseous. Of course, he couldn’t get rid of the anxiety.

They’d landed in the runway behind the Dahlia palace, and thankfully, the small amount of vision he had out his plane window only showed the back of the palace and, on the other side, the tall, forested mountains in which he and Julie had run around in many times when they were younger. The scene was calming, and settled his nerves.

As the doors opened, sending a crisp blast of cold Dahlian air in his face, the familiar smell of petrichor and honey reminded him of when he and Julie would run for hours, climbing trees as high as they could, despite Ray’s constant warnings and pleas for them to be careful. How simple it would be, really, to run out the plane door and across the runway until he was back, surrounded by the branches. It would be a nightmare, of course; he barely knew how to make a fire, which was definitely a skill he would need if he were to survive on his own in the cool Dahlian climate. Surely he could figure it out, though. It couldn’t be that hard. And the motivation of not having to act straight for the rest of his life would certainly help. He wondered just how fast he could run-

He was jolted back to reality by Luke excitedly hitting his shoulder.

“Your highness, as your Royal Best Dude™ I am legally required to get you up and moving so that you don’t start spiraling. Plus, I’m hungry.” Alex rolled his eyes and laughed despite himself.

He wasn’t going through this alone.

…

He should’ve expected the cameras, really. But the bright flashes startled him as soon as he stepped out of the plane, and he had to quickly struggle to compose himself. He gave small smiles and respectful waves, walking across the long runway to the limousine waiting for him. He would be making a round past the palace gates before formally entering the palace from the front. So he climbed into the lush leather seats, with Erik and Luke right behind him, and sat down, squeezing his hands into fists and then running his fingertips over the indents from his nails.

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together as he tapped his foot. He wouldn’t admit it, but the feeling of Luke’s and Erik’s hands on his shoulders helped. A lot. Tension melted away from him, and while he was still nervous, he somehow managed to stand and steadily walk out of the limo, a smile breaking out on his face as he saw Julie.

Alex wasn’t sure why he was surprised at how beautiful Julie was, there really was no paralleling her beauty. And yet, his heart swelled with pride at seeing her elegant violet dress, embroidered with dahlias.

“Alex, why the hell do you walk so fast?” asked Luke, breathing heavily and trying to keep up.

“I’m gay. Next question.”

“That’s fair.”

As he ran to Julie, Alex was so caught up in the euphoria of seeing his friend in person that, for a moment, he lived in a world where the paparazzi wasn’t a thing. But he didn’t care. Julie saw him and ran through the gardens, a huge grin visible from hundreds of feet away. She ran to him, her gown flowing in the breeze, and as soon as they were within a few feet of each other, Julie jumped and Alex let out an “oof” as he caught her in a hug, spinning around and laughing.

“It’s so good to see you!” she exclaimed, and Alex nodded.

“Yeah, you too! Even though we, you know, FaceTimed last night.”

“Eh, details. Besides, the press wants a happy reunion.”

“Fair.”

“How was the plane ride?”

“Amazing,” Alex said. “Nothing better than being on the edge of a panic attack while you’re thousands of feet in the air.”

“I’ll fight your anxiety,” Julie decided. “Tell it to meet me behind the Denny’s tonight.” Alex snorted.

“I’d rather you didn’t punch my brain. I kinda need it.”

“Do you?” Alex gasped in mock offense.

“Okay, rudeness aside, I think this is the part where we walk around the garden and pretend we don’t know there are photojournalists hiding behind the bushes.” Julie nodded and took his arm.

As they strolled around the gardens, the aroma of flowers settled some of Alex’s nerves. He never turned around to make sure Luke was there, but he somehow knew. It was the Royal Best Dude™ telepathy, probably. And Erik was probably bringing his suitcase up to wherever he would be staying. So, Alex did his best to relax and hang out with his friend.

“Ava’s going to be ascending soon,” he noted. “She’s pumped. Though I’m not sure how good of an idea it is to let a twenty-three year old run a country.” Julie laughed.

“I’m happy for her! And I’m sure she’ll be fine. She knows how to party, for sure, but she’s also responsible. I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, I’ll let my anxiety know.” Julie burst out laughing, and Alex soon followed.

“Her Royal Majesty, Queen Ava Mercer of Tambor,” Julie said. “It has a nice ring to it.” Alex nodded.

“Yeah. I’m excited for her, too. All jokes aside, I think she’ll make a great queen.”

“Definitely.”

A few moments passed, including Julie gently picking a rose from the garden, one with a pale pink coloring, and sticking it behind Alex’s ear. When it wouldn’t stay, she scrunched her nose and carefully tucked it into the breast pocket of his vest.

“You look absolutely dashing, your highness,” she said with a fake, posh accent. Alex giggled and rolled his eyes.

“You’re a dork.”

“I know.”

…

His room was really something.

After he and Julie had finished their walk around the gardens, they’d given each other cordial bows (of course tied with a friendly wink, because they were just Like That), and Erik had shown him up to his quarters. Luke followed, and Alex noticed his cheeks were considerably red.

It was chillier in Dahlia than it was in Tambor, though, and Luke had never been Plus, a breeze had flown in during the last ten minutes of their walk, on which Luke was shadowing. He was probably flushed from the cold air.

He was down the hall from Julie’s room, in one of the guest rooms he’d used when playing hide-and-seek with Julie when they were kids. But it had been completely refurbished, since he would be staying there for a few months.

The soft carpet was a creamy tan, and the large, full-length mirrors let in sunlight that cast gentle shadows from the posters on the giant bed, which was adorned with blue sheets and pillows, with gold and pink accents. The dark, forest green walls gave the room a soothing effect, and the twinkling fairy lights were like fireflies in a meadow. A crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the ceiling, glittering with diamonds and gold. A mahogany record player sat on a media table, along with wireless chargers for his phone and laptop, next to the sliding door that led to a huge bathroom. The tiles were light tan and grey, peppered with flecks of quartz that shimmered in the light. A giant tub sat near a tinted window, as well as a vanity with a majestic painted mirror. The shower could’ve fit his entire bed.

Even though he wasn’t keen on marrying Julie, he wouldn’t dislike his stay here.

“Dude,” Luke whispered. “Your room is awesome.”

“I know, right? Definitely nicer than my room in Tambor.”

As Alex went to his giant suitcase full of neatly folded clothes, beginning to tuck them into drawers and onto hangers, Luke helped out.

“So,” Alex began, breaking the silence. “How are you liking Dahlia so far?”

“It’s great! Kinda cold, but I’ll get used to it. And… Julie seems really nice.”

Alex definitely didn’t miss Luke’s blush when he mentioned the princess, and his lips raised into a smirk.

“Yeah, she is. You should get to know her at dinner tonight.” Luke cleared his throat.

“Uh, yeah. Definitely.”

“You good?”

“Totally,” he insisted, though his voice rose an octave and Alex couldn’t suppress his laugh.

“Sure.”

…

The dinner was incredible. Platters of roast beef sat next to giant bowls of mashed potatoes, and the bread appetizers were soft and delicious. And, even though he was legally allowed to have alcohol based on Dahlian laws, he thought better of it, instead filling his glass with water. He noticed that Julie did the same.

“Not a fan of wine?” he asked.

“Nah, not really. It always gives me a stomachache.”

“Same.”

Alex went back to his food, before noticing a man around his age eyeing him. He had dark hair and was dressed in a red vest and dark grey shirt. He seemed quite kind, if the small smile on his face had any say.

“That’s your brother, Reggie, right? I think I’ve only met him once.”

Julie followed Alex’s gaze. “Oh yeah! You would get along great, I think.”

“Cool.”

…

Before dessert was brought up, everyone in the grand hall got to mingle for about twenty minutes and let their food settle. Alex let Julie introduce him to Reggie, with whom he immediately hit it off.

“No way, you play the drums?” Reggie asked. “I’ve always wanted to learn, but I’m no good.”

“Yeah, I do! You said you play bass?”

“Yep!”

“That’s awesome, dude.”

Their conversation lasted a bit longer, and Alex felt confident that he and Reggie would be good friends, especially because of his lighthearted demeanor, and their bro-hug before Alex was pulled away to talk to another nobleman.

He was bounced around like a ping-pong ball, being chatted up by guest after guest. Soon, though, he needed some air, so he searched to room for King Ray.

“Your majesty?” he asked, jogging over. Ray turned to him and gave a warm smile, shaking his hand.

“Hello, Alex. You can call me Ray. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, thanks. I was just wondering if I could sneak out the back for a moment? I need some air.” Ray laughed.

“Of course, son. I told them to give you some space,” he noted, guestering to the nobles, “but I doubt they were able to contain their excitement.” Alex nodded, grateful for Ray’s chill vibes. “Try to be back in ten minutes?”

“Of course.”

Ray nodded and patted his shoulder, and Alex stepped through the back door of the grand hall, grateful when he didn’t see anyone. He took a deep breath, fiddling with the hem of his vest.

A voice caught his ear.

“-yeah, don’t worry, Alyssa. The mousse is in the refrigerator-”

Alex whirled around, searching for whoever had spoken, but before he could…

WHAM.

A cold rush of air blew from behind him as a door opened, and someone ran into him.

Hard.

Alex stumbled forward, trying to catch himself but to no avail. His momentum swung him forward, leaving him on the ground.

“Whoa!” he started, looking at the person who’d ran him over, and…

Oh fuck, he thought. He’s hot.

“Agh, sorry, I really need to watch where I’m-” the man cut off, his cheeks flushing. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, your highness.” He scrambled into a bow, and Alex blushed.

“No, you’re good, bro.”

Alex got a good look at him, and felt his cheeks flush. He had long, silky brown hair that fell over his shoulders in waves, and smooth brown skin that had darkened in a blush. His dark eyes were kind and playful, adorned with long eyelashes.

Alex inhaled slowly, trying to ignore the rising gay panic.

“Are you okay?” the man asked.

“I’m fine, yeah. Thanks. Just trying to clear my head. Until you, you know, tried to crack it open.” To Alex’s surprise, the man giggled, and holy fuck, if he wasn’t already adorable, that would’ve been the tipping point. Creases folded at the corners of his eyes, and his perfect smile turned lopsided as he laughed.

“I did pancake you, huh?” Alex tried to laugh, and the man cleared his throat. “Sorry. Oh, uh, I’m Willie. It’s nice to meet you.”

Alex reached for his hand. “Alex,” he greeted, still hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt.

“Well, I’d better make sure we’re clear to bring up dessert. But I’ll see you around, your royal pancakeness,” Willie said with a grin, spinning on his heel and going back to the kitchens. Alex nodded, even though he was already gone.

-----

Julie POV

...

As soon as Alex’s plane touched down, Julie couldn’t hide her excitement. She rushed through her photos, and as soon as she could see him, she took off running, a huge grin on her face. The silky fabric of her dress flapped against her shins, and she sprinted even faster, ignoring the goosebumps on her arms.

As soon as she reached him, she jumped into the hug, laughing as he spun her around. They might have FaceTimed the day before, but it just wasn’t the same as seeing him in person. He was one of her best friends, and the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in so long was frankly biphobic.

But as she spun around, finally opening her eyes, Julie caught sight of Alex’s guard. She’d never formally met him, and she’d always thought he was cute, but wow.

He had deep hazel eyes and pale skin, cheeks flushed from the cold, his wavy brown hair neatly styled, with a touch of personal flair. His chiseled jawline cast a shadow on his neck, and his biceps were visible through his dark jacket. Julie tried to look away and focus on her friend, because now was the literal worst time to develop a crush on someone she barely knew.

Not that she had a crush on him, or anything.

Julie forced those thoughts out of her head, and scolded her stupid heart for fluttering when she caught his gaze. She turned back to Alex, laughing when he insinuated that photojournalists would be hiding behind the bushes.

“Ava’s going to be ascending soon,” Alex told her. “She’s pumped. Though I’m not sure how good of an idea it is to let a twenty-three year old run a country.” Julie laughed, silently agreeing.

“I’m happy for her! And I’m sure she’ll be fine. She knows how to party, for sure, but she’s also responsible. I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, I’ll let my anxiety know.” Julie burst out laughing, soon followed by Alex.

“Her Royal Majesty, Queen Ava Mercer of Tambor,” she said, letting the words flow off her tongue. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“Yeah. I’m excited for her, too. All jokes aside, I think she’ll make a great queen.”

“Definitely.” There wasn’t a doubt in her voice, either.

Julie had met Ava when she was eight. Ava had been thirteen, and was the coolest thirteen-year-old ever, in little Julie’s opinion. She vaguely remembered hanging out in her room with her, and thinking she was just the coolest ever. Then again, she was an eight year old. To an eight year old, all thirteen-year-olds are cool (or gross, but we don’t talk about that).

Julie walked with Alex, chatting about random things, including plans to get out of the arranged marriage, each more complicated than the next. Julie couldn’t stop herself from laughing when Alex brought up his temptation to just run into the woods with no supplies or survival skills, and just be a gay forest cryptid. She was quite fond of it, to be honest.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have any plans that didn’t involve either faking their deaths, or something treasonous, neither of which would be good. At least, not in anyone else’s opinions.

…

After Alex went up to his room, Julie did the same, and immediately flopped on her bed, finally allowing herself to process her thoughts about, well, everything.

God, she wanted out of this marriage. She knew Alex did as well. They’d talked about it endlessly over FaceTime, texting, and just now, in person. But neither of them could come up with an actual plan or a good enough reason to halt it. Because, you know, the people actually getting married never get a say.

Plus, it did not help that Alex’s guard, who she’d learned was named Luke, was really cute. She furrowed her brow. She’d never even had a real conversation with the guy. Not that it mattered, of course. She remembered when she was fifteen and had already decided that Nick Danforth-Evans was a sweetheart, even though she’d only had one real conversation with him.

But this felt different somehow. She couldn’t help but feel like Luke was actually really nice. She just got those vibes from him. She cursed her stupid heart for making her feel things. No, Molina. There’s no such thing as liking a cute guard.

It didn’t work.

She stared at her ceiling, watching flecks of dust float around the air, and jumped when Flynn and Carrie walked into her room without knocking. It wasn’t like she actually expected them to knock, but she’d zoned out and the sudden sound took her by surprise.

“I know that look,” Flynn said matter-of-factly. “What’s the crisis about?”

“What isn’t it about?”

“Uh uh, don’t try to deflect by answering my question with another question,” Flynn scolded, and Carrie bit back a laugh.

“I just…” she searched for an excuse. “I love that Alex is here, but I don’t want to marry him,” she said, remembering that the best lies were based on the truth. “And he’s gay, so I know for a fact he doesn’t want to marry me. Plus, you know. We’ve expressed that multiple times. And I know there’s really nothing I can do about it, because it’s all arranged, and bitching about it does nothing to help, but honestly? I’m just feeling bitchy.”

“As you should,” Carrie agreed, to Julie’s surprise. “If anyone deserves to be a little bitchy, it’s you. I mean, come on. You’re a teenage girl who never actually got a normal life because you’re frickin’ Princess Julie Molina, heiress to the throne of Dahlia. And you’re stuck in an arranged marriage with one of your best friends, and neither of you want it, but you can’t actually change it. I’d be bitchy too.”

“Thank you for summing that up,” Julie deadpanned. “But… it helps. Thanks.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“She’s right, Jules,” Flynn agreed. “Be the bitchy bisexual you deserve to be.” That elicited a laugh, and Julie couldn’t help but leave the smile resting on her face.

“Alright,” she decided. “We have self-defense in half an hour, so we should get ready.” Flynn nodded and pulled Julie off of her bed, leading her to the giant walk-in closet, searching the hundreds of options, but steering clear from the gowns.

Flynn and Carrie must’ve known she needed cheering up, because they sarcastically suggested the biggest, poofiest gowns Julie owned, tied with a tight shawl and the wobbliest heels imaginable. Julie laughed despite herself, especially since she could barely walk in the shoes they’d picked. She was also taller than six feet, which was a plus, but she would pick stability over height any day, especially when she was going to practice kicking people’s asses.

Eventually, she settled on flexible black leggings with a purple stripe going down the outside of each leg, and a simple white tunic that starkly contrasted her dark skin. It was fitted but she could move easily in it, stretching into a backbend to make sure.

She sighed and allowed Flynn and Carrie to take either arm and lead her downstairs to the training arena.

…

The training arena was a huge room, the floors completely covered in mats, aside from the giant gymnastic trampolines at the far corner and the running track that traversed the perimeter. On the far side opposite the trampolines were sets of weights and treadmills, as well as other equipment like bars and benches. Punching bags were hung sporadically around the martial arts area, which was also used for tumbling and floor routines.

Lady Athena gave a smile as they walked in, soon followed by Reggie and Mira. Lady Athena was a tall, muscular woman with silky black hair that was always in a high ponytail. Her bronze skin glittered with sweat, and her two-piece athleisure outfit left her chiseled abs on display.

“Alright,” she said, clapping her hands. “Reggie, since you’re bigger, you’re with me. You four, pair up and practice your hand-to-hand skills. Remember the blocks we learned last week.” Julie nodded and paired with Flynn, immediately getting into position.

“Head’s up,” she warned with a smirk, before lunging with a punch that would’ve hit Flynn square in the chest if not for her catlike reflexes. She knocked Julie’s hand out of the way, and Julie had to twist to avoid Flynn’s counterattack, letting herself lean backwards. But when she almost fell, she used it to her advantage, hopping backwards onto one hand and spinning, tripping Flynn by kicking her feet out from under her. Before Flynn could recover, Julie pounced over her, grabbing her shirt collar and pulling her fist back, ready to attack. She didn’t follow through, obviously, but she knew she had good form.

“Well done, your highness,” praised Lady Athena. Julie blushed.

“Thanks.”

“Whatever,” Flynn grumbled, and Julie laughed. “Rematch?”

“You’re on.”

…

Julie had defeated Flynn four times to two, and was feeling very confident. It must’ve helped, exercising, because her worries about Alex and Luke were far away as she battled Carrie and then Mira. Or, they were until a certain brunette guard walked in the room in a sleeveless shirt and shorts that showed off his muscles.

She shouldn’t have let herself get distracted, though, because in her haze, Mira managed to throw her off balance and win their round.

“Hah! That’s two each!” She outstretched her hand, which Julie gratefully accepted, pulling her up.

“Good job,” she said, still distracted but keeping her eyes far away from Luke.

“Hi, is this the self-defense lesson?” Luke asked, and Julie could no longer ignore him.

“It is,” Lady Athena confirmed. “You’re Prince Alexander’s guard, correct?”

“And certified Royal Best Dude™,” he added with a grin that was so adorable it made Julie flush. By some miracle, nobody noticed.

“Alright, why don’t you train with Reggie? He can show you what we’re working on. I need to go make sure nobody’s going to throw out their back at the weights.” With that, Lady Athena stalked off, her ponytail swaying behind her.

Luke walked over to Reggie, and Julie did her best not to stare as Reggie guided Luke, and they began sparring. Luke was surprisingly agile, but he was too enthusiastic, reaching for every possible blow, not realizing where he left himself vulnerable. But his puppy eyes when Reggie defeated him were too cute.

Julie cleared her throat and turned away.

“Tiebreaker?” Mira nodded, and they went to sparring. Julie ducked and dodged every hit of Mira’s, even getting in a few herself, but she was thrown off when she heard Luke laugh, a musical, joyful sound, and Mira took advantage of her momentary slip, finally beating her.

“Yes!” Mira jumped and pumped her fist, then helped Julie up.

“Nice job!” Julie grinned with the words, high-fiving Mira.

“Alright, break time.”

Julie walked to the edge of the wall where she’d left her water bottle and towel, almost choking on her water when she heard Luke’s voice behind her.

“Your highness?” he asked shyly. “I don’t believe we’ve formally met.” Julie smiled and outstretched her hand, shaking Luke’s. “I’m Alex’s guard, Luke.”

“Hi! You can call me Julie,” she said with a smile, hoping her cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too! Oh, by the way, great job during your fights. I saw your takedown on the other girl, the one with the braids.”

“Oh, that’s Flynn.”

“Cool. But yeah, I saw your fight, and that was really impressive. I doubt I could spin on one hand like you did.”

Well.

If Julie hadn’t been blushing before, she certainly was now. At least Luke’s cheeks were only red because of the intense workouts.

“It took me forever to get that move right,” she admitted. “I only just got it down, if I’m being honest. I still slip up sometimes, too.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” he complimented. And oh, his smile really was a beautiful thing.

“Alright, break time’s over,” called Lady Athena. “No more flirting.” Julie’s stomach dropped, and she inhaled, a denial already on her tongue, before she realized that her coach was looking at Flynn and Carrie, who were chatting animatedly, both blushing.

She practiced a bit more with Carrie, doing her best to ignore the boy next to her. When the class finally ended, she hurriedly thanked Lady Athena before rushing up to shower.

Letting the hot water wash over her, she pondered how the hell Luke had wiggled his way into her heart so quickly within one conversation.

Was she being brainwashed into liking a guy she barely knew?

Was this some elaborate trick that whatever higher being existed had orchestrated as a ploy to get her out of the arranged marriage?

… And more importantly, would it work?

The thought made her laugh. Not that she didn’t slightly believe this was all some sort of elaborate trick to get her to commit treason and fall in love with someone she wasn’t supposed to, but it was funny nonetheless.

…

After she’d done her best to set the record for hottest, soapiest shower possible, Julie wrapped herself in a towel, massaging peach lotion into her skin, the scent matching her shampoo. As she rubbed it into her hands, she imagined what it would feel like holding Luke’s hand, before quickly banishing the thought away to the depths of simpy hell.

This was worse than she thought.

She changed into her evening gown for the dinner, allowing Mira to lace up the back. It was all navy blue, a long strapless dress that reached her ankles, with a see-through tulle layer over top that went up to a sleeveless halter neckline, leaving the rest of the tulle layer to flow down neatly over the rest of the silky dress, which tightened at the waist. Tiny diamonds had been sewn into the tulle at her waist, high in concentration before gently tapering off the lower in the skirt they went.

“Okay,” Carrie said, walking in with Flynn beside her. “I think I speak for everyone when I say, damn. That dress is fine.” Flynn nodded enthusiastically.

“I know, right?” Mira said excitedly. “I actually helped tailor this one! It was one of my favorites to make.”

“And for a good reason,” Julie agreed. “Mira, you’ve outdone yourself.”

“Not quite,” she said, turning Julie towards the vanity. “I’m thinking we do something simple but elegant for your hair?”

“I vote for that,” Flynn interjected.

“Sure!”

Mira set to work, combing through Julie’s hair with her fingers. Julie closed her eyes. She’d always loved the feeling of people playing with her hair, and as Mira wove her dark locks into two thick braids that soon joined together, letting the rest of her hair poof at the base of her neck, Julie was transported back to her mother’s room when she was five. She remembered the feeling of her mother braiding her hair like it was yesterday, the gentle tugs and nimble fingers on her scalp. It wasn’t the same with Mira, of course, but it was refreshing and comforting at the same time.

“Hey, Jules?” Flynn called from her closet.

“Mm?”

“Mind if I steal that asymmetrical dress for tonight? The jade one,” she clarified.

“Feel free!”

The dress in mind was a slim-fitting jade green dress that reached her knees, but the hem was cut asymmetrically, leaving one side longer than the other. It had golden ribbon-like threads spun around it with no particular rhyme or reason, and a built-in sash made of pale, spring green tulle roses. The thin straps showed off her shoulders, and when Flynn walked out with it on, Julie noticed Carrie blush.

“Dude, you look awesome,” Julie complimented. Flynn twirled, letting the light play off of the shimmery fabric.

“Thanks!”

Mira finished doing Julie’s hair, and held up a mirror for her to see. Julie admired the thick, smooth braids that gently rejoined at the base of her neck, letting the rest of her dark curls loose in an elegant fashion.

“It’s amazing, Mira! Thank you so much.”

“Of course! And thank you for letting me do it,” she said with a giggle. “Your hair is so fun to style.” Julie blushed.

…

The dinner was rather uneventful, thankfully. Julie wasn’t sure if she would’ve had the energy to constantly be answering questions. Instead, though, she got to introduce people to each other, and relax and eat, and try to keep her eyes away from a certain hazel-eyed guard.

She was grateful for the relatively simple task.

-----

Luke POV

...

Luke had heard about the self-defense classes in the training arena, and he was itching to get moving, so he changed into workout clothes and headed down there.

The spiral staircase was wide and glittered with colored glass, the silver banisters gleaming in the light. He trailed his hand down it as he made his way down.

When he reached the training arena, he closed the door behind him and went to set down his water bottle and towel- but not before noticing Julie.

At the self-defense class.

Thankfully, she didn’t see him. He hung back for a moment, watching as she sparred with another girl with long braids. The way she moved was incredible, like water flowing in a current, unpredictable and smooth. Of course, if anyone asked, he was most certainly not admiring it. He could silently appreciate her skills, though.

As she dodged hit after hit, throwing her own blocks and blows, it looked like the girl with braids had gotten the better of her, but as Julie leaned backwards, she hopped and - holy fuck - caught herself on one hand, spinning around in the air like some sort of ethereal breakdancer, and knocking the other girl’s feet out from under her, before pouncing, grabbing her shirt collar, and pulling back her fist, before freezing and laughing.

Whoa.

So not only was she a wicked beauty, Luke realized, she was a human wrecking ball, too.

He cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from the beautiful badass in front of him, tuning out Lady Athena’s praise in favor of clearing his head before approaching to join. Not that it worked. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of Julie. The other three girls (and the guy, if he was being honest) were all stunningly fit and agile, but there was something about Julie that enchanted him. The way she was always smiling even in the middle of a training fight, how, even when she was defeated, she brushed it off with a laugh, how she was light on her feet like a cat as she dodged and spun, how she was needlessly extravagant with her self-defense and yet somehow always made it work. Maybe that’s just what princesses were like; even when defending themselves against possible attackers, they had to be as beautiful as ever.

Of course, right now, Luke knew she didn’t look how she normally would, in her silky gowns and expertly styled hair. Now, she wore matching athletic clothes and had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, with some strands coming out in a sweaty frizz. And yet, that somehow just made her even more breathtaking. Even when she was sweaty and working out, she managed to look like an angel.

An angel who could easily kick his ass, he remembered as she pulled the upside-down-one-handed-breakdancer move again, this time on a redheaded girl he didn’t recognize.

Before he could stop himself, he approached Lady Athena.

“Hi, is this the self-defense lesson?” He asked the woman.

“It is,” Lady Athena confirmed, and he nodded.. “You’re Prince Alexander’s guard, correct?”

“And certified Royal Best Dude™,” he added with a grin. He would never let go of that title.

“Alright, why don’t you train with Reggie? He can show you what we’re working on. I need to go make sure nobody’s going to throw out their back at the weights.” Luke nodded again as Lady Athena walked away.

He walked over to Reggie, shaking his hand.

“Hey, I’m Luke,” he introduced with a smile. Reggie shot one back.

“Reggie!”

“Nice to meet you! So, do we just… fight? I’m not sure how this is run here compared to in Tambor.” Reggie laughed.

“Yeah, pretty much. You good at hand-to-hand?”

“I’m not bad,” he admitted. “But I’m no expert.” He couldn’t help looking at Julie. “Is she always that much of a badass?” Reggie followed his eyes to Julie.

“Pretty much,” he said with a laugh, and Luke dearly hoped he wasn’t blushing.

“Good to know. In that case, if I introduce myself to her, how scared should I be?” He asked it with a smile and a joking tone, but he was actually a bit nervous. But, you know, just because he now knew that she could kick his ass seven ways to Sunday.

No other reason.

“Oh, don’t worry!” Reggie assured him. “She’s actually really nice. I’ve known her since she was eight,” he explained. Luke nodded, grateful for the reassurance.

“Alrighty then,” he said, hopping into a fighting stance. “Let’s get cracking.”

…

By “let’s get cracking,” he was hoping he wouldn’t be cracking his ego, but he was sorely mistaken. Reggie didn’t seem like it, but he was really strong, and really good at fighting. Luke was more agile than him, and strength-wise he could compare, but the Dahlian style of fighting was so different from the Tamborian style. They were similar in many ways, of course; they had the same moves and strategies. But the ways they moved were so different, the ways they executed their moves had an uncanny grace and deadliness.

He did his best, reaching for every blow he could, trying to get the upper hand. And, to his credit, he won a few rounds. But he accidentally left himself vulnerable most of the time, leaving perfect opportunities for his opponent to strike, because Of Course He Did.

When they called for a break, Luke wiped his forehead with a towel, grabbing a drink of water. Then, he swallowed the lump in his throat and approached Julie.

“Your highness?” he asked shyly. “I don’t believe we’ve formally met.” Luke tried not to blush when she smiled and shook his hand. “I’m Alex’s guard, Luke.”

“Hi! You can call me Julie,” she said with a gorgeous grin, and Luke knew he was a goner. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too! Oh, by the way, great job during your fights. I saw your takedown on the other girl, the one with the braids.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he mentally kicked himself. Not smooth, Patterson. What if she thought he was creepy?

Thankfully, though, she smiled.

“Oh, that’s Flynn!”

“Cool,” he said, relieved. Nice and smooth, Patterson. “But yeah, I saw your fight, and that was really impressive. I doubt I could spin on one hand like you did.” He reached up and scratched the back of his neck nervously, and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished when Julie’s cheeks flushed. Of course, his were probably just as red, but hopefully he could blame it on the workout.

“It took me forever to get that move right,” she admitted. “I only just got it down, if I’m being honest. I still slip up sometimes, too.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” he complimented with a smile. And it wasn’t a lie, either.

“Alright, break time’s over,” called Lady Athena. “No more flirting.” Luke cleared his throat, getting ready to insist that he wasn’t flirting, before he realized that Lady Athen was looking at Flynn and another redheaded girl, who were chatting animatedly, both blushing. He sighed in relief.

As he went back to sparring with Reggie, zoned out but fighting just as well as he was before, maybe even better, he pondered Julie’s abilities. How did she manage to be so beautiful, so graceful, and yet so kind and badass? It shouldn’t have been possible for any one human to do that all, much less a teenage girl who was already juggling the responsibilities of being a princess.

Julie was, Luke realized, even more incredible than he’d ever thought possible.

…

All throughout the dinner, he was trying not to stare at Julie. Her dress was absolutely gorgeous, and the way she flitted around the room like a butterfly was absolutely ethereal. Tie that with the diamonds sewn into her navy blue dress that looked like fading stars and twinkled in the light, and she looked like she was wrapped in starlight. He knew it was appropriate for that star of a woman, but still, he thought it should’ve been illegal for anyone to have that effect on him.

His cheeks were red, and he stared at his plate, inhaling the scent of roast beef and mashed potatoes, along with the aroma of warm bread from his appetizer.

Even with the cool air of Dahlia and his thin shirt and suit vest, he was still sweating. He was absolutely gone for a girl he’d only had one conversation with, a girl he’d only known for a maximum of five hours.

A girl who his best friend was being forced to marry.

That was the worst part of all of this. His best friend, who would never be in love with Julie no matter how good of friends they were, had to marry her because of goddamn international relations, and there was nothing he could do about it. And, a selfish part of him thought, it means you never had a chance. He shoved the thoughts out of his head, hating the lingering ache they left in his heart.

Not that he would’ve ever had a chance anyway. She was a beautiful, badass princess, and he was just a guard she didn’t even know.

-----

Reggie POV

...

As soon as the plane landed on the runway behind the palace, Reggie smiled at Julie, letting go of her hand as she readied herself.

He understood her worry. No matter how close you are with someone, being set to marry them - especially when you didn’t want to - was daunting. Of course, he’d never been through the same thing, but he was always an empathetic person, and he could practically feel his own sister’s worry and ache.

He saw Prince Alexander walking to the gardens, and smiled when Julie broke into a grin, running to him. He twirled rose petals between his fingers, letting out a small laugh when she jumped into Alex’s arms. He didn’t want to seem like a helicopter brother, though, so he went back inside, leaving Jules with Prince Alexander.

When he stepped inside, he nearly ran into Ray.

“Whoa, sorry!” Ray laughed.

“You’re perfectly fine, mijo. Everything okay?” Reggie sighed.

“I’m just worried for Julie. I’ve never really gotten to know Prince Alexander, and-”

“I’ll stop you there,” Ray said. “Believe me, I know what you mean, and if I could stop it without huge consequences, I would. But Alex isn’t someone you need to worry about. That boy is one of the sweetest, kindest people I’ve ever met,” he assured him. “And while I know neither of them want to get married, I know that they’re both mature, and good friends.”

“Thanks,” Reggie sighed. “I just wish I could get her out of it, you know? I mean, that’s my little sister.”

“I understand,” the king agreed. “But unfortunately, there isn’t anything to be done other than let Alex settle in.” Reggie nodded glumly. “Hey, wasn’t there a progression you wanted to show me? On your bass?” Ray clarified. Reggie immediately lit up.

“Yeah! Julie and I have been working on a song called Icarus, and she’s got a killer piano melody worked out. I went off of some of her chords and found a super cool progression on my bass that adds a really nice line underneath hers, and it sounds-” he did the chef’s kiss thing with his hand- “divine.”

“Alright, well now I’ve gotta see it!” Reggie’s grin lit up even more and he ran to his room, followed by Ray, who was jogging behind him.

Reggie’s room was huge, the walls painted dark blue. He’d always found the color soothing. He snatched his red and white bass guitar from its stand, spinning on his heel as he ducked under the strap, letting it settle by his waist.

When Ray met him there, Reggie grinned, plucking the strings animatedly until he remembered the notes. He didn’t bother grabbing his phone to try and find them from wherever he’d written them down in the endless scrolling of his notes app. Soon, though, his chaotic ADHD brain remembered, and he began excitedly plucking specific notes in a rhythmic pattern, his fingers stretching to reach each fret as he hopped from the E string to A, then G back to E and D. He smiled even brighter when he saw Ray grinning and tapping his foot to the beat.

“So, it kinda just goes like that, until we get to the chorus. Then, I come in with a little…” he slid his finger down the string, letting the note slide down before he hopped back into the rhythm, the same notes as before, but ordered differently, giving a new feel to the music.

He hopped around, spinning as he played his bass, humming the lyrics under his breath.

“That sounds super cool, mijo!” Ray exclaimed, one eyebrow furrowed, as was custom for him whenever he was excited. Reggie hopped up and down happily, fixing the cuff of one of his sleeves.

“Thanks! Julie and I are gonna try to record it. I’m trying to learn how to play the drums, to add a steady beat, but I can’t seem to figure it out.”

“I’m sure you’ll get it soon.” Reggie beamed. “I’m so sorry, mijo, I have to go. I’d love to hear more later or tomorrow, though!”

“Okay,” Reggie said. “Bye!” He continued playing marking down cool progressions he found, and just hopping around to get out his wiggles.

…

At the self-defense class, he sparred with Lady Athena. Sometimes he would spar with Julie or Flynn, but even though she was no doubt better at fighting, he was also bigger, and she was paired with Flynn.

Lady Athena was amazing at fighting, and Reggie got his ass kicked most of the time, but he was able to win a couple rounds, which he was quite proud of. Lady Athena complimented his form, and he had no doubt that he would be gathering serotonin from that compliment for weeks. Even then, though, he got plenty from seeing his badass little sister master her insane breakdance-style move, with which she completely demolished Flynn in a few seconds. His chest swelled with pride when she won.

Soon, though, a man named Luke entered the studio, and Reggie definitely didn’t miss Julie’s blush when she looked at him. She might’ve been supposed to marry Alex, but it wasn’t like either of them wanted it. Plus, he was always down for a little treason, especially if it was with Julie.

Lady Athena paired Luke with Reggie, perfect timing for her to go check on some of the other people in the arena.

“Hey, I’m Luke,” the man introduced with a smile. Reggie gave his trademark grin.

“Reggie!” He outstretched his hand, and Luke shook it.

“Nice to meet you! So, do we just… fight?” Luke asked. “I’m not sure how this is run here compared to in Tambor.” Reggie laughed. He’d never sparred with anyone from Tambor before, so this would be fun.

“Yeah, pretty much.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You good at hand-to-hand?”

“I’m not bad, but I’m no expert.” Reggie followed his gaze as it shifted over to Julie. “Is she always that much of a badass?” He asked, clearly in awe.

“Pretty much,” Reggie replied with a laugh, grinning at Luke’s blush.

Simp.

“Good to know. In that case, if I introduce myself to her, how scared should I be?” Luke was fiddling with the hem of his shirt by that point.

“Oh, don’t worry!” Reggie assured him. “She’s actually really nice. I’ve known her since she was eight,” he explained.

“Alrighty then,” he said, hopping into a fighting stance. “Let’s get cracking.” Reggie grinned and reciprocated, taking the first strike.

The first thing he learned was that Luke was very opportunistic in his fighting style. He went for nearly every possible blow, even if it meant leaving himself vulnerable. Reggie, of course, took advantage of this. He had to make sure his new friend (and sister’s possible future treasonous boyfriend) knew he could protect people.

Luke pouted, and Reggie couldn’t help but admit that he had adorable puppy eyes.

He helped him up, laughing. A few more sparring rounds passed, and Luke turned out to be quite adaptable. He found ways to get past Reggie’s blocks, and even put some up himself. Soon, they were evenly matched, and Reggie was impressed. Although, he soon found that he could get in another blow by telling a horrible joke, then striking when Luke laughed.

He thought it was pretty genius.

…

The dinner was rather uneventful. He did, however, get to meet Prince Alexander, which he was very happy about - even more so now that he was confident in Ray’s assurance that he was a good person. They’d chatted about politics and whatnot, before both admitting that they were bored. Somehow, the conversation strayed to music.

“No way, you play the drums?” Reggie asked excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to learn, but I’m no good.”

“Yeah, I do! You said you play bass?”

“Yep!” He beamed, making a mental note to ask if he wanted to see, sometime later.

“That’s awesome, dude.”

“Thanks!”

They talked for a little while longer, before Alex was pulled away to talk to some other Dahlian nobleman whose name Reggie kept forgetting. Plus, Alex seemed tired; unsurprising, given the long day he must’ve had.

Reggie eventually settled down and ran through his thoughts.

He knew he couldn’t protect Julie, not like he wanted to. Plus, she didn’t need protecting, he’d come to realize after Luke’s “badass” comment at the training arena. Julie Molina wasn’t just a badass in self-defense, she was also a badass in every other sense of the word. She was a teenage girl, the heiress to the Dahlian throne, juggling her academic lessons and royal lessons, along with making time for her friends, free time, and she managed to (usually) get enough sleep. She was a complete badass who didn’t need protecting.

She needed support, instead. That was something Reggie could do. He could be by her side every step of the way, no matter how hard it got. He was her brother, and he loved her more than life itself, loved every crooked smile, every curl of hair, every eye roll after one of his famously bad jokes. She didn’t deserve any of this, but by God, he’d do his best to make it bearable for her.

-----

Willie POV

...

After lunch, the burn on Willie’s hand had calmed. Rather than the angry red mark it was earlier, it had shrunk into an annoyed red streak. Still a nuisance, but he didn’t really care.

As Willie whipped the mousse, his mind strayed to Prince Alexander.

What was he like? Was he as cute in person as he was in photos? Probably, Willie decided. Photos never fully captured someone’s beauty unless they knew what they were looking for, and that was always more of an emotion. Photojournalists aimed for lighting and composition. There were always emotion in the photos, yes, but they never actually got to see the people in the photo.

He wondered if he would get to meet him. Would it go well? Would he like the bread he’d so carefully baked? Would he enjoy the mousse cake he was whipping up right now? All of these questions whirled around in Willie’s brain as he whipped the mousse, letting it become airy and fluffy. Sprinkles of cocoa powder dusted the counter next to his mixing bowl, but it was fine. It would all get wiped up later.

He grabbed a tub of fine cinnamon, sprinkling in a pinch for a little bit of kick. It was barely noticeable, but it gave the mousse an extra depth that it normally would’ve lacked. He’d never told anyone his secret, despite prying from Lilian.

Sprinkling in a tiny bit more to account for the large batch, his thoughts wandered again.

How was Princess Julie dealing with all of this? Willie had never had a real conversation with her, but she seemed to be very well put-together. She managed everything so well, at least from the outside. Though he knew better than anyone that, no matter how organized someone may seem, there’s always a storm underneath.

Willie finished up, putting plastic wrap over the mousse and sticking it in the giant refrigerator, before taking off his apron, washing his hands, and heading for the door.

“Willie?” Called Alyssa from behind him. He turned around, walking backwards.

“Yeah? I’m just going on break.”

“Did you finish making the mousse?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Alyssa,” he said, walking out the door. The mousse is in the refrigerator-”

WHAM.

Willie let out a slight “oof” as he ran into the person in the hallway.

He stumbled, catching himself before he fell, though not as gracefully as he would’ve liked. He’d fared better than the other person, though.

“Whoa!” The man said.

“Agh, sorry, I really need to watch where I’m-” Willie cut himself off, his cheeks flushing as he realized he’d just ran into Prince Alexander.

Well, so much for making a good impression.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, your highness.” He scrambled into a bow, and blushed.

“No, you’re good, bro.” Willie was taken aback by the casual response, but he wasn’t complaining.

Willie finally got a good look at him, and wasn’t at all surprised when he found that he was even more stunning in person.Of course, it made it a whole lot harder to hide his gay panic.

He had blonde hair that was expertly styled, and a crisp, blue suit vest with minimalistic gold embroidery that brought out flecks of blue in his eyes and highlights in his hair. His muscles were defined and visible through the sleeves of his white dress shirt, and even when he was frazzled after just having been knocked over, he still looked as handsome as ever.

“Are you okay?” Willie asked, concerned.

“I’m fine, yeah. Thanks. Just trying to clear my head. Until you, you know, tried to crack it open.” Willie couldn’t help himself from laughing, and dearly hoped it wasn’t the wrong move. But the prince had a small smile on his face and pink dusting his cheeks, so he had a feeling it was okay.

“I did pancake you, huh?” He tried to laugh, and Willie nervously cleared his throat. “Sorry. Oh, uh, I’m Willie. It’s nice to meet you.”

Willie outstretched his hand, delighted when the other man shook it. “Alex,” he greeted, still blushing a little bit, which could be chalked up to the embarrassment of being plowed over. Willie was worried things would get awkward soon, so he searched for an excuse, hating that he had to leave.

“Well, I’d better make sure we’re clear to bring up dessert,” he said. “But I’ll see you around, your royal pancakeness,” Willie added with a grin, spinning on his heel and going back to the kitchens, hoping Alex hadn’t noticed his internal gay panic.

…

“Well, that was a quick break,” Alyssa pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess it was,” Willie agreed, not fully listening.

He’d fucking pancaked the prince. Prince Alexander Mercer of Tambor. And Willie, despite his constant hoping for a good impression, ran him over because he wasn’t even watching where he was going.

How the hell was he such a mess? And even more, how would he ever be accepted by literal royalty who was way too cute to even exist?

Willie shook his head, letting his hair fall over his shoulders, ignoring the feeling of Alyssa’s eyes on him as he walked into the giant refrigerated room, grabbing the huge bowl of chocolate mousse and scooping it into a piping bag, grabbing some of the chilled cakes.

His hands were steady and meticulous as he gently piped the mousse onto the cakes, making a thick layer on top of each, then lifting into a swirl that peaked in the center, adorning each cake with a bit of wafer and chocolate. He set each one on a tray, waiting for Alyssa to pick it up. Plating was her specialty, because according to Lilian, any time Willie did plating, it ended up “chaotic” and “messy” and “unorthodox.” Personally, he thought it was cool. But, not everyone could have taste, he supposed.

…

Later that night, as he wandered into his small room in the chefs’ quarters, laying down on the soft bed, his mind wandered to Alex. Despite constantly being on the news, he was a mystery, an enigma, a puzzle Willie had the urge to solve. What were his interests? His desires? His hopes, his dreams?

Of course, he would never be able to act on his feelings about the prince, how adorably awkward he was, how gorgeous he was in any outfit, no matter the style, how even in one simple conversation, Willie had become so enamoured that he wanted to know everything about him. Not in a creepy way, of course, but in the way one wishes to know someone they’ve just met, who intrigues them to no end.

That night, his dreams were haunted by a familiar face, a shy smile, and a piercing set of bluish eyes.

#bwya tag

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a-box-of-scraps · 4 years

Text

IronDad LGBTQ+ Fic Recs

Happy Pride Month everyone! I hadn’t planned on making this (hence the belated posting), but with everything that’s been going on, I just really needed to put something positive into the world. I tried to link all the author tumblrs I could find, but please let me know if I missed anyone!

1-5k Words

cut from his strings by macabre (trans Peter)

In which Peter’s dysphoria makes eating easier said than done. Ouch ouch ouch. My poor heart. Peter’s battle to find peace in his own skin hurts, but in an unapologetic and truthful way. Seeing Tony help him with recovery makes the pain worth it.

Dudes in Distress by @boww-tiez (gay Peter)

In which Peter’s coming out doesn’t exactly go to plan; cue Tony making it better. Peter’s so adorable in this! His nervousness about telling Tony he’s gay and regret over some of his past experiences is really well written. Brilliant relationship dynamic. Ten out of ten for fluffiness.

general relativity by macabre (Peter likes boys)

In which Tony worries about what big secret his adopted son could be trying so hard to keep from him. Another beautifully written fic from macabre, who always portrays Peter and Tony’s relationship with genuine emotional depth. This is one of those go-to fics I reread whenever I’m feeling down.

no cops at pride, just spiderman by @tempestaurora (bi Peter and bi Tony)

In which Peter convinces Tony to attend Pride parade with him. This one has so many cute moments (it’s officially canon that Peter’s crushing on Bucky), but it’s also very touching when Tony talks about his experiences being in the LGBT community during the 1980s and 90s. Respect to authors who can incorporate social activism into their writing so smoothly.

Of Gods and Crushes by @tstarkapologist (bi Peter)

In which Peter has a not-so-secret crush on Thor. I was grinning like a loon the entire way through this. Tony’s the perfect combination of supportive and teasing—he’s just nailing the Embarrassing Dad (tm) role that he was born to play. (And really, who doesn’t have a crush Thor?)

Peter Parker’s Top Surgery Fund by @vivilevone (trans Peter)

In which there’s a bakesale, certain revelations are had, and an ‘anonymous’ donation is made to GoFundMe. Shout-out to Tony who’s so clueless but tries so hard. Funny and cute with just a dash of angst thrown in; hits the spot. Featuring Number One Bestie Ned and Science Bro Bruce.

Use Somebody (Someone Like You) by @rosalinesbenvolio (trans Peter)

In which Peter’s not very good at coming out despite his best efforts. What a cutie (both Peter and this fic)! A heartfelt, comedic, altogether delightful read. Peter and Tony’s relationship is genuinely sweet. Kudos to Michelle for being that best friend everyone needs.

5-15k Words

5 Times Peter Acted Like A Teenager And The 1 Time He Had To Be An Adult by @losingmymindtonight (Peter likes boys)

In which Peter misses curfew, falls in love, gets his heart broken, and might need a few pep talks from his dad along the way. Did I mention there’s a kidnapping? Tony is *chef’s kiss* in this, especially as he helps Peter navigate through his first real breakup by providing much comfort and cuddles and encouragement. Dramatic!Teenager!Peter is my spirit animal.

Ace!Peter series by @peter-parkerson (biromantic ace Peter)

In which sometimes kids can be jerks, but luckily Peter has people there to remind him he’s not in any way broken. Sweet and soft and lovely. Featuring Tony as the ally parent every queer kid deserves and Ned as the caring, understanding, altogether wonderful boyfriend who knows there’s more to relationships than just sex.

Asexual!Peter series by @parkrstark (biromantic ace Peter and bi Tony)

In which Peter uses indecipherable metaphors, Tony becomes increasingly confused, and May’s the saint who puts up with them both. Oof. My poor, poor heart. I really just want to wrap Peter in a hug and tell him everything’s going to be okay, then buy him an ace flag cape and drag him to Pride March. Luckily Tony’s there to do all that for me.

June by @peterparkrr (gay Peter and bi Tony)

In which Tony buys a parenting book and (not so successfully) tries to get Peter to come out. I absolutely love how Tony is written in this! Even though he might still be getting the hang of this parenting thing, you can tell how deeply he cares about Peter and just wants what’s best for him. Only criticism is that it makes my face hurt from smiling so widely; the fluffiness and humor is just too good!

15-25k Words

Fragile and Composed by @theoceanismyinkwell I’m sorry the @ isn’t working it keeps saying “no blogs found” (gay Peter and bi Tony)

In which Steve gives some advice, Peter confronts some bullies, and Tony is there to deal with the fallout. Guh. This fic. Everything TheOceanIsMyInkwell writes gives me *emotions* and I love it. I love the tension between Tony and Steve as they try to move forward after Civil War. I love Peter standing up for himself and his friends. I love Tony being protective, and trying to do better for Peter when he realizes he’s missed the mark. Just gorgeous in every way.

Gay Disaster Peter Parker series by Iwillseduceyouwithmyweirdness (is it redundant to say gay Peter?)

In which, as the title suggests, Peter Parker is a gay disaster. Every work in this series does an amazing job depicting some of the very real struggles queer teens often face (particularly self-harm/mental health issues and bullying). It’s raw and painful, but at the same time offers so much hope that recovery is possible. Tony’s love and support and care for Peter makes my heart happy.

i never promised you your dream boy series by @ftmpeter (gay/trans Peter)

In which even when it feels like the universe is against him, Peter’s family and friends will always have his back. This series is wonderful in so many aspects, but the thing that really shines through for me is Tony’s characterization. He fumbles once in a while, and might not have a ton of background knowledge about LGBTQ+ issues, but he does his absolute best to learn and help Peter through day to day challenges of being trans. Perfect ally.

Lightning in a Bottle by @groo-ock (Peter likes boys)

In which Spider-Man and the Human Torch are dating, but Peter Parker and Johnny Storm definitely, definitely aren’t. Definitely not. Gruoch’s fics are always an absolute joy to read, and this one is no different. Even if you’re not a Fantastic Four fan, please give it a chance, especially if you need something fun and lighthearted right now; the humor is terrific! Exasperated Tony is icing on the cake. This poor man puts up with so many shenanigans...

Project Pride by TheSleepingOwl (gay Peter)

In which Peter doesn’t know that Tony knows he’s gay, and Tony’s an over the top helicopter dad who’s just trying his best. This one deals with some pretty heavy stuff, including Peter’s lasting trauma from being sexually abused when he was younger, but the author handles it all with dignity and respect and does it justice. A lot of parts made me laugh. Other parts had me tearing up. Other parts had me full-out sobbing. An incredible read and instant favorite.

#my posts #fic rec list

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beautifulterriblequeen · 4 years

Text

Another layer to the kiss

I’m still sad over Runaan and Ethari’s emotional states after they learned about Lain and Tiadrin. Gonna work through some angsty thoughts here, so hold on.

Of course Runaan shut down his feelings. He’s a very goal-oriented elf. His job is entirely dependent on results, so his philosophy will reflect that. And the first thing he’ll want to do is Fix This Mess. For Rayla, for his family, for the Silvergrove, for all the Moonshadow elves. That’s... that’s a lot of fixing, okay. He’s carrying the pride and the honor of his entire race on his shoulders. And it would probably crush him if he ever admitted how heavy it is. So he doesn’t. For everyone’s sake, he shuts down his feelings and gets the f*ck to work.

Unfortunately for Ethari, that shuts him out at the very moment when he needs support the most. Of course he’s angry and frustrated over the betrayal Lain and Tiadrin supposedly committed. His trust was broken and he looks like a fool for giving it to them, just like Runaan. But Runaan’s gone and dragged Rayla into the equation, and he’s refusing to listen to reason. In hiding from his feels, Runaan’s endangering Rayla.

Ethari’s overflowing with feels, they’re pouring out of him in all directions, you guys, because Runaan isn’t reaching back toward him to accept any of them. Runaan’s self-quarantining. So Ethari’s pouring his hot negativity into his work, overdoing it, trying to burn it out only to wake and find all that fuel replenished again. And when even that isn’t enough--when being kept at arm’s length by his own husband gets to be too much--Ethari shuts himself away for a while and cries.

Ethari cries alone.

He knows Runaan’s working his butt off to get ready for that Katolis mission. He’s working with Rayla, he’s probably juggling the hopes and concerns of the entire Silvergrove, too. Runaan’s the leader of the Silvergrove assassins, he’s a pillar of the community, and the Silvergrove desperately needs some stability right now. And Runaan’s stepping up.

For everybody but Ethari.

Ethari’s paying the price for the whole village, and it’s making him cry. But he’s doing it. He keeps working, he stays as strong as he can, he’s channeling everything he can into his work. He’s making it through one day at a time. Because his village needs him, too.

Here’s how it looks to me right now: Runaan left Ethari before he left the Silvergrove to go to Katolis. He pulled away that day, and they’ve been distanced ever since. Runaan hasn’t processed a single damn feeling yet, and Ethari’s a mess trying to process alone. They’re imbalanced because they let go of each other. Because Runaan let go. Because he always puts his duty first, and Ethari second.

And Ethari always puts Runaan first.

In these two very different emotional states, it’s no wonder they couldn’t agree over Rayla going on Runaan’s mission. Runaan would refuse to entertain any emotional appeals. But that’s all Ethari could offer.

I’m dead on the floor at the thought of Ethari trying, once again, to appeal softly to Runaan, and Runaan just shutting him down. “Ethari, we’re not discussing this again. I have work to do.” The hard assassin leaves, still avoiding all of his feels. And the soft craftsman left behind can’t help but cry. Again.

The ringing of Ethari’s hammer on the anvil would travel through the whole tree house. Runaan and Rayla would know when he was working, no matter the hour. They’d know that he’d been at the forge all day, or all night. If they were ever home from training. Which they probably aren’t, much.

Appearances, appearances. Of course they kept things soft in front of Rayla. She’s tangled up on so many levels of their disagreement that there’s no separating her from them. So they smooth and smooth and avoid and avoid, pretending they agree. It’s a very tense house, but it’s all under the surface. I hope.

Now, to that kiss. Because oof.

It’s been five or so months at this point. Runaan’s locking his feels down so tight that he’s pooping emotional diamonds. Ethari’s starving for scraps of true affection, for that deep and beautiful connection they once had. And then the lotus ritual begins.

Ethari needs Runaan. He needs him to be his old self, to open up again and help Ethari balance. He’s been clinging to Runaan’s touches and glances and smiles for months. There probably aren’t many. It’s not quite like being married to a ghost, but it’s close. Runaan’s not home much, and when he is, he’s preoccupied. He could easily think that taking time to shift into Soft Mode is a distraction he just can’t afford. it’s not that he doesn’t want to. It’s that he doesn’t think he deserves to be that selfish when so much is at stake. He always does everything at 110% focus, minimum, and this is no different.

my god Runaan I could smack you

But Ethari needs Runaan. And he hasn’t had him for months. So when he says “My heart goes out with this one,” he’s reaching out, one last time, and telling Runaan how much he needs and loves him. Because it’s true, and it’s always been true. Runaan has his whole heart. Ethari’s going to be a mess while Runaan and Rayla are gone. He’ll be begging the Moon to make everything alright again so he can just move forward. He’s been stuck in the same hell for months and it’s a disaster.

Ethari needs Runaan.

But then Runaan does this amazing thing. He knows darn well where he’s had to go, emotionally, in order to work this problem, to support everyone around him so they don’t all collapse together. And he’s relying on the success of this mission, see, to restore the balance he’s lost, too. He wants to open up to Ethari again. He wants to be able to soften up at home like he used to. He knows he’s in an artificial emotional state, and he’s ready to be done with it, the second he’s accomplished the goal he locked himself down to achieve.

So he tells his husband, “Don’t worry, I will return your heart to you.” All soft and precious. Like he used to. Because he’s ready to let it all go and let Ethari back in. He’s saying that when he comes home, when Ethari sees him next, that he’ll come back soft and whole again. Ready to open up and share and bond. He’s promising to return to normal with Ethari.

Your heart has been distracted for months, Ethari. But after this, you’ll have it back again, right where you want it. I promise.

I think it’s critical here that Runaan initiates the kiss. Ethari tilts his head and leans into Runaan’s touch, maybe because it’s been far too long since Runaan touched him so softly. Ethari’s jonesing for his husband’s touch, and he just throws himself into it when Runaan initiates contact.

Runaan is kissing Ethari because Ethari needs to be kissed. Runaan knows he’s pulled away from him, to whatever degree. But Ethari longs for soft comforting touches, for the everyday presence of Runaan right near him, so Runaan offers him a down payment on his return. He’d dearly love to be able to focus on such soft things with Ethari. But he can’t. Not yet. And yet, even then, he can’t abandon Ethari’s feelings and make him wait another two weeks, all alone. That kiss is a promise, from Runaan to Ethari, that better days are coming back.

And god does Ethari lean into that promise. He chases it so hard that Runaan has to step back from its intensity to keep his own balance (literally and figuratively). Ethari doesn’t care about balancing just then. He’s getting lost and dizzy with feels, with what he’s missed. But Runaan’s not done with his mission yet, so he’s the one to pull back. He still can’t afford to give into those feels like he wants to.

And Ethari’s caught between savoring the moment and feeling guilty and lost and alone again. He settles back onto his feet and looks down, sad, embarrassed, resigned.

But Runaan doesn’t want to leave Ethari feeling guilty for wanting what they used to have Tilting Ethari’s chin so they can see eye to eye again, raising his eyebrows, looking softly into his eyes, even smiling encouragingly? Who is this soft assassin?

Runaan wants to come home. He wants to come in from the cold and lose himself in Ethari’s embrace. He knows where he is emotionally and why, but he never planned to stay there. He’s eager to leave and come back to his husband. It’s going to be okay, his soft gesture says. It’s going to be okay.

And Ethari laps it up. He’s softly grateful for Runaan’s concern, for his tender message. For the kiss, for the reassurance. He offers the lotus, so Runaan can be on his way. The sooner he heads out, the sooner he can come home whole.

Runaan takes the lotus with careful hands, and gives Ethari one last soft smile, grateful for Ethari’s enchantments and tech, after months of prep. Ethari’s stress-hammering has paid off, and everything’s set and good to go. Runaan turns away with his smile intact--Ethari may have been an emotional wreck, but his work ethic puts everyone in the village to shame. He’s done everything he needed to do while holding himself together with soft pillows and twine and tissue boxes.

Ethari really is strong. He’s stronger than Runaan, emotionally. He got everything done and ready, and he felt his feels the whole time. Runaan can’t manage that. He doesn’t work that way, not under this much stress.

Ethari watches his husband turn away to slip into Assassin Mode, and he’s a little overcome with pride and happiness. Runaan’s got this. He can do anything. And when he does it, then everything will get back to normal.

Ethari’s got hope, true hope, lighting him up inside.

It doesn’t last, though. Because unfortunately for everyone, Ethari was right about Rayla. The very state that Runaan locked himself into in order to work was the state that made him unable to see the fatal flaw in his plan.

Ethari spent the week after Runaan’s lotus sank being more alone than ever. Feeling Runaan’s promise break. Realizing that he lost the rest of Runaan to Katolis, and he’s never getting any of him back. His life’s been on a downward spiral for six months, and that last drop wrenched his heart out.

But then Rayla walked back into his life.

When he stalked off angrily after blaming her for abandoning the squad, do you think he stress-cried? I do.

He had to let off a lot of emotional steam really quickly to get so much calmer and able to walk down the stairs to the pool all focused like that. Somewhere around a corner in the workshop, Ethari slipped out of view, pressed his back to a wall, covered his mouth with his hands, and burst into silent tears over seeing Rayla again. Over having everything torn open afresh.

He absolutely talked to Runaan inside his head. I’m going. I’m going after her, Runaan. I’m not losing her too. You locked yourself away from me when I needed you most. I’m not doing that with Rayla. I”m not. She’s just a child--like I told you--and she deserves better.

And out he went, to be the bravest and sturdiest elf dad he could, to shoulder his pain and offer her comfort at the same time. And she threw herself into his arms. The emotional openness Ethari craved came full circle. It came back to him from Katolis after all.

#ethari #runaan #rayla #moonfam #tdp meta #angst #just working my way through the Ghost episode in this new light

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pochapal · 3 years

Note

rank every year of the 2010s from best to worst i want some pochapal lore

[warning for discussion of my fucked up mental health and my myriad traumas. we’re really opening the pandora’s box here gang]

ok time for me to overshare on the internet again! super long post because i can’t shut up and you asked for it. anyway, by objective ranking:

#1: 2012 - halcyon era, my personal peak. spent the whole year writing hunger games oc fics with my deviantart fanfiction besties whom i still think about all the time and always hope are having the best possible day. if you were here for this era understand i still hold you so closely and dearly in my heart <3.

#2: 2013 - god i was such a good example of a human being back then. was the year my writing like actually took off and i had a healthy balance between creative stuff and a social life (said social life consisting of spending lunchtimes at school breaking into classrooms and discussing fandom shit with five other people. reading homestuck updates in the music room on one person’s really shaky mobile data...legendary). highlight of the year and maybe my life was in the april of 2013 when i got out of failing to submit a hard deadline essay by telling my english teacher i wrote a whole novel over the two week break and then producing said novel. god i wish i had that level of like. fucking confidence back me back then knew what i wanted and how to get it.

#3: 2010 - the last year of childhood. i was 12 and played pokemon all the time with my friends and went places and had a moderately successful youtube channel and it didn’t matter that i was bullied so badly at school because i was basically high off life. summer of 2010 was so good specifically. i’d used to get the bus with a friend and go see movies and break into historical sites and get into normal childhood mayhem and maxed out my pokewalkers twice a month and i was buzzed because i had two (2) whole friendship groups to choose from and that was such a huge deal to me the terminal social outcast. it was so simple and carefree and even though everything and everyone involved in this era grew up to suck except for one specific person i kinda really miss it.

#4: 2018 - this was the first year i wasn’t depressed to the point of nonfunctioning. it was 20gayteen, i was on antidepressants, i was as close to thriving as i got at uni (going into town with people once a week, attending art and culture events, getting good grades across the board), i started to write for fun again, i got my cat whom i love dearly, i was exhibited in my uni’s city’s literature festival, GOD i actually nearly attended a pride event that year can you imagine. this year was basically my life’s second peak. miss getting the 8am train and daintily sipping on a cherry coke to keep me from passing out. wish this time could have lasted longer.

#5: 2019 - kinda absolute middle of the road year not for lack of anything happening but because the overwhelming amount of good and bad things cancelled each other out. so like there’s the fact that i was at the top of my uni game this year, was basically making the first steps into a professional writing career (covid i will never forgive you for killing all that dead </3), finally saved up enough to buy myself a gaming pc, and the summer after the homestuck epilogues, but equally 2019 was the start of the Pochapal Gender Fiasco which is by far the most horrible thing i am still currently undergoing and i burnt myself out mentally about halfway through the year (being stuck overnight in a hospital for a panic attack absolutely horrible horrible irredeemable) and then got like super death plague flu that i was sick with for three months (literally recovered less than a month before rona hit. god’s cruel karma.). so like...it kind of averaged out? the good shit was good but not as great as other years and the bad shit was awful but nowhere near as terrible as it could have been. gotta give a shoutout to 90% of my current mutual cohort for following me in 2019...omelette route gang make some noise !!

#6: 2014 - oof. this year essentially marked the start of a four year long downward mental health spiral because everything fell into awful alignment. i’d just turned 16, finished secondary school, had all my friends up and ditch me at once, was home alone for a whole summer, and was hit with Sudden Intense Body Image Issues that i couldn’t explain until uh. after very recent developments lmao. this one goes out to the me of july 2014 who did nothing but lay in bed and listen to the same two marina albums on a loop because fuck i’m attracted to men and also my facial and body hair are really starting to come in and if i think about this for too long i will literally kill myself because oh god i can’t handle getting older which is clearly and definitely the issue going on here. my brain fucking broke super hardcore and it’s a miracle that an overeating disorder was like the worst thing i walked away with.

#7: 2015 - downward spiral year two!! i was so volatile this year it was such a mess. i was totally socially isolated after a brief stint of falling in with a group of people at the start of my first year of sixth form until january where in quick succession a) it turned out every single one of these people was friends with the person who sexually assaulted me whom i obviously had a lot of complicated feelings towards and b) baby’s first crush came out as bisexual but in the “women and also trans women” kind of way which tore me up so terribly in ways i couldn’t begin to understand. no words for the experience of seeing a girl kiss a boy and crying so hard at night you threw up because you could never be her no matter how much you wanted it. actually kinda get the sense what was going on there was bigger than just some crush lmao. then after that i was so mentally ill i basically attended school less than half the time and it was the only year in my life i failed my exams. i ended up having to resit my entire set of first year a level exams because jesus christ was i in such a bad way it was a miracle i even showed up to them. all i did was either have anxiety attacks or enter bedbound depressive slumps for weeks at a time. but it’s okay because it gets worse.

#8: 2016 - downward spiral act iii: the spiralling. prefacing this by saying that i actually had two whole good months (april - may) in that i was functioning enough to do my exams and finish school with decent grades. the rest was super extra mega terrible. my school attendance for year 13 dipped below 65% and literally the only thing that kept me from being kicked out was the fact that i was naturally smart at the subjects i took and also because the school would have a lot to answer for after letting me get to that state despite having a hefty file on how damaged i was. keep in mind every single part of this was fully untreated btw - i was just floundering around and letting it all fester. i spent three solid weeks going to school but locking myself in the bathroom all day every day and having mental health episodes then going home like nothing else happened only to continue the breakdown that night. then things got kicked into fucked up overdrive when i moved out to uni and was cut off from what little support structures i did have. it was so bad all i did was cry all the time and never went anywhere to the point where three separate sources recommended me to the wellbeing and crisis counselling service that i stopped going to after two sessions because i was fucked up in ways cbt techniques could not even touch. at least i tried to make an effort for the first two months of uni which like. good for me?

#9: 2017 - what lieth at the base of the spiral. helltrench year. i was at literal rock bottom. i stopped going to class, i didn’t hand in a single piece of work. i lied to my parents and would book trains each day only to go back to my student flat and sit there and contemplate suicide. like i would just slump on the floor in a catatonic state and vividly contemplate one of four or so ways i could end my own life. i only didn’t because i wanted to wait until the summer to collect my last student loan and transfer it to my parents as an apology for my death which obviously didn’t end up happening. honestly i can’t remember much of the first half of 2017 that’s how bad it was. i remember taking a gender studies class and the teacher made it Weird that i was the Only Male Student in the room and then she sent me a scolding email after i walked out halfway through a class and never returned. apparently i got into a lot of online discourse in this year but i don’t remember anything other than being put on a blocklist by the milkfic author over ace discourse which is funny if you have the context. mostly i just baited terfs and weirdo freaks to get them to say horrible things to me as what i guess amounts to some kind of digital self harm. anyway breaking point came in late august when i got kicked out of university and then nobody could ignore it any more so there was no choice left but for me to seek out help and recover enough to function which luckily i did. i really Do Not remember 2017. you could tell me anything about that year and i’d probably believe you.

#10: 2011 - extra circle of hell for this little fucked up gem of a year. on the surface it wasn’t actually that terrible, until the Summer 2011 Domino Effect Of Bad Shit. up until like may/june it was a pretty all right year! i was 13 and had a surprisingly successful youtube channel uploading pokemon soundfont remixes to an audience of i think ~350-400 subscribers at my peak? anyway then i got hit with the early summer triple combo of childhood friends moving away, cute and quirky sexual assault at the hands of a person in my friend group, and then having some Really Great and Super Appropriate interactions with adults on deviantart. like obviously there’s the actual ptsd-inducing event which totally disrupted and killed the person i was right up until that moment and reshaped every facet of my life for better or worse (there’s an alternate timeline where that didn’t happen and i got into electronic music and/or coding instead) but really it’s the events that followed in its wake which were kind of more fucked up. so like all of a sudden i was super aware of my body and me growing my hair out and being mistaken for a girl in class suddenly became this Less Innocent thing and i ended up spending hours overnight going to transgender questioning forums and looking up hrt timeline videos and having the wikipedia article on tracheal shaving saved because it was a life raft to me whose voice was imminently gonna deepen and i was simultaneously reeling with constant trauma flashbacks and the whole thing was so so fucked up. then i was on deviantart and i don’t remember exactly how but a small group of furry guys ten to fifteen years older than me started messaging me and encouraging and requesting me to produce nonsexual fetish stuff for them and talking to me about stuff like if i’d ever thought about growing up to be gay and i didn’t think anything of it for a long while because they called me a very talented writer and it felt so good to have someone be nice to me after being so alone and isolated for months on end. anyway the only reason i got out of that before it got bad was because they invited me to one of the big furry sites and i was weirded out because i thought it was a porn site and thinking about sexual stuff was a huge trauma trigger so i just ended up blocking them all and pretending like it didn’t happen. at the time half this shit didn’t bother me but in retrospect holy fuck 2011 was such a damaging year. to think if like three events didn’t happen i wouldn’t be the fucked up mess you see before you today.

god fuck this turned out super long but i’m not apologising because this was a therapeutic exercise for me and also constitutes as one of the biggest pochapal lore dumps of all time. come get your food or whatever.

#Anonymous #long post #read all of this if you have vested interest in knowing intimate details about my life or whatever

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bssaz97 · 4 years

Note

I have to ask how did Qrow and Juanes family react to the kids in Missing for a Year

Missing For A Year Part 3

Ruby: “Miss Goodwitch, thank you so much!” *Large Anime Tears fall down her face*

Glynda: “You’re welcome Miss Rose, although I do recommend keeping a closer watch of your children while at events in the future.”

Both Ruby and Jaune nodded rapidly to her sound advice, who will make sure to take the advice to heart.

Ruby/Jaune: “We promise we will!”

Glynda: “Good. Now.” *lifts up her riding crop directly at the ice block*

*CRACK!*

The ice prison around the two newlyweds had been broken apart, freeing them so that the two can freely move again. Much to the joy of the two leaders and displeasure of a disgruntled ice queen.

Qrow: *approaching* “Well I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Does it kiddo.”

Ruby: “Uncle Qrow!” *petal bursts out of the ice cube and launches herself at him*

Qrow: “Oof!” *catches her while laughing* “Geez pipsqueak! I’m not as young as I use to be, you could be a little gentler...”

Ruby: “Sorry I’m just so excited to see you again!”

Qrow: *hugs her tightly* “Yeah me too.”

Ruby: “I’m sorry it took so long.” *hangs head in shame*

Qrow: “Hey none of that alright. What’s happened has happened, no use in crying over spilled milk. Just seeing that you’re alive and well is all I need.”

Ruby: “You too. I know we’ve been gone for awhile but we missed you all so very much and I wished we could’ve come back sooner to you all.”

Qrow: “Well maybe remember to stamp your letters next time.” *he jokes*

Ruby: “It was a honest mistake!”

Qrow: *laughs and ruffles her hair* “Whatever you say kiddo.”

Ruby: “Meanie...to think I almost named one of my children after you.”

Qrow: “Probably a good call that you didn’t. Don’t need to have a kid named after me until I’m at least in the grave.”

Ruby: “Oh ha-ha.”

Jaune finished swiping of all the ice residue on his person then rubs his hands together rapidly to warm them up. Being trapped in a large ice cube wasn’t very comfortable in the least. His mother helps her son by removing her scarf and wrapping it around his hands.

June: “Are you alright sweetie?”

Jaune: “Yeah just a bit frosty.”

Yang: “...Did he?”

Taiyang: “I think he just did.”

Jaune: “What? I can make puns too. You all didn’t originate them.”

Taiyang: “Ok fair enough.”

Jaune: “Oh yeah by the way...are we cool?” *gestures between himself and his father-in-law*

Taiyang: “Well considering that you pretty much married my daughter behind our family’s back, I should be furious. But since you’ve already made me a grandfather I can’t really stay mad at you.”

Jaune: “Really?”

Taiyang: “No.”

Jaune: “Figured.”

Taiyang: *laughs* “Relax kid, I’m just messing with you. Glad to have you in the family.”

Jaune: “Thanks.” *smiles*

June: “Speaking of grandchildren...YOINK!” *takes an infant Rowan/Summer from Taiyang and Yang*

Taiyang/Yang: “Hey!”

June: “Hello my little darlings~ I’m so happy to meet you two. Look at how big you two are already. I’m your Granny June and I love you both so much! Oh you’re both so cute~” *she coos as she cradled the two infants rocking them to and fro*

Jaune: “Uh mom, I know you’re excited about your new grandchildren but you should really-.”

June: “Oh come now Jaune I’ve raised eight kids including you so I think have this under-!”

Summer: *gurgling noises with her face turning green*

June: “...oh no.” *face paled*

*BLEEEGH!*

What Jaune tried to warn his mother about was that Summer was unfortunately cursed with his inherited motion sickness. As such Summer did not like to be rocked otherwise it would lead to her spit up all over said person’s shirt.

June: “....oh dear.” *looks down at her ruined dress*

Ruby: *gasp!* “Mrs. Arc I’m so sorry!” *grabs a tissue and tries to clean it off*

Jaune: “I tried to warn you.”

June: “That’s ok, this isn’t something I haven’t gone through before. Although I would be more than grateful if you could take back these two while I get cleaned up.” *handing their babies back to them*

Ruby: “Are you sure you don’t want me to help? I feel really bad.”

June: “It’s alright dear. I’ve raised eight children after all, so there’s nothing to worry about. Jaune, be a dear and introduce your children to the rest of the family before your sisters complain about not seeing their new niece and nephew, ok?”

Jaune: “Sure.”

As June Arc was making her leave most, of not all of Jaune’s sisters swarmed them just as she said they would.

Rouge: “Oh my goodness look at you two!”

Saphron: “You’re so small and look so cute!”

Vert: “What’s their names little bro?”

Jaune: “Uh, This is Rowan and Summer.” *points at each of his children*

Bleu: “Do they have all their necessary shots?” *adjusts her glasses*

Jaune: “What? No, they’re barely three months old!”

Noir: “Why didn’t you tell us you two eloped?”

Blanc: “And how did you get pregnant so fast?”

Ruby: “W-Well we wanted to marry after the war so that’s what we did.”

Violet: “How can you tell which is a boy and girl?”

Arc Siblings/Ruby: .....

Violet: “What? It’s a legitimate question.” *shrinks in embarrassment*

Nicholas: “Girls.”

At the sound of his voice all the Arc women made way for the patriarch of their family. He walked towards the brand new couple/parents, his towering figure nearly encompassing them in shadow.

Nicholas: “Son.”

Jaune: “Hey Dad...long time no see. Heh”

Arc Sisters: *winces*

Terra: *facepalms*

Ruby: *whispering* “Really?”

Jaune: “Uhhh. So! ...How are you?”

Saphron: *mouthing ‘NO!’*

Jaune: “I mean. What I mean to say is-!”

Nicholas: “Stop.” *raises his palm*

Jaune: 0x0

Nicholas: “What’s done is done. There’s no use to bringing up the past.”

Jaune: “Right...”

Nicholas: “But I am very happy to see you alive.....and apparently with a wife and children.” *rests his raised hand on Jaune’s shoulder*

Jaune: “...Thanks Dad.”

Nicholas: *nods then removes his hand* “So if I heard correctly, this one is Rowan and this one is Summer right?” *gestures to the two infants*

Ruby: “Yessir. My tiny little blessings.”

Nicholas: “...heh. I see you’ve adopted June’s nicknaming habit.”

Ruby: “Yep.”

Nicholas: “Mm. Looks like you have a keeper my son.”

Jaune: “I’m lucky to have her.” *one arm hugged Ruby*

Ruby: *smiles*

Nicholas: “Good. Don’t do anything stupid to mess it up. You hear me boy.”

Jaune: “Wouldn’t dream of it sir.”

Rowan/Summer: “Ahh!” *make curious baby noises*

Nicholas looks down to see both Rowan and Summer then bends his knees, lowering his large frame to look into the little ones. They looked at the older Arc curiously, looking at his aged but still strong facial features and Summer was brave enough to reach out touch the older man’s beard. This caused Summer to giggle as the hair tickled her tiny fingers, causing Nicholas to laugh softly at the child’s pure laughter. Rowan followed soon after Summer and he giggled as well once he felt Nicholas’ beard.

Nicholas: “Hello little ones, I am your grandpa. I am pleased to meet you.” *he said with what could be called a genuine smile*

Ruby: “ohhhh” *she watches the display in amazement* <3

Qrow: “WOW Nicky, I think you just made a genuine smile on your face.”

Nicholas: “Qrow...”

Qrow: “Hey don’t scare the babies now! They’re impressionable.” *while smirking*

Ruby: “Qrow be nice.” *she chides her honorary uncle/mentor*

Qrow: *raises his hands in mock surrender*

Ruby: “Hey Rowan, look this my Uncle Qrow. Isn’t he cool?”

Rowan: *head tilts* “Ah?”

Ruby: “Yes he’s the coolest uncle ever. You want him to hold you?”

Qrow: “Uh Ruby I don’t-.”

Ruby: “Here you go.” *moves Rowan into his arms*

Qrow: “Wait Ruby don’t-! Ok here we go. Uh hey there kid. Nice to...meet you.”

Rowan: ....

Ruby: “It’s ok Qrow, he’s only a baby. He won’t bite.”

Qrow: “Right. Um, heh, You look a lot like your mom. Kinda surprised that your supposed to be the boy.”

Rowan: .... *hrk!* *BLEGH!*

Qrow eyes widen but it was already too late, all he could do was look down and see that Rowan had just spit up all over his new shirt. Both parents gave nervous looks but also tried not to laugh at Qrow’s expense. Taiyang, Yang, Nicholas, and the seven Arc sisters, however, did not follow their example, laughing their guts out.

Rowan: *giggles and points at Qrow*

Qrow: “Oh now you find me funny. Don’t ya, you lil’ gremlin.” *eye twitches*

Ruby: “Hey I’m sure he didn’t mean to do that!”

Yang: “Hahahaha! I don’t know Ruby, he seemed pretty determined to puke all over Qrow!” *covering her mouth*

Qrow: “Well at least I know you’re your Mother’s kid. You’re a brat through and through.”

Ruby: “Hey!”

June: “Ok I’m back what did I-...Oh dear. Apparently both children have motion sickness.”

Nicholas: “No dear, it’s just the boy knows how to get back at others.” *he smiles in pride of his progeny*

-Fin-

A/N: Boy did this one take me awhile to get done. I had a lot of ideas for how this were to go and tried to fit them all in so hope I met your expectations. Thanks again for your support! 😊

P.S. I did my best to make names for the remaining Arc sisters and I decided to simplify and translate the names of the girls in accordance to their color from the portrait we saw in Volume 6 in Saphron’s house. Also keep in mind I have no idea what the age difference is just know I did my best and this will be my head canon until proven otherwise.

Rouge = Eldest (Red w/ Short Hair)

Saphron = Second (Orange that was Upside down. Her name is closer to orange so yeah)

Vert = Third (Green)

Blanc/Noir = Twins (Ok so they had blue bows but the also look to be wearing black and white so I went with that to avoid confusion)

Bleu = Sixth (Blue w/ Glasses)

Violet = Neña (Violet, no brainer)

Jaune = Youngest (Yellow. Ok so he appears to be the youngest from the photo as most of the time the most recent child is at the center of most family pictures. But again I could be wrong but I stand by what I said until CRWBY says otherwise...probably)

#rwby #ruby rose #jaune arc #rwby lancaster #lancaster #yang xiao long #arc family #rwby saphron #saphron cotta arc #qrow brawnwen #rwby qrow #rwby taiyang #taiyang xiao long #anonymous asks #missing for a year

39 notes · View notes

snkpolls · 4 years

Text

Snk Chapter 129 Poll Results

The chapter poll closed with 1387 responses. This month’s poll results were brought to you by /u/staraves, Crunchwrap, @momtaku, _Puppet_, @shifter-lines and Luna

Thank you to everyone for your support!

RATE THE CHAPTER

Satisfaction was up this month with 41% rating this chapter a 5. That’s a 10% increase over last month! Overall 84% rated chapter 129 as good (4) or great (5).

A really great chapter. The jeagerist are getting sliced because they are scared for their family while the alliance know that they need to prevent mass genocide. There are no villain in this (apart from Floch) just victims.

After the sluggish post-rumbling chapters, I'm glad we're picking up the pace and getting things done now!

Loved the character interactions, had good plot advancement and some beautiful panels! Best chapter this year 😁😁

So fucking good. Highlighted that violence isn’t unique to the warriors, and that the 104th squad have a capability for violence within them as well.

The chapter was definitely not worth the long ass wait

A really good action chapter! Lots of intense moments that were also complimented quite well with poetic moments that felt great payoffs for many of the characters

The chapters have been so forgettable lately and this was no different. I wanted better for Shadis and this suicide pact was not it.

So many critical character bonding moments! I love it!

The best chapter since 123, I expect something big will happen in Chapter 130 because it is the last of the volume.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?

It was no surprise to us that more than 40% of the fandom selected one of the Keith Shadis options as their favorite moment with “The Rise and Fall of the S.S Shadath” (22.6%) and “SHADIS THE CHADIS” (20.5%) nabbing the top two spots. The kiddos managed 3rd and 4th place with “Falco’s transformation” (12.2%) and “Gabi sniping Floch” (10.5%).

Seeing Shadis and Magath sacrificing for a greater good was the best part of this chapter.

Loved the floch speeches

It was nice to see the Yeagerists finally get decimated.

I always wanted to see interaction between Shadis and Magath. Late is better than never.

Action packed !

WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER’S MVP?

Give it up for Shadis the Motherfucking Chadis! Keith Shadis was our overwhelming choice for chapter MVP with an even 50% the fandom selecting him. Magath (20.5%), Floch (7.2%) Falco (6.7%) and Gabi (6%) followed at a huge distance.

SHADIS THE MOTHERFUCKING CHADIS

MAGATH THE MOTHERFUCKING CHADATH

Why can't I vote for Magath *AND* Shadis for MPVs of the chapter??? It is cruel that you make me choose.

Shadis and Magath, the true MVPs of this chapter. (Gabi still sucks)

Gabi MVP for giving Flock another win to the prize: "Big Oof of the month"

Floch was the true MVP this chapter and I'm sure he's still alive.

Magath and Shadis MVP

PRESS F FOR KEITH SHADIS. WHICH OF HIS FINAL MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE?

To the write-in below, I hear you. The pollsters (*glares of staraves*) were cruel this month in forcing this choice and deleting the “All of the Above” option. But when forced to choose, it was the mutual appreciation between the two men in their final moments that was our very favorite.

WHY THE FUCK CAN I ONLY PICK ONE ANSWER+???

holy shit what a chad

his suicide is overrated.

I was so touched that he watched his students and knew what he needed to do to help them.

A TRUE CHAD TO THE END, BUT WHY DID HE SACRIFICE HIMSELF?? WHY DID THEY HAVE BOMB THE SHIP W THEMSELVES IN IT???

ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON SHADIS’ OVERALL LEGACY IN THE STORY? POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF!

Shadis' end is amazing. He came from "i'm not special" to "one of the heroes who saved the world". It's great development, confirming the rhetoric "everyone is special".

CHADIS!!! RIP

Definitely one of the most underrated character, though I'm happy seeing him getting a lot recognition on the sub. His dialogue with Carla about Eren needing to be special or not has to be one of my favorite part of SNK.

Dislike him. He sees how his recruits were forced to become Jaegerists yet slices and blows them up as if it was nothing.

He always thought of himself as a bystander but in reality he shaped and trained all the 104th kids. If they manage to save the world, it will be hugely thanks to his training.

Keith Shadis is a prime example of Isayama's dedicated effort to give meaningful characterisation to every character and tie it into the story's core themes.

He was a bittersweet hero. Definitely not just a bystander.

He was a fucking legend

I loved it. Every part of it. The fact that he always considered himself to be a bystander only to die a hero in the end was such a good arc, and believable. I'm gonna miss the Chadis. F.

I relate (not to the heroic suicide part, just the bystander stuff)

I respect him

I still can't really get why he did this tbh

He was far from perfect, which made him one of the most relatable characters in the series - so sad to see him go 😓😓

He was my favorite minor character

He was truly worthy of being called a hero at the end along with Magath. They died so their kids could live and save the world!

Him wearing his scout uniform once more going on a death mission was a touching detail

his death was absolutely beautiful, he was sure enough of himself to not need "being a hero" as his motivation and his final act of sacrifice made such a difference after all. Beautiful character arc here, I wasn't very bummed out when I first read the chapter but the more I think about it the more I grieve for him.

Honestly the train thing felt like a bit of an ass pull. I know a lot of people like having old characters back but he mostly just felt like a plot device.

I didn't like his latest development.

A bystander who became a traitor

I just didn't like the fact that he was paralleled with Magath. The only thing those two have in common is the fact that they are instructors, and Isayama milked that. Sure Shadis wasn't an angel, but at the very least he wasn't a fascist that was responsible for the Genocide that kick started this story.

I feel bad to Hange and the others didn't know that he was the one who blowing up the train to help them and the fact that he was with Magath.

I grew to like and appreciate Shadis, so this weird train explosion story and immediate suicide pact with Magath felt incredibly underwhelming, to say the least. So, he lived as a bystander and died as one thanks to no one else besides Magath knowing he was there? Cool stuff.

i guess i didnt expect such a death after he let himself get beat up for the sake of others, gonna miss him and maggath, i guess this simbolizes that the warriors and "stop" eren group is officially in charge

I hate how Shadis told the kids to join the Jaegerists for their own sake but then he turns on them.

I was ready for a long time to lose him, but it hurts nonetheless. Keith has always been the one who had a clear mind about his dream, his cause... Much more than Grisha or Eren, even when thinking that he had lost. He was a great icon in the series and he deserved his students' appreciation.

I hate that Isayama is just killing off the old guard like this 😞. Shadis genuinely cared about his students and he will be missed.

I hope he and Sasha share a potato in Heaven.

NOW IT’S THEO MAGATH’S TURN. WHICH MOMENT GAVE YOU THE MOST DOKIS?

Awwwww… Magath’s wish for the warrior kids to have a happy life was the moment that most touched our hearts with just over 50% of the fandom selecting it. His decision to stay behind (18.4%) and the mutual appreciation between him and Shadis (16.4%) round out the top three selections.

I didn’t think he was going to die... it made me sad.

I thought his character would have more to do given his role as the military commander and political "moderate". Also, should have got shot so Shadis had a pressing reason to stay back and defend him while Magath set off the explosion.

RIP Shadis. Magath, you deserved what you got, you nazi bastard

GOVE ,E MMILTIBLR OPYIONS!21!!!!!

ОТЕЦ РОДНОЙ, НА КОГО ТЫ НАС ОСТАВИЛ?!!

ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON MAGATH’S OVERALL LEGACY IN THE STORY? POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF!

I found his character to be very compelling. He has already shown many instances of caring for the Warriors and the cadets during the Liberio Attack, but to see him gradually becoming conscious of that and completely changing his mindset was incredibly satisfying. A character I greatly enjoyed to see overall!

First I didn't like him that much. But this chapter make me like him more and more and then, he died. Thanks for making me suffer isym.

Followed the orders of his country, but couldn't bear the shame of his actions. Committed sudoku as a result. Deserves some respect as a true warrior and a patriot.

He really grew on me despite being such an unlikable character not too long ago, and it's sad to see him go. I'm glad to see the development he got recently.

He really grew on me without ever noticing it. I was actually sad about his death, and left with many questions.

He says he never wanted to do what he did but he had to follow the orders. This doesn't take away his responsibility at all, and it's not even completely true: he actively planned with Willy the latest invasion of Paradis.

He was a good man glad he went out with the Chad

He was a good man in the end: he realised he was in the wrong, swallowed his Marleyan pride and showed a sincere and humble side of him to the alliance. Then he tried to compensate for his previous wrong deeds by sacrificing his life and making himself useful to his allies one last time. I can really appreciate and respect that. And if you look at that panel of Gabi and Pieck looking like the most hurt at that exploded ship, then I think that means they too must've known that he was one of the better Marleyans.

He was a good man placed in a pretty awful situation. He and the kids would have been very happy in another world.

Him and hange are a great ship

He was alright

Dood's journey from literal Nazi racist to self-sacrifcing father of two was actually pretty heartwarming?

He was an imperfect commander in an imperfect world, but he still showed that he was just as human as his warriors.

he was annoying and cool.

I didn't care for him initially, and in ONE FUCKING CHAPTER, becomes a hero. Goddamn, fam.

It was awesome to see how far he came in such a short time and made it, at least for me, from a despicable character to a decent one with a human heart. Loved it how he protected his Warrior kids, how he went and helped Falco and his final wish kind of felt for me as if he was finally, in the last moments of his life, honest with himself and what he actually wanted and wishes for.

I just really wish he had the time to say something of his wishes to the warriors.

I agree with the point that his mutual appreciation with Shadis is very important and beautiful sign of new era in eldian and marlian common history

I always wanted to see interaction between Shadis and Magath. Late is better than never.

I came to love and appreciate his character more than I ever thought.

I can't bring myself to hate him anymore. F for our MAGOAT

I did not like Magath and now I feel guilty about it because of the immediate rapport he had with Shadis.

Imagine thinking Magath is suddenly a good person because he sacrificed himself.

Isayama always tries to humanize his characters. I don't like Magath. He's a guy who stayed in the same path of sacrificing children while insulting them for their filthy blood for years despite questioning it (also the path of genocide). That's his legacy. It took him the apocalypse to actually reconsider. But I like how he died for the kids he cared for, I was hoping for exactly that. It makes "caring" substantial, at least/last.

killed hundreds of thousands of people

Looks like my old step-father, so I wasn't sad to see him go boom boom. lol

Madlad Magath

Magath has been an underrated character and gets too much hate

Magath hugging Gabi is peak Magath.

Great to see how the one person arguably most responsible for early problems in the series such as the wall breaches, was even able to admit his wrongs, atone, and do the right thing along with those he once attacked.

Him realising his errors and apologising was an outstanding character development moment. In the end, he did what he had to. Respects.

His acquired understanding of the Eldian's dilemma felt a little rushed, but nothing too bothersome. I wasn't a fan of him at first and he's still not my favorite, but his meeting with Shadis was still pretty cool to see.

Would have liked to know his backstory.

What are you doing Yeager???

THE ALLIANCE’S JOURNEY IS NOW TAKING A DETOUR AS THEY DECIDE TO TRAVEL BY BOAT TO ODIHA WHERE THEY CAN PREPARE THE PLANE, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS?

Close to 70% of the fandom trusts that this detour to Odiha will be something worthwhile with 33.9% excited to see more of the SnK world and 34.3% thinking there is going to be plot significance. Only 12.5% of us were unhappy with this development.

The boat trip was unexpected. Maybe they'll talk about who they've lost and risk losing (in Liberio), as well as what they're fighting for (is it the world or their families?).

I’m having trouble figuring how fast this Rumbling will be. Will they really have enough time to sail to another country/continent, then fly all the way to another country/continent and still be able to save most of the world?

I don’t like the idea of going to Odihu. I want to hit the main points (Eren’s POV, scars wrapping, Historia’s POV) & be done.

Only few chapters left but the Alliance faces more and more delays?

I want Gabi to headshot DinoEren from Odiha

WHAT WILL BE THE STATE OF LIBERIO BY THE TIME THE ALLIANCE GETS TO IT?

We were reminded again this chapter of the speed at which the titans are travelling and how quickly they could decimate the continent of Marley. When and if the Alliance reach the mainland, more than half of respondents (56.7%) believe Liberio will be in the midst of being destroyed, nearly a third of the fandom (31%) think Liberio will be completely destroyed by the time the Alliance arrives. A tiny (tiny!) group of fandom optimists (7.8%) believe Liberio will be fine.

PANCAKED!

It depends on what Erens plan actually is... I'm holding out hope he's not actually trying to annihilate the world 🤞

It LOOKS like it's completely destroyed, but there are still survivors!

It will be mostly destroyed, but some Eldians will have risen up and escaped

The colossal titans will have trampled everything BUT Liberio. Eren wants to get the mainland Eldians on his side.

We'll see the people from Liberio arriving to Odiha. We saw the rebellion starting there, and I have the feeling they'll be fleeing south.

Eren will do some cool shit but hopefully no genocide I would hate that ending

i dont think rumbling will happen. from a story telling pov it just doesnt make sense

They'll be fine for the sole reason I just can't see Annie's Dad dying before their reunion.

About to be trampled

I find it curious how we don't even get to see a glimpse of the Rumbling happening. Isayama is usually so good at "show, don't tell", yet the last 2 chapters have just been Hange estimating the progress of the Rumbling. I wonder if Isayama has a plan for that?

The alliance won’t arrive Liberio because by the time they arrived Odiha, the Colossal Titans will have already destroyed northern part of Marley and approaching Odiha, the place where the Alliance and Eren will fight.

I'm really not sure. On one hand I can trust Hanji's geographical expertise, on the other hand, where can the final battle take place, other from a symbolic place?

ANNIE WORRIES THE CURRENT PLAN WON’T ALLOW HER TO REACH HER FATHER IN TIME. HOW WILL SHE REACT WHEN SHE LEARNS LIBERIO IS LIKELY DOOMED?

If Annie has to choose between the alliance and her father, the majority believe she’ll choose her dad. When asked how she’ll react if she learns Liberio is doomed, 51.4% believe at some point Annie will abandon the alliance to search for her father, 20.7% believe she will continue to help the alliance and 9.2% feel that her frustrations will boil over and she’ll take out her frustrations on the people she is travelling with.

god at least let Annie reunite with her dad

I’m hoping that Papa Leonhart lasts long enough to see Annie, and that’s all.

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO FIVE, HOW MUCH DID YOU ENJOY SEEING ANNIE TEAM UP WITH REINER, INSTEAD OF BEATING THE GOBSHITE OUT OF HIM?

After years of Reiner suffering abuse at Annie’s hand, she’s finally willing to let the Paradisians take care of the daily whack-a-Reiner session. And the overwhelming majority of you seem to appreciate this character development.

WHAT WAS THE BEST ANNIE AND REINER BATTLE MOMENT?

The teamup of the Armored Titan and the Female Titan was a highlight of this chapter, leading to many great moments, with Reiner protecting Annie as the voted favorite (44.1%). Coming in second was both of them being saved by Connie (26.1%), and the two Titans protecting the Azumabito snagged third place (11.1%).

Loved how Reiner protected Annie.

love how connie looks cool

i legit was afraid that the asian lady was gonna die while reiner and annie protected them, that was well drawn/written

IF PARALLELS BETWEEN FLOCH AND ERWIN EXIST, WHAT IS THE MESSAGE THEY ARE TRYING TO CONVEY?

Many in the fandom have pointed out potential similarities between the characters of Floch and Erwin, but whether they are valid similarities and what exactly is the textual purpose of them is hotly debated. The majority of respondents believe that one way or another, the parallels cast doubt on any similarities between the two, with almost half (44.6%) pointing to Floch’s bastardisation of Erwin and 23.7% believing that he is trying to imitate the former commander, but that there is no message behind it. A quarter of respondents (25%) believe that the parallels are indeed drawing similarities between the two characters, and 6.7% of you aren’t too convinced the parallels even exist.

Erwin seriously impacted floch but thats about it I dont think he is conciously stealing he is just using the words that made him march to hell and back.

Erwin was way more than "sasageyo" line and his lost army the comparison between him and Flock is lame.

Floch and Erwin are complete opposites are we even reading the same manga??

Erwin was fighting for HUMANITY. Floch has information that Erwin never knew and is fighting for the renewal of the Eldian Empire. I don't think it is reasonable to compare them in parallel based on this logic.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FALCO’S JAW TITAN?

Falco’s Titan makes its debut! It sure is something to behold – I guess Falco’s always wanted to fly. Wonder if he can now? The popular opinion at 46.6% is that he’s a weird looking guy but that we’ll probably grow to love his design. 33.6% already love it! 16.2% of you don’t know what the hell this thing is supposed to be right now, and a few of you were just scared. That must mean it’s doing its job! Little Falco may have lost control but his transformation helped turn the tide of battle, now that’s a real feather in his cap.

Love Falco’s Titan

We finally have Xenomorphs in AOT

Falco's titan is weird but unique.

Titan Falco’s mouth has a mouth. Wtf

his titans face made me annoyed. and the fur too.

Wait, did Falco just shift into a rooster? Just kidding, I love it. It's the only saving grace in this chapter. I hope it has a deeper meaning, too, other than just looking cool and being an element of surprise.

Unpopular opinion but Falcos jaws is overdesigned

Falco’s Jaw Titan, can’t wait for it to be animated

XENOMORPH TITAN

FALCO'S TITAN IS BEASTLY, HAS TALONS, FUR, A BEAK, AND JUST OVERALL LOOKS DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT AND PERHAPS EVEN LARGER THAN THE OTHER 4 JAW TITANS WE HAVE SEEN. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS?

This titan has more forms than a Dragon Ball character. The Galliard brothers' forms were incredibly similar and the others weren’t far off base. But Falco’s looks to be on a whole new level, why could this be? The most popular view is that Isayama’s just flexing his creative muscles, and about a third of respondents think it’s Falco’s animal characteristics coming out.

He likes birds

A bit of Zeke’s spinal fluid and Yams being punny.

All of the above, and also because we've been hinted about a flying titan, which is obviously going to be this bird.

Falco always wanted to fly away like a bird

I think it’s because of Zeke but I’m also wondering if Jaw titans are more beastial than other titans in general

He say bird be free and now he bird uwu

does Zeke even know that Falco is the Jaw Titan?

Falco name, but also a Berserk reference

It matches Falcos true bird-like character and fighting for freedom

Funny how it was speculated Falco getting the Beast Titan and turning into an eagle titan, and now his Jaw Titan looks like a Birdman.

PATHS has subconsciously made falco's fursona a reality.

THE JAW TITAN NOW HAS 5 TOTAL DESIGNS, MORE THAN ANY OTHER TITAN. WHICH ONE IS YOUR FAVORITE?

Hopping across the battlefield and from Shifter to Shifter, the Jaw Titan has come in the most forms out of all of the Nine Titans, but which one is the most popular? To probably no one’s surprise, Porco’s glorious lion-like form which made its debut in one of the most majestic Titan panels known to man took the top spot (69.5%). The hype of the recent chapter was enough to propel Falco’s bird-like form into second place (15.2%), with the presumably original Jaw Titan revealed in Ymir’s backstory coming in third (7.6%), narrowly followed by the OG (but technically not the actual OG) Ymir’s Jaw, and finally with the winner’s older brother coming in last (1.2%). Cheer up Marcel, you’ll probably get another flashback for your death soon.

The Jaw titan was one of my favourite designs but it's only now I'm realising it's definitely Porco's Jaw that was what I liked. Falco's might grow on me yet.

Why do Jaw titans have inner teeth the way they are? Shouldn't their purpose be the outer jaw/jaw muscles to crush?

I thought Falco's jaw titan was really badass and cool

All the Jaw Titans are actually great but I *had* to choose my girl Ymir's titan. Terrifying yet cuddly, and a lesbian disaster to boot. We stan <3

WHO DO WE NEED TO START TAKING GUNS AWAY FROM?

This year’s chapters have caused many to realise that Gabi and Floch are two characters who just won’t stop shooting people, whether they be titans, prisoners, engineers or flying bird nests, so we decided to put the two head to head, once and for all deciding whose gun is getting confiscated. While it was close, the majority have decided that Floch is the one who needs his favorite toy taken away (58.6%) and not Gabi (41.4%).

Floch, I hate you >:( you are a bad person

Fuck Gabi, Floch is amazing.

Floch's failures make me laugh.

ARE YOU HAPPY IT WAS GABI WHO GOT THE SHOT AT FLOCH?

This was one of our closer results this month but since it was a Gabi-centric question that is unsurprising. While previous polls have indicated hopes that Jean would be the one to take down Floch, it was Gabi this chapter who landed the first shot and the majority of respondents (30.8%) were delighted with that. The next largest percentage (27.7%) didn’t care who the shooter was, they just want Floch dead. The third most popular choice (23.1%) expressed disappointment that it wasn’t Jean. On the other end of the spectrum, 10.8% wish for Floch to live forever and 7.5% wanted it to be anyone besides Gabi.

Can't believe Gabi did it again. Shot a Yeager and now the main Yeagerist, lol.

I wanted Jean to kill off Floch forreal, but I am happy with what we've got.

Gabi baby i'm so proud i never hated u lmao.

I'm sad for a bit because I expected huge hairbowl chapter. Hope it will be in the next chapter, Jean vs Floch dialogues are always interesting.

Floch deserved something worse than having the hope of saving the day stripped from him before getting shot by Gabi. I'm not mad that Gabi got the honour to shoot Floch, but I wanted it to be someone more satisfying.

Too many MVPs this chapter, but ultimately Gabs got my vote caused I cheered when I saw it was her who shot fucking Floch. Go Gabi!

AFTER GETTING SHOT BY GABI, WHAT’S NEXT FOR FLOCH?

It’s been a popular view for a while now that Floch will die soon, and in this chapter he gave his final stand at the harbor. Only 8.2% think it actually resulted in his death, with the most popular view being that he swam to the boat and clung on to cause even more mischief. A final final stand, if you will.

Floch is on/in the plane right now. He will ambush them soon.

I wish floch is confirmed dead

Floch should live

Floch will have a role in the coming chapters

Floch seemed really pathetic this chapter, but next chapter I feel he's going to kill at least one person, maybe a few, so that's scary.

It’s kind of dumb that we are conditioned to expect that Floch is still alive

I don't see the point of Floch killing someone next chapter when it could've been done in this one (with more weight to the battle) so I have no idea what's his role now.

I expect Floch to stay on the island and die there, with the Yeagerist movement coming to an end. Shadis left some of his students these wise words of when to fight back, and the time is nigh.

If Floch is still alive and he's on the alliance ship, then someone (who isn't a Titan shifter or an Ackerman) is going to die in the next chapter.

THIS CHAPTER GAVE US ANOTHER ICONIC PANEL, THIS TIME HIGHLIGHTING THE NECESSITY TO HELP EACH OTHER OUT. WHICH DYNAMIC FROM THIS PANEL IS YOUR FAVORITE?

Former friends as well as foes helping each other stumble off the battlefield makes for a great and emotional panel. Just over half of you were most happy with Mikasa and Annie front and center (52.2%) after being famous rivals. Reiner’s bros helping him was also very popular (31.2%).

MIKAANI RIGHTS!!1!11!1! - hajime isayama, 2020

mikasa helping annie was cool because they have like the biggest rivalry against each other so it's cool to see them help each other

I loved seeing all the characters backing each other up.

I'm not sure why the poll makers are pointing the group panel as something positive. Don't you know these people tried to kill each other just last week in their world?

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF MAGATH AND SHADIS’ SACRIFICIAL SUICIDE PACT?

Let’s pour one out for CHADIS and MAGOAT, may they rest in PATHS. The duo’s sacrifice came out of nowhere but didn’t hurt any less, and 53.9% of you thought it was a fitting conclusion for both. 14.6% were just happy that they got to meet at all, fleeting as it was. 9.6% thought it was a great ending for Magath but were despondent over Shadis’ fate, and 9.2% vice versa. 8.6% thought the sudden loss of both was completely unnecessary. In any case, the star-crossed bromance was too explosive to last – may they continue to yell at Jaegers from the great beyond.

*ugly cries for Shadis and Magath*

I’m happy they were able to meet and I like the dynamic and parallels between them. They met a sad end but just like Porco they got to go out on their own terms. They’ll be greatly missed and appreciated.

Loved how both he and Shadis went out in a blaze of glory while reflecting on how proud they were of their students. Especially Magath realizing he wished for them to live normal lives.

That was a curveball I didn't expect at all and I was in denial when I read it and a few minutes afterwards. I was so hoping both of them would get to continue helping their protegees out with experience and all that. But I'm glad they got to meet. It felt like both of them needed that.

I would have preferred them to blow up the ship without them in it and then deciding to have a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid kind of ending, but utlimately, it works. They were dead either way, sinking that ship was gonna take more than a few thunder spears, they needed to ensure the Yeagerists couldn't catch up, and so, it works.

if either of them were injured and needed help to set up the explosion/defend the one setting it up, this would make a better sacrifice for both.

Shagath would've brought world peace. That's why they had to go

I understand the sacrifice and that maybe no one else had the guts to do the same, but Magath is such a capable leader and it feels like he perhaps wasted himself at the end there a little?

Both characters went out in a blaze of glory, Shadis helped derail the reinforcements and Magath was able to get Falco to safety before he did too much damage. Shadis saw this as a way to repay the debt of all those he lost while he was commander of the survey corp and Magath saw this as his way of sacrifice for what he has done to every Warrior.

It was satisfying to see Shadis do this, but I think Magath's change of heart happened too quickly for it to be satisfying for him

It wasn't a great ending and Chadis didn't have to die there

It wasn't necessary but not a bad ending for them.

It's Beyond the Wall from Game of Thrones again. Let's have a character absent for some time jump in, save the alliance by blowing up a train and die immediately. I hated that episode and I have mixed feelings about noone getting shot and having Shadis sacrificing himself.

It's certainly a meaningful way to die, but I regret all old characters are dying. If none of them will remain then who will lend their experience to new generations? IDK what is the message here, but surely resolutions for old characters are way more satisfying than for 104th and some other newer members of the cast (with exception of the children, they're handled the best).

It’s a good and sad conclusion for both, but I feel like we still need Magath cause he is the only Marlayan that is working with Eldians

It’s an ending on par with Erwin’s. They sacrificed themselves so the next generation can live to give their lives meaning, and to repay for the mountain of bodies they left behind. I hope the Kings shall meet in the afterlife

Kinda cheesy imo and also kind of rushing the end for shadis I feel

Like I said above, the sacrifice was rushed. It's a potentially great sendoff for both characters which is lessened by the breakneck pace the series is going.

sorry but it was really cheese, i hated the fact that shadis told the reclutes to join the jaegaergist but then he killed them on train

Not that fitting for Shadis but Isayama is definitely aiming for all the leaders alive here

Magath is probably one of the only people who could have been able to bring some sort of cooperation between Eldia and Marley, but I was satisfied with his sacrifice and how they met, its like they both gave closure to each others arcane

I like Shadis and didn’t care for Magarth yet I was still wondering why. I get it’s a shounen-esque story but even in Naruto the older generations played a role. Here they’re only good for sacrificing themselves (Pieck could have done it and survived the explosion)

I haven't finished a chapter in SnK in a long while that made me FEEL as much as this one did. And it's all thanks to the duo of Magath and Shadis. Honestly even though I can say I was never the biggest Magath fan, he really started to grow on me in the past 3 chapters. I never thought I would actually feel the burden of his sacrifice in my chest. He has my respect. I'll really miss him.

Keith and Magath are feasting together in Valhalla now.

NOW THAT MAGATH IS GONE, MANY HAVE POINTED OUT THIS MAY LIMIT THE HOPE OF PARADIS HAVING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH THE WORLD. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS?

Magath’s death wasn’t just emotional, but could have a big impact on the ending. Respondents were pretty split on this question, but the most popular view was that Paradis will still pull through and find a path to peace. The next most popular view at about 30% is that Paradis never had a chance even with Magath. 18.5% think Paradis’ hopes for peace did indeed blow up along with Magath.

Fuck who is gonna vouch for the PARÁDISIans now?1

Would’ve liked to see him survive to become a Paradis advocate

Magath was the most important person in Marley and the only person who could help to make some kind of peace between Paradis and the world. And now he just... decided to commit sacrifical suicide? C'mon!!! He was too important. Now I don't keep big hopes for peaceful ending anymore.

Who tf is going to reason with Marley nowthat Magath is gone. Paradis is even more fucked, not that they had any chance of having diplomatic relations with the world before....

I say that without Magath diplomacy is doomed, but they will probably use the Kiyomi card and Onyonkopon card along with the "humans for the rights of eldians showed some ch ago" card

With him dead, it seems that Paradis doesn't have anyone with sufficient standing throughout the rest of the world to prevent them from wiping out Paradis for sufficient time

He screwed up, he needed to stay alive to spare Paradis if the Alliance won, the honorary marleyns can't do that.

MOST INSPIRING QUOTE?

It wouldn’t be shounen without inspiring quotes, and we don’t have a shortage of them this chapter! A strong majority of you, clocking in at 42.6%, thought General Magath’s line about wishing “those kids could’ve lived a normal life” was most inspiring. Almost exactly tied (though the percentages might be deceiving, red has one less vote than blue), are Floch’s line about the fate of Paradis if Eren is stopped, and the Jean/Mikasa duo-quote about hesitation. Trailing a few points behind is Shadis’ “I’m proud of you” moment, and in last place was Floch’s “Eldia will be saved by me!”.

DO YOU THINK CERTAIN CHARACTERS HAD TOO MUCH PLOT ARMOR THIS CHAPTER?

With a big battle going on, did the appropriate amount of characters survive? The vast majority (46%) don’t care about numbers alive as long as the battle is well written. 22% believe the alliance does have too much plot armor, and 15.3% retort with the idea that everyone has plot armor. About 10% think Floch should have died by now and has taken all the plot armor. 7% don’t think anyone has plot armor, it’s a cruel cruel world indeed.

Feel like most of the plot armour people are feeling about this chapter is simply because none of the soldiers are taught how to wield the gun 3DM gear.

Too much unnecessary plot armor for the alliance .

The plot armor was beyond stupid with the Yeagerists turning into Stormtroopers

the plot armor is to thicc in this chapter,at least some of Kiyomi's men should have died.

DESCRIBE THIS CHAPTER IN 1 WORD.

Here are the top 5 descriptions of the chapter chosen by you, the fandom. You can find the average score for the groups between brackets. The average score for the chapter this month was 4.21 for comparison.

Amazing [4.84]

Great [4.62]

Awesome [4.67]

Epic [4.81]

Intense (shared 4th place) [4.5]

Honorable mention: Chadis

Also shout-out to the folks who were compiling a recipe. Seems to be lacking some carbs though. What cookbook were you guys reading this month?

BEANS

Paprika

goat

Nutty

Yummy

ISAYAMA RECENTLY SAID IN AN INTERVIEW THAT THERE IS ONLY 5% OF THE STORY TO GO. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS?

We’ve known for a while that we’re in the final arc, but now we have confirmation we’re really reallyyyyyyy close to the end. About 42% of readers expected it to end right about then anyways, while 28.8% think it’ll end up going longer, as Isayama’s extended past his percentages in the past. 19.4% are worried how the story will be wrapped up in that time.

A little worried, but I trust in Isayama.

AAAAAAAAAAAAH

AOT has been in my life since 2013 and is pretty much the last bit of my childhood still going. Of course I'm sad it's ending, but I'd rather it end than go on forever like the walking dead and so on.

As long as the ending is written well it doesn’t matter to me

Since I'm extremely new to SnK, I can't say anything about Isayama's writing habits and all that, but speaking as a fellow writer, I could see that he might underestimate the story that's left, though not by much. I'm also kind of worried that it might be a bit too soon but then again, SnK always has long chapters, so it might work out just fine.

The truth is sad to know that it is over, since I took a lot of love, but I know that the end will be amazing

I just want him to stick the landing, the amount of chapters left is not important.

I need Isayama to make more chapters so we can keep getting Podcast episodes of You Hear Big Girls

I can't believe how close we are to the end. I just know it's gonna get crazier from here on.

I expected this, but the closer we get the more clear it is that he needs to take more time to properly resolve arcs than he seems to want to.

I feel like we're gonna get a rushed ending and loose ends either ignored or tied up as throwaways

I feel that the story is going to end in an abrupt yet succinct way.

I have faith in Isayama no matter what he plans to do with the story.

But WHERE does Historia fit into that 5%

honestly a little more than expected

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO ONCE SNK ENDS HELP ME

WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER?

Absolutely dominating this question is the desire to see Eren’s POV (as usual), with 40.9% of the vote. Trailing quite behind at just under 16% is Historia, then.. uh. death and destruction, apparently. After that it gets pretty close, with Floch’s last stand trailing less than half a percentage point behind Zeke (who trails behind death and destruction). After Floch’s last stand, we have the desire to see an epic, carefree adventure on the ocean, followed lastly by Hizuru’s base.

Somethings up. We still haven't seen Eren's point of view, and there's dedinately a reason for it.

Nice! Now give me family bonding on the ship plz Isayama

Next chapters gonna be pretty cool imo, but the community will call it another "aLlIaNcE fIlLeR cHaPtEr"

Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren

Enjoyed seeing Floch finally getting hurt, his luck needed to end. I'm sure he's alive and in the ship, and I'm totally sure he'll take away someone's life in the next chapter. But please, Yams... Floch must die.

HISTORIA AND EREN POV

HISTORIA WHEN

I'm pretty sure the next chapter will take place on the ship, so I expect some good dialogue

I hope the boat setting will give enough time to address the untouched issues Isayama has been evading with those two groups interacting, mainly Levi and Annie. Or the Warriors acknowledging the massive sacrifices the Paradisean side is doing and stick up for them in a situation where they are successful.

when are we going to see História? She has been pregnant for too long.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES?

Reddit once again T-poses on all the rest of the platforms, coming in at just over 40% of the responses. Twitter follows it with 16.5%, and is in turn followed by people who don’t discuss the series at all. Behind that is Discord with 10.3%, and Tumblr with 8.4%. It’s astonishing to me how much the demographics of this poll have changed. Tumblr used to compete with Reddit, and now it’s so low on the list that it’s the last one with a section big enough for Google Forms to include the percentage number on it. The responses with no visible percentages are, in this order: Real Life (90 votes), Instagram (28), Facebook (19), Youtube (16), 4chan (9), the Wiki (3), Snapchat (3), and Steam (2).

Snapchat had 3 people. That’s 0.2% of the vote. That’s one more than Steam and tied with the Wiki. I’m in perpetual disbelief that it gets any votes at all, and I remain convinced that it’s some sort of conspiracy of people who forgo discussing the series on any of the major platforms just to discuss it on snapchat with each other, specifically so they can screw with me when it comes time to write the poll blurbs. Or they’re just lying… much to think about……..

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?

I just loved that the old 104th group despite what happened between them, how the people, the world, the history tore them apart is fighting together once again and protect each other like a big family

Calling it now, Zeke got vaporised in Eren's transformation.Still mad years later that freckle Ymir died the way she did and I choose to be mad because I was born into this world.

While it was an intense chapter that was exciting and sad I think it’ll move the story to the next stage in a really good way.

While the last few chapters were still really good, this one brought back the same unbridled hype I had when reading 116-123. We may debate cringevengers vs yeagerists, but I think we can all agree that this manga is still a fucking masterpiece.

Why does Isayama always crush all the good feelings you have during a chapter at the very end? The panel with all of them supporting each other was so powerful and heartwarming, not to mention seeing them all fighting together before and trying to reach the ship, and then Isayama just goes and kills Shadis and Magath. Freaking curveball at the end. RIP

I love gabi, BEST GIRL!!!

I love the alliance chapters and I'm not sorry at all!

Isayama as usual

Isayama, please, let Hange and Armin do something important before the ending, or their deaths

Isn’t 126 shit Tier writing but aren’t great either.Feels forced.

It felt a bit messy/clumsy at my first read, but at every reread it felt better, and I think the messy feel (compared to the smooth RtS arc) was deliberate.

Karl Fritz chapter soon

What a goddam pleasure to see yeagerists getting shot down, and what an extreme joy to see Floch's fans being overwhelmed by common sense from other fans

Where is Eren? We want Eren!

This was a good chapter. I really enjoyed it

Nearly all alliance members increased their kill count, except Levi, Yelena and Onyankopon. Gabi just shot Floch but we all know he isn't dead. They all sliced, decapitated, dismembered, crushed, shot people they once called comrades for some vague goal that might be completely meaningless, since, no one discussed any terms once Eren is stopped. And with Magath dead, they never will.

Kinda sad on how Armin's characters has been treated so far. Served as stair to Connie twice and now Isayama put him to sleep in the middle of the fight without any contribution at all... I'm a Armin stan and i'm bothered. Hope he gets some real shit soon.

After the Alliance noping out of Paradis, I wonder when they will return their homeland, and I think Floch is alive, but instead of sneaking onto the ship he will gather the Yeagerists to strengthen his control on Paradis, crowning himself as the King of New Eldian Empire. And more civil wars are on the way so stay tuned…

more mikasa pweeze

My old man once said "Alan Moore can't do endings," and I'm getting that vibe here, too--with everything that's come before, is there even a way to bring this story to a close that isn't too drawn out with answers to questions that didn't need asking, or a sudden cluttered mess wrapping as many subplots as it can in only two or three chapters at the expense of quality and feeling?

Need more shirtless Reiner

No matter what others may say, that was a great chapter. I loved the battle between the alliance and jeagerists. Few years ago, during the battle in Shiganshina they probably didn't even think about figting on one side with Reiner and Annie. I remember how they were trying to kill him and look where they are now. However, I get a feeling that after Magath's death there will be no hope for peace between Paradis and the rest of the world. I get a feeling that we may get full rumbling after all =/

no, its G O A T E D

Not a fan of the recent chapters. Feel like the story is telling me to root for the alliance, but I don't care about their goal and I'm with Eren 100%. I wish there were more characters in support of Eren and the rumbling. Floch and the yaegerists are great, but it's annoying that they are being painted as the evil bad-guys when their goals are noble. It's sad to see the main characters who've fought for their friends, families, and homes the entire series just completely disregard all of that and become willing to sacrifice it all for the rest of the world who hate them and want them dead.

Off topic: reiner is a snacc

One more month of no one having a solution to the actual problem other than agreeing that it’s a problem :/

The Survey Corps proved, once again, that they are not to be underestimated. They work seamlessly together and they respect one another.

The wait is torturous, but there's really no better way to be moving things along right now.

Theo Magath deserves a golden star for being amazing man till the end.

Why didn't the Yeagerists just Thunderspear the plane?

I’m sure I’m in the minority but the Titan fights are my least favorite parts of the story. So this chapter being largely comprised of them made it kind of meh to me. I feel like the plot is simultaneously going too fast and not fast enough. Chapters like this one make me very worried about how this will all end

floche: NNNOOO DON'T STEAL THE BOAT YOU'RE GONNA RUIN EVERYTHING HHHH

gabi: hehehe floche go boom

Hange's group are a bunch of hypocrites and traitors , hopefully they all die in the most grossume ways by Eren's hands .

I love Floch and the Yeagerists , they fought to the last breath for Eren , their home and people .

Keith is an idiot and died like an idiot .

I'm happy that Magath finally died hopefully the rest of the alliance are next .

i can't understand people defending Floch. You're siding with yeagerists ? Okay, but take Samuel, Daz or Louise as exemple, everyone except Floch. Floch was written to show the drift of patriotism. That is his goddam meaning. That what Isayama has been writing since Floch's reappearance. The same way Hanji embodies Survey Corps' values or Jean embodies the necessity to do the right thing. That are the writing purpose. Please, respect Isayama's work.

I love Attack on titan ❤️

I luv Floch

I MISS HISTORIA

I need Ackermans

Loved it, I'm enjoying all the time were getting with the alliance but I'm anxious to see what's going on with Zeke, Eren, & Historia.

overall pretty great! Gabi really needs to have her aimbot checked though :/

YAMS I’M STILL WAITING FOR PIECK TO ACKNOWLEDGE PORCO’S DEATH IN SOME WAY.

Where the fuck is Armin in that shot of everyone?

Floch is a great leader and the Jaegerists are not in the wrong.

I like koalas

you know my thoughts

Where's Eren

Where's Levi?

Wheres boriiiiis

i dont have any hope anymore i cant imagine them dead its too much for me damn u isayama

I genuinely loved it. I can't wait to see how it all ends.

I personally didn’t like it since it was the 6th alliance POV chapter in a row, and possibly the next two chapters will also be an alliance POV. I’m tired of the alliance and I don’t support their cause, so it’s kind of boring to read another alliance chapter after 6 months of alliance POVs.

I hate everything, why did Isayama had to take Magath away

I really liked that Isayama was still consistent with shifters not being able to control their titan the first couple times.

I really thought Armin was gonna help fight during the battle with his messed up zombie jaw, but instead he just kind of passed out and disappeared for most of the chapter. We're heading towards the end of the manga and I need to see more Armin scenes, I'm really rooting for him to be a key figure in talking to Eren/the general ending as a whole but as of now he's still just kind of useless.

I feel like that this chapter is foreshadowing the titan war. Remember in chapter 100 when the guy ( I can’t remember his name) said if Eren starts the rumbling, he will cause the titan war to start again. That might explain why Falco randomly attacked Pieck.

I remember Pixis telling Eren how he thinks about a story between mankind coming together against a powerful enemy, and Eren said it was rather optimist thinking that he doesn’t believe would truly work. He also mentions that they are hardly working together because difference in morals are to strong, they are not truly fighting together. But in the instance where Magath and Shadis were able to put aside their differences just so that their students may have a better future, shows that humanity can still exist, but unfortunately mainly when brought upon an unavoidable death which leads me to believe what will become of the alliance if they are forced into this position.

I hate the alliance so fuck it

I have no idea how this is gonna end.

I hope floch stays dead hes such a menace

I hope there’s a nice discussion next chapter

I hope this shit is over and we can have a better written material

Thought there was a bit too much plot armor ... especially with Gabi saving the day endlessly

I really hope we get back to focusing on multiple story lines in a single chapter, instead of following a single group. I wish we saw Shadis on his way to derail the train. I hope we get to see a group of Yeagerists in Shiganshina finding Zeke. Just give us a shot of the farm Historia is at. I'm really starting to miss the other story lines.

Ch130 Bert talk let's GOOOOOOOOO

Consistently good quality as expected from Isayama. I have faith he will continue releasing kino and stick the landing with the ending.

Cool, portrays the desperation of both the alliance and the Yeagerists

Could be better

Does the gang even KNOW that Shadis went boom along with Magath!?

I just hope Isayama gives Levi a death befitting a hero like he did with Shadis. I get AoT is not Levi’s story anymore but seeing him not being able to do anything really hurts. Even his own soldiers (besides the alliance) don’t respect him anymore, he doesn’t have anywhere to come back to. He probably won’t be able to kill Zeke (he never gets what he wants) but please let him die knowing he gave meaning to his comrades’ lives.

I wish Mikasa would be able to hate Eren at last. Still not happening 🤔

i wish we could have seen armin more— just my personal preference. i adore the man.

I wish we had the warriors' thoughts on Bertholdt but it wasn't the right moment at all. Maybe next chapter? I'd like them to mourn their comrade and friend. Hell annie and reiner spent lot of time with him reiner even had nightmares about him being removed from his titan. It feels so unsatisfying and frustrating. So great great chapter but please give a break to the warriors.

Great chapter. I was scared for our girl Pieck tho but glad to see her in action.

I wonder how Eren will react finding out how many have died in his name or against his cause. Shadis, Daz, so many Survey Corps peeps...

Good, but can we please get moving this plot along to eren/historia/zeke?

Goodbye, Shadis McChadis. You deserved a 200/10 exit, but you got a 7/10 instead. X'(

I don't care aobut anything else just show me eren

I don't care who you are just don't touch the Meme Queen! Goddamn Falco almost killed her.

I don't know

Levi being tied on Pieck and carried like a baby made me laugh so much

Glad that we're done with the port battle now

Levi is smol

Levi most likely left the alliance.

Levi so small

Levi still exists

Levi was cute

Leviiiiiiiiii

WELL SWEET MOTHER TERESA ON THE HOOD OF A MERCEDES-BENZ! YOU LOOK LIKE A BALD FUCKIN' EAGLE!

things make sense. The story is building as it goes, and Yams can’t go back an change it around. Eren POV is coming

Pieck didn't even try to stop Falco other than "noo don't go you're so young ahah" and that was pathetic. Having him die there would have been extremely effective and it would have been a great way to address the "random child inheritance" situation previously described

Please let the bastard really be dead.

PogChamp

Poor Annie. Dat powercreep.

Press F for Chadis

quite happy that floch seemingly survived, his speech kinda made me sympathetic towards him, shadis and magath were brilliant..rip

Really well drawn and very powerful ending.

So now everyone has left Paradis... do we have any other characters that can group up with Historia apart from Nicolo and the Brauses?

So sad the Bertalk has to be delayed but at least there's no option now. If the whole traitor parallel happens right after Jean finally gets to vent over Marco and they dont mention him once then... shit writing, everything is a coincidence and nothing is a parallel in this manga. Let Reiner be angry 2k20

Some good moments, sure, but PLEASE for the love of god can we cut to the chase now???

FLOCH GOAT. FUCK TRAITORS. SOMEONE BETTER GET FLOCH'S GLOCK.

Stop using our Eternal Commander Erwin for your fascist shit, Floch

Someone probably says that the chapter was rushed. However, I think Isayama has his plan, and he will put those flashbacks which you guys need soon, so don't worry about that :) I also want to know what happened to Historia and her baby while the league of SC and the Warriors was fighting in Marley. She plays an important role in the whole SnK plot, and before someone fortet her, we need our queen to come back.

Still cant take the alliance serious. They all acting out of character. Just hoping they will betray each other and the scouts will be on Erens side. Dont get why the alliance want to save people outside and for that Goal they slaughtering all their own people. That is also wrong like the genocid. It does not Matter, because killing is killing

Strong ending but I prefer dialogues over action. Also we saw nothing of Levi, he's being dragged around until he can meet up with Zeke, really convienient...

Surprisingly good

Every chapter that goes by without presenting a twist to this endgame makes me more and more anxious.

Annie looks very shocked to see people supporting her. Gabi can’t stop getting traumatised

ANY CHAPTER WHERE FLOCK GETS FUCKED IS A GOOD CHAPTER

armin suffered too much

I started to dislike AMJC. I understood why they opposed Eren (despite not thinking it through) but now they’re killing their own people to protect their “comrades” (who will cause trouble later because they want to kill Eren but Armin and Mikasa don’t). This for a small chance of maybe stopping Eren. If this had happened before he started his path of destruction I think I could understand, but now there’s no going back. Eren sealed the SoY’s fates in the eyes of the world. Hange and co had to realize the SoY would now be exterminated instead of enslaved because of the horror Eren unleashed, showing the world what just one SoY was capable of

I don't really have negative thoughts on the chapter other than Gabi shooting Floch, but if he survives then i'm fine. I just think the chapter was somewhat uninspired, the scenes between Magath and Shadis didn't hit the emotions they were supposed to with me.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE VOLUME ON THIS BUS IS ASTRONOMICAL

The dynamic between the Yaegerists and Alliance forces was really interesting and depressing to see. Floch's speech humanized them and they proved to be really dangerous by decimating Reiner and Annie.

The chapter was great, a lot of action, a lot of close calls. I really thought a lot of the characters like Annie, Reiner and Pieck were in trouble. I at least thought Pieck was going to die since she was in the jaws of Falco but she's fine so that's good. I wish Shadis didn't die so soon, but I guess Isayama is trying hard to wrap up loose ends before the end so I understand.

i dont want a sad ending.

was a nice chapter, it feels even better because it came after the extra long waiting time

I still don't like that AMCJ betrayed Paradis. All of their fights before with the Warriors were in vain and meaningless like this. Is this why so many of the SC died? Erwin and Bertholdt too. I don't hate them, but can't understand. Also, RIP the Yeagerists, it was a brutal massacre. F Chadis and Chadgath.

I still don’t see how they stop the rumbling so it’s likely they don’t do it but eren chooses to, talking could be underwhelming but if it’s future eren knowing this could lead to something that we don’t know yet and is the horrible thing grisha mentioned the rumbling or worse?

I think in this chapter alliance crossed the line and now they full of determination to end their job

I think it lacked armin or he was too deficient at the time.

Teenage go brrr and alliance has plot armor but thats expected they have roles to play like getting killed by eren

Thanks for the shout-out for our 'cockroach' fill-in last chap, it made our week!

The Alliance feels increasingly supported by the script.

The alliance needs to be dealt a blow or have some internal conflict other cab playground insults around stew.

The battle between the alliance and Floch & the Yeagerists is totally unfair .

The alliance had 4 titan shifters , 1 Ackerman , 3 skilled soldier and 1 skilled warrior in the battlefield .

Floch & The Yeagerists are not skilled soldiers but they proved their bravery and fought for Eren , their people and home to the last second .

This chapater was just a set up for what's to come so judging it harshly would be unfair

this chapter was emotional on all levels and we had some information about the rumbling. The alliance worked very well and Keith was a hero. He was a hero in the shadows and I am happy that he was able to meet Magath because it allowed us as readers to see these two commanders from a different angle. Keith and Magath had a lot in common and could have been friends under other circumstances. Their sacrifice was an excellent end to this penultimate battle. Now is the time for the last final battle!

#snk polls #snk poll #snk poll results #snk 129 #snk chapter 129

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catphistopheles · 3 years

Text

I wrote a Thing. And if there is any expressed interest in this Thing, I will continue to add little installments on Tumblr. It’s a heteronormative romantic comedy, kinda tropey, but it’s something I really wanted to type out and have fun with. I’ll continue to write it even if there isn’t any interest on Tumblr, simply because I want to write it no matter what.

So without further ado, here is the first and possibly only installment of *Insert Story Name Here When I Think of a Title*

Melli glowered down at the innocuous little slip of paper that sat on top of her desk. She tapped her paintbrush impatiently on her knee , and she was so aggravated that the tapping became more and more forceful, almost painful on her kneecap.

It was a wedding invitation.

Worse, it was a wedding invitation from her best friend. The one she had been in love with for years before he fell for another woman. Anders Nilsson. The man with the clever mouth and scrappy temper, the man with the charm oozing out of him, the man with the cold steel blue eyes and the hero jaw and the perfect hair and the whiskey-on-the-rocks voice that kept her company during her divorce.

They met, as gimicky as it sounded, on a random team assignment for an online game they both played. It was chance, their meeting. One in a million chance that she’d end up on the European servers to get paired with him. Her soon-to-be ex husband at the time just so happened to buy her both the game system and the game itself (as a bribery, a sort of “Sorry I cheated on you for the eighth time, please forgive me” present) the same week Anders just so happened to buy his after leaving rehab for a drug addiction he was determined to leave behind. She and Anders clicked almost instantly, formed a solid game friendship, and eventually branched out to all sorts of games, and even conversations through a messaging app on the phone, and eventually actual phone calls, and it just kept becoming more and more intense.

She left her shitbag ex, took the game system, found an apartment in a near city with her best friend, and started freelancing as a commissioned artist to make ends meet, the whole while kindling this strong sort of attachment to Anders. Anders was always there for her. He’d call her after he left work--with the time difference, it meant she’d get a good morning phone call every day as she got out of bed. She loved it. And he knew she loved it, and so kept it up just to put a smile on her face.

Melli once mentioned she wished she could see more of Sweden with him, and the next day Anders went far out of his daily commute to surprise her with photos of all the touristy things Stockholm had to offer; old town, with its colorful squished-together houses and cobblestone roads; the many rivers and deltas and lakes around his city; the giant city square with its vastly intricate paved gathering spots. He worked in construction and showed off some of the massive skyscrapers he had a hand in building. He was proud of his work, and his city, and gladly shared these with her at the drop of a hat.

He’d stay up past midnight telling her his most intimate thoughts and secrets. They’d had really good phone sex many times, and it was sadly and ironically the best sex she’d ever had. She told him she loved him. He rejoiced and told her he loved her.

She fell hard, body and soul, for this man.

And then he fell hard, body and soul, for another woman.

It wasn’t fair. Melli had been saving up money to go to Stockholm when he broke the news that he had found a girlfriend--in fact she was three quarters of the way to her goal. She had scrimped and saved and daydreamed and planned and painted her heart out to sell as many projects as she could (while still paying her bills) to be able to afford the trip. Anders and his girlfriend had a rocky relationship--very on again, off again--and Melli had secretly and ashamedly hoped it wouldn’t last.

But then again, the invitation on her desk. You fool, It seemed to gloat at her the longer she stared at it, You fell so hard and now you’re bruised and alone. She huffed and swept it off the desk and onto the floor, bitter tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She blinked them away.

Melli prided herself on not being a bitter person. She managed to go all twenty five of her years on this planet without holding grudges, or acting on spite, or being unnecessarily cruel or mean spirited. But there’s only so much heartbreak a girl can take…

She’d have to go to the wedding, of course. This was her best friend, regardless of any heartbreak, and he’d messaged her weeks ago and asked her to attend.

“It’s really important to me, if you’re able to make it. I know it’s an expensive trip, but you’re my best friend, Mellibelle. I’d love it if you could be there on the happiest day of my life.”

He was the only person she’d let call her by her full first name. It always made her melt when he said it in that accent of his, with that whiskey voice of his, and so she’d agreed before she could so much as think up a good excuse not to attend.

It wasn’t the money, of course. She’d become quite successful as a freelance artist--pet portraits, mostly, but every now and then a local gallery would arrange a sale of her less generic works--it was the reality of finally seeing him face to face, close enough to touch and hold and kiss, only for him to be completely off limits. It would kill her.

She had to go.

“Fuck,” she murmured, and begrudgingly powered up her laptop to look at flights and hotels.

Footsteps behind her signaled her childhood friend and roommate had woken up for the day. She heard Sofia stoop to pick up the invitation and pause to read it.

“Oof,” Sofia winced, her voice rough with sleep, “Are you going?”

Sofia, of course, knew the whole sordid history between Melli and Anders. Sofia knew everything about Melli by proximity alone: they’d been friends since elementary school. Melli swiveled in her chair to level a helpless look at her friend, who opened her arms to offer a hug, and the dam broke, and Melli was crying. Sofia stepped forward and enveloped Melli into her arms.

“Ah, dear,” Sofia said soothingly, pityingly, as she gently patted Melli’s thick dark hair. “Listen, I know this is going to suck. But you’ve always been so good at making the most out of sucky situations! Why don’t you use a little more out of savings and make it a miniature vacation just for you?”

A tiny spark of promise flared in Melli’s chest. She wiped her eyes on Sofia’s sleep shirt and glanced up at her friend. “A woman alone in a foreign country? Isn’t that just asking for a Liam Neeson film?”

The feeble attempt at a joke got a snort out of Sofia.

“You’re street smart and I believe in you. Just don’t go into dark alleys, don’t talk to shifty strangers, listen to your intuition, all that good stuff. You deserve a good vacation after that wedding.” Sofia leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss onto Melli’s forehead. “Treat Yourself: Unrequited Love Edition.”

Melli wrinkled her nose, swiveling back around to open several new tabs in her browser, mind reeling with possibilities. “Ew, don’t say unrequited love. Makes me sound so woebegone. How much do you think it costs to rent a boat?”

Sofia barked out a laugh as she made her way to the kitchen. “More than what you charge for a painting. But the wedding isn’t for another month so you have plenty of time to get cracking on a few more pet portraits.” (The click of the electric kettle, followed by a yawn.) “Maybe hit up Mrs. Marchpane again. Didn’t her seventh cat just have kittens? She’d probably love a family portrait to go with the fleet she’s already commissioned. She’s so… enthusiastic.”

“Not a bad idea! You’re on a roll this morning, and all before you’ve had your tea!” cracked Melli, typing furiously into a US Dollar-to-Swedish-Krona converter. She opened another tab and started typing an email to Mrs. Marchpane.

Dear Mrs. Marchpane,

I heard the Glorious Miss Tater Tot just gave birth to seven beautiful little kittens. Are you interested in a family portrait to commemorate this joyous occasion? I can give you a special rate as a congratulations….

Melli smiled to herself, floored by the plan that was forming in her mind.

“Sofia?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I owe you so many souvenirs.”

“Bring me back a moose and we’re even.”

“Deal!”

#unrequited love #the one that got away #tropes #unrequited love trope #unrequited romance trope #pining trope #pining #unrequited pining #I'm not gonna sugar coat it this is tropey as hell but i'm being shamelessly self indulgent here with no RAGRETS #Also yes I paint pet portraits and so does the protagonist but it's not a mary sue or a self insert #i just don't know how any other job works at this point and it's the easiest thing to use lmfao #write what ya know

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premiumpendeja · 5 years

Text

The Reunion - Sebastian Stan x reader

A/N: Sebastian in this suit makes me want to yell.

Warnings: some lAngUAge

y/s/n: your school name

y/f/n: your friend’s name

“Y/n! Your phone dinged again! It’s an email!”, I hear my husband of two years call out to me from the kitchen.

“Coming babe!”, I retreat from the bathroom after finishing giving Nova, our rescue pup, a bath and drying her off. I make my way to Seb, slower than usual seeing as I’m almost 6 months pregnant, and check my phone and see it’s an email from the high school I graduated from.

“Good afternoon Y/n Y/l/n, we would like to inform you that y/s/n will be hosting its 10 year reunion on the first of August at eight PM. We’re excited for you to join us on this evening to rekindle and reminisce. Attached below is the link to RSVP. See you there!``'' I read out loud to a very intrigued Sebastian, who is now holding Nova.

“They got my name wrong. I’m a proud Stan now.” I say, earning a chuckle from Seb.

“Baby we should go, it’ll be fun. Besides, I wanna see where you spent your so called worst years of your life”.

“I mean, it does sound interesting to go see how my former classmates moved on and I kinda wanna see if anyone aged bad. Is that bad?”

Seb comes over to me and wraps his arms around me and plants a sweet kiss on my lips and places his hands on my ever growing bump, earning a small kick from our little jelly bean.

“Not at all. Is there a dress code involved? Oh shit do I need to wear a suit?” I chuckle and reread the email. Lo and behold, it is a semi formal event.

“It’s semi formal, so I think you should maybe wear that light blue suit you wore to the Endgame premier, it really brings out your eyes and you look scrumptious in it.” I say with a cheeky grin. Sebastian smiles and kisses me once more, earning a small whine from Nova and her trying to squeeze in between our legs. We break apart and Seb picks her up and immediately she starts to lick his face.

“Welp, we should start planning what we’re gonna wear, it’s in like two days. I’ll RSVP and you call someone to watch over Nova for that night?” Seb nods and takes an excited Nova to our room. I call the number attached to the email and confirm our attendance.

-------------

“Y/n are you ready babe it’s almost 8 and we need to go.” I’m finishing up my last curl as Seb pops his head in the doorway of our bathroom. His eyes go wide when he sees me all dolled up and the vibrant yellow maxi dress I chose to wear accentuates my bump perfectly. He eyes me up and down and I see a mix of love and lust in his crystal blue eyes. He wraps his arms around me and rests his hands on the center of my bump and rests his chin on the top of my head, making me look tiny compared to his massive size.

“My my my Mrs. Stan, you look radiant. Absolutely breathtaking.” I let out a small giggle and melt into his arms. I turn and peck his lips and pull him out of our bathroom and out to the living room where my neighbor stands with Nova in her arms.

“Oh Mrs. Adams thank you so much for watching little Nova tonight!” Mrs. Adams is the sweetest lady and was the first person to welcome Seb and I here and she’s helped us with settling in and getting to know our surrounding neighbors on our floor. She even tells us the latest gossip going around our building.

“Not a problem dearie, you kids go enjoy your night out, we’ll be just peachy here.” With that, Seb and I head down to the lobby of our building and make the drive to my old high school. I haven’t been there since I graduated, I hadn’t even visited.

“You nervous bub? It’s totally fine if you are. Seeing old friends for the first time in a decade is pretty nerve wracking, but think about it as exciting to see old pals.” Seb takes my left hand in his right and runs his thumb over my knuckles, grazing over my wedding ring, then brings it to his lips in a sweet kiss. Consider my nerves dissipated.

We finally make it to y/s/n and notice a few old classmates making their way towards the cafeteria doors, it reminds me of going to homecoming for a second.

Sebastian parks and opens my door for me and leads me to the double doors and ushers me in, like the gentleman he is. Immediately upon entering I see that the whole cafeteria is decorated with balloons and the year we graduated and all that. There’s a whole buffet in the back and tables set up throughout the space.

Seb and I move to find a table after checking in and it doesn’t take long for people to notice us, seeing as I’m in a bright yellow dress, pregnant, and with Sebastian freaking Stan right next to me with his arm around my waist. My former classmates stop and stare, some with bulging eyes, some with smiles, and some with just pure shock. Part of me is thinking ‘ha look at me now bitches’ and the other part of me doesn’t want the attention towards us.

I hear faint whispers of “is that y/n?” and “oh my god”. Seb smiles at everyone and continues to usher me to the nearest table.

“I’ll be right back, dragă, I’m gonna make you a plate.” He kisses my forehead and head towards the tables lined with food. While he walks away, a few of my classmates come towards me and vacate the chairs surrounding me, but leaving one empty for Sebastian, I assume.

“Oh my god y/n how’ve you been? You look amazing, you’re glowing!” The first to speak is this girl named Rachel, I remember her from our pep rallies. She was fairly nice to me.

“I’ve been doing great, thank you, just getting ready for this little one to come, y’know.” I smile politely at the small group formed in front of me.

“How did you and the Sebastian Stan meet? Like, you’re literally married to Bucky Barnes!” Another girl, Erika, gushes. This question seems to get everyone listening intently. I smile at the memory of meeting the love of my life.

“So a few years ago, he was at this ACE comic con and I just so happen to be leaving from work and unfortunately I missed the ticket sales, so I didn’t get to go to the meet and greet but that didn’t matter when I bumped into him as he was leaving and I had a smoothie in my hand, strawberry banana to be exact, and I spilled it on my hoodie and the poor thing felt so bad, he kept apologizing and offering to make it up to me and I was still in shock that I had bumped into him in the first place. After I had snapped out of it, I smiled and told him that it was fine and I saw the opportunity and took it and asked him if we could grab dinner, y’know to make up for my smoothie. He immediately smiled and walked me to his car and took me to one of the restaurants he remembered from his last visit. Luckily it was just my hoodie and not my blouse. So we ate and talked all night, well until the restaurant owner closed up and we just went for a walk and exchanged numbers and the rest is history.” I finished just as Seb came back with two plates of food, setting one down in front of me with a cheeky grin.

“You telling them our fanfiction-esque meeting? I still feel guilty about your hoodie by the way.” He chuckles as he greets everyone and sits next to me.

Everyone around us is grinning at our exchange and gushing at how cute of a couple we are.

“Wait til they hear our wedding stories. Oof those are cheesy. So we decided not to get married in a church, we aren’t too traditional, so the beach it was. It was a bit windy that day but we had to suck it up. Our wedding was ocean themed, thus the beach being the location. I shit you not, I cried so hard when I saw her walking down the aisle. I was seconds from bawling, and so was she, she can’t deny it, I have photos.” Seb started to loosen up and feel more comfortable as he told the story and I can’t help but get lost in his voice.

“Our honeymoon was one for the books. I didn’t Y/n a thing about where we were going. I had packed everything she’d need so she didn’t get to ask. I took her to Santorini. She was floored. She’d always wanted to go and me, being the perfect husband, I made it happen.” Sebastian finished with the cheekiest grin at me and I literally had all heart eyes for him. I looked around at the group in front of us and heard a chorus of ‘aw’s’ and various compliments.

“Oh the surprises didn’t stop there. When we got back from our honeymoon, Seb took me to a dog shelter and let me pick out a dog and I saw this gorgeous little angel, she’s a great dane border collie mix and with one look I knew I needed her. We adopted her and now Nova is our pride and joy. She took it so well when we found out we were having a baby, she never lets me go anywhere in the house alone, sweet thing, and when Seb is traveling she gets even more protective, more so when I started showing. Now she knows she’s gonna be a big sister and always sleeps with her head on my bump.” I feel everyone’s intense gaze on me, and I turn to Seb, who has a glint in his baby blues, looking at me with all the love in the world.

Soon enough, everyone went to get their own plates of food. At the table we were sitting at, the rest of the seats were taken by my best friend, her husband, two girls,Haley and Lorie, I became friends with later in my high school career and their husbands. There was some mingling, catching up, some laughs, the usual.

“So Y/n, have you and y/f/n kept in touch since graduation?” Haley asks. I haven’t heard her name in a while now. We used to be really good friends until we just drifted apart. I would try to reach out but keeping in touch with her became difficult and I had hope that inviting her to the wedding would help patch up the loose ends. I feel Seb stiffen a little next to me, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the table.

“Um, no we haven’t. Not in about a year now. I tried to keep in touch with her and her family but I assumed she was always busy y’know. I sent a wedding invitation to her parent’s house in hopes that they’d see it and tell her about it, ‘cause I assumed she regularly visits them. I stopped by after a week in hopes to run into her but her parents said she wasn’t home and invited me to stay for lunch. I accepted of course and caught up with them, told them what the deal was and they promised to talk to her, I mentioned to them the invitation was for all of them, if they wanted to, of course, and they thanked me and sent some leftovers with me. The wedding was getting closer and I still tried to get ahold of her and nothing, her parents R.S.V.P’d so I had assumed she knew. Wedding day came and I made sure there was a seat for her just in case because I didn’t know if she was going to come, I’d hoped so, but all that dissipated when I noticed an empty seat next to her mom and I decided to drop it altogether.” By the time I finished telling the table, Seb was holding me hand reassuringly, my best friend was shaking her head disappointedly seeing as she was there when it happened and the rest were in shock. Seb was just as upset, if not more, as me when it happened and I remember her family apologizing profusely and I didn’t want them to feel worse so I just waved it off the best I could, but I knew they saw through it all. They promised they’d give her an earful and bid us their congrats and goodbyes. I haven’t forgiven her, even when she finally returned my calls and agreed to meet up with me. It was mostly me calling her out and her making excuses. I left it at that and from that point I haven’t spoken to her.

As the night goes on, I’ve caught up with most of the people I shared classes with and had a fair share of girls I never spoke to come up to me and act as if we’ve been friends for ages, just a little show for Seb and it made me want to laugh because Seb was clearly ignoring their little acts and kept his arm around me, making sure his wedding band was in view.

Right before the reunion ended, I was walking to find Seb so we could go home, but not before I bumped into Y/f/n. She seemed surprised at first, then a small smile and I could have sworn she looked a little guilty??

“Y/n, how’ve you been? It’s been a while, congrats on your baby.” She spoke as if nothing happened and I couldn’t care less if I’m being honest. I just smiled and thanked her and walked off. Well, waddled off to find my husband to get the hell out of here.

From a few tables away I see Seb talking to a few of the guys and smiles sweetly at me when I reach his line of vision.

“Hey angel, you ready to go?” He seemed to have seen the look on my face and knew exactly what had happened. I nod and grab my purse and hand him the keys. We say goodbye to everyone and finally make our way home. The car ride isn’t silent but it’s not filled with the usual boisterous conversation.

When we actually step foot in our apartment, Nova comes barreling towards us and Mrs. Adams is watching Family Feud in the living room. She notices us and greets us with her warm smile and we thank her for taking care of Nova and she waves it off with a smile and retreats next door.

“Baby, are you okay, you’ve been quiet the whole ride home, what happened?” Seb steps in front of me while placing his warm hands on my bump, earning some kicks from our lovebug. I wrap my arms around his neck and let out a sigh.

“I ran into her. She acted as if nothing happened. I just left her there and went to you. I wanted nothing of it. This was one hell of a reunion, I guess.” I whispered. Seb wraps me in his loving embrace and kisses the top of my head and helps me out of my dress and does my night routine for me. I love when he pampers me like this, he’s so loving in all his actions that it nearly brings me to tears. Nearly. While I’m changing into one of his shirts and sweats, he’s already waiting for me in our bed. Once I lay down he pulls me towards him and wraps his arm around my bump and holds me.

“I’m so proud of you, dragă. I love you so much.” He whispers as I drift off.

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan x reader #imagine #pregnant!reader #dad!sebastian #premiumpendeja #sebas #reader insert #fluff #sebastian stan fluff #angst

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ktheist · 3 years

Text

from this post.

The meaning behind my url: the ‘kth’ in ktheist stands for kim taehyung and ‘theist’ means someone who believes in god which just means kim taehyung is my lorde and savior amen.

A picture of me: i don’t feel like sharing pics at the moment. might change my mind in the future who knows i did it before (;

How many tattoos i have and what they are: none!

Last time i cried and why: i can’t remember but i usually cry when i found out i offended a close friend because i hate to be that offensive/hurtful person and end up keeping a distance from them so i won’t hurt them anymore

Piercings i have: none!

Favorite band: bts and blackpink

Biggest turn offs: when someone pushes/asks me to do something even though i said no the first time / i’ll do it later

Top 5 (insert subject): uh, like classes? ig English… and that’s it

Tattoos i want: none! i don’t like being in paineee

Biggest turn ons: when someone doesn’t rush me ehehe

Age: legal

Ideas of a perfect date: i can’t think of any at the moment, but in a way, i’m always on a date with myself and my perfect self date would be reading manhwa’s all day hehe

Life goal: to do no harm but take not shit

Piercings i want: none, i can’t stand paiNE

Relationship status: in love <3 with myself <3

Favorite movie: pride and prejudice 2005!

A fact about my life: i live in a rural area and got into a uni in one of the big cities. oh the irony.

Phobia: cars! driving! idk about you but driving is really taxing for me ):

Middle name: i’m good lol

Height: shorte

Are you a virgin? nah

What’s your shoe size? usually, i pick 37, i don’t know how long that’s supposed to be.

What’s your sexual orientation? confused but leaning towards diggity dong dong

Do you smoke, drink, or take any drugs? i don’t but only because they’re expensive lol

Someone you miss: min yoongi

What’s one thing you regret? my wasted potentials

First celebrity you think of when someone says attractive: min yoongi <3

Favorite ice cream? mint and ain’t nobody can change my mind

One insecurity: accidentally saying something hurtful to a loved one.

What my last text message says: "nah i’m going in blind” to my friend when she asked if i’m preparing for tomorrow’s tutorial

Have you ever taken a picture naked? who has never?

Have you ever painted your room? yes!

Have you ever kissed a member of the same sex? not yet

Have you ever slept naked? more like i can’t sleep with clothes on lol

Have you ever danced in front of your mirror? who has never?

Have you ever had a crush? yes, none of them work out and i end up with people whom i don’t really like at first but settled w bc ig i should grace them with my presence since they like me

Have you ever been dumped? yeah, i was lowkey glad it was over

Have you ever stole money from a friend? i mean i keep reminding my friends of the money they “owe” me ehehhehe

Have you ever gotten in a car with people you just met? guilty oof

Have you ever been in a fist fight? yes, shout out to my bro i might need some practice tho bc i’m a little rusty

Have you ever snuck out of your house? no, i used to storm out once lol bc i got so stressed out lol

Have you ever had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back? um, twice in my lifetime, i was so blinded by A’s face but a few months after i stopped talking to them, i realized my back hurt from carrying the conversation and B was cute but he was lowkey mean ):

Have you ever been arrested? nope!

Have you ever made out with a stranger? yes lol

Have you ever met up with a member of the opposite sex somewhere? yeah, the movies

Have you ever left your house without telling your parents? yes but i should’ve told them where i was going - i was that kid with poor communication skills

Have you ever had a crush on your neighbor? uh, ig? not really? idk.

Have you ever ditched school to do something more fun? YES like hangout with friends

Have you ever slept in a bed with a member of the same sex? if it’s just your normal kind of sleeping then yes, not a fan of sharing beds tho lol

Have you ever seen someone die? no

Have you ever been on a plane? yess

Have you ever kissed a picture? i’m pretty sure i have

Have you ever slept in until 3? LOL AM OR PM

Have you ever loved someone or miss someone right now? i have loved someone (maybe? idk i liked them bc they like me lol) and i don’t miss anyone rn

Have you ever laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? YES

Have you ever made a snow angel? no it doesn’t snow here ):

Have you ever played dress up? yes!!

Have you ever cheated while playing a game? ehehe who’s never?

Have you ever been lonely? a lot

Have you ever fallen asleep at work/school? yes lol

Have you ever been to a club? no but i wanna try going but w the pandemic going on ig i’m probably never gonna lol

Have you ever felt an earthquake? no

Have you ever touched a snake? no

Have you ever ran a red light? guilty

Have you ever been suspended from school? no hehe

Have you ever had detention? we didn’t have the detention system where i lived so no!

Have you ever been in a car accident? yes ):

Have you ever hated the way you look? yes ):

Have you ever witnessed a crime? yessss the crime of… being so gosh darn cuTE

Have you ever pole danced? no

Have you ever been lost? ngl lie i’ve been clueless about where i’m heading since day one

Have you ever been to the opposite side of the country? i was about to say yes but then i don’t even know what state is the opposite side of the country so

Have you ever felt like dying? yes

Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? yes

Have you ever sang karaoke? no

Have you ever done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? yes this bitch a hypocrite

Have you ever laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? just ONCE

Have you ever slept with someone at least 5 years older or younger? no but be fun if that happened (older i mean)

Have you ever kissed in the rain? no

Have you ever sang in the shower? yesss

Have you ever made out in a park? uh yes it was like past 11pm and nobody was around

Have you ever dream that you married someone? yea the dude was cute but i remember feeling like i wanna escape the whole “married for life” situation lol

Have you ever glued your hand to something? no

Have you ever got your tongue stuck to a flag pole? also no

Have you ever gone to school partially naked? sis i wear a hijab

Have you ever been a cheerleader? sis i wear a hijab 2.0

Have you ever sat on a roof top? yes!

Have you ever brushed your teeth? omg how did you know?

Have you ever been too scared to watch scary movies alone? yes i can never finish a scary movie on my own ):

Have you ever played chicken? no

Have you ever been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? no but i’ve jumped into a pull with my clothes on

Have you ever been told you’re hot by a complete stranger? yea it was nice at that time but now, i’m like what makes a stranger think i’m interested in what they think about me lol

Have you ever broken a bone? no

Have you ever been easily amused? yes lol

Have you ever laughed so hard you cried? yess aaaaa the good old days

Have you ever mooned/flashed someone? isn’t that sexual harassment?

Have you ever cheated on a test? LOL what’s the point of not cheating if you have every means to cheat?

Have you ever forgotten someone’s name? all the time honestly my brain is a shite dump of all the useless infos but never the important ones like names or if i already talked about something with a certain person and then i’ll end up asking them again about that topic (excitedly at that)

Have you ever met someone who didn’t seem real? i haven’t met min yoongi but yeah, there are some pretty and elegant girlies that make me go :o

Give us one thing about you that no one knows. is it supposed to be deep because ig no one knows but i’m currently hungry

#cara the clown #as per usual i'll delete once i get tired of seeing this on my blog #yay for oversharing

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softforcal · 5 years

Note

Okay okay. How about the classic Slytherin x Hufflepuff relationship between Slytherin!cal and Hufflepuff!reader??

SLYTHERIN!CAL X HUFFLEPUFF READER

-this got requested like 10 times so here we go lol

-Slytherin Cal is the Slytherin Prince

-he’s gorgeous. captain of his Quidditch team. the Hood family is a Slytherin legacy. he’s smart. he has girls at his feet 24/7. he’s living the life.

-everything comes easy to him

-and then he meets you

-you’re the sweetest little Hufflepuff he’s ever met

-too sweet

-so sweet that the first time you meet him, after a Slytherin Quidditch win, you have no idea he’s flirting with you

-Cal is shook because he thinks you’re friend-zoning him

-like, he tells a joke and you laugh and reach up and squeeze his cheek, “you’re so funny.”

-this boy flushes like it’s nobodies business

-and you don’t even notice cuz you’re just a happy lil Puff

-you walk away and Calum’s buddies come up to him and are like “did that girl seriously just squeeze your cheek?” “better question, did you LET that Puff squeeze your cheek?”

-Calum is still shook

-cuz he’s the gorgeous Slytherin who makes girl melt

-squeezing peoples cheeks is HIS move

-he thinks about you all night

-the next day he sees you in the hallway and comes to walk next to you, “hey Puff.”

-”hey there!” you smile

-you talk for a bit while walking to the great hall and when you get there you’re just like “you know, people always say you’re scary but you’re really not. i think we’re going to be great friends.”

-did you just friend zone him.

-Cal stands there in shock because that seemed like a hard friend zone

-and he has never been friend zoned before

-ever

-it totally hurts his pride a bit

-he goes to his table and everyones like “so you and Y/N?” and he’s just like “i think she friend zoned me.” and they’re all shook

-the entire group staring at you and you wave from your table because you’re just a happy puff who think you and Cal gon be friends

-like. he’s gorgeous and you’d be down, but you’re an unassuming puff

-and Calum is determined to not be in the friend zone, so the next class he has with you, he sits next to you

-”hey!” you grin

-conversation is easy with him

-like, he’s so confused that it’s so easy

-and you’re so cute

-he is so soft for you already

-and he actually kind of enjoys getting to know you like a friend

-cuz usually with girls he’s going for sex so….

-like other than his three best friends he doesn’t have many actual friends, just acquaintances

-and just like that, he actually starts hanging out with you as buds

-and yeah, part of him is still hurt cuz he’s friend zoned, but like… meh, it is what it is

-Calum would respect it

-so you actually become buds

-and people are sorta shocked because Cal has that scary reputation but there he is with his lil Puff

-like people are shook that you two are friends

-and his other Slytherin buds completely accept you too

-and none of them ever bring it up but its definitely an underlining joke that Cal is friend-zoned

-but then slowly each one of them makes a pass at you and gets friend-zoned too so…

-like Luke coming into the common room and he’s just like “and she fucking friend-zoned me too.” and everyone laughs because same

-we’re talking so friend zoned you literally help them each get girls

-so you’ve been buds for a month or two and you’re at a Slytherin afterparty after a Quidditch game and Luke is drunk as fuck and comes over and sees that you’re looking at Calum talking to a girl and is just like “its hilarious that you friend-zoned him. thats never happened before.”

-and you’re like “what?”

-”you friend-zoned him.” Luke states and you’re just like “no i didn’t. he friend-zoned me.” and Luke’s like “no he fucking did not.”

-you both turn to look at Calum and Luke just grabs you and is like “be happy little butterfly! tell him he’s not friend zoned!” and then pushes you in Calum’s direction

-drunk Luke thinks he’s a matchmaker

-”wait Luke! does he even like me?!” you ask

-”pfff oBVIOUSLY!” Luke pushes you harder

-so you walk over to Calum who’s just like “there’s my best bud” cuz you’re THAT friendly with each other

-and you’re just like “see this is why i thought you friend-zoned me!”

-and he looks down at you and is like “no you friend-zoned me.”

-”did not!”

-”did too!”

-”did not!

-and then he just grabs your face and kisses you and you just melt into it

-because you both have been holding back this entire time to be respectful but now you dont have to

-its really passionate. all this pent up tension

-you two are so lost in each other, it’s not until his hand goes down to your ass that you realize holy fuck you’re in public

-and you pull away, pushing on his chest and laughing as he grins, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you to his chest

-”fuck, thank god i’m not friend-zoned anymore.” he teases

-”you never were!” you insist

-”sure.” he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes and making you laugh as you cuddle closer

-all his buds watch and Luke’s just like “and that is how you play cupid.” because this Slytherin fuck was not drunk at all and it was a meticulously planned assault

-no one’s seen Calum so soft before

-and he’s never had to wait to kiss someone for so long so boi straight up saw fireworks

-and you being in his arms is chill, but he misses your lips after like a minute

-but also, who would have fucking known that having a cute puff in his arms would make him smile so much?

-like he always wanted to be more than friends but even just as friends he was so happy so now he’s just like… woah this is next level

-so he’s out of the friend zone which is chill but now he’s gotta figure out how to get to the boyfriend zone

-you spend the whole night together, his arms around you as you goof off with his friends and stuff like normal, but you’re both GLOWING

-it just feels like you’re a couple already

-and he knows it would be SO EASY with you

-because, fuck, he adores you so much

-and he’s never had that

-you finally need to head out and he offers to walk you back to your common room

-talking on the way back about why you both thought you were in the friend zone

-”you started it when you pinched my cheek the first time we met and then called me a friend the next morning.” he points out

-okay… so like… true “but i’m a Hufflepuff! thats a thing we do!”

-”i have never seen a Hufflepuff do that so now i know you’re lying.”

-laughing a lot

-getting back to your common room and you turn to hug Calum like you always do when he cups your face and kisses you again

-he gets you wedged between his body and the wall

-and boy is kissing you like his life depends on that shit

-you’re the air he needs to BREATH

-his mouth goes down to your neck and you have to stop yourself from moaning and you’re just like holy fuck, Slytherins are into public stuff but woah

-its kind of a mind fuck because ya’ll were just friends but oof, this Slytherin boy is sexy as shit

-and he is an amazing kisser

-you finally pull away and he’s just like “lets go on a date.”

-you agree and move to go into your common room but he steals one last kiss before flashing a cheeky grin and a wink while you leave

-you both freak out as soon as your out of each others sights

-like this guy is used to getting attention and being at the top of the world but you’re a little slice of heaven, and he intends to get full entry to your gates if you know what i mean with this oddly specific and weird metaphor

-anyways

-you guys are still buds so you hang out like normal and the date is pretty chill too, like you two have gone to get butterbeer SO MANY TIMES but this time is different because he holds your hand on the walk down and insists on paying for you

-and you two are already so comfortable so it feels like any other day, except he’s touching you more and you are LOVING it

-this boi doesn’t even LOOK at other girls anymore

-walking back up to the castle and he’s just like “wanna just be my girlfriend? i know we’ve only had one date but-”

-“yes.” you answer before he can finish his sentence

-he kisses you, lifting you off the ground and spinning you a little before setting you down, a huge smile on his face

-who would have fucking known that all it takes to get a Slytherin like Cal to become soft is a squishy lil puff?

-it just makes sense for both of you

-its just a wholesome friendship that includes kissing

-so much teasing still

-not much even changes except the kissing tbh

-and then for his first game since you became official he gives you his scarf which is like… swoon am i right?

-you’ve always felt pride watching him play because he’s amazing but this is next level

-coming onto the field when he wins and he just lifts you up bridal style and spins you around and makes you laugh and is just the softest munchkin

-everyone is so shook at how soft he is

-but he gets serious fast

-like if anyone makes any sort of anti-hufflepuff remark, Calum will cut a bitch

-he’s the new leader of the protect hufflepuff squad

-he has a resting bitch face but as soon as you show up he melts

-so people always know when you enter a room because his entire body just relaxes and he smiles at you

-”there’s my girl.”

-umf. like, protective possessive Slytherin but also super soft

-and he will fight anyone who fucks with you

-like as soon as he sees you upset he’s like “who do i have to fuck up?”

-this bitch will straight up employ Michael to help prank a teacher if they give you a bad mark

-and Michael is always down to prank teachers

-yeah, boy always offers to fuck people up and you usually think he’s joking and laugh it off and he usually doesn’t actually fuck people up, but he WILL if you ever were really hurt

-sleep overs in his bedroom where you stay up late cuddling and talking about life

-tracing his muggle tattoos and asking him if they hurt. he tries to show you wha the pain is like but can’t bring himself to actually hurt you and ends up laughing and pulling away

-can you imagine you’re first time where he’s pulled away because he doesn’t want to hurt you while showing you what a tat would feel like and you’re just like “it’s okay. if you hurt me.”

-this boy just freezes

-and stares at you for a long while

-then he’s kissing you roughly and pressing you into the bed with his body

-and he’s going hard and rough but you’re loving it because he’s your Slytherin dom babe

-tearing your clothes off and going to town

-he would definitely make you cum with just his mouth first because babies gotta show off dat Slytherin tongue if you know what i mean ;)

-he honestly thought the first time you fucked would be more Hufflepuff-y and sweet and slow and passionate but you telling him he could hurt you got him feeling some sorta way fam and he can’t even stop himself

-and your sounds are driving him wild

-he’s super into the whole innocent Hufflepuff being kinky for him

-dirty talk about it

-”you like that puff? you like being defiled by a Slytherin?”

-of course he’s gotta bring houses into it because its a classic Slytherin move

-its amazing

-even asking him to leave the rings on while choking or spanking and he has to actually stop for a moment to collect himself because FUCK

-afterwards you both cuddle and it’s super soft and Hufflepuffy and he’s just like holy fuck was not expecting that

-this would just be a very wholesome relationship fam

-a strong, protective asshole who’s soft just for his sweet lil Puff

-im here for it is all i’m saying.

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