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travelling-on-the-octopath · 2 years

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Tweet I found: "Fire Emblem takes one of the most beloved FE protagonists and makes him live up to the promise of being a morally gray genius who plays both sides ON TOP of giving him a character arc."

I'm sorry, WHAT? One, Claude was only ever originally thought of as anything CLOSE to that; the """""promise""""" of him being anything other than what we got in 3H... never existed past the rough drafts. Like sorry-not-sorry to this fandom that insists so hard on making Claude way more morally dubious than he ever was in 3H, but Claude is for the most part a soft-hearted sucker. He was never half as bad as either he tried to say he was or the fandom ever treated him. And this is partially proven by even the eastern fandom being outraged at Hopes!Claude - the eastern fandom, who was never subject to Meme Man Claude portrayals of him! Like yes he can be underhanded, but the dude's just... nice, overall.

Two, if Claude was ever really someone who "played both sides" in 3H like this person said was """promised""" to us, then why doesn't he ever directly try to willingly help the Empire at any point in 3H? You know, like he does with helping the Kingdom cross Gloucester territory undisturbed, or how Claude gives Dimitri Failnaught, or how the Alliance lords willingly decided to fold back into the Kingdom, in AM? Even though the Empire, on CF, has Byleth to make them seem legit, and even though the Church would've still had the same dogma that Claudelgard insists they have that made him become an asshole?

Three - and I'm cupping my hands around my mouth for this one - A CHARACTER DOING BAD THINGS DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN THEY'RE ON A CHARACTER ARC. Claudelgard is not on any "arc" - not on one that's any sort of competently written, at least. Him killing his brother and him saying he's willing to get his hands bloody afterwards does not, by ANY means, signify that that now means he's willing to COMPLETELY THROW AWAY ANY CHANCES HE HAS AT HIS AMBITIONS FOR BETTER FOREIGN RELATIONS, or that he's willing to believe someone he KNOWS to be a liar on just her word, or that he suddenly gives a shit about expanding his power (when THAT has NEVER been a concern of his, either in 3H or even in 3Hopes before that moment) to the point that's he's willing to help the Empire in any way in order to leech off their influence. Really wished that the people who like Claudelgard would stop throwing around the term "character arc" as some kind of gotcha against those who see the very clear breaks in Claude's character that needed to happen for him to do pretty much anything he does post Chapter 9.

And would, like, just stop being so rude in general actually?? Like, the amount of times I'm seeing say things like "the people who don't like Claude in hopes just don't like him making mistakes" "they flanderized his character and forgot that he can be bad too" "oh to be a Claude fan who knows how to read (<- ACTUALLY SAID)" is enough to make me wanna scream lmao, like holy shit

This got . . . long. Oops.

I'm not going to pretend I haven't said things similar to "they just don't understand"; I've said it about the Lions, and I've said it about Claude, because while it does feel gross to say (who am I, a little clown on her corner of the internet, to go after someone's interpretation of a game), after a certain point it's very clear that the text does not matter to certain consumers nearly as much as their own conceptions of the character, which is . . . irritating, to say the least. It's less about proving right and wrong, and more coming to the conclusion that being selective regarding canon is a consumer's choice, but after a certain point their interpretation cannot be taken seriously because of how little care they give the facts in the original media. Which is to say: People can enjoy this version of Claude if they want to, but I would heavily encourage a breakdown of what they enjoy, and if that's really something that was present in Houses or if it's just something they wished were there. Because people can holler until they're blue in the face about the character Claude could have been, should have been, would have been better as, but at the end of the day, I don't give a shit about the original draft of this game's writing beyond a cute little "huh, that's interesting," because it, frankly, does not matter. It can certainly provide a frame of reference to how they bastardized his character in Hopes; and if you were going to write an essay on how writers treat characters who don't fit into their franchise's usual tropes, and how that result interacts with their consumer base, sure, you could cite the original plans for Claude as a case study, in that he was going to be some sort of conniving middle ground between Blue Lord and Red Emperor--but from a narrative standpoint you cannot reach into the writers' hard drives and say "See! This was the plan all along!" because I think if someone did that to Princes I think I would fucking implode. Intention is not product; there is a reason drafts exist. If the writers really, honestly cared about giving us a morally loose character, they would have taken care to keep him that way instead of allowing his character to become one who's firm enough in his morals to trust the Blue Lord with the state of affairs--and his family heirloom!--while he fucks off back home. The writers made choices; Claude von Riegan, AKA Khalid somethingsomething (WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET A FAMILY NAME, INTSYS?), is the result of those choices, and while he doesn't get to shine nearly as much as we all would have liked in Houses, he's sure as fuck consistent: He always has a backup plan, he doesn't take well to people using violence to get their way, he very much cares about those closest to him, and above all he treasures his ambitions and protects it with everything he has, without feeling the need to throw away his life. People are more than within their right to want something different but . . . oh well? Like I'm sorry, I really am, but that is not what we got. Frankly, that's what fanficiton is for.

And......I'm going to ask this in the most respectful manner I can, but:

What fucking character arc? Because Claude remains tragically one-note on Golden Wildfire. He's made to work for the plot, again, instead of having it go the other way around. That means he can never be confident in his plans, because the plot needs him to get to a certain point to make Decisions(TM); that means he has to throw aside common sense and his stance already established in this game to make an Alliance that makes absolutely no sense for his character, but it necessary for the plot for . . . *checks notes* reasons. There were no ups and downs for this Claude, because he was little more than a plot device instead of a full-fledged character.

The reality of it is: Claude in Hopes was poorly written, and he is by no means comparable to Claude in Houses as a means of saying what should have been. He's not even allowed to walk away with the title of smartest dude on the board because half of the decisions he makes are just straight-up idiotic. I can't look at this guy and cheer that this is the guy we were supposed to get because a) the guy we got in Houses was flawed without being insufferable, and b) you can't just undo a whole game's worth of canon because you want to. Hopes, as per the developers, is not meant to override Houses, which means they're meant to co-exist, and as we've established by this point, these two guys are . . . nothing alike. If people want to look at my takes and the takes of others and say we simply never understood Claude, or that we can't appreciate a scheme-y schemer . . . well, sorry, but no.

#i really wanna play VW but like #can I go through a game without the Lions?#do I wanna let dimitri turn into a porcupine?#fe #fe3h (the remix)#s dunks on clyde #s responds #fire emblem warriors: three hopes spoilers #fewth spoilers #fea-and-fehf-headcanons #anyway thank you for another ask that let me word vomit gdlkfgj #i do like rotating claude von fire emblem in my mind all day

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haleigh-sloth · 2 years

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What importance do you think the last hand that wasn't disintegrated has for Shigaraki? I believe it's Nana Shimura's hand, in ch270 when each one of his family members is pushing him back and keeping him from realizing his dreams, Nana is the only one pushing him forward. It's important that he does have Nana's hand with him since it's the one reminder of who he wanted to be as Tenko, the little boy who wanted to be a hero with his sister and Nana Shimura made him believe it could be possible.

Ehhhh—I mean, yes and no. I agree and disagree.

I think it’s important to remember that Nana is both a good AND a bad force in Shigaraki’s life. She was a glimmer of hope for him, yes, but she very quickly became nothing more than just the root of all his pain, and the catalyst that started his story down the dark path it went. Because she chose heroics over family. And he knows she did, and he has no positive opinion of her.

I mean, at some point at the very end (assuming it's Nana's hand but, y'know how it goes lol) the hand can be associated with something good, but there is a lot of character development Shigaraki needs to go through before we can even touch on that hand changing into that "something good". Because right now, there is nothing Nana can do for him, not at this point in time. Not yet.

Giving her hand that much power and influence over his story—and assuming it’ll be good influence that saves him—is putting Shigaraki a lot further into his development than he actually is in canon.

So to concentrate that point into one sentence lol—that hand cannot save him. Not based on what we know about Shigaraki and this possession situation.

Butttt I need to say this because I feel like we interpreted that scene differently.

I think “pushing him to realize his dreams” is putting a very shiny coat on top of what actually happened there. His dream is destruction, well, that destruction is also destroying him. I don’t think we’re supposed to think of Nana in that moment as “encouraging him to pursue that dream”.

First, we know that that wasn’t ACTUALLY Nana saying that. That was not the vestige Nana that talks to Izuku. That was his own recollection/assumption of his family’s feelings toward him. He created that image in his head because he remembers her from that one moment:

She told him “don’t forget”, as in don't forget his family and who he was. And Shigaraki told her AND the rest of his family to stop rejecting him:

So lemme see if I can break this down because I’m kinda confusing even myself as I type this out lol.

He created those images in his mind. He created the image of Nana telling him to “not forget”. And then he rejected her and what she said. Why would he create an image of Nana encouraging him to go to AFO and then reject that? When that’s what he was doing anyway? That doesn’t…make any sense to me to view it that way. He always felt that his family rejected him entirely. And he knew she had contribution to that rejection. This was another way of showing that this is how he felt about his life with his family.

BUT moving on—

Honestly whether it’s Nana’s hand or not doesn’t really matter right now, not when it comes to actually saving him—because those hands do not symbolize anything positive for Shigaraki. They have always been shackles that held him back, and kept his traumatic stress bubbling below the surface. They were AFO’s insurance that Tenko would never properly grieve or heal from the loss of his family:

Regardless of whose hand is leftover, we know that currently they are a trigger for his trauma, and have been associated with his mental and emotional deterioration multiple times in canon:

And right as he sinks deeper into denial about how much pain and guilt he actually felt losing his family, he goes and puts the hand right back on his face. And even right before the war, puts it in his pocket. Representing the fact that he was never free.

I can get behind the positive significance of it being Nana’s hand, but that honestly just ties more into the idea of how important saving him is. As she is the only Shimura who is even capable of expressing the desire to save him. He is the last member of her family, she is the only member of his family he has the capability of communicating with (eventually), and her hand being in the world symbolizes the last hope saving him.

But---that's all it is right now, symbolism.

To Shigaraki himself? That hand is not associated with anything good in his mind. Like right now, as things are, where he is angry and hurt and deteriorating badly--finding out that it's Nana's hand (presumably) will do nothing. Like..."Okay? Great, another dead family member I've been wearing for a decade, yay me". In his current state, what will learning that do for him?

If anything, the best time to find out it's Nana's hand would be after he's already been saved and freed from AFO, that way he can view that hand differently.* (more on this at the end)

Why do I say this? Because Shigaraki is still of the belief that he murdered his family, that he wanted it to happen, that it wasn't a tragedy, that it was always meant to happen because that's what he was born for. He was born to destroy, that's it. Until that mindset he is stuck in is shaken and changed, he cannot move forward, he cannot view the hand differently, and the hand will never be anything but a shackle. Until he fully embraces the grief and pain he truly feels toward losing his family and stops believing the bullshit AFO fed him for 16 years, that hand will always be another trigger for his rage, and only make him sink further. We saw Shigaraki tell Nana he hates her too:

So I’m not sure why her hand would have so much importance on his growth. Until Shigaraki goes through that development ⬆️ first, where he lets go of his rage, the fact that it's Nana's hand will mean literally nothing.

Prediction time:

I don't see it playing a positive role in saving him. Given what we know, it's not really possible for that hand TO save him. Not before jumping through a lot of much needed character development that hasn’t happened yet. I know Spinner is holding onto that hand, and our assumption is supposed to be that Spinner wants the best for Shigaraki. But even Spinner's association with that hand is not a good one (he associates it with Shigaraki's rage--which only serves to keep Shigaraki prisoner). Nor is his idealization of Shigaraki and the blank horizon he promises because, well, that's what led to him to the situation he is in now. Idealizing a person, putting them on a pedestal and associating them with a dream they promise to bring led to him being in a very dangerous situation currently.

So as for what it'll do, well. Tbh if it is even used (cuz I have my doubts with the pacing of all of this rn), we know Spinner is holding onto it, so it'll be with whatever he does. We know Spinner will eventually turn around and try to help Shigaraki in some way. But I don't think the way Spinner is probably envisioning helping him (via the hand) will do anything good and quite possibly lead to an even angrier and more unstable Shigaraki. I say this because Spinner will do something good for his friend, but because of the circumstances associated with this panel, and WHO is saying this (which is AFO):

--I think whatever contribution Spin makes will be in the form of going against AFO's plans for Spin--where he's leading an army of mutant quirk people in AFO's favor. Instead, turn the tide in a bigger way against everyone's common enemy--AFO. Because aside from the Shigaraki stuff, the fact that Spinner has been paired off with Shouji means that he WILL have some importance in the mutant quirk peoples' eyes, and I think the big contribution he makes will be leading them to help in the bigger picture.

So on the hand, TL;DR: Right now it’s nothing but a negative. There is nothing good associated with it for Shigaraki. WE know (if it’s her hand) the positive meaning behind it, but it doesn’t matter what we know. It matters what Shigaraki knows, and he knows that Nana led to Kotaro’s pain, who led to Tomura’s pain. So, I personally don’t see how it can play an important role until the very end when Shigaraki has already broken free and reached salvation.

**At the very end, when he's free, after all is said and done, Shigaraki will be in a better place to view the hand differently. Instead of a trigger for his trauma, it can be sentimental and be the remaining chance that he has to properly grieve his family, and view it as a sentimental thing rather than something that just invokes his rage.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #anonymous #bnha asks #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #shimura nana #bnha meta #the sentiment behind her hand feels like it’s giving her a lot of credit for something good that she doesn’t really deserve #so I’m not super into the idea of her hand being important until the end

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96thdayofrage · 3 years

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What is Critical Race Theory?

Basically, Critical Race Theory is a way of using race as a lens through which one can critically examine social structures. While initially used to study law, like most critical theory, it emerged as a lens through which one could understand and change politics, economics and society as a whole. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic’s book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, describes the movement as: “a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.”

Kimberlé Crenshaw, one of the founding members of the movement, says Critical Race Theory is more than just a collective group. She calls it: “a practice—a way of seeing how the fiction of race has been transformed into concrete racial inequities.”

It’s much more complex than that, which is why there’s an entire book about it.

Can you put it in layman’s terms?

Sure.

Former economics professor (he prefers the term “wypipologist”) Michael Harriot, who used Critical Race Theory to teach “Race as an Economic Construct,” explained it this way:

Race is just some shit white people made up.

Nearly all biologists, geneticists and social scientists agree that there is no biological, genetic or scientific foundation for race. But, just because we recognize the lack of a scientific basis for race doesn’t mean that it is not real. Most societies are organized around agreed-upon principles and values that smart people call “social constructs.” It’s why Queen Elizabeth gets to live in a castle and why gold is more valuable than iron pyrite. Constitutions, laws, political parties, and even the value of currency are all real and they’re shit people made up.

To effectively understand anything we have to understand its history and what necessitated its existence. Becoming a lawyer requires learning about legal theory and “Constitutional Law.” A complete understanding of economics include the laws of supply and demand, why certain metals are considered “precious,” or why paper money has value. But we can’t do that without critically interrogating who made these constructs and who benefitted from them.

One can’t understand the political, economic and social structure of America without understanding the Constitution. And it is impossible to understand the Constitution without acknowledging that it was devised by 39 white men, 25 of whom were slave owners. Therefore, any reasonable understanding of America begins with the critical examination of the impact of race and slavery on the political, economic and social structure of this country.

That’s what Critical Race Theory does.

How does CRT do that?

It begins with the acknowledgment that the American society’s foundational structure serves the needs of the dominant society. Because this structure benefits the members of the dominant society, they are resistant to eradicating or changing it, and this resistance makes this structural inequality.

Critical Race Theory also insists that a neutral, “color-blind” policy is not the way to eliminate America’s racial caste system. And, unlike many other social theories, CRT is an activist movement, which means it doesn’t just seek to understand racial hierarchies, it also seeks to eliminate them.

How would CRT eliminate that? By blaming white people?

This is the crazy part. It’s not about blaming anyone.

Instead of the idiotic concept of colorblindness, CRT says that a comprehensive understanding of any aspect of American society requires an appreciation of the complex and intricate consequences of systemic inequality. And, according to CRT, this approach should inform policy decisions, legislation and every other element in society.

Take something as simple as college admission, for instance. People who “don’t see color” insist that we should only use neutral, merit-based metrics such as SAT scores and grades. However, Critical Race Theory acknowledges that SAT scores are influenced by socioeconomic status, access to resources and school quality. It suggests that colleges can’t accurately judge a student’s ability to succeed unless they consider the effects of the racial wealth gap, redlining, and race-based school inequality. Without this kind of holistic approach, admissions assessments will always favor white people.

CRT doesn’t just say this is racist, it explains why these kinds of race-neutral assessments are bad at assessing things.

What’s wrong with that?

Remember all that stuff I said the “material needs of the dominant society?” Well, “dominant society” means “white people.” And when I talked about “racial hierarchies,” that meant “racism.” So, according to Critical Race Theory, not only is racism an ordinary social construct that benefits white people, but it is so ordinary that white people can easily pretend it doesn’t exist. Furthermore, white people who refuse to acknowledge and dismantle this unremarkable, racist status quo are complicit in racism because, again, they are the beneficiaries of racism.

But, because white people believe racism means screaming the n-word or burning crosses on lawns, the idea that someone can be racist by doing absolutely nothing is very triggering. Let’s use our previous example of the college admissions system.

White people’s kids are more likely to get into college using a racist admissions system. But the system has been around so long that it has become ordinary. So ordinary, in fact, that we actually think SAT scores mean shit. And white people uphold the racist college admissions system—not because they don’t want Black kids to go to college—because they don’t want to change admission policies that benefit white kids.

Is that why they hate Critical Race Theory?

Nah. They don’t know what it is.

Whenever words “white people” or “racism” are even whispered, Caucasian Americans lose their ability to hear anything else. If America is indeed the greatest country in the world, then any criticism of their beloved nation is considered a personal attack—especially if the criticism comes from someone who is not white.

They are fine with moving toward a “more perfect union” or the charge to “make America great again.” But an entire field of Black scholarship based on the idea that their sweet land of liberty is inherently racist is too much for them to handle.

However, if someone is complicit in upholding a racist policy—for whatever reason—then they are complicit in racism. And if an entire country’s resistance to change—for whatever reason —creates more racism, then “racist” is the only way to accurately describe that society.

If they don’t know what it is, then how can they criticize it?

Have you met white people?

When has not knowing stuff ever stopped them from criticizing anything? They still think Colin Kaepernick was protesting the anthem, the military and the flag. They believe Black Lives Matter means white lives don’t. There aren’t any relevant criticisms other than they don’t like the word “racism” and “white people” anywhere near each other.

People like Ron DeSantis and Tom Cotton call it “cultural Marxism,” which is a historical dog whistle thrown at the civil rights movement, the Black Power movement and even the anti-lynching movement after World War I. They also criticize CRT’s basic use of personal narratives, insisting that a real academic analysis can’t be based on individually subjective stories.

Why wouldn’t that be a valid criticism?

Well, aren’t most social constructs centered in narrative structures? In law school, they refer to these individual stories as “legal precedent.” In psychology, examining a personal story is called “psychoanalysis.” In history, they call it...well, history. Narratives are the basis for every religious, political or social institution.

I wish there was a better example of an institution or document built around a singular narrative. It would change the entire constitution of this argument—but sadly, I can’t do it.

Jesus Christ, I wish I could think of one! That would be biblical!

Why do they say Critical Race Theory is not what Martin Luther King Jr. would have wanted?

You mean the Martin Luther King Jr. who conservatives also called divisive, race-baiting, anti-American and Marxist? The one whose work CRT is partially built upon? The King whose words the founders of Critical Race Theory warned would be “co-opted by rampant, in-your-face conservatism?” The MLK whose “content of their character” white people love to quote?

Martin Luther King Jr. literally encapsulated CRT by saying:

In their relations with Negroes, white people discovered that they had rejected the very center of their own ethical professions. They could not face the triumph of their lesser instincts and simultaneously have peace within. And so, to gain it, they rationalized—insisting that the unfortunate Negro, being less than human, deserved and even enjoyed second class status.

They argued that his inferior social, economic and political position was good for him. He was incapable of advancing beyond a fixed position and would therefore be happier if encouraged not to attempt the impossible. He is subjugated by a superior people with an advanced way of life. The “master race” will be able to civilize him to a limited degree, if only he will be true to his inferior nature and stay in his place.

White men soon came to forget that the Southern social culture and all its institutions had been organized to perpetuate this rationalization. They observed a caste system and quickly were conditioned to believe that its social results, which they had created, actually reflected the Negro’s innate and true nature.

That guy?

I have no idea.

Will white people ever accept Critical Race Theory?

Yes, one day I hope that Critical Race Theory will be totally disproven.

Wait...why?

Well, history cannot be erased. Truth can never become fiction. But there is a way for white people to disprove this notion.

Derrick Bell, who is considered to be the father of Critical Race Theory, notes that the people who benefit from racism have little incentive to eradicate it. Or, as Martin Luther King Jr. said: “We must also realize that privileged groups never give up their privileges voluntarily.”

So, if white people stopped being racist, then the whole thing falls apart!

From your lips to God’s ears.

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etherealxgenie · 3 years

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Why Lila is Marinette’s Own Fault || Miraculous Why?

(Before I begin, note that this is my opinion over the topic and am no way am bashing anyone’s love for the ship and/or character. I respect who and what you like, therefore expect the same courtesy. However, if this is something you cannot handle, please click the back button as this will be a heavily discussed topic. No flames allowed. Other than that, enjoy.)

So usually in the story, there’s always one or two mean girls who is out to get the main character for some kind of superior reasons to justify. And there’s no reason as to why they act this way just for the sake of being mean.

Like the Ashleys from “Recess”, who tend to pick on kids just for the fun of it sometimes or cause they’re popular.

Same can go for Libby from “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” who was out to get something for what she wants or just to be superior to the other kids in school.

For Miraculous, we already have that kind of character, Chloe Bourgeois, who is the daddy’s girl of the Mayor to get what she wants. And until we had some small character development in season two (which season 3 took it away!!), we had no reason feeling sorry for her and she was just for the convenient plot in the social life for Marinette in the series.

And then… there’s Lila.

Before I get into hand in this, let me note that Lila is not a good person at all in the show. She’s a liar, a manipulator and will do whatever she can to get what she wants. She breaks into homes, steals and molests pretty models. She’s been pretty shown to be just selfish without consequences and unless we get a background story of why she acts this way, she has no excuse. Especially when she teams up with hawkdaddy to now have permission to invade and spy on Adrien whenever she wants? Fuck that.

So in Volpina, Lila is introduced as this pathological liar to get attention in season one. She obviously goes for Adrien cause he’s the famous model after all. Reasonable considering as the new person looking for attention, you seek out the most popular/famous person in the school. That would Adrien.

Though considering with her connections, it would’ve been smarter to try and impress Marinette instead if Lila did her research before she came into the scene. But of course, new person so she wouldn’t know, but whatever.

And we can see Lila easily just says things just to get Adrien’s approval and such.

And so, Marinette follows them around (stalking? really?) because Tikki points out Lila has the book Adrien took from his father’s vault and threw it in the trash.

Now the SMART thing to do would’ve been to see how Adrien would handle the situation and wait for him to leave, if to acknowledge Adrien has a mind of his own and knows when to walk away (which he does). Or at the very least, try to distract them as Marinette while Tikki retrieved the book.

But… no. You transform into Ladybug to lash out at a girl PUBLICALLY, for anyone including Adrien to hear, just to embarrass her and call her out on her lying because she… “hates liars”.

Marinette, you fucking lie ALL the time! Most of those times to Adrien! And I’m not just talking about when in regard to being Ladybug, you hypocritical- (groans)

I can list plenty of episodes: Gamer, Aninmaestro, Ikari Gozen and hell, even Reverser counts! If she hadn’t lied about Marc’s book, Nathaniel wouldn’t have torn it! (sighs)

And before you all start jumping at me saying Lila got what she deserves, I only agree partially. Ladybug, as a public figure and heroine, practically the face of Paris, acted irrationally lashing out at a bystander because of lies which were or were not believable. Lila was broadcasting a post or making the news, she was trying (poorly) to impress a boy. Ladybug gave Lila the Regina George treatment.

Yeah, so you caused an akumatized situation and Lila hates your guts. Hell, I would hate you too. That’s like a celebrity jumping at an innocent bystander when they’re whispering to their friend about a rumor that only the two of them were talking about. You can’t jump to try and stop them and should just let it dispel on its own. At that point, Lila had no real power but you just influenced her.

And… oh boy did things get worse because of this.

Look season 3 was trash (except for moments in certain episodes) and I feel talking about the infamous ‘Chameleon’ physically hurts me but… yeah gotta point out a few things. The whole episode was unrealistic, and it was an obvious ploy to be sympathetic to Marinette with Lila back… but… you’re not fooling me.

So, Lila is still on her lying game, being able to fool the students and the staff?! Okay if you believe a student has so many disabilities without any paperwork proof, you can actually get fired for that for fraud. As someone who worked with education before, that’s just pure incompetence.

So yeah, Marinette comes to school seeing the seats changes to accommodate Lila and upright begins to plot to discredit her for her lies. UM… what happened to trying to start over with Lila after failing to do so the first time?

Oh, that’s right. She gets that way (at least partly) because Lila is sitting next to Adrien. I can understand if it was because they rearranged the seating without her say so but let’s face it. Lila sitting next to Adrien was her real trigger.

So since Marinette failed to acknowledge her mistake the first time, she spends all day trying to prove Lila is lying and in return the class is angry at her. Alya even comes to point out that Marinette is jealous of Lila.

And you know what? Alya is right.

Alya knows at least what Marinette is capable of doing so when it comes to Adrien and how far she’s willing to go. Remember that Alya is the one who encouraged her to break into his locker and steal his phone. So of course, she’s worried Marinette is gonna do something to the new girl.

I don’t blame Alya for doing one of the most competent things in the show: Warning Marinette to NOT go off the handle without proof and not make herself look bad in the process.

And because Marinette failed to do so… she made Lila her enemy AGAIN. It was bad enough you had her as your enemy as Ladybug, but now you get to deal with twice the drama!

Your own fucking fault, Marinette.

Also, the advice Adrien gave? I don’t blame for him for it and neither should you. Yes, his advice is not perfect, but with the options he has on his plate, its hard to do something otherwise.

For every encounter Adrien has had with Lila, it ended up with her being akumatized or a disaster no matter how he tried to handle her. We didn’t get to see how he would resolve in Volpina because of Ladybug’s intervention, but he would try at least in Chameleon and try to get her to see she didn’t need to lie and actually tried to befriend her. At this point, Lila was already triggered by Ladybug and Marinette so she just might have to take Adrien by force instead.

At that point, Adrien just wants to stay away and which he was trying to tell Marinette don’t interact with Lila or confront her cause there’s no way to do so at this point. Maybe he was trying to tell her to wait until her rumors got discredited, but he didn’t say it clear enough for her to understand.

And keep in mind, Adrien is a sheltered child with little to zero social skills taught to him by Nathalie and Gabriel. Hell, we don’t know how his childhood was really like even with Emelie around either and Adrien seems more like the pacifist unless he needs to absolutely step in. And he did by cleaning up Marinette’s mess in ‘Ladybug’. So now he’s gotta suffer being around Lila more because of Marinette making Lila her enemy.

But once again, this is bad writing as the writers of the show obviously forgot what it’s like to live in reality. In the real world, Lila would be immediately discredited without any proof the moment she came back. Not to mention, some of the class have their own connections and have more braincells proven in the previous episodes. Google search and such. A 5-year-old wouldn’t believe these lies in these times. Hey, I believe that because I once had a kid in kindergarten during my time as an afterschool art teacher look at one of my books I illustrated before and said they liked the ‘graphics’.

Kids are fucking smarter nowadays than you think.

The only reason anyone would believe Lila’s lies is if she’s magically influenced with some kind of ‘silver tongue’ spell or something and honestly? It looks like that’s the reason.

I dunno if Thomas Astruc or Zag is trying to insult the kids/adults or insult themselves to say Paris people aren’t that smart. If it’s the latter, you should see what you are doing because I don’t want to believe that because that’s disrespectful.

I know it seems I’m trying to stand up for Lila this portion, but I’m just looking things in a more realistic and logical way. Did Lila take things too far? Yes, waaaayyy too far and should be arrested for it since she works for Hawkmoth. But it could’ve been handled better and that makes Marinette at fault too.

Part of me wonders if she’s done this before because in Zombiezou, she also causes Chloe to ruin her gift for Ms. bustier. If Marinette didn’t antagonize Chloe in the locker in front of the class, maybe she wouldn’t have done anything. Again, I’m not saying Chloe was justified, but if that was the reason, yeah I can see her doing it for payback.

So to all those fics where I’m supposed to be ‘Boo-hoo’ for Marinette because of what Lila did? Fuck you guys because you need to dig deeper into the story to see both sides and not just make it a pity party where Marinette is the innocent victim.

It’s called “Cause and Effect”.

And considering she made Lila her enemy, Marinette is gonna get effected enough because that’s how karma works.

#ooc #the artist speaks #the artist opinion #miraculous ladybug #marinette salt #adrien sugar #alya sugar #lila salt #mainly facts really #but there is some parts where i'm salty #so be warned #tw: cursing #constructive critism welcome #flames will be deleted #i know the difference folks

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goatbi · 3 years

Text

You know what happened when a Hollow is killed by a Soul Reaper, right? They're purified, sent off to the Soul Society if they were good in life, and to hell if not. So why would it be so different for Arrancar?

Yes, they were, of course, infused with Soul Reaper powers and thus not fully a hollow and blah blah blah, no one listens to Aizen, but they were a Hollow, first and foremost.

So... what if the purification worked?

I'm thinking of this specifically with Szayel right now, because he would be very different from what he was before.

Waking up again, after hundreds of years spent dying, after begging for death, he's scared. He's still alive, after all, and that, that... thing, he cannot be called a man, that monster, he'll come back for Szayel, won't he? Except...

Szayel doesn't know where he is. He's somewhere, that's for sure, but it's bright, not the artificial sun of the room Aareniero resided in, but real, bright. It was growing, plants and people, and there was so much! Everything.

He's hungry.

That's one of the first things Szayel notices, that's he's so hungry, and he stands, wobbles, pats his face and finds the bone of his glasses gone. He knows, instinctually, that he has no hollow hole, he can't feel it anymore, and thus, he knows. He's not a hollow anymore.

So he wanders. What district he's in, he doesn't know, doesn't care to find out. Instead, he keeps wandering. Finds food where he can, steals it, since that's all he knows he can do, and finds a few low level Soul Reapers.

And he's terrified.

But they don't recognize him. Their gazes just pass right over him, as another faceless mob in the crowd of souls, and he's relieved, but he's still so hungry.

And when higher level reapers come knocking, looking for those stricken with hunger, he can't help it. He's hungry, and they don't know him, so he goes to them, accepts the food with dirty hands and they smile, kind, lying through their teeth, he knows it, but he follows.

They tell him about being a Soul Reaper, helping the world keep a balance. They tell him about power, beautiful and strong, and Szayel latches right onto that idea. Will he get Fornicarás back? His Resurrección? But it wouldn't be called that anymore, would it. He ponders. Then accepts.

It's a bad idea, going into the lion's den, but they promise him food, direction, his power back, and he's a weak man, imperfect as he has been forced to learn.

In that school, he learns. He's one of the first to get his zanpakuto's name-Fornicarás is glad to have him back, and having an actual spirit to represent her is amazing, beautiful-and thus shikai.

It's simple, different from his Resurrección but he assumes that, if he manages bankai, that will be where it is hiding. His Shikai, instead, is a rather simple, downgraded version of his copy mechanic in his Resurrección. His blade turns pure black, oozes, and they copy his opponent. Of course, those copies, when cut, just turn back to ooze, but it's downgraded, of course. Imperfect. As always.

Kidō is new, something to focus his efforts on, and it's that that keeps him from being labels a prodigy. He's lucky in that endeavor. Had he been labeled that way, he wouldn't have been able to fly under the rader like he did, bouncing with low level shinigami and watching quietly.

And then-

The Captains and Their Lieutenants came

Szayel sat smack dab in the middle, trying his hardest not to be noticed by them all, and learned the monster ran a science division. The Twelfth Division, he said, grinning horrible, eyes passing right over Szayel, which created works of art in science, every device that the Soul Reapers used had passed through that division at some point.

As tempting as it was, to work like that once again-

Under that thing?

He couldn't.

And that Red Hair Soul Reaper, Renji, his division was right out too. Renji posed too much of a risk, too close to him in that fight. The Quincy? As far as he could tell, wasn't here yet, or wasn't important, or wasn't in the Seireitei, it didn't matter, he was safe on that front.

That led Szayel to Squad Three, under Captain Ōtoribashi and Lieutenant Kira. It seemed safe, and the Captain especially boasted safety, after the betrayal of the previous captain, and encouragement to the things you wanted to do. He was artsy, and Szayel figured it was far enough away from both Twelve and Six that he would be safe.

Of course, He hadn't accounted for the fact that Kira and Renji were friends, but Renji was obtuse, lucky for him, and rarely paid him mind. After all, the hollow he was, he was supposed to be dead.

And thus, Szayel trained in the Third Squad, rose the ranks and felt terrified with each new promotion, but couldn't stop himself from accepting it. Soon enough he was the fifth seat, and training with Fornicarás for his Bankai. He wanted that back, desperately, as she had disclosed to him that it would be close, if not the exact same, as his Resurrección. He wanted it back. Not to use, never ever to use, it would give too much away, but god, he wanted it back. He felt wrong without it, incomplete.

The Captain, of course, noted his vigorous training, and led Szayel to find a new... hobby. Talked to him. Slowly, surely, became a friend. Szayel's first, if he thought about it. He tried these artsy hobbies, painting, music, dance, but nothing felt quite as right as the music of science, and eventually, he had to tell Rose that, because he was a friend.

And of course, Rose asked why he didn't transfer to Twelve, and Szayel's mind conjured up the horrible face of the monster, grinning at him as Szayel begged to just die already, please, I just want to die-

Later he found out he'd had a rather horrible panic attack, as Rose had said the monster's name aloud, and Szayel had ended up on the floor sobbing, begging to die, and Rose had held him through it, trying to calm him, confused and frightened for what had happened to his friend.

Szayel refused to explain, and Rose didn't ask. It was obvious to both it as still a too fresh wound, even after all these years past.

And Rose deals with it. Talks to other captians, finds the most... tolerable Twelfth member in Akon, who can go out, and still hide things from his captain somehow. And Akon gives Rose small things at first, which Rose gifts to Szayel.

It's not the glorious lab he once had, but it's enough, a small one in his room free from that monster's influence

He rises up to third seat when he gets his Bankai. Rose can tell, asks to see it, and Szayel shakes his head, tells him no, and Rose understands.

This... careful life, one that he built under lies, a fake name, everything, comes crashing down when the Quincy dies.

He looks just as he did all those years back, a soul thing, that turns them back to a younger age as to keep living comfortably. He's the last of their group to trickle in-Ichiog had come nearly a decade back, Orihime and Chad only a year apart a little bit ago, and some of their other friends Szayel has no names for came in later. The Quincy, Uryu Ishida, a name he can actually say without fear and panic, sees him and knows. Szayel looks at him, panics, and flees.

He can't ruin this. He can't, He can't let it happen.

But... Rose comes to find him, brings him back, gentle as always, and Szayel looks at the Quincy with terror in his eyes, not shaking, he would never, and the Quincy just sighs, looking back to him and tells him that its okay

Because the monster-He almost says the name, but Rose stops him quickly-hurt him too, once upon a time, and you have more than repayed for what you did when you suffered for so long, and they may never be friends, but he's not going to ruin what Szayel has.

After all, other Arrancar have come forwards as previous Arrancar, ready to try and learn, and be better. Ulquiorra is one that comes to mind, rehabilitating under Orihime.

And Szayel realizes it's okay. It's gonna be okay. As long as he can keep away from the monster, this, this tentative thing, precious and previously unheard of... It's not so fragile. And he can stop lying about the little things. He can show his bankai again and be okay, it's okay.

Of course, the monster is still there, in the side view, but... well Urahara is making noise about returning, now that all his students are here, and... there's more than enough evidence to form something against him, especially with him coming from the Maggot's Nest before, and... Perhaps he would be able to go to the twelfth division, so that this... this friendship with Rose isn't so strange. Perhaps he can branch out, away from this.

Perhaps it can be okay.

#bleach #szayelaporro granz #mayuri kurotsuchi #rojuro otoribashi #didn't mean for this to be a fic thing but uhhh here it is i guess #it's more a thought experiment gone wild

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springday-aus · 4 years

Text

Bad Boy!AU with Seungcheol

—

moodboard link

Group: Seventeen

Member: S.Coups / Choi Seungcheol

Genre: fluff, romance

Additionally: college!au

Type: Bulletpoint AU

Word Count: approx. 2.5k

don’t worry, Seungcheol isn’t even really a bad boy

he’s really just… misunderstood?

actually that’s not a good word for it

it’s in the sense that his reputation makes him to be seen as a bad boy

it’s probably because of the leather jacket

and the motorcycle

and the piercings (mainly the ears)

and the tattoos

it also doesn’t help either that he’s keeps a small circle of friends

there’s nothing wrong with rolling with a smaller group

it just means a lot of people don’t actually know him and that causes more rumors about his personality

he hangs around Wonwoo and Minghao the most

Wonwoo is known to be handsome, but is also super cold to strangers

(more of a shy thing than a rude thing—a whole different story)

on the other hand, Minghao is one of those people who are brutally honest

(which makes him seem like an inconsiderate asshole)

and because people tend to lump people together

they just assume that Seungcheol is the same as those two are: cold and rude

in reality, he’s just a bit more reserved than others

makes people earn his trust, but some people found that unreasonable apparently

people are just so judgmental sometimes, especially in a small town where everyone wanted know everything about everyone

so, for college, Seungcheol picked out a city to study

because the larger populations lets him blend in with the others

tbh, let’s be real…. he def isn’t the only one who’s wearing all black on a college campus lmao

Wonwoo at some point: “look, we’re twinning”

Seungcheol: “it’s not twinning if you only wear black and keep wearing black”

Wonwoo: :(

anyways

he chose to study business

basic but it’s simple

it ensures that he’s going to have a stable job and by the of the day that’s all that matters to him

stability

also the business suit he has covers everything nicely, so it isn’t like he has visible face tattoos or piercings

not that it’s bad, but….. capitalism, you know? homeboy would like money

so, while his hometown called him a bad influence on other kids

the college sees him as another hottie in the leather jacket

he’s probably would’ve been the campus heartthrob—had it not been for the fact that he went to same school as Wonwoo, Mingyu or that new freshie who calls himself Vernon

there was one time in his theology class that he took off his leather jacket right?

the arm muscles flexing and the tattoo sleeve……….. it’s safe to say everyone took a double take during class that day

as for his academic marks……….

I mean, yeah, he doesn’t have the top grades to make it on a dean’s list or anything, but

he’s got academic scholarships and that’s enough tbh

he might not be a genius prodigy like Jihoon, but he isn’t stupid

Jeonghan: “wait, you’re not cheating off of him?”

Seungcheol: “no, Jeonghan…………. are you?”

Jeonghan: “yeah, no, I thought it was like a thing that we all agreed to”

Seungcheol: “Jeonghan, no”

Jeonghan: “Jeonghan, yes”

so he’s not like a major try-hard like all those A+ obsessive people from high school

but he does make the effort

he’s just trying to live a nice, quiet life on campus to graduate—just like everyone else here

although

there is this habit of his that he’s been trying to break: being late to class

his attendance record isn’t great……….

like he’ll be there….. but he’ll be there like five to ten minutes late so it doesn’t really matter but

it’s like a personal pet peeve about himself

granted, it doesn’t matter when most professors don’t even take attendance

but it’s also because he works really late hours at a nearby convenience shop on campus

so………. the end result is tardiness

and he’s trying to work on it

which is also how he meets you

you see, Seungcheol met you in a………… unique situation

so, Seungcheol has found it easier to go around in his motorcycle, especially in a city

and especially on a college campus

and it’s like 20x faster than walking

it’s also good for when he’s late for his morning classes because he can easily make it to the other side in campus in like 2 minutes vs the original 10 minutes

so on a bright Tuesday morning

after he overslept his alarm (once again)

he quickly got dressed and hopped on his motorcycle to get to the other side of campus for class

….. only for him to quickly stop after hearing your scream

he didn’t necessarily hit you per say but it didn’t mean you managed to pass by untouched

you were rushing off to class too

on all days to be late………. it just had to be the day you had a midterm that’s 30% of your final grade

so you were rushing through

unable to see the motorcycle that was heading your direction

which is your fault but that’s also his fault for not seeing you until you screamed when he nearly hit you, running over a toe or two

he immediately stopped, running over to you

Seungcheol: “oh my God, are you alright?”

You: hair messed up, in pain, and survived the heart attack he gave you

You: “sure”

Seungcheol: “are you sure? I can take you to the hospital or—”

You: no, no, I am already as late as is and, and, and…….”

you trail off, remembering the motorcycle that laid a couple of feet away

You: “instead of the hospital, how about a ride instead? I cannot miss this midterm”

Seungcheol was taken aback from your commitment and strange request, but complied nevertheless

Seungcheol: “are you sure?”

You: “absolutely, hustle man, hustle—we gotta go”

Seungcheol scrambles, starting up the motorcycle and handing you a helmet

which you gladly grab and attach yourself behind him with your arms on his waist

he’s a bit flustered from your proximity

what if he was a murderer and you just hopped onto his bike?

I mean, he obviously isn’t but still

You: “sir, chop-chop, pls move, my ass needs to get to McGregor”

Seungcheol: “yes, right”

it takes less than a minute to get there, especially since there weren’t many others on the pathways

you hastily get off his motorcycle, tossing his helmet back at him and running off

You: “thank you!!!!”

Seungcheol: “you’re welcome?”

he watches as you run into the building, with nothing more on your mind than your midterm

how odd

he shakes his head, clearing his head of you before going to park his motorcycle and locking it—he’s got his own problems to worry about right now

(he re-told the story to a couple of his friends, in which Jihoon said: “watch yourself, you could get a lawsuit coming one of these days” and Seungcheol just rolled his eyes)

it’s about two weeks before he sees you again

so fun fact, his college requires community involvement/field assignment

and he chose to be in the big brother program

so he’s a big brother to this adorable 6 year old girl named Rose

he filled his requirement long ago, but he highkey loved it so he remained as a big brother to Rose

who he has to take out trick-or-treating for the Halloween event the program set up

can you imagine Seungcheol in his leather jacket and tattoos and piercings with a little group of 6 year olds

the chaos

Rose: “what did you dress as?”

Seungcheol: “uhhhhhh….. Danny from Grease”

Rose: “who’s that?”

Seungcheol: oh my God I’m old

they get a door that’s got some fake cobwebs and bright purple string lights

Seungcheol: “go ahead little ones, knock on the door”

they yell out trick or treat and the door creaks open to…….. you

you and your friends happened to be gathering together for Halloween and decided to meet up at your friend’s old house which was in the neighborhood that Seungcheol was in

you all originally planned to watch a bunch of bad supernatural movies and give out candy to little kids

all of y’all took turns at the door and it was your turn

you give the kids a sweet smile in your doctor’s costume

(or, at least, he’s assuming it’s a costume—maybe it is and maybe it isn’t)

after you pass out the candy, Joshua, the other chaperone, rounds up the kids and Seungcheol’s eyes met your widened ones

You: “oh! it’s motorcycle dude!”

Seungcheol: “motorcycle dude?”

You: “........ you were the one who hit me with his motorcycle right?”

Seungcheol: “has anyone else hit you with a motorcycle?”

You: “so it is you!”

you two chat a bit, especially since they have to start moving to the next house

Joshua: “bro, we have to get moving, stop flirting in front of the children!”

Seungcheol: “I’m not flirting!”

he turns back to you

Seungcheol: “I’ll see you around, please don’t sue me”

You: “sue you?”

Seungcheol: “I’m a broke college kid”

You: “so am I dude”

Joshua gives him another look and another warning before they start to move to the other house

You: “you know, if you have spare time, you’re welcome to join my friends and I—we’re going to be making fun of Twilight later together”

Seungcheol: “I might take you up on that offer”

You: “well, we’ll be here, so”

you give him a smile that makes him stutter for a second, before he waves you goodbye to join the others

Rose: “Joshua says you like the doctor”

Seungcheol: “well, Joshua’s not that smart”

Joshua: “hey!”

he doesn’t know what compels him to go back to the house

but he does

(it might have taken a word or two from Rose and Joshua to encourage him)

and he has a really good time with you and your friends

hearing Seungkwan roasting Robert Pattinson was something Seungcheol didn’t know he needed

Soonyoung’s attempt of creating bgm on top of the soundtrack was also equally as hilarious

and then there were your side remarks with him throughout the movie

which he did enjoy

he left the house that night with a couple of new numbers in his phone

Jeonghan would be proud of him for making new friends on his own

after that night, you and Seungcheol hang out a bit more

you get to know each other

turns out the so called bad boy is actually just a major softie

surprise surprise, I know

he’s got a tattoo for his mom (a little heart on his heart)

he’s great at braiding (due to braiding Rose’s hair)

and he picked up sewing to patch up the holes that his friends created in their shirts

major heart eyes for Seungcheol

and he learns more about you and your little quirks

at some point, he even shares some things that happened back home

which was a bit hard for him to do but you were incredibly understanding

people just suck sometimes

one good thing about cities is that everyone minds their own business so

anyways

while he’s met your friends, you’ve also met his

you and Jeonghan are now the chaotic duo that Seungcheol wishes he can undo

Jeonghan: “are you fucking cheating? in front of my salad?”

You: steals another $50 bill from the monopoly pile

You: “no”

Jeonghan: “pay me off”

Wonwoo: “we are sitting right fucking here”

anyways

you two continue to hang out together as time goes and it’s great

sometimes you even hang out with him and Rose and it’s super cute

especially when you watch Seungcheol care for Rose like an actual sister

maybe that’s when the heart eyes started

he just……….. knows how to take care of people

he’s very attentive and understands that different people have different needs

it’s all……… very attractive

he’s very attractive

not in just the physical aspect

the inside *chef’s kiss*

Seungcheol doesn’t know when he started liking you either

maybe it was the way you really listened to what he said

you encouraged and supported him to do what he wanted

and told people off if they did say something about him

along with telling him to ignore them because it’s all stemming from jealousy and hate

and he knows that but it’s always nice to know he has someone on his side

so, what changes?

one movie night, there’s some generic rom com that you’ve already forgotten about

the blanket you’re both sharing isn’t the only heat you’re feeling

his knee knocks lightly against yours

your shoulders touching his

his fingers lingering on yours

then he’s moving closer

and closer

and then your lips meet

it’s soft, but firm

and that was the first day you started dating

dating bad boy!Seungcheol is basically the same as being friends with him only needier

he opened up to you as a friend

but as a boyfriend

you’re seeing EVERYTHING

he’s lowkey touch-starved so he’s very….. handsy

his hands got cold once and he straight up put his hands up in your hoodie

You: “thErE ArE pEOpLE aRouND sIR”

Seungcheol: “head empty, hands Cold”

lots of movie dates

(you asked if you should put on Twilight again and he said he could only take it one decade at a time)

lots of dinner and takeout dates

(the amount of menus you two have collected is insane)

lots of game night dates

which include Seungcheol’s friends

you and Jeonghan still team up to cheat, leaving the you two in the top to fight for the winning spot but Minghao always calls you two out

and then you start openly cheating

(Jeonghan literally flipped over an operations board one time)

you’ve also seen his tattoos

there are cute small ones and then there are bigger ones of flowers and patterns

You: “does it hurt more if you color them in?”

Seungcheol: “no, I was supposed to get them filled but Rose likes to color them with her markers”

You: “why are you two so fucking adorable”

You: “can I color it in?” c:

he let you

it was so much fun

on some days with Rose, you both color together on a shirtless Seungcheol

speaking of which

she loves you

Rose: “I told you you liked the doctor”

You: ?

Seungcheol: “shhhh, finish your cupcake”

oooh, also—lots of motorcycle rides

during the night is when it’s the most beautiful with all of the city lights

sometimes you stop by a park and just hang out to talk

not often bc like midnight murderers are a thing, but sometimes

it’s always a nice impromptu date

also, it’s been long overdue but he took you to the doctor’s once and brought up the whole running over your toes thing

and your toes are fine but

he still highkey feels kind of guilty but the kisses you give him compensate for the guilt

so bad boy!Seungcheol isn’t really bad just misunderstood

but like…. are we complaining?

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invisiburu · 3 years

Text

In defense of Mia Winters

She lied

Yes, she does lie to Ethan about her job. To keep both Ethan and herself safe from The Connection itself and its rivals as well as not involving Ethan in her line of work. Lying is terrible to any relationship but it seems her lie was only about her job for their sake of their safety. You may hate her here.

Facts: Mia’s lies was only before the game started. She did not spout a single lie at any point in time during the event of RE7.

Proof? She really does not remember anything except a little tid bit here and there due to Eveline messing with her mind. That is one of the big plot of Mia section on the boat. Even Eveline’s line explicitly says “You need to remember”

So if you keep saying she’s annoying and always lying and hiding throughout the game, well F**k You!

She was bio-terrorist

That is correct. She does worked for The Connection, a crime syndicate involving creation and trade for bio-weapon. However, her motives and reason she was working there remains unknown. Hopefully will be explained later in Village. Until then i’m giving her the benefit of a doubt and allow you to hate here

Responsible

1. Unlike any other RE antagonist, Mia actually tried her best to deal with problem at hand. After Eveline gotten loose, she immediately spring into action to find and stop Eveline on the ship.

2. The moment she was rescued by the Bakers, she wrote them a letter to warn them with what strength she had left.

https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Mia%27s_Letter_to_the_Bakers

3. Both she and Zoe worked together to help those who were kidnap by the Bakers in order for them to escape.

4. After she cuts off Ethan’s arm under Eveline’s control with the chainsaw, most people seems to not notice or pay attention to her line saying “ It's my job... must... contain... outbreak! I promise... must burn it all down!” and during the attic fight, “They’re relying on me. Everyone is relying on me. Everyone.”

She continued trying her best to fight off Eveline’s influence and saved the Bakers as well the other victims even this whole time despite not remembering who or what Eveline even was. She really just fight her way to save these innocent people without knowing why

Fact: Yes, I repeat, she don’t even remember who or what Eveline was.

Proof? The boat ship section again. She literally asked Eveline “what are you?”

Kindness

Mia is actually genuinely a kind person and very humane.

1. Even after her fellow colleague, Alan Droney who was the one who actually at fault for letting Eveline out in the first place. She still wanted to try to save him.

Actually, scratch that, its not exactly Alan fault but rather it was Eveline’s own plan to escape all along.

This twitter post has translated some Resident Evil 7 Kaitai Shinsho or the official book for Resident Evil 7

https://twitter.com/project_umb/status/1269136222363975682

and here is the link for the translation: http://projectumbrella.net/articles/BIOHAZARD-7-resident-evil-Kaitai-Shinsho

2. Also another point for Mia’s kindness as she seems to actually care about Eveline’s loneliness and not just outright called her a demon like everyone else pointed her out to be.

3. Despite Ethan gave serum to Mia, she still cares about Zoe and asked her to come along with them

Love and Devotion

She actually really does love Ethan and especially wants him to be safe and live a good life even without her.

1. Knowing her demise, she immediately send Ethan a stay away message as she knew he will come looking for her. In fact, she goes even further to say forget about her and moved on.

Just in case, you all forgot about the Baker scene in the hive mind thing? It was Eveline who’s the one controlling Mia to send out email message to Ethan to come get her.

2. Instead of finishing Ethan off after his hand was stabbed with the knife. she manage to gain control of herself and smack her head on the wall till it knocks her out to allow Ethan to escape. Ethan’s would be death count + 1

3. First fight: She tried her hardest on fighting off Eveline’s influence when she was forced to attack Ethan. Else Ethan would have died immediately after she attack him at the guest house. Her lines includes, “Leave me!” “Go home” “Leave” “I don’t want to hurt you!”

At the end of the fight, after being struck down by the axe, she returned to normal state and tried to reach out to him as she fall.

4. After she cuts off Ethan’s arm with the chainsaw, rather than just kill him off immediately, she throw him and walk away trying to regain control of herself and cue the “It's my job... must... contain... outbreak! I promise... must burn it all down!” line. Ethan’s would be death count + 2

5. Second fight: Again, she tried her hardest on fighting off Eveline’s influence when she was forced to attack Ethan once more in the attic. Again her lines includes the previous lines from the first fight with addition of “Forget about me!” “I can never leave!” “I don’t want your pity!” to encourage Ethan to leave her there. At the end of the fight, as she dropped she said “I love you”

Now here’s a part where everyone and i mean EVERYONE missed out on.

READ HERE FIRST! This part is a GOD DAMN FLASHBACK! Ethan is not getting any damage whatsoever by these flashback and it fleshes out Mia’s devotion even more

Please do yourself a favour and watch this video or replay this section again.

youtube

This video itself missing one more Mia flashback. However to see all the flashback you have to follow these steps

go to attic -> trigger eveline scene downstairs -> fuse room -> back to attic.

6. The whole ship section. Mia’s ultimate goal here is to find Ethan and set him free. However, since the serum is of D-series is not exactly meant for the E-series. She only manage to hold off Eveline’s control a bit longer. So what she did? Immediately after freeing Ethan from the mold she gave him the E-series sample tissue and pushed him out of the door and locked herself in sacrificing herself to save her husband’s life.

If you keep saying you hate her because she cut off Ethan’s arm ON PURPOSE, well F**k You!

Regret and Starting Over

1. Most from what I see in internet is that everyone wants her to go to jail. Normally, I would agree but consider this. She was already punished hard as she was being trapped in hell of the Baker’s estate. If you have to choose between life time of prison or 3 years of hell, I bet your damn ass you would choose life time of prison. Besides, what is the purpose of prison in the first place.

The 4 reason for prison are:

Deter crime - so that one may not likely to do it again after release

Issuing punishment - to someone who commit serious crime

Personal reform - Change the person from bad to good

Protect the public

For someone like Mia, I’m very sure she learned her lesson the hardest way possible. If I were her, or anyone else in her shoes, I would damn well be a good citizen and start over, turning over a new leaf. And guess what she does?

2. She is one(perhaps the only one) of the key person to take down the The Connection. Chris, BSAA and Blue Umbrella Corp aren’t stupid and their clean up crew would look to all the nooks and cranny of the whole Baker estate, Mine field and the ship. Mia’s order from The Connection was left intact in the safe room inside the ship. So Mia cannot lie or pretend to not know. I’m positively sure that Mia would let Chris knows all of intel she know of The Connection she had in return for her freedom and witness protection. and that’s how and why they live peacefully in Romania in the first place.

CONCLUSION

Now I know, I can’t change your mind if you really just not fond of her. But what I’m trying to say here, if you want to hate or dislike her at least hate/dislike her properly and not just blind hate for the sake of hating. They just hate because they want to hate and it just pisses me off.

#mia winters #ethan winters #resident evil #justice for mia #defending mia #i'll die on this hill #stop the blind hate #at least hate with proper reason #please capcom let her live so she can redeem herself #if she have to die at least let her die after she redeem herself #mia x ethan #mithan

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sondepoch · 4 years

Text

Chapter 3

Hearts on Three (Satan x Reader)

The athlete and the nerd. The rich kid and the scholarship student. The girl who will constantly joke about breaking your knee caps and the boy who will actually do it. There are so many ways to describe your relationship with Satan. Too many, if you’re being honest. He’s your best friend. The smartest tutor you’ve ever had. He also spends thousands of dollars for you at the drop of a hat and holds your hand when you’re feeling down. And in the beginning, that's okay. Neither of you let yourselves get bogged down by labels, both of you content to just savor this newfound friendship. But deeper feelings always have a way of complicating things. And for better or for worse, you and Satan are no exception.

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | ✎

MASTERLIST

A small part of you scoffed when Satan told you he'd be tutoring you while helping out with your volleyball practice. He may be the smartest guy you know, but the idea honestly seemed stupid. How did he expect you to pay attention to the ball in front of you and the words coming out of his mouth at the same time? It didn't seem possible; it didn't seem practical. You went along with the plan because he promised he'd help out with your practice, not because he claimed it would help his tutoring.

You should have known better than to doubt someone like Satan, though.

This may just be the best tutoring session you've had yet.

"It's important to note that the primary reason why Americans didn't want to join WWII was that the Nye Committee spread lies about America's purpose for entering the first world war," Satan explains, continuing to explain the chapter of history you're on while helping you stretch. "The Nye Committee essentially stated that America's purpose was purely economic, and that arms manufacturers encouraged the government to enter the war so they could increase production and raise profit."

You nod your head, grunting lightly as Satan coaxes your body lower while you continue to reach for your left leg. He's surprisingly good at this; not just the helping you stretch part, but also the whole summarizing the relevant parts of the chapter while cutting out the unnecessary information part.

You almost feel bad for having ignored him this past week during all his normal tutoring sessions.

"Do you remember the senator for which the Nye Committee was named?" Satan asks you when you finally pull out of your stretch and begin reaching for the other toe. "We discussed this earlier."

You frown. You certainly do remember Satan telling you something about the Nye Committee, but you can't remember what.

"Um…"

There's an exasperated sigh from above you as Satan's palm stops pushing your back lower and he groans to himself, but the sound seems to stir your memory. You abruptly recall him making that same groan of frustration just half an hour earlier when you first arrived at the student gym, when you interrupted his explanation of the Nye Committee to set a volleyball straight in the air to him, only for it to bounce perfectly off his head.

"Gerald Nye!" You exclaim, withdrawing from your stretch to beam at Satan. "You said it was named after Gerald Nye!"

There's a flicker of hope on his face, a moment of silent pride because this is perhaps the first time you've successfully answered one of his questions without requiring hints.

"Good job," He blurts, surprised. He clears his throat immediately after, quickly continuing his explanation of the global state of affairs during WWII, but you can hear the smile in his voice.

A peaceful grin crosses your face as you continue to stretch.

There's something therapeutic about having someone talk to you while you go through your preparatory routine. Having your body occupied with warmups actually makes it easier to focus on Satan's words. This is definitely something you could get used to, a form of tutoring you'd happily partake in because it's genuinely enjoyable.

"Alright," You interrupt once you've finished stretching your legs and are now just casually flexing your arms. "Let's move on."

"To what?" Satan glances at the textbook that's still open. There are a couple pages left in the history chapter, and you need to get through this material by tomorrow for your reading check quiz. "Can't you stretch a little longer so I can finish explaining the chapter?"

"I guess," You shrug. "But I have to do a warmup jog before I can actually get started anyway, so why don't you just keep explaining stuff while I run?"

Satan shoots you an unconvinced look.

"You expect me," He mumbles under his breath, shaking his head. "To believe that you'll actually pay attention if I read to you while you're running laps?"

"Eight of them!" You exclaim, nodding eagerly.

"I don't think that's—"

"Okay, I'm starting!"

You don't bother waiting for Satan's approval before jogging over to the red line that borders the student gym. You know he could easily catch up to you if he wants. All your efforts as an athlete have failed to make you a particularly impressive runner, and you're definitely among the slower side of your team. Of course, that's never set you back, given that you'll readily dive for a ball without a second thought if you know you're too slow to sprint there on time, but it still surprises you when Satan doesn't tackle you as soon as you begin to run your laps.

You understand why in a moment.

"Woah, you really are slow."

Your eyes widen when you see Satan jogging next to you, fists lose at his side. Somehow, he's maintaining your pace effortlessly, not a hair out of place as he moves his legs in what looks more like a brisk walk than your stuttering jog.

"How are you—" You have to cut yourself off to breathe, a bubble of frustration rising when you see how easily Satan jogs at your side.

"Alright. Back to our lesson."

The blonde barely takes any time to breathe as he continues to educate you on how Nazi Germany channeled success within athleticism into socialism in an attempt to make their regime seem more prosperous, easily continuing on to explain how the development of the radio only further strengthened Hitler's influence. He maintains the same tone he would have if he were merely walking, utterly undisturbed by the fact that you're jogging and now struggling to keep up with his pace.

"Slow down," You gasp at him when you're on your fifth lap. Satan had unintentionally picked up the pace to turn it into what looks like a real jog for him (which coincidentally ended up being your sprint), and you're not sure what's suffering more: your heart rate or your ego.

"Oh, my bad."

It's almost shameful when Satan drops his pace to yours, abruptly making your jog seem like a snail's pace as compared to the rapid speed he'd been pushing earlier. At the back of your mind, you consider trying to pick up the pace, trying to sprint faster, but the memory of Satan's untroubled lecturing even as you were struggling to keep up with him tells you that he's the last person you want to challenge.

Eight laps cannot be over soon enough.

You all but collapse on the ground when you finish, nowhere near as excited as Satan about the fact that he managed to time it so that his explanation of the chapter ended the moment you completed the last lap. All you can think about is the awful fact that your nerd of a tutor who quit track three years ago is still somehow better at running than you.

And yes, it hurts your ego substantially.

"How are you so fast?" You whine as you try to regain your breath on the floor, trying not to look up at Satan because you already know that he'll look nowhere near as disheveled as you.

"Born that way," He says with a grin, walking over to your duffel bag to grab your water bottle. He takes a sip before he gives it to you. "Sorry. All that talking made my throat a little dry."

You can't help but pout at that. Your mile-run was so slow that not only was Satan able to finish a whole history lesson during it—but it wasn't even the physical exertion that wore him out. It was the talking.

"Hey, don't feel bad." He frowns when he sees your pouty expression. "You're still miles better at volleyball than I could ever hope to be. No, really. Miles."

The thought does little to console you.

"Satan. Please," You begin, taking a long sip of your water and pulling yourself to your feet only so that you can clasp Satan's hands in yours. "Teach me your ways. I want to be as fast as you."

"Let go," Satan blurts as he pulls his hands free of yours, his nose scrunching up. "You have sweaty palms."

"Satan!"

The boy laughs, a rich sound that fills the empty gym. His grin is broad when he faces you next, pride decorating his features. "You're not that slow, I promise. I'm just…"

Ridiculously fast, you think to yourself.

"A little better at running than the average person. That's all. It's stupid for you to compare yourself to me when it comes to running, just like it's stupid for me to compare myself to you when it comes to volleyball."

"It's not stupid," You grumble to yourself, taking another sip of water before tossing the bottle back into your volleyball bag. "You still haven't told me why you quit track."

"And I'll never tell you unless you start getting better grades," Satan interrupts, briskly transitioning into his tutor-mode.

You open your mouth to retort, to shoot him a mischievous comment and maybe pull him back into a longwinded conversation, but the moment the blonde walks over to your volleyball cart, it's just head-empty, and all you can think about is practice.

There's a brief transition period where Satan specifically asks you what you want him to do, because "this is supposed to help you in both your tutoring and volleyball," so he "may as well do exercises that are actually helpful." It's how you finally manage to worm him into a downball exercise, which wounds up being pretty effective because Satan seems to be sufficiently muscular such that every ball flies to the ground with impressive force but also sufficiently terrible at volleyball such that every ball is several feet away from you, making for an excellent simulation of a real game environment.

There are, of course, the questions that Satan insists on asking you in between every downball. He's moved on to explaining physics to you, now, and you don't bother asking him how he somehow has all this information memorized, merely leaving the explanations to him because they do sound an awful lot like what your teacher has been explaining in the past week.

But somehow, the practice remains enjoyable.

Every now and then, the two of you need to take a pause so you can collect the balls from the ground. Satan only brought one cart over, so the two of you do have limited resources; but the overall experience is surprisingly smooth. So smooth, in fact, that the two of you end up moving on from physics to English, English to computer science, computer science to art appreciation, and you're about to tackle another subject when the doors to the gym abruptly open and you see the familiar faces of your teammates.

"It's time for practice!" You exclaim eagerly, your face lighting up. "Satan, I gotta go!"

The blonde raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You've already practiced with me for nearly two hours."

"That wasn't practicing, Satan. That was studying. You made us stop for so many questions that I could barely even get my heart rate up."

The blonde shoots you another concerned look, still hesitant. "Maybe you should sit this practice out. Or at least take a short break. I don't want to be the reason for you getting injured."

"Aw, what a sweet sentiment~" You coo, slinging an arm over Satan's shoulder. Your grin is bright as you tug him toward the bleachers, towards where you dumped your volleyball bag. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I'll have to practice much longer when our actual training season starts up, anyway."

You can see Satan frown at that, his lips curving downward as he doubtlessly wonders what you mean by the 'actual training season,' but he doesn't press the issue, merely nodding his head.

"Is there anything I can do to help out?" You see his fingers flex at his side, the boy eager to do something to appease his guilt for keeping you so long but clearly not sure what.

"I usually refill my water bottle before practice, so…"

"Let me," Satan interrupts firmly, taking the metal bottle from your hands. "And sit down, at least until I return. Try to rest, even if it's only for a little."

A soft smile spreads across your face at that. Satan might have been a Varsity runner in his freshman year, but it's clear that he's forgotten just how hard athletes at your school train. Still, it's endearing how concerned he is. You nod your head at him with a smile as you take a seat atop the bleachers. The action seems to pacify him, and he quickly jogs off in the direction of the water cart, easily slipping into a pace that would surpass all of your sprints.

"So~" A voice calls from next to you, oh so mischievous and oh so familiar. "What were you doing with our student president?"

"He's my tutor!" You respond brightly, smiling at your co-captain as she takes a seat next to you. "He brought me here because apparently, I wasn't responding very well to his normal teaching attempts, so he decided to throw volleyball into the mix. It's actually working out pretty well!"

"Oh?" The setter chuckles. "No surprise there. I can't really imagine you sitting at a desk and actually learning anything."

"Hey!" You smack the girl in mock offense, clicking your tongue in annoyance as you roll your eyes. "I'm not that bad. My grades have been improving, thanks to him."

"Is that so?" The girl grins, her eyes darting down as she doubtlessly checks Satan out. "And have they been improving because he's a good teacher or because he makes for such great eye candy?"

You snort. It's not like you haven't recognized by now that Satan is one of the most attractive people in your grade, but you find it hard to pay attention to that when there's so much else going on in his personality.

"He's a good teacher. Nothing else."

"So you don't want to maybe date him one day?"

"No," You deadpan. "I don't want to maybe date him one day."

The setter by your side deflates, leaning against you with an angry mumble about how unfair it is that she never gets to tease you about liking any boys. "So frustrating," She mumbles, doubtlessly in reference to you. "He's so cute, too. And smart. And popular. And rich. And perfect boyfriend material, from what I've heard."

"He's just a friend."

Satan has reached the athletic cart on the other side of the gym, already in front of the giant water cooler. He catches your gaze, shooting you his usual, broad smile as he continues to fill your water bottle.

Keep resting, he mouths to you, gesturing for you to remain seated when you attempt to stand.

"A good friend," You correct yourself.

Satan is a firm believer that there is beauty in simplicity. It is how he has approached life and it is how he has approached tutoring you: finding the simplest route and executing it with maximum precision.

In the present moment, this has translated to Satan's agreement with you: one correct answer, one toss. One piece of evidence that you're actually improving in your classes, and one chance to improve on your volleyball hitting form. One nod at academia, one nod toward athletics.

It's an ingenious agreement, simple as it is beautiful.

The execution, though, is anything but.

"You have to toss higher," You hiss, catching your ball in midair and throwing it back to Satan before your feet have even touched the ground. "The ball needs to reach my hand at the peak of my jump, not my head."

Satan scowls at your admonishment, grumbling under his breath before tossing the ball to you again, lifting it higher.

It's been precisely four days of this volleyball-meets-tutoring agreement, and Satan's hands have already begun to cramp from the hundreds of sets per day he's been tossing you. The manicure Asmo gave him right before he left the House of Lamentation has begun to chip off, the bright green nail polish now cracked and uneven. The blonde even has a bruise on the side of his torso from getting hit by one of your jump serves two days prior, just another battle wound in his war to make you pass your classes.

The only positive to this whole arrangement is that you really are beginning to improve.

"What were Caesar's last words?" Satan asks, consciously picking a straightforward question that he expects you won't remember the answer to.

"Et tu, Brute?" You smirk, quietly beaming because you know you're right.

Satan suppresses a sigh, ignoring the ache in his palms as he tosses the ball into the air and sets it to you, making sure the ball arches unnecessarily high because you jump like a goddamn frog.

"That's better!" You cheer as your palm slams into the ball with inhuman force, hitting it to the ground and letting the sound echo through the gymnasium.

Satan shudders, thinking about the bruise he's sporting on his torso from your serve the other day. He doesn't want to imagine how much pain he'd be in if he'd been on the receiving end of that spike you just delivered.

"Again," You demand, already backing up in anticipation for another serve as Satan brainstorms up another question to ask you for your cumulative Shakespeare test tomorrow.

The truth is that he thinks you're ready. A statement he never would have imagined one week ago, but it has become reality. By combining volleyball practice and academics into one, it's as if your brain is unable to differentiate between the two and you simply have to use your full energy on both, resulting in an impressive amount of progress.

"Why is Romeo banished?"

"For killing...Mercutio? No, wait! For killing Tybalt!" A triumphant grin spreads across your face, proud and happy.

Satan tosses you another ball.

He's genuinely impressed with the level of focus you've been able to retain during these past few tutoring sessions. When you first asked him to read you the plays from your literature class, the boy was skeptical. Particularly so because you wanted him to read to you as you cycled through your conditioning exercises, and Satan doubted that reciting Hamlet's infamous monologues while you did burpees would help you learn. The blonde was pleased to discover that he was wrong, though. By the end of the day, he had found that while there's nothing you seem to loathe more than properly sitting down to read a book, you actually enjoy being read to. It's helped him teach you material in nearly every subject.

"Explain why Cordelia was disowned."

"Cordelia...Cordelia...who?"

Ah, there it is.

Whenever Satan grows a little too proud of you, you always seem to dash his hopes.

"Cordelia," The blonde mutters, already sensing what your next words are going to be. "From King Lear, the book you were supposed to finish on your own yesterday."

"Oh, that." You hide your hands behind your back, smiling sheepishly. "I, um, didn't."

Satan sighs, letting the volleyball in his hands bounce back into the cart he picked it up from.

"Wait!" You cry, trying to stop him. "Just a few more tosses, please! I've been trying out this new hitting technique where I try to hit the ball straight down instead of with an angle and I'm finally getting good at—"

"Too bad," Satan blurts, crossing his arms and interrupting you. "If you wanted me to help you practice, you should have done the reading I assigned you. That was our agreement."

"But it was a whole play! How was I supposed to read all that in one night? That's just cruel!"

"What's cruel is you choosing to ignore that play for so long. You had weeks to read King Lear. You chose to make it difficult for yourself."

Satan grabs the volleyball out of your hands and drops it in the wheeled cart, already moving to the other side of the net to pick up the remaining balls from your hits.

"But Satan!" You continue to whine, still trying to tug him backward. For the first time, though, he manages to fight your grip, internally thanking his six brothers for having taught him the art of pushing people away.

He doesn't pay you much mind when you groan and flop backwards onto the gym floor, spreading your limbs out like a starfish. The sight only makes the edges of his lips quirk up in amusement because, really, as nice as it is to see you energized and full of life, it's still nicer to be reminded that even you have your physical limits.

"Come on," He mumbles, nudging your shoe with his own. "Let's go."

"Don't wanna," You mumble in response, closing your eyes. "Tired."

You emphasize the sentiment with a yawn, and Satan would almost believe that it was genuine if not for the sneaky smile that you have to fight off your lips.

He rolls his eyes.

The boy leaves you be while he cleans up the rest of the gym, picking up all the balls from your practice and depositing them in the cart before dragging it over to the room it's supposed to be stored in overnight.

The blonde is unfamiliar with the whole action of putting athletic equipment away, not having done any sports since his freshman year of high school, but he offers every time. The small amount of time it takes him to clean everything up is virtually the only break you seem to take, and while you don't appear to notice the way your legs have begun to tremble with overexertion at the end of every day, Satan notices. And he will not hesitate to clean up the entire gym if it means you'll take these few minutes of rest.

"We still need to do math," Satan says when he grabs your volleyball bag and sits down next to you. It's the one subject that the two of you can't do over volleyball practice, the one subject that you actually need to sit down and do yourself.

"I'll do it in the morning."

"You always say that, and you never end up doing it."

"There's a first time for everything, isn't there?"

Satan doesn't bother hiding how he rolls his eyes as he pulls your water bottle out of your volleyball bag and shoves it into your hands.

"Drink," He tells you, already getting out your day shoes so you can take your volleyball shoes off and get ready to go home.

"Don't wanna sit up," You drawl, your body still lying on the ground.

"Drink, or I'll make you do math the minute we get back to the dorm."

Satan has never seen you shoot up faster, a small smile gracing his lips when he sees you pop the lid off your bottle and begin chugging it down instantly.

"Ah," You mumble after you've drunk the whole thing. "That felt surprisingly good."

Satan bites back a quiet I told you so, instead opting to gesture for you to switch your sneakers.

He ignores your quiet complaint that he's such a slave driver, that it's unfair he's making you do all this. The truth of the matter is simple: you have a cumulative Shakespeare test in less than twelve hours, and you still haven't read one of the assigned texts.

Time, unfortunately, isn't something either of you have in abundance today.

"Up," Satan demands, grabbing your hand and tugging you to your feet before he drags you out the door.

The entire walk back, you're leaning on him for support, and the blonde staggers more than once as he tries to balance the weight of your volleyball bag in one hand and you in the other. The picture is one that's graced this sidewalk more than once in these past few days, but Satan can't bring himself to care as he internally frets over how he's going to get you to pass this test when you're clearly too tired to properly have a full-on tutoring session. If your nonstop yawning weren't sufficient, the way you practically fall asleep on Satan in the elevator is proof enough that you really are exhausted.

"Take a shower," Is what his final decision is when the two of you arrive back at the dorm, at the little hallway that separates the 665 of your room and the 666 of Satan's. "It'll wake you up."

"I don't want to be woken up," You argue, trying to push against Satan to flop onto your bed.

You clearly don't care about the test tomorrow, but Satan does.

"Either take a shower or wake up some other way," The blond hisses, glaring at you. "But you are not going to bed until you've finished reading King Lear. And unlike yesterday, I will personally be supervising you to make sure you don't fall asleep in the middle again."

You scowl at that, your earlier pout turning into a harsh glare as you realize that Satan has essentially left you with no choice.

"Fine." You blurt. "I'll shower."

It's only once you've gathered your clothes and toiletries and are gone from the room that Satan realizes just how in-character it would be for you to simply choose to sleep in the shower stalls.

The blonde instantly begins to panic.

He's pacing back and forth in your room by the time you've returned, trying not to bite his nails with his book discarded on the bed because he knows that there's no way he'll be able to get you out of the bathroom if you choose to do so, and that if you really do try to hide out in the shower stalls, it's almost certain that you'll fail your test.

When his eyes catch sight of you, the tension in his body visibly disappears.

"Why were you pacing?" You ask, a teasing laugh slipping from your lips as you dump your other clothes in the hamper. "What, did you think I'd just hide from you in the bathroom?"

"Yes." Satan doesn't bother hiding the truth. "And I'm quite surprised that you didn't."

You open your mouth to speak, but the way you avoid his eyes and fidget with the edge of your T-shirt speaks louder than your refusal to deny his words.

"You did, didn't you?" Satan accuses. "You actually tried to sleep in the shower stalls."

"Madam Scream caught me." You explain quietly, refusing to meet Satan's eyes. "She told me to go sleep in my own bed, and when I tried to tell her I was trying to hide from you, she just got even madder."

A warm laugh spills from Satan's lips. He'll make sure to thank the dormitory administrator when he next sees her.

"Wonderful." He grins. "Now, sit. We have to get through this whole play, and I doubt you've even read the beginning."

"I don't want to, Satan," You plead, your hands flying together in a loose imitation of prayer. "Please, please, please don't make me read it all. I can't. I'll die. My brain will explode."

The blonde sighs. No doubt, you're being unnecessarily melodramatic, but he can see the tones of desperation coloring your eyes. That, and he's been tutoring you long enough to know that you really do loathe reading, enough to make you request to do math instead if that's what it takes to get you out of it.

"Alright," Satan mumbles, picking the book up himself. "I'll read it to you. How does that sound?"

You still look hesitant, and Satan can tell that this wasn't the compromise you were hoping for. Even after your shower, the pull of sleep looks strong, and he can practically feel your bodily exhaustion through the droop of your shoulders. Still, this is all the leeway Satan can give you.

"Fine."

Satan smiles, pulling out a chair and gesturing for you to sit next to him.

"No." Your expression is unchanging as you blink at him. "Bed."

You all but throw yourself onto the mattress, patting the spot next to you expectantly with an impish grin.

"This isn't a bedtime story," Satan hisses, trying to get you to take this seriously. "You need to actively listen to the play. You can't just—"

"I can't hear you if you're not on the bed."

The blonde is impressed with himself when he manages not facepalm.

As usual, Satan is forced to give in to your whims, and he awkwardly slots himself next to you on the bed with a scowl on his face, not bothering to be gentle as he pushes you closer to the wall to make room for himself.

"You have to stay awake," He tells you, voice even. "This is not a bedtime story."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it."

And so he finally does get on with it, awkwardly resting his back against the bed frame while you fiddle with the throw blanket on your lap and listen. It still feels awkward, reading a play out like this where he has to specify the character speaking at the beginning of every new line, but this isn't the first thing Satan has read to you and it certainly won't be the last, so he grows comfortable with the material easily.

The only issue is that you keep squirming your way down to rest your head on the pillow.

"Up," Satan snaps at you when you try to do it while he's in the middle of one of Edmund's Thou Nature monologue. "You have to stay awake."

It works to snap you out of your daze, and Satan resumes reading from a few lines earlier, occasionally glancing your way to make sure you're paying attention.

Of course, this only lasts so long. Satan is only on the second act when you lean your head back on the pillow, and he just barely resists the urge to flick you on the forehead to wake you up.

"Come on," He grunts, pulling you back up into a seated position next to him. "This will all be worth it tomorrow when you get a good grade on your test."

You grunt in response.

Satan doesn't know how long this goes on for—him shaking you awake and you quietly trying to fall asleep again—but you eventually seem to have had enough, because by the time Satan is halfway through Act III, you rest your head on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" The blonde instantly snaps, his eyebrows furrowing. Your hair is still wet from your shower, and you're getting his shirt wet.

"Just try'na read better," You slur drowsily.

Sure enough, your eyes are open and you do seem to be gazing at the words on the page, but Satan is doubtful of your true intentions. After staring at you skeptically for a few moments longer, though, it's clear that you're not going to be moving unless he explicitly asks for it, so the blonde merely continues to read.

It's better this way, he thinks to himself, feeling your warm breath tickle his neck. I can at least tell if she's awake.

He tries to pay attention to the rate of your breathing at the back of his mind as he reads through the remainder of the act, gently shaking his shoulder every time he feels the rise and fall of your breaths grow a little too steady.

"Stop moving," You grumble when he shakes you awake again.

"Stop trying to sleep" is Satan's snarky response.

In the fourth act, though, Satan can't help but redirect the attention he was allotting you towards the book at hand. From Edgar's compelling narrative to Cordelia's analysis-worthy decisions, the blonde can't help but forget the outside world as he delves into the play, no longer reading out the lines but softly mumbling them under his breath as his mind lights up with visualizations of every scene. It's truly not Satan's fault that he doesn't notice when your body abruptly feels heavier, your weight no longer shifted away from him but gracelessly deposited onto him, even the gentle rise and fall of your chest against his arm only serving to further lull him into the depths of the play where nothing exists but the characters and their deeds.

Satan only realizes that you're dead asleep when the act ends, when he turns to ask you what you think and you're peacefully laying on his shoulder, long asleep and long gone.

"Hey, wake…" The boy cuts himself off before he can try to shake you awake, a surge of guilt washing over him.

You really do look exhausted.

Which is understandable, given that you had regular practice today and then some with your training-tutoring session with Satan.

He can't blame you for wanting to sleep.

The blonde sighs reluctantly as he closes the book in his hands and awkwardly tries to maneuver you off his shoulder and onto his pillow. You try to cling to his warmth the whole time, but your sleep-addled hands are useless next to Satan's cautious fingers, and within seconds, he's got you under your blankets and atop your pillow.

He'll wake you up early tomorrow, the blonde decides. And he'll finish the play with you, and he'll make sure you pass this test.

But right now, he'll let you get some sleep first.

A good decision, because Satan doesn't think he'd be able to bring himself to wake you even if he wanted to.

MASTERLIST

Word count: 5.6k

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | ✎

Notes: okay so i’m trying to change my writing style so apologies if the flow of this chapter was awkward; i’m really trying to step away from some of my bad habits (while building some new ones!) so i hope that didn’t take away too much from this chapter

Comment & Like

Thank you for reading <3

I do not own the rights to Obey Me! or any of the characters within it.

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lovecanbesostrange · 3 years

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(I hit the button again going to send this message, ignore it) BUT: Red being so accustomed to Snow being in charge of... well... everything, that it's pure instinct at this point.

Just following her lead, looking over to get confirmation, waiting for a solemn nod before attacking, knowing that a gentle hand in front of her means stop. This is their language, the way they work best. Some people may find it odd, especially then stakes aren't high, (when they aren't playing the Princess, Knight roles) but they don't see a problem. It's how their friendship developed, and it's how they're most comfortable going about things. But try to explain that to Emma growing up.

Other people might find it creepy. Does Snow think she has an actual pet? Disgusting. But they weren't there! They don't understand!

Red was really happy getting control of the wolf. But she had like one day with her mother and the pack; she ran with them for one night. She has so much more to learn and get used to. How strong is she really? How fast and far can she run? Her instincts guide her, but she has to learn. And Snow is there. She encourages, she watches, she takes (mental) notes of Red's behavior. Red teaches Snow how to track, to hunt, simple traps for small game; Snow helps Red to learn about herself as the observer.

Trust is build and also shorthand for everything. Yes, no, maybe, you can do this, you shouldn't do this, we don't give up, I'm here for you. It's in their looks, their gestures, subtle touches, the nods, a quick shake of the head, a smile, a frown. They have entire conversations with a raised eyebrow and a scrunched nose. And Snow is pulling double-duty, because one look at the wolf and she notes ears twitching, posture, tail movement.

People only see it as Snow giving commands. They don't pick up on the rest of it. Of Red (dis)agreeing (well, they are so in-tune there rarely is disagreeing and it's never on important things), and relaying vital information. Snow cannot make Red do anything she doesn't want to.*

Emma growing up? Are we in the Enchanted Forest with baby!Emma and her three parents again? She adores Red. Because who wouldn't when you get spoiled with the coolest stories and someone always up to play with you, because she's the only person who has the stamina to keep up with kid energy?!

Oh no, she thinks friendships are like that, at some point? What she says goes. Like with Mama and Aunt Red. And then she's frustrated when people don't read her mind and don't understand what she wants. "Use your words" is an annoying phrase to hear constantly.

Gosh, Emma overhears Red saying "I trust Snow, I would let her shoot an apple from my head, you know that" (she would) and one day later they find Emma with her tiny bow and arrow and poor Pinocchio has this worried expression "are you sure about that". There needs to be a talk.

Snow is a bit worried. "I only ever wanted to keep bad influences away from my daughter. Guess I'm one of them." "Your past as a bandit is catching up with you." They look at each other and it substitutes the loving curse words they would use if they talked like normal people.

*that's why in another world Snow needs to make sure Red always thinks it's her own idea

#OUaT #Red Snow #Ruby Lucas #Snow White #konako #also lol I SEE IT NOW!!!! you meant THAT button again...... I'm so sorry this keeps happening #$!

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ninjaslegos · 3 years

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Can I have a matchup please? <3 It can be w/anyone it doesn’t have to be exclusively the ninja

Heres the info! I’m 5’7 and my sexuality is bi-romatic demisexual, my hobbies are drawing, animating, playing rythm games, writing, listening to music, cooking/baking, gardening and (attempting) to play the guitar! My personality, well, usually I’m kind of the loudest or most silent person depending on who i’m hanging out with, i’m really supportive and energetic when it comes to my friends though, I’ve usually been described as one of the most chaotic evil people of the group, when I’m in vc things are about to get loud, my talents are literally just drawing and maybe being somewhat decent at making cakes and whatnot, I use self praise as a coping mechanism for whenever I feel bad too, it works wonders

I hope you're okay with more than one, because I think you'd fit perfectly in a poly relationship with

Zane and Pixal!

(If not both then definitely one of them)

Being demisexual is perfect for them! They aren't ready to do that sort of thing for a long while, and they're glad you can understand it perfectly.

You have so many hobbies! Perfect! They do, too. You and Zane do a lot of cooking, and even experiment when you have free time! You and Pixal like to listen to music and write together, and the two of you are actually working on a novel you want to publish!

All three of you have a nice garden in the back, with different fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and Pixal actually does a bit of bee keeping herself! It all works out, and you take turns caring for it when the others are away, but when you're all together? Everyone works on it. The results are beautiful and you and Zane whip up the most delicious dinner anyone's ever had from the vegetables and fruits.

If you want to draw or play games/guitar, you'll definitely have one or both of them hovering over your shoulder, watching you with awe. Unfortunately, they're not going to want to participate, just watch. Zane's more of a fighting game than a rhythm game player, and Pixal isn't much of an artist or guitarist. Guit-art-ist?

The three of you have a dynamic where you cause chaos, Pixal gets influenced and has a 50/50 chance of joining you, and Zane has to play damage control and get the both of you to stop being mischievous. Jay loves to watch this happen between the three of you, and only encourages you to do it more.

You won't find out about this for a while, but Zane secretly loves doing this, especially if it means holding you and Pixal close to him so the both of you calm down. All of you end up laughing.

Cuddling...when the three of you cuddle, it's usually either Zane in the middle, arms wrapped around you and Pixal while you hold hands, or he's the big spoon, you're the little spoon, and you and Pixal are facing each other, cuddling. That's actually how you would all fall asleep if you were sharing a bed for the night.

For kissing? You and Pixal are just a couple inches away from each other so you give each other cheek kisses, while Zane (who is much taller than you and Pixal) gives you forehead kisses.

As much as they love your loudness and chaos, they also enjoy times of peace when it comes, although they worry. What's causing you to be quiet all of a sudden? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? Will cuddling help?

When you give yourself praise, at first they think you're really proud of yourself, and even join in. "Yes, your drawing today is very pretty." When they learn why you do it, the worry is instant. You have to assure them that you're fine, and that it really does help you!

That also means they are going to praise you more. Expect at least one compliment a day! If it starts to annoy you though, they'll reluctantly lay off.

You're not that strong when you first meet them, and they worry that hanging around you and the other ninja could get you hurt. They're spending half an hour every day teaching you self defense lessons, but nothing on the offense, they don't want you to try to fight back and hurt yourself! That's what they're here for!

Hopefully you don't mind them treating you with a little bit of fragility, since if they die, they can be rebuilt. You cannot, and they're not ready to lose you.

Since they're nindroids, they can potentially live forever. However, if you die, they will also turn themselves off, because the pain of living without you will be too much. You're a set, and without you, it's just a pair.

Your relationship with Pixal is a sweet one. You trade gifts, go on cute dates, and joke around together. She's fairly new to the world, and you teach her things she can't learn from Zane, and Zane teaches her things she can't learn from you.

Your relationship with Zane is a domestic one, where you treat each other kindly, cuddle a lot, and work on chores together. It's rare for you to get time with just one of them, since the three of you are almost always seen together.

When you are together is when the fun starts. It really is true love, and no one even knew nindroids and humans could love each other until you came along.

#ninjago #matchups

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dykeredhood · 3 years

Text

Decided I’d answer all the Witcher-y questions that @inthishousewelovejoeybatey put together (from here)

The Trials: Would you ever become a Witcher?

Hell yes, please load me up with herbs and mutagens – I’ll miss my pretty brown eyes, but in exchange I’ll get night vision and an even more piercing glare. I think I’m hardy enough to withstand everything they put the lil witchers through with only a minimum of shrieking

Monsters: What monster would you be?

I’d be a noonwraith – being associated with fields bursting with grain and also abducting mortals to make them dance with me until they die is enticing

Butcher of Blaviken: Have you ever been in a fight?

Not really? I’ve had to sock a few people, like the guy who introduced himself to me at a university party and then kissed me full on the mouth. That was followed by a surprisingly coordinated right hook, since I was already pretty drunk by then. The I was at a nightclub in Scotland (hoping to head back to Sneaky Pete’s when it’s safe to travel 🙏🏼) and someone was getting far too handsy with me out on the dance floor, so I caught him with my elbow a few times across his jaw and brow bone and that put a stop to things.

Her Sweet Kiss: What was your first kiss like?

I’m going to show restraint and hold off on putting that 3oh3! song in here. It was awkward and we were both in middle school and it was just both us fumbling all “ok I guess this is how you do this” it was also while we were at Disneyland in a Haunted Mansion doom buggy

Lute: Do you play any instruments?

I played the flute (and piccolo) all through grade school up until university, and I actually bought myself a flute to re-learn how to play it, since that’ll be a nice hobby to engage in again

The Path: Do you like to travel? Favorite place you’ve visited?

I love traveling, and I was meant to head on trips to the east coast and down to Anaheim this year (if we didn’t have the pandemic sweep in and screw everything up there 😭). My favorite place I’ve visited has been Scotland – Edinburgh was lovely and seeing Hadrian’s Wall was fantastic (the segment of Hadrian’s Wall I visited was Birdoswald Fort though). I have a lot of fun strutting through the airport with my bootheels clicking on the hard floor and having a dirty martini at the bar before I board my plane. I did make it up to Chicago in Feb 2020 for C2E2, right before things started getting really serious with coronavirus in the US, and I’m really glad I at least got that bit of traveling in

Ballads: What’s your favorite song?

If we wanna choose something that probably would exist in the Witcher land, I’ve been vibing to these songs:

Prickle Holly Bush/Charge of the Highland Cattle

Otherwise I’ve been recently vibing to The Wiggles, and this song really stands out, also the MCU could NEVER - Super Anto

Chaos: Do you believe in Magic?

I’m not going to rule out the possibility of magic, but it’s not really anything I’ve observed with my own two eyes. I will encourage my plants to grow with kind words and a reminder that they all come from good hardy stock

Child Surprise: Do you want children?

I don’t have what it takes to be a good mother – I know how to look after a child and give them good nutrition and everything, all that academic stuff. I don’t think I have the capacity/skill to be suitably nurturing toward a child, and with all that in mind, I cannot bring a new child into the world that I’m responsible for caring for when I don’t feel like I can be a well-rounded and quality parent that that child would deserve. I’m happy to be the fun auntie who’ll bring gifts of interesting candies and knives during the holidays, but I can’t be ANYONE’S mother

Destiny: Do you believe in destiny?

No, not in the slightest. Destiny would probably have me be some man’s agreeable & repressed wife with a quaint house and a couple kids that I end up emotionally abusing because that’s all I’m goddamned used to and I cannot subject anyone to that treatment, my having gone through it is ENOUGH

Igni: Be honest, you would use Igni for simple, daily matters like warming the tub or lighting a candle, wouldn’t you?

If I had the ability to conjure up fire with my hands whenever I wanted? Absolutely – no more matches or lighters for me, we use magic now

Axii: If you could influence someone’s mind, what would you make them do/say?

I’d want to compel greasy politicians to give a shit about their subjects constituents

Otherwise I couldn’t justify controlling anyone’s mind (aside from in a kinky context but even then, I’d prefer to be the one who’s magically compelled to do things)

Speak normally: Favorite Witcher quote

The entirety of the scene where Ciri demands Geralt tell her a bedtime story (because how can she fall asleep without a story?) and even the dryad traveling with them gets invested in the story he tells about the fox and the cat.

Unbearably crotchety and cantankerous: What is your personality like?

I sure do have a lot of personality (anyone who’s met me in person can attest to this). At work I can get metallic and uptight, and outside of work it’s a little better, I enjoy snarky banter with my friends and my laugh sounds like a lumberjack (or Disney villain). To everyone’s apparent surprise, my apartment is pretty messy, but I know where the things I need are. Except for (apparently) where I put my flute, I thought I put it in a certain box and it’s not THERE. Back to my actual personality, I can be abrasive at times but I really enjoy helping my friends.

Doublet: Favorite outfit of Jaskier’s

Anything that includes his fancy plum bonnet with an egret’s feather – a hat with a flamboyant plume always gets me

The White Wolf: Favorite Geralt (Books, Games or Show)

Tbh my favorite Geralt is book!Geralt, he’s so snarky and the way he becomes the designated dad of almost everyone he meets just melts my heart (the way he met lil Ciri in the books is far superior to how they did that whole scene in the Netflix series)🫀 and I really like the Yorkshire/Scottish accent he has in the audiobooks

Geralt of Riva: Thoughts on Geralt

He is my DAD and also ME and in some instances I want to RIDE HIM (these are all separate instances and moods please do not show this to Freud). My father is a ballet dancer, he’s also really knowledgeable because he’s an engineering professor, and he doesn’t exactly have the most welcoming personality, so the comparisons there are obvious. (The School of the Wolf uses a lot of ballet inspired movements with how they train witchers how to fight, and it really stresses practicing enough to have that good technique and muscle memory in your body which is HUGE if you want to move swiftly and without injury)

Geralt’s whole exchange with Visenna where he’s upset that she knew what would happen if she (essentially) handed him over to her a Witcher and then she did it anyway really landed with me since my mother studied early childhood development and then went on to fucking give me PTSD. Geralt also canonically loves giving head and I would be all over that, let’s be real

Jaskier: Thoughts on Jaskier

Jaskier has been overhyped by the Witcher Netflix fans — this isn’t even me being surly, it’s honestly more me being practical. I’m glad y’all enjoy his character, and Joey Batey is a great fit for the role, but here’s the damn thing: Dandelion is more of only intermittent character in the books and I love to see his antics when he shows up, but he’s just not featured as prominently as the rest of the Witcher fam. He’s such a disaster slut, and I love how he’ll be affable with everyone, becoming fast friends with the dwarves and dressing up all roguish like them. The part from the books where he acquired an assassin’s knife to stick in his belt but it keeps poking him when he bends forward so he just leaves it somewhere is charming

Yennefer of Vengerberg: Thoughts on Yennefer

I want a powerful sorceress wife. It’s sweet the way she interacts with lil Ciri, but I really don’t care for how she keeps calling her “ugly one” – even if it’s meant to be affectionate, it’s not something good for a little one to constantly be hearing.

Ciri: Thoughts on Ciri

PROTECT HER – she’s so earnest when she’s training to be a witcher at Kaer Morhen and Geralt is such a DAD and it’s really lovely (esp when she’ll run up all “praise me, Geralt!!” and then he does – it melts my heart 🥺). There’s entirely too much trauma porn involving Ciri in the books, though; I know bad and distasteful things happen in the Witcher land, but it feels excessive, especially seeing that she’s still a young woman trying to make her way in the world and all. She’s skilled and fierce and I wanna be girlfriends with her

#my writing #at least my responses to the questions are #personal #yknow what I’m also gonna tag for filing purposes #this additional tag for reference #Witcher OC #the Witcher

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littledreamybeth · 4 years

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Our little secret

A/N: Happy new year, everyone! Let's make the first post of 2020 a fluffy one! I hope you like it! I haven't properly proof read everything, so I apologize for mistakes beforehand. Comments are highly, I stress highly appreciated.

Picture does not belong to me. Credits to the owner!

“Are you ready?” It was not impossible to overlook how nervous the young couple was. Trembling fingers interlocked, they looked at each other’s faces, searching for confirmation, or even doubt. Harry couldn’t recall being this nervous. An uneasy feeling had settled in his gut since he was sitting in front of the camera. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t really do what they were about to do, however, he also knew keeping this secret forever wouldn’t help either, because at the end somebody was going to find out anyway- as usual. He had promised Y/N he would do this, and they had talked everything out. They had taken drastic precautions, doubling their security guards and placing cameras almost everywhere in their home, so he wouldn’t be worried anymore.

“Only if you are, love,” His raspy, deep voice filled the room.

The young woman, his partner, soulmate, wife- his love, nodded.

“Alright, here we go…” She gave her sister-in-law, Gemma, who was standing behind the camera, permission to start the recording. The brunette woman held her thumbs up, smiling assuringly and encouragingly at the couple. Harry squeezed Y/N’s hand in comfort before he let go of her. He knew she was going to articulate with gestures. Besides, he needed to calm down himself. He was sitting there, his body in a tensed form. He had to relax. Breathing deeply in and out, the British man and his wife stared into the camera.

Here goes nothing...

“Hello everyone!” It was Y/N who spoke first. She was going to speak more since it was mostly about her. “Welcome back to my channel! I know it has been a very long while since I’ve posted anything, and I’m aware that many of you guys were concerned for me. I just vanished out of nowhere after all.” Not that anything bad had happened, no- she had a reason for all of that. But one thing after another, right?

“I highly appreciate your worry, guys. I know I owe you an explanation, and here I am, finally giving you one.” Harry’s wife had started a YouTube channel after they got together, uploading videos so that his fans could get to know her better. She was the person who rather spoke through actions than words. The amount of love she received was mind-blowing. She had never expected the support. Her videos always reached millions of views. Some of them were even with Harry and her doing couple stuff or challenges. If it wasn’t for his love, Harry would never agree to things like this. He’s private as we all know.

“First things first, I’ve seen many people speculating that Harry and I allegedly divorced, but as you can see, Mr. Styles is sitting right next to me and I’m still wearing my ring.” She pointed at the diamond ring on her finger. “I’d like to happily confirm that your assumptions about us were wrong.” She leaned over to give a kiss on his cheek, sensing how tense he was. She whispered “It’s gonna be fine” into his ear, running her hands through his brown locks before she focused on what was in front of her.

“I want to get to the point quickly,” She stressed. “The reason why I disappeared, why I never have accompanied Harry to any special event for the past year, why I wasn’t active on social media, is because something has happened that changed our lives forever. Today, we want to share it with you.”

It was Harry’s cue to stand up, walking behind the camera to have Gemma handing him over something, or even better, someone. When he came back and sat down, he had a bundle of joy in his arms, wrapped up in a pink blanket. The tiny human being underneath, who was sleeping before her father came to get her, let out a little whimper of protest for interrupting her sleep. Harry weighed her back and forth, shushing her softly. “It’s okay, angel.”

Harry’s eyes were full of love for this little miracle. Everybody could see it. He basically had her name written in them. Whenever, their baby girl was mentioned, his eyes lit up and a large smile covered his lips. What could he say? He was a proud daddy.

Y/N blended out the camera for a second and reached out to play with her daughters tiny fingers, then directed her attention back to it. Flustered, she said, “World, meet Olivia Rose Styles. Our daughter…”

She could imagine the amount of confusion and shock their announcement would create. People for sure wouldn’t stop talking about this for weeks. (Online) Magazines and newspapers would report about them. And Twitter? Twitter was going to freak out. She chuckled at the thought.

“It’s true, people,” Harry confirmed, his attention tightly fixed on baby Styles. “We’ve become mummy and daddy.”

“Yeah, we’re parents.” Y/N nodded her head. “That’s why I disappeared. Because I was pregnant. We wanted to keep it a secret.”

It was pretty easy to hide her baby bump in the first couple of months due to the fact that she wore and always loved to wear oversized clothing. Her entire wardrobe consisted mostly of oversized shirts and pullovers, and a few of Harry’s belongings. But the bigger her belly became, the harder it was to cover up the evidence. So, she decided to step out of the spotlight and enjoy her pregnancy to the fullest without any factors that stressed her out. Y/N belonged to the category of people who were easily stressed over the tiniest things; reading negative articles or tweets about her alone was enough to drive her insane, and because she knew that everything stressing her out would also affect the baby, Harry and her had agreed that she lived somewhere else with a better environment; a place where people wouldn’t chase after her and follow every step she did. Not that they would ever admit it, but Harry had bought an island for his Y/N as a wedding gift before they got married (he even ordered to build a house there), and that’s where she had retreated to for the rest of her pregnancy. She really loved nature. Lying at the beach whenever she pleased felt so refreshing. Knowing that no one was going to snap pictures of her made her feel at ease. Being out of civilization, far away from negative influence, was very therapeutic for her. She attempted to use less social media, or media in general, only requiring it if she wanted to watch a certain event that Harry attended. Of course, she wasn’t all alone. Her husband would never let her. Instead, Harry had bodyguards around her that kept watching her and made sure she was safe when he wasn’t around. Anne and Gemma also kept her company. Harry, on the other side, couldn’t spend much time with her as he hoped, because of tons of work. He at least tried to leave the weekends unoccupied so that he could be with his wife. When it came to the control checks and appointments, Y/N was flown back to the city, with strict measures taken in order to keep her hidden. Or sometimes, her doctor would pay her a visit.

“This was my first pregnancy, and I wanted it to be a memorable experience. I wanted to be at peace, and vanishing seemed the only solution for me.”

Gemma’s voice behind the camera rang. “Explain why you’ve never been seen at a hospital.”

“Oh yes! I almost forgot about that. I gave birth at home!”

Harry, diverting his attention to the camera lens, added, “And it was truly an amazing experience.”

The day, Y/N delivered her baby, both of their mums, Gemma and a midwife were present. Their fathers were waiting outside the room, because Y/N found it embarrassing to give birth in front of her father, or in front of Des. It was painful and exhausting, robbing all strength in Y/N’s body. Harry couldn’t bear to see his poor wife in pain; he felt completely powerless over the situation, only holding his love, encouraging her and eventually, crying with her. He even blamed himself for putting her through so much ache. But, the moment they heard the shriek they were desperately waiting for, the young man completely broke down. When he held her for the first time, his heart felt so full and complete. She looked like a copy of him, a baby version of himself. And her eyes… a shade of bluish- green.

“For the last three weeks, Harry and I have argued back and forth whether we make a wise decision,” She explained. “We discussed the advantages and disadvantages, and to be completely honest with you; even though the cons overweighed, we still decided to share out little secret with you before some strangers have the chance to release unpermitted information.”

Now that Y/N returned back from the island to their home, the chances of being discovered with a stroller was high. Besides, they didn’t plan on keeping Olivia in between four walls; they planned nice family trips for the future, so addressing their secret was the best.

Harry added, “We are in constant worry about her. You cannot really expect what people can do with an infant, especially if it’s my child. I hope you can understand that we don’t want anyone, except for family and friends, around her.” His expression became hard, his eyes transforming into an intense shade of green and his voice deeper than ever. “I may be kind, and don’t address certain things, but even I know how to destroy people’s lives, so be warned. If you come any closer to my daughter, I’ll end you.”

His statement startled Y/N. She had never experienced him like this before. Overprotective. She looked at Gemma, who shared the same emotion as her. Y/N pulled herself together and continued talking. There was another point she aimed to address.

“Please, don’t expect me to pull out the Kylie Jenner card and release a pregnancy journey video after all of this, because it’s not gonna happen,” Y/N informed, shrugging her shoulders. “Sorry, not sorry guys. The past couple of months have been the most joyous and adventurous period of my life, something very special and intimate, and I don’t want to share it with the world expect for the people involved- our family and friends. That’s why I ask for acceptance and understanding.”

Indeed, Y/N had every moment recorded. Sometimes, she would even send a video to Harry while he was at work, mocking him for how much he was missing out. One day, she had sent him footage in which baby Styles had kicked for the very first time, and it had Harry almost jumping out of his socks. It had been in the middle of a meeting with his band when he had received the message. He had gasped loudly, covering his mouth in shock which had attracted everyone’s attention and having them stare at him confusedly. Harry, on the contrary, had tears pooling his eyes. And being the little show-off he is, he went around and proudly showed everybody what his unborn daughter was capable of doing now- not forgetting the occasional ‘That’s daddy’s girl!’ leaving from his pink lips.

“We don’t want anyone to expect too much from us. We are against the idea of sharing pictures online until she has reached a certain age, and we insist that this should be okay for everyone.”

The baby in Harry’s arms slowly became restless, a cry escaping her throat. Everyone took this as a signal to end the video. “Thank you guys for watching this short announcement video. Take care of yourselves, and please don’t overreact too much, okay? Bye!” Everyone winked at the camera, and the recording was done.

After the video was cut and properly edited, Y/N posted it on her channel. Not a even a minute had passed before it had scored thousands of views. Scrolling through the comment section, Y/N chuckled at the fans’ reactions.

Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr… every social platform was a mess. She received lots of comments on her accounts. Famous artists and influencers reached out to her, congratulating them for the new addition to the family.

It was just as Y/N expected; the world was going crazy…

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mcheang · 4 years

Text

“Your Son deserves better than that Friend of his, Nino.”

This is a draft but you can see my mind plan out how Lila takes action as it bounces from one idea to another. I am sad to say this fic hardly has Lila salt but it does have Adrien salt

We have seen Lila take action against her love rivals, but she has yet to fulfil her promise about Nino.

It’s a shame because Nino has been so helpful to Lila yet she looks down on him as you can see in the picture. (She is not putting on the frown for Gabriel’s sake since her back is to him). It is possible Lila is aware of Nino’s actions as the Bubbler and know he and Gabriel have an antagonistic relationship.

So I am taking a look at how Lila took care of her competitiors to see if there is a pattern and whether it will be the same for Nino.

Kagami: sent a photo of her and Adrien to provoke the fencer, suggesting that Adrien has a close female friend, possibly his crush (it is possible Adrien cleared the air with Kagami)

Chloe: removed her idolization of Ladybug which distances her from Adrien since he loves Ladybug (not that they really bonded over Ladybug before)

Marinette: tried to paint her in a bad light and expel her. (Utter failure. Adrien stood up for Marinette and pressured Lila to reverse her actions)

Basically in respect to the above, Lila has crushed hopes, destroyed common ground, and framed someone. I don’t see a pattern so I have to go with that she will try something new.

Why does Lila dislike Nino? Hard to say. But maybe she hates competition of any kind. She wants to be Adrien’s only confidante.

Mmm. Good luck with that, NOT! Adrien has been acting distant with Lila. Friendly, but distant.

It would be great if Lila could replace Nino, but that would be hard. Most of the class is team Adrienette and the girls won’t want to help Lila get alone time with Adrien.

Nino might be persuaded to switch project partners, but after Oniichan, Lila was doubtful Adrien wanted to have anything more to do with her after school, and Alya was sure to have warned Nino to stop setting up study dates for Adrien unless it was with Marinette.

Yeah, Gabriel wanted the Nino influence gone after Party Crasher, but Lila had been working on framing Marinette then.

Now that Marinette had been declared off limits by Adrien himself, Lila had been told to take care of Nino.

Well, the frame up won’t work twice. Even if she got someone else to the do the accusing, Adrien would suspect her involvement. And the idiotic faculty could possibly be more thorough in their investigation after Marinette’s expulsion had been proven unjust.

She could easily distance Nino from Adrien by encouraging Alya to spend more time with her boyfriend. But Marinette would probably take Nino’s place, and that was not what Lila wanted.

The best thing would be to partner with Adrien first thing. That way none of the girls would be needed or could protest the arrangement. But projects were usually deskmate paired or random draws out of a hat. Too risky.

What if she spread word and made Adrien look bad? That’s an idea.

Felix had already shown how quickly the class could turn on Adrien. What was their reasoning again? Oh yes, he’s friends with Chloe, they don’t know him that well. Only Nino and Marinette stood up for him. Two bird, one stone.

Lila can’t get Adrien to miss parties, not when Marinette makes sure he can attend them.

What can she use? Adrien is naive and obtuse to others’ feelings.

As Lila talks to the girls who gush about Adrienette, Lila sighs about how she hopes Marinette won’t get hurt again. After all Adrien asked her to plan a double date with Kagami. Can you imagine how painful it must have been for Marinette? And Marinette actually threw a party for Chloe of all people, just because Adrien was upset Chloe had left for New York. Didn’t Adrien know Marinette and her parents were on the train that Chloe sabotaged so she could make herself look good, but needed help from Ladybug and Chat Noir? Of course, Marinette would not be happy about the reminder about Queen Bee. She could have died in that train accident.

This instilled doubt in the girls about Adrien and their worry for Marinette.

When Chloe keeps on bullying the class, Lila shakes her head and asks Nino why doesn’t Adrien try reasoning with Chloe. Nino points out that Adrien values Chloe since she is his first Friend. Lila frowns and mutters that he didn’t try hard enough. All Chloe had to do was throw a party and all was forgiven. If Adrien didn’t care about how the rest of them felt, he should at least try to care for Chloe’s character.

Later that day, it was known that Nino and Adrien had a major argument. On the outside they were still friends, but were pretty tense.

Marinette tries to make excuses for Adrien but the girls and Nino point out that Adrien also rained on their parade when Chloe was about to leave for New York. Yes, he could be sad that his Friend left, but that shouldn’t mean Marinette had to feel bad either. All she did was point out the flaws in Chloe’s interview (especially since back then Chloe was only in a hero costume and nearly got people killed). The girls encourage Marinette that it is alright to say no to some of Adrien’s requests, especially if they hurt her.

Marinette was still trying to heal the bridge. Chloe was still friends with Adrien.

Lila no longer had total focus on Nino. She wanted to make sure the whole class isolated the model. (To Lila, she doesn’t need Adrien to be popular at school. She needs him to be popular on media.)

Lila manipulated Chloe once more, reminding her that everyone obviously views Ladybug on a higher standard than Queen Bee. Who could compare with Ladybug after all? Oh wait, Marinette could. She would make a great hero.

Chloe asks Adrien if he thinks Queen Bee should return. He disappoints her heavily when he agrees with Ladybug.

Chloe insults all the heroes in front of class, provoking everyone’s ire. Marinette stands up to Chloe and takes care of the matter.

Nino asks how Adrien could still defend Chloe, but his answer is that Chloe is still hurt by the fact that she can’t be a hero anymore.

When Chloe insults Rena Rouge, Nino steps up to defend his Girlfriend.

After school, Nino and Chloe make a spectacle and demand Adrien choose a side. He can’t. This actually makes them leave him until he can.

Marinette rushes over to Adrien but is stopped by the girls. They agree with Nino and Lila. Marinette has to stop making exceptions for Adrien. The girls literally have to drag Marinette away and keep telling her it’s time she accepted Adrien has flaws.

Marinette is forced to accept that truth but her feelings haven’t changed. She contacts Adrien and reminds him she is still on his side.

Nino feels upset about Adrien’s betrayal and is akumatized once again. He gets defeated.

The next day at school, Marinette acts as a bridge between Nino and Adrien. She admits that Adrien has flaws, but so does everyone. Can we blame him for having a soft spot for Chloe? After all he had been through, that should be understandable. Adrien may not be totally reliable to come to events or stopping Chloe, that’s true. Sure he’s clueless about friendships, that’s why they should set an example for him. After all, nobody can deny that Adrien does try, and he really does want to be friends with everybody. “Let’s not force him to choose between friends.”

To Adrien, Marinette accepts his friendship with Chloe but that is as far she will go. This soothes the class as Marinette is also learning to set up limits regarding Adrien.

Nino apologizes to Adrien for forcing him into that position. Adrien also says he is sorry for not trying to correct Chloe’s behavior.

Chloe had been listening and also decides to forgive Adrien because he was also one of her few friends when her Mother had left her behind.

Lila is upset at her failed plan. She complains to Gabriel that they need to take care of Marinette because she keeps fixing things. Gabriel scoffs that at least Marinette shows potential if Lila cannot even best her a second time, irking Lila but not nearly enough to akumatize her.

Adrien thanks Marinette and asks if she wants to go to eat ice cream at Andre’s. Her lecture that Adrien was not reliable reminded him that he skipped their ice cream meet up before on purpose and he felt bad. He wants to make it up to her and treats her to the ice cream

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #adrien salt #post ladybug episode #post episode ladybug #lila rossi #nino lahiffe #chloe bourgeois #ml salt fic

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muse539 · 3 years

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We Don’t Know What’s Out There

So my friend M is a bad (fantastic) influence, and when I shared an instagram post that was basically a prompt with them, they encouraged me to write it. So, I did. Read it on Ao3!

Summary: While Mike Newton is waiting for the semester to start at his Sacramento college, he finds himself turning to the TV show "Ghost Adventures" to keep himself entertained. He knows it's all fake, of course. At least, he thought he did, until he finds himself looking at a familiar face.

....

“The ghost we’re hunting tonight is Edward Anthony Masen Jr. He was a patient at this Chicago hospital during the Spanish Influenza in 1918, until he vanished without a trace.”

"Is that... Cullen?"

After finally, mercifully, at last leaving Forks in early August, Mike Newton found himself without much to do. His parents had insisted that he move down to Sacramento before the semester started.

That would make sense, except that the semester didn’t start for three weeks, and Mike was bored out of his skull.

So, like anyone might in his situation, he turned to the TV to occupy his time. It was a small thing, but it would get the job done.

Huh, wonder what’s this about, Mike thought, pausing his rapid flipping on five guys in a dark hallway, decked out in night vision equipment. The banner in the bottom of the screen said “Ghost Adventures.”

“Elizabeth, speak to us, ” one of them said, holding out a radio.

Huh. Might as well see what this is about.

---

It was a quiet evening in the Cullen house. Renesmee was visiting Jacob on the reservation, much to Edward’s chagrin.

“If you keep frowning like that, your face might get stuck that way.” Bella used her thumb to smooth out the skin between her husband’s eyebrows before cupping his cheek. Bella didn’t like being away from Renesmee any more than Edward did, she was just better at hiding it.

Edward sighed, leaning into Bella’s hand.

Dude, you’re pathetic.

Edward shot a glare in Emmett’s direction before meeting Bella’s eyes. “It’s hard, her being where we cannot.”

“I know.” Bella sighed. “At least we know Jake would protect her, if anything happened.”

“Hmm.”

---

Man! Who knew a communications class would be so hard! Mike turned away from his homework. Spring semester had been kicking his ass for weeks now.

At least he lived on his own. Mike couldn’t imagine what it would be like, having to share a room the size of a shoebox with another person. Especially since they probably wouldn’t let him watch his favorite show!

“Ghost Adventures” had pretty quickly become Mike’s latest fixation. He’s never missed an episode, a fact he is shamelessly proud of.

From the corner of his desk, his phone buzzed. Jessica, of course.

Mike has been trying to shake her off for months, to no avail. He sighed.

That’s it, that’s enough for today. Mike pushed away from his desk and turned on the TV. Ghost Adventures would be on soon.

---

“Don’t ‘hmm’ at me,” Bella smiled, “use your words.”

“Yeah, Edward, use your words .” Emmett guffawed.

“ That’s it.” Edward started to rise out of his seat, and Emmett happily took a defensive stance.

They launched at each other.

From upstairs, Esme’s voice rang out, “You boys better mind my furniture!”

---

A few miles away, in La Push, Jacob and Renesmee had just gotten back to Billy’s house. The Pack had gone cliff diving, and Renesmee insisted on attending, even if it gave Jacob a heart attack.

“I’m just as durable as you are,” she’s said, in that special way of hers.

“I know, I know. But you’re not even one yet, Nessie!” Nevermind that she was already the size of a 10-year-old at just 9, almost 10, as Nessie enjoyed reminding him, months old. “It’s the principle of the thing!”

Renesmee just pressed her desire into his skin harder. Jacob was powerless.

“Okay, okay!”

And so they’d gone. They had a fantastic time, once Jacob “got over himself,” as Seth has put it.

Now, they were nestled on Billy’s couch, flipping through the channels. Renesmee stopped him on one.

“Oh, Ness, you probably won’t want to watch this. It’s scary.”

There were questions in Nessie’s hands.

“It’s about ghost hunting. Or, at least, that’s what they think they’re doing. We both know ghosts don’t exist, but they play a lot of scary music, and they try to freak you out. Frankly, I think it’s kind of funn-”

“The ghost we’re hunting tonight is Edward Anthony Masen Jr. He was a patient at this Chicago hospital during the Spanish Influenza in 1918, until he vanished without a trace.”

Nessie’s hand pressed insistently to his cheek. “Daddy?”

Jake was in shock. “Uh, yeah. That’s your dad. Hold on-” he reached for his phone.

---

Breaking away from Emmett, Edward picked up his phone when it started to ring, heart sinking when he saw Jacob’s name.

“Jacob? Is everything okay?” Every eye in the room turned to Edward, each vampire holding their breath.

“Turn on Ghost Adventures right now! They’re talking about you!”

Bella had the TV on before Jacob finished speaking.

“ Will Edward be among the spirits we talk to here tonight?”

---

“The ghost we’re hunting tonight is Edward Anthony Masen Jr. He was a patient at this Chicago hospital during the Spanish Influenza in 1918, until he vanished without a trace. His parents, Elizabeth and Edward Masen Sr., were also patients, and their bodies were recovered.”

During Zak’s monologue, a blurry photo of the Masen family was shown. Mike dropped his hot pocket.

“Is that Cullen?”

---

Mike Newton watched the rest of the episode, growing increasingly nauseous with each passing minute.

The guy in the photos, Edward Anthony Masen, looks almost exactly like Edward Cullen. But there’s no way, right? Even if that Edward had survived the Spanish Flu, there’s no way he’d still be alive now. And even if he was , he wouldn’t look like Edward Cullen. He’d be a wrinkly old man!

Yeah, yeah, Mike told himself. There’s no way. That’s crazy though, Cullen is a dead ringer for that guy. Wow.

---

After that night, appearing on ghost shows became a bit of a running joke in the Cullen household. They had a white board set up behind the television, keeping tally. Given how often paranormal TV shows enjoy venturing into abandoned hospitals and psychiatric wards, Edward and Alice had the most marks, with Alice in the lead, to her unending delight.

One of Emmett’s favorite pastimes, whenever one of them appeared on an episode, was to sit in front of the TV shouting “they’re right here, you idiots!” and “boo!”

Renesmee erupts into giggles whenever he does it, so no one has asked him to stop.

---

Mike Newton has yet to move home from Sacramento. He’d visit Forks during school breaks, and stay for most of the summer, but he kept his apartment in Sacramento until he graduated.

Once it was time to move out, however, him never moving home for the summer came back to bite him.

“ How have I accumulated so much crap ?” Mike sighed as he looked over the haphazard piles of things he needed to shove into boxes. His parents would be here in a few hours with a trailer.

Resigned, Mike sighed and grabbed the first box.

He got distracted, naturally. He had found a box with old high school memories, and was laughing at a picture of himself and Bella “playing” volleyball in the yearbook.

Beneath the pile of yearbooks, there was a thick, nicely printed envelope addressed to him.

Huh. What’s this? Mike thought, as he pulled it out.

“This” was a wedding invitation. Bella’s, actually. Mike smiled. He wondered how she was doing, and resolved to check in with her when he got home.

Over the next few minutes, Mike found his eyes repeatedly straying back to the wedding invitation. Something about it was nagging at him, but he didn’t know what.

I mean, I’ve always thought it was weird how people put their full names on their invitations. Michael Welch Newton? No thank you. He shuddered, and his eyes strayed to the invitation once again. Isabella Marie Swan. That has a nicer ring to it, I guess. But Edward’s is a mouthful. Edward Anthony Masen Cu-

Mike paused. Why did that name sound so familiar? He pulled out his phone. This is probably a long shot . He typed Edward’s name into the search bar.

No results for ‘Edward Anthony Masen Cullen,’ two million results for ‘Edward Anthony Masen.’

Mike dropped his phone.

---

The banner stretching across the windows in the back of the house read “Happy Fourth Anniversary!”

Bella clasped her hands together, and silently thanked that she couldn’t blush anymore. “Aw! You guys are so sweet, thank you!”

“And of course, we have gifts!” Alice beamed at the couple, only Jasper’s hand in hers stopping her from bounding across the room to pull her siblings into a hug.

That, after all, was Renesmee’s job.

“Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!” Ness threw herself into her parents arms. Now almost 4-years-old, Renesmee was the size of a 16-year-old, but had a maturity far beyond her years.

Bella and Edward smiled at their daughter, and simultaneously pressed stone kisses to her flaming cheeks.

Soon after, Jacob’s pack arrived. Over the years, Leah had warmed to the Cullens considerably, though she still scrunched her nose for the first few minutes she was inside. She, Jacob, and Seth each greeted Edward and Bella with a scorching hug.

“Happy anniversary, guys!”

“Thanks, Seth.” Edward smiled while Renesmee went and claimed a couch for her and Jacob.

“Okay, gifts!” Alice flitted around the room. Bella sighed.

Jasper raised an eyebrow, smiling. “You should be proud she lasted this long, Bella.”

Bella laughed. “Yes, heaven forbid Alice learn restraint .”

“ Hey! ”

Bella stuck her tongue out at Alice, Emmett guffawed, Renesmee stifled her laugh in Jacob’s shoulder.

Alice bounced back towards and thrust an envelope into Bella’s hands. She opened the envelope and pulled out 4 plane tickets, round trip, to Ireland.

“Wow, Alice. Thank you, this is too much.” Bella stood and pulled her sister into a hug.

“Well, I wanted to make sure that it was a place that was cloudy enough for you all to go outside during the day, and also spoke English. As fantastic as your German is, Bella, I’m not sure how long you could survive.”

Bella playfully snarled at Alice; Alice cheerfully stuck out her tongue in response.

“I’m just glad you’re getting out of the country so we’re no longer in the blast radius of your hot, passionate -”

“Emmett!” Bella shot a glare in his direction before glancing at Renesmee.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

---

Mike Newton was only staying on the Cullen’s front porch out of sheer force of will. Hell, he was only standing out of sheer force of will. He’d barely slept the last few days, hell, months . Mike had become obsessed, reading everything he could about Edward Anthony Masen, which wasn’t much, and then about the Cullen family--which was somehow even fewer. No social media, no public marriage licenses. He’d found just enough to suggest they existed, not much more. He was no private investigator, but it still rubbed Mike the wrong way.

Dr. Cullen opened the door. “Mr. Newton! What brings you here? Are you alright?”

Mike tried not to throw up. “Yeah, uh, hi! Dr. Cullen. I, uh, well, here’s the thing,” he took a deep breath. “This is probably going to sound ridiculous. I think I’ve actually gone insane, lost it, like my gran. Ha ha! Yeah, uh.”

WIth each word, Dr. Cullen looked more and more concerned. Over his shoulder, Mike could see a ‘Happy Anniversary’ sign.

“So, um, if you could just confirm something for me real fast, that would be great. Spectacular really.”

“Of course, what do you need, Mike?”

The words rushed out of him. “If you could just tell me that Edward is not actually a ghost that somehow has a physical body that would be great.”

The man himself walked into Mike’s field of vision. “Ah, you saw the ‘Ghost Adventures’ episode too, did you? It’s amazing, how much we look alike. Edward Anthony Masen is a cousin of mine, on my biological father’s side.”

Mike blinked dumbly. “Oh. Huh. That, uh, makes a lot of sense. Huh. Okay. Um, thanks, I guess.”

“Of course.”

Smiling, Dr. Cullen closed the door.

---

“What the fuck was that ,” Jacob asked.

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. “It seems, rather annoyingly, that Mike Newton is more clever than I gave him credit for.”

“This is dangerous, Edward,” Carlisle looked nervous. “These shows, and their digging into the past… people that have seen us are starting to recognize us.”

“Surely there is something we can do?” Esme placed a calming hand on Carlisle’s arm.

“You just saw it,” Alice chirped. “Play it off like we’re our own long-lost relatives. We’ve all seen it before; humans want to accept the most reasonable explanation.”

They lapsed into silence, lost in thoughts.

“Edward may want to lose the middle names, though,” Rosalie drolled.

“Yeah,” Leah scoffed. “Probably.” Renesmee laughed.

The tension broke, and their day resumed.

“So,” Jacob swung a fist and bumped Bella’s arm. “When do you want to go to Ireland, bestie?”

Bella groaned.

#twilight #mike newton #bella swan #edward cullen #ghost adventures #jacob black #renesmee cullen #alice cullen #fanfic

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marveloussupernerd · 3 years

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Crowns and Courtships - A Mystic Messenger AU

Chapter 4 - The Scare

This is a regency-era AU where the readers get to pick the final love interest about halfway through the story! All causal and deep story LIs are options :)

Chapter 3

Summary: who tried to harm you? You meet the new stableboy, Saeyoung Choi, and get a surprise visit from Prince Jumin and his family

Words: 2125

To your side you could see a horse galloping in the other direction towards the stables. Sir Zen had pushed you aside to avoid getting run over by the horse, you figured. Although, it wasn’t that hard to put together, considering he was still lying on top of you from tackling you to the ground. Your face heated up, and his turned bright red. He scrambled off of you then offered a hand to help you up. You took it, allowing him to pull you back to standing position.

The second you stood, he dropped onto his knee, his head down. “Please forgive me, Your Highness. I would not have taken you down if I had thought of any other way to protect you.”

You smiled, taking his hand this time and pulling him up. “You were just doing your job. I thank you for that.”

His hand reached up to touch your face, but you quickly pulled away. “You have a cut on your face, Your Highness. I can take you inside and find somebody who can patch it up for you.”

“I’d rather go to the stables and see who could possibly be causing such havoc first,” You requested. It was unusual for a Princess to go out and confront a person like you were, but you weren’t going to let them get away with that, especially with the stress of that one group being after you! Sir Zen offered you his handkerchief so you could wipe away the blood. You gently dabbed at it, a little coming off, then gave it back.

As you made your way to the stables, you noticed a new visitor there. He had right red hair, curly, clearly messed up from riding at such a high speed. He wasn’t too tall, but quite lanky. It was clear he wasn’t a noble. He turned and looked at the two of you. “Yes?”

You couldn’t help but let out a scoff. “You nearly ran me over with your house.”

“I’m sorry?” He replied. It was hardly genuine. He turned back to the horse he was on and took the saddle off.

“Watch your tone; this is the Princess you’re talking to,” Sir Zen warned, his hand on his side. There must have been some sort of concealed weapon on his side, you figured.

“Look,” he turned to you, approaching slowly. “I get that you’re the Princess, but I’m still the same amount of sorry,” he scoffed, “surprisingly enough, you can’t influence my feelings just based on your class.”

Zen’s hand balled into fists, but you stayed calm. You stepped even closer to the man: “And who might you be? That you think you can talk to me like that?”

“I’m the new stableboy, Saeyoung Choi,” he held his hand out for you to shake. You rolled your eyes, which was unlike you, but honestly you had never been treated in this sort of manner.

“You won’t be for long if you keep this act up,” you warned.

“I don’t know about that. The horse your father rode to one of the nearby kingdoms on got hurt; I’m the reason he got back safely. Also it seems your previous one retired,” he explained, a smug smirk on his face.

“Well, Mr. Choi, it seems you have a lot to learn if you’re going to work here.” You turned away from him, then spoke over your shoulder. “Perhaps learning to ride a horse might be your first endeavor.”

“She’s a new horse. Almost impossible to tame,” he explained, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I am sorry that you got hurt, though it seems like you’re walking just fine to me.”

You were wordless, and left the stables, Zen walked alongside you this time, escorting you to the palace so you could get your wound attended to. Although it was nothing big, it was important to make sure it wouldn’t become infected. That would cause much greater problems. Jaehee carefully cleaned it out with water then wrapped it in a bandage. You had tea and dinner in your room that night. You didn’t want anyone to see you like this.

The next morning, the wound had not healed much more. It was still a large gash on your forehead. You got dressed in one of your more comfortable white dresses and decided to spend the day in your room once again. Even though it was a cut, it was embarrassing to be seen with it.

You had Jaehee select a book from the library to interest you, this one was on botany, and lounged in your chaise, legs propped up and head tilted back. It was around time for tea when a knock sounded on the door; it startled you: you hadn’t been expecting any visitors. You assumed it was Jaehee and asked her to enter. It was not.

Standing in the doorway was Prince Jumin. You quickly swung your legs off the chaise and stood up to greet him. “Prince Jumin, what a surprise. Please ignore the disarray of… everything. I think it is obvious that I was not expecting you.” You blushed, setting your book down. Your hair was falling out of its style because you had been lying down, the cut in your face stood out; it was embarrassing.

“Your father visited the other day; I was surprised you were not there as well. He invited us over for tea, but I just heard you were not feeling well. I wanted to send my best wishes,” he explained, still standing in the doorway awkwardly.

“Well if you have not had any tea yet, you are more than welcome to have some with me. I need to get myself together, but I will join you downstairs in a moment,” you mustered; you had been dreading seeing other people, especially another King and Queen, but it would be rude if you didn’t join them for tea.

Jumin took a step closer to you; in fact, you were so close you could make out the green swirls in his gray eyes. You hadn’t realized how much taller he was compared to you. Your breath felt drained out of you. He was so close, yet you found yourself unable to move. “How did you get this cut?” He asked, fingers grazing the rough skin so lightly that you could hardly feel it. Your eyes involuntarily fluttered closed.

Ah! It was just you and him in here. Alone. And you were so close. You finally got yourself to take a step back. “Uh, we got a new horse,” you explained, dancing around the whole embarrassing situation. “It is still being trained and adjusting.

You started walking towards the door to the hall; he followed. “I will be down in just a moment to join you for tea,” you reminded him. He took his leave, kissing your hand before stepping out of the room.

The second he took his leave, it was time to panic. Jaehee was downstairs, likely helping organize the tea. You hurried to your room and used a pin under the bun in order to pull back the hair that had come loose. There was no time to redo the hairstyle, especially not on your own. You loosened the pull of the hair so that it covered the wound on your forehead, then started to make your way downstairs, chewing your lips during the descent so that you could bring some color to them.

“King Henry, Queen Amelia. It is such a pleasure to see you,” you greeted as you entered the room, dropping into a deep curtsy.

“Princess, I like what you’ve done with your hair,” the Queen complimented. She turned to her lady. “You will have to try that style on me sometime.

“Mother, Father, I would like to join you all for tea,” you requested, putting on a practiced smile.

“Of course my dear. I wasn’t sure if you were feeling up to company today. I know you were feeling quite faint after yesterday’s events,” your mother explained. It seemed they had set up the tea date in advance, which was interesting because you were supposed to be choosing your own suitor. You remembered Jumin’s words, that he had always planned the two of you would be arranged to marry. You were certain his family was still pushing for it. It almost annoyed you, but you knew it wasn’t his fault personally; he was probably as forced into this as you were at the moment, if not more because they wanted him to court you.

The group got up and made their way into the sitting room for tea. The two fathers were placed at the heads of the table, with their wives seated to the right of them and then you and Jumin to the right once more. You willed yourself not to look and make awkward eye contact with the prince. Your mother nudged you, encouraging you to start a conversation.

Think of something! Anything! Your mind was completely blank. You stared down at your tea, then glanced up at the prince, then back again, searching your mind for any sort of topic. “Was your travel here pleasant? I know it is a long way,” you mustered.

“It wasn’t too bad, but I cannot wait until we go to the city. Everyone lives so much closer to one another that you aren’t stuck in a carriage for hours,” the Queen explained. The families nodded; going to the city was one of the more exciting parts of the year, and it would be even more busy now that you were looking for a suitor.

“Are you also out for the social season, Prince Jumin?” Your mother asked. Oh the scheming. You had to stop yourself from sighing.

He smiled. He was quite dashing. “Ah, not technically. I still have my sights on marrying a princess, as my parents would like me to do as well. But, I see no downside to courting you, Princess, especially if it works out in the end.” How did he make everything seem so simple? He was extremely well-spoken. It made you feel even more self-conscious. You couldn’t respond. You’d only embarrass yourself.

The men stood up, excusing themselves into the other room so they could do their own things. Your mother poured another cup of tea. “Jumin has grown up so much,” she complimented the Queen sitting across from her. You hated when the men and women split up. You always just complimented one another; you wondered what the men did.

“He is very well spoken,” you added. This was just how the social circles worked. Your job was to compliment each other and ask about the ladies’ families or lands one-by-one.

“Thank you, he tries hard to please everyone. He has ever since he was little: always putting on shoes and sometimes even trying to help the maids clean the rooms,” the queen looked directly at you, “he has a kind heart.” It was a warning, as well as a push that you should get to know him better. You smiled and nodded, acknowledging this point. You paused and took a few sips of your tea.

“Well you’ve become quite a fine young lady as well,” the Queen told you. “I’m sure that plenty of esteemed men will be lining up to meet you. You have done quite a good job raising her,” she told your mother. A double compliment. That way she didn’t have to hand any more out. She was clever. But it was strange she mentioned the courting again. The family must have been secretly upset and/or confused by the ordeal.

You smiled, responding to her. “That has been the hope-”

“She has always been somewhat… outgoing. It does not always fit well with some of the other nobles. Ideally, she will find somebody who not only tolerates her candor but also appreciates it.” Nice work, Mom, coming to your defense.

“That makes complete sense; my Jumin is quite infatuated with you, or the idea of you at the very least,” the Queen complimented. This one was far more genuine, perhaps it was because your mother had exposed your flaws so openly. It made you feel weird. Luckily the men came back into the room.

“I heard my name; hopefully it’s all good things, Mother?” Jumin asked, placing a kiss on his mother’s cheek.

“Oh Jumin, I only ever have good things to say about you.”

The King was peering outside. “It looks quite nice out; why don’t the two of you go for a walk so that we can talk about political issues,” he recommended.

#mystic messenger #mysme #Jumin han #zen #saeyoung choi #707 #Jaehee kang #crownsandcourtships

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