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#someone do a buddy read with me before I perish
dresmire · 2 years
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nothing is sexier than a good shelfie, yes? 
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alhaitham-shrine · 1 year
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if you are comfortable with cyno or childe then may i ask for cyno/childe bc i think it's funny (also bonus points if they're roommates/gym buddies/partner project partners/whatever scenario forces them together)
chicyno
[i see, you are also a creature of taste!! I couldn’t decide whether to make this gay or keep it platonic so I leave it up to you to decide ^^]
roommate applications at the Akademiya are…. stupid, in Cyno’s opinion.
The Akademiya sprawls on a slope overlooking the Visshudha Fields, but if Cyno stands on the furthermost balcony and pushes up on the banister until he’s on the tips of his toes he can see-- distantly, like a mirage wavering in the heat-- the sand dunes that denote the existence of his home. Even now, three years into his studies, Cyno finds it hard to ignore the heavy knot of homesickness that settles uneasily in his stomach, harder still when he knows he’s about to be forced to spend the next year with yet another poor unfortunate foreigner. It’s by some cruel twist of fate that Cyno always ends up with roommates who speak entirely different languages to him, and not even Alhaitham’s monotone tutoring had helped him in any way.
No matter, Cyno thinks, turning away from the balcony and returning in the direction of the dormitories. I have weathered far worse. I can survive once more.
---
Cyno cannot, in fact, survive once more.
He pushes open the door to his suite, bag dropped haphazardly at his feet, only for his eyes to land on the last person he had expected to be lounging so comfortably in the living room. Childe Tartaglia, of all people, a rather infamous exchange student known for the chaos that follows him with every step. He exudes an air of impropriety, from his sharp smile that digs into his cheeks, to the way his eyes-- dull, like sea glass or stillwater-- glint inhumanly in the low light of the living room.
Childe, though an exchange student from the frozen forests of Snezhnaya, was well-versed in the language of Sumeru, though he oddly spoke it with the accent of someone who might be from Liyue. He definitely didn’t look like he was from Liyue… Mondstadt maybe, but the easy sunburn along his nose spoke of far less resistance to the sun.
“Cyno!” Childe chirps, smiling like a cat. “What a fun twist to the story, wouldn’t you say?”
Cyno just stares unblinking for several seconds too long, very aware of the role he plays as the canary, before promptly bending down to pick up his bag and breezing through the living room to lock himself in the privacy of his room.
---
When the moon's shadow shattered, hordes of beasts emerged from the deepest depths of the abyss and devoured living creatures by the thousands. Of those she created, none could escape their destined annihilation. The goodness, peace, and wisdom she had bestowed — all perished before this pure malice without exception. Under that sneering waning moon, the black tide of decay surged--
A mop of unkempt red hair pops up in Cyno’s peripheral vision, the tightening of his hand at the spine of the novel the only telltale sign of his sudden discomfort. “Ooh, are you doing some light reading or is this coursework?”
Cyno slowly closes “The Folio of Foliage”, closing his eyes briefly against the tide of unkind words that rise to the tip of his tongue. The words themselves almost sound like Dehya-- perhaps he’s spending too much time around her. “I didn’t know you were coming home so early. You’re usually out late.”
Childe just hums, one hand grasping the back of the couch as he leaps over it to settle clumsily at Cyno’s side. The shorter boy feels the muscles along his shoulders tense, and he forces himself to remain still as Childe adjusts to a comfortable position. “I got stood up, so I decided to cut my losses and come back. Goddess help me, the women of Sumeru are just as, if not more fickle than those in Liyue.”
Cyno traces a finger along the cover of his book. “You’re not from Liyue, are you?”
“No, Snezhnaya born and raised, but I--” Childe pauses, and Cyno looks up through his bangs to find Childe frowning briefly at his hands. They’re long hands, those of an archer maybe, with red knuckles and finely shaped nails. Cyno blinks and looks away just as Childe turns back to him. “I studied there, before coming here.”
“That’s a long time to be studying abroad. Do you not miss your home?”
“Do you?”
Cyno thinks of the endless expanse of sand, and the warm embrace of a never ending sun. “My home is not so far away as yours is. And I’m sure you miss the cold. We don’t have that here.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed,” Childe laughs, throwing one arm along the back of the couch, too close to where Cyno’s head rests. “After so much time in Liyue, though, I’d like to think I’ve acclimated to the sunny weather. I definitely don’t think I’d fare very well in the desert.”
Cyno smiles, ducking his head further. “I imagine you’d turn as red as a zaytun peach. If you thought Sumeran women were hard to please before, the desert would not be your wingman.”
There’s a brief moment of silence that hits Cyno like a sumpter beast straight to the chest, and he recalls Alhaitham once telling him that what he considers jokes, sometimes become unfunny in the time it takes to travel from mind to mouth. He turns toward Childe with every intention of apologizing, only to find Childe already looking at him with a stunned sort of smile on his face. It still cuts across his cheeks like a suture, but the deep crescent dimples it leaves look softer than usual.
“And here I thought you were as rigid as stone, mahamatra.”
Cyno winces, feeling his ears burn. “My personality is not always a reflection of my prefect title, Childe.”
“Ajax.”
“What?”
Childe just grins, and his hand brushes Cyno’s shoulder as he pushes himself back to his feet. “I’m gonna make pierogies out of boredom. If you decide to run to your room again, mahamatra, I’ll leave some for you.”
And with that he walks around the couch and toward their shared kitchen, and Cyno…
Cyno enjoys pierogies very much, actually. He enjoys more the way Childe, once seated beside him once more, throws that same arm across the back of the couch, fingers occasionally dancing along Cyno’s shoulder.
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foxbox21212 · 13 days
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Someone asked me today, “What if Jesus is actually the devil?” And I think this is a silly question, and I’m about to break this down as short as I possibly can…
To understand if Jesus is God you really need to understand the entirety of the Bible. You need to understand who is Jesus and who is Satan. Who are they and what are their characteristics. People often times more often than not 9/10 times people confuse God with Satan. Because they do not understand the Bible. And not only that, but 9/10 times they ALSO don’t understand what God and Satan appear like in the world, also because of their lack of knowledge.
My friend Mac once told me, “You’re smart like me, you think a lot, but you need more to think” and maybe this is what inspired me to start watching videos and podcasts all the time every single day at work. Idk regardless though, you do need knowledge because “people perish from the lack of knowledge” That being said, you need not only knowledge, but wisdom. We need to live through the Bible which I swear only comes from meditation on the word and understanding the word, which is God. I’ve been through so much in my life. Some people don’t even end up learning about things I know until their life is almost over. Or maybe they never learn. Sometimes I question, “Why did you pick me out of all people to find out about all this God? Why?” God truly knows when we are ready and ready to receive and ready to listen. I had to go through so much so early in my life! Divorced parents, abuse, toxic parents, toxic relationships, being poor, being mentally tormented, doing witchcraft, soo many things I had to go through so much to actually understand the wisdom of the Bible that speaks about these matters. This isn’t always the case with everyone, but in my case, it was because I was made to be a uniquely particular way to reach particular people. I swear you read the Bible and it just gets so true more and more true… Like wow that is how famous people act, that is how unbelievers act, oh that’s why Jesus says not to do that, oh that’s why the weather is changing there, oh that’s why we don’t do witchcraft, oh that’s why I was saved from suicide. I swear I have a question and the Bible just answers it all of it.
It seems very contradictory and confusing this question seems. (Which news flash if you didn’t know, the devil is always confusing and contradictory and lying to you) Why make a book that is half true? Why make a book so meaty? Why save me from suicide? Why save tons of people from suicide? Why heal people? What is the point of God if he is the devil that makes absolutely no sense at all. That’s actually laughable. Because guess what, when I was doing witchcraft demons were trying to kill me because I was officially their threat and I knew too much. Satan is not your “little buddy” you are his basketball. He will do nothing but step on you. And like I said, I had to go through so much, see so much, be exposed to so much, to fully understand this. Like honestly why wouldn’t I love God now? He has done nothing but bring me true joy and peace like no one has ever given to me before. And I truly mean that from the bottom of my heart. I could be stripped in jail and Christianity could be illegal in 15 years and I’ll still be on my knees worshipping God with my whole soul. Like I just don’t care anymore I’ve lived through the Bible. When times were tough, I spent my time with him and I don’t regret it at all because he showed me he was there and eventually answered all my prayers and questions.
Someone once told me “if God is real I win. If God isn’t real I win.” What this means is, if God is real you win the greatest prize known to man. If God isn’t real you had a great morally superior life full of less regret, knowing you did what you can to the fullest extent. You had a great life filled with the fire of love. And you ended up becoming a light to a dark world.
And guess what, you’re either filled with the fire of love, maybe new profoundly maybe he healed you of this, I don’t know, or you’re just burnt out. You are either in the light or the dark. People in the dark live the exact opposite way that the Bible says Christians should live. And I can guarantee you it’s not working for them because they weren’t made to be that way. There is nothing truly enjoyable, truly good, or natural about it. So in conclusion, this isn’t a simple question with a simple answer. You can’t just say “jesus isn’t the devil” you have to truly know why. I think it’s sad when people don’t have the knowledge or wisdom to understand why. We aren’t God, we won’t know everything, but God will give us enough to understand because he is God. And the more we abide in him, he will reward us by answering our hard questions.
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pokemon-teacology · 4 months
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I went out on a night out with my friends tonight, it's been absolutely perishing (-5°C) outside which has been rough but!!! But but but I'm kinda sure the pretty bartender at this one place was flirting with me???? According to my friends that's the case???
Essentially, I told her her hair was nice, she thanked me and complimented my eyeliner, then the machine wouldn't read my card for some reason and she paid for my drink???? Which was so sweet???
My friends started gassing me up for it but I was Not having it
H o w e v e r the next time I went to the bar she served me again and I joked that I'd pay this time, but then she was like "oh i dont care, ill pay for it again if it jams up" like???? TvT so sweet
My friends tried to get me to ask her out directly but I am not about to do that when someone is at work and can't leave if they're uncomfortable, that's not cool
So when I finished my second drink I put a note in the empty glass (a method my friend gave me) thanking her for the drink and asking if i cpuld return the favour some time (with a small note saying that its totally okay if she doesnt want to) with my number on the back
Then I swiftly left before I melted into the floor and continued with my night out. My buddy had a quick glance on the way out and she definitely saw it and smiled to herself.
So I guess we'll see??? If nothing else I suppose she appreciated the compliment, worst case is she doesn't message me. But! I'm glad my friends forced me into it bc she was so so pretty and it upped my confidence a bit :) she had a lil joltik on her shoulder, too, which was the cutest darn thing.
Anyway I'm back now and doing my bets not to die of the cold. I head back home to Galar for the holidays (until late January) in like 10 days so soon enough I wont be suffering like this anymore and ill be nice and warm in my home with my family nearby and all the extra blankets i could dream of :) and double glazed windows
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crybabyddl · 3 years
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I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO REITERATE SOMETHING
Yes, let’s circle back to the beautiful performance of Edge of Great. More specifically the BODY LANGUAGE, particularly Julie and Luke’s, which I will be analyzing with gifs.
Exhibit A
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Jealous Luke looks over at Julie and Reggie vibing
Julie is aware that she’s avoiding Luke, which she is doing so bc she realized her feelings for him thanks to Flynn earlier in the episode.
Since Julie has put the task of ignoring Luke upon herself even though she has no obligation to, she ends up failing her own mission. She sees Luke’s reaction to the lack of her attention.
She literally FREEZES. She’s emotionally worried to confront what she’s feeling and it’s beginning to manifest physically.
Exhibit B
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It gets better y’all. After Luke finally has even a crumb of Julie’s attention, he beckons her over with his signature head tilt. This is important bc he did this with his longtime bandmate during the soundcheck of what would’ve been their biggest performance. If he feels comfortable enough using that body language with a girl he’s only known for, what, a week and a half(?) then you know this puppy boy’s got it BAD.
Julie is well aware that Luke is getting jealous. But in classic Julie fashion, she will try to tune it out instead of addressing it. Our wicked beauty doesn’t like confrontation and would rather just deny and avoid than potentially make things awkward, especially when she knows Luke would ask her about it at a later time.
The look on Julie’s face. Her eyes widen and the classic tight-lipped awkward smile is present. She’s literally saying “ok enough of that let’s get back to work doo doo doo” with her face. The way her body SWINGS back into performance mode as she faces the audience again. It may have been a split second, but when you’re deliberately trying to avoid looking into the dreamy (dead) eyes of someone you shouldn’t be crushing on, any amount of time feels too long. Plus, she knows Flynn is watching and doesn’t want her to lecture her (but she does anyway bc Flynn is observant and knows her bestie too well to let any action slip past her).
Exhibit C
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Keep in mind; NONE OF THE GUYS KNOW WHY JULIE IS AVOIDING LUKE. Flynn, Alex, and Reggie have noticed the Juke chemistry, but it’s still too soon for them to get past the “we like each other but we’re too clueless to notice that we reciprocate” phase, so even though their respective besties know, they are still denying. Besides, Reg, Alex, and Flynn know better than to keep pestering if they want to keep their kneecaps. In reality they’re both smart enough to tell by this point, but for the sake of the plot and to make everything more adorably frustrating, Flynn has the collective brain cell under lock and key, leaving Juke to be like *dog tilting its head and making that “a-roo?” noise*
Anyway, Reggie notices Luke being snubbed after realizing that his extra dose of Julie time was slightly out of the ordinary. Luke is clearly concerned (look at his eyebrows and how his eyes travel from Reggie, to Julie, then to the audience to trying and get his mind off it and bring his focus back to the main goal; the performance.) If he can’t have the moment of connection with Julie that he so desperately craves, he’s gonna fill that void as best he can by connecting with the audience. >:’)
But Reggie’s trying to help Luke brush it off by conveying his reaction as ‘look at julie coming into her own! i told you she was a star! and you thought you were the lead singer? think again buddy this girl’s got you beat!’
But since Reggie isnt a master at hiding his feelings yet, especially around Luke, —who was able to get under his skin earlier (“girls, am i right?”)—Luke was easily able to see through that and interpreted what Reggie was saying as “look at julie go, she all in the zone. you’re literally making heart eyes at her get a grip you’re slacking lmao” (hence luke’s right eyebrow quirking at reggie like ‘dude seriously gimme a break u know i need attention like tinkerbell’) even though Reggie’s true message was a bit less harsh and more lovingly teasing, but it’s Luke, he sees things through his eyes and at his intensity, regardless of who it’s coming from. (This is one of the reasons why Luke comes off as selfish at times.)
Exhibit D
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Poor Lukey boi can’t seem to catch a break today! Not only does Julie ignore him, then has a cute lil (platonic but it’s luke so it still makes him jealous >:P) moment, but now she has the AUDACITY to interact with Alex? The guy who was out learning Ghost 101 with this Willie guy instead of rehearsing with the band? What gives?! What’s he got that your moody ghost bf doesn’t? >:’(
He literally just watches, and even glances back in a way that, to me, screams ‘did i see that right? did i just see what i just saw with my own dreamy (but dead) eyes? say sike rn.’ \_(*_*)_/
Meanwhile, Alex pays no mind. I like to think that Alex is fully aware that Luke is an angry boy rn, but has learned to ignore it, especially this bc literally NOTHING happened. Either that or Alex has no clue and just truly thinks nothing of it and is having too much fun to think about Luke’s moody and childish behavior. Either way, Alex is just straight chilling and we love to see it *^_^*
Notice how Reggie is right there vibing with Julie and Alex. Luke feels a bit betrayed like ‘not you too! i know you were the first to turn on me but i figured since you’re such a golden retriever you’d be loyal and come back to my side!😠🥲’
Also; Luke approaches the rest of the group, wanting to be included in at least SOME of the vibing, but when Julie starts dancing and smiling with her buddy Alex, he backs up like
“you know what? nope. nevermind. not doin’ it.”
and the group’s like “i mean hey it’s your loss, but luke we want you to-”
“no, bc you chose to piss me off right in front of my face so no luke time for any of you! no cuddles, no hugs, no nothing! you made your bed, now lie in it and perish.”
Exhibit E & F: This is where it gets a bit interesting and theorized hehe...
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Now we all know that this moment is just fucking ICONIC
WEOWH NEOW NEOW!!! WEOW NEHR NEHR NER-NER-NER NEHR NEHR NEOWHR!!! (wer nehr-nehr-ner-ner-nehr-nehr!!) WUEHNER-NEUHNER-NEHR-NEEOW-NEOWH! DLOOLOODDUH-DOODLAH-HOOBLUEH-NEOWHR-NEUEHR-NEEEEEEUOWRH!!!!
But hear me out– HEAR ME OUT!
What if... now don’t shoot the messenger who just so happens to also be the theorist... but what if...
WHAT IF!!! Luke didn’t!! plan this?!!!
Listen i know you’re probably thinking:
“Well uh Nicole, isn’t that kinda the whole point? It literally wasn’t planned until Charlie realized Madi was gonna be standing on the piano so he suggested the idea for the guitar solo to Kenny.”
And you’re right! But here’s the kicker:
What if Luke THE CHARACTER, just decided to do this as an “Alright that’s it! You wanna be like that? Well what if I just hit you with my super awesome radical totally cool wowza guitar skills & make a moment between us? Huh? What do you think about that? Hmm? HMMM???!!!”
He licks his lips & that to me read** like he was nervous (**read rhyming with bed just to clarify) so that means it could’ve been a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment thing.
In the second gif, you can see that Julie’s head is tilted, as if she’s a bit confused, but she’s also delightfully surprised.
Julie is quick to smile and scrunch her nose at Luke, something she does often. It tells Luke his impulsive action garnered a positive response from his favorite girl. Julie also starts to shake her head, but doesn’t go through the motion in full, which means she’s still a bit nervous to let her guard down. This is probably because she doesn’t know what he’s thinking or what he will do next. The lopsided smile mixed with the suave, gliding steps towards her probably brought her back to her daydream lol.
Luke’s happy bc Julie’s no longer ignoring him. He smiles like a GOOBER bc this chump is simping HARD for our Julie. So cute! :’)
Exhibit G
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And hear me when I offer this:
What if Luke poofed the guys out???
I know, I know. It’s a bold claim to make. But the boys are special, considering they are a threat to Caleb (3 gay-variant himbos vs. a gay magician that could’ve been on broadway but decided to make some sort of deal with a devil so he just entertains capitalists who most likely sold their souls to get into the hgc which i will probably elaborate on in a future theory so dont do that bc im gonna lmao idc we all have big brains) So it’s not too crazy to think that they could share some ghost powers.
We know Caleb transported the guys during You Got Nothing to Lose. And the guys have left a place at the exact same time on more than one occasion.
And you may be thinking “well what if the guys poofed out to give juke a moment alone together?” And to that I say...
Look at Reggie. He isn’t looking back at Alex like “dude let’s give them some space.”
The timing of him turning around, at least to me, makes me think Reggie was surprised by Luke approaching the piano. (But also he lowkey was waiting for Luke to prove him wrong by doing something to get Julie’s attention so Reggie isn’t mad. Neither is Alex but he doesn’t like being told how or WHEN to ghost) Luke doesn’t even give his bandmates a warning eyebrow quirk, a hand signal, nothing. Reggie turns to Alex like ‘dude what is he DOING?’ And before he can even really convey that, they go *POOF*
This man had a plan and he was gonna do it, so he did. Whether it’s the power of love, they stopped performing, or Reggie and Alex actually poofed out, the odds worked in Luke’s favor so he and Julie could have a super special moment, a moment special enough to make an actual living person (Nick) wonder if a “hologram” has a better chance at connecting with Julie than he does.
Again, regardless of who made them poof or how they poofed, they mf poofed so Luke’s a happy hamster. (Idk it just sounded fitting instead of happy camper lol wait what if someone had 3 pet hamsters and named them alex reggie and luke🥺 someone buy some hamsters and let me be their godmother or their aunt and i’ll love them from afar.) Anyway, Luke’s thriving, flourishing, his crops are going to grow in time for the harvest.
You can see Julie lean back as she turns to see Luke. It’s... almost as if... She. Wasn’t. Expecting. Him. To. Be. There..??
Honey badger Luke bc he DGAF <|:) Bitch, it’s Luke mf Patterson and he’s gonna,, GET! IN! YOUR! FAAAACE!!!
You CANNOT tell me he’s not doing the absolute MOST to try and seduce Miss Juliana Mariposa Rose Molina.
Yes I’m making a headcanon that Julie has TWO middle names and that one of them is the spanish word for butterfly and that the other is her mother’s name. Also yes, I believe (i believe that we’re just one dream away from who we’re– oh, that’s not what we’re doing? okay, sorry!) that Juliana is Julie’s full name.
In this house we love and respect Juliana Mariposa (Dahlia)** Rose Molina
**I’m just putting Dahlia there for fun bc I can. :) Whether I’d consider it a possible middle name of hers depends. Anyway I just thought it was a cute thing to add bc it goes along with the other middle names I gave her *^_^* Also, I feel like I made a post giving a bunch of the characters middle names lemme see if I can find it later)
Ok i’m done this took me basically all day from like 10am until 4:08. I obviously took breaks in between, but not long ones...😶
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hxseok-honee · 3 years
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atlas heart || part 37
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a/n : uhm,,, so this was 20 pages long,,,, whoops -- hope you enjoy the pain!
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___________________________________
“Jimin… psst-- Jimin, wake up--”
“Wake up, motherfucker!” Jimin’s eyes fly open right before he’s shutting them again, unable to cover his face in time to block the throw pillow that’s being launched at him. It falls to his lap when he sits up, and Jungkook chuckles in the doorway.
“Y/n’s been in here for fifteen minutes, trying to be nice and soft about waking you up, but you sleep like the dead. We’re gonna miss our ride at this rate.” Jimin blinks the sleep from his eyes as he focuses in on the girl that’s kneeling next to him on the bed. She’s nodding along as Jungkook speaks, and even in his half-awake state, Jimin finds her insufferably cute. He also notices that she’s fully dressed and seemingly ready to leave, her backpack by the door.
“What time is it?” His voice is groggy, but the yell he lets out when Hoseok appears suddenly at the door, disheveled and angry, is crystal clear. It looks like the Slytherin’s also just woken up, which is bad news for someone who’s yet to see Hoseok’s infamous ‘morning temper’.
“It’s almost 4:30 in the fucking morning, that’s what time it is. Our ride gets here at 5 -- I’m leaving whether you’re ready or not.” He disappears then, dragging a fearful Jungkook with him back to their room to pack their bags. Y/n turns from the doorway, settling back on her heels as she chuckles awkwardly.
“He’s just really excited to see Yoongi…”
--
When a minivan fit for a soccer mom with 4 kids screeches to a halt in front of the house, Jimin has to rub at his eyes to make sure he’s seeing things correctly. At the wheel sits Jin, an alarming amount of excitement in his eyes as he chugs coffee from what’s less of a cup and more of a vase with a lid. In the passenger’s seat is Namjoon, clinging to his seatbelt for dear life, and behind him are Taehyung and Yoongi, the Slytherin scooting into the middle so Jungkook can pull the end seat down and squeeze into the back row.
He waves Y/n in, and she pulls a stunned Jimin into the back with them. When the end seat locks back into place, Hoseok is throwing himself into it, wrapping himself around Yoongi once the door is closed. His boyfriend smiles with contentment, and even half-asleep, Jimin can appreciate the quiet happiness they share.
Jin slams his concerningly large coffee cup, now empty, down into the middle console and lets out a roar of energy.
“Next stop, Quidditch World Cup!” Pressing down on the gas hard enough that Y/n actually feels the tires squeal against the pavement before starting to turn, Jin takes off, rounding the rest of the massive courtyard before flying back down the winding driveway. Her hand reaches for Jimin’s on instinct, and if she wasn’t squeezing so hard, he might have blushed.
“What’re the chances of us dying before we even get there?” Jimin chuckles at her question, cutting himself short when the car slides into traffic much too recklessly, so he just hums.
“Probably much higher than you want me to admit--”
“Hey, who has my road snacks? I’ve got such a hankering for one of those cinnamon roll thingies--” Jin reaches blindly back into the middle row, searching for the bag of food on Taehyung’s lap.
“Both hands on the wheel!” It seems the entire car’s in agreement, because Jin just returns to his previous position, a small whine leaving him.
“Alright, alright, you big babies. Namjoon -- feed me, buddy.” The Ravenclaw groans loudly, and for a moment Jimin can’t believe he’d missed all these idiots while he was away.
--
When Jin pulls into the campground for the World Cup, they’re all gasping as they take in the scene around them. The arena’s unbelievably massive, towering over them in the distance. The sea of people is endless, crowded beyond belief with spectators and traveling merchants preparing for tomorrow’s match. Following Yoongi’s directions until they manage to find the plot of land his parents had reserved for them, Jin pulls off into the treeline and puts the car in park.
The group stumbles from the vehicle, groaning and stretching, shaking off the anxiety of entrusting Jin with their lives for hours. It’s a little past 11am, enough time for them to set up before lunch. Y/n follows Jimin into the spacious area, admiring the excited chaos of the enormous campground around them. She can hear Jin mumbling a spell under his breath to shrink the car and put it in his pocket, followed almost immediately by Jungkook excitedly asking if he can 'do that with a house -- or Hogwarts!'
Jimin takes her hand, and for a second, she thinks that maybe he’s making a move on her, something that leaves her embarrassingly hopeful. But all he does is pull her close to him, pointing at Yoongi with his other hand. The Slytherin is pulling a tiny tent out of his own pocket and setting it on the ground in the middle of their plot of land. Y/n doesn’t even see Yoongi utter a spell before the tent is growing to full size, and she can only imagine that the inside has been bewitched to fit all 8 of them -- something else that Yoongi’s done without speaking.
“Nonverbal magic?” It slips out without her thinking, and Yoongi hears it, glancing at her and becoming visibly shy under her curious gaze. He nods, pointing back at Hoseok, whose attention is caught trying to convince Jungkook not to try shrinking himself with Jin’s spell.
“We both know it -- most Slytherins do, actually… should I call it a defense mechanism? We don’t like to let people know what we’re thinking.”
“It’s pretty fascinating, if you think about it.” It comes from Namjoon, where he and Tae are unpacking not too far away. “Even in class, Yoongi would always practice nonverbally -- he’d get in trouble for it, too.” The Slytherin shrugs as if performing nonverbal magic isn’t difficult for most people unless the caster is under incredible distress.
“What can I say? A habit’s a habit. I haven’t used verbal magic in years -- it’s just more comfortable this way.” He ducks into the tent then, poking his head out and waving them in once he’s checked the quality of his adjustments to their living space for the next couple days.
They all head inside, Y/n looking around in awe when she sees just how big it is. There’s a section of bunk beds on the far side of the room, and the rest is filled with endlessly cozy spaces -- couches and cushions, corners piled high with blankets and pillows. There’s a small kitchenette in the corner, which Jin makes a beeline for in order to 'preserve his perishables'. Jimin shakes his head at the scene, always amused by the depth of the Hufflepuff’s stomach.
Jungkook pulls Y/n to one of the couches, where they collapse on it in a sibling pile that Jimin’s gotten used to seeing over the last 24 hours. It doesn’t stop the rest of the group (sans Hoseok, of course) from gawking at the pair, everyone unused to seeing the dynamic that’s been essentially nonexistent at Hogwarts. They don’t even notice, Y/n looking up at Jungkook with emotional eyes.
“I can’t believe I have friends to share this with.” She doesn’t realize the group is listening, and they all feel simultaneously touched and saddened by her words. Jungkook only ruffles her hair fondly.
“Get used to it, kid -- things are looking up for us.” It’s then that Jungkook happens to glance up, catching Taehyung’s gaze and seeing glossy tears in the boy’s eyes. Looking around, he notes that everyone’s got a similar expression, and he wonders what they must think of Y/n -- of the girl they don’t know enough about to understand her sentiments. He also wonders why they seem so moved by her words.
The awkward moment’s cut short by Namjoon clearing his throat. He points toward Jin, who’s standing by the fridge.
“We have enough food in there to feed us for a week, but Jin said it’s all ‘snacks’, so it looks like we have to go buy lunch.” Everyone nods, accepting that Jin would probably bite them before letting them into the kitchenette, and they start heading back out into the campground.
--
By the time night’s fallen, they’re all exhausted and a bit giddy. It’s almost 10, the effects of waking up at 4am weighing down on the group as they sit together in front of their tent. Hoseok and Yoongi had set up a small fire for them to gather around, Jimin playing music quietly from the small speaker Tae had packed as they talk amongst themselves.
Namjoon leans against a decently sized pile of rocks, reading quietly with the light from the fire. Y/n suspects he’s not actually reading, having caught his smile every time someone had cracked a lame joke, but she doesn’t call him on it. He looks peaceful there, in his quiet corner. Yoongi and Hoseok sit together on one side of the fire, whispering to each other and smiling about things only they know. Jungkook, Tae, and Jin are huddled, having a small argument about some of the merchandise being sold by the traveling shops that are set up around the campground.
Y/n sits with Jimin, watching the group and jokingly judging Jimin’s music taste as he scrolls through his phone. They’re sitting awfully close together, and Jimin thinks in the back of his mind that they must look about as cozy as Yoongi and Hoseok do -- that thought brings him much more joy than it should.
Despite the endless chatter and liveliness of the campground, the night starts to wind down, the sky clouding over in a way that makes it seem darker than it already is. It’s a perfectly good time for everyone to head to bed, but the chaotic trio has apparently decided to escalate their quarrel, the three of them jumping up at the same time.
“We’re going to check out some stuff -- it’s important!” Jungkook calls out to the rest of the group right before disappearing into the crowd with Jin and Tae. Namjoon promptly shuts his book, standing with a groan and heading in the direction they’d just gone. He offers them a shrug as an explanation.
“Someone needs to keep an eye on them.” He’s gone soon, leaving Jimin and Y/n to make awkward eye contact with Hoseok and Yoongi. Y/n locks eyes with Hoseok, and Jimin gets the strange feeling, from the way Hoseok’s eyes widen and then narrow suspiciously, that they’re communicating telepathically. The Slytherin shakes his head subtly, and then again a little more forcefully, before sighing heavily and rising to his feet. Holding his hand out, he helps Yoongi -- who looks as confused as Jimin feels -- to his feet before pointing noncommittally in the same direction their friends had gone.
“Apparently, I’m hungry enough to go searching for a snack, even though we have snacks in the tent.” Yoongi smirks at the clear annoyance in Hoseok’s voice, tugging him toward the crowd.
“Come on -- let’s go find a tree to make out under.” Immediately, Hoseok’s gaze becomes one of mischievous excitement, and he practically skips after the shorter boy into the distance. Jimin makes a noise of disgust, mirrored by Y/n’s expression.
Jimin only properly registers that they’re alone when his phone automatically starts playing a slower song -- rather, he properly registers that Y/n had asked Hoseok to leave them alone. Turning to her suddenly as if for an explanation, he finds that she’s staring into the fire with the intensity of someone who’s very socially awkward. He can’t help the breath of laughter that leaves him, one that becomes real laughter when she glares at him.
“You look like you just realized the consequences of your actions.” Her jaw drops, and she pushes at his shoulder, affronted.
“Sue me for wanting to spend time alone with you!” Immediately, she’s hiding her face in her hands, groaning. She wonders if maybe -- if she wishes for it enough -- the ground will just open up around her and swallow her whole. Her ears feel like they’re being set on fire when she hears Jimin’s laughter ringing through the air, and she hates that she loves the sound anyway.
“When are you just going to admit that you’re in love with me, Y/n? I promise I won’t laugh.” She mumbles something into her hands, and it sounds suspiciously like ‘you’re already laughing’. Jimin tugs at her wrist, dragging her out from her hiding spot and forcing her to look at him.
“How about we make a deal?” Y/n sends him another glare, but it’s her pout that catches his attention and drives him to the brink of insanity. “We can say it together -- count to three and admit how crazy we are about each other at the same time.” Y/n rolls her eyes and snatches her wrist from his hold, turning back to the fire, which has basically died down completely by now.
“Stop messing around, you big dork.” Jimin holds his hand to his chest and gasps.
“I have never been so serious about something in my life as I am about this.” He keeps talking, a dramatic monologue about his integrity, but something triggers the alarm bells in the back of her head -- the same alarm bells that have kept her alive up to this point -- and she’s immediately distracted.
Glancing around, she finds that nothing’s changed in their surroundings -- families and groups of friends still celebrate the start of the World Cup, the chaos of thousands of people in one place never-ending. But there’s something in the air, something that sets her nerves on edge. Looking up, she realizes that it’s gotten exceptionally dark, the clouds concentrating into one dense curtain in the sky, removing any sign that the stars had been there in the first place.
“Jimin, wait… this doesn’t feel right.” Realizing, based on the pained expression that fills Jimin’s face when she interrupts his secretly heartfelt rant, that she’s said the wrong thing at the wrong time, Y/n shakes her head quickly, motioning out into the distance. “I’m talking about this -- something’s off.” She ignores Jimin’s lingering eyes on her when she stands from her spot on the ground, looking to the treeline and taking in their surroundings. He joins her when he gets a clear look at her face and sees how urgent her gaze is.
The breeze is gone, leaving her with the taste of stale smoke in her lungs, the air still foggy from the bonfire. It seems the sense of freedom had left with the boys, since all she can feel is an invisible weight coming down on her chest -- something coming for her.
And come it does, in Jimin’s frozen form and horrified gaze, staring straight over Y/n’s shoulder into the sky behind her. Whipping around, terrified about what she might find, she’s stepping backwards and colliding with Jimin’s chest before she can even register what she’s seeing. The clouds have darkened considerably and are moving of their own accord, twisting and turning as they take shape in the sky. Jimin begins to shake uncontrollably as the storm clouds become one, revealing the skull with the open jaw, a massive snake emerging from within and wrapping itself cleanly around the top.
“That’s-”
“Guys!”
“Jimin, Y/n-”
“We’re so fucked!” The rest of the group comes crashing into the space in panicked chaos, tearing through their campsite with thinly veiled terror. Taehyung and Namjoon make a beeline for their tent as the sounds of pained screams start to filter in, replacing the comfortable memories of the bonfire with something much darker. Yoongi stands near the fire pit, turning in circles and pulling at his hair desperately as he realizes where they are.
“This isn’t -- this tent, it’s in the middle of --” He stops, breathing hard, hands still buried in his hair as the thought finally hits. “My parents put us in the middle of Slytherin territory.”
Jin comes in behind everyone else, firing curses over his shoulder as he calls out to the group, scanning their faces and doing a mental headcount.
“We need to get out of here -- the muggleborns should go first.” He locks eyes with Namjoon as the older Ravenclaw exits the tent carrying a bag. Namjoon nods, grabbing hold of Taehyung’s wrist and moving toward Y/n, who hasn’t left Jimin’s side.
“I grabbed everything important, so let’s just go.” He reaches for Y/n’s arm, triggering Jimin’s protectiveness. Jimin pulls her closer on instinct, and Namjoon sighs as he releases Taehyung in order to grab both of them. “We need to go.” He addresses Y/n under his breath. “You’re not safe here, either.” They keep eye contact for just a moment, but it’s enough that Y/n is left with the feeling of ice in her blood even after Namjoon’s turned back to the group.
How much… does he know?
Before she can question Jimin about Namjoon’s suspicious behavior, Jimin’s tugging her toward his friends as they move toward the edge of the forest. Pulling back and forcing Jimin to a stop, Y/n points at Jungkook, who has now flanked Jin and is defending one part of their campsite from the oncoming hoard of Slytherins.
“I’m not leaving without him.” The conflicted look that crosses Jimin’s face tears at Y/n’s heart, but she stands her ground, motioning back toward Jungkook. “I have to stay-”
“What? No, you have to go!” The call comes from behind her, and it’s only a matter of moments before Jungkook is by her side, shoving her into Jimin’s arms. “Take her with you! Don’t you ever let her out of your sight-”
“Jungkook, watch out-”
Taehyung yells out to him, just a moment too late. Y/n watches in horror as a red light appears just over Jungkook’s shoulder. It grows bigger and bigger as it flies toward them, accompanied by the disgusted shriek of “Blood Traitor!”, and all she can do is hug Jungkook to her as she waits for the curse to strike him in between his shoulder blades.
Pulling him close, she barely manages to catch the flash of silver that appears, encompassing them as another body slides into view and blocks out everything else. The shield charm is cast wordlessly and so powerfully that it knocks the Slytherin who’d attacked them clean off his feet. Thrown back at least ten feet, he’s left bewildered and sore.
Hoseok stands between Jungkook and the army of Slytherins, breathing heavily as the shield dissipates around them. He holds his head high as he stares down the group, resigning himself to the fact that, after years of hiding his true self from his housemates, his loyalties have been clearly defined in that moment.
The silence that follows is only broken by the soft fwip of a wand being slipped out of a pocket, and it’s as Hoseok is whipping his head around that another red light appears, its caster completely silent. The curse burns through the air, almost as if in slow motion, cutting through the space right under Hoseok’s ear with the sharp precision of a skilled marksman and meeting its target on the other side, searing the ends of Hoseok’s hair as it goes. The Slytherin who’d been poised to attack from the treeline is hurled backwards, disappearing into the forest as everyone watches him go, Yoongi’s wand still trained on the spot where he’d stood.
The cold fury that fills Yoongi’s eyes is replaced with concern as he lowers his wand and rushes to Hoseok’s side, giving him a once over before turning to face the growing crowd of Death Eaters in-training, aligning his loyalties just the same as Hoseok had. Y/n allows herself the small smile that arises when she sees the gaze that Hoseok casts upon Yoongi, filled with the kind of love she could only hope to have in her own life. The moment doesn’t last long.
The group of friends, realizing almost simultaneously that they’re being surrounded, forms a huddle facing outward, wands steady as they prepare for the attack.
“If we make it out of this shit alive, I’m going to throw the biggest fit of my life when I get home.” The mention of the Dark Lord’s most loyal Min family sets off the first wave of curses, their traitorous son the target.
One by one, the group takes down their attackers, tiring out but never giving up. Minimal injuries are sustained on their end, their will to survive too strong to forgive even the slightest mistake. Jimin keeps one hand on Y/n at all times, unwilling to lose track of her for even a moment, as if she’s not been stuck to his side all night.
Curses rain down on them from all sides, the Dark Mark in the sky peeking through the shower of red lights as they fight for their lives. Jimin feels Y/n stagger beside him, but she seems to be unharmed when he looks her over. Glancing in alarm at the moon, barely visible amongst all the smoke and mayhem, Jimin curses under his breath as he remembers the date -- and more importantly, that she hadn’t yet taken her dose for the night. He pours all his energy into his attacks from that moment on, everything suddenly becoming much more urgent.
Time passes so slowly that none of them are quite sure how long they’ve been there, fighting in a war they’d never asked for. Just when Y/n thinks they might be losing -- that they might be forced to pledge allegiance to the Dark Lord, or even killed where they stand -- there’s a loud pop and a gush of wind passes over all of them.
From within their circle comes the angered cry of Sirius Black, who manages to deflect a rather mean curse headed straight for Jin’s chest. He’s followed by James and Remus, the three of them throwing themselves into the mix so carelessly that it catches the Slytherins by surprise. James takes advantage of the delay, surging out of the circle toward the largest density of Slytherins and pointing his wand at the ground closest to them.
“Confringo!” The earth beneath their feet shudders under James’ command, collapsing in on itself before exploding outward, sending no less than 10 people flying through the air and creating a chaos too intense for the rest to handle. The world around them becomes fuzzy and confusing, and Y/n feels nothing except the hands that pull at her and urge her forward into the forest.
They all manage to stumble far enough away from the mess to gather their bearings, but the shouts of their enemies are not far off. As soon as they confirm that they’re all alive and relatively unscathed, Remus takes Y/n by the elbow and pulls her gently to him. Jimin is reluctant to let her go.
“I need to talk to you -- we have to go somewhere safe.” Sirius is collecting the rest of the group and giving them the location of a safe place to meet, a small cottage in the countryside where he and Remus had been living.
“You guys head there first, we’ll meet you.” He hands the keys to Jungkook, who nods in understanding as he sees that Remus has no intention to rejoin the group. Jimin starts to reach for Y/n, unhappy with their separation, but Hoseok speaks up from the back. He’s being half-carried by Yoongi, his leg having suffered a bit of damage from James’ blasting curse, but not so much that he couldn’t walk. Y/n bites back a smirk, suspecting that Hoseok had just been looking for an excuse to need Yoongi, who is absolute garbage at hiding how pleased he is.
“Make sure you come back soon. I trust you guys, and I know you need to talk in private, but I don’t like not having Y/n close in times like this.” Remus nods, acknowledging Jungkook as well, before leading Y/n away. The boys start to apparate away, James helping Hoseok and Yoongi get to the house safely before returning to join his friends. Remus has led Y/n a safe enough distance away that the Slytherins would have a hard time finding them and is explaining the gravity of the situation to her.
“-- to infiltrate a pack of werewolves living in the mountains. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, Y/n.” Y/n examines Remus’ face, noting the new scars and the exhaustion that lies heavy in his eyes. He looks nothing like the bright school boy from just a few months ago, and she knows he’s seen unimaginable things in the short time that he’s been working under Dumbledore. They all look drained and, frankly, terrified. The lives they’d been promised from a young age were fading away into this dreary nothingness, this thankless job where nothing is more uncertain than the future.
“You’ll be careful, won’t you? Just tell me you’ll be careful -- all of you.” Remus looks taken aback by her words, and Sirius can’t suppress the soft chuckle that escapes him, amazed at this girl standing before him, not nearly as reserved as they’d all thought her to be.
“Of course we’ll be careful, love. Don’t you trust us?” Y/n shakes her head, smiling despite her scoff.
“Trust you guys? I didn’t realize you were an aspiring comedian, Sirius.” They laugh openly now, thankful for even just this moment of reprieve from the hell they live in. Remus leans over, patting her adoringly on her head, as if they weren’t damn near the same age.
“Good, that’s good. Don’t trust anyone, Y/n, you hear me? Don’t trust anyone you wouldn’t die for. Can you do that for me?” Y/n nods, the picture of those boys in that cottage in the countryside coming to mind so easily.
“I know who my people are. There’s no one else besides them -- and you guys. So try your best not to get yourselves killed?” James salutes her once as Sirius nods. Remus moves to agree, but the sound of leaves crunching not too far away triggers an immediate response in him. Lunging forward and taking her into his arms, he throws Y/n over his shoulder and takes off running, knowing better than anyone else what it would mean if she were caught. Y/n watches with horror as two Death Eaters appear out of what looks like thin air, sending James and Sirius into action. She can do nothing but watch as they deflect curses while maintaining their ground.
Remus sets her down a long distance away, trying to warn her again, but her attention is on the action they’d just managed to escape. She tries to push past him to go help James and Sirius, but he grabs her by the shoulders quickly and forces her to look at him, shaking her roughly in the process.
“Listen to me, Y/n- listen to me!” She meets his eyes, alarmed by the frustration in his voice. “The public knows. They know now just to what extent the werewolf population is siding with Voldemort. Everything before this summer was just speculation -- of course the evil magical beasts should side with the Dark Lord, right? Well, the Minister of Magic just released a statement this morning. Everyone knows now. And it won’t matter how much we cry and beg and plead for our lives -- if they catch us, we’re dead. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Y/n can do no more than stare into Remus’ eyes, wishing this all away -- wishing that they could just be back in school, a bunch of kids with no worries about the war. But the longer she stares into his eyes, the longer she realizes that they don’t just have to worry about the war now. They’re part of it. Two werewolves with way too many people keeping their secret. James, Sirius, Peter, Jungkook, Hoseok, and now Jimin? And --
Does Namjoon know, too? Just who the hell else has to be put into danger because of what I am?
--
Y/n steps through the front gate of the cottage, having been dropped off by Remus -- she’s not of age yet to apparate alone -- before he disappeared again, presumably to help his friends escape. She’s barely within ten feet of the front door when it’s flying open, Jimin appearing before her with wild eyes. He rushes at her, taking her into his arms with a desperation he didn’t even know he felt. She pats at his back, unsure of what to say, still dazed from everything Remus had told her.
“I was only gone a few minutes…” Jimin pulls back, looking at her as if she’s insane.
“I don’t care. Those were the worst few minutes of my life. I hated not knowing if you were okay.” He looks her over, patting at her arms gently. “You are okay, right?” When she nods he sighs before glancing around them urgently as if realizing they’re out in the open. He tugs her inside, shutting the door tightly behind them. He’s about to motion her down the hallway into the living room, where the rest of their friends are regrouping, but she stops him. The look she gives him is suspicious, and he’s unsure why.
“Jimin, you told me you would never breathe a word of what I am to anyone…” He looks at her with alarm, shaking his head.
“I didn’t tell anyone anything -- why? What happened?” She examines him for a moment, seeing that Jimin’s as confused as she is. She proceeds with caution, realizing that if Jimin really hadn’t said anything, then this conversation is about to be very uncomfortable.
“I think… Namjoon might know something…” Jimin feels like he can’t breathe then, the air stopping short in his chest as his heart drops out from under him. He swears without thinking, the word slipping out as he processes what she’s saying.
“Fuck… shit… fuck…” Y/n squints at him, unsure of where his mind’s just gone. Jimin squeezes his eyes shut, another swear falling from his lips as guilt overcomes him. He opens his mouth to explain, but he can’t bring himself to look her in the eyes.
“Before I figured out… everything, I would talk to Joon about things that confused me… about you.” He opens his eyes just enough to glance at her before looking away, but he’s surprised that she isn’t fuming with anger. She’s only thinking carefully about his words.
“So, he probably put it together on his own.” She comes to the conclusion as she ponders, offering the reason for Namjoon’s comment to her earlier. Jimin lurches forward, taking her hand in both of his, eyes pleading.
“I swear to you, Y/n, I didn’t say a word of this to him after I figured it out. I completely dropped it, and when he asked me why, I just told him I was respecting your privacy by minding my own business -- I promise, I never said anything--”
“Jimin!” His name cuts through the air, and his mouth snaps shut immediately to give her room to talk. “I’m not mad at you. I’m more worried than anything… I wonder who else knows…”
“Uhm, actually--” The new voice has them both turning to look to the end of the hallway, where Tae’s standing awkwardly in the doorway to the living room. He’s flanked by Jin and Yoongi, Namjoon standing with Jungkook and Hoseok just inside the room.
“--I think we all know…” The blood drains from both Y/n and Jimin’s faces as Jungkook and Hoseok look to each other in alarm. Jin nods, Yoongi smiling awkwardly to confirm what Tae’s saying. The air in the house is cold, no one willing to break the tense silence while Y/n processes what she’s just heard. She meets Jungkook’s eyes then, his gaze betraying the immense fear that he’s feeling, much like the ice running through her veins.
None of them even notice the front door opening behind Jimin, the three Marauders stumbling into the house, disheveled but generally unscathed. They stop short at the scene before them, glancing amongst themselves before James is breaking the silence himself.
“Are we… interrupting something…?”
--
“Okay, someone start talking before I go insane.” They’re all crowded into the living room meant only for a few people, Y/n and Remus sitting together on a couch in the middle of the room, everyone else taking up the extra seats and floor space. It looks like a club meeting gone horribly wrong, if the discomfort in everyone’s eyes is anything to go by. Y/n looks around after demanding an explanation, finally looking to Namjoon, as he’s the only one she’d been aware of until a few minutes ago. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
“After Jimin suddenly stopped all the obsessive theorizing and curiosities, I got suspicious… I had a feeling he’d put everything together, and I was worried that he was getting himself into some kind of trouble because that’s just the kind of nosy Ravenclaw he is. I just put it together myself so I could help him if I needed to…” Jimin grimaces at Namjoon’s words, knowing them to be true but disliking the description all the same.
The glare of irritation Jungkook’s been shooting him doesn’t help, but Hoseok pulls the Gryffindor’s attention away with a bump of his knee against Jungkook’s thigh. When Jungkook drags his burning gaze away from Jimin to look at Hoseok, Jimin’s shocked to see that Hoseok’s simply shaking his head at the Jeon heir, silently telling him to back off. Jimin’s eyes widen then, never having experienced such a sense of stunned relief as he feels in this moment with Hoseok’s quiet support.
Jungkook turns his annoyed gaze over to the spot where Taehyung, Jin, and Yoongi sit. He locks eyes with his roommate of six years.
“Tae?” The boy in question looks down at his hands sheepishly, glancing at Y/n in a way that seems almost apologetic. When he lifts his head, he speaks directly to her, feeling that his explanation should be for her and her alone.
“Jimin’s my best friend… it would be weird if I wasn’t worried about him with him acting so strange. I didn’t really figure it out until the beginning of the summer, when I started spending more time with you -- I noticed how sick you’d get around the same time each month, and you’d always look so tired afterwards. I know we don’t know each other as well as Jimin knows you, but I was worried about you, so I… did my own digging and put the pieces together. It also explained a lot about all the times Jungkook would run out of our room in a panic in the middle of the night. There were just… a lot of things that made sense once I’d started to think about it.” Y/n keeps her eyes on him, trying to process the guilt in his eyes and wondering why he sounds so upset. “I know that you’re probably terrified of us knowing, but I promise I was just worried about you. I’m sorry I was snooping in your life…”
Y/n sees then that Taehyung feels the same kind of responsibility that Jimin had always carried in his eyes -- one of fear that his actions would bring her harm. He’d been sitting with that for the whole summer, quietly trying his best to keep her safe by pretending he knew nothing at all. She opens her mouth to tell him that he has nothing to feel bad about, but Jin’s clearing his throat.
“I, uh-- we--” He gestures to the space between himself and Yoongi, whose gaze is one of cautious observation as the conversation goes on around him. “We… were on our way back to Yoongi’s room and overheard you and Hoseok talking -- something about Jimin finding out… Hoseok was really upset, and he was kind of yelling. We didn’t mean to eavesdrop -- it’s just that we were right outside, and you were trying to calm him down, and he was just saying a lot of stuff that was confusing and weird, but it was obvious what was going on.” Jin glances over at Yoongi as if to confirm his story, and the Slytherin only nods. He turns back to Y/n, finishing his explanation. “We found out together--”
“Actually--” Everyone’s attention turns to Yoongi, who shifts uncomfortably under the weight of their gazes. He clears his throat, scratching at his neck while he finds his words. “Actually… I already knew by then. I think, based on what everyone’s been saying, that I probably knew before any of them…” He trails off, leaving the group to devolve into strained chaos.
“Wait, you knew?”
“How long have you known?!”
“When did you find out?” Ignoring the barrage of questions, Yoongi only looks to Hoseok, whose eyes tell how shocked he is. Flicking his gaze to Y/n, Yoongi continues.
“Do you remember when we first met? That night in the Hospital Wing -- it was before winter break.” Y/n’s jaw drops as her memories fly all the way back to December -- almost a year prior. “I went to visit you, originally because Hobi had mentioned something about going to visit a friend and I was looking for an excuse to see him.” Hoseok laughs under his breath, still stunned into disbelief about the situation, but Yoongi hasn’t stopped talking, almost rambling now.
“I had just found out that you guys were even friends -- it was really weird for me to think about, you know? Until then, he’d only ever been friends with Slytherins, and even then he seemed hesitant about getting close to them. I mean, I get it, that’s how I was, too. But to find out that my roommate since first year had a secret friend group with people that made no sense for him to know -- I was curious about you. I wanted to see what you were like. Especially because Jimin was, like, obsessed with you -- sorry, Jimin.” The Ravenclaw grimaces again, hating that he’s been described only as obsessive but knowing that that’s exactly what he’d been like.
“So… what does that have to do with finding out about me? How did you know?” Y/n leans forward, elbows on her knees as she looks intently at Yoongi. He sighs in response.
“Look. My entire life, I’ve been trying to separate myself from my name. My parents are objectively fucking insane, and I want nothing to do with them, especially now that they pulled that bullshit with the World Cup reservation. I can’t be like them, okay? I would rather die fighting on the right side of this war than ever pledge my allegiance to that nose-less freak. But that doesn’t change the fact that I still live at the Min Estate. And the Min Estate -- it’s like a beacon for the wicked and evil. I’ve seen every kind of creature walk through the doors of my house whenever my parents hold their Death Eater meetings. It’s like a monthly book club, but for murder. So I know what werewolves are like. I know the signs and the symptoms, and I know how cruel and vicious they can be.��
Y/n breaks her gaze then, staring down at her feet as he confirms every fear that she’s ever felt -- that she would be seen as a monster, an evil beast with only the instinct to kill. All the same, it hurts to hear him say it out loud.
“And that’s why I knew you were nothing like them.” Y/n’s head whips up, and she sees that Yoongi’s focused on conveying to her with his eyes that he means what he’s said. He doesn’t see the affection that fills Hoseok’s gaze, replacing the icy fear he’d been feeling the entire time Yoongi’s been talking.
“You’re nothing like them, Y/n. You’re kind and considerate, and you’re so shy around new people that even I’m in pain just watching you struggle to talk. You’re really fucking weird, and your sense of humor has been shaped by growing up with a crazy ass Gryffindor brother and this sarcastic asshole--” He points then to his boyfriend, finally feeling confident enough to look Hoseok in the eye as he cracks the joke before returning his attention to Y/n.
“So, yes, you’re a werewolf. But you’ve got nothing to worry about with me. Or any of us, to be honest.” The rest of the group nods then, and Y/n feels the air returning to her lungs after so long of holding her breath. It’s only when she looks to Remus, who still seems unsure, that she remembers how complicated their situation is.
“I appreciate that, I really do. You guys have no idea how scared I was that you’d find out… but it’s not as simple as you think -- not that any of this has been simple to begin with. It’s just… more complicated--”
“So, are we talking about Remus, or something else?” Taehyung speaks up, looking genuinely confused about what she’s alluding to. James and Sirius tense where they sit on either side of Remus, whose gaze has just become very guarded.
“I’m not sure what you mean--”
“The ‘you being a werewolf’ thing? Yeah, that wasn’t hard to figure out once I knew what to look for in Y/n.” It’s Jin who cuts him off, Yoongi and Namjoon nodding along. Jungkook throws his hands in the air, flopping back against the couch with an exasperated sigh.
“Just how bad are we at keeping things a secret around here?!” Remus groans in response, but James and Sirius seem to be taking the news in stride.
“Look on the bright side, Moony -- now we have an army of hooligans to keep you guys safe!” Remus rolls his eyes in irritation before looking to Y/n for help. She stares down at her hands, feeling more exhausted than she’s ever felt in her life -- and she experiences monthly painful transformations that leave her bedridden for days after.
“This isn’t a joke, James.” The Potter boy snaps his mouth shut when, for the first time since meeting her, Y/n’s voice carries an edge when she addresses him. “The number of people that are in danger now because of what we are has just doubled. And now there are muggleborns involved -- what’s going to happen if anyone gets wind that they know something about us? With what the Ministry’s just released… it’s too much. This is all too much.” Namjoon hums then, pulling Y/n out of the dangerously dark mental dive she was just about to take.
“I mean, we’re involved in this war whether we know about you guys or not. We’re already fighting for our lives -- what difference does it make if we know what you are? If anything, it gives us a reason to fight harder.” He gestures among all of them, all eleven of them in that room.
“We’re all we have left in this war -- why wouldn’t we do everything it takes to keep each other safe?”
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whump-a-la-mode · 3 years
Text
Magician’s Assistant - Trance
I heard you liked cliffhangers so here’s a cliffhanger for your cliffhanger. Much thanks to @nightfrostshadow for requesting another piece of this, you’re really a cheerleader for this series!
The rest of Magician’s Assistant can be found linked to in my info post, pinned at the top of my blog. I hope you enjoy!
CW//Some dehumanizing language, food
Villain was scared.
Of course, Friend had expected that. Anticipated it, almost taken a moment to imagine just how it would appear, nerves twisted upon such a feeble countenance. Civilian had warned them as such over the phone, warned them to be gentle, to go slow, to avoid any sudden movements-- as though they were talking about something dangerous, something feral.
In a way, they were.
But, now, as their new charge stood before them, there was something almost unbelievable about the sheer depths of their terror, and the way they presented it.
Villain was small, short in stature and so awfully thin that a stiff gust of wind could more than likely shatter their twig-like bones to shards. They looked upwards like a scared puppy dog, bag held in front of them with both hands like a shield, as though, if they simply kept it there, they would be safe, forever and ever.
And, hopefully, they would be. It was perhaps only a minute or so ago that Civilian had coaxed them through the door, shoving a handful of messily written instructions into Friend’s hands with a hurried ‘thank you.’ That meant that they had a week. A week to keep this- this thing calm, comfortable, and, more importantly than any of that, under control.
They could balance the most complex of equations, withdraw patients from near-death, turn caustic chemicals to life-saving medicines. But taking care of someone so anxious? And without...
No. They didn’t back down from a challenge.
“Hey, bud.” They tried to smile, trying so desperately not to terrify their charge. Not yet. They gestured with a hand to the bag they held, knuckles clenched so tightly as to turn a pale hue. “What’s in there?”
It felt stupid, but at the very least, their ward seemed to respond.
“Um...” Villain glanced downwards, to their burden. Their voice was almost inaudible, whimpering in form. “It’s- Spouse gave it to me. To help.”
To help.
“Can I see?”
They held it close to their chest, shivering turning to all-out shaking. Based upon the look in their eyes, if they ever lost their grip on the thing, they would simply perish.
“No.”
“Okay.” Friend sighed, biting their lower lip. There went that avenue of conversation. They supposed that making conversation with a failed attempt was somewhat of a lost cause in the first place. They needed to stay calm, not necessarily entertained. “Well... How about I show you to your room?”
“M-My room?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
Villain dipped their head. It was a display of respect, even as fear made them defy everything, up until the very concept of staying still. Gently, their caretaker reached forward, hand looping about their wrist with an ever so ghostly touch. They shivered, but abided.
“Let’s go then, okay?”
“Okay.”
They had set up the room quite some time ago, as soon as they had gotten Civilian’s call. As soon as they learned what they needed to do, to keep the world ticking over as it was supposed to be. The guidelines had been as simple as they were detailed, leaving nothing to chance, to whim.
Moving to the hall and creeping open the proper door, Friend found themself nodding to themself in satisfaction. They’d checked so many times, verified it all, but knowing that it was still arranged properly was an awfully grand relief.
Dim and cozy, Civilian had said. “They don’t like windows, be sure to cover them. They’re used to the kennel. Anything too big will scare them. Give them a bed, but know that they’re going to end up sleeping under it, assuming they don’t wind up in the corner. Other than the bed, the room should be empty. They can’t read, and they’re afraid of books. That includes any signage or decorations. Think of it like a kennel-- anything unnecessary is an unnecessary risk.”
And, it was so that friend had designed their ward’s living space. A small thing, perhaps ten feet by fifteen, with grey-painted walls and a bed with beige comforter. The singular window was covered in its entirety with an off-white curtain, allowing only enough light to seep through as to allow the room to not be entirely dark. And, that was it. Just like a kennel.
“Do you want to hang out in here for a little while?”
The question seemed to bring Villain quite an extreme relief, as they nodded frantically. They crossed the threshold into the space, nearly disappearing within the dim shroud.
Friend almost left, before remembering a piece of their instruction that Civilian had insisted on being terribly vital: The cuffs.
“Do you want your mitts on, buddy?”
A nod. And so it was done.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 
“They’re pretty good about eating, nowadays. They can eat the same food as the rest of us. My partner says they like chili, and things that look more like what they’re used to eating. But, more or less, it’s fine, so long as they eat.”
Civilian’s instructions regarding their ward’s mealtimes had been far less specific than those for their habitat. Anything that normal people ate, but specifically chili. It was certainly an odd favorite food to have, given what their diet had once been, but it was something.
Thus, with a quick mix, Friend’s kitchen had quite quickly been filled with an overwhelming aroma-- beans and spices, seasoned meat and the mixings to go along with it. Villain was still scared, even a slightly above average monkey would have been able to see that.
The whole quest, the whole effort, was a farce. They knew that. But, at the very least, perhaps they could make their charge somewhat less frightened for the time which they had them. It would be better to see them smiling, after all, instead of screaming. They’d spent too much time, listening to Villain screaming. It really did get grating, after a while.
When the hot dish upon their oven as last appeared to be finished, they picked it up by the pot’s handle, swirling it around for a moment before reaching a point of satisfaction. A few moments of pouring, and two bowls were equally filled with heaping helpings of meat and beans.
Eating the same thing as a failed attempted. That was a thought.
Friend placed the dishes upon their dining table, on opposite ends, and finished the assortment with a small variety of other offerings-- baby carrots for vegetables, and dinner rolls to nibble upon. The kitchen filled with scents and steam, they turned.
Villain was still in their room, they assumed. Civilian had mentioned that they were quite reclusive, which made sense. They would have plenty to entertain themself.
With jostling steps, they made their way up the stairs, feeling as the aroma of herbs practically followed them up. The room in which their ward was housed was just at the top of the staircase.
The room that-
The room that’s door was opened.
With a raised brow, Friend peered inside. Certainly, Villain was absent, nowhere to be seen. Not in the corner, not upon the bed, nor under it-- they checked. Yet, the bag had been left behind, stim toys and plushies placed neatly and piled to categories.
Perhaps they had only been looking for the bathroom? With a more cautious air about them, they moved forward, along the hall. The corridor existed in an L shape, its shorter side at the top of the stairs, and its longer side around a sharp bend.
The bathroom stood at the end of the hallway’s shorter piece. The empty bathroom.
A bated breath.
Friend turned the corner.
Civilian certainly hadn’t warned them about this.
The longer end of the L-shape was definitively emptier than the other, edges lined not with doors, but with sparse decorations, bookshelves and meaningless paintings. It was all a vessel, a vehicle, for the door at the end.
The door before which Villain stood. There was an odd stiffness to their legs, their whole body. Not a muscle of them moved, not even their eyes, so it seemed as they stared. Stared at nothing.
A closed door, from which creeped the barest scent of antiseptic.
Villain most certainly was not allowed in Friend’s lab.
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geek-girl7 · 3 years
Text
Protectors of Illyria
Pairing: Lord Devlon x OC/Reader!ArcheronSister
Summary: Mira Archeron’s life changed the day she was forced into the Cauldron. In order to find meaning in her new life, she becomes the Night Court’s emissary to Illyria while training to become a formidable warrior under the watchful eye of Lord Devlon.
Word Count: 1.5k
Warnings: swearing probably, extreme fluff, mentions of death
A/N: Hello!! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I've been so excited for this chapter you have no idea. so much fun stuff happens I hope you guys enjoyed the inclusion of Zephyr. I was a little hesitant but you know what there is a lack of animal buddies in acotar so I did it lol. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as me. Let me know what you think especially about the possible new romance happening!!
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Chapter 11
“Whoa Zephyr, not yet,” I said stroking Zephyr’s feather covered neck. The sun was just cresting over the mountains as we stood on the edge of a cliff outside Windhaven.
While I was healing this past week, Zephyr had rarely left my side, much to Lord Devlon’s dismay. Eventually, he informed me that Zephyr needed to stay in the forest. He didn’t trust Zephyr not to eat someone. The guilt ate at me so much I slept curled up in the forest with Zephyr. Rhysand and Devlon realized that I would continue to sleep outside, so Rhysand offered to build a stable attached to the cabin. The small stable only took two days to complete so Zephyr didn’t have to brave the woods for long. Since then, I’d spent most of my time in the stable with Zephyr, sleeping at his side.
Zephyr was restless by the time I fully healed, hence why we now stood at the edge of the highest drop near Windhaven. My hand burrowed deeper into his feathers as I leaned forward, surveying the long drop to the bottom.
“That’s a long drop buddy. Guess it’s good you have wings huh,” I laughed at my own dumb joke. Zephyr lightly nipped at my hand, not impressed with my jokes.
“Well, I’m going to be right over here while you stretch your wings,” I turned to sit on a nearby boulder but Zephyr clutched my sleeve in his beak, stopping me.
“What,” I asked. Zephyr let out a low pitched squawk motioning towards his back. “Oh no, no, no, no. That is so not happening. I’ll fall off.” Zephyr responded by using his head to push me towards his back. Stubborn creature. Huffing, I quickly threw my leg over his back, settling my legs right under his wings.
“If I fall, it’s on you.” The wind whipped around us as Zephyr steadily approached the precipice. Zephyr’s black-tipped wings snapped out to their full height. Before I could marvel at the sight of his fully outstretched wings, Zephyr brought them tightly into his body. Then, we were free-falling. I slammed forward and threw my arms around his neck letting out an oomf at the impact. Legs clenched and arms rigid, I held on for dear life.
Whoosh. Zephyr banked right, caught an updraft, and unfurled his wings. With two heavy beats, we rose into the sky and leveled out. The cliff we once stood on was now far below us. Zephyr let out a loud squawk. Seems someone was happy to be flying again.
Zephyr’s excitement was infectious and I was soon loosening my death grip on his feathers. Quickly, I was reminded why I enjoyed flying with Lord Devlon, the freedom. I’d envied the Illyrians because they could always feel this way. It was intoxicating. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in, enjoying the crispness in the air. Surrendering to the freedom of flying, I relaxed and enjoyed the moment as Zephyr flew.
The sun was high in the sky when Zephyr and I made our way through Windhaven to the cabin. Before my sisters left the other day, we made cookies together just like we had as little kids. Instead of eating all the leftover cookies, I’d decided to bring some to Balthazar when I visited him today.
After freshening up, I walked into the medical cabin. It wasn’t a very hospitable place. I felt bad Balthazar had been here so long. The floors were a dirtied white color and the walls were stark white. Four beds lined both sides of the cabin. Each separated by a partition. My eyes were immediately drawn to Balthazar who was sitting up in bed at the back of the cabin. Shockingly, Vex was asleep in a chair next to his bed. I shot Balthazar a questioning look. He responded by simply shrugging and smiling.
Vex jerked awake from the sound of me dragging a chair towards the Balthazar’s bed.
“Sorry,” I said. Vex simply shook his head, muttered something about food and walked out of the med cabin.
“Has he been here the whole time?” I asked, placing the cookies in Balthazar’s lap.
Balthazar scooped up the bag and popped two cookies into his mouth. Someone was hungry. “No, he left a few times,” Balthazar responded through a mouthful of cookie. Well this was an interesting turn of events of I wasn’t expecting.
“Well I’m glad you seem to be feeling better,” I laughed as Balthazar shoved another cookie into his mouth. “In all seriousness, I’m glad to see you’re ok. I was terrified it was going to take too long to get you back to camp.”
Balthazar swallowed his cookie and smiled. “Right back at you. I heard about the attack. Seems like we both had a shitty hunting trip.”
I scoffed as I put my feet up on Balthazar’s bed. “You could say that again. I don’t think I’m going on another hunting trip any time soon.”
Balthazar chuckled. “I can’t blame you. The Steppes suck sometimes.”
“So how long are you on bedrest for,” I asked.
“Another week. Unfortunately you won’t get to see this amazing face bright and early every morning.”
“What will I ever do without you,” I crooned.
“Perish,” Balthazar said with a completely straight face. Then he cracked, letting out a booming laugh and I quickly joined in.
Vex came back shortly after that, arms laden with food to share. We spent the next few hours eating and talking. Vex was surprisingly nice despite his past behavior. I’d actually enjoyed his company. After awhile, Balthazar started to get tired so I decided to head back to the cabin. I’d just exited the med cabin when a shout from behind stopped me in my tracks.
“Hey, Mira,” I swiveled around and saw Vex jogging towards me. “I just wanted to apologize to you for my behavior. I was a dick and judged you without knowing you. And I’m sorry about the hunting trip. I truly wouldn’t have left you alone if it wasn’t necessary.”
My jaw dropped. Did he just apologize to me? Big, bad Vex apologized? Wow.
“Umm thanks Vex. Just so you know I don’t hold what happened in the forest against you. I could tell Balthazar was in a life or death situation. You made a choice and probably saved Balthazar’s life as a result.” I gave Vex a reassuring smile before we said goodbye.
I was restless when I got back to the cabin. My fingers constantly drummed against the table and I kept re-reading the same lines in my book. Vex’s apology kept running through my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Training was the best option to clear my head.
Loud clangs echoed from the training ring as I approached. A sword was clutched in Lord Devlon’s hand as he attacked a training dummy with precise, strong slashes. The muscles in his arms flexed with the strength of his blows. His wings moved with his body, providing balance when needed.
It was… impressive. I’d never seen Lord Devlon train before. For such a large male, he moved with amazing fluidity and grace. He was light on his feet as he spun and dipped around an inanimate enemy. The sword was an extension of his arm. The movements were precise yet beautiful. This was the trainer and commander of the Illyrian Legion. Honestly, it was pretty hot.
“What are you doing here so late,” Lord Devlon yelled across the training ring. I approached Lord Devlon as he sheathed the sword down his back.
I shrugged. “Restless.”
Lord Devlon nodded. “He’s going to be fine you know. Just needs more rest.”
I sighed and fell back into the fence behind me, rubbing a hand down my face. “I know. I was just so scared for him. And then I couldn’t see him for a week cause I needed to heal.”
A heavy thunk sounded as Lord Devlon leaned against the fence beside me. “I get it, I do. Seeing Vex drag Balthazar’s limp body through the sky just reminded me of all the warriors who died against Hybern. Fortunately, he arrived quickly and our medics were able to get to work on him immediately.”
I shifted slightly, looking Lord Devlon in the eye. “He reminded you of his father didn’t he? Balthazar said you were close.”
Lord Devlon leaned further into the fence, tilting his head up to the sky and releasing a deep breath. “Castor was my right-hand before he died. To me, he was more than a talented warrior and strategist,” a soft smile crossed Lord Devlon’s face as he talked. “Castor was my father’s best friend and when he died, Castor stepped up. He mentored me and helped me become the leader I am today.”
Despite everything between us, I reached over and grabbed Devlon’s hand, trying to comfort him. “He sounds like an amazing male. And he seemed to do a decent job with you,” I snickered. Devlon looked over, tears sparkling in his bright eyes, and squeezed my hand. In that moment, Devlon presented a tiny piece of him, and it was beautiful.
Taglist: @mari-highladyof-feels @imperishableblade let me know if you would like to be added to the taglist!!
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Text
Trapped and Forgotten Part 1
Warnings: death mention (in thought and speech), negative thoughts, guns, knives, captivity, eletrical prod, and shocking
Hero and Sidekick never should've teamed up with Villain and Henchman.
That much was certain.
Especially since all four were now trapped in a tiny cell so close that all their legs brushed against each others'.
Hero leaned back and sighed. Gosh they were stupid. Really stupid.
Like immensely, completely, terrifyingly stupid.
Hero closed their eyes. 'Might as well sleep,' they thought. It wouldn't be until later that Supervillain would being their food that was most likely laced with poison or a drug or something bad.
A sharp kick to their shin nade Hero open their eyes. Villain's deep, daring eyes were locked with their's. They bore an expression that could only we translated into "Be Quiet".
'Well Villain, incase you haven't noticed, we weren't talking anyways,' Hero wanted to say, but the ferocity of their gaze made Hero quickly dismiss that idea.
Henchman was resting their head against Villain's shoulder as they slept. Hero never realized how similar they look until now. They both had the same dark brown hair and small nose. Their jawlines were very pronounced and they had high cheek bones. The only thing different was their eyes. First off, Henchman was blind in their right eye. It was a ghostly gray that was completely contradicted their green left eye. Villain had deep blue eyes that seemed to look right into someone's soul.
Hero never realized that they were twins until now.
Sidekick was a stout fellow, only a year younger than the rest. Their blond hair was majestic. Their hazel eyes, full of meaning, calculated everything and everyone. Their skin was immaculate, no blemishes, no acne, no anything except for a thin scar along their forehead. Villain gave them that scar and based on the amused look they gave it whenever they saw it, Villain was proud of what they did.
Hero never actually liked their own appearances. Dull, dry light brown hair that only seemed to collect dust. Their eyes, a near black, never actually won top prize in the Prettiest Eyes of Year competition. Not that they ever applied or anything. Their nose was pointed up very slightly at the end. All their friends said it was cute, but Hero hated it. They were always rubbing it to hide it.
Hero shook their head. Why were they thinking of the looks of others while they were stuck in Supervillain's prison?
They stood up, much to the annoyance of Villain, and carefully crept to the door. They were careful not to step on sleeping Henchman as they stepped over them.
Hero leaned against the door, their calves brushing against Sidekick's back. Their hands fiddled around until they grabbed the lock. It was a weird one that could only be opened with a combination. Maybe it was the same one for all villain's locks in every prison. It was highly unlikely, but...
"Villian," Hero said, looking down at them. Villain responded with a meaningless glare. 'Okay, nevermind,' Hero thought and turned back to the lock. They couldn't break it from in the cell, even if they got Sidekick to use their muscles. They wouldn't be able to get enough leverage.
Why did they have to team up with Villain?
They could be lounging on their sofa with some popcorn and a book or even scouting the city with Sidekick. They could be doing anything. Anything but rotting in a cell with the two people Hero hated the most.
"Please sit down," Villain grumbled. Both Hero and Sidekick turned to the cranky villain.
"Atleast I am actually trying to get out," Hero replied.
"Be quiet," Villain muttered before stretching their neck out and closing their eyes.
"What is wrong with them?" Hero asked Sidekick as they slid down next to their buddy. Hero was practically sitting on their lap.
"I don't know," Sidekick said a note too loud. Villain's eyes shot open and they sent the duo a glare.
"Sorry," Sidekick mouthed and rolled their eyes.
"Why did we even agree to this?" Hero asked.
"You mean, why did you agree to this," Sidekick retorted, looking up at Hero. "I'm not mad, but you wanted to help them."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hero said quickly, not too happy that Sidekick brought up their mistake.
Hero looked over at the twins. Villain's head was now resting on their shoulder and they held Henchman close. Hero felt a sting of pity for their parents.
"I never knew they were twins," Hero said, almost laughing.
"Yeah, me neither," Sidekick chuckled.
Hero leaned back. They were tired too, after being awake all night waiting for Supervillain to make their appearance.
"You can sleep Hero," Sidekick said. "I will keep watch."
"Just wake one of them up. This was their plan anyways," Hero mumbled, pointing at the twins.
"Hmm," Sidekick responded. "Nah. Let them sleep. Maybe Villain won't be as crabby."
Hero closed their eyes, but sleep didn't come, only memories:
Hero watched as Villain approached them. They held no weapon that Hero could see. Henchman followed from a distance, wearing a hood over their head.
"We need your help Hero," Villain said in a commanding tone. Hero ignored it and asked, "Why? Don't you have some villain friends that would love to help you?"
"Haha," Villain said in mock laughter. Then more serious, "No. It is too dangerous."
"Then why do you think that I would want to help you?" Hero asked. Why would they willingly go into a danger zone for Villain? It wasn't that were scared of danger, but for Villain? Why would they ever do anything for Villain, safe or not?
"Because the Hero I know doesn't run away from danger," Villain was closer now. So close that they could smell their cologne/perfume.
"I don't," Hero said, looking into Villain's blue eyes.
"Then help me dispose of Supervillain," Villain said in a near whisper. "It will be better for me, you, and your stupid civilians."
Maybe. Defeating Supervillain would put thousands of people out of harm's way, but for what price? Hero's life? They could live with that. Or not, they would be technically dead.
Villain's life? Just fine. Henchman's life? Eh, that was okay. They never actually hurt anyone directly, but they still were Villain's second in command and their best friend. Sidekick's life? Sidekick would jump in a pool of lava for anyone, even if they didn't know who they were. That was Sidekick, but Hero couldn't live with that. Definitely not, it would slowly kill them.
But if it all went well with no price, or just Henchman and Villain's lives, then tons of people wouldn't have to suffer. The rest of the villains would perish without someone keeping them in line. But why does Villain suddenly have this need to get rid of Supervillain?
"You must be contemplating whether or not to assist me in this heroic task," Villain said, grinning down at Hero.
"How did you know?" Hero replied sarcastically.
"Intuition," Villain gave Hero a big, fake smile.
"Really?"
"Really."
Both remained silent until Villain asked, "So, can you please help me?"
"No," Hero replied. Half of them couldn't believe they had just refused. The other half felt relieved.
"I know that you are very unsure of that answer," Villain said. Hero glared at them.
"Yes I am!" They yelled. Henchman looked up from where they were standing behind Villain.
Villain raised an eyebrow.
"Okay," Hero muttered. "I'm not sure."
"So," Villain took a step closer. "Is that a yes? Will you help me defeat Supervillain?" Hero could see happiness and maybe a little bit of relief behind those threatening eyes.
"Yes, I will," Hero said. They could see Henchman grin and Villain stepped back.
"Good," Villain said. "We meet here at dawn."
_____
Villain hated Hero. Like actually hated them to the point of wanting to kill them too. If it wasn't for Sidekick watching and protecting them every step they took, they would already be in a coffin waiting for burial.
Like Supervillain was going to be in precisely thirty-six minutes and thirteen seconds.
Thirty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
Thirty-six minutes and eleven seconds.
That was when Villain would finish them.
Henchman, their twin sibling, stood next to them, watching as Hero and Sidekick worked together to break into Supervillain's base.
"Sidekick has some muscle," Henchman said jealously. Atleast what Villain thought was jealousy. They had a knack for reading people's faces and figuring out their emotions. A seceret talent, they called it, but Henchman was nearly impossible to tell. So, Villain had to revert back to asking.
"Jealous?" They asked, crossing their arms.
"Kind of," Henchman said, looking up at Villain. "I work out every day for hours, yet I never gain any muscle."
Villain unconsciously flexed their own muscles.
"I guess you aren't doing the exercises right," Villain said, nudging their sibling playfully, but Henchman wasn't in the mood for jokes.
"Okay!" Hero called from where they were trying to bust the door open. Villain wanted them to be silent, but with Sidekick and Hero, silence was next to impossible.
Villain and Henchman joined their temporary allies at the opened door.
"Okay next step?" Hero asked a bit to enthusiastically for Villain's liking. This was Supervillain they were talking about, not some homeless street fighter.
"Shut off the electricity," Villain said. "Supervillain has a lot of security cameras and sensors, so be careful."
All four stood there in eerie silence. Villain was waiting for Hero and Sidekick to walk into the building and kill the electricity, but their gazes suggested otherwise.
"You want me to cut some wires?" Villain asked. They weren't serious right? 'They can't be,' Villain told themselves. Villain, a noble, feared crimimal doing what sidekicks and henchmen should do. Cutting off the electrical source.
"Of course," Hero replied as if Villain asked a dumb question. Which, to them, Villain knew was a very dumb question.
"Henchman, go," Villain said and looked at their twin, who just raised an eyebrow. They then looked at Sidekick who stood with their hand on their hips.
"Fine!" Villain exclaimed and stormed into Supervillain's base. 'Gosh, they were so bosy! Villain do this, Villain do that!' Villain complained to themselves as they took a couple rights and a left here and there, dodging cameras and sensors until they were at the door to the eletrical room. Villain knew Supervillain's place nearly as well as their own, so it wasn't that difficult.
Maybe that was why the others made Villain turn off the electricity?
Villain pushed open the door to the room. First, they checked for Supervillain's henchmen with their gun raised. No one. They holstered their gun and took out their knife.
"Okay, let's do this," Villain said out loud. They made their way to the humming wires that were clustered in the center of the room. A realization struck them. How would they be able to do this without dying? Being electrified was not a part of Villain's plan.
"Dangit," they whispered and put the knife back. They ran their hand over the smooth rubber covering that protected touchy hands from being shocked by the murderous wires underneath that were constantly fueled by even deadlier electricity.
Fueles by electricity... Villain's eyes made their way to a red lever with two words on the bottom and top that read "On" and "Off".
Villain smiled and reached up to the lever. It was pointed up at "On", so all they had to do was push it down. Easy-peasy.
Villain grasped onto the lever, but found themselves too short to successfully pull it down. They kicked, trying to get some force into their muscles, but nothing worked. They let go.
"Well, time to practice my pull-ups," Villain muttered and grabbed onto the lever again. They pulled all their weight up which caused the lever to snap downwards. The humming stopped and Villain very ungracefully toppled onto the ground.
"Gotta work on that," Villain said and brushed their pants off. They took out their knife and started cutting the wires in half.
"Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy," Villain laughed as they cut the last one. They were somewhat surprised at the evil, macanical sound that escaped their throat until they felt warm breath on their neck.
The laughing wasn't from them.
Villain stepped forward and reached for their gun. They would have to be fast. They pulled out the gun, turned around and-
Clatter.
'Well that's just great,' Villain said to themselves as they viewed the dropped gun with mild contempt.
"Villain," a rough voice sounded. They didn't even have to look up to know it was Supervillain.
"Hey buddy," Villain said back. In times of trouble, act innocent.
"What exactly are you doing to my electricity?" Supervillain asked in a cool tone. Villain bit their tongue to stop the forbidden words that were at the edge of their tongue, "Getting rid of you so I can rise to power and have the world at my evil hand's mercy." Yeah, no that wouldn't work out to well.
So instead, they said, "Fixing your wires. They were quite glitchy."
"Glitchy?" Supervillain asked. Villain forced themselves to look them in the eye.
"Yup," Villain smiled, trying to ignore Supervillain's stare that clearly meant, "I am gonna kill you." Not that Villain could actually blame Supervillain at all, but it wasn't apart of the plan.
Nothing was apart of the plan. Nothing at all.
"So then," Supervillain dropped their hardcore gaze to Villain's knife. "Why are you using the knife?"
"Uh, um," Villain hesitated before saying a bit to quickly, "Cutting it... out?"
"Uh huh," Supervillain nodded slowly. "Guards!"
Crap.
Villain backed up and pleaded with Supervillain, "Aw c'mon now buddy. We are old friends right? Right?"
"Leading a very skilled and talented fighter, a body builder, a braniac, and yourself, a ruthless killer, to my base is considered friendship?"
"Yes," Villain replied with confidence. They couldn't help but feel really good about compliment that Supervillain just told them. Actually, they wanted to thank them and then leave.
"Okay. Someone needs to go to school again because I don't think they passed kindergarten vocabulary," Supervillain said with mock concern on their face.
"I wouldn't know who that is," Villain replied, feigning innocence. 'They have a point though,' Villain thought, thinking about their report cards and all the classes they failed.
"It's you Villain," Supervillain gave a cocky smirk. Villain returned it saying, "That's not very nice."
"It isn't? Well, neither is breaking into my home."
"I wouldn't really call this piece of junk 'home', but whatever suits you I guess." Villain was actually very jealous of Supervillain's set up. Atleast ten prisoner cells with coded locks, various rooms for lounging around, medical rooms, even a garage full of four-wheelers and motorcycles AKA Villain's dream.
"Hmm very funny," Supervillain replied, showing no emotion at all. "Wanna know what else is funny?"
"I'm all ears."
"The fact that I have three of your friends in a cell right now," Supervillain replied. Then, very deftly, they revealed an electrical prod.
Dangit.
"That is very funny!" Villain exclaimed, but their smile faltered as Supervillain crept closer with the prod as a few guards entered the room and flanked them.
"You do realize what this does right?" Supervillain asked and shifted their weight to one foot. When Villain didn't respond, they continued, "An electrical prod, baton, stun gun, whatever you wish to call it."
"I know."
Supervillain smiled.
"It will hurt. If used for too long, you won't be able to move and it will be really confusing. For you."
Villain's bottom lip trembled. Their muscles told them to run, but Supervillain was quick and would shock them easily.
"Scared?" Supervillain asked.
"Duh."
"Well I hope this will be quick for you, but then again, I doubt it," Supervillain rushed forward and pressed the prod against Villain's stomach.
They screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. Their vision blurred and they thrashed around, but only for a second. Their body went totally limp.
Villain couldn't stop tears from rolling down their cheek. Supervillain picked them up, or Villain assumed they did. The world spun around them and quite against their will, their head drooped uselessly.
"Please," Villain murmured, but they doubted Supervillain even heard. If they did, they didn't show it.
Suddenly, they were on the floor, leaning against Supervillain's legs. They could see figures about ten feet, no two feet... five maybe... in front of them. Villain thought they could be concerned, maybe? One or two of them rushed forward, but seemed to be blocked by something like rods.
A hard pressure suddenly appeared on Villain's back and they lurched forward. They crumpled on the ground, unable to move their arms or legs.
"Walk Villain."
"No don't!" Another voice yelled. "Let me." The voice's owner pulled at them. Villain tried to resist it, but their muscles wouldn't move. They couldn't think! They had no idea what was going on.
Villain felt something warm on their back as faces clustered around them.
"What happened?"
"Don't know."
Villain wanted to move, to face the faces and find Henchman, but they felt locked up in their own body.
"Villain? Villain can you hear me?"
Villain tried to open their mouth to say "Yeah", but it came out like a strangled groan.
"They've been shocked," a voice said. "Give them a few minutes and they should be back to normal."
Villain turned their head away. 'Atleast I can move that,' they thought and wondered who's lap they were on. Was it Hero's? Sidekicks? Please, no. 'Hopefully Henchman. Please be Henchman, please,' they said to themselves as their thoughts slowly returned.
As their movement came back, and their orientation, Villain noticed that they were in a cell. They recognized Henchman's face looking down at their own and they sighed in relief. Not Hero or Sidekick, Henchman.
Villain looked out of the cell and into the dark, foreboding hallway and knew right away.
They would never get out.
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stanknotstark · 3 years
Text
Astral Pt. 10 (Loki x Reader)
So im out eating right now so ill add the link to the last part in an hour and stuff also I did not beta read this part and apologize if I need to change something later on but I want to try and keep up with posting at 5:30 so im releasing it 🤗
Alright we finally have some actions and many open ended questions that I’ve got to close up BUT we also experience one of our main villains warriors. If you read the comics you’ll immediately know who the main villain is (Or Google it but I suggest not doing that if you want to be surprised :p)
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You knew having peace and hanging out with your team and Loki would only last for so long, but you were still saddened when it came time to finally work. 
You’re all on the top most floor of the Avenger’s tower, the War Room as Tony called it (sounds a bit over dramatic but it was Tony so...). Fury is there in hologram mode, sitting in the middle of a large custom made table that had the Avengers logo engraved into the middle of the dark oak. 
“What kind of readings are we talking about?” Stark asks Fury. 
Fury’s hand comes up and swipes at something invisible on his end and it translates to Stark’s theater size screens on the wall. It’s a bunch of graphs, statistics, and other jargon you can’t understand. You raise a brow when Tony and Bruce gasp and start talking in hushed tones to each other. 
“Tony, make this english so everyone can understand what’s going on, please?” Steve asks. 
Tony clears his throat and points to one of the graphs, “According to Fury’s collected data, Thor give Jane a big hug when you next see her, they’ve picked up on some form of energy spikes in the middle of Death Valley, Nevada. Like we’re talking colossal size spikes. ”
You look at Loki who sits up in his chair next to you and squints at the screens.
“I know what these ‘energy’,” Loki says energy like it’s disgusting, “readings are. It’s magic from another realm. Specifically, it’s time travel but...” Loki frowns and you watch as his eyes become almost fearful.
“Spit it out, Reindeer Games.” Tony says, sounding concerned at Loki’s fear.
“It’s time travel across an alternate timeline.” 
Tony blinks. Bruce frowns and pushes his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. The entire room is silent. 
“You wouldn’t happen to know who caused these readings would you?” Tony finally asks. 
Loki, who has a neutral face now and the fear is gone from his eyes, shakes his head. “I can’t know for sure unless I can inspect the magic in person.” 
Finally Fury speaks, you had almost forgot the director was even here. “Prepare a quin jet Stark, get Loki and whoever else you deem reliable to escort. We need to figure out who came for a visit and if they’re ally or enemy as soon as possible.”
Fury disappears from the table and Tony gets into worker mode immediately. He points to you, claiming you’re the close combat person, to Clint, who is your ranged fighter, and to Natasha who would be pilot and your extraction. 
Things become a blur after that. You remember going to your room and jumping into your Shield issued attire (Stark had yet to make you your own suit), and meeting Loki at the roof where a quin jet readied for take off. Before you walked into the quin jet Loki stopped you, his hands holding your shoulders making you face him. 
“I promise that I will let nothing harm you, you’re my first priority and if things get violent I will teleport us away to safety.” 
You nod but give him a small smile, “I can handle myself but it’s good to know I’ve got someone watching my back.” You then push onto your toes and give Loki a peck and make your way to the quin jet. 
The ride there is tense and quiet. Loki says he’s putting a spell on you that acts as a shield but doesn’t specify how it works.
Looking back you wish you would have asked how it worked. 
Landing around 100 meters from the destination Clint, Loki and you leave the ship and begin your trek to the site. 
“Holy fuck! If I could strip out of my skin I would.” You say to Loki and Clint. Death Valley’s temperature was a recorded 130 degrees today. 
At your displeasure Loki slows till he’s next to you and puts an arm around your shoulders. You look at him questionably but gasp as his arm generates a coolness that at least stops your sweating. You make sure not to say anything so Clint, in front of you, doesn’t become jealous. 
The trip to the site is very uneventful. Even reaching the site is uneventful. About 30 meters from the site you see nothing. Literally, it’s just desert, surrounded by high cliffs, for miles. 
So you snoop, you walk around the site as Clint and Loki argue about whether the coordinates are correct. 
“I swear, this is what Stark gave me so, if they’re wrong, blame him!” Clint says, exasperated.
“It can’t be wrong I can feel something pulling at my magic but-”
That’s when you run into an invisible wall and yelp as you fall backwards onto your butt. 
“Found it!” You cheer as a space ship slowly appears, the colors changing and shifting from the point you hit till the whole thing is uncovered. At first glance the ship looks futuristic but once you overlook the whole thing with Clint keeping his distance, and Loki exploring with you, you realize it’s shaped as a sphinx. 
Very fitting for the desert surrounding the ship. 
“Work you magic.” You tell Loki and he does. You both congregate at the head of the ship/sphinx and he waves his hands over it, his green magic trailing out here and there to touch the ship. Loki himself mutters under his breath. 
You keep your eyes on him but also keep vigilant about the area. You finally get an idea and close your eyes for a second, your magic leaving your body and passing through the ship. No life forms. When you open your eyes again Loki lifts a brow at you, still muttering. 
“No life I can detect.” You tell him and he nods and focuses back on the ship. 
You put a hand to your ear piece and tell Clint, “I don’t sense any life forms but I’d keep a close eye anyways.” 
Clint gives you an acknowledgment. 
Loki finally stops his magic and drops his hands to his sides, just as he looks at you and you hear Clint yell into your ear, you’re hit by a concussive blast. When you look up in shock you see one lone humanoid figure walking towards Loki, who although wasn’t in the way of the blast also got blasted back, curious you think. Loki had immediately gotten into a defensive stance after getting up from the blast, one hand on his back holds three daggers, the other hand put up in a manner meant to calm the figure. 
You quickly get on your feet and stand next to Loki, your magic congregating at your balled fists. 
“Listen, buddy, I don’t know who you think you are-” Loki hisses at you, trying to get you to stop antagonizing the being that is close enough to identify. He is tall, around 7 feet tall and is dressed in a skin tight tank and leggings that are a dark purple color, it looks like metal but it’s too flexible to actually be metal. His head is encased in a tight helmet that frames his face and covers his head from his forehead, up, in a way that makes you think he is bald underneath. You shiver as you look into his eyes, they glow white. 
“Identify yourself.” The being says. Standing casually as if he didn’t attack you. 
“I am Loki, Prince of Asgard, and you are?” 
The being stands there silently. You huff. “I’m y/n, of Earth.” 
The being stands still for a few seconds then gets into a fighting position.
“I am here to take y/n, anyone who stands in my way shall perish.” 
Loki immediately grabs you and teleports you to Clint, you yell out angrily as he teleports back to the being and they start fighting. Loki throwing magic and daggers at the being. You gasp, the first ball of magic Loki throws at it makes a purple light encase the being, in a rippling effect, who then grows a bit. Hawkeye lets loose some arrows that explode on impact. It does nothing but make the man grow even more. 
Loki also realizes what’s going on because he stops attacking the being. The being takes his chance and lunges at Loki. Loki isn’t fast enough and takes a blow to the head. You scream and begin running towards him as he lays in the dirt discombobulated. Clint tries to grab your arm but misses you just so. 
In your ear you hear Clint tell Natasha to ready the jet. Before the being can get to Loki you throw yourself over his body. When he’s a few feet away you look at him with furious eyes.
“Stop!” 
To your surprise the being stops mid step, considers your words, then stands in place. You frown but look at Loki who is watching with fascinated eyes, recovered from the hard hit he took. You watch as blood trails down the side of his face and out of his ear. He probably can’t hear out of his left ear. 
Looking back up at the being you ask it, “Who sent you? What are you?”
The being stares at the two of you but answers, “I am Subject 52103 Growing Man, and my master sent me.” 
You feel Loki tense under you and assume he knows who his master is. 
“Tell your master to leave Earth alone, that if you or him show your faces here again, the Avengers will take you out without hesitation.”
The Growing Man nods and leaves in a flash of purple and black. 
Letting out a tense breath you stand and help Loki up. Making your way back to the quin jet, you pick up Clint. 
“Why does he want you?” Clint asks, looking at you. 
You walk, holding Loki at your side, the hit from the Growing Man doing enough to leave him a bit disoriented and sluggish. 
“I don’t know and I’m not quite sure I want to know.” You say. Loki stays conveniently quiet the entire walk to the quin jet. Clint doesn’t ask anything else either. 
Pt. 9.1/Pt. 10/?
Tag list: @justfangirlthingies​ @emelieh99​ @high-functioning-lokipath​ @loveableasshole​ 
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selene-tempest · 3 years
Text
I just woke up from a dream and I'm not happy. You know as well as I do that you cannot mix my husband and a social situation, it's not a good thing , it's gonna end in disaster. It did here too.
In my dream I had to leave a social occasion (which I do believe was some kind of vlogger/ film festival) because I had an emergency, and promised to be right back as soon as I could.
Upon returning a few dream hours later darling husband was nowhere to be seen, one darling brother-in-law was trying to fix someone's broken tripod (yes I'm looking at you, Virgil) another was in the middle of an interview (seriously Gordon?) and another was standing off to the side, glaring.
I went over to see why said darling brother-in-law/best friend was glaring and to ask where the darling husband was.
Me: Why are you pissy? And Where's John?
Scott : Shit, you're back!
Me: That's a suspicious greeting right there. Why shouldn't I be back?
Scott : *shiftily * No reason
Me: *narrows eyes* Where's John?
Scott : Why don't we go and get a drink? Cat, shall we get a drink with Sel?
Me: I don't want a drink and I don't trust you. What's going on? Did something happen?
Scott : No…
Me: *hands on hips* Spill it!
Scott : One of his old college buddies is here, they are covering the event for a magazine.
Me: What's the problem with that? *shifty Scott is a thing again* Where is he?
Scott : You don't wanna go ov-
Me: *death stare*
Scott : *wilts and points*
Me: *stomps over to see some blonde hussy in a halter top straining over obviously enhanced jugs, snuggle so close to my man she's practically straddling him and she's taking pictures and selfies, he is doing absolutely nothing about it because this appears to be his college buddy.
Me: *glare goes nuclear as it targets this bleached interloper before I force a sweet smile on my face and turn to darling husband: Hi, can you possibly spare me a moment? *me, sarcastic and passive aggressive? Never!*
Her, the bleached one with the boobs: Do you mind? We're trying to have a private conversation here, neither of us have any time to deal with fans. Honestly, we can't enjoy ourselves anywhere these days.
John: No, it's OK this-
B+B(bleach and boobs) : No, you're off duty, don't let them pressure you into giving them time by making you feel guilty, you don't owe them anything.
Me: I think you're misunderstanding, I'm not looking for a-
B+B: No, you're misunderstanding, can't you see that we're busy and that you need to go away? *drops a possessive, red clawed hand on his shoulder and leans closer.*
John: *clearly stuck between not wanting to offend his friend but also waiting for me to explode and take her down. He gets the one eyebrow raise of impending doom warning* Maddie, its fine, this is-
B+B: *puts a finger to his lips to silence him then glares at me* You're interrupting, go away.
Me: *dream me is apparently a lot more chilled than awake me, because dream me just snaps out* Fine, I guess I'll leave you alone then.
Me: *stomps off* I need a freaking drink!
Cat: *hurries over * Did you kill her? Did you save him?
Me: *glances over at the clinging vine my not-so-darling husband seems to have acquired* Let him perish. I'm getting a drink, are you in or out?
Cat: In! *trots after me*
Me: *is searching out one, very specific drink* ha! Got it. *enters the bar and orders a blue and red mix vodka slushie (I don't even know if this is a thing in the real world but it soooo should be)*
Cat: *is not brave enough to order the same, gets a vodka and diet coke, the wimp*
Me: *gulps down three large slurps on my straw, immediately gets brain freeze, isn't sure if that's preferable really*
Cat: *leaving me to it to scroll on her phone*
Me: *brain slightly defrosted* So, who's the bitch?
Cat: Madeline Carmichael-Parks (dream me makes up the best names apparently) went to college with Penny and John.
Me: *huffs at her stupid name* I don't trust people with two names.
Cat: Creighton-ward?
Me: *scowls* she's on the list of people I'm keeping my eye on (I have no idea what I'm talking about here)
Cat: I won't tell her you said tha- oh…
Me: *instantly suspicious* Oh, what?
Cat: Nothing *tries to hide her phone*
Me: Spill it!
Cat: *sighs and turns her phone to show Instagram and the bleached with boobs trollop snuggled faaarrrr too closely to my never-going-to-be-darling-again husband. The caption reads "My gorgeous date and I are enjoying ourselves at the vloggies" Urge to kill, rising*
Me: Right.
Cat: I'm sure it's nothing, you know it's noth-
Ted flap further down the bar opens, a familiar redhead ducks in, I immediately grab my drink and leave. Not in the mood for this shit apparently. I stomp my way down the street, weaving between festival goers. I have no idea if I left Cat behind, if she's following, if she got caught by said redhead, it's every woman for herself right now.
Random Brunette: Hey, sweetie, you OK?
Me: Yep
Random redhead friend : You don't look it.
Me: I'm fine. I just came back to find my husband being groped by another woman.
Girls gasp: He's cheating on you?!
Me: *snorts and slurps rapidly melting drink* Nah, he'd never do that, and my best friend would never allow it even if he wanted to, which he wouldn't.
Girls: *stunned silence, clearly confused*
Me: *sucks madly on the straw* She was all over him, I was polite, she wasn't. Girl code.
Girls: *both nod, totally understanding*
Me: He didn't stop her, so now I'm pissed at him.
Girls: *nod again*
Me: Then she shared a selfie and called him her date.
Girls: *gasps all round*
Me: It was leave to get a drink or murder, those were my choices.
Girls: *sees empty drink in my hand*
Me: I did not choose death this day. *finds drink empty, knows it's probably not safe to go back for another, pouts mildly for a second before deciding a slice of pizza might be better* Yeah, I'm off, later ladies.
Girls wave goodbye. I continue my stomping towards a pizza stall ( there seems to be a lot of food in this dream, maybe I was hungry).
Arms grab me from behind. I scream. Three dudes turn around to see if I'm OK.
John: *patiently* Stop screaming, Sel.
Me: No. *screams again just to be petulant*
Dude 1: Is this guy bothering you?
Me: Yes, he's my husband and he's an idiot who is trying to be cute and adorable when I'm angry at him.
John: *snigger quietly, which was a bad move.*
Dude 2: Want me to kick his ass?
Me: No, I can do that myself.
John : *clearly rolling his eyes behind my back* Whatever you're thinking happened you know it didn't.
Dude Three: *cracks knuckles*
Me: So I didn't see some blown up Barbie hanging all over you, being rude to me and claiming you as her own?
Dudes: *all wince and suck air through their teeth in sympathy, for who I don't know.*
John: I tried to tell her I was married but she never listens and-
Dude Three: Not helping yourself here, my man.
Dude Two: You don't admit to cheating, that's just stupid.
Me: *suddenly defensive of dumbass husband * Hey! Who said anything about cheating? He'd never do that, I was pissed off that a socialite with the IQ of a bean sprout judged me and dismissed me away from my own husband and this idiot did sod all about it.
John : I was about to, but you always tell me you can fight your own battles and I didn't want to undermine you. *hugs me tighter because he totally knows he's getting away with this. Unfortunately I know it too.*
Me: *smacks at his hand* Go away, I'm mad at you and I'm staying mad.
John : No you're not *kisses my neck*
Me: Yes I am. *promptly forces myself to wake up because I I'm that damned stubborn and I will have the last word *
I woke up to dumbass husband snuggled up to my back, snoring lightly in my ear, all innocent and unaware of just what his dream self was putting me through. How dare he!
So I got out of bed and stole his dressing gown, went to the kitchen and bitched to Virgil about my dream. He was very unsympathetic quite honestly and undeserving of the coffee I made him.
John woke up an hour later but I'm still not talking to him. He has no idea what he's done.
Virgil told him he pissed me off in my dream and John just looked at me with a very judging look in his eyes like I was totally mad.
I'm still waiting for an apology…
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shionancientsblog · 3 years
Text
With the full moon
Prologue
Wolf Katsuki x fem! Reader
Disclaimer: In this part of the story I talk about animals rights activists, I don't say all of them are bad or aggressive but in the country I live in the line between a pacific protest and a physical fight between them and the police is very thin, sometimes they even use non legal ways to free animals and they cause more damages than anything. I just wanted to make this clear.
Katsuki was pissed.
He had to leave his forest to go search that shitty red head who hasn't returned in the den for almost a week.
The pack had searched for him all over the forest with no result. Katsuki had a bad feeling the red wolf was captured by a human and killed, but he had thrown away that possibility in a corner of his mind.
But he had no choice, he would go searching for his pack member in the human world to prove himself wrong.
Katsuki grabbed from a charity clothes box, placed just outside the forest, an oversize hoodie and a pair of pants, both of them big enough to cover his wolf traits.
He huffed through his nose as he walked through the bunch of humans walking in the opposite direction of him, too busy with phones or other shit to even look at him properly.
Katsuki hated humans. All of them.
It was all humans fault that the forest he lived in got smaller day by day, that his pack members got killed for defending the territory and their fur sold to bitchy females who just wanted to decorate themselves just for show. Not even pups were safe from this massacre.
As a pack leader he had to protect his family and he refused to let his friend perish in the hands of a selfish human.
He followed the scent into a not so crouded alley, people walked more calmly but not paying attention to anyone else beside them. A big dog on the leash growled and barked at him, the fucker wanted to pick a fight with him, Katsuki presumed; he snarled back at the big fluff ball, asserting his dominance by bearing his sharp teeth.
The dog whined and hid behind his master's legs that turned her attention from the showcase with pastel colored dresses to look around, Katsuki walked away shrugging his shoulders as the woman cooed at the dog.
Katsuki kept walking for what it seemed miles 'till he reached a small shop. The signboard reflected the sun making impossible to read it, but from the cartoon stamps of a dog and a cat face Katsuki imagined was one of those places where humans sold way too trusty animals to others, a simple excuse to not die alone. He snorted when he saw with the corner of his eye a small blackboard with a winking roden draw on it and incomprehensible words scribbled all over.
He entered the shop and, luckily, no damn human noticed him; the bell attached on top of the door gingled happily making his ears twitch under the hood.
The shop was empty beside the constant chirping of colorful birds, the employees were probably on the back of the shop organizing stuff, confident no one would snoop around like a thief.
Katsuki made his way through the isles full of squeaky toys, bright collars and smelly animal food.
The scent of his pack mate was getting stronger the more Katsuki walked around the shop. He spotted a door painted with the same withe as the walls making it almost disappear if you didn't pay much attention.
Katsuki stood there staring at the door in silence, his ears picked carefully every sound in the shop waiting for the perfect timing.
After he made sure no one was around to see him, Katsuki walked to the door and swing it open, sliding to the other side quickly enough and let the door close behind him.
The room Katsuki found himself in was bigger than the shop. A corner of the room was full of boxes some of them had stains on them or even snudged words written with crayons. There were, what it seemed, cages with plastic-y walls and metal gates; inside was decorated like a small room: the floor was covered with a fake grass carpet, chewed toys rested unused in a corner next to a big dog cushion, in front of the gate were placed two bowls both of them empty and in the very back a small dog house.
It was very bright due to the big ass windows on the walls.
There was no sound, but the red wolf scent still lingered in the air. Katsuki feared he had arrived too late.
"Bakugo?" Katsuki heard from the very end of the room, and there he was peaking from the gate the red wolf, in perfect shape and even with groomed fur like an house pet.
"What the fuck are you doing here, shit head?!" Katsuki growled, crouching in front of the gate to look at his pack mate. One of his paws was bandaged meaning he couldn't get up or even walk, Katsuki spotted bandages even on the wolf's stomach; whoever hurt him was going to have a bad time.
"What the hell they done to you?!" the red wolf's ears perked up immediately at the blonde sharp growl "Relax, buddy. They haven't done anything to me" Kirishima replied cheerfully wagging his tail.
"Leave your excuses for later, now I have to get you out from this shitty hole" he cut off rummaging with the lock that kept the gate closed. "Uhm, about that…" someone clearing their throat interrupted the explanation Kirishima was trying to give.
Katsuki turned his head slightly, behind him stood a girl with a pastel orange shirt and a pair of jeans, covered by a long apron with cutesy stamps on it; she wore a severe expression and her arms were crossed on her chest, towering over the blond wolf in his crouched position. "Customers aren't allowed in the back of the store" she stated not breaking eye contact with Katsuki, who didn't like her presence at all.
"I'm not a damn custumer" he replied gritting his teeth; he wasn't sure why but this human in particular pissed him more than the others did.
"Then who are you and what are you doing in front of the cube?" she asked sternly, Katsuki grunted in response.
He got up, towering over the smaller human with his height. "Free him" he said flatly pointing at the cage behind him, the girl looked at him with a cold but still severe expression "Are you his owner?" she asked simply referring to Kirishima but not breaking eye contact with Katsuki.
"If you are then you'll have to pay a penality for abandonment of animals sir" she added, Katsuki could clearly see a hint of anger in her eyes.
"I don't own him, you little fucker, the forest does so now free him!" He shouted but the girl didn't even flinch at his outburst, she clicked her tongue as she frowned in annoyance "Listen here, buddy. I'm sick tired of you and all the other animal rights activists, who instead of peacefully inform themselves took extreme measures and barge into our shop just 'cause. We respect animals, we wouldn't open an animal center if we weren't. We treat them like they they deserve, we don't sold their furs nor we force them into mating just for pop out more pups to sold" she took a deep breath before staring at the blonde with flaming eyes "And most importantly, this "sketchy" back store is where we rehabilitate injured animals. They aren't for sale. Did I make myself clear?"
Katsuki was dumbfounded. A mere human was capable of making him speechless for the first time in his life and with the energy of a lion, despite being seen like a rabbit to Katsuki eyes. He shook his head, forcing himself out of his state of daze "I don't give two shits who these fuckers are or what are you doing in this shitty hole, I demand you to free him!" He barked, baring his teeth to the human girl who stood there unimpressed, arms crossed and feet planted to the ground firmly "Even more so if he's injured he should return to his family who can cure him. Not in a jail surrounded by fake grass and dog food!" Katsuki's face was now scrunched in an animalistic glare, teeth beared and pupils reduced into thin red slits, Katsuki fought his instinct to not growl and get himself discovered as a wolf.
The girl took a deep breath and sighed loudly.
"Tsu, call the police! This one's another crackhead" she said turning her head to her colleague who stood over the entrance, telephone already in one hand just in case things got out of hand, big round eyes stared at the two not in fear but more out of curiosity.
"Don't you fuckin dare you little runt!" Katsuki shouted trying to grab the girl by the shoulders and intimidate her "Try to touch me and I'll make sure you'll pass more than just one night at the police department" she hissed like a viper and Katsuki felt a cold shiver running up his spine.
He knew that, somehow, she was going to make that threat real.
To the other side of the room the other frog looking girl had already composed the police number as Katsuki heard a woman voice from the other side of the phone.
"Fine, I'll go" Katsuki sneered and sighed in defeat as he stormed past the girl with anger "But don't you think this is over. I'll be back, I give you my word" he promised pointing his index to the girl who replied sharply "And I give you my word that you won't step a foot in the back anytime soon"
Katsuki was flaming with anger as he heard the girl greeting him sarcastically one last time before he got out of the shop "We hope to see you again soon, dear customer"
She won the battle but not the war.
This wasn't over.
73 notes · View notes
chibi-beaver · 3 years
Text
A Romantic Night in
Rating: Mature/Explicit (It straddles the line a bit)
Words: 3.7K
Fandom: Star Wars: The Bad Batch
Relationships: Hunter/Reader, Hunter & Omega
Characters: Hunter, Omega, You
Tags: Domestic fluff, Romance, Porn with plot (but like it's not terribly explicit most of the time), no y/n, little to no angst, FLUFF, female reader, established relationship, movie night, modern AU
Summary: You and your boyfriend Hunter have a fun night in after picking up Omega from soccer practice
(I don't usually write smut but it kinda just happened and I shocked myself with it lol)
Fic under the cut
You and Hunter were preparing your shopping list for the grocery store, going through the cupboards, seeing what was running low.
"I have an idea!" Hunter said.
"What is it?" You ask.
"You know you've wanted to have another date night, but we also have Omega tonight?"
"Yea" you respond. Omega was shared between Hunter and his brothers. She typically lives with Hunter but the others also get her throughout the week. She just spent Friday and Saturday with Tech and Wrecker, who recently moved out into their own apartment. You had a feeling that Tech thought the house was too full now that you were living there too. She also spent some time with Crosshair on Wednesday but his schedule was quite busy so she only spent time with him whenever he was not on a business trip.
"We should have a fun night in, we make some food, watch movies with Omega until she gets tired, and then after she goes to sleep, we can have our own movie date," Hunter said, as he hugged you from behind.
"That sounds like a great idea!" You say, turning your head to place a kiss on his cheek.
"We'll go pick up some stuff to make our favourite nachos, and some popcorn for Omega along with the rest of our groceries, then pick her up from soccer practice at 6:30, get her some dinner, and then we change into our PJs and watch movies," Hunter said. An ear-to-ear grin formed on his face as he described the plan. You smiled back as you felt some heat enter your cheeks. You then check your watch.
"Let's head out then, seeing as it's 5:30 and it takes us 20 minutes to get to the grocery store," you say.
"Yea, we should," Hunter said as he got the grocery note and the keys.
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You got into the passenger seat while Hunter took the wheel. You plugged your phone into the AUX and started to play your favourite music.
"I didn't expect all this traffic at 5:30 on a Sunday night," Hunter remarked.
"Me neither," you said as you looked out the front window at all the cars.
"BUDDY! COME ON!" Hunter frustratedly said at the slow driver in front of him.
"Who does 45 kilometers an hour in a 70 zone?!" Hunter said.
"That guy apparently," you said as Hunter pulled into the other lane and passed him.
The rest of the drive to the store was relatively peaceful as Hunter's road frustration faded. He found a place to park and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Happy to be off the main road?" you asked.
"Yes! I hate slow and incompetent drivers," Hunter said as he turned off the car. The two of you got out, took your bags, and went into the store.
"What's on our list?" you ask as Hunter gets a cart.
"We need chicken, milk, popcorn, peppers, some fruit, yogurt, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and tortilla chips," Hunter said, reading off the note.
"Sounds like a plan," you say as Hunter walks closely behind you, pushing the cart as you start looking for the various items. You start in the produce section where you get your peppers and some of Omega's favourite fruits. She was in a strawberry phase lately so you made sure you picked up strawberries.
"We need to get her something new too," Hunter said.
You noticed some blackberries nearby.
"Has she tried blackberries?" you ask, gesturing towards the half-pint of blackberries that are on sale.
"I don't think," Hunter said as he saw them too.
"Let's get them," you said.
"Ok," Hunter said as he let you put it into the cart.
You then proceed into the aisle with chips in it.
"One-stop shop it seems," you remark as you see chips, popcorn, and salsa in the same aisle.
"Mild or medium?" Hunter asks as he looks at the salsas.
"Medium, I need a little kick damn it," you say.
Hunter chuckles. "Remember the last time we had medium salsa?" he asks, clearly teasing you.
"No, nothing out of the ordinary happened," you insisted.
"Pretty sure last time you were begging for milk because it was too spicy," Hunter said as he stepped closer to you.
You knew what he was referring to but you decided to take it in an entirely different direction.
"Are you referring to the outcome of our last movie date?" you ask with a smug look on your face.
Hunter's cheeks turned bright red.
"Uh, well" Hunter said, not sure how to finish that sentence. You knew that was not the direction he was taking it. The last time you had medium salsa was a while before your last movie date with Hunter. You tried it for the first time and couldn't handle the spice. The outcome of your last movie date, however, was certainly not appropriate to discuss in a public setting such as aisle 1 of a grocery store.
"Don't tell me you're trying to make a sexual innuendo out of that," Hunter whispered.
You simply smirked and winked at him.
"Let's just say that two can play that game, cyar'ika," Hunter whispered as he put medium salsa into the cart and started to take the cart further down the aisle to get some popcorn. Your cheeks soon matched the colour of Hunter's. You can't help it but you also can't explain why when he says that word, you become putty in his hands. Especially after you learned what that word means. It did something to you, in a good way of course.
You catch up to him as he is looking at the prices of the popcorn.
"Should we buy the bigger package or the smaller one?" Hunter asked.
"The bigger one is obviously the better deal," you say.
"Yea but we don't use a lot of popcorn," Hunter said.
"It's not like popcorn is a perishable item though," you counter.
"True," Hunter says as he puts the bigger package into the cart.
Your next stop was the meat and dairy sections of the store. You pick up a package of fresh chicken breasts. It was bigger than what you needed for your nachos but you were going to use it for meal prep for the week. You tried to bring lunch from home as much as possible to work, and you were hoping to pass that way of thinking to Hunter too.
Once you got to the dairy section, you were disappointed to see that the yogurt you and Hunter like is not in stock.
"Damn," you say as you look at the empty shelf.
"You got that right," Hunter says.
"I guess we'll need to look somewhere else for it another time," you say.
"True, just not tonight," Hunter says while chuckling.
"Yea," you reply as you pick up the sour cream and Hunter picks up the milk.
"Last item, cheese," you say as you proceed further down the dairy section and find a block of cheddar cheese on sale.
"Let's get this checked in," Hunter says as you proceed to a self-checkout.
You get out of the store in record time. Bless those self-checkouts, you thought as you got into the car. The next stop was to pick up Omega from soccer practice.
The traffic seemed to calm down a bit while you were in the grocery store, with the main roads only about half as busy. It took no time to get to the field that Omega goes to for practice.
"Just in time," Hunter said as he looked at the clock in the car, 6:20. You got out of the car to join some of the other parents who had just gotten there to pick up their kids. You could tell that Hunter was feeling a bit anxious. All the other parents, you could tell were actually the parents of their kids while Hunter was in a different situation. He and his brothers took up the mantle of caring for Omega because their mother works so much and their dad died before she was born. It's gotten so bad that Hunter and his brothers were made her guardians and their mother only shows she's involved by sending Hunter, his brothers, and Omega money. While Hunter was quite a bit older than his sister, he wasn't quite old enough to be her dad without someone questioning his age when she was born. Hunter was 17 when she was born and she's 8 now.
"Hunter!" Omega called out after her practice ended.
"Hey kid," Hunter said as he collected her.
"How was practice?" he asked as the three of you went back to the car.
"It was good. I scored a goal today!"
"Really? That's awesome! Wanna get a happy meal to celebrate?" Hunter said.
"YES YES YES!" Omega said.
"Glad to hear it, let's get to McDonald's," Hunter said.
"Hi, welcome to McDonald's. What can I get for you?"
"Hi, can I get a McNugget happy meal," Hunter said into the drive-thru window.
"Yep, would you like the girl toy or the boy toy?"
"Which one do you want?" you whispered to Omega.
"Boy toy!" she said.
"She wants the boy toy," you relay to Hunter.
"Boy toy please," Hunter said.
"Great, your total is $5.51, drive through."
"You get to the first window.
"I can pay," you offer.
"No, I'm paying," Hunter insisted.
"You just paid for groceries, I can pay," you said but it was too late, Hunter had already tapped his card. Looking at you the entire time with a smug look on his face.
You rolled your eyes as he pulled up to the second window and got the food. Omega was elated to get her nuggets and fries and immediately started eating them.
"Mind giving Hunter a fry?" Hunter asked.
"I do mind," Omega said as she kept eating her fries. You laugh as she says this and she joins in.
"Wow thanks," Hunter said sarcastically before saying "it's a long walk home," referencing that he's driving the car. You knew he wasn't being serious based on his tone of voice. He was just playing around.
Omega had finished her meal by the time you three got back home.
"Make sure you bring your garbage in," Hunter reminded Omega as he turned off the car.
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Once you got into the house, Omega got into the shower while you and Hunter changed into your pajamas. Hunter quickly changed into his favourite pajamas, a black t-shirt with dull red camo pajama pants while you sifted through your pajama only to put on a pair of white shorts and a bright red t-shirt that had a faded logo of something on it. Omega still wasn't done in the shower when you both changed so you went downstairs and started making the nachos.
Your nachos called for grilled chicken breast that was liberally seasoned, diced bell peppers (colour doesn't matter), onions, jalapenos, and of course, lots of cheese. You started the chicken and grated the cheese while the chicken cooked. Meanwhile Hunter prepped the veggies. Hunter stole a few shreds of cheese before you smacked them out of his hands.
"Hey!"
"That's for the nachos!" you replied.
"Party pooper," Hunter said with a pout.
"It's better melted, trust me," you said.
Once the chicken was just cooked, you got the sheet pan ready with parchment paper and made a layer of chips. You put a thin first layer of cheese before adding the chicken.
"You got the veggies ready?" you asked.
"Just about," Hunter said.
Hunter then added the prepped veggies before you added a much thicker layer of cheese on top before sticking it into the oven.
"I love cooking with you," Hunter said as he wrapped his arms around your waist.
"Me too, when you and your big appetite aren't stealing some of the ingredients," you joked.
"You clearly haven't seen Wrecker's appetite."
"Fair enough," you replied.
"You know you love me anyways," Hunter said.
"I do," you said as Hunter left a few kisses on your neck.
You giggled as you heard Omega come downstairs. You pulled away from one another immediately.
"You wanna watch some movies wiht us?" Hunter asked.
Omega nodded her head.
"You want some nachos with us or do you want some popcorn?" Hunter then asked.
"Popcorn!" she said.
You smiled. You thought the kid was so cute sometimes.
Hunter put a bag of popcorn into the microwave, entering the time it says on the bag.
"Wanna help pick out a movie?" You asked.
"Sure!" Omega replied as you and her went to the couch and turned on the TV. You let her pick which streaming service she wanted. Of course she picked the one that had the most kids movies. Omega had her own kid friendly profile on every service you were subscribed to. She picked the same movie she always picks.
You got up for a minute to check on the nachos.
"I bet you can't guess what movie we're watching," you say, teasingly.
"It's the one about the lions again, isn't it?"
"Yep," you said as the microwave beeped. The popcorn was ready.
"I'll bring the popcorn in, you watch the nachos?" you ask.
"Sounds good babe," Hunter said as you emptied the popcorn bag into Omega's favourite bowl. This bowl was white with red stripes all over it. You think it might have been a Christmas bowl at some point with the candy cane like aesthetic. You put the bowl on the coffee table, closer to Omega in order to make room for the sheet pan of nachos. Hunter brings in bowls of sour cream and salsa before going back into the kitchen. You hear the oven open, meaning that he's bringing in the nachos.
"Wanna put on the movie?" you ask Omega.
"Yep!" she says as she picks up the remote and puts on her favourite movie.
Hunter sets the sheet pan down and sits on the right edge of the couch and puts his arm around you. You looked over at Omega, who seemed to be enjoying the opening scenes of the movie while eating her popcorn. You left Hunter's arms to take some nachos.
"mmmm" you quietly said as you ate your first bite.
"You're quite the cook," you whisper.
"Will there be any kisses for the cook tonight?" he whispers back.
"Maybe later," you say with a wink.
About a half hour later, Hunter noticed that Omega was out of popcorn but was looking at the nachos.
"Want some nachos?" he whispers.
Omega tried the nachos but didn't seem to be a fan of the peppers and picked them off.
Once the nachos were all gone you snuggled into Hunter for the rest of the movie. He kept his arm around you, rubbing your shoulder every once in a while, presumably to keep his hand from falling asleep. You rested your head on his shoulder and he started to play with your hair.
--------------------------------
The movie ended about 1 hour and 40 minutes later, after which Omega wanted to go to sleep.
Hunter went upstairs with Omega while you cleaned up all the food. You groaned at the thought of washing dishes so you put them in the dishwasher instead and turned it on.
"That's a job well done," you say before heading back into the living room.
Hunter soon proceeded downstairs.
"You put her to bed?" you asked.
"Yea, she was quite tired after soccer practice and a movie," Hunter said.
"I'd say, hopefully she gets enough sleep so that she won't be tired at school tomorrow,"
"I hope," Hunter says as he sits back on the couch with you.
You pick up the remote and went into your own profile. Scrolling through movies before you and Hunter finally agreed on one. It was an action movie about a superhero. As the movie starts, Hunter wraps his arm around you while you rest your head on his chest.
Hunter kisses your forehead. You look up at him and kiss him on the lips.
"Finally some kisses for the cook?" Hunter asks.
"You betcha!" You said as you raised your self to be closer to Hunter's level to make kissing him a bit easier. He kept his arm around you but lowered it slightly so that his hand was toying with the bottom of your shorts. You run your hand through his hair as he moves his hand under your shorts, massaging your butt.
"Someone's feeling a little frisky tonight," you remark as you adjust your positioning to be straddling him. He allows this, guiding your legs into position.
"How can I not be?" he says once you're in the desired position.
His cheeks are growing redder as his hands explore your body. He has one hand holding your waist while the other is making its way under your shirt. He plays with your tits for a few minutes before moving that hand to your waist too. He holds onto you as he plants some kisses to your neck. You softly moan as his lips hit all the sensitive spots that he knows gets you off. He leaves your neck as you coax him back up to kiss you on the lips again. Neither of you hold back with the kiss, exploring one another with your lips and tongues.
Once you pull away from one another, you remove your shirt. Hunter collects the shirt and throws it on the floor before taking off his own shirt, with your asssistance. Your legs start to hurt from being bent for a while. Hunter notices this.
"Wanna switch around?" he asks.
You nod your head as the two of you get up from the couch. You get back onto the couch, this time laying down while he finds his way between your legs, placing himself on top of you.
He kisses your lips for a bit longer before going lower. His lips move to your neck, then your chest. He stays there for a few minutes, kissing your tits and using his hands to get you off. You could tell that he liked pleasing you. Every time he tried something, he gauged your reaction and continued accordingly. You could also feel him getting harder against your pelvis.
He moved towards your stomach and soon reached your pelvis. He put his hand down your shorts and searched for your clit. You'd admit that he wasn't perfect at finding it but at least he tried. You removed his hand for a minute to take off your shorts and throw them to the floor as he did with your shirt. You soon tugged at his pants strings.
"Go ahead cyar'ika", he said.
"You know I like it when you call me that," you admit.
"That's why I do it," he whispered.
You take off his pants and put them on the floor with your own clothes. He moves your panties to the side and starts kissing you more. You moan softly as he does that, tyring not to be too loud as to not wake Omega. Instead you ran your hands through Hunter's hair, grabbing some of it.
Hunter chuckled before saying, "I see someone is enjoying themselves."
He puts your panties back where they're supposed to be once you decide to return the favour. You pull down his underwear and let your lips and tongue do the work with your hands being of assistance at times. He too softly moaned as your tongue hit a sensitive spot.
"How does that feel, cyar'ika?" you ask. Hunter chuckles and you soon realize that you kinda butchered the pronouciation.
"I butchered that, didn't I?"
"Yea but I like it, maybe I can teach you the proper pronounciation sometime," Hunter said.
"I'd like that," you said as you moved upwards from your current position, placing your head level with Hunter's.
"I'm sure you would, cyar'ika," Hunter said as he kissed you on the lips once again.
You then removed each other's underwear. Hunter teases you for a few moments before giving you what you want. You wrap your legs around him as he moves in and out of you.
However, the couch is nowhere near the size of your bed and as you move around to change positions, you fall off the couch. Hunter soon also falls and lands next to you, moving the coffee table slightly so that he didn't hit it.
"Hopefully Omega didn't hear that," you say as you lay next to Hunter.
"I don't think she did, she's sound asleep by now," Hunter said.
The two of you then laugh at the predicament.
"You wanna keep going?" you ask.
"Definitely," Hunter said as he sat himself up against the couch. You decide to straddle him once again. You position yourself onto him while he pulls some couch cushions down and places two under your knees. He places his hands on your ass as you control the pace this time. He raised his legs to make you and him more comfortable. You lean down to kiss him. He reciprocates the gesture, meeting you halfway. The kiss becomes pretty deep before he pulls away and out.
He soon finishes, with your assistance. You sit on the floor next to him afterward.
"It seems this movie night ended similarly to last movie night," you comment.
"I certainly don't mind this outcome," Hunter comments.
"Of course you don't you dog," you tease.
"Don't lie, you're just as naughty," Hunter teases back.
"We should probably clean this up and go to bed," you say.
"I couldn't agree more," he says as the two of you get up.
The curtains are closed so you don't mind not putting your clothes back on as you and Hunter repositon the coffee table and put the cushions back properly before heading upstairs and quickly heading to your room. The two of you then get into bed. You lay on your side and Hunter soon joins, spooning you. You turn your head around to face him for a moment. He leans in and kisses you softly.
"Good night cyar'ika".
"You're gonna keep calling me that now, aren't you?"
"Yep. Goodnight. I love you."
"Goodnight, I love you too," you say as you begin to drift off to sleep.
6 notes · View notes
nutty1005 · 4 years
Text
How “The Untamed” reversed its fate, Xiao Zhan went the hard way in his depiction of Wei Wuxian
Original Article: https://www.weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404476523863212216#_0 Original Author: 乍暖已寒 (Published by: 爱战DAYTOY_1005)
(TN: The Untamed was based off the novel “Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation” or “Mo Dao Zu Shi / 魔道祖师”. Bringing this novel to the silver screen had its fair share of troubles and many did not look kindly at this project in 2018, nor believed that it would fair well in China.)
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I have said this before – when a new top celebrity with stunning good looks appears onto the scene, immediately accompanying it will be forceful criticisms of his/her acting. Xiao Zhan, who burst into fame because of The Untamed, is no exception to this as well.
Endless negative articles, out-of-context screen snaps with negative captions (e.g. the first 3 episodes where he had to act as Mo Xuanyu, a lunatic), slowed down GIFs, or even insinuating special effects… they really tried their best to smear his acting.
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Just this once though, Xiao Zhan prevailed despite all of these. The endless waves of well-prepared negative articles did not prevent Xiao Zhan’s acting chops from appearing on Weibo’s trending topics  (instead of his appearance). His unforeseen, exceptional performance in The Untamed proved them wrong – such a great refute to their efforts!
Xiao Zhan’s Exceptional Moments
He had multiple different ways in handling his crying scenes, and they were all able to invoke a lot empathy in his audiences. There were tears of helplessness, tears of doubt, tears of pain, tears of false bravado, tears like that of a lost child – and every teardrop touched his audiences’ hearts.
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This scene was my personal favorite – it was as painful as it was beautiful. Besides grief and hopelessness, you could also sense Wei Wuxian’s helplessness, and it became extra heartbreaking. Yes, many would always forget that beneath the all powerful Yiling Patriarch, he was merely a teenage boy, and he had just lost his home. 
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Besides his crying scenes, Xiao Zhan also had similar delicacy and accuracy in managing the character’s psychology – for example, the scene which Wei Wuxian discovers the method to transfer the Golden Core. At the moment of discovery, he was filled with exultation, but the joy in his eyes slowly dimmed down, ending with relief. There was this sliver of sadness amidst the jubilation but it was quietly set aside.
Xiao Zhan used his “eyes acting” to great effect, and performed the series of complex emotions perfectly – from the discovery of a cure, to understanding that someone has to sacrifice his Golden Core, to deciding that he would be this person. This made the audiences want to ask, “What about you? What is going to happen to you?”
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I also admired Xiao Zhan’s attention to details in the scene where Wei Wuxian brings Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli to Yiling Supervisory Hold – he was like a helpless prey trapped at a dead end.
Wei Wuxian was just an child when his family perished, and he had just went through another massacre – there was simply too much death and bloodshed. He was high strung and any bit of provocation could make him lose his rationality. He was instinctively biting his teeth and shaking as he forced himself to protect his only remaining kin.
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In fact, after leaving behind the first 10 episodes of happy-go-lucky, Xiao Zhan had countless exceptional moments such as these. I could not even finish describing 10% of them in this long article of mine. For someone who was the lead actor for the first time, his future is really filled with endless possibilities.
As such, I could not even fathom why someone would blindly mock Xiao Zhan’s acting, even more so than when someone mocks his appearance. For someone who could weep while script reading with his fellow actors, how could he be someone with “zero acting chops”?
“Empathic” Style of Performance
The most apt words I can use to describe Xiao Zhan’s acting are “graceful” and “touching” – there appears to be no discourse to his acting, but yet his acting draws empathy and his characterization extremely believable.
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To an actor, this is a solution, but this is one of the dumbest method as this is also one of the most harmful method. This is because this method requires the actor to breakdown his personality and restructure himself to suit his character. It makes entering and exiting the role extra difficult – every teardrop is created from the actor’s blood and soul.
To me, I am an extremely sensitive viewer and I like the acting to be natural; I cannot accept any bit of deliberation. I do not like it when performance leaves a trace of the techniques used, instead this “dumb” method is what that can touch me – to become one with the character.
This is probably why this silly child could weep like this during script reading. He might really be a natural born actor, but also a gentle angel – what kind of soul resides in him? How is he able to empathize entirely with Wei Wuxian such that he could tear up like this? Who would not love this boy, who is naturally extraordinary, but yet also incredibly compassionate?
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He Understands Wei Wuxian
And because he understood the true meaning behind “becoming Wei Wuxian”, so he understood him even in the smallest details.
Have you ever wondered how Wei Wuxian was like beneath the manically cool Yiling Patriarch and suave youngster?
Firstly, he was an insecure person.
Below is from the author’s Weibo:
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His childhood as a stray set the tone for him as person who is always filled with uncertainties – he will subconsciously attempt to change his facade in order to please his loved ones.
And it is evident that Xiao Zhan understands this – you can see that Wei Wuxian has a different facade when dealing with different people. To Jiang Cheng, he is his best buddy; To Nie Huaisang, he tries to be the friend who leads him astray; To Jiang Yanli, he is unashamedly a child begging for praises; To Madam Jiang, he is the most proper and obedient student.
In fact, this scene of an obedient Wei Wuxian gave me more affirmation that Xiao Zhan knows Wei Wuxian, more than any of his crying scenes. (Madam Jiang appeared, and he was the first person who stood up, in apprehension.)
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Secondly, he puts up a false front.
Before the broadcast of the drama, Xiao Zhan gave an interview which caused displeasure among part of the novel fans. He said “Too many crying scenes, Wei Wuxian cried too much.” Some of these agitated fans expressed that Wei Wuxian was actually a cheerful happy-go-lucky person, he does not like to cry – he only cried twice in the books, Xiao Zhan must not understand his character!
However, is that really so? Evidently not. The novel was written from Wei Wuxian’s angle, therefore the story was told to us by Wei Wuxian, and hence we are actually reading his version of the story.
When you think about it, how is it possible for Wei Wuxian to not be devastated at the massacre of Jiang Family, the death of his brother-in-law due to his misstep, the death of Jiang Yanli, who took the sword on his behalf, or his own death, where he despaired and allowed himself to be devoured by ghosts? It is definitely not possible, but why were these not described in the books? Because, Wei Wuxian, who liked to put on a false front, decided to sidestep these in his own version.
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Yes, our Wei Wuxian was the sort of person who only spoke of the good, but never the bad. No matter how much trauma he suffered physically or mentally, he kept smiling and kept his false front. He always looked like nothing mattered to him and he never suffered.
Hence, when he was battered and wounded by the demonic dog in the drama, despite being covered in wounds, after he took a bite of the bun he got from Jiang Cheng, he smiled brilliantly and said “delicious”. This part made me cry for him – I felt so much for this stubborn child.
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Below is why, I was sure from the beginning that Xiao Zhan would do a good portrayal of Wei Wuxian. He told Wei Wuxian at the end of The Untamed shooting to “cherish yourself more, stop putting on a false front”. 
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He really knew him. He really felt for him.
He came from a boyband, he had no professional acting training, he did not even have much experience in acting, but he lived up to Wei Wuxian.
In the End
Finally I wanted to say, analyzing anyone’s acting using static pictures, GIFs or even short video clips, without script or character context, are all biased analysis. True performance is not pieced together by short clips, but by complete characterization. As such, perhaps my article may just be as truthful as those gossip articles online. You are welcomed to watch The Untamed in order to truly understand how Xiao Zhan did.
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what-a-messsss · 3 years
Text
2x3 rewatch
I keep forgetting that Brach is still in S2.  Oops.  Also, I apparently went to check something in S6 last time I watched something, so it started at 6x2 instead of 2x3 and I yelled.  But anyway, on with this mess.  “Death Came in Like Thunder” apparently.  It sure did.
Ah yes, let us not forget that Branch is MANLEH.  This shall be proven to us by him murdering his cousin, Trunk, with big ax.  Chop chop, Branch, kill Trunk.  But oh no, must also show that he is People Smart, so must also lose because this makes him likable.  And many white people clap.  Yaaaay.  But be sure to say, “I let him win, Ferg,” while your competitor is right next to you, so he almost surely heard you.  Good good.
Oh Ferg.  Could you look more gormless if you tried?  (I mean, probably not, since presumably that was the goal of the actor, so he would have been trying.  But still.)  Bb.
Heh, nice thematic cut to Walt also chopping wood.  And YAY, Henry’s gorgeous truck (and gorgeous self).  I’m just going to take a moment to appreciate the fact that Henry rolls up and just helps himself to some of Walt’s thermos of coffee.  Because of course he does.  But I do so love these touches that they put in that do underline the fact that they are married have been besties for going on 40 years.  Also, I love this jacket of Henry’s.  The woven top, jean jacket sort of one?  Yeah, top 5 costume pieces of his for me.  (Also on that list, all basically tied with each other, basically any pants he wears.  I am reminded, when they cut back out to a full body shot.  Because I am very shallow, and he is very pretty.)
Haaaaaa.  And of course Cady talked to Henry before she talked to Walt.  Walt is a butthead.  And, yeah yeah, she just found out that he’d been lying to her for over a year, but that just proves my point that Walt is a butthead.  And we’re back to this whole idea that she left her phone, which just... ugh.  No.  But Henry’s face when he says that she said that she is safe, and he’s so worried, but still willing to respect her boundaries.
“She is an adult, Walt.”  “She’s my daughter.”  For fuck’s sake, you jackass, your ADULT daughter; that’s the whole flipping point!  Also, that little emphasis on my daughter, pfft.  If you didn’t want to feel like she preferred her cool dad to you, maybe try being less of an AAAAAAASSHOLE.  And, like, respecting her.  Even a weensy little bit.
“Etta Place”  I don’t remember if we find out why that’s the ‘assumed name’ that Cady chose, but I’m intrigued.  Wait, I just googled.  Looooool.  She spent years with Butch and Sundance.  Nice.
Walt is such a soft touch with teens.  *snack crackle pop* that kneecap back into place.  Vic starts this scene saying, “The 911 operator,” though, which is interesting, because I was kind of under the impression that Ruby was the main dispatcher, so it would be kind of heartening if she actually had back up with that.  ...Or maybe they’re just far enough out that a cell call made would be picked up by a tower farther out and have to be routed back in to the station/them.  I have no idea how that actually works.  Another rabbit hole for me to totally not go down.  Hopefully.  Shit.  They’ve apparently upped the fine for trespass since the show, though, because it’s $750 (or 6 months in jail) now and Walt says it’s $500.
And once again, we see Vic actually wearing gloves while investigating a suspicious death, and Walt just squinting into the distance helpfully.  I suppose “things got bad” in Basque country around WWII, but there has been friction there that dates back before the Spanish Civil War, or even the Carlist Wars the previous century.  It did get gnarly with the dictatorship of Franco, and the formation of the ETA in retaliation, though, so yeah.  (Francisco Franco is also on the list of people who anybody with a time machine should go back and beat the shit out of.)
Shit, I forgot about the animal death.
Knock knock, no answer.  Better just wander in without a warrant.  I know that the guy who they know lives there is dead, but still, no fricking warrant; I suppose the worry of a poisoning could count as probably cause?  
Gods, but there are moments when I do absolutely adore Vic, and they are usually when she’s taking the piss out of Walt.  “Reclusive bachelor chic; you and Marco have the same decorator.”  Looool.  But also, sad, because Martha has only been gone for a little over a year, and Walt is not the kind of person who would, like, change stuff and get rid of her things, so that’s kind of odd.  Maybe Henry and/or Cady went though and put away some of her things to try to help Walt move on?  But damn, the ‘excuse you’ look on Walt’s face when she does say it, pffft.
AND AGAIN, Vic wearing gloves, Walt with his bare ass hands picking up the picture of Picasso’s Guernica; can you at least *pretend* you’re a cop, *some* of the time, buddy?
Lol at the barrabilak; they are pretty well by the Rocky Mountains, so it’s probably not all that surprising that Walt’s had some “Rocky Mountain oysters” before.
I had forgotten that Vic had four brothers.  But her comment about Sal going off to look after the sheep and how if someone had told her that one of her brothers were dead she “wouldn’t care about any damn sheep,” I don’t know.  It kind of annoys me.  It’s totally in character for her, which is good, but I think it’s part of what can annoy me about her character.  Different people grieve differently, but also, I know she’s only been in Wyoming for a year or two, tops, but how is it so hard to fathom that someone one would be concerned about their livelihood, even in the face of personal tragedy?  Just, seeing beyond her own very narrow experience doesn’t seem like something she’s very good at.  It would be one thing if she’d framed it as “this is suspicious, and here’s why I think so as a cop,” but it was, “I wouldn’t react that way personally, so it’s sus.”  
Sure, be suspicious because there’s a suspicious death and family members are always suspects until ruled out, but approach it like a cop.  Or at least think about it from more angles than just your own, not terribly similar experience.  You’re a white city cop who can’t (or won’t) adjust to being in BF rural-ville, but these are immigrant shepherds whose family come from a homeland where the cops were just as likely to kill you as answer questions, and you’re side-eying a guy for going to make sure that their meal ticket doesn’t get obliterated?
I need to keep reminding myself that I really did want to like Vic.  I really did.  She just... they don’t make it easy for me.  Maybe she’s serving as an avatar for audience who don’t know about some of the culture stuff, and the audience get answers from her ignorance?  But honestly, I wish they’d picked a different way to handle that, if that’s what they were trying to do.  Her response to Henry being salty about Thanksgiving still really pisses me off.  Because it was shitty and racist, and... do we really need a character basically rolling their eyes and saying, “It was so long ago, why don’t you just get over it,” about something that is intrinsically tied to the genocide of so many people?  Why are Indigenous people just supposed to “get over it” but “Remember the Alamo” and “Southern Pride,” and shit?  Fuck’s sake.  Honestly, that might have been the moment when they lost me on her character.  She has moments where she’s awesome, but they never really address her being fucking racist or give her a chance to grow into a better person.  Which sucks a lot.  Fuck.  Ok, that was a lot.  Sorry.  Back to the actual ep.
AH, nice of you to beam in from the campaign trail, Brancheroo!
Uh, so I paused it to look at pic in the newspaper, and then being me, started to look at the articles surrounding the pic.  And the one with the headline “Fans Injured At Local Game” is actually about the Stewart case?  From 1x3?  I’m guessing that somebody went to the trouble of writing up an article for that for some S1 ep after it and they just plugged it in because when not paused, you might catch “Sheriff Longmire” there and that’s all they need.  Especially since the text starts to repeat after the first paragraph.  (I am the worst pedantic little shit.)  Ooooor, maybe even though it’s S2, it’s hardly been any time since 1x3?  The date on the newspaper is March 31, 2012, so there’s a timeline hint. 
Awwwwww, once Walt points out the bird, Ferg knows exactly what it is.  Occasional twitcher, are we, my lad?  “A red-tip meadowlark,” indeed.  Oh bb; Ferg’s face when he sees Walt looking at the pic of him with Branch in the paper.
“You go too fast, you miss the little things.”  Every once in a while, he actually sort of mentors Ferg.  I wish he did more of that, especially since we see later how capable Ferg can be.
Go suck an egg, Branch.  Why does she get all the “good” assignments?  Maybe because she was actually on the job when they found the body, not campaigning.
OPE.  Lizzie’s gift.  Yeah, I’d probably choke on that coffee if I were you, too, girl.  Better hope that there wasn’t perishable food stuffs in that gift, because that has been in there for a whiiiiiile, hasn’t it.  Wait, was Ferg in the office when Lizzie dropped off the gift?  Because his face said more than just “Did somebody give Vic a present?”  Suuuuper subtle with that whole pushing the drawer closed with your foot there, Vic.  Pfffft.
“Cyrano Caballero”  How daaaare that skeeve take Cyrano’s name in vain?!?!  (I have a thing about Cyrano de Bergerac.  It’s quite possibly my favourite play, and I adore the character, and have exactly 0 chill about it at all.  I find Brian Hooker’s translation of “The Ballade of the duel at the Hotel Bourgogne Between de Bergerac and a Boeotian” with “Then, as I end the refrian, thrust home,” vastly superior to any other translation that I’ve heard or read, though for the rest of it, I will grant that there are others to be preferred.  But that version of his Ballade is exquisite, and I will not be swayed.  Holy shit, FOCUS.  That is so very much not the point.)  It’s not even a throw away line in this ep, it’s just a random, very well chosen, if utterly appallingly insulting, company name.  It’s actually incredibly clever for what the business is, and if it didn’t make me so stomping mad, I would applaud whoever came up with it heartily.
Vic’s face listening to this jackass’ spiel is a thing of beauty.  “A good woman goes a long way of easing the obvious stresses of your daily life,” the jackass says, cutting his eyes at Vic when he says “obvious stresses,” and I caaaackle.
What is it about this guys’ horrible glasses that just makes him so much more hate-able?  I’m not entirely sure, but kudos to whatever costumer put those on him, because they are perfect.  In the ‘I want to punch him’ way of perfection.
And after all of that about Walt’s “lady friend,” Vic brings Lizzie’s present.  Womp womp.  That went super well.  Yuuuup, run while you can.
Poor Ferg.  Branch manipulates him, Vic ignores him, Walt shuts him down...  Poor guy just can’t get a break.
I actually kind of like this motel manager--the one who “doesn’t judge people” and is a stickler for warrants?  At least somebody in this county cares about warrants.  Also, those doors are actually really pretty.  Nice colour, and the carved scrollwork designs are nice.
What an odd shot: the one when they’re coming out of Walt’s office after talking to Skeevy McGrossFace and Rosa.  It’s a weird sort of shaky-cam stepping back, just preceding Branch walking, and then turns to follow him when he sit’s on his desk.  But it’s a really different style of shot than I can remember, so much so that it’s a bit jarring, especially after the series of nearly stationary close ups that we just had.  Weird. [18:42-18-50]
Cady!  I haven’t made much note of her costuming before this, but it seems notable that’s she’s only in monocromatics.  Especially next to Fales in muted tones, but still some colour, and surrounded by the colourful grafitti of the alley where her mother was stabbed.  Nice way of setting her apart from everything.
SHEEPIES!  Ooooo, that wagon is so cool.  Ah dang, the way that Sal corrects Walt’s pronunciation of his brother’s name is so gloriously passive aggressive.  Good for you, my dude.  Names are important, and people should have the respect to make the effort to get them right.
Aaaaaand Walt, the definition of Do, Don’t Tell, just shoves the guy to keep him from drinking the possibly dangerous water, rather than, like, using his words.  Walt’s gonna Walt.
Iiiiiiiii am a mess, truly.  It cuts to an architectural model and I start giggling like a 6th grader, because I know it’s going to be a Jacob scene.  He’s not even on screen yet, ffs.  HANDS.  I’m fine.  Totally fine.  (That’s totally a lie.  I just rewound to the beginning of the scene because I kept giggling too much to pay attention.  What the hell.)  First time we’ve seen one of the chips, which at this point must be a marketing mock-up, since nothing is built yet.  And he actually types, not just doing the hunt-and-peck thing that is sometimes easier on a tablet.
Looking at the weaving that is up on his wall (maybe a rug?) I’m hoping that the prop people actually did buy from Northern Cheyenne artisans.  They apparently did most of their filming in New Mexico, so I hope they made the effort to get the patterns right, and buy from the actual tribe they’re supposed to be portraying, I guess?  And now I’m distracted by the fact that the random hanging light behind Jacob is at a weird angle?  
Look, ever since I realized that the “Hey,” that Jacob does is apparently just A (thanks to it also happening in That Damned Xmas Movie) I am endlessly amused (and charmed) whenever Jacob does it.  I don’t know why it makes me so happy, but it does.  (This is legitimately embarrassing.  How much trouble I am having focusing.  Beyond my normal focus issues, which, as shown above, are already impressive.  Because thiiiiirst.)
“My boys at the lumber yard did just throw you a campaign rally.”  I love how Jacob is basically apparently not just his secret angel-investor, but also a sneaky campaign manager.  Did Branch just think shit like the rally just happened?  He’s not fricking Ferris Bueller; somebody organizes those.  And apparently it’s either Jacob himself, or someone who Jacob appointed to do so.
“I thought you were just a casino developer.”  You have noooo clue, Brancheroo.  “I prefer to remain a silent partner.  White people get nervous when Indians start taking back their land.”  Oooooope.  Especially interesting because there are previsions for the Tribal Council to purchase land to be Tribal land (Section 6 of Article IX of the Tribal Constitution), but this seems more along the lines of personal acquisition.  Though maybe not, because “on the board” doesn’t necessarily equate to being the owner.
The set up of Jacob’s office is so interesting.  Functionally for the show, it’s probably for better shooting angles, so that we can see more of Jacob behind the desk while Branch is sitting in front of it, but from an in-the-verse decorating standpoint, bit’s fascinating.  He has this focal wall with the gorgeous wall hanging, flanked by floor to ceiling window, but instead of having his desk centered on that wall and directly facing the bulk of the room, it’s at an almost 45 degree angle on a huge rug, and it’s so unexpected.  I kind of love it, and want to analyze it for days.  Also worth noting is that pride of place is given to the  Hotamétaneo’o headdress which is on a stand centered in front of the wall hanging.
How fucking tired must Jacob be.  He’s used to Walt... Walting, but then Branch comes in, who he is literally spending his own money to support in his bid for sheriff, and he pulls the same shit of assuming that he’s behind Bad Shit.  And then Branch frames it as “bad P.R,” so he’s there to “discuss it with [him] privately.”  And then basically threatens him with Walt.  I swear.  ...there is something a little amusing about Walt being used as the stick in the carrot and a stick method of negotiating.  He certainly is enough of a blunt object most of the time.
Oh fuck you so much, Branch.  Playing the “can’t give you details about an ongoing investigation” card as though you have some professional or moral leg to stand on after basically blackmailing Jacob with Walt’s vendetta is just such shit.  You don’t get to look down your nose at Jacob’s quid pro quo pragmatism when you were the one who came to him for financial backing.  You sanctimonious little shitheel.  If you didn’t want to deal with Jacob, you shouldn’t have taken his $100k.  He’s a business man, and you’re an investment, and not a quixotic one.
“He’s probably the only person to have died from [hemlock] since Socrates.”  And then Walt’s incredulous look and her, “Alright, I googled it,” were subtle comedic gold.
Ooooooo, that was a nice little shot.  Not quite foreshadowing, but showing Branch’s suspicions and sort of inviting the audience to share them.  Walt says his bit about the Army poisoning “Indian wells” to kill them off and get their land, and then we see Branch fiddling with the Four Arrows chip and narrow his eyes considering and slip the chip into his pocket, looking suspicious.  It’s a really neat little moment of visual storytelling, no lines, literally three seconds long, just sort of snuck in there, but super effective.  Really nicely done.
And again, Cady is in monochromatics.  And, shit, just gave Fales Henry’s name.  Aaaaaand right after, she realizes that the junkie was killed and realizes that it had to have been one of her dads (or so she thinks).
Sal’s monologue in the cell is a good emotional payoff that plays off of Vic’s comments towards the beginning of the episode.  I see the narrative worth of her making them, and how the structure of the episode benefits from it; but seeing those writing elements from the outside of the show doesn’t make me able to like her as a character who said them in-universe.  And then the threat Sal makes of vengeance on someone who killed one he loves also underscores the stuff with Cady’s investigation into her mother’s death very well.  As much as I gripe about the writing *cough S6 cough finale cough* there really is some damn good writing in this show, and I don’t show enough appreciation for it.
Huh, and now there’s a sort of inverse of that weird shot preceding Branch from earlier, but this one is much more effective and less off-putting.  This one [33:00] precedes Walt as he walks back into his office, still a medium close up, but it’s much steadier, and the way it is framed, it does quite a bit to convey his mindset, and he walks out of the shot and we see the three deputies following him in like baffled ducklings, making the shot serve another purpose, too.  Which honestly makes that earlier shaky follow shot of Branch even weirder, because this one was so much better.
And then Walt has his creepy little speech about how someone would want to watch the light go out of their eyes and not caring if you get caught.  I do appreciate that when he’s talking about the psychology of killing with poison he doesn’t just call it a “woman’s method” which media so often does.  It might have been the writers keeping who the killer was abstruse, but it was still more gender neutral.  Especially since according to The U. S. Department of Justice's report on Homicide Trends in the United States (1980 to 2008) of all poison killers in that time period, 60.5 percent were male and 39.5 percent female.  (Table 5 on page 10.)  So that long held idea that even Sherlock Holmes was written to have that poison is “of course” a woman’s weapon is pretty crap.
Awwww, the good old days when Walt paid attention to animals.  ...I am still bizarrely salty about the fact that he never named his horse.  What a good pupper!  
And then we have a classic example of Sneaky!Walt, which always takes people quite by surprise, because he’s usually as subtle as Miley Cyrus.
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Also because when he does this, it tends to be pretty fucked up, in a Make Someone Think They’re About To Die way.  And then he does His Thing, where he just lays out all of his suppositions, with no proof, only the terror of her thinking that she’s been poisoned and you’re withholding medical intervention to get her to confess.  And is, irritatingly, correct about his theories.  But I’m pretty sure this qualifies as coercing a confession?  She thinks she’s fucking dying.  Even Vic looks at him like it’s fucked up, and her moral compass where he’s concerned is... skewed.
They way this reveal was played out, (”How’d they find her so fast?”  “Hard to say...”) is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it’s supposed to be that Branch went there to tell Jacob or not, but I kind of doubt it?  I kind of figure that the meeting that Jacob was having when Branch rambled in was already with Rosa signing the paperwork.  Jacob is smart.  So, HAH.  Little good your “can’t comment on an ongoing investigation” schtick did.
And then the news that someone in law enforcement has been asking after Henry.
“Lizzie was waiting for you here tonight.  You should talk to her, Walt.  She seems to think she is in a relationship with you.”  ....omgs.  The tone.  I mean, yes, the blisteringly glorious SASS, but how does one not read that as incredibly shippy?  Howwwww?
“You are an honest man, Walt.  I would like you to stay that way.”  Oh Henry.  When did you decide that you weren’t?  Was it when you hired Hector?  Or was there something before?  ...I feel like there were things before that.  Hello darkness my old friend.
“It is not your job to protect me.”  “It is my job...”  THOSE WERE THE DAYS.  Those were the fucking daaaaaays.  And the emotions on Henry’s face after Walt says, “That was my right,” as though Henry cheated him of something.  I am so deep in OT3 feels I cannot even see daylight here.  The feels of them having been an OT3 and then Walt pulling this shit, and Henry having to defend his own “right” to avenge Martha?  It wrecks me.  “A good woman was murdered.  A bad man is dead.  End of story.”  
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beetlemancy · 4 years
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Not angry venting but more gosh i really dislike that i keep trying to get back into watching live then I see matt making a rules calling that isnt correct and IM annoyed and i hate *that* emotional response, (specifically in this case not letting jester drop conc - which by the rules she is very much allowed to do at anytime), so again not angry venting *at matt* and more gosh i wish i didnt have standards on matt that he has no responsibility to me to keep, but somehow i still care about :(
hey, I’m gonna put the rest of your (relevant) asks and my response to them under this read more for brevity, and encourage anyone who gets up in their feelings about this ask to read the followups because they are far more important for context on this subject - AND please know that these asks were sent before the stuff that went down later in the episode. Also, those reading should take their time because its a wishy washy subject that can get sensitive but this is absolutely done in good faith and I think its important for us to acknowledge these feelings in ourselves when they come up!(also the last time I posted a long ass post like this the format got all wonky after I looked at it on mobile, so if its all one big paragraph - it was not intended to be that way and i’ll fix it soon)
Ask 2-3: just sent that ask and i want to clarify, its not bad matt not being RAW, follow the rules or perish. its more, hes a great dm and making a rules call that disadvantages the players for a reason i can not understand at all makes me feel not happy despite the fact that i know im not a player and this isnt actually effecting me personally, yet i sit here with my negative emotions and idea how to force myself to not feel them :(((((i told myself that was going to be my last ask of the night but for the sake of being clear with you) i also wonder how much of my being upset about being upset is that i dont want to be in the same camp as twitter / reddit ppl who get on matt about rules calls and are cruel to him about it, and just agreeing with their base statement makes me feel like im saying its okay to do that
Mmk. There’s sort of two main subjects I wanna cover: the action and the feeling.The basic truth is that occasionally we get feelings that remind us of the rage of people we do not want to be. This is human, and it happens in life in so many ways, not just in fandom. However, I’ll stick with CR for now. We see the Twitter and Reddit threads that berate Matt and the players for rule issues and we think, we would never be that up in our feelings, right? But it is so much less about what we feel and more about what our actions are. 
The people who make those posts? Some of them are full of so much hate for something that they just use this as an opportunity to lash out. Others are genuinely trying to be helpful and just don’t understand the concept that they are not the only person on the internet and that often times one person saying something is benign but that hundreds of people saying it is malicious. Sometimes people might not even feel that much about the subject but want to join the fight because its something to do or because their peers/friends are.
What defines the result of ANY rules lawyering post online is not the reason they made the post, though, is it? Its simply that they did. Their intent doesn’t really matter that much - a post was still made, and posts were made on top of that post, and those posts, and now we’ve got a flame war - intent be damned.
By the same nature, if you don’t make that post? It doesn’t matter what your feelings are on the topic. You choose to not add to that noise. Take that win and feel good about it! (btw, sending someone an ask to parse through your feelings on the subject isn’t ‘making that post’ either)
Okay. Now - about the feelings.
I’m honestly with you there and have been the last few combat scenarios. I’ve noticed myself wondering if Matt is getting more and more ‘me vs them’ in his combat DM style because it feels that way to me. I’m guessing that a lot of my discomfort also has to do with my inherent sense of black-and-white Fairness - being Autistic comes with that privilege for a lot of us. ADHD Cousins can get theirs in maroon I think, but they have to order it special. ;)
I grapple a lot with my feelings on combat in CR when it does start to feel antagonistic or unfair to one or more players (or sometimes even Matt himself!). Here is what I do: well, for one, compartmentalize until the next day or two. CR brings up a lot of feelings. Its a lot of story and I get super immersed. The emotions are high for everyone during a good episode, sometimes especially during combat, and so I allow myself the cool down time before I really look at it again.
After that time, if I still feel the same way and it still bugs me, I watch stuff where they talk about how much they love each other. I play that clip of Liam saying ITS A GAME! over and over. I get super in deep with the Critmas vids or another Talks episode I really love. That’s what helps me kick it, in the end. The visual and auditory reminder that these are friends and sometimes friends have a little tension when they are all in a state of high adrenaline but that they clearly would not do this if it wasn’t fun for them anymore. 
I do have a buddy of mine that is really hardcore Justice. He is, straight up, like Justice from Dragon Age. The guy is Fairness with a capital F, and his method of dealing is different from mine: he doesn’t watch combat from any TTRPG show. He just avoids it, because he doesn’t wanna be That Guy on reddit, but the intensity with which he feels the call to correct wrongs is very strong. He takes himself out of the equation, reads a recap or asks friends, and then can engage healthily with the RP and the story outside of combat. Its a good system for him.
Maybe you can find a method similar to either of these options? Maybe you just need a healthy place to vent about it. For that, I’d suggest a discord or a friend (or me off anon and then I won’t publish if you ask me not to! or send me a pm!). Or perhaps you need to reevaluate how you watch CR and what you’re willing to give up in order to not feel this way. Or maybe binge watching some quality CR wholesomeness will help those feelings dampen. Either way, you are not Wrong for feeling. We just have to watch our actions.
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