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joeygoeshollywood · 4 years ago

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My 25 Favorite Films of 2020

Well, this was quite the crazy year, especially for movies. While many films that were slated to be released this year were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year still provided some laughs, tears, and thrills both in theaters and in the living room.

(NOTE: Due to the delayed awards season calendar and postponed Oscar bait films that are unavailable to be seen before the end of 2020, this list will eventually be updated after having seen the following films: The Father, Minari, News of the World, Nomadland, One Night in Miami, Pieces of a Woman, Promising Young Woman)

Here are my 25 favorite films of the year:

25. Kajillionaire

Quirky filmmaker Miranda July is back with her first feature in nearly a decade. Kajillionaire is a bizarre but captivating tale about a family of criminal grifters and how the daughter reevaluates her strained relationship with her parents after an outsider is welcomed into the fold. Evan Rachel Wood takes what could have easily been dismissed as a goofy caricature in Old Dolio (yes, that’s her name) and turns into a heartfelt portrayal of a woman whose lifestyle of freeloading dictated by her parents (played by Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins) becomes her own crisis. In many ways, Kajillionaire feels like a fantasy that keeps people asking, “What on earth is going on?” And this time, it’s for the best.

24. Freaky

Revamping decades-old plots like the body-swapping antics from Freaky Friday can either result in a predictable failure or a surprising success. Thankfully, Freaky falls into the latter category. In this horror comedy, a deranged serial killer (played by Vince Vaughn) swaps bodies with his victim, a timid teen girl (played by Kathryn Newton). What makes the film work though are the dedicated lead performances, particularly by Vaughn, who is pretty convincing as young girl trapped in a grown man’s body. With a few good laughs and decent thrills, Freaky is worth the watch.

23. The Outpost

The Outpost is an intense film about the real-life story of small group of US troops isolated by surrounding mountains in Afghanistan, under the constant threat of the Taliban, which ultimately comes to a head in the Battle of Kamdesh. The film captures the harrowing experiences of these soldiers with heart-pounding action sequences, which are fueled by a solid cast including Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones, and Orlando Bloom.

22. Uncle Frank

Paul Bettany may be best known for playing The Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he should be celebrated as his title character in Uncle Frank, a touching dramedy set in 1973 about an NYU professor who returns home to his estranged family for his father’s funeral while his niece, played by rising star Sophia Lillis, idolizes him for teaching her to be her authentic self while he keeps his sexuality a secret. Bettany brilliantly balances the coolness of his stature with the internal agony that ultimately hits a boiling point, which is counterbalanced by Peter Macdissi’s fun performance as Frank’s happy-go-lucky lover who accompanies him back home despite his wishes.

21. Hillbilly Elegy

Hillbilly Elegy was panned by critics over politics that had absolutely no role the film. Based on the best-selling memoir by J.D. Vance, the newest feature from Ron Howard shows the journey of a boy who despite all odds growing up in a poor family that constantly struggled with abuse and addition managed to get into Yale Law School and achieve the American dream. While both Gabriel Basso and Owen Asztalos hold the film together as the younger and older Vance in the present and flashback scenes, Amy Adams as the impulsive, irresponsible mother and an unrecognizable Glenn Close as the no-nonsense inspiring grandmother that turn Hillbilly Elegy into an acting tour de force.

20. The Trial of the Chicago 7

Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin sits in the director’s chair once again in this courtroom drama about the real-life protesters who showed up in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With themes that resonate today, The Trial of the Chicago 7 benefits from its sharp screenplay, well-paced editing, and an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Yahoo Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Frank Langella, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Michael Keaton.

19. Yellow Rose

Broadway actress Eva Noblezada makes her film debut as an aspiring country singer on the run after her mother, an illegal immigrant, is obtained for deportation. Yellow Rose presents a nuanced depiction of US immigration, but at the heart of it is a heartbreaking story of a young woman who struggles between putting her family or her dreams first. Between Noblezada’s powerful performance and solid original music, Yellow Rose hits all the right chords.

18. Palm Springs

Move over, Groundhog Day. While the Bill Murray classic has largely monopolized the time loop film genre, Palm Springs gives it a run for its money. Andy Sandberg and Cristin Milioti star as the unlikely duo who are stranded reliving the same dreaded wedding day involving mutual acquaintances and their desperate efforts to escape the seemingly inescapable. The Hulu comedy stands on its own two feet for the good laughs, the chemistry between the two leads, and the film’s emotionally-grounded plot.

17. Let Him Go

Kevin Costner and Diane Lane reunite on the big screen after playing farmer parents in Man of Steel to rancher grandparents in Let Him Go, although this time they are able to display their full acting chops. In this period dramatic thriller, they set out to find their only grandchild following the death of their son only to discover that the widowed daughter-in-law remarried into an infamous crime family. While both Costner and Lane tug at the heartstrings, it’s Lesley Manville, who plays the ruthless matriarch of the family, that really takes command of the screen. Ultimately, Let Him Go is all about family and the lengths one is willing to go to protect it.

16. Unhinged

In a year plagued by the pandemic, Unhinged led the way to the revival of movie theaters back in August and perhaps in some ways it was meant to be the film to do so as the themes of a rage-fueled society and the lack of human connection carry weight. Russell Crowe stars, as the title suggests, as an unhinged psychopath whose road rage torments a woman and her adolescent son. Unhinged is the epitome of pure entertainment and is why we go to the movies. While it’s not quite the most sophisticated thriller of the year, it’s still one helluva ride.

15. Emma

Anya Taylor-Joy has had quite the year with both highs (The Queen’s Gambit) and lows (The New Mutants). But it began before the pandemic with the release of Emma, which she stars as the iconic Jane Austen title character, a socialite who meddles in the love life of others while refusing to acknowledge her own shortcomings in that department. Supported with a strong ensemble cast, beautiful production design, and comedic charm, Emma is not to be missed.

14. The Invisible Man

ln the era of remakes and reboots, very few are as good as Universal’s latest monster flick revival of The Invisible Man. Elisabeth Moss stars as a woman who believes she’s being haunted by her abusive ex-husband, someone she becomes convinced faked his own death and is stalking her without being able to be seen. Filmmaker Leigh Whannell, the writer behind the Saw and Insidious horror franchises, generates good thrills and high-wire tension with the help of high production value and a terrifyingly-good performance from Moss.

13. Dick Johnson is Dead

Documentarian Kirsten Johnson filmed a beautiful, intimate tribute to her father Dick Johnson, who has been suffering from Alzheimer's in the final years of his life. However, instead of dreading his death, both daughter and father embrace it by having him acting out several scenes of his over-the-top demises. Dick Johnson is Dead may focus on the subject manner of death, but this documentary actually celebrates life and the laughs that happen along the way.

12. The Wolf of Snow Hollow

Perhaps one of the littlest-known films of the year, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is not your conventional indie comedy horror flick. Writer/director Jim Cummings stars as an overly-heated police officer who attempts to get to the bottom of a string of murders in his small, snowy Utah town by what appears to be some sort of werewolf, though he remains unconvinced. Featuring one of the final performances from veteran actor Robert Forster, The Wolf of Snow Hollow uses its quirky sense of humor to stand out from the rest of the pack.

11. The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen is a fun, action-packed, crime caper from Guy Ritchie about the London turf war of drug kingpins. Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Goulding, Michelle Dockery, and Colin Ferrell all round out the strong cast, but its Hugh Grant that really steals the show as the comedically manipulative Fletcher, whose only allegiance is to himself. If you like a stylish film with well-choreographed violence and a fast-paced plot, The Gentlemen should be your cup of tea.

10. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Some of the best play-to-film adaptations are the films that feel like you’re watching a play, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is one of them. Produced by Denzel Washington, Viola Davis gives a transformative performance as Ma Rainey, known as the “mother of the blues” and the clash she had with a pair of White music producers, but she also butts heads with her trumpet player (played by the late Chadwick Boseman), who also has his own music ambitions. While Davis obviously gives other Oscar-worthy performance, it was Boseman who was able to show how incredibly gifted he was as an actor. And while the world lost him far too soon, at least his last role ended up being his greatest.

9. The Kid Detective

One of the biggest surprises of the year was how good a movie starring and produced by Adam Brody was. Brody plays a washed up former kid detective who attempts to revive his once-celebrated career of solving mysteries by getting to the bottom of a murder in his hometown. The Kid Detective is a brilliant dark comedy from newcomer writer/director Evan Morgan with good laughs, plenty of plot twists, and a career-best performance from Brody, who proves he’s more than just the pretty face from The O.C. we all know him as.

8. Mank

Citizen Kane is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made and Mank is a worthy tribute. Gary Oldman stars as the title character Herman “Mank” Mankiewicz, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind the iconic film. David Fincher (The Social Network, Gone Girl) managed to capture the epic scale of the 1941 classic that would make Orson Welles proud.

7. Soul

Soul is one of those rare existential Pixar films that goes beyond being children’s entertainment. Following in the footsteps of 2015′s Inside Out, Soul depicts what happens to the soul of a jazz musician who’s convinced his time on Earth isn’t over. While the universe created to explain how souls work and the plot that went along with it falls short of its emotions predecessor, Soul is still high-caliber among Pixar films and a great movie for both kids and adults alike.

6. Another Round

Perhaps the greatest work from Swedish director Thomas Vinterberg to date, Another Round follows four unsatisfied middle aged men who decide to take a theory of task from a Norwegian psychiatrist, who concluded that maintaining a blood alcohol level of 0.050 will enhance their mental and psychological state. Mads Mikkelsen, who’s best known to American audiences as Hannibal Lecter in the short-lived NBC series Hannibal and the Bond villain in Casino Royale, offers a strong, nuanced performance as one of the four educators who embraces this drinking challenge in a film that provides an equal balance of chuckles, cringes, and emotional gut punches.

5. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

From the crazy mastermind of Charlie Kaufman, the writer behind Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Anomalisa, his latest on Netflix is too a mind-bender. I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a surreal, zany, and at times disturbing examination of the human condition as the nameless female protagonist played by an incredible Jessie Buckley mulls over breaking up with her boyfriend (played by Jesse Plemons) while visiting his parents’ house. Accompanied with a stellar production design and a crazy-good performance from Toni Collette as “Mother,” Kaufman newest cerebral feature lives up to his iconic reputation of filmmaking.

4. Da 5 Bloods

Spike Lee is one of the few genius filmmakers who is able to blend multiple genres together and his latest film is no different. Da 5 Bloods is an action adventure, buddy comedy, dramatic character study, and war movie all wrapped up into one about a group of Vietnam War veterans who return to the former battlegrounds to find the remains of one of their fallen soldiers as well as some treasure that they kept hidden years ago. With a strong ensemble cast that includes the late Chadwick Boseman, its longtime character actor Delroy Lindo who steals the show with his powerful performance. Da 5 Bloods is easily one of Netflix’s strongest films to date.

3. The Assistant

One of the first #MeToo-era films, The Assistant offers the day in the life of a low-level female staffer of a production company who is haunted by the presence of her Harvey Weinstein-like boss (who never actually appears in the film). However, rather than depicting the dramatics of sexual misconduct, The Assistant uses the common subtleties and nuances of the workplace yet maintains the same tension and heartbreak. Anchored by the remarkable, devastating performance by up-and-comer Julia Garner (Ozark), The Assistant is as important as it is well-done.

2. Sound of Metal

Riz Ahmed gives the performance of his career as a heavy metal drummer and former addict whose sudden battle with going deaf upends his life. Sound of Metal is an incredible experience that gives a rare glimpse in the American deaf community which is enhanced by the remarkable sound design that helps the audience actually hear what the musician is going through. It’s truly one of the most rewarding films of the year.

1. The Climb

The Climb takes the generic “man sleeps with his best friend’s fiancé” storyline and turns it on its head. In his feature debut as writer and director, Michael Angelo Covino leads as the not-so-apologetic adulterer Mike and Kyle Marvin, who co-wrote the film, is the good-hearted Kyle who struggles to whether or not to forgive his best friend’s ultimately betrayal. Not only is The Climb is quirky and hilariously written, it’s a remarkably well-made comedy with some of the year’s best cinematography. Between a strong cast, a superb screenplay, and the extremely-high production value, The Climb is at the top of the mountain of 2020′s best films.

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starbornvalkyrie · 4 years ago

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ACOSF USA BOOK TOUR NOTES

Hey y’all! I just attended the LiveTalks Los Angeles event with Sarah J Maas and Eva Chen!! I took lots of notes so I wanted to share them with you all! They’re a little incoherent on the page, so it might seem a crazy, they jumped topics a lot. Feel free to chat with me about what she talked about! But first.

MY RULES:

NO SHIP OR CHARACTER SLANDERING. I know that we all may have different opinions. I will not offer my opinions here, this is purely informational for those of you who did not have the opportunity to attend this event.

PLEASE NO ARGUING IN MY COMMENTS OR ASK BOX WITH ME OR ANYONE ELSE WHO COMMENTS

Acknowledge that I am not perfect and may not have written down everything perfectly. I did my best while still trying to enjoy the event.

I AM NOT SARAH J MAAS AND CANNOT INTERPRET WHAT SHE MEANS

I’m tagging this with #acosf spoilers and #acosfspoilers just in case.

If you understand and can abide by these rules, keep reading below the cut, and enjoy!

SJM said it was weird doing this event from her living room where you might be able to hear her dog in the background or her son trying to get into the room.

ACOSF started as a passion project while she was writing ACOWAR! It was never anything she thought she was going to publish. (more on this later)

About reading and writing growing up

in middle school, she read a lot of fantasy

in high school, she didn’t read as much, but wrote A LOT. it became her fixation, almost an obsession.

in college, she only really wrote on vacations (she had a very healthy social life hehehe) but her junior year is when she found her balance between schoolwork, writing, and socializing.

there was no plan B for her!! it was always to be an author. if it didn’t happen right away, she was going to find a job that would get her by until plan A could come to be.

her favorite author growing up was Garth Nix. She longed for books about badass women. She got to meet him and write a blurb to be on one of his books! She cries when she meets her favorite authors.

Talk about character names!

her character names come from everywhere and nowhere

sometimes she’ll just hear a name in her head and think “that’s it!” (Rhys, for example)

she needs to know the name to write the character

if the name doesn’t immediately come to her, she spends a lot of her time on baby name websites and makes lists until it clicks

sometimes the names just... connect. sometimes she doesn’t mean for them to.

it will always be uncommon. never “Frank” lol

Writing about Nesta!

on a “surface level” she loves writing when Nesta comes out to fight. for example, her favorite scene in this aspect to write was the bog scene. As soon as she got to it, it flowed out of her. The final product was almost identical to the first draft. She wrote it in one session, from the terror & tread to the “who am i?” to when she emerged--she went YES. MAJOR Mic Drop moment for her.

going deeper: definitely her overall journey was one of the favorites she’s ever written. From the dark place she’s in at the beginning to the very end.

Writing about Nesta meant so much to her because of her own mental health. She channeled a lot of her own feelings and went on the journey with Nesta.

it was a lot of “how do you face mental health in a fantasy world without therapy and medication”

it was easy to get into Nesta’s mind but emotionally intense.

ACOSF’S BIG MESSAGE: LEARNING TO LOVE YOURSELF AND OTHERS. YOU ARE WORTH OF LOVE.

YES there is a book planned for Elain!

As soon as Nesta and Elain came onto the page again in ACOMAF, she knew they’d get their own journey.

Nesta grabbed her by the throat in book 1

She was originally contracted for only the first three books but realized there was more she wanted to explore. Essentially the “what comes next” after ACOWAR in this new world with out the wall.

FUN FACT: while editing ACOMAF/writing ACOWAR, she drunkenly told her editor at the time, “hey guess what happens next?”, and it turned into a two hour conversation about everything she wants to happen for Nesta, Elain, Mor, Azriel, etc. TWO WEEKS LATER, she gets a call saying they want to buy the stories!! Obviously, she said yes.

This allowed her to start planting the Easter eggs for these stories in ACOWAR. She knew she did not want Nesta to be sympathetic at the beginning of the book! But she did not want people to hate her.

She always has one eye on the horizon for future books.

If she could visit one court for a day, which and why?

She LOVES the season Autumn, it’s her favorite. “BUT EVERYONE IN THE AUTUMN COURT IS AN ASSHOLE”. She would want to visit the Autumn Court when no one is there so she can enjoy the beauty of Autumn.

But also she would want to go to the Summer Court because she has a thing for Tarquin but only if it’s not gross and humid.

She would ALSO want to go to the Day Court for Helion and all his libraries.

ESSENTIALLY she would want to go everywhere but Spring because Tamlin sucks and is an asshole lmao.

BEAST FORMS

SJM’s beast form would be something totally not cool or majestic like a sea otter.

Nesta’s beast form would be something terrifying and beautiful like a snow leopard/dragon hybrid, a griffin, or a sphinx. **WANTS SOMEONE TO DRAW THIS**

FUN QUESTIONS

Nesta’s favorite smutty book would be JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. She reads these books for the distraction, of course, but also for the comfort they gave her that everything turns out okay for the characters.

Nesta’s Starbucks order: cappuccino- something simple, nothing with too much sugar or whipped cream. Elain’s would be a Frappe- something delicious and sweet. SJM’s is a flat white, iced or not, but never after 2PM.

SJM usually listens to classical music and movie scores while she writes, but she’s gotten used to write in silence so that she can listen for her son’s shenanigans with Josh.

“Stay Together for the Kids” by Blink 182 semi-inspired the scene when Nesta and Cassian go back to her family’s cottage. She can hardly explain why.

WRITING ADVICE

Write what you love, not what you think you should be writing.

Give yourself permission to suck. Her first drafts are shit and are usually accompanied with an email that says “I know I need to fix this, this and that” lol.

WRITE THE DAMN THING. Vomit on the page!

YOU CAN’T FIX A BLANK PAGE.

Her least favorite part about the publishing process is the first pass of copy edits, those last minute checks and balances. But once it’s off to the printer, it’s not her problem anymore.

She’s every publisher’s worst nightmare because she sends it off to the printer at the LAST possible minute.

For reference: Throne of Glass was finished almost... a year and a half? ...before it hit shelves, but ACOSF was finished this past fall.

MAIN CHARACTER TALK

All of her heroines have a piece of her.

SJM’s personality is a hybrid of Bryce and Nesta.

Feyre and Nesta got most of her in terms of learning to be empowered.

She has to have a connection to them in order to write them. It’s an out of body, method acting experience.

MISCELLANEOUS

She said “CC2 is a year from now.”

She started writing ACOTAR in 2008 before she published TOG.

She loves the story and dynamic of Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Cassian is Elizabeth. Nesta is Darcy.

And that’s all I have, folks! Thank you for reading, I hope you got something out of this!

#acosf spoilers #acosfspoilers #nessian #nesta archeron #cassian #sarah j maas #live talks

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luxekook · 6 years ago

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chapter one.

⇥ pairing: jungkook x reader; eventual bts/ot7 x reader

⇥ genre: college au with fluff, smut & angst

⇥ summary: a series in which the reader meets (and falls for) seven members of the Beta Tau Sigma (BTS) fraternity

⇥ word count: 2.3k

⇥ warnings: 18+, cursing, dirty talk, kissing, hickies, drinking, tatted jungkook, nipple piercings

Chapter One

Fall of Junior Year – 8:57am

I curse every single decision that has brought me to this very moment as I power-walk across campus, sweating under the already blistering sun. Campus in August could easily be compared to a swamp given the amount of unearthly humidity, and I'm pretty sure I currently qualified as the local swamp thing.

The only positive feature in my morning has been the table of free coffee and doughnuts staffed by Student Government. The first day of the fall semester always seems to be accompanied by frantically wide-eyed freshmen and celebratory freebies. However, air conditioning is the only thing I would be celebrating today as I finally reach Tyson Hall – the destination of my 9:00am class.

As I rush to my classroom with one minute to spare, I slump into a seat in the far corner – my preferred location for people-watching out of the large windows and for getting away with doing homework for other classes.

Familiar faces surround me, an unsurprising observation given that this is our mandatory research seminar as psychology majors. I notice my friend Jenni sitting in the opposite corner, eyes glued to her phone screen.

Opening my laptop, I shoot her a text to come sit with me. Her head whips up, black braids moving every which way as she immediately piles up her things and hustles over, “(y/n), I forgot you were in this seminar! I just switched over from quantitative research because I couldn’t take any more statistics – or Dr. Harding.”

Dr. Harding is the dean of the psychology department and has been teaching here for ages. Feared by most psychology students for his tough grading and intimidating persona, he’s actually a huge softie – something I discovered by going to his office hours and seeing all 85 pictures of his grandchildren hanging throughout the room.

“He’s not that bad, Jen.”

She scoffs, “You would say that because you got an A in statistics like some sort of wizard. Besides, Dr. Newman is so much nicer.”

Jenni has an excellent point. Dr. Newman is the main reason I chose this seminar. As one of the most respected researchers at our university, she’s known for her qualitative studies on gender across cultures. I consider Dr. Newman to be a real badass woman and I lowkey stan her.

I turn to reply, but Dr. Newman begins taking attendance and class begins.

Fifty minutes later, Jenni practically drags me out of the classroom, “I cannot believe she kept us the whole 50 minutes. Is she aware that it’s syllabus week? It’s practically law to just read over the syllabus and then dismiss class. This is outrageous– (y/n), are you even listening?”

“Hmm?” I totally had tuned her out, focusing on the number of students flooding the quad. I had missed this – the rush of students heading to class, the yells of people greeting each other from entirely too far away, the buzz of excitement over potential parties…

“Unbelievable. How did I forget you have this whole weird-ass feminist crush on her?” Jenni forges forth, “It doesn’t matter. What are you doing tonight? You’re going out with us, right? Luna and I want to go to Hannigan’s.”

Since the three of us had all turned 21 over the summer, we finally could legally go to the bars in town. Hannigan’s currently holds the top spot on the list of bars that most of the upperclassman frequent. It’s a popular Irish pub downtown known for its cheap beer and mixed drinks.

It’s also BTS’s unofficial hangout – a fact that makes me slightly uneasy. After learning who the higher-ups are in BTS, I have taken to avoiding them like the plague. It was a relatively easy thing to do since the spring semester tended to be less focused on rushing and recruiting for fraternities and sororities.

But now it’s rush season, and I’m pretty much fucked. There will be no avoiding seeing BTS’s president Kim Namjoon out recruiting with his vice president Min Yoongi and his social chair Jung Hoseok. There will also be no avoiding pledge master Taehyung leading around new BTS pledges like a mother duckling. And don’t even get me started on how Kim Seokjin, Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook will be popping up everywhere to advertise the latest BTS bash.

Sighing, I figure that the chances of actually bumping into them at the bar will be slim, given that it will most likely be super crowded and I can easily blend in.

I turn to Jenni as we keep walking towards our next classes, “Yeah, I’ll go to Hannigan’s. Are you going to come over to get ready at our place?”

Luna and I had moved into a cute little off-campus apartment over the summer. As it turned out, it’s cheaper to live off-campus than on-campus if you look hard enough. We also had it pretty good location-wise being just a few short blocks from both campus and downtown.

“Yes!” Jenni replies, slowing to a stop out front of the science building, “I’ll be over around 8 with tequila. I’ll text you later. I’ve got to go to neuro-psych lab now,” she rolls her eyes, “Hopefully we won’t be kept the whole time.”

Waving, we part ways, and I shake my head.

Tequila never leads to anything good.

Hannigan’s – 10:54pm

Fate seems to be on my side for once in my life. As soon as Luna, Jenni and I walk into Hannigan’s, my eyes are drawn to the back table where the BTS usually sits. It’s empty.

It’s practically an unspoken rule that no one else can sit there, and even though the bar is packed with all other tables accounted for, that one remains vacant – and for good reason.

Greek life essentially has a cult following around here. The Greeks provide status for those who are into that whole exclusivity thing. They also provide the best parties because of the size of their houses and because the university will never complain about one of their best sources of revenue.

I didn’t to rush a sorority way back in freshman year because I couldn’t feasibly afford it. The dues were way out of my price range, considering I was already paying for my education on my own. Luna, on the other hand, is in Epsilon Xi Delta (EXID) and consistently makes me and Jenni tag along to different Greek parties with her.

"Come on, bitches! Let's get some drinks," Jenni drags me and Luna through the packed room towards the bar that is already encircled by a crowd of thirsty students.

Tonight’s plan is simple – stick together, have fun, scope out cute seniors. Having already taken some shots before we left (saving that coin), we’re definitely feeling ourselves, flaunting our outfits like we didn’t spend a good hour picking them out earlier.

I had settled on a black t-shirt dress with a checkered flannel tied around the waist and some black Doc Martens. Luna and Jenni had tried to convince me to wear heels with them, but I knew syllabus week was a marathon – not a sprint. My feet would thank me later, and theirs would be crying.

As the bartender slides us our beers, the opening beats of Cocky AF by our badass queen Megan Thee Stallion blast through the speakers dispersed throughout the bar. Turning immediately to each other, we clink our beers together, take a sip, and head to the makeshift dance floor.

We squeeze and push our way through the masses until we reach a spot towards the back where the crowd has thinned out a little more. Within seconds, we’re in motion, hips swaying in time to Megan saying ‘bitch, I look good and you know that’.

Shaking out my hair, I get in the zone and lose count of how many songs we dance to. Eventually, our beers empty and Luna turns to me, “Another?" She accompanies her shouted question with an unnecessary charade of shot-gunning a beer in case I couldn’t hear her. I roll my eyes, laughing while I nod in response.

“Save our spot!” Jenni yells and disappears into the crowd of dancers with Luna towards the bar.

I continue dancing on my own. Swaying my hips, I decide to put my hair up to try to cool off a little in the sweltering bar. The music shifts into a new song, this one slower, more seductive, a favorite of mine – Lost in the Fire featuring The Weeknd.

As Abel’s angelic voice flows over me, a pair of hands slide over my hips from behind me. I start to pull away, but then I notice – the hands are tattooed. And for some reason, that hot little fact makes me relax into the large body behind me.

Those tattooed hands tug me back even more, bringing me flush against him as he falls into time with my movements. God, this guy can dance – a rarity these days.

His body is all hard muscle and heated skin. His mouth is hot against my neck, alternating between kissing, sucking, and biting. My skin buzzes. Fuck, I haven’t felt this way since–

Turning my head slightly, I can make out the vague outline him and it confirms my sinking suspicion... He’s a BTS boy.

"Hey, noona," he murmurs in my ear, his lips brushing over it as he speaks.

Fuck my life, I think as I shiver involuntarily in response. Spinning to face one of Satan’s henchmen, I toss my ponytail over my shoulder and jut a hip out in both defiance and defense. But really nothing could have prepared me for the sight of Jeon fucking Jungkook, the golden boy of BTS.

He somehow looks like he’s gotten even bigger since the last I saw him playing pong against Taehyung at that party – information that I cannot even comprehend. His left arm is completely tattooed, along with a few smaller ones dotting his hands. I glare at them, blaming those hands for throwing me off.

“Like them?” Jungkook waves his fingers in front of my narrowed eyes, “I got them this summer.” Smirking lazily, Jungkook makes his own perusal of me – taking extra time along the way.

His jaw flexes as his eyes turn molten, “You’re killing me, noona. Tae didn’t mention…” He trails off, swallowing hard.

I follow his gaze. Oh fuck. I had forgotten I decided to forego a regular bra tonight because I wanted to show off my piercings. Just having a thin bralette under my dress, my pierced nipples are definitely noticeable under Jungkook’s heavy stare.

Refusing to give into him, I square my shoulders, “Yeah, I got them this summer, too. But, I don’t see how that’s either your or Taehyung’s business.”

At my words, Jungkook rips his eyes away from my tits to finally meet my own eyes again, “Oh, but it really is our business. Tae said we’d like you and I agree.”

His voice is low and rough, and I swear I can feel it washing over my body, making all of my synapses fire in response.

“We?” I choked out. In full panic mode, I spin and try to leave, but I barely make it a foot away before getting stopped by a now-familiar tattooed hand wrapped around my wrist.

Luckily, a crashing sound echoes from the back table where the other BTS boys must be, and Jungkook lets out a string of curses, “Fucking hell, listen I have to go make sure no one’s hurt, or Joon will kill me. Stay here, okay? I’m not done with you, (y/n).”

His hand rushes up to the nape of my neck, pulling me into him. Our lips fuse together in a brutally hot kiss, his tongue slipping against my bottom lip for a fraction of a second.

And then he’s gone – disappearing rapidly through the fray to manage whatever trouble his frat has gotten into.

I stand there, shaking fingers on my lips wondering what the actual fuck just happened.

“Hey, sorry we took so long! This bitch cut in front of us and I swear she ordered for the entire fucking population of North America—”

Luna smacks Jenni’s arm, cutting her off, “You okay, (y/n)?” Luna peers closer at me, “Holy shit, is that a hickey? We were only gone for 10 minutes!”

My hand flies to my neck as both Jenni and Luna grab me, dragging me to the slightly quieter back alley of the bar. As they conduct the second Spanish Inquisition, I spill the details on what happened.

After a moment of silence following my explanation, they both start talking at once:

→ Jenni: “Hell yes, girl, go off! Jeon Jungkook is fine as fuck…” → Luna: “(y/f/n) (y/m/n) (y/l/n), have you lost your damn mind…”

→ Jenni: “…I’d hit that in a heartbeat. I’m so proud!” → Luna: “…Do you not remember last semester? Are you high? Oh my GOD, did he drug you?!”

“Stop!” I slap a hand over each of their mouths, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, you guys are impossible. I am not ‘hitting’ anything, and, no, he did not fucking drug me.”

Sighing, I continue, “It was a lapse in judgement, okay? I remember last semester more than anyone, but he’s just so powerful and I don’t seem to have any common sense around BTS.”

I take my hands away from their mouths and immediately Jenni asks, “Wait, what happened last semester?”

Luna slings an arm around my shoulder, “Come on, let’s go get pizza and a six-pack from Ralph’s. We can go out another night this week.”

“Take-out from Ralph’s?” Jenni’s eyes widen comically, “This must be major tea. Let’s go.”

Instinctively, we clink our beers together for the second time that night and chug the remainder of our bottles in true broke bitch fashion (never leave paid-for beer behind).

With that, we trek back through the door and out of the bar. We finish our night filling in Jenni with our less than savory experience with the infamous BTS fraternity last semester.

But, as I lay in bed for the night, I can’t help but wonder if Jungkook had looked for me that night after I left… Or if he told Taehyung...

taglist (message me to be added):

@catsandstrawberries @h5naaa

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suckjasmins · 4 years ago

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The love story Part 1

A/n soo im rewriting this story lol i just felt like i could do better so yeah and sorry for being gone for so long (if anyone noticed) i didnt and still dont have wifi, I only have it when my sister is home and she works lol so it will take time for me to post

edit: guess who has wifi bitches!!?? this bitch right here!!

Pairings: Bakugou x Reader

Word count: 2069 (nice) words

Warnings: none lol

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Only the sound of the rain and the thunder was the only thing anyone heard. It was one of the few days where it rained and usually would be celebrated. Living in the desert like place, only heat and blinding sun was regular. A rainy day was like a blue moon, and everyone, celebrated it. The kids would play in it, the young adults would party in it, the elders would simply stand in it and converse with one another. Music and laughter would be the only thing anyone heard. This day was the opposite however, and the reason for it? More than half of the village was gone, they were on a hunting trip that should only lasted for a few weeks. It had been a few months now, and everyone was beginning to lose their hope of the hunting group returning. The only ones left were, children and elders and a few adults that had stayed for different reasons.

You were one of the adults that stayed, your reason was that you fell sick right before leaving. It was then decided that it was too dangerous for you to leave the village. It took all of your friends to convince you to stay. And let's say you were furious that you had stayed, especially now that the group were now gone. But you were not the only one who's heart were filled with rage and sorrow.

The warriors and the dragons had left to hunt the orcs who had dangerously been inching in close to the village. The whole village thought that if they could get rid of the orcs now. All would be safer, and the orcs didn't have the recourses to go to war now, so why wait until the orcs can?

You sat on the floor at the opening of the tent. Watching the puddle, you thought about how hot it still was when it was raining. You thought about your friends, and what you would be doing if they were here. You probably would be dancing and partying in the rain. And nobody would be able to hear the siren over the music, unlike right now when it was going off. The siren that only was used to important things, to signal when a new season started or when someone returned home-

When someone was returning home after war or after a long time...

You looked up, towards the mountains and right there, in the middle of the mountains. A group of people were walking towards the village. They were too far away to be able to see who they were, but everyone knew. It was them.. Getting up, you started to run towards to the group of people, standing and watching them. You pushed your way to the front and your vision started to blur from tears. Even though it was still raining, even though it was still dark from all the clouds. It felt like the sun was shining, like the rain now was a sweet reminder of the parties that usually held place here.

The group were closer now, and you could clearly see how hurt they all were. The few dragons by the humans was transformed to their human shapes. Almost everyone were limping, and helping each. other to walk. Finally you could not hold yourself back and you broke out of the crowd. A few kids following you, you made you way to the group. The first person you saw were Mina, your long time best friend. And by her side were Eijiro, one of his wings were bandaged.

"Mina! Eijiro!" you screamed out as you neared them. You stopped a step from them and you went to hug them when you realized that that wouldn't be the best.

"Are you guys ok..? Is it ok if I hug you or..?" you fidgeted around, only you three stood there, everyone walking around you.

Mina chuckled and leaned forward, hugging you. You hugged back, squeezing her hard until she slightly winced. It felt like you hugged each other for hours, rambling about different things. Like how much you missed each other.

"Hey.. when is it my turn for a hug?" Eijiro whined behind Mina, crossing his arms and playfully pouted.

"Now's your turn" you let go of Mina and turned to him. "Come here big guy" you squeezed him just like Mina. You two also stood forever and rambled about things. Just like when you were younger, he always felt like home. You also would stand there forever if Mina hadn't interrupted the two of you.

"The Bakugous is about to start their speech, let's get over there, then can you two continue your hugging party." she nodded towards the scene where Mitsuki Bakugou, the village leader, or queen, was about to start her speech. Walking towards her, you blended into the crowd already there. Mitsuki Bakugou stood in the middle of the scene, her husband, Masaru Bakugou stood slightly behind her, a supporting hand on her shoulder. On her other side stood Katsuki Bakugou with his usual scowl on his face. Mitsuki exchanged a few words with Masaru before turning her attention forward.

"Everyone... We'er finally back from the hunting trip that were only supposed to last a few weeks. It was hard but I'm glad to tell you the exiting news. When we arrived to the last sighting of orcs, we saw that there were a few who had made camp there. We fought them off our land and got information on where the main camp was. When we arrived, we were shocked to say the at least. There were a lot more than we thought there were going to be. We had to make camp and discuss our new battle plans. But then we were ready, and we fought. And... even though it was a big possibility that we would lose a few soldiers... WE LOST NONE!" a big cheer broke out and people started to almost party right there and then. Mitsuki with only her hand silenced and calmed down the crowd. "We fought bravely, many of us were hurt and are going to be treated shortly after this speech. We have now gotten rid of the orcs that harmed and threatened our land. And luckily... the mating season has not started yet. It will begin in a 2 short weeks along with spring. I feel like this year is extra special, and we will treat it like it. Now just a few words from my husband and from my soon then you can continue to reunite with your close and loved ones" she finished her speech and stepped to the side. Her husband and her switching their places. He cleared his throat and started with his speech.

"Even though my wife has said almost everything there is to say, I have a few words. I want to say thank you, for every brave soul that followed us to fight the evil. It is only with their help that we could defeat the enemy without losing one of our own. And for anyone wondering... the harvest has been good this year. And along with the animals we hunted on our way back. We have more than enough food to relax without the need to hunt. We will celebrate the beginning of spring with a feast so big it will last for days!" he laughed and the crowd cheered again. The thought of being able to properly relax and the thought of food, making everyone happy. Mitsuki then pushed her son, Katsuki, to the front. It was then you noticed his arm were wrapped and hung around his neck. It was clearly broken, you looked around and noticed a lot of people had broken something. But thankfully Mina or Eijiro hadn't broken anything. Eijiro was only bleeding from his wing but otherwise was okay.

"I would like to say... It was brave of everyone to follow on this trip, to risk their life for each other. And now we can celebrate it" his words were short and you could hear how he didn't mean any of that. Or maybe he did but was too tired to say it. Everyone clapped and Mitsuki clapped Katsukis shoulder. She whispered something to him and he scowled. The Bakugou family left the stage and almost the whole crowd turned to the direction of the medical tent. You walked with Mina, Eijiro had left to find Katsuki Bakugou, his dear friend.

"So Mina, are you excited about the mating season?" you asked her, as you walked together.

"Ah... I don't know actually... I mean Eijiro competed for me last year and well, I don't know if he's going to do it again" she answered, she stared ahead at nothing. You got a brilliant idea, almost like a lightbulb went off in your head.

"Why don't you compete for him? I mean it's tradition that couples compete every year and imagine how happy he would be!" your eyes shined as you awaited for her answer.

"Omg... Y/n I love you!" she grabbed your shoulders and shook you back and fort before hugging you. "And it can be a surprise too!" you laughed along with her.

"I'm really happy for you, you know? I don't think your or Eijiro could fins a better match" you smiled warmly while Mina gave you a cute pout.

"That's so sweet... I have to do something for you now!" she gasped and pulled you with her. "What if... I help you find someone to compete for you or someone for you to compete for?!"

"Ah... Mina, there isn't really anyone I'm interested in.." you sighed, you never really thought about dating or anything like that. But it wasn't the first time someone told you to get a date.

"I know I know... but if there's someone who would be a great match for you? It would be Bakugou!" she almost yelled out, which resulted in you covering her mouth with your hand.

"Shush! You can't just yell that!" you shushed her, she only giggled in response. "And.. Bakugou..?" you slightly blushed.

"Yes yes! I was with him a lot during this trip and you'er perfect for each other!"

"But I don't really know him? Like at all?" that was a lie, you did know Bakugou. Or at least you knew him when you were younger. You and Bakugou were thick as thieves when you were children.

It was only after he started to really bully Midoryia that you had told him to stop. Before that you would also tease Midoryia, call him Deku and laugh along with Bakugou. When you became 5 you got close with Midoryia, and started to be his friend too. And at the same time Bakugou only bothered Midroyia more. You would try to protect Midoryia but would always run after Bakugou, laughing and playing with him. Until you stayed, and told Bakugou to stop. It was the first time you were deadly serious and Bakugou only let out a tch before leaving. After that day Bakugou started to ignore you, and would bully Midoryia as much as you could.

But now, you had grown up and you pretended that you didn't know Bakugou. Like you never talked to him at all. A lot of the elders knew of your friendship, but never discussed it. The people your age didn't know, mostly because they weren't there when you were younger. It was like your friendship with Bakugou was in an another life time.

When you and Mina arrived at the tent, you saw a long line of people waiting. You let out a sigh and turned to her. You scanned her up and down and tilted your head. She wasn't really hurt, only scrapes and dirt on her skin. She didn't limp or act like anything hurt.

"Mina, are you hurt? Or why are we here?" you asked, not knowing what her answer would be.

"Oh not really... But I have a nasty cut on my back that need to be cleaned" she shrugged, and turned to stand in line. You lit up.

"That's great!" you exclaimed, before wincing. "I don't mean it's great you have a cut but I have stuff at my place. I could patch you up there!" you smiled.

"Oh really? Great! Let's go" she turned swiftly around, already heading to your tent.

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razberryyum · 5 years ago

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So you’re done with The Untamed and want more, what now?

Reposting this since I’ve updated it with new info/links. Again, I entered the fandom via The Untamed so I’m by no means a MDZS expert, just tried my best gathering all the resources I can which I hope will help some new Untamed/MDZS fan out there. If you spot any errors, don’t yell at me, just let me know and I’ll correct it as best I can, especially for any future reposts.

READ THE NOVEL

Read the original web novel the show was based on: The Untamed (aka “CQL” or “Chen Qing Ling”) was adapted from the BL web novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (aka ”MDZS” or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) by author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (”MXTX”). Yes the novel came first, CQL is only an adaptation. In the novel, you get the uncensored romance of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, where they are canonically married and living happily ever after. The novel goes full into R18 territory so please tread carefully.

All four volumes of the novel can be purchased from the original publishing site, JJWXC. The site’s in chinese but here’s a tutorial on how to navigate it and purchase the books: JJWXC Tutorial Link.

There’s also the option of purchasing the physical copies from Yesasia which might be easier but it’s also more expensive since they’re the middle man: Yesasia MDZS Link

It would be wonderful if you can support MXTX-laoshi by actually buying the books, especially since the cover art is so beautiful and the extra chapter volumes come with a lot of awesome extra goodies, but of course there’s also the option of reading the fan translations graciously provided by the Exiled Rebels Scanlations team at their site:

They translated all the novels including the bonus chapters in their own free time and are providing the fanslations for free so please give them some love for all their hard work.

WATCH THE ANIME (aka “Donghua” in Chinese)

Watch the anime based on the novel: The donghua was released before The Untamed. Two seasons are already available (23 eps total) with a third season in production and a special chibi version of the donghua in production as well. The Eng-subbed donghua can be seen using the WeTV app or on Youtube: YT MDZS Donghua Playlist

Grant it, the donghua is even more censored than The Untamed, but the donghua team still managed to sneak in some easter eggs (f.e. WangXian naked bathing scene in the cold springs from the novel...in The Untamed they were fully clothed) and more importantly, the animation is just gorgeous so it’s absolutely worth a watch despite the censorship.

READ THE MANGA (aka “Manhua” in Chinese)

Read the manhua which is ongoing and is being officially translated by WeComics, available on their app for free. Search under the name “Mo Dao Zu Shi”.

Unfortunately, the official translations are more than 20 chaps behind the raws and there have been complaints about the quality of the translations in the past, but I believe they’re starting to improve so since they’re official, it’s always better to support the official source.

The raw untranslated manhua can be found on the Kuaikanmanhua app. Other than being in Chinese, some of the chapters (f.e. the most recent ones) are behind a paywall, but here’s a tutorial on how to purchase the chapters, provided by @chiharuzushi on Twitter: Kuaikanmanhua Tutorial

The chapters are quite cheap...I purchase 1000 KK coins for 10 rmb ($0.14) and each chapter is only 68 KK coins so even if we end up with 500 chapters it’ll still be...er...quite cheap overall (don’t make me do the actual math). The most painful part is figuring out how to set up the Kuaikanmanhua account, but otherwise, if you can read Chinese or know enough of the story by now that you don’t really need to read the words, the manhua is definitely worth reading because it’s less censored than The Untamed and the donghua.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO DRAMA

Listen to the audio drama, which is at this point the most faithful and LEAST censored adaptation of the novel we will probably ever get! Wei Ying’s voice actor in The Untamed is the voice actor for his audio drama counterpart. (Yes, almost everyone in The Untamed is dubbed by a voice actor, EXCEPT for Nie Huaisang. Ji Li, the actor for NHS, was the only one who used his own voice. Lan Zhan in The Untamed shares the same voice actor as his character in the donghua).

Each episode art of the audio drama is AMAZING. Google Translate works well on the site, you’d want to see the listeners’ comments cuz they’re just adorable and hilarious.

Official links on Maoer FM:

Season 1: Maoer FM S1 Link

Season 2: Maoer FM S2 Link

Season 3: Maoer FM S3 Link

The audio drama was supervised by MXTX-laoshi, the author of the novel, so a lot of love and care went into the production, and it shows. The audio drama is behind a paywall but I remember it’s relatively inexpensive. Here’s the tutorial on how to purchase the audio drama from the Maoer FM site: Maoer FM Tutorial Link

Ngl, it was tough at first navigating all that, Google translate helped, but once I figured it out, it was all so worth it because in addition to the MDZS, the site houses a lot of other wonderful audio dramas. There are also MDZS fan songs on the site that are near professional quality and oh so good.

Suibian Subs have kindly translated the episodes and their translations are available here: Suibian Subs MDZS Audio Drama

Show them some love too for translating the episodes, but please if you can, purchase the episodes so you can support the audio drama team which have done an amazing job.

There’s even a Japanese audio drama which the Chinese AD team helped spearhead, available on the MIMI FM app. Here’s a tutorial on how to purchase the eps (half of the first season is out): MIMI FM Tutorial

It’s in Japanese but just follow the pictures. I’m hoping that the Japanese audio drama will end up being the MOST uncensored version of MDZS since Japanese BL dramas are not afraid (and allowed) to go all the way to R18. XD

MORE THE UNTAMED CONTENT

Lastly, if you’re just thirsting for more Untamed content, there are two spin-off movies you can watch. The first one, The Living Dead, is kind of centered on Wen Ning and Sizhui post-CQL.

The second one, Fatal Journey, is focused on the Nie brothers, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang, with a cameo by Jin Guangyao. It takes place prior to Wei Ying’s return from the dead.

Of the two movies, I definitely recommend Fatal Journey more. Both movies are available on the iQiyi app, which offers a one month free trial for first members. Each month afterwards for VIP is $6.99.

You can also go on the WeTV app for even more Untamed extras: WeTV put out a special edition cut of the show which tightened up the story AND features the original ending that was intended before censorship forced the production team to come up with the more ambiguous one we saw in its original run. It was a simple matter of rearranging certain scenes and getting rid of the separation part, but imho it really made all the difference to the ending.

There’s a ton of behind-the-scene cuteness that you can watch and also concerts with the cast in Thailand and Nanjing. VIP subscription to the WeTV app is $5.99/month and the Nanjing concert is for rent for 3 months at about the same price.

The show also put out two official soundtracks, one for the vocals and one for the score. Both are available on Amazon and iTunes. For Amazon though, you can search under “The Untamed” but they did this weird thing where the vocals one is listed as “The Untamed (Chinoiserie Music Album)” (wtf) while the score is just listed as “The Untamed (Original Soundtrack)”.

Finally, most of the male members of the cast took part in a fan meet and greet at the start of the show, before it became hugely popular. The entire meet and greet is available on youtube subbed: The Untamed Fan Meeting

That’s it for The Untamed and MDZS. If you end up liking the novel enough to want to read more by the same author, MXTX-laoshi has also written two other BL novels, The Scum Villain Self-Saving System (aka “SVSSS” or “Scum Villain”) and Heaven’s Official Blessing (aka “TGCF” after its Chinese title). Both have been fully translated by fans (but always try to buy the original if you have the means, as a way to support the author!):

SVSSS Translation: BC Novels Link

TGCF Translation chaps 1 - 24: Sakhyulations Link

TGCF Translation chaps 25 - End: Suika & Rynn Link

As with reading any BL novel (aka “danmei novel” for Chinese BL books), please heed the warnings and if it’s not your cup of tea, just exit out of the page and move on with your life. No big deal, right?

Anyway, hope all this info dump helps someone! If you’re brand spanking new to this fandom, welcome, and I’m so jealous of you! Would love to relive stepping into the world of MDZS/MXTX/danmei novels all over again since I feel like I’m already running out of stuff to read and I’m beginning to panic a little.

Happy watching/reading/listening!

#The Untamed #CQL #Mo Dao Zu Shi #MDZS #WangXian #MXTX

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hlupdate · 5 years ago

Link

The relationship between A-list muse and lauded designer is nothing new. But few have been as serendipitous that of Harry Styles and Alessandro Michele: the pop star’s solo career coincided neatly with the designer hitting his stride as the game-changing creative director of Gucci. Theirs is a mutually beneficial partnership that has elevated the former to new echelons of style, while the latter has become something of an icon to an unexpected fandom.

Unlike the large-scale productions of recent show seasons, Michele first presented his vision for Gucci with a quietly confident collection on 19 January 2015 — reportedly pulled together in just five turbo-charged days. The collection had all the signifiers of the retro-inspired aesthetic that has since become Michele’s beat, introducing the fur-lined loafers, pussy-bow blouses and florals that still form the backbone of his work today. A 20-year-old Harry, meanwhile, was still a long-haired One Direction member set to embark on the band’s biggest ever — and as it turned out last— tour. Just as One Direction’s days were winding down, Michele was picking up speed. Gucci reported a five per cent rise in sales in the last three months of 2015, amounting to 1.1 billion Euro in the final quarter.

Stylist Harry Lambert, who had been working with Harry for a few years by then, decided it was time for the boy-bander to try something new. A floral suit – that floral suit – from Michele’s spring/summer 2016 collection would be just the ’fit for the American Music Awards in November 2015, they decided.

Looking back it was a “very bold move,” Lambert admits. Styles was the first to take one of Michele’s full menswear looks from the Gucci catwalk and wear it on the red carpet. “It was very exciting to see everyone’s responses, but also how great he looked in it,’’ Lambert told Miss Vogueof what he still views as a turning point in his client’s fashion journey. This winning suit encouraged Styles and Lambert to pull more Gucci, and Harry gave his final performance as a member of One Direction wearing a suit in the retro petal print that defined Michele’s early collections.

In fact, Gucci was just about the only thing that the 1D alum carried over to his solo career. Even his shoulder-length curls were shorn. The music videos that accompanied Styles’s eponymous number one album, released in April 2017, all incorporated Gucci, as did his appearances on the promo trail. A navy tailored coat floats through the sky in the video for “Sign Of The Times”, and he wears floral tailoring in the clip for “Kiwi”. When the time came for Harry to take his record on the road, he wore countless bespoke Gucci suits on stage. Most were floral brocade with flared trousers, and paired with pussy-bow shirting.

By June 2018, the relationship had been formalised. Styles was revealed – in a series of photos taken by Glen Luchford in the suitably English setting of a chip shop – as the face of Gucci’s tailoring campaign. Two more campaigns followed, in which Styles models the most exuberant of Michele’s creations without ever sacrificing his schoolboy cheekiness, not even with a lamb slung around his shoulders. The campaigns, two by Luchford, a third by Harmony Karine, helped to usher in a new dawn in menswear advertising.

A year later Harry was unveiled as part of a diverse line-up in the campaign for Gucci’s Mèmoire D’une Odeur — the near century-old house’s first gender-neutral scent. Yes, he was the main event, but Styles shared the spotlight with other creatives in what became an unavoidable campaign, covering buildings, beauty counters, column inches and iPhone wallpapers across the globe. Styles has since quipped that he wears it to bed,making a bottle a necessary purchase for even half-dedicated Harry fans.

That Harry’s work with Gucci has proved so popular with his dedicated fanbase is a key component in the success of their collaborations. Though — and again, this is likely owing to Harry’s own allegiances — his followers do tend to have a keen interest in fashion compared to other fandoms, it’s down to their idol that Harries know the artistic director by his first name alone. “It is really exciting for us fans to see another facet of Harry as a creative individual, and his Gucci partnership cultivates that and gives us an even more in-depth perspective of who he is,” Nadhila, a 26-year-old fan in Indonesia told Miss Vogue.

Nadhila, who has been a part of the team behind the Twitter account @HSNewsUpdate since 2011, believes that the fluid nature of Michele’s vision has contributed to the interest in Harry’s Gucci looks. “There are no boundaries on what he might come up with, so fans are always excited to see what look [Harry] might step out in next,” she says. Styles’s efforts to be a fan-focused, ethical pop star – his motto is “treat people with kindness” – are relevant, too. “He has inspired us to be bold, unique and unafraid to experiment when it comes to fashion,” she adds. “He has shown us that there is no such thing as too feminine or too masculine, we can be both and we can be ourselves.”

Another of Harry’s biggest fan accounts, @TheHarryNews, is run by four women in their mid-twenties: Annie, Océane, Lena and Rachel. “You can really see the confidence he’s gotten from working with Gucci,” they share collectively over email. “[He’s] taking more risks and letting more of himself show… In a lot of ways we’ve seen Harry really come into his own. I think that really resonates with people, especially his fans, who get tiny pieces of [who he really is] through fashion.”

Two fans who have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of this fashion partnership are the transatlantic duo behind @HSFashionArchive. Since April 2016, London-based Lu and Washington DC-based Alex have documented every look worn by Harry in meticulous detail, all to act as “a resource for fans”. Its posts lets his followers know how they might go about procuring these items, but also sheds light on key house codes – thus enabling fans to quickly identify which of Harry’s looks are Gucci, and which aren’t. “We have noticed that fans buy the Gucci pieces that Harry has worn,” 29-year-old Alex explained. “Though some pieces are pricey, we’ve seen people buy the loafers, boots, and bags that Harry has sported over the years. Lots of our followers bought the £34 Gucci lipsticks he wore in Beauty Papers.”

The pair believes that the relationship works because Gucci is able to offer Harry such a broad spectrum of looks to choose from. “Gucci’s looks range from wearable to outrageous, so Harry’s continued partnership with Gucci guarantees both attainable style and flashy moments. There’s nothing like seeing him in a wild new outfit that we couldn’t have anticipated.” And though one might assume the scene-stealing suits are most popular with fans, according to Nadhila, they like his low-key looks best, given that “they show a more casual and intimate look into who he is as a ‘normal’ person”.

Of course, there is a notable exception: the 2019 Met Gala. For the opening evening of the “Camp: Notes On Fashion” exhibition Michele and Harry acted as co-hosts, and arrived on the pink carpet together. “After such a colourful tour wardrobe it was nice to do something a little unexpected,” Lambert told Miss Vogue of the black blouse Styles wore. “[It was about] taking traditionally feminine elements like the frills, heeled boots, sheer fabric and the pearl earring, but then rephrasing them as masculine pieces set against the high-waisted tailored trousers and his tattoos. Camp, but still Harry.” Lambert explained at the time: “We met up earlier this year to share mood boards with the Gucci team. We had pages of printed references all on the table from Alessandro, myself and Harry, then we edited them down.” Today, the @HSFashionArchive duo agree the night “was a massive deal amongst fans”.

There was the now pearl earring-wearing fashion darling of the music world, standing alongside the closest thing to a rockstar the fashion industry has at present. “I love dressing up and he loves dressing up,” Michele told The Face in 2019. “The moment I met him, I immediately understood there was something strong around him. I realised he was much more than a young singer. He was a young man, dressed in a thoughtful way, with uncombed hair and a beautiful voice. I thought he gathered within himself the feminine and the masculine.”

Since the Met, the relationship has continued to go from strength to strength. Styles wore a custom look on the cover of his second record, Fine Line, shot by Tim Walker, and Michele and Styles collaborated on a T-shirt to coincide with it, with a percentage of the sales going to the Global Fund For Women. Gucci’s high-waisted trousers, cropped blazers and dazzling shirting now takes up even more space in Styles’s wardrobe, and bring as much attention to the star as his sophomore record’s commercial and critical success.

Sightings of Styles in Gucci have become a source of comfort for fans in a turbulent 2020. From his Mary-Janes at the Brits to his oversized turquoise blazer and crochet gloves in the “Golden” video, by way of outré sunglasses and floral sunglasses in the clip for “Watermelon Sugar”, Harry’s recent sartorial choices have managed to be pleasingly familiar, while simultaneously keeping his followers on their toes.

A bit like the chicken and the egg conundrum, the question remains: is Harry very Gucci, or is Gucci very Harry? The verdict is out. But without each other, both might be missing a little something.

#harry styles #articles #111120

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Hulu New Releases: April 2021

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While the first day of spring technically belongs to March, everyone knows that it kicks into high gear in April. To celebrate the changing of the seasons, Hulu is finally bringing back its signature original series for April 2021.

Season 4 of the multiple Emmy award-winning The Handmaid’s Tale premieres on April 28. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen June and her dystopian world. In fact, it’s been so long that our own world decided to endure its own dystopian pandemic in the meantime. Hopefully this series’ return will mean we can keep our political and social collapses on television where they belong.

Aside from The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu isn’t brining much else to the table in terms of originals this month. Thankfully, the one other original that Hulu has in store for April sounds completely righteous. Sasquatch, the latest docuseries from the Duplass brothers producing team, will cover exactly what the title promises. This three-part series heads off to the Pacific Northwest for a tale about an elicit pot farm and the possibility that three men were viciously murdered by Big Foot on it. Sign us up!

Library titles for Hulu in April 2021 are also pretty thin. But April 1 does feature the arrival Mad Max (1980) and Die Hard (1988). Then April 28 sees the arrival of…well, Arrival (2016). Those aren’t bad streaming options in case the weather in April decides to not be spring-like.

Hulu New Releases – April 2021

April 1 Amy Schumer Learns to Cook: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Caribbean Life: Complete Seasons 18 & 19 (HGTV) Chopped: Complete Season 44 (Food Network) Chopped Sweets: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Christina On The Coast: Complete Season 2 (HGTV) Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: Complete Seasons 34 & 35 (Food Network) Doubling Down with the Derricos: Complete Season 1 (TLC) Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: Complete Season 1 (HGTV) Guy’s Grocery Games: Complete Season 22 (Food Network) Naked and Afraid XL: Complete Season 6 (Discovery) Say Yes to the Dress: Complete Season 19 (TLC) Tournament of Champions: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Undercover Billionaire: Complete Season 1 (Discovery) UniKitty: Complete Season 3 (Cartoon Network) Vegas Chef Prizefight: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Worst Cooks in America: Complete Season 18 (Food Network) Higurashi: When They Cry: Season 1, Epsiodes 1-12 (DUBBED) (Funimation) 2012 (2009) 28 Days Later (2003) A Hologram for the King (2016) A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) A Simple Plan (1998) The Abyss (1989) Before We Go (2015) Bug (2007) Bulworth (1998) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) Changing Lanes (2002) Chappaquiddick (2017) Chato’s Land (1972) Cheech & Chong’s Still Smokin’ (1983) Cohen and Tate (1989) The Color Purple (1985) The Dead Zone (1983) The Devil’s Double (2011) Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) Die Hard (1988) Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000) Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) Frankie & Alice (2014) Friends With Benefits (2011) Garden State (2004) The Gift (2000) Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) Guess Who (2005) Hancock (2008) The Hunting Party (1971) In The Mix (2005) Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000) Lady in a Cage (1964) Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector (2006) Life Of Crime (2014) Live Free Or Die Hard (2007) Mad Max (1980) Madea Goes To Jail (Theatrical Feature) (2009) The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004) Monster’s Ball (2001) Motel Hell (1980) Napoleon Dynamite (2004) Never Back Down (2008) New in Town (2009) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) The Out-Of-Towners (1999) The Pawnbroker (1964) Platoon (1986) The Polar Express (2004) The Preacher’s Wife (1996) The Program (1993) Ramona and Beezus (2009) The Replacement Killers (1998) Rio (2011) The Sandlot (1993) Scary Movie 4 (2006) Sex And The City (2008) Sex And The City 2 (2010) Shaft (2000) Shrek 2 (2002) The Skull (1965) Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) Sliver (1993) So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) Star Trek: Generations (1994) Step Up Revolution (2012) The Sum of All Fears (2002) That Thing You Do! (1996) The Upside (2017) Vanilla Sky (2001) Virtuosity (1995) Waiting to Exhale (1995) War (2007) Warriors of Virtue (1997) What About Bob? (1991) Where the Heart Is (2000) Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

April 2 WEWORK: OR THE MAKING AND BREAKING OF A $47 BILLION UNICORN : Documentary Premiere (Hulu Original) Law & Order: Organized Crime: Series Premiere (NBC) Manifest: Season 3 Premiere (NBC) The Moody’s: Season 2 Finale (Fox) Real Housewives of New York City: Complete Season 12 (Bravo)

April 3 Hysterical: Series Premiere (FX) Blair Witch (2016)

April 5 Girl (2020)

April 7 Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World: Season 1, Epsiodes 1-12 (DUBBED) (Funimation)

April 8 Home Economics: Series Premiere (ABC)

April 9 Everything’s Gonna Be Okay: Season 2 Premiere (Freeform) Rebel: Series Premiere (ABC) The Standard (2020) Stars Fell on Alabama (2021)

April 10 The Day I Became a God: Season 1, Epsiodes 1-12 (DUBBED) (Funimation) Desierto (2015) Knuckledust (2020)

April 12 Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) Spontaneous (2020)

April 15 Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Complete Season 10 (Bravo)

April 16 Fly Like A Girl (2020) Songbird (2020)

April 17 Modern Persuasion (2020) Thelma (2017)

April 20 Sasquatch: Documentary Series Premiere (Hulu Original)

April 21 Cruel Summer: Series Premiere (Freeform)

April 22 GRETA THUNBERG: A YEAR TO CHANGE THE WORLD: Documentary Premiere (PBS)

April 23 The Place of No Words (2020)

April 25 Wild Mountain Thyme (2021)

April 26 The Oscars Red Carpet Show: Special (ABC) The 93rd Oscars: Special (ABC)

April 28 The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 4 Premiere (Hulu Original) Arrival (2016)

April 30 The Judge (2014)

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Leaving Hulu – April 2021

April 27 Our Idiot Brother (2011)

April 30 50/50 (2011) 9 to 5 (1980) Affliction (1998) Article 99 (1992) Beloved (1998) Bloody Sunday (2002) Blow (2001) Body of Evidence (1993) Changing Lanes (2002) Chato’s Land (1972) Cocktail (1988) Cohen and Tate (1989) Crimes Of The Heart (1987) Damien – Omen II (1978) Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) Escape from Alcatraz (1979) Everything Must Go (2011) Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) From Hell (2001) G.I. Jane (1997) Garfield (2004) Gargoyles: Wings of Darkness (2004) Happy Tears (2010) The Haunting In Connecticut (2009) The Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts Of Georgia (2013) Hitman’s Run (1999) How Do You Know (2010) The Hunting Party (1971) The January Man (1989) Jennifer 8 (1992) Jumping The Broom (2011) The Last Waltz (1978) Mad Max (1980) Madea Goes To Jail (Theatrical Feature) (2009) Mafia! (Jane Austen’s) (1998) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004) Motel Hell (1980) Mousehunt (1997) My Best Friend’S Girl (2008) Never Back Down (2008) Ninja Assassin (2009) The Omen (1976) (1976) Only God Forgives (2013) Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2009) Platoon (1986) Pretty Woman (1990) The Prince Of Tides (1991) The Replacement Killers (1998) Sands of Iwo Jima (1950) Shaft (2000) The Shootist (1976) Sideways (2004) Strategic Air Command (1955) The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) Teresa’s Tattoo (1994) That Thing You Do! (1996) Two Weeks (2006) Waking Ned Devine (1998) Walking Tall (1973) Warriors of Virtue (1997) What About Bob? (1991) The Whole Nine Yards (2000) Wonder Boys (2000) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) Young Adult (2011)

The post Hulu New Releases: April 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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argylemnwrites · 5 years ago

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Why Are We Still Waiting? - Chapter 2

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment universe)

Word Count: ~4900

Rating: PG-13 (language)

Summary: A trip back to Cordonia, meeting someone new... just not the new person they thought they would be meeting.

Author’s Note: Well, I’ve utterly failed at posting this with any semblance of regularity, but... it’s back. And I’m trying to get back in the habit of more consistent editing/writing (so things don’t take me five times as long because I am rusty). We left Drake and Riley engaged, but with a postponed wedding due to Savannah and Bertrand’s unplanned pregnancy. They just recently had their second child, a little girl, and Drake and Riley are off to Cordonia to meet their niece. To catch up on this series, you can check out the It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment masterlist (link in bio).

Drake twisted slightly, stretching out his back as he waited for the rows ahead of them to exit the plane so he could stand up and finally move his legs. He’d gotten more used to flying coach in the past couple of years, but that still didn’t exactly make it a comfortable or enjoyable experience. But there was obviously no way that they could make the trip to Cordonia a few times a year if they didn’t keep the flights as cheap as humanly possible.

As soon as he could, he shifted into the aisle, handing Riley her coat from the overhead bin before grabbing his own jacket and their duffle bags. And then they were off, shuffling through the airport, over to immigration, then off to baggage claim and customs.

Drake pulled out his phone as soon as he and Riley and their luggage were cleared. It was odd that Bastien hadn’t responded. He had texted him when they landed. It had become their habit over the past couple of years. Since Drake had sold his car, having Bastien take it to a dealership for him a few months after he permanently vacated his old quarters at the palace and putting the money towards some furniture for their new apartment, Liam had let him just borrow a car from the palace garage to use during his trips. With expedited immigration and customs, giving Bastien a head’s up when they landed in Cordonia usually worked out pretty perfectly with time, with Bastien waiting for them in short term parking by the time they got out, keys in hand.

But today, he hadn’t confirmed that he’d even seen the text. It was strange. Drake was just about to give him a call, when Riley nudged him with her elbow.

“Look,” she said, pointing across the concourse. There was a tall man ahead of them, wearing a navy sweater, a pair of jeans, and a bright blue baseball hat pulled very low, almost entirely hiding his dark hair. He was holding a sheet of paper that said “Walker/Liu,” but he wasn’t looking for them. In fact, he was clearly avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Drake just shook his head as he smiled. He should have known.

“Real subtle, Your Majesty,” Drake said as soon as they were close enough that he could drop his voice and still be heard by Liam.

Liam’s head jerked back and forth. “Not so loud!” he hissed out.

“You look so suspicious right now. You know that, right?”

“I’m trying to keep a low profile,” Liam said, shaking his head as he welcomed Drake’s loose hug.

“By doing what, dressing vaguely casual and then acting like someone who is terrified of being picked up by security?” Drake stepped back, shaking his head yet again.

“It’s not that bad.”

“No, Drake’s right. At JFK, you would have been carted off for an interview in some secret back room already,” Riley added before giving Liam a hug herself.

“I used to think your snark was rubbing off on her, but now I’m pretty sure I had that reversed,” Liam said over Riley’s shoulder towards Drake, earning himself a little shove and an eye roll as Riley stepped back. “Come on, let’s get out of here before I get recognized.

The three of them strolled out of the airport into the crisp winter air, the sun bright and blinding even as Riley shivered and handed Drake her duffle bag so that she could put on her coat.

“So what did we do to earn a ride in the royal motorcade?” Drake asked once they were clear of the crowds and vehicles in the drop off zone.

“I thought it might be a fun surprise.”

There was something in Liam’s tone that gave Drake pause. It was just a little too falsely cheery and rapid. There was something he wasn’t telling them. “And?”

He let out a little sigh, “And your mother and aunt decided to stay two extra nights, so they aren’t leaving until tomorrow.”

“Oh,” said Riley, “and who made the call that Leona and I shouldn’t be under the same roof?”

“That’s not the case, Riley,” Liam said with a shake of his head. “Bertrand wanted me to relay a message that you will always be an honorary Beaumont, and that therefore you are always welcome at Ramsford.”

Drake glanced over at Riley to find her already gazing his way. She raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes, and all Drake could do was shrug. Riley and his aunt had clashed pretty intensely during her first trip down to Texas, and things had only gotten worse the next two visits. It was clear someone decided that Riley and Leona shouldn’t be allowed to run into each other if it could be avoided, and Drake didn’t exactly disagree with that thought process.

"Right," said Riley, “because I'm sure me snapping at her judgemental ass would be much appreciated."

Liam glanced back at Drake, clearly looking to him to see if it was fine to speak candidly. He still was getting used to the fact that Riley didn't need things tied up in a pretty diplomatic bow and honestly preferred blunt assessments. Drake got the sense that Liam still almost felt like it was a trap at times, so used to courtly politics being the norm with everyone but Drake himself. But Drake just gave him a little nod. Riley was self-aware enough of the nature of her relationship with Aunt Leona that she didn’t need Liam to dance around it.

“Well, Maxwell did mention that he thought that… that Caroline might be making enough noise for the estate and there wasn’t a need to add to it.”

Drake let out a chuckle at that, watching as Riley rolled her eyes but otherwise had no reaction. He was pretty sure she vented to Maxwell about his family on occasion, so it wasn't exactly surprising that he was the one who had decided any meetings between Riley and Leona should be avoided if possible. Liam's shoulders relaxed slightly once a few seconds passed and it was clear that Riley wasn't offended by his statement.

"So, I hope you both can forgive the last minute change of plans, but I thought you might find a night at the palace more enjoyable. I know I would like the chance to spend some time with both of you. Plus, there is… well, there is someone I would very much like you both to meet."

"What?"

"Yes. She is waiting over there, by the car."

Drake followed Liam’s gesture and saw a woman standing by a non-descript silver sedan, one of the cars kept in the palace garage for trips where a member of the royal family might need to keep a low profile. They were still far enough away that he couldn’t tell much about what she looked like. This had to be a girlfriend, right? Again, Drake looked over at Riley, wanting to see if she had the same thought. Her eyes were wide and her eyebrows almost comically raised as she mouthed, “What?” at him. Alright, so she agreed. Well, this was definitely going to be interesting.

In all their years of friendship, Drake had never met someone Liam considered to be a girlfriend. In fact, it was rare for Liam to have a girlfriend. The politics, the diplomatic implications, all that shit just made it tough. Or at least that’s what Drake had assumed. It was kind of the whole point of the social season - a safe way for members of the royal family to date.

As they approached the car, Drake got a better look at the woman in question. She was definitely pretty, with warm brown skin, deep brown eyes, and a wide and gentle smile, even if that smile did look a little strained at the moment. That was likely due to some nerves, as she was twisting her hands in front of her waist. She was also wearing jeans and a sweater, although her sweater was yellow, and her tight curls were pushed back with some sort of sparkly headband.

“Drake, Riley,” Liam started, standing next to her, his hand sliding along her back, "This is Iris Dertrain. Iris, these are my friends, Drake Walker and Riley Liu."

"It's nice to meet you both," Iris said, reaching out her right hand. "Liam has told me so much about you."

"Oh… uhhh, nice to meet you, too," Drake said, grasping her hand and giving it a shake. He didn't want to throw Liam under the apple truck, but he had told him nothing about this woman.

Liam stepped forward, his hands raised in front of his chest, smiling rather sheepishly. "Iris, I am afraid I haven't mentioned you to either of them."

"Why not?" She pivoted at that, yanking her hands back to her waist, her eyes wide.

Liam reached out, wrapping his hands around hers and stepping up close to her. Instinctively, Drake looked off to the side and slid backwards, giving them as much space and privacy as possible. Liam’s voice dropped off, but he still picked up a few scattered words and phrases, including “too important” and “phone calls.” After a few moments, he chanced a glance back towards them. Iris was nodding as Liam slid his hand off her cheek, so he cleared his throat.

Iris smiled, then spun around to face Riley, reaching out to shake her hand as well, but Riley wasn’t having any of that, instead wrapping her arms around her in a loose hug.

“Sorry, not gonna do a handshake,” she said, “even if Liam decided it was best to drop you on us without any warning.”

“Riley, I-” Liam started, but she shook her head as she stepped back from Iris.

“First, you change our travel plans by barring us from Ramsford for the night, then you spring a girlfriend on us. Are you trying to make my life hell? You know how he is with the unexpected,” she said, cocking her head towards Drake.

“Hey! I can handle surprises!”

Both Riley and Liam laughed openly at that, which annoyed Drake. Not so much because he thought Riley’s assessment of him was inaccurate, but more because of how much pure glee she and Liam seemed to take in teaming up against him these days. He kind of understood that it was natural, given that they were the two people who knew him best… but still. Oh well, if anything it proved that over the years, Riley and Liam had settled into a comfortable friendship that was their own. And that was something Drake would gladly pay the price of some light ribbing for when it came down to it.

After loading the luggage into the trunk and climbing into the car, they headed off towards the palace. Even though the drive wasn’t that long, Drake was infinitely grateful that Riley was steering the conversation. If it had just been him with Liam and Iris, it would have undoubtedly been stilted, awkward, and formal, no matter how hard Liam would have tried to make things feel natural. But Riley knew how to put people at ease, to keep things flowing.

“So, did Liam have a secret social season he hid from us and the media? Or did you guys meet in a more normal way?”

Iris let out a little laugh at that. “I was one of the teacher representatives on the educational council.”

“So you’re a teacher?”

“Used to be. Now, I work mostly as an administrator, deciding on curriculum changes, making sure schools in different regions are reaching their goals, that sort of thing. That’s why I was on the council - I was lobbying for increased funding so that we could work on reducing classroom sizes in Portavira.”

“Do you miss teaching?”

“Sometimes. I was a science teacher, and there are points when I miss getting to guide my students through experiments, to get to see minds literally learning concepts first hand. But… I taught 12 to 14 year olds, and I do not miss the interpersonal drama that was always brewing between them.”

Riley laughed at that. Even though she was seated behind him, Drake could just picture the way her head was tossed back, her eyes narrowed. It was her genuine laugh, not her fake, customer service laugh. It seemed like with each trip back to Cordonia, the real laugh came out more and more.

“So was it their shitty adolescent angst that pushed you into the admin side of things?”

Riley’s question drew another chuckle from Iris. “No, I’m tougher than that. I just felt like I could do more, make a difference for more students by working for systemic changes. Luckily, we live in a country where our political leaders listen to teachers about how best to educate our children.”

Drake glanced over to Liam, who was smiling broadly at Iris’s comment. “Only a fool would think that he knows everything just because he holds a position of political power.”

“See, I’m lucky.” said Iris.

Somehow, Liam smiled even wider at that. Drake suspected that if asked, Liam would say he was the lucky one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley spun on the couch in the private lounge, swinging her legs up onto the cushions as she took the glass of whiskey Drake offered her and leaned up against his side as he sat back down. Liam and Iris were on the couch across from them, although Riley could tell that Iris wasn’t as relaxed as the rest of them. Sure, she had loosened up a lot over the evening, but there was still this edge of fearing that she didn’t belong in a palace, that she was going to mess this up. It was a feeling Riley knew well.

Of course, Riley could tell that Iris’s fear was not quite the same as the anxiety she had carried during that fateful social season. At first, it had been this belief that she was going to fuck up so badly, let her brash, judgemental, potty-mouthed self shine through, and get kicked out, a joke who was sent packing back to nothing, not even her shitty job since she’d quit that on a whim to fly to a country she’d never heard of before. As time went on, her fears had grown to losing the closest people she had to genuine friends by falling for the wrong guy. She had been a ball of mad nerves by the night of Liam’s coronation.

But Iris’s fears seemed to be centered more on Liam himself. She kept glancing towards him, almost as if she was afraid she was going to let him down or make things difficult for him. It was so much kinder and more selfless than Riley had ever behaved with Liam. It was very sweet to see.

Liam was equally sweet in response, which wasn’t surprising at all. He could definitely sense her remaining traces of nervousness, as he frequently reached over to hold her hand or to run his hand along her back. It was part of the reason Riley was going for a little more PDA than she would normally be comfortable with - she wanted them to feel comfortable with their level of PDA.

Iris took a sip of her wine before noticing what Riley was drinking. “Wait, I’m the only one here not drinking whiskey?”

Riley cocked an eyebrow at her. “I’ve always been a hard liquor sort of girl.”

Iris shook her head before drinking a little more of her wine. “I’ve never really had the stomach for it. I can do those fruity cocktails, but straight liquor?” She let out a shudder at that.

“Better get used to it; it’ll be the only way to get through endless balls and galas and fundraisers for rare pigeon species or whatever is the cause du jour,” Drake quipped. Riley nudged her elbow back into his side, causing him to chuckle.

“He’s exaggerating. It’s not that horrible.”

He let out a scoff, so Riley twisted to glare at him.

“Liu, you bitched to me endlessly about how much you hated all the pomp and pretentiousness and-”

“-and she’s not me! Quit scaring her off!” Riley rolled her eyes at him before spinning back around to Iris. “You seem much less bitchy than me, so I’m sure you’ll be fine. After all, you’ve taught preteens, so that proves you are way more patient and tolerant,” she said, waving her hand in what she hoped was a reassuring way. “Who have you met so far?”

“Only Olivia Nevrakis.”

“Yikes, you really led with her?” Drake called out to Liam, causing Riley to elbow him yet again.

Liam just chuckled. “You know, she can be rather pleasant if she isn’t being antagonized endlessly.”

“Are you kidding me? She always starts it.”

Iris just gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. I only met her for one dinner, but she didn’t seem cruel or unwelcoming. And her boyfriend was quiet, but seemed nice.”

Riley felt Drake moving beside her as she leaned forward, her eyes jumping to Liam. His eyes were pinched shut as he winced, bracing for the inevitable questions.

"What the hell?"

"Olivia has a boyfriend?"

"Oh crap, was that a secret?" Iris looked horrified at her slip up, twisting around to glance at Liam.

He let out a short sigh. "Well, she hasn't gone public with him yet."

"I just thought that was only because Christopher’s divorce wasn't finalized."

Riley could practically feel the joy rolling off Drake in waves as Liam's slight wince turned into a full on grimace.

"Olivia's dating a married man?"

Liam shook his head. "He has been separated from his wife for over a year now. And I would appreciate you two keeping this to yourselves for the moment. You know how Olivia values her privacy."

"We won't tell a soul," Riley said, nudging Drake with the side of her foot to keep him quiet.

"Sure, but Iris, what other of Olivia's dark secrets do you want to spill?" he teased, ignoring Riley's gesture, instead grinning at her when she shot him a glare. All she could do was roll her eyes.

"I had no idea that it was a secret! Oh Liam, how mad is she going to be?"

"It'll be fine; I promise you. Drake and Riley aren't going to tell anyone, right?" he asked, staring at both of them pointedly.

"Of course. We live in New York; no one cares about Cordonian gossip there," Riley said, trying to lighten the mood and calm Iris's worries.

"Besides, we like you enough to spare you from the she-devil's wrath."

Liam just shook his head. "Drake… Olivia's not that bad. She can just be… intense."

Riley nodded at that. "She’s honestly probably one of the harder ones to impress, so if you feel like she was fine with you, I don’t think you have much to worry about. Except Neville. And Madeleine if she’s still around.”

Liam shook his head. “She’s still in London. No one here has seen her for a year or so.”

“So then just Neville. Otherwise, they’re largely harmless. Just varying degrees of out of touch. Nothing a few cocktails won't help you tolerate.” Liam shook his head gently at Riley’s assessment. She still sometimes felt a little weird being completely honest about her perceptions of things in front of him. He was so kind, and she… well, she knew she judged everyone. But Liam claimed he appreciated honesty from her, and he’d never made her feel bad for sharing her thoughts, so she always made an effort not to censor herself in front of Liam. Well, not too much. He was still a king, after all.

“Well, I guess I’ll find out in a couple weeks,” Iris said, dropping her eyes to her lap and tracing her fingers along the stem of her wine glass.

Liam nodded. “You’ll do fine, love. I know you will,” he said, running his hand along her arm. “Iris will be attending the Twilight Ball at the end of the month as her first official appearance,” he clarified to Drake and Riley.

“So you’ll be going public then?” Drake asked.

“Yes, that’s the plan,” said Iris. “My letter of resignation is being reviewed by the palace PR department currently, and once I submit that, things should be clear for us."

Riley frowned at that. Iris had seemed to really love her job when she talked about it. "You're resigning?"

Iris tilted her head off to the side as she gave a little shrug. "It could be perceived as a conflict of interest. The teachers aren't going to believe I am advocating for their best interests if I am in a relationship with him. And his critics are going to accuse him of being unobjective in his policy decisions due to our relationship."

Riley felt Drake shift against her. "That's… that's a big step," he said.

Iris opened her mouth to respond, but Liam placed a hand on her knee, essentially stopping her. "Yes, it is. Iris and I have had several frank discussions about how complicated my life is, and she asked me if this would be beneficial. Neither one of us has taken this decision lightly.”

Considering how little thought Drake had put into dropping his whole life to move to New York, Riley didn’t really feel like he had a leg to stand on here, questioning Iris’s decision to leave her job for a relatively young relationship. But she also knew that Drake sometimes liked to play devil’s advocate with Liam, even if he didn’t personally disagree with Liam’s decisions. So she didn’t say anything, but instead just glanced over to Iris to see how she was handling it all.

She didn’t look too fazed, but she was squinting at Drake slightly, almost as if she was trying to read him. “Are you worried for him or for me?” she finally asked after a couple of seconds. “Because it would make sense for you to worry about him, but I don’t understand how me quitting my job would be at all harmful to Liam.”

Riley twisted around slightly to look at Drake. He gave a little shrug and took a sip of his whiskey. “Don’t want to see either of you get trapped.��

“This isn’t locking us into anything. I can go back to teaching at any time; I’m just stepping down from my more activist-like role.”

"Sure, but you're going to get a lot of media attention regardless here. Are you ready for that?"

This time it was Liam who started to speak, but Iris jumped right back in. “I can’t know for sure, of course, but I think so. I’ve given speeches and interviews before as part of my work, and while that was obviously on a much smaller scale, I never had a problem with the media.”

“And I wouldn't make this public if I wasn’t sure, Drake. You know that.”

Drake gave a nod. “Okay then. Don’t fully trust anyone besides Liam, though.”

And that was it. Drake leaned back, relaxing fully into the couch, as Liam took a drink from his glass. Sometimes, Riley felt like they had their own little language, their private way of communicating, but she supposed that was only natural after decades of friendship. She caught eyes with Iris, looking almost bewildered at the shift of the energy in the room and gave her a little shrug. Iris smiled and raised her eyebrows. It was nice, having someone else who got to observe the weirdness that was the friendship between those two.

“Alright, so cautious and careful with the members of court. Any other tips for me on how to handle my first ball?” Iris asked.

Everyone else in the room burst out laughing at her question, erasing any last traces of tension.

“What?”

“You could not have picked two worse people to ask,” Riley said, shaking her head. “He’s just going to tell you to get drunk and avoid everyone.”

“Oh, like that wasn’t your strategy by the end as well! How many times did you just straight up steal my flask off of me because they were only offering wine and champagne?”

“I was just making sure you didn’t have to drink alone. It was simply out of concern for you that-”

“-Uh huh. Yeah.”

“Fine. To answer your question, Iris, do the exact opposite of what I did. And as long as you don’t show up in denim to the ball, you’ll be a step ahead of this one.”

“Wait, you wore denim to a formal ball?”

“Oh, not just one!” added Liam, a huge grin spreading across his face, his eyes lighting up as he stared Drake down. “Years and years of formal events saw Drake decide that denim was the most appropriate attire.”

Iris’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She glanced around the room, almost as if she expected someone to pop out and tell this was some massive prank.

“We aren’t kidding,” Riley said, “He and I just set the bar insanely low for you to clear. Wear a nice ballgown, don’t openly refer to other members of the nobility as ‘little bitches,’ and you should be all set.”

Iris glanced between her and Drake, the shock evident in her wide eyes.

“Yeah, so not exactly surprising we left court,” Drake said, downing the rest of his whiskey.

Iris just shook her head. “Liam told me many things about both of you, but I feel like he left out that you were so…”

“Irreverent?”

“Mad stubborn?”

“Damn foolish?”

She smiled and took a sip of her wine. “I’ll defer to your descriptions. So, I take it your wedding won’t be very formal?”

Riley felt Drake shift slightly next to her, his knee starting to fidget. “Uh no, not at all. To put things in perspective, we invited less than 25 people the first time, and we might do even less now.”

“The first time?”

“Drake and Riley ended up postponing,” Liam said, his eyes flickering over to Drake before glancing back at Iris, “They were originally set to get married this past June.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea! I never would have brought it up if-”

“-It’s fine,” Drake said, cutting off Iris’s apology. “Something came up with my family last minute.”

Iris looked conflicted as to how to best move on from the topic of conversation she’d innocently stumbled into. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that you had to make that choice. Have you set a new date?”

Drake tensed up at that and Riley had to hold back a sigh. If only Iris could have decided to change the subject instead of talk through it. “No, we haven’t yet.”

"Soon, though," Drake added before standing up, walking over to the side of the room to refill his glass.

Iris looked worried that she had said something horribly offensive, so Riley just gave her what she hoped came across as a reassuring smile as she shook her head lightly. “Yeah, it’s no big deal. Just something that had to happen.”

She could hear ice clinking into a glass, but she resisted the urge to spin around and see just how tense and uptight Drake was. She knew that as the months had passed by, the postponement had become more and more of a sore spot for him, that Drake was frustrated that they couldn’t just plan their wedding over again right away, that they had to save up again after losing all their deposits for a late cancellation. She just didn’t understand why he had gotten so stuck on this one thing. They still lived together, they still had a future together, and they were still getting married. Nothing had changed. Yet as the months had rolled by, the topic of their wedding seemed to just make him more and more antsy each time it got brought up.

Part of her wondered how much of this was due to the fact that everyone else around them was making these big life changes, and much like being back at court, he felt like he was just being left off to the side. Hana and Catherine were married. Savannah and Bertrand had another baby. Back home, Luke and Nicole had just announced they were pregnant. And now Liam was in a relationship that seemed mad serious. It probably was creating this weird sense of being an outsider for him again. She was sure that had to be a factor.

Deep down, she knew it was very sweet that Drake’s frustrations largely stemmed from that fact that he just wanted to be married to her. But part of her wished he could just relax about it all. They would get married when they got married, and until then, they should just enjoy their lives together. Instead, it all seemed to just stress him out.

But until they saved up enough for new deposits and got things planned and organized again, Riley knew that she was just going to have to deal with his… moodiness around this whole topic. As he rejoined her on the couch, she placed her hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze, just hoping that was enough to provide some reassurance and to calm him down. She didn’t want their entire trip to have those worries hanging over their heads. This was supposed to be a fun and happy visit, after all.

Perma: @walkerswhiskeygirl @octobereighth @kimmiedoo5 @mom2000aggie

TRR/TRH: @iaminlovewithtrr @mskaneko @axwalker @jovialyouthmusic @marshmallowsandfire @kingliam2019 @sirbeepsalot @texaskitten30 @princessleac1 @ladyangel70 @debramcg1106 @masterofbluff @sarahx206

Drake x MC: @no-one-u-know @iplaydrake

ICWAM: @thequeenchoices @sunnyxdazed

#drake walker #drake x mc #trr fanfic #trr au #trr au fanfic #choices fanfiction #liam x oc #trr

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heroprose · 5 years ago

Text

the regular;

a/n. well what do u know.... turns out i WILL be writing for jojo on this blog...... @jojosmilktea, that is!! hi jojo i was ur bnha spring event anon! and i’m SOOO sorry this is late RIP!!!

ship. shoto todoroki x reader

summary. bubble tea shop au. it’s true that he knows your order by heart, but he wishes he knew a little more.

to be quite honest, you didn’t know this bubble tea shop even existed in this part of the city.

it certainly didn’t look the part, all pristine with white stone walls and flower boxes hooked onto the closed glass windows. no, in fact it looked a little too bougie for this gray high rise district and you suspect that if it were not for the current downpour, wherein great big rivulets of water are endlessly streaming down the streets, hipsters would populate this cafe’s space in no time.

you cannot blame them, of course. it’s certainly a nice building and totally instagram-worthy. but what attracts you to it is not the vintage stone walls nor the massive poster plastered on the inside of the glass window, with vibrant letters that spell out NEW SEASONAL FLAVORS! but instead, it’s the generous pink awning in front that’s saving you from the insidious downpour.

you were supposed to do a little grocery shopping before heading home, damn it. technically, though, you could brave the rain for a while and shop for bread and eggs while sopping wet, but it’s a deeply unappealing idea. it doesn’t help that your go-to grocer with the terrific deals is three train stops away either and that your phone is dead, drained from too many rounds of crossy road on your commute long before the rain even began.

restless, you squint through the window of the shop inconspicuously and gape in horror as you realize it is just as cute inside as it is outside. from what you can tell, it’s set up like a little garden party, with metal outdoor chairs and circular tables and the tiles even have flower smiley face stickers on them. oh no.

it is something of a relief you’ve only discovered this bubble tea shop now because any earlier would have you blowing your bank account on extra boba and grass jelly. and in this economy? not ideal.

still, your eyes waver to the poster again. rose milk tea? peach iced tea? the prices aren’t listed anywhere so you presume they must be absolutely monstrous. completely insane, probably, and jacked up immensely to compensate for the expenses gone in the decor alone and--

“we’re open, you know. you can come in.”

you pull away from the window hastily, letting your back bump into the metal back of chair. biting back a cry of pain, you eye the speaker head-to-toe before letting your shoulders slack. the black apron tied at his waist screams barista. actually, everything about this dude screams barista, from the rolled up sleeves to the vaguely disheveled collar. even the watch on his wrist-- woah. is that a limited edition tag heuer watch? you blanch a little.

he grips the broom with both hands and gestures with the jerk of his chin to the door. “you can come in,” he repeats. his bangs flutter about his forehead thanks to the gusts of wind and it’s a bit mesmerizing to see the red and white flutter like that.

“oh,” you say, desperate to recompose yourself as you pretend you weren’t wringing out droplets of water from your clothing just minutes before. “it’s okay, thank you. i’m just waiting for the rain to pass.”

the barista opens his mouth but before he can speak, a loud clap of thunder zips through you and goosebumps erupt across the expanse of your skin. with ears ringing, you wince and the tag heuer-wearing fellow only watches. you purse your lips, glancing from him. to the onslaught of rain, to finally the door.

well. so much for staying outside. wordlessly, he pulls the door open for you and you oblige quietly, mumbling a small word of thanks as you pass him.

unsurprisingly, the shop is wholly vacant, save for him, the boy who follows you in, and another barista behind the counter, who leans against the table behind him with arms crossed. the radio is on but it’s turned down so low that it might as well be off.

it would be painful to loiter in this shop for an hour or so without buying anything, so begrudgingly, you pull out your wallet and pray to whatever higher deity up there that you won’t get hooked on their drinks and subsequently, their freakish prices. you’ve got a budget, for goodness sake.

when you step to the counter, the barista that met you outside sets his broom aside to meet you on the other side. “what would you like?” he asks automatically, with the tilt of his head. you glance over the menu above his head despite knowing your answer deep inside your heart.

“taro milk tea, please,” you say, bringing your gaze back to him. a trickle of rainwater slides down the curve of his cheek and you have to tear your gaze away. “medium, with boba. and extra sugar too.”

“will that be it?”

“yes,” you reply with your eyes downcast, carefully deciding on whether to use cash or credit. maybe you can use some of your spare coins this time.

his gold name tag says “shoto,” and it gleams even in your peripheral vision as he nods and turns to the other barista with the spiky hair who stands a few ways’ away and glowers a bit.

“katsuki,” says shoto. “one medium taro milk tea with--”

“yeah, yeah,” says the other barista snappishly. “i heard. i’m literally right here.” he pulls away from the table and exits to the back forcefully and you two watch him in relative silence. a guitar-heavy shawn mendes song plays in the background; played too softly for you to determine which one though.

shoto’s gaze swivels back to you, undisturbed by the attitude his coworker just presented and so you do your best to remain indifferent as well. it is similarly pure irony to have such a gentle cafe hosted by such personalities.

“name?” he simply asks and you tell him, not bothering to question why that was still necessary if you were the only customer in the entire shop.

and it is equally strange that after katsuki returns with your drink, about to hand it to you, shoto acts to intercepts with an extended hand to take the cup away.

“what are you doing?” says katsuki incredulously, drawing back.

shoto presents the sticker with the order printed on it in the air. “i need to put this on.”

“seriously? it’s not like you could hand it to the wrong person,” he mutters, but lets shoto tease it out of his hand before promptly returning to the kitchen again, letting the doors swing behind him. you refrain from smiling too wide as shoto carefully presses the sticker onto the cup behind the counter with an unexpectedly concentrated expression on his face.

when he utters your name to catch your attention, shoto slides your drink over to you, not letting go until your fingers accidentally brush over his. “here you go.”

“thank you,” you say brightly, shaking it for good measure. the ice clinks distract you momentarily from the noise of rain hitting concrete. the cream and purple taro swirl together brilliantly.

he nods, turning away to take a cleaning rag into his hands. shoto wipes at the counter meticulously, every once in a while swiping a smudge with his fingertips to evaluate his work. the quiet is only periodically punctured by the clap of thunder and when shawn mendes starts belting out the background adlibs via the radio.

“when do you think the rain will let up?” you muse absentmindedly, fingers drumming the raised counter as you push along your bubble tea and dig around the container for a straw of your favorite color. “not for long, i hope.”

shoto blinks, glancing up. “i heard it’ll last all through the night.”

steely dread pools at the bottom of your stomach. “no!” you gasp, confronting shoto. “really? i don’t have an umbrella or anything.” you didn’t hear anything of the sort, but then again, you haven’t checked the forecast since this morning. maybe you can wave down a cab or something. you let out a brief laugh of disbelief that rapidly devolves into a groan. “man. that stinks.”

he looks at you sympathetically, watching you deftly pierce the plastic seal top of your milk tea with more force than necessary.

you bring the straw to your mouth, sipping quietly as you think of your next line of action. the richness is disturbingly good and you’re saddened to know that you’ll be returning in the future, rain or no rain.

taking a seat in a metal chair, you finally give the shop a thorough glance over. with all the bright lights and pale wallpaper plastered with colorful stickers. above you, the ceiling vents buzz quietly. the whole shop is just--

“dazzling,” you murmur after several minutes, submitting to its glamour. “everything’s so pretty here.” the interior designer really went ham here and it shows. you fish your phone out of your slightly damp pocket and wipe at the screen with a sigh. you’d even take a photo if you could.

unbeknownst to you, shoto had left the counter upfront and is wiping down a table nearby as you speak. “thank you,” he says and you jolt, head snapping towards his direction. “we do our best to be presentable and comfortable.”

“full marks on both then,” you say breezily and a ghost of a smile teases at his lips before he walks away to the backroom.

he’s amused. did he think you were funny? your ears start to warm up a little and you drain your milk tea faster. in any case, it’s best that you brave the storm sooner than later.

there’s little doubt that the rain won’t be stopping any time soon and it would really be the icing on the cake if you not only got stuck in a thunderstorm but fell ill as well. you’ve realized, from all your years of life, that people don’t appreciate their functional nostrils until they get stuffed.

and you don’t know how much time passes in that cafe with the absence of clocks and your phone, but after catching yourself glancing over at shoto for the fifth time, wondering if you can make him smile like that again, you finally think that enough is enough. your chewing speeds up.

then you stand up, careful to not let the metal feet scrape the tiles. should you just book it, through the rain? or should you stand under the awning a little longer, hoping the rare cab will notice your helpless self and save you? as you mull these thoughts over, you toss the cup into the bin and wipe your hands with a spare napkin, getting rid of the condensation.

“wait.”

shoto’s calm voice makes you whirl around yet again.

as he walks closer, you notice that he’s gripping something in his hand and you can only bring yourself to stare as he presents it to you.

“take it,” he says. “this is my umbrella.”

your heart stutters for a second. “huh? no, i couldn’t,” you say hastily, dismissing him with a wave. “that’s really kind of you though, thank you.”

“but you said you didn’t have one.”

you give him a quizzical look. “but if i take yours, then you don’t have one.”

“katsuki-- um, the other person who works here-- lives near me. we commute together sometimes. so please,” he says, gesturing the closed umbrella. you wrap your fingers around the clear plastic gingerly to his coaxing. “take it.”

tears nearly prick your eyes as you lean over to pat him on the arm graciously. he’s more alarmed than anything else as you do, silently wide-eyed, and is it only then that you notice his eyes are different colors. “thanks, shoto. i’ll be back tomorrow to return it then. i promise!”

he gives you a quick nod. “i don’t work tomorrow. i’ll be here all weekend though.”

“alright, shoto. i’ll see you on the weekend.”

“stay safe.”

you’re already turning away and pushing open the door before you see the flicker of a smile pass over his visage again.

“you gave away your umbrella?” says katsuki after the cafe closes later that evening. his eyes narrow down at his fellow coworker sharply. “to a damn customer?”

“it’ll get returned,” assures shoto. his upper arm is warm where you had touched him, and his hand hovers over it for a second before he shrugs on his jacket.

“that’s not the point,” his coworker seethes, angrily hanging up his apron. “my car is two blocks over and i was relying on you to do your part in bringing the umbrella. idiot!”

ah.

you come back that sunny weekend, with shoto’s trusty transparent umbrella in hand... as well as the weekend after. and the weekend after that. sans the excuse of the umbrella, of course.

when it is katsuki that greets you at the counter, he does little to hide his disapproval of your order; grunting when you greet him with a cheerful “hi katsuki!” and grimacing each time when you smile and add, “with extra sugar!” to your order.

“you’re aware of how much sugar is already in this stuff, right?” he tells you.

“i’m here for a good time, not a long time,” you reply. “and are you really supposed to be asking me that? as someone who works here?”

katsuki scoffs and wordlessly punches your order in anyway. his brew, however, is immaculate without fail so you don’t question his tactics.

but when it is shoto... he greets you warmly, stretching the conversation by asking about how you are and about your day.

“the regular?” he eventually asks after several weeks of you making the same order as the last.

you smile. “the regular.”

sometimes, you loiter near the counter when it’s not busy. you learn, with some semblance of glee, that shoto is a student like yourself and he only works part-time-- the rainy afternoon you met him on had been a shift he was covering for someone else. other times all you can do is take your drink and wave him goodbye.

even on the extremely busy days where you cannot even find a vacant seat, there are brief seconds where you think of leaning against the wall and enjoying the atmosphere. it is a startling realization, how desperate you want to linger in his presence.

your affection is making you ill. ugh, and being bloated is not a good look on you either.

drinking taro milk tea at competitor bubble tea shops don’t even sate you. it’s always too watery, too thin; the flavors rounding off as bitter, over brewed tea. but you drink them to wean yourself off. you should probably stop drinking them altogether though.

some time passes before you can find it in yourself to return. the storefront is as pretty as it always is whenever you pass it by on your commute.

“hey, how are you? have you been alright?” asks shoto right off the bat, dropping his washrag haphazardly beside the sink when you find yourself at the counter again after the weeks of hearty self-restraint.

his concern is so vivid it unnerves you. it’s a funny and ill-placed nervous look on his face, eyebrows pulled tense. “i’m fine,” you say, “how have you been?”

“i’m well,” shoto says. “and... that’s good. it’s been a while. i thought you might have started getting your milk tea fix from somewhere else.” he pauses. “have you?”

his sincerity makes you throw your head back and laugh, but your stomach gurgles at the recollection of drinking so many subpar taro milk teas. “never,” you tell him finally. “i like this place too much. and the people here too.”

“i see.” shoto’s smile is bright this time, eyes so soft even as he speaks. “the regular then?”

you let out an exaggerated sigh, your own gaze crinkling up. “you know me so well, shoto.”

“quit freakin’ flirting at the counter,” snaps katsuki, mopping the floor vigorously. “do that shit when you’re not at work, icy-hot. it’s disgusting that i have to stand here and listen to you two.”

shoto frowns. “it’s not flirting. we have to be kind to customers.” he calls from the kitchen.

“kindness is you giving extra napkins, not asking if they’ve been going to other bubble tea shops. as if.”

“we’re... just friends then.”

“just friends, my ass. what, you think that extra sugar ass sweet tooth loser came in every week alone just to get tea? you know what...” katsuki’s peeved grumbles trail off until they’re no longer comprehensible.

shoto just ponders on this as he drains the sink.

“here,” says katsuki one saturday afternoon. “take it. and go.” he pushes the purple drink into your hand and wipes his own hand on his apron. “extra sugar. don’t blame me when your teeth fall out.”

“damn,” you say, although you are hardly taken aback by his crudeness anymore. “but i will. i’ve got a lot to do today, so i can’t stay and chat. bye guys!”

“take care,” says shoto just as katsuki says, “don’t care, didn’t ask.”

(when you wave goodbye, however, you are pleased to see that they both reciprocate kindly.)

by the time you eventually take a sip, you’re already on your way to the rail to get to your favorite grocery store. today, it’s buy one get one free bags of potatoes so you know you’ll be stocking up this time.

mindlessly, you pierce the top with your straw, careful to aim for the center. you give it a stir before taking a sip, the familiar creaminess filling your mouth.

although it’s... different, somehow.

sweeter, you think. did katsuki actually overload it with sugar this time? seemed like a weird prank to pull. perhaps he was teaching you a lesson but considering that he hasn’t been fired yet indicates that this was an infrequent occurrence. hopefully.

chewing the boba thoughtfully, you pull the cup away in order to squint at the dark text printed on the sticker. it’s the same as you always say it: a medium, iced, taro milk tea, with boba and 25% extra--

the word “sugar” is scrawled over with black ink, although not deliberately it seems. it’s just covered up with a slew of numbers and letters written unbelievably neat in spite of being on a cylindrical cup and you nearly hack up a black clump of sugary boba onto the concrete sidewalk.

but nevertheless, you force it down to look at the order again, more closely this time.

they’re numbers, and your heart stutters in your chest at the realization there’s just enough to be a phone number; followed by a name that you only ever saw emblazoned on a gold name tag.

you want to commit the numbers to memory, but it’s undeniably hard to concentrate. not when shoto’s gentle smile is on the forefront of your brain and when big, fat droplets of water are hitting your forehead with incredible force.

you glance up at the swirling, ashen clouds above you, bloated and expecting. an uncomfortable feeling crawls up your spine at the realization that you’ve forgotten your umbrella at home today too.

oh god. not again.

“i can’t believe you actually wrote your number on my cup today... very smooth, shoto.”

there’s a beat before shoto replies, his voice tinny and distant over the phone. “actually, i did that the first day you came in-- when it was raining. i figured you didn’t notice or you were rejecting me.”

“oh. so, wait-- you did it twice then? that day and today?”

“no,” says shoto. “just that day.”

“then who--” you stop yourself.

outside your window, a clap of thunder shakes the sky. and the epiphany that follows renders you both silent.

#shoto todoroki x reader #todoroki shoto x reader #todoroki x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #bnha spring time #bnha x reader #bnha imagines #ok jojo actually though i nearly wrote u a tiger king au and then i was like hold on....aint nobody but me gonna want this.....

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maemi324 · 5 years ago

Text

Burned With Flowers

Hey friends guess Who’s back on their bullshit? It’s me. This is an Alternate ending from my recent fic Burned, which you can read here! (I’ve beat my previous record of 14 pages with...19 pages) This takes place towards the end of Burned, rather than the beginning.

So this has the same disclaimer as last time. “So this involves witches, as you might have guessed. I did do some research on this, referencing a few holidays. With that being said, this is not the fic to go to looking for accurate information about Pagan Holidays, their differences, similarities and all the right customs. This is all mixed in with some fictional things that I felt helped the story flow. If you want an accurate description of their holidays, practices, beliefs, please go do your own research, or ask someone that knows about them, as that person is not me.”

Warnings: Character Deaths (kind of) vague descriptions of death, witch hunt, stakes, fire. If there’s anymore you can think of, please tell me and I’ll happily edit and add to it here.

Thank you so much! Enjoy!

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

It had been four years since that Solstice, the two of you now adults. A year or two after becoming lovers, Izuku had finally found someone to train him into becoming a knight, a real hero. It meant that you would see him less, but he would always write to you when he could.

You were saddened at the news, but also so proud. Finally after all these years, his dream was coming true. He promised you that he would always come back to you, that once he had become a knight, able to help you build your own healing stand in the main city, he’d properly ask you to marry him. You knew he always kept his promises, one way or another.

How could you deny him his dream? You couldn’t truthfully.

That brought you here, scratching out another day along the talley you made. Only a few more days until Izuku came back. You helped your father run the shop now, almost fully taking over as the village healer. You braced the day with a smile as the regulars came in, such as the usual ointments for Mrs.Tachibana. Some medicine to a mother of some poor twins who had caught some sickness during the season's change to spring. Their medicine was a wooden spoon covered in semi-crystalized honey for the wailing babe, their teeth slowly but surely coming in.

The morning rush could hardly be considered as such, your doors opening right at the first peak of dawn. You waved off the last of the morning patrons in no time at all. You bend down to grab a few herbs, mixing something to help soothe Mr.Yamada’s vocal chords. You hear the door push open, pulling you from your line of thought, your eyes meeting bright green.

“Izuku!” you cry, rushing over to him, arms wrapped around his shoulders in the tightest hug you could manage. He’d grown so much taller than you last remembered- well just bigger in general! He’d bulked up considerably- he joked he wanted to get better at giving hugs along with being a Knight- and was now a full two heads taller than you. You only pull back to place your hands on his jaw, pulling him down to kiss you properly.

“Did I surprise you?” he laughed, pressing another kiss to your forehead. “Yes! You weren’t due back for a few more days! Oh I’m so happy your home!” You stood back up on your toes to press more kisses to his face. “Tell me everything!”

He told you all about the training he went through- hell as he called it, eyes looking back with a slight fondness that only nostalgia could bring- the antics he and some other knights in training had gotten into. His teacher, Aizawa, was a hard man, but ultimately soft hearted in his own way. He couldn’t wait for you to meet the friends he had made, and you were excited to see them.

“I have heard some...other things though” he hesitated, leaning against the counter as you finished Mr.Yamada’s medicine, the yellow glow from your hands dimming until it was no more. “In the city they’re telling stories of witches...and not good ones either.” you hummed in agreement, concern laced into your features.

You’d heard of rumors of witches in nearby towns and villages. At first, nothing was seemingly worrisome about it. So some covens had decided to announce their place in the world, big deal.

Until the rumors had become something dark. Stories of sacrifices, hexes and curses upon innocent bystanders, children. Soon there were rumors of witches in every town, every village.

“Even the people here have started to become...nervous” beforehand, the villagers not a part of your coven had nothing to fear from you, you’d never given them any reason to. But these new witches, witches that were said to be everywhere, brought fear into your community.

“I’m worried Izuku, they’ve started burning people in the next few towns...I’m not sure what we could do, a show of our magic could scare them into a frenzy, but not doing anything could be just as bad. They even have a witch hunter!” you set down the pestle gently, Izuku taking your hand in his.

“I’m worried too. But for right now, the best we can do is wait and see how things go. No matter what, I’ll always be here, you won't go through this alone.” your heart fluttered warmly at his words, pressing a kiss to his hand.

The next few days did little to raise or diminish your worries. You walked about the village, showing him what all had changed in his absence, ignoring the stares of the same village girls that had teased your dress all those years ago.

It didn’t take until the end of the week to see the tensions were rising, but he waited anyway.

Where once the baker had a loaf for everyone and a smile on his face, now only held suspicion in his face, fear slowly absorbing its way into the bread's now slightly bitter taste.

You held onto Izuku’s arm, hand gripping just a little bit tighter as the village boys, the ones who had always teased you, passed by, eyes cold and a whittling knife sitting aimlessly in one's hand. Izuku placed his arm around you, handing you the bread as your hand let go of his shirt.

Normally, you’d hardly pay those boys any mind, they were your age looking forward to life just as you were. But fear could lead to even the wisest man to make a fatal mistake. Your mother taught you that fear was not a one-way street, your own actions in fear of the other could lead to the same road as the wise man.

You didn’t utter a word to one another as you made your way back home, cold spring wind almost pushing you to go faster as morning dew soaked your shoes. It wasn’t safe to speak the words you needed to, not with the village's eyes and ears hanging onto your every word.

Your cheeks burned as you closed the door behind you, the warmth from the fire a stark contrast to the chill in the air. Izuku took the bread from you as you slipped out of your damp shoes, setting it on the table, sending a polite smile your mother's way.

“Oh, thank you Izuku” She smiled, exhaustion tugging at the corners of her lips. She flipped through the letters in her hand, offering him two.

“You’re quite popular with letters today,” she joked, holding a separate letter up to the morning light to see it better.

“Oh, thank you (Y/M/N)” he said, taking a seat across from her as he opened the first of the two, a frown settling on his face.

You walk over towards him, bare feet padding against the floor, hands rubbing against stiff shoulders. You press your cheek against his temple, offering comfort to him without reading the letter yourself. “What is it darling?” you ask softly.

Dread pooled in your stomach, weighing heavily as you recognized the insignia placed on the stamp, the Knights. Your hands dug into his shoulders, but he hardly seemed to mind. He carefully broke the seal, careful not to rip the parchment. He was quiet as he read the note, his shoulders becoming more tense as he did.

“I’m being called back; It seems as though these witch trials are becoming more serious, and we’ve been asked to root them out to end all of this” His voice sounds far away, you could practically feel his mind whirling at all the letters' information. “ I’m to leave at dawn to meet with the rest of them, when we’re together, we’ll ride out to the town they were last in, these troublemakers, which happens to also be where these witch trials are at their worst.” he glances up at you, placing a hand over yours. You’re not sure what expression you're making currently, but it obviously shows the weight of the news, of him having to leave.

You didn’t want him to go, as selfish as that was. You knew it was for the better but... you were scared to just get bread by yourself not too long ago! Would the village boys have harassed you if you were alone? Would the baker have refused to give the bread to you? What if these ‘witches’ came to your town just as he left, what would you do then? Your mother cleared her throat, snapping you from your panic induced daze, your grip on his shoulders relaxing, she returned to her letters.

You shook your head, your free hand picking up the next letter, ignoring his questioning glance, “Here, read this one before we talk about anything else. It could be important too.”

He doesn’t press you just yet, complying and opening the letter, his concern morphing into a frown. You don’t verbally ask, your eyes looking to his for an answer.

“It’s my mom, she says that she’s coming here…” he murmured as viridian eyes scanned the rest of the page. His mother was coming over? You didn’t see why that was an issue in itself, aside from the fact that he was leaving tomorrow morning, she was probably coming to see him after all. Though she still visited even when he wasn’t there, taking the time to enjoy long chats with your parents.

“Really? Oh I’ll have to get out her favorite tea,” She glanced up from her own letters, concerned gaze matching Izuku’s, “Though, your expression says that her reason for coming is not a good one?”

“The town has started to become...nervous of her, claiming that she could possibly be a witch by association,” he frowned, his other hand crumpling up the string that the letter had come with, “They haven’t done anything to her, but she isn’t going to wait for them to.”

You gently take the letter from his hand, his hands allowing it to slip from his grasp, reading over it yourself, rereading the text, “She should be here by sundown. She didn’t want to arrive unannounced.”

Your mother laughed softly as she set down her letters and stood, “Ah, just like Inko, not wanting to inconvenience anyone even in times like these” irritation flashed in Izuku’s system-this wasn’t exactly a laughing matter- but calmed as your mother ran a hand through his curls, just like she used to when the two of you were young.

“Don’t you worry, She’ll be alright, and has always been welcome here. We’ll just have to clean out my old sewing room, your old room Izuku” he smiled softly as she rested her hand on his shoulder, his own squeezing it softly in thanks.

When the two of you had gotten to a certain age, though still short amongst the boys, he’d grown out of sharing your small bed with you, as well as your room. It was relatively small, and with the two of you growing it had become a bit...cramped. Thus your mother's sewing room had become his. He’d insisted on helping your father make him his new bed for when he visited.

“Why don’t the two of you come help me? I’m not as young as I used to be,” she mused, walking over to the door and opening it. You stepped in first, sneezing upon entry as the dust was disturbed. “Oh dear, I hadn’t thought it’d become this dusty! I knew I was forgetting something”

There were fabrics neatly folded into a cabinet that sat against the wall with a desk, the window letting morning light stream onto the desk. To the right was a spinning wheel, as well as a loom. To the left was a bed big enough for one person, a few fabrics draped over the bed spread, as well as a small box of sewing needles.

In the end, it had only taken you and Izuku a few hours to dust the room, mainly going outside to beat the dust off of the fabrics and various blankets that were now too thick for spring warmth, trying not to sneeze too much in the process. The other half was sweeping and scrubbing all the dust out. Izuku did have to save you from some abnormally normally large spiders in the corner- but you would never admit it.

While it was for Izuku’s mother, you knew this was one of your mother's ways in helping the pair of you get your mind off things. If you were too busy playfully hitting Izuku with the stick you were using on the blankets, then you were also too busy to think too hard about the unease settling over the once welcoming village, too busy to think about the fact that he was leaving at dawn.

As the sun was setting, the two of you being done with your work, decided to sit out front and wait for Inko. A small carriage pulled by one horse came into view; the half of the people were startled to attention whilst the other half recognized the carriage and went on with their lives.

Inko pulled the carriage to a stop towards the side of your home, hardly wanting to make a fuss by setting it right in front and in the way of others. Izuku immediately went to her side, the relief clear in his body language, head held high but his shoulders were relaxed, his hands no longer clenched to the point of his knuckles turning white.

Before helping her down, eyes watering, he held her tightly to him, her arms going around his neck.

“Oh baby, don’t start crying, then I’ll start crying!” She huffed, her eyes already watering up, but she didn’t let go of him until he was ready to.

“ I’m sorry mom, I was just...worried about you,” He glanced at the wagon, then did a double take, “Did you pack the entire house?!” he helped her down, getting onto it to see for himself.

Sure enough, it was packed to the brim-blankets, favored pots and pans, some of Izuku’s old clothes and his newer ones, old toys, pillows, and lots of books. An embarrassed flush crept up Inko’s neck, though her expression held a serious note.

“Well, yes. I didn’t feel safe there and, well, I’d heard that in some of the cities- the towns even- were burning up the homes of the accused, or those they were suspicious of. They only just started to notice me, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I thought it would be safer here”

You placed a hand gently on her shoulder, a soft, startled, yelp leaving her lips as you did, “We’re happy to have you Mrs.Midoriya, you’re family.” you were met with a pinch to your side. “Honestly dear, just call me Inko, or mom even, I’ve known you long enough,” she teased, wrapping her arms around you in greeting. You swore this is where Izuku got his hugging style from. She gave the warmest hugs, full of unrestrained kindness and comfort.

“Inko!” you heard your mother call from the doorway. You let Inko go in favor of going to put the horse in the stable with the others, letting Izuku deal with moving things inside, for now.

Once sure the horses were cared for, you walked back to help Izuku, only to find him sitting there instead.

You hopped up next to him, your hip touching his. “Izuku?” he looked over at you, placing your hand in his. “Why aren’t you unloading? I wasn’t going to make you do it all by yourself, I promise” you tease. The smile reaches his eyes but fades quickly.

“I was just thinking about...well everything” He sighs, squeezing your hand softly. “Hmm, that’s a pretty broad topic-”

“You are truly hilarious, darling,” It got another smile out of him, but you didn’t interrupt him again, urging him to speak his mind, “ I was thinking about how things would die out with this ‘evil witches’ hunt. That it was just some rumors spread around that caused this and that the people would use evidence and logic to come to reason”

“Izuku, since when has the public ever come eye to eye with logic and evidence?” you laugh, a bittersweet note.

“Since never, but I thought-Well it doesn’t matter what I thought actually. These evil witches are running around and hurting people, even in the villages and towns they haven’t been in,” He runs a hand over his face, “I’m just worried about you, and our families, the coven. I know i can’t take these ‘witches’ out myself, but I feel better being here. But I also know that I need to be out there to help bring them down. But I want you all to be safe, I’m not sure that this village is it, not right now”

“I don’t want you to go either,” your thumb rubs comforting circles onto the back of his hand, “But I agree with you, you have to go out there and help take them down. I think we should talk about this with everyone inside. I’m sure we’ll come up with something”

His lips are pulled into a thin line as he thinks, but he nods. You gently tug on his hand, pleased to find there is no resistance as you lead him inside.

Your mother and father are sitting next to one another, annoyance clear on his face as he looks at the letter your mother is holding, Inko sitting on her other side. Your mother glances up from it and waves you over.

“I was just about to call you two in, we need to have a chat,” you both take the only other seats at the table, your hand still in Izuku’s. Your mother hands you the letter, placing it between yourself and Izuku to glance over. “The elders have decided that it would be best for the coven to...leave as it were”

Ah, that explained the look on your father's face. He would never part with his healing shop, not when so many people counted on his healing magic, as well as yours. You skim over the letter quickly, finding her words to be true. Mrs.Tachibana had left a note, she had a feeling that this was something Izuku needed to hear; she had a feeling he was going off somewhere and that this would be vital for his peace of mind.

It was always a little unnerving how accurate she was.

“Where would we be leaving to?” you ask, your eyes meeting your mother’s. What town could better protect them than the one they knew like the back of their hands. You didn’t like the idea of going to an entirely unknown place, but if it was for the better…

“To the ritual circle actually,” she put up a hand at the sound of your objections, “I know, it sounds like a bad plan. Normally, if this were anywhere else, I would agree. We’d be sitting ducks. However, the ritual circle is a place of power. We can set up our wards to keep evil spirits from finding us, as well as illusions to confuse our enemies. Whatever these ‘witches’ are up to, they’re looking for the villagers.”

“But what if they are looking for you?” Izuku asked, “What if your wards aren’t enough?” he could feel marks clawing at his throat, anxieties bubbling at his tongue. He urged them to be quiet, biting his lip as if to lock the box.

“We’ve been here for generations. We know this land, which has given to us and we give back to. We’ve plenty of magic to protect ourselves. Our magic is to help and heal, but that does not mean we are not able to defend ourselves with magic if need be. If we are out of the way, protected, then the villagers will be safe from us in the event that, if we’d been there, we would have to use magic to protect ourselves from them.”

He still felt anxious, heart thudding heavily against his chest. He doubted he would ever really be unafraid for them. But, this was still better than the alternative of them doing nothing at all.

“Alright then?” you nodded, pressing a kiss to Izuku’s hand, who let out a heavy sigh. Taking that as affirmation, your mother continued. “Good. We need to start packing, we are to leave when the moon is high, while the village is asleep.”

The five of you set to work in the house, your mother and father packing the shop, while Inko was left to gather any and all books and parchment scrolls into a boxed crate. Any time she was positive she filled it to the top, she turned to tell your mother, only to look back and find she could fit one more row.

That left you and Izuku in charge of gathering other materials, blankets, pillows, clothing, clothing from each season, just in case the worst should happen.

In total, the five of you filled five boxed crates, which should have been impossibly heavy, but were only moderately so.

Once everything had been loaded up, your parents took to their carriage, while you rode with Izuku and his mother.

The air was cool and damp, the wind bringing an unnecessary bite to it in your opinion, as you and Inko cuddled up on either side of Izuku, who had the reins. The short ride there was quiet somehow, even as the carriages managed to get over the roots, thanks to all the various wagons and caravans over the years leaving their marks. Not a word was spoken as you approached, the warm fire from the ritual circle; it was stark against the dark hues of the night.

It was as if it had appeared suddenly, rather than being seen from the halfway point. Elders stood at the ritual areas most outer circle, with a wave of their hands, sigils and wards were placed. They paid you no mind as you crossed, wagons and caravans galore, as well as a few tents pitched with runes around them as well.

All in all, it felt familiar and warm, much warmer than a spring night should allow. Your family tucked themselves against the trees, closer to the river. There were elders on the other side of the river, finishing up their wards, an almost filmy bubble over the area, though the smoke didn’t fill the area up like you had expected.

Izuku glanced around with the same awe that must have been in your eyes, but you couldn’t stop to chat. You each get out of your respective carriages, your mother pulling out a large piece of, what looked like, dull red cloth, much like the tents the others had pitched up. You’d never seen it before, it must have come from the pits of whatever crate your father had made.

Izuku and your father put up the tent, which was actually quite large, it would fit all of you for certain, whilst you and your mother drew the sigils and wards around the tent. As you and Izuku carried one of the crates into the tent, you swore the tent itself was a bit...bigger on the inside.

As the process of setting up continued, more people began to appear, all from your coven. Some of them you hadn’t seen in years! All to flee to relative safety. When you couldn’t bear to watch any longer, you pulled your hand from the tent flap, the sigils inside the tent glowing a soft blue. You made your way over to the crates where the amenities from the shop had been packed.

You made sure to keep quiet as you pulled out a smooth green stone that shimmered in accents of emerald and malachite in color, and a soft piece of cloth, long in nature. Your parents had long pulled out the bedrolls, the four of them calling it a night and quickly falling into dreamland. You began to braid and weave the cloth around the stone, rolling it into something cord like. As you do this, you let feelings of safety, home, and love permeate the stone, the tips of your fingers glowing that soft yellow. Next came strength, good fortune and aim that was swift and true. The last thing you placed into this stone was a small part of you, tethered to your heart, so he could always find home.

With the last knot tied, you held up your creation, the light from the sigils glinting off of it.

You’d never made something like this before, but you had seen your mother do so when someone from the next village over came to ask for protection, be it for themselves or for their loved ones heading off to war.

You closed the crate, walking past Inko’s space she’d made for herself, and into your own bedroll, pocketing the necklace for the morning, which was right next to Izuku’s. Your curled close to him, your nose almost touching his back. He huffed softly, turning over to face you in his sleep. You turned your back to him, letting his arms sleepily reach out for you and pull you close, loving how the butterflies in your stomach turned a sweet pink at the action.

Your eyes slowly close, lulled to sleep in the arms of your promised.

You are woken up all too soon, the shifting of people moving inside the tent, and outside the tent. You suppress the urge to groan in discomfort, sleeps claws scratching and pulling at your eyes to come back. You glanced over next to you, seeing that Izuku was no longer sleeping beside you, had you shooting up and out of your roll.

Izuku was just outside the tent, dressed in his leather armor, your parents were still asleep, but Inko was here, wide awake. You could just barely see the first light of dawn, the dark blue sky slowly turning lighter. You reach into your pocket, a sigh of relief leaving you as the necklace you made was still there.

His mother handed him a pack, which he slung over his horse. He leaned down so she could press a kiss to his cheek. He gave her a smile, something soft and reassuring. She turned to leave, to watch him from the tent, walking past you with a slight wave.

Izuku heard you just before you approached behind him. He turned around, expression soft as he took in your features. Your hair was a little messy, clothes a bit rumbled, but all in all, you were beautiful. He hated leaving, he’d only just gotten to be with you again, to hold you close, to enjoy your company, your presence. He would steel himself once he took off. For now, he allowed his heart to be soft.

“Leaving without saying goodbye?” You tease, your voice rough with sleep. He chuckles softly, taking your hand in his.

“Never, Just getting everything ready to go”

“Good.” You pressed a kiss to his cheek, then reached into your pocket, “I made you something. Promise me you’ll wear it?” you placed the necklace in his hand, the green really starting to stand out now that it was out in light.

“You made this for me darling?” you nodded, placing the necklace over his head for him, the stone sitting right on his chest. It would be easy to conceal, but you wanted to see it on him.

“It’s….A little piece to help keep you safe,” your fingers touched the stone, “ so you feel safe on your journeys, so you will feel just a piece of home while away, that you will be warm and filled with my love always. When you wear this, good fortune will smile on you, your aim will be swift and true, and my strength, my courage will be yours. And when all is said and done, You’ll be able to find your way home to me, no matter where you are” you pressed a kiss over the stone, over his heart, to seal in the energy that you put forth.

You wiped the tears that had just started to fall from your eyes, only to fail when you saw his own tears. He placed his gloved hands on either side of your jaw, kissing you softly, reverently. Despite its chaste nature, you felt every bit of warmth and passion, a love that threatened to make your heart burst.

He pulled away from you, placing his forehead to yours, your eyes staring into one another's.

“I will always find my way back to you.” his voice was low, a whisper only you hear. You knew that he was no witch, but in that moment, you felt a magic not your own shoot up your spine in the most pleasant way. It was as if his words had their own magic to them.

He pressed one last kiss to your lips, tucking the stone under his shirt, to keep it safe. You watched as he got onto his horse, riding off towards the sunrise.

From there, you tried to keep yourself as busy as possible. Whether that be gathering the river water, a few of the wild flowers that grew in the trees, or even just tending to the circle fire.

You found yourself bored and worried in a matter of hours. Everything was fine, everything would be fine. He would come back to you, he would be safe and sound, and you could move on from this dark period.

You practiced your sigils and wards, magic at the ready to replace one if need be. You even started reading the rolled parchments your mother kept. One week passed, then two, and then three.

Your worry reached an all-time high, for a split second, just a split second, your heart dropped to your feet, a shock sent through your nerves. You had no idea what caused this sudden feeling except-!

You were about to run to your mother, to ask her, if she could tell you anything, what that feeling meant. But something halted you, mainly the feeling of your heart slowly moving its way back to its respectful place, the shock left a warm feeling in your nerves that left your hands shaking.

But the sensation had gone, it felt alright, just like when you gave him the stone, just as it had felt the rest of the weeks passed.

As far as you knew, the village folk had stayed, despite your disappearance. From whatever scout was sent out, they gave no word of the people searching for you or even questioning your leaving. It was hardly peaceful from what you were told.

The people were even colder towards one another, children no longer running around the village, to keep them safe from whatever witch may target them. Any hustle and bustle was left solely for necessities, the genuine care for the others day long gone as they rushed back home.

With tensions rising higher, the elders thought it best to pull back the scouts, just to be safe.

You scratched out the tally you had made in the dirt. If he didn’t return this coming week, he will have been gone for four months. This should have been nothing, He’d left you for two years before, you survived.

So why was it so hard now?

You knew why, you knew exactly why it was so much harder, you just didn’t like knowing why. It didn’t make the problem any better or worse. You’d heard nothing from other towns, not even your own, Izuku would not have the time, or perhaps even the safety, of writing to you.

A large warm hand was placed on top of your head, petting your hair, startling you from your turmoil. Glancing up, you saw your father, looking down at you with kind eyes.

“I need you to gather some lavender, I’m afraid in these...stressful times, lavender has become quite sought after here.” He gave you an apologetic smile, “I’d go myself if I didn't have other salves and ointments to make.”

The lavender fields were so large, spanning from the village and even over the worn roads. If you stuck to the fields closer to the now makeshift camp, You wouldn’t be bothered by any passerby, and more importantly, the villagers.

You stood up, dusting your skirts off. It was probably better that you went anyhow, if anything to see a little change in scenery. “That’s alright papa, I wasn’t doing anything anyway.” you take the basket from him. You stepped carefully over the protection sigils, making sure not to smudge any of them.

The slight change in scenery did help to improve your mood. The morning sun still painting everything in a cool glow, the matching breeze swept away your clouded thoughts.The fields were always quite a sight in the morning, you mused as you sat your basket down once you had found a nice little spot, the flowers hues bouncing off the light.

You took your time, cutting at an angle, the stalks going into a pile that your arms would carry, the flowers themselves going into the basket. It was...alarmingly easy to just forget everything that was happening with how gentle the air was, birds singing their tunes and bees buzzing about.

Before you knew it, you had filled up your basket to the brim, lost in thoughts so vague they were better off as clouds. Glancing up you also realized it was well into the afternoon, almost sunset! You carefully stood up, your legs a bit stiff from sitting for so long.

The sound of a horse’s whicker turned your gaze towards the road. It was a smaller sized group, their shields glinting in the light. Towards the back, one man was carrying a flag held high above them. Your vision blurred as the flag came into view.

He’s Home

They’ve won

You raced across the fields, your basket long forgotten, running for the quickest path towards the road. Your heart pounded heavily in your chest, zings of excitement running through your veins.

As soon as you were close enough to see the details of their faces, you saw Izuku. He urged the group to stop; sitting in front of him was a man with the brightest red hair you’d ever seen. Izuku clumsily got down from the Horse, using this man in front of him to steady himself enough to hit the ground running.

You met in the middle, him wrapping his arms around your waist as your arms were thrown over his neck for an embrace. You were crying in relief, joy, the heavy weight that rested on your shoulders long gone. You pulled back and pressed kisses all over his face, his eyes, though watery, lit up in happiness to see you.

“That’s so manly!” You heard the red haired one cry out, a waiver in his own voice, pulling you out of the soft moment. You slowly pulled back, your hand dragging down his chest idly as it went back to your side, a sharp hitch of breath getting your attention back immediately.

He’s been injured

“Izuku what-” he cut you off with a gentle hand taking yours. It was only now that you realize that he was not in the leather armor his companions were- a loose fitted shirt, some trousers, and the same boots he left in.

“I’ll explain when we get home, It’s been...quite the journey home” he smiled at you, turning back to his companions. Now that your focus was not completely on Izuku, you noticed that he was travelling with, at least currently, four others.

The first, of course, was the red haired man, a big smile laced onto his face with bright matching eyes. The second was a blond haired man, a scowl etched on his face, deep red eyes watching. For whatever reason, you could tell that this scowl wasn’t as deep as it usually would have been. Next to the blond one’s Horse was Izuku’s.

Behind him was a young man with the most curiously colored hair you’d ever seen, white on his right with a brown eye, while his left side was red, a scar wrapped around his vibrant blue eye. The last one however, was a thin man, not much older than your father you assumed, blond hair tied back, his blue eyes bright with a kindness you had not expected from someone his size. He was so much taller than the others, his horse alone was taller than the others, just to fit this man it seemed.

“O-of course, yes,” you babbled elegantly, hardly wanting to take your hand away from Izuku’s.

You led them back to the makeshift camp, your announcement of the arrival of these heroes sent the crowd into a joyous cheer, as the rest came to see what the commotion was all about.

They stopped at the center fire, Izuku-this time much more gracefully- stepped down from the horse and Inko rushed to hug her baby just like you had. The rest of his companions follow suit, though their hands remained tight on the reins.

“Oh thank goodness your safe, my baby!” she wailed, her smile only brightening as her son laughed, an attempt to keep from totally wailing like his mother.

Mrs.Tachibana shuffled through the crowd, the elders all following suit. Inko stood aside, though you kept your hand linked with Izuku’s.

“Thank you, all of you,” she motioned to his companions, “We owe you a debt that we will never truly be able to repay, for avenging those who were wrongfully taken from us, and to those we may have lost.” She was silent for a moment, to let those now dead have a moment of peace before continuing, “However, for now, please allow us to repay you in the ways that we can, a celebration! You are far more than welcome to rest and resupply, to enjoy the night!”

The tallest man bowed to Mrs.Tachibana, a smile on his face as he addressed her on the Knights behalf. “We were just doing our duty to the people of this land. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Before we prepare for your celebration, may we know the names of our heroes?” Mrs.Tachibana asked.

“Of course!” the tall man laughed, gesturing to each as he said their name, “These are my knights: Katsuki Bakugou,” the younger blond didn’t do much more than give an uninterested scowl, choosing to keep quiet, “ Eijirou Kirishima,” the red haired man gave a bright smile and a wave, “Shouto Todoroki” the dual haired man bowed silently, though his name did bring recognition into some of the covens eyes.

His father was a well-known Knight, brutal but effective on the battlefield, Endeavor. He was not a well-liked man, but he was respected in his duty.

Finally gesturing to himself, “I am All Might, but please, call me Toshinori”

The people slowly dispersed, excitedly working as the bees of early spring. Your mother and father walk over to give their thanks and greetings to the heroes. Your father manages to convince their tight hold on their reins to slacken, so that they may freely wander while their horses feed on the long grass.

Mrs.Tachibana wandered over to the young men, a couple of witches your mother's age following behind her. “Are any of you in need of healing? We have wonderful healers who will gladly treat you”

“Tch-the only one that needs healing is that da-”

“-No, we’re all alright!” The red head-Kirishima cuts off Bakugou, the latter incredibly annoyed at the interruption, “We just had some minor bumps and scratches, really, it’s mainly Midoriya who took the worst of it”

Izuku winced at the mention of his name, a sheepish blush forming on his cheeks. Your mother studied over Izuku’s form, a frown on her face, though she quickly replaced it with a smile.

“Let’s get that taken care of shall we?”

That’s how you found yourself down by the river, You and Izuku sitting on the rocks, carefully taking off the bandages to his wounds, the stone you had given him resting on his back, a fresh set of bandages laced with spider webs. While softer than the bandages he had, this one was bound stronger, and would keep out any unwanted grime and dirt from infecting the wound. Beside you was a basket of soft cloths and a bigger bowl of water, for cleaning.

Your mother was sitting beside the river with a mixture of various things, bowl filled with river water. As the bandage slips off, your eyes widen as a soft gasp leaves your lips.

“Oh Izuku, what on earth happened?” You’d never seen a wound of this kind before, a burn or a cut of some kind, a deep shade of red in the center, slowly turning at most a light pink on the outside, with what looked to be bubbles that had exploded, leaving a splatter mark.

“This was from one of the witches. The way they wielded their magic was terrifying, as well as impressive.” You frowned, hands digging out a cloth and dunking it in the water, wringing out your anger for this witch, returning gentle hands to his chest as you cleaned off the blood.

“The one who gave you this wound, what was his power exactly?” you take not of the hiss of pain, despite your gentle touch. You remembered your father telling you to talk to your patient, to help distract them from the pain, even if partially.

“Ah, he was a man with the most bizarre burns and dark hair. He wielded a dagger of some sort,” he moved to grab onto a stick to draw the image in the dirt, though you gently press your hand to his uninjured shoulder to push him back into place.

“You can show me later, it’ll be harder to clean this if you keep moving” you gently scold, dunking the cloth back into the water.

“Right, anyhow, he would strike at his enemies with just the blade. At first I thought he was just someone who supported them. But once he was close, his arms would suddenly be coated in blue flame! I’d never seen anything like it! It burned hotter than any fire I’ve been near. He went by the name of..Dabi I think it was.”

Blue flame that burned hotter than any other fire? How could he withstand the heat at all? A pained hiss pulls your attention back, your fingers pressing a bit too hard on the wound. You muttered a quick apology with a swift kiss to his cheek. You returned to your task with far more care.

“Tell me more about them, how many others were there?”

“Including Dabi? Four of them. There was a girl around our age by the name of Toga, she could turn into anyone she pleased. Terribly good strategy, you wouldn’t want to strike for the enemy, and find your allies face there instead. The third was a person by the name of Kurogiri. I never actually saw this person, but when they called for them, they responded. A portal would appear, whisking them away to...who knows where. It was...incredibly annoying as it was their favored escape route, no tracks to go after, no trail” He huffed softly in irritation at the memory.

“The fourth was a man they called Twice, he could make copies of himself or other people, who had the same skill set as who he copied. Out of all of them, he seemed to be having a hard time, or what I thought was one. He would say one thing, then immediately counter it with an opposite. The last was their leader, Shigaraki. Anyone he touched turned into ash, they...decayed,” He frowned at the thought, as if remembering something he’d rather not say out loud.

“I never saw it, but I heard from other villagers that he could control how fast or slow something or someone decayed. I can’t imagine what it was like for those people who had to watch...only to be tried as witches themselves…” his lower lip wobbled, a tear or two streaming down his cheeks. You drop the cloth in favor of tipping his eyes to meet yours.

“You avenged them. While that won't bring them back, just know that their souls can rest easy now, knowing that the evil that caused all of this fear is gone.” You pressed a soft kiss to his lips, Izuku letting out a shaky sigh.

He remained fairly quiet after that, and you didn’t push him to talk, the worst of the cleaning now done with. Your mother came up to the both of you, the bowl in her hand no longer filled with water, but a sweet smelling salve.

“Before we put this salve on, we need to banish the evil intent behind this wound. So that infection will not come from the inside either.” She instructed, placing a hand over his chest but not touching the wound. As her hand glowed you could practically see the flames that had burned him, dancing across the wound with wild and fluid movements. You could feel the intent behind the magic, dark and foreboding, leaving a bitter taste in your mouth.

The purple glow of your mother's magic descended upon the intent, the flames hissing like snakes as they were overtaken. As the last spark of flame died, Izuku let out a relieved sigh, the area around you brightening again, as if a tree had been blocking the sun.

“Oh...I feel so much lighter now,” He looked up to your mother with a smile, “Thank you” She returned his smile, her nails scratching lightly at his scalp. “Of course. I’ll leave the rest to (Y/N)” She said, taking the bloodied water and cloth to be cleaned.

As the sun set, the stars blinking into the sky, the ritual fire burned brighter than ever, the music playing no longer held notes tinged with worry and resentment, the drum beat heavy in your chest as you and Izuku sat on the sidelines.

Kirishima was having a wonderful time, between dancing with some of the coven members to stuff his face with the delicious food. Occasionally, one of the children would wander up to him and ask him to dance. Rather than politely declining, he’d lift up the child and dance with exaggerated movements that made them squeal and giggle.

Bakugou was far too content to sip on his drink and watch the festivities, though he bobbed his head to the beat of the drums, his scowl replaced with something more neutral. Todoroki was talking with your mother, about magic it seemed as she created soft purple lights to dance around in her palm. To your surprise he did the same, though they were smaller and a pale blue color.

Toshinori seemed to be talking idly with Inko, the two of them occasionally having to stop as a few children came up and began to ask questions you assumed, as he would then launch into a tale, probably an encounter he had at some point. They were all enchanted with the way he told the story, Inko watching with great attention, a smile on her face.

Izuku’s hand rested in yours, his thumb rubbing aimless patterns into your skin when you suddenly gasped

“I forgot the lavender basket in the fields!”

It had been a year since that day. The day after the celebration was spent packing things up and back into your homes. Fear would not so easily be defeated, with that looming threat, why would they want to return to a possibly dangerous place? At the elders’ request, The knights had gone to check over the town, to be sure that everything was safe, as well as making sure it was all standing.

The town had been abandoned, the buildings remaining empty. It was a bit saddening, to see the town so quiet. All the life, the people you had always known just...gone. However, with so many of the coven either unwilling to go back to their homes, or unable to, they simply took over the abandoned homes.

Life slowly went back to normal, though a different kind of normal. It was...nice to have your coven around, to no longer have judgmental, but harmless, stares sent your way. It was a lot of hard work, but the town grew to be just as lively as it had been once before, if not more so.

The Knights were always welcome to your little village, surprisingly they came to visit quite often, especially for the holidays. Just like today, a brilliant and warm summer morning, though today was a special day.

The coven was centered around the ritual fire, a woven arch placed before it, filled with various wildflowers and brilliant stones. You stood there before your soon to be husband hands clasped together as Mr.Yamada recited an old spell, one of weaving, to bind your souls together.

You could hardly focus on his words, your own watery eyes meeting green ones. He smiled so brightly at you, you have to mirror it back, the overflowing joy in the both of you was entirely contagious. The dusting of pink over your cheeks matched the hue of the flower crowns placed on your heads.

A couple of wails sounded from the crowd, Inko crying her own river of tears; Toshinori sat beside her and offered a clean handkerchief, to which she gratefully took. The other wail came from behind Izuku, Kirisima’s lower lip wobbling as Bakugou smacked the back of his head, growling out a low “Control yourself!”

You laughed at the two as Mr.Yamada hesitantly started reading again, if only to make sure the two could handle it without any more interruptions.

He placed his hand over yours and Izuku’s, a warm glow emitting from it. “To bind yourselves to one another, you must make a promise to your other half. Starting with Izuku” He took his hand off of yours, the glow around your connected hands maintaining, shining brightly like water as the sun hits the cool waves.

He nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself, a rush of excitement flooding his veins.

He held onto your hand tighter, a firmer grip, priding himself that his voice didn’t crack as he started to speak. “I promise to you, (Y/N), that I will love you and care for you for all my days, my nights, and even in death. I promise my soul to you, tied to yours. I will always find my way to you and I will never falter”

On his hand, the golden glow turned green until all the way down to the tips of your fingers. You let out a happy sob, your heart unable to contain it. Still you wiped it off with your free hand.

“I promise to you, Izuku, that I will love and care for you for all of my days, my nights and even in death. I promise my soul to you, tied to yours. I will always find my way to you and I will never falter”

The glow from Izuku’s finger tips to yours spread up to your hand, fading into your skin. Yamada raised your connected hands in the air, “I now pronounce your souls to be bound together! You may now kiss your beloved”

As he let go, Izuku pulled you close to him, one hand capturing your jaw gently as he pulled you into a sweet kiss. You mirrored his hand, thumb stroking his cheek as the world around you ceased to exist for just that moment.

The party itself lasted well into the night, the two of you hand your arms intertwined, drinking the sweet red liquid that was specially prepared for the evening, the rest of the coven now able to eat and drink to their heart's content. You absently remembered, as Izuku fed you a piece of savory bread, your mother telling you the symbolism in the red drink; strength, courage, and fertility.

The music that played was loud and joyful, laughter floating like the hum of a choir, a pleasant cord. As the moon reached its highest point, the two of you tossed the blue and orange flower crowns atop your heads into the fire. It was an old tradition, even to the standards of your coven.

The flowers placed on your head had meaning to them, just like the sweet drink you had earlier. The orange stood for encouragement, attraction and kindness. The blue on the other hand stood for patience, understanding, and loyalty. Once burned, the energy from those flowers would bring out those attributes in your marriage. Or that’s what the old saying was.

The coven raised the woods with their cheers, sparks of blues and orange dancing in the air.

As the two of you watched the flowers burn, Izuku’s arm around your waist, you leaned into him, a smile on your face.

Though you had been with each other for nearly your whole lives, this was the beginning of something new.

X. X. X. X. X.

You blinked, your eyes wet with unshed happy tears as you glanced around the room, your friends, Ochaco, Iida, and Todoroki were all behind you, looking at you with wide eyes. Next to you sat your boyfriend of two years, now in your third year at UA. His eyes were also wet, slowly turning to gaze towards you.

You had all decided to go to the fair that had opened up. Towards the end of your merriment, you spotted a fortune teller of a sort, and decided to go inside. Everything had been fairly light hearted and fun,though yours had been quite intense, but nonetheless happy. The fortune teller was shocked, the past had something important for you to see, and by all that was good you were going to see it.

You looked down at the promise ring Izuku bought you. It burned with the same cool sensation as you remembered...saw past you. It felt like..a small part of you had been unlocked, as if some part of you had been missing for all of these years.

He gave you a gentle smile, one you returned.

“I guess our souls are bonded together”

#my hero academia #mha x reader #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha bakugou #bnha kirishima #bnha ochaco uraraka #bnha izuku midoriya #bnha izuku x reader #bnha todoroki #bnha all might #bnha dabi #bnha toga #bnha twice #bnha kurogiri #bnha shigaraki #bnha iida

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