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artiststarme · 2 years

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What If Steve Were To Leave Hawkins? Part 10

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

This part was fun to write! Thank you to everyone for your suggestions, hopefully this meets your expectations. I look forward to seeing what you guys think! As always, if you would like to be added to the taglist, let me know and I give you a tag!

~*~*~*~

Max called a Code Red the second she got back inside her own trailer after trying to catch up to the Beemer. “Mayday! I repeat; Mayday! I just saw Steve and Eddie drive away together. I think Eddie just left too!”

A cacophony of voices exploded over the radio.

“What? Steve is back in town?” Lucas confusedly asked.

“Steve kidnapped our Dungeon Master?!” Mike’s voice shrieked in appalled horror. “That’s a felony, we have to call the police!”

“How do you know if it was Steve?” Dustin stammered in confused defense of Steve.

Above all of the other voices, Max started talking again. “I saw the Beemer outside of Eddie’s trailer when I woke up and when I went to investigate, they drove away! It was his car, dipshit. Who else could it be? And we are not calling the police on Steve! Eddie got into the car willingly.”

That fact didn’t seem to deter Mike, “So he was coerced? That’s just as bad! We have to call someone!”

“Alright, everyone this is a Code Red! Meet in Mike’s basement in T-minus 15 minutes. Let’s move people!” Dustin ordered. While normally they would argue with him taking charge, these were not normal circumstances. Everyone was on edge and they hastened to follow his instructions.

This was shaping up to be one of the worst days of their lives.

~*~*~*~

Eddie was having the best day of his life.

He and Steve were almost to Chicago having just stopped at a gas station on the Indiana-Illinois border. For the past three and a half hours or so, they had been singing (i.e. screaming) along to Eddie’s favorite bands. And Eddie will swear it to anyone that asks, Holy Diver sounds even better when Steve is singing it with a beaming smile on his face further illuminated by the beams of sunlight. Eddie already knew he was an angel but the halo surrounding him cemented the fact in his mind.

Steve was thrilled as well. He knew some of Eddie’s music from the cassettes he bought to remind him of the man when he first left. As such, he was familiar with some of the songs and was having a grand time singing along. And he got to share something with Eddie, they were able to share an interest in Dio songs. Whenever he glanced at Eddie in his passenger seat, he was greeted with a look of pure happiness and awe. He decided right then that would do anything to keep Eddie smiling like that.

When they crossed the city limits of Chicago, Eddie’s eyes widened in amazement. It was so different from Hawkins! The buildings stood tall and prominent against the horizon. The old stone buildings mingled with the new glass and steel to create a picturesque scene of architectural innovation. As the car crawled through the crowded streets, Steve turned the volume down and focused on not hitting any pedestrians as they walked across the street without looking both ways. Eddie just stared at all of the passing buildings, the hordes of people walking down the street, the record store with a poster of Metallica in its window. A Metallica poster?!

“Steve! Pull over, stop the car.”

Steve braked harshly before pulling into a parallel parking spot available few stores down. He turned confusedly to Eddie who was already unbuckling his seatbelt. “What the hell, Eddie? What if we had been rear-ended? We could’ve died.”

Eddie flapped his hand around and pointed at the record store, “but look, Steve! They have a poster for Metallica! Do you even understand how metal that is? The store in Hawkins doesn’t even have the new album, I had to drive to Indy to get it. Please, can we go?”

How could Steve say no to his pleading eyes and ridiculous pout? “Fine, but we can only stay in this spot for thirty minutes!”

His words fell on deaf ears as Eddie opened the passenger side door and darted into the record store. Steve locked the car and followed at a more sedate pace. When he walked in, he saw Eddie perusing the cassette tapes in a large bin. They had a large selection of nearly every genre from radio pop to hard rock and metal. Once he was noticed, Eddie quickly piled his arms high with metal cassettes as well as a few rock. Steve raised an eyebrow at the Bowie and Queen tapes amidst the metal bands. Eddie must have noticed his judginess as he said defensively, “It’s for Robin. These tapes are new!”

Steve just shrugged his shoulders and smirked at Eddie as he blushed anew. In the end, Steve bought him three cassettes of albums that had just come out, two for Robin, and a Simon and Garfunkel cassette for himself. That may have been a mistake however because Eddie started ripping on him as soon as he placed the tape on the check-out counter. “What the hell is that, Steve? I just introduced you to Dio and Iron Maiden and you’re still listening to fucking Simon and Garfunkel? Man, this might be where I have to draw the line. I mean, everyone has their faults or whatever but listening to them when you have Black Sabbath? That’s blasphemy, dude.”

The cashier was smirking at them while Eddie continued ranting in his ear about the virtues of metal music while Steve tried to pay for his purchase in peace. When Eddie mentioned how Steve should have a newfound appreciation for metal after hearing Eddie himself play Master of Puppets by Metallica in March, the cashier straightened. “Holy shit, you played Master of Puppets a month after it came out? Dude, that’s one of the hardest riffs to play. You have a perfect ear or something?”

Eddie pulled a chunk of his hair in front of his mouth to hide the twist of a shy smile and shook his head, “nah, I just had a lot of time to practice.”

“Sounds like. You play guitar then?”

Eddie nodded at him as Steve watched the interaction in mild neutrality. “Yeah, guitar and a little bit of vocals.”

The cashier shook his head. “Well man, sounds like you know a lot about music. We’re hiring right now if you’re interested in working here. And some guys and I get together to play sometimes. We’d love to have another guitar guy in the band, our last one just moved out of state for college.”

Eddie looked at Steve in wonder. Now it made sense how the charming bastard had gotten a job so quickly. Everyone was hiring in the city! And a band too?! He loved Chicago. In fact, he might never return to Hawkins!

He told the guy that he would get back to him on the offer and both boys left the shop with their music selections. They were each eager for the best day ever to continue! Next, Steve took him to a little Italian eatery for dinner that had ‘the best pizza I’ve ever had, Eddie. I’m not even kidding’, according to Steve. And Jesus H. Christ was he right. The deep-dish pizza was more of a pie filled with heavenly cheese and topped with a rich and savory marinara sauce. Holy shit, he might never be able to eat regular take-out pizza ever again. Not after consuming his delicacy.

After their glorious cheese-filled dinner, Steve drove down North Clark Street. He had this right hand resting on Eddie’s left knee that was bouncing with pent up excitement. “What’s next, Stevie?”

“I figured we could check out Metro. It’s a concert venue and some guys at the bar last week were talking about seeing a rock band there. It’s worth a look, right?” Steve said, turning to look at Eddie in askance.

Eddie just gave him a look of adoration in response and squeezed the hand on his knee. “Definitely Stevie, definitely.”

They were in luck tonight. A smaller metal band, of which Steve could not remember the name, was playing and they were able to get tickets on-site before heading into the venue. Eddie was jumping around, bopping his head to the music, and positively beaming at Steve whenever he glanced in his direction. For two hours, they stood there, listening to the band play metal covers and original songs. Steve didn’t necessarily enjoy the music but being able to see Eddie happy was more than enough in exchange for a blooming headache and ringing ears. And the bruising kiss Eddie gave him in the darkness of the empty parking lot at the end of the night helped too.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20: Epilogue

Taglist:@nickavalens@conversesweetheart@themostunoriginalpersonever@swimmingbirdrunningrock@eddiethegreatteddybear @call-me-big-eyes @cornwallisandkerley @moonshadows-13 @glittergluekintsugi @cpidcupk @doubleb11 @mentalcyborg @amoris-no-smut-allowed @purple-lemonade @labels-are-for-the-weak @thebrazilianatheist @rajumat @livelaughlexa @5ammi90 @colorful565 @marvelousforlife @chaoticcoffeequeen @gregre369 @suddenlyinlove@thegreatmistake @stillfullofshit @nburkhardt @batxsignalsx @newunknowns @thosemessyvibes @tailsfromthecrypt@luciana-rowan @bird-with-pencils @adaed5 @lolawon @flustratedcas @iwillfindmyneverland @messrs-weasley @skoomy-doompy @yearningagain @forest-fogg @bitchysunflower @stardust-era@newtstabber@bobatrash-queen @notjasontxdd@ohlook-afrog@00biscuit @grtwdsmwhr @oxidantdreamboat @the-witch-forever-lives @estrellami-1 @whatthemeepever @a-simple-gaywitch @imzadidragonfly@freddykicksasses@krimsonsimp@delta-piscium@anaibis@tinynebula @darkwitchoferie

#yeah I hit max hard in the last part #no I don't regret it #I love Chicago and I think the boys would too #Simon and Garfunkel have a couple good songs and I think Steve would like listening to them #Mike thinks Eddie was kidnapped and he does not approve of it #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #dustin henderson #steddie #fanfic #mike wheeler #max mayfield #lucas sinclair

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thedemoninmywalls · 1 day

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Fallen Angel Ch. 1

(Angel!Aro x Rire AU) Aro is a guardian angel who has failed to protect the human she was supposed to be guarding. Terrified of Heaven's wrath, she makes a desperate deal with a sadistic demon prince named Rire - and he has plans for her…

Aro was not your typical angel.

She did not have large white wings or special powers, and she lived on Earth among the humans. In the angelic hierarchy, she was considered low ranking, less holy than those who dwelled above in Heaven.

But if a human looked closely, they could sense an otherworldly spirit in Aro.

Every angel has a mission, and Aro took hers very seriously. She was a guardian angel, and her job was to protect one Dr. Larry Bergen.

Dr. Bergen was a neuroscientist. He worked at a big prestigious hospital, and he helped people with various neurological diseases. The Heavenly Authorities wanted to protect him because he was improving the human species. He was doing great things, so they assigned Aro to guard him.

Aro was very proud of her mission. Despite their flaws, she loved humans. She loved their arts and culture and innovations. She felt like she was doing something to help humans when she protected Dr. Bergen. Though she was just a low ranking angel, Aro was happy on Earth and happy with her life.

But one day, Aro failed.

On that morning, Dr. Bergen was riding to work on his bicycle. He did not see the car swerve across the road.

Aro hurried in just in time to see Dr. Bergen get hit. His frail human body went sprawling across the pavement. He was dead the moment he hit the ground. There was nothing she could do, and the feeling was burned into her mind forever.

Even angels cannot bring people back from the dead.

Traumatized, Aro fled the scene of death. She was too afraid to take responsibility for her actions, her lapse in judgment. Instead, she tried to hide in a small dark corner of the Earth.

What could she do? Heaven did not tolerate failure. They would surely punish her. She had failed Dr. Bergen, his friends and family, and humanity itself. His death kept replaying in her mind, and she did not know how to stop it.

In that dark, lonely corner, Aro did the one thing she knew how to do, the first thing that all angels are taught to do - she prayed to God.

“Please,” she sobbed pitifully. “Please help me!”

Aro stayed there for a long time without any food, water or sleep, praying incessantly. Finally, someone answered her prayers.

But it wasn't God.

A tall, handsome man approached. He looked human, but there was a distinctly divine spirit in him. He came alone, but his presence was overwhelming.

When Aro saw him, her blood turned to ice. She had never seen a demon before.

Every angel knew that demons were enemies. They were strong and powerful; they could rip apart angels like they were mere humans.

But this man did not move to attack Aro. His voice was deep and smooth as butter.

“My name is Rire,” he said. “I have come to answer your prayers.”

“W-Why?” Aro whispered hoarsely.

“I know what you did,” the demon replied. “I imagine the Heavenly Authorities will be looking for you.”

Aro shuddered. He was right, and likely the human police were looking for her as well. She couldn't stand the thought of facing either of them.

“What should I do?” she asked softly.

Rire held out his hand to her. “Come with me,” he said. “And I will protect you.”

If she had been thinking clearly, Aro might have thought twice about making a deal with a demon. But she was afraid, alone, and traumatized. She had failed both the angels and humans. What was left for her here?

In the end, Aro decided it was better to leap into the unknown than face the punishment she knew was coming.

In Heaven, Aro was told that even touching a demon could burn an angel’s skin. But when she shook Rire’s hand, nothing happened.

Rire grinned, and the sharp whiteness of his teeth seemed blinding to Aro.

She closed her eyes.

—--------------------------

When Aro opened her eyes, everything changed.

She was no longer in the dark corner. It seemed that the demon had transported her somewhere else.

Now she found herself in a beautiful bedroom, with a tall ceiling and velvet curtains. The bed was laid out with the softest linens, and the clothes hanging in the closet were rich and elegant.

There was more luxury in this one room than Aro had ever seen in her lifetime. Like all angels, she had been taught to live modestly; this kind of material richness was completely foreign to her.

There were windows behind the thick velvet curtains, and Aro peered through them to figure out where she was. She was met with a vastly expansive view, looking down at a cityscape that seemed to stretch for miles. There was no sunlight; the city was lit by a dark red glow that seemed to come from beneath. The small, twisted streets were packed with strange creatures scurrying here and there, going about their day.

Demons.

Aro felt like she was going to throw up. This was Hell. She was actually in Hell. All her life she’d heard horror stories about Hell, about the atrocities that occur there, especially to innocent angels.

“Making yourself at home?”

A familiar voice interrupted Aro’s thoughts. Rire was standing by the bed. The red lighting flattered his handsome features. Slowly, Aro turned to face him.

“This is Hell,” she whispered in horror.

“Yes,” Rire raised an eyebrow at this obvious knowledge. “I live here.”

“I-I can't be here,” Aro whimpered. “The demons, they'll –”

“You're not going anywhere,” Rire took a menacing step towards her. “I said I would protect you, and I will.”

Instinctively Aro stepped back. “Why?”

“Hmm, how should I put this?” Rire tapped his chin condescendingly. “All demons are taught to be afraid of angels. We're natural enemies, after all. But here I see a failed angel, scared and alone, just desperate to make a deal. Only an idiot would pass up an opportunity like this.”

“Y-You can't keep me here!” Aro cried. “You said yourself that Heaven will be looking for me!”

“Up there, yes,” Rire agreed. “But they’ll never come down here and soil their pretty robes. You angels are just as afraid of demons as we are of you.”

He took another step closer.

“Besides,” he continued. “Do you really think the angels will want you back after what you did? They have no use for a failure.”

Angrily, Aro opened her mouth to argue - but nothing came out. As far as she could tell, he was right. There was nothing for her up there.

Rire chuckled. “You know, I’ve fucked many, many people in my time…but never an angel.”

He unzipped his pants, revealing a cock that was as massive as he was tall. It was erect and slick with arousal.

Aro stared. She had never seen a man's nudity before. But as he moved towards her, she suddenly knew exactly what was about to happen.

Dropping to her knees, Aro raised her hands in supplication.

“Please,” she begged. “Don't do this. It's wrong, it's immoral…please–”

Rire seized a fistful of Aro's hair and forced her dry mouth around his cock. She gasped and choked as the huge thing invaded her throat, stretching her mouth and jaw to its limits. Her nose was buried in his dark pubic hair; his musk was overwhelming.

If she were a human, and had lungs, she might have actually choked to death. But she was an angel, and she could only bounce helplessly with each thrust of his hips. She tried to hit him, or push him away, but his grip on her hair was like iron.

Rire only released her when he reached orgasm, his thick cum shooting down her throat. As soon as he let go of her hair, Aro pulled back, panting heavily. Again Rire approached her, his cock still erect and dripping with her saliva.

“Please, stop–!” Aro cried.

It did not even occur to her to fight back. She fully believed that Rire was stronger than her, and she’d been trained to obey a higher power.

Ignoring her pathetic pleading, Rire roughly shoved her onto the soft bed. One hand pinned her throat to the mattress and his other hand yanked up her robe, revealing an untouched pussy, already wet with unwanted arousal.

The sight of it made Rire lose all self control. He rutted into her like an animal, his grip on her throat tightening with every brutal thrust.

“Your virgin hole is so tight,” he panted. “Forget about being an angel. You're my personal fucktoy now.”

Tears streamed down Aro's face as she vainly scratched at Rire’s arm. The pain was horrible, but even worse was the pleasure. Angels were not supposed to feel this way. Angels were supposed to be spiritual beings, unbothered by such fleeting physical pleasures.

After this her body would always ache to be filled, to be violated. She was no better than a human now, a weak, fragile human who melted at the merest touch.

“Oh God,” Aro sobbed.

“I am your god now,” Rire snarled. “From now on you will pray to me! Say my name.”

“R-Rire,” Aro moaned his name obediently. Suddenly waves of orgasmic ecstasy shot through her body, and she screamed, “Rire!!”

A few seconds later, Rire’s seed flooded Aro's guts. He pulled out, and his thick white cum spilled over her bare thighs and the sheets beneath her.

“Ahhh…that was very good,” Rire sighed contentedly. He released her throat and brushed some hair out of her face gently.

Without another word, Rire crawled off the bed and began zipping up his pants. After making sure he looked presentable, he simply walked out the door, leaving Aro alone again.

For her part, Aro could barely move. Her throat and thighs were badly bruised. Her legs and ass were sticky with cum and sweat. When she swallowed, she could still taste him.

Worst of all, her abused pussy ached, pulsing with newfound desire. It would never feel the same way again. Her body had betrayed her, forced her to accept these evil feelings as hers.

After a while, Aro mustered up enough energy to roll over on her side. The least she could do was get comfortable in Rire's bed. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep, sleep away the pain and the trauma and the grief. Maybe, when she woke up, she would be back in her own home on Earth, watching over Dr. Bergen. Maybe when she woke up, all of this would just be a terrible nightmare.

#the demon in my walls #self ship #canon x self insert #btd rire #lucien rire #btd fanfic

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dorokora · 3 months

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Chapter 15 Episode 6 Part 3

We start with narration about Bael and King Solomon. Bael was once called Baal. A higher being of the former world of Canaan. However, Canaan was destroyed by an attack from Eden, and Baal fell into Gehenna and became known as the demon Bael. Eventually he was summoned to Tokyo. Above the stars, to heights that no one else can reach, he can feel the respect for the person who reached there, King Solomon. He is just a human who Bael serves. A man who was told by his Lord to ``make any wish come true,'' and instead of seeking gold, power, or love, he sought omniscience. In honor of this, the Lord gave him a sacred artifact through Michael, who succeeded his brother as the highest angel. With the knowledge entrusted to him along with the wisdom of Kabbalah, he created a great mechanism made up of 72 familiars. King Solomon's true value lies in his excellence and innovation as a designer of the world system. It is a system that thoroughly reuses those who have fallen from the outside "mechanism" and incorporates them into itself. Furthermore, his reign developed automatically by creating a pecking order based on the dual hierarchy of a good and evil system and making them compete. One of the familiars asked him how he was able to accomplish such a great feat. He simply answered, “Because I saw the future as I was meant to see it.” As the king of men, Solomon rose to a height that no one else could reach. However, no one could explain the king's actions. They had no idea why he was doing it. The people thought that there was no way anyone lower down could understand someone who saw the future and acted based on the results. However, the system worked well. His reign was even compared to the Millennium Kingdom. However, as a man, Solomon was not eternal. He will grow old and the time will come for his body and spirit to perish. The last thing Solomon to complete his role as a human was to went on a journey through memory. He entrusted his "memories" to the vessel of another human being. He let go of his sword and gave it to Arsalan. One by one, he entrusted everything he had to each place he went. And then, Solomon's "memories" as a human, along with the last ring he left behind, flowed to the far reaches of the east. So he entrusted the rest to a part of his tribe, the Mononobe clan, which means ``those who carry things'' and who are the bearers of the records of the Stars. It is said that the Urabe clan (Furufumi’s family), a branch family of the Mononobe, have continued to watch the stars falling from the sky from the ground. Solomon now exists only as a "memory". However, as long as the system he created remains, it will be immortal. As long as the system remains up-to-date and useful, the world will never forget his name. He has entrusted his ``role'' to the descendants of the Mononobe clan, and I have continued to watch the radiance fall.

Back to the present, The Nyarl duo showed up to timeleap MC and Oscar out of the lab. MC was able to reunite with Toji and Maria. Maria says that everyone is rescuing the captured humans with Sanzo in the lead. Thanks to the Nyarl clones multiple people did the same thing as MC. By using the same space jump to jump to the enemy's center and immediately escape repeatedly. There are more than 10 or 20 Nyarlathoteps who came from all over Tokyo. We cut to Sanzo and others as Sanzo used his sacred artifact to release everyone from the future memory brainwashing. While Toji used his saved artifact to free transients from future memories. They still haven’t found Shiro, Kengo, or Ryota yet. The damage from the future transplant rejection seems to be severe but with some rest they should fine.

We cut Uzume as Amaterasu enters the room. Amaterasu ask Uzume if she’s okay. Uzume says she did something unnecessary. Amaterasu tells her it’s fine, even if she did nothing the Entertainers still would’ve gotten involved. Losing the locals was unexpected but fine since they were used as bait to lure MC. We then cut to Bael entering the center after he received instructions from Amaterasu. Bael knows Michael’s group have control over the Rule Makers but that doesn’t mean they’re strong. Michael is a person who guides the people he considers good. However, he believes that it is only natural that those who disobey ``God'' be punished. Amaterasu would also accept sacrifices if it was the best solution overall. Onyankopon is known for his unparalleled love for humans. The rule of this Tokyo ``game'' is that the minority has no place to lead the rules. The only reason they can move the other Rule Makers executives and soldiers like this is because they are in the majority. However, if you do anything that harms the local people, you will lose Onyankopon's support. That's why Michael and Amaterasu can't hurt the locals directly, especially in front of Onyankopon's subordinate who also loves human (Baphomet). Back to Michael, Michael knows that Baphomet works for Onyankopon and can’t use rough methods against Kokopelli who is human in front of them. Kokopelli points his gun at the ceiling and fires and hits a key point. Kokopelli says the will place will collapse soon. If Michael survive, he’ll see him again.

We cut elsewhere to Onyankopon and Daikoku. Daikoku is trying fish for info that will help his revenge. Elsewhere eleswhere, we see Oscar and Raven. Raven knows that Oscar was the one who leak info to Daikoku. Raven knows Daikoku’s plan is to break up the Rule Makers using their memory implants against them. We cut to Bael as he and some others confront the Alliance. He announce himself which shocks some of the other Ars Goetia demons. He says the old "mechanism" is about to disappear and a new "God" will be born to be replace it. Yoshito and Yasuyori are back to fight the Nobumichi and Masashi again this time switching opponents. Battle start.

After battle, we see Yoshito whispering he knows everything about Nobumichi. A simple way of life that always follows the will of the majority. Therefore, he has dedicated himself to being the strongest. But is it okay to live without a purpose, Nobumichi? We cut to Marchosias vs Bael. Bael says he knows about Marchosias. How he’s concerned about his former position as an angel. Marchosias sided with Shaytan during the rebellion and fell to Gahenna along with him. Marchosias says after coming to Tokyo he started to investigate the underworld. He learns that behind the scenes of Tokyo's game is an old organization called "Laboratory", which is said to have disappeared. It is said that they performed many experiments on the local people in Tokyo, including body modification. The former operation of the Prototype Death Game, which pitted the locals against each other using the Sacred Artifact without a "mechanism" for rewinding. It is said that the old management was destroyed by the members of the Otemachi Guild. So Kokopelli, the human half, is also from that same Cult School that Arc is from. But did they really become completely extinct? There are still survivors of the "Laboratory" in the upper floors of that Babel Tower. Just then the Exters rain down on the Future City setting it ablaze.

#chapter 15 #housamo spoilers

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inverted-flowers · 11 months

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Secret Life Tarot Reading no. 5!

It's Tango's turn!

So this reading has been done after episode 3s have gone out while the previous ones (Joel, Martyn, Grian, Impulse) were done after ep 2s. Oh and I've decided to put the cards I draw in a colored font now too instead of italics!

Also just a reminder that you don't really need to know anything about Tarot Cards here. Just understand that I'm using them to predict how Secret Life is going to go for its lovely players that we all know and love. I guess it'd be good to mention that I'm interpreting the meaning of the cards I draw to fit a Minecraft smp (of all things good lord what am i doing pft /lh). I could very easily interpret the cards one way and the cards mean it in a different way. Or they could just be wrong who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

First Card - Start

To describe the start of this season (which has definitely now passed) I drew the Seven of Cups in reverse. This card represents chaos and indicision, which, if you've seen Tango's 1st episode... kinda makes sense? I'll be honest I've seen his pov so far but I have a terrible memory. I do remember him struggling to find someone to settle down with in the first episode. The first ep is always pretty chaotic but with the lack of natural regen it's been even more so.

I'll be honest this might've just been a bad pull. My fingers get tingly when I hover over the cards almost like a metal detector. I'm not super good with following that though but that's exactly why I need this practice! I really struggled to pull this first card because the tingling was super strong and it was a bit overwhelming. I have learned though and I'm thinking next time this happens I'll just shuffle again :D

Second Card - Individual

This card is meant to describe how Tango will play! For this I drew the Ten of Wands. Honestly I looked at this and my first thought was that my deck didn't get the message that we're talking about Secret Life and not Decked Out 2 lmao. This card talks about responsibility; that one has had made great accomplishments that they now need to maintain. But then I remembered the whole schtick he's doing with the heart foundation and it made more sense. (Ifykyk. Not spoiling ;3) Tango might struggle with the upkeep of it. It is a very new way to play the game afterall!

Third Card - Social

This card is to describe how things will be going for Tango on the social side of things here. I drew The Magician which funnily enough dropped into my lap while I was shuffling! (If you saw my post just before this one it was after that.) This card is talking about ingenuity and combining strengths which... I mean this sounds again like the Heart Foundation thing! It's a new way to play the game and with all of them working together? I think we've really hit the nail on the head here! I can't really say a whole lot since I don't wanna spoil things. So far though I feel like this reading is saying what they've done (and are doing) is a strong or at least an innovative play so that's good!

Fourth Card - Big Impact

This card is supposed to tell us about what makes the biggest impact for Tango this season. For this I drew The Hanged Man. Now I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I don't feel comfortable giving interpretations that feel more about the cc's feelings. It feels wrong because- well for one, it's not really what we're talking about is it? We're making predictions on how a game is going to go. But mostly it's just... not exactly good to do a tarot reading on someone without their consent. It's an invasion of privacy. Which- again, not what we're doing. So I'd like to ask you guys who read these to also avoid using my readings in this way. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, this card represents inner reflection and the need for a break. (See why I went on that tangent now?) Regardless of what may immediately come to mind I do genuinely feel like this card is talking about the gameplay! This card is talking about needing to postpone decision making to further think and reflect on a situation. It's really pushing the idea that Tango's going to need to pause and think things through; to not make rash decisions. This probably means that the thing most impactful for his season is a rash descion he makes that he should've thought more about than he does.

Fifth Card - End

Finally I drew the Ace of Pentacles in reverse to describe how Secret Life ends for Tango. This one I feel really follows with our previous card but I think that's more for the final thoughts and theories section >:3 This card talks about a loss of opportunity. For the end of a traffic life season I can think of several different ways this manifests. It would probably be what truly does him in because... well this certainly doesn't seem like winner's end card does it?

My final thoughts and theories:

As much as this reading seems to praise Tango's strategy (if I'm interpreting this right) it's not exactly predicting a bright future for him huh? What Love Island has going is a new and innovative way to lay the chess pieces. But for Tango, in accordance to this reading, it won't be enough. It seems to say he's going to make a poor decision- one that he should've taken the time to think out better. That, with the end card saying he'll have a loss of opportunities... Well I've got a few theories! One option is the ever obvious he takes on a hard task and is then unable to complete it. This would in one way or another result in his elimination either directly taking his last life or by getting him low enough. You could also go a similar route and say he dies trying to complete said hard task due to a lack of opportunity pushing him to take a more dangerous route with it. Honestly with that one it might even just be a normal task.

Another idea is that the Heart Foundation gets a lot of pressure and it uh.. puts a crack in their walls? Man it's hard not to spoil that... Anyway- this could make Tango feel less secure and make him more likely to make a hasty descion. What that descion could be is up for debate (for now ;) ) but a couple ideas are that he leaves his faction (seems p unlikely to me) or makes a bad deal.

Ooh I'm so excited! I'd love to hear what other people think on these. If you've got any other ideas on what my readings could mean I'm all ears lol. 'Til next time!

#traffic life smp #tarot predictions #life series #traffic smp #traffic light smp #secret life #tangotek #trafficblr #life series predictions #secret life tarot prediction

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hauntedwoman · 1 year

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titanic watch notes (4/14/23)

when jack saves rose from the back of the ship and the colonel asks cal to give a reward to jack and he offers money rose asks him "is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?" that means she knows that he loves her yet she still shoves him or any pathway to effective communication aside. this also insinuates that their relationship probably used to be better than what we see in the movie

it's said that nathan (cal's father) was the claimant for the insurance claim that was placed on the necklace after the ship went down but it was filed under terms of "absolute secrecy" So that could mean a few things 1) simple damage control 2) he sees cal as incompetent and he feels the need to cover up such a huge financial loss at the hands of cal's impulsivity (this could hint at their relationship being strained)

why doesnt cal end up keeping the drawing ????? considering how badly he wants to possess rose why wouldn't he have held onto a drawing of her naked body ?? maybe he didnt because of the intent behind the drawing and it wouldve been too painful to look at but it is still very much A Question

and on that note why does cal tell rose that he framed jack???? if he wanted her to get onto a lifeboat and go back to her life in first class and still marry him and everything why would he jeopardize all of that for a snarky one-liner ???? ("you know it's a pity i didn't keep that drawing it'll be worth a lot more by morning") im just gonna chalk it up to james cameron being bad at making characters with actual dimension

continuing on that: there are so many stupid cartoonish one-liners that cal has throughout the film just to very much communicate to the audience that he is The Bad Guy. one example of this that annoys me is the whole "something picasso" bit like oh god forbid someone who's morally ambiguous have any appreciation for art or culture (rose being into these things somehow makes her morally superior ???) another one i really hate is the whole "i suppose i might start minding what she reads from now on" at the lunch scene when rose makes that dick joke abt freud

also lol when she makes that joke that insinuates she knows what d*ck is (subtext into cal and rose's relationship ???)

when brock is talking to old rose about to hoto he regurgitates the same thing that cal told her he gave her the diamond (worn by louis the sixteenth, very rare, etc, etc.)

when jack saves rose from jumping she grabs his hand that doesnt have her engagement ring on it

cal gives rose the diamond the same night she tries to kill herself. he knows what she was really doing at the back of the ship, or at least some semblance of it

THAT SAID:

still totally hung up on the whole "john calvert is actually cal" theory lol of all of the names that james cameron could have chosen for her new surname it Had to be That ???

cal and rose both act the same way under any sort of scrutiny (defensive and they automatically move to insulting the other person)

why is it scandalous that madeline astor (who is rose's age) is pregnant but not scandalous that another man is clearly traveling with his mistress (spoiler alert: it's misogyny)

the presence of god and christianity throughout the film ("god himself could not sink this ship", the church service on the morning of the day the titanic hits the iceberg - which is only available to upper class passengers ??? - the priest praying and speaking psalms as the ship is sinking) i think that the larger cultural commentary here is that during this age (early 1900s to 1910s) there is so much innovation and invention happening that humanity begins to feel that they are on par with god (esp the wealthy)

jack and rose have s*x right before the ship hits the iceberg, big juxtaposition between life and death there

still cant get over how rose put her name on the survivors list as rose DAWSON…. theres no way cal didnt know she was alive they saw eachother again after the sinking even if it was him seeing her on a poster for a movie/play or her reading headlines about him or maybe one day they seek each other out but regardless yea theres no way they didnt have contact again

also on that note old rose is an extremely unreliable narrator bc when she talks about cal killing himself she says at the end "or so i read" so there's a level of ambiguity there, there's also some hesitation of her to admit that she kept up with him all of those years bc then it would have completely discredited everything she had said about jack being her one real love etc etc

#if anyone has anything theyd like to discuss or add or debate pls pls pls send asks/dms i could talk abt this stupid movie every single day #for the rest of my life <333

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guardianreadersofthegalaxy · 2 years

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My ★★½ review of La La Land on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/3Id8fT

I’ve put off reviewing this because my feelings on La La Land are more mixed than on any other film. I hated it when I first saw it, but also couldn’t stop thinking about it. Now I hate every other thing about it and love everything else. So this review’s gonna have to be in bullet point form:

• The music is always fantastic, but the modern breathy vocal style doesn’t suit it, especially the opening number when it sounds like 100 Phoebe Bridgerses.

• There’s a whole song about how Mia might meet someone at this party but then she goes to the party and nothing happens. She meets Sebastian on the way home but that doesn’t count.

• As someone who knows nothing about costumes dance or cinematography, the costumes dancing and cinematography are all great!

• Is it meant to be grounded or heightened? The pier scene’s a good example, where he’s singing non-diegetically but the old man reacts to him dancing with his wife like he’s a weirdo. How much are we meant to take seriously? Some say tonal dissonance is over maligned but I for one like to feel my feelings one at a time.

• Ryan Gosling’s so good at playing ridiculous losers that it’s hard to take him seriously.

• The dancing in the stars was magical. I’m not made of stone… I’m made of gosling. Show me something as lovely as that and all is forgiven.

• The random cut to Sebastian’s sister getting engaged reminded me how expendable this film’s supporting characters are.

• THE TWO LEADS ARE ARSEHOLES. They’re so pathetic that for the most part they can’t even temporarily do jobs they don’t enjoy, even if it helps them achieve their dreams in the long run. They’re like the characters from Rent.

• Sebastian looking at the mould on Mia’s ceiling before deciding to take the job in Keith’s band is really good use of shorthand. Chazelle does some really good visual storytelling in this film.

• Keith’s thing about jazz needing to innovate to stay relevant sounds like the mission statement behind ‘LLL’s mixing of old and new styles. It briefly won me over.

• THE TWO LEADS ARE ARSEHOLES. They keep double booking themselves! And in order to make you sympathise with them, every mean character has to be cartoonishly evil.

• The ‘sacrifices’ they do make are so minor. Sebastian has to join a band that he doesn’t 100% love for a few years, and Mia gets an audition for a “huge movie” AFTER LITERALLY ONE PERFORMANCE.

• ‘The Fools Who Dream’ is amazing. It doesn’t even matter that it’s just a long take of Stone singing. The performance and song writing are good enough to carry the scene.

• After being an immature dick, Sebastian suddenly becomes really wise and mature with no explanation.

• The last 10 minutes are perfect.

In summary, ‘La La Land’ is a beautiful film about two pathetic arseholes, that brilliantly brings the classic movie musical into the 21st century... and sadly provided a paycheck to the hacks who went on to write ‘This Is Me’.

#my post #film #movies #review #la la land #musicals #damien chazelle #emma stone #ryan gosling

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eryiss · 2 years

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False Love's Kiss

Summary: Playing the lead roles in Broadway's Beauty & The Beast wasn't Laxus' idea. Neither was all the practice kissing. And that's all it was. Practice. Right?

Notes: Day five of @fuckyeahfraxus Fraxus Week. Today's sub genre is theatre romance. This has a lot of musical references, and strays a little from the prompt. Hope you like it.

Links: Ao3, FFN

False Love's Kiss

1: When They Did It The First Time

"So, I want the ensemble doing their stretches and the core cast doing their vocal warmups," Bob said, looking down at the clipboard. "Except for Laxus and Freed. For the first five minutes of every practice, I want the two of you to sneak away to a corner and start kissing."

And with that, Laxus was ready to quit.

He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to do this, and he didn't want to kiss this stranger. For god's sake, Laxus was a master actor who was well renowned on Broadway, headlining show after show and retaining his dignity while doing so. He had cornered the market on male leads in adult shows, getting top billing in productions for American Psycho, Hadestown and Blood Brothers. He saw himself as a serious actor who told stories through his craft, not someone to be laughed at or viewed by kids. So, getting a role in Beauty and The Beast went against everything his career had stood for.

Bickslow was to blame; he always was. The idiot had taken a risk and starred in an off Broadway show that was doomed to fail. Laxus had told him this, Bickslow had argued it would be a sleeper hit, and they'd struck a deal. If Bickslow's play lasted six months, Laxus would have to audition for any show of Bickslow's choosing.

A critical darling.

A masterpiece.

An innovation beyond comprehension.

Those had been the reviews for Bickslow's new play, and not only did the production survive, but it moved to one of the most sought after theatres in the damn country. Bickslow had delightedly bragged about his success and poured over every upcoming production until finding the perfect one to ruin Laxus' reputation. He had settled on a remake of Beauty and the Beast, directed by an experimental new guy who wanted to remake the show for modern audiences. Bob, the director, had given a speech about how he would change the show for the better and bring it into the present, but Laxus hadn't cared. All he cared about was that he was in a kids show! He didn't do kids shows!

What was worse was the role he was playing. When Bickslow had told him the show, Laxus had assumed he would play Gaston. It made sense, it was embarrassing enough and Laxus had the body for it. Gaston, at least, had less stage time, and Laxus always preferred playing villains. He could explore the dark side of the man and ignore the romance of the story. He didn't play romantic characters.

Until now. Because now, he was playing The Beauty. The romantic lead. The girl - or guy, apparently - who sang about his desires and was the beating heart of the show.

Why couldn't he at least be The Beast? At least that was a character with some bite and some grit. Out of all the main characters he could have played, he had been forced to audition for the soppy, open hearted, 'belt out your feelings' guy in a show meant for kids. It was against everything his career had been built on.

"You're kidding," Laxus said, stepping up to Bob with an unimpressed look. "You want me to kiss a stranger - a guy who might not be able to act, by the way - every damn day?"

"You'll be kissing him on stage, you might as well get used to it now. That's what happens when you're headlining on a romantic story," Bob smiled, patting Laxus on the arm. "And just because you've never acted with Freed, it doesn't mean he can't act. You'll see; I know what I'm doing. Now, rip the bandaid off."

Bob waddled off, and Laxus glared at him for a moment before looking at his co-star, and his own personal Beast. He had to scoff at the idea; this guy was meant to be the monster Laxus was scared of? Ridiculous.

Freed was half a head shorter than Laxus, with a thinner body to boot. He walked around with the confidence and elegance of a Prince, not of a wild beast who was angry at the world and could make a guy like Laxus scared. Nobody would believe it! No amount of script work and makeup and lighting could disguise the fact that Freed should be The Beauty, and Laxus The Beast! It just didn't make sense and it wasn't going to work. Laxus didn't want his career affected by an untested director and a new actor on his debut. He'd worked too hard to have it ruined by experimental theatre.

He wasn't going to kiss the guy. Not when he wasn't doing a run through or when he was on stage. These exercises didn't help acting, they were just there to be spoken about during the press interviews. Laxus was too much of a professional to-

"Excuse me?" A voice cut through Laxus' thoughts, and he turned to look down at his Beast. Look down. Because The Beast was shorter than him.

"Can I help you?" Laxus said with crossed arms.

Freed didn't say anything, he looked Laxus up and down with assessing eyes, before he acted. He took the three steps so that he was chest to chest with Laxus, reached up and grabbed Laxus by the hair. He tugged him down with a vicious grip, and Laxus spluttered as he was yanked into an aggressive, harsh kiss with a man who he'd never really spoken to.

Laxus was kissing back without realising it, lips moving and following Freed's lead. One of Freed's hands was still tugging at his hair as the other rested on Laxus' hip, almost possessively. Laxus didn't know what to do, he just couldn't stop kissing.

When they pulled apart - no, when Freed pulled away - Laxus found himself breathless. He hadn't ever been kissed like that before, and certainly not by a stranger in front of a crowd, and he stood stupid for a moment before his good sense came back to him. A wolf whistle knocked him back to reality, and he looked around to see everyone laughing at them. But, when he looked back to Freed, he couldn't look away from the self satisfied grin on the man's face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Freed said, and his voice held a teasing note. "And Bob was right. You really are an excellent Beauty."

There was a danger behind his smile, and suddenly Laxus could see The Beast in the man. And for some reason, he liked it.

----

2: When Laxus Understood His Role

Watching Freed act, he understood why Bob had cast him in the role. They were on the second week of practising and workshopping, and Freed was doing an initial runthrough of one of his scenes. He was acting against Wakaba, who was playing Laxus' father. They were doing the scene where the father gets trapped in The Beast's castle and is trapped by The Beast.

Freed wasn't playing the role like it had been in the movie, he was clearly making it his own. It was as if The Beast was an ocean, calm on the surface but with vicious cruelty lurking just below. He was sharp and curt and just nasty enough to be a threat. Laxus couldn't take his eyes away.

He'd never seen acting like this. It was enthralling.

Huddled in the back corner of the practice room, Laxus was in awe of Freed's performance. He hadn't seen Freed act yet; he had been running through his initial scenes with Sting, who was playing their version of Gaston. It had been fun acting with Sting, who was known as an up and coming star after his run on Wicked. Sting seemed to be enjoying himself too, playing up to the fuckboy persona they'd given Gaston to replace his overly masculine cliche. But this week, Sting was starting on performing the updated Gaston song, so Laxus was left without a partner.

Laxus had expected to act alongside Freed, but he had been told to sit and watch. Bob had given him a knowing look before instructing Freed and Wakaba about the scene they should play, and Laxus had wondered what the look meant.

It was obvious now. This was Bob showing that Freed was more than right for the role.

And of course, he was. Freed seemed like he was born to play the beast. He seemed to have replaced The Beast's more animalistic side with something more demonic, and Laxus didn't dare look away. His mannerisms, his snarls, the way he seemed to be holding himself back and fighting against his instincts was perfect. Laxus had seen flickers of fear on Wakaba's face that didn't seem to be acting.

He should be jealous. He should be wishing he could play the role; that was the type of role he always got in shows. But there was something great about seeing someone take the mantle of the bad guy and do it so well. Laxus could watch it forever.

"Close your mouth dear, you'll catch flies," Bob hummed, and Laxus turned to look at him. When had he sat next to him? "I assume you approve of him now."

"Yeah," Laxus nodded. There was no use lying. "How did you find him?"

"Community theatre, he was playing Beetlejuice of all things," Bob smiled as the scene went on. "He was a shining talent, and I knew there was a role for him somewhere, I just didn't know what. Then I spoke to him, and he wasn't anything like his character. He was like a prince - oh how they'll swoon for him! But I knew it the moment we first spoke. He was my Beast."

"You're right," Laxus admitted, watching as Freed lurched towards Wakaba. "You've got an eye for casting."

"Of course I do. Why do you think I pushed your friend into making that bet?" Bob fluttered his lashes, then giggled when Laxus gaped. "Oh, don't look at me like that, dear. I've been in this business a lot longer than you, I know how to get what I want. Even if you don't think so, you were born to play this role."

"Yeah, right," Laxus murmured.

"I needed it to be you, I want you to know that," Bob turned to Laxus, and looked serious. "Freed is a talent, but he needs to be sculpted. He needs someone to help him, even if he won't admit it. Someone to show him how Broadway works, how to survive it. He's one of those talents who'll outshine everyone you partner him with. But so are you. Put the two of you together and you've got magic."

"So what?" Laxus asked, buffering past the compliment as he always did. "You want me to take him under my wing?"

"I want you to take him by the reins and make that talent into something beautiful," Bob corrected, snapping a fan open. "It's funny, you two are on the same journey as your characters. You need to take a risk and move away from your comfort zone, and he needs someone to realise his true potential and make him into the man he should be."

"My character domesticates his, you want me to do that?"

"I've seen him drunk, some domestication wouldn't hurt him," Bob laughed. "He's an unpolished diamond, and he needs a firm hand to get him to sparkle. You're the man for the job, so stop focusing on how this isn't a role you'd normally do, or how you're shy about being romantic. Freed is your goal here. Make him live up to his potential; you're spectacular enough to play your role without thinking. You'll make it work."

He ignored the compliment again, but decided his director was right. This was a project he needed to get right, and if focusing on Freed would distract him enough to get over his reservations, then that's what he had to do. And if Bob was right, and the two of them did share similarities with their characters, then it was time for Laxus to play his part.

Uncaring for the scene that was happening, Laxus stood up and walked towards Freed. Both he and Wakaba stopped their acting to look at Laxus with annoyed confusion, and Laxus didn't stop as he approached Freed.

Hooking an arm around Freed's waist, he pulled him close and pressed their lips together. He made sure it was a passionate kiss, with Freed pressed against him and kept him close. Freed's hands seemed at a loss of where to land, and they settled on Laxus' arms and seemed to latch onto them. Laxus smirked, let Freed rest for a moment, before pulling away with his arm still wrapped around his waist.

"You might be The Beast, but I'm the guy who tames you," Laxus purred, playing up his confidence with a grin. "Tomorrow, we're gonna run through our first scene together. I wanna see what you've got, first hand."

Freed blinked, and had he been gaping? False bluster, betrayed by a blush, flashed over him, and he spoke with a false confidence. "I look forward to it."

"Bet ya do," Laxus laughed, removing his arm from around Freed but not stepping back. "I'm gonna break for lunch. See ya later, Beast."

"Until tomorrow, Beauty," Freed said as Laxus retreated. And if the word beauty made Laxus pause for a moment, then it was nobody's business.

----

3: When The Music Started Playing

Technically, Laxus didn't have to go to work that day, but he couldn't help himself.

There was no point in sugarcoating it, he has become obsessed with how Freed performed at work. Over the three weeks they'd been working together, he had seen first hand how Freed had taken the character of The Beast and made it his own. He kept that gentlemanly side that was often forgotten with The Beast, and yet underlined it with a feral undertone that never truly left. It was like he was playing a romantic lead with a horror character sneaking in. He was balancing both sides of the character so easily, and Laxus had to wonder how he managed it.

He was wondering about a lot of things, actually. How had a man with that talent had never been on Broadway? How had Bob discovered him? What did he do in their daily kisses during practice to make Laxus so weak at the knees?

More than anything, in that moment, he wondered what it sounded like when Freed was singing.

That was what that day was: a song workshop. Bob had decided that, while he would use all the songs that the Disney movie was famous for, he would also add more to balance out the story. The Beast in particular was going to have two additional songs made for him. One during his initial transformation into The Beast, and one during the attack of the castle when he was fighting Gaston. Both songs had been drafted, and Freed was performing them for the composer and director for the first time.

Laxus settled into the back row of seats in their theatre, idly looking around. He hadn't seen the stage as they did all the practising in another building. The set dressing was half way done, and Laxus had to admit it would be nice to see such a vibrant stage day to day.

But all that fell away when Freed walked on stage.

The music began, and Laxus recognised it as the transformation song: CRACKED! It was a dramatic and almost villainous song, full of sharp lines and angry moments. Bob had supposedly been inspired by No Good Deed from Wicked, and Laxus had heard their composer singing it as he worked on the lyrics. It was a good song, and Laxus was fascinated how Freed would handle it.

In a word, Freed was spectacular.

He has this rasp to his voice, and he knew how to growl during a belt. He never stumbled over the faster parts of the songs, his diction was perfect, and the dark side of his character shone through but kept his humanity. Freed was pacing angrily across the stage, as if wrapped up by his character. It was a spectacle.

Freed needed a love ballad. Was that selfish of Laxus to think?

There was a romantic side to Freed, Laxus knew that deep in his gut. While he was perfect in this moment of desperation and anger, Laxus felt like Freed would thrive singing about his feelings. He knew that there wouldn't be a damn soul who could listen to Freed belting out a ballad in his Beast voice without falling in love with him.

He shouldn't be thinking like that. And thankfully, he didn't need to fixate on that, as the song ended.

As tended to happen, Bob and the composer were talking to each other in hushed tones as they discussed what worked and what didn't in the song. Laxus watched as Freed climbed down from the stage and grabbed a bottle of water, which he downed in one go. Even from this far away, Laxus could see the way Freed's throat bobbed and contracted, and no doubt there would be a few droplets of water that flowed down his neck. What would it be like to lick the trail left by that droplet?

That thought, too, was dismissed immediately. And not just because it was inappropriate, but also because Freed was walking down the aisle towards him.

"I thought you weren't working today?" Freed asked in greeting.

"Didn't have anything better to do," Laxus shrugged, standing up. It was awkward, he could have remained sitting down. "And I wanted to know what your voice sounds like. We've got a duet, need to know how I can match you."

"And did I pass the test, since that's obviously what this was?" Freed laughed, and it made Laxus' stomach warm.

"I've worked with worse singers," Laxus offered, because he was as bad at giving compliments as he was at accepting them. "Little scratchy."

"I'll endeavour to correct it," Freed drolled, but there was a smile peaking at his lips. Those lips were plump and wet from the water, and annoyingly distracting. Thankfully, Bob called for Freed to return to see what he thought of adjusted lyrics, and Freed's shoulder's drooped just a little. "I should get back."

"Yeah, you should," Laxus agreed, even though he didn't agree at all.

Freed turned half a shoulder, before halting and looking back at Laxus. He seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then stepped into Laxus' space and kissed him slowly and gently for less than a second. The brevity of it left Laxus stumbling, and he almost followed Freed with his lips, before he caught himself.

"What was that?" Laxus asked.

"We're both working today. Bob said we needed to kiss every day that we work together to get comfortable with it," Freed said it slightly rushed, and he was turning before Laxus could respond. "I'll speak to you before I leave."

And with that, he was on the stage again, leaving Laxus yearning for more. But he wasn't going to think about that, just like he wasn't going to think about how much of a weak excuse Freed had given him.

----

4: When Absence Made The Heart Grow Fonder

So, Laxus had been forced to act alongside an understudy. That hadn't been fun.

Gajeel was a good enough actor, and he definitely could play the part of The Beast well. He made the part his own and there was nothing wrong with his performance, and he and Laxus had enough on stage chemistry to make a love story believable, but it hadn't been the same. There hadn't been that crackle that had been there between him and Freed.

It was why Laxus felt so relieved when he saw Freed sitting at one of the tables in the training space, poring over a revised script with glasses perched on his nose. Laxus had never seen him wearing glasses, and he couldn't help but find the look kinda cute.

He strode towards Freed, hooked a chair with a hand and spun it around so he could straddle the back while looking at Freed. He sat there for a moment, an amused smile on his face as Freed seemed trapped in his own world despite the clatter of the chair and Laxus casting a shadow over the script. He tilted his head, rapping the table with a knuckle to get Freed's attention. He looked up with a jerk, and Laxus laughed.

"Hey," Laxus greeted.

"Morning," Freed greeted in response.

Laxus leant forward and tipped Freed's chin up with a finger, pressing his lips to Freed's in a slow and soft kiss in greeting. That had become such a part of the day to day life, Laxus didn't even see it as kissing anymore. It was just something he did, a part of the day just like his morning coffee or the bagels that they both brought for lunch side by side. It was part of the schedule.

Except for the times it wasn't. Because some days, for a reason Laxus didn't know, Freed's kisses made him weak at the knees. He didn't focus on those days, though.

"I missed ya yesterday," Laxus informed him, leaning his elbows on the table after he pulled away. "Where were ya, ya look rough? Hungover. Birthday party," He leant forward and whispered in a teasing tone. "Hooked up with someone and wanted to keep it going into the morning?"

Freed laughed, slid off his glasses and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. "The opposite, actually. A break up."

"Oh, shit," Laxus cussed. "Sorry."

"You don't need to be," Freed put up a hand to placate Laxus, who was frowning now. "We were together for a year and a half, so it's not too long really. I know we were drifting apart when I moved to New York, and he started to become angry over the little things during our calls. But, even knowing that doesn't make it any nicer," He shook his head, and looked back at Laxus. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. It was just a little too raw at the time, I was hardly in the right mind to pretend I was madly in love."

"I get it," Laxus said to assure him. "You okay to do it today? Nobody's gonna question you, and a year and a half is a long time. Even if you don't agree."

"I'm fine," Freed didn't sound like he believed his own words, and Laxus tried not to be annoyed by that. "It'll take some time to get used to it. He was part of my routine, I think. I'll adjust."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure," Freed nodded. "And me and Sting our practising our fight scene. That'll be cathartic. My ex was a blonde as well, so perhaps I can pretend it's him falling to his death. Is that twisted?"

"A little," Laxus shrugged. "But, on behalf of the blonde men of the world, we can be pretty good."

"I'm sure you can," Freed agreed, and Laxus was almost sure Freed's eyes flickered over him for just a moment. He ignored it, because Freed was standing up and cracking his back. He looked ready to go towards the mockup of the bridge that was currently being made for the stage. Laxus reached out and grabbed Freed by the hand before he could stop himself, keeping Freed where he was.

"Don't let it get ya down," Laxus instructed, then gave a yank to pull Freed closer to him. "He's an idiot for breaking up with ya."

"Thank you," Freed said, and ducked his head and shyly averted his look. He had never seen Freed shy before.

For a reason he couldn't explain, not even to himself, he stood up and ran both hands down Freed's sides. Freed watched him with wide eyes as Laxus leant in, tilting his head and pressing a slow, chaste kiss onto Freed's lips. It lasted less than a second, but it was one of those beautiful knee weakening kisses that Laxus loved and was terrified of.

And the look on Freed's face, blissed out but confused, was magic to Laxus. He didn't want to ignore that feeling anymore. No, he needed to think about it properly now.

----

5: When They Were Close To The Beginning

Dress rehearsals were always a big deal. It was a sign that the show was coming together and that they were getting closer and closer to opening night. It was the first performance when the show felt complete, and Laxus had always found it to be one of the most exciting days in the whole process.

His costumes were honestly great. Over the process of working on Beauty And The Beast, he had grown to love all the colour and happiness and life that was teeming through the production. All his horror plays, and dramatic musicals were dark, dingy and cynical. He loved them, and he would never take what he'd done for granted, but there was something so bright about this musical and Laxus found himself wrapped up in it. All of his costumes, from the tattered outfit he had for the first act, to the golden tuxedo he wore when dancing with Freed, were perfect.

He leant against the wall outside of the hair and makeup room, mindlessly scrolling through his phone. He should have been inside, getting himself ready before putting on his first costume, but whoever was ahead of him was taking too much time.

"Hey," Laxus yelled into the door. "Hurry it-"

Just as Laxus was going to bang on the door, so when it opened, he stumbled forward a bit. He was suddenly eye to eye with Freed, but not the Freed he knew. Freed in full makeup, prosthetics, and costume.

It was incredible.

He wore small stilts, so now was a little taller than Laxus. He wore a Disney style suit, but with tufts of black fur peeking out from it. His hands were covered in prosthetics that made it look as though he had claws. Looking up further, he saw that Freed's face was covered in scales, crowned by a shock of manic green hair. Twisting and spiralling horns were protruding from his head, and Laxus got the urge to touch them. But he didn't, because he was caught up in Freed's eyes; which were a deep purple thanks to some industrial strength contact lenses. It was perfect.

"Damn," Laxus whistled, looking Freed up and down. "Not bad."

"Such insolence will not go unanswered. A creature like you should be kneeling at my feet," Freed said, using his in character voice, before grinning and ruining the effect. Laxus preferred it when it was ruined. "It's impressive, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Laxus agreed, still looking the man up and down. "Don't know how you're gonna do the transformation scene. This looks intense."

"The lighting team takes care of most of it," Freed shrugged. "I'm wearing another suit under this, the fur comes off easily enough, the only difficulty is getting rid of the makeup and the horns without anyone seeing. But that's what the workshop is going to be, I suppose."

Laxus bristled at the mention of the workshop. Freed's character needed some unique work that Laxus' didn't. Wirework, combat training, movement training for the stilts, and extra choreography. To get it all done before they started performing their previews, Freed was being taken out of regular rehearsals for a month so he could solidify his own character without the distractions of other people. Laxus would be acting alongside Gajeel for all that time, and the thought wasn't an appealing one. Again, Gajeel was fine, but Freed was becoming the regular highlight of Laxus' day and he wasn't ready to give that up yet.

"Laxus?" Freed asked, and Laxus blinked. "You okay?"

"What can I say, I like monsters," Laxus shrugged, then realised his mistake. Yes, he'd not shown Freed he would be missing him, but in a lot of ways he'd made it worse. He'd offered Freed ammunition against his dignity.

"Oh do you?" Freed purred in his character voice, and he trailed a claw down Laxus' cheek. Laxus matched his expression with an unimpressed frown. "Maybe you should be kneeling for me after all."

"Ha ha," Laxus said blandly. "You wish."

"Is that why you took the role, to fill out your fantasies?" Freed mused.

"I'll kick you off ya stilts if ya don't shut up," Laxus grumbled, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Is it really gonna take a month to get everything done?"

"That's what Bob says," Freed shrugged, then looked off to the side.

"We're gonna miss ya," Laxus informed him, and Freed smiled a tiny smile that spurred Laxus on to speak again. "I'm gonna miss ya."

"We could always meet outside of work," Freed offered, shrugging a little and still not looking towards Laxus. He had that reserved and shy look that he didn't let many people see, and even under the makeup, Laxus could tell he was nervous. "I'm not doing anything after rehearsal. Perhaps we could get a drink. If you'd like."

"Yeah, I would like it," Laxus nodded, beaming despite himself.

"Good," Freed smiled. "I should go. First on the stage, I expect they'd probably miss me."

"Probably would," Laxus agreed, but Freed didn't move and Laxus didn't want him to. They stood, happened to catch one another looking, then looked away again. When Freed looked like he actually was going to walk to the stage, Laxus reached out and took Freed's hand, stopping him just like he had before. "Wait."

"Yes?"

Laxus cupped Freed's cheeks gently, being sure not to smudge the makeup as he kissed Freed again. This wasn't soft, not chaste, but it was honest. It was one of those knee weakening kisses again, and the genuine feelings Laxus was trying to communicate spurred him on. Freed seemed to melt into it, kissing back slowly and happily, and when he stumbled over his stilts Laxus laughed and kept him upright after pulling away. They smiled at each other, alone in the corridor.

"You still wanna meet after practice?" Laxus asked, because he needed to be sure. Freed smiled at him.

"Absolutely."

----

+1: When It Was Real

Opening night. Freed couldn't help but feel nervous.

He could hear the music and the chatter from the theatre as a mixture of reviewers and members of the public made their way to their seats. Freed had performed many times, and he knew that this was the same thing just with a bigger crowd and with more expensive tickets. When he thought it through, he could rationalise himself out of nerves and say that, once it had started, he'd be too wrapped up in performing to actually panic. But that didn't help now.

A Broadway debut could make or break a person's career, so Freed needed to get it right. He would, he knew that because he was a professional, but that didn't make it any easier to calm down. Why did he have to be the first one on stage?

"You look nervous?" Laxus murmured, stepping beside him. That small act made him feel better at ease.

"I am," Freed admitted.

"You don't need to be," Laxus said it like it was a fact. "This isn't gonna be the day you fuck up. This is the day the world gets to know Freed Justine. It's your day."

"Thank you," Freed smiled, looking over the stage.

Suddenly, a hand was cupping his cheek and he was forced to look at Laxus. He was dressed in his first act costume, of a tattered waistcoat, slightly ripped trousers and a white shirt. He looked every bit like the romanticised peasant that his character was based on, and his scruffy hair was oddly charming. Freed smiled looking up at him.

They moved in unison, tilting heads and kissing slowly. Freed loved these kisses and melted into them each time. Laxus was his own weakness, and also his strength.

"You'll do great," Laxus whispered, stroking a strand of Freed's hair into place. "The world ain't ready for you. You'll knock 'em dead."

"Thank you," Freed whispered the words, before pulling away and straightening his back. Laxus was right, he could do this. This was what he was meant to do. He could do this in his sleep. If he could fall for his costar and have a better relationship with him than any other man he'd known, then he could do his job and play his part.

Bolstered by Laxus' words, and with the tingle of his kiss still on his lips, Freed entered the stage.

#Fraxus Week #Fraxus Week 2022 #Fraxus #Freed Justine #Laxus Dreyar #Freed x Laxus #Fairy Tail #Fanfic #Writing #Writing Event #One Shot #Modern Au #Theatre AU

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wangxiandecoded · 3 years

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Episode 13

Previous Episode

Picking up where last episode ended, we see this scene again just in case the viewers forgot Wei Ying offered to carry Lan Zhan on his back. Joke’s on them, we all scampered for our lives the first time we saw it to hit play on episode 13 and find out whether it would actually happen. It’s ok y’all, they’re just baiting the hets watching this show. (I’m sure some of their hearts leapt at the possibility of Wei Ying carrying Lan Zhan and they were probably thinking, “I hope this doesn’t awaken something in me.”)

Wei Ying sends paperman to request Wen Qing to help them. The Yiling Laozu is a renowned innovator, but perhaps what the cultivation world didn’t know was that it was because his lover always keeps him on his toes and he’s had a lot of practice using his imagination to invent a thousand ways to get around Lan Zhan’s protests to help him, protect him, love him and build a home in his heart.

We catch a glimpse of Lan Zhan’s true feelings here and he is glad Wei Ying wordlessly understands the thoughts he does not voice out. It has to be hard for the mighty Hanguang-Jun to admit vulnerability in the open like this. But he doesn’t need to because Wei Ying knows him well enough by now. It’s just going to take Lan Zhan a while to get used to it. Let’s be patient with him y��all, Wei Ying is his first boyfriend after all! Wangxian’s initial dynamics have been about Lan Zhan going through life’s trials like, “I can do this by myself, I’ve seen worse and fear nothing” and Wei Ying taking his hand like, “I know you can but you don’t have to do that all the time. You have me now.”

Perhaps this shot of Wangxian walking together screamed that they were #husbands too loudly that they chose to show no closeups of it. But of course Wei Ying held on to Lan Zhan through the whole journey.

Wangxian Paving The Way

I adore this shot of Lan Zhan and Wei Ying leading everyone and being dauntless torchbearers who illuminate the uncharted territory before them. This queer couple is truly going where no heteros ever went, and the hets can only cower behind them. Heck yeah for this badass representation!

Wen Chao is back on his bullshit, bullying Wangxian again and Lan Zhan sees red.

Lan Zhan even with his broken leg is the first one to climb down and help Wei Ying stand up before he’s even considered getting up. Did Lan Zhan move at lightning speed to help the love of his life? You bet he did.

Lan Zhan is the first one to take Mian Mian’s side and he does it because, well, it’s the honorable thing to do and he will not hesitate to defend the innocent. This is however especially hilarious because Lan Zhan later grows insanely jealous about Wei Ying intercepting the arrow that was meant for her, when Lan Zhan was close to perhaps doing the same thing and risking his life in this instant. But of course he’s too far gone to realize that.

Someone Please Make Wen Chao STFU

This man hasn’t uttered a single non-homophobic word on this show and deserves all the ass-kicking coming his way in the near future.

Unrelated but I just find it funny how this creature has terrible eyesight, you know just like the fearsome censor board that let all the gay ass moments pass and some viewers we still have to convince CQL team did a great job telling the world Wangxian are in love. This creature might as well represent the heteronormative vision that plagues viewers.

Wei Ying is giving a lot of attention to Mian Mian and it only takes an educated guess to venture Lan Zhan is positively vibrating from crown to toe with jealousy, since he admits as much later. He’s already turned away from this sight that he cannot stand to watch. Quick! He needs to figure out a way to save the day and impress Wei Ying with his sexy wits so he can have all the attention back on him.

Wei Ying Saves The World & Lan Zhan Saves Him

It’s highkey hot how Lan Zhan plucks Wei Ying out of harm’s way time and again. This show really gave us Lan Zhan leaping in front of Wei Ying to suffer a physical injury and Wei Ying leaping in front of Mian Mian to take the branding iron to his chest in the same episode. And yet only one of them is read as a romantic act by some.

Wei Ying trying to save everyone and offering himself in their place, while Lan Zhan leaps in front of him to form a protective barrier between him and certain death is basically CQL in a nutshell.

‘Trapped In The Cave’ Is The Most Romantic Trope Ever

Chronologically speaking, the cave scene boasts some of the most romantic moments in the show. This is a plot device we know all too well. How many times have we seen straight couples forced to spend time together and the rest of the characters conveniently eliminated from the scene? And how fantastic is it that this facilitates much-needed communication and quality bonding time between our protagonists? The fact that they brought the most ancient trope in storytelling alive for Wangxian is the most damning evidence there is! Ten whole minutes of Wangxian hurt/comfort tag.. did we really get to see this?

We’ve also never seen Lan Zhan hurt and suffer like this. It’s very telling Wei Ying is the only one who gets to see this vulnerable side of him and Lan Zhan has long since stopped fighting him on it. He is grateful Wei Ying is by his side and annoyed when he isn’t the recipient of his undivided attention. This is their new normal.

No force is strong enough to stop Wei Ying from taking care of his Lan Zhan! Him using the sacred headband as a makeshift bandage? Once again a testament to him being a queer visionary. He just has the foresight to turn ordinary situations into something extraordinarily gay and no one is complaining.

When will this story stop drawing attention to the fact that Wei Ying is the only one allowed to touch Lan Zhan’s headband? We get it! They’re married, your honor.

It’s cute that when in doubt about solving a life or death situation, Wei Ying can always make Lan Zhan gay panic as the most effective remedy. Let’s break this legendary scene down shot by shot.

You know how straight shows use homoerotically charged scenes as comedic relief because oh, it’s an absolutely hilarious notion that two guys could actually be in a relationship? CQL subverts that and plays gag reel music to distract the censors from the fact that this whole scene is GAY as eff with fireworks popping in rainbow colors.

There is truly only one person in this world who can fluster Lan Zhan to hell and back and still save his life in the process and that’s the love of his life.

This shot of a dazed Lan Zhan gently blinking in uncloaked awe and starting to realize what Wei Ying just did is teeming with a fragility that feels like something the audience shouldn’t have been privy to. And it will do good for us to remember, this is how he sees Wei Ying. This is the man Lan Zhan sees, this is the man he fell in love with, who is the sole recipient of this unguarded expression, the man he chose to stand with in the end: His soulmate who protects him, takes care of him, listens to him, is already there holding him up before Lan Zhan has even thought about needing someone to lean on. The world will see many things in Wei Ying in the episodes to come but Lan Zhan sees this guy with the purest heart, a soulmate and hero who has seemingly ascended from a gay fairytale to sweep him off his feet and hold his hand while slaying monsters.

I think this is the final straw in every sense there is for Lan Zhan. All the walls he built have ruptured and he trusts Wei Ying with his life and is glad to have his company in what seems like the end of the world. Of course he treasures these memories with Wei Ying in the cave beyond words and time. He’s a true romantic, y’all.

I know I wasn’t the only one who gasped first time watching this scene, when Lan Zhan caught Wei Ying’s hand, took the panacea and treated his chest wound with a suave, “You’re welcome”. It is a simple but sweet romantically reciprocating gesture that speaks volumes about Lan Zhan’s love for Wei Ying. It screams, “Why do you care for the world but not yourself, you bleeding idiot?”

Out of all the looks Lan Zhan has sported in the entirety of this show, turns out jealousy looks the most attractive on him.

This scene is a goldmine for every viewer who has been invested in Lan Zhan’s character growth and we see him reach a new peak here. He takes care of Wei Ying, is jealous of Mian Mian, vocalizes it more than once, scolds Wei Ying for not prioritizing himself and confides in Wei Ying for the first time. These are all signs of a man who is taking Wei Ying as his life partner. And what is endearing is how encountering danger is the routine for two people who have dedicated their lives to protecting others, and yet Lan Zhan is disappointed and exasperated that Wei Ying values his own self so little. And if that is not the hallmark of a swoonworthy romance, I don’t know what is.

This scene also gave us two bros sitting zero feet apart and gazing passionately into each other’s eyes as the fire illuminates their faces in a tender romantic glow for no reason except that they’re flamingly gay. (And arguing about a non-issue involving a girl but that’s again precisely because they are certainly, unequivocally gay.) A classic, “Are you lost, bro?” “Lost in your eyes bro” moment!

First time I watched this scene I fully expected Wei Ying to complete his sentence with, “Unless you like Mian Mian me…” and Lan Zhan to grow gloriously red and confirm that. Even though that’s basically what this scene ended up establishing. The subtext, intonation and the proximity of their loaded glance all point that it is the idea that was meant to be evoked in the minds of the viewers.

That’s the sound of Wei Ying laughing in relief that Lan Zhan considers him his partner in life. The inherent romanticism that is seen here with the fire crackling over the long-awaited conversation and relationship progress between our couple!

It’s funny how life changes. One minute you’re fighting The Tortoise of Slaughter, the next minute you’re mad at your boyfriend for flirting with someone who isn’t you. Even the Bearer of Light has his bad days, and Wei Ying is there to ensure they don’t end badly.

Yes Wei Ying! How unlucky for you both and how lucky for us that we got to see this scene that lives timelessly in our hearts.

Wei Ying already knows this but hearing it from Lan Zhan is staggering all the same, especially since this is the first time Lan Zhan has spoken to him in a while without prying eyes and ears.

To top it all off, the episode concluded with another romantic trope: looking lovingly and longingly at your beloved when they sleep. Folks, how gay is it to wrap your boyfriend in your robes and gaze worriedly at his lips whilst he sleeps? I reckon that’s hella gay!

All in all, this masterpiece of an episode gave us Lan Zhan fuming in many glorious shades of green, set Wangxian up in a situation they couldn’t get out of, taking them to certain end of the world and tinging the entire scene in la vie en rose. Needless to say it is an episode we’ve revisited countless times because nothing made us happier! But hold on tight y’all, it’s going to get a lot gayer and bumpier.

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helliontherapscallion · 4 years

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Bonding (Adrenaline Junkie Chapter 12)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: nightmares, swearing, mentions of death/injury

Word count: 3,383

(A/N): it feels good to get back to this story

A week and a half went by in a flash. In that time, you and Arthur grew closer. You absolutely loved how he was so interested in innovation and engineering, you felt like he was the perfect choice for your apprentice. To pass the time, you would teach Arthur the basics of redstone working. You taught him everything from how to properly store it to the beginnings of using repeaters. Occasionally, Philza would join you two in lessons.

“Then, you just connect the repeaters together with redstone and set each for the desired times. Et voila! You have properly working timed pistons.”

Looking up from your demonstration, you stifle a chuckle at the two sitting in front of you. Arthur, the ever vigilant student, was frantically scribbling down notes into the journal you gave him, his face scrunched in concentration and his tongue poking out the corner of his mouth. Your father, however, looked downright confused. The poor man was staring down helplessly at the two repeaters in front of him, the whole set up he had looked slightly flimsy in structure. Redstone dust messily formed a line between the iron contraptions with the occasional tiny break in the dust. Judging by the positioning of the repeaters themselves, they were in the right place but they were haphazardly placed. Sure the positioning of the two repeaters relative to each other would work, but it was just something that you wouldn’t do. You always hated clutter in your contraptions. The only true flaw in his build was the messy line of redstone.

You walked over to the table your dad was working at and started to explain why the machine wasn’t working. “So your only mistake here is the cleanliness of your redstone. With it being this messy, there are plenty of potential breakages of the wiring,” you gently swept the redstone into a neat line with your hands and watched as the entire contraption glowed red. Pistons started moving in succession of each other in timed bursts. “One more thing, just a little nitpicky thing, the repeaters are set right, they’re just… messy?” You watched as Philza watched the movement of the pistons with a blank look before he looked up at you with a slightly annoyed look.

“Other than that, the settings of the repeaters were set right!” You sheepishly grinned at him before realizing that he wasn’t going to be reassured by your weak reassurance. You looked over to Arthur, “Arthur buddy you wanna try?”

You watched as his eyes lit up in excitement as he looked up from you from over the brim of his journal. Without a word, he quickly got to work. You and Philza watched him as he continuously looked between his journal and his work.

“I didn’t know working with redstone was so hard. I just thought it was easy with how fast you invent things,” Philza said dejectedly.

You reached over to pat him on the back, “it took me a while to figure it out. I remember four years ago when I started I was completely lost.”

You felt the vibration of his chuckle, “I remember when you almost crushed your wing in a piston. You were so lucky it only caught the ends of a few primary feathers.”

You chuckled bittersweetly, “not that it matters. I lost that wing a few months after that.”

You could practically hear his mind start churning, “but you made a new one, you can still fly.”

“It’s not the same Dad. I hate having to spend thirty minutes putting the sensors on my back. I can’t feel the air moving through my feathers anymore. It feels like a part of me is constantly missing and this hunk of useless metal doesn’t take that feeling away.”

He fell silent as he continued to watch Arthur work. You always felt bad whenever you dumped your trauma on him, he was always looking for ways for you to feel better. But there were just some things that couldn’t be fixed with reassurances and small gifts. He didn’t understand that and you didn’t have the heart to tell him that his kind and caring nature would never get you your wing back. It was gone forever and nothing can bring it back.

You tried to not be bitter about it, it happened three years ago afterall, but you couldn’t help but feel a bitter taste on your tongue and a pang in your heart whenever someone mentions a time when you still had both wings. Whenever someone mentioned you having both wings, you could still remember the feeling of the air working itself through the nooks and crannies of the spaces between your feathers, the way that both wings would hang off your bed because they were too large (you never got to ask Philza about how he covered his wings), the way that they would both puff up behind you when you tried to intimidate your brothers during a snowball fight. You didn’t want those memories, they were of a better version of yourself. You didn’t want to be reminded of what could’ve been if you didn’t go deeper into that damned cave.

“...Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Don’t apologize, I should’ve realized how you felt before bringing it up.”

“It’s not your fault, you didn’t know.”

You watched as his eyebrows furrowed and he looked at you with confusion, “why’re you just now-”

“(Y/n) I think I did it! Come look!”

Without a second glance at your dad, you hurried off to inspect Arthur’s contraption. It was perfectly set up; the redstone was in a neat line with no breakages, the repeaters were set perfectly and spaced evenly apart, and the pistons were successfully moving together in timed spurts.

You grinned at Arthur, “well done! This is perfect, you’ll be moving onto making your own inventions in no time. I couldn't have asked for a better apprentice.”

Arthur basked in your praise and listened to your words like they were being sung to him by an angel. He was practically beaming with how proud he was of himself. If the redstone smeared on his cheeks could be activated by emotional response, it would be glowing a brilliant red.

You reached out to wipe away the redstone from his cheek with your thumb, “why don’t you go clean up so we can grab some lunch. I bet you’re hungry.”

“I’m not hungry, I just wanna work with you more!” Arthur tried to convince you, but the rumbling of his stomach told you otherwise. You chuckled as the redstone slowly got camouflaged into his reddening puffed out cheeks.

He looked away in embarrassment as he started to stalk up the stairs, “...I’ll go clean up.”

Alongside teaching Arthur the basics of what you know, you were working on a plan to somehow release the souls from the Warden’s captivity. You felt a sort of survivor’s guilt when you thought about how you returned to your family and Hugh did not. Your family could survive without you, but Hugh was Arthur’s only family. It was unfair that such a kind, loving boy had his only family ripped away from him at such a young age when he needed his brother most. The least you could do for Arthur was free his brother’s soul from it’s endless torment.

You kept a journal that you would write out your plans in. The plans ranged from fighting the Warden with your very limited swordsmanship to blowing the entire cave to smithereens. No matter what plan you came up with, it would always result in you getting seriously wounded or dying for the last time. Most of the plans you came up with wouldn’t work anyways; the Warden was just too powerful. Asking Philza or Techno was out of the question, you didn’t want to risk their lives. That, and they would never let you go kill it. This was something you had to do on your own.

The mere thought of facing the Warden stressed you out extremely, giving you more and more nightmares about the monster.

The Warden somehow entered your house. You could hear it’s booming footsteps working its way through the hallways and stopping at each room. You could hear how it slaughtered your family brutally. You could hear their screams slowly becoming integrated into the horrid cacophony of the souls’ as their souls were absorbed into the Warden’s being. Finally, as the Warden reached your room, you could hear your family’s voices over the harsh screaming of the other souls.

“You promised me that you wouldn’t let it get me.” Arthur.

“I thought you’d always protect me.” Tommy.

“Why’d you let me die?” Wilbur.

“I’ve done so much for you and you just let me die.” Techno.

“It should’ve been you.” Philza.

Just as the Warden’s clawed hand swung down towards your face, you bolted up from your bed and flattened yourself against the wall scanning your room for the Warden. There was not a single thing out of place in your room. You wiped away the tears that were streaming freely down your cheeks and grabbed your automatic crossbow you had leaning against your wall. Grasping it with an iron grip and your finger hovering over the trigger, you reluctantly left your room and made your way down the hallway. You opened Philza’s door and peered into his room. You could see his wings sprawled out behind him and his chest rising and falling gently. He was still alive. You closed the door quietly and made your way to Wilbur’s old room where Arthur was currently sleeping. Bracing yourself to find his corpse, you opened the door. You only saw a mop of brilliant red hair poking out of the blankets. You couldn’t see movement, oh god was he even breathing? You rushed over to his bed and pulled back the covers.

You could see his peaceful face looking back at you. Putting your hand under his nose, you held your breath as you waited for air to hit your hand. Finally after what seemed like forever, you felt a gentle burst of air hit your hand. You covered Arthur back up and stalked out of his room. Your family was alive. The Warden was still in that cave. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.

You glanced at the clock, it was about half past four in the morning. You’d have to wake up in about two hours, so you just made your way down to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of coffee. Not that you’d be able to go back to sleep after that nightmare anyways. Time moved infinitely around you as you became engrossed in your thoughts. You needed to make better plans to kill the Warden. You needed to be better.

You didn’t notice when Arthur and Philza entered the kitchen. You were fully zoned out staring at the now cold cup of coffee in your hands, lost in thought. It wasn’t until you felt a hand on your shoulder that you snapped out of your trance. Recoiling violently and reaching for the crossbow you had propped up against the chair, you whipped around and pointed the weapon at the thing that touched you. Instead of the Warden standing there ready to devour you, you were met with a startled Philza stepping back with his hands in the air. Arthur was hiding behind him fearfully.

Your eyes widened as you lowered the crossbow. You could feel your wing start to puff up and retract itself back in reflecting your horror as you hastily put the crossbow back onto the table. “I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t- I wouldn’t do that. Shit what time is it, I haven’t made breakfast yet. I’ll start. I'm sorry.”

You pushed passed them as you rushed over to the chest and pulled out the ingredients to make pancakes. Your shaky hands struggled slightly to pour the exact measurement of flour before someone stopped you.

“(Y/n), I’ll make it.” It was your dad once again.

“No, I got it.”

“(Y/n), I’m not asking. Go sit down.”

You sighed as you started walking to the table. You could hear Arthur’s breath hitch in his throat when you grabbed the crossbow and stalked up to your room to hide it. You could feel guilt, shame, and horror rise up from deep within you from what you almost did. You couldn’t believe that you almost just shot them because of your stupid delusion. It would’ve been fatal too, your automatic crossbow never failed to kill. It was one of the many downsides to the weapons you invented, you had to live with the fact that people are getting killed because of your inventions. In a way, you indirectly killed many people per day.

You walked down the stairs as slowly as you could so you could avoid having to face them. You couldn’t forget the look of pure fear on Arthur’s face as he hid behind Philza, you were the cause of that. You promised that you would protect him and he fully trusted you to do so. This morning you took that trust and destroyed it the second you reached for that crossbow.

When you reached the dining room, you sat down as far away from Arthur as possible. You could hear Philza pause his movements when he saw you enter the room before he started stirring again. He was probably trying to see if you came back with a stronger weapon so he could protect Arthur. You were a monster.

Soon enough breakfast was ready and a hefty plate of pancakes covered with maple syrup was placed in front of you. Breakfast went by quietly, the only sound coming from the clanking of silverware against plates. You didn’t eat much of your breakfast, you were too busy trying to think of a way to apologize to Arthur and Philza. In the middle of your thought process, you were interrupted by Arthur’s voice.

“(Y/n)?”

You jumped slightly and looked up at him, “yeah?”

“Can you look at my blueprint? I got an idea for something yesterday and I wanna see if you think it’d work.”

You looked at the young boy in slight confusion, “...Sure just finish your breakfast first.”

“I’m done, I’ll go grab it!”

Without giving you any warning, he jumped out of his chair and raced up the stairs.

“You gave us quite the scare this morning hun. What happened?”

“I’m sorry-”

“Don’t apologize, just tell me what happened.”

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair, “I just had a bad nightmare last night. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I just… came down here to wait a bit so I could make breakfast.”

“Nightmares are understandable, but why’d you have a crossbow?”

“I thought I needed something to protect the house if it came.”

“If the Warden came? I thought you didn’t get nightmares about it anymore.”

“Well, I still do, just a lot more frequently-”

Arthur burst through the door and ran over to you, slapping the paper on the table in front of you. You squinted at it, trying to decipher the messy handwriting. It was a layout of a secret door, which was popular in the world of redstoning. You didn’t have the heart to tell him that though, especially with how excited he was to show you what he made. So, you smiled at him.

“It looks good buddy, do ya wanna try to build it today? I can help you.”

“Yes! I’m gonna go get dressed so we can build it!”

He once again dashed up the stairs, leaving you and Philza alone in the kitchen. Philza chuckled, “he reminds me of Tommy when he was that age. Except… a little more mellow.” When you didn’t respond, he turned to look at you. “What’s wrong?”

You sighed, “he was so scared of me this morning. I promised to protect him and I almost ended up killing him.”

“...Ya know I almost stabbed you and your brothers multiple times when you guys were younger because you guys startled me right?”

You felt the corners of your mouth twitch, “of course I do, and you would always get us ice cream after.”

“Did you ever resent me for it?”

“No, you were just trying to def- oh, I see where you’re going with this.”

“Ever the keen one,” he chuckled. “Arthur’s more understanding than most kids his age, I bet he understands that you didn’t mean to do that. You just gotta make it up to him.”

“Alright, thank you Dad. I think I’m gonna go get dressed so Arthur doesn’t have to wait long. I think if I have him wait any longer he’s gonna explode.”

After you got dressed, you walked downstairs and grabbed the materials Arthur would need and a couple of extra supplies you might need. Walking outside, you were met with an excited Arthur. You two worked on his contraption all day. You knew exactly what he needed to do to fix any problems that arouse, but you only gave him little hints that would push him in the right direction. You wanted him to stop relying on you so much for the little things. Sure, you were always going to be there for him when he was stuck, but you wanted him to be more independent.

Eventually, the sky took on hues of pinks and yellows as the sun started to disappear behind the treeline. “It’s getting late, Arthur. You made good progress today.”

He nodded as he walked alongside you back into the house as you led him to the couch. “Arthur?”

He looked at you, his brown eyes clouded with exhaustion and confusion. “I’m so proud of how fast you’ve improved. I have something for you.” You reached into your bag and pulled out a new pair of goggles and leather gloves.

“I know it’s not much, but-”

“I love it.” He whispered as he stared down at his presents in his hands. Without warning, he flung himself into your side as he tightly hugged your midsection. You froze before you wrapped your left wing around him in a feathery hug. Your hand reached up to stroke his hair as you chuckled. “It’s no problem kid, you deserve it.”

You two sat there for a bit before you patted his back, “dinner’s almost ready. Let’s go clean up so my dad doesn’t throw a fit. You have redstone and dirt all over you.”

After you two cleaned the dirt off from your faces and hands, you led Arthur down the stairs. You nudged his shoulder when you got to the end of the stairs, “race you to the kitchen!”

You broke off into a speed walk as Arthur started to sprint, laughing boisterously as the distance grew between you two quickly. Grinning, you shouted out, “oh no, I can’t go any faster! You’re gonna win!”

You dramatically yelled out a stretched out “no” as he bolted into the kitchen and sat at the table. You sped walked into the kitchen and sat next to Arthur. “How’re you so fast? I couldn’t catch up to you if I tried.”

“Yeah, you’re a speed demon Arthur!” Philza agreed from the stove between laughs. He forgot how much missed having his kids race each other to the dinner table, having Arthur around the house was really refreshing for him. He was ecstatic that you were getting closer to Arthur, it meant that he was going to get another grandson soon.

Dinner went by a lot smoother with laughter and banter being tossed around freely. Arthur would not take the goggles off and wore them proudly at the top of his head. Philza would cast knowing looks over to you when he was sure you were looking at him, which confused you, but you just brushed the feeling aside. You were happy sitting at the table eating with your little family; you couldn’t wait for your brothers and nephew to finally meet Arthur. They’d get along well with your apprentice. Until then, you have a mission to complete involving a certain monster.

General taglist (comment if you want to be added):

@crybabyjabby @izzybobizzy13 @goldenstarofthunderclan @bunnyz-pxstel @averytiredfanfictionwriter @dcml04

Series taglist (comment if you want to be added):

@acecarddraws @ravennightingaleandavatempus @dirtydiavolo @yeiras-world @immadatmostthings @hee-hee-haw @jackalopedoodles @m1lkmandan @vanhakirja @im-a-depressed-gay @coolleviauchihadreamerlove @questioning-sanity @camisascam @bongwaterflavoredgatorade @kakamiissad @jayistrash4 @lifestylesleep @speedymaximoff @sun-shark-tooth @appetiteofapeoplepleaser @lestrangenymph @kinismanditory @dragons-lurk-here @rinzyx05 @the-wandering-pan-ace @sparkling-gayyyy @angelic-scent @shinipii @dont-hug-me-im-a-fander @izzydimensional @used-avocado @laura--444 @wing-non @lovely-echoo @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @mysteryartisticwriter @momo-has-a-gun @mosstea-png @w-0-r-n-n @v-kouya @kusuinko @kiinokochii @cheybaee @dulcedippers @jaciahbabes

#sbi x reader #sleepy bois x reader #sleepy bois inc x reader #philza x reader #technoblade x reader #wilbur soot x reader #tommyinnit x reader #sibling reader #platonic #mcyt #mcyt x reader #tw: nightmare #tw: swearing #tw: death #tw: injury

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Text

Spilled Pearls

- Chapter 19 - ao3 -

Time passed, as it had a tendency to do.

After Cangse Sanren left, Lan Qiren remained in seclusion for the next two months, reviewing texts on the Lan sect rules regarding reciprocation, filial respect, and loyalty, and occasionally playing some new pieces – he’d started composing music as well as simply learning it, and that was a finicky business. Not only did he need to worry about the musical composition itself, like any normal musician, but there was also interweaving the spiritual energies and figuring out the way the song could be used as a spell, which was a completely different and often completely contradictory set of rules.

Moreover, the most powerful song-spells, he knew, were the ones that incorporated and drew on emotion, and he’d always had difficulty with those. Like most of his clan, Lan Qiren cleaved towards the more intellectual melodies, difficult but cold and distant, yet if he wanted to be truly innovative, he would need to find melodies in his heart.

Not long before he went to the Nightless City he had been inspired in a dream with a half-snippet of sound, which he had been painstakingly building up into a song in fits and starts, but recently he had found that whenever he played it the only image that came to mind was that of pearls scattered amidst blood-red mud.

The song was good, though, although it felt unfinished and incomplete. After he emerged from seclusion, he played it for his music teacher, first without qi and then with, demonstrating the suffocating and asphyxiating feeling of it – a heavy stone sitting in the midst of his chest, all his misery and anxieties wrapped up into musical notes – and his music teacher had been thrilled.

“You were born to write tragedies, child,” he said, examining the score proudly. “This is not only good but innovative, a new style with unexpected effects. I look forward to seeing you refine this further, and to your future works.”

Lan Qiren saluted deeply.

Music was just about the only thing that was going right for him at the moment.

The other disciples had been lured back into gossip by his presence, consumed by curiosity, and the teachers had come down on it hard, breeding resentment; even his few friends had been made tired by the whole fuss and only wanted it to die down. The rumors went by swiftly and quickly, anything to do with the Wen sect or the Nightless City almost immediately spread around everywhere, reaching his ears almost immediately upon his exit from seclusion.

One in particular caused him alarm, suggesting that Madame Wen had been discarded or even killed immediately after successfully bearing a son to her husband, but Lan Yueheng had convinced Lan Ganhui, always good at making friends, to write to the Wen sect disciples he’d become friendly with in the Nightless City to find out the truth. In the end, it turned out that Wen Ruohan had merely grown more distant from her, instructing her to go into seclusion for the birth a little early, and had perhaps sarcastically sent her a few treatises on the subject of a wife’s duty to support her husband. In the end, Wen Ruohan was an ambitious and ruthless man who encouraged his sect to take him as his model - as he himself had remarked, Madame Wen’s viciousness in fact demonstrated how she was an excellent match for him.

Lan Qiren hated that he was relieved that Wen Ruohan had not taken out his rage at what had happened on his wife, who had instigated the incident. He hated even more his suspicions that Wen Ruohan might have refrained from doing so not out of morality but out of the thought that Lan Qiren himself might disapprove - he wasn’t sure if that thought made him happy or sad.

At any rate, he soon didn’t have time to worry about things like that.

Lan Qiren’s refusal to explain in any detail what had happened at the Nightless City that had sent him fleeing and retreating into seclusion was largely not accepted by his curious peers, especially when someone had jeeringly pointed out that he’d probably told Cangse Sanren the whole thing already, and he refused to go to his teachers to complain, as he had in his youth.

His brother hadn’t accepted it, either.

He’d given Lan Qiren ten days after exiting seclusion, clearly expecting him to come and report on what had happened. When Lan Qiren had not done so, he had finally grown impatient and found him, demanding to know what it was that he had done that had caused such a fuss.

Lan Qiren had knelt and declared that he was unfilial and disobedient, that he had broken the rules, and requested that his brother punish him for his wrongdoing.

His brother had stared at him for a long time before realizing that Lan Qiren was serious – that he would rather be punished for intentionally breaking the rules against honoring and obeying his elders than tell what he had done or what had happened. Even when he was dragged to the hanshI, his collar pulled tight in his brother’s fist until he was thrown down to kneel in front of their father the sect leader, Lan Qiren did not object; he knelt without complaint, and even pressed his forehead to the ground in deference, but he did not speak.

The punishment his father decided upon for him was harsh, but Lan Qiren accepted it willingly. By the rules of his sect, an accepted punishment expiated a breach of the rules; once punished, he could no longer be persecuted for what he had done to earn the punishment. It would be over and done with.

Of course, there were always ways around that.

Technically, Lan Qiren’s breach was not in refusing to tell what had happened, but in disrespecting his elders by so refusing. A few days after he recovered from his initial punishment, his brother, still furious at having been denied, asked him the same question, with the same result. Their father looked disapprovingly at his eldest son – deliberately exploiting loopholes was not good etiquette – but again imposed a punishment.

Lan Qiren gritted his teeth and endured.

Lan Qiren’s brother did not bother him a third time, but by then it was too late; their relationship continued to deteriorate. Lan Qiren sought to avoid his brother whenever possible, and his brother’s disappointment in him grew; although he did not explicitly complain or impose punishments directly, he made his views clear. Those disciples and teachers that most admired him were, as always, more than willing to follow his lead and fill in the gaps, and for one reason or another Lan Qiren spent more time in the discipline hall than ever before.

Eventually, noticing the division, others in the sect sought to reconcile them – their teachers, in the most part – but Lan Qiren rebuffed them, having noticed that their requests to be more considerate and free-minded were always aimed at him and never to his brother.

After poor Lan Yueheng, who never cared about anything but his alchemy and his mathematics and, possibly, the particularly indulgent outer-sect female disciple that guarded the stockroom of the ingredients he used to make things explode and regularly looked the other way when he came to get an extra helping, got roped into trying to tell Lan Qiren to be more forgiving, citing rules about fighting within families leading to nothing with a miserable and bemused expression on his face, Lan Qiren went to the teacher in question and rather acidly pointed out the discrepancy.

“He’s your elder,” the teacher said.

“Do not disrespect the younger,” Lan Qiren retorted.

“He’s your family –”

“Am I not his?”

The teacher sighed. “It’s not the same, with him. You know how he is – how he’s always been.”

Lan Qiren knew. Still, he said, “If you can identify where my conduct does not live up to the rules, please do so, and I will consider if my conduct requires modification. At the moment, I do not.”

“Qiren…”

“Why must I always be the one to yield?” Lan Qiren demanded. “I didn’t answer one question, and I took the punishment for it, as was my right. He is the one who is insisting on making a fuss, not me – why come to me? I don’t want anything from him.”

“That’s the problem. You shouldn’t fight so – why this, why now? You’ve always yielded to him before.”

Lan Qiren said nothing.

“He’s still your elder brother, Qiren. Soon, he’ll be your sect leader.”

“Do not fear the strong; do not bully the weak,” Lan Qiren said. “Being sect leader makes him more responsible, not less.”

“Qiren –”

“I have been a good brother to him for nearly twenty years, honored teacher. Perhaps not the most promising, perhaps somewhat embarrassing, but devoted in my own way. I have not changed so much. I am still loyal, still filial; I still do all that I am asked…the only thing that changed is that I expect nothing from him.”

Not even his love.

Lan Qiren knew better, now. He’d seen what a brother could be, what it should be - he’d experienced, however fleetingly, having someone genuinely care for him, listen to him and indulge him and take joy in his company; no longer would he accept his brother’s barely concealed disdain as an adequate substitute.

“Qiren –”

“Has my father said anything?”

His teacher fell silent.

Lan Qiren bowed his head, having expected nothing better. His father was growing more and more distant from the world, less and less interested in the minutiae of everyday life; he could still stir himself to care for his precious eldest son, the child of his heart, but his oft-forgotten and overlooked second?

Unless Lan Qiren’s brother had complained about him, his father was unlikely to remember that such a person as Lan Qiren even existed.

“Does father hate me?” he asked, emboldened by his misery. It was the question he had always wanted to ask and had never dared to, and his teacher flinched as if struck. “Is that why he never saw me?”

“No,” his teacher said. “No – it wasn’t…”

“Does he blame me for my mother’s death?”

“He blames himself,” his teacher said, and sounded tired unto death. “From the very first. He thought that if he had not been sect leader, they might not have lost their children; if he was not sect leader, it wouldn’t have mattered if they’d had only one child left. But he couldn’t blame the sect, so he blamed himself – you don’t know how bad it was, Qiren; you don’t know what we all went through back then. When your mother died, he even lost his mind for a time.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Lan Qiren demanded. His hands had clenched into fists at some point, his knuckles pale and white. “If he blames himself and not me, then why did he – he never –”

He barely even saw me, he wanted to say. I am his son, just like my brother, yet it’s as if I don’t exist.

Why couldn’t he love me, too?

“You were very young,” his teacher said, his voice suddenly very distant as if he were remembering something. Lan Qiren looked at him in surprise. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but...she had just died, and he had lost his mind; none of us had realized the extent to it, thinking it merely grief. You were young, you didn’t understand. You ran to him, seeking comfort, and he nearly – he couldn’t risk having such a sin on his conscience, Qiren. You should not blame him.”

“What are you saying? That he neglected me and held me at arms’ length to console himself for nearly murdering me?” Lan Qiren asked, and thought back to all the times he had found himself afraid of his father’s glacial voice, terrified for no reason. If his father had tried to kill him in a rage, as his teacher suggested, shouldn’t he have been more scared of the heat than of cold?

Unless - his brilliant and accomplished father, who always acted as the rules said he should but who had lost his heart along with his wife - unless he had knowingly -

Perhaps it had been the sect that had ordered their separation, not his father. Perhaps his father, who had spent years going through the motions of leadership and caring only about the son that reminded him of his wife’s joy and not the one who reminded him only of her death - his father, who led their sect and raised his eldest son and in so doing taught them all to be like him, overly partial to favorites and overly harsh to those that did not meet expectations - perhaps he had not objected to that arrangements. Perhaps it had been the elders that had set the rule of meeting only once a month, rather than not at all.

Perhaps they had thought that it had been for Lan Qiren’s own good that they had done so.

Perhaps they thought it was for his own good that they encouraged him to yield now to his brother’s temper, to humble himself despite having done nothing wrong, and all for the sake of familial peace.

That was not the conduct mandated by his family’s rules. Not the ones he followed, anyway.

It’s his fault, Lan Qiren thought suddenly. He saw the path we were walking down, my brother and I, and he did nothing to stop it; he loved my brother too much and me too little, and ruined us both through his negligence and indifference. He made my brother think he deserved the world that he then had to hold up on his own, while he made me think I deserved nothing...he could have done better by us. He should have done better by us.

Finding that his teacher had run out of things to say, Lan Qiren saluted him once again.

“I will be filial and loyal, as the rules require,” he said simply. “I will respect and honor my father and brother. Do not doubt that.”

He said no more. Instead, he returned to his quarters, wondering if they thought he was happy about how things stood between him and his brother, who he still loved.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

He thought miserably to himself that he had been happier living in denial, pretending to himself that there was brotherly affection between them, that his brother’s coldness was only because Lan Qiren had spoiled things somehow by being inferior than his brother would have preferred. When he could love his brother whole-heartedly and think to himself that his brother secretly loved him back, when he suspected but did not know that that had only ever been a lie he had concocted for himself. He had been far happier back then than the way it was now, when even the paper-thin one-sided façade of love was gone.

The saddest part of it all was that Lan Qiren still loved his brother, his stupid Lan heart as inexorable as a mountain avalanche already set in motion. He just didn’t much like him.

He did like Wen Ruohan, the brother that liked him back and might even have loved him if a man such as him could recognize such a tender emotion, but that wasn’t really relevant.

Lan Qiren knew his duty, whether to his sect, to his brothers, or to morality. He knew what he had to do.

For his part, Wen Ruohan waited over a month and a half after Lan Qiren’s exit from seclusion before trying to reach out again by mail. No doubt conscious of his dignity and ego, the powerful sect leader that no one ever really denied, his letter talked around the subject in Wen Ruohan’s usual high-handed manner and evaded either apologies or explanations; from his tone, it was likely that he expected Lan Qiren to respond in anger and denial, or even not to respond at all. Instead, Lan Qiren wrote back obediently, reporting dully on his daily life. When pressed, he even wrote a short summary of his ongoing projects, copying the words precisely from the submissions he made for his teachers to avoid excessive enthusiasm.

Wen Ruohan’s letters developed a certain level of concern after that, which Lan Qiren ignored in favor of continuing to respond politely but unenthusiastically; a filial younger brother, just as he was to his own blood brother, and nothing more. At the next discussion conference, he saluted Wen Ruohan to the exact degree required by their relationship and called him xiongzhang as a respectful younger brother ought; Wen Ruohan had an expression on his face that suggested he had bitten into a sour lemon and stepped in dog shit at the same time, and his eyes followed Lan Qiren around for the remainder of the afternoon.

Lan Qiren was concerned for a while that Wen Ruohan would try to summon him once night fell, forcing the issue, but he was saved through an unexpected twist of fate – namely, that Jiang Fengmian had, like all the others, completely misinterpreted Lan Qiren’s relationship with Cangse Sanren. The Jiang sect heir marched up to him not long after the opening ceremonies had been completed and asked him, stiffly, to swear that he had no interest in the lady and would not communicate with her in the future. Lan Qiren, thinking primarily of their friendship, refused, and then Jiang Fengmian punched him right in the face.

Lan Qiren might be cold and standoffish as a rule, but he did have a temper, and that temper did not hold with being assaulted over things that weren’t even his fault – neither of them were even involved with Cangse Sanren! – and having been so thoroughly goaded he had no choice but to hit back.

In the end, Cangse Sanren had slapped Jiang Fengmian silly and Lan Qiren’s brother had sent him to kneel in disgrace all night, reminding him no fighting without permission and with his eyes silently promised additional punishment when they returned home.

Wen Ruohan didn’t disturb him that night, and Lan Qiren was able to persevere. Indeed, Wen Ruohan troubled him much less than he’d feared, opting in his hurt pride to instead turn to Lao Nie and stay remarkably close by his side – Lao Nie was the one who looked apologetically at Lan Qiren and tried to find time for him, whether to invite him on outings or to scold his brother for the apparent breakdown in domestic tranquility. For his part, Lan Qiren ignored Lao Nie and didn’t hold it against him even when he started showing up to the discussion meetings with distinctive red marks on his throat.

All right, he held it against him a little.

How Lao Nie had such bad taste, Lan Qiren had no idea. Surely he, unlike Lan Qiren, had known enough to realize that Wen Ruohan was an evil man…?

Probably he had; it was only that he didn’t much care. Lan Qiren had promised to try to stop lying to himself about people he liked, and that meant he couldn’t pretend that Lao Nie wasn’t a remarkably callous man at times, ruthless and careless with anything that was outside his sect – even his friends. There could be no doubt that he loved them, sincerely and honestly, and yet…

Lan Qiren was a little disappointed, but not much, knowing that he, too, was irrevocably bound to such a man as Wen Ruohan. He couldn’t blame Lao Nie for the same thing he himself had done.

Mostly he was just pleased that his suspicion regarding their relationship had been confirmed, even if somehow – unbelievably – no one else seemed to notice it.

In fact, he thought it might mark the very first time in his life that he’d figured out something interpersonal before other people had. Normally he would report it to someone at his sect as soon as he noticed that they’d overlooked it, wanting to do his best for them, but the sensation was too novel and his relations with his sect a little too cold at the moment; he hugged the knowledge to his chest instead, enjoying the brief warm feeling of knowing something other people didn’t.

He intended to tell them, of course, once they returned back to the Cloud Recesses, only they had barely brushed the dust of their journey off their shoulders when they were summoned to the gathering hall for what everyone had now expected for years: Lan Qiren’s father, eyes blank, made the announcement that he was officially setting the date for which he would be retiring as sect leader and retreating from the world, going into seclusion to try to break through the boundaries of cultivation and reach the heavens in a single bound or else die in the attempt.

Lan Qiren’s brother, naturally, would inherit.

He was as fresh from the road as the rest of them, but with his hands behind his back, standing beside their father, he looked as fresh and untouched as a new-bloomed orchid, as beautiful as a polished piece of jade. His eyes reflected the dichotomy that Lan Qiren had learned governed his brother’s life: pride, for the power that he was going to inherit and the accomplishments that everyone agreed made him worthy of that inheritance, and envy, looking at his own father with jealousy, longing also to withdraw from the weight the world had placed on him and do what he could on his own, unburdened by others.

Lan Qiren’s brother, Lan Qiren had learned, saw everything in his life through the prism of himself – did others have something he wanted, did he have something that they didn’t, how did he compare, was he being compared…when he got something into his mind, he cared for nothing else but how to achieve it, no matter the cost, and most of the time he was successful, too. He was fundamentally self-sufficient, requiring nothing and no one but himself, and so was capable of performing miracles – if he was motivated to do so.

Lan Qiren was much less capable. He was lacking in cultivation, lacking in social skills, lacking even in a similar degree of independence, longing as he did for the company and acceptance of his peers even as his introversion demanded sufficient time to himself. There was no way in which he was superior to his brother; in every respect, he was inferior.

And yet, sometimes, he thought that his brother was jealous of him, too.

(Their father retreating into seclusion meant that they would both be losing him – but it was really only Lan Qiren’s brother that lost something. For Lan Qiren, what he mourned was only the absence of what had never been there, and he had finished mourning for that already.)

In the end, the main change occasioned by the impending change in leadership was that Lan Qiren’s brother grew too busy to pay much attention to Lan Qiren, much to his relief. Relations between them grew…not warmer, no, but less fraught, and although Lan Qiren knew he ought to celebrate, he mostly mourned that the cause of it was not a real mending of fences but rather his brother simply forgetting that he existed, just as their father always had.

Lan Qiren took the first opportunity he had to get out of the Cloud Recesses, even attending a party to celebrate sworn brother’s new son with relatively little issue. During the visit, Wen Ruohan ignored him in favor of sticking ever closer to a strangely distracted Lao Nie, almost as if he were deliberately slighting Lan Qiren for having been cold in their last interaction and for not answering his letters the way he wanted. Lan Qiren briefly felt hurt at having been put aside and forgotten so quickly - assuming that he had been forgotten, which he wasn’t sure of, as Wen Ruohan ignoring him sometimes seemed almost performative - but then reminded himself that this, like his poor relationship with his blood brother, was only the results of his own actions, and those of others.

He didn’t – regret it, not really. He’d lived his life by the Lan sect rules, and he didn’t regret doing so now, no matter how lonely the results might make him feel.

Instead, he returned to the Cloud Recesses and began to plan out in earnest his plans for departing the Cloud Recesses to travel the world as a musician, the goal he had set since he was young and was finally, impossibly, on the verge of satisfying. He would need to stay for his brother’s ascension to sect leader the next year, he thought, and perhaps for a year after that – just because their relationship wasn’t good didn’t mean he was entitled to do things that would let other people talk about it – but after that…

After that, he would go.

He would make new friends, or not. He would learn new things. He would see what the world was like.

Sooner than he thought, Lan Qiren turned twenty, thereby finally becoming an adult. The event took place with little fanfare, and Lan Qiren sent back the gifts he received from both Wen Ruohan and Lao Nie unopened with a polite note indicating that he was unworthy of such attention, and Cangse Sanren’s with a much more emphatic note reminding her that he was largely uninterested in sexual matters and therefore had no need for these sorts of implements.

His brother got him new guqin strings, the same gift he always gave – Lan Qiren had once been very happy to receive it before he realized that it was the storeroom distributing the gift in his brother’s name – and Lan Qiren returned that as well. Lan Yueheng was the only one who successfully managed to give him a gift by virtue of sneaking the fancy brush he’d bought for him into his table in such a way that Lan Qiren utilized it before realizing it was new, and then refused to take it back on the basis that it had already been used. He looked so pleased with himself over his little trick that Lan Qiren didn’t have the heart to scold him.

Time continued to pass: day by day, night by night, season by season.

And then she arrived.

#mdzs #lan qiren #wen ruohan #my fic #my fics #spilled pearls

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juminsmysticmc · 3 years

Note

Hey, it’s me, the one who request the moth headcanon, sorry about the trouble and if it’s okay, instead I would like to see an MC who’s major is digital arts and animation. If not, it’s fine, just have a great day.

RFA + Minor Trio with a Mc who's major is digital arts and animations

Hey! It was no trouble at all! I hope that it’s okay for you tho, I am happy that you could request something different! I hope you enjoy this one too! Have a nice day!

Jumin

Your husband observed you. Ever since he installed a room for you alone in his penthouse, you could finally work from home a bit more.

He hadn’t realized that even before you came into the RFA, he had already worked with you.

Your major, digital arts and animation, was often used for his advertising or other programs.

You often wanted to meet the CEO, but since he always thought that you would be just a gold digger, he always rejected you, just making Jaehee send emails with the things he wanted to have inserted.

Well, today he regretted his choice back then.

Instead, he observed you.

You were working on a new project.

,,How many years did you have to study? I mean, you have so many majors… Design Director, Storyboard Director, I didn’t know, you were multitalented, my love,’’ he praised you.

You even worked a lot with the audio.

You looked up and smiled at your husband.

,,Thank you, my love. I’m trying to make your latest project work. Wanna see?’’ you asked him.

However he knew that your work would be amazing and wanted to have it be a surprise rather than get spoiled.

Zen

Your boyfriend never understood how you could be such a good multitasker.

You could cook, set the table, chat with Jaehee, and even post something on your blog.

But once he saw you at work, he understood.

It had something to do with your job.

You had to work in different kinds of media at the same time.

,,This isn’t just one,’’ you told him and scrolled through your phone.

Your long hair was in your way so you put it away with one hand.

,,I have to work with the sound, video, and stop-motion graphics at the same time. I do this and much more, but I don’t want to annoy you,’’ you laughed as you looked up.

,,You don’t annoy me, Mrs. Director,’’ he laughed and kissed you.

You were even the director of a whole section and helped new students get into the job.

,,Okay, so, see this video?’’ you showed him an animated movie you just got via email.

,,This was made by my students, but she used the wrong program because the audio is slightly separated from the video itself,’’ you told him.

He hadn’t noticed anything at first, but after you told him, he saw it too.

,,And you noticed after a few seconds? You’re amazing!’’ he smiled and looked over your shoulders. You were still cooking.

Yoosung

Your husband wondered why he never saw you or met you since your college wasn’t that far away from his building.

But thank God both of you finally met thanks to the RFA.

He was also amazed by you because you were pretty famous among students.

You even had your own blog and of course you programmed everything yourself.

It looked amazing.

You had every single section working in there, but your point was the digital arts and animation.

,,Did you really have to submit a portfolio to be admitted?’’ he asked you when he read your latest blog.

You nodded at him as you typed something on your keyboard.

,,Mhm, especially to bachelor of fine arts,’’ you told him.

He didn’t quite understand, but he still nodded.

,,I didn’t have to,’’ he mumbled.

,,That’s why it’s written on there. The little word ,,may’’ says that you possibly have to, but not always,’’ you told him, making him sulk.

,,I know what ,,may’’ means… ah, and tell me. What are the admission requirements?’’ he asked you.

You turned your head and looked at him.

,,Can you maybe read the whole post instead of just the keywords? You need to check on the page itself for the requirements. Every university does it differently,’’ you told him and closed the page.

,,Ah. I just wanted to test you,’’ he smiled and looked at you.

He looked so up to you. You always knew what the latest LOLOL update changed in the game. You were amazing...

Jaehee

,,What? You went to Harvard University?’’ Zen asked you. He didn’t know that he was in a group with such an intelligent person and you were even Jaehee’s girlfriend.

You nodded.

,,She’s also very creative. Did you see our advertisement? She did it herself. Pretty amazing, right?!’’ Jaehee said proudly, no one had ever seen her that excited.

You changed her.

You and Jaehee also often went to different festivals to check the latest innovations. It was something even Jaehee was interested in.

And thanks to you, she even understood a few things since you were very good at explaining things.

,,Should we buy this new keyboard? It fits much better than the one you have now in your studio,’’ she told you and admired the keyboard in front of you.

She looked up to you since you were such a hard worker as a owner of a coffee shop and even a designer of word advertisements and 2d animation.

Saeyoung

,,You make pretty good money, huh?’’ he asked you as he looked around.

Your studio just looked so aesthetically pleasing in the middle of Seoul.

You shrugged your shoulders as you kept typing something.

Then you took your pen between your fingers and began to draw something.

You were a storyboard artist.

Saeyoung, your finacé, loved to watch you.

He sometimes even helped you when a program stopped working.

,,Look, which one do you like more?’’ you asked him as you turned your screen towards him to show him a park.

,,Mh, I don’t know. What’s the story? LIke, this one looks cute as if you’re in a fairy tale, but this one looks more realistic,’’ he answered, making you turn the display again.

You nodded and stood up, taking your jacket and facing your fiancé. ,,We are going to the park now,’’ you said and pulled him by the hand.

That’s what he loved about you.

He, too, was someone who would simply do his work, but you wanted to give your best, even at that moment.

At the end of the day, you however, knew which one you would decide on and you were happy that Saeyoung opened your eyes.

Saeran

,,Mc! It’s so nice to see you here!’’ someone said and hugged you.

Saeran observed the person who was so happy to see you.

Both of you were in a foreign country and people still knew you?

You hugged the person who was apparently named Mira.

,,Saeran, this was my teacher, Mira,’’ you said and told Mira about your boyfriend.

She was so happy to see that you got a boyfriend.

,,Have fun here and go visit Josef! He will be happy to see you!’’ she said, meaning your other teacher.

You took Saeran and with him you walked through every department.

,,They try to motivate you to be creative, get started, start your own company, make your own shows, produce medical videos or animations, and they want you to learn things by doing,’’ you explained.

At some point, you arrived at a place that was lit by lights. Students had pencils in their hands and they began to draw something on their papers. This was something that amazed Saeran.

,,I thought it’s digital art,’’ he whispered.

You nodded. ,,They first try to make you get used to it. When you’re ready, you can move to the digital version,’’ you told him and observed the students.

It was a pretty good day and Saeran also enjoyed seeing you presentate something on a stage about your own work in South Korea.

He was proud of you.

Jihyun

Hand in hand, both of you walked into an institute to talk about digital art.

Jihyun also liked art a lot. However, he was a painter.

But your art was also something beautiful in his eyes.

He once tried it, but failed.

,,I remember back then, I also was unsure if digital art was real art, but after I saw it myself… I’m sorry I was like that back then… so don’t give up if people are the same here as in this art institute,’’ he told you.

You nodded.

Your goal was it to teach digital art in that institute and they first invited you to talk about it.

They first invited you in and then they were ready to listen to you.

,,Thank you for your words,’’ the older man said and nodded.

,,However, digital art is, itself, placed under the larger umbrella term new media art that doesn’t require any effort, Mrs. Kim. Digital art is not considered real art,’’ he said and closed his book with the notes.

,,Why did you invite my wife then?’’ Jihyun asked as you watched your dreams get crushed in front of your eyes.

No one dared to say anything. Were you just the laugh stock? Why did you even make the effort? You were ready to give up when Jihyun began to say something again. ,,I can understand you. At first we thought that digital art was easy. Why should we ask a teacher to teach us? I’m an artist myself and I thought like that too, but here too, just like the art with real pens and colors, you need to start with it gradually. I experienced it myself and I was surprised by how difficult it was. I beg you, try at least once to draw a forest in digital art,’’ Jihyun said, begging the person in front of him.

,,Very well, I have been an artist since my twenties and I am now sixty years old,’’ he laughed and took your tablet, ready to draw.

While he was drawing, you did the same on the second tablet and a bit later you all noticed the difference, making them all apologize to you.

,,I can’t thank you enough,’’ you sobbed as both of you walked out of the room, you overjoyed about the good news.

,,I told you not to give up on them. They were just like me,’’ he laughed and kissed your hand before you could both go and pick up Lucy at Jumin’s penthouse.

Vanderwood

When he first saw your room, not Rika’s, but your own home, he was kind of shocked to know that you were almost like Agent 707.

He quickly noticed that just like him, you loved your profession.

It was something that satisfied you immediately ever since you first learned how things worked.

Indeed, animation was attracting more and more people and you were one of them.

,,Back then, when we lived in Japan, we somehow won a sightseeing trip and I got to see the Ghibli studio. I think that that was the moment I fell in love with it,’’ you told him as he looked around.

,,And then? I mean, Japan is one of the best countries to study animation, right?’’ he asked you. Vanderwood was truly interested in it.

He wanted to know everything about you.

The brown haired man wanted to know what made your eyes shine so brightly and why you were so in love with your job.

,,Uhm, yeah. Spain is the best country to study animation, but I also expected it to be Japan. Back then and still today, living there was too expensive. My parents wanted to move back to Korea and so I went to Spain to study my dream,’’ you laughed.

,,I’m amazed. I expected you to go with your parents,’’ he laughed and observed you.

,,I was amazed by myself too, you know? It was a hard decision, but I never regretted what I did. I could fulfil my dream and it’s my life after all.

And knowing more languages is even better because there are so many more opportunities,’’ you laughed.

,,Please never lock the door in other languages like Agent 707,’’

You laughed at his comment. ,,I won’t… but maybe something animated?’’ you teased him.

MASTERLIST 1

MASTERLIST 2

MASTERLIST 3

17.04.2021// 00:18 MEST

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