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finelinevogue · 3 years

Note

you come home drunk and both your siblings Harry and Gemma are home watching a movie

Ur mom Anne is asleep and you snuckrf out to a party and got drunk maybe, and you come and when Harry is like “YN? What r u doing?” And the first thing u say is “I’m not drunk” and just start rambling stuff

sibling!harry isn’t talked about often enough so here we go;

(this turned sad pretty quickly fyi….)

You were flat out drunk.

Pissed. Wankered. Plastered. Hammered. The whole combination of all of them together.

If someone were to ask you to spell your name you would reply with a bunch of letters that didn’t even exist in yours and you knew this because it had just happened.

“You’re so drunk.” Your best friend Hannah giggled, but their was a tone of concern behind her voice. She knew that you were a lightweight, but didn’t keep tabs on you the whole night to keep track of how many drinks you’d had. Turns out, too late, too many.

“No, i’m Y/N dummy!” Your words slurred as you stumbled over on the grass outside of the party you’d just been at.

It had been your good friends Will’s birthday party and it was all very exciting because it was the first big house party for people your age - in your school. Will’s house was massive, too, and it was the talk of the town. Unfortunately your stupid, annoying, over-protective older brother had told you no when you’d asked him if you could go. You’d gone to your mum first, the lovely Anne, and she’d said maybe, but once Harry had twisted his way into her head to describe everything the party wouldn’t be she’d said no.

Luckily for you, your bedroom window was right next to a huge tree - one that you could easily climb onto, up and down. So that’s what you’d done.

As soon as you’d arrived at Will’s you had a drink in your hand. Then another, and another and so on until the point you were at now - wasted. You had originally drunk so much out of spite of Harry, but you ended up trying to the point where you honestly didn’t even notice you were drinking alcohol.

“Y/N get up, c’mon. I need to get you home.” Hannah sighed, looking around to see if anyone was around to help.

“Noooo! Harry will be there and he’ll shout at me.”

“Why? Harry’s nothing but lovely.” Hannah had a not-so-secret secret crush on your brother - as did the whole of your town. And the country. And the world. It was hard living in the shadow of Harry Styles, but you did love him just not when he sucked the fun from the universe.

“That’s what everyone thinks.” You rolled your eyes and kept them shut, just wanting to go to sleep now and the grass seemed comfortable enough.

“You should be so lucky Y/N.” Hannah argued back.

“Sure doesn’t feel like it sometimes.”

“You’re so ungrateful, do you know that?” Hannah scoffed, clearly pissed off with your whining antics, “You know what? You can walk yourself home.”

And with that you were left to the front grass, confused as to what you’d done wrong to make her so pissed off so quickly. You thought you were just sharing feelings and having a heart-to-heart, but clearly Hannah found offence to your words. No doubt she was pissed off at you for being a bitch about Harry, but that’s just the way it was. He was your brother. Your famous older brother who adorned the hearts of billions. Sometimes that’s all you ever feel like - ‘the sister of Harry Styles’ - to the point where you just wanted freedom and release. Sure, this was not the healthiest way for release but it did make you forget who you were just for the day. You often felt misunderstood and it was times like this when you could feel a little better.

“Fuck.” You sighed, knowing you’d just pissed off someone else in your life. Now, you’d have to get yourself home and confront your even more pissed off brother, sister and potentially mother. That’s if they were even up. Or if they cared enough.

You’d always felt left behind.

It was no doubt unintentional, but you felt like you were the least cared about in the family. Harry was the golden angel and could do no wrong and Gemma was just a responsible queen, according to mum. You, well… You were the “irresponsible and reckless” one of the bunch according to most media outlets and even your family. Maybe it was true? You never saw yourself as those things, but you could see how the sneaking out and drinking - and at a young age - could be seen as.

You picked yourself up off the floor, stumbling as your head started spinning fast. You felt sick, tired and cold and you hadn’t noticed your nose runny and eyes teary until now. You tugged the sleeves of your long t-shirt down, silently wishing you’d brought a jacket, and pulled your phone out of your pocket.

No charge. Great.

The walk home didn’t take too long, but completely wasted did not make it easy. You bumped into people and got cat-called by hideous and vile men. You felt unsafe, but you kept yourself together and attempted to get home as quickly as possible.

“Fucking pull yourself together.” You talked to yourself as you stood at the bottom of the tree, climbing it the best you could with a cloudy mind. The branches scratched your arms and your legs felt so fatigued, but you were honestly too exhausted to care anymore.

As you clambered through your window the last thing you expected was to see Harry laying on your bed.

“What the fuck!” You screamed from shock at him being there, stumbling over your own legs and falling onto the floor. Harry sat up immediately.

“What do you mean what the fuck? Y/N? What the fuck?” He threw the question back in your face, throwing his arms up in despair.

“Oh please, save your judgement Harry. I don’t need it today.” You gathered yourself from the floor and walked into your en suite bathroom, after switching on the light.

“Where were you huh?” He didn’t cut his questions.

“Out.” You mumbled, throwing cold water over your red and puffy face. Your hands were freezing and your head pounding, so the last thing you needed was Harry yelling at you at how much of a disappointment you were.

“Are you drunk?” He walked into the bathroom, clearly not understanding the meaning of personal space. “Are yo- are you crying?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Tears started welling up in your eyes again.

“What doesn’t matter? Being drunk, you crying, getting home late, sneaking out?”

“None of it!” You snapped, looking at him with so much sadness. “None of it matters. I- I don’t matter.” You sank down on the cold tiled floor, resting your back against the wall opposite the bath. The tears fell and stung you eyes. You embraced your legs with your arms after pulling your knees up to your chest.

Your whole body language screamed to Harry that you were not okay and he was upset for you.

“Y/N..” Your name came out soft and fragile from Harry’s mouth.

“I’m fine.”

“No you’re not.” Harry sunk down against the wall next to you, not touching you but close enough for you to know he was there for you. He let you cry until you decided you were alone enough to let him comfort you. You brought your head up and let it rest on Harry’s shoulder, to which he responded by putting his head on top of yours.

“I’m just really tired Harry.” You whimpered, using your long sleeve to wipe your nose dry.

“Of what Y/N/N?”

“Being a nobody.”

“You’re not a nobo—”

“Harry I am—”

“No you’re not.” Harry ended the argument quickly, before continuing. “You’re not a nobody Y/N. You’re my sister and bestest friend in the whole world. I care and worry for you more than anyone. I love you more than anyone, just don’t tell Gem or mum that! I’ve never thought of you as anything but my favourite person and someone I can rely on for my happiness, and I apologise if i’ve taken that for granted recently.”

“It’s okay, thank you.”

“You’re my most important person and i’m sorry you’ve been feeling this way, but trust me, Y/N, when I say that drinking away your problems, and even rebelling, is not the way to make things better. It always makes it worse.” Harry spoke from personal experience.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I am too.” Harry sighed, kissing the side of your head. “Just worry about you too much to see that sometimes i’m holding you back.”

“I like that you worry about me, it makes me feel important.”

“That’s because you are. Most important person in my life.”

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfic #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfiction #finelinevogue #finelinevogue harry styles #harry blurb #harry oneshot #harry styles concept #harry styles sister #gemma styles #harry styles sister concept #ask finelinevogue #ask harry styles #kissmyaxe140 #harry styles angst #harry styles x sister!reader

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hqshine · 3 years

Text

—Realising their feelings for you—

characters: Nishinoya, Tsukishima, suga

genre: angst to fluff?

type: headcanon

extras: wrote this cause i was in my angst feels guys, it’s raining what a mood. Anyways i’ve already seen all the requests and it’s gonna come slowly sorry ^^ Also i’m thinking about creating a tag list, if you’re interested please drop a message!

The two of you were close friends

both mature yet childish and stubborn at the same time

you’ve always felt differently with suga

sure he was your go to friend for any of your troubles and you’ve shared secrets with him that it almost felt like he was more of a best friend

but your heart always skipped a beat around him

he was always welcome to physical affection

When the team has movie nights, they would invite their unofficial member, you

during movies, suga would hold your hand or hug your waist loosely while you slept on his chest

which always made your heart flutter and you couldn’t even focus on the movie infront of you

but you’ve always known that Suga never felt the same that you did

He’d always tell you about a girl from this other class

She was pretty, smart, mature, reliable, kind

he would say

you’ve always kept quiet about your feelings, even giving him advice when he consulted you about confessing to her

One morning, suga came up to you. “I finally asked her out” he smiled brightly

your smile dropped and your heart raced

we’re you hearing him correctly

yes, you’ve always known that one day he was going to find someone

even her

but you just

didn’t expect it

“She said yes, Y E S y/n. God i’m so happy” suga exclaimed

his smile was the only thing that kept you from breaking down in class

“i’m happy for you Suga, last long” that was the last sentence you said to him

it’s been a few weeks, close to a month now

you knew avoiding him was...immature

but listening to him ramble about her, was gut wrenching

you saw them a few times, walking down the hallway, in her classroom

Suga tried reaching out to you but never did you meet his eyes once in the past few weeks

but recently your phone has been buzzing more than ever

it’s been irritating you and you’ve hardly touched it after suga started dating her

you sighed once more as another notification was sent in, telling you that you missed someone’s call and that they left you a voice mail

you opened up your phone and your eyes widened at all the messages from Suga

you played his most recent recording

“Hey y/n i know we aren’t exactly talking now...well s-she wasn’t exactly honest. I guess to her using me to make her ex jealous was such a great idea. I-i’m sorry that i’m the reason we haven’t been talking much. Ah, i-i also heard from someone about your—your feelings for me and i know this isn’t the best way to tell you, but i’ve been thinking a lot about it. I missed you these past few weeks. A lot. more than you can ever imagine. I missed your smile, your rambles about the lasted mangas you’ve been reading about, your homemade bentos you shared with me, your laugh, everything. You know what this wasn’t a good idea—i bet you won’t even talk to me after this. I’m sorry for not seeing it before, that the girl i really liked. Was you”

Your eyes widened as your phone slipped from your hand

his voice was shaky and it was obvious that he had been crying but, his message was still clear as day

You ran, all the way to his house

“C-come out” you panted into the call

“Y/n—y/n? wha?” suga said as you heard shuffling in the background

he quickly exited, and met with you

Your hair was messy, you were sweating in your hoodie and pajamas pants but you were still gorgeous, how he had never looked at you clearly before he would never understand

Suga immediately wrapped his arms around you and nuzzled into your shoulder

“I-in your voicemail, is it really true, do you really like me?” you asked him softly, your eyes welling up with tears

Suga looked up from your shoulder and and hugged your cheeks with his palms

“I know, i know it hasn’t been long since i dated her. But please give me a chance, please wait a little longer” he pleaded

You wrapped your arms around his neck, bringing him close

“I will” you whispered

“Kiyoko-senpai, you’re so gorgeous as usual” Nishinoya exclaimed along with Tanaka, both following her around like a puppy

You bit your lip, looking down at your sketchbook instead to distract yourself from the pain

Harbouring feelings for the second year libero hasn’t been easy

Constantly hearing him compliment other girls, comparing yourself, new insecurities

you didn’t understand why you liked him to be very honest

but you were also lying to yourself

His energy, his comfortable vibe, his smile and his eyes made you fall head over heels with Nishinoya

“Y/n-chan, what’re you drawing today?” he shouted, coming up to you

“i’m not sure yet Noya-kun” The two of you were best friends since you two were young

He defended you against middle school bullies and the two of you have been inseparable ever since

You realised your feelings for him after coming into High school

which was when his crush for your senpai began

You had nothing against Kiyoko-senpai, she actually gave you some advice and helped you several times with your homework

but, it wasn’t nice hearing him compliment her, as selfish as it sounded, you wanted on of his compliments to be directed to you

After training, You and Nishinoya walked back home together since the two of you lived near each other

“Yuu?” you asked him as he hummed in reply

Your heart pounded, “c-can i tell you something”

it was now or never you thought.

He nodded and focused on what you were going to say, “I liked you since we entered high school”

Nishinoya’s eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks

you looked down, twiddling with your fingers

“i know you like Kiyoko-senpai, but it was something i just had to tell you because i didn’t want to risk our friendship.” you flashed a fake smile to him

“don’t worry, i never expected you to return my feelings. this won’t change anything, i promise. So, you can still continue to like senpai” you mumbled, feeling the tears pooling at your eyes

The whole time, Nishinoya didn’t say anything

his mouth was agape but he just couldn’t find the right words

you sighed, and walked away not before saying, “Have a nice holiday noya-kun” flashing him a fake smile

he could see your tears and he noticed your smile that was different

Nishinoya stood there, thinking about what you just said.

he closed his eyes and the memory of your tear stained face filled him with guilt

he knew he couldn’t return your feelings but, why did he feel so sad when you said “nothing is going to change”

The break wasn’t very, enjoyable

you worked different part time jobs while Nishinoya attended trainings

the amount of times he let the ball from the opposite team his the ground was uncountable

he could barely focus and he just stared as the ball hit the ground for the tenth time

everyone groaned, noticing how their libero wasn’t paying attention

he had even stopped giving out compliments to the beautiful manager during that time

the only thing on his mind was you

training ended early that day, as they wrapped up and Nishinoya apologised for not doing well

you blew out a breath of smoke as you stared at the christmas tree infront of you

It was huge and reminded you of the joyous occasion that was arriving

Usually, you and Nishinoya would be playing at the park, having snowball fights, making angels and snowmans, and falling sick together later on

You haven’t spoken to him since that day, because of your busy schedule and his trainings

You hid your hands in your pocket, noticing how cold it was

“Y/n” a familiar voice called out to you

You turned around to widen your eyes at the sight of Nishinoya slightly panting and in his training clothes

“N-noya? What’re you doing here, aren’t you cold?” he shook his head

taking out his gloves and reaching for your hand

“You always forget your gloves don’t you, ever since middle school” he slightly laughed at the memories

“i don’t like them, they aren’t comfy” you pouted and looked away

Nishinoya held your hands, “Y/n” you looked back at him

“it hasn’t been the same. Now everyday has been boring, distracting because i keep thinking about you.” he said

“i know i’ve always expressed my ‘love’ for Kiyoko-senpai, but the person that i really love is you” your eyes widen yet again. You shook your head

“No Noya, she’s perfect, good grades, the best looks, reliable, mature, kind? Why would you like me when you have her” you said sadly

“Kind, loyal, fierce, immature, stubborn, adorable, caring, beautiful, intelligent” he began listing

“Y/n, i love you and not because you’re perfect, you have qualities that make you, you. Qualities that i love about you. Most importantly, you’re you. The girl i had a crush on since middle school, since you offered me that star wars bandage after i defended you. I’m sorry for not realising it sooner, but please, let me make it up to you” Nishinoya said

his showed his desperation and his voice expressed his love for you

“of course, and i love you too yuu”

You were always by his side

you’d greet him good morning at the lockers and even sent him home

Tsukishima hated it

he found you annoying

like a leech he can’t get rid of no matter what

you didn’t know how exactly did you fall deeply for the cold beanpole but you certainly liked him a lot

from his honey blonde hair, his taste in music, his intelligence, sassy comments and precious rare smiles

you’ve always tried to get him to notice you, making him bentos, reaching school early to greet him and even following him home after his trainings

one day

“Tsukki, i like you, would you please go out with me?” you confessed to him. Your blush could not get any redder as you bowed

Tsukishima scoffed

“with you? seriously?” your hopes fell as you stood up but looked away

“i would rather date the king rather than you. You’re annoying and if i could get rid of you, i would’ve done it earlier” he spit out

each word stabbing you deep in the heart

he turned around and left

you glanced at the macarons you made for him and the letter that you had written

they were all dinosaur themed, hoping to gain more of his attention

You were crying by then

he really thought you were nothing but someone annoying

From that day on, you hardly spoke to him

Everyday tsukishima would turn up expecting to see your face again, but you were no where to be found

in the beginning, he was satisfied, realising he was able to chase you away. But slowly, he realised how disappointed he felt when he didn’t hear you greeting him and the sight of your adorable smile adorning your face

he realised he finally chased you away

now he walks home alone, whenever he turns around unconsciously you weren’t there, he could only feel your presence in his memories

“Tsukki wait for me!”

“Good morning Tsukki, i made you some cookies today”

Tsukishima sighed as he packed up his books, he was too lazy to buy his food at the cafeteria and you didn’t prepare anything for him so he could only starve till school was over

“Tsukki i heard some boy asked Y/n out” this gained Tsukishima’s attention as Yamaguchi returned from the vending machine with drinks

“i was buying the drinks when i overheard them” yamaguchi said

tsukishima didn’t do anything except for opening his drink

“tsukki you should talk to Y/n” yamaguchi advised. “She hasn’t been herself lately and the whole class feels it too”

Tsukishima took a sip of his drink

“Tsukki, are you okay with some other guy taking care of her?” Yamaguchi questioned him

that was what made tsukishima put down his drink

jealousy was all he felt

he didn’t like the thought of someone else making you smile, making you laugh. What if you left forever? for another guy?

Tsukishima immediately left to find you and dragged you away from the guy

“what are yo-?” you exclaimed as tsukishima slammed you against the lockers and placing his hand next to the locker beside you

“i take it back” he said

You were confused, “i missed you, i realised my true feelings when i didn’t have you. I need you, please give me a chance. i like you Y/n” he says

you smiled as you hesitantly wrapped your arms around him

“One chance”

#haikyuu #hq #hq x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #hq x reader fluff #sugawara x reader #suga x reader #koushi x reader #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima x reader angst #hw angst to fluff!au #tsukishima angst #nishinoya angst #nishinoya x reader #nishinoya fluff #sugawara angst #☀️

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littlespoonevan · 3 years

Note

Top 5 Buddie moments? ☺️🥰

oh my godddd where do i start???? can i even pick 5????????? *Edit upon finishing writing: most of these ended up focusing on Eddie’s feelings towards Buck I feel??? and I definitely have Things to say about their reunion in 3x06 and the kitchen scene bc they’re also up there as my faves so I could possibly also do an alternative top 5 that’s more Buck caring about Eddie but anyway here you go!

5. 2x04 - Buck introduces Eddie to Carla

Honestly every single interaction between them in this ep is my favourite because Buck supports Eddie so much throughout the whole ep????? Taking him to the hospital, telling Maddie what a great dad he is, giving Bobby the heads up when Eddie has to bring Chris to the station, it's all So Good. Especially when you remember they're still only just becoming friends at this point. But Buck introducing him to Carla has to be the icing on the cake for me. It's just- we've seen how smothered Eddie has felt in the past when it comes to caring for Christopher, how his parents have continually tried to take over or make him feel like he's doing something wrong, and I just really, really love that Buck offers him this support and this magic fix but in a way that doesn't undermine Eddie as a parent at all??????? Like he helps him but not because he thinks Eddie can't handle it but because he thinks Eddie deserves a break and wants to make things easier for him. It's amazing and I loVE IT

4. 3x18 - His fiancée's AbBy

sakljdfhs okay look. Listen. I love this scene so much and I think only recently sort of understand why. It's the first time we really see Eddie lose his calm during an emergency and the first time we see him specifically lose his calm over Buck. Because Eddie clearly knows how to compartmentalise and because of that we generally only see him look worried but not really outwardly react when Buck is in danger. But this scene akjsdh he's so aNNOYED and frustrated and it's fascinating because you have to wonder how much he knows about Abby and who's told him what. But what we do know is he knows Abby broke his best friend's heart and he knows Buck is willing to sacrifice himself for anyone but no way in hell is Eddie about to let him become collateral damage for someone who doesn't deserve it (and now we know he'd already changed/or was changing his will during this time *screams*). And yeah it's fun to call it jealousy but ultimately I think it was a lot of worry and a lot of frustration on Eddie's part because it's a very clear example of Buck believing he's expendable and Eddie wanting to shout, "You're wrong!!!!". Just. What a good fucking scene.

3. 3x03 - There’s nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you

I mean how could I not include this scene?????? It’s just- everything. All of it. From Buck’s voiceover to photograph playing in the background to the way Eddie all but bulldozes his way through casual conversation in the hopes of not having to explain. It’s about the absolutely unconditional way Eddie forgives him, like it’s not even a question, and the way Buck is so clearly torn up and can’t understand why Eddie doesn’t toss him aside. I’ll never get over “A few choice words can be the life raft that gets you home” combined with “There is nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you.” And obviously we know just how true that is later on but in this scene, you can tell Buck hears him even if he can’t quite allow himself to believe it yet. And it’s so soft and so gentle and just another one of those examples that prove to us that Eddie always seems to know exactly what to say to Buck to bring him back to the surface :’)

2. 4x04 - The gym scene

Honestly if it wasn’t for the season 4 finale this would be my number one. How do I love this scene? Let me count the ways. Just sakdjhfa fuck!!!!! it’s the first time we’ve ever seen Buck angry and I know obviously Eddie’s his confidant but it’s so good to actually see Eddie being his confidant. To see that Eddie’s the one he wants to vent to and that Eddie’s the one he trusts with his anger and Eddie just remains such a calming presence in the face of it all????? From the gentle way he talks to the way his foot holds down the punching bag while Buck hits it - I am on the floor. And also!!!!!! Eddie just repeatedly validating Buck’s feelings - “What do you have to apologise for? If that’s how you feel - how they made you feel - then you have every right to say so.” askdjfhas I think it’s really important actually because Buck is always called out for thinking before he acts and yeah, obviously sometimes he should apologise but I really love that Eddie takes the time to make it clear this is different. That Buck didn’t do anything wrong and is allowed to be upset. Also Eddie stopping Buck from hitting the punching bag when Buck says “I just want to hit things” and saying “I’ve been down that road. I don’t recommend it” goodbye???????????? He cares about Buck so much let me be.

1. 4x14 - You think you’re expendable...but you’re wrong

askdjfha is there anything I can say about this scene that hasn’t already been said?????? It’s stunning. It’s so beautiful and so significant and I will never recover. Eddie is someone who struggles so much to talk about his feelings but he’s the one who initiates the conversation because this is important to him. And I said this yesterday but it really is a declaration of love????? I’ve written before about how the scene sort of parallels/answers Buck’s “Love me anyway” plea but one thing I noticed when rewatching Buck Begins is that when Buck gets hurt Margaret yells at him and says “You think you’re indestructible but you’re not” and it’s such a contrast to Eddie saying “You think you’re expendable...but you’re wrong.” even though the two sentences are almost identical. I’ve talked a lot about how significant the word “expendable” is and that parallel sort of reinforced it for me because Margaret is chastising Buck. She’s admonishing him for being reckless with himself and his body and it’s inarguably tied to Daniel. Whereas Eddie uses the word expendable because he knows Buck’s recklessness comes from a place of not feeling wanted. So he tells him I want you and I love you and you can’t get hurt because me and Christopher need you and Buck hears him. And I mean, that’s not even getting into the wILL of it all???? Like, hello???????? but I’m gonna stop now because I’m rambling but aksjdfhsja honestly this scene has broken me beyond repair and I for one am so grateful

#buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911 #mine #anon #asks #i feel like i should've done top 5 scenes of eddie caring about buck and top 5 scenes of buck caring about eddie askjdfh #it's bc i just wrote 13k from eddie's pov ok i'm thinking thoughts lmao

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irrlicht-writes · 3 years

Text

of Rex Lapis and the water's embrace

The rock persisted for centuries. Unaffected by the wind and the weather, it was to remain forever. And yet, recently, the tide had been rising and the water hit against the stone. Stubbornly, the stone would endure the fluid form and persist still. But in the battle of adaptability and endurance, adaptability would always win; and the water tore the rock down. The stone would crumble; and the pillar would be no more. The rocks fell deep, deeper than they ever had before and the water caught them gently in their embrace. | "Tell me a story."

Ao3

Please read part 1 here

The tea was too hot to drink.

Childe had seemed distressed when they had talked on the pier, and Zhongli was unsure of how he should proceed. He was aware that after he gave away the gnosis to the eighth harbinger, Childe had been upset. He only wasn’t sure why exactly. Zhongli had simply fulfilled his contract. Childe had no reason to be mad.

Regardless, Zhongli had decided to let him calm down a while before he would attempt a conversation again. Childe had a wild temper at the best of times and it was generally unwise to anger him unnecessarily. The boy would go into the wilds of Liyue and kill things to his heart’s content and then they could have a civilised discussion again.

Although, Zhongli had to admit he missed his dates with the harbinger.

It was hard these days to find someone who’d be willing to listen to him ramble in full.

He checked his tea again. It was still too hot.

As he sat waiting, he pulled the Old Stone out again. He missed Azhdaha. Seeing him again had simply reminded him of how much he was missing his old friend – but on the other hand, it had been wonderful to be able to talk to him again, to maybe even ease his pain.

He wondered if Childe would be interested to hear stories about Azhdaha.

They were so alike, in heart. Big and powerful – and yet they possessed a gentle heart inside of them.

Zhongli smiled at his stone.

He hoped that Childe enjoyed his gift. The sword that never made it into the hands it had been destined for – mayhap this had been fate. Maybe Guizhong had never been meant to hold this sword and perhaps Zhongli had been a fool for keeping it all these years. Childe would put it to good use, he was sure of it.

The boy was one of the most formidable warriors he had met in recent years. He hadn’t been what Zhongli had expected in the slightest.

I shall send you my eleventh, my dearest Tartaglia. The vanguard of my forces shall serve your contract well, Rex Lapis.

The vanguard of the Tsaritsa... Zhongli had expected an old man, rich in battles and weary of heart, much like Zhongli himself.

And instead, he had received a bright-eyed, young boy with a blinding smile.

A joke, he had believed.

~*~

“Hi! My name’s Tartaglia, but you can call me Childe! You’re Zhongli, right?”

There was a young boy standing in the Funeral Parlour. His eyes were a dull blue, and his unkempt hair was orange. He grinned brightly and extended his hand in a greeting.

“Her Majesty said I’d find you here. Are you hungry? Let’s go get some food!”

There was no waste in this young boy. He reached forward and grabbed the stunned Zhongli, pulling him outside into the sun.

“Haha, it’s so hot here in Liyue! It’s going to be hard to get used to that... maybe they have thinner uniforms here. Ah, I shall just get used to it, I guess.”

Hold on.

This was Tartaglia? This young boy was supposed to be the vanguard of the Tsaritsa? No. This must be a joke.

Perhaps... perhaps this boy was the assistant of the harbinger, yes? If the real Tartaglia might not wish to deal with the outside world due to weariness or simply because he wished to remain hidden, then Zhongli could understand.

Yes. Yes, this sounded very plausible. He must have hired this boy to be his public face, to allow him to work in the background undeterred.

He did not like being deceived but he would insist on meeting the real harbinger soon. In the meantime, he shall entertain this young boy.

“How can I serve you?”

Zhongli hadn’t even noticed that they sat down at Wanmin Restaurant.

“Hi! I’m fresh off the boat and I would like some nice Liyuean food. I’m not picky; just give me what’s good! What about you, Zhongli? I didn’t stun you into silence, did I?”

Zhongli blinked. “Ah... no, you did not, I apologise for my lack of manners. Miss Xiangling, I would like a bamboo shot soup and my ah, associate would take the Crystal Shrimp.”

The boy grinned at him.

“Well, I’ll trust you, then!”

Xiangling smiled and wandered off. Now, Zhongli wasn’t sure what to say. This boy truly had come in like a hurricane.

“Sorry for dragging you away like that, but I’ve only just arrived and the bank already wants to drown me in paperwork. I know we were supposed to meet tomorrow, but I just had to get away, you know?”

“The bank? You mean the Northland Bank?”

“Yeah! I’m supposed to supervise it a bit while I’m here. Apparently, the debt collectors have gotten a bit too soft around these parts, so I’m meant to rough them up again. I wasn’t told about the paperwork though, so that’s a bummer.”

A harbinger would not talk like this, correct? This boy couldn’t have seen more than twenty summers.

“You have knowledge about collecting debts?”

“Yeah, I guess. Before I became a harbinger, I’ve been a debt collector for a while. Not very long though, because I kept killing the clients. And, y’know, dead guys don’t pay their debts after all. But I’m a harbinger now, so who cares!”

Tartaglia laughed and Zhongli blinked.

This boy could not be the Tsaritsa’s vanguard in a hundred years.

“Wha – what are those?!”

The boy’s hand was cramping around the chopsticks.

“Those are chopsticks. You use them to eat your foot... no, don’t stab the shrimp.”

“Well, then how... how do you use them?! This is impossible!”

Zhongli chuckled. “They are an important part of Liyuean cuisine, Childe. Please learn how to use them.”

“How do you guys not starve to death?! What’s wrong with forks?!”

~*~

“Yaahoo, your tea is cold, old man.”

Hu Tao’s voice tore Zhongli out of his thoughts. He looked at the Funeral Parlour Director for a second before he confirmed her words. Indeed, his tea has gotten cold. He sighed.

“What’s got your panties in a twist to make you sigh like that?”

Zhongli frowned. “I do not –“, but then he decided to just not indulge her.

“Are there any clients?”

Hu Tao pouted.

“No, there are no customers. It’s so boring. Nobody dies anymore these days. Hey, where’s your Fatui boyfriend? He always brought in good business.”

“I have not seen Childe in a few days. Last I saw him he did not seem to be in the mood for providing business, Director.”

In fact, Childe had seemed very depressed, so unlike the boy he had gotten to know.

Hu Tao started to whine. “Boooring. Go to him and make him kill some people, I’m so booreed.”

Zhongli closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In, and out. In, and out. Just this easy. This child was going to drive him insane. Childe was not a dead-body-factory.

Although, admittedly, he had provided a lot of bodies for Hu Tao during his stay here.

The two of them even got along. Hu Tao had convinced Childe to partake in several pranks and in almost all of them, Zhongli had been the butt-end of the joke.

“If there is nothing to do, I shall take a walk.”

“Go drag your boyfriend’s ass back here! And bring some dead people! I need a booming business!”

Zhongli decided to ignore her as he pocketed the Old Stone and left the Parlour.

Maybe he should check on Childe. At least, he could inquire whether or not the boy liked his new weapon.

The guard at the door barely recognised Zhongli, as he was busy writing a letter.

As usual, the bank was relatively quiet. The local manager, Andrei, and Mister Qi were talking to each other, presumably about the latter taking on a loan. They did not interest him however. Zhongli headed straight to the bank’s teller, Ekaterina. She’s always been his go-to whenever he had been looking for Childe.

“Good day, Miss Ekaterina. I was wondering –“

“Master Childe is not with you?”

Zhongli frowned. “I – no, he is not. Is something wrong?”

Despite the mask, Zhongli could tell how worried she was.

“Master Childe has left early the last evening and when he did not return, I thought he might be with you – please tell me I haven’t lost a Harbinger. Oh, I can’t even imagine what they’ll do to me. Tell me he’s fine. I don’t care if it’s a lie, just tell me he’s making a bad joke and is harassing Vlad outside the door.”

Childe was missing?

“Are you sure he is not just out for a few days?”

She shook her head. “No, he always tells me for how long he’ll be gone, and we have a matter for him to attend to tomorrow morning. In fact, I only know he has left is because I saw him leave. I checked his office for any sort of note but there was nothing which leads me to believe he intended to be back by now. Oh Seven, what if something’s happened to him? The Tsaritsa will lynch me.”

Childe was strong. Nothing could’ve happened to him, right?

“I will find him.”

Without waiting for an answer, he left the bank.

~*~

The young fake harbinger was a friendly sort. Despite Zhongli’s irritation of not meeting the real harbinger, he could not complain about the company of the fake Tartaglia.

“Xiansheng, do you really need to buy these rocks...?”

“They are of a quality made, Childe, you shouldn’t let an opportunity like this pass you by.”

The boy behind him groaned but paid the merchant. Zhongli took the pair of Jade and pocketed them. Some would wonder where he’d put all of these wonders, and he would never tell.

“Shall we eat, then?”

The boy looked up and blinked at the sun.

“Yeah but we gotta hurry. I have a training session right after lunch and it’s hard enough to keep these rat-tags together at the best of circumstances.”

The harbinger Tartaglia, the boy meant. Often, Zhongli had been tempted to sneak after the boy, trying to catch a glimpse of his real contact. But he, perhaps most of all, knew how difficult it could be to maintain their secret identity.

“Is it hard to train new recruits?”

Childe shrugged. “No, not really. It’s more about what they expect, you know? I’m not the boot camp. I’m not evaluating them, they’re already in. They just have no idea how to properly hold their weapon the right way around. I swear, I have held so many rifles in my life that you’d think I’d be replacing my bow. And you know the worst? The Hydro Gunners keep coming to me like I know what they’re doing. Just shoot your bubbles, man! I’ve never had a tank like that before.”

“You hold a hydro vision, though.”

“Yeah, but do I look like a healer to you? I heal my enemies from their pain by ending their misery. But somehow they expect me to know how theirstuff works. Just hit stuff until it works, it’s not that difficult.”

They arrived at Wanmin Restaurant and Chef Mao came to their table. Apparently, Xiangling was out today, gathering ingredients.

“We’ll take the Chicken Tofu Pudding and the Cured Pork Dry Hotpot, please.”

Childe smiled at him. “We should take a walk sometime.”

“Childe, we take walks all the time.”

“Yeah, I know, but I meant outside! Outside the Harbour. I haven’t really been, you know? There’s so much for me to do in the city that I haven’t really gotten a chance to see the landscape. And I figured, since you know everything about Liyue, you’d be a perfect tour guide!”

That was true. Childe had been for about two weeks and he had seldom left the Bank without Zhongli’s company. A young boy like Childe would grow restless in a city like this, especially considering how he’d grown up in a small village surrounded by trees. So he nodded.

“If your training session does not take too long, we may take stroll tonight.”

The training session did indeed not take long and Zhongli presumed that Childe had simply left early since the real harbinger was going to lead the training anyway.

Brash as ever, Childe stormed the Parlour and leaned over the counter, staring expectedly at Zhongli. He was not deterred though and kept going through his papers.

“Yaahoo, who are you?!”

Oh no. He forgot about Director Hu. He would –

“Hi, I’m Childe! Are you the leader here?”

“Before you stands mighty Hu Tao, 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour! Are you the guy who keeps stealing my consultant?”

Childe laughed. “Indeed I am! In fact, I’m here to steal him away again.”

“Hmmm, you have the deadest eyes I’ve ever seen. You’ll be a customer soon, yeah? If you sign up now, I can give you a coupon.”

Childe waved his hand. “Thanks, but I’m not going to die here. If I do, it’ll be in the cold embrace of my home. But I’ll take coupons!”

Hu Tao grinned and shoved them into Childe’s hands. “Effective only if used within three weeks!”

“Well, I’ll be sure to drop some bodies, then.”

Zhongli stood up quickly before this could escalate any further.

“Childe, let us leave lest it gets too late.”

“Oh, right! Bye, Hu Tao! It was nice meeting you!”

Zhongli practically dragged him out of the Parlour before Hu Tao could respond.

“I had no idea the Director was that young!”

“She has taken over at a very young age, indeed. At some times, I think she does not respect the dead enough, but she is surprisingly loyal to the traditions.”

As Zhongli was dragging him away, Childe looked over his shoulder, seemingly deep in thoughts.

“Anyway, where are we going?”

“It’s a place called Yaoguang Shoal. You will like it.”

“Looks peaceful,” Childe commented and Zhongli nodded.

“There is little here for the Treasure Hoarders to find here. This place is not known for its hidden treasures.”

Childe crossed his arms and looked over to the shore.

“My siblings would love to run across here, I bet.”

“Oh?”

Childe grinned. “Yeah, it’s kinda hard to do that back home, you know? They could even run bare-foot here. You know what...”

The boy turned over and got rid of his shoes, wiggling his toes into the sand. He grabbed Zhongli’s hand and pulled them both down onto the ground.

“Let’s watch the sunset, yeah?”

Zhongli complied. There was, after all, no reason not to.

“What are these called?”

Childe had picked up a conch and held it up to Zhongli’s face.

“They are called Starconches. They say if you hold it to your hear, you can hear the longing call of the sea.”

The boy held the starconch up into the sky, looking at it. “I’ve never seen a seashell with a star on it.”

He proceeded to hold it next to his ear, looking at his toes that were still buried in the sand. He seemed to be listening intently. Then, he laughed.

“Oh, what a siren call indeed. It’s like a call from the very deepest depth, from within all the endless void and darkness at the bottom of the world. So enticing, but I’m not going to drown.” A moment of pause. Then: “No use in hiding back there!”

In a flash, Childe was standing upright, a spear made out of hydro in his hands. Zhongli had barely enough time to turn around to see the Treasure Hoarders before Childe ran over to them.

With each of his attacks, Childe’s weapon shifted fluidly between the spear and what seemed to be two daggers. The red scarf on his back was glimmering with pure hydro energy as Childe spun around himself to knock the Treasure Hoarders out.

The boy turned around, shouldering his spear and grinning at Zhongli. “Do you think that there are any Ruin Guards about?”

~*~

Childe was not on the Guili Plains. After hearing the harbinger had gone there just days prior, Zhongli believed he might’ve returned but there were no hydro traces of his friend.

Why are there no Glaze Lilies on Guili Plains?

Zhongli looked at the desolate plains. He still remembered a time in which the Lilies would bloom plenty. In his ears, he could still hear Guizhong’s song to them. He has never been able to sing it, no matter how hard he tried. But right now, she didn’t matter.

Zhongli turned around again to head to Yaoguang Shoal, hoping to find Childe there. Alas, he was disappointed.

Where else could the young harbinger be?

Maybe... the sword. He closed his eyes. He might be able to find the sword. He’s carried it for so long, there were still so many traces of himself left behind. But he couldn’t concentrate. There were too many thoughts in his head. What if the harbinger was dead? No. No, he couldn’t think like that. He wouldn’t die this easily.

Zhongli opened his eyes again and looked down. There was a starconch lying in the sand. He bent down to pick it up. A conch, carried up to the shore from the depths... Childe liked them. They were a lot like him, he had said. Zhongli had never been sure he understood. Geographically, Snezhnaya was not lower than Liyue. But there had always been something about Childe, something that hadn’t seemed quite right. His eyes, of course, but there had also been the general feeling of... of something beyond this world. Like the boy had been claimed by something else, but Zhongli had never been able to put his finger on it – not that it had ever mattered this far.

Why couldn’t this shell lead him to Childe?

Not wanting to crush it, he threw it back into the ocean. The water rippled for a moment, then the surface stilled once again.

But in the battle of adaptability and endurance, adaptability would always win; and the water tore the rock down. The stone would crumble; and the pillar would be no more. The rocks fell deep, deeper than they ever had before and the water caught them gently in their embrace.

Embraced by the deepest depths, the stone would remain forever more, gently floating away, having overseen the world for long enough.

And if the rock would ever tire, the tide would gently carry the stone to the shore.

Zhongli turned, and left the shore behind. The water was gently lapping at the sand, washing the starconch back ashore. The star in the middle of it shimmered in a gentle blue.

Everything inside him called him to Nantianmen. He was not sure why, but he was not one to ignore a feeling like that when he had deliberately been looking for it. There were a lot of monsters and Treasure Hoarders in the area, so that might be why Childe had been heading there. It was worth a try.

The Old Stone in his pocket gave a slight hum, but Zhongli did not have the mind to listen to it.

Nantianmen was eerily quiet. Normally, one could hear the Hillichurls running around, but now there was just dead silence. Something had happened here and Zhongli had the uneasy feeling that Childe might be at the middle of it.

Ever the eye of the storm.

“Not a step closer!”

The voice rung out across the field. It was distorted but Zhongli recognised the voice. It was Childe. He started running.

There was a mass of Ruin Guards and Hunters in front of Azhdaha’s tree. And there was something else. Something twice the size of a human floating in the air, with a cape made out of stars. Zhongli did not recognise the body, but it was Childe’s voice. And judging by the pile of destroyed Ruin Guards, he had been here a while. There were still so many...

“Childe”, he shouted as he ran over.

The boy... turned his head.

“Xianshen –“

He didn’t get to finish as a Ruin Hunter had been charging up his drill to promptly launch forward to attack him with it. Due to Zhongli’s interference, Childe was not able to evade the attack and got thrown back at the tree behind him. Zhongli saw the boy glow and shrink in size before he fell down to the ground, not to move again. He barely saw the jade sword fall next to him.

No.

Childe always got up immediately after being struck down.

Zhongli could only stare for four painfully long seconds before he decided to take revenge. He didn’t know what brought the Ruin Guards here or how Childe was able to transform the way he did or why any of this was happening at all – all he knew was that he wouldn’t let a friend die in vain once again.

Morax was far from dead; and these enemies would know.

Gently carried by the waves, the rock saw more of the world than the pillar ever could have. The tide was careful to not jostle it too much and to carry it great distances before slowing down, allowing the stone to rest.

Countless fish and sea-creatures would come up to the rock but the sea gently carried it away. The rock was thankful and it appreciated the small whales coming with them.

“I am tired,” the rock would say to the waves. “I have overseen it all for too long. But how will they fare without my pillar?”

The water did not answer, but it changed course. It carried the rock back to the start, so that the stone could see: nothing had changed. The pillar was forever gone, and in time, it would be forgotten. Rock would forever endure, until it would ebb away with the tide.

“Take me away,” the stone requested, “show me your beginning. And when you end, I shall end with you. Until that day, let your tide carry me until I erode away.”

As the Ruin Hunters lay dead to his feet, Rex Lapis took a heavy breath. Without a second thought, he spun around and ran up to the boy that was still lying on the ground. He was breathing, right? But there was blood.

“Childe,” he whispered as he gathered his friend into his arms and brushed a strand of hair aside. This couldn’t be like Guizhong all over again, he wouldn’t be able to take it. The boy groaned and shifted a bit.

“Xiansheng...?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m here.”

The boy blinked and slowly his eyes focused on Rex Lapis.

“Oh wow... I didn’t know you had horns.”

Morax didn’t understand, but it also didn’t matter. “Please. Are you in pain? What do I do?”

Childe laughed a bit. “It’s... don’t worry, yeah? It’s nothing a little herbs and bandages can’t fix, right? I’m more exhausted than I am hurt.”

“You are bleeding.”

“Oh believe me, I know. It’s okay though. Still, I... I should probably bandage it, right? I don’t wanna pass out.”

Morax sprang into action. “Don’t worry, baobei, I will take care of it.”

Childe blinked at him hazily as he removed his jacket and started wrapping it around the boy’s torso.

“...that looks kinda ineffective.”

“This is all I have. I will take you to the Harbour immediately.”

Gently, Rex Lapis gathered the boy in his arms to begin the trek back to the Harbour. Childe’s grip on the sword handle was steady.

“They were attacking the tree,” he said after a few minutes of walking. Morax could tell he was about to fall asleep.

“You were protecting it?”

“No, I came here because I heard about the Ruin Guards. But then I saw them attacking the tree and I... I didn’t want to, but I had to. It’s where... it’s where you sealed Azhdaha, right?”

Rex Lapis just nodded.

“I thought I could take them all on, but they just kept coming. Your sword did good damage but I needed something bigger.”

“Which is why you... transformed.”

“Yes,” was all Childe replied.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes.”

Childe pressed his forehead against Morax’ neck.

“I wanna see the shore.”

“Childe, you’re hurt. Baobei, I need to take you to the Pharmacy.”

“Please.”

So Rex Lapis turned and walked to Yaoguang Shoal.

“Tell me a story,” the young boy asked.

“Please, baobei, let me take you to the Harbour,” Rex Lapis pleaded.

“You can. Just one story. Just tell me one story to fall asleep to. I won’t die. The tide’s not gone yet. I won’t go anywhere just yet, alright? Just one story, alright? Please.”

“Once, a long time ago, Rex Lapis encountered a young boy. The boy would never walk beside the god, but the god would always follow. The god was as steady as stone, but the boy was like the tides, ever-changing, ever-evolving and forever coming back.

Rex Lapis would oversee his country for eternity, and always he would watch the waves, wondering just when they would erode him. Perhaps, the god thought, perhaps erosion would not be the worst if it meant flowing like the tides.

After all, the boy would gift him a starconch, telling stories of a far-too-distant shore.”

In his arms, Childe had fallen asleep. The water was gently lapping at their feet and a starconch was washed ashore. Rex Lapis picked it up and put it gently into Childe’s arms. Carefully, he picked the young boy up and made the long walk back to Liyue Harbour.

Behind him, there was a singular rock carried by the waves.

As Zhongli and Childe disappeared from view, so did the rock vanish as if it had never been there.

#genshin impact #zhongchi #genshin childe #genshin zhongli #hurt/comfort #fanfiction #genshin tartagalia #irrlicht writes #tartali

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theodorecanaryhood · 3 years

Text

Batboys teaching reader to drive

Headcanon no one asked for but here we are! Batboys x female sister reader

Dick

Dick is the most patient

'Just breath and take your time' he'll say as you put into gear

You slowly pull out into the road and start driving

'Good clutch control, now go into second'

Dick is very patient even if you are a little annoying

You keep apologising for mistakes

Dick just smiles and reassures you you're doing fine

He takes control of the wheel a couple of times to put you in a straight line

'Watch out, this is a school zone' he says

Dick will make you laugh to take your mind off how nervous you are

He'll guide you to reverse bay park

He'll tell you good techniques to use

Dick will be firm if you did something that could get you into trouble or hurt

But he's proud when you pass your lesson

Jason

Being taught to drive by Jason scares you as he is not very patient

He surprises you with how calm he is

'Waych your speed, watch the turn signal but most importantly watch what is happening around you' he says

When you eventually get on the road, he keeps waving his hand as a signal for you to straighten up in the road

'Stop sign means stop y/n' he snaps, realising he's making you nervous he apologises

'Watch what is going on as well as the road' he reassures

Jason starts answering all your questions in detail

After your third attempt of reverse bay parking Jason starts getting a little annoyed

'It's not that hard' he says

'For you, this is my first time' you snark back at him

Jason tells you the best technique to do it and it works after two attempts

Jason apologises if he got a little impatient

When you keep stalling at a light he starts getting annoyed again

'Don't worry about the cars behind you, just focus on what you're doing' he says, you manage to get out onto the road again

Maybe Jason wasn't the most patient but what he taught you helped and you passed

Jason was proud, cocky. But proud

Tim

Tim is drunk with caffeine half of the time so you have no idea how he will manage to stay with it

But he does

He's also very patient so it helps

He can get sarcastic if it makes you laugh enough

He gets you on the road

Tells you little techniques and tricks

'You can't hack everything Tim' you comment

'You can if you're good at it' he smiles

He warns you about speed limits up ahead

He reminds you to use your turn signal

He helps you straighten up if needed

'You're going 20 in a 30 lane y/n, step on it a bit' he says calmly

You actually enjoy learning from Tim

Tim enjoys the time away from the house

Reverse bay parking was piss easy thanks to Tim's guidance

He talked you through the best way to do it before you did it

Tim was with you for your test and hugged you when you passed

Damien

Ok, not much here

Damien is 14

Can you take driving lessons from a 14 year old?

Nope

So instead, Damien is with you in the car for the first time after you pass

One of the boys above taught you

Damien criticises everything

'I can tell (batbro) taught you, his driving sucks' he says

'You know a better way?' You say, studying him

'I've been driving since I could walk'

'No one has Dami, you're a child' you laugh

Damien never threw you off at all, if anything him rambling about your skills at driving amused you

You'd only passed recently and him already having stuff to say made you chuckle

Damien eventually liked the ride with you, as you were calm and unfazed by what he was saying

Focusing on what was going on around you

'Can you take me to school tomorrow?' He asks you sweetly

You smile

'Of course'

Damien would use you as an uber all the time now

Bonus

Bruce

Your Dad isn't always the most patient

Hell his driving has given you nightmares

He was very responsible teaching you though, also very calm

Gave you tips

Helped you with questions

To be honest, your Dad could've probably done this on the side as he was pretty good at teaching you

'School zone, watch your speed' he would say as you slowed down

Bruce was probably the best choice as he had more experience

Of course you didn't learn in one of his expensive cars

You learnt in a run down Honda

You insisted

'Don't want to damage your wheels dad' you laughed

Bruce eased you into the reverse bay

He also eased you into learning about the different signals and signs to look out for

Bruce even made time to show you how to pump the gas

Bruce was grinning brightly when you passed on first attempt

127 notes · View notes

oldsmobile-hotdogs · 3 years

Note

Questions for crossover jatp ghosts crossover fic: I hope Julian and the sunset curve boys talk about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Yugoslav wars that happened when they were alive + Bill Cilnton. I wonder what pat and the band would talk about considering that they would of been kids when pat died? Do you think Julie would think of Les Mis and Hamilton cos Thomas and Kitty are from about the same time period as those musicals? I hope Julie calls Fanny Mary poppins.

Anon, or "Mimi", or "Lulu", or, heck, maybe even "Carl Birtles": Update: Not Carl Birtles. Carl Birtles sent me an ask and is cool, actually.

Stop. Right now. I'd say stop while you're ahead, but you are so far away from ahead at this point it's laughable.

For everyone confused, this is that "commenter from AO3" I joked about making a 2017-esque story time video about.

A couple days ago I uploaded the first chapter of a Julie and the Phantoms/BBC Ghosts crossover fic.

You know what? I’m gonna promo it here bc it’s my callout post and I can shill if I want to: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30681704/chapters/76661471

It was generally very well received and I've had a blast interacting with readers.

Except for this.

Honestly, there's so much to get into, so I’m putting it under a cut:

This was their first correspondence (email notif bc I deleted the comment, the deletion to be explained later):

(Funnily enough, the links very much do not work on AO3, making the comment only more jarring)

I gave you *so much* benefit of the doubt when I saw this comment, and assumed that maybe you're an ESL user, just very enthusiastic to share ideas, and I pretty much said so in my reply, but know that at that point I'd already had friends- who fucking know about this, don't you dare think you're getting me alone- tell me that you were being very demanding.

Below was my reply (another email notif):

I'm gonna be honest, I think I responded really well to what I was given, and now that I'd replied, I was pretty certain the situation was dealt with. You, evidently, didn't agree, as shown by your reply to my reply:

A word of advice: when replying to someone, at least pretend like you read what they wrote.

At this point I'm left wondering two things:

What do they expect from me, if a general reply is not it?

How much more shit do they have waiting to tell me to put in my- reminder, JATP/BBC Ghosts crossover, rated T, comedic- fic?

In order to avoid finding out either, I freeze the thread on AO3. I'm liveblogging all of this on Discord.

It's then that I notice that the username on AO3 isn't clickable, so even if I wanted to block or report them I couldn't. I assume, therefore, that they've deactivated, and since them seeing their comments gone and getting angry was the only thing stopping me deleting the comments, I delete the comments.

It's also at this point I see "Mimi" never left kudos. I guess I don't deserve praise until I mention "Bill Cilnton".

There's relative calm for a short amount of time, until I get another comment:

This one is much kinder than the others and doesn't mention any specific, weird, historical events, so the extent to which I think this is "Mimi" is debatable, but bestie I'm weirded out enough that anything that even uses the enter bar unnecessarily and misses out conjunctive words like "because" and "and" is going to activate fight or flight. Update: Carl Birtles is not Mimi or Lulu. Carl was just being genuinely kind and I misinterpreted it and that's on me.

However, "Carl"'s case is not helped by the fact I can't click his account either, that AO3 offers me the ability to report it as spam, and that guess who replies to "Carl"'s comment: Update: Carl, having done nothing wrong as he has, is therefore also a victim in the situation that is being replied to by Lulu. It would seem Lulu is trying to correct??? some of Carl's commentary.

You must think I didn't get a 7 on my English Literature GCSE because you seem to underestimate my ability to compare two texts.

So clearly this is "Mimi", who has also just replied to "Carl". "Lulu" is also deactivated, and I've fallen off the end of my tether, let alone reached it, at this point so I mark it as spam. "Carl" gets to stay bc he said the idea for the crossover was good. Update: Carl also gets to continue to stay because I have it on good faith that he's a stand-up dude.

So at this point you've readily admitted through your inability to shake up your writing style to using at least one sockpuppet to convince me to talk about the "Yugoslav wars".

If "Carl Birtles" is the real(-est) of them, and "Mimi" and "Lulu" are the sockpuppets, by the way, I have questions and ideas about what you do on your free evenings and I want them neither confirmed nor answered. Update: This is slanderous and I want to apologise wholeheartedly to Carl for making assumptions about him and judging his character. Once again, he is not Mimi or Lulu. He's just a normal, cool guy.

And now you come to me, on the day of my daughter's wedding on a different platform, leave me an anon ask in the exact same format as you're so fond of, and expect any different ??

Well, yeah, then I guess I'll give you special treatment this time.

Here's exactly why I will never include anything you have told me to include:

Julian and the Phantoms discussing the Berlin Wall would be highly inappropriate for the largely fluffy, cracky tone of my fanfiction, especially given how recently the event occurred, how many Eastern Germans still experience prejudice to this day because they were born within the old borders of the DDR, and because of how nuanced this, essentially proxy war, was and how ill-informed a huge amount of the world is on the actual factors in play during this time and the Cold War in general.

Julian and the Phantoms will not discuss Yugoslavia dissolving, nor the fallout and conflict that resulted, because it was genocidal. There is nowhere I can fit Julian, pantsted, casually asking Luke “hey do you remember when the Herzegovinas were killed en masse by the Serbs?” Not gonna happen.

They won’t discuss Bill Clinton because all of them know who the current world leaders are: they don’t have amnesia, they’re ghosts. The fic is also rated T, so it would be inappropriate to make any explicit reference to “sexual relations”. None of them play saxophone.

Julie wouldn’t think of Les Mis or Hamilton because Thomas is Regency, not French Revolution, and Kitty is Georgian, not Colonial.

Julie won’t be calling Fanny Mary Poppins because she is perpetually stuck in a white dress, doesn’t wear a hat, doesn’t own an umbrella or a purse and was not the nanny or housekeeper of Button House.

The ghosts will not discuss the marvels of modern transportation or how long it would’ve taken to cross the Atlantic on dinghy because the ghosts have seen Friends. The house irl is on a flight path. They know airplanes exist. Alison and Mike pulled up in a car.

I will probably have the phantoms and Willie talk to Pat and Julian about being from the ‘80s and ‘90s. That I will actually probably do.

The Captain will not mention FD Roosevelt because, again, they all know who the current world leaders are, and I doubt he expects a ‘90s pop punk band to have any insider knowledge on the man.

It was interesting to think of the phantoms’ grandparents having been alive during WW2. I wasn’t lying. But there is nearly nothing I can do with this information.

But above all: both sets of ghosts have already adapted to modern life. Because the shows are shorter, and meant to actually be able to fit jokes in them.

If you want to see any of this, write your own damn fic. I don’t own the concept of a JATP/BBC Ghosts crossover.

What you will not do, “consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel”-nim, is hound me on multiple accounts and then change platform to hound me again. I’m absolutely not having it.

I have never received an interaction quite like this before, and I cannot help but wonder if this is because this is my first work in the Ghosts/HH/Them There/Six Idiots/Yonderland/Bill fandom: that this is where you primarily camp out.

So it’s at this point I ask the Them There/Six Idiots fandom if they have/if they know anyone who has had a run-in with this person or thinks they may have, or if anyone perhaps even knows who this is? Maybe I’m just one of many. Maybe this is a necessary fandom evil I was unaware of.

This experience has left me royally freaked out, as one might imagine, especially since my anxiety in general has been acting up due to it being exam season. I want to thank everyone who’s read my rambles on Discord and on here and even listened to them irl and offered support from the bottom of my heart.

I’ve enabled comment moderation on the fic. I will continue to write it, and I will put exactly what I, and only what I, want in it.

Believe it or not, I wanted to do literally anything else today.

Anon: Fucking Leave Me Alone.

Update: Just reiterating: Carl is not Mimi or Lulu. Carl is a cool dude and I want to sincerely apologise for having brought him into this mess, passing judgment on his character, and making him feel like he should stop practicing English online.

#ask #anon #callout post #ig #rant #parish notice #jatp #julie and the phantoms #bbc ghosts #ghosts #fic #fanfic #ao3 #literally any information about this would be helpful #six idiots #them there #horrible histories #yonderland #bill

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oneoftheextras · 4 years

Text

Big Brother

All Might x Pregnant!Reader

Prompt:

masterlist | tip jar

Prompt: You’re pregnant with All Might’s baby and to tell him about it you get some kind of cheesy big brother t shirt for Midorya

A/N: I adore everything about this, how could I not?

Drifting your hand across the multiple different type of fabrics, you had found yourself in the baby isle at the store, your other hand subconsciously placed on your slightly rounded stomach.

You were 16 weeks pregnant, 4 months, and Toshi had no idea. He’d been away for important Hero work for the last 3 months, ironic that the one time you needed him he wasn’t there. You couldn’t blame him, he was the number one Hero, and the people needed their Symbol of Peace.

Every time you spoke to him on the phone you wanted to tell him, but he was so stress all the time with the League of Villains on the rise that you didn’t want to put any additional stress on him.

You also wanted to make sure that you hadn’t just eaten a lot of bread.

Unknowingly, you were staring down at your tummy - stroking it lightly with your thumb. Today he was coming home. He’d send you a text yesterday night, letting you know that he would be home about 7pm.

And here you were, 4pm, supposed to be buying groceries for your home made Ramen that you had an insane craving for; like, someone is going to die kind of craving. But instead you were staring at baby clothes with happy tears in your eyes.

Turning your body away from the extremely soft blankets, you mentally reminded yourself of the ingredients you needed to get. You stopped walking. Directly in front of you was a beautiful baby grow onesie that was a lovely colour of violet and had ‘Baby Bear’ written on it.

Being 16 weeks pregnant, you didn’t know the gender of your and Toshinori’s baby, so it was hard to buy anything that wasn’t gendered or sectioned off to be either pink or blue. It was refreshing to see something that you could buy without knowing yet.

As you grabbed the baby grow and took them off the hanger, almost like a slow reveal from a cheesy game show, you saw a matching set. In a slightly darker shade of purple was another top reading “Brother Bear” and next to that was “Sister Bear”. Honestly, you were expecting to see one saying Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear maybe even a Grandpa and Grandma Bear at this rate.

Then an idea struck you, you hurried along almost forgetting to buy the ingredients that had made you leave your comfortable blanket nest on the couch, and drove home as quickly as you could.

It was a waiting game now.

7:14pm and your stomach was turning, and not in the ‘there’s a tiny human in my stomach’ kind of way. Dinner was simmering and ready to be served at any moment, you started to over think things. “What if he’s already eaten? What if he doesn’t like my Ramen anymore?” you thought inside your own mind, you were crazy, but not crazy enough to start talking to yourself.

Pulling your jumper down, you inspected yourself in the mirror - you weren’t showing that much but if you had worn a smaller top like you normally would, your little bump would pull on your top and make it extremely obvious. Instead you opted for an oversize jumper and a pair of gym shorts that were stretchy enough to not put too much pressure on your tummy.

Your phone pinged, it was Izuku replying to your last text message, “He will love it” is all that he’d said, you saw the preview and clicked your phone to lock again. He wouldn’t mind if you didn’t reply immediately.

Settling for watching your favourite TV show to keep your mind off of things, you snuggled up on the couch again. Almost as soon as your butt touched the soft fabric, you heard the doorbell ring. It took you twice as long to get up recently, but you jumped out of your seat as quickly as you could.

As soon as you’d lowered the handle and pulled the door open slightly, you felt huge muscular arms wrap around your frame. Toshi picked you up off of the floor and squeezed you into a hug, “I’ve missed you!” he yelled through the house.

He was still in his muscle form so his embrace was extremely tight, “Careful!” you smacked his arms and he immediately loosened his grip on you, looking at your face with concern.

“What’s the matter? Are you hurt? Sorry if I hurt you, I didn’t mean to” he started to ramble, a habit that he’d picked up from Midoriya. “No, no, no” you panicked, not wanting him to find out like this, “You’re just very strong” you chuckled, rubbing the back of your neck and looking down to your huge boyfriend, who was still holding you in the air.

“Oh, sorry” he apologised again, letting your feet touch the floor and loosening his grip on you even more, “I guess I’ve forgotten to use restraint with One for All” he smiled down at you.

“Come on then, you big idiot, dinner is ready” you laughed, walking back into your home. Toshinori started to walk through your small doorway until you tutted and turned back to face him. “What did we say about Muscle Form and being in the house?” you scolded him, sounding like a mother already, “Not to do it in the house” he replied in a sing-song type voice, definitely sounding like a toddler.

If the public could see their Symbol of Peace now, you thought.

He reduced himself down to his normal, quirkless size with a puff of steam and closed the door behind him, following you through the house like a lost puppy dog.

After you’d both thoroughly cleaned your bowls of Ramen, you sat shyly opposite Toshi,”God, I’ve missed your cooking” he said, unknowing to him you were stroking the bottom of your tummy again. ‘I hope you enjoyed that too little one’, you thought and smiled both at your boyfriend and your stomach.

“Toshi” you started, not sure where you were going with this, he looked up at you with adoration and nodded for you to carry on. “Come with me, I have something to show you�� you smiled, getting up out of your seat and walking to your shared bedroom.

You waited until he’d followed you into the room before you started to rummage into your closet, “I got a present for Izuku and I wanted to know your opinion on it” you explained while you reached for the green present bag.

“My opinion? Why do you need my opinion?” Toshi asked, slightly confused, “I want to make sure it’s the right size” you handed him the bag and then carried on looking through the closet.

You watched out of the corner of your eye as he opened the bag up, took out the top, put the bag on the floor and then unfolded the top with both of his hands. You’d found what you were searching for so you closed the closet door and watched him.

“Brother Bear?” Toshi read aloud, “I don’t understand, why ‘Brother Bear’“ he asked lowering the top to glance towards you and hopefully receive an explanation.

When is eyes focused, he saw what you were holding. His eyes stared at the top, then at you, then back at the top again. “Wait..” he said, looking back at the piece of fabric in his hand, you could see the little calculator in his brain adding everything together.

“Y/N... are you?” was all he asked, you nodded at him, your eyes threatening to leak with happy tears again, “Uh-huh” was all you could manage. “No I need you to say it Y/N” he said, putting the top back into the bag and walking towards you.

“I’m pregnant Toshi” you smiled at him, slightly shaking with excitement.”You’re pregnant?!” he repeated, “I’m pregnant” you shouted, hoping that it would get into his head finally.

“Oh my.. Goodness!” he shouted and in a puff of white steam he transformed into what people know as The Symbol of Peace, smacking his head on the ceiling and making a few particles of plaster onto your freshly vacuumed rub. “What did I say about Muscle Form?!” you laughed, scolding him again.

“But...” he continued, ignoring your lecture, “Why the present for Young Midoriya?” he questioned. You rolled your eyes, “He’s basically your adoptive son, and I’ve already texted him so he’s excited” you laughed.

“Wait, Midoriya knew” he looked off to the side and walked towards you, “And didn’t tell me” he finished, snaking one arm around your waist, and placing a large hand on your swollen belly.

You knew he was going to be a great dad.

#toshinori #mha toshinori #toshinori yagi #all might #all might x reader #toshinori x reader #mha #mha fanfic #pregnant!reader #brother deku

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amphtaminedreams · 3 years

Text

Spring/Summer & Haute Couture Week 2021 Plus Top 20 Collections: Whoops, I’ve Missed a Loooot (Part 4)

Hiiieee to anyone reading,

We’re finally at the end of my S/S21 reviews! Just in time for…well…the end of summer. So a very prompt entry as always! In my defence, I think British people miscategorise which months make up the warm period because the nice weather doesn’t usually start til June-even then its presence is very tenuous-and imo carries on until the end of September/early October. So let’s just say me finishing this post this late was actually a practical decision. It sounds much more like I have my shit together that way. LOL, as if. Seriously though, I’ll go into it more at the end, but I do want to stick to a kind of schedule from now on with fashion week content. It’s coming. I hope.

If you read any of the other parts, you are truly braver than the troops and I salute you, because I ramble so much these posts end up on some House of Leaves shit sometimes! Here we finally are at the end of this S/S21 summary, the last essay style review post I’m going to do for a while. I’m really excited to make the move to photo set posts for the time being and tackle F/W21 ASAP in line with the actual changing of the seasons, which is a highly depressing sentence to type because WHY, we’ve barely even had a summer!? I’m not gonna start moaning here, instead I’ll give you a bit of a taster of me shutting the fuck up and letting the photos do the talking but before I do, my last PSA is that my ranking of the top 20 shows of this season will be at the end of the post if you wanted to skip to that. It’s the part of these reviews I’ve always loved writing most and a good indicator of how strong a season actually was too; when you feel guilty about leaving a collection out, you know a designer has outdone themselves. To find myself feeling a sense of moral obligation to hype up super-rich, super-unbothered-about-my-existence people is not a predicament I would willingly get myself into so I take the countdown SERIOUSLY. I had a lot to choose from in spite of the limitations COVID imposed upon the fashion industry, so that’s a positive sign. I guess in a way it’s forced designers and their teams to reflect on their place in the world and what they really want to achieve with their brand, and we’ve seen creative directors that have been a bit sloppy in recent years hitting a reset button in some ways. Who knows if this trend of them working as hard as the average person for their money will continue but we can hope, right? I should probably get on with the rest of the review whilst I’m on this optimism kick.

First up, Roland Mouret, which I actually really liked.

Not a huge amount of looks or necessarily the most eye catching collection but it’s hot and it’s current whilst somehow managing to remain timeless and demure, the uniform of a young and yet to become jaded Miranda Priestly type on her first assistant fashion editor job if we move the timeline of the Devil Wears Prada forward about 30 years to base this scenario in 2021. I am really constantly firing off TV show pitches in these posts and I apologise for that but if any of them do ever come to fruition, consider this my copyright claim because to the fictional studio exec reading this: I WANT A CUT OF THAT AD REVENUE, BITCH. I’m coming up with some real potential classics here. Firstly, who doesn’t love a good villain origin story and secondly, think of the wardrobe! If there were workwear classy enough to make a boss/employee office based porno worth watching, it would look a lot like this. I know, any reference to porn when it comes to describing clothing seems inherently counterintuitive if one is attempting to communicate the sophistication of said clothing but it would be like, sensual, feminist smut, okay? I’m going to attempt to stop salvaging my initial statement but I KNOW WHAT I MEAN. IT’S A COMPLIMENT.

-RTW S/S21-

Schiaparelli is pretty reliably a treat, another brand who walk the tightrope over the conflicting territories of pretentious and bland with well-established expertise. Whilst a few of the pieces from the haute couture collection, such as the much raved about six pack chest plate, was a little too in the uncanny valley region for me, on the whole the weird was mixed with the glamorous very well; the clear tongue in cheek feel to the collection makes it clear that creative director Daniel Roseberry had a lot of fun whilst designing. I mean, COVID and lockdown probably took away the pressure I’m sure a lot of designers feel from the outside world, that need to be aware of our collective adoption of trends and tastes that comes from that breakneck pace of everyday life, which tends to push us down the easiest route of conformity over purposeful self-expression. It seems to have really benefited a lot of designers in that I would assume the absence of the usual external forces and demands allowed them more room to reflect on their own means of artistic expression and more time to try different things and concepts. In a lot of ways, it’s highlighted the stark difference between those brands driven by sales and pleasing a client base and those who are more focussed on communicating a vision and contributing to cultural history, and I think it’s the latter who’ve come out on top. It’s probably a case of it’s not that deep, Lauren-you could argue that the need to make sales didn’t disappear even during COVID, thus the environment didn’t change all that much for designers-but idk, surely the events of the past year are going to have had an effect on that creative, thoughtful type of personality even if it’s just something that’s driving them subconsciously?

-Haute Couture S/S21-

In terms of distinguishing between haute couture and RTW Schiaparelli, the bold, theatrical elements of HC immediately seized and then held my attention for the longest. That being said, my preferences are not unaffected by my main character delusions, and so the wearability factor that comes from the more delicate, subdued nature of RTW makes that my favourite of the two. As always, the RTW accessories appear as an almost organic extension of the garments and in this way, play a huge role in elevating them; it’s impossible to admire a Schiaparelli necklace on its own, the way I do with a lot of other RTW stuff, and not think…well, really, I’d need the whole outfit. And where else would you wear something so extra as a head to toe Schiaparelli fit if not on a red carpet? Are we really gonna pretend that’s not a fun vision? I’m not asking to be famous, just let me shuffle along behind all the minor cast members of the 27th Fast and Furious film if needs be. I don’t need to be front and centre with Timothee Chamalet and Margot Robbie at the Oscars. I just wanna wear some Schiaparelli and get a good outfit pic in front of some flashing lights like ONE TIME. That would be nice.

The dark, haunting beauty of Simone Rocha S/S21 collection is a shining example of why I absolutely adore this woman’s work. She never fails to create something magical and seems to put her whole heart and soul into making sure her designs tell a meaningful story; it’s clear Rocha doesn’t produce garments for the sake of it and whilst maintaining a theme or references to a certain part of her heritage, focusses on each piece individually and intimately, giving it time and care. The pieces always have character, with the garments that make up this collection playing with two very contrasting aesthetics. On the one hand, these pieces incorporate the delicate, ornate approach to upper class women’s clothing of the past where dressing was heavily influenced by religious iconography and a highly patriarchal society’s demands for them to present themselves as soft, pure, almost transcendent beings. This blend of restrictive neoclassical and 19th century silhouettes and overtly feminine elements that are a Simone Rocha signature such as pearls, ruffles and tulle however, are played off against a kind of eldritch, rugged look that is not only distinctly fiercer but also far more practical and altogether tougher; I get the sense that this side of the designs, the heavy layers and chunky footwear, are a tribute to the warrior women of Celtic mythos and folklore, and these are also typical Rocha muses. That being said, I don’t get the sense that it’s about one archetype overpowering the other but more about how two kinds of distinctly feminine strengths can coexist in harmony; after all, exploring the different types of beauty of the past through her pieces is something Simone is an expert at. She somehow brings this very authentic, very particular aura of mystique and knowing to her collections, as if all together they reveal a deep, untold truth of the universe or communicate some ancient myth and though I assume that’s just the vibe and that Simone is not in fact channelling a kind of witchy power through the medium of clothing, I’m all about buying into the fantasy anyway.

Tory Burch’s S/S21 collection was nice. Not drop dead gorgeous or showstopping by any means, but then her collections have always been more wearable than runway worthy. Within the confines of the label’s aim to dress pretty, upper class white women, this collection takes a slightly different direction than usual; the pieces are less feminine and flouncy than typical Tory Burch, very kombucha obsessed L.A palm reader who goes away to her California desert ranch at weekends (after a long week of feeding celebrities bullshit “prophecies” about their future but this is not the post for spirituality discourse so allow me this one sarky remark and I’ll leave it here). Her usual aesthetic I think of as much more suited to a cocktail bar frequenting, part time “yummy mummy”-ing New Yorker with a Hamptons summer home who started dabbling in a Bohemian aesthetic after starting yoga classes, but with the looser fits and the neutral colour palette, this collection looks more like the wardrobe of a genuine, yet very well-groomed, very practical free spirit. They’re the kind of outfits I’d like to wear if I fancied channelling that more bohemian side of my own style in a professional setting, so yeah, nice, if a little more reserved than I really like.

When it comes to Valentino’s RTW collection, it was a little disappointing this year, and I felt definitely the weaker of the two when it comes to weighing it up against Pierpaolo Piccioli and the team’s haute couture entry. I feel like the favourites I picked out paint a much more interesting picture of the pieces than the uncharacteristically basic reality. Don’t get me wrong, the clothes would be perfect for some kind of very boujee but very tasteful celebrity wedding by the Italian lakes, and yes that’s definitely a vibe, it’s just that it’s a lot more low key than those typical ornate, decadent Valentino collections. Whilst past RTW collections have never been particularly avant grade, there’s usually this exceptional level of attention to detail that doesn’t seem particularly present to me here and that’s what the sense of it being a bit of a let down is based on. The pieces that are strong mostly just feel like a repetition of what we’ve seen before.

As you can probably tell by the sheer volume of looks from Valentino’s Haute couture I included by comparison, it was much stronger than their RTW imo-a super interesting departure from the very feminine, very decorative collections that we’ve seen from Valentino over the past couple of years, qualities which have made it a firm favourite of mine, and yet qualities which it’s nice to see strayed away from when done well time to time, especially when that Valentino level of luxury is maintained. Does it make me a basic bitch if I prefer the past more commercial collections? Probs. The flowing chiffon dresses and intricate embroidery Pierpaolo has established as a solid part of the brand are timeless imo, and the kind of garments that I know would be truly breathtaking in person. Obviously I’m missing those element of that signature style. But I love this because I appreciate Pierpaolo switching things up, and switching things up well; this is a collection that’s surprisingly reflective of the tastes of the modern era, from the minimalistic approach to detail and androgynous silhouettes all the way down to the neons. And let’s talk about the boots! In the words of Monique Heart, (brown cow!) stunning! So, in spite of my preference teetering towards the gowns of previous collections, this is all very cool and I do really like it! There are some really sick pieces of outerwear and a lot of the fits are giving me early Lady Gaga street style vibes, if we were to see her bring back that dramatic, futuristic approach to her looks again for the 2020s anyway.

We really let ourselves forget about looks like this?

Disappointing. She served so hard so many times back then and yet we all think of that era as an aesthetic disaster. It’s wild, but wearing a meat dress on the red carpet really fucks with the public perception of you. Please Stefani, sometimes there are 100 people in a room who don’t believe in you and sometimes it’s because you’re wearing slabs of uncooked dead animal and their beliefs are justified. But it’s a decade later so we move. Let’s wipe that from our memory and remember the good times.

Back to Valentino though-this was 100% a smart move for Pierpaolo, and one he should be commended for. I can live with an underwhelming RTW if haute couture is strong enough and this was a memorable HC fashion week moment for sure.

Now onto my queeeen, miss Vera Wang, who for her S/S21 collection did a flawless job of merging RTW with the bridal wear she’s made her name producing. I found out this woman is SEVENTY FUCKING TWO years old. SEVENTY TWO. Where is this fountain of eternal youth and talent she’s drinking from? I want in, more so I can bottle it n sell it than anything because can you imagine living forever? No thank you. Anyway, to go back to the clothes, this collection is the two elements I love of Vera’s work seamlessly integrated. What could be better than that moody, gothic, teenage angsty RTW aesthetic she’s developed over the past few years infused with the indulgent, ethereal femininity of her bridal wear, all to the effect of a collection that reads as very grungy 90s riot grll wedding; for the woman who is against everything the institution of marriage stands for but also wants to feel like a princess and have a huge ass party for just one day, and ultimately found the sweet spot between the two. It’s not against your post third-wave feminist principles if you’re getting pissed and down and dirty to rock music at the afterparty, refuse to take his second name, and are hiding platforms boots underneath the gown. Those are the rules. Just ignore the similarity to that Demi Lovato La La Land lyrics and the cringe factor there is non-existent. But to the point, this collection reaffirms Vera as coolest member of the dreamy princess wear family, the gothy black sheep, the Wednesday Adams of the Elie Saab, Rodarte, Giambattista Valli, Zuhair Murad clan and I wouldn’t want it any other way. She’s the one I want to be, anyways.

Not gonna lie, the S/S21 Versace collection was EVERYTHING, one of the best they’ve put out in years. Where else does the natural progression of the brash, bold, occasionally trashy ’80s Miami aesthetic Versace has cultivated over the years lead to if not literally under the sea itself? Donatella and her team went all out with the campy, nautical theming through details that utilised everything beach related you could possibly think of-sea creature shaped accessories, tacky yet irresistibly vivid beach towel inspired prints, scuba material, a glorious colour palette in coral coloured hues, even jewell encrusted crab claws holding the cups of the dress FFS. Whilst on paper, it sounds like a fucking nightmare, somehow, it mostly worked. The team at Versace managed to take a theme that you would guess would be ridiculously uncool and make it glamorous and for the most part, hot as fuck; we all need a bit of fun rn and this collection 100% fits that brief and I think will be one of the more memorable entries of Versace archives for years to come. Unintentional reference continuity here RE: my thoughts on S/S21 Moschino, but the collection is giving huge early Katy Perry stage or music video outfit vibes, the kind that helped her to establish herself as the queen of kooky meets sexy. Yeah, considering the jumping off point of the collection, like there were always going to be some bloody hideous looks, but if you think of them as the collateral damage of properly committing to a concept, I really think it showcases the boldest design work Donatella has done in years. It encapsulates the brand in a way that I’m sure would make Gianni very proud, plus provided more than enough head-turning fits to totally justify an aquatic themed Met Gala. Just think of the range; not only would it include this collection, but for sure some Iris Van Herpen and Schiaparelli pieces too. Dreamy stuff. If I ever get wealthy enough to afford a Versace piece, know that you’ll see me going full Ariel and wearing one of those diamond encrusted shell corsets on the beach. Why the fuck not?

I know it’s kinda basic but I do tend to like Saint Laurent RTW even though I can acknowledge that the collections are nothing special, and that in a lot of ways the label isn’t much of a trailblazer anymore like it was back in the day; that being said, apart from his refusal to abandon those boring ass sequin suits, I think creative designer Anthony Vaccarello has got the rockstar boyfriend’s much cooler model girlfriend kinda mix of glamour and edge down, Kate Moss back when she was dating Pete Doherty style just a little more polished. This collection is slightly less glamorous than usual but generally, it has that same distinctive energy-I guess you have to tone things down a tad when you’re presenting your collection in stills against a white background as opposed to a runway in front of the Eiffel Tower. As far as the highly regarded yet predictable labels go, YSL’s standard fare easily beats out Chanel’s or Burberry’s or (controversial, I know) Prada’s for me, though that may solely be down to personal aesthetic preferences; I’d take the lavish date night in La Marais before a rock concert appropriate outfit you get from YSL than an al-fresco lunch at a Montmartre patisserie style Chanel style fit any day. Aside from the cycling shorts, which I am very much over when worn as a trend piece, I’d be willing to rip off a nail or do some other kind of incredibly painful but non permanent damage to myself for anything from this collection. From the fur trim, the corsage chokers, the very Lana in the Gucci Guilty ad jumpsuits, to 60s mod era Twiggy-esque pieces and lingerie as outerwear (would any YSL collection be complete without it?) made to look so wearable you feel you could walk down your local high street in a pair of lacy pants, I’m here for it all. Yes, though it may also qualify me for basic bitchood, I’m a whore for anything YSL, I admit it. The negative is once again the lack of diversity when it comes to body types-as a person with hugely disordered eating habits and body image issues am looking at these models and thinking I wish I looked like that, something ain’t right here, lol.

And finally, though I’m sure I assign this title to far too many brands for it to be meaningful in any way, we’re gonna round things up with another favourite of mine: Zimmerman. I did originally have a folder of Zuhair Murad looks saved but going back over the collection with my notes, I decided it was too meh to include (big sad as I’m usually a fan!), so I thought I’d end on a positive note and just leave it here by saying this is another impeccable collection from creative director Riccardo Sabioni. I can only assume that in another life he was a “make love not war” chanting, protest frequenting, Woodstock loving hopeless romantic who ditched that way of life to become a boutique owner and zine editor in L.A and that he’s either getting mysterious wardrobe flashbacks or conducting seances to contact her before he designs these collections. That vibe is where it’s at, if I didn’t make it clear. I mean, I just don’t think there’s a period of time where these pieces wouldn’t be beautiful, tbh. They’re proof that you don’t always need to go all out or particularly out of the box to create a strong body of work; if you can create something timelessly graceful, you’re onto a winner, and the bohemian vibe when executed this well will forever have a dreamy, divine quality to it that embodies everything exquisite about femininity. The dainty silhouettes and lush florals and diaphanous fabrics, all Zimmerman staples, aren’t going out of style any time soon-they are too joyful a combination to abandon, for me at least. Let’s keep this Stevie Nicks energy going forever. Florence Welch, idc if you’re in a contract with Gucci, I’m gonna need you to wear this stuff too. It’s vital to my health and wellbeing. You (will never see this in a billion years) have been told.

So, now that we’ve gone into depth, and I’ve finally stopped rambling on, I think it’s time to get down to business. Top 20 time, baby! And no, Gucci doesn’t take the number one spot for once! It’s not even on the list! DIOR IS. I hate the inconsistency and can only apologise. The Capricorn need for continuity within me is quaking.

1. Iris Van Herpen

The other girlies are lucky that I don’t usually merge my haute couture reviews with my RTW reviews because Iris Van Herpen would probably take the top spot every time. Her collections are completely mesmerising; bringing art, fashion and science all to the table at once is a hugely difficult balancing act and she manages to do so to a truly awe inspiring, other worldly level. I have never seen a look of hers on the runway that didn’t transform the model wearing it into a goddess, an ethereal kind of protector of the natural world who drapes herself in its creations before appearing before us mere mortals. I am beyond jealous of anybody who has got to witness one of her shows in person-truly one of the only spiritual experiences I believe exists out there.

2. Versace

Someone could probs bring up one of the really ugly looks from this show and I’d immediately regret putting it this highly but you know what, denial is the state I am choosing to live my life in right now. When it was good, it was iconic, and that’s enough for it to earn this spot on the list imo.

3. Simone Rocha

She has a season ticket to a place on these lists at this point. Just nod respectfully and move on. It’s her rightful position.

4. Peter Do

Praise (or curse for giving me another label I feel obligated to review because the inconsistency would bother me deep in my soul) the social media gods for introducing me to Peter Do. You may be responsible for the uncontrollable spread of true idiocy, one I willingly participate in and am most likely making a sizeable contribution to for that matter, but the rare occasions you make me aware of something cool cancels out the bad just a little.

5. Zimmerman

I imagine anyone who has read this far has already had enough as it is, let alone before you read me essentially repeat the exact same sentiment I expressed when I was raving about Zimmerman 5 mins ago, so yeah. See above, I guess? I’ll spare you.

6. Miu Miu

I should’ve known better than to doubt Fabio Zambernardi. Despite my initial reaction, he came through with the only athleisure collection you’ll probably ever witness me get on board with.

7. Ottolinger

As is the case with Peter Do, I thank social media for now and again making me aware of something that doesn’t make me want to cry, and Ottolinger is one of those things. You could argue my eyes welled up a little at the prospect of the price tag but ya know, that’s a given, and the rest of my emotions were all of a positive strain.

8. Dion Lee

Dion Lee said Olivier Roustieg, I see you with your F/W20 sculpted breastplates and I raise you one in the shape of a monstera leaf. Genius.

9. Kim Shui

Still very excited by Kim Shui, still very excited that I stumbled across someone selling one of her dresses on DEPOP the other day! I mean, it’s not like I bought it but the feeling I just walked past a celebrity in the street remains.

10. Dior Haute Couture

I never thought I’d see the day where my top 20 included Dior and not Gucci but here we are: welcome to 2020, where anything can happen, and usually does. Mostly for the worse, but if you’re Maria Grazia Chiuri, the better, if you were to give a fuck about what a random ass 22 year old on the internet thinks, that is xo

11. Chloe

Showcasing pieces as graceful, as youthful, as effortlessly cool as ever, Natacha Ramsay-Levi bowed out as Chloe’s creative director and whilst I’m gutted to see her go and take that beautiful artistic soul that has never failed to shine through with her, this collection seems like exactly the right kind of send off considering her quietly confident direction of the label over the last few years. It’s not fireworks and fanfare but it is a fresh, thoughtful encapsulation of her work to date and it’s absolutely gorgeous-I wouldn’t expect anything less. Gabriela Hearst has big shoes to fill for sure but I’m excited to see where she takes things.

12. Jacquemus

Sigh. Consider me on the bandwagon, I guess?

13. Alexander McQueen

Grungy ballerina is an aesthetic I never really knew needed to exist but now Sarah Burton has birthed it into the world, I must immediately base my entire sense of style around it, obviously.

14. Lanvin

Luxurious, decadent, and FAR too classy for me. We love.

15. Vera Wang

Putting Vera so far down feels like a betrayal but it was just too small a collection for there to be any room for it to leave a huge mark. I loved it though, hence its place on the list.

16. Olivier Theyskens

Woman in Black but make it fashion is something I’m very here for and very well may be the solution to the primal fear I’ve developed of the 2012 version of that movie since I saw it in the cinema as a 13 year old. I don’t throw around the word trauma lightly so know that it did TRAUMATISE ME. I couldn’t be home alone for about a year after. Still to this day, having watched every horror under the sun at this point, there is a part of me that is too scared to revisit it. Being able to say an Olivier Theyskens collection helped me overcome a childhood fear would for sure have Devil Wears Prada kinda film main character energy. That backstory.

17. Erdem

Erdem really helped fill the Brock shaped void this season with all the dainty florals and flowing silhouettes and then nailed their spot in my favourites by adding quintessential Erdem flair, bolder details and some edgier, more androgynous elements to contrast, with the result demanding our attention in the way their looks always do imo.

18. Saint Laurent

Like I said, Anthony Vaccarello does tend to stay within his comfort zone, but when that comfort zone is throwback it girl energy, I can’t be mad at it, sorry, and this collection stayed true to form.

19. Ports 1961

Elegant and understated yet unique and eclectic, Ports 1961 S/S21 collection was a big triumph.

20. Etro

Probably my least favourite of Etro’s last few collections but still Etro, and still gorgeous, so it’s here on the list. Could do with a punchier final line here considering I’m pretty much signing off but I’m predictable, is there really any point me pretending a chiffon paisley print mini dress doesn’t more often than not win me over?

And with that…

Time to wrap it up:)

Almost a year after the collections initially debuted, my S/S21 review is completed! I know! I am fucking terrible! I am well, WELL aware that it’s coinciding with the end of summer and I could pretend that was an intentional choice, that this entire series of posts were intended as accompanying guides rather than forecasts of this season’s trends, that the delay was all about avoiding dampening any summer Y2K21 (is that how you’d say it? My brain is frazzled at this point) hype by being up to date and covering F/W21 already, buuut…nobody’s buying that. Like I’ve said probably ad nauseam (I lose track which can only be a sign that I am in fact writing way too much in these), it is hard to muster up the motivation to throw myself into these reviews-they always seem like such a mammoth task. Considering my posts are basically a refined version of the notes I make whilst I’m looking through collections, can you IMAGINE the chaos of trying to organise them and type them up in some kind of cohesive order for the first time? It’s like opening the door to a hoarder’s house and being told you need to go ahead and clean the whole thing sans any kind of stimulant. Mac being forced to try and make sense of Charlie’s Pepe Silvia rant in Always Sunny. The way I’m currently covering the shows just is taking time away from the things I really want to write about right now and I’m sure half the people who come across my posts are only here for the photos anyway-I truly do not blame them, lol. At the same time, I do still fucking love fashion week and seeing new collections, so favourites photosets do just seem like the perfect middle ground-although there will be a delay with the S/S22 (EW, 2022) photosets given that the shows start again next month and I still have to get the F/W21 favourites out first, by the time F/W22 shows are on in the new year (EVEN MORE EW), I should be completely up to date! Yay! If getting back on the higher education train doesn’t drop me off at mental breakdown station anyway. Here’s hoping!

In a way, though the post being THIS late isn’t ideal, I think doing the review for that season’s shows at the beginning of the actual season does work in theory, so I’ll stick to that format if I do go back to full review posts. The difference is I will make sure I get them ALL out in quick succession at the beginning of the season rather than them all being, like, at least a month apart, lol. You never know, we might be lucky enough to get an Indian summer here in the UK (please, please, PLEASE, it does happen!), in which case this post might still be relevant but I don’t want to rely on that. The weather forecast keeps speaking about upcoming heatwaves but it feels like they’ve been predicting one all summer only for them not to transpire-a lot of me thinks it’s just straight up lies to keep up our morale and prevent a mass suicide of half the British population after the year we’ve had. And speaking of Britain, is it not the most English thing ever to sign off a post talking about the weather? Whilst I wish I could use this part to address something important and put into context what’s going on whilst I’m here talking about clothes, i.e the situation in Afghanistan, to be honest it’s not always something I’m educated on so I still need to try and understand that situation before I go ahead and attempt to spout any kind of “hot take”. I feel like so many jump to do this these days without actually verifying their sources or anything like that. Bit of a tangent there but it does annoy me how quickly misinformation spreads online, not that that’s a revolutionary opinion to have by any means. I am somebody right-wingers would call a snowflake BUT (still such a stupid term to be used by a group of people who generally seem to have the most fragile egos going, like, people who get up in arms about shit like vegan sausage rolls and Warburtons bread, which has always been kosher and halal anyway, being labelled as kosher and halal ffs) I do tend to see so much straight up bullshit perpetuated in viral tweets by my age group. You really can’t summarise such a complex situation in catchy little bitesize pieces of information, and so often the kind of tweets or now, TikToks, that go round are emotive in a way that suggests to do anything other than enthusiastically agree with and share said tweet or TikTok makes you an awful, ignorant person. I want to keep quiet while I learn but at the same time, I never want it to seem as if these things don’t matter. I know where I stand insofar as it being our duty to help out as many refugees as possible but I don’t know all that much about the politics and in these scenarios it seems best to just suggest that if you have managed to get up to this bit and are in the same position, we all aim to listen to what normal, everyday people fleeing Kabul have to say and seek out the most unbiased sources available to do that. In the meantime, I think I’m just gonna do a bit of a festival inspired lookbook for my next post and keep it lighthearted and avoid any kind of preach mode right now because to do that whilst there’s so much I still don’t fully understand would only be contributing to confusion at a time when clarity is so needed. My thoughts are really just with the people who no longer feel safe in their homes because of the actions taken by those a lot more powerful than them and who are being turned away by some of those same exact nations who helped facilitate the crisis we see going on in Afghanistan right now. It’s their perspectives that I want to hear. If anyone is reading this and has any good unbiased sources from actual Afghan nationals I would HUGELY appreciate a link in the old inbox!

Again, if you did read to the end, thank you for getting this far! It means SO much when I get a message from even one person who read a part of the post. Stay safe, and to those in England, enjoy the last few weeks of the “summer”! Next post will be up soon and I will be HOT ON THAT F/W21 SHIT! Mani-fucking-festing it. All the best!

Lauren x

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anxiouslyfred · 3 years

Text

Blackberry Delivery Service

Summary: Where soulmates get plants that reflect what is done to each of them at unpredictable time of their lives, schools teach it’s about maturity. Virgil has known this is wrong since he got his plant at the young age of 8.

Remus never learns this before the night everything goes wrong gets followed by a day out of Roman’s daydreams.

/\/\

Nobody had figured out yet how the delivery service worked. There were classes in schools covering the history of soulmates and the plants connected to them which could go over how when people roamed the lands or lived in small villages and tribes they'd be drawn to the plants when they were ready for it. That still happened in a lot of the indigenous cultures, where spending time among nature was a larger part of their way of life.

For the people in cities though a delivery service had opened with the advent of a postal service. When a person became ready to care for their plant it would be delivered at a time they were alone at home and then the van would disappear for somewhere else. No base was known of for the Soulmate plants delivery, nor any greenhouses and plenty of legends surrounded the vans but nothing could get confirmed.

Virgil had read everything he could about them regardless. Originally it was dreaming that he'd get his plant one day and learn how he can find his soulmate with it. Receiving it when he was just 8 years old had grown the interest into the reasons people claimed they got their plants.

What schools taught was that if you are mature enough to care for someone, or something, living other than yourself and put their needs on the same level as your own then the plant would be delivered. The forums and multitudes of orphanages and care homes gave out different lessons, leaflets filled with personal stories about people getting their plant so they had something to look forward to, a reassurance there was somebody out their for them.

That was why Virgil received his plant. His parents had busy jobs and rarely spared a thought for their son, so long as he was fed, clean and his clothes were the good quality expected of reasonably wealthy parents. He'd gotten lonely and used to being ignored, or a second thought to everyone but the blackberry bust he received was a promise that wouldn't continue forever.

And that was how he continued on, looking after the plant and trying its best to help it grow. The thorns were longer than a normal blackberry bush and grew in a higher number but the berries were a wonderful balanced of sweet and tangy. It was soon Virgil's favourite treat, as long as the berries came from his soulmate plant. If only he could tell his soulmate was looking after theirs as well, but nothing changed except what Virgil did to the plant.

/Years Later for Remus\

It had taken far too long for Remus to save up the money for his own flat. Still, 10 times fired is 20 people he knows can't accept who he is, and he could finally move out from Roman's apartment.

He'd thought there could be a celebration, him and his brother having a game night or something to mark the achievement. Sure Remus would have liked to do more than that, go to a bar, or maybe bowling and see how many innuendos and dirty jokes he could make around it, but with Roman back in rehearsals a night in, getting him settled into the flat would have been nice.

Instead they argued, Remus hurt over the dismissal Roman gave. “I can't just fritter away hours with you. This could be a big break for me if it gets the presses attention so I have to be responsible for my time.”

“It's one night, Ro. One night to get that stick out of your arse, loosen up and just be silly again. Fuck, we could find an adventure on a hike and play dragons and princes again like we used to. Toast the fact I'm making it on my own now.” Remus had pleaded, just needing something to mark the change.

“Yeah and then in a month, possibly two, you'll be asking for an adventure or night out to celebrate you moving straight back in.” Roman scoffed, dismissing the idea and Remus's long standing dream of independence in one sentence.

Remus had slammed the door to his flat open then. He'd made the offer when they finished moving all his stuff over to the apartment and there was something darkly satisfying that he could now actually kick Roman out now. “Fuck you, Get the hell out of here! You've watched how fucking hard I've worked to get this and now you think I'm going to throw it all away for what?” He made no attempt to keep his voice down, too hurt and angry to care.

“Yeah, cause you're so mature. You haven't even received a plant to look after yet.” Roman had started to protest but as soon as Remus's missing plant was mentioned he was getting manhandled out of the door.

“I'm blocking you everywhere. I fucking trusted you!” Remus screamed, throwing cushions from the sofa at the door as soon as he'd slammed it shut, locking it behind Roman.

Remus had tried. He'd done everything he could think of to be mature enough to get that soulmate plant, but it still hadn't been delivered. Every day he hoped that perhaps finally it would come; that whatever spirits created and delivered the plants would finally realise he was ready for the soulmate plant.

He'd even kept a garden on the balcony at Roman's house. That was Remus's space and he'd kept it alive, thriving even. Every plant he'd had there had now found a place on window sills around the apartment, as specified to their requirements as Remus could manage.

For Roman to have thrown his missing soulmate plant back at him was too far, and his brother should have known that. It had turned the first night in his apartment which Remus had been so excited to finally afford from being a celebration to one of near destruction.

Remus had agreed with fix and redecorate the apartment for a reduced rent so he decided to move the screaming in his brain to chipping the cracked tiling away from the walls of the bathroom. The landlord had offered it when learning he was a joiner after his most recent building course. With every strike he wished it was a stem he could yank away from Roman's lavender bush, make him realise just how it felt to be missing something everyone insisted was important.

Mud, plants and carpentry could only get Remus so far until he was collapsing onto his new bed, and the tears came.

A new home, but an even lonelier life than before now he couldn't face the last person to try and stick with him again.

/A New Day Comes\

Remus thought the knock on his door must be Roman, trying to apologise or just explain himself. There were always more explanations from Roman than spoken apologies. The apology was shown in his behaviour and the time he cut himself off.

He definitely didn't expect the knock to be a blackberry bush and a van driving out of sight.

An apartment with no balcony or attached garden was probably the worst possible place Remus could try to grow blackberries, but he didn't have much choice, not over what his soulmate plant was, or where it could grow. There was at least a large window in his bedroom that he could find space for it in.

Remus gave it a small smile as he carried it through, leaving it at the foot of his bed for a moment. “Well I guess you were finally ready to come to me then. You just wait here while I shift some of your new friends around to give you a nice spot to rest in.” He says, stroking the leaves lightly before turning away.

“This isn't the ideal space for you, I know, but it's what I have and what's mine is yours, Buddy. Well for you and all my other plant friends of course. I don't care if your connected to my soulmate, these guys get all my love just as much as you do.” Remus was rambling, still mostly talking to the blackberry bush but nuzzling into the other plants he had as they were moved, some closer together and a couple taken to one of the other windowsills.

“I'm no more mature than I was yesterday so it seems like the teachers were just saying more bullshit to us all. Wonder why you're actually here though. Unless it's because I'm completely alone in the world now, and this is all just a complete scam. What makes me being completely alone the trigger when Roman got his years ago after a night moping that he's never be someone's hero?” They'd still been living with their parents when that happened, but now Remus was focused on being lied to by schools.

He shook his head, moving the bush to the new spot. “Maybe I should have tried mixing those chemicals in science labs given everything else they've lied over. I bet it wouldn't have caused anything fun to happen anyway. Now Buddy, you need a frame or some support to hook onto and then I want to start checking online if there are any people around caring for blackberry bushes. If my soulmate already has you then I'm gonna be telling them off for not caring for you properly. Lack of gardening knowledge does not mean you're unable to research a singular plant.”

Remus fell to humming as he started rooting through the boxes that hadn't yet been unpacked for his gardening supplies. He'd need to trim the bush a bit and get it tied onto a frame. There was plenty of time before he had work to get that done.

/Over to Virgil\

After growing up with his blackberry bush, Virgil never expected anything to change with it. He wasn't sure if that was because his soulmate was content to let him look after it or if they just hadn't received their plant yet.

This morning was proving they probably hadn't received it until now and were very knowledgable about how to look after their plants. Virgil had watched as the canes were cut, thorns trimmed away in the busier areas of the bush and then as a frame appeared in the pot, stalks being tied to it from the bottom upwards.

It had been a relaxing if confusing scene to watch but Virgil hadn't wanted to look away. There was evidence he had a soulmate and apparently one who's a very avid gardener.

Part of him wanted to cheer, to dance around his home screaming for joy. He had a soulmate out there, and now their plants were more identifiable than the wild growth that was all Virgil understood enough to achieve. There was a chance he could one day find someone who wouldn't just be talking to him for his family name, or in the hopes of getting a higher role in his mother's business.

It just made Virgil want to go out and start actually trying to find whomever they were, but what if they were annoyed that he hadn't taken better care of their plant? What if they had their life all put together and only cared about the plant because soulmates were meant to be important to them and he'd just disappoint them?

There were hundreds of what if questions that Virgil was now coming up with, stilling his hands as he went to search the 'match my plant' websites there were.

Instead he just double checked his Blackberry bush was watered enough and drew a V in the soil, washing his hands before finally heading into the restaurant his parents wanted checking on today. They'd decided Virgil should have a role as site inspector for the restaurants while they were refurbished or put together for a new site opening at some point and Virgil didn't mind the role. It gave him the chance to meet normal people in the builders, electricians and other skilled jobs as well as avoid special treatment from the restaurants staff since most of the time they'd never meet him officially.

Today the site was having fitted counters installed as well as the tables secured for the private booths. Virgil would really just be checking everything looked right and hoping to avoid chatting to the joiner for too long.

“Hey there, Are you the boss man for the site?” There was a man in fluorescent overalls trying to peer through the windows of the restaurant, knocking on them as Virgil walked up to it.

Most of the builders had been given the morning off so they didn't get in the way but the actions of the man had Virgil checking the time and realising he'd set off late after watching his plant get looked after. “Yep, that's me. Sorry I ran a little late. It seems like my soulmate has gotten their plant and was doing a lot of gardening for it this morning. I got distracted watching it.” The explanation was far more than the joiner needed to know, but it felt deserved given Virgil was late.

“Cool thing, Patches. I got mine this morning too. Must be a busy day for the delivery guys. You planning on letting us in or should I break a window and replace it on my way out?” The man had walked back to the van that was parked on the pavement in front of the restaurant as he spoke, but leaned back to wink at Virgil when he suggested the vandalism.

Virgil shook his head, snorting a little at the idea. It didn't seem serious so he wasn't going to treat it as such. “First, I'm gonna need to see some ID, preferably your traders license. Can't just trust people who ask if I run the building without introducing themselves at all.” He did pull the keys out of his pocket though, waiting beside the door as the other bounced back over.

“Well, I'm Remus, here's my card, call me whenever for whatever cause a body like yours I ain't gonna refuse.” Remus definitely checked Virgil out as he spoke but still handed over his license, a business card behind it that Virgil pocketed.

Unlocking the door, he shook his head again. “I'm Virgil and will need to call the company doing the rest of this place to complain about the state they've left it in. Sorry it seems to be chaos. I did order them to leave it clear yesterday but apparently my instructions were ignored.”

Remus didn't seem to care, already carrying various boards and his toolkit, just making large steps over any equipment or items left in his way. “I got a blackberry bush this morning. You said you thought your soulmate had got theirs today too so what's yours?”

“Oh, yeah, same. It's blackberries too. I've been scared that I'll hurt it if I do anything though so have mostly left it to grow its own way once I got a mini greenhouse to look after it in.” Virgil agreed, pulling his phone out, and falling into mumbles over how to make the call.

It was only moments later when Virgil looked up to actually double check the number, ever doubting his phone had saved it correctly, that he realised Remus had frozen and started watching him, large siding board still balanced on his shoulder. “Did I say something wrong? Is there something I need to raise as a big issue to like health and safety that I've missed?” He asked.

Remus bounced between his feet for a moment, almost falling before he remembered the siding and leant it against the wall. “No Dude, but like, does your plant look something like this now?” He pulled his phone out while speaking, flicking through a few screens before showing a picture of Virgil's blackberry bush, except it was surrounded by dozens of other plants on a windowsill that was in dire need of fresh paint and probably new frames all together.

“That's – That is my plant! Even down to the frame that appeared!” Virgil exclaimed, almost snatching the phone away to look closer at the picture. “I watched everything getting trimmed and tied onto the frame this morning.” He muttered, all thoughts of scolding the builders leaving his mind in the moment.

“So you're my soulmate then?” Remus asked after a minute of waiting for that connection to be made.

Virgil didn't think his eyes could get any wider or that he could be any more shocked than he already was, but that sentence would have managed it. “Well, must be, this is my plant so yeah.” He nodded frantically through the explanation.

He was a bit confused when Remus's expression darkened to a scowl. “This entire soulmate thing is fucked up. Nothing against you but is this stupid damnable universe telling me I had to go through losing or falling out with everyone I know only to get my plant and meet my soulmate on the same fucking day? It's ridiculous and stupid. If it wanted to pull this fairytale bullshit with anyone it should have been with Roman. This feels like he's fucking writing the story of my day just to spite me after throwing everything I've been trying to do back in my face yesterday.” The rant had Virgil backing away a little, sitting down on one of the benches as Remus carried on.

“I did every fucking thing I could to be whatever stupid ideal of mature this world wants before letting people have their plants for years! I scraped through course after course, job after job just trying to find one which I could make a career out of, earn enough to get even a ratty apartment I need to fix up for the landlord and then have the universe fucking telling me to speed run the entire process. Not just, hey Remus, you can finally have the soulmate plant to look after since you've been looking after your hundred plant babies so well, but hey Remus, you brother is a fucking bastard so you're all alone but here's a plant and hey, here's your entire fucking soulmate too.” Remus was screaming at the walls, the ceiling, anywhere that wasn't Virgil, looking like he was two steps from destroying the next thing he looked at closer to ground level.

Virgil usually felt panicked by watching displays of anger like this in real people. He'd usually do everything he can to get out of that situation but instead he just listened and waited, learning more from the rant than he'd expected to.

The yelling must have been audible from outside or something because there was soon a knock on the window of the restaurant, although Remus didn't seem to hear it. He did notice when Virgil stood though, falling quiet to watch him as though expecting him to say something.

With a gesture to the door Virgil went to open it, only to blink as someone almost identical to Remus stood on the opposite side, holding what he guessed might have been a peppermint plant. “Hi, um, sorry if I can't do this, but Remus hasn't been answering my calls and had mentioned doing some work here today. Is he still around?” The man asked, shifting to try and see further into the store.

“Who are you, first? And what's with the plant?” Virgil held a hand up to keep them outside, raising an eyebrow at their discomfort.

“His brother, Roman. I said something I really shouldn't have and have come to beg for forgiveness. The plant is part of my apology.” With that explanation, especially following the rant he'd just heard Virgil held one finger up before shutting the door in his face.

Remus seemed to have started getting his work tools out now his rant had been cut off when Virgil sat down again. “So that was some rant you had there and given I've had my blackberry bush since I was 8, I might be able to explain what actually seems to be the time the plants come to us. Before that though, are you going to start screaming again if I say there's someone at the door holding a plant and asking if you're here so they can beg for forgiveness?” He explained, watching as Remus turned to him and then deflated.

“He literally said I wouldn't last more than a couple months in my new apartment before having to live with him again, threw the fact I hadn't got my plant yet in my face last night and is now trying to apologise with a fucking plant?” Remus muttered, but sighed as he stood up.

Roman was let in silently and he seemed to watch Remus as if expecting something to be said first. Remus was watching his brother just as carefully, before glancing over to Virgil.

“Seriously. Are we sure the universe hasn't stolen one of Roman's stories and decided to dump me into it?” He asked, taking the peppermint from Roman and placing it in front of the window.

“I have literally known Roman for all of 2 seconds so have no clue what those stories might be like to say.” Virgil pointed out, knowing his expression was probably reflecting how crazy he found the question to be.

Remus rolled his eye, “I see no prostrating yourself on the floor to beg for forgiveness. This apology so far sucks worse than Mrs PeePee's apple sorbet.” He glanced over to Roman who was looking between them confused.

“Yes, of course dear Brother, except there isn't exactly space on the floor for that to be possible. I spoke entirely out of turn yesterday and should have never even considered speaking to you the way I have done. You have my deepest apologies and I swear that I will do everything I can to help make it up to you. In fact I would be honoured if tonight you'd accompany to the indoor mini golf course that's opening on the edge of town. It's rainforest themed and I hear rumours they've included a swamp area.” Roman bowed as he was speaking, actually glancing around to see if it was safe for him to kneel.

Virgil couldn't help snickering at it though, and Remus was soon to join in the laughter. “Let's all go actually. I need to know if this idiot is entertaining beyond cheap jokes and loud rants to tell the universe off.” Virgil agreed, before glancing at the sideboard and the time. There was still a couple of hours before the rest of the builders should arrive, hopefully enough time for Remus to do some of the work he was actually here for.

“Sure, you're forgiven and I think the universe has done pretty much everything I would have asked you to do or try to do already.” Remus agreed, jumping over a few things back to where he would be fitting the counters. “By the way, this is my soulmate and I got a blackberry bush this morning. Only figured that it was the same as his like 10 minutes before you got here.”

“Was that what the screaming was about? I thought someone was injured?” Roman asked, moving to the bench when Virgil shrugged and patted it.

Virgil snorted. “Yeah, Remus has a few things to say to whatever does soulmates about how today has gone for him. Not sure the universe listens to people screaming in restaurants-to-be though.”

Eventually Virgil would get Roman to share one of the stories Remus had kept referencing and had to agree: The day they met really did seem to come out of Roman's imagination.

#dukexiety #soulmate au #virgil sanders #remus sanders #creativitwins #roman sanders

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mgg-theprettiestboy · 3 years

Text

cross my heart (pt. 4)

spencer reid x oc

‘to secure peace, is to prepare for war.’

karl von clausewitz

cross my heart masterlist

word count: 2836

Spencer decided he didn't want to just be a casual acquaintance any more. He had almost died on his most recent case, and while this was a more common occurrence, something about this time was different. And he decided not to waste any more time, and to stop being such a chicken.

He offered a small smile to Raye from across the cafe once he saw her. It was ten at night, which was fairly early for both of them to be there. She held up the book she was reading, making him grin as he saw it. She had finally agreed to give War And Peace a read, and was slowly making her way through it.

He could only pretend to read, his own thoughts distracting him. There was an open lecture that he knew she would be interested in, and had already reserved two seats. Now, he just had to build up the confidence to ask.

It took him an hour.

But eventually, Spencer had finished his book a hundred times over, and his coffee had gone cold. There was no more avoiding it. He stood, walking over to Raye’s table. Her tongue was sticking out of the side of her mouth as she focused on her book, and Spencer had to bite back a laugh when she jumped in surprise, “oh! You scared me!”

“Sorry, I’m sorry. You were very engrossed,” he said with a fond smile. She smiled in return, “yeah, well, a book like this requires all my attention. I still have to google what half the words mean.”

He chuckled, before they fell into a kind of awkward silence. Spencer cleared his throat, before speaking again, “I was actually wondering... uh. There’s an open lecture on this weekend, it’s called ‘The Queen of English Literature Debate,’ Jane Austen versus Emily Bronte. The guest lecturer is flying in all the way from Scotland to travel around America, giving the lecture in different universities, and from the reviews I’ve read on it, it’s supposed to be amazing. Is that... something you would be interested in going to? Maybe with me?”

Raye blinked up at him, before her lips parted, as if she was going to say something, but then didn't. She repeated this a few times. Spencer was confused if he had rendered her speechless, or if she was having a stroke.

“Are you asking me out?” She eventually managed to choke out. He furrowed his eyebrows, before nodding, “yeah, I am. If thats okay.”

As if she finally realised what was happening, her eyes zoned in on hid face, and her expression softened at seeing his confused one, “I’m sorry, I just... it’s been a while. I don't go on a lot of dates. That sounds weird, I just mean that I don't get asked out a lot.”

His lips quirked up at her nervous rambling, before shaking his head, “I didn't think it sounded weird. I don't either. Go on a lot of dates, that is.”

She sighed softly in relief, before smiling softly, “so, Austen vs Bronte, huh? What do you think? Who’s the Queen?”

“I like to go into these sorts of debates with an unbiased opinion. I don't really favour one or the other, and I like to see if the lecturer can sway me. They usually can't, but its always fun,” he said with a chuckle, “it’s on Saturday, at Georgetown University. I could meet you here, say at three, and we can walk together?”

Raye smiled and nodded at the suggestion, “that sounds perfect.”

“Okay, perfect, great,” he said with a grin, “I will see you then.” His choice of words was not reflecting his intellect right now. He had a stupid grin on his face as he fumbled his way back to his table, collecting his things to leave and go home, and actually sleep for once. But the butterflies in his stomach thought otherwise, and he figured he it would be a struggle to fall asleep. Not that he was complaining.

–

“That was intense. Seriously, Spencer, that had me sweating!”

Spencer laughed as he walked alongside Raye as they left the lecture hall, “right? The professor was flawless with his criticisms. I don’t think I can decide who wins though, Bronte or Austen.”

“Hmm, me neither. I mean, I’ve always had a soft spot for Austen, but Bronte is just so damn good,” Raye said with a frown, “but in saying that, I wrote my college dissertation on Austen, so I guess the at already picks for me.”

“You wrote your dissertation on Jane Austen?” Spencer looked to her in surprise, as she grinned and nodded, “mhm. A cross analysis of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship, to the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It was genius, to be honest, an easy A. There was so much content, I could write for days on end and never run out of things to say.”

He laughed as she did, nodding in agreement, “that’s.... wow. I would love to read it, sometime.”

She glanced to him in surprise, nodding slowly with a blush, “I mean, it’s not brilliantly written. It didn’t get top marks or anything–“

“Hey,” he cut her off by taking her hands in his, looking down at her as her wide eyes looked up to him, “I bet it’s amazing. It sounds interesting, really.”

She bit her bottom lip, and tried to ignore the way Spencer’s eyes darted down to her mouth when she did, “okay. I’ll print off a copy of it for you sometime.”

“Great,” he said with a smile. He moved one of his hands away, but kept his other hand on hers. She blushed lightly, moving her hand to curl around his and hold it. He felt his heart leap at her returning the gesture, smiling softly at her, before looking down at his feet, “I had a good time today. I know we didn't exactly do a lot of talking for a first date, but...”

He didn't know what else to add, but he didn't have to, as she laughed, “don't be silly, I had fun. Besides, I already feel like I know you... is that weird to say?”

“No, not at all. I feel like I know you too. I suppose it’s from the books,” Spencer said as they left the lecture hall. He didn't know where they were walking to, but he wasn't about to complain. He didn't want the day to end. She furrowed her brow, “what do you mean?”

“I mean, from reading the books you enjoy, I feel like I know you,” he said with a shrug. Raye hummed, “oh yeah? Go ahead then. What am I like?”

He laughed slightly, looking ahead of them as he spoke, “you're a romantic; thats an obvious one. You love adventure, you love to escape through books. You hate horror, and anything scary, and you hate sad endings. You empathise with the bad guys. So, from all of this, I can tell that you’re sweet. You probably love animals, and definitely love children. You won't do something big unless you're pushed to, because as much as you love adventure, you only get it through reading. And you’ve... you’ve probably been hurt before, maybe by someone you care about or someone you know. Because you empathise with the villain, even when they're in the wrong. You’re considerate. And definitely a scardey-cat.”

Raye stayed silent as he profiled her through her book choices, and afterwards. Spencer immediately felt regret rise in him. He couldn't believe that he already screwed it up on the first date. He tried to apologise, “I-I didn't mean to-”

“I haven't been hurt by someone close to me, but I have been hurt, in a... in a strange way. But... I mean, I always try to see the best in people, no matter what. As difficult as that sometimes is,” she said. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb lightly, a look of curiosity on her face, “how did you figure all that out from the books I read?”

He relaxed at seeing that he didn't offend her, offering her a small smile, “I’m good at what I do.”

She was about to ask what he meant, before he let go of her hand to open the door for her. It was only then she realised they had managed to wander back to The Hideout. She smiled and went inside, going over to find a free table. It was busy, considering it was Saturday afternoon, and not the middle of the night.

He ordered two hot chocolates, figuring it was a safe bet, before going to the table to sit across from her, “I ordered two hot chocolates, I hope that’s okay.”

Raye smiled and nodded, “of course it is. I have a sweet tooth.”

“Me too. I always add an unhealthy amount of sugar to my coffee,” Spencer said, and she gasped, “me too! Tamara always scolds me, she says all my teeth will fall out. I also put a bunch of milk in it too. God, I don't know how people drink it without milk. It’s gross!”

“I completely agree!” He said, as they both laughed. He had the urge to talk her hand again. “I had a lot of fun today,” she hummed happily, resting her head in her hand as the hot chocolates were delivered to their table, “seriously. It was so much better than ‘dinner and a movie.’”

“Well, I didn't want to be stereotypical. And the first time I met you, you were literally buried in books, I figured this would be a good idea,” he said with a grin, as Raye scoffed and spluttered, “that wasn't my fault! Tamara loves to mess with me, but I’m too stubborn to give in. Hence my struggle with the bookshelf.”

Spencer laughed, and they continued to talk until they had finished their drinks. While he initially thought they were so similar, he was beginning to see that he wasn't entirely right. Yes, they had their similarities. But she was so much more than he expected. He found out she had a cat, called Dickens (she called him Dick, for short), and he was a ginger tabby cat. He found out she loved house plants, but struggled to keep them alive. Her favourite movie growing up was Peter Pan, and she had a bad habit of buying candles that she doesn't need.

Spencer never wanted the day to end. But sooner rather than later, the sun set on the drizzly November day, and the conversation seemed to come to a natural pause. Raye glanced outside, and cleared her throat she she saw it was dark, and used the moment of silence to say, “I should probably head home. My sleeping schedule... its a little backwards. I’m usually awake at night, and sleep during the day. Because of my work hours.”

Spencer didn't want to, but nodded, “oh, yeah, of course. I never asked, what do you do for a living?”

“I’m in accounting,” she said, smiling slightly. He could tell it was forced, “not my dream job, but hey, a job’s a job.”

“Oh. I could've sworn Tamara said you worked with the stock market, or something,” he frowned. She shrugged it off, “sometimes I do an odd job.”

“Okay. Well... I can walk you home. Which direction are you headed?” Spencer asked as he stood alongside Raye. She began to shake her head, lifting her bag and clutching it to her chest, “no, don't. I mean, I don't need you to do that.”

“No, I insist, really. It’s dark outside, and you never know,” he stressed, as Raye continued to shake her head, reiterated, “I’m telling you, I’ll be fine.”

“I just want to make sure you get home safe,” Spencer insisted, feeling kind of defeated at her rejection. She didn't seem to notice his reaction, snapping, “I said no!”

They stared at each other for a minute, before Raye just looked away, stuffing her purse and phone into her bag. Spencer tried to ignore the hurt he felt, speaking softly as he put his hands in the pockets of his coat, “I-I’m sorry. I wasn't trying to... to go home with you, or anything, I swear-”

“No, I know,” Raye said, her tone now gentle. She sighed softly, slinging her bag over her shoulder, “I’m just pretty paranoid about my security, I guess. I live alone.”

He nodded slowly, reaching into his satchel and pulling out his badge, “I don't suppose this would ease your worries?”

She furrowed her brow, taking what he handed to her to see what it was. He couldn't ignore the way she seemed to become even more tense at seeing what it was, and the way her hands gripped the badge just a little bit tighter.

All she could say was, “I thought you were a doctor?”

“I-I am. I have three PHDs. None of them are medical, though. I’m with the Behaviour Analysis Unit,” he explained. Raye’s voice was small, “you're a profiler. That explains how you were able to figure me out through books.”

Something about her tone unsettled Spencer. He thought that she would feel safer, knowing that he worked in the FBI. So why was she more alarmed than before?

“I’m so sorry for getting angry,” Raye apologised, smiling guiltily as she handed him his badge back. She ignored the warmth she felt when their hands brushed. Spencer smiled at her, “it’s okay. I’m sorry for trying to force the matter. But you can imagine why.”

She nodded fervently, before growing some confidence and taking his hand in hers, “would you walk me home? I live about three blocks away.”

Spencer felt his heart skip a beat, intertwining their fingers and nodding, as his cheeks began to glow. He stuck close by her side, as they walked down the streets of the city towards her apartment block. They came to a stop outside an old red brick building, but from the front door, Spencer could tell it must be renovated on the inside.

“Today was great,” Raye said tenderly, a warm smile on her face, “really. I had fun. If you’d like, we could do something like this again sometime.”

Spencer returned the smile, “I would love that. As long as you promise to have read War and Peace by then.”

She gawped and laughed, before groaning playfully, “oh come on, it’s just so boring. But for you, I will try. That’s all I can promise.”

“Good enough for me,” he chuckled, looking down at her as they stood face to face. She bit her bottom lip, before letting out a sigh.

“Are you going to kiss me, or am I going inside?” She quipped, as Spencer raised his brows. He smiled ever so slightly, moving to cup her cheek and lean down closer, “I will...”

Raye smiled softly, leaning into his hand as he moved closer so his lips were merely an inch away, “...once you finish the book.”

Her jaw dropped as he moved away, a triumphant smile on his face as she stammered, “you-! I just... that was cruel. Truly, and sincerely cruel. You will pay for that, Doctor, mark my words.”

“I will,” he laughed, lifting her hand that he held to kiss the back of her hand, “but until then, I bid you farewell.”

“Farewell. God knows when we shall meet again,” Raye said, taking a step backwards to walk to her building, as Spencer took a step back too, “Wilde?”

“Shakespeare,” she giggled, as they continued to walk their separate ways. Spencer made sure to stay within sight until he watched her walk through the door. She glanced back once she reached the door, smiling and waving goodbye to him, which he returned with a smile of his own. He was able to walk home with a peace of mind once he had seen her go into her building.

Raye scaled the stairs of her building with a stupid grin on her face, practically skipping up the stairs. It had been so long since her life had felt so normal. So long since she felt like she did right now; like a school girl crushing on a cute boy. She would do anything to make this feeling last forever. She should have known it wouldn't last.

She slowed as she approached her apartment, seeing the door open an inch, her cat sitting at the door.

And just like that, her good mood was completely gone, as she felt her heart stop, and her palms grow sweaty. She never forgot to lock her door. Ever.

She didn’t even bother to go inside, didn’t care to see if anything was missing or gone. She scooped up Dickens into her arms and ran back to the staircase, running all the way down while diling the number of the one person who could help.

–

cliff hangerrrrrr >:)

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#mgg #spencer reid #mgg angst #mgg fanfiction #mgg fluff #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x reader #mgg gifs #mgg blurb #mgg fic #mgg smut #mgg x reader #mgg x y/n #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid smut #spencer x reader #spencer reid angst #spencer reid fluff

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detectivecarlosreyes · 3 years

Text

In Case of Emergency (Ch 4/10)

Ao3 | 2.7/6.1k | Eventual Buddie | Status: Incomplete

Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 4: A shoulder to cry on They haven't heard from Eddie in 3 days since Shannon's passing and Buck is worried. An additional scene set between 2x17 and 2x18

It was months later when Buck used Eddie’s key for the second time, half wishing it was for an actual emergency because at least then he would know what to do.

It had been three days since Shannon had passed away and he couldn’t help but worry about Eddie. Realistically, he knew that Eddie had Chris, his Abuela, and Tia to keep him company, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from worrying until he heard from or saw the man in person.

No one had heard a word from the man since the accident, not that he expected to hear from the grieving man, but all of his attempts to contact the man had him stonewalled and left on read with nary a reply, so he could only begin to imagine how the man was doing.

“Any word from Eddie?” He asked while they took the opportunity for a 3 pm lunch, passing Hen her sandwich, hoping that maybe he’d reached out to someone.

“Haven’t since the hospital,” Chim responded in between mouthfuls of his sandwich and looked to Hen who shrugged and shook her head empathetically.

“Last I spoke to him was when I let him know he could have a much time as he needed and that wasn’t much of a conversation.” Added Bobby as he packed away the sandwich fillings.

Buck nodded along in understanding but still feeling uneasy, unsure of what he could do to help his grieving partner. It takes him the rest of the shift to decide but eventually he figured it would be worth it to at least check on him in person on his way home after shift.

Before leaving the station, he sent a quick message to Eddie.

Me: I know you haven’t answered any of my other messages but thought I might stop by on my way home tonight, just thought I’d give you a heads up if you didn’t want me to.

Eddie: Read 8:28pm

It was nearing 9 pm by the time Buck made it to Eddie’s place. He intended to be there much earlier, but he ended up stopping along the way to pick up a Nutella pizza and beer figuring Eddie might like some comfort food.

Buck checked his phone when he parked outside Eddie’s house. Taking the lack of response as a sign that he didn’t not want him to come over. He slid the beer and pizza from the passenger seat into his lap before getting out and locking the truck.

As he walked up to the house, he hesitated a few steps from his Jeep briefly reconsidering this whole idea, doubt colouring his thoughts about whether or not he was overstepping just to give himself peace of mind. With a bite of his lip, he surged forward to the door pushing past the indecision and gave it a cursory knock before using the key to unlock it.

Upon entering, he could hear the faint sound of the tv as he tentatively made his way inside calling out to Eddie, wondering if he was even going to accept his presence. Moving through the house he passed the empty living room immediately noting the lack of Chris’ presence and energy within the walls despite the hour, the heavy weight of sorrow taking his place.

He found his partner in the kitchen peering absentmindedly into the fridge seemingly unaware Buck had been calling his name and watched as he startled slightly when he closed the fridge door having taken nothing out of it.

“Uh, hey man. Thought you might like some company.” Buck said cautiously, unable to read Eddie’s face like he normally could. Eddie’s eyes momentarily flickered with what looked to be gratitude before taking the beer out of his hand and carried it to the living room.

Taking that as an invitation to hang around, Buck followed him, concern blossoming in his chest. Eddie set the beer down, immediately taking one, and opened it as he collapsing on the couch. Buck did the same, placing the pizza down next to the beer and fell into the adjacent armchair.

The tv was quietly playing some kind of nature documentary and it was only now that Buck noticed looking around that most of the lights were off except the lamp sitting behind the couch bathing them in muted light.

He turned his attention back to Eddie, who has slouched down into the couch, staring glassy-eyed at the tv with the beer resting on his leg, untouched. He looked exhausted, with dark shadows under his eyes and hair mussed. It looked like he hadn’t shaved since Buck last saw him which, considering the circumstance was unsurprising. All in all, he looked like what you’d expect of a man who had recently lost his wife.

“I – Uh, brought a Nutella pizza, it’s not the healthiest of choices but I’ve always found that it’s surprisingly good comfort food. Though, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.” Buck rambled, unsure of what else to say. Eddie barely acknowledged that he heard aside from a quick glance at him and the box, staying silent as he turned back to stare off in the direction of the tv.

Buck rubbed the back of his neck feeling kind of awkward, “Look, man. I don’t know how you must be feeling right now, but I’m here if you wanted someone to talk to or I can just sit here quietly…” he took in Eddie’s far off expression, “…or I can just go if that’s what you want.”

He moved to get up taking the quiet as an answer, but Eddie quickly snagged his wrist, halting his movement. Buck looked down at him, who in turn was looking up at him with glistening eyes.

It was then that Eddie uttered a small, “Don’t go, not yet.”

With a look like that, Buck couldn’t imagine being able to deny such a request, his heart just wouldn’t allow it.

He sat back down, choosing instead to take a seat next to Eddie on the couch, shuffling closer to him until their legs were pressed together. Eddie sagged into the couch following Buck’s seating choice and released what sounded to be a relieved sigh, seemingly taking comfort in the contact. After some moments he leaned forward and set the still untouched beer on the coffee table and then rested his forearms on his knees with his hands hanging between them and head bowed.

“The house is so quiet when Chris isn’t here, even when he’s asleep it never feels like this. My Abuela and Tia have been here ever since they found out about the accident but today, they thought it might be a good idea for Chris to stay with them tonight just so I could have some time for myself to process.”

He absentmindedly reached for a slice of pizza and took a small bite of it before setting it on top of the box, “I just don’t know what to do with myself. The funeral is a day from now, my family and her family are coming, and I have no idea of what I’m going to do or say.”

He continued, voice now thick with emotion, “I was ready to be a family again, I thought we were having another kid together and then we weren’t. I was ready to be a family again and she wanted a divorce and then she died just like that,” Eddie choked back a sob, “Even after all of that and everything that we went through, I still loved her.”

It was then that he started to cry in full force over this admittance, letting the grief and the emotions that were mingled in with it flow through him through his tears.

Not knowing what to say, Buck did the only thing he could think to do and silently wrapped a supportive arm around Eddie’s shoulders as he crumpled in on himself.

Eddie’s body shook with the heavy sobs as he turned his head into Buck’s shoulder, soaking the material of his shirt with his tears. Feeling his heart break for the man that he’s grown to care for, Buck rubbed soothing circles into Eddie’s shoulder as he cried, knowing there was nothing that he could say that would ease this kind of pain.

They stayed like that for some time, Buck just holding Eddie until the flow of tears start to dry up and Eddie pulled away, wiping at his face and looking embarrassed. Buck let his arms fall away, allowing Eddie as much space as he wanted.

“Sorry, I’m never like–”

Buck interrupted him with a stalling hand before he could finish what he was about to say, “Don’t say another word, you have nothing to apologise for. I’m here for you, whatever you need, even if it meant just being a shoulder to cry on.”

“Thank you,” breathed Eddie softly as he gave him a small smile.

“Did you want me to stay?” Buck asked gently, seeing now that Eddie might need the company.

He watched as Eddie slouched down and rest his head on the back of the couch, tilting his head to the side look at him. “Could you? You make it feel less quiet, you always do.”

Buck slumped down, mirroring Eddie as he took in the smoothed lines of his face in the glow of the tv, making himself more comfortable while keeping his knee in contact with Eddie’s.

“Okay then, I’ll stay.” He breathed, knowing that he would do anything Eddie asked of him

They stayed like that for a couple of hours, with Buck quietly telling Eddie about all the calls that he had missed over the last couple of days, embellishing where he could. Eddie for his part, did his best to respond and ask questions when appropriate, but as the time passed, his answers shortened and started turning into hums, and eventually he slid sideways against Buck, lightly snoring.

Buck carefully moved out from under him and gently set him down on the couch, lifting his feet up so that he was lying more comfortably on his side. He then went to Eddie’s room and grabbed the comforter and a pillow and brought them back to the lounge room, easing the pillow under his friend’s head before draping the comforter over him.

With hands on his hips, he tore his gaze from the sleeping man to survey the rest of the room and decided to, at the very least, clear up the coffee table, gathering the beers and pizza, moving them to the kitchen. Placing both onto the bench, he scratched his head in dismay.

There were a number of dishes piled up beside and in the sink. It looked as though nothing had been washed in a few days, that is not to say that Eddie didn’t have or use his dishwasher, he did, except for the fact that it was currently half full of clean dishes.

Realising that it was too late to get stuck into them now as it was past midnight and not wanting to wake Eddie with the clattering of dishes, Buck made a mental note to tackle the cleaning in the morning and instead put both the pizza and what was left of the beer in the fridge.

When he returned to the living room, he kicked off his shoes and set them by the door before grabbing the blanket draped on the back of the armchair and settled into the chair for the night watching the quiet rise and fall of Eddie’s chest, letting the rhythm lull him to sleep as he kept his promise to stay.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

Eddie woke up suddenly for no discernible reason, confusion muddling his thoughts as he took in his surroundings. Why was he sleeping on the couch? And how did his comforter and pillow get from his bedroom to the living room? He jolted upright, now realising that the reason he woke up was because there were noises coming from the kitchen.

A quick surge of panic rose within him and he threw back the comforter preparing to defend himself against the intruder as he heard the footfalls travelling towards the kitchen doorway. Almost as quickly as it had come, the panic vanished and was replaced by relief as soon as Buck came into view carrying two mugs of coffee, bringing forth the memory of the night before.

“Morning.” Buck greeted as he set down a mug in front of Eddie on the coffee table before sighing and falling into the armchair.

Looking him up and down, Eddie noticed that Buck was wearing exactly the same clothing as he was the night before, minus the shoes. The blanket that was usually folded and draped on the back of the armchair was now bundled and spilling over the arm.

Eddie took a sip of the coffee, watching Buck as he did so.

“You stayed.” He murmured over the lip of the mug, both unsurprised and surprised that the man had stayed in the awkward chair for the night just because he asked him to stay.

“I said that I would,” answered Buck easily.

They fell into a companionable silence after that, not feeling a need to fill the air with words, instead sipping contentedly at their coffees. It wasn’t until he had finished half of the mug that Buck announced that he answered a call from Pepa on Eddie’s phone earlier, saying that she would be over with Christopher in an hour or so.

Once their coffees were drained, they straightened up the living room, gathering up the bedding from the couch and took it back to the bedroom, it was here that Buck cleared his throat, “Hey, Eds.”

Eddie hummed in response, focusing on smoothing out the comforter.

“I know we’ll be on shift when the funeral is scheduled, but if you want, I’ll ask Bobby if we can stop by…”

“You don’t have to Buck, it’s okay if you guys can’t make it, I’ll have my family there,”

“I want us to. To be there for you.”

Touched by his insistence, Eddie looked up and gave him a small smile, “That would be nice.”

Buck matched his smile with one of his own, “Okay then.”

And that was that. Buck left shortly after once everything was in order, claiming that Eddie should take some time to himself to clean up and sort himself before his son came home, to which he didn’t disagree as he ran a hand across his jawline.

It was only after Buck had left and Eddie had taken a shower did he notice that the laundry hamper in the bathroom was void of any clothes causing him to do a double take. Puzzled, he headed to the laundry, still wrapped in his towel, only to discover two neatly stacked piles of freshly washed and dried clothes, one for him and one for Christopher.

He smiled to himself taking his stack to his bedroom and got dressed. Stomach now grumbling from the lack of breakfast, Eddie made his way to the kitchen to discover that Buck had also cleaned every inch of the kitchen. All the dishes had either been washed by hand and stacked or been put in the dishwasher which was only a few minutes away from finishing its cycle.

He opened the fridge revealing the last surprise of the morning, a jug of pancake batter with a post-it note attached to it, “Eat Me! :)” was inscribed on it in Buck’s scrawl causing Eddie to actually chuckle to himself, something that he didn’t think was possible since Shannon had passed. He pulled out his phone and send Buck a text.

Me: I hope that note isn’t suggesting that these pancakes will make me a giant like Alice. Me: Thanks again for everything you’ve done.

Buck’s response was almost immediate.

Buck: Can’t say I can promise anything about the pancakes ;) Buck: No worries man, I said I’d have your back.

Eddie smiled at the phone before putting it in his pocket and turned his attention to making some pancakes wondering how he could even come close to returning the favour. As it turned out, that opportunity came about sooner than he expected.

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a-pansexual-with-pancakes · 3 years

Text

Okay so, I’ve been having some real Wojira brainrot days recently so I’m going to put my Au/rewrite/rant out here for you all to see. I want to call it something just in case I want to refer to it in the future, also because I want to. So this is my au/rewrite called True Story Au. Under the cut, also it will be very rambly so just lettin y’all know.

So the real legend in this au is that before the FSM comes in, Wojira is the main ruler/goddess here. There is no land and she controls the water and can make storms like in canon. So then the FSM comes down and makes some land and realizes that the constant storms and tsunamis isn’t good if people want to live here. Wojira comes up and is like hey man what are you doing this is my realm. So FSM explains and he and Wojira make a deal, Wojira will chill out with the storms and stuff around Ninjago and the FSM and everyone on Ninjago (surface dwellers) won’t bother Wojira and the races living underwater. The only reason that Wojira didn’t sink Ninjago is because if she did then it would have killed and/or harmed the races living under there. So things are peaceful until some humans attack Wojira and Wojira just sends them away with a big wave and some wind. They come back and tell FSM that Wojira attacked them(she didn’t) and instead of talking to her about it he just straight up attacked her. And obviously Wojira’s like hey what the hell man, and attacks back. FSM gets his ass kicked so he conscripts the mer-people and the humans to fight her. This really is a punch in the face for her because the whole reason she took this deal in the first place is so that the mer-people and others could be assured their safety, and as thanks they’re trying to kill her. So Wojira doesn’t hold back and everyone is getting absolutely DESTROYED. So Nyad turns into the ocean and uses the combined weight and pressure of the ocean to chain Wojira down to the ocean floor. The FSM ego is destroyed because he wasn’t able to defeat Wojira, and even then she isn’t defeated just trapped. So because of this he manipulates explains to everyone that Wojira was the big bad all along. So the canon legend is pro FSM propaganda and things go on. The Temple of Wojira is called that so that they don’t look as bad. The temple is basically Wojiras prison. A very skilled master of water could see that although it looks like Wojira is sleeping to the unskilled eye, she’s actually chained up. So Nya’s problem with controlling her powers is because Wojira is trying to break out of her prison, and this messes with Nya’s powers and the closer Nya is to Wojira the more intense this is. It’s because Wojira is trying to control the water around her and it’s so that if Wojira does break free, the next master of water can’t chain her back up again. So things go on as normal in the season, Benthomaar and Kalmaar discover the truth, they both want to set Wojira free for different reasons. Benthomaar wants to free her, he wants to make peace and apologise for what happened in the past. Kalmaar wants to free her so that he can control her and use her to take over the surface world. So things go on when Kalmaar takes control of Wojira and you can see that she doesn’t want to do this. She looks really sad and regretful everytime Kalmaar destroys something, pained growls, she’s trying to break free but she can’t. Benthomaar eventually fights Kalmaar and breaks his trident, breaking his control over Wojira. Wojira eats him like the queen she is, the ninja are prepared to fight her, but instead she gets rid of the storm and the water recedes back into the ocean. Wojira leaves and that’s the end of it, she fly’s happily in the air, swims around and she’s overjoyed that she’s finally free. (If the creators really want Wojira to die and Nya to leave then things go as usual in cannon until when Wojira dies the storm and flooding get worse. Because remember, Wojira was the one controlling all that stuff, and now that she’s gone there’s no one to do that anymore. Nya merges with the Storm and the Wave Amulets and goes into the sea).

#It's finally done #Most of this was 3AM thoughts #Wojira #Ninjago Wojira #Wojira gets her justice #She was done so dirty #Ninjago season 15 #Seabound #Feel free to add on if you want #This isn't very detailed sorry about that

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buckyodinson · 4 years

Text

Protector (Mandalorian x Reader)

Request from @the-mechanical-angel : Mando tends to overprotect the reader, which causes tension until one day he grows tired and sends her away, she does but there's an ambush and she's severely wounded. He manages to rescue her and rushes to a doctor and while she's unconscious he stays by her side and realizes he's in love with her?

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: some violence, nothing overly graphic though!

“It’s ridiculous Din! I can handle myself out there. I don’t need you to watch my back constantly!” You hiss at Din as you both walk back to the Crest, dragging the unconscious bounty between you.

“I know you’re capable, but if I’m there and able to, I’m gonna help when someone’s coming at you. You’d do the same for me, I don’t see what the problem is?” He sighed as he spoke, and despite the modulator, you can hear the annoyed tone he’s sporting.

“I get that, Din. I do. But you pushed me out of the way to take on all four of them yourself! Where’s the logic there? I wouldn’t do that to you, because I respect your ability to do your job!”

“I respect you too, it’s just-“

“Just what?!” You come to an abrupt stop and he turns around to face you, and you raise your eyebrows, expecting him to answer you but he remains silent.

You sigh, “It doesn’t feel like you respect me. I feel like a child when you pull shit like that! If that’s how you’re gonna treat me on hunts, why not just leave me on the ship with the baby?”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Of course not!” You throw your arms in the air and give an empty laugh.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Anytime I think I’m close to understanding something about you, you close yourself off! We’re supposed to be a team, Din, but I’m feeling a lot more like a liability recently.”

He sighs again, “You’re not a liability. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” You hear a little break in his voice, and you know he means well but you have to hold your ground.

“I can handle myself. I knew what I was getting into when I joined the Guild. Same as you... I’m tired of this Din.” After silence falls between you, you sigh again and turn around, starting to walk back to the town you’d just come from.

“Where are you going?” He shouted after you.

“I need a drink. I’ll be back in a while.”

He watched you go, angry at himself for not admitting the real reason he felt so protective over you. He dragged the bounty the rest of the way to the Crest and put him in carbonite before checking on the Child and walking back to the town to find you and apologise.

In the meantime, you’d hunkered down in a booth in some run-down cantina, and you were on your second drink when a man sat down opposite you and tried to strike up a conversation.

You made friendly conversation with him, but kept your hand under the table over your blaster, ready for any trouble. It didn’t come, however. After a few minutes, he simply wished you a good evening and left the booth. What you didn’t notice was the discreet nod he gave to someone else at the bar, who then followed him out of the cantina.

You finished your drink, and sighed deeply, worried about what Din would say once you got back to the Crest. You felt bad for over-reacting, but you really were at your wits end with his over-protectiveness. You briefly wondered if he harboured deeper feelings for you, and just wasn’t admitting them, but then you dismissed it simply as the rambling thoughts of your slightly tipsy brain.

You tossed a few credits to the droid behind the bar as you walked out of the cantina and into the cool evening air of the now quiet town. You were too busy looking at how beautiful the sunset was to notice you were being followed by the man at the bar and several of his accomplices, all with weapons drawn.

You only realised you were in trouble when you felt something being shoved into your back and you received an electric shock so strong you dropped to the floor, convulsing.

“...w-what the hell?” You stuttered as the shock slowly trickled to a stop and you sat up, looking at the men lined up before you.

“Make this easy for yourself and tell us where it is.” One spat at you, and you realised it was the man from the bar, and you sighed. Din wouldn’t let you hear the end of this. If you made it out of this alive, that is. You wished right about now that Din was here is all his protective glory, but it hit you that you were very much alone in this.

“If you’d waited a bit longer, I would’ve led you right to my ship, asshole.” You countered, not even bothering to pretend you didn’t know what they were talking about.

“Is that how you wanna play this?” He smirked back at you, and you stood up and put your hands on your hips, eyebrows raised, trying desperately to seem calm.

He nodded to one of his men, who proceeded to shoot you in the leg before you even had the chance to pull your own blaster. You fall to the ground once more, clutching the blaster burn on your thigh, hot tears staining your cheeks.

“Where’s your Mandalorian friend now?”

“I don’t need him, asshole.” You shuffle to your knees, subtly grabbing a flash charge from your belt as you do so.

“Are you sure about that? Seems like you could really use the help right about now.” He smirks again and you wish you could slap it right off his face.

“Oh yeah?” You set the flash charge off, blinding the men temporarily as you make a run for it, grabbing your blaster and landing shots on at least three of them as you go.

They’re much quicker than you because of your leg, and soon enough, you’re being tackled to the ground with a knee shoved into your back.

“Tell us where the kid is, and we’ll let you live.”

“I’m not telling you anything. I’ll die before I let anyone get anywhere near it.”

“So be it. He’ll come for you soon enough.” The knee is removed from your back but before you can stand, a blaster shot hits you square in the back and everything goes black.

Din was almost at the town when he heard the blaster fire, and he picked up his pace, knowing you had to be involved. When he rounded the corner, he was just in time to see you being shot in the back, and in his anger, all he saw was red. He grabbed his rifle and within seconds, he’d already disintegrated three of the men. The sight of those three just disappearing had a few of the others running, and it left the leader and two other men who tried to hold their ground. Din shot at the ones who ran away as he approached the three left. Seeing you laying still on the ground brought out something almost feral in him, and he didn’t stop until all the men were dead.

He pulled his vibroblade out and made quick work of killing the last three, barely breaking a sweat as he did so. When he was satisfied, he ran to you and found you unresponsive with a worryingly low heart rate. The amount of blood pouring out from the wound had Din in tears behind his helmet, and he picked you up carefully and ran to the town doctor, practically breaking the door down in his haste to get help. He threw a handful of credits at the doctor and begged for her help.

The doctor did her best to fix the damage the shot to your back had caused. She was initially worried you wouldn’t be able to walk again, and the thought terrified Din, but by some miracle, the shot hadn’t actually hit your spine. There was some nerve damage, and obviously tissue damage, but you would survive.

It took you a long time to wake up, however. Din paced the small room all night, waiting for you to open your eyes, but you didn’t. The only time he left the room was to go back to the Crest and grab the Child, but he came right back and paced some more, at least with the Child providing a little comfort.

He did this for 3 days. The doctor was kind enough to bring food for him and the Child, and Din paid her generously for her troubles. He barely touched the food himself, too sick to eat (the Child was happy to eat what he left though), desperately praying for you to wake up.

He was beginning to grow exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep until he knew you were okay, no matter how long it took. You had to be okay. You had to be. He pulled up a chair next to the bed you were laying on, and sat in it, reaching for one of your hands and holding it tightly between his own.

“Please, cyar’ika. You’ve gotta wake up. I can’t do this alone. I’ve spent all these years thinking I didn’t need anybody else. And that was true. Until you came along. And you were a nightmare to begin with. You were so stubborn.” He lets out a breathy chuckle and his voice shakes as he continues, “...b-but, I knew right away that my life had changed. For the better. You made it seem like I had something to live for. Why you put up with me, I’ll never know. But I’m so grateful for you. And I’m so sorry it took me until now to admit that I love you...” He shocks himself with his admission and he pauses, “I love you. And I need you to wake up so I can tell you.”

Din eventually passes out from sheer exhaustion, your hand still held firmly between his own. And after he’s been asleep for a few hours, you stir, sighing at the dull pain across your back as you shuffle on the bed slightly, noticing the resistance from your hand. Your eyebrows shoot up when you look over and see Din clasping your hand, and your heart starts to thump at the sight. The beeps on the monitor rouse Din from his sleep and he jolts awake, eyes landing on you blinking wearily.

Before your have a chance to say anything, he’s wrapping his arms around you, being careful of your injury, but holding you tight, “Don’t ever do that to me again. I thought I was gonna lose you.” You heard his shaky voice through the helmet and your face screwed up in confusion as he pulled away and put his hands on your cheeks.

“What happened?” You croaked, and Din grabbed you a glass of water, bringing it over to you.

You sipped from it as he sat back in the chair and spoke, “You got in a big fight in the town after we argued.” You nodded solemnly, remembering the stupid argument you’d had, and how you’d only proved him right by getting yourself into this mess.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He placed his hands on your cheeks yet again and you looked down at him as he leaned up and rested his helmeted forehead against yours. You shut your eyes and smiled at the feeling and you heard Din whisper through the modulator the three words you’d always wished he’d say to you, “I love you.”

You also heard the sharp intake of breath he took after he spoke, and you smiled at his nervousness before returning the sentiment and seeing him relax and practically melt into his chair, dragging his hands over the front of his helmet.

“But if you pull this kind of stunt again, I’m gonna have a hard time forgiving you.” He points a stern finger at you and you laugh in response, reaching for his hand and holding it tightly.

#mandalorian x reader #din djarin x reader #pedro pascal x reader #mando x reader #mandalorian angst

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