#No joke I ACTUALLY began fanboying when I saw this scene

[oshiawaseni]

A post about the time Hawks made Kacchan really, really jealous.

When I watched this scene in the anime I found it amusing as hell. Kacchan’s behaviour felt kind of strange/off though, but after I saw the panelling of the scene in the manga recently, it only seems even more funny and bkdk driven. His behaviour also made more sense. I’ll breakdown the scene and go into some of Kacchan’s deeper issues after.

They meet with Hawks after he helps them bring down villains. Izuku is star struck from the get-go and nervously greets the rank #2, who likewise recognises him from the sports festival.

Hawks tells Izuku he's heard about him from Tokoyami... then backtracks and says, "No, actually... (even without that) I would have liked to have worked with you, too, but..."

However, before he can finish explaining himself... he feels a "sakki", meaning bad feeling or literally "killing intent." (But the anime didn't show this part of their interaction! or how noticing the sakki interrupted Hawks' speech. So this is another one of those little flavourful nuances anime watchers(me) missed out on)

sakki (殺気  The individual kanji are pronounced satsu and ki, respectively, but due to Japanese grammar rules, the -tsu in the former is dropped and the consonant in ki is geminated, turning it into sa- + -kki.), which is primarily used by practitioners of Ninjutsu; "Killing Intent" is the most literal translation, with "Bloodlust" as a close second. The Chinese equivalent is sha qi - x

Which is kind of funny, considering Katsuki's soon to be revealed hero name which also had “Satsu” in it. Dai Baku Sasshin Dynamight. (Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight)

Hawks turns to the source of the "sakki"... and it's Kacchan staring bloody murder at him, challenging him! After the stuff Hawks said, it feels like Kacchan is even more annoyed at Hawks for taking a special interest in Izuku, by saying he wanted to work with him (despite being so busy he left Tokoyami in the care of his sidekicks). I think in Kacchan's mind this means a scenario where Izuku would have been with Hawks at his hero nest instead of with Kacchan at Endeavour's agency... 👀 How territorial! I think Hawks also noticed something was off and taunts him, just for fun. 🤭

Also, this is only a funny coincidence, but after Hawks says something that feels like he's wanting to 'take Izuku away,' Kacchan just happens to say “About before, I got in faster than you." It could mean absolutely nothing, or it could be the slightest nuance for "I was here first. Deku's already been mine since childhood, so back off.” Like an inside joke Hori made for himself, knowing he was writing bkdk to become the main canon couple in the series.

I'm /hj ofc but… you never know! It's wild that Kacchan is even this hung up on what Hawks did in the first place, so I might be trying to make it make more sense! understandably, right?

When Hawks leaves, not only is Izuku swooning over him again... now Shouto is too! Kacchan can't stand it! I don't know about you, but if Kacchan's intense reaction is only that Hawks showed them up, it’s a severe case of the punishment not fitting the crime. Not to mention, it began when Hawks started chatting up Izuku about getting him to intern with him and got even worse because Izuku went full fanboy mode LOL

Later at the agency he’s still filled with rage from their meeting, making up an insulting nickname for Hawks that can loosely be translated as “smiling birdbrain” (Hawks wears a carefree smile on his face and Katsuki doesn’t like it. He thinks he’s being smug - which he was, but only just a little… so again… punishment ≠ crime which is why we can theorise there was something more to his jealousy.)

Lmaooo listen. Think of a really possessive boyfriend who can’t stand their lover checking out other people and commenting on how attractive they are. And you've literally got how Kacchan feels about being a hero in front of Izuku.

Kacchan's gotten jealous like this before, when Shouto declared war on Izuku at the start of BNHA. That's how he got involved with the Todoroki family drama, because his jealousy drove him to follow them sneaking off alone together. And again in the third movie, at the very end, when Kacchan's boyfriend stayed back to say goodbye to Rody, and he glared at them the whole way going up the escalator lmao

Jealous Katsuki "needs Izuku's attention on him always" Bakugou has three modes: “Why aren’t you looking only my way you shitty nerd.” “Forget this other bastard, what about me??? I’m ‘sugoi’ right?!!” and our fave (😂) “Just keep your eyes on me, shitty Deku!”

He responded with SO MUCH irritation at Hawks simply because Izuku’s fanboying over somebody that’s not him.

Poor Kacchan has to compete with all other heroes for Izuku’s affection because he’s an otaku that grew up worshipping all quirks. 😂

Meet Katsuki Bakugou: From the age of four, he was told by family, doctors, teachers, hero loving society and the next door neighbour's cat that his quirk is the embodiment of excellence. What a guy! He will go far in life so we should let him do whatever he wants, it’s fine! He can be my sidekick! In a world where a person's character and value are measured by the power and usefulness of their quirk, Katsuki was the king.

Then there’s Kacchan: Grew up alongside this shiny doe eyed shitnerd who was always watching him, walking behind him, telling him stuff like he's sugoi and his quirk is so cool and he is so cool and wouldn’t it be cool if he also got a quirk as strong as his... And years later, Kacchan is (unsurprisingly) triggered that his Deku is reacting to everyone else and their ‘inferior’ quirks in almost the exact same way that he does with him. He has the biggest LOVE (ONLY!) ME DAMNIT vibes with Izuku! good lordt

The main issue Katsuki encountered after entering U.A and the world of pro heroes, was suddenly not being the obvious choice for best anymore. His usual status of being society’s king was completely upended after his world opened up to people like Iida, Shoto, Enji and Hawks. Something that was so effortless to him before, now required a lot of hard work, if he was going to rise above even the outstanding.

And I think a big reason he feels insecure around other talented people is because a part of him will always want to stay the coolest and strongest in Izuku’s eyes! That’s why Izuku acknowledging others sets him off a little. He knows what Izuku’s like… but he still wants to be the coolest to him, unquestionably sugoi and stay Izuku’s #1.

And sometimes it’s almost like, unless Izuku is the one doing the praising and fanboying Katsuki and only Katsuki, there's just no meaning to any of it for him.

＊* .•° ✿ °•. ❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 ೋღ

It was only ever Izuku.

Growing up, surrounded by admiration from people who never dared to stand up to Katsuki... ultimately, it was only ever Izuku who valued his own set of principles and stood up to him when he was wrong. Because Izuku... was always honest with him, about everything. He let Katsuki know when he didn't approve of his behaviour, which meant the times Izuku did praise him was something that could be trusted. It didn't feel like the empty praise from everyone around him who only saw him for his quirk. It didn't feel like a lie.

Katsuki eventually realised the reason Izuku faced him was because Izuku genuinely cares. He saw all of him and despite intimately knowing his weaknesses and flaws not once did Izuku stop believing in him... so before Katsuki knew it, Izuku became the only person whose attention and approval actually meant something to him.

Can you blame him, though? Izuku’s the one who has been faithfully at Katsuki's side his entire life, sharing his dreams, believing in the best of him, gently encouraging him to do better than his worst, teaching him kindness of the heart and heroic sacrifice and finally… what it means to love someone so fiercely, you could give your everything and call it by their name.

Katsuki’s forever hero who always comes running to save him, no matter what. His one and only constant. How could he not become completely intertwined with him and fall hopelessly in love?

[stars-self-ships]

ISN'T THAT LAUGH BEAUTIFUL?! ❤️🧡❤️

[noxiatoxia]

just finished watching Tje Bad Guys. I really liked it! Here's my thoughts:

snake and wolf totally have a thing goin on

ms fox was a bit of a mary sue but she looked hot doing it so all is forgiven

speaking of, i really enjoy her dynamic with mr wolf. at first i didnt care much for it, but when it was revealed she was also an ex-criminal, i began to dig it. that scene where wolf geeks over her equipment like a fanboy hit me so good. and their cute dialogue over it "i actually prefer the older model" "agree to disagree" i can relate to that level of autism when you talk to somebody who is equally passionate on a subject.

the computer joke got me to laugh tbh. when webs was having technique difficulties and they were throwing suggestions "maybe it needs system permissions?" "update a driver!" it was so funny bc that's exactly what troubleshooting feels like. literally whenever i have a computer issue i cant instantly figure the cause of im like "update a driver. its gotta be one of them."

the Twist that marmalade was #evil i saw coming, but i do like how they pulled it off. i didnt think he was the grandma tbh. also the breakdown scene had so much (unintentional) death note imagery. i literally was like "HES HAVING HIS KIRA BREAKDOWN"

i also saw the twist coming that Snake set him up, but again, it was satisfying and made sense why he couldnt or didnt tell the others of it, so i forgive it

the animation style was a lot of fun. kind of into the spiderverse esque with the 3d animation that feels very 2d

mr wolf has a praise kink

another story that focuses with the whole "dont judge a book by its cover!" and "people can change!" but its not a bad moral, it's simple and important regardless

that line where maramalade said to mr. wolf smth like "Looks like the big bag wolf has been outsmarted yet again by a little piggy" was clever. also when he kicked the door open just as Wolf had his angry outburst to paint him in a bad light. saw that coming but made me have that instinctive cringe reaction all the same bc man wolf was boned

to the hacker of the group: "Where'd you learn to do that?" "oh, you know, i'm a born natural, it just comes to me......... *sighs* YouTube, mostly."

also, im very pleased that characters in this movie dont speak perfectly. as in, they stutter and redo their sentences in the middle of them, especially when frustrated. This is something that has always bothered me in many forms of media. People don't speak perfectly most of the time and tend to stumble and stutter. I'm really glad that characters do it several times over, it feels more real. And the voice acting was great

i liked that when everyone thought the guys had stolen smth they actually didnt, they turned on them. This obviously made them feel betrayed, but they didnt give up. i like that the general public wasnt portrayed as perfect obviously, and the guys took offense to it but still pushed forward

also i kinda like the subtle notion that, ironically spoken by marmalade, that there's good in everyone. despite the fact he turned out to be the true villain, if it wasn't for him, the bad guys wouldn't have become the good guys in the first place

some things i didnt necessarily like:

the character of the shark feels exactly the same as the shark character in the harley quinn show. not that it's a bad thing, it's just odd such a specific archetype is prevalent (comic relief goofy villain shark with black man voice who's main trait in heists is to play the part of a disguise but the joke is you can tell it's obviously a shark)

especially when in her bad guy outfit, ms fox's body is so... curvy and ""female"". this isn't a problem with this movie specifically, pretty much any other female character furry movie or otherwise has this issue

not a fart joke fan sorry :( well sometimes but not here

not necessarily a good or bad thing, but this movie has many parallels to zootopia, but if zootopia was told from nick's perspective and he was a wolf, and judy was a fox. both movies have similar themes while zootopia also deals with racism. i like both movies for different reasons. however, zootopia did mildly criticize the police industry by portraying them as uncooperative, caring more about reputation than getting the job done, and being guilty of racism as well. Of course it's to be expect that a movie about a new cop would critique the police more than a movie about bad guys who don't work with the force. except that maybe you can see it as them being too trigger happy with arresting people.

Anyway, good movie! Enjoyed it. the wolf was hot as hell.

edit: forgot to ask, what WAS the point of marmalade dressing up like an old lady? all this only happened bc wolf tried to steal her purse, but she tripped, so he was forced to help her to not cause a scene, and she praised him. Assuming the tripping was on purpose, how did he know wolf would even try to rob her in the first place? How did he predict Wolf would come here - that he had good in him to even trick him with?????? it just seems super coincidental and he assumed a lot of things for this "him dressing up as an old lady" trick to work. idk

[mirkwoodshewolf]

On set visits; Queen x reader x Borhap boys pt. 1

*Author's note*

Alright so this part is broken up into 2 parts so here is the 1st part of the Bohemian Rhapsody film set visit. Part 2 will be up in just a second after I get done with this author's note. So expect some crazy stuff happening, fluffiness and the Rock Angel reminiscing on her past with the boys. 

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@simonedk​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queensdivas​

@queendeakyy​

@wormzteef​

@geek-and-proud​

@starswin​

@isabella-bby​

@onebigfangirlworld​

@labessieisallama​

@5sos-wdw​

@ssa-sadboi​

@naturalswifty89​

@bohemiansweede

_________________________________________________________

*Sept. 2017. Filming Bohemian Rhapsody*

I almost couldn't believe it myself. I mean I knew that the boys were planning on a film about themselves and that it was taking them almost 10 years just to get it off the ground. But now after multiple rewrites of the script and better casting, the film was ready to get off the ground.

"So you're absolutely sure I can stop by whenever I feel like it? No matter how many times?" I spoke into my I-phone.

'Absolutely love, just as long as you don't spill any secrets.'

"Please Bri, when have I ever revealed anything to anyone about you guys?"

'Well there was the time—'

"That was a fluck and you know it!" I snapped.

'I'm kidding love, you've never spilled any secrets. You've gotten better at lying lately.' Brian chuckled.

"Well when you say it like that it makes me feel guilty."

'As it should love. So when can we expect you?'

"I'll try to get there before the filming starts, so I may end up going to bed now so that way I can get on the road early enough to beat traffic."

'I know Rog is looking forward to seeing you again.'

"I just did the summer tour with you guys, how could he already miss me?"

'It's a mystery to all of us, but he is your father after all.'

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay well I'll see you tomorrow Bri."

'See you then (y/n). sweet dreams and drive safe tomorrow.'

"Will do. Love you."

'Love you too poppet.' I then hung up and couldn't help but grin.

"You still going over to see them film tomorrow?" I turned and low and behold after a long day's shift there was my husband coming in from his police work.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat threw up." I teased.

"Ha-ha you're hilarious my love." He said as he undid his tie and unbuttoned his short. "So the film's finally taking off the ground?"

"Yep, and they finally found a better Freddie Mercury."

"Yeah cause I remember when you called and told me about Sacha Baron Cohen."

"I just couldn't stand the fact that he was wanting to expose the dark side of Freddie. I mean yeah he had the parties, and the drugs, the sex, but that's all what Rock and rollers did back in those days. Plus that's all he seemed to care about. The scandal that came with Freddie's name, nothing about the music. I'm only just glad Bri sided with me on it." I ranted as Jack came up after taking his shirt and undoing his pants and began to rub my shoulders.

"I know love. You're as protective of this project as Brian and Roger are. So do you know who exactly they got to play Freddie this time?"

"No, but I'll find out tomorrow."

"Okay well, my team's got a heavy lead on the case so I won't really be available tomorrow."

"I understand. Just—promise me you'll be careful my love. I haven't forgotten that one killer that shot you in the line of duty."

"I survived didn't I? Plus now we both have a bullet story to share." He leaned his forehead against mine.

"Not funny Jack." I muttered.

"I know. C'mon let's get some sleep. We both have got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." I nodded and then we both got into bed and we fell asleep.

Early the next morning I was on my way over to the set driving in my own car without a driver. As I approached the set gate of course I was stopped by security.

"Badge and proof of visitation ma'am." I handed him the badge that Roger had sent in for me and some documentation that I needed to show him saying that I was not only visiting but a consultant for the movie to help the actors get to know the true Queen. "Everything checks out Mrs. Kline, here you go and have a good day."

"You too uhh—Marvin." I read his nametag before putting my VIP badge around my neck as the gate opened and I drove on inside.

After about 10 minutes I finally was able to find a parking space. I got out of the car and locked it up before walking towards the set. I was told by Brian that the actors had been prepping for the biggest scene they were going to film, the Live Aid sequence.

When I came around and actually stepped up onto the stage, I was blown away and taken back to the summer of 1985. Jesus they—the production got every single detail down to the paint chippings. The rigged lights that Queen had the day they performed, Roger's kit and the grand piano with Freddie's Pepsi cups filled with beer.

"Oh my god. Jack if only you were here to see this." I muttered to myself. It was then I saw Brian talking to someone but—wait did he? Did he seriously dye his hair back to its original dark curls? I walked up to him but waited till he was done talking to some of the producers. Once he was I tapped his shoulder and he turned around and—oh wow I just....wow.

I don't know whether this is a prank or time travel does exist but I swear I'm literally looking at Brian the day I had met him.

"Okay it's official. I think I have finally cracked." I said as I placed my hand over my forehead.

"I'm sorry ma'am do you need to sit down or can I get you a cup of water?" Oh god he even sounds like Brian.

"Ahhh seems you two have already met. And here I thought I could surprise you." I turned and there was—Brian? My Brian with the grey curls now. Wait what!? What is going on here!?

"What the f—"

"Ah, ah language young lady!" Brian scolded.

"You must be the Rock Angel (Y/n) Kline, Brian and Roger have told us a lot about you. Pardon me, Gwilym Lee." He said as he extended his hand to me. I shook it and said in awe.

"Ahhhh, now I see it. Sorry Gwilym dear, never did I think I'd see two Brian's at once. I swear to god you look—exactly like Brian when I met him."

"Anita said the exact same thing. Cheeky woman was even trying to flirt with him." Brian said as he pouted towards the end..

"No she didn't." I gawked.

"I'm afraid it's true." Gwilym said with a blush. I shook my head softly laughing.

"Oh that woman I tell you what."

"Well I can tell you one thing I know a certain someone of the cast who will flip out once he sees you." said Gwilym.

"And just who might that be?" I asked him.

"The young lad whose playing Deacy, Joe Mazzello."

"Kept ranting on and on about your Live Aid performance and how you and Deacy used to interact with each other in your performances together."

"Ahh yes. Me and my dear brother mine." I sighed with a solemn smile.

"I—I'm sorry I-I-I didn't mean to......"

"No, no Gwilym it's fine. While sometimes I do wish he could still be around, I completely understand why he chose to leave the band. Hell without Brian and Rog I—I don't even want to think what I would've done after Freddie died." I soon brushed my sorrows away and said, "Now come here Gwilym I want to get a closer look at you." he came up to me and we stood face to face of each other.

I placed my hands on his shoulders and looked him up and down before cupping each side of his face gently.

"God they chose right for my Brian. I swear, it's like Gwilym is your long lost son Bri." I said as my eyes turned toward Brian.

"I'm beginning to think you might be right." Joked Brian. I stepped back from Gwilym and said to him.

"I can't wait to see the full Live Aid recreation with you all in full costume."

"I hope we do you proud Mrs. Kline."

"First of all, call me (y/n). Secondly, I'm already proud. From what I've heard from Brian and Roger, I have no doubt in my mind that we've entrusted the right group of actors with Freddie's and Queen's upbringing tale to absolute rock gods."

"You flatter us too much (y/n)." Brian gushed.

"Only because you old fossils deserve it." I teased as I stuck my tongue out at him to which Brian did his little eyebrow quirk at me. I giggled softly and continued. "Well before filming starts, I'm gonna continue to look around the set. I'm told the lower decks where all the performers were settled in are just like how they were when we were there. Ciao Brians'." I walked away from them with a wave of my hand.

After exploring more of the set design and going down memory lane it was then I came across another look-a-like. Holding the famed natural Fender precision Bass guitar and wearing that god awful tacky shirt that I secretly wished I had told him not to wear, and having the iconic mushroom fluffy hair was the actor who was playing Deacy, Joe Mazzello.

One of the hair designers was fluffing up the wig to make sure it was up to Deacy's standard. And god just like with Gwilym, Joe was practically identical to Deacy.

It was just like seeing Deacy again back when he was happy and content with where Queen was at, just before finding out about Freddie's illness (which I had found out from Spike several years ago that Deacy had actually known since the last tour Queen ever did with Freddie).

I smiled softly as I watched him get ready for the camera. His wide smile reminded me so much of Deacy's. Slowly I walked up towards him and as the hairdresser looked him over Joe asked.

"So how does it look?"

"I think you look terrific." I said.

"Wait who said—OH MY GOD!!!" he screamed as he turned around and saw me. Like all usual fanboys, he jumped back, his mouth was gaped and his eyes were wide.

"Close your mouth please Joe dear we are not a codfish." His mouth immediately closed.

"Y-you-you-you're....."

"The Rock—"

"Rock Angel." We both said together slowly. "Call me (y/n)." I greeted as I extended my hand out to him and he took it hold of it and shook it.

"I just—I can't believe that I'm-I'm-I'm actually standing beside the Rock Angel." I softly giggled.

"Just know that beyond the glam and the rock star female empowerment, I'm just a normal 55 year old woman."

"But you still look good." He said. I quirked my brow at him so he quickly tried to save himself, "Not that you're old or anything. I mean I don't mean to offend you I just....."

"Joseph. Relax dear. I'm not offended at all. Freddie always said that I would end up being an eternal beauty. At first I thought it was just Freddie being Freddie but as the years have passed I think he—that he must be behind giving me this youthful glow."

"The Rock Angel called me dear," he first gushed with a shy smile. "Sorry I just...... I grew up listening to your albums along with Queen and the first time I saw one of your broadcast performances, I kinda had a little crush on you" He said gently.

"Aww I'm flattered Joe, really I am." I said as I gently cupped the side of his face and gave his cheek a stroke of my thumb. At that point he looked like he was about to melt into a puddle with how much joy he was probably filled with. "Now Joe forgive me for saying this, how long have you been acting?"

"I was a child actor actually. I've—always been in the acting business. Why do you ask?"

"Well besides seeing some of my brother's features I feel like I've—seen you in something before."

"You might recall a little film that came out in the 90's known as Jurassic Park?"

"Wait hold on—you...." I gasped. "You played little Tim Murphy!?!"

"Yes, yes I was Tim Murphy."

"Oh my god. When that film came out my twin boys were literally obsessed with that movie. Would not watch anything else for a full year. They even wore out the old VHS tape we had for it. Oh my god how could I not recognize you sooner?"

"Well I was 8 just turning 9 while we were filming it."

"You had a birthday while filming?"

"Yeah. It was during the kitchen scene with the raptor. I actually got injured on that day."

"What? What happened?" he then proceeded to tell me exactly what had happened. Of how the raptor they used was on wheels and he was running toward the fridge and he was supposed to go left while the raptor was supposed to go right, but the guy controlling the raptor lost control and went the same direction as Joe and he ended up getting hit in the face with a metal claw.

And it was at that moment the director Steven Spielberg and the rest of the crew sang Happy birthday to him.

Then of course he tried to ask Joe at that moment if they could try it again, but when Joe proved he couldn't do it, they wrapped for that day.

"Oh you poor thing."

"It's okay, I survived."

"Well I hope you never suffered an injury like that since then. And on your birthday too? That's never a good birthday present to get a concussion."

"I was cleared out with no concussion, just a little dizzy and a bit of bruising."

"Oh I'm sorry love, it's my inner mother instincts kicking in."

"She always was an overprotective mother." We both turned around and I saw Roger walking up sporting the black beanie I gave him for Christmas last year and another actor who was sporting the Roger Taylor look he had for Live Aid.

"Oh look who's talking smother father! For years since I've known you you've been the definition of helicopter parent." I gawked at him. "You still sometimes even threaten Jack with missing out on our dates cause of our jobs."

"And I've always told you that boy would be trouble one day." He teased as he came up to me.

"Wow so it is actually true, you guys do look at each other as father and daughter." Said the young actor playing Roger.

"Yes Ben, my adoptive daughter (Y/n) Kline, otherwise known as the Rock Angel." Roger introduced.

"So you're the young actor playing my main father figure eh?" I said as I looked at the young man.

"Yes. Ben Hardy, it's a real honor to meet you in person Mrs. Kline. To say I was nervous to meet Roger is nothing compared to the thought of meeting you."

"Are you saying I'm intimidating and unapproachable?" I asked offendedly.

"Wha? No! No! God no I-I-I-I didn't mean it that way I was just...." I interrupted him with a laugh and said.

"Dear, relax. I was just pulling your leg."

"And be thankful she was. Otherwise, I'd beat your arse boy for insulting my daughter." Roger protectively stated.

"See there you go you old hypocrite. Besides Rog you haven't been able to kick anyone's arse in years. Don't want you breaking a hip now do we?" I mocked him.

"You're lucky these boys are here little missy." Roger scolded me.

" Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now then Ben, you were once on EastEnders right?" I said turning my attention back toward Ben.

"Yes. I played Peter Boyle on the show. My recent film before this was the new X-Men movie that came out about a year ago. X-Men Apocalypse."

"Ahh yes, my youngest son is always obsessed with all the superhero films. Marvel or DC. Now I'd like to see you two more closely, stand together." Both Joe and Ben followed orders and I looked both of them up and down.

Circling around them before cupping each of their faces once by one. And yes Ben was a bit more muscular than Roger was and of course they didn't get his hair right for this part in time, but there was just something in Ben's eyes that just made me think back to the first day I met Roger.

That sparkle of mischief but also protectiveness that shown through those blue eyes of his.

"That is most definitely my Roger. You both have the same spirit in your eyes. I can't wait to see how you play the drums up on that stage."

"Yeah, me neither." He said with a hint of nervousness. I then went over to Joe and cupped his face too. Just—my god just like with Deacy the profile was just uncanny. Of course, Deacy's eyes were more of a hazel type while Joe's were like a brownish type color. But I couldn't deny he looked so much like my brother. "And you my dear Joseph. Gwilym isn't the only one to resemble the man he's playing."

"It was kinda scary after getting the wig on. So much so that I called my mom and asked her what she was doing in 1983?" I laughed and said as I took my hands away from his face.

"Unfortunately, I can tell you for a fact that John Deacon is not your father. The only lady he's ever loved and will love is Veronica."

"I know." I chuckled softly.

"Now then Joe if you'll come with me there's important things I need to discuss with you."

"Like what?"

"You'll see. It was wonderful to meet you Ben, I hope we can get to know each other better later after you all film the Live Aid concert."

"Yeah of course, it was wonderful to meet you Mrs. Kline."

"Please call me (y/n). Dad you better not be too hard on this one, I like him."

"Don't worry I won't break him too much." The four of us went our separate ways.

Joe and I arrived at my trailer (all thanks to Rog and Bri). We entered inside and I told Joe to take a seat. He sat down on my couch while I went over to the kitchen.

"Tea?"

"Yes please. One sugar please."

"Just like how he liked it." I muttered to myself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing love, nothing." I prepped the tea for him and once it was done I handed him his cup and he thanked me. I watched him take a sip and he said,

"Ahh never gets old. I'm telling you after this I may just be the biggest tea fan ever."

"It is good for the soul. I myself have always found Jasmine to be the way to nirvana." I paused for a brief moment before saying, "Joe." He looked at me giving me his full attention, "As you know probably from weeks of research and maybe even from Roger and Brian themselves, Deacy chose to exempt himself from all forms of stardom. To live a quiet life with his family."

"Yeah. When I first got the part I did reach out to him on just any personal advice on certain quirks that he did. Cause even though I've played real life people before, this is the first time I'm playing someone whose still alive, and I wanted to do him justice."

"Yes, quite."

"However all I got back was just that he approved of the project and just for me to take it as any other actor would. Not that I'm saying that I'm mad at him for saying that. But I just—"

"I get it. Really I do." I took his hand and gripped onto it comfortingly. "Look. Ever since Freddie died, Deacy has been—grieving. Just like he did for me, it was Freddie who helped bring Deacy out of his shell and become more involved with the band. Not just being the bass player or the quiet guy."

"The King of the one liners, the tie breaker of Queen." Joe stated.

"Yes, although John could be loud and rowdy when he wanted to. He was definitely Queen's wildcard, but he was also their Ace. Unpredictable but incredibly brilliant. Never have I met a bass player quite like him. Nor do I think I ever will." It was quiet for what felt like forever when Joe asked me.

"Do you—do you still speak to him? I mean, cause I read that you both basically grew up close together, even for being 11 years apart from each other."

"Yes. We actually lived 20 minutes from each other back in our youth. He was and will always be my brother mine." I sighed heavily. "And to answer your question, I must remind you he's always been.....a cautious subject to me. Any remembrance of Freddie just makes him break, and as I'm sure you've seen from my concert footages I, sometimes, subconsciously find myself doing some Freddie movements on stage. Whether it's flicking my wrist like he did, strutting around the stage or waving my arms like he did. Deacy's.....he knows those things. But he's always there for me when I needed him. The last time was—on the tragedy of 9-11."

"Wait you mean....."

"Jack's cousin Jared and his wife Gen, they—they were on the plane that was overtaken by the terrorists. Took five days to finally find their bodies. Jared holding Gen in his arms. It was a risk but—I knew Jack needed more support than just his American family. So he and I went over to John and Veronica's place. We went at the early mornings of course just so that way no one would spot us driving in midday and try to track us down, then at sunrise we walked up to the door and—there he was. When Jack told him what had happened, he—actually invited us in and allowed us to stay the entire time. He ended up being the right support Jack needed."

"Your husband and John were close?"

"Oh yes. More alike than you know. Both incredibly talented bass players. That's how Jack got Deacy's approval when Jack and I started hanging out. He even gave my husband private lessons."

"Wow."

"Yes. They were practically inseparable the two of them for that summer. Even during their rehearsals, you would see Deacy go in the corner and practice what riffs he'd teach my Jack next. However that was the last time I ever actually saw Deacy, 16 long years ago. Haven't gotten in contact with him since. But occasionally, at least according to Brian, he asks them how I'm doing as well as Jack."

"I hope he's living a quiet and happy life with his kids and wife."

"I know they are. I still keep in contact with Ronnie whenever I can, sometimes we go out shopping, fawn over grandchildren pics, and just catching up. She was the mother I needed when I first had Kelly."

"Sounds like she was the ultimate mama."

"You have no idea." I felt Joe place his free hand on top of mine that still had his. I smiled softly at him before I got down to the real reason why I brought him here. "Joseph, now I know that when it comes to acting, Hollywood can pick whomever they deem worthy for a role, especially if it's for a real person. I'll be honest with you; hearing your American accent puts me a little on edge. Cause I have heard some pretty bad English accents on screen that just make me want to pull my ears off agonizingly slow. Now I know Deacy has probably the most unique accent from anyone in Leicester, I mean you hear my accent and I sound nothing like his dialect. So what I want to ask of you, just for the sake of you playing my brother, may I hear you speak with John's accent?"

"What-what would you like me to say?"

"Maybe say what you did for the audition. Or anything that comes to your head. It doesn't even have to be an interview Deacy did, I just want to hear your accent." He nodded before sitting back on the couch while I leaned back on the chair.

He adjusted himself before finally miming that he was driving a car before he finally spoke about when Deacy first joined the band. The one interview he did during the 'News of the World' tour with Bob Harris.

I felt like at that moment my heart had stopped. My hands slowly covered my mouth in a prayer style while the corner of my eyes watered. And sure there were certain words that he said that still sounded American but—this was my brother. I....I was actually looking at my brother right now. They got it right.

By the end of it, Joe looked at me and his eyes grew concerned as he said.

"Did I screw up?" I stood up from my chair in silence. I then walked over to him and knelt down in front of him cupping his face. A wide smile spread across my face as I immediately hugged him and softly sobbed.

"You are my Deacy! My brother mine." I then felt him embrace me back and the two of us rocked side to side. I looked up to the heavens praying that Fred was looking down knowing he would've loved Joe playing his Deacy. "If you ever need any advice or help, I'm here for you. Promise me Joe Mazzello that you will come to me with anything regarding Deacy."

"I promise (y/n)." he still spoke with Deacy's accent which filled me with both sorrow and happiness.

We stayed that way for god knows how long. After composing myself, we left my trailer when one of the volunteers came up to us and said.

"Joe, they're ready to start filming the concert."

"Shall we go on?" I asked.

"Yes, let's." God he had my brother's quick wit already. He crooked his arm out which made me grin softly. I looped my arm through his and the two of us walked on towards the Live Aid stage.

I stood alongside Roger, Peter Freestone (Freddie's former assistant and the other consultant for the film) as well as Brian's youngest daughter Emily (who in every way was so much like her father from the hair to the smile).

"I think this will be a great shoot, don't you think (y/n)?" asked Peter.

"Indeed Pheebs. And I'm sure Freddie would've loved to have seen it."

"He would indeed." He said as he wrapped an arm around me and soon Brian came and stood beside us after being backstage with the young actors who then came out just as Queen did that day back in 85. When I saw the young actor playing our Freddie, I was already impressed.

Sure he was skinnier than Freddie was, but seeing him move about just as Freddie did it was like I was seeing Freddie right before my eyes. The boys got into position and soon began to perform the entire Live Aid concert.

Besides actually being there and seeing them perform from the wings that day over 30 years ago, this was about the greatest concert performance I had ever seen.

The boys in full costume had everything down. Gwilym channeled Brian's solo on Bohemian Rhapsody, Ben was pretty impressive on the drums, Joe had Deacy's rhythmic moves down, and the young man playing Freddie he—it was beyond what I could imagine. He wasn't just moving like Freddie, it was like he knew why Freddie would move a certain way to a song.

I was in awe cause it felt like I had actually traveled back in time and was watching Queen's most historical performance once again. I stood behind Brian and wrapped my arms around his shoulders leaning up against his head smiling from ear to ear, I felt Brian take one of my hands and gently patted it every now and then.

When the Aye-Oh's happened I could help but lowered my head and holding my laughs of joy. I swear when this is over, I need to talk to this new actor playing Freddie cause unlike Sacha, this was our Freddie. Soon Hammer to Fall came on and I couldn't help but bop my head along to the song.

I felt a tap at my shoulder and I turned to see Emily holding her phone out with the notes app open. In the app it read.

'Is this how you remember it Aunt (y/n)?' I walked towards her and gestured for me to have her phone. She handed it to me and I typed out.

'Everything and more. God I wish your cousin Kelly could've been here to see this as well as your uncle Jack. They would've loved it.' I showed her my message and she came up and wrapped her arms around my shoulders as the two of us smiled happily up at the stage.

When Hammer to Fall concluded, the extras and even me and team Queen applauded. I let out a loud whistle from the sidelines as I applauded and took pictures with my own phone to show Jack and the kids later. Now I recall that it was at this time the guys ended up surprising me and the world with our duet "Set it all free" instead of the planned 'Crazy Little thing called love'.

Now I've been skeptical about having a biopic film about me, even though I knew both Queen and Elton were starting theirs at the same time, hell one of the producers Dexter Fletcher is currently directing Elton's film 'Rocketman' as we speak right now. So I didn't know if they would plan to do Crazy little thing or if they'd go the set as it was all those years ago.

I got my answer however when Ben started to play the drum intro to my song.

"You guys didn't." I muttered.

"We wanted to be historically accurate with the Live Aid set." Brian started.

"So we cooked up a little surprise for you." Roger said. It was then I heard the actor playing Freddie began chanting out along with the audience "An-gel! An-gel! An-gel!" it was then I saw a young girl come out and—by god it was like looking at my younger self from that day.

She was dressed exactly how I was with a pregnant belly suit underneath her shirt. Her hair was designed the same way as mine was, everything just took me back. Instead of a playback that the Freddie actor was using for all the singing, this young woman was actually singing and she had a pretty good voice.

I continued to watch in awe as the young woman basically became me doing each step or movement I did that day on Live Aid. I felt Brian and Roger wrap their arms around me as I couldn't even take my eyes off the young woman up on stage. I could hear the extras singing out the lyrics, even some of the crew members were bopping their heads and singing along.

She walked across the stage at the second verse right towards the Freddie actor and just like Fred and I did, they stood forehead to forehead singing the duet before she walked back out and went back to center stage. When the guitar solo came on, my eyes turned to Gwilym and he amazed me that he actually could do my hard rock solo.

After the song was over, the crowd applauded and cheered and I turned to the guys and hugged them and whispered into their ears.

"If this is you guys way of trying to get me to sign onto a biopic film......I'm highly considering it after seeing her."

"We'll introduce you later." Said Roger as we separated from the hug and we turned our attention back to the guys as We Will Rock you now began playing. I couldn't help myself by stomp my feet to the rhythm and mouth out the words.

I was just amazed by not only Gwilym's guitar playing but also the young man who moved just like how I remembered seeing Freddie move, using the mic stand as Fred always did (the cheeky man), even the facial expressions that he made were exactly like they were.

It wasn't until when 'We are the champions' came on that I could barely hold my tears in. Seeing not only Fred's actor but my actor singing the famed Queen anthem that has literally been played in every victory sport or award winning singing competition.

Seeing the two of them interact with each other, it was pure nostalgia.

By the end of the song, tears welled up in my eyes and I looked toward the heavens hoping that Freddie could see this and running through my mind I already knew what he'd say.

"Amazing jobs my darlings, not as fabulous as me but very, very close." When the extras and even some crew members cheered, Brian, Roger, Peter, Emily and myself all applauded and cheered for the boys and that's when the director called cut.

"This.....is gonna be a great movie." I said.

"I think so too. After just seeing them come together like that, I think we've finally casted the right people to play us." Said Brian.

"I agree you two, I'm liking what I've just seen so far." Roger said.

"And—I'm sure he would've liked this too." I said solemnly. I felt Roger gently rub my back and Brian said.

"I know he would."

After a few more takes of filming the Live Aid concert, the director said that it was enough for today. I walked around the set to find the producer Graham King and when I approached him I asked him.

"Graham tell me, who's the young man you got to play Freddie?"

"Oh his name is Rami Malek. His recent project was a show called Mr. Robot."

"Ahh yes I've heard of that, my Freddie is obsessed with that show. Never misses an episode."

"When we were casting Freddie I happened to come across an episode and when I saw him I—just thought I was looking at Freddie. So we brought him in, he gave us a mock interview as well as an audition that your boys saw when they first met him. And from then on it just fell into place. Do you approve of him? Is there a problem Mrs. Kline?"

"Absolutely not. Do you know where I can find Rami at right now?"

"Probably in hair and makeup getting undressed."

"Well, when he is done would you be so kind as to bring him to my trailer?"

"Of course (y/n)." I nodded in gratitude and walked off to my trailer.

I sat there once again on the chair looking through an old photo album. Each picture held a deep and personal memory for me, I thought back to the day that each picture was taken and remembered exactly what was going on at that very moment.

A knock was soon heard at my trailer. I composed myself with a deep exhale and said.

"Come in." the door opened and there without costume or the tache was Rami Malek.

"Graham said you wanted to see me Mrs. Kline?"

"Yes Rami, love please come in." he stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "Take a seat." I gestured towards the couch. He sat right where Joe had sat down earlier this morning and I said. "Would you care for a biscuit, or as Americans call them cookies?"

"Uhh yes please." I smiled and handed him a tray of biscuits I always kept around me (hey a woman's gotta have her sweet tooth fix right?) and handed him my best plate of chocolate chip cookies (all thanks to my mother in law's secret recipe). He thanked me as he took one and took a bite out of it. "Mmm. Oh my god," he cleared his throat and closed his mouth before finishing the biscuit up. "This is so good."

"Thank you, it was my mother in law's secret recipe. She passed it onto me shortly before Kelly was born." He took another bite of it and swallowed that piece before saying as he set it down on a napkin that I had also provided.

"What-what was it you needed to see me for Mrs.—"

"Before we continue, I'll ask you to call me the same way I've asked the other three of the band to call me. Call me (y/n)."

"Yes of course, (y/n). What was it you wanted to see me for? Is it to talk about what you saw out there? Did I screw it up already?"

"No, no dear relax. This is nothing in the way you're thinking." I saw him take a sigh of relief.

"Oh good. Cause I know I obviously wasn't the first choice for the job."

"In my books Rami, you should've been the first one to be called for the role."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, but first there's a couple of questions that I want to ask you that Brian and Roger might not have asked you, and I want you to answer them as Freddie would've."

"Okay." I smiled softly and stood up from my seat as I set the phot album aside.

"Who is Queen not without?"

"That's easy. It's you darling. There's no Queen without their beloved Rock Angel, and no Rock Angel without her four aging Queens." I felt my heart clench at hearing Rami speak with a British tone. The softness of his voice almost sounded identical to Freddie's voice. I turned towards him and walked towards the kitchen area of my trailer.

"Who is it that you trust the most?"

"Mary. Mary is the one I trust the most. For she knows me like no one else ever will." I reached the kitchen and rested my hand against the island.

"Who are you?" Rami looked at me before finally answering something that would forever stun me.

"I've been asked that all my life. By my family, student peers, professors, the entire world. I've been told who I should strive to be but I say fuck what they say. They don't define me. No, I decided who I am. I'm going to be what I was born to be. A performer who gives the people what they want." He pointed towards the ceiling as he whispered, "touch of the heavens." He dropped his hand before finally answering, "Freddie Fucking Mercury."

My lips quivered and I ducked my head as tears began falling down my face for—god knows how many times right now.

"Oh (y/n) I—I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry, I—did I say something wrong?" Rami said urgently as he stood up and stood in front of me.

"No." I choked out. I sniffled and that's when he handed me a tissue. Oh ever the kind gentleman and concerned about my wellbeing, just like Freddie was. "No you—you've prove to me that you know just who Freddie truly was."

"Didn't want to be put in a certain category or be stereotyped." He said. I nodded as I wiped my tears with the tissue he had given me.

"For as long as I have known Freddie, especially to his last, various people have chosen one of two sides. There's the one side that the press made him out to be. The one that-that—bastard Cohen wanted to portray Freddie as. The wild, crazed, homosexual drug addict. That he deserved what he had gotten because he was so reckless and stupid. That AIDS was his form of suicide. Never did I want to punch and murder so many people. Every time I got asked about whether Freddie's death was his own fault, I just wanted to rip the interviewer apart."

"I can see why. I bet a lot of true fans and the people who knew Freddie well would've done what you've felt like doing."

"But people like you Rami, who understand that Freddie wasn't just a frontman or greatest performer to ever live. That he did come from a harsh background but rose above all the trials and tribulations that came his way to define himself as he sought out to be. That's why he was my biggest idol." I grabbed the photo album and sat down on the couch and opened it up taking out a picture that was always a favorite of mine.

It was a picture that Deacy took of Freddie and I together just after my very first performance as the Rock Angel at Madison Square Garden. Fred's arms wrapped around me as he had picked me up, huge wide smiles were spread across our faces. I felt a dip on my left side I looked up to see Rami sitting close beside me. He looked down at the picture before saying.

"Was this your first performance?"

"Yes. Out of four members of Queen, it was Freddie Mercury who truly believed that I could make a name for myself in the industry. Taught me everything there was into getting the self-confidence I needed to get up on that stage. Sure we had our ups and downs, but through all the falls we had, he never gave up on me. He gave up on no one that he loved. And Rami," we looked at each other and I told him the utmost truth, "If he were alive today, he would've loved you."

He smiled as I gently touched his cheek and the two of us looked through my photo album of every picture Freddie and I took throughout the 11 years I knew him.

At the end of the day, just before the four boys left to go hang out at a pub nearby, I stepped in and offered.

"Why not have dinner over at my place boys?"

"Oh we couldn't impose." Said Joe.

"Nonsense Joe, I insist and I won't take no for answer. Plus it'll be a more homely environment. You boys can't live on catering and pub foods for the next several months to a year. No I absolutely won't have it."

"Best go along with her boys, she got her persuasion from the best there was." Roger added in.

"Well—if you think it's a good idea." Said Gwilym.

"Of course it is. Now come on, you four can fit in my car. Let's go. Meet you there Brian and Roger?"

"We'll be right behind you love." Said Brian. I gestured the boys to follow me to my car. Ben sat up in the passenger seat, Joe sat behind him, Rami was in the middle and Gwilym sat behind me. I turned the engine on and told everyone to buckle up (mama instincts what can I say?) and we pulled out of the gate and I drove us on home.

"So (y/n), what other kind of music do you listen to?" asked Joe.

"Whatever song has a good voice and a good beat, with no autotune I will love. You can look through my Spotify and see what I have." Ben took my phone out of the phone holder and turned around as Joe took over the controls and went to my Spotify.

"Wow there are a lot of songs. And I thought you would've just stuck with what you grew up on."

"Unlike most rockstars like Roger who think everything after 1979 basically became trash music with the rise of pop or as they called it 'disco'. I'm a little more open minded. But I deny all songs that use explicit language every three words, degrading women, or promotes violence."

"You even got some old Christina Aguilera songs on here?" asked Rami.

"Who do you think helped produce her?"

"Shut the front door. You produced Christina Aguilera?"

"Yeah. I even gave her rights to a song that I wanted to do. But even singing it brought back some old wounds. So since I was helping her produce her album at the time, I turned to song over to her."

"What song was it?" asked Ben.

"Fighter."

"Shut up! That was literally my jam."

"I can attest to that. Throughout the filming of The Pacific, he would never shut that song off when getting into Eugene's character for certain episodes." Rami rose his hand.

"Yeah. I have an entire playlist of some songs I helped produce or make. You can play that playlist if you'd like. Or my typical playlist my boys best songs."

"I think in the light of our first day filming, we should go with Queen. What do you guys say?" Joe asked.

"Agree."

"Yep."

"Oh yeah."

"Aright then Joe, we'll each pick our favorite Queen song. You're up first little Tim." He grinned and scrolled through my playlist until Somebody to love came up on the speakers. "Read my mind Joseph." The piano began playing and that's when I vocalized alongside Freddie and the five of us began singing the song at the top of our lungs.

The entire car ride contained each of us picking our top favorite songs. Ben did 'White Queen' which I commended on him cause people nowadays tend to forget the old Queen songs, Gwilym picked Love of my Life, Rami chose Radio Gaga, and I, of course chose Bohemian Rhapsody.

Thanks to Wayne's world (yes I saw the movie and yes it was silly but just the opening scene alone made the movie worth watching) we basically did the same motion by motion that those boys did in the film when the operatic section came on. And of course when the headbanging rock out came on, the boys proceeded to bang their hands while I did mine not as aggressively (responsible driving kids!)

We continued to rock out to the song and it wasn't until by the end of the song that we soon arrived at my home. I pulled the car up into the garage and hit the clicker button which opened up the garage door and I pull inside just as the last line came up and Roger's gong rang off. I shut the engine and said.

"Here we are boys, welcome to casa de la Kline." We all exited out of my car and right behind us as scheduled were Brian and Roger with Bri getting out of the driver's seat. "Bout time you two got here, I was beginning to worry that I'd need to call in an ambulance."

"We're old dear, not dead." Roger sassed at me.

"But I still love you old coots. Just like I said all those years ago."

"That I do remember, the day right after you got so shitfaced after your 21st birthday. You remember that Brian?" Roger said.

"Indeed I do Rog, I even remember what we did to her to get her to apologize, think we need to do it again?"

"That might have to be arranged."

"Oh no you guys don't! We're not doing that now, now let's get inside before we all catch a cold." I guided them all inside. Once we stepped through the backdoor of the garage I could already smell something cooking, and I knew who exactly was cooking at this rate. "Baby! I'm home!" I called out from the hallway.

We turned the corner and soon came to the kitchen where a young man of 19 (going on 20 in a couple months) stood by the oven. He shut it off and turned around. He was every bit like his father when I first met him back in '83, but he had my eyes. When he saw me, he softly smiled and I came up to him.

"Sorry I didn't call in advance telling you that we would have more guests than your uncles."

"No worries mom. You know I've always cooked way more than I should." I smiled and cupped his face and we kissed each other's cheek. "Uncle Brian, uncle Roger."

"Hello Fred." Brian greeted.

"Hey lad, how's school been?"

"Oh you know, NYU's a challenge but I manage." He then directed his attention towards the young actors but when he eyes landed on Rami, he quickly grabbed my arm and whispered to me. "You didn't tell me you'd be bringing Rami Malek to our house!"

"Again slipped my mind." I teased him.

"Mom how dare you bring my celebrity crush here without telling me, look at me I'm a mess."

"Oh you're fine. Now best behavior." I wrapped an arm around my son and said. "Boys, this is my youngest son Freddie Mercury Kline. Fred, these are the boys that will be playing your uncles. This is Joe Mazzello, he'll be playing your uncle Deacy. Ben Hardy who's playing your old uncle Roger."

"Watch it lion cub." Rog warned me. I gave him a cheeky look before continuing the introductions.

"Gwilym Lee will be playing your uncle Brian, and you know Rami, he'll be playing the man you were named after."

"Uncle Freddie?"

"Yes. And—from what I've seen so far, you'll finally get to meet him through the screen."

"I don't doubt that. I'm a big fan of yours Rami, your role in Mr. Robot has been—amazing."

"I'm honored."

"Alright since we've all had a long day today, let's get some grub. Everyone grab a plate." I grabbed some extra plates from the cabinet and handed four plates out to the actors and we all assembled around the island to grab a piece of lasagna, peas, mashed potatoes with gravy and Hawaiian rolls.

Once we gathered around the table I set out the iced tea Jack had made a couple of days ago as well as some champagne or wine. "Okay guys, before we dig in I want all hands on deck." I extended my hand out.

Freddie immediately placed his hand on top of mine, Brian and Rog soon followed after and it was then Rami, Gwilym, Joe and finally Ben placed their hands on top.

"Thank you for this family, thank you for this meal. Thank you for this day. It'll be a wild ride, but I feel this movie will soar, and—that this new family will forever stay." I said ending the traditional family prayer. The young actors looked at me with warm eyes and soft smiles.

"Alright, let's dig in. You boys will never eat the same way again once you taste (y/n)'s cooking." Roger said.

"That bad?" joked Joe. I gawked at the young cheeky actor.

"On the contrary she's the best chief on this side of London. Even when she was an intern she made us this one Christmas pudding that was to die for." Brian spoke on my behalf.

"It's true. She put all the other PTA mom's to shame when it came to my school's bake sales." Freddie said as he took a bite of his lasagna.

The entire dinner was filled with talks about our lives, stories and embarrassing moments in life. Not a single person was excluded from a conversation. After dinner, Rami and Gwilym helped Freddie with the dishes while I got some other scrapbooks out and bonded a bit with Ben and Joe about my time with Rog and Deacy.

"Now this Joe was taken during my first Japan tour. At the very garden where Queen went to near the Tokyo tower, Deacy refused to let me leave without having a cherry blossom crown."

"He seems to be doing good in the picture."

"Except one twig got so tangled in my hair it literally took 15 minutes just to get it out." We both laughed before I turned the page and found a great picture of me and Roger. "Now this picture Ben, both Roger and I have this picture, this was taken after my first Hyde Park performance."

"She performed to an audience of half of what Queen did when we performed at Hyde Park." Roger spoke.

"She could've performed for more but times changed and better security measure for the public's safety prevented it from happening again." Brian added.

"One thing's for sure, I was damn well proud of her for performing at her biggest crowd at the time just barely two years into her career." Roger spoke again. I looked up and winked at him.

"You guys really do have that father-daughter bond don't you?" Joe said.

"Have ever since she gave me the real 1 and 3/7th's sugar."

"It wasn't until Brian told me the next day that Roger just says that to pull people's leg. God I felt embarrassed after that."

"Aww lovie, but it was due to that I became your favorite. And I don't regret it as I'm sure you don't."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." As Gwilym, Rami and Freddie came back in I continued going through the scrapbook sharing my photos of my days with Queen with the boys, and allowing Freddie to finally hear all the stories that he was denied cause of my grief.

As the night got darker and darker, the young actors at this moment were so full of food and exhausted from a long day's filming they actually passed out along my living room. Joe and Ben cuddled up on the couch, Rami asleep on the recliner, while Gwilym was curled up along the loveseat.

Meanwhile I was watching over them and couldn't help but think it was like seeing my boys all over again. I remember back when I was still an intern and would see the guys all passed out whether at Freddie's parties or in the studio, I always had to provide the guys comfort (which I never minded). So seeing these four young men passed out just brought me a sense of nostalgia.

"I got the spare blankets mom."

"Thank you dear. Your uncles tucked in the spare bedrooms?"

"Uncle Brian's in the room across yours and dad's and uncle Roger is in Georgie's old room."

"Good boy." I then proceeded to cover up and adjust the young actors. I wrapped both Joe and Ben in the same blanket and closed Joe's mouth gently so that he wouldn't drool in his sleep, followed by giving them each a soft kiss goodnight. Without trying to wake him up, I uncurled Gwilym from his pretzel position and covered him up.

I gingerly stroked through his hair before placing a soft kiss to his temple. He groaned and lifted his head up which allowed me to place a pillow underneath him. He hummed in content as he snuggled into it. I then went over to Rami and adjusted the seat so that he would be more comfortable. Pressing the button on our automatic recliner, his legs slowly rose up before finally stopping in full recliner mode.

I tucked him in while looking down at him. God even without the tache it was like looking at Freddie from when I first met him in person at a concert, long before I became an intern. I gently kissed his cheek before faintly stroking his cheek.

Sitting outside along the deck, Freddie and I were looking up at the stars.

"So you think this movie's gonna be a hit?"

"Critics are always hard to please, no matter if it's music or movies. From what I've read of the script yes there's misinformation but that's why it's called a biopic. There's some truth but it's the touch of Hollywood in order to make the film not a boring documentary. But those four boys, they are just how I remember your uncles being when I not only worked with them, but grew up with them hearing their music."

"I wish I had gotten the chance to meet uncle Freddie." Fred said after a brief moment of silence. I turned to him to see him looking down sadly.

"So do I love. He would've loved you as much as he did your brothers and sister. And he would've been over the moon had he found that I had named you after him." I brought my baby close and he wrapped his arms around me as we both looked up at the moon and the stars together.

The star right by the moon glowed the brightest, the very same star that shined just as bright the night after the tribute concert we did back in '92. I couldn't help as a tear slid down my face and a smile spread across my face.

I knew that it was Freddie's star, telling me that he was watching us and that he was proud.

[bubblyani]

Bail Out: 05

(Bruce Wayne x Reader)

A Bruce Wayne Multi Chapter Series

Chapter 05: “No Fun”

Summary: One fateful, drunken night gets you arrested for assault.  However, once you get bailed out by Billionaire Socialite Bruce Wayne,  surprising obstacles get in the way, forcing you to question all your  choices in life, career, and in love.

Word Count: 8500+

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Swearing and Slight Violence 

Author’s Note: So glad I could finish this on time. Now I’m impatiently working on the next part. When you read it, you will know why. Thanks again for the wonderful response. Enjoy!

Chapter LIST

The rapid sound of gunfire, infused with blood curdling screams, certainly forced your heart to beat right out of your chest. The beating, increased without any prior announcement shocked you, as if the live, blood pumping organ might literally fall out of your flesh vessel. The scene you witnessed, was never expected but only imagined in modes of fiction. Be it novels or films. However, when you truly got to taste it in the rusty reality, only then did you realize the gravity of its horror. And only then at that fateful moment, did you genuinely fear for your precious life.

Just when it seemed trouble had finally set you free.

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(A Few Days Earlier)

Allison Hughs was your quintessential fun-loving, living in the moment party girl with complete control over the pace of her existence. Apart from all that, she was also a loyal friend, blindly following you to the ends of the earth in ranting.

“SHE DID WHAT?”

Her inquiry was loud and dramatic, to which you nodded. “Yep” you replied, “She straight up went there…”

Safe to say, the ‘She’ that was being mentioned here was none other than Clara Bennett, the Consultant who slithered her way into Wayne Enterprises, solely to make exaggerated inspections on HR Operations, and to make your cooperate life a living hell, drenched with self-doubt and insecurity. It certainly traveled up a notch when she proactively invited you to take part in a Basic HR Crash Course, that was mainly designed to New Recruits. Simply because she assumed that you would find the Course ‘helpful’ to your own line of work. The fact she indirectly implied a trace of incompetence in you caused so much embarrassment.

“The hell is that bitch’s problem though?”

Allison kept inquiring, as she wiped off the milk from her lips, “Seriously…” she muttered, standing by the opened refrigerator in her pajamas.

“Yeah” you continued to nod, as you stuffed a spoonful of cereal into your mouth, “..and Lillian…being my senior since day 1, didn’t even treat me this way” you added, with a full mouth.

Already dressed for work, little did you expect to see Allison awake and engaged while you had your breakfast, “I look like a fucking joke…”you muttered, after finally gulping the food down.

“Hey!”

Allison cried, pointing her index finger at you, “Don’t you dare give up” she said with seriousness, standing before you, “You need to stand your ground and carry on with dignity…” she continued, her tone quite similar to a heroic speech, “Make Lillian proud she left you in charge…” she added, putting both hands on the table. Leaning forward, she took a closer look, “This will be good for you…” finally as her voice grew soft, she flashed a soft smile. You could not help but look at her affectionately, as you exhaled deeply.

“Talking to you makes me feel so much better…” you admitted. Pleased, Allison stood up straight.

“That’s why I’m your hype man, Sweetie!” she said, turning towards the window, “Watch out Gotham! The Bruiser is here to SLAY-”

“HEYYY!!-” your shushes exited along with your embarrassment. Your friend covered her mouth quickly.

“Sorry, Sweetie….” Allison whispered, taking the hands away, “But it just sounds so badass…” as her tone grew normal once more. You shot her a deranged look.

“Do I look like someone who deserves the name?” you inquired. “Well…” she said, folding her arms, “…the fact you punched that guy is a good enough reason…”

Shaking one’s head with a chuckle, you watched her head to the bedroom with a maniacal laughter. The sudden vibration of the table forced you to look down at your phone. The chuckling stopped, permitting your pulse to quicken with liberty. Rubbing your neck nervously, you proceeded to read the text from the only sender who was capable to send you through an emotional wild ride: Bruce Wayne.

Sorry, long night. Good Morning!

Pausing for a few seconds, you exhaled loudly as began to type:

No worries. Hope your day goes well, Mr. Wayne.

Being an appropriate response, you sent without hesitation. Long night?, could it possibly truly mean a hectic night of crime fighting and city saving in disguise? A strong urge suddenly arose to pull up the search browser on your phone, and type in the words: Batman. And what appeared first in the results certainly made your eyebrows rise with curiousity.

“Ali….” You yelled loud enough for her to hear, “You’ve heard of a website called… ‘Where’s the Bat’?

“EH?”

Her response was equally loud and echoing, “Oh yeah…” she added, whilst you opened the web page, “…Matty was talking about it sometime back…” she continued, “Some nerdy site about The Batman…”

“Damn!”

The word abruptly left your lips as your eyes widened. For you were treated to such a sight, “Ali…get this…” you said, proceeding to read the description of the page, “Welcome to ‘Where’s the Bat?’ Your Online Resource for all things Batman: Gotham’s Caped Crusader…” you squealed excitedly,  “Ha! It’s a freakin’ fan site! Oh! Oh!” you exclaimed as you continued to read out loud:

“… reliable sources from our very own admins and enthusiasts all over Gotham City…” with a whistle, you nodded, “These folks are not kidding around, huh?” you muttered, letting your finger slowly scroll down, “And they have posts on almost every appearance he made in the city…” you said out loud, yet it seemed that Allison was never interested. 

The Website backdrop was in black, but encompassing a very beautiful design concept. The immaculate detail was beyond believable. Detailed posts on possible weapons owned, vehicles, fighting styles and costume, Photos ranging from Low Quality to High, even blurry videos by camera phones, it was certainly a network of information. Your eyes widened when you saw the recent post title: 

Batman and The Bruiser?

“What the-?” Muttering to yourself, you clicked on the article.

“…also known as The Bruiser (Click Here for the Viral Clip) was spotted nearby when a group of muggers had reportedly attacked her. According to the anonymous source, Batman had arrived right on time. A clip of the incident may not be available, yet we did manage to find a small clip as he escaped the scene. And according to Gotham PD, the Caped Crusader had appeared once again to The Bruiser’s aid the night after. As much as we feel sorry for the bad luck The Bruiser attracts, we could only be nothing but envious of her opportunity to meet the Dark Knight twice. And some of us could not help but wonder: Could romance possibly be in bloom between the two?”

“What?” Nervous chuckles were all you let out as you whispered, “Hah! In your dreams, fanboys…” you uttered, closing the browser, “Batman would never go for a woman like me” you said, almost dropping the phone by its sudden vibration. For a reply was received.

You too. Stay out of trouble :)

“And you stay out of my head” you said to yourself, putting the phone back on the table. Covering your face, you could only groan with frustration. Ever since that evening at the hospital a mere week before, casual texts from Bruce Wayne began to appear on your phone, starting off on the very next day:

Couldn’t thank you for running that errand for Fox.

The errand, meaning the black box that Mr.Fox entrusted you with. A small yet long box which was quite light. The very box that granted you access to his penthouse and to the friendship with Alfred Pennyworth.

Just doing my job, Mr.Wayne.

You remember replying that day at office. It was not exactly necessary for him to thank you this way, yet his action was commendable. He did not hesitate to quickly respond:

Much appreciated.

Just when you thought it was the end, he greeted once again two days later. During an important meeting, for example:

Hi there! Is Ms.Foster enjoying the gift?

Once the meeting wrapped up, you made sure to respond :

Very much, from what I know. You’re making motherhood very easy for her.

You would be lying if you did not look forward to write him back. The manner your fingers tingled was quite evident. 

That’s a relief.

Clearly with his corresponding reply, he displayed quite an interest in conversing with you, by finding meager excuses to obtain your response. Yet, a part of you wondered what his actual intentions were. Be professional, a phrase that lingered in your head always. A warning, more like. As much as the desire to carry on the message thread was strong within, you did not reply back.

Two days passed, and surprisingly you were dying with curiousity. Could it be that his intention to communicate had finally gone? Or could it be that you were finally missing him? Forming a clever excuse to obtain his signature, you liaised with Jessica, only to find out Bruce Wayne was currently on a business trip in Singapore.

Intoxicated with impulsiveness, your thumbs grew stubborn as they formed a message on your phone:

Heard you’re in Singapore. How is it?

“Shit! Roaming Charges!”

You sighed, your palm slapped over your forehead. Putting the phone away to enjoy the view of the bus ride, you sincerely hoped he would never notice. But to your surprise, the phone vibrated instantly:

Loving the Food here.

Despite roaming charges, he was kind enough to reply. And that touched you very deeply. Then again, money was never an issue for a man of his stature. him. However, you were not Bruce Wayne. Still, a few extra dollars seemed nothing compared to the inner secretive joy you indulged in as you replied: 

Not surprised. The Bakkwa over there is to die for.

He did not reply. He did not do so for a day and two. You grew worried, if he was really knee deep in business, or literally knee deep in trouble. But the next morning, you were finally assured of his safe arrival back to Gotham, especially when you found a gift at the door. A Gift which came in the form of a beautiful red box full of Bakkwa, the Chinese sweet dried meat, one of your favorite treats. You did not miss the handwritten note inside:

You’re right. It IS to die for. - B.Wayne

Chuckling with happiness, you were only compelled to quickly text him a grateful reply:

The Bakkawa enthusiast sends her Thanks.

To which you finally received a reply this morning as you indulged on your cereal:

Sorry, long night. Good Morning!

Groaning in frustration seemed rightfully reasonable for you. Stressing out seemed rightfully reasonable as well. Who would not, when there was a storm that brewed inside of you. A storm of emotions that contained the sticky quality. The adhesiveness that was stubborn to the core. For if you look at the situation in it’s entirety, this was not your average instance of a man and woman forming a textual habit in order to know one another. You were an acting Head, informally socializing with the owner of Wayne Enterprises. Being in HR, you could already feel the weight of unprofessionalism heat on you. That guilt which already seemed to haunt you subtly. Thus, not responding further seemed logical, yet it certainly was a hard pill for you to swallow. 

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“You sure you don’t want anything? Coffee or Tea?”

You asked Officer John Blake, ushering him to his seat as you sat down. He shook his head.

“I’m good, Ma’am” he said with a smile. Smiling back, you were drenched with guilt. A week earlier, the police officer had requested to meet, yet with your unexpected work load, you reluctantly had to send him back the previous time. Forcing him to wait so long for a week was something you knew you would go to hell for. But John Blake did not judge, or as it seemed from his expression.

“Didn’t know you were running a tight ship here .” He said, looking back to witness the bustle in the main hall outside.

“Well, the Head’s on Maternity leave so…I’m stuck here, hehe…” You answered nervously, “Once again I’m so sorry Officer. You said it was something urgent?”

“It’s about the two attacks…” Blake said, capturing your attention. “Now I’m sure you’re probably wondering if those are simply coincidental or something more…”

“I honestly have been afraid to go down that rabbit hole, but yes I did wonder…” you replied. Looking sideways, he finally turned your way as his lowered his voice:

“I have reason to believe Erik Henderson may be connected to this…”

The image of the mocking man, and his bloody nose flashed before your very eyes. Given his anger, it could be a high possibility. Yet, you were in disbelief.

“What gave you the idea?” You inquired with curiousity. Blake kept his police his hat on his lap securely:

“The men who attacked you, the ones we arrested…” He said, to which you nodded in acknowledgment, “They were bailed out the very next day by-”

“-Henderson’s Legal Team?” You asked blankly, for you were still in disbelief. Blake nodded.

“I may be wrong” he said, “Bailing the people who attacked you, it could also just be a power move, maybe to scare you off…” he added, leaning forward, “So far we cannot be sure…” He continued, “But I think it’s best for you to keep an eye out-”

Your eyes suddenly darted towards the phone screen. For an email just appeared in your personal inbox with a title:

“Job Offer for General Manager”

Eyes widening, you were certainly not expecting that. Quiet for a few minutes, you found yourself staring at your own table, for you were confused beyond all measure with everything you just heard and saw.

“I’m sorry...” Blake began, shaking you from your thoughts, “ if I’m causing you any discomfort-”

“No…it’s alright” flipping the phone downward, you shook your head with a soft smile, “I just…all this was just so unexpected. Didn’t think there would be any possibility for anything like this, that’s all” you said, smiling even more, “I appreciate the information, Officer”

Truthfully, you were nothing but grateful to the man. Perhaps it was because he was the arresting officer who was in charge of that fateful night. Nevertheless, he was nothing but kind to you. Blake grinned widely.

“The Precinct still thanks The Bruiser for Common’s Coffee” He said, to which you were genuinely surprised.

“Oh! I’m glad-”

“BOSS!”

Greg’s cries forced both of you to look to the door. Distress never looked good on Greg. Giving a heavy sigh, he began:

“ I’m sorry to keep doing this but…” he said, “Clara’s gone off the rails!”

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As he made his way down the Lobby through the crowds, John Blake made his careful observations, fascinated by all that he glanced upon in the Wayne Tower. “Officer Blake!” Stopping in his tracks, John turned upon hearing a familiar voice. He smiled.

“Mr.Wayne…” He addressed,  “Didn’t expect to see you here” Smartly dressed in a pinstriped three piece suit, Bruce Wayne stood before the much younger man with a reciprocative smile.

“Well,” he began “You can’t just play hard….so…” Nodding in acknowledgment, Blake held on to his hat. With the silence between them growing longer, John began to speak:

“I’m actually just coming down after meeting one of your Senior Managers” He said, which caught Wayne’s attention.

“Who is…?”

When Blake provided him with the name, Bruce nodded nonchalantly. “Is this anything to do with the Henderson case?” He asked, suddenly growing serious. Surprised by his knowledge, the officer nodded.

“Yes….” Blake added. But then again, there was nothing to be surprised of. Given Wayne was in the hotel when it all happened. 

“How did she take it?” “Surprisingly pretty well” Blake said, as he began to walk alongside Wayne ,“But she seems to have her hands full today, doesn’t look too good” he sighed, involuntarily empathizing with her. And given Wayne’s subtle yet concerned expression, Blake realized he was not alone there. Finally reaching the exit, the officer was compelled to do the unexpected:

“Since you were a witness to the incident,..” he began, making Wayne look at him, “ I think it’s probably best that you also know…”

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You have always put your trust in Lillian Foster. That trust had lasted throughout your time in Wayne Enterprises without forsaking you for a mere second. Thus, you were certain she did the needful in approving the Revised Policies and Regulations before taking her leave. For you had personally witnessed it.

However, when a company email from Clara Bennett to Lucius Fox claimed HR was seemingly incapable of carrying out their operations under the current leadership, you were not surprised to find your anger making an appearance.

And the embarrassment you had to face when she even went so far as to copy you and your managers in to that said email. Professional was nowhere near this behavior. For this was simply child’s play. The panic all your department staff went through was understandable. Especially when they worked only to their very best.

“You wanted to me see me?”

Clara asked, as she entered your office. Raising your head up, you threw a cold expression her way: “Close the door please” Your tone was stern. Looking around, Clara furrowed her eyebrows. “But aren’t you supposed to-” “I’ll take my chances, Ms. Bennett” You interrupted her, lips forming a tight smile. With an uncertain nod, she closed the door shut, before taking a few steps towards you. Slowly getting up from your desk, you quickly walked over to her. It was now or never. “We saw that little email that you sent to Mr. Fox.” You stated, to which she did not flinch. Scoffing, your hands rested on your hips, “I know how things work: When people mess up, even after many warnings, they get complained about to the superiors…” you said in a matter-of-fact tone, “But…” you paused, as you were on a dire attempt not to explode, “how can you expect us...” Surprisingly you felt emotion trickling in, “...to take this lying down when you DIDN'T PERFORM EITHER OF THOSE ACTIONS?” With your voice surprisingly getting louder than expected, Clara found herself folding her arms in defense: “Look, I get it...” She said, her smile suddenly faded,  “You don’t like me snooping around” You scoffed in disbelief, “Ms.Bennett, this is not you snooping around. This is you desperately finding excuses to make US LOOK BAD” you stated loudly, “I mean…What exactly on the policies and regulations are you complaining about?” You inquired. And to your surprise, Clara grew quiet before she finally answered:

“I just...” she paused, as if she was seeking excuses,  “...don’t understand why the Policies couldn’t be circulated if they were revised” Your jaw dropped in disbelief, “What are you talking about??They were already revised and circulated” you answered with certainty, appalled by the childish games that were being played. “Well…” pausing again, “I don’t see them in the Public Folder”she said stubbornly, to which you sighed, rubbing your temples, “ And according to my sources, It’s Paula Yang’s  responsibility, am I right?” Though authority was rife in her tone, you could sense the menace that lingered invisibly.

“Ms. Bennett...” you gritted through your teeth, taking your hand away, “Paula is on bed rest after breaking HER LEG...from a biking accident last weekend” you burst out, “...if you looked up on our employees with the SAME ENTHUSIASM you did on our work, then you would probably know that” you spat, fuming with anger,  “But If you expect me to deprive her of her paid leave, JUST SO she could just limp over here to UPLOAD SOME POLICIES to a server? then you’re sorely mistaken! ” You cried out, panting.

Subtly shocked at your response, Clara stood silently. Given her reaction, it was quite evident something disastrous would soon follow. Your threw your hands up in defense.

“Fine” you said, “If you prefer to pin this error on me, please do. But… not the department” you said, as your voice grew soft , “...please” you breathed. Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Clara opened them once again, shooting you a stern glance.

“Do you know…what I was told about you before I came here?” She posed a rhetorical question, to which you rightfully did not answer to, “An unprofessional thug, with anger issues.” She said.

In all your years of working at Wayne Enterprises, this was the far from what you had ever heard from anyone. The silence ruled over the atmosphere for a few more seconds.

“So I came in with a mission...” Clara went on, “...to tame you. Or to rile you up enough to expose who you really were” she said harshly. Folding your own arms in defense, you took a deep breath:

“Well,” you began, “I believe I was angry For the right reasons. So no regrets here” you answered with confidence. Whatever consequence that may follow, you were not aware of, for your justified rage may possibly have outdone yourself this time. You only wished Lillian would forgive you.

“But…” Clara paused, “...from the way you stood up for your employees and your department…,” she said, as her expression softened, “ I guess… I was badly misinformed.” Confusion took over you for the next few seconds, as she looked straight into your eyes before taking in a deep breath:

“I’m sorry!” Your eyes widened, “P-Pardon?” Sighing, Clara reluctantly rubbed the sides of her thighs: “I’m sorry…If I insulted you in any way” she said shyly in a low tone, “Honestly speaking, no matter how much I tried to deny it, everything seems to be running smoothly” She added. 

Relief quickly washed over you. Leaving you questioning reality all the sudden. “ I would gladly leave you all alone but..,” Clara smiled, “I’ve been contracted here for a while. So, I hope we can all cooperate together till I leave. Maybe a fresh start?”

Extending her hand to you, she presented a genuine smile. A smile possibly carrying hope to gain your trust. Sincerely impressed by her bravery, you smiled back: “Sure, Apology accepted” You said, shaking her hand, “I really appreciate it, Ms.Bennett”

“Clara, Please.” She insisted, “Ms.Bennett just pisses me off even more”

Chuckling together, you nodded, “Okay, Gotcha”

The phone rang loud to your surprise. Giving her a friendly wave, you quickly moved to your desk in a cheerful manner, growing even more cheerful upon seeing the extension on the phone screen.

“Mr. Fox!” You answered, as you sat down, “How can I help you?”

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Since the fateful day she first laid eyes on him in his glorious return to Wayne Enterprises until now, Jessica would certainly never not blush whenever Bruce Wayne politely greeted her. Upon seeing her red face, he stepped into Lucius Fox’s office, walking over to find the CEO on the phone wearing a smile on his face.

“Don’t worry about it.” Fox said over the phone, “So you’ll come? Perfect…” He smiled, nodding at Wayne as he finally appeared in his eye line, “Hope to see you then” He added, hanging up the phone.

“I have to admit…” Fox began, ushering Bruce to sit, “… seeing you here every day at Wayne Tower is a happy surprise” He said. Bruce smiled.

“Everything alright?” He asked the CEO, “The Audits aren’t happening till another month or so..”

“No…” Fox shook his head, surprisingly impressed, “ I was actually wondering if you would…like to join me in the Company Dinner, this Thursday night. It’s a little gathering I normally do with the Heads of Departments...” he continued, glancing upon Wayne’s confused expression, “...to form a closer bond and… give them morale” He said, tilting his head. As much as the sentiment was kind, Wayne sighed with exhaustion.

“Mr.Fox, you know very well how I rather be stuck in the basement than go to that…” he said, slowly getting up, “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass”. Offering a polite smile, he turned around to make his leave. When opportunities to make a choice were given, he would certainly rather choose to not wear that mask in public. It tired him.

“She’s coming too”

Bruce froze, the moment Fox’s words reached his ears. Turning to him, he raised his eyebrows.

“She?” He began, “You mean…she?” He asked, highly emphasizing on the said pronoun, for both of them knew the person being discussed.

“Yes” Fox said, “Just got off the phone with her as you came in” he added, “I just thought you would like to know” with nonchalance, he casually put on his glasses.

Silently nodding, Bruce turned back to resume walking. Only except he halted once again, just to spin back around smoothly.

“Thursday…what time?” He inquired with genuine curiousity.

Being a man of his age, Lucius Fox could not help but smile at his response.

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Being the workaholic, Lunch Breaks was nothing short of special for you. The moment the last bite of your delicious meal reached your lips, it was off to work once again, giving you ample time to finish your tasks. But this Wednesday, you cast that usual habit away, taking the luxury you rarely took during this entire decade.

Just to decide on a dress.

With your lunch on the desk and Allison on speakerphone, your eyes moved back and forth from two beautiful dresses on the website. With Mr. Fox casually inviting you to the Company Dinner, all you longed to provide was a good impression. Most women in your position would feel greatly pressured and stick to a salad just to fit into the dress. However, you were far too greedy to ignore the great Spaghetti Bolognese that was on the table before you.

“Sweetie, You know I love you, So why won’t you fucking listen to me?”

Allison’s echoed out loud, as you stared at the screen with concern. “Cause it’s a crazy idea, that’s why ” you said, stuffing pasta into your mouth, “Better go with the black one…” you said with a full mouth, pointing at the long sleeved black dress, “It’s tame, and I can just blend in with crowd” squinting, you attempted at imagining yourself in the outfit.

“Boo! BORING”

Allison’s response was quite obvious.

“Hey!” Clara’s whisper reached your ears, urging you to find her standing by the door with a smile. Ever since the intervention, the atmosphere underwent a surprising change, and all was well with the both of you. It was quite unbelievable how cooperative she had become. “I’m sorry but...could I borrow a twenty?” She asked politely in a whisper, all in order not to intrude your call. “Sure…” You whispered back, reaching into your bag to grab your purse, “Hah! Lucky you, that’s all I have” You grinned, fishing out the only dollar note as she headed over to take it from your hand.

“Hey!  Hey! Sweetie, Did I lose you?”

Allison’s voice brought you back to the phone call. “No! No! You didn’t…Sorry! Argh!” Groaning in frustration, you looked back at the computer screen, “I don’t know what to do, Ali…” You muttered.

“What is it?” With her still standing there, Clara finally asked out loud. She genuinely looked concerned. Embarrassed, you pointed at the screen.

“No it’s just…” you paused, “I have to go to this Cooperate Dinner thingy tomorrow, and I don’t know what to get…” you added, “…the Black or the White”.

Silent for a few seconds, you stared at Clara as she rubbed her chin with seriousness, while making a careful observation at the screen. Finally, her fingers snapped loudly.

“The White One…” Confidence oozed out of her voice as she replied. Looking back at the dress, you took a deep breath. V neck on the front along with a low cut in the back, the pure white silk evening gown certainly possessed the potential to be a show stopper.

“I mean…Why be afraid to stand out?”

Clara’s words, they rang in your ears so loudly. Pointing at the dress, she continued: 

“Wear this, and No one will be able to take their eyes off you” The manner in which she uttered, you were suddenly filled with enough power to head out to the battlefield. Her words, they were simply invisible embellishments to the dress, making it the armor and the secret weapon. It simply became powerful. And finally, you were convinced on which dress to finally purchase. Lips forming into a warm smile, you thanked her inaudibly.

“YAY!” Allison cried out on the line, “Whoever just said that, I agree with you” Chucking, Clara cleared her throat and looked at your mobile phone.

“Hey there…It’s Clara by the way…” she said to Allison. You suppressed a huge grin as you imagined Allison’s surprise upon hearing that.

“Oh…YOU’RE Clara?…” she said, pausing, “Well I like how you think, Clara” she said happily afterwards. Relieved by the sight of both your best friend and your new friend being acquainted, your eyes moved back to the beautiful dress. 

“Wear this, and No one will be able to take their eyes off you”

Clara may be right. But you were a simple woman, and your wishes were just as simple. Little did anyone know how your heart simply longed for just one person to indulge your presence for the entire evening. But the possibility of that, was just your wishful thinking. You could only hope for the evening be as successful as imagined. As long as it had the perfect touch of jazz piano playing in the background.

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With notes played with the fluidity of a free flowing stream, the jazz piano music was certainly better tonight than it was that Friday evening weeks ago. With tonight, you only hoped to replace the horrid memory of violence that linked the genre of music with an evening more refined. For tonight, you were no violator, nor a drunkard. You were merely a lady in a beautiful, silk dress.

Walking through the Lobby in your silver open toe heels, you came into the realization of how the dress simply became you. Contrary to your fears, it embraced your curves effortlessly, while the material was kind to you, caressing and cooling your skin.The dress itself contained a sense of assurance you would most likely receive from a trusted friend, some good Samaritan, kindly whispering positive affirmations. Fashioning the outfit with your Mikimoto pearls, you felt you were prepared enough.

You were punctual, fortunately. Lillian would have been proud. When you arrived at the reserved table, the other Heads were just about to take their seats. Cold, curt nods were passed on to you the moment they caught sight of you. Lucius Fox, however was humble enough to smile widely upon seeing you.

“I appreciate you coming in tonight…” He stated, as he politely ushered you to your seat, which granted you access between him and Head of Legal, Ted’s Boss, “This is usually Lillian’s gig” he said.

“Yes I heard,” you agreed while sitting down together, “And she does it flawlessly”

“I think you’ll be able to hold off your own” Fox assured, quite impressed by your appearance tonight. You smiled.

“Thank you, Mr. Fox” you nodded, looking at him, until he suddenly rose from his own chair. 

“Ah! The man of the hour”

He said as  he looked ahead, “…so glad you could come, Mr.Wayne” 

The mere mention of that man’s name made you turn forward in a flash. Bruce Wayne was simply Suave incarnate. He certainly brought forth great depth to his presence everywhere he set foot on. You swore the airways inside began to dry out as your breath was taken away in secret. However, that breath was quickly stomped and discarded recklessly when you realized he was no alone. With a beautiful woman on his arm, he arrived at the table.

When that strong, sour feeling came over you, you were mature enough to admit it was simple jealousy. Yet then again, the playboy lifestyle certainly was demanding. The flashing smile Bruce wore slightly disappeared , when his eyes met yours from the corner of the table. With your sour jealousy stewing you, it was a sheer relief that he took his seat on the other far corner.

“Really Mr .Wayne, This is such a pleasant surprise” Mr. Kline, Head of Accounting mentioned with joy.

“Well, Mr. Fox is getting better with power of persuasion, I suppose ” Wayne said, looking at Lucius, “So...” rubbing his hands together, he smiled, “What are we all having? My treat...” 

To everyone’s delight, the night certainly started off on a positive note. According to the trusted word of Lucius Fox, Sushi was the prime choice of food on every single dinner . It was the shared interest with all the Heads by coincidence. Thus, becoming a tradition.

Fortunately for you, you knew your way with Japanese cuisine enough to save your face. Wine and Sake were in abundance in the table, leaving most of the Heads and Wayne’s date quite excited with intoxication. It was certainly a surprise for you, to see the Heads break out into wide smiles and childish attitudes once the alcohol entered their systems. They did not speak much with you, which you were fine with. You were the new one there , after all. But with Fox next to you, you felt a fatherly figure watched over you. You listened to him with earnest, which was not so difficult with his charismatic voice.

You also longed for a distraction. A strong distraction from Bruce Wayne’s eyes secretly claiming ownership over you the entire time. Could he be watching Fox? Or you? You honestly did not know. As much as your inner heart jumped for Joy by the thought of him watching you, confusion ruled supreme.

The turn of the conversation topic from Work to Sailing suddenly tempted the Heads call Mr Fox over to the other side, forcing him and Bruce to change seats instead. His date did not even notice, as she was busy engrossed in her phone. Though you were at your element, calmly eating your maki rolls in silence, your heart beat increased in an instant when his presence nearby was confirmed. His aura gently murmured a greeting of affection, urging you to look up from your plate. Covering your mouth, you politely swallowed the food. With the others engaged in their own little world, it seemed that you and Bruce were suddenly left to yourselves.

“Thank you again for the Bakkwa”

You began, clearing your throat “…it was heavenly” you said, smiling whilst flashing your full red lips. Smiling back warmly, he leaned forward to the table.

“I don’t wanna brag but...” he paused, “I found that store all by myself” He said softly, as it was a dramatic secret. Eyes widened, you played along: “Oh! I find that hard to believe” You said, chuckling.

“Ask me the address, I dare you” He said blankly, making you chuckle harder. Nodding, you generously accepted his kindness. Be it text or face to face, talking to Bruce Wayne symbolized pure joy to you.

“Well, well, well…”

An eerie voice, a voice that haunted your intoxicated memories, and a voice that caused the hairs of the back of your neck to stand. It was a voice you knew well. So bloody well.

“Isn’t this a surprise?”

The entire table looked over to find Erik Henderson. With a gracefully beautiful and age appropriate woman standing beside him, Henderson was as smug as he could be. “Mr. Henderson...” Fox said. Henderson looked right at him. “Lucius...” He uttered, without casting a single glance at Bruce Wayne. The sight of him brought a sense of fear to you. According to Officer Blake, he could very much be responsible for all the attacks you were victim to during the past few weeks. The possibility was high. Thus, the intimidation was justified. Funny how the intoxicated group of Heads managed to maintain their frozen states for a few seconds. As if their buzz was killed right off.

“Well,..” Henderson began, maintain his unimpressed expression,  “I wish you all have a pleasant evening” He stressed , slowly turning to leave. “And You!” A gasp left you the moment he spun back to point his index finger at you with such ferocity and anger. With bated breath, you wondered if time froze. Until he suddenly smiled at you. “You behave now...” He said mockingly, chuckling with power as he finally left the table. With the awkward silence taking control, embarrassment injected itself into you. The way he spoke to you was certainly disrespectful. So much so, your right hand quickly clenched into a tight fist , forcing you to revisit the trauma even now by his cruel words. All your anger, centralized into this fist.

But that anger suddenly vanished into thin air, the moment you felt Bruce’s palm rest over your fist. A literal warmth spread across every cell on your being, as his palm comforted you, and empathized with you more than ever. A few seconds of that sent you to a level of peace you never visited. The fact that a man such as he was with his inner conflicts could still heal you unexpectedly, it was magic to you. Finally looking at him, you nodded with gratefulness, leading him to take his away politely.

With silence still in charge, you were guilty of your past actions ruining tonight’s occasion as well. “Maybe it’s the alcohol but...” Kline slowly began, “...that Henderson’s face always reminds me of an…animal…” he remarked, breaking the ice, “l can’t place which one exactly...” He struggled, snapping his fingers away to remember. “A Bat?” Another Head inquired. “YES!” Kline yelled out loud, causing others to finally laugh and feel the comfort take center stage once more. Letting out a sigh, you were relieved to let them converse and make merry. You were occupied enough, recovering from Bruce’s sudden touch. “...and speaking of Bats...” Kline slurred out, “That Batman fella...” “-He comes up every time…” Fox yelled towards your direction with a sigh, while the others clapped in glee. Being so popular, it was no surprise that many consider Batman to be a celebrity of his own right. “-wonder if he ever has any off days?” Kline sniggered, red in the face with sake. “Ha! Like paid leave, you mean?” “And don’t forget insurance! Boy! that man needs a big one” “Hahaha!” “Mr.Wayne! Mr. Wayne!” Kline yelled at Bruce, “Any idea about him from the grapevine ?” He inquired. “What?” Bruce asked, “…that Looney!?!” He added with an amused smile, “Eh! Not interested” he replied with an unimpressed tone. “Why?” It seemed that everyone was curious. Even you were. “Because...” Bruce paused, “Well…he’s a Looney! That’s all….” he laughed, shaking his hand in the air with dismissal. His carefree laughter infected the others, except you. As you were too occupied observing him, you could not even focus. He may have not worn the cowl, but he was certainly wearing his mask. Noticing your stare, Bruce turned to find your face filled with a soft smile.

“You really don’t mean that about the guy, right?” You murmured softly. And all the sudden, that carefree expression of his slowly melted away to reveal his true form, unmasked. “No” Calm and collected, he shook his head with a gentle smile. A sudden urge to embrace him was birthed in you for some reason, it was certainly out of your control. “Hey! Lillian’s Backup!” You jumped upon hearing Kline call you out loudly. With all eyes on landing towards your direction, you quickly sat up straight, “What’s your take on him? The Batman?” Kline inquired informally. “Oh!” Pleasantly surprised, you were speechless for a few seconds. What were you to say really? “I -I rather not say...” you admitted, as you found yourself chuckling shyly. “Eh!” Kline muttered, seemingly unamused, “She’s no fun”he claimed,  “…not like Lillian now, is she?” The others hummed together in agreement. They may have gotten lost in their own world of conversation once again. Yet, the words Kline blurted affected you deeply. “Well….” You sighed, “Nothing I haven’t heard before”   “What is…?” Bruce’s inquiry made you look at him. Placing both your elbows on the table, you took a deep breath as you kept a brave, fixed gaze at him:

“You’re.. no… fun”

You said, in a low yet strong tone as you emphasized on every word with pain, “…that one”

“I find that hard to believe” Bruce said. He did not flinch. Instead, he accepted your stare and held on to it firmly. Even with the golden lights you were still able to make out the beautiful hazel green eyes of his up close. His gaze, it was as powerful as anything physical. As if his eyes could caress the back of your neck, brushing the loose hair from it, leaving nothing but shivers on you.

Finally breaking free from it, you sat back with a chuckle.

“Well” you began, “…you obviously haven’t met my ex”

You watched his eyebrows furrow the moment those words exited you. Taking a huge sip of wine, you pressed your lips together.

“He said I fall too fast....” you began, “or care too much...or something”

Revisiting that dark period in your life was akin to walking a thousand miles backwards, just to get your heart pricked by sharp, rusted nails. The mere image of it forced you to gulp more wine.  

“Well, Where is he now?”

Bruce asked softly. Taking a third sip, you looked back at him:

“You mean after he cheated on me?” You asked, chuckling sadly, “…He flew off somewhere…with his new girlfriend” you said, sighing “Apparently I was too predictable and doesn’t play hard to get”

“Then…” Bruce began, “…what about you throwing punches at Henderson?”

“That?” You widened your eyes, “Oh that’s just the whiskey”

Laughter ensued, breaking the tension between the two once again. Truthfully, you felt much at ease right then.

“I bet you don’t have that problem, playing the field and all” You said, holding on to your wine glass. Bruce smiled.

“Ah! Getting too attached doesn’t help anyone, I guess” he answered. And for some reason, you could empathize. Now more than ever.

“True...” you agreed, looking at him. However, that warmth you carried for him was also enlarged, and suddenly emotion overpowered logic.

“I know this is the corniest you’ve heard always….” you paused, “…but when the right person comes along...it’s so worth it” you continued, taking a deep, shaky breath, “…even if your heart gets broken into millions...billions of pieces”

Your eyes locked onto his with every word you uttered, and to your surprise, he did not look away. For a moment, his gaze on you translated into deep belief. For a Moment, his gaze dismissed every other occupant in the restaurant,  except you. For a moment his silence proved that anything was possible.

Until you realized, never was life that easy.

“But like I said…” You added, blinking away the heavy stare, “... it’s not your problem” You said, fiddling with your clutch purse mindlessly.   “Actually I-” “Whoops!” You sniggered when the clutch purse dropped out of your hand. Laughing together, you both found yourselves bending down to search for it.

“Let Me get that-” Bruce volunteered, as he spotted the purse, grabbing it for you.

“Thank you” You murmured shyly, reaching out your hand to take it.

The mere act of a clutch purse being transferred from one hand to another never felt this intense. A circus act commenced inside your stomach all the sudden. The manner you found yourself blushing, certainly proved his effect as a whole. The warmth of his palm earlier, it brought protection and comfort in the time of danger. However, the slightest brush of his fingers just now, it birthed confetti of butterflies, causing the internal circus to go berserk.

As he looked you up and down, you prayed he did not notice the red on your cheeks. For this man had such power over you, it was sheer chaos. But a beautifully, addictive one.

“Your Dress...” he breathed, making your own breath shake, “You look very-” “Bruce!” A seductive voice emerged out of the blue, as you realized it was his date walking over to his side. Being one of Gotham’s most well known supermodels, she exuded beauty with her tall and thin frame and brunette locks flowing down her shoulders. Wrapping her goddess-like arms around his neck, she whispered a few words to him before heading over to the restroom area. Compared to her, you felt like a little cinder block. “She’s beautiful...” you muttered hoarsely, looking down at your wine. You heard him sigh uncomfortably. “Listen...” Bruce began, causing your heart to long for hope, “I-” “Would you like anything else, Sirs?” The emotional roller coaster unexpectedly finished its ride when an over enthusiastic waiter’s loud voice caused everyone in the table to look up. “No, Thank you...” Fox said, slowly getting up, “Actually, I think might head home now” “And I will join you” You said, standing up in a flash, “Ladies, Gentleman...” you nodded to the Heads, “...Mr. Wayne” Giving him a slight nod, you turned to follow Lucius Fox. You dared not turn back to see his face. That would just show weakness. Just walk away, it was the right thing to do. The longer you will linger, the stronger your attachment will be. The stronger your need to love him will be. And what would be the use of strengthening that existing love, when the odds were always in the way?

Seduced by the women with the highest standards of beauty and power, you obviously must seem like nothing for a man such as he. You were simply charity, the employee in need. Perhaps your ex was right, You really were no fun.

Besides, being jealous was never your right, not especially when you did not even pour your heart out. And when you would not even consider doing so, being tied to morals, ethics and rules?

And if he even had not shown you his own heart, what gave you the right to be angry with anyone, except yourself?

You asked yourself, why were you wasting your time?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Allison’s eyes grew wide with excitement the moment you arrived home.

Clutching onto her bowl of popcorn, she watched you close the door and lean against it to look back at her. Though her hair was in a messy bun, she still managed to pull off ‘homely cool’.

“So...” she began softly, “How did it go?” Silent, You took a deep breath, not knowing where to begin. “Well-” “-Did you make Wayne cream his pants?” Allison cut you off with glee, seemingly over excited. Jaw dropped, your face contorted with disgust. “Ali! …ewww” You exclaimed, seeing her perverted expression and suggestive eyebrows. Truthfully the thought of it brought some laughter soon after. You felt calmer. “Well, did he?” Allison was persistent. Pushing yourself from the door, you began to take off your shoes, “Well…” You paused, “I think he liked what he saw” you said smiling shyly. “Yeah?” Her excitement still intact, as you sat next to her.

“I think so…” you said, reminiscing those precious moments his blessed eyes watched only you, “…but…” you paused, “it doesn’t matter…”, Sighing, you shook your head frantically, “…cause he was with a Supermodel tonight so...” “Supermodel? Sweetie, I’m sorry” laying her head on your shoulder, Allison sighed in response. Patting her on the lap, you got up. Just like that, the little giddy excitement between two women suddenly crashed and burned upon knowing they were hopeless going against a supermodel.

“Hey! by the way…” Allison began, “…did you give money for Mrs. Hernandez’s going away party?”

You froze.

“Shit!” You cried out, “ I forgot!”

Mrs. Hernandez was one of the lovely tenants in the apartment building who will be moving out this week to go live with her son. All tenants were supposed to pool in for the going away party, today being the deadline. Opening your purse with haste, you groaned. “Damn it! I don’t have any change...” Of course you did not. Not when you gave away your last note to Clara yesterday. With the current use of cards and e-payment, you rarely used cash these days.

“Me neither, Sweetie” Allison replied, mindlessly staring at the television. You sighed. Transferring the money will not do as it wont be convenient for the others. And being a bad tenant was the last thing on your mind.

“Screw it!” You said, “I’ll just go get some now”   Running to your room, you proceeded to change.

“Cool…” Allison uttered quietly, until she remembered, “By the way, can you also get milk?”Allison yelled to your room,  “WE’RE OUT ALREADY!!”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If wearing an elegant dress brought out the glamorous woman in you, then leggings and an oversized black hoodie brought out the homebody. With the hood over your head, you dug your hands in the deep pockets whilst standing at the line for the ATM. What was taking so long?

Almost 11pm, yet the neighborhood was bustling more than usual. In fact, it fascinated you. Younger folk in higher numbers lingered hanging about by the Bodega. You wondered if a party was taking place somewhere nearby, as most of them wore clothes with a similar vibe. Some danced to the loud music that played, some drank sitting on the pavement, while some lined up in front of you in the ATM line. Was it a party? Or a flashmob? Or were you suddenly intruding the filming of a music video? It simply seemed so unrealistic. Could it be the sake and wine were forcing you to imagine all this?

Then moment your phone started to ring, you knew you were not imagining. Not when the phone vibrated in your hand, not when the name of the caller caused you to breath deeply.

“Mr.Wayne?”

His breath over the phone sent shivers down your spine so subtly. Attraction was indeed a strange phenomenon.

“Hey! Did you go home okay?” 

He asked. Nodding, you looked around.

“Of course.” You replied, “Mr. Fox was kind enough to drop me straight home”

“Good. Good,” As he muttered in a rush, you heard him exhale, “ Listen, can we talk? ”

Nervousness took you over with a sudden burn in your face. What must he wish to say? Was he attempting to confirm what you already dread about? Was he fully acknowledging your desires to be futile and hopeless? You kept quiet as he continued:

“About tonight…I really-” he paused, “Where are you?” The loud cheers of some of the younger folk interrupted the conversation. Amongst the crowd, a lone figure walked over to the middle of the street.

“I’m at the Bodega nearby my place” you replied, trying to be nonchalant with him. However, somehow that lone figure standing managed to capture your attention, "Huh! Strange...”

“What is it?”

Your eyebrows furrowed the moment the figure turned to face your direction. Familiarity was quite strong in him. “There’s this guy here…” you said, “… who looks just like-”

You froze, “Oh no!” You breathed.

The moment the figure effortlessly pulled out a portable machine gun from his oversized long coat, it clearly dawned on you on who he really was:

“Mr. Slender?” You muttered to yourself.

Pointing the weapon upwards, loud and rapid shots were fired, causing panic amongst the public. The shock forced your hands to lose control, almost dropping your phone to the ground.

“Hello? Hello?”

You heard Bruce loud and clear, yet you were not in the right state of mind to respond. The chaos, certainly forced your heart to beat right out of your chest. The beating, increased without any prior announcement shocked you, as if the live, blood pumping organ might literally fall out of your flesh vessel.

“EVERYBODY ON THE GROUND, NOW!”

Mr.Slender bellowed, finally revealing his masculine and controlled voice. The public, including those inside the Bodega made their way to the ground. With Mr. Slender’s reinforcements inside the building, it was made sure no one were to reach out for law enforcement any time soon. Just when it seemed all had complied to his command, one obstinate young man rose up quickly.

“Hey man!” The man cried out, walking over to him, “Be cool…Be-”

“I SAID ON THE GROUND!”

Blood curdling screams erupted from the crowd when Mr.Slender brutally fired at the man, sending him flying back, falling on to the ground like a bloody piece of meat. Given the continuous reactions from the people nearby, he was certainly dead. Emptiness and fear swallowed you whole upon witnessing this.

“DON’T EVEN THINK OF BEING STUBBORN!! ”

Mr.Slender yelled out, brandishing his gun around, “MY DEMANDS ARE SIMPLE...”

He continued, “I’M LOOKING FOR ONE PARTICULAR PERSON…” he said, “AND I WILL NOT LEAVE…UNTIL THAT PERSON STEPS FORWARD!!”

Scenes such as these, they were never expected but only imagined in modes of fiction. Be it novels or films. However, when you truly got to taste it in the rusty reality, only then did you realize the gravity of its horror. And only then at that fateful moment, did you genuinely fear for your precious life.

Especially when the person he was looking for, was you.

——————————————————

Chapter 6 HERE

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[worldofpureimagination19]

Secrets (Harry Hook x Reader)

Request: Hi, can you please do a Harry Hook one shot where he and the reader are cuddling and being cute and all. Then Gil walks in and has a fanboy attack because he ships them.

Requested by: @oneandonlyizabelle

Word Count: 1535

Author’s note: I really hope you enjoy this. I may have went a little overboard.

“Again,” Harry smirked, as he brandished his sword.

You huffed and got back into your starting position. Your (h/c) that was once in a neat bun was now messy and hanging in your face. You loved and hated training day all at the same time. You loved the smell of the ocean and being outside for hours on end. You hated the pain that you would feel later while laying in bed.

The only other thing that made all of this training worth it was the pirate in front of you. Getting to watch his muscles ripple with every swing of his sword. His piercing blue eyes staring into your (e/c) ones. The smirk that made your stomach flip when he thought he had the upper hand on you in a sparring match. His laughter was what currently brought your attention back to the fight at hand.

“If you take a picture it’ll last longer, love,” Harry’s Scottish accent purred, as he swung at you again.

You rolled your eyes, as Harry’s smirk grew. Swords clashed as you two picked up the pace. Swinging and dodging each other’s blows as if it were second nature. Harry trash talking the entire time while you just smirked or laughed at him. Harry was in the middle of making a comment when you decided to make your move. As Harry spun and swung his sword at you, you smirked and expertly maneuvered out of the way, throwing Harry off. Taking advantage of his moment of weakness, you spun and quickly pressed the tip of your sword to his throat.

“You should watch your mouth sailor,” you smirked. “Maybe next time you won’t be so easily beat.”

Harry smirked, but his eyes softened when he looked at you. A genuine smile sliding onto his face. Your smirk slowly morphing to match his gentle smile. About a month ago, you guys had decided to take your friendship to the next level and test out the waters of an actual relationship. You and Harry had been on patrols when Harry stopped you in the alleyway and pulled you into a gentle and sweet kiss. Your heart had stopped and time had stood still.

From that moment on you guys became inseparable. Harry considered you his girl and you considered him your man. You two had to keep your relationship a secret though. Uma didn’t allow dating in her crew. She considered it a distraction from her larger mission of bringing the people of Auradon to their knees.

“Listen up crew!” Uma yelled, pulling you from your thoughts.

You finally lowered the sword that was still pointed at Harry’s neck.

“Enough training,” Uma commanded. “For those of you not patrolling, get some rest. The others, go get our money.”

A chorus of ayes came from the crew as people went their separate ways. You stood there for a moment and stretched your limbs, already feeling your muscles begin to get sore. You had only joined Uma’s crew six months ago and your muscles still weren’t use to all of this sword fighting.

“Are you patrolling tonight lass?” Harry asked, placing his sword in the holder on his hip.

“No,” you sighed. “I am going to relax tonight. I already feel so sore.”

Harry walked closer to you with a concerned look in his eye. He was so close you could feel his breath on your face.

“Why don’t you use my bathroom,” he whispered. “And when I get back from patrol, I can help you relax those beautiful muscles of yours.”

You felt his hook trail up your side as his pinky wrapped around your own pinky finger. You two never risked holding hands outright incase Uma saw you. You bit your lip and nodded your head, looking up into his beautiful blue eyes. He smiled softly at you before releasing your pinky and backing away.

“I’ll see you later then,” he smirked, before walking over to Gil to start his patrol.

You sighed as a bright smile appeared on your face. You made your way to Harry’s quarters and quickly jumped into Harry’s nice warm shower.

Harry’s POV

I walked quickly through the streets of the Isle, wanting nothing more to get back to (Y/N) who was probably laid out on my bed in one of my shirts. Gil was taking his sweet time and was driving me crazy. He continued to blabber about everything under the sun.

“Hey! You know what I was thinking,” Gil said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“What now?” I mumbled.

“You and (Y/N) would make the cutest couple,” Gil said with a smile.

My eyes grew double in size at the mention of my name, (Y/N)’s name, and the word couple all in the same sentence.

“What did ya say?” I sneered.

“You and (Y/N) would…” Gil began to say before I cut him off by shoving him into the wall of a nearby building.

“Ya say anyhin’ like that again, and I’ll hook ya,” I snarled at him. “There is no datin’ on Uma’s crew. Ya understand me?”

Gil nodded his head, and I let go of his jacket.

“Now let’s get this over with. I’m tired.”

Your POV

You laid on Harry’s bed; your hair still slightly damp from your shower. You kept stretching out your arms and legs, hoping to get rid of some of the soreness. Sighing, you looked out the window and looked at the cloudy skies of the Isle. You always wished you could look up and see stars one night.

The bang of a wooden door made you jump, looking to see Harry quickly make his way into the room. He slammed the door with a stern look on his face. He was clearly annoyed about something. As soon as he turned his head to look at you though, the stern look melted off and turned into a soft smile. His brow unfurrowing and his eyes gleaming a little more.

Without a word, Harry came over to the bed and flopped down on top of you. He buried his head into your stomach, as his arms secured themselves around you. Your hand instinctively went to his messy brown hair and began brushing through it.

“Gil’s annoyin’,” Harry’s muffled voice met your ears.

You smiled and chuckled lightly while you continued to massage Harry’s scalp.

“What did the little puppy do this time?”

“He just won’t get off the idea that you and I should be together,” he sighed.

“You don’t think we should be together?” you joked. “Cause I think it sounds like a pretty good idea.”

With a groan, Harry sat up so he was hovering over you. His blue eyes stared into your eyes, as his hand came up to lightly caress your check. You leaned into his touch with a content smile on your face. These were the moments you cherished the most, the quiet and soft moments with Harry. No one around to bother the two of you.

“I think it’s Gil’s best idea yet,” Harry smiled down at you.

Harry leaned down and your lips met in a sweet and light kiss. When you had first started dating Harry, you thought all his kisses would be rough and wild, much like he was. But you unlocked this softer side of him that only you got to see. Feather light, passionate kisses filled your life and filled your stomach with butterflies. Every kiss felt like the first time.

Harry pulled back a little bit, but your noses and foreheads were still touching. He rubbed his nose against yours, just enjoying getting to be this close to you. Opening his eyes and pulling away a little bit, he gave you a look that you were pretty sure was made of just pure love.

“Did I ever tell ye,” Harry whispered. “That yer the most beautiful lass in this world.”

A small blush dusted your cheeks, and Harry’s smile grew wider. The crinkles by his eyes becoming more prominent. His hand ran threw your hair and you sighed with content.

“You’re too good for me Harry Hook,” you smiled.

Harry started to say something when his door flew open. Too shocked to move, you both stayed entangled with each other. Gil came strolling in like he owned the place, and you nearly died of a heart attack.

“Hey Harry!” Gil said happily. “I forgot to tell you that…”

He stopped mid sentence when his eyes fell on the scene before him. His eyes grew large and then a large smile filled his face. He looked like he had just seen the best thing in the world.

“Oh my god!” Gil nearly screamed. “I knew it!”

The next second Gil was running out of the room continuously yelling he knew it.

“Shit,” Harry growled, as he sprung off of you.

You watched Harry charge out of the room after Gil. You laid in Harry’s bed in shock, praying Harry got to Gil before Uma heard him. A small nervous laugh bubbled out of your chest before you covered your face, hoping the pillow smothered you before Uma had the chance to kill the both of you.

[bates--boy]

After being whisked away from the humdrum of post-performance celebration, Peter and his mentor and co-actor took a drive. He took the time to try to center himself, draw in the feeling of bliss and lift. He couldn't tone down the elation, but at least his hands stopped shaking and the tingling in his fingers and toes had cease. It helped to babble at 150 miles per hour how incredible he felt, how Naseem was right, how the gum trick really helped; bless Naseem for his patient ear and even his reciprocated joy.

          They arrived to a tucked-away diner, approaching a large table just as the occupants were finishing up the minimalistic (cheap) party decoration. Red and blue crepe streamers looped in a swirl and taped to the edges of the table and draped on the backs of the chairs; a plastic gold ice bucket, dotted with clear rhinestones and containing ice and a bottle of wine, sitting in the center, and gold and silver balloons tied to the corners of the chairs. And they must have, somehow, convinced or bribed the diner owner to let them hang from the ceiling a shimmering golden banner that said in swoops of black lettering: “Grattis till samlag”, crossing out “samlag” with “musikalisk”. Naseem’s belly-deep laugh after spotting the banner drew the attention of the partiers and everyone at the table paused in their decorating to clap and cheer. 

          One of the attendees leapt into Naseem’s arms, throwing her arms around his neck, careful to keep the single rose in her hand from tangling in his locs. Peter looked away with an awkward grin, rubbing his neck as the two shared a deep kiss right next to him. 

           “Congratulations, Naz! You were wonderful,” the woman said with a soft exuberance.

          :”Thank you, baby,” Naseem replied with the same loving softness. Then, patting Peter’s shoulder, Naseem said to everyone at the table, “Everyone, this is my co-actor and rapping student, Peter. Peter, this is my wife, Ashira, and my friends, Tarsha, Adel, and --”

          “Oh, my god!” Peter clapped and then pointed. “Oh, my god, oh, my go, you’re friends with Mic Droppa!” 

            Mickey Mic Droppa, who Peter struggled to recognize for a full minute without the dimmed lights of the boxing ring and the blinding shine of the boxing boots, gave a one-shoulder shrug and awkward grin. “Eh, I usually go by Mike off the stage. But, ah, nice to meetcha.”

          “It’s so cool to meet you!” Peter practically flew to Mike, taking the man’s hand and shaking vigorously. “Ever since Naseem took me to one of the rap battles, I’ve been listening to all of your music! You’re incredible, man!”

          Mike’s smile stretched even wider, under his increasingly reddened face. Peter could hear Ashira coo behind him, “Awww, Mike’s got his own fanboy from hell.”

          “With stars in his eyes, too,” Tarsha giggled.

          “Okay, Peter, let’s chill,” Naseem said as he patted Peter’s back and had him take a seat. Everyone else followed suit once the decorations were set, and Adel set to opening the wine. He passed out the filled glasses, and Naseem raised his. “To you guys, for coming to see us. For all of this, really. If it weren’t for your support throughout, I wouldn’t have pursued this.”

          “We wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Ashira said, snuggling in Naseem’s arm and taking a sip from the glass. 

         Naseem looked at her with a cocked brow. “All that aside: should you be drinking that?”

           Ashira nestled her head in the crook of Naseem’s neck. “Don’t worry, I pumped before I left.” She looked past Naseem’s neck to Peter. “Hey, Peter, right? You order whatever you want. We’ll foot the bill.”

          Peter blinked, broken out of his concentration of trying to stargazing at Mike from over the wine glass without being too obvious. “Really? Ah...” He put the glass down on the table with a small shake of his head. “Naaah, that’s okay, I can pay for myself. Heck, you guys did so much already, I can pay for you!”

          “Oh, shut up and order something so we can pay,” Naseem scoffed humorously. He gave Peter’s ankle a swift nudge with his foot. “And order an actual meal, not something that’s basically sugar.”

          “Why are you trying to restrict a grown ass man’s diet?” Ashira teased. 

          “You have not seen how this boy can pack away half a cake,” Naseem replied, picking up his menu.

          “It was not half a cake!” Peter protested. “It was a quarter, at the most, and I missed lunch that day!”

          Naseem gaped at him. “A quarter of a sheet cake.”

         Peter pouted and picked up his menu. “Shut up,” he grumbled, his chuckling afterwards muffled as he buried his face in the laminated menu.

          Their server came over to their table, taking everyone’s orders and switching out the empty wine bottle for a full one, though Ashira ordered a sparkling raspberry water. Adel was already at work popping the cork off that one, while they caught up with each other with Peter nursing his water and listening. Tarsha’s finally breaking even with her graphic design freelance and getting cheapskate clients to pay up, and Adel’s dissertation on Sámi and West African literature being published in an academic journal of literary studies. (Peter wanted to chirp in how his father reads the journal that Adel will be featured in, but he was too engrossed in these personal lives to bother). And Mike, who did not look like the type of person to work as a librarian, surprised Peter when he shared that he was offered a director position for two branches.

          “Why wouldn’t you take it?” Ashira asked after a brief pause. “This is exactly what you need to get your crazy-ass ex off your back, right?”

          “Yeah, but...” Mike shrugged. He lazed back in his chair and watched his dark wine lap around the inside as he swirled his glass. “It isn’t really something I see myself doing for a long time, you know?”

          “And I guess,” Ashira replied, taking on an edge to her tone that had Naseem clearing his throat and even Peter busying himself with rubbing his thumb along the rim of his glass, “your long-term career is building up your music channel career?”

          Mike looked right into Ashira’s eyes and said a simple, “Yep.” And upon seeing whatever brimmed beneath Ashira’s cool façade, Mike quickly turned his attention to their guest, fixing Peter with an easy and inquisitive smile. “So, Peter, Naseem said you’re his rapping student. How’re the lessons going for you?”

        “Oh, they’re going really well!” Peter said. “He’s been helping me with my delivery and technique and pretty much everything. Guy’s even giving me homework, if you’d believe it!”

         Mike nodded. “Yeeeeah, that sound about right.”

        “But they’re working though,” Naseem added in. 

         “True,” Peter agreed. He took a sip of his water and clinked the remaining ice around. “And they’re fun. Even if there’s a big possibility I won’t get Josef’s role.”

          “Awww,” Adel said. 

         Peter bobbed a shoulder and stared into the glass, half his mind hoping that the tiny black fleck he saw stuck to an ice cube wasn’t a fly. “Eh, it’s fine. The guy playing Josef, Oda, he does the role and songs really well.”

          “That he does,” Mike said. “But I still would like to see what you’ve learned so far.” He fell silent, still watching his drink swirl about, eyebrows knitting together as he turned a thought over and over in his mind. “...Hm, you know what? If you don’t get to play Josef, then maybe you can show what you got at a battle.”

          The server returned once more with their food. The rich aroma of Peter’s cheesy potato scampi bake danced under Peter’s nose, but the man did not register the scent as he gawked at Mike. “What... You serious?”

         Mike nodded. “Yeah, I mean, the tournament itself is almost over this term, but you can still sign up as a guest performer, get your name out there and show us what you got.”

          “Wow...” Peter stared stunned at the table. He looked toward his mentor, whom had already began splitting the hamburger platter and salad with his wife, and asked with a smirk that did nothing to hide his overload of hopefulness, and asked, “Do you think I’m ready for that?”

         Naseem gave the question some thought. “...Probably. We did need to start working on your writing, and maybe having you come up with stuff on the spot can be good training.”

        As Peter waved his fist in total, starry-eyed glee, Mike offered, “And if you end up not being ready after all, you can still hang out with us.”

          “We try to get together and indulge in our love for hip hop at least once a week,” Adel added. “You know, talk music, follow artists, spit bars. All of that good stuff.”

           “Wait!” Peter gasped. He looked everyone in the eye, his mouth still hanging open. “All of you are rappers?!”

          “Oh, shit, there’s that look in his eye, again,” Tarsha murmured before taking a bite of her chorizo. 

          “Yep,” Adel said. “We’re mostly hobbyists, but we fell in love with the scene. Got married to the game.”

          “Minus me,” Ashira said. “But I think my husband serves as an excellent proxy to the hip hop underground. He shoots the best videos.”

          “You’re so sweet,” Naseem joked. 

          “Yeah, let’s cut down on the lovey-dovey stuff before you make me lose my dinner,” Mike cut in. “When you’re up for it, I can help you get set up at the gym. Just hit me or Naseem up and we’ll talk to our guy, right?”

          Naseem grinned at Peter with cheeks puffed up with food. Peter looked at everyone around the table. That sensation he felt backstage, when he was linked hand-in-hand in the circle with his co-actors, it bubbled up in him tenfold, warmth alighting in his chest at Mike’s friendly grin and nod.

         “I... I would love that!” Peter chuckled.

[chimmycharmed]

nevermind (one-shot)

Title: NEVERMIND (alt:  I love you, hyung) Words: 5,619 Ships: Yoonmin, slight Yoonjin, implied Vmin. Synopsis: Jimin thought love meant staying, so when Yoongi left he thought love meant coming back. But love is more complicated than that.  Genre: Rapper!Suga x ContemporaryDancer!Jimin, exes au, angst, implied smut. Warnings: Heartbreak, cheating, abandonment. Author’s note: Listen to Mean It (stripped) - Lauv ft. LANY while reading.

PART I: I DON’T MIND 

Love never meant staying. Park Jimin never knew what that meant until he met Min Yoongi.  

It was summer at the time. He was a contemporary dancer that was just dragged by his best friend to an underground rap scene because he was a fan of it, Jimin on the other hand, couldn’t care less.

 “Taehyung-ah, you really go to these events?” A whine Taehyung knows all too well.

 “Events.” Taehyung scoffed, dragging Jimin by the arm in the middle of the crowd so they have a perfect view of the next challenger. “It’s a rap battle, Jimin-ah. It’s not that formal, aish.”

 Jimin never understood his best friend’s fascination with rap and hip-hop. For one, Taehyung was a classical musician. He plays Bach and Beethoven on the violin, piano, and sax. That’s even how they met, he was part of the orchestra to one of his ballet pieces.

 They found themselves near the front row, the MC known to the fans as RM called the next challenger and that was the first time he saw him. 

 Bleached blonde, pale but not sick, sporting a smug look on his face. He looked like he could walk the talk judging by the way he dressed: shirt, jersey, a snapback, and a couple of piercings on both ears.

 “Ayo Suga!” RM exclaimed as the rapper made his way to the stage. “What’s your motivation for challenging j-hope today?”

 “We have a score to settle.” For a small guy, he was intimidating Jimin thought. J-hope on the other hand just laughed at his contender. Not the kind of laugh where he thought this Suga guy was pathetic. Just laughed like he was making a joke. He seemed like the guy to laugh at everything.

 “Okay, and the rap battle begins in 1... 2... 3!” The MC started the countdown.

 It was j-hope’s turn first, he rapped like he was mocking his competition. “Ya, j-hope’s really good at this type of rap, and his flow change? Don’t get me started.” Taehyung explained with his boxy smile, his eyes glued to the stage.

Then it was his turn. Suga rapped so many syllables so fast Jimin really stood there shocked. It’s as if he gave j-hope no time to rebut, he ended him right then and there. Everyone could feel the tension, j-hope was walking towards Suga looking pissed off.

“Wait, are they going to fight?” Jimin was both scared and concerned. He was just looking at Suga. Tae just had a smug look on his face, and then Jimin saw why. RM looked like he was stopping j-hope from going too close to Suga but instead, he too rapped. The two competitors began laughing, and it dawned on him: it was just a ploy.

 All three rappers were now facing each other in a circle, spitting fire, and Jimin didn’t realize it now, nor will he admit in the future: they were good, scratch that, they were amazing. “Ddaeng! I fucking love this track so much!” Taehyung squealed like the fanboy he is.

 “Wait, so they were just playing the audience?” Jimin asked, confused.

 “Dude literally everyone here except you knows they’re the best of friends. The best rapline in Seoul if not in South Korea.” Taehyung explained, suddenly dragging Jimin by the arm to take him to the side of the stage. “Come on, I’m introducing you to them.”

 “You know them?” As much as Jimin was surprised, he immediately shut up when he was face to face with the trio.

 “Hyungs! I want you to meet my best friend and soulmate, Jimin.” Jimin rolled his eyes mentally, he always asked Taehyung not to call him soulmate in front of new people because it more often than not gives the wrong impression.

 “Hi! I’m Namjoon.” RM said, Jimin was surprised on how formal he got all of a sudden, was this the same rapper on stage a while ago? He extended his hand and he shook it.

 “I’m your hope, but you already knew that by now.” J-hope smiled. “I’m Hoseok.” It was his turn to shake Jimin’s hands.

 “What’s the use of having a stage name when we just give out our real ones?” Suga whined from the side. “Well, I’m Yoongi. I guess.” He still looked so cool while shaking his hand. They all did, Jimin thought but Yoongi... There's just something about his presence.

 “Nice to meet all of you, hyungs.” Jimin even did a slight bow as a sign of respect which made Yoongi smile.

 “Are you staying for drinks, Taehyung-ah?” Yoongi asked.

 Namjoon and Hoseok looked at each other in surprise, Jimin didn’t know what that meant. “Hyung, you know I don’t drink.” Taehyung laughed. “But Jimin is quite the drinker so he can drink for the both of us.”

 “Ya, Taehyung.” Jimin scolded.

 “What? Let’s stay a bit longer. You don’t have any practice tomorrow right?” Tae pleaded to his soulmate. Jimin knows he couldn't say no to that.

 “Yea, stay a bit longer.” Jimin felt Yoongi’s gaze on him, it felt alluring, it felt right.

 “Okay.” How could he possibly say no now?

 There was a bar area in the scene, Namjoon, Hoseok and Tae were looking for a table while Jimin was with Yoongi since he asked to accompany him in getting drinks.

 “You drink soju?” Jimin nodded to answer. “I’ll order 5 but between you and me, I think they’ll just share one bottle.” Yoongi laughed as he gave Jimin 2 bottles then proceeded to carry the other 3 on his own. 

 “Why is that?” Jimin raised a brow.

 “The 94 liners aren’t that much of a drinker.” Yoongi answered. “How old are you?”

 “I’m a 95 liner, like Tae.”

 “Ah, your soulmate.” Yoongi nodded, sounding dry.

 “It’s not like that, we’re just eternal platonic friends,” Jimin explained getting flustered not knowing why. “It’s an inside joke.”

 “So you’re available then?” Yoongi cocked his brow.

 “Huh?” Jimin was surprised by his straightforwardness. But he couldn’t continue to answer as they made their way to their table.

 “So Jimin, what do you do?” Namjoon asked, now fixing the table for the bottles to be placed.

 “Oh, I’m a contemporary dancer.” Jimin said, sitting beside Tae while Yoongi sat beside Hoseok.

 “Okay, Namjoon pay up. I told you he was a fancy dude like this one.” Hoseok nudged Tae, teasing.

 “Okay, I thought you were an underground street dancer.” Namjoon reached for a bill and gave it to Hoseok.

 “How come?” Jimin was surprised at the observation.

 Yoongi replied instead, “You stand like a dancer, we just didn’t know what kind.”

 “I told Namjoon that if you were an underground street dancer I would’ve heard of you by now.”

 “Unless you’re not good.” Yoongi scoffed. “But I don’t think that’s possible.” Did he just wink at me? Jimin thought.

 The night went on filled with shots and laughter. Yoongi was right, they ended up drinking 2 bottles each because Namjoon and Hoseok tapped out early. Tae had to go home earlier because he forgot he was going to an art gallery out of town the next day. Jimin insisted on staying, he was having so much fun.

 Jimin never liked going home, it just wasn’t a place he’d like to stay. He was always at practice or out on a bar trying to have fun with his friends. This wasn’t like the regular stuck up dancer crowd he’s used too. They were fun. They were unpredictable, it made him loosen up. That must be the reason he stayed tonight. It was that.

 Or the fact that Yoongi’s hand suddenly rested on his knees after sitting beside him after Tae left. Good thing he was intoxicated, he could use that as an excuse for blushing profusely.

 “Shall we call it a night?” Namjoon asked his hyung. Jimin found out quickly that he was the leader of the trio despite not being the eldest, during their stories over drinks.

 “Let’s.” Yoongi said, standing up. “I’ll drop Jimin at his place.”

 Everyone in the table knew where this was headed, if Tae was here he would’ve known it too. Jimin had his fair share of one night stands. He was a looker after all. He knew the drill. The guy will offer to give him a ride home, he’ll ask if he wants a drink. They go up to his place and things happen.

 And that’s what exactly happened with him and Yoongi. Except that, it wasn’t just all physical sex. They shared laughs while figuring out who’s bottoming, and Jimin knew Yoongi wanted to top, so he let him.

 He was good at it, Jimin never knew he could cum that hard. Twice for that matter. The first by Jimin discovering what tongue technology actually meant and the other by him topping.

 After that Jimin knew that the guy will probably say goodbye and will never show up again. But Yoongi was the exact opposite. He asked if he could stay the night. And in the morning, Jimin woke up to him cooking breakfast.

 “You’re still here?” It was more of a question than a statement.

 “I was thinking you’re hungry.” Yoongi smiled, putting the eggs on Jimin’s plate. “Do you think I’d just leave like that?”

 “Yes.” Jimin answered quite honestly.

 “If I just left, it would be awkward wanting to see you again would it?” Yoongi said, sitting beside Jimin. “Unless I overstepped and you don’t want to see me anymore?”

 “I never had a fuck buddy before.” Jimin’s innocence made Yoongi chuckle, he forgot he was younger than him after all.

 “Then I guess I’ll have to date you then.” He flashed his teeth towards the younger lad. “Is that okay?”

 A smile crept on Jimin’s face. “I don’t mind.”

PART II: CHANGE YOUR MIND

 Jimin never meant to find a home in Min Yoongi, but when autumn came he found himself moving Yoongi’s stuff in his place. Not everything, but small things: his toothbrush, his favorite pair of sweats, his noise-canceling headphones.

 Small things that meant Yoongi will stay in his life. Things were going well. Whenever Jimin had a performance, Yoongi always bought him roses. After practice, Jimin always went to Yoongi’s underground performances even without Taehyung.

 Sex was great, but their companionship grew stronger. This must be what home felt like. This must be what love means. 

 “Are you sure about this?” Yoongi asked Jimin who was sitting on a chair of a tattoo parlor. He looked nervous but sure.

 “I really like your song, and I want it tattooed on me as a birthday gift to myself.” Jimin had a wide smile on his face.

 “You like me too, why not have a tattoo of my name?” Yoongi joked.

 “Only if you tattoo mine on you.” Jimin teased.

 “I’m good with piercings, tattoos aren't just for me Jiminie. You already talked me into dying my hair this shade of green.” Yoongi will never let Jimin down for it, but Jimin thought mint suited him well.

 “You’re just chicken, hyung.” Jimin rolled his eyes to which Yoongi snickered.

 “Ya, you’re disrespecting your hyung now eh.”

 “No. I love you, hyung.”

 It was an unconventional first ‘I love you’ from Jimin, he never expected it to be in a tattoo shop waiting for his turn. But Yoongi was there. And he just needed to say it. And he thought he needed to hear it by now. And that was all that mattered.

 “I love you too, Jiminie.” He said before kissing him fully on the lips.

 “Ehem.” The tattoo artist finally arrived with the needle and ink, if Yoongi remembered it correctly his name was Jungkook – the youngest tattoo artist in the area that got acclaim in some TV show.

 “Sorry.” Jimin was embarrassed, but Yoongi sat beside him.

 “Let’s start?” Jungkook received a nod from a shaking Jimin.

 “Hyung, hold my hand?” Yoongi entwined his fingers with Jimin’s. And he didn’t let go until it was done.

 Just like that, Yoongi’s song was a permanent fixture on Jimin’s body and life. They went home that night happy. 

 “Aish, Jimin stay still so I can put on some ointment.” Yoongi holding up a shirtless Jimin in bed. He acts his age sometimes.

 “It’s so itchy.” He whined.

 “Well, that’s part of the healing process. You wanted this right?” Yoongi smirked.

 “You’re so mean to me, hyung!” Jimin was silenced by a more passionate kiss compared to the one in the tattoo shop.

 “If I could kiss it better, I would.” Yoongi rested his forehead on Jimin’s.

“Just kiss me instead.”

 That night, they made love while reminding each other how much they meant to each other. Jimin knew that he could live like this his whole life.

 But winter came one year, and Yoongi left. Like he disappeared into thin air. Jimin was just coming home from practice. Yoongi wasn’t texting. Jimin was calling and he couldn’t reach him. He came home and Yoongi wasn’t there. But everything he owns was still in place. 

 Little reminders that Yoongi stayed, little reminders that Yoongi left.

 Jimin went to Yoongi’s apartment, and his landlady doesn’t know where he is. He went to the underground rap bar where they first met, Hoseok was just shocked. They too couldn’t contact him.

 Jimin was going to have a panic attack, he knew that. He couldn’t just leave, he can’t. They loved each other. Right? Namjoon pulled Jimin to talk to him at the parking lot.

 “Jimin.” Jimin was already crying, panicking. Namjoon had to put his arms on his shoulders to calm him down and have him stay still. “It’s Jin-hyung.”

This was the exact time you could hear Jimin’s heart shatter into pieces. Namjoon didn’t need to say anything else. He knew who Jin was to Yoongi.

He was the first person Yoongi gave his heart to. Yoongi was never clear why they broke up, but Jimin knew that there was a hole in Yoongi’s heart when Jin left, and now his looked the same with Yoongi gone.

 Jimin went home that night breaking down to an empty bed filled with Yoongi’s stuff. In the next few weeks, Jimin couldn’t eat, he couldn’t get up, he couldn’t go to practice, let alone perform.

Taehyung had to physically manhandle him to take one bath after a week.

“Taehyung-ah, what did I do wrong?” Jimin sulked in the bathtub while Tae just sat on the toilet seat cover, hurting for his friend.

“Jimin, you didn’t do anything.” He tried to comfort him, his heart was just as hurt as his soulmate.

“Then why am I the one left alone?” He cried again, Tae just hugged him. Tight.

After a few months, Jimin got back to work. But he was downgraded to a backup dancer again, he knew it was coming after not showing up for months. He should be thankful the company gave him another chance.

Months went on like he did before meeting Yoongi. He went to work, he went shopping with Taehyung, he went home, and repeat. Yoongi’s stuff was placed in a drawer he never dared to look into again.

 Then Jimin’s birthday came, and Taehyung threw him a small party with his dance troop. Taehyung wanted to rid Jimin of memories of Yoongi, it was his birthday after all. It was all about him. Tae wanted Jimin to stay at his place so he won’t be alone, but Jimin wanted to go home to his apartment.

 He was tipsy and tired, until he found Yoongi sitting in the middle of his living room. His hair now dyed black.

 “Hi.” He said, softly already looking apologetic. “Happy birthday.”

 Jimin’s mind must be playing tricks on him. Memories played back in his head. The first birthday spent with him, getting a tattoo of his song. The next birthday where Yoongi cooked for him and threw him a party, the third one where they took a trip to Busan.

 This was supposed to be his first birthday without him, but here he was on the living room sofa looking like the love of his life. “I’m sorry.” Yoongi began to tear up. “I need to explain a lot to you, I know. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

 Jimin walked towards him and Yoongi was prepared for the worse, for a good hearing, for a fist on his cheek, but Jimin’s arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck, his face buried in his chest. “You’re here. You’re real.”

 “Jimin, I’m sorry.” Yoongi finally broke down, and Jimin did too.

 “If I forgive you, will you promise not to leave me again?” Jimin was shaking as Yoongi pulled back to look at him in the eye.

 “I won’t make the same mistake.” And Jimin felt his lips on his once more.

 He thought about the last time they kissed and how he was so devastated that it didn’t last longer. But Yoongi came back, and he knew the feelings never really went away. It was just buried beneath all the effort to make him seem okay again.

 That night they made love for the first time in a long time and Jimin didn’t want to fall asleep until Yoongi reassured him that he wasn’t going anywhere. He woke up with Yoongi making breakfast for him again. Like he never left.

 “We need to talk.” Jimin said as he sat down at the dining table, he was happy he came back but that meant he left the first place.

 “We do.” Yoongi sighed, placing some fried eggs on Jimin's plate like he did the first time they spent the night together.

 And so the tale began, on how one night Jin came back and asked for another chance and how Yoongi wasn’t sure all of a sudden what to do. How Jin asked him to let him prove it to him, how he asked Yoongi to come with him to Busan for a film fest he was a part of since he was an actor, how they stayed there for a while to see how things go.

 How Yoongi realized he couldn’t do this to Jimin, how everywhere he went in Busan reminded him of their trip on Jimin’s birthday. How he only realized that he just missed Jin, but didn’t really love him anymore. Not in the way he loved Jimin. How he called it off and mustered the courage to go back to Jimin, not knowing if he’ll accept him.

 “How do you plan on making it up to me?” Jimin said with his eyes closed, thinking hard.

 “I don’t know, but if I have to make it up to you my whole life I will.” Yoongi placed his hand on top of his, before entwining their fingers together like he did when he comforts him.

 “Did you expect I’ll just be waiting here for you until you came back?”

 “I was hoping you would, but I would understand if you didn’t.” If honesty can be heard, this must be what it sounds like.

 “But I did.” Jimin finally opened his eyes to look at Yoongi, gripping his hand a bit tighter – a signal to return back the comfort he was given. “I don’t know how you’ll make it up to me, but I know that includes not leaving me again.”

 “I love you, Jimin.” Yoongi assured him with a soft voice. “I’m sorry this had to happen for me to realize that. I never stopped loving you.”

 “I love you, hyung.” The gap between their faces was growing smaller and Yoongi looked at Jimin to seemingly asking for a silent permission. When Jimin closed his eyes, he knew the answer.

 They shared a kiss, another first of many kisses since they got back together. Jimin finally thought he could be happy again. But they had a long way to go, not everything fell back to place. Taehyung was frustrated that Jimin just let him back into his life. They had a bit of a falling out, and Jimin didn’t have the energy to work on that, he was already working hard to fix things with Yoongi. 

Jimin suggested they finally move in together, but Yoongi was still hesitant. He was always vocal about wanting to have his own space. Fights about Yoongi leaving him still ensued. There were pockets of happiness during these years but Jimin began to think if these small moments were enough to be defined as happiness. 

He knew he couldn’t control Yoongi, love shouldn’t do that. But he could control what he felt, what he did. He chose to look at their lives in rose-colored glasses. And he decided to take matters into his own hands.

 That meant he bought a ring. Placed it in his drawers he knew Yoongi wouldn’t look into and waited for the right moment. Jimin wasn’t sure of the timing, but he was sure about Yoongi and that was enough. He thought if it was time, he would know.

 But days went on and they both got extremely busy with work but Jimin was fine with that as long as he went home to him. But even when they were together, he felt like Yoongi just wasn’t there. He knew something was wrong, but he chose to trust Yoongi.

 Until one winter, Yoongi came by again with a bag, sporting a serious look on his face. He plopped down on the sofa, sighing. “We need to talk.”

 Jimin knew where this was going, he couldn’t say he was surprised but he just really hoped for the best, he really hoped this wasn’t an option. “Did you change your mind?” He asked.

PART III: OUT OF MIND

 Jimin imagined 2 scenarios of the cause of their impending breakup. First, is that Yoongi found someone else, I mean, that’s what happened the first time right? The second was Jimin himself finding someone else, but knowing how much he loved Yoongi, that was highly unlikely. But here they were, spending a few minutes here during the calm before the storm.

 It was a vague question, Jimin knew that when he asked. However, the fact that Yoongi did not answer and just waited for Jimin to sit beside him, he knew the worst is about to come.

 And so Jimin sat beside him and Yoongi moved slightly to face him. “You didn’t answer, so I guess that means yes.” Jimin continued.

 “Are you still happy?” Yoongi shook his head while asking.

 “You’re not.” This time, it was more of a statement than a question.

 “We haven’t been okay since I came back.” He admitted. “And I think you know that.”

 “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have left in the first place.” Jimin glared, Yoongi looked away uncomfortably. “And now you’re leaving again, huh?”

 “You told me if I forgive you, will you promise to not leave me again?” Yoongi said calmly. “Did you? Forgive me?” He was met with silence. “So, don’t put this all on me.”

 “Are you fucking serious, Min Yoongi?” Jimin spat, his body began to tremble. “You left, without a warning. To try again with your ex. And you expect me to be okay with it?”

 “I don't, but if you’re not okay with it then why accept me back?”

 “Why are you acting like it’s a bad thing that I accepted you back?!” Jimin’s voice began to rise.

 “Jimin, it’s been 4 years and I know you still haven’t forgiven me.” Yoongi pointed out. “I’m doing my best here too, you know. Yes, I left. It was wrong, I hurt you but in these 4 years didn’t I ever make it up to you? Not even for a bit?”

 Jimin couldn’t answer that. He was so stuck in his own hurt that he never thought he was hurting Yoongi. “Yoongi. When you left, all I could think about is what did I do wrong? Why was I not enough? Not even enough for you to say goodbye?” His voice began to shake.

 “That was on me, Jimin.” Yoongi held his hand, but Jimin didn’t want to feel his comfort knowing he was going to leave again. “We’ve been through this narrative time and time again. Aren’t you tired?”

 “Of course I am, but I choose to look at the times when we were happy.” Jimin began to break down in tears. “That kept me going even when I wasn't."

 “You’ve always been the stronger one in this relationship.” A tear began to fall on Yoongi’s cheek. “You’ll be okay.”

 “I wasn’t okay when you left, why do you think I’ll be okay now?” This must be the Anger part in the 5 stages of grief, Jimin thought.

 “Because I’m leaving you so we can both be happy!” Yoongi’s voice rose, trying to talk sense into Jimin. “I don’t want us to end up hating each other. I love you so much-.”

 “THEN WHY ARE YOU LEAVING?”

 “BECAUSE I’M NOT HAPPY!” The screamfest ended as quickly as it began. “Don’t you see how frustrating it is? To love you so much but not feel happy?” Yoongi let go of him to run his finger through his hair in frustration.

 “That doesn’t make sense.” Jimin coughed a laugh, he knew he was fucked – laughing and crying at the same time.

 “I know it doesn’t. But I know it’s selfish for me to stay in a relationship unhappy.” Yoongi looked at Jimin once more, letting him know how genuine he felt. “I know this is selfish too but we tried to make it work right? But nothing happened and it’s been years.”

 Jimin began to speak slowly, carefully choosing the words he was about to say. “How long?” He stated, “How long have you’ve been feeling this way?”

 “I don’t know, but one day I realized I was just dragging myself to see you. How I needed you because I was used to you because I love you.” Yoongi didn’t know if these were the right words to not hurt Jimin, but he knew he would hurt him whatever he’ll say. “You don’t deserve someone who just forces themselves to be with you.”

 “Is Jin back?” Jimin wanted a logical explanation for this. So this must be the reason, right?

 “No.” Yoongi answered straight, and Jimin knew in his heart that it was the truth.

 “You know I always thought that if we were going to break up, it’s because one of us cheated.” Jimin was just throwing his thoughts unfiltered. “I never thought we would end like this.”

 “Then let’s be thankful we didn’t end up like that.” Yoongi tried to suggest.

 “You know the funny thing about this?” Jimin snickered. “It’s the fact that I have an engagement ring tucked in one of my drawers waiting for the right time.”

 “I know about it,” Yoongi admitted slowly to Jimin’s surprise. “I was looking for my hoodie one time, and I saw it.”

 “When did you see it?” Jimin didn’t know whether he wanted to know the answer.

 “Last month.” Yoongi breathed.

 “So.” Jimin was crying again. “You really thought this through.” He was breaking up knowing that Jimin was planning on proposing.

 “I did.” Yoongi broke down this time. “I’m sorry, Jimin. But I can’t be the one you need. I can only love you, but I think we both know that’s not enough.”

 “You have to choose me to. But you chose yourself.”

 “Then choose yourself too,” Yoongi suggested. “You’ve worked so hard on us, it’s time we think of ourselves.”

 Jimin wanted to stop him. He really did.

 He thought about all the times they were together. All the rap scenes he went to support Yoongi, all the recitals Yoongi gave him flowers, all the times they explored different hair dyes - the orange one, the pink, the grey.

 All the meals Yoongi cooked for him, all the music equipment he bought to surprise Yoongi, all the arguments about him leaving or them not having enough time for each other.

 That one argument when Jimin blamed Yoongi for him being downgraded to a backup dancer again because he skipped practice due to his depression when he left.

 All the birthdays they spent, especially the one where Yoongi came back. How could Jimin forget that?

 How could Jimin forget Yoongi in general?

 The way he never wanted anyone else to know he cared, but he really did. The way he would take care of him when he was sick. The way he would scold him if he practiced too hard to the point of exhaustion.

 The way he shared his secret love for piano, a secret Jimin was proud that only he knew. The way Jimin shared his abandonment issues with his family and how relieved he was that Yoongi was his home now.

 The way his hand engulfed his. The way he would slightly open his mouth when they kiss so his tongue can enter. The way he would feel above or beneath him. The way he would feel content whenever he says I love you.

 He wanted to ask Yoongi if he thought of all of these?

 What he was saying goodbye to? 

 Their past? 7 years of being together. Jimin literally grew up with him.

 Their future? What about the plans of Jimin singing for one of his tracks because Yoongi discovered he had a talent for it too? And he just loved his voice. 

Jimin wanted to ask all of these. But he realized like Yoongi, he was also tired.

 The only thing that escaped from Jimin’s lips was. “Okay.”

 Besides, he knew he couldn’t handle Yoongi’s answer. May it be a yes or a no. At least this time, he has the guts to say goodbye. What a morbid consolation prize, right?

 “You know what sucks?” Jimin continued. “I still believe you when you tell me you love me.”

 “Because I do.” Yoongi had a slight smile. “I really do.”

 “I do too.” A vow without rings, a truth without commitments. “I love you, and I have done everything to make this work except for letting you go. So this is me, letting you go.”

 “I’m really sorry. I wish I could be more for you but I can’t right now.” Yoongi pulled Jimin to hold him tight. “Maybe in the future, when we’re both okay...” Yoongi’s mind began to wander but Jimin pulled him back to the present.

 “Maybe. But you’re right. Right now we have to be okay on our own. This is why we’re breaking up, right?”

 “I love you, Jimin.” Yoongi was proud that Jimin understood him, but still devastated that it had to come to this.

 “I love you, hyung.” Jimin repeated throughout the night, unknowingly making it a keepsake for Yoongi even if they’re not together anymore.

 They shared their last kiss, their last moments in bed. Yoongi packed the remainder of his belongings in his bag, and they hugged until it was time for Yoongi to leave. Out of sight, out of mind, Jimin thought.

EPILOGUE

 Love never meant staying, that was what his mom always explained ever since his dad left them to work abroad and never came back. His mom always assured him that his dad loved him dearly, that he worked hard for Jimin to go to university. 

 He never understood how people who leave can still love. He never understood why, until the day Yoongi went away.

 He also realized he can’t find a home in a person, so he will build his own.

 Jimin didn’t know what was harder, being left the first time or the second time. But all he knew was he needed to be better. He owed that to himself. He strived harder until he got the lead dancer position again.

 He rekindled with Taehyung and it was as if nothing happened, maybe that’s what soulmates are supposed to be. A place you can always go back to, home or not.

 “You’re not as devastated as the first time.” Taehyung pointed out while they were playing Mario Kart at Jimin's place.

 “I listed all the things that reminded me of him,” Jimin explained. “I planned to steer clear of them but some things I realized he can’t take away from me."

 “Like what?” Taehyung asked.

 “Like winter.” Jimin paused the game. “Winter is my favorite season, but that was when he left me. Both times. But I can’t unlove winter because I was hurt right?”

 “I’m proud of you, Jiminie.” Taehyung nudged his long-missed best friend.

 “And you too.” Jimin pointed out. “You introduced us to each other. I can’t unlove you.”

 Taehyung smiled at him. “I can’t unlove you too.” He rolled his eyes. “Even if you’re stupid sometimes.”

 “I often wondered when would looking at my tattoo stop hurting, but now I sometimes forget it’s there. It didn’t remind me of him anymore, it just reminded me of me - a guy who wears his heart on his sleeves, or in my case, on my rib.” Jimin admitted before continuing “It’s been a year now, and he actually texted me if we can meet again.”

 “Oh?” Taehyung raised a brow.

 “But he said that I should be ready when we meet.” Jimin continued.

 “Are you?” Jimin shook his head. “What did he say then?” Jimin knew he was okay in a way, but a big part of him wasn’t ready to meet Yoongi again. He pulled his phone from his pocket to retrieve the last text Yoongi sent.

 He handed it over to Taehyung, and it just read “Nevermind, then.”

[the-citrus-scale]

I respectfully disagree. Your articles have become increasingly negative over the last few months, as if you are discouraging fan creators, making them feel guilty for loving their fandom. You go looking for problems, in a fandom. I take issue with your statement that you are the only outlet that is positively supporting fan creators. You’re a bit full of yourself in that regard. You are definitely NOT the only outlet that supports those of us who create for the fandom community.

We’d like to apologize to our readers for this exceptionally long post.

We literally know of no one else who interviews fanfiction authors and treats them with any sort of respect. If there are other sites or communities, please let us know. We’d love to hear about them! As for the increasing negativity, see below for the actual statistics. You’ll see that your arguments do not hold up. 

6 weeks ago

We began our Relaunch Week as we transitioned from The Lemon Magazine to The Citrus Scale. 

“How Stranger Things Ruined My Life” 

Tone: Positive

Note(s): The title is clearly a joke. It listed all the wonderful ways that the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy have taught us that women are allowed to demand more of the media and entertainment they consume.  

“Chaotic Neutrals: The Walking Dead Edition” 

Tone: Critical

Note(s): For the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to say that all critical articles automatically equal negativity. We DO NOT feel this way, nor does any news and media organization, but we talk more about that at the end of this post. 

Then we posted a game, a picture of the prize to win that day, and another game the next day.  

“Please, Sir, Can I Have Some More?”

Tone: Positive 

Note(s): Well, we will preface it by saying that it’s not at all positive if you are a white guy in entertainment who refuses to tell any story that isn’t their own and continually puts women down. If you, Anon, are one of the fanboys who whined and cried when Jodie Whittaker got cast as the new Doctor then #sorrynotsorry. We won’t apologize for calling people out for oppressing minority groups. Not now. Not ever. 

“In Defense Of… Self-Inserts” 

Tone: Positive

Note(s): It is literally “in defense of” self-inserts and authors who write them. The only thing remotely critical is at the end when we stay if you don’t like this type of work, you aren’t obligated to read it. As an overall tone, it is positive. 

“When A Villain Can’t Be Redeemed: A Study In Severus Snape”

Tone: Negative

Note(s): We do not hide our disdain for Severus Snape and his routine abuse of children.

“Adapting Comics For The Screen”

Tone: Informational (Neutral)

Note(s): Again, the only thing that could be considered critical is at the end when we discuss oversaturation in the Marvel fandom and how exhausting such a catalogue of works can be, and that reader/viewer fatigue is very real and you are allowed to take a break if you need it. 

“The Fight Against Fiction Censorship” 

Tone: Critical

Note(s): We discuss how you, as the reader, should be curating your own experience and how characters are allowed to be morally gray. That these characters do not and should not be automatically deemed as representative of writers’ actual views on sensitive subject matters. 

“Get Fridged, B*tch!: The Short Lives of Women in Supernatural” 

Tone: Highly Critical

Note(s): We discuss the fact that in the show Supernatural specifically, most women are killed for the character development of their male counterparts. We point out that this is not okay and leads to the accepted convention that this is good writing and not, in fact, incredibly lazy and sloppy. 

Then we did six posts, in a row, on our Instagram that were silly, funny, or light-hearted, but we’ll chalk those up to neutral even though they’re definitely more positive than anything. We did Signs as Quotes, Kiss. Marry. Kill., The Alphabet Game, and a D&D alignment chart with characters. 

So, at the end of our relaunch week, we were at sixteen (16) informational or neutral, four (4) critical or negative, and three (3) positive, with only one being truly considered negative and not simply critical.

5 weeks ago

We began our Pensacon 2019 Convention Coverage. We featured three (3) cosplayers we met at the convention, linked their profiles, and not one of our questions was negative. Again, we won’t add them to our positive list, but they definitely count as us being supportive. We know we’re not the only who interviews cosplayers in a positive fashion, but there can always be more. We also included four (4) fanfiction authors. There were other informational, infographic, or neutral articles (like interviews), interspersed between these articles: 

“Pensacon 2019 Intro Review” and the “Pensacon 2019 Wrap-Up Review”

Tone: Positive (x2)

Note(s): We had a blast at Pensacon, and will be returning next year as well. All our coverage was overwhelmingly positive. 

“Using Fandom To Teach” 

Tone: Positive 

Note(s): The article states fun ways that you can include fandom in the classroom to help engage the students so they don’t automatically tune you out. It was also a small summary of the panel we saw at the convention, which is clearly referenced. However, all the ideas were original or credited appropriately. 

We also had a TWD Trailer Reaction Video. As far as we know, there’s nothing to be seen as negative (unless we were talking about Rosita). If you really, really tried, you could count it negative though, since every single thing we said it in wasn’t nice to all the characters. For those keeping score, we’re at twenty-eight (28) informational or infographic, six (6) positive, and four (4) critical or negative. 

4 weeks ago

We began our Marvel-themed month here. Honestly, we’re getting tired of linking most things, so here’s how Marvel month stacks up. 

There were eighteen (18) informational articles or infographics, eleven (11) interviews, four (4) playlists, and two (2) games. This leaves us with thirty-five (35) neutral articles. 

“AUs Becoming Original Fiction”

Tone: Positive

Note(s): This article featured information on how to possibly transform an AU fanfic into original fiction, if you so desire. It included examples of popular fiction that had done just that. 

“Faithfulness in Adaptations”

Tone: Neutral

Note(s): We list the ways why it’s okay to like both and that one isn’t superior to the other. 

“Being First Doesn’t Mean Going It Alone” 

Tone: Positive

Note(s): It was written shortly after seeing Avengers: Endgame and was a glowing recommendation of the movie due to the girl power scene. However, upon further reflection we realized that thirty minutes of representation in an almost three hour movie isn’t as good as we thought it was and several other things caused the movie, as a whole, to miss the mark. As it relates to this article, though, it was positive. 

“The MCU and Buffet-Style Representation”

Tone: Critical

Note(s): We criticize Marvel’s lack of representation and how they are continually putting down any fan interpretation that sees a character as homosexual. We do end it on a positive note by saying we’re going to hold out on passing final judgment since they are promising to do better soon. We’re middling at best here, so we’ll say critical. 

“In Defense Of… Steve Rogers’ Happy Ending”

Tone: Critical

Note(s): We simply state that Steve is allowed to be happy and that him being miserable shouldn’t be his only real characterization or arc. 

“The Importance of Fan Service” 

Tone: PositiveNote(s): This one is about the importance of fans feeling like valued members of their community by original content creators, and how it only adds positively to the overall experience of fandom. 

“Rule 34: The Rise of Super Sex” 

Tone: Informational 

Note(s): It doesn’t take a stance either way regarding how we, as an organization, feel about this practice, though it could be seen as more comedic since there are many, many sex puns. 

“The Squick Factor: WinterPrincess” 

Tone: Critical 

Note(s): We break down a controversial ship in the Marvel fandom and explain why it shouldn’t be seen that way, based on the arguments given from inside the Marvel fandom itself. 

“Trope Scope: The Isolation of Being Super”

Tone: Informational

Note(s): We explain the lonely superhero trope and how to use it in your own writing. 

“All the Feels: Standing Up For What’s Right” 

Tone: Positive

Note(s): It’s called ‘All the Feels’, so… yeah. 

“Get Fridged, B*tch!: Marvel Edition”

Tone: Critical

Note(s): Again, we take a stance against using women as plot devices to further male character development. Marvel has a lot of characters, so it was easy to come up with examples. We’d like to note that we defend Stan Lee in this one as he wasn’t for fridging Gwen Stacy. 

“You Need To Calm Down: And Other Advice From Taylor Swift” 

Tone: Highly Critical

Note(s): We wrote an article in response to another from Hypable.com, where we defend binge-watching television, new or old, and list all the ways it isn’t a bad thing. As always, the responses and points in this article were well-researched and thought out. 

“Women Behaving Badly: Why the Movie Hustlers Is Important” 

Tone: Positive

Note(s): We can’t wait to see this movie and talk about why showing women doing the same thing as men, even if it isn’t prim and proper, is a good thing and helps us gain more equality in entertainment and in representation. 

“#NoHomo YouTube Video” 

Tone: Critical

Note(s): We take Marvel to task over Avengers: Endgame and we still have no desire to apologize for it. If you’d like to know why, please watch the video linked above. We can also send the talking points, if that makes it easier to follow. 

So, at the end of six weeks, which brings us to today, we were at sixty-three (63) informational or infographic, twelve (12) positive to ten (10) critical or negative. 

If you came to a different conclusion, we’d love to hear your reasons as to why. However, all we ask is that if you want to make accusations about our overall tone, you be able to back it up, as we did. It seems to us, and anyone paying attention, that we are overwhelmingly informational first. The problem seems to be that any time we are remotely critical of a character, original content creator, or a fandom, we are marked as negative. Which, frankly, is not true. We are a news and media organization. We are allowed to interpret things in a light other than positive. We will continue to bring our readers as much fandom-related content as possible and we promise to be truthful and to never sugarcoat anything. We also pledge to be respectful always. 

If there are any other concerns, we urge you to send them to our ask box as this anon did. Understand, though, that critiquing us does not mean we will blow up, act foolish, or remain anything other than responsible fandom members. We have receipts to back up everything we do, so don’t assume we’ll take accusations lying down either. We welcome all criticism and will apologize where necessary. This just wasn’t one of those times. 

[gwen-writes-stuff]

Secret Girlfriend

Imagine : You being old friends with Tom and you appear on his Livestream, Everyone thinks you're his secret girlfriend.

Word count : 2312

[ Note : I'm sorry but Famous! Y/N us my favorite to write. Btw, I accept requests.]

Y/N's POV

I was inside an uber watching the beautiful streets of London come into view, My plane landed and I immediately called an uber filled with excitement to meet my best friend.

We have both been away, him filming Civil War and me filming for a show under Syfy that's soon to be announced.

I was delighted to find out my best friend was Spider-Man! Heck, I'd do anything to play superhero roles. Have kids look up to you and wear cool costumes? I'm so in.

He's staying at his parents' house to my relief, I've missed Nikki, Dom and the boys. It's been a while and tho I fulfilled my dream of being an actress with Tom, we kind of drifted apart.

He was big now and famous, It's no surprise his fame will only grow bigger now that he's sure to have a solo movie.

Not long later I arrived and the sight of the house sent my heart racing, the memories I had in this house came flooding in.

I got reminded of the silly crush for Tom I formed when I was 14 and now I'm 20, I can't say I don't like him anymore.

We've called and texted each other but I never got around to ask him to FaceTime so I only ever saw his face on the internet, mostly because I'm following his Instagram and he grew up to be so fine.

I payed the driver and I glanced down at my luggage, Taking deep breaths to calm the beating of my heart I fixed my hair that was slightly messed up because of the strong wind.

I walked to the front door, Dragging my luggage behind and before I could even even knock, It opened. Paddy was grinning widely at me and he honestly looked taller than the did the last time I saw him.

"Y/N!!"He didn't even bother letting me in first and ran to hug me, he only managed to wrap his hands around my waist tho. I messed with this hair playfully.

I was chuckling loudly as I hug him back, "Paddy! Let Y/N in first." I hear Nikki scold her youngest. "I missed you too bud." I looked down at Paddy and he had the widest grin.

Eventually he let me go and I walked in, Almost forgetting about my luggage when Paddy gladly pushed it in but I laughed because he had to put in effort. It was heavy though I don't plan to stay that long.

I'm only gonna be having dinner and going to a hotel my mom booked for me, Unfortunately she's in the Bahamas with my dad but they did sent their love.

"Y/N let me get a good look at you." Nikki backed away to scan me before wrapping me in a warm hug, After she let go I turned to Dom and hugged him. “You're now a lady!”

"You've grown!" Dom exclaimed and I smiled sheepishly, "Sam, Harry, Tom get in here!" Nikki called out and I awkwardly stood in their living room waiting while Paddy curiously look at my luggage stickers.

"Is Y/N here?" I heard a familiar voice ask and before I know it I was again caged between someone's arms. That someone being Sam and it didn't help that Harry joined in, I coughed jokingly and they let go with wide eyes.

"You guys smell surprisingly pleasant." I joked and both smirked at my remark, "Easy, We might think you're getting a crush." Harry fired back and I scoffed faking offence.

"You're too young for me." I replied crossing my arms seeing the married couple watch us with genuine smiles in the corner of my eyes.

"You're only a year older." Sam replied, almost sounding like a question and I nodded.

"Exactly." Now I realised something, I looked around trying to find the only Holland who haven't greeted me yet and there I see him at the end of the staircase standing cooly.

Watching the exchange like he wasn't supposed to join in and I raised a brow, "Well someone didn't miss me.",Tom rolled his eyes and walked over to hug me tightly.

He even lifted me up a little and I slapped his back, looking over his shoulder I can see Sam and Harry make faces and I stifle a laugh.

I pulled away and Tom had grown Taller, my guess is I'm an inch shorter but I feel like he's towering over me for some reasons.

"Right. Dinner!" Paddy jumped and I frowned to check my watch,It was only 4pm.

***

I am helping Nikki in the kitchen with Paddy watching and assisting every now and then while the rest play in the living room.

That was how it went til Tom walked in to offer setting up the table, Nikki quickly shot me a look. "Y/N and Tom you set up the table." Tom nodded slowly narrowing his eyes at his mother and I noticed but thought nothing of it.

While I reached for spoons and forks I see Nikki send me a smile, a knowing smile that confused me.

"So how have you been Spidey?", I asked him while I set a few plates down the table with matching spoons and forks.

He chuckled lowly at the nickname and looked up to see I had a brow raised, "The same." He boringly replied and I rolled my eyes.

"So you're still 19 and feeling just a tad bit rebellious?" I asked with a teasing tone and he shot me a look, Glaring half-heartedly.

"I mean I'm still me. Charming and irresistible." I almost dropped the glass I was now moving and he laughed seeing the event unfold.

"I've been gone for a few years and I come back to have your head so big." I tsk'd jokingly while shaking my head.

If only he knew that's exactly how I looked at him. I was away for two years but that didn't change the way I feel about him, I thought it was for the best.

Knowing myself, I never stood a chance. His past ex-girlfriends when we were in high school are goddesses and I can't even compare, he's way hotter now so I'm saving myself the heartache.

But.

I didn't move on. Instead my feelings for him got stronger over the time I was away, I'm in for a big heartbreak!

During dinner we exchanged stories. I told them about the show I was in, It was about college students who discovered there was more to their stories, Studying in a school for magic they will learn that a man who calls himself the 'beast' is after them.

((This show actually exists, Please watch it. It's amazing. The Magicians on Syfy!))

"Tom's Spider-Man and you're a Magician?" Paddy asked with his eyes lit up like he was just told we're going to Disneyland and I nodded.

"Too bad I don't get a wand tho." Earning soft chuckles from the table. The food was great and Nikki really improved, not that her cooking was bad before.

Tom was sat next to me and I had to fight the urge to blush everytime our hands accidentally brush.

"So Y/N, Are you staying for the night?" Dom asked and I shook my head, Failing to miss Paddy pout and send his mom a pleading look which Nikki didn't need to see since her decision seems to be made in the first place.

"Why not stay with us? Your parents are away and you were gone for 2 years, stay." Nikki spoke up and there was silence.

I considered my options and nibbled on my lower lip unconciously doing so, I subtly sneaked a glance at Tom who seemed to be studying me and I gave in when he caught my eyes and he shortly nodded.

"Okay. But where will I sleep?" I practically grew up in this house so I know for a fact that the Hollands don't have a guest room. I reached for the glass of water and began to take sips when:

"In Tom's room of course." I almost spat it out and instead downed it real hard that I was a coughing mess. I can see Sam and Harry wiggle their eyebrows suggestively but I just literally drowned on a glass of water!

Tom was rubbing my back with his hand and I'm sorry but he's not helping because his touch is sending waves of electricity all over my body.

"You guys share a bed all the time?", Yes. When we were like 10 and we're both grown adults now?

"Uhh yea." I didn't bother to argue because the smile on Nikki's face suggested that I wasn't going to win anyways.

***

3rd Person's POV

The night ended awkwardly. Tom offered to sleep on the couch but Y/N insisted that it was his bed so he should sleep on it.

This went on for half an hour till Y/N made the bold move of suggesting they both sleep on the bed or not at all which ended with the two of them laying in bed, backs turned on each other with a pillow in the middle acting as a barricade.

The next morning was not any better when Tom woke up to find Y/N clinging to him in her sleep, he took pictures for leverage and slid off the bed.

Standing at the foot to stare at her for a moment noticing that she was wearing his hoodie, Y/N was too lazy to open her luggage so she digged through his closet not bothering to ask.

Tom went in the bathroom to do all he needed before starting the day. He planned to have breakfast with Y/N and contemplated waking her up.

If his memory served him right, she would throw you out the window if you even do as much as shake her to wake so instead he sat down on the space beside her, leaning against the headboard and scrolling through his Instagram.

Then an idea sparked up, he went on live to talk about the experience trying his best not to spoil any important scene in the movie. He was yelling too loud for 5 in the morning and talking animatedly sounding like a child on sugar.

While he was fanboying about rdj Y/N groaned and smacked Tom's side. "You're fucking loud." Tom was caught off guard that he forgot he was livestreaming and she got on the frame without both of their knowledge.

"Good Morning to you too sunshine." Tom cooed and Y/N laughed pushing herself up to look at Tom, "No good in the morning when you're yelling about Robert Downey Jr." She sassily remarked making Tom chuckle.

"What are you even doing anyways?" she asked trying to fix her disheveled hair and Tom shrugged, "Oh I was just live... streaming!" Tom jumped up and realized he has been broadcasting their exchange and Y/N looked up at him in horror.

Tom checked his phone to see his followers blowing up the comment section and he cursed under his breath, Turning it off without so much a goodbye.

"Shit." He muttered staring into nowhere like he was in a trance and Y/N threw a random pillow at him.

"I hate you." She was smiling nonetheless and Tom couldn't bring himself to tell her a few of what the comments said.

Did I see that right?

Tom has a girl on his bed!!

Oh no who's that?

Tangina sino yan?

Is that his girlfriend?

They look kinda cute together

She's kinds pretty

Same. Both a whole-ass mood.

Người nào?

SHE'S WEARING HIS HOODIE RED ALERT RED ALERT RED ALERT. THEY PROBABLY DID THE MONKEY DANCE OMGOMGOMG

***

The two had breakfast like Tom had originally planned and both went to McDonald's for breakfast of all places.

It wasn't crowded and none of them had to worry about fans or paparazzis for the whole two hours they spent just eating and talking while Y/N share experiences on set with Tom who did the same.

"I so wanna play a superhero." She exclaimed, "You can be my sidekick!" Tom offered and Y/N threw a balled up napkin and threw it at his head, it landed on his forehead.

"Spider-Man doesn't have a sidekick." But she blushed at the thought of playing in a movie together with Tom.

Both practiced and took classes together so they should be comfortable enough acting around one another.

Tom pulled out his phone and poked Y/N's cheek when she seemed to be deep in thoughts. "Hey let's take a picture."

She lifted her head and nodded shortly, Tom stretched his hand to have the phone directed at their faces and Y/N threw a peace sign while Tom had his tongue out.

"Please don't tell me you're posting that." She asked with a groan and Tom smirked at her. "Tom. I look like shit."

She didn't make an effort to dress up so she threw on a sweatpants and a (favorite band) t-shirt. Her hair was everywhere and she had too little energy to put on makeup.

"You look beautiful." His comment made her heart skip a beat and she was too flustered she couldn't retort when he posted the photo on his Instagram.

@tomholland2013 uploaded a photo on Instagram :

1 user tagged : @( your ig username)

[Photo]

tomholland2013 : Breakfast with my main g✌️

Comment section :

Y/N4life : Is that seriously @(Y/IG/U)???

hollander_love : Tom's got himself a girl woot woot

harryholland64 : That's why you two disappeared!

peterparkour.s : THE GIRL FROM THE LIVE

tom.holland.fans : The girl frkm the livestre ahhh !!

y/nstagra.m : They're childhood friends✌️

tommy.hollander : I ship it.

-

[neverwatchedonepiece]

650-651: "Luffy and the Gladiator of Fate - Rebecca!" and "Protect You to the End! Rebecca and the Toy Soldier!"

NARUTO-KUNNNNNN

So Bartolomeo is basically Hinata.

He collects Strawhat posters.

He is their biggest fan.

You guys were right.

This is hilarious.

I love him. xD

“I SENT YOU MY BLOOD, LUFFY!”

Once Luffy and Don Chinjao left the ring, the clean up and reconstruction team moved in. As of now, three contenders could potentially move forward to challenge Diamante: Jesus Burgess, Bartolomeo and the Not-So-Mysterious Lucy. 

I say “not so mysterious” because everyone and their gran fighting in the next round knows who he is now.

And I have a theory: Bartolomeo, Rebecca and Luffy will team up against Burgess in the next round.

Why do I think this?

Well, once Luffy left the ring, pursued by Cavendish, two fodders happened to pass by Bartolomeo. He overheard them talking shit about Luffy.

“Why does Cavendish keep yelling Strawhat? As if he’d be here. That’s the guy who couldn’t even save his brother’s life. Anyone could do what he did if he doesn’t have to save anyone’s life!”

For some reason, Bartolomeo Did Not Like This. He pinned the fodder and almost crushed him with a barrier. At first I thought Bartolomeo’s reaction was something to do with Ace. Maybe they were friends once?

Nope.

The real reason was Even Better.

“What was that joke you made so lightly?” Bartolomeo growled. “Listen, Luffy-senpai will become the standard bearer for this era. He will become the Pirate King!”

No, I thought. No way. Bartolomeo was a Luffy supporter? How? And why Luffy-senpai? Had Luffy unknowingly taught him along the way?

The answer? Sort of.

Bartolomeo was there at Loguetown.

“I saw it with my own eyes. Over two years ago. At Loguetown in East Blue. On the legendary scaffold where Roger died, Luffy-senpai shouted it out then. At that moment, straight from heaven, came a bolt of thunder which saved his life. What I saw was a miracle!”

And thus Luffy’s Biggest Fan was born.

Seriously, this guy used to be a gangland boss (had taken over about one-hundred and fifty towns). But he began to follow the news stories. Alabasta, Enies Lobby, Impel Down and Marineford. He made a fan shrine with his bounty poster collection! In the end, Bart’s hardcore fanboy status reached the lofty height of emulation. Inspired by Luffy, he sailed out to sea.

And it turns out Bart does not take kindly to anyone talking shit about his idol.

While Luffy dodged Cavendish, Bartolomeo peeked round the wall and watched. “I can’t approach him. When it comes to it, I can’t do it. I’m too nervous to go anywhere near him. The scar under his left eye. It’s real! He’s so cool! Oh... my eyes are suddenly blind with tears. That stupid Cabbage shit. I want to beat him to death and save Luffy!”

It’s nice to know Luffy has such a dedicated in-universe fanbase.

And Don Chinjao can be added to the club too. He joined Cavendish in thundering after Luffy because he wants to place his grandson’s Happo Navy under the command of Garp’s Illustrious Grandson. What a result, right?

Except Luffy was thoroughly weirded out, wondering why these three crazy guys were chasing him.

Luckily for him, Rebecca was around.

Teach Takes Another Level in Scumbag

She grabbed his arm and hauled him off. There was a more private place nearby where no one else went.

On the way, they passed Jesus Burgess. He was in the middle of a DDM call. A very familiar voice was on the line. So familiar, it caused a visceral reaction in Luffy. He screeched to a halt immediately.

It was Blackbeard. And they were having a weird conversation.

“By that logic, Shiryu is no different,” Teach said.

“But I can’t trust Aokiji!” Burgess complained. “Uh... Hold on a sec, Captain. Strawhat is here.”

This piqued Teach’s interest. “Eh? You there, Strawhat?”

“You’re Blackbeard, aren’t you?” (You know when Luffy remembers you straight away that you must either be A) Really Good, or B) A Real Asshole.

“Yeah, it’s been awhile. Heard you’re fighting in the competition, Lucy. But my man, Burgess, is gonna win the Mera-Mera Fruit. I can’t wait because it’ll be like having Ace in my crew. He turned me down in the past.”

OOOOFT.

Wow, that one was a low blow. To be honest, I really like how Oda employs Teach as a long-term adversary to Luffy. Teach’s panel/screen time is economical but every time he appears, Oda really ramps up the enmity between him and Luffy. No exchange is ever wasted.

I was pretty proud of Luffy for keeping his cool here. It shows how much he’s matured as a person and as a Captain.

I am also intrigued by why Burgess is worrying about Aokiji? That was pretty random. Is our favourite ex-Admiral really operating in the underworld now? Is he trying to wangle information from the Blackbeards? Hmm... Don’t think Smoker would like that. Then again, he has had a hard lesson on Punk Hazard. Maybe he will be a little more cynical in future and won’t dismiss intel from pirates out of hand.

Justice for Toys!

Post Blackbeard Encounter, Rebecca led Luffy further away from the chaos. On the way, Luffy was distracted by free food samples. Just before he cleaned out the stall, Rebecca offered to buy him lunch, even though she didn’t have much money.

What a nice gesture, right?

Rebecca found a deserted looking area and Luffy smashed into his bento like it was Blackbeard’s face. Through mouthfuls of food, Luffy asked where they were. Rebecca explained it was quarters for the gladiators. They called it “a prison” (which, we learned later, it literally was).

Since Luffy’s life revolves around piracy and food, he asked Rebecca if she was hungry and if she wanted some food.

This triggered an Obvious Trauma Flashback. Smol Rebecca and her mother beneath the tree in Flower Field. Smol Rebecca saying, “I’m hungry.” Her mother replying, “Okay, do you think you can stay here alone for a while?” Then suddenly... dead mother.

Rebecca said tightly, “I don’t get hungry.”

Although I figured there was guilt here, I didn’t link Smol Rebecca’s food request directly with her mother’s death. Not until the big reveal of Rebecca’s past.

That unwitting conversational misstep must have pushed Rebecca into enacting her plan. She had intended to lure Luffy into a quiet area and kill him. When she turned on him, to my surprise, some randoms in bandages piped up from behind bars. “YEAH, GIT HIM, REBECCA!”

But Rebecca had picked on the wrong competitor.

Or, when you look at it from another angle, exactly the right one.

Luffy was able to fend her off while still tucking into his delicious meal. It was an embarrassingly easy win. The gulf of ability between them was so wide, she was never on Luffy’s radar. Right now, beating Rebecca would be like swatting a fly. (Not disparaging her general fighting ability, but compared to Luffy, most people would come off worse.) She was no threat, therefore Luffy wasn’t angry about the assassination attempt.

Luckily, she bought Luffy lunch. Especially since she didn’t have much money. He loves food and would appreciate that. Any other offence would pale in comparison to that act of generosity.

“I’m not gonna do anything to someone who bought me food,” Luffy said when Rebecca insisted he just kill her and get it over with.

Then Luffy noticed the “mummies” - the prisoners in bandages in the background. Rebecca explained the situation. She and the other guys in the room are “convict gladiators”, pretty much like the system in ancient Rome where slaves and criminals could be slung into the arena and ordered to fight to the death.

To ramp up Doflamingo’s evilness, they also said, “The king says we can be released if we win a thousand times. Everyone who tried to escape got shot. There’s nowhere to run for us. Before Doflamingo became king, gladiatorial matches were not to the death. In this kingdom, there are very bright and very dark sides.”

So Doflamingo brought in the Delayed Death Penalty for criminals. I guess it’s a way of ushering capital punishment through the back door. Entertain the masses and get rid of undesirables in one go. Few will object because most love the Colosseum games. The ones who won’t fight, or the really dangerous ones likely to talk too much, are turned into toys. That’s iron control of Dressrosa right there.

And Rebecca is not a fan.

“Today an army led by Sol will come to let us out by provoking a battle against Doflamingo. He is willing to sacrifice his life to destroy the kingdom. But I’m gonna do it before he does. I don’t want to just be protected anymore. I want to protect Sol this time! I’ll win today’s competition no matter what and will kill Doflamingo with the Mera-Mera Fruit power.”

I thought I’d figured out Rebecca’s motive to fight. Poor kid with no food, no family, maybe resorted to petty criminal activity, was arrested and now she wants to escape. Amongst all the crap that happened to her, maybe Sol was her only friend.

Luffy was like, “Why are you worried a toy is gonna die?”

Rebecca just smiled and said, “You’re not from here, so it’ll be hard for you to understand. Toys are the same as humans (wait til she finds out they *are* humans. She’s gonna flip tables). They are friends to the friendless. Siblings for those who have none. Lovers for the loveless. I don’t understand why they’re not able to live with us. Since I lost my mother, Sol-san raised me. He’s like a father to me (I bet he is).”

Luffy actually listened to this (which is a huge accomplishment, Rebecca. You should be proud of that) and said, “You don’t look like a prisoner to me. Buy me lunch again sometime!”

Rebecca walked out to the ring and said, “See you at the finals.”

I like her confidence.

Then a flashback kicked in that showed me how wrong I was about Rebecca’s motivations.

Oda Really Likes Princesses, Doesn’t He?

The sad tale of how Sol came to raise Rebecca opened with a scene of Smol Rebecca and her mother living quietly on Flower Field, picking flowers to sell in town. They had a lovely house. An idyllic life. But don’t think I missed that one empty chair at the table. (Sol is totally her dad.)

Then there was fire. The King Riku army was setting town on fire. This really puzzled me. (I’m still not one-hundred percent on this. Are we talking the actual King Riku or the Resistance King Riku Army here?)

Soldiers chased Smol Rebecca and her mother, Lady Scarlet. Diamante headed the charge. Sol stepped in and defended them. After the battle, Smol Rebecca and Lady Scarlet hid out in Flower Field. Rebecca said she was hungry. Lady Scarlet knew it was a risk but she sneaked into town to buy food. She was shot and killed. Sol brought her body back, along with the food she’d died to buy Rebecca.

Smol Rebecca nudging her mother’s dead body and telling her to get up was like post-stampede Mufasa and Simba all over again. It was Very Sad. ;_;

She almost cried but Sol clamped his hand over her mouth. Enemies were still looking for her.

“Your mother was high-born. Do you know we have a new king now? The new king wants to capture all the former nobility. He even wants to capture you because your mother’s blood runs through your veins. I’m gonna protect you unti the end with my life. Until the day you are filled with happiness, I will always be by your side.”

Wait... I thought. Rebecca is a noble???

What the hell?

What was going on?

Was the battle the night before a civil war in Dressrosa? One that Doflamingo won against King Riku?

Who Says Politicians Never Keep Their Promises, Eh?

Because here he is. On a podium. A shiny new king wearing his all time fave feather jacket. The adoring crowd chanted his name. “Doflamingo! Doflamingo!”

He made a speech. Par for the course with new kings.

“The Riku Family has been running this poor country for centuries! In the end they became shameless and robbed money and goods from citizens for themselves. I’m gonna make this country wealthy, instead!”

This is where I lost track of the situation. From what has been revealed about people turning into Toys, I thought Doflamingo “brought someone in” to do that. I figured that would have been *after* he gained power. But Toys were around before that. Sol is proof.

What gives? 

And the people of Dressrosa *really* hate King Riku and anyone associated with his bad, corrupt family. Unfortunately for Rebecca, not only is she a noble, she is also King Riku’s granddaughter. Her status is also well-known in the Colosseum. When she walked into the ring, the commentator introduced her as the Phantom Princess of King Riku’s line. She was booed and vilified by the audience. “BURN IN HELL! CORRUPT FAMILY!”

I get the feeling Doflamingo engineered this somehow. It’s all too perfect a narrative. Doflamingo, the saviour, sweeps in and saves Dressrosa from the evil, corrupt family, while he is as bad, if not worse. Or maybe Doflamingo did have good intentions, but, as always in life, matters snowballed and he became hella corrupt himself. Leaning more towards deliberate coup at the moment.

I am also highly suspicious of the gladiator Ricky. It’s very close to Riku and there was definitely an older gent under that mask...

“SELL THEM FOR STRAWHAT MERCHANDISE!”

[sorceress-coffee]

Trollhunters Episode 2

This is part of my self-indulgent OC insert for Trollhunters. River Lake is back with her cousin Jim Lake Jr. in Episode 2 of the Trollhunters series. This strictly follows Episode 2, however as the story progresses River is the main focus and if she isn’t present in the scene, it won’t be written since it’s not from her POV. Thank you to everyone who reads this!

[Episode 1 End]

Once Jim finally frees the sword and holds it up, I’ve finally calmed down enough to ask him “So, is that a yes?”

[Episode 2]

The morning after Jim activated the Amulet of Daylight, we headed to Toby’s dentist to fill him in on everything that happened. Locking up our bikes we head into the office, as Jim goes back into the examination room where Toby is getting worked on, I stay out in the waiting area with the receptionist.

“Don’t go in there, he’s in with a patient.” She quickly states before shaking her head as Jim ignores her, she looks over to me questioningly as I shrug.

“Sorry, it’s kind of an emergency or he would actually listen,” I explained to her, taking a seat and wincing as I hear a drill turn on. I can hear Jim quickly talking to Toby as the drill continues, Toby’s gargled replies translated by the dentist.

Jim walks back out to sit with me, sighing. “We might be here a little while; Toby and the dentist aren’t sure when he’ll be done.”

I nod, leaning back in the chair. “We should treat him to Diablo Maximus as payment for you trying to hijack his appointment.

Eight hours of waiting later, and I am pulling at my hair as sanity leaves me.

“Nope!” I yelled as Toby finally walks out and we head to our bikes. “No Diablo Maximus for you Toby!”

“We were getting Diablo Maximus?” He asks excitedly, then pouts realizing I said we weren’t going to. “Why not?”

“Considering River said ‘our treat’ eight hours ago? She is not happy about being here all day.” Jim explained, sore from waiting around.

“The dentist is the one who kept saying he was almost done, not me!” Toby complained as we took off to Jim’s and my house.

Once there I grabbed a box of frozen pizza handing it to Toby. “Put that on your face, you’re swollen.”

“Eight hours!” Jim finally cracked once we got home, “I can’t believe it takes eight hours!” he exclaimed while pacing around the kitchen.

“Two molars, plus insertions, and some cleanup.” Toby lists off what happened during the appointment.

I shake my head, “Okay Tobes, we really need to tell you what happened last night!”

“You are never going to believe this,” Jim ran to his bag grabbing the amulet as Toby pressed the frozen pizza box to his face. “Check this out.” He held the amulet up towards Toby, concentrating on the amulet.

“Do you have any aspirin?” Toby asks me, seeing Jim distracted by the amulet. I nod and quickly grab the bottle from the medicine cabinet mom keeps stocked, handing him two pills quickly.

“Tobes, pay attention.” Jim said glancing up at Toby and me before concentrating on the amulet again. He began reading the runes etched into the amulet, “For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to-” the microwave dinging cuts Jim off.

Toby is pulling out the pizza I had handed him to use as an ice pack from the microwave. “Go on,” he said after looking to Jim, realizing the microwave cut him off. I chuckled and shook my head.

“It worked last night,” Jim frowned at the amulet, scratching the back of his head.

“Are you punking me right now?” Toby asked.

“Maybe if you finish the incantation Jim, there was more to it last night.” I suggested, taking a slice of pizza from the ones Toby heated up.

Jim nods looking at the amulet. Taking a deep breath, he recites the incantation again. The amulet glows and Jim floats in the air as the light orbs flow from the amulet to his body.

Toby’s mouth dropped as he watched Jim floating. “Holy champignon!” He exclaimed as his pizza floated out of his hand.

The light around Jim faded as he landed, fully armored. Toby’s pizza landed in his hand, his mouth still hanging open. “Oh-ho-ho-ho! How cool is that?” Jim asked Toby excitedly.

“What?” Toby asked breathless, trying to wrap his head around what he just saw. “Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! So cool, so cool, so cool!” Toby was rambling as he pulled and prodded at the armor, inspecting it as he walked around Jim quickly. “Dude, you know what this means, right? You have a sacred responsibility here.” Toby started pacing as he rambled.

I chuckled at Toby’s reaction. “That’s what they said last night Tobes!” I remarked quickly, though Toby was still fanboying over the armor and it’s supposed responsibilities.

“Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!” Toby kept repeating as he jumped in circles, he stopped to face Jim, took a bite of his pizza then held a determined look on his face. “You have to use these new powers for the benefit of all mankind.” Taking another bite of his pizza his expression turned to one of slightly petty vengeance, “You have to use this to kick Steve’s butt!”

I dropped my head onto the counter at Toby’s statement. “Seriously?” I asked, only Toby would think kicking Steve’s butt was a benefit for all mankind.

“Really?” Jim asked, a disbelieving look on his face, he gestures to the sword and armor, “I show you a glowing sword and a suit of armor that can only be magic, and that’s how you respond?” He incredulously remarked to Toby.

“Seriously! It’s butt-kicking time.” Toby exclaimed, not seeing any errors in his logic as he mimics fighting moves and ends in a slight lunging position. “These pants are so elastic.” I rolled my eyes hearing Toby getting distracted, he looks up to me as he recalls what I had said. “Wait. River, who’s ‘they’?”

Jim answers, “That’s the part I’ve been freaking out over!”

A sudden knocking on the back-door cuts Jim off as he, Toby, and I all turn to look at the door. Blinky pops his head over to look inside the window, he grins seeing Jim in the armor and waves quickly through the window.

“What, what, what the heck is that?” Toby asked freaking out. I got up to open the door for Blinky. “River! Don’t open the door!” He quickly called out, panicking.

Blinky ends up opening the door and walking in before I could reach it, laughing as he enters. “Master Jim!”

“I’m calling 911.” Toby states quickly hiding behind Jim as Blinky steps closer.

I turn to Aaarrrgghh as he gets stuck in the doorway, I shake my head before helping him get through. “Sorry Aaarrrgghh, these doors weren’t made for trolls.”

Aaarrrgghh just smiles and nods to me as Toby screams and dives behind the counter pulling out his phone. “No, Animal Control!” He peeks over the counter shoving an entire slice of pizza into his mouth as he stresses, “Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. They talk.”

Too focused on Jim to notice Toby’s panic, Blinky continues, “I knew it was but a matter of time before the amulet called to us.”

“‘Called’ to you?” Jim asked confused, taking a step back from Blinky.

“Actually, no.” Blinky answered, “We’ve been spying on you,” he stated as he leaned towards Jim, covering his mouth with one of his hands, as if he was trying to be secretive about the exchange.

“Spy on you.” Aaarrrgghh stated, using two stony fingers to point at his eyes, then to Jim and I, as he laughed, settling down next to me.

I gave Blinky a look clearly showing that I wasn’t okay with being spied on. “Well, keeping a close watch.” Blinky quickly corrected himself and Aaarrrgghh after seeing my expression.

A robotic voice cut through the conversation from behind the counter. “Animal control.”

“Monsters, at my best friend’s house! I need you to send a squad!” Toby had in fact, called animal control, and he was still panicking.

“Is this a joke kid?” We could hear the receptionist on the line ask Toby, clearing not taking him seriously.

Toby peeks over the counter at Aaarrrgghh and I. I sighed at his reaction to Blinky and Aaarrrgghh, but I could empathize with his frightened state. “Make that the National Guard!” He yells into the phone, hiding again when Aaarrrgghh steps closer to get a look at him. A dial tone rings out as Animal Control hangs up on Toby. He looks at his phone incredulously, “Animal Control hung up on me.”

Blinky finally takes notice of Toby and turns to Jim, worried, “You told your stout little friend about us?”

“Um, is that a problem?” Jim asks, glancing from Toby to Blinky.

“Master Jim, we trolls have gone to great lengths to keep our existence secret from your kind, lest there be panic.” Blinky quickly explained as Aaarrrgghh reached over the counter and picked Toby up, setting him on the counter. I quickly pat Aaarrrgghh’s arm when he lifts Toby, reminding him that humans aren’t fond of being carried by people and trolls they don’t’ know. “Like that.” Blink gestures to Toby as he holds a ladle up defensively against Blinky and Aaarrrgghh.

Jim quickly goes to Toby to calm him. “It’s alright Tobes.” Jim turns to Blinky and Aaarrrgghh, gesturing up to Toby as he introduces him. “This is my best friend, Toby D.”

“They’re like, nine feet tall. He has like, 800 eyes. We’re all gonna die.” Toby rambles as he points the ladle back and forth between Blinky and Aaarrrgghh.

“Hardly,” Blinky states stepping forward to Toby, as he gestures to Jim. “Your friend is the Trollhunter. His noble obligation is protective.” He explains, trying to reassure Toby.

“Like protecting?” Toby asks, realization dawning on his face. “You mean like a superhero? Oh! Can I be his sidekick? Are you his sidekick River?” Toby begins asking Blinky and me.

I laugh shaking my head. “Not a sidekick Tobes, have at it though.”

“Oh, with a cool superhero name like Deathblade or Snipersnake?” Toby begins firing questions to Blinky, relaxed as he sits on the counter.

“Who is Jim protecting exactly?” I ask Blinky, realizing we don’t have all the details.

Jim turns to Blinky expectantly, relieved Toby has calmed down. “Us,” Aaarrrgghh answers for Blinky.

“And mankind,” Blinky interjects quickly. “From bad trolls! As well as goblins, gruesomes, and the occasional rogue gnome.” Blinky explains while Toby begins to whack his shoulder with the ladle, realizing that Blinky and Aaarrrgghh seem to be made of stone. Toby whacks Blinky in the face near his eyes and Blinky quickly turns on him, “Do you mind?” He asks Toby, annoyed. Toby quickly drops the ladle in response as Blinky returns to explaining. “The mantle of Trollhunter is a sacred responsibility, one which has never been passed to a human before. This is a momentous occasion.” He states, getting in Jim’s face before smiling.

Jim leaning back, looks like he’s about to panic right before a car horn sounds from the driveway.

“Shit!” I yelled, recognizing the horn. “Mom’s home!”

“Upstairs quick!” Jim yells pushing Aaarrrgghh and Blinky out of the kitchen and to the stairs.

“Mom?” Aaarrrgghh asks as he and Blinky run upstairs with us. All five of us running into the bathroom and slamming the door as mom walks in.

“She’s not supposed to be home till midnight!” Jim looks to you, the panic clearly written all over his face. I shrug, just as confused as he is, turning back to Toby and the trolls to see Aaarrrgghh sniffing Toby.

Aaarrrgghh hums at the scent. “You smell like cat.”

“My nana has a Siamese.” Toby tells him, confused at being sniffed.

“Tasty” Aaarrrgghh replies as his mouth waters at the thought.

Toby, Jim, and I wince at the realization that Aaarrrgghh, and Blinky most likely, eat cats, and Toby smells like dinner.

“Jim?” Mom calls from the stairs, “I forgot my phone. Are you okay in there? Where’s River?”

“River’s at Toby’s, she’s tutoring!” Jim quickly covers for you, pausing to think, “um, I’m fine. I mean, my stomach’s a little, uh” Jim trails off as Toby starts making fart noises with the toilet brush. I facepalm and shake my head and Jim makes a cutting motion with his hands getting Toby to stop. “Uh, you know, I might have a food poisoning situation.”

“Honey, I’ll get you some medicine, okay?” Mom says form the other side of the bathroom door, worried as she walks downstairs to find something.

Jim sighs and turns to Blinky. “Okay, what’s going on here?” he gestures to the amulet.

“The amulet reacts to your emotional state. You appear to be in some distress.” Blinky explains.

“You think?” I asked sarcastically, trying to help Jim remove the amulet from the armor.

“I have another question.” Toby states as Aaarrrgghh reaches over his head to play with the light switch.

“Speak, Theodore.” Blinky looks to Toby, waiting.

“It’s Toby, actually. Or Tobias.” He states before gesturing to Jim. “If Jim’s the first human Tollhunter, like you said,” he begins, whacking Aaarrrgghh’s arm away from the light switch, “then who or what was the Trollhunter before him?”

I turn the light back on as Jim looks up to Blinky, “The glorious mantle has been passed from troll to troll for hundreds of years.” he explains to us.

“So, the previous Trollhunter, what, retired?” Jim asked, confused.

Aaarrrgghh looked down to us, his expression falling from curiosity at the light to one of sadness as he spoke softly “Was felled.” I clasped my hand over my mouth, bowing my head slightly, knowing what this meant.

“Felled?” Jim asked, seeing my reaction.

“Means killed.” Aaarrrgghh stated.

“Turned to stone and smashed,” Blinky explained as he clasped my shoulder. “Kanjigar the Courageous was his name. Brutally slain by a ruthless troll named Bular.”

“Don’t worry dude,” Toby grabbed Jim’s shoulder, trying to keep him from panicking. “this Bular guy probably just got lucky.”

Blinky shakes his head at Toby’s statement. “The evidence does not suggest that. Bular is a formidable opponent.”

“Then the other guy, he was just off his game or something, right?” Jim asked hopefully.

“Doubtful. Kanjigar was perhaps the most alert and able of all Trollhunters.” Blinky quickly states. “He was the very best.”

Jim pales and looks between Toby and I. Toby waves a hand up to stop Blinky. “Uh, what I think my friend here is a little worried about is, if this Bular could defeat Kanjigar, then what’s going to happen to Jim?”

Jim slides down to the floor against the bathroom door, holding his head. I knelt next to him, my hand on his shoulder, looking up to Blinky, worried.

“Of course, we would never expect Master Jim to engage in battle without the proper training. Not at all.” Blinky reassures us quickly.

I sigh in relief, helping Jim up to his feet. “How long does the training take?” I asked looking to Blinky and Aaarrrgghh again.

“Oh, um,” Blinky begins counting on all four hands, “decades.” he finally answers.

Jim winces, “How long do I have?” he asks slowly.

“A day or two.” Blinky answers as Aaarrrgghh waves his hand in a so-so motion behind him.

Mom knocks on the door having returned from getting the medicine for Jim. “Jim, I have medicine and ginger ale. Come on out.”

“I’m fine. Really mom.” Jim answers quickly trying to get her to leave.

“Jim, I’m a doctor, I can treat my own son. I’m coming in.” She states reaching for the handle.

I quickly grab Toby and push Blinky and Aaarrrgghh into the tub, stepping in with them I pull the curtain close as light flashes from Jim’s armor.

Jim opens the door for mom, now in his normal jacket and jeans, waving his hand, “See? All good.”

I sigh hearing them walk off. I feel air pulling at my hair and realize Aaarrrgghh is now sniffing me. “I don’t have any cats Aaarrrgghh,” I whisper quickly.

He shakes his head, “smell different, like amulet.” He states.

Blinky looks to Aaarrrgghh before sniffing at me as well. “Fascinating!”

I get out of the tub quickly, and head downstairs when I hear mom’s car pull away.

Aaarrrgghh is looking around the front room and accidentally knocks into things. “Your cave, too small.” He frowns as he recedes into the doorway, trying to stay out of the way.

I smile picking the books he knocked off the coffee table. “Don’t worry about it big guy.”

Toby starts putting tapes away, he trips over a tape throwing one into the air and Aaarrrgghh eats it. I start laughing and sort through terrible show tapings and join Toby in tossing the tapes up for Aaarrrgghh to snack on as Blinky talks to Jim more about his Trollhunter duties. I look back to Jim as he hands the amulet to Blinky. “Maybe you should take this back.” He suggests, a crestfallen look on his face.

Blinky quickly pushes the amulet back to Jim. “The amulet called to you, Master Jim. It is your-”

Jim cuts him off pleading “Please, don’t say destiny.”

“Sacred obligation.” Blinky finishes. “You cannot refuse it. You cannot give it back. It is yours until you die,” he explains solemnly.

Jim shoves the amulet into one of Blinky’s four hands. “And I would like to get a little further past puberty before that happens.”

I sigh tuning them out again, my mind racing at the fact that Jim is now stuck with the amulet whether he wants it or not. Worrying over the dangers he now faces because of it. I sat on the couch as Toby convinced Blinky and Aaarrrgghh to return tomorrow to start Jim’s Trollhunter training. Waving to the trolls as they begin to leave. Jim sits next to me, staring at the amulet.

Blinky turns and sees our faces, he approaches us slowly as Toby is trying to help Aaarrrgghh get out the back door. He kneels in front of us, looking between us. “Master Jim, Lady River. If I may,” he trails off, thinking through his words carefully. “Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives living, existences of quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights.” His upper two arms raise in dramatization as his lower two hands clasp mine and Jim’s. “Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero. Don’t think, Master Jim. Become.” He grasps Jim’s shoulder before turning to me. “I know you were not bestowed the mantle of Trollhunter, Lady River. But I know, you too, will become a great hero.” He states, clasping my shoulder.

Jim and I both smile up at Blinky. I nod as Jim looks down, frowning again. “Will you at least consider?” He asks Jim, seeing his face fall pulling his four hands back. Jim looks up in thought before he smiles and hits his fist against each of Blinky’s. Blinky looks to his hands then smiles up at Jim nodding in understanding.

Jim, Toby, and I wave Blinky and Aaarrrgghh off as they climb over the backyard fence. Toby begins to bicker with Jim about getting him an extra night before training and that Jim always wanted more adventure in his lift. I sigh but nod in agreement with Toby. “Who knows Jim, this could be a wish come true,” I state, heading back into the house after Toby.

The next day after classes, the silence was finally broken over what transpired in our kitchen last night.

I was walking with Jim and Toby towards our lockers. “So, what did you decide?” I asked turning to Jim before we parted ways. I had decided to give him space concerning the amulet and becoming the Trollhunter after everything we were told last night, knowing he needed time and space to think things through.

“That if anyone finds out what happened in our kitchen last night, we will all be committed.” Jim sighed as he looked over to me.

“What about kicking Steve’s butt?” Toby asked, mimicking karate chops with his hands.

Jim sighed, shaking his head at Toby, “Give up the dream, Tobes.”

The amulet began to glow from Jim’s bag, Toby opened the pocket to examine it. “Does this thing run on batteries? What’s it doing?” he asks Jim.

Jim quickly covers the pocket as several students walk by, whispering to Toby, “How should I know? It didn’t come with a manual.”

“Does it feel like you’re going to change?” Toby asked while glancing around, looking for a place to hide.

Jim groaned, looking around quickly. I shoved him and Toby towards the locker room. “Hurry up!” I hissed to them. Once they were inside the locker room I turned and came face to face with Mr. Strickler. “Mr. Strickler! Sir, how are you?”

He chuckles then looks at the door. “I’m well River, is Jim alright? He looked quite distressed.” He moved to go around me, into the locker room to check on Jim.

Quickly blocking his path again, I glanced around. “Sorry Mr. Strickler, Jim’s just um,” I spot Claire, Mary, and Darcy heading to the theater. “Nervous!” I yelled, wincing at my own volume. “You know, auditions are today after all.”

“I should remind him that auditions end in 10 minutes then.” He replied, believing my outburst. Quickly he walked past me into the locker room. I groaned hoping that Jim had the armor under control. A few minutes later Strickler walked out and paused next to me smiling. “I can see why he is nervous; he must have spent a long time on his costume after all.”

“Costume?” I asked as Jim and Toby walked out, hurrying towards the theater. Jim was still in the armor and I realized that the must have made the excuse that it was a costume for Romeo and Juliet. “Oh right! Yeah, he really hopes it wasn’t a waste of time. After all, it wasn’t easy to piece together, I’ve still got hot glue gun burns!” I laugh slightly trying to play it off.

Strickler nods, “Better follow quickly if you want to catch his audition then.”

I nod to him and smile as I run after Toby and Jim, waving to Strickler as I go. “Thanks for checking on him Mr. Strickler!” I quickly enter the theater and rush down to the seats as Jim walks out onto the stage. I ended up sitting behind Claire, giving him a thumbs up.

Jim stammers for a moment on stage before taking a deep breath. “Destiny” he pauses, glancing at me. “Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives living, existences of quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders,” he pulls Daylight off his back, pointing it out towards the crowd. “is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights. Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero.” He raises Daylight to point at the ceiling, amulet glowing as he speaks “Don’t think,” slashing Daylight down, swinging it with precision before resting it on his back again, looking determinedly to the crowd, eyes locking with mine for a moment, “Become.”

Ms. Janet has her legs pulled up onto her chair, hiding behind her clipboard at the end of Jim’s speech as everyone applauds. I chuckle and nod to Jim, realizing this was his answer to my question early, and to Blinky’s.

Mary looks back hearing me, still clapping as she turns to speak to me, “Okay, I have to admit, he’s not bad. Sorry about what I said in the locker room, River.”

I smile slightly and shrug, “Don’t worry about it, after all, Jim’s full of surprises.”

Jim bows slightly, happy and embarrassed at the applause, thanking everyone. Eli jumped up, pouting slightly as he threw his sword down, obviously, he had also auditioned for the part of Romeo, but it didn’t appear he would be getting that role now. I smiled watching Claire approach the stage to speak with Jim.

I turned to leave and notice Strickler watching the stage, a glare on his before leaving. This confused me greatly, Strickler had seemed all for Jim auditioning earlier. I recall our conversation earlier this week about Jim and I both needing rest, and that Jim covered his troll story with chess trainers. He must be concerned, believing that Jim was taking on too many responsibilities after our talk. I left the theater to wait by the bikes for Jim and Toby.

Jim, Toby, and I were riding our bikes home through the town after the auditions. Toby was still amazed by Jim’s audition, “Dude! That was amazing! You were amazing! I’m amazed at how amazing you were!” He clasped Jim’s shoulder as we came to a stop at a red light, waiting for traffic to change.

Jim laughed as we took off, “I can’t believe that just happened.”

I smirked pulling up next to him, “Oh, and I bet you can’t believe the way Claire was staring at you during the auditions either?” I teased.

“Yeah Jimbo, your armor totally did you a favor!” Toby stated, riding his bike with his arms crossed over his chest until he hits a wooden plank and almost falls.

“I’m still getting the hang of it Tobes.” Jim chuckles as Toby quickly grabs his handlebars to keep from falling.

“Blinky said that the amulet is tied to your emotional state, especially when you’re distressed,” I recalled from our conversation locked in the bathroom with Aaarrrgghh and Blinky.

Jim shakes his head as we turn the corner, “But I wasn’t in distress back at school.”

I look up, my bike screeching to a halt in front of Toby and Jim. A large, mostly black troll with glowing yellow and red eyes was standing down the street in the shadows, pacing back and forth, once he saw Jim, he roared slamming his fists down into the ground. I realized this was the troll who killed Kanjigar, this was Bular.

Jim and Toby stopped short behind me, “But I am now!” he quickly states after Bular’s roar.

Bular stands at his full height, fists clenching and unclenching as he speaks. “Trollhunter. Merlin’s Creation. Gunmar’s bane.” He lowers himself to all fours roaring again as he paces along the lines of the shadow.

I glance down to his fists, watching them stay in the shadows, tilting my head back slightly toward the boys. “He’s afraid of the sun.”

Jim looks back at the setting sun, eyes widening, “He won’t be for long!”

“The amulet!” Bular continued to yell at Jim, “Surrender it and I will give you a speedy death!”

“Sorry, but that’s a terrible compromise!” I quickly turn my bike around, “Come on!” I yelled at the boys, heading back the way we had come. Jim and Toby right on my heels. We pulled behind a large truck as Jim tried to use the amulet, incanting over and over as it wouldn’t listen to him. “Why isn’t it working?” I look to the amulet in Jim’s hand.

“I don’t know!” Jim exclaims softly, aware that Bular was near. Suddenly I felt the truck we were hiding behind slowly lift up. Toby, Jim, and I looked back to see Bular holding it over his head, a malicious grin etched on his face.

“Centuries of Trollhunters, and I will have killed two in almost as many days.” He growls, throwing the truck at us and we take off on our bikes quickly.

“He’s good at math!” Toby yells, keeping up with Jim and I. We turned the corner as the truck hit the pavement. Bular trailing close. Jim took the lead and I pulled behind Toby, watching his back. Bular landed near us and swiped at Jim and Toby, they were able to swerve out of the way and I slid under Bular’s swipe.

“Head down Delancey!” Jim yells quickly, guiding us to the road. “Behind Stuart Electronics!” He yells, darting into an alley too small for Bular.

“You know I can’t fit there!” Toby yelled panicking.

I rammed Toby into the alleyway, “You can fit Tobes! You’ve been on a diet!” I glanced back seeing Bular almost in reach and I ram into Toby again, sending him forward as I ride into the alley. Bular’s claws gripping onto my jacket and tearing it as my momentum kept going. I growled at the slight feeling of being pulled back then ripping free, looking back at Bular once I was out of reach, waiting for Toby to get through, glaring into his glowing eyes, lips pulled back in a snarl.

“I’m fitting! I can fit!” Toby exclaimed as he finally gets through the alley and I exit close behind, taking off after him and Jim into the neighborhood and away from Bular.

As we reached the street our houses were on, we slowed to a stop, adrenaline wearing down. I looked back over my jacket seeing four large gashes where Bular’s claws had torn through it. Hearing the distinct laugh of Blinky I glare at him, “I was almost Bular’s dinner!” I yelled at him, pissed and frightened over the events of the last hour.

“Master Jim! Lady River!” Blinky greets us, frowning slightly at my yelling.

“Bular’s trying to kill us! He chased us all over town!” Jim yelled pointing back to the way we came from.

Blinky cheers, “and you’re still alive! I knew you had potential, Master Jim! Lady River, I knew you were a fighter!”

Toby points to Blinky, glaring, “You have a sweet voice, but you bring death with you!” he exclaimed.

“Can you guys fight him?” I asked, worried about spending too much time talking and letting Bular catch up with us.

Blinky and Aaarrrgghh laugh at my question. “I could not hope to possess the skill to defeat Bular.” Blinky states.

“What about him?” Jim gestures to Aaarrrgghh, “He’s big.”

Aaarrrgghh shakes his head, “Pacifist.” I groan at his response, turning to look down the street. I couldn’t help but feel as if we were being stalked.

“Man,” Toby says, whacking Aaarrrgghh’s arm, “such a waste of a hulking brute. Aaarrrgghh only thanked Toby for this remark.

“This is why there is a Trollhunter, Master Jim” Blinky explains, “Aaarrrgghh renounced the violent path ages ago.

Watching the street, I spot Bular as he slides to a halt, growling as he sees us. “Guys!” I yell quickly.

Blinky turns, “Follow me!” he yells, “We’ll be safe in Heartstone Trollmarket!” He ran, guiding us to the canals where we found the amulet.

As Bular gave chase he ripped the electrical poles down, trying to stop us. Toby yelled as his front wheel hit a fallen pole and went flying. Aaarrrgghh quickly grabbed Toby, setting him on his back. As he came up next to me, he pulled me off my bike and set me next to Toby. Blinky jumped into the canal and Aaarrrgghh quickly followed, sliding down instead, so Toby and I wouldn’t go flying.

“Jim!” I yell after him, seeing that he stayed at the top of the canal holding the amulet. He quickly recited the incantation repeatedly, hoping for it to work. I yell as Bular comes up, towering over Jim striking.

Bular’s fist connects with armor, and in a flash of white, he was thrown back towards the trail as Jim was pushed into the canal, landing on a fist and knee, sword in hand. Bular was quick to recover, roaring from the top of the canal. Jim looked up at him then took off running for the bridge Aaarrrgghh and Blinky brought us to. Bular followed him, intercepting him before he could reach the bridge. I tuned out the yelling, worried for Jim’s safety, my hands started to heat up.

Aaarrrgghh sniffed and glanced up at me before pulling me off his back. My hands were glowing an ethereal blue, the cause of the heat I felt. Blinky glanced overseeing the light. “Aaarrrgghh open the portal!” He pulled a glowing orange rock from a pouch on his belt and tossed it to Aaarrrgghh, stepping in front of me, keeping me out of Bular’s sight even as he fought Jim. I was caught between staring at the glow and yelling at Blinky since I could no longer see Jim. Aaarrrgghh pulled me from behind once the portal was open and I could see Bular about to strike Jim with one of his twin blades. The heat in my hands became too much as my fear for Jim grew exponentially in that moment, I threw my hands out trying to reach for Jim, yelling his name, and the heat left my palms. I watch as the light from my hands shot out in orblike projectiles, hitting Bular and knocking him back away from Jim as Aaarrrgghh pulled me through the portal.

“Master Jim! Hurry!” Blinky yells as Jim runs for the portal while Bular was stunned. The portal began to close quickly and I watched in horror as Jim barely missed the opening, stuck on the other side. “Aaarrrgghh quickly!” Blinky yelled as Aaarrrgghh drew a smaller outline where Jim was. Blinky reached through and pulled Jim in as Bular’s blade came down on him, hitting the cement where his body had been.

Jim was gasping, no longer in the armor. Trying to calm himself as he and Toby exchanged frightened looks. I launched at him hugging him tight before checking him over for injuries. “Are you hurt? Did he hit you? Are you okay? Breathe Jim!” I started shooting off questions and directions as I assessed him.

“Me?!” Jim yelled incredulously, “You’re the one who shot light from your hands! Are you okay?” He grabbed my hands looking them over quickly, my palms were red as if they had been soaked in hot water.

“I, well, I don’t know!” I said, still freaking out.

Jim turned to Blinky, “He almost killed us!” he yells.

“‘Almost’! A very important word, Master Jim.” Blinky states as he began to walk further into the cave. “A life of ‘almost’ is a life of never.”

“Why’d the armor suddenly shut off?” Jim asked, following Blink, still holding onto one of my wrists lightly, not wanting to hurt my burnt palms.

“Master Jim, you are the first human to possess an amulet crafted for trolls. It’s to be expected that its behavior will be, well, unexpected!” Blinky exclaimed, waving us over to a rocky ledge.

As we followed Blinky he began to walk off the ledge, as his he did, large blue glowing stones began to appear under his feet, creating a stairway. “This is amazing,” I spoke glancing over to Toby, seeing him become excited, recognizing the different types of stone as they appeared.

Blinky gestured down the path as he looked back to us. “This way, Masters, This way.” He smiled seeing the amazement clearly written on our faces as we followed him down, Aaarrrgghh right behind us so we wouldn’t stray.

“Are you sure we’re safe in here?” Toby asked Blinky as he took careful steps over the glowing stones.

“Indeed,” Blinky answered then waves one of his four arms toward the bottom of the stone stairway, as he continued to explain, “The incantation forbids entry to Heartstone Trollmarket by GummGumms such as Bular, for they are the most fearsome of trolls.”

“GummGumms?” I asked, looking back to Aaarrrgghh as we brought up the rear. I slipped on a smaller stone, not paying attention to my footing as I had looked back.

“Scary ones,” Aaarrrgghh answered, steadying me so I wouldn’t slide down the stairway.

“Okay, wait, wait.” Jim began, siding up to Blinky, “So, Bular, can’t get in here, right?” he asked hopefully, “Into Heartstone Trollmarket?”

“No, Master Jim,” Blinky answered, he turned Jim around as we made it to the bottom of the stone stairway.

Toby, Jim, and I paused, seeing the glowing crystalline market, filled with life. Our jaws dropped as we stared in amazement. “Whoa,” was all Jim could force out as he stared.

“This is beautiful,” I remarked, quickly recovering from my stupor.

“This is the world you are bound to protect.” Blinky announced, letting us walk ahead.

The dark stone of the cavern that Trollmarket inhabited was a great contrast to all the glowing gemstones that seemed to fill it with warmth and life. Looking over Trollmarket we could see hundreds of trolls, all unique yet slightly similar. Statues seemed to guard the market holding large rose-colored gems in their hands, giving the illusion of a giant troll holding a heart. In the center of Trollmarket, was the largest crystal structure I have ever seen, it was gold and red, the light seemed to flicker inside of the crystal as if fire itself took on a crystalline form.

“This is Heartstone Troll Market!” Blink exclaimed.

Thank you for reading! If you have any suggestions please comment or message me! I love getting feedback. This is the second chapter of the first fanfiction I’ve written.

I also use Grammarly to fix any errors so it is easier to read.

Episode 1

Episode 3

River BIO

I will be adding episode links as I post them!

[zwei-the-penguin-with-a-pen]

‘Color Pulse’

"Hold onto your tentacles..." Callie began as she and her cousin appeared on every screen in all of Inkopolis.

"... It's INKOPOLIS NEWS TIME!!!" Her cousin Marie finished. The Squid Sisters still ran the usual news broadcasts in the city, bringing the hottest scoops to the freshest squids and kids around... and today's news was EXTRA FRESH! The annual Splatfest was hosting its final battle today!

"We interrupt your regularly squid-duled programming to bring you this urgent news bulletin: SPLATFEST FINALS TODAY!!!" Callie yelled at the top of her voice! The small pink Inkling was especially excited. Splatfest was her favorite time of year!

"The epic battle between FRUIT and VEGGIE has culminated in this monolithic battle! Eight of the freshest squids in town will duke it out for domination! Well, make that seven Squids and an OCTOGIRL!!!" Marie cheered. The lime green Inkling could hardly contain herself. "We take you now to our awesome squidster station for a spot on the scene!"

The screen flashed, and a dark Octoling girl with long black tentacles traced with teal appeared. Behind her was a sold-out crowd awaiting the final match of the Splatfest!

"Thanks, Callie and Marie! It's your most favorite Octogirl here! And hopefully, I'm not only your favorite because of my shapes. I mean I know that's why Pearl loves me, but that's beside the point!" Marina joked. She was never one to miss an opportunity to knock fanboys off their game. "Marina here with the four finalists of Team FRUIT! I believe they started in the Cantaloupe Division, correct?"

"We certainly did, Marina!" Ruby Rose, the crimson Inkling with the compound weapon told her.

"So I've been hearing you girls will be using custom Ink colors as well as custom weapons in this last bout. Give us any details you're willing to divulge, please." Marina asked politely, twirling one of her tentacles in one hand.

"Ruby Rose, the team leader! I will be using my hybrid Carbon Roller SplatSniper! I like to call him the KRIMSON KRILLAH!" She bragged, holding up her compound weapon that was the horrific fusion of a Roller and a Charger. "I'll be using Red ink, my usual go-to!"

"I'm Weiss! I've acquired an exquisite Inkbrush for today's bout! I call it the White Knight!" Weiss Schnee, the short Inkling with the long white tentacles tied into an off-center ponytail, mentioned next. "I'll be using my signature white ink today!"

"The name's Blake! I'll be using my way fresh Tenta Brella! Complete with black ink and Suction Bombs!" Blake Belladonna, an Octoling with night black tentacles, told her. Weiss and Ruby had felt it best not to mention their bombs, but Blake kept no secrets when it was Ink Battle time.

"You can call me Yang! I'll be wielding Dualie Squelchers today and firing yellow ink!" Yang Xiao Long, the final team member, told Marina. Yang had bright yellow tentacles that flowed down her body.

"Red, white, black and yellow! It's gonna be a regular rainbow of ink at the Piranha Pit! Of course, the map will show your team color, which will be orange. Team VEGGIE will be blue. Speaking of who, here's Pearl with an interview with the losing-- ER-HEM I MEAN OPPOSING team!" Marina scoffed and grinned. She and Callie were confident in the talents of Team FRUIT.

Marie and Pearl were sponsoring Team VEGGIE. The screens flashed again, cutting to an interview with Pearl's team.

Finally cutting back to the Squid Sisters, they left their viewers with their usual tagline. "Staaaay FRESH!!!"

\/\/\/\/\/

"Alright, team FRUIT! I know we've got the Popularity score in the bag, and we've smashed everyone that's come against us! Let's get out there and smash this thing to bits!" Ruby cheered, her teammates joining her in a team chant.

"We're gonna be so awesome, you guys!" Yang cheered. This Splatfest had been loads of fun. They would be sad when it was finally over, but there would always be next Splatfest. Plus, it looked like they were favorites to win it all, and a nice payday would be lovely.

The call came for them to make for the platform and wait to be warped into the Piranha Pit. The four of them stepped onto the glowing circle and awaited the signal. When it came they morphed into their squid (Octopus in Blake's case) forms and were instantly warped onto the battlefield.

The three Inklings and the Octoling appeared at a launch point at one side of the Piranha Pit, an enormous quarry next to the sea. There were conveyor belts sprawled around the pit. They were easy to ink and counted at Turf, though they were usually vulnerable at all times to opposing ink.

The opposition appeared at the other launch point, and the countdown began. Once the cry of 'GO!!' hit their ears, Team FRUIT was off! Ruby and Weiss swiftly covered the Turf with their ink, rolling and painting with ease.

Blake and Yang inked in the gaps their teammates had left. These two were more thorough despite Ruby and Weiss having more inky weapons. Yang periodically laid Ink Mines for opposing players to surprise. If they were stepped on or swam over they would explode and SPLAT the one that disturbed them.

And suddenly, there was a blue Inkling in Blake's sights. She armed her Tenta Brella and fired at the enemy Inkling girl, dousing her in black ink that slowed her down and injured her. Yang fired her Squelchers at the blue girl to get the job done, the squid becoming a 'ghost' briefly before she respawned. Her Slosher never stood a chance anyway.

Some boy with a Roller exploded in a blast of yellow ink. Poor unsuspecting Squid!

Meanwhile, all the opposing team members became visible to Blake and Yang. Ruby must have used her Special, the Echolocator!

Weiss was in a scrap against some girl with Sprinkler Bombs and a Splatling gun. Weiss fired precise and artful strokes, slowly turning the girl white. She pulled out a megaphone suddenly. Her Special was the Killer Wail! Weiss dipped into her ink in Squid form to escape the huge shockwave of sound and ink, emerging to SPLAT the opposition from behind!

Weiss smirked at the 'ghost' squid that floated away! "You call that a Killer Wail? More like a KILLER FAIL!!"

"Wow..." Weiss heard in her earpiece.

"WHAT, Octopus?!" She complained.

"That was actually a pretty solid burn, Weiss!" Blake replied. Weiss blushed. "Don't be cute about it! That girl is pissed off and swimming your way!" Blake warned. The blue Inkling in question hopped out of the ink and tried to fire at Weiss from her Splatling, but before Weiss realized it the foe was covered in red ink.

"STAY OFF MY SQUEEZE, YOU SLIMY LITTLE HIPSTER!!!" Ruby commanded, retracting the sniping implement from her hybrid weapon and slashing down with the enormous paint roller. Weiss stuck the blue Inkling with her 'White Knight' to finish the job, though Ruby had already gotten the SPLAT.

The game clock read '1:20' and the map up on the huge screen showed a generous covering of orange ink. The four of them swam forward and found more Turf to ink.

Blake ran into the girl with the Sloshing Machine and took her out with ease. "This octopus OCTO-ROCKS!!!" She heard Yang say in her earpiece.

"Thanks, Babes! ON YOUR LEFT!" She threw a bomb at Yang that stuck on her, and the foe's blast caused it to ignite and cover both Yang and himself in black ink.

"Splatted by my own team! How will I ever go on?" Yang cried, her overly dramatic fake swoon causing her to fall into the water. Her squid body dissolved as she touched the surface. These sea creatures can't swim!!!

TEE HEE

Some of the Turf around their launchpad had been inked over, so Yang inked it yellow again, her Special meter glimmering as she did. She fired her Inkstrike into a noticeable deposit of blue ink. This apparently SPLATTED the entire opposing team.

"Yang fires the inks that makes the squids fall down!!" Blake rambled in a goofy voice as she saw the quadruple SPLAT come across the screen.

"We're crushing it, you guys! We've got to be the freshest Squids in the city!" Yang cheered.

"I'm an Octoling, so I'm fresher than you all by default!" Blake injected.

"I'd dispute that, but Yang would probably SPLAT me..." Weiss mentioned. With twenty seconds left, three of the opposing team members rushed their Team, all getting themselves SPLATTED instantly. Team FRUIT was not playing around...

"Their fourth squid has a Charger! Watch your backs!" Blake mentioned as her Special became ready. She found the sniper on the map and locked onto him. Her Tenta Missiles flew at him, causing heavy damage but not SPLATTING him. Weiss and Ruby took a high point and covered one another as the sniper boy swam up and rushed Blake.

His team all Super Jumped to his side, and the four of them came at Blake.

Weiss's Bomb Rush took them all down before they could get a drip of ink on Blake! The last countdown came just as Team VEGGIE spawned at their checkpoint!

The map on the screen was all but covered in orange ink, although their multicolored ink looked much fresher.

"The winner of this year's Splatfest is most obviously TEAM FRUIT!!!!" Marina cheered. "Pay up, Pearl!"

"I'm all outta coin, Marina!" Pearl complained, turning out the empty pockets on her dress. "I guess I'll just do that thing you love so much when we get home..."

Marina rolled her eyes but begrudgingly accepted Pearl's offer. "All right... But you'd better do it real FRESH for me!" She winked at her bandmate and squeeze.

"You two are disgusting! No wonder they hardly let you on the screen at the same time!" Callie nicked on the other screen. "Well, there you have it, little Squids! Team FRUIT has won the big Splatfest, and Marie owes me a ton of Coins!" She bragged to their audience, Marie rolling her big green eyes.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang took in the spotlight for as much as they could stand it. They made off to find some local eats after the whole thing was over, settling for a nice variety spot near the Booyah Base. Here they could get just about any filthy fast food they could ask for, and they filled up on the gross goodness that the wait staff offered them.

They left a ton of Coins for the crew when they finished their meal. Ruby and Weiss decided to crash at Yang and Blake's pad instead of making the long walk to their own place. They could still hardly believe they won the whole Splatfest!

And that's the end of my crazy crossover fanfiction, little squids! Until next time...

Don't get cooked! STAY OFF THE HOOK!

And, as always, STAY FRESH!!

\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/

Day Twenty-Six: Crossover of Your Choice

RWBY X SPLATOON CROSSOVER!!

Someone made fanart of Ruby using a Splat Roller, and suddenly this monstrosity came to my mind.

Basically Team RWBY as Inklings (and Blake as an Octoling) playing the final match of a Splatfest. Featuring the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook, and plenty of Splatting shenanigans!

[thekingofwinterblog]

Overhaul Arc, My Hero Academia’s First True Miss Part 2

so, after the first meeting between shigaraki and Overhaul, we are then thrown into izukus quest to become the intern of all mights former sidekick nighteye.

i will have plenty negative to say about the way nighteye is used through this arc, but that will not be the case for his introduction. Nighteyes introduction is very strong, and established him quite well. both his positive and negative qualities are laid bare in the span of a few chapters.

Izukus quest begins with him calling Gran torino in hope of interning under him, and just continueing where they left off. Gran however, turns him down flat. instead, he tells him to go see his master about it, and notes that one man in particular he should ask him about, is all mights old sidekick nighteye.

after asking all might for an introduction, all might refuses, and for a variety of reasons, he instead convinces mirio(who’s been interning under night eye for a year) to introduce mirio to nighteye instead.

This little sequence of back and forths is important for a number of reasons. the first is that by having mirio introduce izuku to nighteye instead of gran torino or all might, the former sidekick is able to meet and judge izuku withouth commentary or judgement from izukus past mentors.

The second thing however, is to set up the idea that of all the students of yuei, mirio would have been most likely to have been all mights chosen successor if it hadnt been for izuku. while this could easily be seen as character shilling, i’dd argue that its there to set up for mirio and nighteyes relationship, but that this set up unfortunatly will not go anywhere.

After getting mirio onboard, izuku is finally introduced nighteye. and what an amazing foil he is.

due to pretty much everything important to nighteyes character will be revealed here, i will take this moment to go over his personality.

----

Nighteye is the biggest all might fanboy in the world. that sentence is the underlying theme for everything related to nighteyes personality, it goes into his motives, his way of doing things, his personality, and why he is the way he is.

Unlike izuku, nighteye is a very composed seemingly cold person, by the book person, who has no tolerance for bullshit or errors on the part of anyone around him and is not above telling someone exactly why they suck withouth sugercoating it at all. if you think this sound completely different than all might, you’d be right. Night eye is essentially, a living contradiction, in the essence that he believes fully and completely in the ideals all might represents, but he is not able to truely embrace those ideas himself.

this is not necessarily to say that nighteye is a massive hipocrite in this regard, only that he himself is nothing like all might(neither in charisma, warmth nor power), but he that he still truely believes in the ideals that all migth represents. the symbol of peace.

as we’ll see, pretty much the only thing nighteye did not agree with in regards to the image of a perfect hero that all might represented, was in what the most important part of what a hero should be able to bring out in everyone around them. for all might, the most important thing a hero had to be able to do, is to have a bright smile no matter what, to inspire all those around them. 

nighteye however, believes that the most important thing in the world, is the ability to inspire laughter in those around them. not in a condescending or mocking way, but rather the kind of laughter that lightens the heart and spirit of those around them. hence, he holds humor as a critical part of being a hero. as he himself puts it: “it is my belief that a society withouth humor or liveliness has no future”.

it was this that presumably made him seek all might out to become his sidekick. by nighteyes own admission at the end of the arc, the one thing nighteye wanted, was to be of use to all might.

which is why the events of catastrophical battle all might and all for one had struck him, as hard as it did. nighteye, who respected all migth, and believed in him and the symbol he tried to represent, was mortified by the concept of all might dying. 

both as all mights friend and partner, but also because he fully understands the implications of the symbol of peace being killed, especially if it happens in a brutal way so all the world would see.

ever since the moment where all might was crippled, nighteye tried to convince him to retire, to find a succesor, and leave let his legacy stand as it may, unchallenged by the idea of him as a crippled man.

however, all might refuses to accept this idea, as to him, the idea of letting people live in fear for even one more day than necessary, is something he finds impossible to do. he will keep fighting and protecting people until the moment, he cant do so anymore.

this in turn lead to a break between all might and nighteye, fueled by all mights refusal to retire, and only bolstered by nighteye’s vision, of seeing a possible future of all might dying horribly to a villain, as a result of his wounds(and yes, i will have something to say about that in the next part).

thus nighteye parted ways with all might and led him, to as he put it, doing everything he could to change this future he saw.

which leads us to one of the most important parts of nighteyes character, his relationship with Mirio, the young hero he took under his wing, and tried to foster into becoming the next symbol of peace.

Its not entierly clear if nighteye specifically sought mirio out for the single purpose of turning him into the clear candidate to become the next user of all for one, as all we’ve seen of his scouting him out, is the scene of them meeting and nighteye telling him that he had a lot of potential to become strong, along with an offer to come study under him.

its worth noting that before he began his internship under nighteye, mirio was not regarded among yueis better students, and it was only after his training under nighteye, that he became regarded as yueis number 1 hero.

this lack of strength, then raises the question of wheter nighteye recruited him because of the potential of his combat abilities, his personality or a mixture of the two.

in either case, its not entierly clear wheter he took him under his wings speifficly to make him the new user of all for one from the start, or if he simply thought he had a lot of potential, and the molding into all might 2.0 came after he learned of all mights choice as a successor.

whichever is the case, its clear that by the time nighteye learns of all mights choice as successor, nighteye, has already decided on mirio as a much better candidate, and as noted by all might, it was at this point(at least as far as all might knows) that he decided upon cultivating young mirio into a worthy successor.

which shows a remarkable faith in mirio, as judging by all mights appearance at the time he contacted nigheye to tell him his choice, he might have told him as early as immediatly after chapter 1 of the manga, which in turn would mean that at this time, mirio would have been his sidekick for somewhere around 1-3 months, yet he still would pour all his energy into turning him into what he himself saw as the perfect symbol of peace.

while, mirio already possessed a lot of the qualities that he shares in common with all might, its pretty obvious that under nighteyes wing, these trait were undoubtedly cultivated into the person mirio is today, which as ive noted earlier, could easily be seen as all might 2.0. 

the exeption to this, is that mirio since becoming nighteyes sidekick, developed a trait of dropping humor and jokes as much as he can, no matter how bad they might be, or how terrible or just bizarre they might be. this trait, is likely something he develop due to nighteyes great belief in humor(which included forcing his sidekicks to crack jokes during briefings, else face tickling punishment).

essentially, for better or worse, nighteye did everything he could to make mirio into what he saw as the next all might, which isnt necesarilly a bad thing, as mirio seems to be very happy with the results. but it raises a bigger problem when faced with the actual next user of one for all, izuku midoriya.

Nighteye has no respect for izuku, and he isnt shy about it either. his very first lines in with izuku in the series, is him tearing down izukus all might impression for not being exact to all mights standard face(izuku instead having based the impression on a specific face he once made). following that he puts forth a challenge which he doesnt really care wheter izuku wins or not, as he already decided upon hiring him no matter the outcome.

the only part of izuku’s performance during this test, which impresses nighteye, is izukus refusal to hurt any of nighteyes all might merchandice.

Nighteyes reasons for doing this is rather clear, as he’s helpfull enough to spell it out for izuku. he intends to show izuku firsthand, that mirio is the one who should have all for one instead, as he is far more “worthy” of it than izuku.

if you think all of this sounds incredibly hypocritical, and against everything all might stood for, you would be correct.

nighteyes goal, is to demean izuku, to the point where he will accept that mirio is the true successor of all might and decides to give his powers to him instead. instead of trying to help izuku into growing into the next symbol of peace the way he has trained mirio, what nighteye instead does is to try and beat izuku down by showing him the “ideal”.

and by doing so, he is betraying the very ideals he believes in so much, rather than doing what a hero should, and helping someone in need, he instead is incredibly selfish. he is also hypcritical in his reasoning that izuku is completely unfitt to become all mights successor, when one year ago, his own choice did not seem any more destinied for greatness.

you might think this is a critisism of nighteye, and it is, but its not a critisism of the writing in these early chapters, cause in just a few chapters, nighteye is set up incredibly well, we are shown the dynamic he has with izuku, and its hints at future development between these two, and in hindsight, knowing that nighteye is going to die, one would assume that part of what he would talk about at his deathbed would be his regret of the way he treated izuku, of the way his drive towards fullfilling the ideals all might stood for, instead lead him to forget why he believed in those ideal in the first place.

essentially, this entire arc has done a great job setting up that while izuku might learn a lot during his internship, he is also clearly going to suffer with the fact that yet again he is going to be saddled with a teacher who has way too much of his own baggage to teach him as effectively as he could. 

there is so much you could do with this kind of relationship, a lot of scenes where izuku is forced to grow, scenes where he pushes back and stands up for what he believes, show that nighteye is way to obsessed with his idea of creating a new symbol of peace. scenes where the two of them nerd out about all might, have mirio be confronted with the idea that he’s set up to be the new all might. a lot of interesting stuff.

you would think any of these would be explored in this arc which the manga calls the “internship arc”.

instead, as ill cover shortly, this arc is effectivly going to end in a few chapters.

----

so, after izuku gets accepted into nighteyes firm, he and mirio goes on their first patrol.

then they bump into a young girl called eri, who is followed by her seeming “father” the yakuza boss overhaul. eri is covered in bandages, and is very clearly terrified of him. they talk with overhaul as he very blatantly asks who they work under, 

all in all, the situation is suspicious as fuck, something bad is very clearly going on with this young girl, and hell, overhaul flat out tells izuku that he’s a persistent guy when he pushes him about it. then eri ends up breaking free from izuku’s protecting embrace at the first sign that overhaul is about to attack them. 

mirio tells izuku not to chase after them, they go meet up with nighteye, who harshly scolds izuku when he talks about how he feels he should have grabbed her and made a run for it(a scolding by the way, which nighteye is forced to take back, and admitt that izuku was completely in the right).

and just like that, izukus intership is over. No, im not joking, this is where izuku’s intership effectivly ends. seriously.

sure he has a few more moments before we go into the big rescue mission, but as far as his intership under nighteye is concerned, its over. its done. we spent a decent amount of chapters doing a great job of setting up an internship arc, which in the end, amounted to absolutely nothing, as izuku didnt do ANYTHING under his time with nighteye, except walk through the city on patrol one time, bump into a girl, meet a yakuza boss and then be scolded for wanting to help someone.

that is literarily all he does under nighteyes internship.

all of that great buildup was for this. and let me tell you, it was not worth it.

all the interesting and complex buildup we got for nighteye, his relationship with all might, his very hostile relationship with izuku, the very bad foundation with his relationship with mirio. all of it was completely pointless.

but, amazingly enough, the fact that all that buildup was for absolutely nothing, is not the worst part of it. hell, nighteye, isnt even the most wasted charcter here, no that honor goes to young eri.

cause after meeting her one time, where she doesnt do anything, show any unique personality, this entire arc will shift from being about izukus time as an intern, into a rescue mission to save this girl from overhaul.

and im now going to go into every single reason it does not work, what could have been done instead to make it work, and also cover how eri was the most wasted character in ALL of MHA.

----

The entire rescue mission that this arc will now turn into will be completely dependant upon the character of Eri. and i dont think Kohei could have screwed this point up more if he intentionally tried.

We learn NOTHING about eri during these two chapter. we dont know her personality, we dont know her backstory, we have no reason to care about her at this point, other than the fact that she’s a young helpless girl. ok, i might not want anything bad to happen to her, but there is a far difference between, “i dont want anything bad to happen to this character” and “i care enough about this girl to justify an entire arc will be dedicated to saving her”.

izuku and mirio have no real connection to her either, they dont know her, they have no connection to eri as a person. yet upon learning what her role is in overhauls plans, both of them will essentially drop everything, and focus their enitre beings this save this young child.

and it feels CHEAP, so cheap.

rather than building eri up, and make an actual connection between her and izuku, kohei instead calls upon the most basic storytelling methods ever to make us care about this girl. she is a young, helpless, adorable girl, who is horribly abused and experimented on, and she needs the heroes to help her.

that is the cheapest, laziest way you could possibly set Eri up as a character.

which sucks, so badly, cause the fact of the matter is, that knowing everything we now know about eri, her relationship with izuku could have been not only one of the most heartwarming parts of this arc, but of the whole manga.

on paper, this is essentially the next logical step from izukus storyline with kouta back during the training lodge.

That storyline worked great, but there was a lot of stuff you could not do with kouta, becaus while he and izuku did develop a bond, kouta was nothing like izuku himself. their situations were completely different, their personalites were different, their respective trauma’s were different.

That however, is one point where Eri differs drasticly from kouta, in that she has a lot of similarities with izuku. like izuku, she is a shy but very kindhearted person, like izuku she was broken down by a long period of abuse which made her a person with absolutely not faith in herself and with a lot of self hatred.

Eri should have been the next step after kouta, a character who izuku could actually connect with on a personal level, who he would be able to help by relating to her, and show her the kindness he himself was denied at her age. izuku could have helped her overcome her hatred of herself, her own powers, and the end of this arc could have been amazing, with izuku saying that eri’s power was a kind quirk, when she had been beaten down her entire life by being told what a moster her powers made her.

and yes, i know that this is kinda what kohei was going for at the end, but withouth a setup early, this does not work. Izuku praising eri’s quirk at the end and bringing her to tears from being shown kindness, is a climax withouth any setup, which is the rescue arc in a nutshell.

and the most danmning thing of all, is that the setup the rescue mission part of the arc didnt need some massive rewriting of its very being to work.

all it needed, was for izuku and mirio to instead of letting overhaul take her, instead they take her back to nighteyes office, and she stays there for a while(to put into comparison, the whole relationship izuku had with kouta was introduced, developed, and reached its climax over the course of 2-3 days) and we learn about her as a character. have her make some connection with mirio and izuku, have izuku bond with her, and actually set up a mystery of why overhaul wants her so badly.

then after that is set up, THEN have overhaul attack nighteyes office and kidnapp eri. 

BOOM. You now have an actual connection between eri and the protagonists, the act of overhaul kidnapping her back to experiment on her, actually have built up the reveal of overhaul using her for experimentation well instead of just introducing it with no buildup, and most importantly of all, the entire second half of this arc would have been build upon a solid foundational bedrock, instead of sand.

Cause the fact of the matter is this. even if the entire rescue mission part of this arc had been amazing(and lets be clear, its NOT), it would still have been built upon a weak setup, which would have been a stone around its neck.

and that what kills me about the way eri is set up as a character. all it would have taken, was 5 extra chapter’s of interaction between these two tops, and i would have loved this girl from the start.

and so far, i havent even gotten into ALL the problems with eri’s powers. i will cover that later, when i get into her later interaction with mirio during the actual rescue arc.

----

next time, we’ll see a small glimpse of what this arc should have been with kirishima and fatgum, as the intership spotlight that should have been used for the main character is instead given to red riot.

then the actual rescue mission begins, and this arc falls completely in over itself, as the main villains motivation cant seem to be consistent, his entire group(with only one exception) proves to be among the most boring villain groups possible, and the entire plan the villain tries to make, makes no sense whatsover.

[choisgirls]

so, requests are kind of open? sweet. if you do male mc requests, could i get a request for the rfa realizing that they've fallen for another man? i've tried asking other blogs and nobody has done it and i just kinda want validation right now lmao thanks xx

A/N: I usually try tomake the MC gender neutral but sometimes it’s difficult (such as when therequest specifically has to do with a female!MC) so I’m sorry if that’s everbothered you! ;A; I’ll try my best for you! ^^ ~Admin 404

*YOOSUNG:

               -He’s always talked aboutgetting a girlfriend in the chatroom

               -Girlfriend this, girlfriendthat, girl girl girl

               -He didn’t even stop to think,‘hey, maybe it doesn’t have to be a girl’

               -And that frustrated you.

               -Sure, you’re obviouslyunderstanding and accepting of other’s sexual orientations

               -But you’re just saltybecause he doesn’t even notice?? That you’re like??? Completely in love withhim??

               -You drop hints all the time buthe just thinks you’re being friendly?

               -Like, ‘Oh, haha, MC you’re mynewfound best friend!’

               -Stop doing that to me Yoosung, if you don’t return my feelings at leastacknowledge them

               -You spend day after day playingvideo games with him, just wanting to spend time with him

               -Until one day you decided totake the night off, and he had to play alone

               -He immediately realized thatthe game just wasn’t the same unless you were playing along with him

               -Not even his other in-gamefriends could make it fun for him- he was at a complete loss

               -He tried to get a hold of youmost of the night but you wouldn’t answer the phone

               -There was this weird feeling inhis chest every time he would call and get your voicemail, he couldn’t explainit

               -Maybe it was just because hewas concerned for your well being? No, that wasn’t it. It wasn’t a fearful kindof feeling..

               -When you finally picked up thephone and he heard your voice, that’s when it hit him

               -This feeling was him missingyou. He wanted to talk to no one else but you. He’s literally ignored everygirl that’s talked to him since the day he met you. He would get a sinkingfeeling in his stomach if he heard you calling any other man cute and couldn’texplain it

               -With his knowledge (gainedsolely from dating sims and movies) he came to the realization that wow he didn’t care about getting agirlfriend. He cared about you.

               -“Yoosung? Hellooooo? Areyou okay? You’ve called me like 27 times. Is everything alri-”

               -“I love you, MC”

*ZEN:

               -Ah, yes, Mr. Steal Yo Girl™

               -You could say you fell for his naturalcharm from the beginning

               -Or… you could tell the truththat you practically just jumped off a fucking cliff into your love for him

               -He was just! So! Beautiful!Inside and out!

               -But why?? Was his fanbasemainly made of women??

               -There were some fanboysscattered about but you were still feeling a little under-represented

               -So you decided that you had tolet him know how much of a fan you are! (Not to mention how much youpractically just wanna jump his bones because you love him so much)

               -Always bringing him flowers,making and making him homemade lunches/dinners

               -Not to mention the two of youalways hang out whenever you can! Movies, going for a ride on his motorbike,anything you can do together, you do

               -“It’s almost like we’redating, haha!” yes Zen, that is thep o i n t

               -He started to see that ahandful of his fans began shipping the two of you and editing the selfies hehad posted to add hearts and things

               -He giggled every single timeand he would send you the pictures because he thought they were adorable!

               -Sometimes when the two of youwent out, some girls would run up and ask to take pictures- he was always readybut when they handed him the camera he was so lost??? Like they only wanted apicture with you because you’re totally cute

               -He would pout s o h a r d everytime it happened, he would practically cling to you for hours afterwards

               -One day he was waiting for youwhen he was just scrolling through one of his fan websites, when he saw apicture of you with a girl- She was fangirling and saying all these cute thingsabout you

               -He could feel his blood startto boil and he couldn’t explain why? He wasn’t jealous that you were beingpraised by his fans instead of him- hell he praises you all the time..

               -That was it! He praises you allthe time! He talks about you like his fans talk about him! How the hellcouldn’t he see it before? He always looked forward to seeing your smile, orfelt his heart flutter when you would wrap your arms around him while the twoof you went for late night rides

               -So he was a womanizer in thepast, that didn’t matter now, did it? It was completely possible for him tofall for a man- especially a man like you. You always support his decisions andpassion, it was practically impossible for him not to fall for you

               -He watched as you walkedtowards him, throwing him that bright smile that he melted his heart; he can’tbelieve he couldn’t see before.

               -“Heya Zen! Where are weoff to today?” You tilted your head slightly to the side in confusion whenhe grabbed your hand, bringing it to his lips to place a small kiss on it

               -He watched you as a blushcrawled up your face, waiting a moment before pulling his lips away

               -“Well, my prince, I’vedecided, quite recently in fact, that it’s high time we have our first actualdate, are you ready?”

*JAEHEE:

I’m not going to doJaehee since she was canonically into men (until female!mc came along and theChristmas DLC and all;;;) and Idk, I just feel it doesn’t fit this prompt? I’msoRRY

*JUMIN:

               -He isn’t the type to showemotions in the first place

               -But you start to notice thathe’s more chatty towards you over time?

               -Not like you’re complaining, ofcourse.

               -A chance to potentially getcloser to Jumin Han? Don’t mind if I do

               -After quite a while of talking(he would even call you at night to talk to you before bed!) he took it uponhimself to invite you over for a drink or two

               -He never thought anything aboutthe relationship the two of you shared, though

               -Figured it was similar to therelationship he and V shared

               -Though he did note that hetended to be a little more open to you than he has with V

               -He deemed your personality tobe a little more open and less secretive than V’s and he left it at that

               -It was really hard for him tonotice any sort of difference in his feelings for your because he was so set inhis ways

               -Always distant with women, sohe never notice himself completely shutting down the idea of having a wife or agirlfriend

               -He did notice, however, that hefound a scowl on his face quite often when a woman is draping herself over you,touching you absolutely anywhere

               -It gets him so worked up, inmultiple different ways

               -First, he can’t figure out whyhe gets so angry- his thoughts have gotten somewhat harsh at times, where hewants to push the woman away, or tear her hands off of you… but he’d neveract on those thoughts

               -Second, he can’t wrap his headaround why he… recreates the scene in his own mind, but puts himself in yourplace and you in the woman’s. Was it just a random thought? Did it meananything?

               -One night, after a long anddeep conversation about how the human mind works and a little too much wine forthe both of you, he looked deep into your eyes and completely got lost in them.He couldn’t hear you talking at all, but he could see the different levels ofpassion and emotions in them and he was fascinated

               -He thought aloud about thethings he’d been experiencing, the thoughts about you, and how he wondered whatit all meant- causing you to stop in your tracks

               -“I can see ever littlechange of emotion in your eyes, but there’s one I haven’t been able to figureout. Come here,” he said, lightly grabbing the side of your face andcoaxing you into leaning towards his face before he placed a quick peck to yourlips, watching your eyes change the whole time

               -“Ah, I see. That must belove… that must be what I look like as well- interesting.”

*SAEYOUNG:

               -Falling for a male wasn’tanything new for our dear love, Saeyoung

               -Expressing those feelings iswhat was difficult for him

               -He didn’t even realize at firstthat he may have had feelings for you

               -Treated you no different thanhe treats Yoosung-

               -Always joking around, always playingpranks

               -Every now and then he catcheshimself opening up and telling you personal things like his emotions or partsof his past and it t h r o w s h i m o f f

               -He used to try and catchhimself but after a while it came so naturally that he didn’t even notice it? Butyou sure did

               -Instead of kind of secludinghimself to his house, he would go out to shops and restaurants with you all thetime!

               -His favourite thing to do waslet you pick out one of his babies and he’d take you out for a drive. A lot ofthe time the two of you would be gone for hours and honestly everyone else inthe group thought the two of you had snuck off to do the frick frack

               -He finds himself always leaningin towards your face when the two of you are talking

               -When he gets really excited, hegrabs your hand and takes you towards the source of his happiness, oftenforgetting to let go of your hand- so the two of you walk around with eachother’s hands

               -Even buys the two of you a tonof adorable matching things, like sunglasses and shirts

               - matching heelies

               -One day, everyone was hangingout and simply just having a nice lunch, when Saeyoung straight stole the biteof food you were about to put in your mouth

               -“Saeyoung! I was about toeat that, you jerk!”

               -“I’m sorry! Here, I’ll letyou taste it,” with that, he leaned over and kissed you softly, literallyeveryone’s eyes were on the two of you

               -It was only after he backedaway and noticed the stares did he realize what he did

               -“I-I swear! It feltnatural, like the right thing to do at the time! MC I didn’t even think, I’msorry, I-”

               -You had to cut the idiot offwith another kiss or he’d keep rambling and rambling on. Everyone in the groupwas so happy for the two of you! Saeran couldn’t stop saying 'finally’ underhis breath for the rest of the day

*V:

               - honestly i think he’d bethe chillest of them all

               -He’s just a huge advocate fortrue love, okay?

               -If he loves a woman, then so beit. If he loves a man, again, so be it.

               -He’s a very relaxed andtrusting person so getting close to you was natural

               -Would constantly call you lateat night when he couldn’t sleep just so the two of you could talk about theworld, your fears, and what you guys wish you could do over

               -You were always the firstperson to every gallery of his, and always the last to leave

               -He would spend hours at a timetalking to you about every picture he’s taken- pointing out key elements andexpressing to you how each detail makes him feel

               -After a while, he decided youwould be a great person to go on photography trips with, because you had a keeneye, and immense passion!

               -So, the next trip abroad, hebrought you along!

               -Loved seeing how excited youwere to see the sights! Every time you saw something you thought was beautifulor amazing, your eyes would shine and your entire face would light up

               -As he sat in his hotel room,waiting for you to join him before leaving for the airport at the end of thetrip, he took it upon himself to look through his camera

               -But he quickly realized that itwas almost all pictures of you

               -Your smile, how you tilted yourhead in confusion at things, even one where you looked like a chipmunk becauseyou stuffed a ton of food into your mouth at once

               -He knew exactly what he feltwhen he saw these pictures of you, he felt it before with Rika- only this timeit felt natural, pure, and right

               -You knocked on the door andwaited for him to answer. “V? Are you ready to go? It would be terrible ifwe missed our flight!”

               -The door opened and you noticedhis camera in his hand, he ushered you into his room.

               -“Yes, I’m just about ready.I just have to get one more picture before we go.”

               -You tilted your head slightlyand watched as a smile spread across his face. “A picture of what? Ithought you’ve already gotten great pictures of the view from your roo-”

               -You were cut off by him placinghis lips softly against yours, your eyes fluttered shut and the loud click ofthe camera capturing the moment was the only thing that could be heard overyour pounding heart

*SAERAN:

               -It would take him the longesttime to realize he had any sort of emotional attachment to you

               -He actually talked to yourather than, say, Saeyoung

               -When you would come over tovisit, he would sit with you on the couch in silence until Saeyoung come out,then he’d get mad and leave

               -Would scoot closer to you eachtime, hoping you wouldn’t notice.

               -Couldn’t help it?? There wassomething about you that felt… comforting- something he hasn’t felt in a verylong time

               -One day, he came and sat rightnext to you, letting you watch as he played a game on his handheld

               -At first, he would ignore youand make faces when you told him to do something, but after a while he realizedyou were right and would do as you said

               -Now, every time he got stuck ina game, he would show up at your door and just shove the system into your hand

               -He’d watch you play over yourshoulder, getting close to you and not even realizing it

               -Once, he hugged you from behindand rested his chin on your shoulder because it took such a long time for youto beat the level he was stuck on. You didn’t say anything about it thoughbecause you didn’t want him to stop

               -YOU NOTICED THAT HE LIKED YOUBEFORE HE EVEN NOTICED AND LEMME TELL YOU HOW

               -He offered you half of his icecream. Half of it. Not even a spoonful. Half.

               -You took a direct hit to theheart, and from then on you had to remind yourself to tread lightly because youknew he was still new with these kind of feelings

               -Every time he would quietlygrab your hand to show you something you had to fight a blush, and fight evenharder when he didn’t remember to let go

               -He brought his game to you onceagain and when you handed it back, he kissed the side of your head softly andthrew a, “Thanks, love you” over his shoulder when he left the room-you were left sitting there completely red in the face

               -Suddenly, you heard runningback towards the room you were in, followed by a hand gripping the doorwaytightly to stop himself from sliding

               -He looked at you with wide eyesand a crimson red face- he practically looked like a deer in the headlights

               -His mouth kept opening andclosing as he tried to find words to say, and you just stared at him

               -Finally he threw his hands upand started to walk back down the hall

               -“Fuck it,” he calledout, “You heard what I said. I’m not taking it back”

Masterlist

[svtbiasrekt]

Movie Date & Babies

Pairing: Jeonghan x reader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1498

Like any other high schooler, you were extremely busy. Do you regret taking honors and AP courses at the same time? Well maybe but that’s not the point. One weekend in the winter you and your boyfriend Jeonghan were both actually free for once. You were thankful for that once in a blue moon-type of weekend with minimal homework, but neither of you had an income so nothing extravagant was expected. A simple movie night at your place seemed perfect. Besides, you actually had a home theater, so it was almost like a real movie date in a movie theater!

While brushing through your (h/c) locks once more, you heard the doorbell ring. The excited voice of your mother greeting Jeonghan indicated it was time for you to head downstairs. Dashing down the stairs, your eyes met Jeonghan’s as he smiled at you.

“Jeonghannie!” you called as you ran towards him and embraced him.

“(Your nickname)!” replied Jeonghan as he returned the embrace.

The both of you kind of forgot your mother was still there watching the two of you until she spoke up. More like fangirled.

“Aww, you two kids remind me of how my husband and I met! We were about your age and-” said your mother before she was interrupted by you.

“Mom stahp! You’re embarrassing Jeonghan!” you whined.

“More like she’s embarrassing you (Y/N),” snickered Jeonghan, “You’re the one blushing after all.”

“He’s right (Y/N)!” laughed your mother as you playfully groaned, “Anyways, you two enjoy your movie, but don’t do anything stupid. (Brother’s name) and I will be downstairs.”

“Oh yeah, I haven’t met your brother yet (Y/N),” mentioned Jeonghan. Your brother, (Brother’s name), hasn’t really met your boyfriend or your friends for that matter. Probably due to the fact that (Brother’s name) is a one year old.

“Last time I saw him, he was sleeping but we can go check,” you say as you lead him to (Brother’s name)’s nursery.

You and Jeonghan both peered into the crib to find (Brother’s name) fast asleep. Being (Brother’s name)’s older sister, you already knew that he would typically awaken in an hour or so.

“Aww, so cute,” whispered Jeonghan while staring in awe at the baby.

“I know! He’s cute mainly because I looked just like him when I was that age,” you whispered with a silent chuckle.

“Yeah but Chan is probably the cutest baby of them all,” laughed Jeonghan silently as the two of you exited the nursery. Everyone knew that Jeonghan loved to tease that freshman Chan. The whole school caught on with the baby joke, but it was always Jeonghan cracking the iconic “Who’s baby are you?” followed with Chan miserably uttering “Jeonghan-hyung’s baby”. Chan hated it so much and as soon as he found out you were dating Jeonghan he asked you to somehow get Jeonghan to stop saying it, but you still haven’t figured out how, and even if you will help him. Eventually Jeonghan will stop, who knows.

Jeonghan and you walked upstairs to the home theater and hopped into the recliner chairs. As soon as Jeonghan was in his chair, he immediately held down the button to make the chair recline back as he lazed away. You laughed a little before asking which movie he wanted to see.

“I don’t care, you pick it out. But it has to be a disney movie,” he replied.

“Okay then, how about… Beauty and the Beast!” you said as you brought out the disk.

“Sounds good!” he said as he waited for you to sit down.

The movie finished loading and soon started. Even though the two of you had seen this movie before, it never got old. The Beauty and the Beast was a classic in both of your books.

The scene where Belle was in the library singing about reading or something came on and almost immediately Jeonghan commented “Wonwoo”, his bookish friend. You couldn’t help but laugh. Jeonghan was such a tease but everyone knew this is how he shows his love. He teases you all the time but you always tease him back. That’s kind of what your relationship was built off of: back and forth playful teasing until he “jokingly” asked you out but you heard from Chan he was being serious, but Jeonghan always denies it yet still is happily dating you.

About an hour into the movie, you heard your mother call your name from downstairs.

“Be right back,” you told Jeonghan as you got up.

“Need me to pause it?” asked Jeonghan.

“Nah it’s good!” you say rushing out of the theater.

You meet your mother in the living room holding (Brother’s name). She looked a little worried.

“Mom what’s wrong?” you asked.

“I got a call and there’s an emergency meeting. I really didn’t want to interupt you and Jeonghan’s date but could you please watch (Brother’s name)?” she asked.

“Of course Mom,” you said as she handed him to you followed by a thank you and a goodbye.

You sighed holding your brother and looking at his innocent face that resembled yours. “Well buddy, you just interrupted my date! Such a typical little brother,” you laughed as you headed upstairs with him in your arms. You walked into the theater and saw Jeonghan look up at you and smile at the sight of (Brother’s name).

“Hi baby! Er- babies?” laughed Jeonghan at his own confusion. You only rolled your eyes at his idioticness then explained what had just happened. And he was totally cool with it. Then he began to play with your brother. It was so adorable seeing him be all cute and cuddly with the baby that the both of you forgot about the movie.

“Jeonghan, want to hold him?” you asked extending your arms out whilst holding your chill baby brother.

“YES! I mean, sure!” said Jeonghan a little too excitedly. You only laughed at his enthusiasm and handed over (Brother’s name) to him.

Jeonghan and (Brother’s name) had somewhat of a stare-off, and it was adorable. So you took out your phone to capture the cute moment. Jeonghan suddenly broke the silence between them.

“(Brother’s name), who’s baby are you?”

Cue the laughter from you. This was hilarious and you managed to record it! How lucky! And another surprise, the usually deadpan baby cracked a smile and even cute baby giggles! The best part? You captured Jeonghan melting at your baby brother’s cuteness.

“(Y/N)! He laughed! I think he means that he is my baby!” fanboyed Jeonghan while hugging the giggling baby a little closer.

“I think so too!” you agreed, still filming.

“I’m going to make sure (Brother’s name) is my baby forever, even by the time we’re married!” smiled Jeonghan.

“Oh my god Jeonghan stahhpp!” you laughed getting all blushy.

“Oh (Y/N), I know you want a future with me in it! Besides after we’re married we should give this current baby friends, aka more babies,” he finished with a wink.

“YOON JEONGHAN!” you screamed burying your red face in his shoulder.

“Love you too (Y/N)!” he said smiling and taking the phone from your hands and stopped recording.

Later that day:

After the whole movie date, you kissed Jeonghan goodbye and took the time to text Chan the footage you caught in hopes it will help him.

Chan: THANK GOD HE HAS ANOTHER BABY RIGHT NOW

(Y/N): He completely forgot about you!

Chan: I know right! But please (Y/N), follow his advice near the end of the video about the part where you two get married and have your own babies because I am not going to be his baby until I’m 30

(Y/N): CHAN STAHP YOU’RE EMBARRASSING ME

Six years later:

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” finished the officiator as you and Jeonghan shared a sweet kiss.

“I told you we’d get married,” whispered Jeonghan as you pulled away.

“I swear to god,” you mumbled but your smile persisted.

A few months later:

You held the fourth pregnancy test you’ve taken today. Like the other three, this was positive. You had to break the news to your husband Jeonghan.

“Jeonghan, come here,” you said trying to conceal your excitement.

“(Your nickname)? What is it- OH MY GOD!” he screamed as soon as his eyes landed on all of the pregnancy tests.

“I’m pregnant!” you squealed.

“OH MY GOD THIS IS GREAT IM GONNA HAVE MY OWN BABY!” screamed Jeonghan.

“Finally!” you yelled excitedly.

“HA (Y/N) I WAS RIGHT!” he suddenly yelled.

“About?”

“About us getting married and having our own babies!”

“Wha- OH MY GOD I SWEAR TO GOD YOON JEONGHAN ENOUGH WITH THAT I WAS WRONG AND YOU’RE RIGHT!” you admitted defeat as you laughed with pure joy.

“I love you (Y/N)! No matter how wrong you are!” said Jeonghan hugging you.

“I love you too Jeonghan, despite how right you may be,” you said playfully rolling your eyes and hugging him back.

Ok this was my attempt at fluff I hope it’s not too cringy and I hope you liked it! The beginning part (the movie date and bringing in the baby bro) was actually inspired by a dream except the guy was someone else so I replaced him with Jeonghan for the sake of the story obviously lol. Buy yeah I hoped yall enjoyed :)