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#you see how a character we just met rejecting another character with a crush within the context of one season because they are a lesbian
The idea of Mike “gently rejecting” Will in S5 is such a silly concept to me. It truly would make zero sense from a narrative perspective or from a character arc perspective. That’s why many Mlvn diehards don’t even really believe it will happen. They believe the show will move on without ever really addressing the Mike-shaped elephant in the room. They believe Will’s happy ending will simply consist of his friends and family accepting him and giving him a hug, and that’s it. And maybe he’ll get an unnamed bf in the finale. (That is, unless the show makes Will a secret villain and kills him off. Then at least he’d be interesting).
Some even take Will’s words at facevalue, believing that El truly commissioned the painting or at least that the intense romantic feelings Will described really belong to her. Now that Mike has confessed his love, they believe that S5 will finally consist of happy Mlvn couple moments, so there won’t be any time for Mike and Will to be together even as friends to talk about any lingering feelings. And why would there be time, since it’s the apocalypse after all, and Will is just a plot device and isn’t really relevant to anything? The Duffers must be exaggerating his importance to S5. The Core 4 is Mike, El, Lucas, and Dustin. Will’s romantic desires are meaningless.
They have to believe all this, cause if they don’t, and they still want to believe in Mlvn endgame, they have to conclude that Will’s emotional desires will be central to the plot of S5, Will’s feelings are the glue that put Mlvn back together, the painting will come up again because El didn’t actually commission it, Mike and Will will be close enough in S5 to have meaningful heart-to-hearts, AND Mike is 100% straight and will…. gently reject Will and promise to always be good pals; he just sadly doesn’t swing that way?
Silliness, objectively.
Anyway, Byler endgame.
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fostersffff · 1 year
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I'm still doing my big write-up post for the second half of Gundam Wing but I'm gonna separate this complaint out to its own post because I think this may be the most perfect example of "there are too many fucking characters in this cast for anything to meaningfully pay off". A lot of text below the break:
On paper, this scene is really cool! After nearly losing a war of attrition against a seemingly endless horde of mobile dolls operating with way more efficiency than they're used to (because they're being controlled directly by Dorothy), the Operation Meteor boys are rallying and functioning as a team for the first time, thanks to Quatre gaining full control of the Wing Zero's ZERO System and taking the lead as field commander. Both sides are confused: Dorothy doesn't understand how the Gundam pilots suddenly started working as a team, and Quatre is surprised the the dolls are trying (and failing) to adjust to his tactics. And as they keep fighting, they both realize, across the battlefield, that the other has taken charge.
The general setup for this scene is also pretty good! While Dorothy hasn't been shown to have any meaningful combat or tactical experience, you can buy that she would be able to overwhelm the Gundam pilots with whatever strategies she may have picked up through her admiration of war and the sheer number of mobile dolls available to her. On the other side, we know just enough information available to make this whole thing a really great showing for Quatre. Of all the Gundam pilots, he's the most qualified to lead the team because he's actually had experiencing in leading the Maganac Corps. It's also super dramatic for him to have to overcome the ZERO System after being the first of the Gundam pilots to nearly succumb to its influence.
The critical problem is that these two characters have not met. There is literally not only no reason, but no way, for either of them to recognize the other as the commander of the operation. The only Gundam pilot Dorothy has interacted with at all is Heero, and otherwise almost all of her time has been spent with Relena or within the Romefeller Foundation. Even if they had met, the only people who know Dorothy is onboard the Libra are people onboard the Libra! Conversely, even if Dorothy had dossiers on all the Gundam pilots and knew Quatre had experience as a commander, she doesn't indicate that she notices Sandrock hanging back and puts 2 and 2 together.
If there were fewer characters in the cast, maybe there would have been time to build up to this moment. Consider the following alternate version of Gundam Wing: while they were both in the Sanc Kingdom, maybe Quatre developed a crush on Dorothy, and she just rejected him flat out, because choose between A.) he's the softest softboy of the Gundam pilots B.) she's gay for Relena C.) she only has eyes for War. Then later, during one of the skirmishes in the Sanc Kingdom, Quatre saves the day by leading some of the refugee soldiers in battle against Romefeller, winning a battle that shouldn't have been won, and Dorothy makes a note of Quatre's talent for leading. Then in another episode, they're in a history class or something and the topic of old wars comes up, and Quatre takes note of Dorothy's enthusiasm for war and familiarity with battle strategies despite being a student in a kingdom advocating for total pacifism. Later he finds out she was a Romefeller spy and everything clicks into place that she's very sneaky and is almost certainly going to wind up an enemy. With just that little bit of setup, this scene makes perfect sense and is a super satisfying payoff that can then build into an even bigger climax later!
But there was no time for anything like that, because we also had to see what Duo was up to, and Trowa, and Wufei, and Sally Po, and Zechs, and Treize, and Catherine, and Hilde, and Relena's butler Pagan, and that dude who kept trying to speak out against Duke Dermail, and that weird old man who was keeping the White Fang warm for Zechs, and...
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067supremacy · 3 years
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Trigger warning: this entry features the reader being followed and grabbed at knifepoint. If this is something that will make you uncomfortable, then please don't read it!!!!
So, I wrote this about a month before Resident Evil Village came out. As you can probably tell as this includes ideas of my own; and missed out some obvious problems that now show after playing the game. It was fun to imagine what the character was like at the time, from what we had to go on! :’) (also, I originally wrote this for the blonde who was rumoured to be called Daniela, but Daniela doesn't get enough love!!)
Guardian-Angel
Living your life at night had become your new regular. Your girlfriend Daniela is unable to live her life during the day, and despite the hardships, it came with, you were more than happy to give up the daylight to be with the woman you love.
Living with a vampire had its ups and downs, but you wouldn't change her for a second. You had been something of a stabilizer for her. When you first met her, she was stuck in her crazy gothic look. She was deadly and bloodthirsty, but you had a way of calming her to a tranquil state. Daniela had two different looks that were determined by her mood. When Daniela was calm, she was a natural beauty. Her Red hair was long and healthy, she had clear skin, and her attitude was caring. But when she was upset, Daniela was utterly different. She was full of anger, covered in black from head to toe, the surrounding area of her mouth was covered in crimson red, her fangs would grow through frighteningly sharp, and wasps would manifest seemingly out of nowhere.
You knew the dangers of living with a vampire, but it didn't matter to you. You trusted Daniela with your life. The first time you slept in the same bed as her, you couldn't help but worry about the possibility of her biting you. Little did you know that she could sense your worry and had even decided to tease you about it by resting her face in the crook of your neck. Daniela was in love with you. And deep down, she feared that one day your time would come. After all, she would be here long after your demise. The conversation of turning you was something she had yet to do, but the thought was always there. She had come close plenty of times to ask you to be with her for life, but her idea of rejection led her to remain happy with what she had.
It had just gone 1 am when you left 7-Eleven in a hurry. The pitch-black sky was unnerving but relaxing at the same time. There was a lot to enjoy about the night-time. Like, how quiet the streets were, how empty the store was, and how the sleepy nightlife was stunning to look overhead. The stars lead you home as you silently walk by yourself, you curse at the fact you left your headphones at home, but at least you could enjoy the walk back.
The dim streetlights ahead offer little visibility, but they give you absolute comfort. You come to the end of the high street where fast-food restaurants end, and the streets get much darker. With no cars going by, it's hard to tell what's up ahead when you turn right into a second street in which should be a straight shot to your apartment. You notice a man traveling just a few steps behind you. You felt uneasy about it but pushed the thought to the back of your mind. You speed up slightly to put some distance between you. The way the world was nowadays, you couldn't trust this situation; it is sad but true.
You decide to do a full circle through an alleyway and back out to the street out of curiosity. Sure enough, the shadow figure follows your every move, and that's the last that you were going to play with this. You pull out your phone and call Daniela with shaky hands. The phone rings once, and the voice you love so much answers cheerfully, but you can't even remember what she said as you were blinded with panic.
"Dani, I think someone is following me," you say in a hushed tone as to not alert the shadow figure following you. Almost as quickly as you finished the sentence, you can hear the familiar sound of wasps manifesting in the background. There is no time to be wasted in Daniela's mind. You can already hear the change in her voice as she asks for your location.
It's like you can feel Daniela's heart aching at the thought of your discomfort, something inside you doesn't feel right when Daniela gets like this, and it's ultimately why she agreed to stay calm in all circumstances.
"Just keep walking home, baby. I'll come and meet you." Your vampire girlfriend replies as you hear the phone fall to the floor and the raging hive leaves the apartment. The sound goes quiet, and you're left with your thoughts, but not for long as the footsteps get closer and louder. You can feel the presence on your heels. Before you know it, a large hand had taken you by the arm and directed you into the closest alleyway.
You yelp at the tight grip on your arm, the groceries you had from shopping had been sent to the floor, but you clutched your purse for dear life. The shadow figure was around 5ft 10Inches tall. The person was stocky in build, rugged looking. They wore a black hoodie and a black balaclava. The only thing you could see was the person's eyes. They pierced through you, you couldn't tell if they held hostile intent or if they were just trying to scare you, but that didn't matter. The person pushes you to a corner and unsheathes a small blade.
A man's voice, deep and resonant, shoots out from his mouth. "I'm gonna need that purse and whatever jewelry you have on you," He waves the blade before your eyes, almost teasing you that he had the upper hand.
Your fears boil over as the tears start to stream, and you feel powerless. You fold your arms over your purse in an act of defiance. The man in front of you seems to be getting impatient already, but you manage to bumble out a small plead, "Please, just let me go," The man chuckles at your plea.
"Just give me your shit, and then you can go. I won't even hurt you," the man jokes dryly. At this point in time, the tables had turned, "You can go now, and you won't get hurt," you confidently claim. Your confidence comes from the single wasp that crawls up the sleeve of the man's hoodie, but the single wasp was soon joined by another one, and then two more.
"I'm not fucking playing around now, give me your th- "he's cut off by the sting of a wasp on his neck. The few on his hoodie fly to the end of the alleyway. A woman's laugh surrounds the area, an angry hive of wasps come together and begin to form the silhouette of a tall woman. Your woman.
The man takes a step back in fear, which gives you the chance to storm toward the love of your life. You smoothly run straight past the form of Daniela, something that the man tries to replicate, but the swarm of wasps begins to surround him. They trap him within a tunnel. You knew what this was and where it was going. Daniela was manifesting into her proper, vampire form.
"the man screams and thrashes around, attempting to swat the wasps away from him, but his attempts were futile. The manifestation of her form becomes complete when she pushes him to the floor. Her movement is quirky but calculated. The wasps cocoon the two in a small dome. Keeping him grounded, Daniela laughs at the man's terrified figure. She taunts him with her newfound power.
"She gave you a chance, oh darling, you should have listened to her." Daniela spits her venomous, spiteful tone at the robber. The man attempts to slash at Daniela, and he catches her with the tip of the blade, but her form sheds more of the wasps surrounding the two instead of blood. She laughs demonically as she picks him up with effortless strength. She shoves him against the wall and prepares to end him.
From behind her, you force your way through the hive and touch her shoulder, which has a visible effect on her. She lets her grip on his shoulder loosen slightly. You assure her that you were unharmed, which seems to sway her, but you can still feel her rage within you. You use the power that you hold over Daniela by commanding that she let him go. She's come too far in her time with you to collapse into her bloodthirsty stage again.
And so, she lets the man run, he quickly flees the scene looking like he had just seen a vampire....... Daniela carefully watches the man disappear into the night. The second he is gone, her walls break down, and her softer side comes back out. The crazy gothic vampire look is gone without a trace. Daniela pulls you into her and crushes you into a tight hug. She couldn't lose you. The thought broke her every emotion as she held you. You could hear her breath hitch as she let it all out. Daniela was crying on your shoulder in a dark alleyway at 1:30 am.
"I love you, Y/N. I can't lose you; it would destroy me. I need you safe. I need you alive." She continues to unload every emotion. You reciprocate everything. The massive hug is filled with love and passion. Before you break the hug, you lean into her ear and whisper, "I love you too, Dani. I'm not going anywhere; nothing is going to happen to me. Not when I have my Guardian-Angel protecting me,"
A/N
I'm planning on doing part two, where Daniela has the talk with the reader about turning them into a Vampire. P.S I absolutely love the idea of her being like a normal looking girl when she's calm, but you piss her off........ Game over.
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buckyownsmylife · 3 years
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Black and white - Henry Cavill smut
The one where Henry is a vampire and he’s been trying to keep you safe by distancing himself. 
Warnings: vampire!Henry AU, blood, smut 
A/N: this was requested by anon waaaay back in october 😅 It’s finally here!
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Y/N’s P.O.V.
The bell rang as another customer entered the shop, but I was too busy jotting down the books Miss Gayle was buying that it took me a minute to raise my head to greet them. When I did, I immediately wished I’d just ignored the sound, despite the fact that it was both absolutely impolite and completely out of character for me.
Nonetheless, it was done, and I scrambled to replace the smile that had fallen from my face at the sight of Henry with another one, albeit a visibly plastic replacement. It was nothing like the ones I usually greeted my customers with, and by the way Henry flinched and Miss Gayle raised an eyebrow, it was easy to see that I was in no way comfortable with the new arrival.
“I’ll be with you in a second,” I barely acknowledged him, turning back to the nice old lady who had kept her weekly visits to my shop ever since I first opened it. It was times like these where I’d wish I actually had people working for me. “That’ll be 35 dollars, Miss Gayle. Do you want a receipt?”
Eyebrows still raised, she simply fished two twenties before handing them to me, just as I handed her a five back. She always tried to leave me with some sort of tip, but I’d known her well enough by now to be able to anticipate her antics.
“You’re impossible, dear,” she’d always tease me, to which I’d laugh heartily. The only difference was that today, after our usual banter, she chanced a glance at Henry, who was trying to pretend to be busy while looking at some bookcases, before turning back to me. “Give him a chance. He clearly cares about you, and you need someone to do so, so you don’t end up like me, all alone with only this store to keep you company.”
The unrequested advice took me by surprise, and I froze in my spot, staring back at her with her receipt still in my hand. It was only when she reached out to take it from me that I snapped out of it, hopefully blinking my confusion away from my face.
It wouldn’t be the first time I seriously considered the possibility that Miss Gayle was actually a witch. 
“I think you’re misreading the situation, Miss Gayle. But don’t worry, if it’s any consolation, so have I.” She frowned at my words, undoubtedly pondering over what I could possibly mean, but I tried to keep a smile on my face as I walked her to the door. Any excuse to keep myself away from the man waiting for my attention.
When the bell rang again, signaling her leaving, I sighed, trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever the hell was about to happen. But before I could even turn around to face him, Henry’s voice cut through my whirlwind of thoughts, declaring, “She’s right, you know that?”
I hummed halfheartedly, not wanting to turn around and deal with this, but knowing it was better to get on with it already. “Right about what? About you caring for me? I don’t doubt that, Henry, but I also don’t think I was wrong in what I told her. I clearly misread whatever it was we had going on, because I thought you had taken me out on a date and I thought you had been too nervous to take the first step and kiss me goodnight, so for the first time in my life I gathered enough courage to initiate a kiss, only to be rudely pushed away before you disappeared for days.”
It all came out in one jumbled speech, my need to get those feelings out making me run over the words while I tried to get through this to save me the embarrassment of having to relive that night again. It was all I’d thought about for days, and just when I was finally about to get over it, he just had to waltz back into my shop and throw me on a loop again.
“Look, I don’t mind that you don’t reciprocate my feelings and I don’t mind that I made a fool of myself that night. Did it suck? Yes. A lot. But what really hurt was the fact that that stupid risk I decided to take was miscalculated, because even if I considered the idea of you not reciprocating my feelings, I never thought you would simply allow it to destroy what I considered to be a good and strong friendship. Because that’s how I saw you, first and foremost. As a friend.”
I took a long breath as I finally averted my eyes from him, trying to force myself not to cry in front of this man and become even more pathetic to the one person who I wanted to impress more than anyone else in my life. God, this crush was going to destroy me, just how weak was I?
I didn’t really expect any sort of response from him. What could he say after all of that? Still, it took me by surprise when he interrupted my string of self-deprecating thoughts. “I don’t want to be a friend.”
My heart started to pound inside my chest, my eyes suddenly meeting his again. As much as the sick part of my mind wanted to tell me that he was saying he didn’t want to have any association with me anymore - he did avoid me for three days, after all - rationally, it was clear that he meant something else entirely.
Henry’s P.O.V.
  I watched her eyes grow bigger, her breathing becoming more laboured. I could hear her blood pumping more rapidly on her veins, calling out to me, but for the first time since we met, it was easy for me to ignore it. I didn’t want to lose her, in any shape or form. All of my attention was focused on her and her reactions, because I needed her to believe in me.
“You weren’t wrong. It was a date, or at least I wanted it to be a date. And I did chicken out when it came to kiss you goodnight, but it wasn’t for the reason that you’re thinking.” She was frowning, clearly trying to understand what I was hiding, but this wasn’t the time or the place. “Give me another chance,” I whispered, reaching out for her hand when I heard the bell over the door of her bookstore ringing again, signaling the arrival of another customer. “Go out with me tonight. I promise that I’ll explain everything.”
Her brows furrowed deeply, I knew she was having a hard time deciding to trust me again, to put her heart on the line once more. And I hated myself for putting her in such a situation. I hated that I’d wrecked her self-esteem, made her doubt my feelings for her.
Which was why I knew that I was making the right choice by fighting to stay in her life.
“Okay,” came her answer finally, yet not at all in a firm tone. It broke my heart, but I understood. “Come and pick me up after I close the store. I’ll be waiting.” And with a simple nod, she dismissed me until later.
Fair enough. I knew she had things to do and that she needed time to go over the repercussions of what I had just admitted, but a part of me was scared that being apart would simply make her second guess her decision. Still, I needed to respect it. I owed her at least that. So I left her to her own devices, trusting that when I got back to the store she would really be there for me to pick her up.
Y/N’s P.O.V.
I spent the rest of the day unable to concentrate on my work activities. Everything I did, my mind brought me back to Henry and those two very pungent moments when I was with him. The night of our “date” and this morning.
My gut told me I hadn’t made a mistake in accepting his request for an explanation. Even during those days apart, I knew there was a reason for his behavior, I just… I knew it. I couldn’t explain it, especially since we didn’t even know each other for that long. But it was the same thing that made me trust him implicitly. The same feeling in the depths of my soul that recognized him somehow, that made me start to fall for him during long conversations over coffee in my bookshop.
Still, my mind begged me to run away, to protect myself. I didn’t need to go through this again. Nothing stopped him from rejecting me again - in fact, that was very likely to happen. Doesn’t love work out just like… 1% of the time? 
Just when I was starting to freak myself out, I heard my name being uttered from behind me, making me jump in the air. “God, make a noise or something,” I complained, a hand over my heart as I turned around to find him clearly trying very hard not to laugh at me. 
“Sorry.” Narrowing my eyes at him, I simply noted, “You don’t look sorry at all.” He wanted to laugh again, I knew that, but he didn’t. Instead, his eyes became peculiarly soft as he pondered over what to say. “You’re right, I’m not sorry. You look really cute when you’re scared. Can I kiss you now?” 
I should say no. Right? I should totally say no. But I had been crushing on this guy for the last few months and in that second, all I seemed to be able to do was to nod, my breath hitching when he approached to cradle my entire face with his huge hands. God, he was so beautiful, even more from up close. 
But just when the distance between our lips was about to become nonexistent, just when all I could hear was the blood in my veins being pumped on maximum speed due to the way my heart was pounding in my chest, he hesitated, breaking the spell.
“We shouldn’t,” he whispered almost against my mouth, so close that I could feel his cold breath on my face. “I shouldn’t.” I couldn’t really call it a clarification, since it only left me more confused.
Even worse, it awakened that awful, burning feeling of humiliation, that reignited the fires of embarrassment deep within my stomach. “Why do you do this to me?” His eyes grew big at the realization of my anger, like somehow, he didn’t expect it at all. 
“Did you come here only to break me further? I can’t handle this, Henry. I don’t need this. Please, leave.” For a second, I thought he would, but I don’t know why. Nothing in his demeanor betrayed that would be his intention. If anything, it was the precise opposite. As the concern disappeared from his face, his expression solidified in a hardened mask that showed just how serious he was about whatever it was that he needed to say.
Henry’s P.O.V.
“No. I’m not leaving. Not until you hear what I have to say. Please.” I could see the hesitation on her, and I knew it was deserved. I deserved it. I knew it just as well as I knew that I didn’t deserve her. 
But she did deserve an explanation, and I was going to give her that. And if she could find it in herself to still want me in her life, maybe we could be something more. God knows how much I actually wanted to kiss her.
“Not here,” I implored, needing her to give me just a little bit more of her time. “Can I please join you in your home?”
It took some time, but at last, she nodded, making sure the door of the bookshop was properly locked before silently making her way down the street, taking the path that I had followed so many times before, when I’d accompany her on her trajectory after work. But back then the air was lighter, there was chatter and laughter between us. Now, it felt cold, even colder than my skin.
Thankfully, we were by her house before long. She looked over her shoulder before moving to unlock the door, like she wanted to make sure I was still there. There was absolutely no way I’d leave her hanging like that again, especially since she had found it in her to continuously give me another chance.
“Thank you,” I peeped when she invited me in, quickly assuming the seat she pointed me to. I was even more thankful for the fact that she still chose to sit by my side on the sofa, instead of pulling a chair to keep some space between us. Maybe she liked to be in a close proximity to me just as much as I did with her.
“I… don’t know where to start,” I began, suddenly self-conscious and doubting everything I’d decided on my way here again. But then she shrugged, and the realization that I was about to lose her before I even had her was enough to get me to suddenly blurt out, “I’m a vampire.”
At first, there was no reaction at all. She remained seemingly unfazed, arms crossed in front of her chest, expression thoroughly unreadable. I would be sweating if I could, but as it were, I just started babbling even more. 
“Please, don’t be afraid. I’d never hurt you. I promise. But that’s why I’ve been keeping away, I… I feel so attracted to you, but I couldn’t let you fall for me without knowing who I truly am. And this is who I truly am. Still me. Just a little bit older than you thought.” Still no answer, until suddenly she cut the silence that had fallen in the living room with a long drawn-out breath, before exclaiming, “I’m not afraid.”
That was literally the last thing I thought she would say immediately after I admitted my secret.
Y/N’s P.O.V.
“You… You’re not afraid of me?” He repeated, clearly not believing what I had just said.
“No.” After a few seconds of silence, he ended up cutting the tension in the room with a request.
“Then tell me what you’re thinking.” As bizarre as the situation was and as confused as my feelings for Henry were at the moment, I couldn’t help but to joke, “What, you can’t read my mind?”
He pursed his lips, clearly unamused but at the same time relieved that I wasn’t angry or afraid of him. I took a deep breath, still looking him dead in the eyes, before admitting, “I’m thinking… that I really want to fuck you.”
That caught him by surprise.
“You want me?” I had to huff, rolling my eyes at his stupidity. How could someone be this unaware of social queues? Or, better yet, of his own attractiveness?
“Yes, I want you. And I’m done holding myself back from getting what I want.” And with that, I climbed on his lap, tugging him down to meet my lips by the collar of his shirt. He was cold, colder than he should be, but I don’t think I would have noticed if I didn’t know who - or actually, what - he was.
He tasted like mint, and a little bit like coffee. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t something this ordinary. And I especially wasn’t expecting to like it so much. But suddenly, he grasped my hips, stopping my unconscious slow grind against his crotch. “I’m not sure you’ve completely understood what this means,” he started, and I had to laugh. 
“You drink blood, right? What else is there to understand? I like you, Henry. I’m not gonna suddenly stop liking you over something like this. Now please, can you kiss me? I’ve been waiting for this for so long...” I don’t know if it was my words or my pouty face, but something made him grab me with a new vigor that had me screaming in excitement.
“I knew you were perfect for me,” he whispered as he rubbed his nose on my cheek, making me giggle with delight. The absolute sweetness of the statement had my heart skipping a beat momentarily.
“Then kiss me, you idiot.” Thankfully, he did just so. And although I could still feel his restraint, I now understood what it meant - and it was so much easier to deal with when I had his lips to distract me. 
When I had to pull apart to catch my breath, he kept his mouth on my skin, slowly tracing a path from my jaw down to my throat, and when he got to my jugular, he stopped, simply inhaling while I felt his mouth water on top of it. “You ever wonder what I taste like?” I teased, running my hand through his curls, and he pulled away to look me in the eyes, first in concern and then in lust.
Henry’s P.O.V.
“All the fucking time.” Instead of being afraid, the little mixen bit on the lower lip I wished I still had between my own teeth, before remarking, “That’s kinky.” It had me roaring with laughter until I felt the need to attack her mouth with mine again.
“I’ll show you kinky.” After she had to separate from me to catch her breath once more, I traced the path her blood followed down her neck until the neckline of her dress, before softly pulling the sleeves down on each side so I could lave her collarbone and shoulders with my tongue, too.
“Do you want a taste?” She whispered, the question making me freeze for a second, my fingers pressing even tighter in the soft skin of her hips. I could feel her heartbeat under them. She was so… alive. Perhaps that’s why she made me feel like that, too.
“I couldn’t possibly ask you for that.”
“You’re not asking.” I tried to find something, anything in her eyes that showed me a sign of humour, but there was nothing. She was honestly doing this. I hesitated for a while, until she used the grip she had on my curls to pull me down against her neck, that she exposed even more to me by throwing her head back. “Please.”
My eyes trailed down the curve of her shoulder as I felt my fangs starting to grow. A swipe of my tongue over them confirmed what I already knew: they were ready. With one last look into her eyes to see if she wanted to back out, I leaned over her and pierced the neck of my beloved, sucking just enough to allow me to taste the magnificent essence that kept her alive before I retreated and lapped the few droplets that still escaped the punctures.
The sight of her breathing hard, making her breasts jump up to my face as I kept her safe in my lap was enough to get me completely hard. “Bed. Now.” That was the only warning I gave her before I rose up from the couch with her clinging to my body, legs wrapped around my back. She giggled against the kiss I stole from her lips, undoubtedly tasting a little bit of herself, before keeping on with the trend of endlessly teasing me for her own amusement.
“You know, I don’t really feel like sleeping right now.” I growled at her continuing giggles, squeezing her ass to grind her against my hardness. I wanted to know just how thoroughly fucked she’d be.
“You’re not going to sleep any time soon, darling.” Reconnecting our lips, I followed blindly in the direction of what I assumed her bedroom to be located, only stopping to let her catch her breath because she pulled away. I would have to be better at remembering that she needed that.
“You never told me what I tasted like,” she breathed out against my lips, buying herself more time to get some air into her lungs. It made me laugh, the question sounding absurd considering everything, but this is precisely what I loved about her.
“Like fucking candy, how about that?” She screamed as I dipped her back, laying her down on the mattress before climbing over her again. “I really want to know if it’s the same down there.”
She clinged to me eagerly, legs wrapping around my body as her hands made quick work of my shirt. It felt intoxicating to see just how desperate she was for me, just how she reciprocated my own desire.
Y/N’s P.O.V.
The second I was laid bare for his eyes to take in, a sharp inhale resonated through the room. I could feel his eyes trailing down my body, drinking me in, and it made me dizzy with desire. “You’re so beautiful.” His voice was barely over a whisper, and still, I heard it in my very soul.
But then, a thumb was running over my lower lips, teasingly opening me up to his gaze, and I mewled at just how great it felt to be this exposed to him. “And so wet,” he added, using that same thumb to collect some of the moisture I could feel starting to drip from me and then rubbing it all over my pussy.
“What are you gonna do about it?” I asked, trying to muster all of the defiance I could find, but my body was weakened by my need for the man hovering above me - and he knew. He just knew he had reduced me to a needy, whimpering mess, and he was loving every second of it.
His thumb found my clit and he massaged it for a bit, eyes trapping mine in his hypnotizing gaze as he pondered over my question. Until, finally, there was an answer. “I want you to touch yourself.”
Okay, this wasn’t what I was hoping for. But still, I could see the hint of nervousness in his eyes, even if buried under deep layers of desire. So I was happy to oblige, my own hand slowly traveling down my body until it met his, right when he raised the thumb that had been just touching me there up to my lips.
“Open up.” My eyes fluttered shut as my mouth dropped open to accept the digit, and I eagerly swirled my tongue around it before sucking, while my own fingers slowly explored my dripping opening. I don’t know if it was the action he was getting on his thumb or if it was the vision of me dipping two fingers inside of myself and moaning around him, but in a second he had pulled both his and my hands away and had lunged himself at me.
“Eager, aren’t we?” I joked, fully enjoying that for at least this millisecond, I had the upper hand again. Henry didn’t seem to mind, if the way he licked his lips and delved to bruise mine in a breathtaking kiss was any indication of it.
“I’ve dreamed about being in your bed for so long,” he admitted, and my heart grew twice its size at the thought of him actively wishing for this, just like I’d done when I laid in this bed hundreds of nights ever since we met.
“How long has it been?” I asked, hugging his body closer to mine, already addicted to the way it felt to have his weight over me. “Ever since you’ve… done this before, I mean.” Henry chuckled, but didn’t immediately answer as he kept himself busy by littering my collarbones with kisses and lovebites, making me offer my chest up to him. When he grasped one of my breasts in his large hand, I couldn’t stop the loud moan that echoed around the room as my heart beated wildly right under his palm.
“I don’t even remember,” he finally answered, but by then, I had all but completely forgot what I’d even asked. He was slowly but surely messing with my mind and my ability to hold coherent thoughts, all I could focus on was the feeling of his cold hands running over my sweaty skin and his lips licking every inch of me. “It doesn’t even matter. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone as much as I want you.”
Henry’s P.O.V.
The whine she let out was clearly a complaint and a request in itself, making me chuckle against her delicious skin. “Soon,” I promised, nearing the place I was longing to be. “I need to feel you cumming on my lips, first.”
The sigh she let out as I buried my nose on the small curls just over where her fingers had been buried made it clear that she wasn’t about to complain about my plan, at least for now. Still, I needed her to give me the time I needed to fully appreciate this, so while I caressed her thighs to allow myself the space I needed to work with, I negotiated, “I promise I’ll make you feel so good.”
She didn’t seem to doubt when I stuck out my tongue and gave her a temptative first lick, immediately groaning at the incomparable sweetness and diving in for more. She gasped and wrapped her thighs around my head, like she wanted to make sure I wouldn’t leave her hanging, but I was sure I’d never leave the space between her legs again.
Sweet, so sweet and wet. I’d spent so long imagining her taste on my tongue, both of her blood and of her juices, and now I knew that she truly was sweet all over. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to pretend I hadn’t tried the god’s ambrosia for the rest of my life, so I sincerely hoped this really meant she truly wanted me forever.
I lost myself to the activity of exploring her pussy with my tongue, eyes closed to better imprint the taste and the sounds she was emitting into the depths of my memory. I was so into my meal, the lapping sounds of her drenched cunt surrounding us and only adding to the powerful symphony of her moans, that when she came, covering my face in her release, I was taken by surprise.
“You know…” She started, as soon as she was able to catch a breath while I sucked the juices dripping from her. “This isn’t the type of eating I expected a vampire to be so good at.” That made me look up to meet her eyes, and the second I did so, taking in the humorous glint in them and the way she pressed her lips tightly together to contain the laughs that were certainly threatening to escape, I lost it.
“I don’t think I ever laughed so much during sex.” I nuzzled in her neck, before depositing a quick kiss on her pouty lips. Her tongue came out to lick them as soon as we parted, like she was chasing away her own taste that I knew was still present in my mouth.
“Then I don’t think you’ve been doing this the right way.” I felt her tiny hands pressing on my shoulders, and it took me a while to figure out she was trying to invert our positions. When I did get it, I allowed my torso to fall on the soft mattress by her side, hands immediately flying up to caress her body as she climbed on me.
“I want your cock in my mouth.”
I groaned as I heard those words, paired with the gentle rock of her wet cunt over my still clothed member. How could one resist such sensuous sin? But I had more pressing needs in the moment, and as I had to remind her, “The night is still young. As tempting as that is… No,  don’t look at me like that. Do you have any idea what you do to me, you little minx? I have to be inside of you now.”
Her eyes made it clear that she didn’t feel all that terrible about my denial, but still, she asked, “Later, then?” Chuckling, I brought her down to whisper in her ear, “ Believe me, we have all the time in the world. You’re not going to sleep anytime soon. I’ll keep you in this bed forever, if I have my way.”
I heard her suck in a breath and I took advantage of the brief moment of surprise that rendered her immobile to drag two fingers along her folds before curling them in. “Oh, wow. Now that is a sight.” Just the tone of perplexity in my voice had her clenching around me, and when I began to laugh yet again, she brace herself on my chest and groaned, “Are you going to fuck me or keep staring?”
I looked up to meet her eyes, making sure she was looking directly at me as I pulled my fingers out and licked them before grabbing a hold of my member and running it over her pussy. “Take a guess.”
The moment that we became fused in the corporeal sense, it became clear to me just how entwined our souls already were. There was no escaping our connection, not anymore. “Does this feel good,” I teased her as she released a particularly high moan, fingers gripping my shoulders tightly as she threw her head back and tried to keep riding me. I took this opportunity to nibble and nip at her jaw and neck, teasing myself with the feeling of her blood pumping right underneath my open mouth.
“Yes, yes,” she screamed, picking up her movements as I kept fucking myself up against her, too. “Deeper, harder, please, Henry!” The desperation in her voice had me roaring, and in a quick movement I had her under me again.
“Fuck, you feel perfect,” I whispered under my breath right when she grabbed a hold of my locks and pulled me to meet her lips again. “Are you ready?” I knew she was close by the way she was moaning, and all it took was for her eyes to meet mine so I could feel her clenching around me. “No falling asleep, remember? Or maybe you want me to keep going even if you do end up passing out.” It was just a joke, but her whine made it very clear that she didn’t mind the perspective.
“Don’t worry, angel. I’m right here. I’ll give you everything you want, I’ll be everything you need. For the rest of your life.”
“I know.”
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baku-writes · 3 years
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Omgggg I just love the hawks request you did it was amazing and sooo good imma request something similar to it but with DABI/ Touya todoroki can you do where the reader and Touya as children like yk childhood friends both grew up with parents who abused them and one day Touya was about to get beaten badly in training and the reader took it for them ( timeskip when they learnt Touya died they were absolutely sadand almost suicide? And DABI finds her in time and they just talk and confess? <333 :)
AAAAAA I LOVE THIS IDEA!! Personally, even though Dabi isn't my fav character I love his backstory. I just find it so interesting.
Touya todoroki x gn!reader (mostly children versions so angst and fluff)
TW: Abuse, fake suicide (?), suicidal thoughts, minor bodily injury (mentions of burnt skin, bruises and blood). ANGST, spoilers (?)
Back from the dead
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Summary: you and touya todoroki grew up together and were both victims of brutal parenting. However, when you took the punishment for Touya it was the final straw... he wasn't Touya anymore...
Life was difficult.
It always had been.
Your entire life you were told you would be nothing, your parents beat you into submission until no motivation ever sparked within you other than to be what they wanted. They wanted a hero. The next number one, just like allmight. They didn't want another version of endeavor, but a capable young hero who could fight any villain and take them down with ease.
Your parents weren't pro heroes, both were rejected by UA and didn't pass the hero course for any other school. It crushed them. But also drove them to insanity. Everything they had ever worked for in their childhood come crashing down within a short period of their lives, that is how the both met. However, when they had you they saw a sadistic glimmer of hope. Hope that their 'spawn' could do what they couldn't and hope that their child could live out their dream for them.
And so they would train you. And train you. And train you. Until you couldn't walk, talk and sometimes even eat due to exhaustion. But once they realised they could no longer give you any more training boosts due to their lack of experience, they handed you off to the number 2, endeavour. Even though they despised him, if that is what they had to do to make you strong.... they were going to make you do it.
And there you met Touya. A young boy, the same age as you, with aspirations and dreams of becoming the hero his father wanted him to be. However, like your parents, they taught this motivation through sadistic punishments and abusive training.
It was obvious the kid was worn out. Burn scars scorched his arms and even his face. It confused you, but also made you protective of him. You hated how overworked he was. You hated to see him get hurt. Ofcourse you wouldn't tell anyone this, knowing your sadistic parents they would threaten his life to motivate you.
One day it was the usual training. Your parents dropped you off at the number 2's house, with only a single bottle of water and a small dirt kids towel. Your overgrown and unkept hair was in an uncomfortably tight messy bun and your limbs ached from the previous days grueling training.
The day started off as normal: using your quirk until you couldn't do it anymore or collapse from exhaustion. Your quirk is called manipulation, it allows you to manipulate the shapes of near by non living objects, fir example you could make a smooth rock spiky. However, your quirk took a lot of focus and energy, so far you could only use your quirk on objects as large as a vase, you were only young.
Touya was next to you, hot flames spewing from his hands and arms. Singing his skin and burning the near by area... that was until he noticed his dads near by ornament fall and shatter on the ground.
Was this ornament important to endeavor? No. But would he still be pissed? Yes.
Fear immediately clouded Touya's mind....
"Nonononono" his panicked cries began to fill the room as you ran over to him, his cries would only alert endeavour sooner. Not because endeavour would be worried for him, but because endeavour would be angry at whatever he had done.
"Touya calm down. Here, I'll sweep it u-"
You barely had time to look up when you hear the sound of the door slam and angry heavy footsteps head towards the training room. Oh no. He's heard.
The door slammed open and silence cascaded over the room. Everything went still as time began to slow, the only sound you could hear was your heart thumping against your rib cage. Touya was going to get hurt.... and you hated that.
"Touya..... did you break the ornament?" He was calm at first. Some may see this as a good sign, but you two know better. He was going to explode any minute, he was a ticking time bomb waiting to blow.
"DID YOU BREAK THE FUCKING THING?" His voice was raised, his steps heading towards the two of you.
He raised his hand, ready to hit his son until your voice chimed in. Weak and unconfident you stood in front of your chest friend as you spoke.
"It was me... I broke it."
Silence filled the room. The scowl on his face grew deeper as he grabbed onto your arm with force.
"You know what's going to happen. Don't tell a fucking soul, you hear me?"
.....
After around 10 minutes you left the backroom, beaten and bloodied. Ofcourse, it wasn't to a severe extent, but still enough to hurt and be noticed by any possible strangers.
Touya didn't speak to you for the rest of the day.... and the next day training was cancelled...
Touya was dead.... death by fire. It was suicide. You knew it.
(TIME SKIP, CURRENT TIME)
The fall from the bridge seemed welcoming. You had got no where in life, running away from your parents at the age of 16 you found yourself helpless and homeless years later.
Recently, you discovered everything was a lie... Toiya wasn't dead... well the Touya you knew was. But the body if him was alive, just being controlled by a man who goes by the name "Dabi". You didn't want to accept that ot was your friend, you didn't want to accept the fact that you still liked him. He was a murderer... you should hate him. But what you hated even more was how you pitied endeavour, the abuser who tortured you two and lead his own son to 'suicide'. He had changed, but you will never forgive him.
The hopelessness and confusion in your life was too much. You let the cool air whip against your face for the final few minutes, you might as well enjoy the last moments in your life. Ironically, it was peaceful, you never really got peace before. And it had to be your final moments that ot decided to make an appearance.
Now was the time. The time to end this miserable life. The time to end the memories and pain that tormented you for years. You would never have to get hurt again, the pain will just stop and never appear. No one will miss you, your friend is gone and your family was never there. Tears began to pour down your face as you realised your life was nothing but a misery... you never even lived. You just survived...
You took a step closer to the ledge.
Until you felt a harsh tug pull you back and force you onto the concrete floor.
"OW WHAT THE HELL?!"
Your head shot up to glare at who ever pulled you down to the ground. But your blood ran cold as a white haired 5'9 figure covered in burn scars stood in front of you...
"D-dabi."
Shock overwhelmed your system, the tears ran down your face faster as you come face to face with your 'dead' best friend. The boy who abandoned you all those years ago..... the man who you never got over...
"Come on now, you know that's not my name." His smile creased his face and wrinkled his scars a little and his held out his hand to you. Warily, you took his hand and allowed him to pull you up. Should you trust him? He was a murderer.... but he was your friend.....
"Long time no see, huh?" He chuckled a little bit. Was this a fucking normal meeting for him. Is he making a guxking joke out of this.... after he abandoned you all those years ago, just to become some low life thug who murders people. INNOCENT PEOPLE.
"What the fuck? Is this funny to you? You think this is funny? Laughing when you left me all those years ago. Laughing when you become this.... a- a... A monster, a freak who murderers out of revenge? Fuck you."
Anger shot through you. You don't care if this gets you killed, either he will do it or you'll do it yourself. He was a monster. A killer. Everything you ever despised in one person. A person you used to love turned into a revenge crazed maniac who kills the innocent.
Surprise flooded his features as you rammed a finger into his chest.
"YOU KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE. YOU HAVE PROBABLY KILLED FUCKING CHILDREN! Who the hell do you think you are coming to see me after what, 5 to 10 years? FUCK I don't even remember anymore because I don't see the point in keeping track of the days I had to live thinking you died! You're a monster...."
Your figure began to crumple, your tough exterior caving in as your pent up emotions broke free from their cage. You collapsed into his arms as he ran a soothing hand down your back. You were so confused.... you were angry yet happy. Sad at what he had become but proud of his strength to fight back...
"Why did you leave me Touya? I c-could of saved you..."
The cool breeze blew against the two of you as Touya continued running soothing strokes down your back. Suprisingly, he was guilty. But he wasn't here to see you upset. He was here to get you, save you, help you. He was here to take you to the LOV, his new family.
"I know I left, but I'm here now. I'm taking you to the League, but I promise they won't hurt you. They are family, you want to change the world right? Fix society? That's our goal too. We have all been hurt one way or another.... but please. Come with me. Let me make up for the time we have missed out on so far, let me be the man you need."
You looked up at him, your eyes sore from crying and nose running. Slowly, you nodded. His warm embrace was welcoming, the first hug you have had in at least 5 years.
"Okay...... but you have to take ms out on a date first." A small goggle escaped your lips as you expected a disgusted face to scrunch his features.
But instead...
"Sure, but we're heading over to the LOV hide out right now sweetheart."
Surprise filled your features as be smiled again, his smile just like his old self.
....
Maybe the new Touya wasn't that bad... maybe the old Touya never left...
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Never wrote for Dabi before so I hope this is good enough!!! Sorry if it took a while to write, I've had a few mental health things pop up within the last 2 days but I'm going to be okay <33. Let me know if this is what you wanted 💞💞
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hatboyproject · 3 years
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This is very long, but it might be of interest to someone, somewhere. I was asked recently about the direction I'm taking this romance in and whether or not I'll be addressing certain disability specific subjects within it. The answer, of course, is yes - I have always planned to do this in one form or another. Whilst no single piece of media can address everything I'd like to say on the subject, and I am working within the bounds of a larger story with its own pacing and focus to consider, there's still room to touch on some of these things.
I'm aware that my interpretations won't always be the same as others'. They are my interpretations, coloured by my experiences and feelings, and ultimately, this is my mod - I'm writing it for everybody who 'wears the ballcap,' so to speak! But, it's my interpretation of this character that I'm trying to share with everyone. Different people "took the helm" (laugh, I'm hilarious!) on writing Jeff across the trilogy, and as time has gone on I've been trying to convince myself that it's okay to have my turn at doing that, too - albeit in a non-professional capacity. So... Let's get into my interpretation of Jeff, where his stuff comes from on my view, and how things went to get him to where we are at the beginning of ME3, where the romance can occur.
A lot of how I interpret him comes from experiences in my own life with my own issues, and with those of my loved ones, some of whom are physically disabled in similar (but not identical) ways to Jeff. Some of this carries an element of catharsis for me.
Mechanically and narratively speaking, what draws me to writing this romance is the contrast between how these two characters are strong. It's this core idea that strength doesn't have only one manifestation in a person. That loving somebody doesn't have to be done only one way, that it can be beautiful and passionate and fulfilling - even if, when it gets physical, the headboard can't exactly be made to shatter with the force of it all. For me, it's also an exercise in insecurity and dealing with feelings of frustrated inadequacy - something that has plagued me my whole life.
Yes, yes, he's fictional - but the only way for me to really get into a character is to think about them as if they're a real being. When I look at Jeff as a person, I see many things... Some very positive, some pretty negative... I try to see him as a complete person with strengths and flaws.
On the surface he is often defensive, dismissive, sarcastic, and emotionally avoidant. But why is that? He is highly skilled, dedicated and capable, and knows it, but at the same time is a person who is constantly overlooked, underestimated, and asked to work thrice as hard to get the same considerations. Even then, his validity is questioned often by almost everyone around him. Over time, combined with the realities of living with his physical condition, this has given him some deep-seated insecurities. He feels the need to brag about his skills because they are, ultimately, the one thing about himself that he is absolutely certain has real worth. He overcompensates for this by abusing rules and technicalities wherever he can, because I think he knows that if he played life by the rules, he'd never have gotten anywhere. It's a stacked deck, so why not hide some aces up his sleeve? When you don't fit in the box provided, you question the value of every box you see.
When a person lives with this long enough, it can get hard to swim against the tide of society's expectations and still remain chipper about it, let alone not internalise some of it. It can cause a person to create a shell constructed out of distrust and untruth.
Living with a disability can really suck sometimes, and the suck is compounded when having to deal with your own frustrations plus those of others. In my personal experience, that happens a lot.
There is a certain sense of alienation that it can create, and it can become a kind of Sword of Damocles. It can be easier to anticipate rejection and others' assumptions, inabilities to understand or relate than to keep reaching out, only to have the same tired conversations about being different. I see a lot of this in him. I understand the chip he has on his shoulder.
I also see an extremely sensitive, empathetic, devoted and boundlessly loving person under all that. In fact, it's because of these things that I think he actively tries to distance himself. At the core of his being, I see Jeff as somebody who loves quickly and completely. I think he sees that as a vulnerability, incompatible with what he's learned he has to do to survive... and also with the machismo thing that comes with being a pilot. I think on some level he's terrified of that about himself, but he also can't help it. Jeff is ride or die. So, he tells himself he doesn't care and never lets anyone in. Any time anyone showed interest, he'd shut them down, alienate them, distance himself, and get in the seat of something that flies.
I think up until now, (ME3) he's seen intimacy both as a thing he longs for, but is also afraid of because of his fundamental knowledge that he is different. He thinks he can't "measure up" to what he sees all around him. He sees romance as something that will lead to his inevitable rejection and being crushed, emotionally - and if he's not careful, physically, too. I think he's embarrassed about that as well. He's very interested where it comes to all that, but the things he likes to watch, he knows he can't do like that. His only experience is second-hand as a voyeur, so some of his perceptions about that are unhealthy for him. I think any kind of attempt by the medical professionals in his life to broach the topic and offer support on, he's angrily changed the subject, or stopped listening to, because of the entire mess above. I think Jeff is kind of a lonely person, and some of it is self-imposed, though the reasons for him thinking it's the right thing to do aren't all within his control.
All this is difficult for him to reconcile with, because he has been desperately in love with his commanding officer since almost the moment s/he met him, but entirely unprepared to face it.
I think at first it was easy for him to dismiss it as a stupid crush. Everyone gets them when cramped up in close quarters in stressful situations and the Commander's magnetism was hard to ignore. But then it became clear that Shepard really hadn't read his file and really hadn't made any assumptions at all about him. S/he just wanted to know him, and as time progressed and that actually bore out, it got hard not to really feel something powerful, even though s/he was the Commander and it wasn't strictly appropriate to think that way. But, then there was that thing about not fitting in the box provided...
I think he agonised over coming to Shepard with it, but ultimately decided it would be selfish with everything they were going through. I think there was a part of him that decided s/he'd never be interested anyway, not when there were other, healthier people to choose from... People who didn't have these hangups or need special accommodations made for them. I think he decided to keep it to himself, for what he felt was both their sakes.
If/When the Commander quietly hooked up with someone else, I think he had a lot of feelings all at once. On the one hand, the person he cared for most was finding some peace in all the craziness. On the other, he wished that particular brand of peace was shared with him. Most of the time there were more important things to worry about, but during downtime, I think it was on his mind a lot.
I think he feels very sheepish about it, but occasionally his jealousy got the better of him and he interrupted Shepard at moments that got too hard to watch on the security cams. He watched the cams around the ship lot, and listened in on all the others a fair bit. I think because he saw himself as being at a remove from most people in a lot of ways, it was easy to justify that to himself. I think he saw it kind of like listening to a podcast or a soap opera or... Nature documentary, almost, or something. He got to know all of them in this way... Parasocially at first, but gradually, socially too. He felt better about trying, because he had this secret edge. Not the greatest stuff he's ever done, but... Complete person. Strengths and flaws.
And then, the unthinkable happened. He couldn't accept that the ship was dying. He was sure he could save it... But when Shepard's hand touched his shoulder, when s/he'd come back for him, he knew it was over. And then, it really was over. Shepard paid the price for his arrogance. The person he wanted to protect the most spun off out into space. The communicator between his mask and that helmet was still in range for long enough that he could hear the choking. For a long time afterward, even hearing people cough made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
The Alliance grounded him. I don't think he even had the capacity to be mad about it. I think that was a hard time for Jeff. I think between being burdened with the knowledge of the Reapers, the loss of Shepard, and the weight of his guilt, he was pretty close to the very, very edge when Cerberus knocked on his door and made him a bunch of promises. Pretty sure those promises had nothing to do with leather seats and everything to do with Project Lazarus. I'm very sure that the promise of Shepard coming back is the reason he even let Cerberus pay for the surgeries he agreed to undergo, because I don't think he valued himself much at all at that point. I'm pretty sure it was being ready to help Shepard that he was thinking about when he was learning to walk on his painful legs without crutches for the very first time. When Cerberus offered him a big shiny reset button I think he took it without hesitation because there wasn't anything else to hope for. I think seeing Shepard in the docking bay galvanised him and without ever telling them so, he pledged his life to them even harder than before. I think he told himself that he would support Shepard in every way he could. He would go wherever, do whatever, and when dealing with him, try to give them what he knew they needed; a goddamn break.
So, fast forward again, and now we are here. With all of this in mind... Shepard might have had a dalliance with someone else, or might've been too damaged by their previous love interest on Horizon, or whatever. Either way, I think Jeff saw it as not his business to even dream about that. I think the guilt tore him up every time he looked at Shepard. I think he felt like on some level, he deserved the pain of unrequited feelings which only ever got more intense. If he didn't think himself worthy of it back then, doubly so now. I think during the six months of house arrest, he tried to visit, but the Alliance denied his every attempt. Then the attack on Earth happened.
And so now we have Jeff, who, just like other humans is confused and groping about for a sense of what's up and what's down. Fortunately for him, Shepard is part of that sense of stability. He's just better at hiding it, because avoiding it and telling himself to focus elsewhere is second nature to him by this point. But things are a little different, now. Shepard seems looking around for a connection too. Future days seem short in number and the rulebook less and less important by the minute. Denying it to himself becomes impossible, and even EDI prods him about it. Shepard won't stop being so goddamn nice to him and even responds with things that if he didn't know better, he could interpret as... But then all the old insecurities come rushing back and he's walking on his own damn eggshells again. Fuck it. It's time to admit it. To come clean. S/he has to know.
So he asks. And s/he accepts. He's equal parts thrilled, stunned and terrified. He's even on some level, suspicious. Is s/he setting him up for a fall? Are they angry about his responsibility? What do they want out of this, actually? He hasn't explained what it'd be like. That what they're doubtlessly expecting of him is unrealistic. That he's completely inexperienced. I think at this point, he's a bit pissed off with himself and feeling a lot of dread because he's pretty sure how this is going to go. He realises he's got so caught up in it that he's done things in the wrong order. Damage control. He has to talk with Shepard and explain what s/he should expect from him, because it will be different. Manage expectations because he's had to manage his own. He goes in steeled.
But s/he knows it will be different, it turns out. As ever, Shepard has made no assumptions whatsoever. S/he only wants to get to know him. Wants him for everything he is, and accepts what he is not. It was never an issue for them beyond understanding how to work with it, because he is worthy just as he is, and has worked hard enough. He has to teach them about his limitations, about underestimating and overestimating... But where there's a will, there's a way. Time for a few shared moments of peace before the end of days, and through all the craziness, something feels right at last. He feels safe enough to let Shepard in properly. Thus begins his reassessment of himself and reckoning with letting go of the insecurities he has that aren't actually his own, but come from outside.
Also he totally gets to sext the Commander now when s/he's on missions. Nice.
So. There's a lot more I could say and expound upon but it's been hours and I have stuff to do. That's my direction. It's not going to suit everyone, and I doubt I can get everything across... But I'll try. I'm just one person, with just one perspective, with just one version of this story. But I hope people like what I come up with surrounding this framework, because I have lived a lot of it myself. Just a few less Reapers in my version. Not everyone's experiences and responses will be the same.
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random-mha-thoughts · 4 years
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Kiss of Death (Todoroki x Reader)
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Pairing: Todoroki x Reader
Genre: Angst
Summary: If the Angel of Death came upon you but you had half an hour, what would you do?
BGM: Ateez “Inception” slowed + reverb
Word count: 1,639
Warnings: Character death and preparation
Tags: @rintomoj​ @yuki-osaki​ @yamichxn​ @lonelyfangirl453​ @cyanide9602​ @liviitehe​ @iamsoftsodonttoucheume-blog​
a/n: Really proud of this one, I really like it and I hope you guys do too.
The figure looms over you, its shadowy silhouette casting the room in darkness against the moonlight streaming through your window.  At first, you figured it was a thief or murderer breaking in; anyone else would have concluded the same judging from the dark clothes and intimidating demeanor.
That is, until you realize the massive shadow blocking out all the light is due to a pair of overarching, feathery wings.
Your mouth can't help gaping open as you jolt up in bed.  There's a supernatural creature visiting you at what you assume is an ungodly hour of the night.  The thick grey wings retract into their back, allowing you view of their entire physique as the moonlight rushes back into your room, no longer restricted.
The figure appears human, their white cloak's hood settles over squared shoulders and hips of roughly the same width.  Their hair cropped short and the rest of their features remain androgynous.  You should be scared of the intruder, but something about their serene expression and inexplicably calm aura dispels any tension in the room.
"My child, forgive me for disturbing you," their airy voice is just as serene as their appearance, a gentle fingers barely ghosting your cheek, "But I'm afraid your time has come."
Your eyes widen.  "M-My time?  As in..."
They nod slowly, the hand cool hand trailing down to gingerly take your hand.  "It is sudden, but to compensate, you are allowed half an hour to do as you please."
It's expected that being told you're going to die would send cold down your spine and threaten your entire being, your body shivering as your mind tries to comprehend what exactly it means to cease to exist.  While it does happen, you're calm and collected, smiling at the messenger.  "I'm thankful for the warning.  At least I won't have to leave without preparations."
Your mind is surprisingly rational in the face of an earth-shattering reality, you're unsure if it's because of the influence of the angel or your complete blind acceptance of fate - you hope it's the latter.
You begin your preparations.  The first thing you do is gather as many letters and envelopes as you have in your room.  Each one is addressed to those dear to you: to your closest friend and loving family members.  Pouring your most genuine feelings out into each of these makes your only slightly regretful that you might not have showered them with enough love in your life this far, but at this point you can only hope your affections shine through in your last moments, and that the thought of you writing your last words to them in your dying breaths will hold more weight.
Next, you pull out your bank card and all the money you have stashed in an extraneous corner of your sweater drawer.  Dividing it into two even piles; one goes into the envelope for your parents and the other for your closest friend.  In the envelope for your parents, you also include your bank card and the PIN, along with the trust that they'll know how to divide the money in the bank - though you very strongly suggest the idea of them taking much needed vacation for themselves.  To your friend, you also include a list of all your social media and email accounts connected to friends you can only talk to and not meet face to face, mandate that they split this money between the other friends who need it most, that you trust their judgment, and also to spare some for themselves.
Finishing all the writing, the weight on your shoulders slowly lifts, as if releasing all your affections on paper is a much needed therapy.  You try not to think of the possibility that it might just be your soul slowly disconnecting from your body.
"What will they think I died from?" you ask curiously, placing the envelopes face up on your desk.
The angel - who has been patiently watching your tranquil planning from afar - blinks.  "They will think you simply died in your sleep.
"I see."
The only remaining preparation in your home was to leave your apartment key under the mat in front of your door.  You send a text to that same closest friend to come by in the morning to help clean, and if you didn't answer the door to use the spare key under the mat.
All of this took up a 25 minutes of your remaining time.  However, there is one more person you couldn't stop thinking about as your time of expiration looms closer and closer.  You turn to your companion.  "Would you mind teleporting me somewhere?  There's one last person I need to see."
~
Three raps on the balcony door was all it took for you to see movement in the bedroom.   The lump rolls over, a head peaks out from under the blanket, first checking the time then lifting up to face the window.  Bicolored hair is illuminated as the figure slowly retreats from the bed, clad in nothing but dark sweatpants.
Your heart pounds and your stomach churns, the normal reaction that he elicits out of you whenever you're near him.
The boy rubs his eyes and blinks the sleep away, focusing on your waiting figure.  He opens the balcony door full of confusion.  "(Y/n)?  Why are you here?  It's 3 am."  His voice is as gravelly as you've only imagined hearing it being, thought you usually picture him greeting you in the morning after sleeping next to him.
Anticipation wells up inside you.  Up to this point, you had no problem spilling your deepest thoughts to your loved ones, but something about him had always made you think twice before showing any sort of affection.  Call it a force of habit, but you've never wanted him to know about your crush on him since you wanted to preserve your friendship and keep your relationship from becoming awkward around your mutual friends.
But you have nothing to lose at this point; might as well cross this final what-if off your list in your last few minutes.  "I know it's late, Todoroki, but I have to tell you something  It can't wait until morning."
He sighs heavily and leans against the door frame.  "I'm listening."
You use the ever-lightening weight you feel unraveling within you as strength to call upon.   "I have feelings for you."
The boy's expression doesn't change after you've ripped the bandage off, his stoic expression still in tact.
You can't help but let out a puff of laughter.  "You're the only person I've met who I can confidently say I've imagined waking up next to.  I always thought we would've been compatible as a couple, we would've been happy together.  Your calm nature, your quiet power and charisma, your heart, I did fall for all of it.  And... I didn't want to leave without finally saying this to you."
This is your first confession.  Every other crush you had, you let pass you by without so much as a word or hint.  But now, you've run out of time to hide it.  In a way, you're grateful for the pressure to finally overcome your fear of rejection, but only regretful that it came under these circumstances.  If he rejects you now, it doesn't matter.
But Todoroki's response was unreadable, the only display of feeling being his slightly widened eyes.
Your face gets hot and you laugh to cover it up.  "Yeah, I came at 3 am to confess to you, I'm sorry."  Your eyes flicker to the clock on his bedside table, the time telling you that you have barely two minutes to wrap this up.  Behind you, the angel makes its presence known by gingerly touching their hand to your shoulder.  "I need to be going now."
You're about to leave the balcony when another stroke of bravery crosses your mind.  Squarely facing him, you grip his neck and tug him closer until your lips meet gently as you've dreamed of on many occasions, though the burst of electricity that erupts between you two is indescribably better than what you've imagined.
Todoroki's hand reaches to meet your wrist just as you pull back to rest your forehead against his.  You want to laugh; such a blissful feeling was waiting for you this entire time where you could've had endless kisses like these, but you have to be satisfied with just the one as it's the only one you're getting.  You almost forgot that you have to part ways with him forever now.  Still, it's a perfect way to die, you think in bittersweet parting sorrow.
You step away from him for his tether on your arm to keep you still.  He finally exhibits emotion: desperation and hunger for another one, mixed with fear as he acknowledges there must be something amiss.  "Don't go," he pleads, as if this is the last time he sees you.  Little did he know it would be.
You give him one last smile.  "Goodnight, Todoroki.  Thank you."  Your body is feather light now, your time whittling away to the final seconds.  Without a second thought, you let go and fling yourself off the balcony.
In the blink of an eye, you're back in your familiar room, laying in your bed.  The conflicting sensation of a heavy body but weightless inside overtakes you, and you know it's time.  The lingering aftermath of your final kiss still on your lips, you smile to yourself.  If your soul can remember memories, you hope this feeling remains permanently engraved in them.  "I'm ready to go."  Your eyes flutter closed and you breathe out, your terminal exhale coming with the tingle of a thin thread gently unraveling its last fibers.
A faraway caress is your final feeling.
"Rest now, my child."
.
Part 2
292 notes · View notes
littleaclove · 3 years
Text
Character: Matsukawa
Prompt: Secret Admirer
Letter:
So uh I don’t exactly know how to start this but uhm hi? I just wanted to y’know talk to you without confronting you because you’ll be too blinded by my gorgeous looks. I just wanted to kinda convey my feelings that have been building up for a while I guess?  Uh just so you’re not too creeped out that I’m a 50 year old kidnapper I was one of your lab partners this year and I just adored you and developed feelings. Sorry if I’m pushing boundaries but I just wanted to get it out there.   Also if you don’t return a letter within a week uh I’ll give up on it I guess?  I don’t really know. If you want to y’know reply just leave the letter in locker 108 and I’ll grab it from there.  Or leave it on a bench in the volleyball gym. You could always come and admire me from there ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°) If I get a letter back we can meet someplace if you'd like but if you don't then at least you took the time to read this. And uh yeah that's about it. I just wanted to convey the message that I like you and it would be great to ask you out in person.
Signed,
That really hot guy that has a huge crush on you
Drabble:
Music while writing you accepted: Paper Rings by Taylor Swift, Sunkissed by khai dreams, I Like Me Better by Lauv, Get Used to It by Ricky Montgomery, This Town by Niall Horn, Home for the Summer by Sara Kays, 18 by One Direction, My Heart is Buried in Venice by Ricky Montgomery, Night Changes by One Direction, Captivated by IV Of Spades, Cherry Flavoured by The Neighborhood, Photograph by Ed Sheeran, Loverboy by A-Wall, Ride Home by Ben&Ben, Training Wheels by Melanie Martinez, Best Friend by Rex Orange County, Video Games by The Young Professionals, Tongue Tied by Grouplove, Somewhere Only We Know by Reneé Dominique, California by Ricky Montgomery
Music while writing you didn’t accept it: They Don’t Know About Us by One Direction, Fall by Ben&Ben, Riptide by Vance Joy, Someone to you by BANNERS, Lookalike by Conan Gray, Line Without a Hook by Ricky Montgomery, I Can't Help Falling in Love with You by Haley Reinhart, Lifetime by Ben&Ben, This Side of Paradise by Coyote Theory, Could I Love You Any More by Reneé Dominique (feat. Jason Mraz)
You sent a letter back!:
Your heart races when you read the letter and you know that this person is just a whole casserole drive and a half. You go home that night thinking of all the possibilities and what you’re going to write in that letter. You wake up the next morning, head filled with excitement and curiosity. You trudge to school though, dreading the hell you have to endure everyday, but today you feel just the slightest bit lighter on your feet. You go on about your day, while Matsukawa looked in the locker to see that there’s nothing there (y/n is just giving me such dumb bitch energy istg).  He deflated a little bit, but still had a lot of hope that you’d return his letter!  The team asked about it when he’d gotten to their afternoon practice and he just ever so slightly felt a bit more disappointed. On the other hand, you went home so very excited and ready to write them a letter!  You get all the supplies ready and start pouring your reciprocated feelings onto the paper. You seal the envelope and put it aside for tomorrow. You feel the sunlight slip through your blinds and start to get ready for the day. You grab your envelope containing all the feelings you have towards this person and head out the door. Once you start on your way to school, you start to feel your hands get a bit sweaty and feel the nervousness swell up inside you knowing you’ll be meeting this secret admirer soon. You leave the letter on one of the benches in the boy’s volleyball gym and set on your way to class. You keep trying to focus on the lesson but the curiosity of whom this person who sent you the letter is, is overwhelming your thoughts. Matsukawa goes to afternoon practice when he sees the team snickering around Hanamaki. Matsukawa goes over to see what they’re laughing about when he sees a letter. He immediately swipes it out of Hanamaki’s hands, ignoring the team’s coos. He carefully opens the letter, not wanting to rip what’s inside. He reads what’s inside and his eyes light up noticeably. He keeps it safe in a pocket in his gym bag and carries on with their practice with a new found light-heartedness. When you go home, you do all of your homework to keep your mind off of the anxiety of them seeing what you’d written and deciding that they didn’t like you now. You fall asleep that night with excitement and anxiety clouding your mind. Matsukawa is now writing what’s a shorter version of the first letter along with where and when to meet each other tomorrow. The next day, he slips it into your locker and swiftly walks to class so that you two don’t meet before the time. You quickly read it before class starts with a huge grin on your face. Today you couldn’t focus on anything but this meeting all day. You finish classes with a sigh of relief. Finally, it’s time to meet each other!  You pretty much ran to the spot you’re going to meet at and end up getting there just on time. As you come up to the spot you see a füçking tree of a man standing there. So that’s why he’s on a volleyball team. You approach him slowly, not knowing exactly what to do now that you’re actually here. He turns in your direction and his eyes light up as soon as he spots you, already knowing who you are.
“Hey, y/n..!”
Him being his awkward self in this situation, you start bursting into laughter at the situation, since it’s the only way you know how to deal with things like this. He starts laughing along, thankfully. After you both finish you laughing fit, you start the conversation up again.
“Hey! Your name is Matsukawa, right? You were from that one lab we did in science!”
“Uh yeah!”
“Y’know, I did always think you had, to put it in your words, ‘gorgeous looks’.”
“Haha thanks. Do you want to go to a cafe now since we have met now? Think of it like our first date!”
“Oh so this is a date now?” You make the
( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)face.
He rolls his eyes and grabs your hand as you walk to the cafe. You two take a seat all the way in the back and end up becoming official on every platform by the end of the day because you two clicked so well.
You didn’t feel the same way:
You read through the letter kind of confused as to who this person is and how they fell for you without even holding a conversation, or one that you remember, with you. You kind of just disregard it, remembering that the mystery person said that you didn’t have to leave a letter if you didn’t reciprocate these feelings. You continue on like nothing really happened, a tinge of guilt bubbling in the back of your mind that they’d be checking for a whole week, just to realize that you didn’t feel the same way. Meanwhile, Matsukawa’s heart was beating louder than life. He has high hopes that you’ll return a mysterious note right back to him. The team was trying to hype him up in their own interesting ways (*cough cough* oikawa saying that he probably flirted with this person and saying that he’s surprised he’s able to steal that spotlight *COUGH COUGH COUGH*). He now has a good feeling about this letter that he sent you. The next day he checks thoroughly through the whole gym, plus all throughout his locker, to no avail. He steals glances through the day to see if anything has changed yet. He thinks that you maybe just need a little more time. After all, he did give you a week to write and leave your letter back to him. Despite that, he still has this voice nagging in the back of his head that you truly don’t feel the same way. This continues on the whole week, his hope quickly dissipating. By Friday, he’s just stopped checking, knowing he’s in an unrequited love. His team consoles him, not knowing who he has his one-sided love with, but still wanting to help. He now just glances at you from afar, silently cheering for you if anything goes your way, and telepathically comforting you if you’re down. You don’t even acknowledge him, not knowing he’s the one who sent you that, though he still desperately tries to subtly get your attention, whether that be getting the top score, winning a volleyball match, or maybe passing you by a little too frequently. By the end of the year, and the end of high school for the both of you, you two go your separate ways, him only hoping that you two meet again and he can have another chance at asking you out, maybe in person this time. That way he can get the confirmation or rejection up front, rather than waiting and killing any of his lasting hope. When high school got out, he longed for any sort of contact with you, but little by little he’s now forgetting about you and moving on from his high school sweetheart who never knew him.
Word count: 1650
a/n: I’m sorry for the amount of ‘uhm’s in his letter that’s just me being awkward and not knowing how to write-
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silver-wield · 4 years
Note
Can you do an analysis on Cloud and Tifa’s body language during that scene when they’re in Cloud’s room and he’s slyly referring to his promise to Tifa? There was crazy sexual tension in that scene and it honestly looked like Cloud was subtly being flirty with her 😭
No probs, Nonny! I actually already touched on their body language in a reply to a gif set of this bit, so we'll just expand on that ^=^
Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven't played – do I still need to do this? Eh ok, (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it's gonna be a VERY long one so prepare to scroll.
Also, this is one person's interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that's cool and we'll agree to disagree.
You're also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I'm grabbing them from Youtube and it's frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.
Other analyses if anyone's interested.
Shinra HQ vision scene (Cloti/plot analysis) 
Chapter 3 (Cloti reblog) 
Tifa character analysis 
Aerith Resolution (plot analysis/theory – I should probably update this since I've had other ideas since then) 
Train graveyard (not really an analysis, but I got some sweet screenshots of Cloti) 
Clotiscrew tunnel analysis 
Cloti reunion analysis 
The Promise Analysis 
Andrea's approval (Cloti ask response) 
Leslie analysis (not mine, but a good read) 
Cloti action touching 
Aerti friendship analysis 
Now, strap in and enjoy the ride.
Keep reading
Recap time! Yall know the drill by now if you've read my other ramblings.
Chapter 3, where we get a room (lol), do some jobs and have a chat with Tifa. It's pretty basic stuff until the cut scene after Marle gives Cloud a talking to. She's the overprotective grandmother figure that Tifa needs in her life and she wants to make sure Cloud isn't messing with her. Now, why would she think that? Well, maybe she picked up some hints when Tifa mentioned Cloud to her about wanting a place to stay? Marle's pretty sharp, after all, and if she got the impression Tifa is carrying a torch, she'd definitely make sure Cloud's not about to blow it out. She tells him to pay attention to her, to listen. This is the very first instance of Cloud taking in that kind of info and it changes how he treats others for the rest of the game.
After the chapter 4 mission where Cloud reflects on his promise to Tifa, it's back to the slums for some rest. Then Tifa knocks on his door and enters. She mentions Cloud was gone for a while, and he answers he was walking so that he keeps Jessie's secret – because he's that kind of guy.
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Small talking Tifa is cute, but lol, Cloud seems to have purposely forgotten Johnny since he's yet another admirer of Tifa. For a guy who doesn't forget info like morons who could cause them trouble in the long run, it's pretty telling how quickly he is to dismiss Johnny.
Onto something more interesting in this pic, though. Cloud is sitting on the bed. Now, if he wasn't comfortable around Tifa he'd have got up. His eyeline is lower than hers so he has to look up at her. This puts her in a position of dominance over him – also not surprising since his mentality is that of a 16yr old around her and she's the adult in the relationship. Tifa for her part has her body turned to the side in a non-confrontational pose.
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Tifa has her hands clasped in front of herself (couple of seconds before this screen) which indicates she's trying to protect herself as she asks the question if Cloud is leaving Midgar. Not surprising since she's afraid of losing people she cares about and even just someone heading off somewhere else would upset her, though she'd try not to show it.
Cloud, for his part, looks away, appearing as though he's thinking it over, but we're already aware he's decided to stay and help Tifa out, so this is a fake out on his part. He's half-teasing, half trying to get a positive response from her (remember the water tower? Yeah, this is that Cloud. The dork. The one who is useless at talking to girls).
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I'm sorry, but Cloud is such a cheeky bastard I just can't with him! This is giving me all the throwbacks to his behaviour at the water tower and I love that it mirrors that moment, but with more success on his part this time. He's looking all around trying not to give himself away before it's needed. He's smiling and looks relaxed. He might be sitting but he definitely believes he has the upper hand between them at this point. Remember, I've said before that eye contact is important. Well, in this case, Cloud's deliberate refusal to make eye contact shows he's teasing. This is such a cute moment between them!
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Oh ho! But here's where his teasing ends. Cloud is being completely serious and obviously took the promise between them as being special. Ducking his head out of sight completely prevents us from seeing his expression and allows him to act in a casual way about something that's such an important part of who he became. But, he's not quite pulling it off because he's also looking quite defensive in this pose. His hands are clasped in front of him and he's leaning forward, looking at the floor. This is something very meaningful for him to talk about and he's hoping Tifa doesn't brush it off, so if he doesn't look at her he won't have to see her reaction.
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Tifa's obviously got her own interpretation of how that promise went. We can guess she did it because she just wanted a guarantee she'd see Cloud again some day from how she acted during the water tower cut scene. Here, she's leaning back on her hands which leaves her body language open, but also conceals something. She's looking down, the same way Cloud did. She's also hiding her true feelings towards Cloud the same way he's hiding from her, but she's being as honest as she can be as the same time. I've seen people call Tifa a liar because of how she doesn't address Cloud's memory problems in OG, but when you really take a close look at her, lying just isn't her. This is a complex moment between them. They've not long met again and they're having this heavy conversation. The feelings between them are still there, but there's all this other stuff that's more important. But, they know they're friends, and that's a good place to start getting to know each other again, and Cloud choosing to stay is that first step, with the quick follow up of him reminding her of their shared history.
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Cloud, you smooth bastard I love you for this! This is definitely flirting! He's looking directly at her, then dips his head to the side in an inviting gesture. His eyes soften and he gets this tiny smile on his face. His body language has changed, too. He's sitting up and back slightly with both arms by his sides. There's no more defensiveness about him. He wants to listen to her. Cloud is choosing to ask for Tifa's confidence. He's letting her know she can rely on him. That he's interested.
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For her part, Tifa's pleased, but surprised. She's not long got back in touch with Cloud and, while he's been a decent guy, she's had the overall impression he isn't the same as the soft boi she knew, so this is a revelation for her. The Cloud she knew is still within this Cloud – which anyone who knows the real!Cloud SOLDIER!Cloud storyline is exactly the point of this moment. Tifa knows his true self. The true self that comes out only when he's with her.
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Cloud, bro, I'm gonna combust from all these flirty gestures! Fully open body language, a smile, teasing tone. Goddamnit, just say you love her already! Yes, please, invite Tifa to check you out. Remember, he's still sitting. He's so relaxed and natural around her. Even if all you saw was two friends and no ship, you'd be insane to think he isn't a different person in this scene. He's not SOLDIER Cloud here.
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Tifa, for her part, isn't flirting here. She likes Cloud, that's clear, and her body language is reaching towards him, which suggests she has feelings towards him, but her tone is more playful and her expression is pleased. She's happy to see her friend isn't too different from the one she knows. Most of the flirting in this scene is on Cloud's side, which makes sense when you think of the torch he's been carrying for her. He's trying to get her attention, same way he did when they were kids. Tifa's oblivious but receptive because she likes him back, but she won't show it as much because she thinks he's not interested. Someone knock their heads together please lol
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OMG FUCKING HELL CLOUD JUST TELL HER YOU LOVE HER! Leaning back on the bed, totally vulnerable body language, drawing attention to the bod in an attempt to spark her interest – since he's clearly interpreted this line from Tifa as a rejection – this boi is trying so hard! He even looks a little disappointed she's not more impressed with SOLDIER Cloud, but we knew she preferred the dork anyway lol
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Now, I know everyone talks about the physical and emotional distance between them here, which is obvious, but what I'm gonna point out is after feeling like SOLDER Cloud has been rejected by Tifa – thanks to her preference for the real deal – Cloud looks away from her. She's brushed him off and he's hiding his upset by not meeting her eyes.
Tifa is still oblivious to this, but Cloud definitely has a look of disappointment on his face.
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Now, after that last bit you'd think Cloud would assume he's got no chance, but then Tifa says how glad she is to have him back and that cheers him up. He's still in that mindset of a 16yr old with a crush, whereas Tifa's moved on. She's had 5 years apart from him (she thinks it's 7, I know, but he saw her in Nibelheim and how she'd matured a little). She's not thinking of him in an openly romantic sense, whereas Cloud is definitely still deep in his feelings for her. Hearing she's happy to see him hints to him that he might still have a chance with her if they spend more time together. His soft af goodnight is the last indicator of his strong feelings for her. His body language is open once more, he's staring after her with a longing look and a smile and doesn't look away until the door closes.
Conclusion
JUST GET FUCKING MARRIED ALREADY IT'S BEEN 23 YEARS!
Lol seriously though, Cloud is definitely still deep in the throes of his childhood crush. Tifa could resurrect hers with time because it's clear she does still harbour feelings for him, but she's not the type to be pushy or insistent. She'll let Cloud take the lead and offer subtle hints how she feels, hoping he feels the same. She doesn't pick up on Cloud's subtle flirting compared to those more in your face things he tried earlier. Through all of those interactions with her he's definitely trying to say that he likes her and he'd like her to accept his feelings, but the bigger gestures get the brush off, although she blushes and looks shy, and the smaller ones go over her head.
Unfortunately, these two are oblivious af and it's gonna take everyone's help to get them together.
149 notes · View notes
softhourtxt · 4 years
Note
how about, a 31 and 46 for taehyun please? 👉👈
a/n: i hope you don’t mind i changed the prompt a little to fit the story better! thank you for requesting :) lmao i suck at titles
winner | kang taehyun
31. “there is this one idiot that i like
46. “don’t be dumb. i love like you”
× pairing: kang taehyun x reader
× genre: fluff
× warnings: swearing
× word count: 1k
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“ouch!”
“hey no sabotaging!”
“watch it!”
“that’s so unfair!”
“god dammit!”
you throw your controller onto the couch out of frustration. you couldn’t believe kai kamal huening had won three times in a row against you and taehyun. by now you were sure he was cheating some way or another.
“i swear to god if you’re cheating again” taehyun reads your thoughts and warns his friend.
“this is pure talent! i don’t need to cheat” he proudly grins at the two of you.
“i don’t believe you. you always cheat!”
“i never cheat.” he sticks out his tongue at you. oh how mature, you think to yourself as you shake your head.
“if you two are so sour then maybe we should spice this up.”
both you and taehyun squint your eyes at the boy. to say it was common for huening kai to come up with more ways for him to cheat on a game, was an understatement. every time you had your weekly movie nights, he would be the one to suggest “a couple friendly games” before calling it a day. by now you were more than determined to win him in any race, but he always managed to help himself win the games.
“spice it up how?” taehyun questions.
you swear you could see horns growing on the boy’s forehead along with a devilish smirk as he looked between the two of you. your gut was screaming at you to not agree to anything this demon of a boy suggests, but your curiosity took over.
“loser has to answer to the winners question. and it has to be honest”
you catch the hidden meaning behind his words immediately.
ever since you were a kid it had always been you and kai kamal huening. you fit together like yin and yang, always seen around together wherever you were. when kai became a trainee you supported him through thick and thin all the way to his debut. but along the way you met a boy. kang taehyun.
kang taehyun was handsome and sweet. he had quickly became good friends with kai through their trainee days. and only naturally, you became friends with him.
it was all fun at first, how taehyun came along with the two of you so easily. you came to realize how sincere and talented this boy was and before you knew it, you were completely and utterly in love with him.
of course you didn’t tell anyone about your crush at first, but as time progressed, it became harder to hide these feelings around your two best friends. eventually, kai found out and you had to swear on your mother’s life you would murder his whole family if he ever told anyone about it, especially taehyun.
and now here you were, sitting on a couch playing video games with them, when huening kai decided to become the devil himself to somehow get you to confess to your common friend. you were not having it, but at the same time, wouldn’t it be fun if you won the game?
of course it would.
“i’m in.”
“what?” taehyun throws his hands in the air. “(y/n) you can’t be serious!”
“what? you’re not curious about anything?” you raise your eyebrows at him. taehyun hesitates, gulps even as he ponders over the idea.
“fine.”
kai’s grin widens and he jumps in the air, grabbing his controller again. “alright! let’s do this.”
you absolutely cannot believe your eyes when huening kai’s character passes the finish line first. what horrifies you even more is that even though it looked like you could still get second place, taehyun appears out of nowhere and rushes past your character within the last second.
“this game is bullshit!”
you whisk your controller at kai and he ducks like he knew what you were about to do.
“ha! i told you it was pure talent! i’m just that good”
while the winner starts dancing around, taehyun calmly sets down his controller.
“well, looks like you’re gonna have to answer a question.” he sighs.
you gulp, hitting your forehead and sink further into the couch. you wish it could swallow you whole when you remember the situation you got yourself into. now you could only pray kai would give you a little mercy, but let’s be honest, he’s not going to give you any.
“okay (y/n), listen. my question is simple. who do you like?”
after hearing the question taehyun almost chokes on his own saliva.
“you already know the answer.” you sigh, crossing your arms.
kai pretends to think as he rubs his invisible beard. “hmm… can’t remember!”
“i didn’t even know you liked someone” taehyun leans over in curiosity. your heart picks up speed when his thigh touches yours. you were so going to kill your so called best friend. but a deal was a deal.
“well-” you hold your breath  “there is this one idiot that i like”
“but which idiot, (y/n)?” kai urges you on. you can feel taehyuns eyes on you but you are too scared to look at his face, fear of rejection taking over you slowly.
“this- this idiot called kang taehyun.” you squeeze your eyes shut.
silence. all you can hear is silence. hope crushing, agonizing silence. after what feels like forever, you hear shuffling, followed by footsteps. someone was running out of the room and quickly. your heart sank. you knew this was not a good idea, that of course taehyun would reject you. he sees you as a friend, maybe even a sister, not as a potential lover. you had ruined it, made him run away and there was nothing you could do about it anymore.
“see, kai? i knew this would happen. now i’ve traumatized him for life!” you cover your face with your hands, doing your best to hold back the tears.
“don’t be dumb.”
you hold your breath in terror. that did not sound like kai kamal huening’s voice at all. gradually, you bring your hands down to find a smiling kang taehyun staring at you.
“i like you”
286 notes · View notes
rachelbethhines · 4 years
Text
Tangled Salt Marathon - Beyond the Corona Walls Part 2
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Part two is here, so let’s get on with the rest of the stupid shall we...
You can find part 1 here - https://rachelbethhines.tumblr.com/post/624977559380213760/tangled-salt-marathon-beyond-the-corona-walls
Summary: Rapunzel and the group return to Vardaros to find Eugene, only to learn about his engagement to Stalyan, leaving Rapunzel heartbroken and regretting her decision on rejecting Eugene's marriage proposal. However, after being encouraged by Cassandra, Rapunzel returns to Vardaros and stops the wedding between Eugene and Stalyan. Meanwhile, Adria gives Raps another piece of the scroll and an ominous hint to her future. 
So Why is the Baron Still Operating If Both Raps and Eugene Know Who He Is?
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Keep in mind this guy still has a house in Corona that they know about, he’s still a crime boss who’s criminal actions still affect their kingdom, and they both have the ear of the man who is in charge of running things and who has had a vested interest in cracking down on crime for the past 19 years. So why hasn’t Frederic gone after this dude? You can’t say it’s because he’s hiding out here, when he has a base of operations and living quarters in the kingdom itself. And if it’s because he has money, then that’s just further proof that Frederic is corrupt. 
The Writers Undermine Themselves When They Try to Make Conflicts Lopsided
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So the writers are trying to have their cake and eat it too in this episode. They want to make Stalyan just unlikeable enough so that the audience won’t hold Eugene accountable for his past actions, but not so unlikable that she’s irremediable later. Hence the excuse that the blackmail is her dad’s idea and that she still believes that Eugene is really in love with her and is just playing hard to get. 
The problem is, by having Stalyan still aware of the situation and complacent in this plan instead of fighting against it, the audience isn’t inclined to see things her way and less inclined to give her a second chance when they try to pull her redemption later. 
Moreover, this also undermines Eugene’s character arc as well, because him learning to be more responsible has to include acknowledgement of his past wrongs. Instead all he does is make excuses or look vaguely guilty over shit that’s only implied not stated. There’s no outright admittance of wrong nor apology for the way he treated her. 
Staylan can’t be sympathetic later on if don't show things from her perspective in the now and Eugene can’t grow as a character if he doesn’t realize what he’s done wrong specifically. 
Context Is Key 
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Yeah, that’s a lot of screenshots, I know, but you need to hear/read the line in full. Because there’s not enough context within the episode to make this line work. 
What does ‘someone like you’ mean? What was his relationship with Stalyan like before the break up? When did the break up happen? Why did he leave her at the altar? Why is she still trying to be with him after such a thing? Why wouldn’t Stalyan believe him when he says he’s really in love with Raps? And why, oh why, are we going with this ‘marriage is a prison’ metaphor when the person saying it wants to get married herself? To the very person she’s saying ‘don't get married’ to, no less! 
Now we get hints to answer some of those questions, but none of those hints are in the actual episode itself. Hence the main failing of the episode. That’s because the writers still don’t want to admit fault in their mains. Because, at the end of the day, for all of their talk about how ‘it’s not a kids show’, they can’t or won’t tackle actual mature topics like ‘relationships are hard and failed ones can be the fault of both parties or neither party’. 
‘Contrived Misunderstanding’ Is Literally the Dumbest Plot Point Ever
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Unless you are the Bard of Avon risen from the unholy grave himself, don’t fucking do this. Even then I still criticize Shakespeare heavily for bullcrap like this. It’s lazy and more over it’s not fun. 
We already know what the ending outcome is going to be so there’s no tension to be had here. It’s just a cheap way to have conflict between the mains without having them actually address shit or grow as people. Instead of having believable conflicts where people have competing needs or desires, they just throw Stalyan in here to be a scapegoat; and then throw the Baron in here on top of that to be her scapegoat. 
So Let’s Talk About Staylan’s Thought Process Here
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Okay, if we’re to make any sense of Staylan’s actions here, we have to answer some of those above questions. 
What does ‘someone like you’ mean? What was his relationship with Stalyan like before the break up?
We honestly don’t know what their relationship was like. We never see them before the break up, only afterwards, and that’s not a good indicator of anything really. All we know are five things; 
Eugene wasn’t a very good person during his Flynn Rider days
He is hinted to be a former womanizer in both the movie and during certain points in season one (the threesome joke in TRoS comes most to mind)
He left Staylan at the altar instead of being the bigger person and breaking things off with her respectfully
He’s known Staylan since they were both teenagers (he’s had a crush on her since they were 15/16) and they’ve been in some sort of long term relationship for some undetermined amount of time
They use to pull jobs together, with Staylan sometimes goating him on, possibly taking charge most of the time.
That’s it. That’s all we got. You can’t really judge Stalyan based off that information alone. All we get from this is that she’s sometimes bossy and probably a little spoiled, but so is Rapunzel honestly, and neither of those things mean that they’re abusive on their own. If anything, knowing those things actually puts Eugene in more of a bad light, but he’s pulling the woobie card here; so you’re not meant to think about those things in the moment which is manipulative writing.  
When did the break up happen? Why did he leave her at the altar?
Now here’s the million dollar question, because honestly the show doesn’t give us a consistent time frame of events and contradicts itself all the time. Some have argued that the break up happened eight years ago when the Baron screwed Eugene and Lance over during that robbery flashback in TRoS. Yet in Flynnpostor the Baron says that he had hired Eugene to steal the crown in the movie indicating that they were still working together all the way up until he met Rapunzel. 
So which is it? Cause either answer drastically changes the context of his relationship with Staylan, their subsequent break up, and informs the motivation behind Stalyan’s words and actions. 
Why is she still trying to be with him after such a thing? Why wouldn’t Stalyan believe him when he says he’s really in love with Raps?
Here’s what I think went down, and what I think the writers are trying to poorly imply here. 
Eugene and Staylan had a tremulous on again/off again relationship for several years; where she’d be bratty and controlling and he’d cheat on her and/or leave, only, for whatever reason, to come crawling back and she’d ultimately ‘forgive’ him and they start at square one. The ‘leave her at the altar’ can’t be a one and done thing otherwise she wouldn’t be conditioned to take him back so readily, nor believe his relationship with Raps isn’t serious. 
In fact, if we take ‘stealing the crown for the Baron’ thing at face value then it implies he stood Stalyan up just to be with Rapunzel. Which makes sense as no self respecting woman would wait around for 8 flipping years. One year is already pushing things as is, but if Eugene has a history of con artistry and cheating then, yeah, she could convince herself that Eugene is pulling a scam and still loves her instead. 
To Staylan’s mind, she’s just trying to convince Eugene to give up his cushy life of royalty to live with her in a less comfortable but ultimately ‘truer’ way of life. She doesn’t see it as asking him to choose between her and Rapunzel cause she doesn’t see that what he has with Rapunzel as love. She thinks he’s faking it, like always. She thinks that ‘Eugene’ is his latest con and that Flynn Rider is his true identity. 
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And why, oh why, are we going with this ‘marriage is a prison’ metaphor when the person saying it wants to get married herself? To the very person she’s saying ‘don't get married’ to, no less!
Well the real reason is cause the writers have really messed up ideas about marriage, but the in universe reason is that Staylan sees ‘love’ as ‘unconditional acceptance’. Eugene, or ‘Flynn’, doesn’t have to pretend with her. She knows every awful thing about him, been hurt by him, and she still takes him back, and vise versa. Their on again/off again relationship has convinced her that putting up with mistreatment means that you must really love that person. She doesn’t understand that people can change and grow and that being in a healthy relationship requires both of those things. 
That’s the only interpretation of their relationship that actually makes sense of Stalyan’s actions to my mind. Feel free to interpret it another way if you’d like, because we really have no clue. Just don’t try to pass off you’re interpretation as fact. And if you still see Staylan as the only person in the wrong here; I have to ask you to ask yourself why? Is it the manipulative writing, is it cause she’s not conventionally ‘nice’ like Rapunzel, or is just cause you see her as a threat to New Dream? Because holding her actually accountable for her actions is one thing, calling her ‘a child abuser’ (fandom’s words not mine) just cause she’s a bitchy and bitter ex is another thing entirely. (also they’re the same freaking age what the hell tumblr) 
This Song Would Hold More Weight If They Gave Us an Actual Real Interpersonal Conflict 
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I’m just going to split ball a few ideas here, just to show what we potentially missed out on..
Stalyan is blissfuly unaware of the Baron’s plot, meaning Eugene now has to wrestle with admitting the truth of his past actions to her, along with keeping Lance safe, and trying to figure out a way to save his relationship with Rapunzel 
There’s is no Baron involvement, Stalyan is his ex, but he comes to realize that they have more in common than he and Raps does. Meaning that the narrative has to actually address his and Rapunzel’s relationship issues; like their lack of communication and their seemingly conflicting life goals 
Once again, no Baron involvement and Stalyan is his ex, but she’s just a victim Eugene screwed over when he was still Flynn Rider. She warns Rapunzel of what he use to be like and she has to confront the fact that she rushed into a relationship with someone she barely knows while he has to confront the fact that simply giving up his ways isn’t always enough and other people are still hurt by his actions 
Dump the ‘ex’ plot altogether and have Rapunzel meet someone new instead. Have her question if a committed relationship is what she wants, and if Eugene really is the person for her. Address the fact that she has no experiences to in which to judge their relationship by. 
What makes these options stronger is that there’s no clean cut bad guy (except for the Baron). There’s no right or wrong answer to the problem; no easy solution. The less sure an outcome the more tension you can add to the conflict, and these conflicts can go any number of ways; from a temporary break up to a reaffirmation of love.  
That’s mature. That’s complex. That’s not reaching for the easy low hanging fruit. The creators seem to think thing dark, edgy, and shocking is ’deep’ but it’s actually quite shallow, especially when you constantly present one sided conflicts like today’s episode. 
Your Name Literally Means ‘Lettuce’, Rapunzel
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Unlike some fans, I don’t mind Rapunzel being jealous and hypocritical. As I said before, I like my heroines to have actual flaws. The problem is that the show goes out of its way to justify her bitchiness instead of calling it for what it is. 
I Don’t Usually Bring Shipping Into These Reviews But,
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Eugene and Lance have the healthiest relationship in the show. Like there is zero competition, here. Outside of a few ‘not-so-serious’ crack pairings, like Pete/Stan/Willow or Caine/Trevor, I don't really have any other ‘canon’ ships. I’m like 90% of the time shipping crossover pairings and 90% of those are Varian ships.   
But this is still a flaw because it’s not intentional. The writers genuinely think that New Dream is a healthy romantic pairing and that Cass and Raps are a genuinely good friendship/sibling relationship, but they aren’t. And before you say anything, Casspunzel, isn’t the intent of the creators; regardless if you or some of the non-writing staff ship them. Like, it’s okay to ship them, but they aren’t intentionally written to be romantic any more than Lance and Eugene. 
My point in bringing up all this up is this: A bunch of male writers only knew how to portray a male friendship well; not a female friendship, not a sister relationship, not a mother and child relationship, not a father and child relationship, not a gay romance, not even a het romance. That tells me that the creators on this show have an extremely limited world view. Which you need to expand upon if you have any inspirations as a creative writer.   
You’ll Have an Ice Sculpture of Shorty at Your Wedding, Raps. 
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You don’t get to judge, woman. 
I Usually Love the Art Direction on the Show, but, Not Gonna Lie, I’m Disappointed We Didn’t Get an Actual Wedding Dress for Stalyan
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This is animated in what? Toonboom? Flash? Would it really have been that time consuming just to make a palette swap of her regular dress here? I mean you made a bunch of new character designs and gave Raps a new outfit just for this episode so clicking a few new swatches on an already existing model doesn’t sound that hard. 
But yes, I’m nitpicking here. That’s cause I hate where all this is going, and I’m trying to put off the inevitable. 
Deactivating the Rocks Was a Mistake 
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Like I said, making the rocks no longer a threat means that our heroine no longer has a reason for her quest. You’ve just ended your main conflict and now we’re going to have to sit through a whole season of watching the creators spin their wheels trying to find a new one. While also invalidating both the previous and future conflicts cause all she had to do was touch a rock and that’s it. That’s what this whole story amounts to. 
Also you’re telling me that the main hero was just now willing to risk the life of a bunch of innocent bystanders just cause she be jelly? 
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Lack of Remorse Undermines Stalyan’s Future Appearances 
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If you want to pawn off the blackmail stuff onto her dad then you need to have her stand up to her dad on screen. Because we get no indication that she learns anything from these events in this episode, we have no reason to root for her redemption later. I mean she’s literally declaring revenge here. 
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Say it with me; It’s a lack of setup and resolve. 
Nothing Is Resolved
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Rapunzel tries to hold an honest conversation for once and Eugene just shuts her down. Yet, this is presented as a form of positive growth for him? The whole point of their relationship problems is their lack of communication and Rapunzel not being assertive about what she wants. But sure, let's have them still not communicate and have Eugene actively talk over her in order to drag out this plot point that doesn’t need to be dragged out. 
Stop Treating Marriage as a Trap
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Okay, first off, she was about to ask you to marry her, you dolt, so stop assuming. Second off, this a really bad lesson and the fact that Rapunzel now feels pressured to lie through her teeth about what she really wants contradicts this whole ‘Rapunzel needs to choose for herself thing’ the story’s got going on.  
I want to make it clear that the writers threw in this ‘forced marriage’ plot not teach Eugene responsibility, you know the thing he actually needs to learn, but to teach him that ‘marriage is bad’. Even though respectfully asking the person you're already in a committed relationship with to marry you is not in any way, shape, or form the same as a bitchy ex blackmailing you into doing something you don’t wanna do. 
Marriage is Not a Trap; Stop Treating It As Such. 
Oh Look, Now It’s Eugene’s Turn To Have His Feeling Ignored
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Yes, how dare Eugene have an opinion that different from Raps. 
Remind me again which relationship was the toxic one? 
‘Destiny’ Is Not a Reason
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Like ‘destiny’ in a narrative sense means that there’s either an unavoidable consequence for not fulfilling it, a fate that can’t be avoid no matter how hard you try, or a prophecy to help show the characters what needs to be done. It’s a tool to create tension and foreshadowing. It’s not a goal in of itself. But the series never expands upon this ‘destiny’ stuff. It’s treated like an end all and be all for the characters actions, but that’s not how its supposed to work. 
So, What Was the Point?
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You’ll hear me ask this question a lot during season two. But for this episode specifically there’s barely anything worthwhile to the ongoing narrative here. 
None of the mains learn anything, none of the side characters learn anything, the Baron and Stalyan wind up not adding anything to the overall narrative, and Vardaros and its inhabitants never come back into play after this season. So what was the point? 
The only reason why I don’t recommend skipping the episode altogether is because of Adria’s introduction, the DK flashback, and the scroll pecice. But all of that is so divorced from the episode’s A plot that it might as well not have been here.You could have taken nearly all of Adria’s scenes and fitted them into another episode. Meaning, you could have easily cut all of Vardaros, the Baron, and Stalyan out of the show and it wouldn’t have made a difference to the story arc. 
Conclusion
I’ll give the opening this much. It lets you know what your in for for the rest of season; lots of filler, a disconnected arc, and no Varian (or other main threat) to be seen. Ugh! 
65 notes · View notes
usual-day-dreamer · 4 years
Text
Bend The Rules (Obi-Wan x Jedi!Reader) Chapter Two
A/N: to make up for the angsts ending from the last chapter, there’s some smut here so enjoy! Also, I had to change some things from the original movie for the sake of the story, but don’t worry, everything else is intact, I just changed some characters actions; you’ll see, I hope you guys like it.
Warnings: smut
MASTERLIST
CHAPTER ONE - CHAPTER THREE -  PLAYLIST
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I know you can hear me
You pushed him away again, concentrating on your task at hand.
Stop pushing me away
You desperately wanted to embrace him again, but you couldn’t, Master Yoda was right; you had to learn to control your feelings and find your balance. That’s why he sent you away, also to help everyone in need across the galaxy and ever since you departed, he tried to reach you through your bond every single day and even though you rejected him and ignored him he never gave up.
You were full of anger at the begging, even ignoring him when he reached out when Qui-Gon died… but now you were just full of guilt and regret, way too ashamed to confront him. What you did was completely wrong and you knew it, Obi-Wan showed you every single day how desperate he was to talk to you again and you did nothing, afraid of what might happen if you talked with him again. That’s why you were still far away.
He chased you even in your dreams, but you persisted. You knew you had to come back you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.
One day, you were walking back to the small hut you resided in, the planet was full of insecurity and you were helping the people there. Your body felt suddenly heavy and you were suddenly somewhere else, you could clearly feel Obi-Wan and also love? You were certain it was, you’ve been feeling it long enough to recognize it, but it wasn’t yours or towards you, you looked ahead, a blonde woman was standing before you standing confident and proud; you frowned looking at her.
Satine, you heard, knowing it was her name and that Obi-Wan was calling for her. Your heart clenched why was love present there? Anger raised within you when you realized the awful truth. What a fool you’ve been these past years! Thinking that he loved you in the first place was completely stupid! How could you be such a fool? And that he’d wait for you, he didn’t want anything to do with you and you knew since the beginning, but you pushed that thought aside, having hope that something could happen when you finally returned.
You huffed, of course he’d pick someone else over you, you wouldn’t even pick yourself. You were pathetic, a failure that couldn't even save her master from turning to the dark side. Your mind was clouded as you tried to calm down, all the anger, fear and regret filling you almost completely. You had to forget your feelings, to forget him. Your hand reached for your pocketknife and in one swift motion you let your hair fall free and then swiftly cut it off your knife, slicing your hand slightly. You couldn’t even feel the pain from the cut. You screamed, a sudden wave of power flew around you, knocking to the ground everything in its path; the noise made you come back from your episode and fear consumed you once again. You were really a monster. Tears started falling down your face, a few droplets falling from the sky, but you just stood there, afraid of yourself guilt, regret and fear still present as you blocked Obi-Wan once again, trying not to pulverize your heart with the reality that was happening far, far away.
After days of the incident, you tried to focus more in everything but him. You were getting ready for bed, knowing well he’d be there again in your dreams. Though you fought against sleep, it engulfed you, tiredness from the day betraying you.
And he was there again, you couldn’t bring yourself to see him, but blocking his voice was more difficult.
Please come back to me
No planet, no matter how far it was, was enough to get away from him or your bond; no matter what you tried, everything was useless. You could feel his sadness, and that made you even more guilty. You hated yourself, but you had no idea what to do.
You forced yourself to wake up, his voice drifting away as your eyes opened slowly, his voice disappeared but his feeling remained within you. When you were consciously enough a feeling of unease filled your senses, going to your meditating spot to find the source.
Everything was still a blur, ever since you investigated your future, you kept looking for more answers, but everything was still a blur. Even now it continued like that, but you knew you couldn’t continue running away from your destiny. It was clear what you had to do, though you weren’t happy about it.
You had to go back to Coruscant. You gathered your stuff as quickly as you could, preparing your starfighter to leave and go with him.
Once out of the planet’s atmosphere you were currently residing you gathered up your courage and looked for Obi-Wan through the force, careful enough to make sure he wouldn’t know.
*
Obi-Wan grunted, blocking another laser bolt, his back against Anakin’s as they fought the droids surrounding them.
���No mission seems to be easy for us” his Padawan exclaimed and Obi-Wan huffed in amusement. They cleared the path and continued running, trying to reach their starfighters and report back to Coruscant. They could hear more droids going towards them.
“Hope this data we recovered is worth all this hazard” Obi-Wan replied.
You jumped out of your starfighter, covering yourself with your cloak as you ran towards him, sensing him in danger. Lightsaber ignited already as you ran as fast as you could.
The two Jedi were already out of the not so abandoned fortress, their starfighters not far ahead. But droids blocked their path, surrounding them again, they stopped, pressing their backs together as they deflected the laser bolts with their lightsabers. There were too many droids, and both Jedi knew they probably wouldn’t make it. A stray laser bolt grazed Obi-Wan’s leg and he groaned in pain, falling into the ground. And suddenly he sensed it, the familiar warmth he had missed for years.
When you spotted the pair, obviously losing, you sprinted, jumping as high as you could, landing between the two, slicing all the droids and force pushing them away.
“What the- “you heard Anakin say in surprise. The familiar feeling coming strong as the hooded figure destroyed the remaining droids, but it couldn’t be you, that was impossible. He had pushed you away forever.
The last droid was destroyed, and Anakin helped him stand up. But before he could say anything, the mystery Jedi ran away.
“Who was that?” Anakin asked as they continued to walk towards their starfighters.
“I’m not sure” Obi-Wan replied, trying to reach out for you again, failing completely.
“I just received an urgent message from the temple, there has been an attack towards Senator Amidala, and they request our presence immediately” Obi-Wan said, pressing buttons and getting ready to depart.
Anakin wasted no time, eager to fly back “What are waiting for? Let’s go”
You had received a message from Master Yoda, requesting your presence at the temple immediately, you hadn’t told him you were coming back, but you knew he already knew.
You were relieved to know you had arrived before Anakin and Obi-Wan, looking at your surroundings with nostalgia as you approached the High Council Chamber.
“Master Y/N, glad to see you’re finally back” Mace Windu said when you stepped inside the room, the others greeting you with a smile and a nod, you smiled widely at everyone.
“It really feels good to be back”
“Now, we must tell you what all this is about” Master Windu started.
“There has been an attack towards Senator Amidala” you gasped.
“It has been decided that you, Master Kenobi and Anakin will protect her at all costs, knowing you have a past with her, may do things easier” he continued.
“Informed about this Anakin and Obi-Wan are, as soon as they arrive here the three of you must report with the Senator” Yoda added, he sensed your anxiety and sent a reassuring nod your way, surprisingly it helped you calm down.  
Obi-Wan tried to calm his anxious Padawan as they made their way towards the High Council Chamber, they had been requested there before going with the former Queen of Naboo.
The feeling from before stronger as he approached the door, but still in denial of the option of the feeling being you. The door opened, everyone was already in their seats, a woman was standing in the center of the room. When she turned around, his heart stopped.
He couldn’t believe his eyes; it was you. Your eyes sparkled when his gaze met yours and he fought with every inch of his being the impulse of just kissing you right there.
“Y/N? Is that really you?” Anakin asked in disbelief walking towards you, embracing you in a hug and you smiled. Obi-Wan frozen in place, his heart doing jumps and flips.
“Glad to see you still remember me” you said with a laugh.
“How could I forget you? You were always my favorite” Anakin moved away, making room for his Master. Obi-Wan’s legs finally moved towards you, and you lost your breath.
He was just as handsome as you remembered, though older. You noted how good his long hair and beard framed his face, his blue eyes glowing in the light.
“Master Kenobi” you greeted, your smile only growing, all your guilt and dark feelings disappearing as soon as you saw him smile at you like never before, a smile full of promise and hope.
“Good to see you again Master L/N”
The moment was interrupted by Master Windu’s voice.
“You may go with the Queen now”
The three of you excused yourself and walked out, not missing Anakin’s eagerness as you walked rapidly towards the elevator.
When the doors opened again, Jar Jar embraces you in a bone crushing hug. You laughed.
“I missed you too Jar Jar” he did the same with the other two, and Padmé appeared.
With a smile she greeted you, surprised to see Anakin older. The two flirted for a bit, your eyes looked at Obi-Wan and he was already looking at you.
“If I’m honest with you, I’m not too fond of more protection” Padme said, and you looked at her “But I’m glad it is with my old friends” the three smiled at her.
“Your safety is our priority now, and I’ll do anything in my power to guarantee your safety” you said “That’s why, I already have a plan” the room fell silent, waiting for you to continue “After years of traveling across galaxy, I stumbled into a small planet, the natives there are pacifists, you must go there with Anakin and I’ll pretend to be you and travel back to Naboo for a few days with Obi-Wan until things are sorted out”
“I won’t let you risk your life for me” she protested
“I knew you’d say this, but you must do it”
She looked away, deep in thought “Besides, I’m not alone, Obi-Wan will keep me company and protect me when necessary, isn’t that right?” You asked him with a wink, he smiled.
“We both know you’ll be the one protecting the both us, just like always”
“Well then” she said “Tomorrow morning we’ll leave, now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll retire for the day” she walked out, leaving you standing there.
“She wasn’t so pleased to see me” Anakin said with a pout, you laughed and patted his shoulder “Believe me Ani, she was” you walked out towards the balcony, Anakin turned his attention towards his Master.
“She’s right” he said, and Anakin smiled with a blush.
There was another attempt that night, but Anakin and Obi-Wan stepped inside quickly and a persecution followed, you stayed with Padme and prepared everything for your departure in the morning.
The sun wasn’t up yet as Padme helped you change your clothes, handing you a dark blue gown; she was already wearing your tunic and cloak. When you were done, you walked out of the room, meeting Anakin and Obi-Wan.
Once at the ship, you handed Anakin a small device.
“The coordinates are in here, I’ve already said you are coming, the people there are kind, they are eager to let you stay there”
“Thank you, Y/N,” she said and hugged you, she said goodbye and walked inside the ship.
“Be careful” Obi-Wan said “You too Master” Anakin answered and walked away; their ship flew into the night sky.
“Your ship is ready my lady” Obi-Wan and you turned away and made your ways towards the ship.
Naboo’s weather was welcoming as you breathed in, sunlight washing over you as you entered the palace, Padme’s gown flowing beautifully behind you as you walked. It was weird to wear different clothes from your usual ones, but it was still pleasant.
After several minutes of looking for you, Obi-Wan finally found you. Dawn was covering the land of Naboo in a beautiful palette of colors which seemed to dance in your skin and hair.
“Aren’t you going to join me?” You asked, your back still towards him as he walked towards you, almost embarrassed. When you felt him beside you, you turned towards him.
The colors of the sky reflected on his blue eyes, as he stared at you. He looked at you amazed, Padme’s gown hugging your body beautiful, and your eyes still seemed to hold the stars. You smiled; the silence was pleasant.
“I’m sorry” he said, and you frowned, stepping closer to him.
“You have nothing to apologize for” you looked away ashamed “I’m the one who’s sorry, the way I shut you off for the past ten years… that was wrong, especially when Qui-Gon…” you voice lowered at the end, tears threatened to spill and you looked back at the glistening lake reflecting the sky above. Stars were already appearing.
Obi-Wan’s hand caressed your cheek and you leaned into his touch.
“I forgive you” he says, and you can’t hold it anymore, letting yourself tears fall freely. You hug him tightly and he hugs you back just as tightly, the pressure he has felt for years dissipating. Your tears stopped and you relaxed into his embrace. You pulled away and took his hand, guiding him back towards the edge of the balcony to admire the last drops of sunlight.
“My lady” you turned your gaze away from the view “Your bath is ready” he said, and you let out a delighted sound.
“Perfect! I’ll be there shortly” you replied and with a courtesy he was away.
“Bath?” Obi-Wan asked with a raised eyebrow
“Padmé’s recommendation, she told me to make the most of my stay here”
“I see”
You turned away, walking back into the palace “You know where I’ll be if you need anything” you winked at him and walked away.
Was that an invitation? he thought watching you disappear.
You decided to go into your room first, once inside you took off your Padme wig and stripped out of your gorgeous gown, wrapping around you a beautiful silk robe and walking out, making your way toward the bath.
The room was huge, with enormous windows as doors, walls and roof that welcomed the beautiful night glow inside, the stars were shining brightly and you smiled, anticipation bubbling in your stomach as you quickly untied your robe.
The water felt delicious against your skin, the temperature perfect and you sighed, the water covered just above your shoulders leaving your -now- short hair dry. You closed your eyes and relaxed, the scent of lavender and other foreign flowers hitting your nostrils in a pleasant way. The door suddenly opened but you already knew who was at the door. You smirked and turned around.
Obi-Wan was standing awkwardly at the doorway, he was only wearing a dark blue silk robe, he was blushing as he looked everywhere but you, he cleared his throat “I just… I just wanted to know what happened to your hair”
You wanted to laugh, he was so cute and awkward you turned around again, your bare back towards him; you heard him walking towards the huge bath, and from the corner of your eyes you saw his leg as he stepped inside the bath. You closed your eyes and looked up, trying to not make him uncomfortable with your stare.
You could feel him relaxing more and a soft splash filled the room, he was fully inside, the hot water making his muscles relax. He sat down across you and waited for your answer. You reopened your eyes and looked at him.
You sighed “I can’t remember the planet I was when it happened but I just had a small breakdown and I had to cut it off with my pocket knife” you avoided his gaze, hiding the truth and hoping he wouldn’t notice. It seemed he didn’t, and you relaxed once again.
The sky above was dark velvet dripping in stars, threads of silver light washing over the both of you making your skin shimmer lightly. He just hummed as an answer, then reached out to you, his hand brushing against your locks sweetly.
“You still look as beautiful as the last time I saw you”
You closed your eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hand against your face after years of yearning. Coming back to your senses you pulled away, Obi-Wan frowned. You walked far from him, hugging yourself with a sad look on your face, he followed, the sound of the water moving along with you the only sound in the room.
“Stop running away from me” his voice was soft but stern.
“I thought we agreed this couldn’t be” you replied, pushing away your thoughts of Satine fighting against the dark emotions that came with the thoughts of that woman.
“I was dumb and scared” his hand grabbed your arm, untangling it from your embrace making you turn to look at him “And every single day I regretted everything I told you all those years ago” his hands traveled upwards, holding your face tenderly with his calloused hands. He leaned forward as your eyes closed in anticipation and your mouth slightly open.
He finally closed the gap and you almost moaned at the feeling. His right hand going to the back of your head while his left graces small patterns against your cheek. Your arms traveling up his body hugging his shoulders, your left hand pulling slightly his long hair.
You pulled away to catch your breath, eyes still closed. You sighed, a small smile dancing in your lips, he was smiling widely when you looked at him and when your eyes met you kissed him again. The kiss deepened when you turned your head to the side, his tongue asked for access and you opened your mouth wider with a moan. His hands traveled down, caressing your sides softly as the kiss became needier and passionate.
His hands landed on your waist and squeezed lightly making you gasp, his caresses continued, leaving goosebumps on his trail; you pulled away again, and he leaned forward looking for your lips “Let’s go back to my room” you managed to stay.
Obi-Wan stared at your face for a few seconds, a blush painted your face beautifully, your skin hot and soft underneath his hands and your lips red and swollen. He nodded rapidly, you smiled and walked out, a jolt of excitement fulling him as he watched you drying yourself up rapidly with a fluffy towel and then tie up your silk robe. You looked at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow and he took the action as a sign to do the same. As soon as he finished, your hand found his and you ran outside.
Your giggles filling the vast hallways of the palace, letting go of his hand as he followed you with a faster pace, the smile never leaving his face. His mind traveled back to the temple years back, remembering how you’d always sneak out at night to spent together but in a completely different intention. Once he caught up with you, he grabbed your waist pulling you against him, you turned around and kissed him hard. Your back pressed against the wall as you made out carelessly. You pushed him away and ran, he followed trying to catch you again, repeating the small cycle every time he caught you; making your supposedly small journey towards your room longer than intended.
You back crashed against the huge wooden door of your current room as he kissed you roughly; you gasped and tried to open your door but failing miserably. He noticed and opened it without trouble and you both stumbled insides.
You stared at each other, he reached out and untied your robe slowly, your chest going up and down with your breathing. His hand reached up to pull it away slowly from your shoulders; it fell to the ground with a small thud. His hands were touching every bit of skin, his lips trailing from your neck towards your shoulder. You moaned, untying his robe with ease and exploring his body with your hands. Your legs touched your bed and you got on, Obi-Wan following suit.
He looked at you, as if trying to memorize every curve and freckle, you did the same, trailing your hands softly up and down his arms. He kissed you again, his hands squeezing your breast softly.
“Please” you whispered, bucking up your hips and he gasped at the feeling. He positioned himself and then looked at you, you stared back and brought him back for a bruising kiss as he entered you slowly. The feeling was foreign but pleasant nonetheless, when he was fully inside, he stopped, waiting for your sign to keep going. You nodded, bringing your right hand towards his hair, pulling it when he started moving.
His pace was slow but deep and strong. You covered your mouth, trying to keep your moans and sighs from leaving your mouth. Obi-Wan grabbed that hand, intertwining your hands together. His head moved down to kiss your breast and collarbones and you shuddered pleasantly.
He quickened his pace a little, just enough to make you see stars. Shocks of electricity traveling around your body at the new sensations.
“Obi-Wan” you moaned his name, he loved how beautiful it sounded leaving your lips while he moved inside you, he but your neck harshly and you gasped.
“I’m… I’m” you couldn’t even form coherent words, but he seemed to understand.
“Come on darling” he pinched your nipple and you came harshly around him, he groaned and pulled away rapidly, Cumming all over your stomach. Your breathing was erratic as you stared at the ceiling.
You looked at him, brushing a loose hair from his sweaty forehead, kissing him lovingly.
“I’ll clean you up” he got up, and you looked at him going for some wet cloth to clean you. When he returned, he tenderly washed you and you sighed, it was pleasantly warm. Once done, he placed it on a nightstand and quickly laid down next to you, pulling the covers over your bodies. You closed your eyes exhausted, feeling him pulling you close, his warm breath hitting the back of your neck. You drifted off into a pleasant slumber.
Obi-Wan was the first to wake up, the few sun rays that filtered through the curtains made the room glow, he turned to his side to look at you. The glow in the room made you look heavenly, your eyes closed still deeply asleep. He smiled at the sight, he could get used to mornings like this, with you next to him. He couldn’t help it, his hand reached out to place behind your ear a stray strand of hair covering your face, you looked so peaceful and beautiful. He caressed tenderly your face, his hand traveling down and stopping on your side. You stirred and opened your eyes, meeting his blue ones and smiling. But it vanished as soon as it appeared, you turned away and sat down, your back to him.
“Don’t touch me” you almost growled and Obi-Wan pulled his hand away with a frown.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, staring at your bare back.
“You are such a great pretender” you said and turned towards him; he swore your eyes were yellow for a second “Saying all those things to me… I should’ve known, your mind was probably with that Satine” you voice was venomous as you said her name and he tensed his muscles, you noticed.
“It wasn’t what it seemed” he said
“Liar!” You exclaimed, he reached out for you again “I said don’t touch me!” You pushed him away and stood up, some decorations in the room flew everywhere, but he stood his ground, not afraid.
“I never loved her!” You stopped, letting him finish “She loved me! But I… I couldn’t stop thinking about you! I was so afraid, Maul killed her and I was afraid he knew I loved you and that he’d look for you and kill you, just like he did Qui-Gon” you froze “I couldn’t lose you to him” you crawled towards him, more calm.
“I’ve never stopped loving you” your eyes widened, you’ve heard this in your vision ten years ago “All these years, I’ve suffered waiting for you, consumed by the fear that I have lost you forever… I can’t run away from my feelings towards you, and I embraced them proudly, hoping that someday you’d come back and we’ll finally be together… but the thought of Maul killing you blinded me with fear for months” his voice broke down and you hugged him, his face in the crook of your neck.
“I’m so sorry” you muttered “I don’t know what came over me… I lost control of myself” you grabbed his face and gave his lips a small peck.
“Has this happened before?” You nodded shyly, he kept quiet, deciding to bring this topic again later.
“You’d never lose me Obi-Wan” your voice was stern, your eyes full of love “I promise” his lips crashed against yours, his hands gripping your waist tightly. He pushed you back against the bed, and you fell in pleasure together for the second time.
*
Once you finally decided to get up, the both of you showered and then headed outside for breakfast.
“Have you discovered anything about the bounty hunter that got killed the other day?” You munched on your delicious food and waited for his reply.
“Yes, actually. It came from Kamino, but I couldn’t find anything in the archives, it was like someone… erased it from the system”
“Now that’s weird” you said, “Why don’t we go investigate?”
“I don’t think it is safe” you pouted.
“But Anakin and Padme are safe! And I am Jedi”
“That is not what I meant, I’m sure you are fully capable of defending yourself, but what if there’s a bomb on your ship?”
You groaned “You’re right” you knew it was better to agree with him and you playfully rolled your eyes when he smirked triumphantly at you.
“But as soon as you find out what’s going on, promise to tell me so I can help you”
He paused for a moment, placing his hand on his chin to think “All right, as soon as I investigate Kamino, I’ll let you tag along”
He decided to leave after breakfast.
Once the two of you were done, you walked with him towards his starfighter, dying to go with him but doing as he said.
“Don’t do anything reckless while I’m away” he looked at you with a stern stare and you smiled.
“I’ll try” he laughed and hugged you tightly.
“I love you” he whispered in your ear
“I love you too” he reluctantly let you go and jumped inside his ship. Once inside his ship he turned to look at you once more “May the force be with you”
You smiled “And with you” you waited until he was out of sight before running back inside the palace. As soon as you were out of sight you took out your commlink.
“Master Yoda” you said, eager for a reply, and relief you sighed when it finally came.
“What happened Master L/N?” a sudden calmness washed over you when you heard your old master’s voice “I must talk with you in person Master”
“Come back to Coruscant, but be careful”
“Yes, Master”
You ended the call and quickly ran with one of the guards of the palace “I need a ship” he guided you to a small ship and you boarded, him following behind you. You anxiously bounced your leg up and down, desperate to get back to Coruscant. When the ship finally landed you were already waiting for the ramp to open.
“Go back to Naboo, your Queen will be back as soon as it is safe for her” the guard nodded and you ran out, holding the gown between your hands to prevent you from falling. You could feel various curious stares as you passed, looking for Master Yoda.
You finally found him, he was in a classroom full of younglings “Master Yoda” you exhaled, and everyone turned to look at you with curiosity in their youthful eyes.
“Are you a princess?” one of the girls asked and you smiled, ready to answer.
“Do you even know who you are talking to? She’s Master Y/N L/N, she’s one of the strongest Jedi around here! She’s been protecting planets all by herself!” A togruta girl exclaimed, and you laughed lightly.
“You seem to know my name but I do not know yours” you extended your hand for her and she took it, shaking it in excitement “My name’s Ahsoka Tano, it’s a pleasure to meet you Master Y/N”
You let go of her hand with a smile “I have to talk to Master Yoda for a bit, but I’ll look for you as soon as I finish” she nodded with a huge smile, her eyes shining as she dragged the rest of the younglings out of the room.
You face fell and your shoulders slumped, suddenly feeling heavy when the door closed behind them, sitting down in one of the small sofas you looked at Yoda “I’m afraid” you said and he sat down next to you.
“Trouble, fear and confusion I sense in you”
You closed your eyes “I’ve had this… outbursts” you paused “I lose control of everything, like I’m blinded by something, I don’t even know what I’m doing when they happen”
“Find balance in your feeling you must, if not the Dark Side will consume you, and you must not fear yourself or the future, what destiny holds, we do not know, that’s why it’s important to enjoy the present… what you saw the day of your ceremony is just a prediction, things can change but you have to be careful, I’ve felt unusual disturbances in the force”
You sighed, “Thank you Master” you felt a lot calmer “Find Ahsoka” you nodded and walked out.
Your search for the young padawan wasn’t long and she greeted you once again.
“I’m not busy anymore, do you maybe want to hang out?” you asked, and she nodded eagerly “But first come with me to my quarters, I have to change”
Though the gown was beautiful you were dying to change into your usual robes, and you did as soon as the door closed behind you, stepping inside your bathroom to change. Ahsoka waited patiently outside.
“Much better” you placed the gown neatly on you bed and the turned towards Ahsoka “Now let’s go do something fun”
You spent the rest of the day hanging out with her, already fond of the Padawan you laughed at something she said, sitting on the edge of a balcony as you gazed at the city below. Your commlink beeped and you took it out.
“Y/N” as soon as you heard Obi-Wan’s voice you smiled “Hey Obi-Wan” you could hear rain falling heavily on his side.
“Is that General Kenobi?” Ahsoka mouthed and you nodded.
“Before I tell the Council I just want you to know that I’ll follow this Bounty Hunter named Jango Fett, I’ll tell you where I am as soon as I land”
“Perfect, I’ll be waiting” the line went dead.
“What’s happening?” Ahsoka asked you and you sighed “I really wish I knew… but whatever it is, I’m not liking it one bit”
You waited for Obi-Wan’s call but it weirdly never came, until you felt it. A tug in your mind telling you he was in danger. You stood up in a flash “I’m sorry Ahsoka but I think Obi-Wan is in danger” without waiting for a reply you rushed out, jumping inside your blue starfighter as soon as you arrived. Before you took off you tried to relax closing your eyes focusing on him, trying to find out where he was. And then…
Geonosis? Ignoring your racing heart, you placed the coordinates and took off.
Searching through the depths of your memories was easy, remembering where your small house was and though you knew it was far from where he was, it was enough time to form a plan. You landed a few feet away from it, afraid that with the air it will tumble down.
You hopped out and walked towards the wrecked ship you used to call home; it was just as you left it, but more covered by the sand. Inside was completely dirty, and you smiled as you eyed your old stuff. One small item caught your eyes and you walked towards it, picking it up and dusting it off with a fond smile. It was a small plush, you remembered your mom calling it an Ewok, it was handmade and had an orange hat that had lost some color over time. You placed it securely inside your robe and walked out, making your way towards the hive, knowing the way like the back of your hand.
You silently and carefully sneaked inside, a few Geonosians holding their weapons passed you, but none of them were aware of your presence as you wandered deeper into the factory trying to find Obi-Wan.
“Can’t say I’m surprised to see you here, Padawan” Your old Master Dooku’s voice made you stop, and you turned to him “I’ve been waiting for you”
“I’m not a padawan anymore” you answered, straightening your figure, he smirked.
“So, I’ve heard” he waved his fingers, and in a flash Geonosians grabbed your arms harshly before you could react “Go lock her down, but careful, she’s feisty and strong”
You harshly trashed around trying to break free from their grip, you knew that if kept up, you’d be free, but a hard blow in you head knocked you out immediately.
You felt a presence in the room as soon as you started regaining your senses, making alert immediately, but a force pulled your arms and legs in place. You looked up and down noticing some energy restrains keeping you from moving. Master Dooku smiled.
“You know… I’ve been really waiting for you” you kept silent, deciding not to say a word “I could feel your doubt and fear from miles and I can still feel them” you closed your eyes, trying to ignore him and he laughed “You hold so much power… you could be so much more” his voice were dripping venom and you felt like crying, the sound of his voice used to be so sweet and comforting back then… now it sounds full of darkness and despair.
“Join me, and I’ll help you be who you are meant to be… embrace your fear and anger you know you could do much more”
Your head was hanging down and you swallowed a sob “I’ll never leave you… I’ll never join the dark side like you” he smirked.
“You say that now…” he turned away, and you looked up at his retreating form with sadness, you hoped to feel at least a spec of light in him… but there was nothing. Geonosians trotted inside and chained you up, forcing you to walk with them; you obliged, unable to fight them as you walked towards the arena.
You could hear the loud screams as the cart moved forward and the sun blinded you for a second, as soon as you saw Obi-Wan you tried to free yourself again, he widened his eyes when he saw you, pulling at the chains that were keeping his hands up. They tied you on his left side in another post and you sheepishly smiled.
“I told you not to do anything reckless” he said
“And I said I was going to try!” he rolled his eyes “Do you have a backup plan?” he asked, and you shook your head no “What about you?”
“I asked Anakin for help” as soon as those words escaped your lips, you saw Anakin and Padme on a cart down slowly making their way towards the post you were tied.
“We’re doomed” you exhaled.
“I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten my message” Obi-Wan said.
“I retransmitted it like you requested, Master. Then we decided to come and save you” Anakin replied, only then noticing your presence “Hi Y/N”
“Skywalker” you said with a smile that he returned.
“Well” Obi-Wan interrupted “It looks like you are doing a good job so far”
Your arms are pulled high above your heads and the cart drives away. You watch Dooku and others take their place in the archducal box. The crowd is roaring and cheering around you, when Poggle the Lesser raises, they go silent.
“Let the executions begin!” he exclaimed. You tried to catch Padme’s gaze and made a signal to her to climb up, she nods.
“I have a bad feeling about this” you hear Anakin say before blocking out their conversation, concentrating in climbing up.
Obi-Wan watched Padme climb, unaware of you doing just the same “She seems to be on top of things” he tells Anakin and he looks briefly back at Padme and then back to his master.
“Your girlfriend seems to be on top of things top” he smirked when he saw his master stutter and blush. Obi-Wan looked up and he smiled when he notices you were already at the top of the post. The battle begins, you watch Padme get scratched, leaving superficial claw marks on her back, you watch her jump and kick the creature; your attention stolen when a loud screech sounds behind you. You swing at the creature and do the same as Padme, landing on your feet you try to catch your breath. You spot Obi-Wan not far from you, he jumps and falls behind Anakin on the creature, signaling you to follow, you do the same, circling your hands around his waist to steady yourself when you land.
You watch Mace Windu fall inside the arena with the bounty hunter Jango Fett, Geonosians fly everywhere and the battle begins. Jedi fight against droids and Genosians and you finally have a lightsaber. Obi-Wan and you are back to back fighting.
Suddenly all the droids around you freeze, there’s a moment of stunned silence and then the Jedi cheer, you smile; but a harsh beeping sound fills the arena and the droids star fighting again.
You stand in the center of the arena, Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, Anakin, Padme and a group of 20 Jedi fighting beside you surrounded by a ring of droids. The sand beneath your feet feels heavy and thick, it is mixed with blood from dead Geonosians and Jedi, parts of shattered droids in the ground too.
The droids suddenly lower their weapons and you look at the archducal box where Dooku stands ready to talk “You have fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the history archives of the Jedi Order, now it is finished” he pauses briefly “Surrender and your lives will be spared”
“We will not be hostages for you to barter with Dooku” Mace Windu replies.
“Then, I’m sorry my old friend, you will have to be destroyed” for a second, he looks at you and you angrily stare back. The droids raise their weapons and you and Obi-Wan clasp hands tightly. Dooku raises his hand to give the order to fire but Padme’s scream makes you look above.
Six Gunships descend and a group of clones spill out and start firing against the droids. Yoda appears at the door of one of the gunships “Come on! Hurry!” he screams, Obi-Wan moves forward pulling you with him, but before he drags you inside you pull away and run towards Dooku, you hear him scream your name but you ignore him, climbing your way up towards your old Master. Dooku smirks when he sees you and runs away, knowing you’ll follow.
You see the gunship fly above you as you jump inside the box following Dooku. You watch him scape with a speeder and you jump in one, following him as fast as you can.
In the Gunship, Obi-Wan manages to see you and Dooku, ordering the clones to follow.
You arrive in no time at what seems to be a secret hanger tower, jumping out of your speeder with your lightsaber ignited and land in front of Dooku. He stops pulling out his lightsaber igniting it quickly. The red light reflecting your face reminds you of the cruel reality that’s about to happen. You couldn’t fight against him; he was like a father to you. You visibly hesitated.
“I know you don’t want to fight me” he says, turning his lightsaber off “Truth is, I don’t want to fight you either” you watch, but your lightsaber remains ignited “I know what makes you so afraid… I sensed it a long time ago, and I also know everything about it too”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” you say, anger pooling inside you and you grip your lightsaber tighter, not containing yourself any longer, you charge towards him, your blue lightsaber crashing against his red one with a loud hiss.
He kicks you and you stumble back, the Ewok plush you hid in your robes flies out and you widen your eyes, running towards it, you pick it up and place it back in its place.
“You’ve always been so emotionally pathetic” with a groan, you charge after him again to continue fighting.
“That’s why you are so easily predictable, vulnerable and almost see through” he blocks your blow before continuing “I know everything about your feelings towards Obi-Wan and the bond you share with him” he says followed by a grunt as you pushed him, you swing your saber around, crashing it against his once again, “And oh… I sense, a secret relationship?”
“You know nothing!” you say through gritted teeth, he smirks.
“Oh but I do, and I bet it won’t be long for the Council to find out…” he force pushes you and you stumble backwards, you pant standing up “But if you come with me, you won’t need to hide anymore, your feelings… your relationship” you stop.
“Is that really true?” you ask, your anger dissipating.
“Of course, dear” he says, extending his hand “Join me and you won’t have to hide anymore” you turn off your saber and slowly walk towards him.
You extend your hand, ready to take his when you hear Obi-Wan screaming your name in the distance. You pull back, suddenly out of your daze, igniting once more your saber. Your sabers crash again, blue and red mixing as you fought.
“Y/N!” his voice is closer and you look away from Dooku “Obi-Wan!” that distraction was an opportunity for Count Dooku, he kicks your arm and your weapon falls away, shutting off, he swings his saber at your back, not strong enough to kill you but still strong enough to harm you. You scream in pain and fall unconscious to the floor.
Obi-Wan and Anakin watch in anger at the scene. Anakin charges towards Dooku and raises his lightsaber but at the last moment Count Dooku thrusts out an arm and lifts Anakin up and slams him against the wall, he falls semi-conscious. He turns towards Obi-Wan.
“If it isn’t Kenobi” he says “I can see now why my old padawan is so deeply in love with you and I know… you feel the same” Obi-Wan opens his mouth to answer but Dooku cuts him off “There’s no need to deny it, it is completely obvious, she didn’t even had to say anything for me to know”
Obi-Wan glances worriedly at your unconscious body on the floor. He could see blood starting to pool against your robes; you needed medical attention urgently.
“And now she’ll bleed to death, what a tragic love story” he exhales “Now, back down” he orders.
“I don’t think so” he lifts his lightsaber and Count Dooku smiles.
Count Dooku draws his lightsaber, both men start circling each other.
“I have spent the last ten years learning the power of the Dark Side. It gives me infinitely greater power”
“You will have to prove it” Obi-Wan comes in fast, swinging at Count Dooku’s head, Dooku blocks it easily. Dooku swings harder and Obi-Wan stumbles back, trying to regain his breath.
Obi-Wan takes a deep breath, gets a fresh grip on his lightsaber and comes in again. For a moment, he drives Count Dooku back. Then Dooku's superior skill begins to tell again, and he forces Obi-Wan to retreat. Count Dooku increases the tempo of his attack and Obi-Wan is pushed to the limit to defend himself, Dooku presses and his lightsaber flashes. Obi-Wan is wounded in the shoulder, then his thigh. He stumbles back against the wall, trips, and falls; his lightsaber goes skittering across the floor. Dooku raises his lightsaber ans Obi-Wan looks up helplessly. Dooku's lightsaber flashes down and collides against - Anakin's lightsaber, Dooku and ANAKIN stare eyeball to eyeball.
Anakin charges at Count Dooku. The force of his attack catches the Count slightly off balance. Anakin's lightsaber flashes. Count Dooku draws back, putting a hand to his arm. He takes the hand away and looks at the smear of blood where Anakin has nicked him.
Obi-Wan uses the Force to catch his lightsaber and he tosses it to Anakin. With two lightsabers, Anakin attacks. Count Dooku parries and ripostes. It is no contest. Anakin is driven back against the wall. He loses one lightsaber. Finally Count Dooku, in one flashing move, sends Anakin's arm, cut at the elbow, flying still gripping his lightsaber. Anakin drops to the ground in agony. Count Dooku draws himself up to deliver the coup de grace.
Suddenly, the great doors slide open. The droids turn fast, raising their weapons. Through the thick smoke, emerges the heroic figure of Yoda. He stops on the smoke-filled threshold, four droids lined up on either side of him, guns pointed.
Before the droids can get off a shot, Yoda raises his hand, and the droids are flung against the far walls and crash to the floor in heaps of smoking metal.
There’s silence. Count Dooku steps away from Anakin to face the Jedi Grand Master. His lightsaber whirls in a formal salute.
“Master Yoda” he greets. Yoda draws a miniature lightsaber out of his cane. He salutes formally.
“I must say, you’ve trained her well” Yoda turns his eyes towards your unconscious self and angrily stares at Dooku “But you know her feelings over power her, it won’t be long for her to join my side”
“She’s emotional but also strong, it will not be easy to turn her”
Count Dooku raises his arms and knocks Yoda off his shoulders and then, with all his might, he uses the Force to pull on one of the cranes in the hanger. It comes crashing down on you. But in the blink of an eye, Yoda is under the crane, holding it up, using the Force. Yoda closes his eyes and concentrates.
Anakin is unconscious, and Obi-Wan tries to get you out from under the crane. The fallen crane trembles and starts to life. Behind it, the sound of the Sail Ship's engines is heard starting up.
Yoda concentrates harder. Slowly, the crane rises. The sound of the engines increases. Yoda exerts every scrap of his powers. The crane lifts clear and is thrown to the ground. Dooku’s Sail Ship takes off. Obi-Wan and Anakin struggle to the exhausted Yoda, but it's too late. The Sail Ship rises into the air and flies away. Padme and a clone captain with about ten troopers appear in the doorway.
Padme runs towards Anakin to help him; he can barely stand up. Obi-Wan limps his way towards you “She needs medical help” he gasps out before collapsing back into the ground, clones rush to help you and he watches them taking you away as another clone helps him up and they walk together towards the Gunship, Dooku’s Sail Ship disappearing in the distance.
*
You groan, opening your eyes slowly, you stir, the bright ceiling blinding you for a moment.
“How are you feeling?” you sighed, fully opening your eyes and looking at Obi-Wan. 
“Awful” you groan “My whole body aches” 
“You received a pretty bad blow” he says “You’ll probably have a scar on your back” you shrug your shoulders and hiss in pain, he reaches out to you “Careful” he says, and you smile.
“Another addition to the collection” Obi-Wan smiles, looking out the door to make sure no one was near. He kissed your lips quickly “You are so stubborn, the medical bots said you’d be awake in a week” you smirk.
“And why are you here then?” you ask.
“Because I knew you wouldn’t last unconscious that long” he returns the smirk and kisses you again “And I wanted to be with you when you woke up” you smile at him “What about you?” you ask.
“The usual, my arm and thigh” you scoff “You need to be more careful!” you answer, and he laughs “Says the one that’s on the hospital bed” 
“Help me sit up” he does and sits on your bed “That reminds me” his hand reach out inside his robe “I believe this is yours” he shows you your Ewok plush and you gasp with a blush.
“Did someone else found it?” you ask, it has a small blood stain on its belly, and you take a mental note to clean it later.
“No, another secret won’t hurt right?”
You smile fondly at him “Right” he presses his lips against your forehead, and you relax fully.
“I want to go with you to the Council meeting” 
“I don’t know” he says 
“Come on! I’m sure I can leave” you call the medical droid, and it comes in quickly “Is anything wrong?” it asks.
“Can I leave now?”
It pauses “You can, our technology was strong enough to heal you, but you still cannot make any harsh movements” 
“Thank you” it goes away, and you turn to Obi-Wan “Now let’s go”
He helps you stand, and you walk hand in hand towards the meeting.
“Glad to see you recovered fast Master L/N” Mace Windu says when you walk through the door.
“Thank you, I’m glad to see most of you made it out safely”
“Where is your apprentice?” Mace Windu changes the topic.
“On his way back to Naboo. He is escorting Senator Amidala home” he answers “I must admit without the clones, it would not have been a victory” he continues.
“Victory? Victory, you say?” Obi-Wan and you turn to look at the sad Jedi sitting in the Council Chamber. Apart from Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon, who is wounded, the Chamber is empty.
“Not victory, a defeat, it was... Master Obi-Wan. Begun, the Clone War has!”
Your eyes met Obi-Wan’s blue ones, a feeling of unease swimming in the almost empty room. There was no need to say anything, whatever was to come was not something you both were looking forward to. 
TAG LIST: @fantasticchaoticwho​​ @l-l-c-m-w-b​​ @itsilvermorny​​ @annazierden​​ @mellowstatesmanhandsempath​​
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k-writer1998 · 3 years
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Who Said Love Was Easy (9/12)
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There are many different kinds of people who come and go from your life. Some will stay constant and sturdy like a river, growing alongside you, others will come like a whirlwind who wreaks havoc and leaves just as quickly, then there is everything in between. In this twisted maze of connections, that is where our story begins. A steadfast boy, a girl with a past, a little bit of alcohol, mistakes, and some love. Where can you go wrong with that?
angsty fluff
w.c: 1.5k
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“I don’t know. I mean it's a good thing that my grandma is actually caring about me now right? But why do I have a bad feeling about it?”
“She’s an old woman who lost her only son. You learn things after someone dies, one of them is who was truly genuine and who had ulterior motives. From what I know she was the nicer few of the bunch to begin with, what’s wrong with her finally treating you like her own? Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Well yeah but that was when my dad was still alive and my life wasn’t such a mess. I feel like this is just some calm for yet another storm to hit me.”
“Hey now, your life hasn’t been that bad.”
“Changbin. I was practically kicked out and for the first six months I was mooching off of you until Aunt Hyorin found me an affordable place. I couldn’t live off of the money I was left forever so I had to start working on top of going to school. My life has been living by solving one problem after the next. Now I’m set for university with my scholarships AND my estranged grandmother wants to love me? Too many “good” things are happening lately, something is bound to go wrong.”
“Stop being such a pessimist. Is it wrong to finally get what you deserve, a good life?”
“Optimism doesn’t keep you alive my friend. Pessimism is what allows me to still be sane even after all of that.”
“And this is why I’m taking you out drinking. You need to loosen up and unwind. Life doesn’t ever follow a set path so why worry when it hasn’t happened yet, especially when you have so many back up plans for this unknown inevitable,” he joked as pushed me yet another drink once he noticed mine had finished. 
“Well last I checked, when I tried last time you got mad at me.”
“Those are two completely different things. I said loosen up not go wild. You were challenging people to drinking contests and the loser paid for the drinks. I had to literally guard you from guys trying to cop a feel at your drunk ass and don’t get me started on what happened when I took you home and accidentally put your code in at your neighbor’s door.”
“Okay the whole thing with Jaehyung-oppa was completely your fault. I’ve lived there for how long? And you still mistook his apartment for mine?”
“Well I’m sorry I was tired after having to drag your drunk self around as you whined and tried to fight me to let you stay out longer.”
“But hey, I never lost.”
“Half the guys let you win cause every time you did you would jump around and hug them before rubbing it in their face,” he rolled his eyes. 
“Fine, yet here you are taking me to drink once again so why are you questioning me?”
“This time isn’t one of your patterns though so we’re safe. Last time was pattern two because your brother-”
“Ah- we are not speaking about that or I will go back into pattern two just to spite you,” I warned. “Now if you’ll excuse me I need to use the restroom.”
      I know Changbin is trying, he’s watched me fall apart after my brother who I thought was my only ally in that family iced me out like the rest of them. He was also beside me as I forced myself back up but I knew he could tell I wasn’t completely myself. All my motivation has since been drained and I’ve just simply been… living. Not like I didn’t have goals, it's just, I can see it within reach yet my feet refuse to move towards it as if they’ve rooted themselves to the ground beneath me. As I came back, Changbin was nowhere to be found and the bartender let me know he had stepped out to take a call. With a sigh I slumped back into my seat at the bar as I ordered a new drink. It felt like time ticked slowly as I waited for Changbin to come back. My eyes scanned the room, taking note of a few interesting characters until I noticed someone approaching. From the look in his eye and the sleazy smile on his face, his intentions were very clear. I immediately stood and made my way over to the first person at the bar that I saw alone and called out immediately. 
“OMG is that you?! I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“I’ve never met you before though?” the boy mumbled. 
“I’m sorry but please work with me. That guy over there is making me uncomfortable,” I dropped my voice so only he can hear, “you can just continue to mumble to yourself, don’t mind me. ”
“ By myself? But my friends were just-”
      He moved his head around as if he had just noticed his friends were no longer there. Well the place was crowded and he wasn’t there earlier so my guess is that they got separated by accident and no offense but thank god for that. Casting a glance I could tell the guy wasn’t buying it so I turned to talk to the boy in front of me yet again. 
“So what’s up with you that your friends took you out and let you get this wasted?”
“It’s nothing big, I just can’t get over a girl…”
“What was it? Break up? Rejection?”
“Neither, I can’t even tell her I like her to begin with but now I can’t because she has a boyfriend. Not like she would consider me anyways.”
“Well you seem like a decent person so I don’t see why she shouldn’t but tell me about her. I’ll give you a girl’s perspective. ” 
      I wasn’t planning to be so invested in our conversation but there was something about him that had me so captivated. I mean yeah he was my type but then there was how his features softened, and there was this sparkle in his eyes when he spoke about this girl… In the midst of it all I got a text from Changbin, teasing me for “going after a guy” while he was away and told me he’ll be waiting back at our seats. On the other hand, the boy had poured out his history with this girl, from their odd meeting to his inevitable downfall into love. There were ghosts of facts about himself as well but never enough to build a full picture of his character. Although his main focus this whole conversation was this mystery girl… above all reason, I started to have a crush on this boy. Dumb, I know. My heart literally chose to play the fool in this story. It’s just… There is something about how he talked and the starry look and the gentle smile and then my brain just kinda went “I wish he looked at me like that” and then I hated myself for doing this to myself. Luckily not long after my brain had realized, his friend had found him and apologized before dragging him back to his group, leaving me to go back to Changbin. 
“Wait so you knew all that when you met me again? That’s fraud you said you could just tell.”
“I can just tell. That night you weren’t really descriptive when you talked about her, you were a little too into the “woe is me” thing so all you really said was that she was pretty,” I rolled my eyes. “So when your eyes practically followed her every move during your shift, I was able to connect the dots.” 
“And after knowing that you still chose to have a… crush… on me?”
      It felt foreign to hear it from him himself. I’m usually the one bringing it up, it’s weird to see him acknowledge it for once. Seeing how careful he is about bringing it up, can I say that we’re close enough that he cares about my feelings? Wait no. Okay y/n let’s not be pathetic now. You are better than that. No need to grasp at crumbs. 
“It wasn’t really a choice. I think you can agree with me on this, it was more like a virus. You just kinda plagued my mind that night and you never left after that.”
“I literally just talked about Gahyeon though, you didn’t hear anything about me unless you’re not telling me something. ”
“I told you everything but there is something called reading between the lines, you wouldn’t get it,” I answered. He doesn’t need to know that the love in his eyes sparked me back to life because I wanted to feel like that about something or someone again. I smiled at him and jokingly added, “But I will say I liked you from that night but after getting to know you I really~ like you now. ”
“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes with a chuckle.
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sailorbellewrites · 4 years
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More Than You Can Chew
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characters— taehyung x reader (aka kiddo) (ft. members of bts)
summary— taehyung has been (not so quietly) obsessed with the young rapper who eats glazed donuts at the corner table every saturday night for some time now. but everyone thinks dating her is biting off more than he can chew. 
information— one shot. fluff. femme reader. character inspired by megan thee stallion, cardi b, and lil’ kim. longer than previous works. same universe as “no limit”, now titled the baking news au. there will be a second part to this titled jawbreaker, which will be released later this month.
warnings— strong language. mean & aggressive characters. casual mentions of sex and sexual behavior (but no smut because i’m shy). excessive mentions of the color pink. vague mentions of other celebrities and influencers. taehyung is an adorable tryhard.
more than you can chew—
On the outside looking in, Yoongi was kind of an asshole. He didn’t speak much and when he did, he never had anything nice to say. His face was void of most emotions, except for the sour expression that would develop when Hoseok laughed too loud in the backseat of your car. The happiest you had ever seen him was when the aforementioned male got too excited during a cypher and fell off the stage. Yoongi laughed hysterically for 30 minutes, much to Hoseok’s annoyance. He spent more time in the studio than he did with his fiancée, a fact that resulted in her calling off the wedding three times in the past year. He always wore black, even in the dead of summer. On the inside looking in, he was much worse. That’s why it’s all too easy to tell him “no” when he asks for a favor.
“Awww, come on Kiddo.”
“Fuck off.”
“I never ask you for shit—”
“So why ruin a good thing and start now?” Yoongi rolls his eyes at your words, body falling into the chair across from you. You eye his limp form slowly, appraising the black hoodie and ripped jeans combination he often gravitated to. He looked good, you had to admit. He always did. Yoongi had the bad boy aesthetic down pat, to the point where it came off as effortless. It wasn’t any wonder as to why girls threw themselves at him during club appearances. If you didn’t know what he was really like (and if he wasn’t dating your friend), you might have tried to bed him too. But you mostly envied Yoongi’s appearance, envied how easy he made dressing and rapping and just about everything look. You were always walking a fine line between putting forth too much effort and being called a try hard bitch or putting forth too little and being accused of looking for a handout. You sighed; being a woman in your industry was tough. “Where’s Hope?”
“DJ owes him money or something. He was pissed.” You shake your head, knowing just how intense an angry Hoseok could be. While you could only count on one hand the amount of times you’d seen him truly filled with rage, each new moment was much more scary than the last. The last time ended with him put in handcuffs, though you were able to talk the cop out of actually taking him to the station. “Not important. You need to do this thing for me.”
“No.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
You snort at the cheesy line he deploys. “I’m telling your fiancée you said that.” Yoongi shrugs, as though he was not at all scared of his lover’s wrath. As much as he claimed to hate the drama of their relationship, he often did nothing to stop it. In fact, you would find him actively stoking the flames. You suspect he gets off on it. “You’re such a dickhead. You know you don’t deserve her, right?”
“Whatever. If you do this thing, I’ll buy you donuts everyday for a week.”
You slam your hands flat on the table in front of you, using the extra stability to lean yourself closer to him. “You buy me donuts everyday for a month, original glazed only, and you pay full price,” you bargain in a low voice. You are fully aware of how ridiculous you look, perched on the table like some low level gangster, but you can’t find it in yourself to care. Shame was a feeling no longer within you.
Yoongi scoffs in disbelief, shaking his head before you even finish your proposal. “I have never paid full price here and I’m not gonna start now.”
You push yourself off of your table, throwing your hands up in the air. “Take it or leave it!”
“You don’t even know what I want you to do.”
“Take it or leave it!” You repeat even louder.
Yoongi curses under his breath, knowing he’s caught between a rock and a hard place. He shoots a quick glance behind him, instantly met with the wide expectant eyes of the bakery worker now playing cashier. Looking back at you, he sees you pretending to check your nails—long, pink, and sharp—as though you were bored by him. He scoffs again, wondering why he let his partner drag him into this situation before stating, “Okay, fine. Two donuts, everyday, for a month. Will you do it?”
You smirk, crossing your arms in victory as you lean back in your chair. “Sure. Now what am I doing for you?”
“Going on a date with your hero.”
.
.
Kim Taehyung has had a crush on you for some time now. It was no secret to anyone who frequented the small yellow bakery; he’d been smitten from the first day—or rather night—that you walked into Baking News. You looked like a model as you strut through the building, high waisted leather pants accentuating your curves and cleavage pushed up to ten in a lacy pink crop top. You ordered two original glazed donuts before he could even stutter out the pun filled greeting Seokjin had come up with, smirk settled on your lips as though you knew just how much you affected him. When he gave them to you half off because it was so close to closing, you called him your hero. He thought your voice sounded like honey. Taehyung was caught in a trance the rest of the night night, and quickly found himself being wrapped up in thoughts of you every time you walked through those glass doors.
He’s asked you out a few times. Movies, cafes, museums, and the park were all on the table for you to pick up at any time, but you never did. You had every excuse under the sun for why you couldn’t go out with him; you were always too tired, too busy, too unavailable. It made sense, in some ways. Rappers were like that. Or at least, that’s what he told himself to ease the sting of rejection. He held onto his hope that you would eventually say yes because, in truth, you had never given him a concrete “no”. Attached to every excuse of why you couldn’t go out with him was the promise of a “next time”. That “next time” is what kept him going, kept him giving you half priced glazed donuts even when it wasn’t closing time, kept his attraction to you alive.
Naturally, though, he got tired of waiting. Seeing Seokjin’s relationship flourish right before his eyes only made him want you more. He wished he could sit you on the counter and kiss you until he couldn’t breathe, wished he could bring you to the kitchen and “ice cakes” (if he was using Seokjin’s terminology). Taehyung was tired of being kept at arm's length. He couldn’t understand what he was missing; what you didn’t see in him. He knew you found him attractive. He heard you say it to Yoongi’s girlfriend before, hearing your “definitive ranking of the Baking News men” as he wiped down the table behind you. But attraction clearly wasn’t enough. Not for you, it seemed.
Luck was on Taehyung’s side one sunny Sunday morning in April, when Yoongi’s girlfriend rushed into the shop with an embarrassed look on her face. He had known the girl people affectionately called Boo for years, having gone to college with her and her sister, but they weren’t close. She was much more attached to Jungkook (in spite of her relationship with Yoongi), having spent lots of time outside of the bakery walls with the younger man. Thus, the beeline she made for Taehyung was strange; even stranger was the desperate plea she frantically whispered in his ear asking if he could give her two dozen glazed donuts and two cups of hot chocolate for free.
“You know I can’t do th—”
“Okay, but just lis—”
“Boo, my boss would kill m—
"I will lose the maid of honor at my wedding if you don’t do this for me!” She shouted out in clear cut frustration, only to slap her own hand over her mouth in shock. She looked around the bakery pitifully and, noting all of the eyes trained on her, lowered her voice. “Look, Yoongi and I got into it at the club last night—bad. He threw my wallet somewhere. We couldn’t find it. I’ll pay you back when I get all my new cards, I promise. You know I’m good for it. But if I don’t bring some kind of peace offering to her, she won’t be in the wedding.”
Taehyung’s eyes squinted in confusion. “I don’t get why you need donuts for this friend when you’re fighting with your boyfriend.”
“Well he’s my fiancé  for starters.”
“Sure, sure,” Taehyung responded with an eye roll, motioning his hand for the woman in front of him to continue.
“And… I may have forgotten that I was her ride back home. She ended up walking by herself… in the rain.”
“Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you?” Taehyng chided, now understanding the source of her odd behavior. “I understand why your friend would want to quit your wedding. You’re an asshole.”
“I am not—listen, that's not the point. The point is… I need the donuts and the hot chocolate. That’s the only way I can start getting back on her good side. If I don’t, she’s never gonna talk to me again. She holds a grudge like you wouldn’t believe. She’s worse than Yoongi.”
Taehyung clicked his tongue, not exactly moved by her story, but knowing she wouldn’t take another “no” easily. “Why don’t you ask Jungkook? He won’t get fired, no matter how much he messes up. It’s too high of a risk for me.”
“I would, but she says you’re the only one who makes the hot chocolate right. Something about always putting caramel or cinnamon in there and that Jungkook doesn’t know how to do it. It has to be you.” Taehyung’s throat dried up at her words, understanding that this friend wasn’t just some random girl with a donut obsession; this friend was you.
Taehyung liked working the cafe side of the bakery more than the others. He didn’t hate icing cakes or kneading dough, but he thoroughly enjoyed the interaction that came from making the quick drinks and packaging small desserts. He could also keep his eye on you more easily when working the counter. That’s how he learned that you loved warm, sweet drinks, particularly when you were having a bad day. However, you found the bakery’s hot chocolate missing something; so Taehyung started experimenting with adding extra flavors to your order. When you told him that you liked the vanilla/cinnamon combination the best, he always made sure to add those for you, regardless of if you asked for it specifically or not. He didn’t do this for anyone else though; didn’t care to see anyone else smile the way you did when you lifted the cup to your lips and took a sip. So it had to be you that Yoongi’s girlfriend was talking about, because you were the only person who got special hot chocolate.
“Okay,” Taehyung said, voice confident, “I’ll get the things ready for you now. Should take about five minutes.”
“Wait… really?” The woman asked, a big smile spreading on her face. “Oh my god, I’m so relieved. You are saving my weddin—no, you are saving my life!  I’ll pay you back in like a week, tops. I promise! I’ll even pay extra.”
“You don’t have to pay me back,” Taehyung said quickly, throwing his hands up. “I’ll cover it. Money is not that important. It would be like 15 thousand at most. You don’t need to stress over 15 thousand.”
“Oh,” she responded with a pout, voice deflating. “Well… I can’t do nothing… that would be using you. I’m not Yoongi; I don’t use people. What can I give you to pay you back if not money?” 
Taehyung shrugs, unsure of what the woman in front of him could possibly give him before it dawns on him. “A date.”
“A date? With me?”
He scoffs. “With your friend. Get her to agree to go out with me just once and we’re more than even.” For a moment, Boo looks as though she is going to say no. Taehyung knew it would be a hard sell for you, not only accepting your friend’s apology, but then agreeing to go on a date to pay for that apology. But he can see her resolve strengthen and she gives him a firm nod.
That’s how Taehyung ends up sitting across from you on a chilly Tuesday night, watching you fiddle with the tangled up wires of your earbuds and phone charger. Your studio was small, but brighter than Taehyung anticipated. The walls were white, lit up by pink fairy lights that had small polaroid photos pinned between each bulb. The love seat and rolling desk chair you were currently sitting in were a pale grey color, but held bright pink and yellow throw pillows. On your desk were two white computer monitors, a set of studio monitors, a pink MIDI controller, a black control surface, and a set of rose gold over ear headphones with the word ‘kiddo’ engraved on each side. The whole space was, for lack of a better term, girly. Far girlier than you had ever presented yourself to Taehyung; but, as you told him, the design was on purpose. 
“They’re so dark all the time,” you murmur, followed by a short ‘ah’ as you finally get all the cords untangled and manage to plug in your phone. You turn in your chair to face him, annoyed expression on your face as you continue, “every single one of them have these ugly black walls and stupid pictures of naked girls all over the place. I swear, half of them are hard every time they record. It’s suffocating and awkward. When I finally got the money to get my own studio, I had to make sure the space prioritized my comfort. You know?”
“I do,” Taehyung whispers back in awe. He decides he loves listening to you talk. Your voice was already the sweetest that he had ever heard, but your way with words was even better. The way you put words together always garnered a reaction from him, even if you weren’t trying. It wasn’t any wonder why you became a rapper. “How do the guys in your crew feel when they record here?”
“Hope doesn’t mind it, but everyone else thinks it’s excessive. I get it. It doesn’t fit the whole Kiddo image.”
“Why do they call you Kiddo, anyway? That’s nothing like your real name.” Taehyung asks, placing his elbows on his knees and holding his own face in his hands as he waits patiently for your answer. 
You hum as you think of it, mirroring his pose in your chair and Taehyung didn’t think you could get any cuter than you were now. You were a far cry from the barely there outfits he often saw you wear in the bakery before (or occasionally after) performances, wearing a pink sweater dress that was two sizes too big if the way it swallowed you up was any indication. He just wanted to hold you in his arms, but he wasn’t sure you were there yet. It had only been two hours that he had been in the studio in which you insisted the date take place and you had kept your physical affection to a minimum. At most, you poked his shoulder and cheek when teasing him about the puns he had to say when taking orders at work. However, the conversation flowed so naturally and you hadn’t asked him to leave yet; he was sure the night would end with you feeling something more for him than before.
“You know the movie Kill Bill? The main character’s real name is Beatrix Kiddo.”
“You named yourself after a movie assassin?”
“Oh no. That would be so generic and cliche. Suga actually picked out the name. When I first started out, I was going by something completely different. But I covered this song called "Chill Bill" that got a lot of attention a couple years ago and someone commented that I… I think they said I killed or murdered the beat like Kiddo or something. I can’t really remember the exact thing too well. Anyway, Suga thought that it would be a good voice tag and then the tag became a nickname and… well here we are. I’m Kiddo now.”
“Can I listen to the song that inspired the name?”
You sit up abruptly. “Hell no. That song is awful. I’m so much better now.”
“You can’t invite me to your studio and not let me listen to your music. Be a better date,” he teases, causing you to release a small giggle. “You have to let me listen to something at least. What are you working on?”
You shake your head with a small smirk, turning back to face your desk. Your hand grips the mouse and you click around on one of the screens as you move to pull up your latest song. However, you still question him, asking, “Are you sure you want to listen? It’s kind of raunchy.”
“I can handle it.”
“My lyrics aren’t for the faint of heart, Taehyung.”
“Give it to me,” he requests excitedly and you instantly press play. He lets out a loud laugh as soon as he hears the lyrics, instantly understanding their intent even though they are in English. Your warning was more than necessary, as you spit out graphic depictions of sexual acts in a cocky tone of voice. The dichotomy of your current appearance with the words coming out of the speakers only makes him laugh harder, as his brain fails to connect the two personas together.
You stop the song, turning to face him with a shocked look on your face. “Are you really laughing at my music? Seriously?”
“No, no!” He chokes out, waving his hands in the air to show his innocence as his laughter winds down into sporadic giggles. “It’s not like that. I don’t think it’s bad. I’m just surprised by it.” He can tell from the look on your face that you don’t believe him. And Taehyung isn’t sure what comes over him in that moment, but he suddenly finds himself rocking forward to cradle your face in both of his hands as though he was handling fine china. You tense in his grasp, but make no moves to pull away as he whispers, “Don’t look at me like that. I wouldn’t lie to you. The song is good. You just look so much… softer than that song right now. It caught me off guard; but I would never laugh at you. I like you too much to do that.”
His sincerity has you reeling. Although he stopped speaking, he doesn’t let you go. Instead, his eyes study your face like you’re a piece of artwork, committing every new detail he finds to memory as though he’s worried that he’ll never see you again. His eyes finally settle on your lips, becoming lidded as you are able to guess what he wants. 
“Are you going to kiss me?” You question quietly.
“I want to. Are you going to let me?”
“Yes.” He gives you two slow blinks before he bends his head down to slot his lips against yours. 
It’s soft at first, the gentle pressure of his lips coaxing your own open as though he’s still asking for permission. When you angle your head up to move your lips against his better, he lets out a small whimper that sends a shiver up your spine. It continues on like this for a few seconds before he slips tongue inside of your mouth. All hell breaks loose within you then, as you wrap your arms around his neck to get closer to him. This act causes him to finally release your face, hands dropping to your waist. The kiss gets deep, tongues wrestling with each other as he fights against you to take the lead. When the struggle continues for longer than he would like, his hands firmly grip your waist and pull you forward off of your chair until you're straddling his thighs. He wins the battle when he pulls your hips down at the same time that he grinds his hips up. The friction is more intense than you were prepared for, only then remembering the only barrier between your center and his jeans was a thong you had slipped on in haste. He repeats the action once more before pulling away with a big gasp for breath. You rest your forehead against his as you take in deep breaths of your own. You make note of his expression—satisfaction. 
“So is this date as bad as you imagined it being?” He whispers against your lips, fingers running up and down your back gently as he breathing finally calms.
You pout at his question. “Why would you ask that?”
“You avoided it for so long.”
“I… I was… I don’t know,” you stutter out, unsure of how to respond to the call out. It’s hard to think when the room is so hot, when he’s still so close to you, when his crotch is still pressed firmly against your own. “I just didn’t… wanna make things awkward?”
“Are things awkward now?”
“Not really. No.”
“So what do you think?”
“About what?”
“About dating me.”
“You ask a lot of questions, Kim Taehyung. It’s been one date.”
“I just know what I want,” he responds seriously, voice dropping an octave as he makes eye contact with you and holds your stare. “I like you. I like you more now than I did before. I want you. Do you want me too?”
“I… yeah. I guess I like you too. We can… Let’s see where this goes.”
.
.
“Here.” 
You jump up to your feet at the sound of a familiar deep voice. Looking up, you’re met with the sight of a pink cardboard cup wrapped up in pale, ring clad fingers. “You came,” you note, reaching for the cup as you get your first real look at Taehyung that night. He easily lets you have it, hand slipping behind your neck to pull you into for a quick hug. He releases you with a kiss to your temple, a lazy smile sitting on his face that you admittedly find more attractive than you should. You often found yourself wishing that he wasn’t so outwardly handsome; dealing with an attractive partner always causes issues.
“You thought I wouldn’t?” He questions. You shrug. Taehyung was easily the most attentive person you ever dealt with. You woke up to emoji filled good morning texts every morning and didn’t hit your bed without a sweet phone call wishing you a good night. He commented on every picture you posted to Instagram, was five minutes early to every date, and sent food to your studio when he knew you were too busy to eat something real. You would have felt suffocated by his intensity if not for the lackadaisical way he went about being with you: most dates ending on his old couch, watching mind numbing TV shows as he cradled you in his arms to talk about nothing. He made you feel precious and that worried you. You were left wondering how he would treat you when he finally realized you weren’t worth your weight in gold.
“What’s this?”
“Hot chocolate.”
“Why?”
“Boo told me you were stressing.”
“Does this have cinnamon and vanilla in it?”
He rolls his eyes at you in a mock display of annoyance. “Doesn’t it always?”
“My hero,” you coo gently at him, voice upping in pitch as though you were speaking to a child. He doesn’t mind your patronizing tone, responding with a megawatt smile that would make even the most stoic person happy. You take a small sip, letting out a small breath some of the tension you were feeling begins to melt away.
“What were you doing back here?” Taehyung asks, concern pulling at the edges of his words, despite how casual he attempted to sound. He was never good at hiding his emotions when it came to you. You liked that. He never left you guessing at where you stood with him.
“Hiding,” you answer honestly, not ashamed of your actions. You had been crouched behind the club for at least twenty minutes, going over your lyrics and the performance blocking in your head again and again. Rehearsals hadn’t gone well, with Hoseok’s nerves shot due to the knowledge that his favorite producer would be in the building and Yoongi still pissed about some argument he had gotten into with his girlfriend. You also weren’t at your best, anxious about having Taehyung in the audience. He had seen videos of you performing before, but he had never been in the audience. You didn’t know what he would think of the environment and the people that it attracted. He claimed he didn’t scare easy, but everybody did.
“Hiding from what?”
“Just people. You know how I feel about people.”
“You must be glad I’m not just people then, huh?” He joked, hand sneaking over to yours and lacing your fingers together. You let out a non-committal hum that has him tightening his grip in faux warning. “Stop pretending that you don’t like me.”
“What time is it?”
He looks at his watch. “11:34.”
“I’m on in like 40 minutes,” you told him, moving forward to pull him to the front of the club. He lets you lead him, submitting to you more easily than most men would in his situation. Whereas many of the men who found themselves lucky enough to get close to you tried to wear you like an accessory, molding you against their form to make them appear more interesting than they were, Taehyung found solace staying in the background. It was nice.
“There you are!” Hoseok yells as you approach, his voice far higher in pitch than what was normal even for him. He stands in the center of your crew, wearing a distressed look on his face as he scolds you with the same intensity of an overworked stay-at-home mom. “We go up soon. Where have you been?”
“Hiding.”
“Not the fucking time for hiding dumbass,” he snaps at you, making Yoongi laugh. 
The palm of your hand disconnects from Taehyung’s and lands on Hoseok’s chest with a loud thwap before you can blink. The following five hits are more deliberate though, punctuating your words as you shout, “Don’t call me a dumbass!” Hoseok lets out rough grunts at the hits, responding with a harsh shove that sends you flying back into Taehyung. You let out a snarky laugh.
It had taken Taehyung some time to get used to this aspect of your relationship with your friends. They all treated you as though you were one of the guys, pushing and shoving you around with glee in spite of the fact that some of them were much bigger than you. You always matched their energy though, whether physically or verbally. You never backed down, which is why they seemed to respect you. Still, it was hard for Taehyung to watch you roughhouse with them. He was afraid there would be a day it would go too far, although you were adamant that you could always handle yourself.
“Alright now, children, let’s calm down,” Yoongi said in a condescending tone. “We have to work soon, no fighting on stage.”
“Are you ready?” Hoseok asks, ignoring Yoongi’s words.
“Are you ready?” You parrot back, much to his clear annoyance. “I’m not the one who forgot my lyrics today. Are you ready?”
“Let’s just go inside,” Yoongi groaned out, making his way towards the entrance of the club in a way that demanded everyone else follow suit. 
A VIP section of tables is where you lead Taehyung, sitting him down in a seat next to Yoongi’s girlfriend. “You should be able to see us really well from here,” you note, playing with the rings that adorn his fingers. “Nobody should mess with you either. If they do, tell her,” you instruct, nodding your head towards your friend currently having her own private discussion with Yoongi, “because she’s worse than me.”
“I heard that!” The girl in question yells back. You roll your eyes and press your lips quickly against Taehyung’s own before you make your way to the stage. “Oh fuck, who invited them?” The woman sitting next to him mutters angrily, pointedly staring at three men who walk into the section and take a seat at a table adjacent to where Taehyung is seated. He doesn’t recognize them, though it’s clear from the way others in the section tense up that they aren’t welcome guests. He makes a decision to ignore them, focusing his attention on the stage where a DJ continues to play popular hip hop songs from abroad. 
Suddenly, the lights on the stage brighten up and the music comes to a stop. The DJ begins hyping up the crowd for the upcoming performance and Taehyung is stunned at the amount of excitement people show when your name is mentioned. It multiplies ten fold when a spotlight finally highlights your place on the stage and the performance begins. He’s mesmerized. You handle yourself well. You seem to know exactly when to draw attention to yourself and when to step back and let the others shine. It’s clearly calculated, but you make it look easy. It’s hard for all eyes not to be on you, though. You’re the only woman on stage and the hot pink crop top you’ve chosen to wear makes you stick out amongst the rest of your crew dressed in all black. When you happily dance around Hoseok as a distraction to make the man stutter out his lyrics, Taehyung can’t help but laugh.  
“She’s good, right?” A voice asks, forcing Taehyung’s attention away from you. Next to him stands a large man, muscled arms crossed at his chest and covered in black tattoos. He holds an unimpressed gaze as he stares at the stage, as though he’s seen it all before. “He freaks out everytime she pulls that little stunt. He’s so whipped for her. She needs to just fuck the poor bastard already.”
“Excuse me?” Taehyung asks at the same time that Yoongi’s girlfriend shouts, “Why are you over here?”
“Calm down, Boo,” the man states with a light chuckle, eyes still on the stage. “Just here to support my girl.” The man then turns his gaze to Taehyung, “But I guess she’s your girl now, right? I see you all over her Instagram and Twitter. You must be really giving it to her good. She never posts about who she’s fucking.” Taehyung tenses at the man’s words, but does not offer up a response. The man looks back towards the stage with an amused laugh. “Didn’t think she would fuck pretty boys though. Her type is a little more… tough.”
He knows he’s being tested. It has happened more than once. As much as the guys you hung around pretended that they didn’t care about your dating life, they were actually extremely protective over you. There were endless threats whispered into his ear when he found himself in your studio during actual recording sessions. It never bothered him, though. He found it a bit heartwarming that men who would push you down to get the last piece of chicken would also fight for you so easily. But this was different. The man standing beside Taehyung eyes you like a predator stalking prey. It makes Taehyung’s skin crawl.
The performance ends with a bang, the energy in the room still electric as you make your way off the stage. The pride painted on your face as you are stopped by various people in the crowd warms Taehyung’s heart. It’s the happiest that he has ever seen you. You and the guys practically bounce back into the section, still riding the high of a successful performance. However, your happy steps slow to a crawl when you realize who is standing next to him. Of course the one person you didn’t want to see would find his way over to Taehyung. You could see the agitation in Taehyung’s face as the two exchanged words.
Sensing your apprehension, Hoseok throws his arm around your neck happily, leaning most of his body weight on you. “I can punch him if you want,” Hoseok offers lazily, as though it would be all too easy. It would, but you knew that the aftermath wouldn’t be pretty. “If your pretty boy won’t do it, I mean. It’s been a while since we’ve been in a real fight.”
You shudder slightly under his hold as you remember exactly what happened the last time you got into a fight. Hoseok was still banned from two clubs over that incident. “Calm down, Hope. I don’t wanna get kicked out of another club.”
“No fun,” he whispers in your ear. “Are you gonna go in there and save him?” You release an annoyed scoff at the idea because it’s nowhere near your job to rescue a grown man. “I wonder what they’re talking about,” Hoseok muses. “If I had to guess? Probably your weird bathroom sex kin—oof!” You cut him off with an elbow to the ribs, sighing in relief as he removes himself from you. “Go get your boyfriend before he’s not your boyfriend anymore, asshole.”
“Fine.” You make an effort to straighten your back and set your shoulders back before you start the short journey to where Taehyung is seated next to your ex. You slip your arm through Taehyung’s when you make your way there, only mildly surprised by how quickly he tangles his long fingers through your own and pulls you closer. You ex smirks at the interaction, pleased by the effect he had. “Hey,” you say much more confidently than you feel. 
“Well if it isn’t our favorite girl,” your ex barks out happily, throwing you a wink. You can’t help but roll your eyes. “Me and your friend here were just talking about you.” Taehyung quietly grunts at the word ‘friend’ beside you, but neither of you make a move to correct the person standing in front of you. You knew responding to the minor dig would only further feed his ego. “We both had a lot to say.”
“Only nice things, I hope?” You ask, your question pointed more at Taehyung. The boy offers you a reassuring smile in return causing you to let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. You could only imagine the things that had been said, both true and untrue.
“I was telling your new friend here all of the things we used to do together. He couldn’t believe how wild you used to be. I’m so surprised by how much you’re holding back on him, love. That’s so unlike you.”
“Don’t call me love,” you respond almost robotically. It had become an automatic response to his continued usage of the pet name in recent months. In actuality it had been years since you were with the heavily tattooed man, but Taehyung had no way of knowing that. Past relationships were one of the few topics both of you agreed to stay away from. It would only cause more problems.
“Don’t exaggerate for my benefit,” Taehyung suddenly speaks up, eyeing the man thoughtfully.
“Hmm?” The man hums out.
“Lying is only gonna make you look like more of an asshole.”
“You wish I was lyi—” Before the man can finish his retort, you hear your name being screamed out over the thumping bass of the music. Turning your head, you see a red faced Hoseok running towards you. 
Concern is etched on his features as he rushes out, “We gotta go.” He keeps shifting from left to right like he’s ready to escape from the confines of the roped off section at the drop of a dime. “Yoongi threw a couple bottles and the managers are not happy.”
“He threw a whole bottle?” Taehyung asks in shock at the same time as you shout, “He threw more than one? Again? Fuck me! Why?” Your ex laughs loudly at the news, himself having been a part of a few bottle throwings when he was with you.
“The same reason they always get us kicked out of places,” Hoseok explains with a frustrated eye roll. “You think at this point he would stop inviting exes to shows. Let the rejects stay where they are, right?” Taehyung snorts at Hoseok’s pointed insult towards your ex. You give him a grateful smile for the diss. “Anyways, we gotta leave before they ask for their money back. This gig is paying for my new equipment.”
“Noted.” You tug Taehyung up out of his seat quickly, before turning to your ex one last time. “We gotta go. It was not nice seeing you. Die.” Then the three of you quickly make you way out of the club before things can get even more tense.
The couple is still arguing outside when you exit the venue, Yoongi’s hand firmly wrapped around your best friend’s wrist as she screams at him to let her go. Yoongi’s knuckles are bleeding and you wonder if he cut himself on the glass or punched a wall again. You know better than to ask at this moment. Trying to stop them was a recipe for a disaster. “Fuck this. I’m going home,” Hoseok says frustratedly. He turns to you, forcing a hopeful expression as he asks,“See ya tomorrow?”
“Yup. Don’t be late.” Hoseok nods at you twice and winks at Taehyung before he crosses the street and disappears into the night. 
“Does this always happen?” Taehyung asks suddenly, eyes still on the couple as Yoongi starts to yell back about who actually crossed the line. Taehyung knew that they fought, but he never understood the extent of it. Seeing it in person was a completely different ball game.
“Every single time we go to a club,” you say with a shrug, dropping the hold you have on his hand. “Perks of dating a rapper, I guess. Relationships don’t do well in this environment.” Taehyung’s eyes snap to you at the implication of his words.
“But Yoongi and his girl have been together for years right? It can’t be all bad.”
“And they fight all the time. She breaks up with him constantly. I mean, she’s been my friend for longer than she’s known him and it’s still hard for her to handle all of,” you stop, waving your hand around the wannabe rap boys dressed in baggy clothes, the club, and the drunk girls stumbling down the block before continuing, “all of this. And it only gets worse the more popular you get. No one really wants to deal with this.”
“I do,” he says, not even taking the time to consider your words. “I think I could handle it.”
You eye him carefully, cocking your head to the side as you formulate a response. The truth of your lifestyle was a bitter pill to swallow. Love was often the first casualty of Hip Hop, whether rappers liked to admit it or not. You weren’t sure if your words would ruin the good thing you had going with him. “Taehyung, you saw my ex. All that animosity between us comes from him being insanely jealous of the people around me. He couldn’t handle it.”
“I’m better than your ex.”
“Okay, but it’s not just jealousy that comes with this. Do you really think you could handle guys constantly hitting on me? Slapping my ass on stage? Calling me a whore in diss tracks? Trying to spike my drinks or give me drugs?”
Taehyung moves to wrap his arms around your waist, pressing the front of your body against his own. He sways gently with you in his arms, pressing soft kisses to your forehead as he thinks. Finally he settles on, “For you, I could handle all of that and more.” He pulls away from you slightly to stare into your eyes deeply, before leaning into to press a kiss against your lips. He pulls back once more to whisper against your lips, “I just want to be with you. I don’t care about the rest.”
“Hmm… you really are my hero.”
.
.
authors note— there will be a continuation of this couple’s story called jawbreaker released later this month. jawbreaker was originally meant to be a part of more than you can chew, but it ballooned past what i imagined and i need more time to finish. hope you enjoyed this and will read jawbreaker when it’s released.
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ariainstars · 4 years
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TRoS Speculation: Maybe It Was Intentional…
All right, since the subject obviously doesn’t let me go, new speculation on my side. WARNING: this is a longer post.
 Ever since the 80es, Star Wars has become a universal phenomenon with millions of fans all over the world. And while fans often agree, they more often than not disagree about the characters, the themes, the different turn of events etc. Star Wars touches very many different kinds of people deep down due to the emotions it provokes. Many of us have grown up with the saga, some with one trilogy, others with another. Others have read the EU novels or watched the TV shows first. The saga’s themes are so many that they appeal to all kinds of people, and the approaches are varying. There are very many topics on which we will never make everybody agree. Being the foundation for many fan’s view of the world, the root to a lot of their ideals, the source of many a dream, the saga has become a hugely personal matter. No wonder viewers all over the world can quarrel about it so venomously and get downright aggressive if you only introduce a new line of thoughts. Many fans feel that the saga belongs to them and not to the man who created it and the creative studios who are now employing it to develop new stories.
We have made our mistakes in our fandom, too, in the years since The Force Awakens came out. We were so excited in what we believed was investing into a redemption arc, love story and happy ending, connecting all kinds of dots throughout the saga and analyzing it from almost every angle. Some of us simply thought that who didn’t think like us was stupid. But many other fans believe that this saga is only about Good against Evil and not about human feelings. They keep seeing it as some superhero story, a comforting world where to retire when reality got too much, a place where bad things happen but then the hero eventually comes to take care of it. They stick to their conviction that the good guy (or the one you root for even if he’s a villain) is the one who’s the coolest. Many of them love the OT above all and plainly refuse to see anything positive about the PT or ST because they always expected to see the New Adventures of Han, Luke and Leia. Some of them have waited for literally decades for the OT’s continuation. We, who also love the other trilogies (or at least the sequels) were at times disrespectful and arrogant looking down on them and believing that they simply don’t know what the saga actually is about. And all of us need heroes. We apply our own problems, needs and expectations to them and wait for them to fix the problem as an example for us. That’s also why we expect them to get their happy ending.
I have seen videos and read articles about how highly divisive The Last Jedi was. Some fans (a few of them even with tears in their eyes) openly declared that the saga was ruined for them. Similarly to us, who identify with Ben Solo and / or Rey, they had often found courage in the examples set by their heroes and it was offensive and hurtful to them to see Luke Skywalker reduced to a hermit who drinks green milk, rejects the ways of the Jedi and was personally responsible for his nephew’s fall into his abuser’s clutches. They were entitled to their feelings of disappointment and inner numbness as we are now. I know of people who actually survived many ugly periods in their lives finding solace in the saga. Some in one part of it, some in another. And we all got duped and let down, each by one chapter of the sequel trilogy, like some naughty, sadistic kid was kicking apart our favorite doll house a few days before Christmas.
I assume now that The Last Jedi was an experiment to gauge the audience’s reaction. It touched many a sensitive issue. My personal approach is that in order to like it, you don’t only have to be a fan of the sequel trilogy and its characters in general, or a hopeless romantic who wanted to see Rey and Ben Solo’s love story. You have to accept in the first place what the prequel trilogy painstakingly tried to explain to us (though it wasn’t actually said but more shown): that the Jedi were no heroes but got destroyed by their own hubris, and that Anakin Skywalker was largely a victim and not someone who became a villain because he enjoyed being evil, like the typical Batman or Superman villains. The prequels are not a fairy tale like the original trilogy but a cautionary tale following the lines of “society creates its own monsters.” It was only logical to deduce that if the Jedi were so perfect and the Old Republic so idyllic as Obi-Wan described them to Luke when they first met on Tatooine, Vader’s rise and the creation of the Empire couldn’t have happened in the first place. This was never said as clearly and concisely as by Luke to Rey during their second lesson on Ahch-To:
“Now that they’re extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified. But strip away the myth and look at their deeds: the legacy of the Jedi is failure, hypocrisy, hubris. At the height of their power they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire and wipe them out. It was a Jedi who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.”
This is the message of the prequels in a few sentences, and a pivotal change to the “superhero approach” to the Jedi which might qualified if you only watch the OT and never question its themes on a larger scale. If you accept the Jedi’s failure for a fact, all of the rest falls into place - Vader being but a broken, sad old guy, Luke’s disillusion, his decision to give up the ways of the Jedi, his first lesson teaching Rey that the Force is not some kind of superpower, his forgiveness towards his nephew, the glimpses of goodness we saw foreshadowing Ben Solo’s redemption. The prequels also make much more sense this way than watching them expecting to see the Jedi being super-cool heroes and Anakin becoming Vader because he thought it might be fun.
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But many fans chose not to see or accept what The Last Jedi actually was trying to say: that things couldn’t continue the way they did, because the Old Republic and the Jedi (though they didn’t actually have bad intentions) were deeply flawed. Leia tried to build another republic without any major changes that we are aware of, and Luke wanted to rebuild the Jedi Order without effectuating the considerable changes their Code would have needed. Both failed. It was e.g. never explained why Luke spirited his students away to a lonely planet for their training, but the fact that they were taken from their families when they were too small to make a choice and stick to it - Ben e.g. wanted to be a pilot like his father and not a Jedi - already shows the same pattern. Luke had not learned from the faults of his teachers until his exile. Logically, Episode IX ought to have continued these themes and showed the ST protagonist finding a new and better approach to the Force. Instead, what we got was another (in my opinion: redundant) Ultimate Battle of Good Against Evil, in other words some kind of superhero film which largely ignores the themes of its predecessor.
Any fan is entitled to his opinion. If someone hates the PT because it shows a stagnant society and the Jedi as highly flawed, because they didn’t get to see Darth Vader becoming over-the-top cool but were confronted, in Anakin, with a deeply compassionate person crushed by expectations he never could meet in the first place, if they judged him a whiny brat instead of an intelligent guy who clearly saw through the flaws of the society he was forced to live in and simply didn’t find the right words to express it: they’re entitled to it. Same goes for not feeling the tension between Rey and Kylo in the ST, for judging Kylo quickly (again) as a whiny brat instead of a complex, tormented character, for not appreciating new characters like Rose on account of not being Star-Wars-y enough. These feelings mostly stem from the fans’ long-standing wish to see an actual continuation of the original trilogy, not a new instalment where a new generation takes over and the old heroes are relegated to the background and, additionally, their characters and past decisions are openly criticized.
We may claim that fanbros are simply too stupid to understand what the saga is actually about. Well, maybe they are, or they are just too lazy to look at the bigger picture. But they have a right to that.  Of course, it doesn’t entitle them to harass the studios, directors, creative team or actors the way they were, mind you: what e.g. Kelly Marie Tran, Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd had to endure was a disgrace. There are very many fans who disagree with the PT and ST without getting bitter or even vicious.
This doesn’t mean I have changed my mind. I still believe that the Jedi were everything but heroes, that Darth Vader is a tragic figure, that the main themes of the saga are family, hope and new beginnings and not “the coolest ones win, ka-boom, the end”; that what it means to say is that human feelings are in the end more important than power, even an enormous power like the one the Force can provide.
We who are angry and disappointed with TRoS now like to blame how it went that way due to the influence of angry white dudebros, misogyny, Calvinism, racism, the overall political situation, the Mouse only wanting to make money etc.
But we ought to consider that The Last Jedi, which was so deeply controversial, hit theatres only two years ago. Have mentalities, politics and social structures and Disney’s overall approached changed so considerably, in so short a time, to produce two so radically different approaches to the saga within the scope of two years?
Sorry, I can’t believe it. it doesn’t really make sense.
The Mandalorian is met with universal acclaim, no doubt partly due to the fact that it’s a standalone story without the huge dynastic weight the saga has on its shoulders. Being a TV show, it had more time to introduce characters and situations and develop them. And it worked out fine. It had all the Star Wars themes - a lot of action scenes, sure, but it was also about belonging, family, redemption, protectiveness, friendship. Meaning that the studios didn’t lose track or are too dumb to think up a good story.
The Rise of Skywalker seems to bring the saga to a closure, but it could also be a wholly new beginning; the beginning of what I was foreseeing and still believe was in the cards - a new galaxy with a new and better political order kept together by a common belief in the Force as a whole; a new Jedi order where Force-sensitive children are not torn away from their families but can choose whether they want to become Jedi or not; and where Jedi are not taught emotional detachment. This would mean balance at last, a balance from which everyone would benefit. I have no idea how Ben Solo could be revived but I still am certain that he would be an excellent father figure, the perfect foil to his grandfather; and that the best thing for Rey would be to take care of children who are lost and abandoned the way she once was. And with Rey being a Palpatine, there is an interesting ground from which to explore her character’s tendency to the Dark, mirroring Ben’s. The basic approaches for this kind of development were all there in The Last Jedi. But a project like that would be something completely different from the original saga, and it would take a lot of time. Maybe that’s why the studios dropped it in favor of appeasing the angry fanbros who didn’t receive The Last Jedi well at all.
Anyone has the right to think that the original trilogy is the one and only and that the rest is rubbish. But the heroes of that story had their friendship, their family, their adventures, their successes, their happy ending. Even the heroes of the prequel trilogy had their moments, including Anakin Skywalker. Our heroes didn’t. That’s why this ending is so bitter for us and so hard to stomach. Essentially, we were right - we knew that Ben and Rey belong together, that Ben would redeem himself and make peace with his family, that balance would come. What we didn’t get was our happy ending.
The Force Awakens was still more or less accepted, because despite the many new themes and choices it wasn’t subversive and controversial in its approach. The actual wasps’ nest was stirred with The Last Jedi. No argumentation could convince antis that it is actually a well-made film and that their personal approach on the saga is too narrow-minded to appreciate it. They wanted the same villains, the same settings and costumes, the same heroes (or at least rehashes). And they had a right to want that, exactly as we had the right to expect a better development and ending for our new heroes. The hardcore OT fans wanted and expected The New Adventures of Han, Luke and Leia kicking ass. Well, it seems The Rise of Skywalker took care of that, finally giving them what they wanted and ignoring or “correcting” the course of events from The Last Jedi.
So, that’s it now. The OT fanbros got “their” Star Wars. I hope they’re finally appeased. They can ignore anything that happens next. That the saga is finished does not mean that the Star Wars universe came to a standstill.
If fans of the original trilogy felt entitled to ask for The Last Jedi to be removed from canon, or at least to be “fixed” in some way, so can we. In case you didn’t see it yet, the petition is already there: https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story
Let’s tell the studios to keep TRoS the way they prefer, but that we wish to have our Star Wars now. Let us not steep down to the level of who made the lives of actors who played characters they disapproved of a living hell (see above) or say over and over “Star Wars is dead” when we don’t know what’s in store for the future. With the Star Wars universe, you always have to be patient. In the meantime, we can write and read fanfiction and other stories and purse our own lives, telling our own happy endings.
Happy New Year everyone. Feel free to reblog. 😊
  P.P.S. On a side note: Rey’s last scene shows her where Luke used to be, on Tatooine watching the suns set. The twin suns. In A New Hope, this was shortly before he met the other half of his soul who had been separated from him right after birth - his twin sister. Considering that it was explicitly said that Rey and Ben Solo share the same soul, it might be a hint about the future. I’m not trying to make false promises or to fuel wrong expectations here. Just sayin’. 😉
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higuchimon · 3 years
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[fanfic] Answer To Unexpected Questions:  Chapter 2
The more word that came from the front lines and the few messages from those who slipped behind the lines and sought to spy upon the army of Light, the worse everything looked for Kuragari.
“They haven’t lost a battle in weeks,” Juudai said, staring at the messages, all of them in code that he’d painstakingly taught himself how to read. He trusted his father not to lie to him but he also trusted King Aodh to withhold information if he thought it would be to Juudai’s benefit.
Yubel glanced over them as well. “They’ll be here within another month if something doesn’t stop them.”
Juudai didn’t want to hear that. But not hearing it wouldn’t have changed anything. He rummaged around until he found a map of the territory the invading army traveled through and unrolled it onto the table, staring down until he figured out where they were. Or had been; they would likely have moved on by now.
“I need to do something,” he murmured. “I need to stop them.” He didn’t know what he would do, just that he had to do something, and it had to be soon or all too soon Ancient Elf and his followers would be knocking down the city gates to get to him.
The idea of running away, hiding in some other country – perhaps in Johan’s kingdom, the Guardian of Light would definitely accept him – never occurred to him. Or if it did, it was only for a handful of moments, long enough for him to reject the concept and move on to something else.
If he’d been in danger enough for death to be a true risk right now, he knew Yubel would urge him to leave. Yubel’s purpose was to protect him, and Yubel would never do anything that would put him into danger. So if Yubel accepted his choice to remain and to find a way to do battle, then this must be the right choice.
Which meant he needed to do something that would make his choice worth it. Warriors, mages, spies, and people of all kinds were out there fighting and dying and being brainwashed, all to protect him and his kingdom. It wasn’t right and he wouldn’t let it go on.
So now he stared down at the map and tried to find something that would be a good idea.
If they’re coming here, then they need to come this way, he mused, tracing along the line of one of the rivers that led down to the ocean. If he’d heard about this sooner and realized what it meant, he would’ve met them at the ocean itself, and raised it against them. All the elements of the world were his to command, earth and air, fire and water, darkness and light.
Light could be kind of touchy, but if he’d known, he would’ve sent for Johan anyway, and together, there was nothing that could stand against them.
But there wasn’t time for that now, and he continued to look for answers he couldn’t yet find.
The river came out of the mountains that rose up in the center of Kuragari, home to many mines and gemstones of all kinds. There were passes through the mountains that merchants and miners used frequently.
“Not all of these are still used,” he said, indicating them to Yubel. “At least not by the miners. They could make an easy opening for an army.”
Yubel checked out the map, arms folded over their chest, thoughtfulness in all three eyes. “I think you’re right. And this one here,” Yubel rested one taloned finger on one particular mountain pass, “would bring them down into striking distance of Kethlar.”
Kelthar was one of the largest cities in the kingdom, a crossroads of many roads, and leading to at least three different port cities: and to the capital itself. If it fell, then most of the kingdom would be open to the invaders.
“Then we have to stop them before they get there.” He racked his brain, thinking of where the Kuragarian army waited now. They weren’t far from the pass, entrenching there and waiting to see what direction the enemy would take.
He stood up. “Yubel, I’m going to go see the Heroes. We’re heading out to the pass and the army as soon as they’re ready.”
“Of course.” A smile touched on Yubel’s lips and Juudai took a few moments to kiss it before he darted out of the room and through the palace corridors. He had too much to do to stop and talk to anyone, and no one wanted to interrupt him as he hurried along to where his bodyguards took their few leisure hours.
He burst in there, panting, aware that they all stood up as soon as he entered the room, worry across every feature.
“I’m all right,” he gasped out. “I just have a really important mission for all of you.”
“What is it?” The same question fell from multiple lips as Juudai caught his breath and straightened to his full height.
“We’re going to save Kuragari. I’ve got a plan and I know where we have to hit them and we have to hit them hard enough to drive the out of the kingdom and make sure they’ll never come back.” For a brief moment, his eyes flashed gold. “If they want to attack what’s mine, they should know that I’m going to attack back.”
The Elemental Heroes, guardians of the six elements and his personal bodyguards, all looked at one another. There were plenty of looks to go around. Then they looked back at him.
“When do we leave?” Sparkman wanted to know.
“As soon as we’re all ready. The sooner, the better.”
Juudai neglected – on purpose – let his parents know what he had in mind. They would want to talk about it. They would want to revise the plan until he sat back in the palace and did nothing at all useful. They would want the Elemental Heroes to help, of course, because the plan depended on them to do so, but they would not let Juudai anywhere near the battlefields.
And if it were me, I’d do the same thing. I am doing the same thing. They wanted to protect him. They didn’t want him hurt.
He wanted to protect his people. He didn’t want any of them hurt.
Only this was his battle to fight and it always had been and always would be. He needed to prove to the Light of Ruin and its host that he did not fear them and they should fear him.
And if they didn’t yet then after what he had in mind, they were most certainly going to.
It took less than a day to get everyone ready. The Heroes had anticipated something like this sooner or later, either Juudai deciding to head up to the front lines himself, or perhaps someone somehow getting by Yubel in order to attack the prince.
Granted, if someone got by Yubel and hurt Juudai, their duties would be more along the lines of ‘get everyone out of the city before Yubel destroys it’. But plans remained plans and now they headed out after the fall of night.
Juudai wore armor, of course. What he planned didn’t allow for one on one battle, but he wanted to make certain that no stray arrows or thrown daggers decided his tender mortal flesh would be worth biting into. He wore sensible black plate mail, knitted together from the powers of Darkness itself: mostly because he hadn’t had it made yet by the armorers and he didn’t want to either take the time to get it done like that or to alert his father and mother that something was going on.
He kept his helmet down to keep the wind out of his face as they soared toward the army’s location. He wanted to talk to the general in charge there before he started to rearrange the local geography. Yubel carried him, arms folded around him, and the Elemental Heroes in both bodyguard and honor guard position. Anyone who dared to try to attack him would likely not get that far.
“General Freed,” Juudai called out as Yubel set him down in front of the command tent. The general’s own bodyguards – lesser brothers of the Freed family – came to attention the moment that they recognized his voice and the general himself stepped out, weathered and experienced and the kind of leader who one could trust to win battles against ordinary enemies and sometimes extraordinary ones.
The moment that he saw Juudai, once the prince pulled his visor up, he went down on one knee.
“How may I be of service, my prince?” He did not ask what Juudai was doing there. He trusted that Juudai would tell him.
And tell him Juudai did.
“Your people are here to prevent the Army of Light from getting to the pass and on the other side. I want you to step aside and let them through.”
“Highness?” Freed stood back to his feet in a heartbeat. He didn’t reach for a weapon but his guards looked as ready to attack as they should be if treachery were involved.
Juudai only grinned, a slash of a manic expression. The more he’d thought the plan through, the more he thought it was a good idea, and he’d refined it down to its simplest points.
“This is what I’ve got in mind.”
He didn’t take long to explain it and slowly Freed nodded his agreement.
“As you wish, my prince. We’ll wait on the other side for any survivors.”
“I don’t expect there to be any,” Juudai said. He saw no reason not to crush every single one of them, right down to the roots. The only exceptions would be any he knew had been brainwashed. With the Light banished from Kuragari, they would be freed. “But just in case, that’s not a bad idea.”
The army packed up and headed out in the first light of morning while Juudai and his guards made their own plans. Featherman took to the skies to scout out the army, returning far too soon for Juudai’s taste.
“They’re on the way and they’ll be here within a day. That’s all the time we have to set things up.”
“Can we slow them down?” Juudai wanted to know. There had to be time for the army to get out of the way and to evacuate the small villages in the immediate area.
Featherman glanced at Bubbleman and Clayman. “What do you two think?”
The warriors of earth and water exchanged a quick glance, then nodded in unison. Bubbleman snickered.
“I hear that entire Army likes to wear white armor. I wonder how easy that is to get mud off of.”
“We’ll find out.” Clayman replied with a low, rich chuckle. “The sooner we get started, the better.”
The two of them took off, while Juudai started to work on the rest of his plan. He couldn’t do as much as he wanted until the invading army was where he wanted them to be, but what he could do was warn the miners and the villagers to get out of the way as fast as they could. What happened when the Army got in position wasn’t going to be good for anyone caught in the way.
For the span of time he had left to him, Juudai wished that he could see what Bubbleman and Clayman actually did. Hearing it wasn’t a problem, because they weren’t in any way quiet about it. He just wasn’t in a position to see it with his own eyes.
But what he heard was more than enough to give him some lovely mental images.
Clayman struck first, his power over earth cracking the ground in front of the invaders, opening a huge gorge virtually underneath their feet. It wasn’t very deep, perhaps two handspans at the most, enough to bury most of them to their knees and a few to their waist, depending on their species. The few who could fly stayed above it, tugging at their companions, but there wasn’t any way that they could get them out of there.
Not at all before Bubbleman struck, sending a wave of water rising up from the nearby river and pouring over them. At least a third of the Army of Light perished then and there, either by drowning or injuries.
“That should keep them in place long enough, my prince,” Bubbleman reported as he and Clayman returned to Juudai’s location. He expected at least a little time to rest, but just in case Ancient Elf decided to send out someone to see what was going on, he didn’t make a particular camp. He’d rest in the shadows, where few could harm him.
“Thanks, guys.” Juudai grinned at them, trying not to show how tired he was getting. He hadn’t slept since they’d left the palace and all the travel and work was starting to get to him.
Yubel rested a hand on his shoulder. “The Elemental Heroes can see to it that those villages and miners that we haven’t reached yet are alerted to what’s going on. There aren’t many of them left.”
Featherman took a long look at Juudai, then nodded. “Yubel’s right. You need your rest more than anything else. You’re going to be doing more work than any of us once they’re in position.”
Juudai wasn’t going to argue that point at all. If they chose to let him sleep, then he’d take the chance. He found the nearest patch of shadows, sank right into them, and in moments was in one of the deepest slumbers he’d ever had, safe under Yubel’s attention.
He came out of it some hours later, to find the Heroes all gathered together, murmuring among themselves, with Yubel only a step or two away from him, a nervous twitch in their wings.
The idea of something that could make Yubel nervous didn’t set well with him at all.
“What’s going on?”
They turned toward him and it was Sparkman who spoke. “I took a look at the army. I wanted to see just how much damage Clayman and Bubbleman did and how close they were to getting where we need them to be.”
Juudai nodded. There was more to this than just a simple scouting run.
“They have Johan, Juudai.”
No sooner had the words been spoken than a cold, distant feeling dropped over Juudai. He rose all the way to his feet.
“I’m going to go get him.”
Yubel reached a hand out to him. “Juudai, it’s a trap. It must be. Why else would they take him?”
“I don’t care.” Juudai pulled his armor together from the shadows once more. This was personal now. The idea of them abducting Johan, doing who knew what to him, maybe even brainwashing him, maybe killing him when they didn’t need him anymore…
Juudai could not, would not, accept that.
“They’re not going to go anywhere for a while yet. I can get in, take him, and get out of there. I won’t be long.” He didn’t want any of them going with him. This was a mission for him alone.
Yubel started to spread their wings but Juudai shook his head. “I’ll be all right.”
“I don’t care.” Yubel stared down at him. “I’m going with you.”
Juudai held back a sigh. He loved Yubel with every ounce of his heart and soul, but they could be as stubborn as...as… as he was.
“You may need help to get through the guards. Someone should go with you,” Featherman pointed out. Juudai sighed all the way this time.
“All right. We’ll be back soon.” If he had to blow up the army right where it was, instead of waiting for the right location, then to save Johan, he absolutely would.
Getting to where the Army of Light camped out – against their will thanks to Bubbleman and Clayman’s actions – wasn’t too difficult. Juudai jumped from shadow to shadow, Yubel only a breath behind, and saw not even a single guard on duty when he stepped out of them for the brief span of time he needed to in order to find the next patch of darkness.
In later times, looking back with more experience, he suspected that should’ve tipped him off that something wasn’t right.
As it was, he made his way to their control area without seeing anyone. A small circle of tents, each one with their own guard, stood around a roaring fire, and for
the first time, Juudai saw Ancient Elf, the one who led this army.
I should just kill him right now. Such a thing would end the war quickly and if it weren’t for Yubel’s restraining hand, he might well have done so.
No, Juudai. Yubel’s words whispered deep into his mind, on a level only he could hear or understand. It’s too close. But there’s something wrong here.
He frowned, wanting to know what was on their mind. He couldn’t bring himself to speak, not knowing if the minions of the Light could hear him or not.
I should be able to sense Johan’s presence. His power is as clear as yours. But I don’t.
The ice of fear and anger cemented itself deep within Juudai and he turned his attention to the circle of tents and those who sat around the crackling fires.
If they’ve hurt him, I don’t care how close we are or anyone else is, I’m bringing all of this down.
Yubel said nothing at all, but he could feel the disappointment in their mind, and promised himself to explain it all when they were out of here with Johan.
Tiny tendrils of shadow crept into each tent as Juudai and Yubel passed by it. As soon as he could assure himself that Johan wasn’t in there, Juudai moved on.
He’d checked on all but the last, the one that Ancient Elf himself inhabited, by the pure white splendor of it. Juudai made a face before he slipped his questing shadow tendril in there. He drew it out again almost as fast, wincing at how bright it was in there, but also gathering his resolve.
He cast a quick look to Yubel, nodding, and wasn’t surprised to see Yubel shaking their head.
No sense of him at all, Juudai. There is someone. It isn’t Johan.
Juudai set his jaw and turned back to the tent. He’d come this far. He wasn’t going to turn back now.
Finding a shadow on the other side wasn’t easy. But with all that light, there couldn’t not be a shadow somewhere and he found Johan’s own shadow, a tiny little thing that he emerged out of and turned, hoping that Johan wouldn’t make any noise on seeing him.
It wasn’t Johan.
To Be Continued
Notes: Juudai's armor here is more or less what he wears in season three. Just without as many Spikes of Villainy.
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