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sailingintothenight · 11 days ago

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“Starlight.” Bob Reynolds Imagine.

Summary: Following John Walker's advice, Bob decides to confess his feelings for you… to you.

A/N: Hi. First of all, thanks for the love on my first Bob imagine "A safe heaven". Secondly, I'm still getting to know Taylor Swift's music so I can't really call myself a fan, but like Jake Peralta said: she makes me feel things. She makes all of us feel things, Jake! So I quoted one of her songs here :) My first language is Spanish and I'm still learning English, so please excuse me if there are any grammatical errors. That's all. Thank you! And I think I messed up saying you were an Avenger, but the timeline is a confusing so let's pretend it's okay, please?

Warning: Bob being a cutie, the usual hehe

“Is (Y/N) back yet, Lena?”

“You mean (Y/N) and Bucky?”

“Yeah, right. Them.”

“No. Not yet—”

"Oh..."

Bob slumps down onto the couch, pulling his disappointed look away from Yelena and her emotion detector.

“I just know they’re about to. In 10 minutes, I think.”

But it was the talented Taylor Swift that once said: you’ve got a smile that can light up this whole town, and now, Bob’s smile behind the milkshake he holds with two hands (not a big one, just adorable and shy), fighting his own nerves, could light up the whole world. Through moments, pieces of happiness that he has been collecting with you, Bob had begun to regain his own light, little by little, with them making his eyes bright again, like tiny twinkling stars after his life had been darker than an undiscovered galaxy—still and silent, without a light source, nonexistent until someone notices its presence.

And that's what you'd done from the beginning: seeing his warm personality.

Always warm like the edge of his heart, even in the midst of his storms, with you managing to look directly into the core of his overwhelming fears, the most hidden and the most obvious ones. And without meaning to, without seeking it, Bob had found himself leaning toward you, finding refuge in your inexhaustible source of love when he felt a little down, a love that you always showered upon him in many ways, with a word of empathy or a physical display of affection, or the loving way you pushed a lock of his hair aside, even though it always fell back into place, making you laugh.

But when everything was alright, life was even better between back–and–forth conversations or the deepest ones, like the days and nights you two spent together to decipher if ghosts were real or solving the unsolved mysteries that lingered, and there, Bob could see the way even your eyes smiled every time your lips curved upward. You smiled and laughed a lot with him, and with the group, Bob paid full attention to your expression more than to other's, learning to differentiate your sound from the rest in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, Bob, your little girlfriend is coming back soon. You must be excited."

John's voice is flat, his back on the couch, directing his attention to the TV, but so full of mockery that Bob can feel it in the way his cheeks and the tips of his ears burn.

"(Y/N) is not my girlfriend."

"But you want her to be. I can see you dying to hold her, to hug her, and to kiss her. I bet you dream about it every day."

Yelena gives a long sigh, sinking deeper into the comfort of the other long couch, but her bored expression is just as threatening as when her eyes flared at any sign of danger.

"Why do you always have to be such a jerk, Walker?"

"I'm just being supportive!" John looks slightly surprised, as if his support system actually comes with sarcasm inevitably, lowering the arms he used to emphasize his protest. "I'll give you some advice, Bob—"

"I didn't ask for your advice."

“I’ll give it to you anyway. Tell (Y/N) how you feel, that you care a little too much for her or that you’re in love, I don’t know, but do it today, don’t wait for tomorrow because tomorrow is a bitch sometimes and who knows? Maybe we could get attacked by some alien and die.”

“That sounds fun, actually.”

Bob frowns, confused and slightly terrified, looking for some trace of sarcasm in Yelena’s deadpan voice, but when the elevator dings with an annoying chime announcing your arrival, and Bucky’s, his head turns in your direction, meeting your gaze as you smile back when he does it first, feeling his own joy of seeing you beating within him.

Bob wondered sometimes if stars also existed in the eyes, not only in the night sky.

“It’s great to have you back, guys.” John sits down, fighting his own smirk. “We’re very happy to see you, aren’t we, Bob?”

Making his existence smaller, Bob nods, his body shrinking a little, but as Bucky recounts the events of the successful mission that lasted less than the expected number of days, you take your backpack from him and head towards your room. Yet it's your gaze that catches the way Walker continues to drag his mocking eyes between Bob and you, a second before looking away.

Messy minds tended to be the noisiest, you knew this well as you found a way to coexist peacefully with outside noises, building a wall around yourself so you wouldn't hear them even in your sleep, but as you disappear down the hallway, Walker leans forward, his brow furrowing at the pain that begins to throb in the front of his head, like a hammer hitting a nail.

"Another headache, Walker?" Yelena asks.

"Yeah, maybe I should see a doctor."

Yelena maintains a flat expression, though it amuses her to tears the way he hadn't realized that it was you who caused them, but she remains determined not to give herself away even when her gaze meets Bucky's, (who wants to laugh too) while she coughs softly to hide Bob's chuckle as he stands up.

"Maybe you should just stop being such a jerk."

"What, Bob?"

"Nothing."

But Walker had a point, Bob thinks sadly, all the time it takes him to make a milkshake for you. Between the sips of coffee that left a bitter taste on the tip of your tongue when you finished it, he knew you also enjoyed something just sweet, a drink that was like a remnant of a past life, a memory of your childhood, a whole journey that made you smile.

Bob didn't seek you out, and before you, he was just existing with empty hands and a mind full of dark thoughts, until things took a turn, and then his hand was always full with yours holding it, and a mind occupied as Bob began to replace the unwanted memories with something better, stopping living on autopilot, answering that question of whether things would ever get better.

Now, Bob turns the corner and enters the long corridor of rooms, and his sharp hearing registers the song playing in the distance, which grows slightly louder as he approaches the half–open door, a second voice providing the backing vocals, your voice, coming to him like a soft breeze. And he doesn't mean to spy, but shy as he usually is, Bob leans a little bit over the frame, his nervous hand still holding the glass to his chest.

You are there, your back to him, singing at the same level as the voice in your phone, walking around the room, fixing your already made bed or rearranging your desk. Your space after losing your place in your house, your new little home.

With a glass window on the other side and that lets in the golden autumn light, it reflects on your head, and Bob feels a warmth rise in his stomach and creep down his body, ending up on his cheeks (the ones that had managed to rest from Walker's teasing) with a violent thud that makes him swallow.

You're wearing loose jeans and an oversized light blue sweater with sunflowers woven into it in haphazard patterns, light blue as the sky when dawn is breaking and the darkness fades away, because nothing last forever, not even the absence of light—and with you looking like everything Bob never could dream of finding—a nervous, childlike smile, one of those full of innocence, like the warmth of first love, spreads across his face.

Not in a garish way; but you are colorful, just like your soul and your clothes and your words. Time seems suddenly frozen as he films everything about you in his gaze, as if a single second feels like a lifetime together, even though you've only been together a few months.

However, when you turn around, like a domino effect, his body jerks a second after yours, holding the glass slightly away so the tide inside doesn't splash him.

"Jesus, Bob, you scared me!" You laugh, nervous, and he's fast to apologize.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was here a second ago, I promise." He swallows the lump in his throat when your sharp gaze seems to pierce through him, but you are not upset, just mocking him silently. "I just came to bring you this.”

There are many things you'd learned to over–feel after your mind expanded, like the noise in other people's heads, like the slight vibration of Bob's hand when he gives you the milkshake, with you holding the glass with both hands.

“Thank you.” A gentle smile is drawn on your face. “This is so sweet of you, but you shouldn't have bothered, though, you know?”

He shakes his head.

“It's no bother.”

Bob pushes his hands into his pockets, almost rocking back and forth, lingering there for a moment as you take the first sip, and when you tell him it tastes great, he just smiles.

Bob is beautiful on the outside too, adorable with his casual style, (clothes he carefully selects just to sit on the couch with you, or go to the few places you frequent together) with his angelic face and his eyes looking at you as you two talk, sitting side by side on the floor while working together your new 1,000–piece puzzle, but not meeting your eyes for more than two, maybe three consecutive seconds.

With your attention on the ground, you feel the warmth of his body radiating like waves nearby, like the power of that fiery star that hangs between the warmest days. Life moves like a whisper beside him, soft after a storm, quiet like when calm comes after chaos, and you love that.

“Bob, do you know who Stitch is?”

He looks up from the piece in his hand and nods, those two unruly chocolate strands of hair bouncing with the movement, only to frame his face and that nervous look reflected in his warm blue eyes, but they can never hide the joy Bob feels when he sees the happiness in yours, and in that moment, there is an overflowing, almost childlike thrill in them. Like finding a sapphire among a pile of faded rocks, the light in your eyes always shone no matter the season, like the sparkling autumn that paints the city now—and Bob Reynolds loves autumn.

“Great. You're coming to the movies with me tomorrow.”

“L–like a date?”

Yet the sound of the silent autumn breeze blowing leaves floors below is even louder than his mental whisper, even though no one hears him in there. His heart beats under his own anxiety, but Bob smiles with that possibility.

"Are the others coming with us?"

But you feel it: the disappointment in his voice at a positive response.

“Well, no: Lena didn't have a real childhood, so she doesn't know about those kinds of movies. Walker is a walking insult machine. Ava would somehow make kids cry. And I'm pretty sure Bucky's older than that radioactive cheese living in the fridge that no one dares throw away, so he only watches classics.”

Bob chuckles, a small, nervous but colorful sound.

“That cheese scares me. Kinda looks at me funny.”

“Isn’t that right?! I feel like it could give us even worse powers than we already have.”

He nods, frowning, but maintaining an amused expression as he holds your gaze.

“Yeah. It’s been there for a suspicious amount of time. Maybe it’s a spy.”

You laugh in surprise.

“My God, your humor is as broken as mine. But when I asked Alexei if he wanted to come, I tried to explain that Stitch was an alien, and the poor man started hyperventilating. An alien?! We should prepare for invasion, yeah?” You do your best to imitate his accent, and the joy of Bob’s deep laugh is adorable, warm, even when it falters because of his constant nervousness. “It was my fault. Maybe I shouldn’t have started talking about an alien after the Chitauri tried to invade the city and then others kept coming.”

Bob swallows, considering whether his next words might cross the line, hurting you even though he'd never do it on purpose. He knew a bit about your history and your brief stint with the Avengers, about your lab–gained powers, but all that information was just scratching the surface of a life that so drastically changed the course of your path.

"Can I ask you a question?"

You can see Bob's gaze fixed on the puzzle out of the corner of your eye, but you nod anyway.

"Of course you can."

"Are you angry about what happened to you?”

Your gentle gaze rests on him, even though Bob does his best to focus his full attention on the pieces, but you know he’s trying with all his might to feel normal again, not to act it, fighting to return to what he was before the drugs and his depression, before his alter egos and his memory loss that kept him from living a full life when there were pieces hidden in the darkness that made him feel incomplete.

No one can live a full life if they always feel like something is missing, you had once told him.

And maybe his attempt to be who he was again made him beautiful too, so beautiful it hurts, even though Yelena's words still echo in your chest: he's in love with you. Because Bob looks like literature written by a feminine hand, sweet like the male protagonist of the most romantic book in the world, the dream of those who read and dream of finding someone like him, with him never realizing his own virtues, always oblivious to all that beauty in him, inside and out, which only made him even more beautiful.

You and he were still young, young adults whose years of your lives were snatched away by selfish people who only sought their own benefit—but being in love still scared you more, even when you were already completely immersed in that feeling.

“No. Not anymore. I spent so much time angry that it wore me down, but I think I found again that something that kept me going when all seemed lost.”

Bob blinks, confused, but he looks up and keeps his eyes fixed on your face until yours meet his again, so he doesn't miss a single bit of your answer.

“And what was it?”

“Love.”

You laugh at the way his face contorts in surprise, angelic eyes (even after having seen hell) a little wide open, blending with his radiant innocence as Bob tries to take in your entire expression, looking in search of a hint of lie.

“I mean love in general, Bob.” He calms down fast and listens closely. Four letters that seemed simple, but hid such a profound undertone, with new things that you were still discovering, a feeling that made you feel as if after the wild waves, the water on the shore once again felt a lullaby, soothing your life until they became nothing more than a delicate whisper on the sand. “I spent so much time hating myself that I forgot my parents and my older brother taught me to love myself properly, deeply. But then I felt again the love I had for people and things, the one I had before waking up on a gurney in that secret facility: my love for my family, for books, animals, for movies, for the few but good friends I had, and even for that boy with ocean–colored eyes I was getting to know in a sunny Los Angeles.”

Not everything was perfect, but Bob sees you feeling you’re the right path, and as he weighs your words, he knows they are like the first breath of fresh air after feeling scorching heat in your lungs, or like a light in the darkness.

"I was so close to you and didn't know it." He chuckles, with a hint of melancholy as Bob wonders what it would have been like to know you in another life, before the catastrophe, though now, he is happy he can feel a connection with you, as if he'd actually met you before. "I wish I could have met you back there."

"Yeah, me too. But everything I've been through has led me to this moment with you, so I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Your gaze returns to the puzzle when his gaze moves away from you for a moment, but coming back in the second to admire what you're letting him see—the profile of your face, the soft smile on your lips.

Bob confidently trusts that you're still the same despite past events, with the same laughter, the same desire to remain good, plus a power that spread through your mind. And everything still seems like a cozy autumn dream, with sensations so vivid that Bob can feel them on his skin, deep in his shy heart, wanting to live in it forever.

However, in a more selfish sense, like he never was, Bob wonders what it would feel like to be loved by you, in a romantic, deep, and real way like he's never experienced. Because now Bob understands that if your laughter and your smile and your happiness hid so much feeling, so much so that he could compare you to a romantic movie—the kind that has you in tears mid–act but has a happy ending, and when the credits roll, there's always a soulful ballad sung and a high note at the end that makes you tremble.

Surely your love for someone was just as beautiful.

Your hand rests on your leg, empty, and Bob wants to take it, hold it while you lead the way, because he knows that he would follow you wherever you went, and that in a crowd, he would find you. It's like an invisible light around you only he can see, like a thread tied to his pinky finger connected to yours.

“I’m in love with you.” His whisper threatens to fade into the void again, even when your nervous gaze catches his, but Bob knows he has to tell you his feelings now before he stops being brave and his words die a cruel death inside him. “You were the first person who told me I wasn’t invisible, that you wouldn’t leave me behind even when I told you I was a threat. And I really tried to stop thinking of you this way, but every time I close my eyes I can see you, and I can hear you, and that’s so much nicer…” Bob’s little smile is shy, him watching yours, which is somewhat saddened by the weight of his past, fragments he shared with you during your time together. “When I’m alone I want to see you, and when we are together I wish we could be together all day. I know I have nothing to offer you, and that sometimes I’m a little cloudy like Lena calls me, but you are confident, and you are smart, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same—”

“I do feel the same.” A small, shy chuckle past by between your lips, watching your fingers as you rub them against each other, followed by a sigh that seems to let go of a piece of your own past. “And that’s what scares me, but not enough to make me not want to be with you.”

Then, his hand envelops yours, calming you and your fear, steadying your whole world as your eyes return to his. Your vision of him is clearer, nervous but receptive, open to new sensations, and even with his own fears and insecurities, Bob leans forward, with you mirroring the gesture, the image of the other in yours and his closed eyelids, allowing yourself to be felt on each other's lips.

And the kiss is soft like his existence, bright in the dark, like the starlight that lingered in your gaze.

Your hand squeezes his gently as his lips move against yours, just a little bit, and after living numb for so long, feeling again feels so good.

Bob pulls away, just enough to rest his forehead against yours, eyes still closed.

"Walker told me to tell you how I felt... today." He chuckles, speaking softly so as not to clash with the new environment, which is even more welcoming than the last ten seconds. "Can't believe he was right."

You pull away a little, opening your eyes again as he does it, chuckling with him at John's expense, and you push back that curly strand of hair of his with your free hand, which moves back into place, but as Bob leans forward again, you two know that from now on, life would be even brighter.

#bob reynolds imagine #bob reynolds x you #bob thunderbolts #bob reynolds x y/n #bob reynolds x reader #bob reynolds thunderbolts

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moeitsu · 10 months ago

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Logan Howlett (Wolverine) Lore part 2 :)

Wow! You guys really appreciated my first post about Logan's backstory/lore and I'm grateful for all of your feedback!! Here's the link to part 1 if you're interested :)

I'm so happy to see all the love he's getting, its actually surreal to be a part of this fandom again and seeing all the new Wolverine content! The fanart and fanfics are literally my life-source rn. You don't even wanna know what my tiktok saved folder looks like....

You guys asked for more so here is part 2! It's not as organized as the first part, apologies. I'm using both the movies and comics here. Some stuff isn't confirmed but generally accepted in the mcu.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Wolverine first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #180. He was supposed to be a mutated human/animal but the idea was later scrapped.

He was approx. 197 years old when he died in the movie 'Logan'

There's multiple different deaths in the comics but I wont get into that.

Logan is 5'3"- 5'5" (short king)

He has black hair and blue eyes

Before the adamantium, he weighed 196lbs (88kg). After the binding he was 300lbs (136kg)

His body is poisoned by the adamantium metal as it breaks down over time. Requiring him to be in a constant state of regeneration, which begins to slow down as he ages.

Without the metal he probably could have lived a lot longer.

Logan has a fear of water, or rather, drowning. It’s one of the only times can’t regenerate. It would cause his death.

The Weapon X program is also responsible for this fear since he was submerged under water for a long period of time for the binding.

The metal in his body also makes him so heavy it would be very difficult for him to swim.

In the comics Logan temporarily loses his healing factor due to a virus created by Dr. Abraham Cornelius. (Weapon X scientist) This event leaves him vulnerable for the first time in his life, forcing him to confront the reality of his mortality.

His healing ability greatly affects his mental state. Logan can quickly recover from physical damage, but he still feels all the pain. His ability to cope and endure despite the overwhelming suffering is central to his character.

Logan has an acute sense of smell. He can track people and objects across a great distance. It’s so precise that he can identify people’s emotional states such as fear or anger. Even when someone is lying.

Logan was sensitive, shy, and timid as a child.

The first person he ever killed was his biological father.

After killing his father he ran away from home with his friend Rose. (a hired companion to help care for him when he was young). Unfortunately, Logan accidently killed her during a fight.

Logan speaks several languages, due to his extensive life and travels. He speaks English, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Cheyenne and Lakota.

He’s actually an incredibly smart guy, don’t let him fool you.

Despite his love for alcohol, Logan’s healing factor makes it nearly impossible for him to get drunk.

Logan brews his own beer in the Origins comics. (we love a domestic husband)

On Logan’s birthday every year, Sabretooth seeks him out just to beat him up as a twisted "gift." Sabretooth calls this tradition "birthday beatings."

Spider-Man and Wolverine have teamed up a few times in the comics and they are a hilarious pair.

Logan's "berserker rage" is not just a result of his animalistic mutant powers. But stems from his deep psychological trauma. This side of him only emerges when he is pushed into extreme emotional or physical stress.

At one point before he escaped the Weapon X experiment, he was hired to kill Charles Xavier.

Logan's wife Itsu and son Daken were allegedly killed by the Winter Soldier, however it was later revealed that his son actually lived and had been consumed by hatred for his father. Logan was forced to kill his own son before he could cause more harm.

This act is one of, if not the most painful moment in Logan’s life, as it represents his ultimate failure as a father.

Logan blames himself for Jean Grey’s death.

He lived a majority of his life without his memories. Having no idea who he actually is.

Despite his involvement with the X-Men and his many close relationships he often feels like an outsider. Like he doesn’t belong anywhere. He isolates himself because loneliness is a familiar feeling.

Logan prefers the solitude and sanctity of nature. He loves the outdoors and has a lot of respect for the natural world. Often retreating into the wild for his own peace.

In one comic he baby sits Luke Cage and Jessica Jones daughter. Danielle Cage.

He can be quite playful at times with the younger mutants. For example, building a snowman with Jubilee.

Logan dreams of a normal life. He dreams of having a family with a wife and children and leaving the violence behind.

#wolverine #hugh jackman #Logan howlett #james logan howlett #logan howlett x reader #deadpool and wolverine #logan howlett x you #x men comics

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pandora-writes-one-piece · 9 months ago

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The Meet Cute - Law's Story - 6

Source for pic

The Great Pretender 6 🔞

Word Count: 6110

Tags For The Whole Story: Fem!Reader; Law is a soft dom; you have bratty tendencies (not all the time); voice kink; praise kink; cursing; very suggestive behaviour and innuendo from the start; sexual tension; teasing; so much flirting; romance; slow-burn; fluff; slight angst; mature audiences (though explicit NSFW moments will be properly tagged on the chapter); possessive Law; protective Law; soft Law; teasing Law; manipulative Doflamingo; inappropriate Doflamingo; fake relationship trope; only one-bed trope; reader has some anxiety issues; reader is a control freak and perfectionist; modern day AU

Special Warning: English is not my first language, I apologise for any possible spelling or grammar mistakes.

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You and Law (your father's doctor) start to build a flirty friendship because of your father’s procedure. So much so that when he’s invited to Baby 5’s wedding (his cousin), he asks you to be his date. His uncle Doflamingo - who is filthy rich - is very adamant on finding a suitable wife for him. Seeing as he wants to avoid that, he asks you to pretend to be his girlfriend for the weekend.

Notes: Just a little heads up for the first scene 🔞 the rest is SFW! Also, doesn't it feel right for Doffy to slip in a few words of Spanish every now and then? I'm sure I've seen people do that in x reader fics (it's not new!) and maybe that's why it feels right...

Tag List: @rosidaze @beachaddict48 @armiliadawn @jintaka-hane @sprinkklz @baby5555 @hopelesslover06 @mars-mizuko @sleepykittycx @nerium-lil

Masterlist

-*- Start of 🔞 -*-

Law closes the door to the bathroom and locks it. Now that he's alone he lets himself lose a sliver of his control. He slumps against it softly and closes his eyes, ragged breaths leaving his parted lips.

He went too far.

He didn't mean to make you come, he just wanted to tease you. But your face, your whimpers, your heat… it was all too much for him to handle. He needed to feel you close, to have you wrapped around him and holding him like a vise. He gave in. He shouldn't have.

He kicks his sneakers away and unbuttons his jeans with a soft groan, finally freeing his bulging cock. He got rock hard as soon as he started to touch you. He can usually prolong the teasing as far as he wants without getting this turned on himself.

But your whimpers… the way you gave up and begged, your willingness to let him do what he wants to you. It's all too much and yet, he is well aware that it will never be enough. He got a taste and now he’s obsessed.

Turning the shower on cold and removing the rest of his clothes, he hisses as soon as the water hits his back. He needs to regain his control. He shouldn't have gone this far, he'll have to apologise to you.

But for now, not even the icy water can take away the sound of your mewls in his ears, the way your lips part willingly for him and the way your flesh moulds easily in his hands.

“Fuck!” He curses softly as he punches the wall of the shower in frustration. Closing his eyes, his hand finds his cock throbbing and he palms it. A gentle squeeze and then a rougher one. He imagines you on your knees, willingly opening your mouth for him, your small, warm hands grabbing his length and licking it from top to bottom, your sweet eyes holding his gaze.

“Yes, sweetheart, good girl.” He mumbles against his teeth as his hand bobs up and down. He won't need much stimulation. He'll unravel just as easily as you did earlier. The tension between both of you is so thick that it's crushing.

He groans and tenses, he's so close.

He wasn't lying about your love story. Maybe it's not love yet, but it's something he hasn't felt in a while. You're special, you make him happy.

His hips thrust forward, faster against his hand as he pumps himself in a maddening rhythm. He's now picturing you squirming beneath him, your lips chanting his name in abandon, your whole body clenching his. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

It's not just attraction and want.

He comes with a muffled grunt, his viscous seed spilling against his stomach, his hand and dripping down the drain of the shower. His breaths are uneven and the ice-cold water does nothing to break this heat.

It's not just attraction and want. It's so much more.

-*- End of 🔞 -*-

You sit on the armchair as soon as Law enters the bathroom. Your heart is still beating out of sync, you're still breathless and a haze fills your brain.

How did he make you come undone so easily? He didn’t even need to properly touch you. What kind of spell does he have on you?

As you get up, trying to shake away all the lingering feelings of his touch and lips on your body, you remember how he couldn’t even look into your eyes afterwards. You shouldn’t have let go so easily. Maybe he wanted you to last longer. You didn’t discuss orgasms in your boundaries, but, as you ruled out sex, you didn’t realise that it might happen with just teasing.

You can’t help but think that you’ve, somehow, crossed some kind of unspoken barrier. You’ll need to apologise to him.

And you both might need to make your boundaries clearer.

It’s not that you mind what happened. You don’t regret it and you wouldn’t mind at all if it happened again. But if he’s not comfortable with it, it needs to be spoken about.

Sighing heavily, you stare at your clothes, about to choose something to wear to dinner, but you don’t know what to wear. Is it formal? Casual? Are jeans too casual but a cocktail dress too formal?

You’re about to sit back down again, your tablet already open on your trusted spreadsheet to distract you, while you wait for Law to come out of the bathroom so he can tell you what clothes would be appropriate, when the door opens.

He has a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair wet and still dripping against his tattooed torso and you have to swallow hard before you start to drool. His eyes meet yours for a brief second and you can already tell how much collected he is since your earlier interaction.

“I didn’t grab any clothes before hitting the shower.” He says, to justify his state of undress.

“It’s alright, I was just wondering what I was supposed to wear. Is dinner formal? Casual?” Your voice is still altered and on edge, too high-pitched to be your normal tone and you’re sure he picks up on it.

A soft chuckle escapes his lips as he opens his bag to fish out some clothes. “Dinner in this household is always a formal event. Though you are fine with semi-formal clothes.” Immediately your eyes rake the closet for what dresses you packed. There are some that fit the description so you should be fine.

“I shouldn’t have gone too far. It wasn’t my intention.” Your head whips back at him. He’s scratching the back of his neck - still undressed - and has a conflicted expression on his face. Though he can hold your gaze now.

A nervous smile tugs at your lips as you turn and shake your head. “No, no, it’s okay. It was my fault I… I got too caught up in the moment and-...”

“You don’t have to apologise for feeling pleasure.” His voice drags and envelops you. There’s a sense of safety in his words, a lack of judgement for any and all of your actions. Suddenly it hits you:

As controlling as he tends to be in these intimate settings - domineering even - he makes you feel free. You can be yourself. You can be whatever you need to be and he’ll accept you with open arms. For who you are.

And that is very new, uncharted territory.

Because with Ichiji you were always trying to be someone you were not. Faking your happiness, your likes and dislikes, just faking!

With Law…

It’s simple. So, so simple.

And this realisation makes your breath hitch, leaving you speechless and winded. Even from where you’re standing, you can see the way Law’s jaw clenches and ticks as he takes in your reaction with calculated measures.

“I won’t do it again. We never have to go that far again, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.” Is that regret or sadness in his voice?

You shake your head with vigour. He’s got it all wrong. Yet you don’t trust yourself enough to open your mouth at this moment. Your throat is tight with tension. It has been some time since you have felt validated and actually heard. It’s silly, heck, it’s silly as hell, but the simplest things are the ones that trigger you the most.

Law approaches you tentatively, he can probably sense something is wrong but the all-too familiar crease wrinkling his brows tells you he thinks he’s the cause of this tension. And he is, but for all the right reasons.

“Do you want me to leave?” He asks, taking a step back even before fully reaching you.

“No.” You finally find your voice, though it’s still trembling and weak. “I’m not hurt, or ashamed, or angry, or anything like that!” You let your eyes meet his, a blush on your cheeks and a soft smile tugging at your lips. “It just hit me that I can be exactly who I am with you. And that’s okay. I don’t need to pretend anymore.” Then you chuckle, a snort following your outburst. “I mean, we are pretending, but between you and me… I… well, I can’t quite explain it, but it’s good. I’m feeling good! Because of you.”

The sigh that escapes his lips is soft and full of relief.

“I don’t need to understand completely. As long as I didn’t make you uncomfortable. As long as you’re happy.”

You nod with another smile and he returns to his hunt for clothes while maintaining a close eye on you.

“Law.” You whisper, not looking at him while you too select the clothes you’re going to wear before heading towards the bathroom. “You said you wouldn’t do it again but… I…” He’s silent. He’s going to make you say it.

Somehow you know he’ll always make you say what you want, express your desires and needs. He wants to hear you.

Wait, always? That’s too long…

“I won’t mind if you… do it again. Nothing’s changed. No boundaries were added. At least on my part.” You briefly look at him. He’s wearing a smug smirk on his lips, just a raised corner of his mouth as his amber gaze pierces you. “Do you-...”

“No boundaries added.” He interrupts you and you nod. Already that familiar heat is starting to pool in your belly again. All the possibilities are still open.

And you’re willing to take them with open arms.

-*-

The air between you has cleared and everything is back to normal. You're both showered and dressed and ready to go mingle with family and close friends. There's still a bit of time before you're expected downstairs so you're sitting on your knees in the middle of the bed, with the tablet open in front of you, your notebook on the side and you're chewing on the end of your pen, mouthing facts and curiosities about Law in order to memorise them.

Law has been sitting in the armchair across from you for about ten minutes. His chin resting against his knuckles and eyes fixed on you, watching your every move.

“Are you nearly done?” His voice chimes with amusement.

“Not even close.” You mumble and sigh, opening your arms and falling back to face the ceiling. “I'm so nervous. I'm so doomed. Law, I don't want to fail you.” You drape your arm over your eyes for dramatic effect.

Your whine is both desperate and frustrated. You think you're ready for all the personal questions anyone sends your way, and even if there's something amiss, you've only been ‘dating’ for two months! It's completely believable.

However, before you can rally and say you're prepared, you feel pressure on your ankles and Law pulls you towards the edge of the bed, dragging you close to him. Leaning on his arms, which he places on each side of your head, he stares at your eyes deadpan.

“You're ready. You've got this. We've got this.” His gaze doesn't waver and he's hovering very, very close to your face. So you just nod. His presence is too intense for anything other than that. “Use your words, sweetheart. Do you have this?”

“I've got this.” You whisper.

“Good.”

For a second it almost looks as if he's going to kiss you, but he backs away and a feeling of dread in your stomach makes you wonder if something’s really changed after what happened earlier. The second after, you’re chastising yourself. Nothing’s changed because there’s nothing to change. You’re nothing to each other. Period.

You’re helping him in a tricky family situation and he’s helping you with your over-controlling issues. Nothing else.

“Let's go.”

-*-

You end up choosing a beautiful cocktail dress that is not overly formal but is not as casual as a summer dress and, after fixing your hair and dress again - from having been dragged by Law on top of the bed - he assures you that you look stunning and you both leave the room.

Law's dressed in black jeans, a white dress shirt - half open to show off his tattoos - and a blazer. You sigh. You can't get enough of his sexiness.

He extends his hand for you to take and you can't help a small smile from curling your lips. This does feel like a real relationship, so you need to keep reminding yourself that it's all fake. You can't fall in love with Law over a fake relationship.

Wait, fall in love? Where did that come from?

Law leads you through corridors and halls and, slowly, his demeanour becomes charged again. The usual scowl in place, the familiar creasing in his forehead. It's like he's a different person around his uncle, so much more guarded. So much more unattainable. When you reach the stairs to descend to the hall where all the guests are mingling before heading towards the dining room, Law lets go of your hand and places it on your lower back instead.

“It's showtime.” He mutters softly as you begin descending. You can feel all the eyes turning towards you, it seems like everyone is already gathered downstairs.

Baby 5 is the first to approach you, a big smile on her face as she drags a taller man with an annoyed expression on his face towards you. “Cousin Law! I've missed you!” She tries to hug him but Law grunts and refuses, making you chuckle. “This is Sai! My husband-to-be! Isn't he handsome?” She says dreamily. Sai doesn't seem too thrilled to be here at all, but when their eyes meet, you can see how his gaze softens. There might be love under all that gruffness after all.

Law clasps the man's hand and shakes it, then introduces you to them.

“Hello, it's very nice to meet you, and congratulations on your nuptials.” You say with a smile. “You make the most wonderful couple.”

Baby 5 is delighted with you. “Oh, Law! She's wonderful!” When Law looks at you to confirm her words, you somehow find his eyes softening as well, but he's interrupted before he can say anything.

“Trafalgar, it's been a while since I've seen you.” A blonde man with prominent scars on his face and a wide grin approaches. He speaks to Law but his eyes linger on you. “Baby 5 is right, your friend is wonderful.”

Law's scowl becomes more pronounced, his hold on your back tightens and he pulls you closer. “It's girlfriend, Bellamy.”

Bellamy chuckles and raises his hands in apology before you and Law move on to greet other guests. There are some board members Law said would be present and they're an odd bunch - Trebol, Diamante, Pica and Vergo are their names. The bridesmaid, Sugar, looks really young but Law tells you she's just two years younger than Baby 5. A groomsman, Buffalo and, of course, Doffy and Cora. The bride says that the rest of the wedding party will only arrive tomorrow so it's quite an intimate affair.

To you, it is anything but intimate. It's intimidating. Doflamingo keeps watching you and Law like a hawk, waiting for some kind of slip-up; his associates are already trying to whisk Law away, though he manages to postpone business talk until after dinner; and Bellamy keeps leering at you.

When Cora cheerfully announces that it's time to head to dinner, you close your eyes briefly and take a deep shaky breath. Law notices your discomfort and lingers behind, letting the guests enter the dining room ahead of you.

Then, he turns you towards him, his fingers grazing your ear and then your earring, trailing down your neck as you sigh. The signal. “If this were real,” he whispers near your ear so only you can hear, “you wouldn't have to feel nervous. You'd know I would be there at your side every step of the way. You'd count on me.”

Law's eyes bore into yours as his hands cup your cheeks in an intimate gesture. It’s so comforting that you have to keep repeating in your head that this is all fake and that he just used the signal! Then, you nod in acknowledgment of his words. “I do, Law. I count on you. I trust you.” You don't need to use the signal for your words, they're not fake, they're the absolute truth. You spy Doflamingo watching you from the doorway and Law must have seen him too, because he leans forward and gives you a small peck on the cheek. The small smile on your lips that follows his gesture is also something that is completely true.

Law clasps your hand in his to lead you to the dining room but Doflamingo still looms on the threshold, observing both of you closely, his arms crossed over his chest and a huge grin on his face. “Law, princesa. I hope you had an agreeable rest, earlier.”

You blush at his words. It's almost as if he knows something happened between you, but he can't know, right? It's just a silly guess. “Yes, Uncle, very agreeable. The car ride was quite tiring.” Law pulls you but Doflamingo steps forward, cutting your path and staring directly into your eyes.

“And you, cariño?” A shiver runs down your spine as you face the intensity of his stare and your heart rate accelerates dramatically.

“Yes, sir. Very agreeable, thank you.” You can't help but notice how small and meek your voice sounds under his scrutiny. Doflamingo really is someone who demands respect.

“Hmm…” He starts, holding a hand against his chest, and then whispers. “Careful, you're making me like you. You're really something.” Without taking his eyes off yours, he addresses Law. “You better keep a good hold on this one, Law. I might steal her too.”

Law growls, his calm facade showing a few cracks before he pulls you inside so you can find your seats. There’s no chance to ask him what his uncle meant now, the room is too crowded, and there’s no telling who could be listening.

But what could he mean about stealing you too? What happened? With whom? It feels like this is something you should be privy to, especially because Doflamingo keeps hinting at something. You make a mental note not to forget to address this with Law once both of you are alone.

The dining room is, like everything else in this house, grand and opulent, screaming wealth and fortune. Enormous chandeliers hang from the ceiling, shadowing the massive table. Beautiful china adorns it, along with vases of flowers and the most stunning silverware. It’s all so beautiful.

Law finds your seats and holds the chair for you, helping you get comfortable. He’s by your side, Sugar on your other side and Bellamy directly in front of Law. Cora sits at one end of the table, next to Law, and Doflamingo is on the other end, carefully watching every exchange with his observant gaze.

Bellamy keeps stealing glances at you and Law’s scowl deepens even more. His hand rests on your thigh under the table, and even though no one can see it, it’s a definitive claim to you. He’s acting possessive, and it stirs something within you.

Is it all fake?

The meal begins and everything seems to be flowing smoothly now. Baby 5 is a regular chatterbox and, being at Bellamy’s side, she alone holds the entire conversation for the majority of dinner. Every now and then, she asks you something or other about your relationship, nothing of much importance and all things you and Law have already rehearsed.

You feel a sense of peace and calmness washing away your earlier anxiety. It seems as if you were dreading this dinner for nothing. If the rest of the weekend goes as smoothly as this meal, you’ll both be perfectly fine.

But the wine has been flowing freely. You and Law have been restrained and switched to water long ago. Neither of you wants to get drunk and ruin the pretence, but the other guests are more at ease. And that fact is quite clear when Bellamy decides to stare directly at you. His gaze unmoving and his grin wide.

You begin to shift uncomfortably in your chair, wishing for this dinner to end so you can all get up, but dessert is still being served so it will be another half-hour, at least.

Law senses your discomfort and leans into your ear, you lean towards him as well and when he speaks, his whisper tickles your ear and sends shivers down your spine. “Relax. I’ll put him in his place.” His hand reaches up as he caresses your ear and earring using your signal. “You’re mine, and I’ll let him know soon enough that I don’t share.”

The word ‘mine’ sends a different kind of shiver up your spine. One that lingers. One that burns. It travels through your veins like molten lava and settles low in your core, a thrum beating at the same unholy rhythm as your heart.

You can only nod as Law pulls back.

Another moment passes as you receive your dessert and engage in a bit of girl talk with Sugar and Baby 5 about wedding dresses, but you can still feel the burning, lingering gaze of Bellamy upon you. It’s disconcerting.

Law places his hand on your thigh again, making sure Bellamy sees the gesture, before facing him with a sly smirk. “Bellamy,” his tone is casual, though thick with tension. “Is there something you would like to say to my girlfriend? You keep staring. It’s rude.”

The chatter around you silences as people close to you follow the exchange. Bellamy’s grin falters a bit as he shifts and adjusts his seat in the chair. He wasn’t expecting Law’s confrontational question.

“I just like to look at pretty things, Law. Didn’t know it was a crime.” He leans back, hands in the air, to excuse his behaviour.

Law’s smirk never falters, his touch is unwavering. His tone, however, speaks of annoyance and defiance. “Oh, I know she’s pretty. More than that, she’s stunning. But it’s not just about looking, is it, Bellamy? It’s about intent. And yours seems very, very misplaced.”

Your heart tightens in your chest as you see, from the corner of your eye, Doflamingo watching you attentively, though the rest of the table on his side is pretty oblivious to what is happening around you.

“Come on, man, relax. Drink some more wine. Looking doesn’t do any harm.” Bellamy lets out a nervous chuckle.

“It does when you’re looking at something that doesn't belong to you. You should learn to keep your gaze away from what is mine.” He nearly growls the word.

That word again. Your breath hitches and you bite your lower lip. You can’t help but feel safe and protected near Law. A bright flush spreads through your cheeks and you take a sip of water to try and calm yourself. Law’s hand on your leg squeezes and you take a deep breath.

Yet the fire in you burns hotter.

“Alright, alright. Geez, man, I didn’t mean any disrespect.” Bellamy adds, though his smug grin says otherwise.

“Good. We’re clear then.” Law’s gaze is unwavering and he doesn’t stop piercing his amber eyes into Bellamy’s until the blonde looks somewhere else.

You can’t help but hear Law’s voice saying ‘mine’ over and over again in your head, just like a song on repeat.

-*-

Finally dinner comes to an end, but it’s still far too early in the night to retire and you are all ushered by a smiling Cora to a lounge with a bar where you can have a few more drinks and let conversation flow.

After all, some guests are having fun.

Law leads you with a firm hand on your lower back, but you can feel some strain in his countenance, and you quickly understand why when one of Doflamingo’s associates beckons him over to a table.

Law groans, facing you. “I need to take care of some business with those oafs over there.” Then he sighs as he uses the signal on your earring again. Leaning in, he presses his lips to yours, a very chaste kiss to share in public. A kiss that doesn’t fail to send tingles all over your skin and burn in more places than it should. Law whispers: “If this were real, you wouldn’t need to worry if I were away from you. I’d be imprinted so hard on your body, mind and soul, that you wouldn’t even miss me.”

His words never fail to make you shiver. The intensity with which he delivers them is so powerful that, for a brief moment, you’re fooled into thinking he actually means it. Just a brief moment, though. “I’ll be alright. We’re in the same room. What can happen that is so terrible?”

Law’s scowl is back in an instant and his gaze flickers towards Doflamingo. “Much can happen. But I won’t allow it.” Another peck and he turns his back on you to meet with the men who have already called him again.

You sigh, locate Bellamy, still gazing at you, and decide to go to the complete opposite side of the room. Luckily Baby 5 and Sugar gather near you and you manage to distract yourself with the girls. Time goes by rather fast, in contrast to what happened during dinner and in the blink of an eye, Law is back by your side. But he's still sporting that tense scowl.

“I just came to check on you.” Baby 5 and Sugar are listening so he keeps the pretence, however, he doesn’t use the signal. “Wouldn't want you to think I've abandoned you.”

Your smile is genuine as you grab his hands. “It's alright, Law. I'm in good hands.” He squeezes and the way he's looking at you makes something flutter in your stomach.

You are suddenly reminded that you both discussed physical boundaries, but never emotional ones. Should you? Because this soft look he's giving you could be far more dangerous to your heart than a heated touch.

“You guys are so cute. I wish I could just turn you into plushies and have you on my bed.” Sugar says, her eyes sparkling with emotion.

Well that certainly cuts the emotional tension in the bud. Law rolls his eyes and you chuckle. “I'm just going to get a drink and go back there. It won't be long now, they're discussing a new merger and want to make sure everyone on the board approves.”

You sigh, your lower lip inadvertently pouting a bit. Why must he talk business at a family meeting?

He chuckles softly, his thumb brushing against your lip. “That's cute.” He murmurs, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “See you soon.” His hand lingers on your lip before releasing with another longing sigh from you.

You excuse yourself to go to the restroom and when you return, Baby 5 and Sugar are nowhere to be seen. They must have had some last minute wedding stuff to attend to, but now you feel oddly out of place. Law doesn't acknowledge your entry, too entangled in a heated conversation with Vergo, his expression very guarded. Something must not be going very well with the discussions. You're thirsty, so you swing by the bar - complete with a bartender - and ask for a virgin mojito, while leaning slightly on the counter to stretch your back.

“Lovely accent, mi querida.” Doflamingo’s drawl makes your breath hitch and you turn towards his voice, a deer-in-headlights expression on your face. You look for Law, but his uncle is standing right in your line of sight and he's so big that you doubt Law knows you're there. He probably still thinks you're in the bathroom.

“Thank you, sir.” You whisper to him, accepting the drink from the bartender with a strained smile and taking a step back.

His grin widens, turning wicked and you take a sip of the cold drink to distract yourself from his sharp, piercing gaze. Doflamingo accepts his glass of red wine without a ‘thank you’ or any sort of acknowledgment to the bartender, his eyes never leaving you.

“You're interesting.” He states once again. “Makes me wonder why you're in a relationship with my nephew.” His tone is inquisitive. He's probing, you have to sell this, you're prepared. You just need to forget how extremely intimidating he is.

“I'm in a relationship with Law because we fell in love, sir. It's as simple as that.” You say, like it's the most obvious statement in the world. Then you set down your drink and grasp the counter to stop the shaking of your hands.

He tuts and sighs dramatically. “Nothing regarding love is ever just simple.” Then he takes another step, further invading your space. “Is it?”

You stand your ground, trying not to feel intimidated. “With us it is. We want to be together. I want to be with Law.” Why are you being so defensive? Is he going to read through your act? You desperately want Law to see you, to come to you. Maybe even Cora? But Cora was also engaged in that discussion and, thinking about it, shouldn't the head of Donquixote Enterprises also be there? Why was he taunting you instead?

“You don't know what you want yet, princesa. Trust me.” He says. His grin widens and he leans his head forward, whispering in your ear. “Law is too soft for you. His words are too gentle, his touch is too sweet.” Doffy’s breath feels hot in your ear and you want so desperately to pull back, but you don’t want to give him that advantage over you. “Law doesn’t know how to handle a woman like you. I saw how you behaved when he was acting possessive at the table. I understand you, I know what you want. And you need more than he can offer.”

Somehow his voice drops even lower, a predatory whisper that manages to bristle all the hairs on your body. “I can make you feel what it’s like to be completely owned. You’d learn quickly where you belong.” His whisper burns your skin, but the shivers running through you are as cold as ice. “Under me, or on your knees, I would bend your will with just one look. I know what you crave.”

He’s challenging you, pushing you to your limits with crass words and rude behaviour. Law told you he was inappropriate but, somehow, you didn’t expect this much. It’s terrifying, even.

“You don’t know me.” The murmur that leaves your lips is barely heard, your voice trembles and your lip shakes, but you don’t want to be disrespectful, so you add something: “Sir.”

His hand reaches out, and he tucks a strand of hair out of your face as he hums in satisfaction. “But I know your kind, cariño. You’re all after power. I can give you that.” You try to pull back, to step away from him and his velvety words, but he grabs your forearm, his touch commanding and domineering, making your breath hitch in your throat. “If I were with you, mi querida, I wouldn’t hesitate to bend you over the nearest surface and remind you of who you belong to. I know that’s what you most desire, to be brought to your knees with a simple look. Not to be coddled by my nephew.”

You purse your lips to suppress a gasp as his fingers dig into your skin, his grin widening into a manic smile. Your mouth opens and closes as you try to fight for air, or to find the right words. You can barely think, he scares you. He pushes you and bends you and you just don’t want to break under pressure.

You don’t have time, however, to think of a good answer because you feel a pull at your waist as a familiar safe sensation invades you and you can breathe again. “Is there something I can help you with, Uncle Doffy?”

Law’s voice is low and calm. His usually controlled demeanour takes over, however, the crease in his forehead is deep and pronounced and there’s a lingering rage underneath the surface. Doflamingo releases your arm and you wince, slipping closer to Law, moulding to the side of his body easily.

“Not at all, Law. I was just getting acquainted with your lovely novia. There’s no need to be so possessive, is there?” He smirks as he leans back, taking a casual sip of his drink while his eyes still linger over you.

Law’s jaw clenches and he lets out a low growl, but Doflamingo continues.

“It’s funny,” he chuckles long and low, “it reminds me of a different time, long ago. Remember, Law? Back when you thought loyalty and love were something you could not buy?”

You’re not quite sure where Doflamingo is going with his speech, but Law’s hold on you tightens and he pulls you even closer. “That’s not important tonight, Doffy.”

“But I think it is, Law. You see, I thought I had taught you better than this. Yet it seems as if you haven’t learned. You keep seeking women who need more than you can offer. Something your soft words cannot provide. Must I teach you again what power does a firmer hand and money hold? How easy it is to make someone… change allegiances?” His eyes are menacing as he alternates between you and Law.

You’re still very lost as to what they are referring to, yet he is getting under Law’s skin. You’ve never seen Law this discomposed. He’s almost baring his teeth at his uncle, his eyes darkening as his fingers dig deep into your waist, they will certainly bruise.

“That’s enough, Uncle.”

“Women who seek a little power are all the same, Law.” Doflamingo’s smirk drops and he straightens up, his figure imposing as he stares at Law. “You once thought love was all it took, but all I had to do was wave a few bills. Let’s see just how long this one holds, I’m actually very interested in the challenge.”

He speaks as if you’re not there. It’s a personal agenda he and Law have and you can almost see the tension building around them. For a sliver of a moment, Law’s mask of perfect control slips and a soft vulnerability rattles him, like he’s considering his uncle’s words.

“Every woman has a price, Law. Whether it’s monetary, or just power and influence. I have it all.”

The way Law pulls you to him makes you wince, but you don’t pull back, it’s like they barely know you’re there.

“Don’t compare them, Doffy.” He says your name through gritted teeth. “She and Monet are not the same.”

Monet? Who is she? Law didn’t tell you about her, though from what you can grasp of the conversation, it seems as if she was someone Law loved. And Doffy lured her away.

How twisted.

Doflamingo leans in, his face inches away from Law’s, but he doesn’t flinch. “You know something I’ve learned, Law, is that the more I rattle you, and the more paranoid and possessive you get… the easier it becomes to steal your toys.” The manic grin on Doflamingo’s face widens before he finally falls back. He finishes his wine glass and decides to call an end to this taunting session. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Law is left staring at the spot where his uncle just stood. His face is a mix of emotions, something you’ve never witnessed before. He’s beyond rattled, he’s on the verge of losing the control he normally possesses.

He’s still gripping you tight and it’s beginning to be unbearable, so you place your hand on his chest, trying to get him to look at you. “Law?” He doesn’t respond immediately, his throat bobbing up and down, clearly trying to regain control of his emotions. “Law you’re hurting me.” You say softly and that makes him come back.

“Sorry!” He releases you in haste, the hand that was holding you tousling his hair as he lets out a loud sigh. Then he clasps your hand in his and pulls you. “Let’s go.”

You follow him blindly. A myriad of questions burning at the back of your mind. Why does Doflamingo rattle him so much? And why is he so adamant about breaking Law? Who was Monet? What did she mean to Law?

But mostly… is she still important to him?

|Chapter 7|

#one piece au #one piece #the meet cute #law x reader #reader insert #x reader #reader x trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law #law x you #you x law #reader x law

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a-queenoffairys · 2 months ago

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Code Lyoko Chronicles 2.0

The Code Lyoko Chronicles are a series of 4 sequel books originally released in Italian in around 2010. Set a short while after the season 4 finale, parts of book 1 recap a story similar to the TV series but with a number of small changes (there's no RTTP for example) while the gang uncover some new secrets in the Hermitage that set them on the path to finding Aelita's mother, Anthea. But XANA survived and is coming back for revenge, and the gang's investigation into the secret history of Franz Hopper, Project Carthage and the Supercomputer puts the men in black on their trail as well, not to mention the shady Green Phoenix organisation who funded Hopper's work.

The books were published in a number of languages, but not in English - so that's where the fans come in. As one of the first translation projects we did for CodeLyoko.fr, finishing in 2014, the original completed English release was pretty rough. 10 years later, armed with more translation sources, better resources and many years of translation experience, I decided to take another crack at it. And after many months of hard work and procrastination, I've produced a version 2.0 that I'm pretty happy with.

Links and notes on the various changes under the cut!

New translations!

My co-translator Kelsey and I didn't have a lot of serious translation experience when we picked up where Rhys Davies left off in his English translation project, and we were definitely prone to making mistakes. And it didn't help that for books 3 and 4, a few things got lost somewhere in the process of the text being translated from Italian > Spanish > French > English. I revised our original translation and this time I referenced multiple sources to try and make sure I got the interpretation right. It won't be perfect, but it's definitely better than our original attempt!

The second half of book 2 was based on the official French version, which I discovered was slightly condensed and abridged to lower the page count. The new English translation expands the text to restore the parts that were omitted. I also changed the title from The Nameless City to The City with No Name - there was never an official English translation, but I did find a marketing document with the titles listed in English, and that was the only one that differed.

Here's a page comparison with a few changes, mostly minor, but one big change to the context of Odd and Ulrich's conversation. With my apologies to Kiwi for the original mistranslation.

New formatting!

I got better at formatting Word docs and realised I should have the text alignment set to justify. The books look a lot neater now!

Accessibility!

I added alt text descriptions to all the images, and the PDFs all have a proper table of contents now so you don't have to scroll to the end of the book to find the navigation.

(Note I don't have a lot of experience with detailed image descriptions and I haven't done much testing with a screen reader - feedback is welcome from people who know more about it!)

New scans!

The centre of each book has several colour pages with images and text to supplement the story, and some of the original scans were quite small or had part of the image disappearing into the spine of the book. And the only way to fix it seemed to be to obtain physical copies of the books (probably in Spanish), pull the pages out and scan them flat. So I did. And I think they look great. (Black lines added to hide spoilers.)

My original intention was to upload these to CodeLyoko.fr, but I haven't been able to do that yet, so for now they'll just be available on Google Drive. This translation wouldn't have been possible if not for the other people on the fanslation team - not just my fellow translators, but also all the people who worked on scanning, formatting and editing. Special thanks also to Rhys Davies for kicking off the English translation. You can read more about the Chronicles and the fanslation project here on the website. (Yes I still need to revise the translation of those pages too. Someday.)

So yeah, it's taken a while, but I'm glad I can finally put out a better version of these books for people to discover. Enjoy!

Version 2.0 PDFs here! (Google Drive) ePub versions coming soon.

#code lyoko #code lyoko chronicles #codelyoko.fr #aqof translates a thing

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wearebarca · 11 months ago

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7. Captured // Alexia Putellas x Original character pt. 7

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

synopsis: Rosalie has never stayed somewhere too long. When the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself at critical moment in her life, the photographer decides to once again leave behind what she knows and joins the staff of Europe's best football team.

Word count: 6,4k

A/N: Feedback is always nice. Spanish is from google translate so please be nice. French is my first language so all should be good on that part. Enjoy

Rosalie knew before she opened her eyes that she wasn’t in her bed. The stiffness in her neck was indication enough, along with the slightly rough feeling of the wool blanket she kept as a decoration on her couch. An unknown alarm was blaring from her phone on the coffee table. Suddenly, the memories from the night before started to come back to her. How good it was to be wrapped in the footballer’s arms, how warm and safe it felt. She was probably the one who set an alarm to make sure the photographer wouldn’t be late for work. The simple thought put a smile on the woman’s face.

A quick look around her kitchen told her that most of the dishes were put away and a cup of coffee along with a note were waiting for her on the counter.

“ I have to bring Nala home before training. You looked too peaceful to wake up. Thank you for yesterday, I really needed it. See you at training bonita.”

Ale

The photographer took the note and pinned it on her fridge. Every time her eyes strayed to it while getting ready, she could feel butterflies fill her stomach. The brunette hopped quickly in the shower and changed into her day clothes before heading out for the training center.

The first thing she noticed upon entering her office was the small brown paper bag which seemed to be the source of the delicious smell lingering in the room. There could only be one person responsible for such a gesture. The fluttering feel from the morning came back full swing as the photographer pulled out a fresh pastry from the bag.

Her morning was quite slow. She had tasked some of the junior photographers to attend training to allow her to finish answering some emails and send the contend Martina was waiting on for the next social media campaign. Rosalie’s morning was surprisingly productive considering the stiffness in her neck. The only thing that pulled her out of her work induced trance was the repeated buzz of her phone. When the device kept vibrating after a good five minutes, the brunette finally checked her screen to see what was going on. She was surprised to see the nicknames of several girls from the team appear on her screen, with the first notification being “Capi has added you to the chat”. Most were welcoming the photographer to the group and the rest were discussing the team bonding night organised by Ingrid that would most likely take place two weeks from now.

Deciding she would read everything later, she left her phone on her desk and focused on finishing a few tasks before lunch. When she arrived in the cafeteria, she was immediately called by Mapi and Ingrid to join them and the rest of their group. The brunette grabbed her food and took the last available seat, which happened to be next to the Spanish captain.

She was leaning with her elbows on the table, her hands holding her chin up and listening intently to what Patri was saying. Only, as soon as the brunette took her seat, her focus shifted.

« Hola, » she said with a lazy smile stretching on her lips. Patri was aware of their budding friendship, but so far had not been aware of a deeper connection blooming between the captain and the photographer. Now, with her friend who had seemingly forgotten about her in order to engage in a conversation with the Canadian, it was clear that something more was happening.

“Did you sleep ok?”

“Yes, thank you, I didn’t even realize that you left this morning.” The photographer said a little embarrassed by how hard she was sleeping. They were leaning close to each other in order to keep a certain level of privacy in a table filled with their friends and colleagues. “ How did you sleep? Can’t imagine my couch would provide the best sleep.”

“I slept good actually, but I can’t say it’s because of your sofa no.” She said with a smile.

Patri, still amazed by what was unfolding in front of her, tried to catch Pina’s attention by elbowing her in the ribs. “¿qué es?¿qué es?”

“¿desde cuando?”

“no sé” Pina said, watching the two women converse in front of her. “tengo curiosidad por saber que esta pasando”

“Le preguntaré a algunas de las chicas sobre esto.” Patri said, getting up to bring back her tray.

The week passed on quickly for everyone. The team was preparing for their game next wednesday and the media team was working extra hard to provide the fans with fun content with their favourite players. Rosalie was able to get out of her office more, and take back her place as the main photographer present during the training sessions. More than ever, Rosalie was appreciating the little routine she had formed, but now, there was a new element present in her daily life. Every lunch, she would spend it with the team in the cafeteria, more precisely with a certain blond captain.

As they grew closer, the rest of the team noticed the growing chemistry. With the realization came the teasing, which Alexia shot down pretty quickly. Even if these girls were her family, she did not want her private life to be the subject of discussion among them. But even with her efforts, the whole team was soon aware of the clear interest the women had for each other.

Even with the thought of the photographer in her mind, Alexia was still dead focused on training. Her comeback after her injury had not been an easy road and the pressure of getting back to her old standards was a heavy load on her shoulders. Her appointment with the physio had been full of warnings against overtraining and focusing on a slower but safer road to full recovery.

Alexia knew all of this. She knew that overworking herself would only slow her down in the end. But she was stubborn. The guilt she felt for her club, her teammates, the fans, who had yet to see the return of their queen, was simply too strong.

She wasn’t surprised when Monday , two days before the game, she felt some discomfort in her knee. It wasn’t pain, yet, but it was enough to allow fear to grasp at her mind.

Rosalie could see it from the sidelines, the anxiety slowly creeping in the blonde’s eyes. She was slower than normal, running through the drills with a carefulness she hadn’t seen her use before. She wasn’t the only one who had noticed the change in intensity. Jonatan soon after called for the captain who immediately ran to him, making a tremendous effort to hide the slight limp she had developed in the course of the session.

Their exchange was fast. Alexia clearly seemed to want to finish this session and was arguing her case with as much intensity as she would with a ref during a game. Jonatan stayed strong, even with the captain towering over him.

At this point, their argument had pulled the attention of several of the girls. Rosalie lowered her camera, not wanting to breach what clearly was a conversation meant to stay between player and coach. When she realized that Martina failed to show the same respect as her, she positioned herself between the pair and the head of media’s phone.

“ I doubt this is the entertainment the fans want.” She said with a raised eyebrow. She had heard from the players how Martina could sometimes be invasive but she hasn’t seen her cross the line just yet.

A dry laugh escaped Martina’s lips as she finally lowered her phone. “Si, si, you are right.” She said as she moved farther on the sidelines. Rosalie turned back around just in time to see Alexia storm off the pitch, leaving a discouraged Jonatan behind.

“ Thank you Rosa.” Mapi said, approaching the photographer. “ Ale would have been livid if this came out in one of her instagram stories.”

“Would she really?”

“ She has before.” Mapi said with bitterness in her tone.

“ I’m starting to understand why Alexia is so wary of the media team.” Rosalie made a move towards the tunnel but was stopped by a hand on her wrist.

“I know you want to make sure she’s alright, but for now Ale needs a minute to process.” Mapi said with a sad smile. Rosalie knew the Spanish woman was right, and she could not just leave practice to go comfort the captain.

“ Oui, oui I understand.” She said, picking back up her camera. The rest of the practice seemed to drag on to no end for the photographer who wanted nothing more than to see how the blonde was doing.

Once training was over, Rosalie learned that Alexia had been sent to the physios to assess the situation. Not wanting to disturb the professional, she went back to her office to work in the editing of the pictures she had taken.

Once again, her afternoon seemed a lot slower than usual, and for one of the first times since she had started this job, Rosalie left her office at the same time as the rest of the staff.

Lucy and Keira could not believe their eyes when they saw the Canadian walk out of the building.

“Are you feeling alright Frenchy?” Keira asked, almost worried for her friend.

“Oui oui, I just thought finishing early would hurt once in a while.”

“Who are you?” Lucy asked, grabbing the younger woman by the shoulders.

“Non mais voyons lâches moi.” The brunette said, laughing loudly.

“Wanna come by for dinner? We could watch a movie or something.” Keira asked, happy to finally have the opportunity to finally spend some time with her best friend.

“Sure! That’s a great idea!” They all walked together in the parking lot, discussing what they would watch, when a specific dark grey cupra caught the attention of the photographer.

“Isn’t that Alexia’s car?”

“Yeah, I thought she left at the same time as the rest of us.” Lucy said, checking her watch. At this time, the medical staff had already left and no one was left in the gym.

“I hope she’s ok.” Rosalie said as she came to a stop half way to her car. Lucy and Keira could practically see the dilemma forming in the younger woman’s head. They knew that she would not ditch them, even if her heart was telling her to go see the Catalonian.

“Go.” Lucy decided for her. Rosalie sent a thankful look towards the couple as she turned around and almost dashed to the training center.

She let her instincts guide her to the pitch, where she found the blond sitting alone on a ball. She took a seat next to her. They stayed silent for a while, until the blonde was ready to talk

“I am not playing on Wednesday.” The blonde said, her gaze not leaving the pitch. “They want to prevent further deterioration.”

The brunette shuffled closer to the footballer. “Can you still train?”

“ In the gym, yes, and light drills.” She said sadly.

Rosalie took a second to take in the footballer's sad features. With her foot, she kicked the ball slightly under Alexia, just hard enough to make her lose balance and slide to the floor. As soon as the ball was free, Rosalie dashed down the pitch to the nearest goal and sent the ball in the top right corner. When she turned back towards the blond, she was still sitting on the floor with a very cute and confused expression.

“Come on! What are you gonna do about that?” The photographer yelled arms in the air with what Alexia thought was the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

“Are you scared of an amateur, La Reina?” Rosalie knew she had her now. Alexia got up and slowly jogged to the goal to retrieve the ball. She kicked it in the brunette’s direction and stood a few feet away from her.

“ I just know that you are no amateur Rosalia.” She said with a soft smile.

As soon as the brunette touched the ball, Alexia’s whole demeanour changed. Her face was the epitome of focus and her whole body tensed, revealing her taut muscles. The sight was intimidating to say the least, but Rosalie was not going to let the opportunity to show off a little pass.

She dashed forward, ball at her feet, pulling all the tricks she could think of. She was fast, but Alexia seemed to be able to predict her every move and soon enough, the photographer ended up on her ass, no ball in sight.

A loud laugh was heard behind her. She turned around to see Alexia with one foot on the ball, seemingly trying very hard to keep her composure.

“ You’re fast, and skilled, but a tiny bit predictable.” She said, offering a hand to pull the photographer up.

“Rematch.” Was all the photographer said as she took the ball from the blond and positioned herself once again. Alexia smiled at the brunette’s eagerness. She had found someone as competitive as her.

They were at it for almost an hour, with Rosalie successfully scoring a grand total of seven times against Alexia who blocked at least twelve attempts.

Rosalie, unsatisfied with these statistics, almost begged the footballer for one last attempt. Whoever won this, would win the whole game.

“ I think I have you now Reina.” Rosalie said with a cheeky smile.

“ Don’t get so cocky now bonita, I won’t go easy on you.” The nickname made the photographer blush furiously, but she refused to let it distract her. She finally launched her attack , but Alexia’s response was so fast Rosalie wasn’t even able to register what was happening. She was left standing alone in the field while Alexia was already halfway across the pitch, sending the ball in a perfect arc in the opposite goal.

Rosalie sat on the grass and let herself fall on her back dramatically, arms in a cross. Alexia retrieved the ball and ran back to the photographer, flopping down almost on top of her. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, but she made no move to get out from under the blond.

“ I think it is safe to say that I won.” Alexia said, still laughing. No answer came from the brunette, who was too mesmerized by the blond’s eyes and the feeling of her weight on top of her.

Her smile softened as her eyes shifted to the captain’s lips. Alexia seemed to finally notice the position they were in, as well as how little space separated the two. She could feel the rapid pulse of the photographer, which matched her own. The pull was magnetic, and every second passing seemed to eat away at the woman’s resolve.

They did not know who reached for who first, their movements almost synchronized.

Her lips were even softer than Rosalie had imagined. They fit perfectly on her own and it felt like something had just clicked. She could feel the tension in the captain’s body slowly fade away, as if she was melting in their embrace. The shift of weight brought the delicious feeling of the footballer’s body moving on her, which pulled a small moan from the brunette.

The sound caught Alexia’s attention. She smiled into the kiss, which made the smaller woman pull away slightly. When she saw the happy expression on the footballer’s face, she smiled and angled her head away, embarrassed by her body’s reaction to the blond. Alexia’s hand came up and caressed the photographer’s cheek before diving back in for a slow kiss. The contrast between Alexia’s callous hands and her soft lips made the photographer’s head spin.

They pulled away when oxygen became an issue. Alexia thought, as she looked at the smaller woman who’s pupils were blown and lips swollen from their kiss, she realized that she needed to see more of this blissed out version of the photographer.

Rosalie’s expression changed, mistaking Alexia’s silence for regret. “I’m so sorry I didn’t want to overstep I’m…” she was interrupted by the feeling of the blonde’s lips back on her.

“ Don’t apologize, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.” She said with a smile. They got back up and retrieved their bags. None of them uttered a word as they walked back to their car, content in the comfortable silence. Alexia stopped next to the photographer’s car, holding the door open for Rosalie.

“Thank you,” Alexia said with a shy smile. “I needed this.”

“Which one, the game or the kiss?”

“I think it’s safe to say both.” She said with a grin.

Rosalie had a love-hate relationship with her phone. She liked the convenience of having a decent camera always with her, but she hated the constant buzzing and being bombarded by text and notifications. She kept her phone on silent outside of work hours.

If she had it on, she would have seen the notification of a new instagram story on the club’s account. She would have seen that she had been tagged in it, along with Alexia’s account. She would have seen the massive wave of messages flooding her dms.

Instead, it was in her bed , when she reached for her phone in order to set her alarm, that she realized exactly how invasive the head of social media could really be.

The video wasn’t too bad really. It captured the moment of the photographer’s fall after she had lost to the captain and Alexia toppling on her a few moments later. To anyone else, it simply looked like two friends having fun after a long day at work but to the women’s football community, it was a lot more.

Emotions flooded the brunette all at once. Never would she have thought that her privacy would be so easily exposed to the world. She never wanted to be thrusted into the spotlight, and all this attention made all the color drain from her face.

The feeling only grew much worse when Rosalie thought of Alexia. She knew how the blonde felt about her life being exposed to the public eye.

Rosalie didn’t sleep that night, and the consequences were very visible the next morning when she pulled up at the training center. She had ignored all of Ingrid and Mapi’s numerous calls and texts, and only answered a thumbs up to Lucy and Keira’s worried messages.

For the brunette, it was impossible to think about anything else than Alexia’s reaction to all this. The facility was quieter than usual, due to the fact that Rosalie had opted to arrive later to avoid crossing paths with anyone. Surprisingly, Ingrid was sitting in the lobby, and got up as soon as she saw the Canadian enter.

Rosalie froze and didn’t move when the Norwegian made a move to hug her. «How are you? »

« Worried.» the photographer said in a small voice. « My phone won’t stop buzzing. »

The raven hair girl tightened her hold before letting go and grabbing her arm to start guiding the brunette down the corridor.

« The media team and the coaches have called a meeting to deal with the situation. Alexia is there as well. »

« How is she? »

« Very angry. » Ingrid said. She panicked a little as she saw her friend’s face fall. « Not at you Rosy! She’s in this state mainly because this time, Martina dragged someone dear to her in this mess. »

Rosalie blushed slightly at that and stayed silent for the rest of the walk. They arrived in front of a room where loud and rapid Spanish conversations could be heard through the closed door. Ingrid sent an encouraging look to the photographer before pushing her inside the room.

Inside was a long table where Jonatan, Sara, Marcelo, Martina, Alexia and another man she did not recognize were all sitting. The room went quiet as the Canadian entered. Jonatan got up and smiled at the nervous photographer.

« Bon dia Rosalie, take a seat. » he said motioning to the open seat next to Sara, which happened to be right across Alexia. Just like Ingrid had said, the captain looked livid, anger overtaking all of her features, making her look cold and almost Dangerous.

« Hey, I’ll translate if it gets too fast.” Rosalie sent a grateful nod her way, but when the conversation started back, they had switched to English to make sure the photographer would follow.

“ As I was saying, it is simply unacceptable to use the player’s personal life to promote the club. Let’s not forget that this video was taken outside of training hours and I am certain none of the girls gave their consent to post this.” Jonatan said, turning to Rosalie to confirm his statement.

“ I never gave my consent, nor was even aware of being filmed during that time.” She said in a shaky voice.

“ But you were at the training centre. That makes it ok to film since what happens inside these walls is club business.” Martina said, clearly trying to justify her actions. “ It was a wholesome moment that attracted a lot of attention to the club.” She added.

Every word coming out of the woman’s mouth seemed to chip away at Alexia’s patience. She decided that she had been silent long enough and it was time to show just how angry she truly was.

“ Attention? You exposed us for attention? You forcefully pulled Rosalie at the forefront of an obsessed fan base who’s been harassing us for the last 12 hours, for attention?” She said, the sound of her voice getting louder and more aggressive with every word.

“You don’t realize the impact your actions have on other people. As players, we know that we are constantly being watched and that our lives are but a source of entertainment for others. But Rosalia never asked for any of this. She doesn't deserve this violation of her privacy.” She added, sending a look in the photographer’s way. One that greatly reassured the brunette. Alexia was trying to protect her.

“We are tired of the abuse the head of social media has perpetuated and the team, along with the coaches, ask management to take action against the perpetrators.” Alexia sat back in her chair. The rest of the table was silent, waiting to see who would dare speak after Alexia’s declaration.

Finally, the man Rosalie did not know coughed a little and spoke in spanish, too fast for Rosalie to be able to understand properly.

“He said that from now on, Marcelo would be acting as head of social media and that every post Matina would prepare would have to be approved beforehand.” Sara whispered to the brunette. She turned just in time to see Martina’s face fall and Alexia’s smirk appear.

“There is still the matter of the video itself.” Marcelo said, pulling out his computer. “Millions of people have already seen it. Taking it down now would only attract more attention to it.” He said, turning his screen so they could all see the statistics.

“ The response is mainly positive and Alexia told me that the messages she’s been receiving are mostly positive.” The new head of socials turned towards the photographer. “ What about you?”

“I haven’t read anything really, but none of my notifications stood out.” She said pulling out her phone and opening the app for the first time since the night before.

“ So it seems that for now, most people see this as the friendship we all know you two have. This is good. I think that the best course of action would be to leave it up, and simply continue our posting habits as usual, but featuring the other players more.” He said with confidence.

“ We need to give the fans something else to focus on. We can post a fun interview from media day today along with an update on our injured players.” The solution seemed like a good plan to the rest of the staff who all agreed and stood up. The man Rosalie had yet to know the name walked out first, followed closely by Martina who looked dead set on trying to explain her point of view. The fact that she seemed incapable of understanding what she had done was wrong baffled the brunette. She really did not regret her actions and Rosalie was starting to think that her consequences weren’t harsh enough.

From the corner of her eye, the photographer saw Alexia abruptly stand up and bolt out of the room. Her instinct told her to follow, and she was glad she did because she arrived just in time to see Alexia trap Martina against the wall.

“¿Viste algo más anoche?” She asked in a low, menacing voice. Her tone gave Rosalie chills, and she didn’t know if it was because of fear or something else.

“No, me fui justo después, lo juro.” Martina said, visibly shaken by the taller woman’s action. Alexia released her and stormed out towards the locker room. When Rosalie passed her, she sent a strange look her way, as if she was trying to see something that would have evaded her keen snooping skills.

Her gaze made the photographer feel uncomfortable as she quickened her steps. She pushed the door of the locker room and found Alexia, head in her hands, sitting at her cubicle.

“Ale…” At the sound, the captain’s gaze met her own and Rosalie saw for the first time how Alexia truly felt about the whole ordeal. Fear and panic was visible in her hazel eyes as she stood up to pace around the room.

“You shouldn’t be in here.” She said, eyes to the floor. “If someone sees…”

“Everyone is on the pitch, it's ok.” Rosalie could see Alexia getting agitated , so she decided to take a seat in the closet cubicle to her, on the opposite side of the room.

“I knew this would happen. It’s always the same thing with your team.” She said, still pacing.

“My team?” Rosalie said incredulously.

“Si, you can’t stop putting your nose in other’s lives and it’s hell for the rest of us.” Alexia said, stopping in her tracks to look at the brunette.

Rosalie was too stunned to speak. Her expression was a mix of hurt and sadness that broke the captain’s heart as soon as she saw it.

Rosalie knew that Alexia was angry and it was this anger that pushed her to say these things, but she couldn’t help how bad she felt after hearing it.

“ I thought you knew I wasn’t like this. I would never breach your privacy like this.”

“ I know, I know.” Alexia said, trying to calm down. “Maybe we should just be colleagues,” she said in a small voice, incapable of looking the photographer in the eyes. She knew that if she did, she would cross the room and take the smaller woman in her arms, apologize and tell her that everything would be alright.

“Is that what you really want?”

“Si.”

“Then there’s nothing I can do but respect your decision.” Rosalie said in a sad voice. She turned around and walked out of the locker room, leaving Alexia alone.

As soon as the brunette left, Alexia sat back down. She felt like her legs weren’t able to carry her anymore. Her hands were shaking and a heavy feeling lingered in her heart.

She knew that what she had just done was cold, but it was the only way she could protect her from the scrutiny of the public eye. She knew Rosalie was like her, a very private person and the moment the photographer crossed the threshold of the confederation room, she could see from how small she looked, how much this was affecting her. Distancing herself from the French-Canadian was the only option to keep Rosalie, and herself, out of the spotlight.

When she finally mustered up the strength to get out on the pitch, her eyes immediately scanned the field for the family silhouette of the brunette. She only found one of the other photographers and the rest of the media team. Thankfully, Martina was nowhere in sight.

Alexia walked to the huddle in the center of the pitch and took a spot next to Lucy. The woman turned around and sent a glare her way, almost frightening the captain. The rest of practice was hell for the midfielder. She made mistake after mistake, missing targets on her passes and unable to complete plays that she usually had no difficulty doing.

She simply could not stop thinking about how it all went down this morning. She knew that it would be hard to stay away from the photographer, especially now that the feeling of the woman’s soft lips was ingrained in her mind, but she had not planned feeling this sort of withdrawal so soon.

As soon as the photographer reached her office, the tears that were threatening to fall ran down her cheeks. It was all too much at the same time for the woman. Her phone blowing up with various messages from fans, her anger towards the former head of social media, Alexia’s rejection and the workload that came a few days before a match, was simply more than what she could handle emotionally.

So Rosalie did what she always did when it became too much. She buried herself in her work and training. She spent her whole day barricaded in her office, arranging the photoshoot schedule for the next month and working on the fan project. She skipped lunch and stayed well after the last staff member had left. She ignored the messages from Lia and Leah who had seen the story and wanted to know if their friend was alright, and sent a quick answer to Lucy, who she had briefly talked to before hiding in her office. She needed to be alone, isolate herself from the world for a bit.

Having the match here in Barcelona came as a relief for Rosalie who didn’t have to take the team bus or interact with anyone before the actual match. She had tasked the other photographers to take the arrival pictures and was able to receive and edit them in her office while everyone was preparing.

With Alexia on the bench, Rosalie found her job sligh harder than normal due to the piercing gaze she could feel on her back. It took every ounce of self control to not turn and meet her gaze head on. She knew that if she did, she would forgive the blond for the harsh words she had said. So she focused on her job, and did not linger on the pitch once the team secured the win.

The rest of the week stayed more or less the same for the French-Canadian. Wake up, run, breakfast, work, strength training, sleep then repeat. She had declined coffee with Ingrid and Mapi and had yet to decide if she was going to show up at the team bonding night, which was scheduled in 3 days.

All week she could see, as well as the rest of the team, that Alexia was clearly not in the right mindset. Her temper was short and she easily lost her patience when training wasn’t going the way she wanted. The whole team had come to fear the blonde and simply did not know how to approach their captain.

When it became clear that Alexia’s mood wasn’t going to change anytime soon. Mapi decided that it was time to have a talk. Which is why, when the midfielder was sulking all alone on the sidelines, she was swiftly grabbed by the jersey and dragged in the stands.

From their spot, they could see the rest of the girls doing drills and for a moment, Alexia was able to take a breath. She had loved watching her teammates practice when she herself could not play. She used to close her eyes and visualize herself back in the field. But for now, she was focused on the reason why her friend had dragged her in the stands in the middle of training.

The tattooed woman stayed silent while she kept looking at the blonde in the eyes.

“What?”

“You are going to talk to me now.”

“What about?” Alexia knew exactly what Mapi was hinting at, but she still tried to act confused.

“ You know exactly what I’m talking about, now spill.” Mapi said with a stern expression.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. It’s the same thing every time any of us gets close to someone. We get exposed and our whole lives are scrutinized. I don’t want this and I am pretty sure she doesn’t want that either.”

“You are scared.”

“No.”

“Alexia, you can’t let this dictate your life.”

“You don’t understand. I can’t be distracted by all this. I can’t have people think football is not my priority.”

“They won’t. Ale you are human, you are allowed to have a life outside of football. We all saw you with her. You haven’t been this happy in a long time.” Mapi said, trying to reason with her friend. She could see that beneath this facade, the woman was simply scared to allow herself to thrive outside of football.

“It’s too late now, she probably doesn’t want anything to do with me anyway.” Alexia said.

“ I know for a fact that isn’t true. She cares about you too Alexia. Make it right.” Mapi got up and made her way down the stairs, leaving Alexia alone to think. She knew her friend was right, and she knew that the true motivation behind her decision to cut ties was fear, but the feeling was still so potent that the blond could simply not allow herself to act on her emotions.

Alexia did not go back to practice, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the photographer who was currently dying under the harsh Spanish sun. Even after last week, the brunette still caught herself seeking out the captain on the pitch. She shook her head and tried to focus back on her job, but the heat combined with the exhaustion caused by her excessive training and lack of proper sleep was a deadly combination.

One second she was up, the next she was on her ass with her head on her knees, concentrating hard on staying conscious. The first to notice was Lucy, who bolted across the pitch, followed closely by Sara and Kiera.

The last thing the photographer saw was Lucy crouching down in front of her, and the feeling of her hand on her forehead before the world went black.

Rosalie woke up in Sarah's office with her head pounding and vision blurred. As soon as she opened her eyes, Lucy was all over her, making sure that the girl had everything she needed. The older English woman managed, after some arguing, to convince Rosalie to take the rest of the week off, since she had already finished her work and the rest of the photography team could manage without her just fine for two days.

A knock suddenly echoed in the room and a silhouette blocked the frosted glass of the door. Lucy stood up from the chair and opened the door slightly before sliding out once realizing who was at the door. Rosalie could not clearly see who was at the door, but she could hear the faint sound of talking

“Lucia I just want to know if she is ok.”

“ I’m telling you she’s fine. It’s just exhaustion Alexia you can relax.” Rosalie could hear a long exhale that most likely came from the blonde.

“Alexia, if you care about her so much why did you treat her like this.” Lucy asked. The captain stayed silent, but Lucy learned a lot more from the blond’s silence than any word could explain.

“Make it right ale.” Lucy said, echoing the words Mapi had said to her just a few hours prior.

Rosalie heard some footsteps and soon after, the door opened softly and a disheveled blond head poked through. Once she saw that the brunette was awake, Alexia realized that she had not planned what she would say to the photographer.

“Hey..” Her voice was so hushed and shy that Rosalie almost didn’t hear it.

“You can come in, you don’t have to hover at the door.”

“I won’t disturb you too long. I just wanted to see if you were ok.” She said, finally stepping in the room.

“Just a bit dizzy still, but I’m fine.” She said,

“Good.” She stood awkwardly for a moment, looking around the room unable to look the brunette in the eyes.

“I am sorry about the things I said. I was stressed and did not think before speaking.” Alexia finally said, taking the few steps separating her from the chair next to the exam chair.

“It’s ok, it was the stress talking, I can understand that this kind of pressure is hard to deal with.” The younger woman said. She couldn’t deny that the initial reaction had hurt her but after a while, especially after seeing the echo it had online, she was able to understand why one would react like that. “ But I want you to know that I don’t appreciate how you blamed me and my profession for someone else’s actions.”

Rosalie could excuse the reaction, but this part still stung. “ I am not like that, I respect and value the privacy of every player in this team.”

“I know. I am truly sorry.” The brunette offered a smile which was answered by Alexia’s shy one.

“ Do you need me to drive you home?” Alexia offered.

“Thank you but Lucy has that covered I think.”

“Will I see you tomorrow?” Alexia asked with the slightest bit of hope in her voice.

“ I think I’ll take the next two days off and work from home if they need me.”

“ But I’ll be there at team bonding night on Friday. The girls won’t let me miss it after disappearing on them these past two weeks.” She added when she saw the blond’s shoulder fall at her previous statement.

“ Good, I am glad you are ok Rosalia.” Alexia said, standing up and making her way to the door. “ I would like it if we could start over, be friends again.” The blond added.

“ I think we can do that.” Rosalie said with a smile.

“ Ok, you take care of yourself Rosalie please.” Alexia said before walking out of the room, leaving Rosalie alone, feeling the best she had all week.

#barca femeni #barcelona femeni #futfem #alexia putellas x y/n #alexia putellas #woso fanfics #woso community #woso imagine #alexia putellas x reader #lucy bronze #keira walsh #ingrid engen #mapi leon

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diebischesther · 4 months ago

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𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐀𝐈𝐍 ⸺ 𝑴𝑰𝑳𝑶𝑼 ❛ 𝑴𝑬𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑶𝑬̈ ❜ 𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑨𝑻𝑬

quick meta yap before i start yapping about milou as the mc for @childrenofcain-if. i need everyone to know how absolutely insane i am about the themes here. milou in her original lore already has close ties to death as she's essentially its embodiment. needless to say, i absolutely adore axel's writing & will be following this project closely !! ૮꒰˶> ᴗ <˶꒱ა ♡ image sources found at the end .

NAME. ⠀ Milou 'Melinoë' Mingate

𝒐' 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒆�� 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉; today i weep for you as i spill my kin's blood, in hope you grant me succor for when my soul departs this [ mortal realm . ]

NICKNAME. ⠀ Mai GENDER. ⠀ Cisgender Female ( she/her ) MAJOR. ⠀Biomedical Engineering¹ HAMARTIA. ⠀Paranoia¹

who can you trust, if not even yourself? you walk this earth as though you are naught but the empty shell of a woman ⸺ you are a ghost, a fever dream. the lines between reality & the figments of your imagination blur with each passing day. your senses betraying you, as though you are your own greatest adversary. would you notice if you'd be living in a dream? it matters not, for you do not know if your nightmares aren't the ones bringing you comfort, as opposed to waking in this dying world.

EXTRACURRICULARS³. ⠀ Ice Skating, Engineering, Manners and Protocol, Public Speaking, Debate Society LANGUAGES⁴. ⠀ Latin, Dutch, French, German, Mandarin², Spanish PLANNED RO. ⠀ Dumitru Constantin Diaconu

[ 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 ] ⠀ ⸺ ⠀ ethereal beauty […] you tread with the macabre once more .

Milou is blessed with hair that many would kill for ⸺ thick, jetblack strands that reach down to her waist in gentle waves. She prefers to wear them loose, sometimes curled, though also in a haphazard low bun if need be. She doesn't fret much over her appearance, the beauty of her stemming from effortless confidence. How could she not? Tall, hourglass-shaped body & a face that makes you lose your breath. Amethyst eyes that you could spend hours getting lost in & an warm olive complexion, as though kissed by the sun. As far as aesthetics go, Mingate's choices are as flippant as her character. She's a big fan of jewelry, her ear piercings and tattoos⁵ being the only constant in her daily fashion choices. Her predominant styles lie with biker & dark academia⁶.

[ 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 ] ⠀ ⸺ ⠀ fortune favours the bold .

As a woman of many names & faces, trying to figure out what goes on in that pretty little head of hers is a futile task. For those not familiar with her, it's quite the challenge to discern whether she likes you, hates you or simply tolerates you. Her demeanour is a constant pull between being friendly & seeming as though she couldn't care less about you. At first glance, Milou Mingate is the picturesque cliché of an arrogant rich kid ⸺ a brat too spoiled for her own good. Her pragmatic words are often laced with a heavy dose of sarcasm, the woman's lack of genuine consideration acting as a deterrant for those around her. Truth be told, Milou is scared. Terrified of what lay beyond, how could she let another know her when she barely knows herself? Alas, those who dare to take a leap of faith will be greatly rewarded. Behind the pessimistic extrovert's mask lay a woman full of love for those around her. Passionate. Impusilve. Unfettered. Despite what she presents herself as, Mingate sustains herself on the thrills of life. Unapologetic in her way of living ⸺ hard & fast, calculated risks taken in the heat of the moment. Don't tie her down or put a leash around her neck; for then she'll go to unperceived lengths to steal the moon & stars out of the night sky for you. But the matters of a heart are a fickle thing, better hope you discern her elusive nature before she slips out of your grasp for good.

CÉDRIC ARMAND LACROIX. ⠀ thoughts and prayers for poor ceddy bear, everyone ! when he says she is the bane of his existence, he has every right to say so and i will defend him in a court of law on this. for any true rivalry going on between them, it's rather one-sided on c's side. milou doesn't truly hate them, not even really dislike them. however, she's getting an absolute piss out of getting them riled up and has so for years now. truly surprised they haven't suffered an aneurysm yet. they're also taking second place as far as ROs go. who would have thought!

VANCE KASPER NÆSHOLM. ⠀ bro truly pissed off the wrong woman on their first day at yale... of course, milou is pretty pissed following their attempted murder, but that is not why V is gonna be in for one hell of a ride. oh no. she's rather quick to 'forgive' them. milou does hold a slight grudge for a few days, but that dissipates rather quickly. she's also a little shit though, taking advantage of the fact that V is still rather skittish around her at first. playing the hot & cold game, though milou isn't overtly mean. it's more about the anticipation, leaving them hanging & wondering whether she hates them or not. however, given they haven't decided they're better off without milou (V babe you absolutely would be please save urself before its too late), they'll eventually reach a point at which milou will assure them that no. she does not hate them. yes. they are friends. yes. they are now legally obliged to be her partner in crime and get dragged into her bullshit.

WILHELMINE JOHANNA OSTENDORF. ⠀ angsty unrequited love my beloved. yearning and pining for what you know can never be yours my beloved. please dear author i need my angst pleasepleasepleaspelapselapsle (im so normal about their potential dynamics here but need more time with them to figure out the details)

DUMITRU CONSTANTIN DIACONU. ⠀ hold my glass of fruit juice for a moment everyone because im gonna be soooo fucking normal here in a second. i will never. NEVER. shut up about fwb dynamics that turn into "oh shit i have actually fallen in love with you and i'm sorry but now i can't help but love you like a dog until the end of time". it's about the devotion. it's about the yearning. it's about coming to terms that you have found yourself in a love that transcends the capacity of words & yet you don't have to speak a single word because you know your lover understands all of it. it's about bearing the responsibility of a love you never thought could be possible. one you never thought you deserved and yet ... yet it is here. it is yours. and good fucking lord you will do everything to keep it, desperately clining to it like your life depends on it because it does. it's something that you know could reach much greater places beyond your horizon, but you're too selfish to let it go. and i need you to know that this shit goes BOTH WAYS btw. i'm extremely normal about two fucked up people that have endured too much trauma than they should be capable of withstanding, finding each other and becoming their safe haven. goodnight.

MAXINE EDYTHE WHITLOCK-SINGH. ⠀do you know what i love more than women? women who can actually just kill me. idk but that is the vibe these two give me together. i feel as though they'd become unlikely best friends, bringing the untouchable down to their knees, forcing them to walk the mortal realms alongside the other. in a totally normal, platonic and non-sapphic way btw. totally.

✱ ⠀ [ 01 ] ⠀ as far as milou's biggest flaw goes, there are a lot of good options that fit with her character. girl has a lot more vices than she has virtues (D and her are gonna be an absolute mess istg). same goes for majors, although i was more torn between whether she'd go for smth more in pre-med or sciences — so i settled with something in between. simply can't help it as a woman in stem myself .... i love me my women in stem !!

✱ ⠀ [ 02 ] ⠀ my headcanons lean toward milou being partially thai, likely stemming from her mom? although i won't go into this in depth yet bc i want to see the stuff axel has in store for us regarding mc's parents and their heritage 🤭 i'm trying to stick as close to canon as i can though, so mandarin will have to do for now.

✱ ⠀ [ 03 ] ⠀ milou is a YAPPER, which is why so many of her extracurriculars fall into the social category. she knows how to navigate social situations with an effortless ease, though she's definitely got the dramatics to show for it too. dumitru & milou being the drama king / queen of yale anyone ??? i can def see it 😭

✱ ⠀ [ 04 ] ⠀ being a dramatic nihilistic queen struggling with apathy and her place in the world, a lot of her coping mechanisms involve keeping busy all the time, which is why she's taken up trying to learn as many languages as possible (+ in the same vein, take as many extracurriculars as she can). her proficiency is latin > thai mandarin >= german >> french = spanish > dutch.

✱ ⠀ [ 05 ] ⠀ tattoos + jewelry references tba

✱ ⠀ [ 06 ] ⠀ clothing references tba (i got lazy here ok)

✱ ⠀ [ CREDITS ] ⠀ 𝒊. kuroe16370547, via former bird app . ⠀ 𝒊𝒊. louise glück, penelope's song . ⠀ 𝒊𝒊𝒊. meg_mumu, commissioned by me . ⠀ 𝒊𝒗. lu__liu, commissioned by me . ⠀ 𝒗. luca guadagnino, suspiria ( 2018 ) . ⠀ 𝒗𝒊. euripides ( tr. anne carson ), an oresteia; “orestes” .

as a last footnote : canon milou has major daddy / mommy issues and would burn the whole city down before getting within a 10 ft radius of them ..... unless her goal is to drive a knife into their back. so it's nice seeing her have a good relationship with her parents FOR ONCE. don't tell me i'm jinxing myself.

#🌙 : character — milou mingate.#🌙 : endless edits — milou mingate.#⌕ : media — children of cain.#children of cain #children of cain if #the ballad of the young gods #the ballad of the young gods if #tbotyg if #HELP THIS GOT SO MUCH LONGER THAN I WANTED IT TO BE SOBSSS #i just really care a lot about my oc ok #i love oyu miss milou you are my everything #this was interesting to write tho bc i try to make her somewhat normal #but miss milou will unfortunately never escape the freak allegations skdjfgsdkfg

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didalexiabreakupwitholgaisback · 4 months ago

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Was just watching some of the post match interviews from today and as someone who has a *mediocre* level of Spanish I have to say that Vicky by far is the easiest to understand I love when she gets interviewed because I'm not fighting for my life as much <3

haha, it's so interesting to hear which spanish speakers are easier to understand by people learning the language because it's so different from person to person. 😅

but on that note, here's vicky's comments barça's investment in youth and sydney's goal 🥹

source: juditsol_ on twitter

"it's very important that barça always invests in young people and she's another gem. very happy that she scored her first goal, and i'm sure there will be many more."

#vicky lopez #sydney schertenleib #fcb femení #futfem #woso

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fruityfluter · 6 days ago

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Welcome to Bulldog Babble! A networking space for all current Yale students. Go Bulldogs!

*Warning, yapping below the cut*

Pinned 📌 DanTheBulldog @Lux_et_Veritas After last night's incident, security will increase around campus. Student wellness resources are available for those who may need them. Click to view 30+ replies

Trending Topic Selected! -> Constance W. @constantlywinning Does anyone know that couple was fighting on campus yesterday? They’re my new source of entertainment 🍿😭

-> Catherine T. @chattycathywithac That’s Tiffany Villarreal and Cédric Lacroix; they’re callous, the farthest thing from a couple. My cousin went to school with them, said it was a war zone

-> Timothy S. @TIMMAAYY Are they aware that they're a couple??

-> Taylor P. @notthattaylor They were dancing with each other at dinner- didn’t look callous to me! 👀 *image attached*

Click here to view 5+ more replies

-> Tiff @tiffanyevillarreall What the fuck? [Warning! Profanity is not permitted on Bulldog Forums! Please reevaluate your language choices.]

Born 20XX, meet Tiffany Emiliana Villarreal, the only daughter of Elias Villarreal, the business magnate. Majoring in psychology, Tiff (as known by her friends), has always looked into meaning. Even if that meant overanalyzing every interaction and word until it hurt her brain, meaning meant something. Why can two people read the same thing and see two different meanings?

Tiffany has always done "too much". She learned Spanish and Italian from her parents, took French and German lessons ever since she was 8, and took voice lessons, while throwing herself into lyrical, waltz, and ballet classes from 7, 10, and 4, respectively. And that isn't to forget the etiquette classes her tutors recommended after a certain incident* at a party when she was younger. But she needed that. Drowning in work kept her busy, and after her mother passed, she did so much to not only try to make her mother proud, but to distract her father from the hole at the dinner table.

She's kind to almost everyone she meets. While for some reason, she doesn't understand how lower-class people live, she acts kindly simply because she can. Expect well-meaning ignorance and the type of person who expects every cent to be paid back (even though she won't confront you).

She had slowly learned to blend into the elite world, taking etiquette classes and learning to be the absolute best. Yale is a test. Can she make it without the guiding hands of her father and tutors, and can she survive the elite long enough to fool them, to make them believe she belongs there. Old money is old for a reason, and Tiffany needs to learn how to handle it.

Relationships:

Maxwell: She can almost swear that she’s seen his face somewhere, in a headline or an Instagram feed she scrolled by months ago. But here, as the RA who seems nice enough to reassure her of any concerns if needed, Tiff sees a friend. A figure to help now that her father isn’t around, even if that means it’s also another pair of eyes watching. Her paranoia wins a little with this one.

Vanessa: She seems good-natured, and Tiff is trying to let bygones be bygones (keyword trying). She always dreamed of her college roommate being her best friend, so she expects to start putting in the work. Even if their first encounter wasn't... ideal.

Cédric: Tiff always saw Cédric as a rival in school. Her dream to be the best fueled a less-than-positive relationship between the two. (She hated his guts.) But the line between love and hate is so thin, Tiff barely sees it anymore. She developed feelings somewhere between junior year and graduation, and didn’t realize until they both had diplomas in their hands and heads full of dreams. She hoped to set it aside now that they go to school together again, but unfortunately, they still somehow seem to get on each other’s nerves. But hey, at least they aren’t directly competing anymore?

Dumitra: Tiff is a little confused as to how Dumitra functions. How does one actively want to skip such an important event? For a frat party? But she seems close to Cedric, so perhaps she isn't all that bad. (Lord, Tiffany is whipped)

Wilhelm: Who?

Favorite Drink: Monster Assault. Coffee isn’t necessarily her favorite, but something needs to keep her awake. Monster Energy may as well hire her as a consultant, at the rate she consumes these things.

Aesthetic: Light academia Hamartia: Overreach (if that isn't obvious) (Idealism would be a close second.)

Other Fun Facts:

Her favorite ballet is Romeo and Juliet (Juliet is her dream role- she knows all the choreo). It made her realize her feelings for Cédric the summer before college- she saw a production and the man playing Romeo looked similar to Cédric. (She had an existential crisis during intermission.)

With 'Emiliana' meaning rival, sometimes she wonders if she and Cédric were meant to be rivals- even if she wants to drop that title now.

She'd drop psychology and her father's business for ballet. But she didn't work this hard to let her father's legacy go to a random cousin.

She almost majored in classics, but she thought psychology might help her more in the future. (AP Psychology was also the only one of her AP classes where she wasn't extraordinary)

**The incident happened when Tiff was 6, when she took a glass out of a champagne tower at one of her family's business conferences. Allegedly, when questioned about the incident, Tiffany would tell anyone who asked, "Buzz off, I'm tired!" And would dramatically pretend to sip from the glass. It gave her parents a heart attack with that one, although Elias found it quite funny.

Tiff was the first mood board I had ever created. She started this journey lol. She's my baby, and I love her to bits and pieces.

One of the few college IFs out there! (Please, I need more school-centered IFs... there's a void and I cannot code.)

Academic rivals to lovers is genuinely my drug of choice. I find it so rarely in fics; thank you so much omg.

Bulldog Babble was entirely a creation of my imagination. I don't know how. I've just been obsessed with smaus as of late. I had fun with the usernames, though.

Credit to: - @cafekitsune for the wonderful dividers!! - @childrenofcain-if for the stunning IF bro - Pinterest is for all photos/art on the mood board! (If any photographers/the artist for the middle photo want me to put credit for their photos/art, let me know!)

#interactive fiction #if: the ballad of the young gods #my ocs <3 #series: children of cain

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apple-onigiri · 2 months ago

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hi! :) its headcanon thursday!

i’ve recently found out i’ve been saying odile wrong this entire time, because apparently “oh-deal” is french and technically correct for a vaugardian name. and it’s not “oh-dial” (a la croc-odile) like i’ve been saying this whole time.

anyway following that train of thought. you know that thing where like. you have a name in a language you do not speak, but its your parents', and so you say it wrong but its the only way you know how to say it, because that's how people around you say it in their language, in their accent? even if your parents still say it right. even if they try to teach you. but the people who know that language your name is in? they can tell you’re saying it wrong. most of them won’t try to correct you because, honestly, how rude is it to correct someone on how to pronounce their own name?? but you can hear it in the way they struggle to pronounce it the way you do, the way you know it's supposed to be pronounced but can't.

so, even if oh-deal is the correct way of pronouncing it because french, h/c that odile does not in fact pronounce it that way because yes her name is vaugardian, but her dad isn’t, and neither were the people around her while she was young. she grows up learning to speak it a different way. not even necessarily like. croc-odile. just different.

and people in ka bue pronounced it wrong and she, too, knows its pronounced wrong, she just doesnt know how to make it work. and her vaugardian name may have been a source of alienation between her and her peers in ka bue, but her ka buen pronunciation of her name in itself is a source of alienation between her and the people in vaugarde.

something about distances that can never be truly breached and molding yourself to fit whatever box that you think people have set out for you.

(this, ofc, assumes that odile went by. well. odile. in ka bue. i dont remember if its mentioned anywhere if she is. but assuming that!!)

omg hiii headcanon thursday!!

this ask is soooo fun! but so unfortunate. you've activated my trap card. i'm a linguist. ohhh boy

this is an issue of phonetics being specific to languages, or, more specifically, language families. what that means is that a person born in italy and raised hearing, speaking and using italian in everyday life might not have as much issue learning the correct pronunciation of spanish because the phonetic profile of those two languages is not that distinct (tho small differences in words spelled the same like "dulce" might trip you up). most phonemes present in one are going to be familiar to the native speaker of the other because both spanish and italian are romance languages

this is not the case for, again as an example, an italian speaker suddenly attempting to learn hungarian or german. the sounds used in the languages are just different and neither your brain nor your body (i.e. your tongue and/or larynx) know how to accommodate it. i've actually had first-hand experience with this when learning english - the 'TH' sound especially. it's not present in my native language so it was causing me trouble, and for a long time my brain just rounded it up to either a 't' or an 'f'. i probably wouldn't have grasped it had it not been for the fact i've been learning english for the majority of my life

(this is why it's good to teach kids languages - their brains aren't that set in their ways yet and have enough memory space to encode this better. this talk of kids being like sponges with languages has a lot of credence!)

when it comes to odile, if her name were to be pronounced differently in ka bue, it would probably would be less o-dial and more the way it's suggested in the JP translation, オディール, so o-dī-ru. that's because asian languages don't really have an "L" sound and they conflate it with "R". they're also ruled by syllables more than singular letters, so it's hard to finish a word without a vowel at the end, unless the sound there is nasal or glottal. if that was the name she used in ka bue, i can imagine it being pronounced like that

and while i think odile wouldn't outright pronounce it that way especially after learning enough vaugardian to be fluent, it wouldn't surprise me if she pronounced it more akin to o-dirr, again, because of that L/R discrepancy. it'd probably frustrate her a lot that she can't just make her tongue shift in her mouth the way she wants it to to pronounce it in a way indistinguishable to a native speaker

we do however get the detail that she has more names than just odile - it's a conversation in the classroom by the student list, i think. and this made me think of how many people with, for example, chinese names, who function within a predominantly english-speaking environment, adopt english names for themselves to make the matter of communicating less complicated. it could very well be the case of odile taking on this name down the line, as part of her efforts to reconnect with the vaugardian half of her heritage

a fun consequence of this would be odile and siffrin being able to bond over picking names typical for vaugarde despite obviously and visibly not being from there. because yeah, in canon siffrin's name is not pronounced the way you would in english either!

gosh this got long!! so sorry! but it was just really fun to ponder this []~(￣▽￣)~* thank you for the ask, xen!!

#sorry for the linguistics rant. it will happen again #headcanon forum #in stars and time #isat #isat odile #cosmic soundwaves #odile #pondering #upon some reflection:#long post #many such cases

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ktcznsky · 11 days ago

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I'm sorry if my blog has become very politicized, but considering that my favourite game is about the Cold War and that my biggest interest so far is history, it's very difficult to disassociate these topics from politics. I don't care what political ideology you think I follow, it's something I don't plan to share in the near future.

Having explained that, I'm going to explain why I hate Adler and anything related to the CIA, therefore, why I am worry that a part of this fandom is becoming an endless tangle of disinformation about the Cold War and the washing of the CIA's image. It's not a blog specifically made to discredit anyone, rather I think it's a good introduction for anyone who is a fan of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and wants to have more historical context about the plot, and also about my opinion about it.

All the information that I will share here was taken both from books that I own, and from articles on the subject.

Also English is not my first language so probably you will see many grammatical errors and most of the information I'm going to reference will be in Spanish.

No, I don't have the excuse that it's just a game when obviously the story of this one is inclined to a very specific position. It's not like it's a non-politicized game like Minecraft would be. The main plot of the game is about a group hired by the CIA to stop a secret organization operated mostly by Soviets that wants to take down the West, in this way, the Americans illegally infiltrate several countries and commit crimes within them. That in itself sounds super-political and morally questionable.

To me, Adler is the image of everything America wants in a model citizen; a man, white, blond, soldier and loyal to the country. It's literally America turned into a man. His morality is obviously questionable, but the fact that he is so loyal to the CIA even knowing what the organization does make to me a very negative point of the character. Both the U.S. government and its intelligence and defense agencies are imperialist and do not care about anything in order not to admit defeat. This is something we could notice with the beginning of the Vietnam War in 1955.

The only reason I can find the fact that most of you ignore, do not know or normalize all this information is because of the CIA and FBI program where they have spent decades investing millions of dollars to control, recruit and finance university professors from all over the world, both within their own borders and abroad. You can find more detailed information about this in the book entitled "Spy Schools: How the CIA, the FBI and Foreign Intelligence Exploit America's Universities". I, on the other hand, will summarize it as best I can; In recent years, schools have become a disturbing line of fire for espionage, trying to recruit allies and gain access to sensitive military hardware. The FBI and CIA look for their sources in international students and faculty with close connections to government, business, and technology. Even a former Pentagon agent admitted that professors, graduates and even students are coveted by all sides, and that universities are the best places to "recruit" and that they favor intelligence work. This type of relationship between the academic and intelligence worlds translates into more or less rigged conferences, a perfect environment for recruitment. Sending their own agents or organizing everything from the shadows, from private companies, since they do not want the name of the CIA to appear anywhere. In some cases, they organize "fake" meetings with the sole motive of reaching a potential defector from an enemy country. Conferences in academia are very important because it is where these "intellectuals" exchange information. If any of that information is rigged to swing to what one organization wants, it results in many of the people who attended the conference believing what they say and then doling this information out to their students or co-workers. This basically translates into the fact that they have been rigging the teachings promoted by dozens or hundreds of teachers around the world for decades. Teachings that you or I can easily receive in the present, past or future. This program is not something that died at the end of the Cold War, but resurfaced more strongly than before after 9/11.

Returning to the subject of the Vietnam War. Vietnam was the most humiliating defeat the United States had against a communist country, but within the game they tried to make it look like the United States was winning, even more, making it appear that what they were doing within a territory that they invaded was correct (although obviously what we saw were memories of Adler implanted inside Bell's head and not as such canon, but in other games of the Black Ops saga we can see the same, since other characters such as Woods, Mason and Hudson were also in Vietnam). In this case, what Hanoi Hannah said in her broadcast in South Vietnam for the American troops were truths, and not just propaganda to lower morale. It really was like that. U.S. troops in South Vietnam were ill-informed of the development of the war. The high command did not communicate the truth to them, many of them believed they were winning, when in fact they were not. They died in vain for a country that does not care about the integrity of its citizens.

"Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die or to be maimed for life without the faintest idea of what’s going on.", was one of the things Hanoi Hannah said in her broadcasts.

The United States could not win the war and still dragged it out for 20 years because of its pride, reputation and money. The Vietnam War lasted from November 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975. War is good business and the United States knows it, there is a reason why it has been at war with low-income countries for decades. The most recent have been against Libya, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. We can see a pattern in these four countries.

And another thing to note, the Vietnamese army did not have as many resources as the Americans did. Most of them were not even capable of war. They were people who were trying to defend their territory. The Viet Cong army was made up mostly of peasants. The United States invaded their crops and they had no choice but to defend themselves. An example of this was the Mỹ Lai massacre, a war crime that consisted of the mass murder of civilians by U.S. troops. Vietnam represented the high point of the struggle for national liberation of the colonial peoples. I'm very sorry, but I can't defend or want characters related to something like that. My morals prevent me from doing so.

Vietnam since long before the war was an oppressed and colonized country. Its conquest began in 1859 and ended in 1888, being renamed French Indochina, along with Cambodia and Laos. I'm not going to explain the whole history of Vietnam because that would be too long, but you just need to know that the anti-colonial movement in Vietnam had been expanding since long before 1930. Communist expansion in Vietnam was the only way they had to free themselves from imperialism and the only reason the U.S. intervened during the revolution was because they wanted to prevent communist expansion in Southeast Asia. Dude, are you going to tell me that instead of being happy that a people is achieving independence, you go and ally yourself with the French colonizers and create a fucking war against them just because you don't like that what motivated them to the revolution was communism? Call me crazy, but I'm totally against it.

If you go to Google and search for the definition of the MK Ultra you will get this:

Project MK Ultra, sometimes referred to as the CIA's mind control program, is the code name given to a secret and illegal program designed and executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency for experimentation on human beings, without their proper consent.

It was a CIA project, it was not something they didn't know about or chose to ignore. It was something financed by them, and for what? To ruin people's lives? Because this project ruined the lives of many people. Not only of the victims, but also of the relatives. The CIA only cares about winning, no matter the methods, the consent, the integrity of its citizens, nothing.

I'll attach a video analyzing and explaining what happened to the survivors of the project in case you don't want to read more than you should:

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Even Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was part of this project, but not as a victim, but as one of the researchers within the project. In his manifesto we can highlight that one of the breaking points for him was due to the project.

From the beginning of the CIA, these were built on disinformation and sabotage. There are thousands and thousands of declassified documents about the CIA involved in a myriad of things that, if they really wanted to protect peace, to overthrow imperialism and fascism, they would not have done. Such as the hunt and murder of Monika Ertl or their involvement in the execution of Che Guevara. That although Che Guevara was not the best person in the world, we must admit that he understood what the people of South America were going through and only wanted the liberation of the oppressed peoples, as Fidel Castro wanted with his Cuban people. Che Guevara was an enemy of imperialism and the United States is supposed to have been too. And as for the assassination attempts on Fidel Castro, in which Frank Woods said he was involved in one of these in an in-game dialogue, it's something I can't understand either. Can someone explain to me if they see more than 600 assassination attempts on a man who only wanted the liberation and improvement of his people as normal? Fidel Castro was not even a communist at the beginning of the revolution. The CIA portrayed him as a communist dictator when it was the fault of the United States that Castro "proclaimed" himself a communist. Literally the only reason Fidel Castro said his revolution was a socialist revolution is because the U.S. ran over him to do it. Fidel never believed entirely in ideology. He was an opportunist and saw in communism an opportunity to defeat the United States with the help of other socialist powers. The one who really believed in the ideology was Che Guevara, assassinated with the help of the CIA on October 9, 1967 in Bolivia when he tried to start a revolution, in which we remember that Bolivia was being oppressed at that time. Many of Cuba's communist policies were implemented by Che, not Fidel. And Cuba's current situation is not even Fidel's fault, but the United States and its embargo operation that began in 1958. The only reason Cuba didn't end up the way it is now much earlier was because of the Soviet Union and its aid to Cuba. Castro did everything possible to keep his people free, but the United States prevented it in every possible way.

I don't think Adler is a Nazi just because he worked in the CIA, but there is a very big possibility that he collaborated with Nazis during his service in the CIA, since in 2001 the CIA published 10.000 documents acknowledging how the Americans "reconverted" without hesitation a whole series of agents who served Adolf Hitler for the espionage offensive generated during the Cold War. Which makes me think that it would not be strange if one of the dozens of researchers within the multiple laboratories spread throughout the United States of the MK Ultra project had been a Nazi, although this has not been confirmed, since many of the research documents were destroyed by order of the director of the CIA in 1973.

If you live in Spain you will know the famous case of Otto Skorzeny, who went into exile in Spain and lived there comfortably while organizing for the CIA the Carlos V Legion, an army of renegades and veterans of the Third Reich ready to assault the USSR. There are many theories that the CIA had a lot to do with the politics of Spain and the terrorism experienced between the 70s and 90s, although clearly this is not entirely confirmed.

These are not even isolated cases. It's not as if the CIA just did it once, there are thousands and thousands of cases, and there are still thousands and thousands of undeclassified documents that God knows they will contain.

After all this rambling, I am going to attach some of the human rights violations that the CIA has committed since the founding of its organization.

Clandestine detention centers (Black Sites), war crimes and extraordinary surrender. They sent prisoners to be tortured by other governments. Admitted by Bush in 2006. In this case, the destruction of the CIA interrogation videos in 2005 also occurred. There were many tapes in which they applied "enhanced interrogation techniques," a euphemism for torture. In 2007, Red Cross investigators concluded in a secret report that interrogation methods applied to al-Qaeda members could lead to the Bush administration officials who approved this being accused of war crimes. Extraordinary rendition is the process by which a prisoner is clandestinely transferred from the place where he was captured to an interrogation center in a country not subject to the restrictions of U.S. law.

Police training for countries with problems of terrorism and drug trafficking. The training and equipping of this police included Iran, Vietnam, Brazil, and other countries; those who were involved in torture, murder, and suppression of legitimate political activity. The training was provided to the so-called anti-communist regimes, regardless of whether or not they were dictatorships. The CIA's training included topics such as counterinsurgency techniques, the use of weapons and communist ideology. This also meant, in practice, the increased control that the armed forces of the host countries exercised over the police. The relationship between ICITAP, OPDAT and the CIA. ICITAP was being used by the CIA to recruit agents from among foreign law enforcement officials. Difficulties in determining costs and scope of assistance.

MK Ultra. On April 13, 1953, Allen Welsh Dulles, who was then director of the CIA, launched the program called MK Ultra, under the leadership of Sidney Gottlieb. Their goal was the development of drugs for mind control. The experiments were conducted on living humans, often without their knowledge or consent. In 1964, the name of the project, known from that date as MK SEARCH, was changed. In 1973, the records of the MK Ultra project were deliberately destroyed on the orders of Richard Helms, who was then director of the CIA. Because of such destruction, it has proved difficult and in many cases impossible to have complete information on the more than 150 separately funded research subprojects sponsored by MK Ultra and other CIA programs.

Targeted killings. It is the crime that a state organization or institution commits against an individual, in a premeditated manner, outside of legal proceedings or the battlefield and often after the development of intelligence actions. The CIA has admitted to knowing, providing support or being involved in assassination attempts or assassinations actually committed, of foreign political leaders such as Fidel Castro, Patrice Lumumba, Ngo Dinh Diem, Abd al-Karim Qasim or Rafael Trujillo. In this case it applies to the example I gave earlier of Monika Ertl. There are a lot of names attached to this point that I prefer to omit, as there are too many and it would be impossible for me to add them all.

As a final part, I want to add the issue of late capitalism in post-Soviet countries. This is a little-known topic, as the problems of non-Western countries are often very little known and poorly informed, and were overshadowed by many other events during that time.

As a way of summing it up a lot, late capitalism is a term popularized by the Belgian Marxist Ernest Mandel, although it was first used by Werner Sombart in 1902. This term describes the stage of capitalism characterized by the expansion of the process of accumulation(increase in machinery, plants, education, training, professional development, experience, etc.), internationalization(division of a company's production processes into different countries to lower costs, gain market, have better supply or better state policies in favor of transnational corporations) and centralization of capital(wealth is concentrated in a small group of capitalists), the introduction of automation in production and the reduction of the turnover time of capital. This for post-Soviet countries was mostly chaos, since the economy and the people could not keep up with this industrialization, since late capitalism not only affected the capital of the country, but also colonized the economic, social, education, art, science, history, architecture and etc. sphere of the population.

The fall of the Soviet Union was a misfortune for many and a victory for others. The euphoria that some of the ex-Soviet countries once had when the Soviet Union fell, ended up turning into pessimism and misfortune, since many of these supposedly promising countries ended up becoming anti-liberal and even authoritarian governments.

While the countries of Eastern Europe are, in fact, richer today than they were in 1989, achieving that situation entailed immense economic suffering and social dislocation: the transition to capitalism generated the largest and longest-lasting economic collapse to affect any region of the world in modern history. It should also be remembered that in 1989, the Soviet Union was going through an economic and social crisis, so the assessment is not very fair. For this reason, we should not always rely on assessments based on simple measures, we must also understand the context within countries during the aforementioned times. During this transition, more than 10 Eastern European countries suffered an increase in poverty never experienced before, even when they were part of the Soviet Union they had never suffered anything like it. 45% of the population lived on the threshold of extreme poverty on less than 5€ a day.

Inequality of income and wealth skyrocketed, resulting in the transition, a very marked division between social classes. It would be one thing to plunge into extreme poverty for the first time, but it's quite another to suffer it while watching people around you living with wealth never seen before.

On top of all this, emigration, alcohol consumption, death and crime rates (both homicides, suicides, heart disease and etc.) skyrocketed in these countries. Fertility also plummeted. Many Eastern European countries experienced demographic declines similar to, or even greater than, those experienced by countries involved in major wars. It was undoubtedly unprecedented.

Have you ever read a sentence similar to he have sadness in his eyes you can only find in East European gay porn? This peculiar phrase to describe a specific type of look in men comes because of this, the late capitalism in these countries and the desperate need of many people (in this case young men) to earn money and get ahead. This is a very good example of the desperate situation that all these countries were going through at that time. You can find more information about this in this article that I am going to attach:

And this is where you are going to ask me; What do I want to get at with all this information, and, what does all this have to do with the United States? As is well known, the Cold War era was a time of espionage, sabotage and paranoia among many countries, the United States having its main focus on the Soviet Union, when it finally fell, they were the first to intervene in the countries in which it was divided to force them in one way or another to become capitalist, and more importantly, to turn all these countries against each other. The reason why today we can see that many people in these countries hate anything related to communism and the Soviets is because of the strong intervention that the United States had in them. A similar case could be found in the intervention of the United States throughout Latin America for centuries. The disinformation campaign they had in these Eastern European countries was immense and in the end, successful. My theory of why people (mostly young people) in these countries associate extreme poverty with the Soviets is because of what they suffered in the transition to capitalism, believing that this was the way they lived when the Soviet Union was still standing. Let's think that 34 years have passed since the fall of it. It could also be because of the great program of decommunization that some of these countries had, turning them in some way radically against anything related to communism. The biggest example could be the decommunization in Ukraine, where they went so far as to ban any communist symbols, historical people related to them, books and etc. Reaching the point of arresting people.

The United States intervened in these countries with tactics such as alleged humanitarian aid and admissions to international organizations because of the extreme situation they were suffering. In this way they blackmailed and bought off several governments.

I added this point to give an example that even though the Cold War ended, the United States did not stop its tactics and interventions in other countries.

As a point in the topic; between 1946 and 2000, the United States tried to influence 81 foreign elections, comparing it to other countries such as USSR/Russia, with 36 attempts to influence, we can note that the number is much higher.

In conclusion, I want to remind you that this blog is informative. I have written some of my opinions and theories, but I have done that in an easy to understand way so that you do not think that it is part of what really happened, but to imply that it is a personal opinion. I don't try to influence the opinions of others or impose my own on others. Nor did I try at any time to aggrandize the Soviet Union, excuse its actions and much less say that the characters from Perseus organization in the videogame were innocents. Rather, I try to give a broader point of view of the events that occurred at that time, focused on the United States, since as I said at the beginning, I have seen people talk in a worrying way about these issues without even fully knowing what happened and also because the country is one of the main focuses of the plot of the game. Maybe in the future I'll do another blog explaining in depth about the Soviet Union and what I think was what pushed the Perseus organization to form and do everything they did.

My biggest mistake so far is to be so naïve as to think that there are people interested in knowing history and avoiding making the same mistakes of the past or understanding in any way the context of the world around us. If we turn off the empathy switch, we will stop being human.

#call of duty cold war #black ops cold war #cold war era #cod cw #call of duty #russell adler #ussr #united states #history #vietnam war #mk ultra

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