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kurt-wagner-official · 1 year

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Post #6: UXM issues 105-108

The X-Men arrive back at the mansion to find Eric the Red waiting for them. They attack, but are interrupted by Firelord, who decimates them even faster than Magneto did. The X-Men have, overall, been doing pretty terribly in all their battles in the last few issues. For all their training and individual skill, they’re still not used to fighting as an effective, cohesive team, certainly not when Scott isn’t there to lead them. We learn that Eric the Red had Alex and Lorna attack Firelord so that Eric could pretend he was the victim of the X-Men’s unprovoked attacks. Meanwhile, Lilandra has reached the Earth’s upper atmosphere when her pursuers finally destroy her ship. She uses the teleport to beam herself down itno Jean’s apartment just in time, but she’s quickly followed by Firelord, who’s come for Xavier. Jean gets her first fight as Phoenix, and she and everyone involved are shocked when she and Firelord are evenly matched. Jean finds herself intoxicated by her own power, an accidental foreshadowing for a story that at this point hasn’t been conceived. She takes him out, and the X-Men arrive, but both are too late to stop Eric from building a star-gate and taking Lilandra through. Jean reactivates it- in front of her parents, who had no idea about the X-Men- and she and the team jump through to save Lilandra and the universe.

In issue 106, Firelord confronts Xavier, who’s visions of Lilandra come back full force and overwhelm him. He flashes back to when his nightmares began and he was being comforted by Moira, who we know by now is his ex-girlfriend with lingering feelings. The flashback shifts to a training session where Logan is losing it on Peter before Scott stops him. The two men almost come to blows once again. Later writers tend to center the Scott-Logan rivalry on Jean, but in the early days it was based on their philosophical differences when it came to leadership and violence. It’s much more interesting this way, and provides development for all three characters rather than regression. Although Logan is coming from a place of berserker rage, he does have a point, as Sean points out- Scott has been treating the new team like the old one. The original X-Men were children who grew up and learned to fight together. The new team is all adults, who’ve been loners most of their lives and are already used to fighting that way. All this has been compounded by Scott’s abandonment issues after most of his family left, and the stress and pain they’re all feeling after John’s death. Suddenly, the original X-Men show up and attack, mocking the new X-Men- and Scott- as failures and poor substitutes. They realize pretty quickly that these are false images, just as Xavier shows up. It turns out the stress of his nightmares has caused the worst parts of Xavier’s subconscious to lash out at his students, a story which will happen many times in years to come. It’s interesting that Xavier talks about this like a separate person. He wants to believe that he’s the person Scott sees him as, a loving father and selfless hero for mutants. And that’s true, but it’s only half the story. Xavier often commits horrible acts, either for self-preservation and for the greater good, and never admits them as a personal fault. This goes back to the formation of the X-Men in the first place- Xavier often feels guilt for bringing children into his war with Erik, but he also tells himself it was the right thing to do for the world. Claremont is the first writer to really touch on these aspects of the character, but later writers will devote their entire runs towards it. Back to the story at hand, though; in the present, Xavier finally realizes that his nightmares have actually been manifestations of a telepathic link with Lilandra, a revelation which allows his mind to finally heal.

Issue 107 is the penultimate chapter of the Phoenix Saga, and the first full appearance of the Shi’ar, the Imperial Guard, and the Starjammers. We begin with the X-Men having just arrived through the star-gate to find themselves under attack by the Guard. The fight has a few good character moments. The first is when Kurt uses his image inducer to appear as a huge monster and frighten Hobgoblin, when he mentions off-hand that he’s been thinking about throwing the image inducer away. It’s a throwaway comment, but it has huge implication’s for Kurt’s character and acceptance of his appearance. The second is when Logan shrugs off a blast from Starbolt and keeps fighting. Claremont’s been playing it very close to the chest with Logan, partially because in the beginning he was his least favorite character, and this is one of the first hints of his healing factor; up until now, his only explicit powers have been his claws and senses. Lilandra tells them how her brother, Emperor D’Ken, is planning to enter the M’kraan Crystal in search of ultimate power, which could threaten all of existence. Just as the X-Men are about to be defeated, the Starjammers show up, and together they defeat the Guard. But just then, the stars align and the Crystal opens.

Issue 108 is the finale to the Phoenix Saga, but even more importantly, it’s the first issue with John Byrne as artist. Dave Cockrum is a good artist, but there’s a strong case to be made that Claremont and Byrne are the best creative team in Marvel history, and it starts here. The issue starts with the X-Men and Starjammers battling the guardians of the M’Kraan Crystal, who are tasked with keeping its power safe. That fails when D’Ken makes contact with the Crystal, pulling all those present into it. As a final defense, the Crystal subjects everyone to their own worst fears. Jean is immune, because her fear is death, and she’s already been there and come back. However, Scott’s fear is of his own power, which is unleashed on the heart of the Crystal, cracking it. Jean feels a connection to the Crystal and starts to become a being of pure energy, taking the form of a bird made of fire. She has a vision and learns that the Crystal contains a universe, and if it’s released, it’ll consume and destroy all of existence. She can enter and repair it, but doing so would convert her completely into energy, erasing her from existence. She needs a human anchor, which she finds by linking her lifeforce to Ororo and to Corsair of the Starjammers, who she scans and reveals to be Scott’s father. Jean fully becomes the Phoenix ands links the entire universe to the souls of herself and the X-Men, restoring the cracks and saving reality. The heroes are then transported home, along with Lilandra. D’Ken has been rendered catatonic by the Crystal, which should leave Lilandra as ruler, but she’s still legally a traitor, so for now she’s banished to Earth.

Some more stray observations from the entire arc; before all the retcons, the Phoenix was not an exterior force, but the natural power of Jean herself. I have mixed feelings about this; the Phoenix Force as a plot device has been overused a lot, but it’s also given us some great stories, especially with Rachel, one of my favorite characters ever. We learn in the M’Kraan Crystal that Kurt’s greatest fear is the mob that attacked him in his first appearance, but with the faces of the X-Men, which I find very heartbreaking. This arc also saw Peter relax more and develop his sense of humor as he starts to develop more clearly into the gentle giant he’ll be for the rest of his history. We saw more cracks appear in Scott’s psyche as he starts to place Jean above the X-Men and doubt the professor. At the only X-Man who hasn’t gotten character development is Logan. If it weren’t for John Byrne coming on board and convincing Claremont otherwise, Logan would have been written out of the series pretty soon after this, which would have changed comic book history. Byrne also helps turn Wolverine into the icon he is, and when Byrne leaves, Logan is too popular to be written out. Claremont makes the best of it by turning Logan into a fascinating and deep character for the next decade and a half. This arc also saw the end of Dave Cockrum, co-creator of some of the most beloved X-Men ever. Cockrum was also the sole creator of the Starjammers, who he convinced Claremont to write into the series in order to premier them by making Corsair Scott’s father. They kinda come out of nowhere and their own series never really takes off, but they’ll be back soon in UXM. The Phoenix Saga on its own is an okay story, but it’s more important for the things it sets up. Juggernaut and Magneto are reintroduced, the Shi’ar appear, and of course Jean becomes the Phoenix. But the plot itself kinda jumps from set piece to set piece, and the ending is good but it comes out of nowhere. There’s some great character development, but that’s true for all of Claremont’s stories. Regardless, it was a very enjoyable read, and things only get better from here.

#wes reads xmen

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millenialfanfictionaddiction · 3 years

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Go Go Karasuno: An Old Rival (Pt 1)

THIS FIC IS 18+

Warnings: swearing, light teasing

Word Counts: 7,000+

Flasback

"Keishin you asshole" you shout for the end of the court. God how you despised Ukai Keishin! The man was the bane of your existence at Karasuno High. He was always one upping you. Always one step ahead. He always got the praise while you remained in his shadow.

"Calm down Y/N! I'm just teasing you. I promise I'll be quiet during your serve this time" Keishin says as he smirks at you through the net.

"You say that every time asshole, yet we continue to have this discussion" you say with a huff.

You are annoyed and honestly just fed with with him. You didn't even want this practice match but of course, a lot of the girls had crushes on the boys team so you felt like you had to join. Even thought you couldn't stand Keishin’s big ego clogging up your breathing room.

"Just serve Y/N. Ignore him" one of your teammates shout.

You take a deep breath, tossing the ball up to serve.

Serving required the utmost concentration for you. You didn't know how people could effortlessly serve with background noise and people cheering. You hated that. You're teammates knew it and so did your coaches. Most of the time you didn't have to worry about noise, but when you were playing the boys team, you knew you always had to worry about something.

"Just do it already" you hear a voice shout as your hand smacks the ball in front of you causing it to barrel towards the net.

"Aye net ball" Keishin yelled from the other side of the court as he snickered at you.

"I'm seriously gonna kick your-" you start to say as your teammates gather ground to stop you from commit a felony.

"Alright that's enough" Coach yells from the sidelines "lets wrap it up."

You sigh as the boys high five each other, celebrating their victory. You line up with your team as you prepare to thank the boys team and shake hands.

You approach the net, extending your hand to Keishin while looking down.

"Better luck next time Y/N. But hey I can see the improvement. Just try getting it over the net next time" he smiles shaking you hand as you continue to stare at the floor.

Anger. You are so mad that he beat you again.

You sulk to the sidelines as you begin to dry off with a towel and drink your water.

"Will I ever be as good as him?"

Flashback ends

8 years.

8 whole years have passed since you last seen Keishin or any of the Karasuno Alumni. Now you find yourself standing at the gates wondering how fate brought you here.

It wasn't like your memories of High School were awful. You got good grades, played volleyball. You were even the captain of the girls team your 3rd year. For all intensive purposes, you loved High school.

You just hated Ukai Keishin with a passion. Sure you realized your teenage hatred of the man was petty. Of course it was. It was almost 10 years ago but yet you couldn't forget the man. There was just something that irked you to no end about him and you were glad your past 8 years had been Keishin-free.

After high school, you traveled to Toyko for school. After graduating you worked in Tokyo in a corporate office. You loved the job a lot. The city life was right up your alley. The people, the shopping, the nightlife. Everything. Not that you necessarily partook in those activities but you enjoyed the options. You had friends, your whole life was in Tokyo.

It's not like you wanted to be back in Miyagi. It wasn't by choice you were here.

You're parents had left after you graduated high school, following you to the cities. Unfortunately, when your grandfather got sick, you were the only one who could help.

Your parents both had prior commitments with work and you didn't have family in the area. You're job allowed you to work remotely. It was both a blessing and a curse. You were only going to be in town for a few weeks. Just to get your grandfather and grandmother settled in a senior living center.

Your parents had offered them to move in with them in Toyko but your grandfather would have none of it. He was as stubborn as they come. He hated the idea of "the big city". Your grandmother didn't really mind anyway but she wasn't going to leave your grandfather as long as he was living so you just gave up.

So how does that bring you back to Karasuno you ask?

Well a few of your fellow alumni had found out you were back in town. I'm talking Takinoue Yūsuke and Shimada Makoto, both former classmates as well as former volleyball players. You knew they were friends with Keishin but you never minded them. They were always nice to you and treated you kindly. Sure they joked around with you but they never pressed you like Keishin did. So imagine your surprise when you showed up to Shimada Mart with your grandma in toe only to find Makoto stocking shelves.

To say you were shocked wouldn't be entirely accurate, I mean his name is on the store. You just figured he had moved on. When he invited you for drinks with Yusuke, you accepted.

Not once did the conversation turn to Keishin which you appreciated. The men knew of your rivalry well. It almost seemed like neither of you had moved on from one another.

They had talked about the boys team and how amazing they were. You still enjoyed volleyball talk and even played on a small team in Toyko on the occasional weekends. They told you about their neighborhood association and how they were playing a match with the boys of Karasuno. They mentioned needing a setter to which you immediately perked up. You didn't ask questions, not even thinking about why they needed a setter.

You figured since the conversation avoided Keishin that he was no longer in the area. You knew of his families store but also knew that he probably didn't live around here. You offered your services as a setter for a practice game. The men looked at one another, nodding in agreement. You figured what could be the harm. You got to play volleyball and kick some kids asses.

It would be a lot of fun.

Keishin finished up his shift at his family store leaving it to his mother to tend while he attended practice. He hadn't thought much high-school since he graduated honestly. He was happy in his life.

He had good friends, a solid family support system and of course, he was the head coach of the Karasuno boys volleyball team. He walked to practice as he's thoughts drifted. They often did. He'd light a cigarette, think about things and by the time he finished, he was at the gates to Karasuno. He had scheduled a practice match tonight. He knew the neighborhood association lacked members but the Karasuno boys were always willing to fill in.

For some ungodly reason, his thoughts drifted to you. He hadn't thought about you in years.

That was a lie. A complete lie.

He actually thought about you often and how he was a complete and utter jerk in high school. He would never admit he had a crush on you back then but he did enjoy your little rivalry the two of you had. He always thought you were a great setter but he always strived to be better. It was just how he was. He knew his little crush would never amount to anything. You were way smarter and way more attractive. You had life goals and he strived to stay on the volleyball team. He hadn't dreamt of leaving Miyagi. He knew he wasn't college bound. He knew he'd always be here but you, you always dreamed of more and he admired that.

He thought you were probably some rich lady by now with a husband and a family. He laughed because he imagined your husband staying home while you worked because that's just how you were. You were strong and independent. You never settled.

Keishin entered the gym where the Karasuno boys were practicing.

"The neighborhood association will be here in 10 minutes" he yelled.

"Yes coach" the boys yelled in return as they continued to warm up for their practice game.

"Suga I'm going to need you to set for the association again tonight" he said. Sugawara Koushi nodded as he went back to warming up with the spikers. Takada Ittetsu, Karasuno’s faculty advisor and other coach, soon came bounding into the gym as he often did. He was always racing around it seemed like.

He had meetings, papers to grade and other things teachers worried about. Keishin laughed at how different him and Takeda were yet they made a great coaching team.

"Alright guys the show is here" a voice shouted from the doors as they were thrown open.

Keishin sighed, placing his head in his hand.

"Takinoue you talk to much" Shimada rolled his eyes as he smacked Takinoue on the shoulder walking over to Keishin.

"I've got Suga warming up for you guys" Keishin said to Makoto.

"Ahh no need tonight man, we've got a setter" Shimada said as he rested his hand on Keishin’s shoulder.

"Huh?" Keishin questions and the doors flew open. His eyes and the eyes of the rest of the teams eyes flew to the door.

Keishin froze

"Damn I see they still haven't fixed these God forsaken doors. It's been like 10 years damn" you said as you switched from your street shoes.

Everyone was staring at you.

"Hello everyone" you smile as you wave, still not noticing the long blonde hair coach on the sidelines staring holes in your head.

The boys bowed to you as you smiled.

You turned your body to walk to Shimada as you begin to speak "you should have told me-" you stop making direct eye contract with Keishin, your mouth dropping open.

"Keishin?" You say shockingly

"Y/N?" Keishin said equally as shocked.

"Oh whoops" Takinoue looks at you laughing awkwardly "I guess we forgot to mention the little detail that Keishin is the Karasuno teams coach ha ha"

Shimada's eyes went wide as he waited for you to speak.

"Yes you forgot to mention that LITTLE detail" you speak sharply as you whip your head to both Shimada and Takinoue.

Keishin is still frozen.

You're here? Why? How? And your setting for the Neighborhood association? Oh dear God!

"Long time no see Keishin" you speak directly as you look at him.

He thought you were beautiful then but now you looked spectacular! His brain and heart were thinking and beating at 1000 miles per hour yet no words were formed from his mouth.

Gosh this was awkward.

Shimada and Tokinoue watched in wonder.

Everyone did.

The Karasuno team could sense the tension between you two.

"What's with coach I've never seen him this quiet" Tanaka Ryunosuke whispers to Nishinoya Yu.

"No clue but it's making me nervous" Noya said in response.

You wanted for Keishin to speak only to be met with silence

"Well ok then" you clap your hands together "I'm here to set so let's get this show on the road."

You walk towards the practice jerseys as you slip one on. Everyone seems stunned but nobody says anything. You look back at everyone as they awkwardly go back to their tasks.

Takinoue walks up to you as you start stretching. You glare at him.

"This is all your fault" you say sharply as he puts on a practice jersey.

"Don’t expect any sets today" you growl as you walk to the sidelines talking with your new team for the evening.

The boys welcome you with open arms. Ennoshita Chikara, one of Karasuno's wing spikers greats you with a bow.

"Umm miss would you mind if we practice a few sets before the game starts?" He asks pleasantly.

"Oh please call me Y/N! And of course! I'm a new setter to you so I totally understand wanting to get comfortable" you smile as you walk towards the net.

Keishin is still staring. You're sure his eyes dried out by now from not blinking.

Ennoshita describes his ideal setup to you as you are mental notes. You remember a teammate who had a similar style so you try to adjust what you can.

Ennoshita throws a ball to you as you set perfectly for a kill.

"Nice kill" you say with a smile. Ennoshita blushes.

"That was a great set Y/N! I don’t think I've hit a ball that confidently in a long time" he says with a smile as he rubs the back of his head.

"Well thank you but I'm a bit rusty. The ball drifted a bit too much towards the net for my liking. I'll adjust" you say with a smile as the next teammate tosses to you.

“She hasn't changed a bit” Keishin thinks to himself.

He always thought you were too hard on yourself in high school. He admired you but you were always trying to do more. He knew you didn't really like him but he didn't actually know the reason. He just thought you found him to be annoying.

Keishin snaps out of his thoughts as he blows the whistle. Everyone lines up, thanking each other for the game as they proceed to their spots.

The game goes on for a while. You see Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo’s quick and your eyes sparkle. You knew that move had to be a shocker to almost anyone playing against them. You learned to never underestimate a player. You knew the smallest players were out the most dangerous. But you had to admit that even the quickness and trust the duo displayed was phenomenal.

During a break, Kageyama asked if you'd observe his technique. You felt honored as you knew the boy was a prodigy. He was a quick thinker on the court and adapted well. You could also tell he was a lot like you were. He was hard on himself and always strived to do better. You observed the infamous "falling toss" that just stopped mid air. It was amazing to see. You'd never even dream of being able to pull something off like that.

Honestly it seemed like a “Keishin” move to you. You laughed as you thought about all the times you rolled your eyes at his ridiculous sets. He was always trying to outrun the blockers. Always trying to open the paths for his spikers.

"That tosses was phenomenal boys" you smile as you applaud their efforts. They both bow as they disperse and continue their training.

Your eyes met Keishins again.

Honestly we're you really going to ignore him this whole time?

“It's been almost 10 years Y/N he's probably matured” you think to yourself as you gather the courage to approach the coach. Then again this was Ukai Keishin we were talking about. The asshole who constantly made it a mission to get under your nerves in high school.

When the second practice match started, you were you to serve. Keishin smiled to himself thinking about the cute look you got on your face as you prepared to serve. It made his hard warm. You didn't fail to notice his smile but you're thoughts automatically drifted back to high school. You hated that smile so much.

You prepared to serve as suddenly you heard someone clear their throat. You missed the serve completely, hitting a net ball. Keishin snickered to himself.

“Man you really hadn't changed all that much” he thought as he was thinking about how much you hated missing serves.

Your neck snaps to him as you glare "I know you did that on purpose" you spit at him.

Keishin just smiles "Y/N you really think I'm out here to mess your serves up?"

You definitely hadn't changed.

You huffed as you glared at Keishin as he smirked.

Shimada and Takinoue looked at each other. Part of them was hoping they would see you chuck a ball at Keishin while a part of them wondered how you two had managed to ignore your feelings for each other for so long.

The game ended as the boys cleaned the gym and thanked you for the game.

Keishin watched as you took off the practice jersey. Your shirt lifting, exposing your tummy bit to reveal your smooth skin. It was now or never .

"Umm hey Y/N, thanks for helping out" he says as he approaches you

You continue to wipe the sweat from your forehead as you take a drink of water. "No problem. It's a great team you have here" you say while avoiding eye contact.

Keishin wished you'd just look at him. You really didn't still hate him did you?

"Well I’m off" you say as you wave and smile to the team and the association. You quickly move to the gym doors, replacing your shoes and walking away.

"You sure blew that one" Shimada snickers behind Keishin.

"She really had no clue I was the coach?" Keishin looks at Shimada.

"Not one clue" he says in return "besides this provided so much entertainment." He throws his head back laughing as he walking towards the gym doors.

“Wyou blew this one Keishin” he thinks to himself as he sighs taking a seat in a folding chair.

He really did blow this one.

taglist: @axoxtxhxh

#justiceforthehaikyuucoachs #haikyuu #haikyuucoaches #haikyuu!!#karasuno #ukai #ukai keishin #keishin ukai smut #keishin x y/n #team mom series #teammom #team mom

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blushing-titan · 3 years

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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about chapter 138 again, and I came to a few conclusions. First and foremost, I’m surprised at the amount of Mikasa’s fans who are happy about the possibility of the cabin vision being an actual AU. Mikasa has been one of my favorite characters pretty much since the beginning, but I feel like - if the AU is real - it’s a huge step back for her progress and general well-being. Let me explain my point below - warning, it’s pretty long! I’ll be using manga panels (I obviously don’t own them, all credits go to the author!), and there will be spoilers.

My perspective on Eremika

I’m a firm believer that Eren and Mikasa’s relationship is a bit too unhealthy for Mikasa, at least in it’s current state - to me, it’s clear as a day that it’s way too unbalanced. Mikasa just invests more in it - it’s been shown countless times, both in the manga and anime, that Eren’s safety and well-being is her top priority. He’s on her mind most of the times and she constantly wants to be near him - she thinks of him as her safe place and home.

But what about Eren? He’s often irritated and suffocated by her overprotectiveness. He’s quite a proud person who doesn’t want to be constantly saved - despite generally needing it sometimes. In my eyes, it’s another imbalance - Eren wants to be the strong one, but since Mikasa is just naturally better at that, he constantly feels belittled, like it’s a form of rivalry.

On top of that, throught the entire series Eren has his own set of dreams and goals that doesn’t necessarily always revolve around Mikasa - all while Mikasa makes up her plans and goals solely around Eren. She even admits that all she wants is just to be at his side.

What concerns me too, however, is that Mikasa often puts Eren’s safety and well-being over her own - and it’s something that she realizes.

Sometimes, Mikasa’s friends act as a voice of reason, but when someone tries to raise any objections or concerns against Eren, she usually backs him up or tries to rationalize his actions. In the example below, Jean is concerned about the scar that Mikasa got after she got attacked by Eren (right after Eren lost control over his titan in chapter 12).

On top of that, Mikasa can be very passive, and even uncritical when it comes to Eren’s more questionable actions. There are times in which the latter can get a bit too blunt, or even straight up mean, but Mikasa either protects him, tries to justify his actions or is literally immobilized by them - like in the scene in which Eren insults her and proceeds to fight Armin, who’s been trying to back her up. Notice how Mikasa is unable to stop Eren from continuously attacking Armin (when, a reminder, the latter one stood up for her), but immediately jumps in to stop Armin from attacking Eren. You can clearly see that even she is shocked by her reaction.

We can also see her being in denial about Eren’s hurtful actions later on. She doesn’t even want to talk about it when Jean brings it up:

She’s also still concerned and worried about Eren a few chapters later, after he had done and stated that he’s about to do terrible things - even at times when her other friends were endangered. This time, it’s Armin who tries to act as a voice of reason.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves:

Do I think that Eren doesn’t care about Mikasa, or even hate her (as he said)? No - she’s obviously extremely important to him and he was definitely lying during the table scene. Personally, I’ve never seen him having any romantic feelings towards her, but that doesn’t mean anything - love doesn’t always have to be romantic and I 100% believe that she’s still someone who he holds very dear to his heart. There are many moments that show that he’s also very protective of her, and that - along with Armin - she’s one of the most important people in his life.

But my point still stands - aside from that, the relationship is just too unbalanced to be considered healthy, especially for Mikasa. Both Eren and Mikasa see it in different light, which often cause them to collide. I just can’t help but feel like Mikasa sacrifices too much for it, too - she often ends up jeopardizing her safety, constantly worries about Eren and clashes with her friends because of it. To some extent, Eren may be doing some of these things as well - but let’s be 100% honest, never nearly as much as Mikasa does. He fiercly protects her when she’s in danger and backs her up when he agrees with her, but at the end of the day he has his own goals and opinions. He doesn’t fixate himself with Mikasa nearly as much as Mikasa does it with him - he’s never jealous of anything but her skills, meanwhile she's often on alert when he’s around other girls. In the manga, she’s displaying jealousy over Annie and Historia, in the anime we can add Hanji to that pool, while in A.O.T. Wings of Freedom she’s also jealous of Sasha and even freckled Ymir - all while Eren remains oblivious and - in these situations, rightfully so - annoyed.

We know that there are reasons why Mikasa treats Eren like this. He obviously saved her life when they were children, but it’s also because she was strongly traumatized by losing both her biological family, and then people who took care of her right after that. It’s only natural that she does anything in her power to not go through that again...

...but it’s important to question if the way her relationship with Eren goes - how she commits to it 100% and how it affects her - is really the best way for her to heal and eventually live a happy life. I believe that Eren himself saw that it was becoming too toxic for Mikasa - and, considering that he actually cares for her and knows that he doesn’t have all the time in the world, he focused on making her move on. In my opinion, that’s why he wanted to push her away during the table scene. It’s also why he tried to get rid of the scarf that Louise brought to him. Even if the execution is far from perfect, he still wants what’s best for her, so he tries to put an end to enabling her unhealthy coping practices. He wants her to live a long, happy life.

Soooo...how does “the cabin AU” fit into all of this?

The answer is simple - it doesn’t. It’s a huge mixture and repetition of everything that’s harmful about Mikasa’s obsession with Eren. It’s a confirmation that Mikasa would be able to leave the entire world for 4 years of constant lying to herself. To betray her friends, leave everything behind, act as if everything was going to be okay and, in turn, make it all worse for herself. Because let me remind you one thing - Mikasa will go on living after Eren looses to the titan curse...but what will she do from now on? Will she stay in the cabin forever, alone and with no one to talk to - no one to share the pain after saying her final goodbye to Eren? Will she come back to the war-ridden world and face her old friends - like Armin who must have been frantically looking for her and Eren? Some of these friends may not want to have anything to do with her after all that - some may be already dead. Maybe there’s no place to go at all.

In my opinion, Eren being okay with this would ultimately prove that he doesn’t care about Mikasa’s wellbeing - and, as I’ve said before I just don’t think that’s the case at all. On top of that, as stated in the beginning, it would serve as a regress of Mikasa’s character - she wouldn’t be able to overcome her weaknesses, which would only make her life harder in the long run. Therefore, I simply can’t accept this vision to be an AU. What do I think it was, then?

Mikasa believes in Eren’s good heart, despite all awful things he commits - she repeatedly says that he does it all for them - his friends...and yet she wants to believe that there must have been a way to not let it all happen. A part of her may be blaming herself, which is why she questions if she could have changed anything by giving him a different answer.

To me, it’s very obvious and I have to admit: I was horrified to see the amount of fans saying “If only she hadn’t family-zoned him, so many people would still be alive!”. Mikasa was NEVER to blame here and her answer should never have a force to change something like that. At the end of the day, it was Eren’s decision to go on with the rumbling, and I hate to see Mikasa (and the fans, too!) putting any blame for it on her.

In conclusion, I really believe that the vision was Mikasa’s daydream - most likely created as a coping mechanism since at this point she knew what was about to happen - what she had to do. Not any AU flashback, but rather a poor, traumathised girl trying to come to terms with the cruel reality - and ultimately reclaiming her strength. In her mind, she comes back to her safe place for a few moments, just to get a bit of comfort - a place where she and Eren live peacefully and safely. In fact, the panel below may suggest that she was dreaming about something similar ever since the training days:

I also believe that, at some point, Eren enters that dream - perhaps somehow through paths, or is sent there by Ymir. There, he once again reminds Mikasa that he wants her to live long, be free and forget about him.

I think in the end, Mikasa rejects that fake utopia, finally understanding that it could never happen and it was not her fault. She accepts the reality as it is and stops rationalizing Eren’s actions. She also comes to terms with her feelings towards him, but won’t let it cloud her judgement anymore. She will remember him and cherish these memories forever, but acknowledges that it has gone too far - she chooses humanity, the world and finally: a long, happy life for her. Just like Eren would want for her.

This time, Mikasa wraps the scarf around herself.

If you’re here, wow - thank you so much for reading, it means a lot! I’m sorry for any mistakes I’ve made while writing - English is not my first language and I didn’t really have anyone to beta-read this long wall of text xd Hope I made my points clear - and just to clarify, my text is not an invitation for any ugly Mikasa haters. As I’ve said before, she’s one of my favorite characters and I hope for the best for her - she’s been through so much, poor girl needs a break :C

#anti eremika #mikasa ackerman #eren jeager #snk 138 #snk spoilers #snk 139 #eremika rant #Mikasa shouldn't exist just for toxic shipping ok #snk theory #snk ending #snk leaks #mikasa

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julyarchives · 3 years

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Don’t You Hear Me Howling? || (M) || 01

Finding out you are a female Alpha sparkled some rivalry inside your pack, and resulted in you losing your best friend and your life turning upsidedown, so leaving for college was the fresh start you needed. Years later, you are about to finish your degree and suddenly this past comes back to mess with your head.

→ Pairing: Yeo One x Female Reader | Kino x Female Reader

→ Genre: Smut; A/B/O AU; Omegaverse; College AU.

→ Words: 3.4K

→ Contains: Mentions of Alcohool; Power Play; Hair Pulling.

→ A/n: Hey guys! So this is our new multi-chaptered story! We have never written this kind of AU before, so please be kind if you spot any mistakes and feel free to educate us. This story will follow cisgender real-life anatomy (a.k.a. it won’t have knotting, mpreg and changes of those sorts). This took us out of our comfort zone and we enjoyed writing it so much that we couldn’t wait any longer to share it with you guys. We hope you all like it as much as we do!

→ Index: 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08

Changgu and you have been friends since before you could remember. You grew up in the same pack, Changgu being the firstborn of the alpha. It was obvious to everyone that he was going to be Alpha as well, the next one to take over the pack when his dad steps down. You two grew up as best friends, and the consequence of being brought up together with an alpha-to-be is that you end up getting some of his personality traits. You were very stubborn and territorial, often getting into trouble for feeling jealous when someone tried to approach your friends. But it was all brushed off as you just mirroring your friend.

Changgu got his first heat at the age of 15, and everyone celebrated the fact that his scent was very much dominant. Everyone started treating him differently, even your other friends in common, but to you, he was the same old Changgu, and one more time your lack of responsiveness was just “she just didn’t get her heat yet, I bet she’s going to change in a few years. I swear, those two will end up marrying”

You heard that since you were a child, and for a while you let yourself believe that. He was your best friend in the world, so why not? You would be his omega, fine, he’s always treated you nicely, so it wasn’t the worst idea. You two remained friends, even though he was becoming a different person each day, cockier and sometimes even rude, growling and bossing everyone around. You were the only one that never took his shit, but he never seemed to mind that

Until the day of your first heat. It was all the pack would talk about. You were in your senior year, and when everyone realized that your scent was much stronger than Changgu’s it was a shock. It took a while for you to believe that you were really an Alpha, and to understand what that meant for Changgu. He was actually a Beta, that’s why everyone assumed he was an Alpha when you didn’t have your scent. It explains his personality and yours being so similar. It explains everything.

At first, you didn’t think it was that big of a deal for your friendship, but Changgu suddenly started hating you. You two had plans to go to college together and even live together at some point, but after he found out he wasn’t the Alpha, he redirected his frustration towards you. As an Alpha, you could hold him back sometimes, stopping him from being the worst dickhead. But sometimes you just let it go for the sake of the friendship. He wasn’t willing to do the same.

Once you two moved out to college, it was the breaking point. He stopped talking to you at all, barely acknowledging your presence when you two came across each other in the hall.

Eventually, you just gave up and accepted you weren’t friends anymore. He found his omega friends where he could be the dominant one, and the fact that he provoked heat in them gave him quite a reputation on campus. You were fine, though, have moved on with your life, and last year to graduate as a chemical engineer, developing a research thesis on the studies of blockers and those types of hormones.

This thesis was so important for you because it's a pioneer one in blockers for female Alphas, using plant based hormones to help block scents but not body growth, actually helping with it, so females can not be jeopardized by smaller body structure than males. Your life was hard because of that condition, that's why changing that for future Alpha Women meant so much to you, and nothing could stop you from achieving your biggest goal in life.

All of that didn’t stop you from developing certain anger towards him for abandoning you just for some stupid hierarchy shit.

It was a particularly shitty day. All your lab experiments went wrong, and you got so out of control when a girl tried to help that you actually lost it and growled so loud that caused everyone in the room to stop immediately what they were doing and lower their heads towards you.

You just sighed, holding back all your instincts, and left everything behind. Rushing through the way to your apartment, you stumbled onto Wooseok

“Wow, (y/n), what is going on? I could feel chills all the way across the yard” He held onto your shoulders, towering his 1.9m over you.

Another growl escaped your lips, his touch was not doing you any good. He just released you, holding his own hand behind his back and muttering an apology. Wooseok is an omega from your pack, one of the friends you used to have in common with Changgu. You guys never lost touch, especially because he was a very submissive omega. But overall, a good friend.

“Everything is going to shit today, I got caught in the rain, my experiments went wrong, I frightened everyone in the lab and I’m pretty sure I’m getting my rut soon, so help me God if anyone else fucking touches me I will have a fit.”

“Oh, I see.” He twisted his lips “Let’s throw a party, my frat house is always down for a rager. You can find a nice unmarked person to have your fun with, and getting wasted as a bonus”

“That’s why you are my favorite omega” you reached up above you and patted his hair, and his reaction was smirk proud of himself “see you tonight.”.

Wooseok’s frat was huge. He lived with about 9 other boys, and they were known for having the best parties, so you had high hopes for tonight. The place was already crowded and the music loud. You quickly looked around searching for your friend, with no problem finding him, given his height.

“Hey, you made it!” he said when you approached, and introduced you to his group of friend “guys, this is my Alpha (y/n)”

One guy chuckled, you looked directly at him

“She’s your Alpha?” he asked, condescendingly, eyeing you up and down.

Your smile quickly faded.

“Got a problem with that?” You lifted one brow, crossing your arms in front of your chest

“Nothing, your just…” He looked at Wooseok, then at you “short.”

Alphas are usually the tallest of the pack. You weren’t. Being a female Alpha was already difficult, harder to be respected, and your height has always been a reason to be discredited of your position, you always took shit for that. You hated it.

Your blood boiled, everyone around you could feel it, it was easily noticed how everyone flinched. Your eyes were fixated on the boy, ready to jump at his throat. How could he be so disrespectful to an Alpha?

“Shouldn’t have said that, man” Wooseok said immediately

You growled hand curled into fists. You started to move to go against the boy, but a hand caught your wrist.

Changgu was looking at you seriously, a very concentrated frown, though not a mad one, just focused. You two didn’t exchange words, just stared at each other for a while. As your Beta, the influence he has on you due to your connection is undeniable. With just that look, he meant “I got this”. And you trusted him.

The stupid boy had his head lowered still, he knew he fucked up. Everyone was paying attention to what happened, your scent probably stronger than ever. Changgu released you.

“C’mon, get away from here. And learn to have some respect” He smacked the boy in the back of the head.

You were now calming down, and feeling embarrassed for causing a scene right when you arrived. You turned to Wooseok, who was watching you attentively.

“Get me to the booze, would ya?” You asked, and he just nodded and obeyed.

Arriving at the kitchen, Wooseok passed you a can of beer.

“I’m sorry for him, he was a jerk” he said, starting the conversation

“It’s alright, I’m used to it, honestly. Just lost my head because of everything today, I told you.”

“I know. I’m sorry”

“Yeah, it’s ok.” You took a long sip. Staring straightforwardly, you continued, not daring to look at Wooseok for the next sentence. “Didn’t know Changgu was going to be here”

“You didn’t? He moved in this semester.” He said carefully., knowing your history. “I was hoping you two wouldn’t stumble onto each other, it is a big party, it had a chance of happening.”

“Lucky me, my Beta senses my every feeling like a radar” you said with irony.

“At least he stopped you from committing a homicide in my house” your friend joked.

“Shut up” you punched his arm lightly.

Encountering Changgu was something else entirely. This was the most he acknowledged you in years. You do understand, though, that it was a natural reaction, very instinctive. No matter how much time you spend apart, if you two are near enough, he will sense every strong feeling of yours and act as your right arm.

You hated that he was looking good. He recently dyed his hair a pale blond, his cut-out black tank top displaying his strong arms were very sexy, his piercing dark eyes staring directly at you, knowing your every feeling. God, you bet the sex would be amazing, and…

“Erm, y/n,” Wooseok shifted “You horny very out loud”

“Oh,” you adjusted yourself “Sorry” you laughed.

The downside to being an alpha about to get your rut is that everyone around you gets horny. Even without you want to.

“I’ll fix that, let me introduce you to someone”

Wooseok guided you to the crowd. Your eyes immediately found Changgu’s again. You couldn’t keep off of each other’s now. Years without any kind of contact were replaced by his touch and all the mental talk you just had. Now the bond grew stronger. It was inevitable to find each other no matter where, and it was pissing you off. You wouldn’t be the one to cave in, not at all. He was the one who put distance between the two of you, so he will be the one to change that if he wants.

Wooseok moved out of the way, letting one of his friends stop in front of you.

“y/n, this is Kino. Kino, this is y/n, the one I talked about earlier today.”

“It’s nice to meet you, y/n” he smiled at you, reaching his hand respectfully.

He was cute. He seemed young and cheerful, yet his eyes hovering you all over showed his intentions were beyond cheerful.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Kino” You dragged his name, sounding good on your lips.

He smelled like fresh strawberries, the scent filling up your nostrils very intoxicatingly. He was in heat. Just what you needed exactly. You had to remember to thank Wooseok later.

“I’ll leave you guys to it” Your friend excused himself, probably overwhelmed with the number of pheromones in the air.

“So, I’ve never been with a female alpha before. This should be fun” He grinned, his flirty personality enticing you

“Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything” You winked at him.

“Better not waste time, then” He reached for your hand, which you gladly allowed him to, and he guided you away from the crowd.

As you approached the empty hallway that led to the bedrooms, you stopped and backed Kino against the wall.

“Your scent is driving me crazy” You said in a low seductive voice, pressing your body against his.

His immediate reaction was to hold your waist and pull you closer, Hips rubbing together so you could feel his bulge through his jeans

“I could say just the same.” was the last thing he said before closing the distance between you two.

He kissed you hard and hungry, contrasting with his soft lips. His hands immediately slither inside your shirt, his warm touch burning trails against the skin of your back. Your nails lightly grazing against his neck, using your palms to cup his face and dominantly guide him to kiss you as you pleased. He was more than compliant.

“Shall we move this to the bedroom?” you said between pants. He looked amazing with his hair messy from the way you grabbed him, and lips in a pretty shade of pink, plump and swollen.

He just nodded, chest rising up and down fast.

This time you took his hand and pulled him to the nearest door you could find, luckily it led to a bedroom.

“Sit.” you ordered shortly and he quickly obeyed.

He sat at the edge of the bed, legs spread, leaning back supporting himself on his arms. He looked absolutely gorgeous, his eyes following your every move as you walked towards him and stood in between his knees.

He sat up, hands reaching under your shirt and pushing it up oh so slowly, taking his time feeling you. He looked at you with lust in his eyes. After he discarded your top, he planted slow wet kisses across your stomach, his hand working on the buttons of your jeans. He took the chance to take in your alpha scent, that’s when you say his pupil dilating, taking over almost his whole iris.

“You’re so gorgeous” he said, tugging your pants down. You caressed the top of his head, running your fingers through his hair.

“undress” you commanded him again.

When both of you were left naked, you straddled him, kissing him passionately as he grabbed your ass, grinding you against his bulge. You pushed him to lay down, not wasting time to sink down on his dick. Both of you couldn’t handle waiting any longer. You started riding him and he immediately started moaning and groaning high pitched in a small voice that turned you on even more. He carved his nails on your thighs as you kept the fast pace.

He started rocking his hips up, following your movements, getting deeper inside of you, and hitting just the right spot to make you scream.

“Fuck, baby, keep doing just like that” you told him in between moans

Kino moaned louder at the pet name. You opened a smug smile.

“Like being called that, huh?” you ask and he nodded, moaning your name “like being my baby boy?”

He muttered a few curse words and your name repeatedly.

“That’s right, baby, keep being loud for me. Sounds so good” You kept encouraging him.

He looked fucked out already below you. His sweaty hair sticking to his forehead, a blush spreading across his cheeks, and his mouth hanging open.

You leaned down, not stopping moving your hips, to kiss him again, you just couldn’t resist. The harder you kissed him, the closer you got to your high. The arousal pooling in your core the harder he thrust into you. Soon like that you were coming hard and loud, and you thanked the loud music, otherwise, everyone would have heard you. Kino fucked hard, just the way you like it, and it got you exactly what you needed, obeying your every order like a good omega.

But he wasn’t done yet.

You got off of him, laying in the bed on all fours and he soon was inside you again, taking you from behind with loud skin-to-skin sounds, his moaning getting louder and louder.

“Pull my hair, Kino” you managed to say.

He quickly grabbed it in a make-do ponytail, pulling it so it hurt how you wanted, making you hiss in pleasure. But it got him too confident.

“Fuck, y/n, it feels so good like that” he said and followed with a light slap on your ass.

It got you snarling.

"Oh no, don't think you're in charge.” you warned “Hit me again and we're done, baby boy"

He muttered a quick apology between gasps.

Being put back in his place, Kino was working his hips enthusiastically now, while you backed it up against him. He definitely knew what he was doing. He took you by surprise when he reached below you for your clit, rubbing it in circular motions in sync with his thrusts. You buried your head in a pillow, muffling the high-pitched grunts leaving your throat due to the overstimulation, but you were loving every second of it. Kinos thrusts started to become more sloppy and faster, indicating he was about to cum. You both reached your high at the same time, the pheromones boosting it, making it the most intense orgasm you had in a long time. Curses and names being thrown around by the both of you, his hands digging in your hips while yours twisted the sheets around.

Kino collapsed by your side at the same time you laid down on your back. He approached and kissed you again, this time not so urgent, but rather slow and sensual. His hand now patted your side softly, causing small goosebumps to rise on your skin. He kissed down your neck and buried his nose on your hair, taking in your scent

“You did good…” you started teasing “baby boy”

Kino grinned, proud of himself.

“You were pretty amazing yourself.” he answered, biting his lip.

You hugged him closer, letting him cuddle you and enjoying the way he smelled as well. Strawberries will never be the same, you chuckled to yourself. You knew that for an omega, being with an Alpha was overwhelming, so you knew, that, even if the sex wasn’t the kinkiest, the aftercare was necessary.

You took the opportunity to get to know each other better. You learned that he is a dance major, which explained the flawless hip work, and he was 2 years younger than you, which was a first for you. Nevertheless, he was good company. After exchanging your numbers, agreeing to repeat the latest activity would be good both for your rut and his heat, and a quick makeout session, you both got dressed and headed back to the party due to the need for beverages.

The party was still at its high point, everyone was drunk and dancing like no one was watching. Kino and you earn a few lingering looks for showing up smelling so strongly like pheromones and sex. But you didn’t care, you were used to it. You two found a good spot on the dance floor and you told him to stay there, so you would get drinks for them.

Back at the kitchen, you quickly grabbed a pair of red cups with a blue vodka that god knows what flavor it was. When you were heading out, someone blocked your way purposefully.

“What do you want, Changgu?” You lifted your head, staring at him face-to-face, Alpha and Beta matching heights.

“So I am left to clean up your mess while you go around and fuck the first guy you see in front of you?”

You thanked whatever bigger force that the kitchen was empty, you didn’t want to cause another scene, but Changgu was getting on your nerves.

“Oh that’s so sweet, you think that was about you?” You spilled ironically.

“Just get your shit together before I have to rescue your ass for you to grind it on someone else” He said, trying to get the upper hand.

“I don’t know if you forgot, but I’m still your fucking Alpha, so back the fuck off before talking to me like that. I didn’t need you to come to rescue me of anything, I’m pretty sure I can handle myself. And finally,...” you looked at him up and down “Why do you care who I grind on? Upset it’s not on you?”

He curled his hands in fists, staring at you with that same frown, only this time you knew he was pissed. You got closer and whispered at him.

“Next time, all you have to do is ask, sweetheart.” You bit your lips into a grin.

You backed out to stare at him again when you saw Kino approaching.

“Y/n!” he called you, Changgu immediately snapped his head to look at him, fuming. “Is everything okay?” He stared between you and Changgu, defensive mode ready to fight in case needed.

“Don’t worry, baby” You said to Kino, but actually staring at your Beta, who was gritting his teeth at you “Changgu was just leaving.”

You walked past him, bumping your shoulders on the way, and heading back to the dancefloor with Kino.

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goldenmaybank · 4 years

Text

no strings ~ scout’s writing challenge

pairing: jj maybank x reader

summary: jj and y/n have had a no strings attached agreement for years, but that statement couldn’t be farther from the truth.

warnings: swearing, cheating, implied sex, and slight fluff

word count: 2.2k

this is my entry for @ptersparkers writing challenge! hope you all enjoy :)

no strings attached. that was the agreement we made back in freshman year. it's now junior year and that agreement still stands. no feelings involved, just pure fun, but how do you not fall for his big blue eyes and bright smile. it was only meant to be for one night, but one night soon turned into two then three and now i've lost count how many nights we've spent together. almost every night for this past year he’s slept in my bed under my silk sheets with our bodies intertwined with one another. i constantly convince myself it's nothing more than having fun but every time i hear his name i get butterflies and whenever he's near me my heart starts to beat a million times faster. i try to convince myself it's not love, but after being with someone in that way for three years it's impossible for it not to turn into that. but clearly it's possible for him at least. that's why i don't say anything and continue to hide my true feelings because i know he doesn't feel the same way as me and probably never will. i stay up every night with him on my mind and thoughts of what we could be consumes my every thought.

freshman year was the hardest of them all mainly because jj had a girlfriend at the time. i know what i did was wrong but the taste of his lips and the way he touched me that first night was so captivating. i knew from that moment i would never be able to let him go. i tried not to get sucked into him and his player ways, but soon the second night happened and from then it was history. we would meet every thursday night at my place at midnight. he was never late and it made me wonder if he craved my touch as bad as i craved his. we would walk past each other in the streets like we barely knew each other when in reality he knew every curve and mark on my body.

sophomore year was easier than the last since he no longer was with his girlfriend, but also harder because that's when i started catching feelings for him. now since he was single, we could actually be seen together, but still had to be cautious since i was a kook. i never understood the rivalry between the kooks and pogues, but i knew if any of the kooks found out i was with jj all hell would break loose. me and sarah were known as the kook princesses, and since she was dating topper, everyone expected me to date a kook too. before i met jj, i went on a few dates with rafe since thats who my parents wanted me to be with, but after realizing all kook guys are self absorbed assholes, i knew i could never be with any of them. the only kook i can tolerate is sarah, and at times she can even be blinded by the things topper tells her. a couple months into freshman year, i already started to get suffocated at the kook academy and went to the beach to escape, which is where i met kie. the moment i met her we instantly clicked and she invited me to the kegger that they were having that night. thats when i met the rest of the pogues, including jj. we spent the whole night attached at the hip drinking and laughing together. soon enough the guest room at the cheateu was filled with nothing but the sound of our moans. that was the first of many nights we spent there together.

almost every single day i would meet jj by the beach to spend time with him. whether we were surfing, hanging out on the hms pogue with the others, or eating at the wreck, i just loved being around him. although we weren't together people acted like we were. kie would always say we were unofficially official. soon enough our every thursday night meet-ups became every thursday and friday meet-ups and eventually every night meet-ups. we spent every night together at my place until my parents found out and we needed a new place, so we started hanging out at the chateau.

junior year has been the best one so far. jj and i hung out more in public not caring what anyone else would think and gone on what he calls "non-dates" even though it's exactly what dates are. he's met my younger sister and she absolutely adores him, which now makes me wish we never got our families involved in this since i know he doesn't reciprocate my feelings. i've spent so much time with him that i feel almost empty not being in his arms at night. he knows everything about me and i know everything about him. we've shared all of our secrets and deepest thoughts with each other. i've seen his vulnerable side so much that it's almost impossible for me not to fall in love with him. he's opened up to me and let me in more than anyone else in his life even his best friends. every night is something new with him and i never want it to stop even though i know inevitably it will.

"you remember the second night you stayed at my place and you got scared of my dog" i said laughing as we laid next to each other on my bed talking about our favorite memories together.

"look in my defense, your dog is huge and she woke me up out of my sleep." jj said chuckling slightly.

"she was just being friendly and you wouldn't stop screaming. almost woke up my damn parents."

"don't act like you haven't almost woken up john b before with your clumsy ass. you almost knocked over his whole desk trying to get into the room."

"i'm sorry i'm not an expert at climbing through windows like you."

"well when you've had a lot of practice you know how to." he said cockily.

"oh shut up." he laughed as i tiredly punched his arm, "you know damn well i was the first window you came through." i said sassily.

"you're right. you were."

"wait really? so jj maybank has never snuck into another girl's house before? i'm surprised."

"why?" he asked as he turns his body towards me and moves me so i face him.

"i don't know i guess with your reputation i thought you would've been with a bunch of girls before me."

"you wanna know the truth? you're the first girl i've ever slept with."

"wait what?" i sat up against the headboard looking at him confusingly, "what about your ex or all those tourons you would flirt with?"

"all we would do is flirt and make out a little, but it never went any further. either i was always drunk or they were and i never wanted that to be my first time, you know? and with my ex we were only fourteen and dated for a few months. i told you before i never really felt anything for her. it was all just so i could know what it felt like to be a boyfriend.”

“but we were only fourteen, when we..”

“i know, but it was different with you. you are different.”

"so, that means you were a virgin when we first-"

"yup." he said admittedly.

"wow. well i couldn't tell." i joked.

jj looked at me and chuckled slightly, but i could tell something was off with him. his eyes didn't have the same brightness as usual.

"what's wrong?"

"what do you mean? nothings wrong."

"jj, you can't lie to me. i've known you for way too long and i know when somethings wrong, so what's up."

"i don't know. i-" he sighs deeply as he looks at up at me, "it's just- is that what you think of me? that i'm just some player who fucks any girl that throws herself at me."

"what? no. of course not. i just assumed-"

"because that's not who i ever wanted to be." he said cutting me off, "i never wanted to be like- like my dad, you know?” he says as he looks down at his hands, fiddling with them, “as much as he claims he loved her, he treated my mom like shit. he would get drunk and mess around with a bunch of women because he could never commit. i never wanted to be like that. i never wanted to make a girl feel the way my mom felt. she was so heartbroken when he would come back home smelling of perfume and lie to her face. eventually, she had enough of it and just got up and left. kinda wish she took me with her. but i told myself i would never be like that and then i realized i was. back in freshman year when i cheated on my ex-"

"with me" i looked at him sympathetically understanding why what i said bothered him so much, "look, j you're nothing like your dad. i know i've never met him but from what you told me about him you two are completely different people. you’re nothing like that cheating, abusive asshole, okay? you're such a sweet, kindhearted person who always puts others before yourself, especially when it comes to your friends. i've never seen someone care so much about others than you. you have such a pure, kind soul and nothing will ever change that. i know you cheated on her with me and it probably wasn't the right choice, but it sure as hell wasn't a mistake and i won't call it that. being with you was never a mistake for me and i hope you feel the same about it but this" i say as i motion between us, "will never be something that i regret. i know i've said this before but i believe that this was meant to be and we were meant to find each other. the circumstance might not have been the best, but i found you and that's all that matters. you're nothing like him and never will be."

we both laid in silence looking up at the ceiling while raindrops hit the window softly. i started to wonder if maybe i said something wrong or said too much. i feel so deeply for him and whenever he tries to put himself down it breaks my heart. in my eyes he's the perfect guy despite all his faults. sometimes i think one day i'll tell him how i feel and scare him off which is the last thing i want to do. i want to be able to have these moments with him for as long as i can.

"you know, i want to get married before i have kids." jj said breaking the silence.

"that's random, but alright." i said giggling.

"i was just thinking about my parents and they had me before they even thought of marriage. i think that's where they could've went wrong. maybe if they would've taken the time to actually bound their love together before having a kid, they could've lasted longer. after they had me he could never commit fully because of all the responsibility, so maybe if they already took that step to "finalize" their love he would've stayed." he said shrugging.

"well i always wanted to have kids before i get married because i want my kids to be apart of my wedding."

"i guess we could just have two weddings then."

"huh?" i said confusingly finally looking at him.

he looks back at me and sighs, "yeah, i mean since you want one before and i want one after, we can just have two. we have the real one before and then we can renew our vows and have a second wedding with our kids so they can experience it with us."

"so, we're gonna get married and have kids?" i said smirking at him.

"i-i mean i guess. obviously only if you want to." jj said blushing as he started to look anywhere but at me.

i grab his face so he's looking at me, "i would love to, jj."

we both smile at each other as he pulls me closer to him connecting our lips. when we pull apart, i cuddle up into his chest as we continue to lie in silence. i feel my heart flutter as i feel his hands rub my back soothing me. being in his arms felt like home and i only hope he feels the same. as i start to think about how it would be if we were actually dating, the same words he would always say when we started this repeat in my mind "this is only for fun. no strings attached. no feelings. just pure fun." maybe that's all this will truly ever be, just fun, and that's the thought i have before falling asleep in his arms.

when i know she's asleep, i just stay awake and admire how she looks in the moment. even sleeping she has a slight smile on her face, which makes me wonder what she's dreaming about. sometimes i wish it was me she's dreaming about even though i know it's not. "just for fun" i remind myself of the words i said but that couldn't have been more of a lie, especially now more than ever. of course what we had was fun, but it was way more than that.

"i love you" i say as i kiss her forehead and wrap my arms tighter around her soon falling asleep as well.

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dawnflooded · 3 years

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( hanna mangan lawrence, cis female, she/her, 27) ** ♔ announcing BEATRIZ LEON, the PRINCESS OF SPAIN ! in a recent portrait they seem to resemble HANNA MANGAN LAWRENCE. it is a miracle that SHE survived the last five years, considering they are IMPISH, SCHEMING, and INGENIOUS. i hope the plague has not changed them. they are INDIFFERENT TO working together with the other kingdoms

· listening to: lorde - sober ii ( melodrama )

· there’s this butterfly that looks like a snake and i keep thinking a creature that’s the reverse of that basically describes her; instead of a butterfly pretending to be a viper, she’s a viper pretending to be a butterfly;

· i think she has a very...gillian flynn type vibe, so this will be fun;

Beatriz’s arrival in this world came unexpectedly, happened at the worst possible moment, and disappointed everyone.

She was born during an ill-advised sea crossing, while their ship was being rocked by a furious storm that darkened the day sky to pitch black.

The sailors above deck watched in dread as the sea was lashed by dozens of lightning strikes all around them. For hours they feared their ship would break apart, or finally be hit and catch fire. Things calmed only at night, and they managed to maneuver the damaged but still functional vessel into port.

All things considered, the birth actually went as easily as such things could be hoped for, and both baby and mother recovered quickly, at least once they made it back on land. But the incident wasn’t without its repercussions – the queen had been so shaken by the ordeal that she ascribed to it significant meaning.

For years, she’d imagined her second daughter was marked for death, and fearful as she was of losing her, the queen instructed everyone to treat her like a delicate child. For the first years of her life, she was forbidden most of everything, movements restricted to only the safest of locations. She was allowed brief walks around the garden only in the mildest of weathers and never for long. She was kept inside months at a time.

They tried to keep her occupied with lessons and – for her immortal soul that her mother claimed was in such danger – they employed a priest to tend personally to her. Beatriz instantly loathed him and after having to suffer under his yoke for nearly two years, she finally erupted and threw her Bible at him. It hit him in the face at an unfortunate angle, causing him to lose an eye. He parents dealt with the issue summarily, paying him to fabricate another story and sending him out of Spain by the end of the year.

Her insufferable restrictions continued, just with another discipline quietly replacing the time she’d spent with the priest. She never managed to taste a modicum of freedom for as long as her parents had lived, actually.

She assumes this is why she feels so little every time she catches herself thinking about them.

Of course, by the time the king and queen of Spain passed away, everyone else had already realized there was nothing fragile about Beatriz, so convincing her newly crowned brother to loosen her leash a little was incredibly easy and she was finally allowed to into society. She exchanged the mousy, quiet girls her parents had found for her, for the glittering, snobbish, daughters of nobility, who taught her the language of court.

She thrived, almost inappropriately so, taking into account how recent the losses of her parents were, but Beatriz was always destined to tread the line between propriety and spectacle (even though there is none as those two things are in no way comparable; but if she doesn’t have a way, she will find a way between them).

She felt as though the entirety of Europe was at her feet, and so she reached towards it, finding the most outrageous reasons to travel to different places. Ostensibly under the tutelage of the Spanish ambassadors from various courts, to learn new languages and customs, actually there just for the joy of exploring. She’d always been a little too greedy, but she’d tried very hard to at least be smart about it. Beatriz always knew which things to keep private, and she’d carefully constructed a reputation of empty boldness around her public persona that made numerous rumors slip away like water off a duck’s back.

It was just pure chance that she was in Spain when the seriousness of the situation dawned on all of them. All thoughts of moving on soon having fled, Beatriz tried not to let old resentments flare up when finding herself confined again. At the beginning, she kept herself busy, organizing all sorts of events, soirees, informal parties and game nights, striving desperately to keep boredom at bay. That only lasted a few months, after that the events grew rarer and rarer. In order to survive five years cooped up inside, Beatriz reached out to her sister, certain Sofia was the busiest among them, and most likely to have some task or another for her younger sister.

Now that the fires are out and the plague has slowly crawled away, now that she is finally out of Spain again, she’s eager to make up for as much time as she is able.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS: maybe your country was one Beatriz visited (I’m thinking of capping her number of trips at four; I’ll add them here as I plot) and they know each other from before the plague started. She would have travelled in between 19-22, so 8-5 years ago. This is basically open for anything: friendships, rivalries, flirtations etc.

POSSIBLE BETHROTHAL: Beatriz had such a hard time during the plague that she honestly wouldn’t mind never returning to Spain again, so she could be described as at least open to the idea. But she’s also not emotionally invested in the venture, so she’s more likely to want to test them and treat it like a game. But she wants to make sure her future husband has a suitable temperament, after all, before committing to anything.

ANYONE/ANYTHING: really, she’s just so…666% extroverted. She’s been talking to the same people every day for five years. At this point she’d talk to anybody.

#1642hqsintro #ABOUT || she wears bright flowers & has a heart like stone

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welllpthisishappening · 3 years

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Welllp These Are Books: the March 2021 Edition

There aren’t even any pictures! Except in that one book where there were pictures! It was weird! This was a weird book month! Back at it again with thoughts and opinions about a whole mess of books that no one explicitly asked for, but I’ve got lots of thoughts and opinions and they only count if I share them on the internet. Seriously, someone let me go to a baseball game soon. Obligatory warning for spoilers and vaguely unhinged rants under the cut. As always, feel free to come tell me what else I should be reading at literally any time ever.

Best Book of the Month Honors Goes to This Book, Even Though They Called It Halftime at a Hockey Game. A Hockey Game!

The Dating Plan by Sara Desai

Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can't give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiancé. Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend's little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy's matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather's will. If only he hadn’t broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago… Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren't about to follow the rules of this engagement.

— Ok, it’s important to know that I really did love this book. It hit all my trope-wants. Childhood friends, incredibly stupid misunderstandings, pining, seriously God the pining, fake engagement, BANTER. It was all going great. I was occasionally swooning. They kept making out! And then! THEN. They went to a hockey game. On a date. A fake date. Cool, cool, cool. All tropes, all the time right? Not so fast, internet! Because these self-proclaimed Sharks SUPER FANS referred to intermission as “halftime was coming up.” Halftime! At a hockey game! That’s—that’s not how hockey works! If this hadn’t been “traditionally” published, I probably could have let it slide. But that was not the case. This was a “real” book with, I can only assume, real editors. All of whom saw the words halftime and hockey near each other and we’re like YEAH, PRINT THAT SHIT. I read that at nearly one in the morning and seriously considered waking Justin up to be like CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS IS IN A REAL BOOK? Anyway, it was still real cute. Everyone lived happily ever after. It made want to eat samosas.

This Book Had Pictures, It Was Weird

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is...different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, "normal" is a bit of a stretch for Dina.

And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night...Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.

— So, Ilona Andrews is a name that keeps coming up because when I borrow a book from the library I have to go through Kindle and Amazon is like...here are some other absurd fantasy romances you’d enjoy. Also, one of her other series had been recc’ed to me. Only problem? The first book in that series is the only book in that series not available at my library. So, I was like, ok, I’ll start this one instead. It was...weird. Honestly, it felt like I’d been dropped in the middle of the story and the narrator was like, well why don’t you already know what’s going on? In theory the world building was cool. (I was not expecting alien werewolves, lemme tell you that!) But also it all felt very rushed and the end just sorta happened.

In Which I Continue to Love “Same Verse” Books & No One Else Had Sex in the Port Jeff High School Dugout. For Which I Was Grateful

Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey

Rosie and Dominic Vega are the perfect couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be anyway. Now Rosie’s lucky to get a caveman grunt from the ex-soldier every time she walks in the door. Dom is faithful and a great provider, but the man she fell in love with ten years ago is nowhere to be found. When her girlfriends encourage Rosie to demand more out of life and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, she decides to demand more out of love, too. Three words: marriage boot camp.

Never in a million years did Rosie believe her stoic, too-manly-to-emote husband would actually agree to relationship rehab with a weed-smoking hippie. Dom talking about feelings? Sitting on pillows? Communing with nature? Learning love languages? Nope. But to her surprise, he’s all in, and it forces her to admit her own role in their cracked foundation. As they complete one ridiculous—yet surprisingly helpful—assignment after another, their remodeled relationship gets stronger than ever. Except just as they’re getting back on track, Rosie discovers Dom has a secret... and it could demolish everything.

— Listen, one of my absolutely favorite tropes that I do not think gets enough love in the world is COMMITTED LONG-LASTING RELATIONSHIPS. And, like, ok, sure the premise of this was that they were separating in that long-lasting relationship. But no one really believed that, did they? Rosie and Dominic were real cute and their banter was good and I wasn’t totally skeeved out when they literally fucked on the kitchen floor. So, I think that’s saying something. Also, also! I seriously appreciated the realism of this book because no one on Long Island would ever call Manhattan Manhattan. It’s the city. Every other borough gets a name, but Manhattan is just the city and I nearly cheered when they said that. But also, no one’s taking a cab from Port Jeff to the Meatpacking District. You know what that would cost? God.

Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey

Hair, makeup, clothing, decor... everything in Bethany Castle's world is organized, planned, and styled to perfection. Which is why the homes she designs for her family's real estate business are the most coveted in town. The only thing not perfect? Her track record with men. She's on a dating hiatus and after helping her friends achieve their dreams, Bethany finally has time to focus on her own: flip a house, from framework to furnishings, all by herself. Except her older brother runs the company and refuses to take her seriously.

When a television producer gets wind of the Castle sibling rivalry, they’re invited on Flip Off, a competition to see who can do the best renovation. Bethany wants bragging rights, but she needs a crew and the only member of her brother's construction team willing to jump ship is Wes Daniels, the new guy in town. His Texas drawl and handsome face got under Bethany's skin on day one, and the last thing she needs is some cocky young cowboy in her way.

As the race to renovate heats up, Wes and Bethany are forced into close quarters, trading barbs and biting banter as they remodel the ugliest house on the block. It's a labor of love, hate, and everything in between, and soon sparks are flying. But Bethany's perfectly structured life is one kiss away from going up in smoke and she knows falling for a guy like Wes would be a flipping disaster.

— It should first be noted that in the three books of this series, I could not and cannot understand why Bethany’s brother was such a monumental dick. He was just...he was a dick. His marriage was awful. How long was his wife pregnant without him knowing???? I digress. This continued to be cute, Bethany was a legit heroine as far as those rom-com things go, Wes was very Texas and that got a little over the top, but they had sex in a bed like normal people so that helped. Oh, except that one time on the construction site. Whatever, this book was cute. This whole series was cute, really, and I was a big fan of the happy little wrap-everything-up with a bow ending.

Romance That Happens In Point Two Seconds Is...Unbelievable

Too Hot to Handle by Tessa Bailey

The road trip was definitely a bad idea. Having already flambéed her culinary career beyond recognition, Rita Clarkson is now stranded in God-Knows-Where, New Mexico, with a busted-ass car and her three temperamental siblings, who she hasn't seen in years. When rescue shows up---six-feet-plus of hot, charming sex on a motorcycle---Rita's pretty certain she's gone from the frying pan right into the fire . . . Jasper Ellis has a bad boy reputation in this town, and he loathes it. The moment he sees Rita, though, Jasper knows he's about to be sorely tempted. There's something real between them. Something raw. And Jasper has only a few days to show Rita that he isn't just for tonight---he's forever.

— For as much as I loved the Port Jeff series by my new pal Tessa, this one was...oof. Too much, guys. Too much. Fucking in trucks. Fucking in back offices. The whole book lasted, like, three days. And keep in mind this is coming from someone who has written like two million words about Killian Jones, self-loathing champ 250 years running, but Jasper’s self-loathing was a little over the top. Like, let’s not objectify dudes, but also...I don’t know guys. Maybe the other books in the series are better? I was mostly just annoyed by Rita.

What the Hell Happened at the End of This Book?? Seriously, I Have No Idea

The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz

Caledon Holt is the kingdom's deadliest weapon. No one alive can best him in speed, strength, or brains, which is why he's the Hearthstone Guild's most dangerous member. Cal is also the Queen's Assassin, bound to her by magic and unable to leave her service until the task she's set for him is fulfilled. Shadow of the Honey Glade has been training all her life to join the Guild, hoping that one day she'll become an assassin as feared and revered as Cal. But Shadow's mother and aunts expect her to serve the crown as a lady of the Renovian Court. When a surprise attack brings Shadow and Cal together, they're forced to team up as assassin and apprentice. Even though Shadow's life belongs to the court and Cal's belongs to the queen, they cannot deny their attraction to each other. But now, with war on the horizon and true love at risk, Shadow and Cal will uncover a shocking web of lies that will change their paths forever.

—WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED AT THE END OF THIS BOOK??? I figured out the so-called twist like...two chapters in. Fine, ok, whatever. It’s YA, this is not rocket science and I was interested enough in Cale and Shadow to see how it all played out. Only it didn’t really play out! Because the whole end was just this like four chapter retcon of basically EVERYTHING ELSE THAT HAPPENED and I genuinely could not believe it was happening. It didn’t make sense?!? Like with the plot? Also, spoiler, good thing Shadow and the other king haven’t consummated their marriage yet since she and Cale totally fucked after her wedding? What is YA? Why is Amazon telling me this is a Teacher’s Pick? Why hasn’t my hold come through on the sequel yet so I know what happens next?

Low-Stakes Romance Was Real Boring and All The People Were Boring In It

The Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan

As birthdays go, this year’s for radio producer Everly Dean hit rock-bottom. Worse than the “tonsillectomy birthday.” Worse than the birthday her parents decided to split (the first time). But catching your boyfriend cheating on you with his assistant? Even clichés sting. But this is Everly’s year! She won’t let her anxiety hold her back. She’ll pitch her podcast idea to her boss. There’s just one problem. Her boss, Chris, is very cute. (Of course). Also, he's extremely distant (which means he hates her, right? Or is that the anxiety talking)? And, Stacey the DJ didn’t mute the mic during Everly’s rant about Simon the Snake (syn: Cheating Ex). That’s three problems. Suddenly, people are lining up to date her, Bachelorette-style, fans are voting (Reminder: never leave house again), and her interest in Chris might be a two-way street. It’s a lot for a woman who could gold medal in people-avoidance. She’s going to have to fake it ‘till she makes it to get through all of this. Perhaps she’ll make a list: The Ten Rules for Faking It.

— I am a broken record. Shouting. From the highest hilltop. Just because you think someone is cute when you’re technically not supposed to be dating them does not mean you get to be anything less than nice around them! It’s not cute! And part two, which often goes with part one: rom com dudes have GOT to stop lying or hiding or otherwise avoiding telling people who they really are. It’s a convoluted, passably lazy way of writing and dropping a third-act bomb on the story. Don’t do it. Stop doing it. We’ve moved past the need for hidden identities. Unless he’s, like, a spy or something. Um...this was a weird book. I know Everly had anxiety and that became a PLOT POINT, patent pending, but she was also not super relatable? Which is crazy considering my very real, rather undiagnosed anxiety. Chris was boring. The whole plot, as this title suggests, was very low stakes and no one actually seemed to remember that their jobs were ever on the line? Did Everly and Chris have a conversation before they decided they liked each other? Who can say, really.

Shipped by Angie Hockman

Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it. The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position. Although they’ve never met in person, their epic email battles are the stuff of office legend. Their boss tasks each of them with drafting a proposal on how to boost bookings in the Galápagos—best proposal wins the promotion. There’s just one catch: they have to go on a company cruise to the Galápagos Islands...together. But when the two meet on the ship, Henley is shocked to discover that the real Graeme is nothing like she imagined. As they explore the Islands together, she soon finds the line between loathing and liking thinner than a postcard. With her career dreams in her sights and a growing attraction to the competition, Henley begins questioning her life choices. Because what’s the point of working all the time if you never actually live?

— YOU NEED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE TO DECIDE YOU LIKE THEM. AUTHORS REALLY REALLY NEED TO LEARN HOW TO BUILD ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS. IF THEY ONLY LIKE EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY KISS WELL IT’S NOT A GOOD RELATIONSHIP. AND THIS IS COMING FROM ME. Back at it again with the annoying so-called heroine who was just...occasionally real mean to Graem for no reason at all? Also her name was Henley. Which is not a great reason to dislike her, but here we are.

Apparently I Read These Books Out Of Order. Who Knew?

Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

It is a truth universally acknowledged that only in an overachieving Indian American family can a genius daughter be considered a black sheep.

Dr. Trisha Raje is San Francisco’s most acclaimed neurosurgeon. But that’s not enough for the Rajes, her influential immigrant family who’s achieved power by making its own non-negotiable rules:

· Never trust an outsider

· Never do anything to jeopardize your brother’s political aspirations

· And never, ever, defy your family

Trisha is guilty of breaking all three rules. But now she has a chance to redeem herself. So long as she doesn’t repeat old mistakes.

Up-and-coming chef DJ Caine has known people like Trisha before, people who judge him by his rough beginnings and place pedigree above character. He needs the lucrative job the Rajes offer, but he values his pride too much to indulge Trisha’s arrogance. And then he discovers that she’s the only surgeon who can save his sister’s life.

As the two clash, their assumptions crumble like the spun sugar on one of DJ’s stunning desserts. But before a future can be savored there’s a past to be reckoned with...

A family trying to build home in a new land.

A man who has never felt at home anywhere.

And a choice to be made between the two.

— Surprise, apparently this was the first book in the series. I did not know. It didn’t affect my enjoyment of the Persuasion version in this same ‘verse, which is also strange because I liked the Persuasion one way better. There was a lot of medical in this. And not super uplifting medical, either. This was like...oh the Jane character (I guess???) has cancer and either she’s going to go blind after having a surgery (also she was an artist, so you see how this was a problem) or she’s just going to decide to die. Wait, what? That came out of left field, really. Also DJ and Trisha were not nice to each other. Like, I know this is Pride and Prejudice so there has to be some of that at the start, but it wasn’t like Trisha ever really went through the Darcy-required time at Pemberly. She just decided she liked DJ and told him and it was as awkward as Jane Austen intended it, but then we got more medical and everything was cool. It felt very rushed and shoehorned into a modern setting and the Persuasion one was better. You can’t have Darcy’s growth without the Pemberly stuff. You just can’t.

In Which I Didn’t Like a Nickname??? Is the World Ending??

Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Alexis Carlisle and her cat café, ToeBeans, have shot to fame after she came forward as a victim of a celebrity chef’s sexual harassment. When a new customer approaches to confide in her, the last thing Alexis expects is for the woman to claim they’re sisters. Unsure what to do, Alexis turns to the only man she trusts—her best friend, Noah Logan. Computer genius Noah left his rebellious teenage hacker past behind to become a computer security expert. Now he only uses his old skills for the right cause. But Noah’s got a secret: He’s madly in love with Alexis. When she asks for his help, he wonders if the timing will ever be right to confess his crush. Noah’s pals in The Bromance Book Club are more than willing to share their beloved “manuals” to help him go from bud to boyfriend. But he must decide if telling the truth is worth risking the best friendship he’s ever had.

— If Noah was going to call her Lexa, then her name should have been Alexa and not Alexis. That’s it and that’s all. Also, the story was n u t s. Estranged dads and kidney failure and they got together so fast in this book. Which usually is cool by me, but I really could not get over the nickname and the estranged family was mean to Alexis. Lexa. HER NAME SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALEXA, IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. Also Noah was a former hacker? The estranged family accused him corporate espionage or something? A lot happened in this book, guys. Her name should have been Alexa.

Dumb Brother Was Dumb™ Everyone Else Was Real Cute

The Off Limits Rule by Sarah Adams

I have found rock bottom. It's here, moving in with my older brother because I'm too broke to afford to live on my own. It's okay though, because we've always been close and I think I'm going to have fun living with him again.   That is until I meet Cooper...   Turns out, my brother has very strong opinions on the idea of me dating his best friend and is dead set against it. According to him, Cooper is everything I should stay away from: flirtatious, adventurous, non-committal, and freaking hot. (I added that last part because I feel like you need the whole picture.) My brother is right--I should stay away from Cooper James and his pretty blue eyes. He's the opposite of what I need right now.   Nah--who am I kidding? I'm going for it.

— This was cute, mostly mindless fluff. Hit some trope high points, including, obviously, best friends sister. Only the brother in question was a Neanderthal and I really thought people were going to make out more while said brother was on his business trip. I got it for free off Amazon. Which I think should explain a lot. Like, story-wise. Sorry, free Amazon books. Don’t be insulted.

Prose, Prose, Prose, Please Someone Have a Conversation

Trick by Natalia Jaster

In the Kingdom of Spring, Poet is renowned. He's young and pretty, a lover of men and women. He performs for the court, kisses like a scoundrel, and mocks with a silver tongue. Yet allow him this: It's only the most cunning and manipulative soul who can play the fool. For beyond the castle walls, Poet guards a secret. One the Crown would shackle him for. One that he'll risk everything to protect. Alas, it will take more than clever words to deceive Princess Briar. Convinced that he's juggling lies as well as verse, this righteous nuisance of a girl is determined to expose him. But not all falsehoods are fiendish. Poet's secret is delicate, binding the jester and princess in an unlikely alliance—and kindling a breathless attraction, as alluring as it is forbidden.

— The purplest of prose. Mauve prose. Royal purple prose. Lavender prose. There was so much writing here. So much. Too much, some might say. I say. Actually. If we want to get specific. And that was a shame, really, because when Briar and Poet actually had a conversation, they were interesting to read about. Also, the world building here? Yeeeesh. The so-called, wait for it, FOOL TRADE played a prominent role and that was...super cringe. Super Cringe. That being said, I asked Justin what I should read next and he thought it was funny that a book was just called...

Dare by Natalia Jaster

In the Kingdom of Summer, they say she's wild. Locked in a cage by the sea, Flare dreams of escape. She dreams of a lost world, known only in legends. The island is calling to her. And she won't let anyone keep her from it. Especially not him. They say he's cruel. Jeryn has crossed the ocean for the Trade, to bargain for those fierce, imprisoned creatures that make his skin crawl. By law, they're subjects meant for experimentation. And easy to despise. One girl in particular. But on the cusp of transport, the tide rages. That hidden island awaits. Stranded, the prince and prisoner must fight to survive. In a mysterious rainforest, they must band together...if they don't slay one another first. Or become something more to each other. Something just as dangerous.

— This was Justin’s fault. He could not believe this book was just called Dare. It should have been called “We’re going to weirdly force what is basically slavery into this story and then a prince is going to fall in love with an escaped slave and we’re also going to call that ROMANCE.” y i k e s. Remember that one story that took place over three days? This was the complete opposite. Years! They were shipwrecked for years! They got saved, spoilers, the DAY they started having sex. What are the odds, right?? And then MORE YEARS passed. Multiple years! Five years! They couldn’t actually be together because of that aforementioned slave trade. What the shit, man? Natalia, ya gotta be kidding me with this. The internet claimed Trick was good and a solid follow to reading ACOTAR and that there was this whole verse and it was also good. The internet was wrong.

Nothing Happened, Everything Happened, I...Hated It

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore’s bestselling, award-winning fantasy Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable-yet-strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace… and how to put it to good use. A thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure (and steamy romance!) that will resonate deeply with adolescents trying to find their way in the world.

— I can’t believe this was a book. Katsa was so annoying! Like, listen, I know her life was sad. And she was a pawn being used against her will. Blah, blah, blah. Whatever. The tone of the whole book was so strangely formal and Poe was strangely in love with Katsa? Who obviously didn’t want to get married because she was WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR. Or kill people, as the case may be. Only she wanted to make out with Poe? Only ONLY they didn’t even really get together at the end? I could not believe the end of this book. I nearly threw my Kindle across the room. Once again, no apologies for spoilers because do not read this book, but HE WAS BLIND? Katsa had to leave him behind to save his cousin and he just ENDED UP BEING BLIND? AND THEY NEVER GOT TOGETHER REALLY?? What the fuck? Seriously. Steamy romance, my ass. Nothing happened. The villain got defeated in point two seconds. There are other books in this universe? No, thanks.

#book recommendations #book rec #fantasy recommendations #book recs #laura reads books #this was longer than i realized it was going to be #documentation of a very weird book month #but we're almost back on track now because i am LOVING a darker shade of magic #welllp these are books

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tren-fraszka · 3 years

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Fandom5k 2021 Letter

Dear creator,

Thank you for taking your time to check my requests. I know my requests can sound a bit tricky, but please don’t be discouraged. I wish you will have good time writing first and foremost!

My AO3 is Tren, if you wish to check it out.

Likes: comedy, casefics, canon compliants, AUs, time loops, bodyswaps, roleswaps, “being hoisted by your own petard” plotlines, snark, pettiness, rivals, enemies to friends to lovers, violence, friendships, and character bonding,

DNW: explicit sex (makeouts and fade to black is okay), A/B/O, mpreg, rape depicted as positive (so no “it’s okay, because the other person enjoyed it/it was what they truly wanted”), trans headcanons, soulmate AUs, stories ending with surrender to fate/destiny, fourth wall breaking in canons where that doesn’t occur, character has cancer or other real-life terminal disease AU, word “queerplatonic”.

Also, I included what ships I’m okay with in each fandom. Please do not include any ships that aren’t canon and I have not allowed in those sections (if you feel really strongly about a ship I haven’t mentioned, you can always ask through mods just in case).

On a separate, but similar note, I’m okay with OCs as long as they don’t overshadow the characters I requested.

Additionally, while I almost never request fanart as possible medium, because I prefer my main gift to be fic, I would be very okay with receiving fanart treats. Also, feel free to peruse my old letters if you get your hands on them. I never stop being interested in fandoms, and if I requested something once I will still want it in the future.

REQUESTS

MARIMASHITA! IRUMA-KUN

I read new manga chapters as they get translated so feel free to incorporate anything from the manga that’s available in English.

Kirio Amy/Suzuki Iruma

There are many good ships with Iruma, but this one just has a lot things I like. I love enemy ships with both sides being way too emotionally invested into each other so this was inevitable. I love how this relationship starts as this really wholesome friendship and school festival preparation, except Kirio turns out to be a bit messed up and wants to blow up everyone. But then they both accept the outcome and go on with their lives still thinking about each other. Iruma goes through a lot of trouble to keep the club operating even though Kirio has been pretty much expelled. And then Kirio is now obsessed with Iruma as his anthitesis and perfect enemy.

I’m okay with the potential story happening at any point in the canon. I would love both a story set before the festival while Kirio is still hiding his true colors or a story set after it. Maybe Iruma runs into Kirio somewhere after he escapes prison and instead of calling an adult, he tries to stop Kirio from causing trouble on his own. As for pre-festival story. Maybe some upperclassmen steal important parts from the club and Iruma and Kirio set out to get them back.

Naberius Callego & Suzuki Iruma

I love Callego for being a much better take on Snape than original Snape ever was. The second the series made Callego Iruma’s familiar I knew this was about to get good. And it was. I love how Callego slowly warms up to Iruma, even if he is still allergic to his and Sullivan’s antics. I love that Callego is actually a competent teacher who cares about his students, but at the same time he would rather eat a whole lemon than admit it out loud.

For prompts, maybe Sullivan ends up having an important business and Opera isn’t available so he dumps looking after Iruma on Callego for a few days. Or Iruma is struggling with studying since so many things are new for him, so Callego ends up forced to help him catch up with the material (if you are following manga inclusion of Balam is always welcome). Or maybe Iruma gets into usual trouble ends up stranded somewhere and the only one he can call for help is his familiar.

Crocell Kerori | Kuromu/Gyari

One of the last thing I expected to get this year was a canonical yuri romance in this manga, but here it is and it’s perfect. I love how it is pretty much built on mutual pining. I love how Kuromu loves Gyari, but refuses to reciprocate her feelings, because she knows that she needs to remain unattainable to keep their relationship alive, and I love how Gyari is never ever going to give up.

I would love to see more of the time when they worked together. We know it was love at the first sight for Gyari, but I would love to see how Kuromu’s feelings grew. Those hours they spent together practicing, maybe a not-date where they sneak together to scout a venue where they will be having their first big concert, or maybe a small contest that would sow the seeds for their future rivalry. I would love any and all of it. Also, Gyari doesn’t seem to be aware of Kuromu’s civilian identity, so I would love a story where Gyari meets Crocell Kerori rather than Kuromu. Does she recognize her? Or does Kerori manage to successfully trick her? Maybe Gyari makes a full investigation after hearing rumors that Kuromu is attending Babylys. I would also love any sort of future fic for those two.

AUs and ships

I love the worldbuilding around the demon world, so I would ask that if you decided to write an AU that it still incorporates demons. I would definitely love an AU where rather than getting summoned to demon world, Iruma accidentally summons either Kirio or Callego into the human world. Maybe Iruma’s parents try to use him as an offering, but instead he ends up bound to a demon. I would love to see Kirio excited to unleash suffering (even if his weak powers severely limit him in that regard) onto human world just to discover that he made contract with the biggest pacifist possible. Or Callego being torn between wanting to return home as soon as possible (he has classes to teach!) and wanting to somehow help the weird human child that just keeps getting into trouble. Any other demon-focused AU is also welcome. For Gyari and Kurmou, maybe one of them is a human who ends up summoning the other as a demon. How different would their relationship be then? I’m also fine with any sort of AU divergences scenario. Maybe Iruma keeps accidentally sabbotaging Kirio’s terrorist plans without realizing it. Or Iruma ends up summoning Callego more often as his familiar when he gets into trouble. What if Gyari also attended Babylys.

As for ships, I’d rather avoid any love triangle scenarios for this canon, so please focus on just one pairing per character (competing for Iruma’s attention is normal for this canon, I’d just rather not see outright romantic competition). It’s self-explainatory for Kirio request, but if you want to include some shipping elements into the other requests I also ship Iruma/Amelie and Callego/Balam.

RE:ZERO

I watched the two season of anime, as well as the two OVA. Please don’t include any spoilers for events that haven’t been yet adapted. I’m fine with mentions of stuff from the light novel that adaptation has skipped, just please make sure to establish them properly, as I haven’t read the light novel.

Natsuki Subaru/Otto Suwen Natsuki Subaru & Felix Argyle & Julius Euclius & Reinhard van Astrea Roswaal L. Mathers (Re:Zero)

Echidna the Witch (Re:Zero)

Feel free to mix and match my requests (or cut off parts of the requests and stitch them together). Or include any other characters, I love all of them.

Natsuki Subaru/Otto Suwen

I came out of second season with a burning desire to see Otto and Subaru getting together. Otto was the MVP of the second season. Like sure, Emilia killed it in the last few episodes, but none of it would happen if Otto didn’t slap Subaru in the face when he needed it the most. Subaru even commented that Otto was like a heroine in a game at one point. They just care so much about each other and I would love to see them actually get together.

I would love to see them going on an undercover mission. Maybe they are trying to gather the information about witch cultists. Maybe they need to pretend to be a couple for the sake of their investigation. Or Emilia sends the two of them on a fake mission that actually consists of them visiting places of relaxation to make sure Subaru finally gets a break. And Otto’s mission is to make sure that Subaru actually rests and doesn’t get in trouble, but this proves to be a much more difficult undertaking that he expected.

After first season I had a working theory that Otto is actually a sin archbishop who is pretending to be a normal person for some unknown reasons (or maybe has a split personality). Season two pretty much disproved it, but I still adore that idea and would love anything with it.

Natsuki Subaru & Felix Argyle & Julius Euclius & Reinhard van Astrea

I immediately loved the queen candidates’ knights and the relationships between them. I would greatly enjoy seeing them work together. Maybe someone is plotting to harm queen candidates and they join forces to bring them down. Or maybe the queen candidates are busy with some bureaucracy and the bored knights decide to spend a night at town, which ends with all sorts of shenanigans. Maybe Subaru and Julius decide to have some sort of competiton that hilariously goes out of control. Or Reinhardt and Subaru rope everyone into helping some poor grandma, but her straightforward request ends up becoming much more difficult to execute than anyone predicted. Also, at the end of second season Subaru officially became Emilia’s knight and I would love to see other knights throwing an unofficial party for Subaru to celebrate this achievement. Or maybe their planned celebration doesn’t go as planned and Subaru ends up accussed of a crime he didn’t commit. Luckily, there are three very handsome and equally capable knights who believe in him and are willing to help him clear his name.

Feel free to also include Aldebaran into the group if you want. He had very little screen time in anime, so I didn’t want to make this request more difficult than it already is, but if you want to write him too I would be very happy with his inclusion.

Roswaal L. Mathers (Re:Zero)

Roswaal was incredible in the second season. I loved the parallels between him and Subaru! I loved his unrequited crush on Echidna! I loved Ram’s unrequited crush on him and how her actions ended up affecting him! I loved how Emilia made him apologize! He just had so many great interactions. I would just love to see more of Roswaal.

We know that Roswaal attempted to undertake the trial, but was rejected. What if by some quirk of fate Roswaal could undertake the trial. How would it go? Would he be able to accept the past? I would also love a deeper insight into his thought process during the Sanctuary arc, but also earlier arcs. How did he feel about Subaru and other characters? What happened to him after the Subaru failed? (we don’t know if Subaru dying creates new timelines or if there’s one that gets reset, while this prompt leans on former, I’m fine with both interpretations) I would also love to see if maybe Ram had attempted to destroy Roswaal’s book or shown her feelings for him before. On a different note, I would love Roswaal being a bit too interested in Otto (after he had changed the fate written in the book) and trying to figure out how he had achieved that. Honestly, I would love to see Roswaal interact with anyone. You could write him and Reinhard meeting in a bakery and I would love it.

Echidna the Witch (Re:Zero)

Echidna is best witch (at least until anime shows more of Sekhmet who I can already tell is my spirit animal witch). I loved Echidna’s character, the aura of mystery she built around herself, and her plans involving Subaru. She was just incredible.

I would absolutely love to see Echidna holding trials for other characters. It doesn’t matter who. Maybe Garfiel ends up completing all of them. Or maybe by some twist of fate Otto gains qualification and takes up the trials. Or Ram, or really anybody else. I just loved how personalized the trials were and would love to see them for other characters and what Echidna would think of them. I would also love to see more of her interactions with Subaru. Maybe Subaru makes deal with her, but belatedly realizes it was a bad idea and tries to find a way to break it. I would be also very okay with seeing more of her interactions with other witches. Or Emilia. I will gladly take 5k words of Echidna being completely done with Emilia’s positivity. Maybe Echidna finds a way to escape her deadness, but she needs to enter a contract with Emilia and now she is her familiar like Puck was.

AUs and ships

I would prefer no setting changes for this story. Any other AUs are fine. I especially love Subaru’s reset mechanic, so feel free to abuse that if you want. If you want some AU ideas, maybe another character starts remembering bits and pieces of the reseted timelines.

I like Subaru/Emilia, but the show is doing such a good job with it that I’m not craving more. As such I’m okay with acknowledging Subaru’s canon crush on Emilia, but if you are planning to do any other pairing involving Subaru I would prefer to reframe Subaru’s feelings for her as friendship. I’m okay with pairing Subaru with pretty much any other guy in the series (especially other queen candidate knights) or leaving who he will end up with ambiguous.

SOUSOU NO FRIEREN

I read new manga chapters as they get translated so feel free to incorporate anything from the manga that’s available in English.

Frieren

I love how this manga is a slow-paced fantasy dealing with loss and inevitable passage of time. And I love Frieren for being one of the best depictions of an elf whose long life actually affects their outlook on life and actions.

I would equally love the insight into Frieren’s present with her charges and the past with hero party. What other shenanigans they get into on their journey? What kind of weird magic Frieren pursued? I would love to see more of her mentoring Fern and Stark. I also love to see her interactions with the hero party. Maybe some more insight into how they fought with demons, since Frieren seemed to have picked up a number of enemies during that time. For some more specific prompts: maybe Frieren accidentally stumbles ona cursed item that erases her memories (or just her memories of Himmel). How would it affect her? What would the party do to help her? Or maybe a demon kidnaps someone from Frieren’s party?

Feel free to include any other characters, they are a colorful bunch.

AUs and ships

I’m fine with AUs as long as Frieren’s long lifespan is preserved. Her perspective is very much shaped by how long she has lived, so I wouldn’t want that aspect to change. An AU with mythological creatures or similar could be interesting. I would also love a roleswap where Himmel is an elf, while Frieren is a human, and exploration of how both of them would be affected by having a different lifespan.

I would very much love Himmel/Frieren, though I also enjoy how the manga softly builds on their connection. I also enjoy the budding romance between Fern and Stark.

HATARAKU MAOU-SAMA!

While I made this request mostly with anime in mind, I also consumed the original novels up to (and including) volume six. So feel free to include anything from the novels up until that point if you want, but nothing beyond that.

Maou Sadao/Ashiya Shirou

If Demon Lord’s right hand man/strategist turned into a househusband isn’t one of the most shippy ideas then I don’t know what is. Fics are just writing themselves. I just love seeing utter domesticity and loyalty Sadao and Ashiya have (and trouble they have with their prodigal not-son Urushihara).

I would love to get some insight into their relationship before they had to escape into another world. Maybe Ashiya realizes he is actually happy with the current arrangement and feels shame over indulging himself, while his lord is working hard to earn money and regain their powers. For some more specific prompts, maybe instead of becoming househusband he ends up working in MgRonald’s alongside Sadao. Or maybe while he’s doing shopping he ends up winning a lottery organized by some local shops and receives tickets for an onsen visit for two, so he and Sadao go to have a much deserved break. Or alternatively a story where they don’t get a break and need to face some new enemy.

Maou Sadao/Sasaki Chiho

I love Chiho Sasaki. She’s one of my favourite renditions of a normal person accidentally becomes entangled into a supernatural plot I’ve seen. And amidst it all, I love how she keeps supporting Sadao, even after learning that her MgRonald’s senpai is in fact a demon lord from another world.

I would love to see more of them working together in MgRonald’s. Maybe a precanon story where Chiho is still learning her ropes at MgRonald’s, while Sadao is still not completely used to passing as a human, so he keeps accidentally mentioning things about his demonic past and then has to quickly amend them into something more human. Or maybe a “tragic” story of Chiho who instead of applying to MgRonald’s goes to Sentucky Fired Chicken (I don’t mind changing it so SFC opens earlier than in the canon). Even though Sadao works for the rival store Chiho still falls for him and his impeccable work ethic and so she keeps counting days until her contract ends so she can apply to MgRonald’s instead (bonus points if the Sariel’s plotline happens during that time and Chiho gets increasingly distreased that Sadao will hate her even if she successfully moves to MgRonald’s). Alternatively they both go on some sort of training or charity action for MgRonald’s employees. Or maybe a more fantastical adventure where a new threat appears, so Sadao and Chiho work together to neutralize it.

AUs and ships

I would prefer no setting changes for this story, because this shows premise is just way too good. I’m fine with any other AUs. One slight exception (since it’s a bit of borderline case between a setting and divergence AU) would be that I would love to see Sadao and Chiho working at a coffee shop chain instead of MgRonald's.

Please only focus on one pairing requested when writing. I’d rather not have a triangle situation and see either Ashiya or Chiho rejected (requested character feeling slight jealousy over Sadao getting along with someone else is fine, I just don’t want a full on rivalry). I’d also rather not see Sadao paired with anyone beside the requested characters.

#exchange letters

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letstrywritingmaybe · 3 years

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Another Universe

It’s duncney week and I wanted to participate, thank you to @marshunter06 for all your encouragement and all that you do for the fandom! I love you lots! (Also y’all should go read Just One Universe by Mars! This fic is absolutely inspired by it!)💙

Tonight, Trent was determined to do it tonight. He’s on his third date with the girl he’s been crushing on since she bested him during a debate practice at the beginning of high school. Three years later they’ve grown to be good friends and he finally got the courage to ask her out, Courtney smiled and nodded shyly as the rest of the debate team cheered them on. It’s no secret Trent was in love with the Captain of the debate team, he helped her campaign for junior class president and ran as her VP helping secure her win. At this rate they would be the high school sweetheart couple everyone knew would get together. Sure their romance was taking a while, but they had all the time in the world to make it right. Too bad this wasn’t the right universe for them to stay together, he should’ve known when he failed to get their first kiss after their first date then again after their second date. Third times the charm, but he wasn’t the one to seal the deal.

They were at a hockey game, it was Wednesday night rivalry featuring the Montreal Canadians and the Toronto Maple Leaves. Trent wasn’t super into hockey, but he knew Courtney was a huge fan of the Canadians due to the fact that they're her hometown team, she was even dressed in a jersey for the game while he chose to wear a normal t-shirt. That should’ve been another clue to how this night would go. The game was just about to start when they found their seats, which unfortunately made everything go downhill. Right next to them was a punk teen with a green mohawk wearing a Maple Leaves’ jersey. He immediately butted heads with Courtney and they spent the rest of the night getting into each other’s faces and yelling at their respective teams as well as cheering when they scored. Trent had no idea what was going on, he only knew that the score was tied and the third period was about to begin. If only he paid more attention to the sport instead of the two teens who couldn’t stop glaring at each other.

“Oh come on! That was totally slashing! Get your heads out of your asses Ref!”

“Shut up Duncan, we’re on a power play, stop trying to distract my team!”

“Well your team committed a penalty!”

“So did yours with that high stick last period!”

“We got penalized for that already, besides your guy was in the way.”

“It’s called having a good defense, not that you would know anything about that.”

The two were so busy arguing, that they didn’t notice the kiss cam scanning the crowd to claim their next victim. This was exactly the moment Trent was waiting for, his opportunity was coming? He just had to calm Courtney down for a few seconds. He stands up and just as he’s about to tap her on the shoulder the camera stops right in front of Courtney and Duncan arguing once again. Someone in the background yells out for them to kiss, confused, they both turn to see the camera pointed right at them. She was ready to tell them to move on, but Duncan decided to go for it, you miss every shot you don’t take, so why not?

“Oh no, we’re not…”

“Courtney, just shut up.”

He catches her completely off guard with his hand on her waist pulling her over to him to claim her lips in a kiss. She wanted to push him away, but the moment their lips met, she melted into the kiss. This was her first kiss and he had stolen it from her, she should be seething with anger, but somehow it felt right. The crowd behind them cheered and the video ended up on both of the team’s Twitter accounts framing the two as lovers from rival teams. It takes her half a second to realize she was supposed to be annoyed at him, but she really did enjoy the kiss. She shoves him off, he nearly tumbles into the seats below them, luckily the kiss cam had moved on by then to save him the embarrassment.

“Fucking hell, why did you do that!”

“You stole my first kiss asshole!”

The sound of a goal being made forced their attention away as the Canadians managed to score with five minutes left in the last period, giving them the lead. Immediately Courtney gloats while Duncan yells that the game isn’t over yet. Once again they become lost in each other completely forgetting about Trent’s existence. He lets out a sigh as he sits down again, he really should’ve paid more attention to hockey when his dad was explaining it to him. He admits defeat as he sees his crush all wrapped up in her supposed hatred for her enemy, there’s a fine line between love and hate, their passion definitely tipped them over to the love side. Maybe in another universe he would get the chance to be her first kiss, but they’re just meant to be friends in this timeline. He smiles as he watches the two of them continue to cheer for their teams, at least he would have a funny story to tell their future kids one day.

Also available on ao3!

#duncney #duncney week 2020 #duncney week #this is your fav thing you ever wrote for TD so I thought I would add on to it

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imagines-r-s · 4 years

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The Irony of Soulmates

chapter 1: sex,money,feelings,die//Lykke Li

What happens when soulmates and mobs collide? An already messed up world combined with the idea of a person set to be perfect for you, something is bound to go wrong. When soulmates are brought into the world of the three most powerful mobs in London, what will happen? This is all bound for destruction, but love appears in the most ironic ways sometimes.

series masterlist || prologue || chapter 2 ||

A/N: i’m so sorry this took so long, school just finished, so I should have more time to write

WC: 2.7k

taglist: @spideyyeet @quaksonhehe @whatdoyxumean @ineedmorestyles (comment or send an ask if you would like to be added)

You might not have known much in your 21 years of age, but there were a few things that you were for sure about: mobs and soulmates do not mix; mobs and friends do not mix; mobs and love do not mix.

Any sort of connection in this line of work was dangerous, it didn’t matter the degree. Friends were dangerous, soulmates were dangerous, and love, in general, was dangerous. Soulmates made this line of work hard, you had to completely give up any idea or hope of meeting your soulmate.

You couldn’t even fathom the idea that the universe somehow had your perfect match set up for you. Joining you together with a stupid mark that showed up when you were 18 that matched you with who you were meant to be with and then once you kissed, you’d be able to communicate telepathically. It was a ridiculous concept that you paid no mind to.

Whenever doing work, your mind always went back to the time before you were as involved in all of this, back to when you still had friends, when your parents were still here, and before thinking about this stupid rivalry took up a majority of your time.

Being made second-in-command of one of the biggest mobs in London at the age of 16, after the death of your parents, was a major change that happened in your life even at the age of 21, you still haven’t completely adjusted to it if you’re being completely honest. The only thing keeping you together was your older brother and your best friend.

Everything in your life before you turned 16 was perfectly fine, you had friends, school was great, you could live a normal life without certain stressors, and people you trusted at one point weren’t your enemy. But here you are 5 years later, working hard as second in command, living with your brother in a huge mansion, and living the lavish life while committing crimes and getting away with it every single time.

Around this time of year the annual Gala of London, your favorite event of the year, you got to dress up, look nice, dance, and annoy the Hollands--which was your favorite part. This event made it easy to pull stunts against the Hollands and the Hughes, without terrible repercussions as it would lead to bad publicity.

14 days before

The sound of your heels clicking was the only thing you heard as you walked down the long hallway of your mansion. The smell of bourbon mixed with cigarettes filled your nostrils as you finally reached Harrison’s office. When you knocked and didn’t get an answer you walked in, assuming correctly that he was on the phone.

You rocked on your heels as you waited for him to get off the phone, which lasted a shorter amount of time than you anticipated. “What do you want?” you asked as you sat at one of the chairs near his desk. “Well, hello to you, too,” you grinned.

“What’s up?”

“Just letting you know, that there’s a possibility I won’t be there at the Gala,” you were confused as to why he said it so calmly, but you were shocked to hear the news.

“What do you mean you won’t be at the Gala?”

“I mean I have things to do that I can’t necessarily tell you right now, but if I can’t make it you’ll need to get information from the Holland’s,” he continued without looking at your facial expressions,” they’ve apparently interrogated one of our men that went rogue, but to find out who it is, we need the file from their computer.” Haz stopped talking and finally looked up at you, “what’s wrong?”

“So you mean to tell me that, a.) you won’t be at the Gala, b.) you want me to go on a solo mission while being in the Holland mansion, and c.) one of our men went rogue and you didn’t tell me. Haz, you can’t just keep shit like this from me, I’m your second, I should at least be informed on these things,” the feeling of betrayal after hearing he kept secrets from you and then expected that much of you, was a lot to take in all at once.

“Yes, y/n, you’re my second-in-command, I am in charge here and although you help, you don’t always know everything as soon as it happens,” you scoffed. “Ok, Harrison, ok.”

You left as quickly as possible, making your way over to the east wing of your mansion where you assumed your best friend, Zendaya, would be. Luckily for you, Zendaya was also a part of the Osterfield mob, her parents were friends with yours when they were still alive, so you and her grew up together. She was only two years older than you were, making her and Haz the same age. She was able to move into the Osterfield mansion when she turned 18, she was family to you, being the older sister you never had.

You tried hard not to cry, you usually didn’t. Keeping the basic, heartless facade that helped you get by in this line of work, but the fact that Harrison was the one to say something that hurt you bothered you more than you cared to admit. You and Haz acted the way that normal sibling rivalries go, but you would also literally kill anyone that hurt the other. The one thing that you both bonded over the most was leading, now that he was leaving you out of things--or that you became aware of it--hurt you more than anything.

By the time you made it over to the east wing, you saw Z reading in your library. “Z, I need your help,” you smiled at her, knowing you probably interrupted her reading time.

She glared at you, “You’re lucky I love you, y/n/n, so lucky. What do you need?”

“Soooo, the gala is coming up…” you said, hoping that she would catch on to what you were implying.

“And?” she said waiting for your explanation. “And I need your help to find a dress to wear. Subtle, not too slutty, but slutty enough.” She simply rolled her eyes at you, “yeah, I get what you mean.”

You and Z headed to your favorite boutique in London, just so both of you could find the perfect dress. After trying on as many dresses as you could find that you liked, you finally settled on a velvet, emerald green long sleeve dress with a slit, that went up to your mid-thigh; the only issue was the dress showed way too much of your shoulder, which is where your soulmate mark is.

You had mixed feelings about your soulmate mark. Your soulmate mark was an outline of a crescent moon on your left shoulder, the mark was beautiful, but you couldn’t show it. If you did, anyone would be able to use it against you. You didn’t want your soulmate to be harmed because of your actions. You always had to alter your clothes to where it couldn’t be seen, but you’d done it for the past 21 years and you would continue to do so until you died.

“So, what happened between you and brother dearest today?” you expected her to ask sooner, but the question still took you by surprise nonetheless. “Uh, I don’t know honestly. He didn’t tell me some information and it just bothered me that’s all.”

“Well, did he say why he didn’t tell you?” she had made a valid point, maybe if he had told you why you wouldn’t have gotten so upset. “No, he didn’t tell me why.”

Zendaya, being the only rational person in your life, made you realize that maybe if you talked to him, he’d tell you what was up.

When you got home Harrison was nowhere to be found, so you just left it at that.

10 days before

“I’m just going to bring in the shoulder part of the dress, that way it covers your mark,” you nodded in response to Robert, your tailor. Even though the people in the mansion did work for you, you had grown close to many of them over the years.

Robert was always able to make alterations that covered your soulmate mark, and you were so thankful for that. “Ok, y/n, how does this look,” you looked up at the full-length mirror in awe, you were already in love with the dress and you were thankful that it could be fixed.

“I love it, it looks great,” you beamed at how nice the dress looked on you, “thank you so much.”

“Make sure her mark is covered,” a voice you hadn’t expected to hear, said. You honestly hadn’t anticipated to see Haz for a few more days, so hearing his voice surprised you a lot more than you wanted to admit.

“It is, trust me,” you replied, not looking away from your reflection in the mirror.

“Robert, if you’ll excuse yourself, I need to talk to y/n,” Robert nodded and left the room quickly, shutting the door on the way out, “look, I’m sorry about the other day, but you have to understand that I only keep things from you to protect you, I wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt you.”

“I appreciate the apology, but please know that I can hold my own and I understand you keeping info away from me for my safety, but piling it all on me in one sitting was just a lot. Now, how do you like the dress?” Haz smiled at the fact of how quickly you deflected the conversation.

“It’s very nice, but I know someone that will be happy to see it,” he smirked as he saw your smile falter.

“If you mean Holland, then stop.” You and the oldest Holland had a strange relationship. Before your life went to hell, you and him were extremely close, considering the fact that you were on opposing sides. You two had been through a lot, but when things got difficult between the mobs, everything changed. The exact reason you knew that friendships never worked in this line of work.

“You’ll definitely grab his attention, but on the topic of the gala, the meeting I was at didn’t go as successfully as I had anticipated, so I won’t be at the gala.”

“I can’t go to the gala alone and try to get information, especially at the Holland mansion,” he was asking a lot of you, but you still had doubts.

Harrison made his way over to you, “y/n, you’ll be fine. I already know that you aren’t scared of them, and I know Tom wouldn’t hurt you even if he had to,” he laughed.

“Just because he’s gone soft doesn’t mean anything,” Harrison scoffed at your statement, he knew better than anyone how much of a soft spot Tom had for you, he hoped that you were smart enough to notice. “The only soft spot he has is for you. I hope you realize that.” Haz left you without saying anything else; you were smart enough to know that Tom did have a soft spot for you, it was very obvious, but you didn’t want to think about that much.

6 days before

Physically, you knew you were ready for this mission. Everything was set: the dress, the look, the plan, everything. Emotionally and mentally, not so much. You were so used to Haz being there with you, that it was a weird transition to be on your own.

Haz had left early this morning, you still didn’t know where, but after he apologized you could respect it to an extent. You were hopeful that when all this was over he’d be able to actually share information with you, but you could only hope.

The past few days had sped past you in a blur, as they were just you doing the same things every day: wake up, have breakfast with Z, fill out paperwork or do anything Haz needed you to do, shower, and go back to sleep. You had a simple routine that you made sure to always stick to, especially when Harrison was gone.

2 days ago

You were trying not to overthink the situation, knowing that it would only make things harder for you. The plan was simple: don’t draw too much attention, then get in, get information, and get out. You knew that you would be fine, but the looming thought that something could go wrong was running through your head. There was also the fear that you would disappoint Haz, this mission was necessary, especially considering the fact that you needed to figure out who the person who had gone rogue was.

You were brought out of your thoughts with a knock on your bedroom door, “come in.” Zendaya walked into your room and sat next to where you sat at your bay window. You two sat in comfortable silence for a while, until she finally broke it.

“You know you’ll be fine, right. Plus, I’ll be right there if you need anything.” You didn’t say anything, because, in all honesty, you didn’t know what to say. You knew she’d be there and you knew there was only a slight possibility that things went wrong, but you weren’t prepared for what would happen if it did go wrong. “Everyone will be on their best behavior while at the Gala, the only person you might have to worry about is maybe Corina, even then we both know you could take her easily,” you couldn’t help but laugh at her statement, “plus, as much as you don’t want it to be brought up, you and the Holland’s still have a history no matter how much you avoid the conversation. Now, please, get some rest. You have a very big day ahead of you.”

Z leaned down to kiss the top of your head and you couldn’t help but smile at the gesture, “goodnight, Z. Sleep well,” and with that, she left your room.

The day of

You woke up a lot later than what you usually do, immediately going to take a shower and do your morning routine. Once you got out of the shower, you made your way downstairs, making sure to greet Robert and Pepper, your chef, on the way to your office. You kept to yourself for most of the day, until around 3pm, when you had to start getting ready for tonight.

Although you had the accessibility for other people to help you get ready, you preferred to get ready yourself. You wanted to keep the look simple to draw the attention to your dress. You started off with your hair, doing a simple, yet elegant, half-up-half-down look that accented your features well. Then came the makeup, sticking to a more simple look, a natural smokey eye, keeping it basic by wearing red lipstick, and adding minimal highlight.

You waited a while to put on the dress, saying as you had enough time before you had to leave. You allowed the emerald train of the dress to flow as you walked down the stairs,” woo, look at you,” you looked up to see Z waiting at the end of your stairs grabbing her clutch. “Not too bad yourself, Z.”

You grabbed your diamond choker from your clutch, asking Z to put it on you as you put on your Osterfield ring. You gave yourself one last glance in the mirror and once you were happy with how you looked, “are you ready, y/n/n?” You nodded your head in confirmation.

The drive to the Holland mansion was filled with talk about anything and everything and also the occasion Beyonce song to hype you both up. When you felt the limo finally come to a stop, you forced a breath out. “You’ll be okay, just don’t draw too much attention and you’ll be able to find me if you need anything,” Z said, reassuring you again.

You two made your way up the stairs outside of their mansion, arm in arm. You took one more deep breath before walking through the door. You slowly made your way through the entrance looking around for everything you needed to when the echo of shoes were heard throughout the ballroom causing you to look up at the source of the noise, only to be met with the people you didn’t want to see: Sam, Harry, and Tom Holland.

#mob au #mob!tom holland #tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #mobster!tom #au #tom holland imagines #tom holland series #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #mob!tom x mob!reader #tom holland x osterfield!reader

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n-ctarinenga · 4 years

Text

Be Home Soon [ calum hood ]

w.a.h series | pt.1 | word count: 3,912 | masterlist

Sometimes, when you let your mind wander, you would come back to a thought that encompasses every other question you'd asked yourself in the last few years.

Where would you be now, if yours and Calum's lives hadn't merged when they did?

You admittedly hadn't had the best of weeks upon the day you had met Calum in Los Angeles. Being a graphic designer from the same side of the world as him though, it was easy to find a mutual connection.

Before sitting down in a waiting room at Interscope records, your week had been filled with paperwork. Paperwork that basically piled around your ankles as you waded through all the necessary documents to confirm your new life away from where you'd always known as home, New Zealand.

Not only was the stress of the move on your shoulders, but the stress of your new job was too. It almost didn't matter that you had gotten your bachelors degree, because nothing could prepare you for the first day on your dream job.

It was this first day on the job that you had met Calum, being sent to the same waiting room as him while you waited on your supervisor and he waited on his band mates, him being the first to arrive.

You'd recognized him instantly, and heard your boss in your head telling you not to get starstruck in front of the clients. Seeing it as your first major test, you let your shoulders relax, sitting down on one of the couches opposite him and setting your bag down by your feet.

"Morning." You smiled politely, looking over to him as you noticed him glance up at you from his phone.

He stalled for a second as he looked at you, just long enough for you to notice before he spoke.

"Morning." He replied, a small smile on his face as he nods in your direction.

Feeling like you handled the interaction well, you gave yourself a pat on the back mentally, opening twitter to catch up on whatever you'd missed overnight and this morning. As you scroll though, a text notification comes up on your screen, letting you know that your supervisor is running late in a meeting, and will take a little longer than expected.

You let out a soft sigh before you stop scrolling, letting your phone rest on the couch beside you and pulling out your smallest sketchbook while you wait.

"Hey," the man from across the room asks, catching your attention and making you look up from your pencil case, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but is that your dog on your phone case?"

You hadn't prepared yourself to actually converse with someone yet this morning, but you could feel your face light up as you flip your phone over beside you, showing off the picture of your most favorite dog in the universe.

"It is, yeah. Her name is Ayla. Normally I have flowers in my case but I had to take them out when I was coming over here and the first idea I had to replace it with was my favorite girl." You laugh lightly, handing your phone over to him so he could see the sweet neo mastiff on the back of it.

His face breaks out in a grin as he looks at the Polaroid in the back of your clear phone case, and you do your best to ignore the flutter in your heart at the sight in front of you, his bright grin helping clear the clouds that had been covering your week.

"She's adorable. My boy Duke is probably about the size of her head." He laughs, handing you your phone back, "If you don't mind me asking, where is your accent from?"

You're surprised with his question, mostly because you didn't expect to be having a conversation with him, but also because you were sure your accent wasn't that pronounced.

"It's from New Zealand. Born and raised." You smile proudly, and this time, it's his face that lights up.

"Can't believe we're practically neighbours, though I thought you sounded familiar." He admits, leaning back in his seat while you smile with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, they do always say aussies and kiwis can find each other anywhere."

He nods in agreement, and from there, it doesn't take you both long to start talking about your home towns, sharing your experiences about childhood snacks under slightly different names, the shows you'd both end up getting months after they had already screened in the US, and of course the numerous sports rivalries between your countries.

The ease in which he made you laugh felt different than your normal interaction with strangers, and as you shook your head, telling him about the extreme culture shock you felt walking into a supermarket to get your first load of food after moving, he could feel a wave of calm and familiarity coming from you that made him feel nearly instantly comfortable in your presence.

The conversation flowed easily, and as you saw your supervisor approaching while in the middle of talking about how long of a flight it is between Austrliasia and America, you felt kinda disappointed you'd be leaving your new buddy.

Once your supervisor collected you, you said your goodbyes to Calum, walking off towards the office space you could now call your own.

As you walked off with your supervisor, Calum's eyes followed you, taking a moment to catch a breath he didn't realize he'd lost.

You'd been talking for easily less than thirty minutes, but there was something about you that made Calum wish you would walk back around the corner again to tell him more about your life.

He kicked himself for not getting your number, only knowing your first name and that you're a graphic designer, but nothing that would help him contact you again.

The only thing that snapped him out of his thoughts was Ashton walking into the room, crashing down onto the couch beside him.

Little did he know, but you were feeling exactly the same as you sat down in your small office space, cursing yourself for not having the guts to ask him for his number, not wanting to seem like you wanted something from him.

There was a part of you that wanted to run back out to the waiting room, the hopeful side of you thinking there was a chance he'd still be there.

Something about leaving him back in that room didn't sit right with you, and before you could talk yourself out of it, you stood up from your desk, walking back through the hallways to the waiting room.

As you reached the entrance, someone else did too, and you bumped into someone solid that sent you wobbling back a few steps, the person reaching out to steady you.

Looking up from where you had been watching your own determined steps, your eyes widen as Calum stands in front of you, hands on your upper arms to steady you, shock crossing his face before a string of apologies fall from each of your mouths.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry-"

"I'm so sorry are you okay-"

Cutting each other off, you laugh lightly nodding at his question after a second.

"I'm fine, really. I was actually coming back here to see you so I'd say this worked out." You laugh, scratching the back of your neck nervously as he lets his hands drop to his sides.

"Really?" He asks, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, I uh," you shrug slightly, "I would really like to hear more of your stories. Honestly, you're really interesting to me, and you haven't shown me your dog even though I showed you mine so I think you owe me." You joke, and feel your heart back flip as he bursts with laugher.

A wide grin covers his face as he nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket and unlocking it before handing it to you.

"You have a good point, and I'm glad you find me even half as interesting as I find you." He comments, looking down at your phone that you'd swapped him but still managing to make you blush as he typed his number in.

Taking a quick selfie to set as a contact icon, you save your number under "waiting room kiwi" before handing him his phone back.

The connection you felt that day did anything but sizzle out, evident by what happened after your phone first buzzed with a text from him later on that night.

With two years passing since you met, you and Calum had experience with distance from each other, being in a relationship since your chaotic first date that lasted a lot longer than anticipated, after a lost wallet sent you on a wild goose chase, knowing from that day on that you were both very much meant to be in each others lives.

Whenever you could, you would make the journeys necessary to be with each other. It was hard sometimes, fighting off the thoughts that the distance would affect your relationship negatively, but you did your best to remind yourself, and to remind Calum, that even when things were hard, you would always have a home in the other's arms when you could finally hold each other again.

With you basically living with each other while Calum was home recording Calm, it felt like you'd actually had a moment to breathe and just exist around, and with one another.

But then the pandemic hit, and everything shifted from slow motion into fast forward. With only two days to decide if you would be staying in California or going back to your families, you spent more than half of those 48 hours with tears in your eyes as you did your best to help each other pack what you could of your lives into suitcases, not knowing when you could come back.

It was the hardest decision you had ever made together, the decision to be away from each other for God knows how long.

Calum gripped your hand with a tight grasp nearly the entire 23 hour flight from California to Auckland, almost like he was trying to commit the feeling of your hand in his to his deepest, most permanent memories.

With a last "I love you" between tear flavoured kisses, your heart ached as you watched Calum's flight leaving you in Auckland while he traveled on to Sydney, and even the arms of your parents and siblings couldn't stop the aching in your heart you as you felt the distance between you and the man you love grow every second.

You sat between your older brother and sister on the way home, not far out of the city you'd only been back to a few times since moving to the States.

Calum spent a large percentage of time on his flight to Sydney with his eyes closed or cast down to his phone, flipping through pictures of your lives together before things became so uncertain and unpredictable. He knew it would make him feel worse in the long run, but with no end in sight to whatever you could even call his current situation, all he cared about was the fact he just had to say goodbye to the woman he loves.

Upon landing and seeing his big sister waiting for him from her own flight home a day earlier, Calum basically crumbled into her arms, searching for any ounce of comfort he could before they made their way back to their home.

You and Calum loved your families, and wanted to protect them and be there for them, no matter how much pain you caused yourselves.

Being at your childhood home for only hours before lock down took effect felt like the most absolutely wild fever dream your mind could come up with, but as you gathered around the TV every 1pm, the reality of it all started to sink in.

Though the first few days of being separated, you and Calum had a hard time finding space between family bonding sessions to phone each other in any capacity. You would spend hours together on facetime in the middle of the night instead, you watching him noodling with songs from the new album just around the corner, or him watching you reorganize a room you hadn't had the chance to since your teens before one of you would inevitably pass out.

With time blurring together the days quicker and quicker, the only thing that reminded you what day it was, was how many days since or how many days til it was Great British Bake Off night.

One night, the feelings of the world hit you harder than the others.

The shine of being home had quickly worn off, and sleeping became harder and harder without your boyfriend beside you like you had been used to the last few months.

With your exhaustion and situation hitting you all at once, you could barely breathe as tears ran down your face as you sat at the end of your childhood bed on the phone to Calum, doing your best to hide your current state from him as you covered the speaker with your hand.

"-and I just can't get zoom to work at all. I 'ave no idea how kids are meant to be using this for school when I can't even get it goin' to call my mate a dickhead." Calum complains, his example making you laugh, which is soon followed by an all too telling hiccup.

Hearing that small sound barely picked up by your phone made Calum freeze, tense energy immediately flowing through him.

"It's cause your WiFi is shit, babe." You laugh, but are confused with the silence you're met with on the other end.

"Babe?" You question.

Calum lets out a sigh, your quietness over the last ten minutes of your call making sense to him as things started to click.

You would only ever hiccup on two occasions, one, when you were close to blackout drunk, and two, when you had been crying.

"Darlin', you don't wanna be hearing me complain about technical issues, do you?" He asks, his heart aching as your following silence told him all he needed to know.

"I'm just happy to hear your voice, actually." You say in a soft voice, a fresh wave of tears falling down your cheeks.

Calum had to blink away his own tears at your words, inhaling as deep a breath as he could.

"This is fucking horrible." He comments, and you scoff lightly, nodding even though he can't see.

"You've got that right." You agree as you look down to the rug under you, faded from years in the sun that was nowhere to be seen as autumn's clouds quickly turned into winter rain. "I don't think I've ever missed someone so much in my life."

"Next time we're in a pandemic, we're going to Michael's." Calum adds, trying and succeeding in making you smile.

"On the way out I'll grab Moose and South, then we'll just have to steal Petunia to get the A team together." You laugh.

Calum takes a moment to drink in the sound of your laughter, knowing it had been few and far between these days, yet it still sounded like music to his ears just like the first time he'd heard it.

As your shared laughter dies down, you can hear Calum take a deep breath before he talks again.

"I didn't know I could be homesick for a person."

And with that, your heart breaks even more than it already has been.

You stay on the phone to him for a while longer before your mum calls you for dinner, leaving him with a promise of a text later on in the night.

You join your family after cleaning up your face, but take it you didn't do the best job as your brother and sister offer to do the dishes while you go back up to your room, telling you you'd looked too tired for it tonight, and hell, they weren't wrong.

Crashing down onto your bed, an idea flashed through your head as you stared at the ceiling above you.

While you'd never been one to really verbalize your feelings and emotions, you were the kind of person who knew how to get their emotions down onto paper, or in this case, into the text box to your boyfriend's number.

Hey sweetheart. Honestly, I swear sometimes you know me better than I know myself. You were right, as normal, things have been harder than I've been letting on. But because I know you and how that head of yours works, I didn't want to fill your mind with worry when so much is going on around us already. There's a large part of me that wishes we weren't as self sacrificing as we are, even though it's obvious to anyone that we're always the ones choosing the ones we love over ourselves. Things are way too scary for me to think about for too long and I hope you're doing better at distracting yourself from thinking about it than I am right now. I'm not as good with words as you are, love, but I feel like if this time apart shows me anything, it's that you're the best thing I've ever had the honour to hold, and god I'm dying to hold you again and never let you go. I could say I miss you and I love you in a million different metaphors and references, but sometimes simplicity is best, and I miss you, and I love you, so so fucking much. I'm more homesick now than I have ever been in my life. Not for LA, not for here, not for anywhere in the world, apart from the space beside you. You have my heart darlin, and you are my home. Good luck with your game of monopoly against Mali, though I gotta be honest I'm backing her on this one. Goodnight, I love you, and I'll see you (onscreen) tomorrow, honeybee.

Upon hitting send and rolling over as you close your eyes in hope for some resemblance of a full night's sleep, you couldn't have even imagined the pounding Calum felt in his chest after reading your message three times over before finally looking away.

Walking into her brother's room, a sad and understanding smile appears on Mali's face as Calum's attention pans to her.

"Rain check on the game?" She asks.

"Yeah, thanks." Calum clears his throat.

Questioning her movements for a moment, Mali moves forward into the room, sitting down beside Calum and wrapping her arm around his shoulders. It wasn't hard for her to see how much this was affecting him, both of them being as close as they are, and Mali wished she could fly you over herself to ease the heartache you were both going through right now.

"I'm gonna ask her to marry me next time I can see her again." He says, a finality and certainty to his words.

He was entirely serious, too. After this was over, Calum never wanted to let you go again, not like this. He was well aware of all the things he'd been lucky enough to do in his life, but you by far were the person who convinced him just how lucky he is.

You had his heart, and he had yours.

Mali just smiled as she comforted her little brother, knowing this was going to come from the first day you spent in the Hood family home when you joined them for Christmas two years prior. The ease at which you fit into his family was like you were meant to be there all along, and the looks shared between Mali and Joy during that period of time showed they were both very aware of that.

After promising to shift their game forward a Day, Calum is left on his own again.

Laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, he doesn't quite know how to reply to the text message still sitting open on his phone.

He couldn't hug you through text, and knew no other way to comfort you like he wanted to, apart from the one thing that always made your heart beat at a different pace, apart from him, which was something he was capable of: music.

Picking up his acoustic guitar from the otherside of the room, Calum sits down behind his desk, phone propped up against his computer screen as he opens the camera.

Looking up to the ceiling, he takes a deep breath, collecting himself before he starts.

Gaze falling down to his hands again, he starts to slowly pick out the chords to the first song that came to his mind, the perfect song for you.

Upon playing out the final chords, Calum can feel the tears rolling down his face falling onto his shirt, wiping them away with the back of his hand that feels nothing like the soft touch of your fingers before throwing on a hoodie and walking downstairs to sit with his family, deciding against the solitude he knew would swallow him completely if he didn't do something about it.

Somewhere deep inside, something's got a hold on you.

And it's pushing me aside, see it stretch on forever.

I know I'm right, for the first time in my life.

That's why I tell you,

you'd better be home soon.

The crisp air of a morning soaked in an approaching winter wakes you earlier in the day than you would have hoped.

Fairy lights strung around your room still shined from last night, hung by your brother upon being bribed to help you earlier in the week, you not being bothered to turn them off before falling asleep.

You couldn't say you slept well, but you were grateful for anything at this point.

Rolling over, you pick your phone up from your bedside table, scrolling through a few notifications before landing on the text messages sent to you from your friends during the night, the good morning texts sent to you at two am reminding you of the time difference you were struggling with.

Your heart leaps as you see a message from Calum, remembering your own message from last night and the word vomit it contained.

You tilt your head in surprise as you sit up in bed, seeing a simple text saying "I love you too" sitting under your text to him, a video sitting under the message causing your interest to be pique.

Hitting play on the short video, your heart drops to your stomach and tears well in your eyes, the tune instantly recognisable.

After all, you had both been hearing it all your lives.

Tears flood down your face as you play the video over and over again, shaking your head as you wipe away your tears on your hoodie.

"Little shit." You laugh through your tears, knowing he would know exactly the effect the video would have on you.

Hand covering your mouth to soften the sound of your sobs, you lay back down again, curled into a ball in the middle of your bed as you feel the weight of thousands of miles press down on your chest.

taglist: @spicycal @softbabiestan @irwinkitten @mrandleer @smalla-than-a-bugg @candidcal @lukeskisses @wallflowercal @brooklynsninenine @whereveryouares

#calum hood #calum hood fanfic #calum hood blurb #calum hood imagine #5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer fanfic #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer blurb #5sos #5sos fanfic

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overthinkingkdrama · 4 years

Text

Exit Review: My Country

Synopsis

This drama is set in the transition between the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, and follows turbulent friendship turned fraught rivalry between Seo Hwi and Nam Seon Ho. Seo Hwi’s late father was the greatest swordsman of Goryeo, but after being framed for embezzling military supplies he was executed as a traitor, a stain which hangs over Hwi and his sister’s lives. Seon Ho is the illegitimate son of a powerful state official, but due to his mixed parentage he can never fully belong to his father’s world and has an insatiable ambition and bitter resentment toward his father which drives him.

Hwi and Seon Ho have been close since childhood, but when they end up going head to head in the state military exam a tragedy follows that will drive a terrible wedge between them. Eventually circumstances will force them to pick sides between General Yi Seong Gye (the first King of Joseon) an his ruthless son, Yi Bang Won, in the fight which will give shape and purpose to a newborn country.

Review

Story: My Country is a difficult drama for me to review objectively, in part because I loved it so much. Watching this drama was a truly absorbing and gripping experience for me, and it plays to so many of my story preferences. I was unequivocally obsessed with this drama from the premier to the finale, but during the weeks between airings I couldn’t help but feel like I was arm wrestling with the script.

It was characterization more than anything that gave me fits. I wouldn’t go so far as to accuse the show of giving us thin or two dimensional characters. To the contrary, each of these characters has a fully realized matrix of conflicting desires, loyalties and ambitions that inform their choices and alignments. However, it is often difficult to sift through those murky motivations and draw a clear line between a character’s internal desires and their external actions.

This drama starts out with an incredible cold open that raises all sort so questions about who these characters are and immediately invests you in finding out how they ended up in this situation. It’s truly masterfully done, and I probably rewatched it upwards of 10 times through the run. It kept me asking those questions all the way until the pay off. But because the writers were so invested in keeping their cards close to the chest, clear characterization was sometimes lost in the shuffle.

That said, this drama really is one beautiful, tragic escalation after another. Just taking the first two episodes in isolation is quite a ride. I really thought after the first few weeks, or hell, the first half, that the drama would get bogged down in plotting and politics or have nowhere left to go, but to my great joy it really doesn’t let up a single moment until the finale.

Acting: Where to even begin with the acting in this drama? All three of the main male leads: Yang Se Jong, Woo Do Hwan and the inimitable Jang Hyuk are perfectly cast and give inspired performances. Everything from posture to voice to subtle microexpressions is so stunningly on point.

I came into the drama already a big fan of both Woo Do Hwan and Jang Hyuk as actors, having followed them through other projects, so it wasn’t surprising to me that I liked them both here as well. However, what did surprise me was the extent to which they were able to show off their range and talent. As a long time Jang Hyuk fangirl, I would confidently argue that this particular rendition of the Yi Bang Won character is him at his absolute best. I also went into My Country relatively indifferent to Yang Se Jong, or at least not overly familiar with or impressed by his previous work. I’m happy to announce that that is no longer the case, as his performance of Hwi is one of the most memorable of the year for me, and his sheer level of commitment to the role is awe inspiring. There’s a video of him talking behind the scenes about a moment early on where he actually yelled himself hoarse embodying a moment of panic and grief, which made me appreciate the level thought and effort he put into playing this character.

I don’t want to limit my praise to just that trio of actors either, because the entire cast is incredible. I didn’t know much about Seolhyun before this role, but I thought she was really strong as well, though her character doesn’t feature as heavily as one might like or expect from the promotional material around this drama. The villains too are captivating, especially the detestable Nam Jeon played by veteran actor Ahn Nae Sang. Wow, you are really going to love to despise this guy. I just cannot say enough about the performances from top to bottom, because we would be here all day. The acting is really what makes the drama, especially the stunning chemistry between the characters, and more specifically the chemistry Yang Se Jong has with all the other leads.

Production: There is some movie quality cinematography throughout this drama. It just looks very, very good both in the way it is shot and the attention to detail, the props, the costumes the sets. There is a beautiful long tracking shot following Hwi through a battle field in episode 3 or 4 that was just jaw dropping. It really felt like they were flexing, honestly, and it’s refreshing to see this kind of cable quality coming out of South Korea and ending up on American Netflix for people to watch and appreciate.

I love the music in this drama. Some of it can come across a bit camp, like the electric guitar and strings heavy instrumental “My Country” that accompanies many of the sword fight scenes, but I loved Bang Won’s wailing violin theme music every time it showed up, and the OST definitely sets a mood.

One of the more distracting choices the drama made was to allude to certain historical characters like Poeun, Sambong and Choi Young but never have them actually appear as characters, in the present or in flashbacks, opting to address certain important events and philosophies through fictional expys such as Nam Jeon and Seo Geon instead. They even resort to filming certain scenes in strange oblique ways so that we understand Sambong is in the room but we don’t see his face.

The only thing I can figure is the writers wanted to use the audience’s familiarity with these historical figures without chaining the story too closely to the actual flow of historical events. Or perhaps they decided to exclude these characters in order to avoid too much direct comparison to the critically well-received and highly rated drama, Six Flying Dragons, which covers much of the same time period.

Feels: For me My Country watches like a bitter-sweet tragi-romantic melodrama centering on a toxic love triangle with a historical backdrop. And when I say “love triangle”, I am 100% referring to the interplay between Seon Ho, Hwi and Bang Won (my sincere apologies to poor Hui Jae) because that’s how the entire drama is structured. My Country is one of the most purely homoerotic things I’ve ever watched. If it weren’t for a few limp attempts to imply Seon Ho’s romantic interest was in Hui Jae and not his former friend, I would say “unapologetically homoerotic” but alas, South Korea isn’t quite there yet.

The romance between Hui Jae and Hwi never quite caught fire for me, though lord knows they were trying. It always felt like a side dish to the main course that the drama really wanted to serve: namely the star-crossed relationship of Hwi and Seon Ho. (And this is not meant as a dig toward those who liked the Hui Jae/Hwi romance. This section of the review is just about my subjective experience.)

There were moments where I worried, or couldn’t quite tell where the drama was taking us with regard to Seon Ho and Hwi, or where I feared everything was going to end in senseless destruction and they couldn’t successfully bring the plot to closure in just 16 episodes. But for the handful of issues I had with the writing of the drama, its final resolution was poetically, heart-wrenchingly, perfect.

My Country just pushes so many of my narrative and aesthetic buttons and plays heavily to my id. This is a drama that I’m going to be thinking about for a long, long time. I will definitely be watching it again and I will try to get as many other people to watch it as possible. I liked it that much.

Would I recommend My Country: The New Age? Yes, oh god yes. Please watch it. Watch it and then come talk to me about it. Definitely one of the best of the year.

9/10

#my country #my country: the new age #woo do hwan #yang se jong #jang hyuk #kim seolhyun #kdrama reviews #exit review

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boydgearloose · 4 years

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A Very Long and Very Convoluted Gyro Gearloose Season 3 Theory

Hey everyone! Either by sheer impatience from the hiatus or genuine brainpower or maybe a mix of both, I’ve pieced together a really long, convoluted theory for season 3. It still has a few holes but I don’t think they’re anything that could be filled in until we have a lot more information, so I’m not too worried about that. As expected, it’s very Gyro-centric and started because I was thinking too hard about one thing in particular. I’m really not expecting anyone to read this but without further ado, let’s get to that thing first!

Who will Gyro interact with the most in season 3?

That’s the question that REALLY started to make me think.

This was a huge shock to me, especially since I thought Gyro would be interacting with Fenton the most in season 3 by what we do know. The “spoilers” made me think that it would be someone we haven’t met yet but then, it was revealed that this character has already been in the show. I started to go over the options in my head because there really aren’t many that make sense.

I don’t believe it’s a character that Gyro’s already interacted with a lot, like Fenton, Lil Bulb, Manny, Scrooge or even Huey. Frank probably would have been able to say that since it’s something we’re all expecting. Therefore, it’s either someone he’s either never interacted with or someone he’s interacted with a little but not a lot. I find it unlikely that it’s another character who already has prior commitments in season 3 (Gandra has Fenton, Beakley has Black Heron, etc.) and I doubt it’s any of the kids if it’s not Huey because Frank said Gyro gets along with Huey the best.

It could be Della but while I would love to see her interact with Gyro, I doubt they’d interact more than him and Fenton. Same with Fethry. I’ve seen Ludwig brought up since him and Gyro are both scientists and that would also be great, but I’m not sure how that would work out. I know Ludwig could be alive but I feel like he’s much more connected to the Scrooge and Beakley FOWL arc than to Gyro. There’s also Bradford and the other FOWL agents we’ve met so far. However, like Ludwig, I feel like they’re already all accounted for. Bradford is Scrooge’s villain, Steelbeak is likely a Darkwing villain, Rockerduck and Jeeves are also Scrooge villains (maybe Goldie or even Glomgold) and Black Heron is a Beakley villain. The only one not accounted for so far is Phantom Blot, but I find it more likely that he’ll be paired with someone like Duckworth (given the whole “blot out phantoms” thing Frank talked about) or even Goofy, which I see as the most likely for him but that’s another theory post to be made.

Then who is it?

Unfortunately, many won’t really like the answer I’ve come up with and I’m concerned about it too as this post will explain but it seems to be the most likely. Gyro will probably interact with Mark Beaks the most in season 3. Out of all the characters, he’s the only one that fits everything. He’s had ties to Gyro before but not enough for the answer to not be a spoiler, it wouldn’t be super out of left field for them to have a lot of interaction and Mark doesn’t really have any prior commitments that aren’t tied to Gyro. There’s Fenton, sure, but Frank said he interacts with Darkwing and Gandra the most so it almost seems like Mark’s taking a backburner when it comes to him (thank god honestly).

Upon this realization, I began to reflect on something Frank said a while back that we haven’t really seen a lot of.

Of course, Mark is a Gizmoduck villain. But why was Gyro specified here? I wouldn’t call Mark a Gyro villain at this point in the show, yet it seems to be implied that he’s just as much of a villain to Gyro as he is to Gizmoduck. Then I started wondering if this might refer to stuff we haven’t seen yet.

Something Frank said in the #RewriteHistory thread kind of points toward this as well. He called Mark’s rivalry with Fenton a “happy accident,” meaning that it wasn’t something that was planned initially and that he’d expand on that later.

The thread hasn’t gotten to Dangerous Chemistry yet, but there hasn’t even been anything of the sort about how that happened in the rundowns for BUDDY System and Who Is Gizmoduck so I honestly believe the “later” here means after season 3 or at least certain episodes. In that case, if Mark wasn’t meant to be a Gizmoduck villain, then why was he created in the first place? He’s 100% a Ducktales original and doesn’t really serve much of a purpose right now outside of his rivalry with Gizmoduck. Therefore, I believe he was initially created to rival Gyro.

Also, Mark has been tied to Gyro in some pretty interesting ways. There was the part in Glomtales, while I know it was mostly a joke, where he was eager to fight Gyro. And it really wouldn’t have been that hard to have them interact in the episode. So why wasn’t Gyro there? Could it be building up to more? It’s also worth noting that Mark’s technology only works when it’s linked up to something Gyro created. We saw this with BUDDY, the thing he put on the Gizmoduck suit, his app for hacking Gyro’s security system and possibly even Boyd which Frank said would also be explored in season 3. Of course, this could be from the stolen blueprints he got from the message board but I think it’s still worth noting.

So, how do they interact in season 3? That’s what I’m here to explain.

Gyro’s Treatment of Fenton

One big thing that Frank has hinted at being explained in the future is why Gyro treats Fenton the way he does.

This hasn’t been explored at all but seeing that Gyro is getting focus this season, I think it’s finally time. I’ve always wondered exactly what his problems with Fenton were because there seems to be a lot more there than just annoyance. For starters, Gyro is very sensitive to having his information stolen or tampered with by anyone, especially Fenton. We see this a lot in BUDDY System and Who Is Gizmoduck when Fenton tries to use the Gizmoduck armor. He even wanted to destroy the Gizmoduck armor entirely, something he worked VERY hard on, just so it wouldn’t “fall into the wrong hands.” This is definitely a reaction based on experience.

Speaking of BUDDY System, he seems to have an idea that Mark is using his tech right off the bat. As soon as Dewey tells him that Mark made BUDDY, he reacts with a lot of rage and confusion. Fenton mentions that Gyro has been stressed trying to figure out how Mark beat him to the self-driving car. He also showed up to the presentation even though he wasn’t invited. Plus, Mark made that one cut-out of him. You know the one. These two are very familiar with each other.

Gyro also seems to dislike having an intern. This could be brushed off as him just not being a people person but paired with everything else, I think it’s worth noting. Putting this all together, it seems as if he had a bad experience with both having his technology stolen and having an assistant.

Remember FOWL Gyro?

Yeah, that one theory my friend @bluebiirdys came up with and I wrote out a long time ago that got insanely popular. I want to bring it up for a bit and talk about how it connects to this as well. If any of the season 1 villains have ties to FOWL, it’s Mark. His relationship with Gandra seemed very familiar. Although she doesn’t like him (who would?), their interactions really felt like they know each other past her using him for funding and resources. He also referred to her as “Agent D,” which feels like an inside name. And when Gandra claims she was only using him, she pauses beforehand and seems unsure of what she’s about to say. Seeing that she hid a lot of things from Fenton and made up other stuff in that scene, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she also hid how she knows Mark. Also, Mark wouldn’t have been able to hire an agent if he didn’t have some kind of ties to FOWL itself. They’re a super lowkey organization that I feel like a lot of people aren’t aware of.

While I don’t feel like Mark is really an agent in the same way that Gandra is, he definitely works for or alongside FOWL and probably has been doing so for a long time. There’s a big chance that they could be the reason why he’s so popular and maintains that despite literally everything awful he does. Frank even said he’s not still rich, so where is he getting the money to keep his company going? Waddle itself could be some kind of inside job but again, that feels like a theory for another day. This is about Gyro.

If Gyro worked for FOWL and Mark is currently working for FOWL, they could have very well known each other during his time there. Frank said that Gyro is younger than Donald and Della, who are both confirmed to be 36. If we’re going off of what’s presumed to be his birth year in Mark’s username, Mark would currently be 30. This means that Gyro is rather close to his age, maybe one or two years older. They very well could have known each other. And I can’t see Mark being that much older than Fenton. Therefore, they probably have about the same age difference.

This brings us to the main point of this post: I believe that Mark was Gyro’s assistant when he worked at FOWL and betrayed him during their time together. How does this work? Well, I have a small idea. Again, this does have a few holes in it that can’t be filled until we have a lot more information on season 3, but I’ve come up with a bare minimum.

I still feel like Gyro worked for FOWL pretty much his whole life. While he definitely had mentors there, it was never a very loving environment for him. Therefore, he’s been pretty starved for any kind of friendship and isolated. Similarly, Mark was probably a total loser at this age and also didn’t grow up in a good environment by what we’ve seen, including these asks.

Plus, we all know about the “Coach Dad” thing. If Mark’s home life was really that bad, I can see him running away at a young age, maybe around 18. He is a very impulsive person so this wouldn’t be out of character. Going off of what we know about Gandra, it seems that FOWL tries to recruit younger people with an interest in inventing who feel misunderstood. Mark is this to a T. He would definitely join FOWL in a heartbeat.

Since he would have been relatively young, he probably would have been assigned to help someone else. That someone could be slightly older by a year or two and a person who has worked there for a long time. Gyro would be the perfect fit. And going off of what we do know about Mark, I can imagine a younger and not-as-awful-yet version of him being similar to Fenton: overly talkative, into everything Gyro is doing, enthusiastic, etc. This could be where Gyro’s distaste of Fenton comes from.

Mark also shares some common ground with Gyro in a way that I can easily see them hitting it off. He’d be the first person Gyro would really have a chance to connect with, someone to share his work with and just talk to. On the other side, Gyro is the first person to give Mark his undivided attention and make him feel wanted. They would probably form a pretty closely knit friendship. Then, what happened? What would ruin such a bond? If you don’t know the answer already, it’s definitely Mark’s arrogance and need for attention.

His greatest downfall throughout the series has been how badly he needs attention from other people to thrive. Frank has even hinted that he’ll never be satisfied until he has some kind of place in the spotlight.

Therefore, Gyro had to make him feel lesser and divert his attention to something else. That something else could be a big project that he was assigned to work on. The more he works on this, the less time he has to spend with Mark who now considers him a very close friend. This makes Mark feel like he isn’t getting enough attention and in turn, he starts to secretly resent Gyro and realize that he has a much higher status than him at FOWL. He will start to long to move up in rank more than he will long for Gyro’s attention. Like Frank said, nothing can fill his needs for long and he always wants more.

So what would Gyro be working on during this? Well, FOWL does seem to have some pretty sinister plans for this season. It’s likely they could have assigned Gyro to make some sort of doomsday device that would cause destruction so large and awful, that a big part of Duckburg or even the planet would be destroyed. I’m not sure if it’s related but see my very small and poorly put-together Chaos God theory. It could be something to do with that, but for now we’ll just refer to it as the “doomsday device.”

Gyro doesn’t really know exactly what he’s making or at least doesn’t understand the consequences of it fully until one day when he overhears the higher-ups discussing something about it. This terrifies him and really makes him realize what’s going to happen if he finishes building this thing. In a panic, Gyro will decide to defect from FOWL. He wants to run away and leave no trace of himself there and make his own life somewhere else, finding a mundane inventing job that won’t have him invent something that could wipe out the entire world. However, he’s not going to leave his close friend behind. Gyro confides in Mark about everything he knows as well as his plans, wanting him to go with him. Mark agrees that they’ll leave in a few days and everything seems as okay as it can be…that is, until Gyro wakes up the next morning to find that Mark ratted his plans out to the higher-ups because he knew it would get him Gyro’s status in FOWL since he’s his assistant.

Devastated and hurt and in so much danger, Gyro manages to run away on his own and escape. He also manages to take a vital part of the machine that he created with him, hoping that it will stop them from going forth with whatever destruction they planned to cause. After fleeing, Gyro finds Scrooge, gets hired by him, everything goes as normal. But he always has that one part of the machine hidden away somewhere in his lab and wonders if anyone will ever try to steal it. He starts to get suspicious when he sees how popular Mark is becoming, yet knows he can’t say anything to anyone or else it’ll be known that he created this awful thing. Gyro lives in fear of Mark telling everyone too, especially since he has such a high following or worse, coming after the part of the machine that he took with him. But for now, he’s safe…

Nah. Of course he isn’t. That machine’s definitely gonna come back in season 3 if all of this is true, let’s be real. Frank called the Gyro episode in season 3 massive.

That means it’s going to affect more than just Gyro. So how?

Let’s go back for a bit to Dangerous Chemistry. There’s a big part of it that remains vague to this day: what exactly were Gandra and Mark planning to do? MegaBeaks wasn’t supposed to happen. Mark was only supposed to get a little jacked but even then, he wouldn’t have been able to have that much power over Fenton. Plus, Gandra was pissed when he hulked out, tried to kill Fenton and ran away with the kids yet she still seemed determine to let him get away, shocking Gizmoduck so he could continue as if it were part of the plan all along. She also got rid of Gyro. Funny how he was unconscious throughout the entire episode, as if him being there and fully aware of what was going on would have caused a plot hole. As mentioned in the Gyro FOWL theory post, he seemed to know what was going on too but couldn’t outright say so without telling people his secret.

My main confusion comes from what Gandra says while shocking MegaBeaks near the end of the episode about how hurting Fenton wasn’t part of their plan. If they wanted to steal the Gizmoduck suit, then wouldn’t they have to hurt Fenton? How could they have possibly gotten away with it without doing that? When you really look at it, the plan doesn’t seem to be about Gizmoduck at all. Instead, Gandra wanted to distract Gizmoduck, not hurt him. Mark just got power hungry and basically ruined everything.

Then what was the plan? Well, another thing worth noting is that Gandra knew the lab she was going to. If she knew Mark and his information on Fenton, she knew it wasn’t his lab but Gyro’s instead. She also wanted Fenton to show her everything in the lab and kept urging him to show her his work. It really seemed like she was looking for something and trying to get as much information about where that thing was until her and Mark were able to get both Gyro and Fenton out of the picture. There was also the moment where she peaked under the lampshade to get a look at Lil Bulb, which was very cute but also more proof of her checking out every inch of Gyro’s lab and technology.

Gandra was there for something but we don’t know what. It could very well be the part of the machine that Gyro created while he was at FOWL. They’re planning to reactivate it in order to stop the McDuck family once and for all. They just need that one piece. As Frank said, Bradford has been plotting for a long time and now, he’s finally going into action to put together his final plan.

So…will they get it?

This is very up in the air but I will give you my two cents. Since Frank described the Gyro episode as massive, I’m expecting something related to the overall plot in it as well as his backstory. The plot of season 3 is definitely related to FOWL, as well all know. Therefore, I think they’re going to get the piece he has back in that episode, completing all they need to activate the machine. But…how?

Let’s go back to how Gyro treats Fenton. Assuming that he does this because he reminds him of his past experiences with Mark, it’s clear that Gyro feels guilt over what happened. He probably feels like he failed Mark despite everything and part of him wants to reach out again. It’s really hard to watch your first friend turn into such an awful person and Gyro knows more about Mark than literally anyone else, probably some pretty upsetting stuff that makes him want to fix everything he thinks he caused.

That being said, Mark is very good at manipulation. Let’s say Gyro had a chance to reach out to his old assistant, someone he feels like he’s wronged, one more time and let him know how wonderful it feels to be free of FOWL and to have a family and make him understand that he’s being used, bound to face the same consequences as the ones FOWL are against once they’re done with their plans. For a second, it looks like Mark is listening to him…but he’s not going to change. He’s way too far gone and it’s not Gyro’s fault at all. But I don’t think Gyro will ever realize this until the part of the machine is in Mark’s hands. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used him one last time to get what he needed for what he sees as positive attention.

Wow, this got long. Anyway, that’s about all I have so far. I’m sure I’ll think of a lot of other stuff before season 3 actually airs and if I have another realization, I’ll probably add onto this. But this is enough. I hope you all enjoyed reading this (if anyone even did LOL) and have it be known that this will be all I’m able to think about until the hiatus ends.

#ducktales #gyro gearloose #squawking #sorry the other post was deleted because i got nervous...but i want to keep it up!

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rctribvtns · 4 years

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ok so, i’ve never done one of these before so bear with me. under the cut are a few wanted connections i’ve come up with, as well as the connections that nova’s already filled for other muses so i can keep track of them.

PSA. they’re first come first serve ( and i’ll try to keep it updated ) so if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it !! also if none of these tickle your fancy, i’m 100% on board to brainstorm a few different ideas.

PLATONIC.

( the “ twin sister ” ) : see wanted connection on the main. [0/1]

( the ‘ bad dads club ’ connection ) : this character is also a resident of hades cabin. they both have some abandonment issues when it comes to dads and over time they became confidantes. they’re not the kind of people who’d come right and say hey i’ve got your back, but if someone was messing with the other they’d step up and square up. [ 1/1 taken by tam. ]

( the ' best friends ’ ) : inspiration: the golden trio. muse a is someone nova clicked with almost instantly upon arriving at camp half-blood. preferably this person would have been in hermes cabin approx. 5 years ago. whether they were the claimed child of a god with no cabin, or an unclaimed half-blood, they bonded over shared interests and compatible personalities. when nova wants to get into a little trouble, or do something stupid, this person isn’t far behind. muse b is someone they initially clashed with �� maybe over their differences, or something petty like cutting their favorite shirt with a blade during weapons training. whatever the reason, it was petty, and they remained at odds with each other until they all went on a quest together. this bonded them all instantly and they’ve been near-inseparable ever since. this person also tries to be the logical one and keep muse a and nova from running their lives into the ground. [ 1/2 muse b taken by zach. ]

( the ‘ tentative friends ’ ) : when they first met, they did not get along. he was very angry, finding it unfair that he was shoved into hermes cabin without a place he really belonged, and they argued about this. in fact, they argued a lot. so much so that it eventually culminated in a big fight where he got his ass handed to him. ever since, he’s pulled his head out of his ass a little and they’ve become tentative friends. there’s mutual respect there, though it’s unclear what else, and their friendship is probably best described as friends adjacent. that all might change though if she goes through with their dare from her cabin mates to make him fall for her. [ filling lily’s wanted connection. ]

( the ‘ tour guide ’ ) : when he arrived at camp half-blood, he had quite the chip on his shoulder. he was on the outs with his family, recently claimed, and feeling the sting of rejection to find out that hades kids were lumped into the other cabin. he was probably a brat at first, kind of impossible to be around, but this person somehow looked past it and helped him adjust to life at camp which he did appreciate — even if he sucked at showing it. [0/1]

( the ‘ competitive friends ’ ) : nova has filled this connection for jesse. competitive friends . they’re rivals , in every sense of the word . equal in fighting prowess and in shit - talking abilities , the only place they can seem to get some really good competition is in the other . as a result , they spend a lot of time going head to head in the arena or debating over something stupid in the mess hall at dinner . neither of them hate each other , though it might look like that sometimes .

( the ‘ sparring partner ’ ) : nova has filled this connection for finn. finn isn’t the best at fighting hand - to - hand combat , but they’re partners during practices ! maybe they teach him a bit of what they know and he returns the favor somehow .

( the ' salt bae ’ ) : these two gravitate towards each other when they want to be shady, or pessimistic, and aren’t looking to hear empty platitudes to try and make them feel better. they’re both a little emo, jaded about the world around them, and there’s a quiet kind of kinship shared between them as a result. [ 1/1 taken by autumn. ]

( the ‘ slow burn friend ’ ) : this character was also in hermes cabin. they bonded over mutual annoyances at being grouped in with the others, among other things. stargazing on the roof of their cabin was something they shared together, and continued to even after they were claimed and nova remained in the hermes cabin. over time they became friends, though nova couldn’t point to one specific moment to identify when it actually happened. [ 1/1 taken by min. ]

ROMANTIC.

( the ‘ will they / won’t they ’ ) : for two years, nova and this person danced around each other. maybe they went out once or twice, or maybe they just talked about doing it and it never happened, but it was probably well known that these two had a thing for each other and it just never panned out. [0/1]

( the ‘ unlikely crush ’ ) : on paper, these two people have nothing in common. this other muse is a kind person, the kind of person who you’d think would get under nova’s skin and irritate him with their goodness, but instead he started to crush on them. in turn, it probably made him more of a jerk towards them. whether they’re on good terms or not now is undetermined. [ 2/2 taken by avalon and fernanda. ]

( the ‘ first kiss ’ ) : they meet at a carnival. his mother’s working her stand and he decides to play hooky for the day. he meets this other muse, they spend the day together, and sparks fly. on the ferris wheel, at the end of a day well-spent, they kiss. it’s his very first and it’s kind of a perfect one. they exchange numbers but he accidentally washes it off his hand. he hopes to see her again, to make contact, but the carnival picks up and moves the next day and they never see each other again. until now. [ 1/1 taken by harper. ]

( the ‘ exploited crush ’ ) : this muse is someone that nova realized, pretty early on, had a crush on him. they weren’t very subtle but they sure thought they were. the other muse never made a move — and nova, admittedly, wasn’t really interested — but he never said anything because he liked the attention. maybe your muse has finally worked up the courage to say something, or has started to pick up on signs that he knows. [0/1]

( the ‘ hook-ups ’ ) : this one goes without explanation. brief flings, no real commitments, just teen hearts beating faster, faster. we can flesh out whether it was a one-time thing, or a friends with benefits situation, but real feelings were never factored into the equation. [ 1/5 taken by delia. ]

( the ‘ unrequited crushee ’ ) : nova has filled this connection for abel. unrequited crush a . abel is absolutely obsessed with them , but they barely know he exists . he isn’t even a blip on their radar , despite the fact that he goes out of his way to be where they are most of the time .

ADVERSARIAL

( the ‘ mess of an ex ’ ) : this muse isn’t necessarily a mess, but their relationship definitely was. it was nova’s first and only serious relationship and it didn’t go well. he was allergic to commitment, constantly throwing himself in quickly and then getting cold feet and being wishy washy about where they stood, which led to the inevitable dissolution of the relationship. this muse wasn’t very patient with him, irritated by his behavior, and when they split it was very ugly. we’re talking screaming at each other out by the lake, a capsized canoe, and probably people taking bets on which one of them was going to make it back alive. there’s love there, there always was, but their problems outweighed any of the good times. [ 1/1 taken by dromeda. ]

( the ‘ anything you can do, i can do better ’ ) : these two muses have been at each other’s throats for years. instead of just being competitive, challenging each other to be better, they’ve made it their personal goals to best the other person. possibly to their own detriment, or sanity. why they hate each other doesn’t even matter at this point, bonus points if they can’t even remember, but the petty rivalry runs rampant and they argue and compete over everything. literally everything, big or small. [ 1/1 taken by brooklyn. ]

#wanted connections

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