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zukuist · 3 years

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in the moment [hcs]

“they are desperate for help when admirers swarm them, and they choose to seek for your assistance”

fandom/s : 僕のヘロアカデミア // boku no hero academia (bnha)

includes: h. shinsō, k. bakugō, i. midoriya

your name is shortened to y/n, last name is shortened to l/n gender neutral, use of the pretend lover trope, they’re actually pining.

further note: yes i’ve been gone for more than a week, and yes it’s because of school. i promise i’ll be posting more!!

REQUESTS ;; OPEN !!

—

shinsō hitoshi

finds it super annoying

and this is coming from him, someone that’s not easy to irritate

he’s conscious and aware that people find him attractive (which for some reason, he still questions why)

eventually, admirers are bound to appear like it or not, but they’re not this insistent as this girl, nope.

shinsō has never experienced something like this, in his entire life.

noriko was a familiar face, but not in the best way for shinsō hitoshi.

she used to be one of those girls that’d band wagon with her opinions. whenever people were hostile towards him

she would be hostile too

but as soon as everyone started finding him attractive, she’d change too.

and it’s.. a mess. what more when he himself is pining on someone that’s not noriko

let alone, a student from class 1-A?

and it’s not like he could brainwash her into leaving him alone

as soon as she would be released by his quirk, she’d tell everyone what he did. therefore, leaving that out of the many solutions

and now he’s backed up into a corner, with her chasing him all across the hallways.

he can only hope for a solution.

— scene —

“this is ridiculous..” taking another turn in the hallway, shinsō mutters to himself quietly, the sleep deprived student can still hear her shrill voice

and by ‘her’, he’s referring to the admirer that has been tailing him down ever since the day had started.

“there are times like this where i wished i didn’t care about looking villainous” is what he’s really thinking. damn quirk stereotypes, and curse him for not having a quirk like iida tenya

“what.. are you doing?” was he lucky, or unlucky? it just so happened to be that he bumped into y/n l/n, out of all people

“i’m in a bit of a situation,” his palm rests against his nape, and he has to hope that you get the message, when noriko’s nearly deafening voice cuts through the air

“you’re quite popular with the ladies, huh?” you joke, and shinsō would’ve laughed if he wasn’t being trailed down.

“as much as i—”

“there you are !” noriko exclaims, slightly out of breath from the insistent chase, “you still haven’t answered !”

“i have, and i said no.” he makes his intentions concrete, compared to earlier (which was a mistake) when he rejected her in the nicest way he could’ve done so, but it wasn’t enough to make her quit.

“well earlier, you’ve said you appreciated it !” the whine pains both of your ears, and you contemplate if you should just grab his hand, and make a run for it.

but, she’d just chase you down again. so maybe not.

“yes, but i also said i can’t accept your feelings.” in instinct, he backs up so he could stand next to you, and he looks at you with his own style of desperation, which was obviously different than noriko’s desperation.

“i happen to be taken.” shinsō claims, hooking his hand along yours. which might’ve been done because he’s desperate, but could’ve been done because he wanted to

getting the motive, you lock away your shock, and play along, accepting his touch.

“i don’t believe you.” noriko blurts, “you two look like best friends more than anything. i’m not stupid !”

you didn’t think it would have to resort to this.

with not much of a thought, you grabbed shinsō by the collar, and smashed your lips together. his lips are warmer than you’ve anticipated, the distinct taste of coffee makes you lean into him further. while at first taken aback, shinsō decides to accept the act by pushing you even closer to him

you let go, deciding it was enough, and when you stare back at noriko, tears dotting at her waterline, and she sputters in humiliation and rejection.

“i never liked you anyway !” she uses as a defense, before storming off. the both of you feel a sense of relief when her figure turns at the end of the hallway

“sorry for kissing you like that. it was kind of in the moment,”

shinsō chuckles, “didn’t expect our first kiss to be like that.”

“well, there are more opportunities to come for you, you’re quite popular.” you tease, and shinsō flicks your forehead in retaliation. in return, you hiss at the sudden sting of pain.

“we’ll have more opportunities when i take you out for lunch on saturday.” he pats you on the shoulder, before he presses a quick real kiss on your cheekbone.

bakugō katsuki

also finds it super annoying. actually, he might as well just fight them and move on.

bakugō knows it well that he’s.. well-known, for all the right and wrong reasons

but what he doesn’t know is that he’s also known for his good looks, rough and boyish in nature.

so eventually, there’ll be that one brave and fearless soul that’ll take one for the team. or even two, or three.

he hates it. doesn’t his aura and demeanor alone scare off all of the suitors?

since when were they super persistent, smh.

it didn’t help that he was trying to drown and suffocate his feelings down the pipeline.

because curse bakugō katsuki for having normal, teenage feelings. he had other important things in life, right?

but he couldn’t help but wonder if you’d ever confess to him like that

(not that it would happen any time soon. you were too busy being a tough training partner)

but everything aside, he wishes that people would just take the hint already.

because ignoring doesn’t help all the time.

the girl named fumiko would be a dreadful sight he’d be constantly reminded of.

from his shoe locker being flooded with love letters that speak nothing to him, and to the obnoxious commentary on his looks

he’d think that they were just harassing him to get a reaction, but bakugō katsuki will remain unbothered!

but he spoke too soon, because he was approached directly right after his late training session.

—scene—

bakugō hates it

he hates extras, he hates being outshined, and he hates distractions. what more was there to dislike in the world? everything clearly.

he can handle things properly, and with that tough demeanor of his, and he definitely doesn’t need a quick and easy solution, from the girl that’s glued to his side.

he told himself that a persistent extra is nothing, he can just simply ignore them and look at them, like how he always looks at useless pebbles, and they’d go away. but clearly not this girl

“get off, you fucking extra” he pushes her off, grabbing his water bottle and immediately storming off, but it doesn’t convince fumiko (he learned her name unfortuantely) to finally lay off.

“c’mon katsuki! this would’ve all been over if you just went out with me!”

bakugō can’t hide the cringe on his face, hearing his first name, ugh. he doesn’t know how she found out about his late training sessions, considering that she wasn’t in his class or class 1-b

he doubts that he’d run into anyone at this hour, they’d be all in the common room, and he did say that he wanted all of them to ‘fuck off’. but luck does work in mysterious ways.

“..what’re you doing here?” he questions, clearly surprised by your presence, and his frustration would’ve disappeared at that exact mom“dinner’s almost ready. actually, why do you look so.. alarmed? is there a villain?—”

his palms are starting to sweat, and it’s not because of his training, or because of the girl that won’t leave him alone. “no! fuck no. okay, there’s just some shitty extra that’s been following me around like some obsessed freak.”

you decide to be smug, “i knew there was going to be a brave soul out there, ready to sacrifice themselves.” you rest your hand on your left side, like it was heart warming, but the blond is not amused with your gesture.

“right, right!” you hold your hands up, surrendering. “okay, what do you want me to do?”

“just don’t say a fucking thing.” you can hear foot steps get closer and closer to the both of you, and in a hurry, he pushes you closer to him, the smell of caramel evading your senses.

before you could even say a word, he kisses you. it’s rough, and it makes you feel warm, and it’s definitely not because of his quirk, or because of the large, warm palms that rest against your sides.

you get a grip on him, holding onto his shoulder when you feel your knees buck because of the butterflies in your stomach, and it seems to get worse when bakugō holds you even tighter

“okay geez, i get it. you’re taken!” you can hear the girl exclaim in humiliation and disgust, “ugh, a guy like you wouldn’t be able to handle me anyway.”

and when she finally scurries away, the both of you break the kisses, the wind out of you being knocked out cold from his sudden act of ‘romance’

“i sorta understand the hype now.” you grin, your lips still tingle from the kiss, and you’re convinced that you want more, despite the kiss being out of spite, and for fumiko to back off.

“shut up.” you would’ve laughed at him if it was any other day, but for now, you’re left silent. your heart flutters once more, when his lips press against your cheekbone briefly.

“c’mon, idiot. we’re gonna miss dinner.”

midoriya izuku

he’s so alarmed, and honestly very scared

he wasn’t popular, or well known to begin with, and people only started treating him like he was a real person in highschool

he’s just so used to being looked at like a background character, or a npc in a video game.

so the sudden swarm of suitors, and people that want to date him shocked him to the core.

he was never treated like this in middle school, or elementary!

it flatters him, and he’s glad that people actually like him. but.. he’d never actually think about being with either of them

because they’re not you, obviously. but wait, what’s so different about you exactly?

well.. you’ve treated him with kindness, even when he looked like this.. really awkward kid that sat at the back of the classroom.

so yeah, he’d never think about accepting anyone else’s confessions, as long as they’re not you

but still, midoriya has treated all of his admirers with kindness, despite not wanting to be with any of them

knowing how it feels to be humiliated, he wouldn’t want to do that on any of them

but.. this one particular girl was one he’d never truly be comfortable with, as much as he’d like to fake it.

rieko was.. something. probably the most persistent one out of all of them.

he would’ve appreciated it, if it weren’t for the fact that she was super obnoxious to other people.

and most importantly, he didn’t understand what she’d get out of it, and it wrecked his nerves!

— scene —

standing next to you, all lined up for lunch, midoriya shifts uncomfortably as he tries his best to ignore the loud and obvious commentary that’s being directed to him.

at first, it was flattering. but now? he just wishes things would go back to the times where people had no interest in him, whatsoever.

he knows what rieko really like him for, and it’s honestly disheartening. the girl would compliment him on things like his looks, and even his new moves!

but as soon as he elaborated on how he did it, the interest would fade away from her eyes

not that it did matter though. midoriya didn’t really have any feelings for any of the people that’ve approached him, wanting to date him. he’s been kind, and they’ve been kind in return, getting the hint and backing off.

the freckled boy was flattered but, not interested

but clearly, rieko didn’t get the message, despite the way midoriya would back away uncomfortably. how he’d immediately excuse himself whenever he’d see the girl.

just.. all signs of disinterest

“go! just ask him already!” he can hear her friends encourage her, but he’s not very enthusiastic to know what they’re cheering her on for

“he won’t be able to resist! just walk right in and do it, you guys will be an attractive couple anyway!”

midoriya’s palms are shaky, and he tries his best to calm his nerves down by clenching his fists. this doesn’t go un-noticed by you.

“you okay, midoriya?” you ask, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, and the green haired boy hopes that his cheeks aren’t turning red.

the both of you guys are awfully close! not that he’s complaining, it’s just that—

“is it about them?” you ask in a nearly quiet tone, and midoriya’s aware that you’re talking about them.

“uhm..” midoriya tries to formulate a proper answer, not wanting to sound as bothered as he actually is. how would he be able to explain this? “don’t worry about it,” midoriya reassures, “it’s just—”

“do you think that he’s dating that person? you know, the one beside them?” he hears that the topic of the conversation has shifted, and the group of girls are referring to you.

midoriya wasn’t planning on telling anyone about the dilemma. let alone his crush. it was something he was going to ignore, until the mess calmed down.

but now? you’re roped into it, and his nerves didn’t calm down at all.

“izuku dating them? no, it can’t be. he’s too good for them!”

“that’s the spirit, rieko. you should just go like.. now!”

to him, it’s the other way around. you’re too good for him, and you’re out of his league. so, this comment upsets him to all ends.

he’s pondering on what he should do, and before he could take you out of the line to get food at some other place, he feels something warm enlace his hand.

he slightly shivers when he realizes that it’s your hand he’s holding, cheeks flushed with crimson.

your eyes are ahead, a lot more composed than he is clearly, but if he looked hard enough, he could sense the nervousness in your hold.

“you wanna leave the line, izu?” his first name sounds different when you say it, and he thinks to himself that he prefers it a lot more when it comes from you

“y-yes.” and you smile, pressing your lips against his cheek quickly, before tugging his hand and pulling him out of the line, walking away from the group.

it’s a miracle that he didn’t drop onto the cafeteria’s floors.

you can feel his anxiety subsiding. despite his flushed cheeks remaining, he looks better than he did a few seconds ago, and you’re glad.

deciding the both of you were at a safe distance, you peek over your shoulder. you can see the absolute defeat on rieko’s face, and the scowl on her friends’ faces as they attempted to comfort their heartbroken friend.

“thank you, y/n.”

“no, it’s nothing, really. anyhow, what do you plan on eating for lunch?”

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dauntless-gothamite · 3 years

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Prove Them Wrong [3/?]

Fandom: Divergent Pairing: Eric Coulter x Fem! Reader Summary: Y/N is a Dauntless transfer from Erudite, and she has a drive, an ambition that sets her apart--it always has, even back in Erudite. She brings her perseverance (and need to prove others wrong) to Dauntless when she transfers, and she uses her mind to make her way through the initiation process. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies, and she finds herself comfortable around the man most people in Dauntless avoid at all costs: Eric Coulter. A/N: I like what I did with the end of this one, putting a (hopefully) comedic/unique twist on a trope and adding something original :) feedback is very much appreciated, happy reading

When you walked into the training room the next morning, everyone avoided looking at your face, specifically, your neck. Instead, people looked at the ground. You knew you had bruises around your neck from where Peter had grabbed you, but you hadn’t expected a group of dauntless to be so touchy about it; bruises were common here.

“Alright, listen up!” Four yelled. “We are doing some target practice today, so line up and get throwing,” he said, pointing to the line of targets against the wall. At least you weren’t fighting today; your body could use a break. That fight with Peter really had worn you out, and since you guys had thrown knives a couple times already, you were starting to get familiar with the technique.

You walked up to a free target and looked over the knives positioned on the table before you, holding one and turning it over in your hand. “Well? Are you going to throw that knife or just stare at it all day?” the gruff, aggressive voice of Eric asked. You turned to look at him, and a part of you was pleased to notice that he was looking you in the face, not avoiding your eyes and neck like everyone else around here.

One side of your mouth quirked up in the beginning of a smile before you replied, “I’m about to throw it.”

“Then get on with it!” Without hesitation, you turned your body to the target, and you positioned your feet similar to how you would if you were throwing punches instead of knives. Gripping the handle, you drew the knife back, aimed, and twisted forward, releasing the knife as you traced an invisible arc over your head. The knife stuck to the target with a thud, but it was a little lower than you’d hoped it would be. Eric nodded and said “Get that figured out before I get back, and maybe I won’t yell at you,” before walking away to stand behind some other initiate, most likely to stress them out so much that they’d miss the target completely. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t yell at me very much, you thought to yourself. Because I don’t break under the pressure of his judgemental stare. After taking many math tests with teachers walking around the room, looking over each student’s shoulder as they frantically scribbled down answers, you were used to being watched and assessed.

Picking up the next knife, you lined yourself up just like you did before and repeated the motion, letting go of the knife a bit earlier this time. The knife landed at the height you wanted it to, but it was a little far to the side. Grabbing for the next knife, you made sure that this time you didn’t twist as much, but you did everything the same way you did before, and the third knife landed just a few millimeters from where you’d aimed, but you were satisfied. Smirking to yourself, you looked to either side before walking forward cautiously to grab the knives from the target. As you grabbed the first knife’s handle and pulled it out of the target, you heard the sound of a knife flying through the air near your head, and in an instant, said knife embedded itself just a centimeter above your head in the target.

“What the fuck!” you yelled. Whipping around to glare at whichever person’s knife had gone so far off course, you saw Eric standing where you had been standing to throw the knives with a smirk on his face.

“Just testing you,” he said nonchalantly. You scowled in response, eyeing the knife he still held in his hands. You locked eyes with him, and his smirk grew wider as you backed up against the target, knowing what would come next, right before Eric’s second knife landed between your arm and your torso. You turned back around to grab your knives, and Eric said “Grab mine too, initiate.” While you were turned around, you rolled your eyes, but you did retrieve his knives for him, passing them back to him curtly. He grabbed them out of your hands, fingers brushing ever so slightly in the process, before turning around to torment someone else.

At dinner, just as you were about to take a bite of your hamburger, Will asked, “How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Get Eric not to hate you!”

“He doesn’t like me,” you scoffed.

“At the very least, he doesn’t yell at you every five minutes,” Tris butted in, to which Will and Christina nodded fervently.

“I don’t know,” you shrugged. “Luck, I guess?”

“No way, luck could not possibly get that man to be even a little bit nice to anybody,” Christina countered.

“Ok, maybe not, but like I said, I don’t know! Maybe it’s because I don’t crack under pressure or something.”

“Something like that,” Will conceded with a sigh before turning on Tris. “Your turn; what’s going on with you and Four?”

“Nothing!” Tris replied.

“Come on, don’t lie to us,” Christina said. You badly wanted to say something to try and get more information out of Tris, but you refrained just in case they decided to turn back on you and start asking about Eric again.

“I don’t know,” Tris said. “He’s cute, though,” she admitted with flushed cheeks.

The banter between you all went on like that for a little while as everyone ate their dinner, until Will got up and said, “I’ll see you guys back at the dorm; I want to get there early and hit the showers while everyone is still at dinner. Get a little privacy for once,” and stood up with a smile.

As soon as Will was out of earshot, you leaned across the table to Christina and said “So, when are you finally going to tell Will you like him?” you smirked.

“What? No,” Christina said.

“Come on, Tris, back me up here,” you said.

“She has a point,” Tris said with a nod.

“You guys are unbelievable!” Christina said and stood up, prompting you and Tris to do the same, and then you all headed out of the dining area together to stroll through dauntless for a little while before going back to the dorm so as to give Will some privacy.

“You know, I think I’m going to try and shower early as well,” Tris said as the three of you walked. “But don’t worry, Christina, I won’t look at Will,” she winked and laughed before peeling off towards the dorm.

“Hey!” Christina yelled after her as you stood next to her, doubled over in laughter.

“Will, can you calculate the speed at which my fist hits the punching bag? Can you--” you teased Christina.

“Stop it!” she shrieked, her blush deepening.

“Just admit that you like him, it should be easy for an ex-Candor!”

“Fuck off!” she said, but there was no malice in her tone. You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you, and that was the last straw before Christina gave you a hard shove, making you stumble as you laughed at her expense. Then your body collided with something solid. You heard whomever you had just crashed into growl in frustration as you stared at their black boots. Eric’s black boots. Your laughter died in your throat as you stood, taking note of the numerous pages and folders that were undoubtedly full of important files in them scattered across the floor. You made eye contact with Christina’s, who at least had the decency to look guilty as she retreated down the hallway, as Eric said “Well, initiate. I don’t know what you were doing, nor do I care, but the rest of your evening will be spent reorganizing the files you just scattered everywhere.”

You nodded as you made eye contact with him before bending over to pick up the pages on the floor. Once you had picked everything up, Eric started walking and you followed up three flights of stairs and down a hallway, eventually coming to a stop outside a door which he unlocked. You followed him inside as he turned on the lights, and looking around, you knew this was his office. “You will sort these pages by category and date, then leave them on my desk when you’re finished, understood?”

“Actually, I have a question,” you asked as an idea occurred to you. He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“What?”

“Wouldn’t something physical be a better punishment? Just because I happen to be good at sorting, this feels like it’s--”

“No,” Eric said. “I know what you’re doing. Trying to get an advantage by extra training and building it into something you already have to do. I’m not an idiot, Y/N.”

Nervous to push him any further, you decided to throw one more thing out there, and if he didn’t take it well you would shut it and sort the files. “Well, of course not, you are from Erudite originally, so--”

“Who told you that,” Eric asked, annoyed. You weren’t sure, but you thought you saw a glimpse of something else in his eyes for a moment.

“No one, it’s just that Ms. McKimmerer talked about you all the time.”

“That old math teacher? He asked incredulously”

“Yeah, she always said ‘Eric Coulter memorized more digits of pi than any other student in his year, try to be more like him’ and ‘It’s a shame he left Erudite’ when she taught us about pi.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Eric scoffed. “And don’t mention that to anyone, initiate!”

“I won’t!” you said, slightly amused. After a brief pause, you said, “But you should know, there is even a picture of you from that year on her desk, with your hair combed back and a blue collared shirt.”

Eric paused for a moment, and you did your best not to break, but eventually you howled in laughter; his wide-eyed reaction was just too funny.

Scowl in place, Eric schooled his face into a calm, if annoyed mask, and said “get to work on those files. I will check back in a bit to see if you’re done sorting them.” Then, he walked out and shut the door behind him. Chuckling to yourself, you got to work on the large stack of paper before you.

The door opened loudly and you woke up to the sound of Eric Coulter clearing his throat. “Did you finish sorting the files before falling asleep at my desk, initiate?”

Sitting up, slightly embarrassed, you nodded. “Good. Now get out of my office and go eat dinner.”

You stood from the desk, hesitating for a minute. “I actually wanted to ask you something,” you said, turning to face Eric.

“Yes?”

“Well, I noticed you have a few books in here, and I was wondering if I could borrow Mental Conditioning: Getting Your Mind and Body On the Same Page. I wasn’t looking through your stuff, it’s just on the self over there--”

“I know where my own damn book is,” he said, walking over to it and grabbing the book off the shelf. “Here,” he said, handing it to you. “Return it when you're done, and it better be in the same condition it is now when I get it back, understood?”

“Yes, thank you!” you smiled at him, pleasantly surprised that he was letting you borrow the book.

That night, when you got back to the dorm room, you read a few pages of Eric’s book before going to bed. It was a little hard to focus with all the noise--you’d find a better spot to read tomorrow--but you were happy nonetheless; while dauntless was great, you had missed all the books that were available to you at Erudite. As your eyes grew tired, you reached into your bag under your bed, which held your few belongings--every initiate got one--and pulled out a napkin you had been doodling some tattoo ideas on during lunch, placed it between the pages to act as a bookmark, and put the book away in the bag. You closed your eyes, surrounded by your friends, mind calm from reading, and for a moment, despite the lingering pain around your neck, you were completely at peace as you drifted off to sleep.

Tag List: @shykoolaid, @taina-eny, @parabatai-winchester, @marvel-ousnesss

#eric coulter #eric coulter imagine #eric coulter x reader #divergent #dauntless #erudite #amity #candor #abnegation #tris prior #tobias eaton #four divergent #peter hayes #divergent imagine #motherfxking-flannel #motherfxking flannel

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tea-and-la · 3 years

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“Katara is Hot-Headed”

.... okay, so i’ve seen this ICE cold take enough time to warrant a formal post. i’ve seen and strongly agree with the posts i’ve seen that refute this, like @shewhotellsstories post here. but unfortunately, this sentiment is still something that’s widely accepted in the atla fandom. it’s no surprise that “katara is hotheaded” is the common argument for “why zutara doesn't work.” and while it’s more than irritating that zutara antis love to align them in ways that are only negative in nature, i’m not going to get into that. i’m going to focus on katara.

one of the key defining aspects of katara’s personality is her patience. she is unwavering in her faith of aang (through their numerous supportive talks), as well as her encouragement of her friends when they need it (ex. toph in the runaway and sokka in sokka’s master.) but most notably? let’s talk about the desert episode because this is where katara’s patience really shines.

there are a lot of things going on in that episode. aang is dealing with grief from the loss of appa and lashes out at both toph and katara while also intermittently flying away from the group. what would a “hot headed” or quick-tempered person do in this situation? let’s look at some of the dialogue:

aang: [Enraged.] How could you let them take Appa?! ‌ Why didn't you stop them‌?!

toph: [Defensively.] I couldn't! The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and-

aang: [Snaps at Toph in a harsh way.] You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!

aang looks extremely furious at Toph as Katara walks over to him. She puts her hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

katara: We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now.

in that dialogue, katara inserts herself in to mediate. she recognizes that he’s in a dark place, and she sees past the harshness of his words to see that they come from a place of hurt, not malice. she reacts with empathy and understanding.

a quick-tempered person would not have responded in this way.

the majority of this episode, katara is essentially the leader of the group. it’s swelteringly hot, which is enough for any hot headed person to get irritated, but she doesn’t.

toph: Katara, can I have some more water?

katara: Okay, but we've got to try to conserve it.

sokka: [As he points to his mouth.] We're drinking your bending water. [He tries to define the taste of the water, smacking his lips. Disgustedly he exclaims.] You used this on the swamp guy! Urch!

toph: It does taste swampy.

katara: [Sad tone.] I'm sorry, it's all we have.

in this scene, even momo complains about the taste of the water, the only water they have. and katara’s response was to apologize for something she can’t control.

after this point, she has to lead toph through the sand, while sokka is high on cactus juice and aang is upset. instead of getting frustrated, she tries to inspire hope into them all:

aang: [Hopelessly.] What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa. We all know it.

katara: [Encouraging.] Come on, Aang. We can do this if we work together. Right Toph?

toph: As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothin'.

katara: [Hopeful.] Sokka? Any ideas how to find Ba Sing Se?

Sokka and Momo lie side by side on their backs, arms and legs stretched out. Sokka smiles blissfully.

she does get annoyed, but she doesn’t direct that frustration at any of them, unlike a quick tempered person would do.

katara: [Grabs her head in annoyance.] Ugh ... We're getting out of this desert, and we're going to do it together! Aang, get up. Everybody, hold hands. We can do this. We have to.

the point of these excerpts isn’t to say that anyone else in the gaang is horrible. i just wanted to point out the moments when she could’ve gotten frustrated and lashed out, but didn’t. not once.

patience and quick temperedness are antonyms of each other. and imo, the fact that so much of katara’s character is defined by her patience (even outside of this specific episode) and nurturing (for over 80% of the show) is enough to refute her “hotheadedness.” especially, when the other members of the gaang are allowed to be upset and/or angry on occasion and their dispositions/temperaments are not immediately associated with hotheadedness. maybe unpack why that is.

let’s take the instance when she and toph argue in the chase. first of all, this episode is characterized by all of the members of the gaang being sleep deprived (i.e. not in their normal states), so their attitudes should be taken with a grain of salt. (what humans do you know that are happy-go-lucky when they haven’t slept enough?)

anyway, the episode starts with katara attempting to lightly hint to toph about group dynamics.

katara: So Toph, usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work.

toph: [Shrugging casually.] Hey, don't worry about me. I'm good to go.

katara: Well, actually what I'm trying to say is, [Holds arms out in gesture.] some of us might fetch water, while someone else might set up the fire pit, or put up the tent. [Momo flies over to her, dropping several berries he had collected into her hands.] Even Momo does his fair share.

toph: [Breezily.] Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, [Pats bag.] I've already collected my own food and look, [Earthbends a rock tent over her.] my tent's all set up.

katara: [Slightly irritated.] Well, that's great for you, but we still need to finish

toph: [Angered.] I don't understand what's the problem here!

katara: Waves her hand dismissively and walks away.] Never mind.

from the above excerpt, she drops the issue and doesn’t lash out. later, she even goes back and tries to make amends with toph. she even tries smiling before she heads over there.

Cuts to Katara, who sets down a jug of water. She looks over at Toph, sitting comfortably beneath her earth tent. Her dull expression changes to one of slight happiness. She approaches Toph who is eating some sort of food item.

katara: [Rubs back of head sheepishly.] Hey Toph, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I think we're all just a little tired and getting on each other's nerves.

toph: [Casually.] Yeah, you do seem pretty tired.

katara: [Growing disgusted.] I meant all of us.

Cuts to shot of inside Toph's earth tent as she lazily tosses the food item onto the ground and lays her head down to rest.

toph: Well, good night.

katara: [Slightly irked.] Good night.

none of her mannerisms and word choices are characteristic of someone with a temper. despite toph’s slight unintentional antagonistic remarks, katara doesn’t react.

later, after they managed to evade the azula’s tank train for the night, they land appa. and katara tries, again:

toph: [Leaping off Appa and lying on the ground, relieved.] Ah, land sweet land! [Rises and says cheerfully.] See you guys in the morning!

katara: Actually, can you help us unload?

toph: [Points a finger at Katara in irritation.] Look! I didn't ask you to help unload my stuff! [Turns and begins walking away.] I'm carrying my own weight.

katara: [Angrily.] That's not the point. [Approaches Toph.] Ever since you joined us, you've been nothing but selfish and unhelpful!

toph: [Enraged.] What? Look here, sugar queen, [Points finger at Katara.] I gave up everything I had so that I could teach Aang earthbending. So don't you talk to me about being selfish!

the only times when katara reacts in anger that could be perceived as impulsive, is when she is insulted by Pakku and when Sokka suggests that she leave the Fire Nation town without helping. Both of these are hardly instances of hotheadedness, and moreso a reflection of who she is as a character: someone who doesn’t turn her back on people who needs her and someone who fights injustice.

why would we call katara hotheaded for not settling for being antagonized by a misogynistic asshole? she was a trailblazer in that scene and it meant so much to the little girls of the Northern Water Tribe. similarly, why would we call her hotheaded for not being able to turn away from people who are in need? after all, that’s a core part of her character’s trauma: feeling of survivor’s guilt that there was something she could’ve done to save her mom. it’s part of why she has to act to help others. her passion isn’t synonymous with hotheadedness.

#pro katara #atla #i'm tired of seeing this take #like i truly don't care of you hate zutara or not #but please stop saying that katara is hotheaded #it isn't really consistent with the show #the only times i can think of are when she attacks jet when he comes back #and when she does the same to zuko when he tries to join the group #i mean they both betrayed her so she was right to feel angry #none of her anger was irrational #and implying it as such kinda has uncomfy vibes

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bookofmirth · 3 years

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I was reading some of the asks about people being hesitant against SJM having a book centered around the relationship between Mor and Emerie, and how it feels all too likely that is would be carried out,,, unsatisfactorily, at best, and other general comments on how stuff like the mating dealio is pretty heteronormative, and it made me wonder how something like asexuality or aromanticism would be discussed. The way that the books are, it feels to me (as an aroace person) that asexuality just wouldn't fit at all. There doesn't seem to be an option for that in these books, like a character can't exist completely without a partner, like how little Mor, Azriel, Lucien and Elain show up and none of those characters are in romantic/sexual relationships.

I know that asexual and aromantic people can and are in relationships, but the way the SJM seems to really center on the more, ahm, physical aspects of relationships is something that, tbh, kinda bums me out. Maybe it's because Silver Flames is freshest in my mind, and I stg no one in that book had a decent conversation that wasn't either preceded or followed by a sex scene, but it just doesn't feel that the characters are allowed to just,, talk. To communicate.

This all might just be the fault of me reading ACOTAR, and it just not being that kind of series, idk, but this kinda undercurrent while reading it of thinking, "What would happen to a character that was aroace, and they had the whole mating bond happen? Would they just,,, magically gain sexual and/or romantic attraction for that person that they didn't in the first place? Would they even get a mate, or just a partner in general?" It doesn't feel great lmao.

Thank you for sending this! I was nodding in agreement a lot and I really appreciate your perspective.

idk if you have been around the fandom for long, but before acowar came out and Amren and Varian became a thing, a common fandom headcanon was that Amren was aroace. I'm still not into vamren, honestly I don't think they had a big fanbase even before Amren replaced her powers with an even bitchier personality in acosf, but hey, that's what fandom is for I guess.

how little Mor, Azriel, Lucien and Elain show up and none of those characters are in romantic/sexual relationships

This is so sad but true and so, so freaking annoying to me at this point. I know that the emphasis is heavy(ier) on the romance now than it even was before, and the romance itself is fine, but also??? Other writers don't need to have every single character banging another in order to make them relevant or interesting. I just cannot stand how Mor's sexuality, as of now, has only been used in order to show us something about someone else. Even her coming out to Feyre felt more like placating Feyre's concerns rather than something that Mor felt ready to do for herself.

The mating bond is so sexual, and in a way that seems mostly about baby-making, that it's off-putting to me sometimes as a bisexual person, so... I get your discomfort. There is a lot of reliance on physical connection in acotar (I do not remember it being quite like this in ToG, though maybe because that remained YA?), which personally I find it hard to connect to. When everyone was all touch-starved months into lockdown I was so confused. No, this is amazing, stay away from me please.

Considering how important the mating bond is to every romantic arc in the series, it's surprisingly poorly explained. Maybe explaining it would take away the mystery, but at a certain point we kinda need to know when we're asking questions like this - does Thesan get to mate his lover? Can Mor have a mate? What if Amren were aroace (and also a normal High Fae but anyway) would she still be able to have a mate in a different sense? If the bond is based on reproduction, which I think sjm is moving away from, then that would be even more frustrating and exclusionary and just... ew. Basically what the frick is the point??? Rhys explained the whole horny rage as being a remnant of when they needed to get pregnant, but that's not better. 😅What, have they "evolved" past that? I guess it goes hand in hand with the way they get possessive and such.

I'm sorry if all this makes the series less enjoyable, but I don't blame you at all for feeling that way.

#sjm critical #ask #mating bond #tardytothepardy

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brw · 3 years

Note

Tony Stark and Reed Richards for the character ask thing

TONY STARK

how i feel about this character: 😬 ngl i... don't care for him. at all. i don't vehemently hate him, there's definitely times where i appreciate him & his personality but it's few and far between and i... genuinely do not get the hype. i think its mostly mcu fans' fault for my dislike, its just he's fucking EVERYWHERE now, it's impossible to miss him? like he plays a big role in EVERY avengers comic now, he gets ongoing titles all the time, and it's just so frustrating especially when you consider characters who used to be more or less on the same level on them (like hank pym! who, by the way, has been dead for 6 consecutive years! that would never happen with tony!) or even more popular than him now get streamlined because of the mcu's popularity. by himself, i don't really mind him that much, but with how famous he is now and how large and frankly annoying his fan base is i just... now really do not like the character.

all the people i ship romantically with this character: short list here; reed, because i find their dymanic of reed as someone who does everything for his family and will do everything and anything he can to protect their interests above everyone else but also wants to keep his hands clean and believes, genuinely, in the good of the world, and tony as someone who will do horrendous things in the name of the greater good who always has the bigger picture in mind interesting. i also don't know a lot about it but he seems cute with rhodey? even if i think rhodey deserves a bigger chance to be his own character away from tony as is sometimes denied i can always appreciate a good best friends to lovers dymanic :)

my non romantic otp for this character: um? i honestly don't know 😭 i don't like him enough to say, i guess him n reed again? him n rhodey again? help 😭😭😭

my unpopular opinion of this character: he does not deserve the fame he has. like, i dont mean to sound jealous or whatever but pre 2007 movie he was not the most well liked character or even that popular. like obviously he had fans because he had solo series on and off for a very long time but it just feels SO ridiculous that tony stark has a bigger fandom than the fucking fantastic four. THE FANTASTIC FOUR. marvel's first superhero team, and yet??? like okay. he might have things to offer i don't see. he obviously does, i mean, he got three movies and multiple solo series. but he has most certainly not got enough as a character to overshadow the fantastic four, the x-men, etc and i will never forgive the mcu & mcu fans (and mark miller, he deserves blame too) for making it so. again, by himself he's fine but it is ridiculous to me that a one note white character that appeared in his third film (harley keener or... whatever) has 2000s more fics than THE PROTAGONIST OF INTO THE SPIDERVERSE, MILES MORALES. it is just... so vile and frustrating to me.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: he didn't exist <3 jk jk um i'm not sure? i guess it would be funny if he was like... stick thin underneath the armour. like idk. he's in the armour 24/7 it makes sense to me for him to be a skinny little nerd under there. like completely fucking small. like you can't be a superhero AND be a billionaire and avoid all those taxes AND run the avengers AND run multiple massive corporations and still work out... even if you take away eating and sleeping there's just not enough time... it would be funny if he was just a tiny little boy underneath all that djndndbf

my otp: gonna say him and rhodey again. like i say, can never resist a good best friends to lovers dymanic.

my cross over ship: jdjshdhdh literally none i don't think about him enough to consider it <3

headcanon fact: 100% think he was the one to offer reed that money to star in a p*rno it's just so funny to me to imagine dhsnndnd

REED RICHARDS

how i feel about this character: HE'S MY BOY! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! like i guess it's paradoxical considering how similar he is to tony in some ways but man i just love reed so much. i so genuinely think reed richards is what tony stark fans want him to be. like they (mcu fans) make up elaborate headcanons of him being a good dad and an ethical billionaire and its like no that's reed richards? canonically he's gone broke bc he refuses to get money off his inventions... u have the wrong man... anyway he's also an asexual LEGEND i do not take criticism and ofc. autistic icon. literally he's so autistic it makes me <3 i love him dearly.

all the people i ship romantically with this character: it would be easier to list the people i DON'T ship with him lol. sue, obviously, victor ofc, and ben are the big ones, but i just LOVE his dymanic with t'challa and i think they would rlly work it... i also love the idea of him with namor, idk with victor it's just so funny to imagine reed as like. bizarrely attractive to rulers of foreign countries. blackagar faces the same problem <3 i also do believe him n hank pym dated in college for a bit... all their weird little microaggressions towards each other just makes me feel that way... again i do like him w/ tony and i made this weird au where he and emma frost got together which if prompted i WILL talk about. probably. more but yeah <3

my non romantic otp for this character: while i do LOVE them together as lovers i just love. benreed generally <3 like they're LITERALLY besties they love each other sm and i'm tired of pretending they don't????? so many people ignore this relationship and it makes me so sad!!! they're best friends they love each other fight for each other fight with each other theyre literally besties... smh put some respect on the benreed name 😤

my unpopular opinion of this character: i don't think this is that unpopular but it is in certain circles so! i genuinely think reed is the best marvel dad! like you can talk abt others all u want but the fact is that reed is the only character i can think of who has always been there in his kid's lives and has consistently put their needs first. like not saying other characters are bad but even at his worst writing he's always done his best for his kids and certainly has been full of love for them. other characters at their worse have. murdered their own kids <3 genuinely he's the best marvel dad and sure there's not a lot of competition but. yeah <3

one thing i wish would happen/had happened with this character: I WANT A CANONICAL AUTISM DIAGNOSIS NOW. literally he is SO autistic & there are... no big autistic marvel characters! at all! literally none! the closest we have is legion (who was written in an incredible ableist way and autism hasnt been used to describe him in a solid 30 years) and monet (and it turned out it wasn't monet but one of her twin sisters impersonating her :/) so it would just mean so much to see a canonically autistic character like reed who is older & has a wife and kids who he loves and who they love in return on panel. like so much of the rep we DO have is like, young kids or teens and idk an autistic adult would just mean so much to me. especially one like reed who is as selfless & loving as he is.

my otp: tie between doomreed and reedsue! any option that gets this noodle nerd lots of love i'm good for tbh

my cross over ship: him and ralph dibney from dc should date... they have so much in common... stretchy autistic man who's very smart and kind of silly who loves his wife sue who pegs him 🥴 they'd have so much to talk about sjbdhdhd also imagining the look on ben's face realising there's TWO of them is. so funny.

headcanon fact: he's aromantic he's asexual and neither of these stop him from his very meaningful & passionate relationship with his wife :)

assorted character ask game!

#oh boy i do not shut up.#long post #thank you for asking!#esteicy-blog #tony stark #anti tony stark #i guess?? idk dhdjdh #ch: i believe we endure #ask games} answers

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fromtheplanethexagon · 4 years

Text

the robot problem: a critical look at tobecky, 5 years late

hello wordgirl fandom i am back :) and i have a lot of thoughts that i never got around to expressing before i moved on from the show. so be aware that everything i'm saying is based on my experiences during the 2012-2016 era of the fandom & state of tumblr in general, and i am not familiar with more recent fan content.

it's been over five years since the show ended, and @ifbrd reminded me (along with some great analysis) that while tobecky was super popular since before the show technically started (thanks to the play date shorts), it's pretty unhealthy in a lot of ways that tend to be excused or flat out ignored in fanworks. i'd like to reflect on that a bit (a lot); specifically, how both the show and the fandom approached this enemies-to-lovers ship, and how easily this ship can slip into uncomfortable territory if we're careless about how we interpret the ship and create fan content of it.

i will admit, i'm mostly writing this as a response to past me and my old creations - though i moved on from the show as a whole years ago, i do like taking the time to reflect on old interests once in a while, and reevaluating my thoughts on them. and this ship is probably the biggest one that still lurks in the corners of my mind once in a while, so let's go.

cherish is the word: a short positive note before a much longer negative one

i wanted to start this essay off with some positivity, because i am going to be very negative after this. tobecky was, in some ways, cute. it's obvious from the very beginning that these two characters are on pretty equal ground, even if one of them isn't aware of it. and that's part of the fun - the irony of how unaware tobey is that his nemesis/crush/person that pretty much always wins against him is someone that he completely dismisses as incompetent. i want to point this out because honestly, in general i don't like enemies-to-lovers because a lot of them use a power imbalance within the dynamic, and i hate power imbalances, especially when it comes to actual life-or-death scenarios (at least, as much as cartoons can do that). in most episodes, becky is never actually forced to go along with his wishes. she's not held in a 'date' against her will, nor is she ever really outwitted by him. i bring this up because there is one huge, uncomfortable exception, which i will get to later.

another big plus to the ship is the fact that they just... get along? even when fighting? of course we get brief moments where they just hang out and talk about paintings or whatever, but i'm talking about how much they get each other, even if they don't realize it. like the word banter, for example. been there since day one. becky loves words, and while most other people in her life don't really care (ranging from 'eh, that's cool i guess' to her brother calling it annoying), tobey gives her a chance to show off and thus treats her as a worthy adversary as herself, not because of her more generic superpowers - something that we've seen in canon that she feels self-conscious about (see: her motivation in patch game). one of the less noticed examples, to me, is "it's your party and i'll cry if I want to", because it's just - okay. they both are excluded from a social event, and while it's obvious that tobey deals with it by destroying the city, it's also pretty obvious that becky also deals with her frustration by fighting in that battle. like, yes, realistically it's just objectively bad that he's destroying buildings. but they're also providing each other with a way to work through their frustrations, first by fighting and then by talking things out, and finally by hanging out together instead of dwelling on being excluded from the party.

so it makes a lot of sense to me that many tobecky fans gravitated towards writing far-in-the-future fic, usually by implying that some growth had taken place before starting to write the ship. (there are, as far as i'm aware, 2... maybe 3 exceptions, that take the time to attempt a real redemption for him, at least when i left the fandom.) because if you take away his worst moments, either by reasoning out that he was 10 years old and a mess, or that he was a cartoon character in a cartoon world where everyone's actions are over-the-top, or by just flat-out pretending that certain episodes never happened, there's some pretty solid ground to start a ship on.

go gadget go: we all do not see it, we simply close our eyes (review of canon)

when the show began, i was the same age as the characters. a lot of other people were, too - at least in my cohort of the fandom. i think it's pretty safe to say that many of us have fond memories of the show's earlier seasons, and held on to that interest as we got older, for whatever reasons. so like, not to be all 'as an OG fan...', but i remember seeing the shorts air for the first time in 2006. i have a diary entry in july of 2009 about how i, a 12yo with no concept of the idea of 'shipping', was disappointed in the new tobey episode because i wanted more tobecky interactions. (that was robo-camping, btw, lol.) and so i remember how exciting their rivalry felt, watching them as someone literally their exact same age, and then watching that again as a nostalgic 17yo, and then uh... growing up, to put it frankly, and realizing just how unhealthy most of their interactions were.

okay what i meant to say was, this section is an overview of the relationship's canon portrayal throughout the years.

first, we have early tobecky: this includes the shorts and the first few seasons. this is their classic relationship: he likes her and takes robots on rampages to get her attention, she majorly disapproves and has fun taking him down. we've all seen the show, you know what i'm talking about. his backhanded ways of trying to find out her identity often feature prominently in the episodes, which - sigh, i've mentioned this whole issue before, but it's kind of a grey area in the whole uncomfortable-factor thing, because while trying to find out her identity is VERY invasive, it's something that like... everyone in the show tries to do, even her canon crush (scoops). on the one hand, it's really not a great look, but on the other hand, this is a cartoon meant to parody a genre in which this trope is extremely common. so i just wanna say that i have Issues and Thoughts on this aspect of their relationship, but there are other things i find more important to discuss here.

second, we have late tobecky: this is seasons 7-8. this is... a very strange and huge shift from the previous dynamic, though it's not necessarily obvious. what i mean by that is that for some reason, the show writers made it so that half of tobey’s rampages have nothing to do with his crush on wordgirl, even though that used to be the sole reason for his villainy. seriously. we have the birthday episode, where he's upset because he feels left out; wg vs tobey vs the dentist, where he's mad that he has a cavity; and trustworthy tobey, where his robot goes on a rampage... after becky accidentally makes it malfunction. the two outliers are ‘guess who’s coming to thanksgiving dinner’ and ‘patch game’, but they still differ from previous seasons because 1) his destruction is isolated to a forest far away from the city, and 2) his motive is still to impress wordgirl, but his methods are relatively tame. also he completely gives up on the secret identity thing??? i may have missed some things but i think he straight up tells her 'yeah there's no way you're wordgirl, lol' and the subject is just dropped for the rest of the show.

i also want to include 'the robot problem' here, because it's one of two season 6 tobey episodes, and follows the 'doesn't destroy buildings to get her attention' pattern: in fact, he teams up with her to try and stop someone else from going on a rampage (even if his reasons are selfish, lol).

and finally. the other season 6 episode. we have go gadget go, the bane of my time spent in the fandom. because GGG is the single episode where tobey truly manages to take away her autonomy, and proceeds to abuse that power for an extended period of time, for his own amusement. it's bad. it's Very Bad. put in the context that it's a white boy doing this to an (ambiguously) brown girl, it's REALLY REALLY BAD. and the more i look back on it, tbh, the more weirded out i am that the show not only made it seem like she wasn't affected at all within the episode, it just... forgot about it (which is not unusual for shows and especially children’s shows, but WG does make some efforts to either retain continuity or create canon reasons for why things are forgotten about). it's the kind of thing that you can't excuse and honestly you can't redeem (like at this point, you gotta ask yourself why you're spending so much effort trying to redeem this guy when becky has several other possible ships that are nowhere near this unhealthy - violet, scoops, honestly even victoria if you want another hero/villain ship, my absolute fave rarepair rose, etc).

so if you want to still ship it you have to just pretend that it never happened. (i remember trying for weeks to write something exploring the aftermath of this episode, to try and make myself feel better about it, but the more i wrote the more i realized just how traumatic this event should've been, so i eventually just dropped it.) and i brought up my own timeline of experiences earlier to point out that this episode aired eight whole years after the show started. which means that when i saw it, even though i was a huge stickler for canon at the time, i'd built up my own idea of the show and characters strongly enough to go 'yeah, no, this episode sucks and i am going to pretend that it doesn't exist'. and i think a lot of other people did too, because i really saw like... no one mention it, ever, except for some rogue fanfics over on ff dot net that already liked dynamics like that.

because here's the thing, and i don't know if people nowadays are aware of it? but i'm 80% sure (cannot find a source, so the other 20% is that it was just a rumor) that the show was originally supposed to end after season 6. and even if it's a rumor, it makes a ton of sense, because we get 1) an 'ending' to tobecky, which is a bad one, 2) a permanent wordgirl identity reveal that significantly changes one of the major dynamics in the show, 3) an episode where TJ gets to work with wordgirl and get a nice potential ending for their sibling dynamic, 4) an episode where we see Two-Brains explore life without his henchmen... the list goes on, and idk how many of these are just major stretches. but the point is. if the show had ended there, that would've been a pretty solid ending for many things, including their relationship: aka, it would prove that it was only ever heading somewhere bad, and when tobey finally has his moment of triumph, he is truly evil about it. and this provides us fans who HATE go gadget go with an easy reason to dismiss it - we can say that it was an attempt to conclude things in a way that wouldn't have happened if the writers had known they'd get more time. but despite that... it is still a canon episode.

it is odd to me how dramatically the dynamic shifts after that, though, because we seriously go from 'worst case ever, tobecky is toxic, your ship is dead' to 'no actually they get along and hang out and get ice cream together and tobey isn't even pressuring her into it, she's happy to go along with it :)' like, immediately. i never knew much about the show writers, so i don't know if the writers changed in between these seasons, but i would absolutely not be surprised if they did.

the earlier episodes are definitely problematic as well (though they pale in comparison to GGG) but i think everyone who ships it is aware considering that tobey is, yknow, a villain. from memory, he destroys buildings to get her attention, lies to her about the level of danger that people are in to trick her into spending more time with him, blackmails her into reading his poetry, and he creates a robot based on her that’s supposed to be devoted to him (but of course, all of these things backfire). not great stuff of course, but like... he’s a villain, that’s the point of his character. and considering that he’s a child these are things that can be redeemed, if done thoughtfully.

anyway, to sum up this section, the show starts off with a pretty standard 'enemies with an unrequited crush' setup, takes a really dark turn for a single episode, and then for the rest of the show takes their dynamic in a direction that makes it much, much easier to ship. as long as you ignore a lot of previous content.

wordbot: where's becky's autonomy in all of this? (misogyny)

we've finally gotten to the fandom. i recognize that a lot of this is going to come across as hypocritical considering how active i used to be re: this ship, but like... i'm a very different person now. anyway. disclaimer i guess - i don't write this to accuse all tobecky shippers of being like this - i know a lot of us aren't/weren't! but boy do i have things to point out, so without further ado:

it is very hard to ship this without allowing some bit of misogyny to slip into it. very, very hard. the entire premise of the ship involves a girl falling in love with a boy that repeatedly pressures her to date him via threats to the safety of herself and people she cares about, which... it's 2020, i shouldn't have to explain why that's terrible & a terrible example to set for children (which is why i am glad they never made it canon, tbh). best-case fan content has tobey stop pressuring her and start working to redeem himself out of an actual change of heart, which leads to becky seeing him in a new light. worst-case fan content treats his incessant pressuring and sometimes outright threats as something romantic - and even worse, romantic to the point where he deserves her attention and love as a reward for not giving up or whatever. i did see this pretty frequently for a while, especially in the earlier 2010s (didn't read much, Not My Thing At All), but i don't feel like going into detail here because of how obviously problematic it is. one medium (but still bad) case is where the fan content makes him start his redemption, but treats her liking him back as a reward for not knocking buildings over anymore. another not great case is where she tries to fix him with her love, which is a very common and very dangerous romantic trope. both are just... so incredibly unfair to her.

in content where she tries to 'fix him'... yeah i feel like it's really obvious how misogynistic that is. girls and women should not feel responsible for the evil actions of men, plain and simple. idk what else to say here i just really hate that trope and hated it back then and it just sucks! so can we not do that anymore, thanks.

in content that treats her like a reward for good behavior, there really isn't much of an explanation for what she sees in him. if she just goes 'oh wow, you're good now, i am going to fall in love with you for it' the whole thing falls flat because it makes NO sense whatsoever. we get to hear so much about tobey and his feelings and why he likes her and how he feels about it, but where is that energy for becky? why does she choose to trust him, to spend time around him, what does she enjoy about his presence? where is her getting over scoops in the process of falling for tobey? where is her telling her friends about this, confiding in them, asking them for advice? where is her choice in the matter?

win a day with wordgirl: do you guys even like becky or do you just like the idea of her (misogyny... 2!)

it was pretty standard for all fandoms the early-mid 2010s, but that's still not a good excuse for why so many tobecky fanfictions centered specifically around tobey's feelings while refusing to give becky the same level of empathy and nuance. it is true that to ship them comfortably you have to redeem him to some degree, which means spending time figuring him out and trying to find ways to pull him to the light without feeling super OOC. but ships take two people??? and there was so much potential for fanfics to explore becky's complex feelings on the matter - because she is! complex! she's heroic and kind but she's petty and has a competitive streak, she easily befriends villains but also doesn't trust them and doesn't believe they can ever really change, she's the savior of an entire planet but has feelings of inadequacy as her civilian identity and struggles with feeling like she can be successful without superpowers, she's great at the straightforward meanings and uses of words and loves reading but struggles to write passages that aren't dry as hell, it can be easily headcannoned that she's neurodivergent (special interests, issues with fitting in with her peers, taking things very literally, etc)... seriously there is SO MUCH to explore about her character, and a lot of it comes into play when you add tobey into the mix (literally ALL of the things i mentioned are explored at some point using tobey as a parallel or foil), but i rarely saw fanfiction that explored her thoughts on things further than 'he's evil but... maybe good?' or 'he's evil but... i kind of like him anyway?'.

if you want her to fall for him while being a villain, explore it!! why does she go against her morals? does she lie to herself about it to feel better? does she feel like she has to 'fix him' as part of her superhero duties to the city, and if so, how does that affect her as she tries and fails to help him? does she fall for him when she believes that he's turning good, only to feel betrayed when he starts acting worse because he feels like he can get away with it? it's such a shame that fanworks spend so little time even considering these questions, and it is absolutely a product of how deeply misogyny is/was baked into how we approach media (especially back then).

tobey goes good: but wait, i thought this show was progressive (a conclusion, i guess)

ifbrd wrote a great meta recently about how the show is a bit misogynist, despite being progressive in several ways. honestly i don't have much to add, but i'd really recommend reading through this; it makes a lot of great observations about the ways that male and female characters are presented differently through the show

i have little to add, so i'd just like to conclude with a reflection on the ship from my current viewpoint. i do think part of the reason so many of us latched onto the ship, despite how obviously problematic it was, is that the show treats a lot of things that would be serious in real life as normal or even comedic - which is fine lol, i'm not going to pretend that it's not a show for little kids, so they have to keep the tone light.

but if we, as teens/adults, decide to engage with this content in a more realistic manner, we have to be prepared to confront how messed up so many of the things going on really are. and if you still want to ship it, there's nothing inherently wrong with that! there's a lot of interesting things to explore in this ship, no matter what stage of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers you write them at, and it can be really helpful to have a space where you can explore a dynamic such as this in fiction. (speaking from experience here tbh, writing some fic for them helped me deal with complicated feelings about some ex-longtime friends.)

so to write this ship at all means that there are canon issues that you need to deal with if you want to have them end up in a healthy relationship in any manner that makes sense (unless you create an AU where none of that is applicable, which, power to you then). and i’m not saying ‘write them with a healthy endgame or you’re Bad’, not at all lol. but at least please, please take a step back once in a while to examine the dynamic that you’re writing, and please be careful about whether you mean to be romanticizing whatever behaviors you end up portraying as good.

#wordgirl #becky botsford #tobey mccallister #tobecky #tobecky critical #has anyone ever used that tag before LMAO #anyway: i may come back and reword the ending because i am not totally happy with it #but wow this is so many words. so many. send help

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s-creations · 3 years

Text

In Sickness, In Health Chapter 4 - Chicken Pox

Fandom: DuckTales 2017 / The Three Caballeros Rating: General Audience Relationships/Pairings: José Carioca/Donald Duck/Panchito Pistoles Additional Tags: getting sick, being cared for, mental health, injury, sore throat, common cold, chicken pox, broken bones, whooping cough, taking care of others.

Part of a Series Called: We’re the Three- Sorry, Six Caballeros!

Author’s Note: I just want everyone to be aware...as I was writing/posting this, I have over 30 bug bites on my legs at this moment... This was an interesting story to write with itchy legs. XD

Huey knew something was wrong when he couldn’t enjoy his favorite meal one night. Something Donald took notice of as well.

“Are you feeling alright Huey?” The older duck asked.

“I’m not feeling very hungry… I guess.” Huey held still as a hand was placed on his forehead.

“Hmm… You’re feeling a little warm. Alright, let me give you some aspirin and you’re going straight to bed.”

“But, it’s Friday! I haven’t finished my homework.”

“Suck up.” Louie muttered. Wincing when he caught José’s disapproving look.

“I’m sure a good night's sleep, you’ll feel better. Good enough to finish your homework in no time.” Panchito attempted to appease the stressed duckling.

“...Are you sure?”

“Absolutely! You’ll wake up feeling great.”

It was the first time Huey realized that adults could be wrong. Because he woke up early the next morning, before the sun was even up, feeling worse.

He thought his skin was on fire. Itchy and irritating, Huey’s first instinct was to furiously scratch at his skin. Only to immediately regret it. Feeling like the fire had turned into an inferno on his skin. He was unaware he was screaming until Donald was attempting to calm him down, pulling the duckling down from the top bunk. Everywhere he was being touched hurt, Huey letting out a weak sob that being held found no comfort.

“Chicken pox.” Donald whispered frantically.

“I’m already calling the ER to see if someone can see him.” Panchito commented. Phone pressed against his ear as he skillfully wrapped Huey in a thick blanket. Which somehow comforted Huey as the pressure seemed to help. But caused him to panic slightly when he couldn’t move all that well.

It was a quick conversation between the roaster and whomever was on the other end. Panchito, Donald, and Huey piling into the car. The duckling rested on Panchito’s lap while Donald drove. José and the two remaining ducklings standing on the porch. Worried as they watched the car drive off.

For Huey, the drive was a bit of a blur. Drifting in and out of sleep. Waking only when a part of the irritated skin had something brushed against it, the burn flaring up again. He was only aware when they arrived at the hospital when the bright lights hit his face. Even being in a well lit area, the duckling was having difficulty paying attention. He heard the doctor say something about treatment and having to be separated from everyone for a few days, if not a week.

“Do you have any ideas where he would have caught this?” The doctor had asked.

“Someone from school?” Donald gave a weak reply.

“But no one else has called in.” Panchito whispered worriedly.

“We will send an email to his principal and I would recommend you do the same. But, the most I can advise is that he gets plenty of rest, warm baths with the medication, and ointment every morning. Clean his sheets, as well as his brothers. And have Huey sleep away from them. Have all adults had the illness?”

Both adults answered with a nod.

“Then you all can be around Huey. But I would keep it to one so as to not raise points of contact.”

They were soon leaving. The adults talk while Huey is on the verge of falling asleep again.

“The couch would work.” Panchito offered.

“What about the bath? Our bathroom is the only one with a tub. Moving Huey could cause the other two to catch it.”

“So…”

“Huey gets our room. José can sleep with the other two and you can sleep on the couch. I can stay with Huey.”

“Do you really trust the four of us to the kitchen?” Panchito smiled weakly.

“I think it’s a risk we’re gonna have to take.”

“How about I stay with Huey? I had to help a few younger cousins when they caught it. And this pequeño bebé seems about as rambunctious as them.”

Donald frowned as they climbed into the car. “Are you sure? What about your job?”

“I have a few days off, it’ll be fine.”

Huey fell back asleep as the car started up and they drove off.

____________________________

If the duckling thought the illness was bad, then the medicine was down right annoying. The powder used in the bath water smells strong and leaves his skin dry. Then the ointment that would be applied would stick his feathers together. As well as his clothing. Even then, Huey would have hours in which his skin would be on fire and he couldn’t do anything about it. All reaching a point where the duckling had to wear oven mitts so he wouldn’t unconsciously scratch.

Huey had been placed in the adult’s bedroom with Panchito acting as his caretaker. Having placed another t.v. into the room, with a stack of the duckling’s favorite movies next to it. Donald had also gone to the library to check out what he could. But nothing could keep the crawling skin from Huey. Every time he started to relax, his skin would flare up and it took everything not to scream again. Either in pain or frustration.

After a few afternoons of this system, Huey was close to breaking. Everything about this was driving him absolutely crazy!

“Alright, lunch is ready.” Panchito walked back over to the bed. Carrying the tray of food over that had just been passed through to Donald.

“‘M not hungry.” Huey replied weakly. Laying flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling.

“Uncle Donald made your favorite. Grilled cheese with carrot sticks. Yum!” The rooster paused hearing a small sniff coming from the duckling. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”

“I hate this! I’m itchy, I’m sticky, my skin hurts and I’m hot! I don’t want to do this anymore!” Huey sobbed, arms flapping. The oven mitt covered arms making a hard ‘flump’ against the bed.

Panchito immediately picked the crying duckling up and cradled him close. “Shhh… Shhh… You’re going to be okay. I know you’re uncomfortable, I know it’s itchy. But you’ve been doing a great job and I’m so proud of you…”

“I don’t like it…”

“I know…”

Huey was surprised when Panchito moved back towards the door with the duckling still in his arms. Sticking his head out and calling, “Donald?”

“Yeah?’

“Can you get me an ice pack?”

“Oh, sure. Give me a second.”

While they waited, Panchito hummed softly while swaying slowly. Huey relaxing, eyes closing slightly as his head laid on the rooster’s shoulder. Who paused when Donald’s hand stuck in, ice back in hand. Which Panchito took and moved back to the bed. Gently laying down with Huey resting on his chest. The duckling was about to question what was happening when the ice pack was gently rubbed over the inflamed back.

It was immediately relaxing. Huey smiled weakly, eyes closing as he further melted into the red feathered chest. Falling asleep the easiest he had in the past few days.

Huey was absolutely relieved when the bumps and itchy skin finally disappeared. Getting a clean bill of health from the doctor’s office.

“I don’t know Huey. You were really making a fashion statement with those oven mitts.” Louis smirked. Taking Huey’s playful punch easily.

#donald duck #josé carioca #panchito pistoles #jose carioca/donald duck/panchito pistoles #The Three Caballeros #the three gay caballeros #s-creations #fanfiction

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michellejackson · 3 years

Text

Would you be so kind as to fall in love with me?

Fandom: Druck

Pairing: Fatou Jallow/Kieu My Vu

Wordcount: 2580

Kieu My's POV throughout the week

You can also read it on ao3 :)

Kieu My couldn’t focus. She knew the teacher was talking and she was aware of her friend beside her trying to get her attention, but all she could think of was how bad she had fucked up with Fatou. She kept replaying last Friday’s events in her head, Constantine kept pestering her about potential hookups, and she played along as she so often did. But then, then he brought up Fatou. Kieu My wasn’t stupid. She knew what Constantine thought of Nora’s new friends, and honestly, she couldn’t be bothered with the pettiness that took over him every time she or her friends were brought up. She didn’t want any conflict, and she would not sit and listen to him talk more shit about Fatou. “It was just a stupid New Year’s kiss”. It wasn’t, and god, would she regret saying it was. Fatou, of course, had heard.

The words still echoed in her head, “crazy how I couldn’t see how fake you are, Kieu My.” She was stuck to her seat and couldn’t move, stunned. But then she thought, she wasn’t wrong, was she? Watching her walk away, Kieu My did nothing.

After a long silence the first sound that pierced the air was Constantine’s laughter. Kieu My just looked after Fatou. She could feel Finn and Ismail’s eyes closing in on her, but she only had eyes for the girl, trying to make her turn around with a mere look. Shit. “Wow, who does she think she is huh? Delusional chick actually thought you were into her? Crazy.” And yeah, that was it. She tore her gaze from Fatou and instead glared at Constantin, “grow the fuck up” she spat, and then she left. She had no more tolerance for him that day.

Or the day after, or the next one. Turns out her tolerance for Constantin’s bullshit just straight up left the building and never come back. Which is why his constant effort to get her attention in this class was just about to make her scream. She wasn’t pulled out of her thinking before she heard the teacher calling out Fatou’s name.

“-Fatou, what about the topic ‘planetary orbit’ for you? Together with…”

She looked around, no one was eager to volunteer. She looked at Fatou who looked just about done with this class. What if Kieu My just… before she knows it her hand is up in the air and the teacher notices straight away, no going back now. “Kieu My!” She summons enough courage to take a look behind her, at Fatou, but looks down straight away when she sees that she’s already staring back. Her face heats up and she tries her hardest to look unbothered. Crap, why did she do that? Did she just force a person that didn’t want anything to do with her into a group project? She internally facepalms.

“Kieu My, what the fuck, you know I suck at psychics, we agreed to team up!” Constantin was aggressively whispering at her from her right side. Kieu My rolled her eyes, “you agreed to team up, maybe you can do your own work for once.” She knew she’d never hear the end of this, but right now, she didn’t care.

When the class is over, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Should she bolt as soon as possible or stay and try to talk to Fatou? Should she wait for Fatou to come to her? She starts packing her bag as slow as possible, praying that Fatou will come and talk to her, instead of vise versa. She does. “What was that?”

Kieu My looks up, stricken with the sternness of her voice. She didn’t know what it was she expected, but confrontation wasn’t something she had prepared herself for. Looking at Fatou, Kieu My can’t help but admire how beautiful she is, even when she looks down on her, figurately and literally, and at the moment she does both. Kieu My understands why she’s mad, but Kieu My will fix this. She’s determent to.

Realizing she spent way too much time looking at Fatou’s lips, she panics. What did she ask again? “uhm …” Oh yeah, she asked why. Why is it that every time she exchanges words with Fatou, her brain seems to malfunction? Also how does she say that she wants to spend every single minute out of her day with Fatou, without sounding like a creep?

“I thought I’m quite good in physics, and you’re rather not, so …” She curses herself. Maybe it would’ve been better to sound like a creep. Fatou rolls her eyes, Kieu My wants to roll out of this universe.

As soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back, this was no way to win over the girl she had continuously let down while pining for from afar. Kieu My knew that Fatou had been struggling in this class, the girl always had her attention, but not only was her comment making it blatantly obvious that she was watching her like a creep, but it also clearly struck a chord.

“What do you want?”

Kieu My just looked at her, wishing it was obvious to Fatou. Wishing it was obvious to herself. What did she want? She wanted for this to be easy, she wanted for her friends to understand her better, for them to be less assholes, she wanted for Fatou to not look at her this way, as if she was the worst kind of person. But then again, maybe she was.

“I want to help you” and she does. She wants to help Fatou with anything she needs, or anything she doesn’t need. She just wants to be near her.

“Why can’t you just say what you really want for once?” Now she just looks frustrated, and Kieu My can’t even blame her. Fatou looks at her, but Kieu My can’t look her in the eyes. The teacher eventually ends their conversation and Kieu My is once again stuck watching her walk away. But it was fine, she would text Fatou later, they would meet up for the project and she would get to explain herself. Everything would be fine.

---

Everything was not fine. It had been 23 hours since Kieu My texted Fatou, and there was no sign of any type of answer from her. Lying in bed, Kieu My threw a pillow over her head and screamed. She deserved this, she knows that, but it doesn’t make the situation any better. She threw the pillow over to the end of her bed and looked at the unanswered messages she already sent, they were simple, she asked if Fatou had unmatched her on tinder (which totally was a rhetorical question, she knew she had. Damn cat gif) and apologized for hijacking her project. Or… apologize maybe isn’t the right word, shit. Maybe she should’ve apologized first. Why is this so hard?

She had already sent four messages, she can’t send any more right? It would look too desperate. Fingers hovering over the keyboard she came to a realization; she was that desperate. So she tries again, this time asking a question, hoping that would make it easier to answer. - Just wanted to ask how we're going to do this physics project - When do you want to meet? Maybe on Friday?

The texts all go unanswered. Sitting at school with Ismail, she can’t help but check WhatsApp. Every damn minute. Maybe she lost her phone? No, that’s not right, Kieu My has religiously been checking her insta, her phone is clearly working. Maybe she just hasn’t had the time to check? Maybe her notifications are off? Maybe she just doesn’t want anything to do with her… At this point she’s just frustrated with herself; how did she get to this point? She hoped this wasn’t what Fatou was feeling when Kieu My had let her messages go unanswered while stressing over what to do.

Ismail keeps pointing their phone in her face, laughing at a joke she’s not yet in on. After a while she gets annoyed. Maybe it’s a combination of lack of sleep, not being able to stop thinking about the girl that is currently ghosting her and last, but not least, Ismail not being able to stop pushing their phone up her face. She snaps.

“Ismail, what the fuck.”

Their smile drops and they lay their phone on the table. “Well, someone’s in a mood.” Rolling her eyes, Kieu My looks at her phone again. She can feel Ismail’s eyes on her. She looks up from her phone to locks eyes with them, now entering a staring contest as Ismail tries to work out what’s up with her. It takes minutes before Ismail opens their mouth again.

“Is this about Fatou?”

This surprises her, she starts blinking, seemingly losing the contest. “What?” was she that obvious? No… She hasn’t talked about Fatou to any of her friends, not even Zoe, how could any of them know? None of them had any reason to. All they knew was that they kissed on New Year’s, and she dismissed that in front of all of them, in front of Fatou herself. That’s literally the reason she’s stuck in this situation in the first place. She’d been so careful. What did she do wrong? Ismail smiles.

“You know, I always thought you were hard to read regarding your crushes, because you never like, looked longingly at anyone. You never stressed about any of the guys you talked to, and you always looked so at ease with them, bored, but at ease.”

Kieu My looked down at her phone, trying to find something to say, but Ismail beat her to it, “you’ve zooned out so much lately, and do you know what the common factor is every single time? It’s Fatou. You’re always looking in her direction. Every single time. You even smile a little.”

She looks up at Ismail, they’ve really noticed all that?

“You long for Fatou, Kieu My.”

She was at a loss for words. There was no use in denying it, Ismail looked to have her all figured out. She felt exposed, uncomfortable. They didn’t really talk about stuff like that, any of them. Not Zoe, not Finn, and certainly not Constantin. What made Ismail start now? Should she just brush it off?

“Also, the other day when she called you out in the schoolyard you looked like a kicked puppy, honestly it was devastating.” This took her out of her trance, she laughed, and Ismail laughed with her. “God, I really screwed that up.” Ismail looked at her with sympathy, something they rarely show. “What happened?” they asked, and so Kieu My went on to tell someone about Fatou for the first time. She felt liberated for once, and Ismail confirmed a theory Kieu My had long contemplated; that she had royally fucked up.

---

Later that day she decided to text Fatou yet again. What was it that Fatou asked her again? What she really wants? Kieu My closed her eyes and debated whether this was a good idea or not. Summoning the courage, she sent off two texts, but the most important and honest one being,

“Somehow I have to think about you all the time.”

That’s the truth. No matter how hard Kieu My tries, she can’t get Fatou out of her head. That’s the truth she had spent so long trying to avoid. This was the last message she would send she decided. If Fatou didn’t want to hear from her anymore, she wouldn’t push. She would ask the teacher for a new subject partner and she’d bother Fatou no more. That’s the least she could do.

---

The next day she didn’t see a trace of Fatou, which in Kieu My’s mind was good, she wasn’t sure if she could handle public confrontation again. It would be better if they were somewhere alone, somewhere they could talk about everything, away from school. Yeah, maybe she was a little anxious, but confessing to the girl of your dreams could do that to you. The thought of being rejected after being vulnerable could do that to you.

“Hey, Stranger!” Zoe raced from behind her, making Kieu My jump. “God, Zoe! You scared me!” Zoe just looked at her knowingly, “stuck in your head again, huh?”. Kieu My knew that Zoe knew that something was up with her, and she also knew that it was really starting to unnerve the girl. She had kept pestering her about it, but Kieu My just brushed it off every time, it seemed she did that a lot.

They walked together towards the school, the silence between them was strangling her. After talking with Ismail yesterday, she’d tried to figure out the best way to tell Zoe too, after opening up she realized that not talking about her feelings was actually taking a toll on her. Zoe was her best friend; she really should’ve told her a long time ago. Kieu My stopped walking.

“I kissed Fatou!”

Her outburst made Zoe stop too and look back at her. She smiled her usual smile, “yes I know, Constantin told me about your ‘stupid New Year’s kiss’” she brushed it off. Zoe didn’t get it. Kieu My tried to find the best way to phrase it.

“No, you don’t understand, I like kissed her-kissed her. Like I didn’t feel like doing anything else. I-” she closed her eyes, not sure of what Zoe’s reaction would be, “-it wasn’t just a stupid kiss, I really like her, and I’ve liked her for a while,” she opened her eyes to look anywhere but at Zoe. “I think about her all the time, it’s exhausting, and it’s so STUPID, because I fucked up and now, she doesn’t want anything to do with me.” Her eyes were getting wet, but no tears were spilling. “And… and I was scared to tell you, because… I don’t know, because I haven’t really felt this about anyone before, and I don’t like to talk about my feelings!” her words were all messed up and rolling out in one go, she wasn’t sure if she was even making sense at this point.

She finally looked at Zoe. The girl was grinning, so bright as to compete with the sun. She stretched out her arms as if she were to hug her and squealed, “Q! you have a crush!” Kieu My wasn’t sure what reaction she expected, but Zoe’s excitement was catching her off guard. She welcomed the hug though. She needed that. “It doesn’t matter, she won’t really talk to me, and I can’t blame her.” Zoe pulled away and scoffed, “girlie! Honestly, don’t even sweat it, I’m here now! C’mon, catch me up on everything!” So she did, and she felt much better.

Kieu My hung out with Zoe the rest of the day, feeling better every second. Even though Zoe kept telling her how bad she was at flirting, the smile never left her face. Kieu My felt content now, if Fatou decided to give her a second chance there would be nothing holding her back. Except maybe her flirting and overall hopelessness with girls.

Kieu My didn’t even notice the message on her phone until she got home.

It was from Fatou.

“Tomorrow half past three at my place”

Kieu My let out the biggest breath, and smiled.

#this is v late i know skdjfkwjfwf #have mercy #kieutou #kieu my vu #fatou jallow #druck #druck fic #fanfic

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fandom-necromancer · 3 years

Text

‘You come here often?’ ‘Well I work here.’ Part 4

This was prompted by the lovely AO3 user LoafofCat! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 [Read complete on AO3]

‘You know, if you just wanted to see me, there would be easier ways.’ ‘Bold of you to assume I come here only to see you.’ Nines smiled looking up to Gavin, who was just untying his apron and sitting down in front of him with a coffee of his own. ‘Am I wrong then?’, the human asked and Nines huffed, letting his head fall. ‘No’, he admitted. ‘Okay, so let me get this right’, Gavin laughed. ‘I had to propose to my boss to get thirium drinks on the menu as a “costumer asked for it” and it might help us crank those numbers up, just so you could plant your ass here in your break?’ ‘It did get you more costumers though’, Nines shrugged pointing to the other tables. ‘That’s not- Nines, do you think I care about this shop? I just work here; I don’t care if… You know what? Screw it. Nice to see you, Nines.’ ‘Nice to see you too’, the android chuckled. ‘How are you?’ ‘Can’t complain. What do you have there?’

Nines looked down on the tablet in his hands. ‘Oh, just work. A case.’ ‘You are on your break and brought work?’, Gavin asked, looking at him sceptically. ‘Tina was right, you really are me just with a little less personality.’ ‘Being nice and polite doesn’t mean not having a personality. You were just an asshole.’ ‘What technically is a personality trait’, Gavin argued, taking a sip from his coffee. ‘Now come on, tell me about your case!’ Nines frowned. ‘I really can’t tell you, it’s-‘ ‘Confidential, I get it. But come on, I’m a former cop I can keep a secret. For old time’s sake.’ The android eyed Gavin and how he looked so eager to get information. It was cute in a way, how he looked in between his eyes and the tablet in his hands. Maybe that’s why Nines showed weakness and caved in.

‘Okay, but you really keep this to yourself. We are investigating a series of murders. They don’t have anything in common in regard to victims or how the deed was done or staged, but at every crime-scene we found the picture of this man.’ Nines flipped through the pictures of the different crime-scenes until he reached a few portraits. They weren’t really the kind of pictures you would expect of a cold-blooded serial-killer. Not after the few flashes of gruesome staging, Gavin caught a glimpse of as Nines had searched for these. They all portrayed a middle-aged man with a small belly you could easily get if you worked long hours in the office and were too exhausted afterwards to do sports. The pictures looked like they were ripped right out of a family photo-album. The guy was at the beach smiling at the camera with a cocktail in hand. The next one showed him in what Gavin supposed to be his home with a small dog on his lap. Then next to a ridiculously oversized barbeque grill all shiny chrome and reds.

Gavin lifted a brow at Nines. ‘Yeah, sorry Nines, but no way this is your killer.’ ‘I ruled it out as unlikely, too’, the android nodded. ‘Although you can never know with people. At the very least it’s a lead. Maybe the killer knows this man. As much as this is a lead, it is also our only link.’ Gavin shrugged, leaning back. ‘Well, why haven’t you solved it then? I mean, you can scan his face and get a name, age, address, likely even social media as creepy as they designed you and Connor. No offense there.’ Nines sighed. ‘As creepy as I might be designed, my scanner has its limits too. I can’t get a name to this man, not even an age. Scanning him just returns an error. Manual research in the police databanks also hasn’t brought up anything yet. We also can’t exactly go around asking for this man. If he is the serial killer, as unlikely as it might seem, we would only alert him.’ Gavin nodded absent-mindedly, staring at the photo, pulling the tablet closer to zoom in on some details. ‘Honestly?’, Nines said frustratedly. ‘We’re all currently waiting for the forensics to find more evidence on the bodies. It’s quite frustrating, but at the same time no one really minds if I spend a bit longer on my break with you.’

Gavin couldn’t help but let out an exaggerated ‘Awww’ at that, Nines reprimanded with an annoyed but amused look. ‘Nah, really thanks, looking at your tablet for what, ten minutes? This was already more exciting than the whole damn month. The most action I had was a drunk guy I had to escort out because everyone else was too chicken shit to risk getting vomited on.’ ‘Understandable.’ ‘Not the point. I mean, I’m happy here, I guess. It is decent money and I have more time for my cats at home. Also, maybe not being confronted with what humans are capable of is nice for a while. But I can basically feel my brain rot here.’ ‘That is also understandable’, Nines huffed. ‘Maybe search for some outside work activity? Something new to learn and keep you active mentally?’ ‘Like what? Knitting?’ ‘If you want that?’ ‘You know what? Maybe not the worst idea. I’ll see if I can find anything and when I have I will-‘

Nines never got to find out what Gavin would do afterwards, as his colleagues called him, pointing at the growing queue. The human sighed. ‘Well, my call to duty’, he announced and walked over to press a quick kiss to the android’s temple. ‘Was nice chatting with you, babe. Good luck with your case.’ ‘Yeah, you too.’

It was a slow Tuesday, without many costumers coming in. The rush of office workers in their break had already stormed the small shop and rushed back to their workplace and now it was mostly a few students and the regular old granny circle in the front judging people and eating cake. Living the life. Gavin had already washed the entire stack of mugs twice now and was out of work, except for manipulating the radio until his co-workers began to wonder why the last song had been so long and found him messing with the system. Then he walked around, collecting discarded newspapers and cleaning the tables while his co-worker told him she would be out for a cigarette. He nodded and continued working until a sole costumer entered. Gavin quickly rubbed the table dry and hurried over, throwing the man an extra smile just in case he wanted to complain about having to wait a few seconds. ‘What can I do for you?’ ‘I’d like a coffee, please. Medium, to go with cream but no sugar.’ ‘Coming right up.’ Gavin was already going through the motions of preparing the coffee and turned around to hand it over. ‘Anything else…’ He trailed off, as he saw the man’s face, but he seemingly hadn’t noticed his slip. ‘No, thank you, that would be all.’

Gavin watched him leave again and was trying to decide what to do next. He couldn’t just leave; he was at work after all. But he couldn’t do nothing either. Frantically he looked through the shop and, in the end, shook his head, rushing past the counter. Outside his co-worker stopped him. ‘Gavin? What are you doing?’ Gavin blinked, but came up with an excuse fast enough: ‘Dude forgot his wallet. Can you take over for a moment? Sorry!’ ‘Sure, no problem. Just hurry, he’s already behind the corner.’

Gavin did hurry. But not to run after the man, but to pull out his phone. ‘Nines? Yes, hi babe I know you are at work, shut up, this is work. Li-Listen, yes. Shut up for just a second! I’m pursuing your office killer. Ye-Yes, exactly, the beach holiday photo model with the ugliest dog I’ve seen in my life. Now will you phcking get your ass here? I will pursue him you can track my phone. Wh- come on, it can’t be that dangerous, I’m still well trained now stop worrying and move your ass!��

He had become louder than he wanted and had caused the man he wanted to follow inconspicuously to turn around. He wasn’t really unsuspicious though, dressed in the silly coffee-shop apron and shouting at someone on the phone. Trying to play it down, Gavin instead tried the open approach: ‘Hey, you forgot your wallet!’ It only caused the man to bolt. So much for being a friendly, costumer-orientated employee. Gavin pushed it all to hell, lifting up his apron and running after the man. So, he did had dirt on him. Gavin followed him down the street and used a streetlight to take the corner with more speed. A mistake he later would regret as he ran face first into a fist that definitely wasn’t human. Seeing stars, he looked up from where he had fallen against the building. The chubby man was surprisingly agile and fast, unfitting to his overall completely average looks. And Gavin saw why: The skin where the man had punched him had retracted to show stern white underneath. The man was an android? Where the hell did he get all these modifications from? Cyberlife had designed all androids to be phcking inhuman models. But maybe that had been the plan. Being as inconspicuous as possible. Remembering the brief flashes of crime-scenes that made him pale. Oh no.

‘How the hell did some barista recognise me, huh?’, the android asked, holding Gavin by the throat, his toes barely touching the ground. ‘You are all over the news!’, Gavin tried. ‘I’m not. None of my doings have even been published yet.’ ‘Well, I was a cop once.’ ‘Were you? Well, who is your contact then? If you were a cop once.’ Gavin really hoped someone would turn the corner and see this to help him. Because the way the android’s hand clenched around his throat, lack of oxygen could soon be his least concern. ‘My boyfriend, okay? But I will never tell you his name!’ ‘Your boyfriend? Alright, thank you. After I killed you, I will go to him next. See if I can’t keep this information from spreading.

The pressure on his throat became almost unbearable, as Gavin saw a flash of white behind the man. ‘I highly doubt that’, Nines voice sounded through the alley and Gavin could see the gun aimed at his head. ‘Now let him down and go.’ The android in front of Gavin cursed, but complied. ‘You are arrested for the suspected murder of three people, as well as the attempted murder of this man. Turn around, hands behind your back.’ Nines handcuffed him, reading him his rights before making the call to the station to send a car.

‘Gavin, that was extremely reckless of you.’ ‘Hey, I got your killer, right?’, Gavin croaked with a cocky grin while rubbing his throat. ‘I solved a case you would have waited weeks on before even getting close to the guy.’ ‘Oh, please, I’m the most advanced android there is. I would have gotten him.’ ‘Yeah, but it was the ex-detective they threw out to replace with you that caught him in the end. Please, rub that into Fowler’s face for me, would you?’ ‘I most certainly won’t’, Nines stated. ‘I will emphasize your involvement in this case though, what at least should keep your employer off your ass.’ ‘Oh, what would I do without you?’ The android in Nines grip struggled against him, causing Nines to return his attention to him. ‘Urgh, get a room, you two!’ ‘Excellent idea actually. Gavin, how about after our shifts ended, we meet at my place? You know? To celebrate.’ ‘Oh, I’d love to’, Gavin grinned and winked the RK900.

The captive criminal got a glimpse of the gesture and regretted it deeply. ‘Oh, please, just kill me, would you?’

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed900 #RK900 #Gavin Reed

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azure7539arts · 4 years

Photo

Beacon

Pairing: Q/James Bond (00Q)

Prompt(s): Blaze + Reverse a common trope

Warning: Angst, hurt/comfort, canon typical violence, possession, idiots

Summary: One day, perhaps people will forget that a Flame Alchemist has ever existed, but the same can never be said of his subordinates. And today is not that day anyway.

Or: 00Q but Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood AU

A/N: this was supposed to be a drabble… And here we are. Again. If you find this intro familiar, thanks for reading Sword! If you have no idea what Sword is and just know my penchant for biting off more than I can chew, please refer to my previous post. Thanks!

Also, look, @solarmorrigan, pyrokinesis! And @opalescentgold, because you know the fandom and may appreciate some references. Damn, I have been dying for a FMA AU for. so. long. And now I’ve managed to somehow realize it into fruition. Jeez. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this!

Q couldn’t stand. The rush of adrenaline and sheer agony were urging his heart into overdrive, as if in beating a punishing pace right then, it would somehow make up for the gaping hole wedged in his side.

He bit back a sharp cry, alchemy flaring as bright as the pulsing pain invading his system. In what was either an eternity or no time at all, the wound was cauterized in a fit of smoke and sizzling burnt flesh, effectively staunching the intolerable amount of blood loss in a matter of seconds. His head spun.

(For as long as he’d lived, Q had wished for a lot of things. Right then, though, there was only one thought that kept repeating itself in the confines of his mind—)

Footsteps were approaching. Q scrambled to get to his feet with whatever remaining strength he had left and snapped his fingers again. Vicious ropes of flames sprang forth like spiteful cobras, eliciting an intense wall of fire that stood guard between him and his would-be captor.

One steel arm shot out from among the blaze and seized him by the throat.

Q choked.

The rest of that body stepped through quickly enough, like an emerging monster materializing from the depths of hellfire.

“Ultimate shield, remember?”

Q clawed uselessly at the still squeezing hand around his throat. “L–Lieutenant—” he wheezed, bitter reluctance warring with his struggling will to survive. “Bond—”

“Hm?” The steel receded, and Bond looked back at him now, head tilting to the side. “What, the old owner of this body?” He tutted, visibly frustrated despite the good humor gleaming in those too sharp eyes. “I told you: He’s gone—he’s become one with the stone. I’m the one in charge now, and the name is Greed.”

He grinned, and Q’s guts twisted at the sight, eyes watering from the lack of oxygen. (He could still hear the sound of Bond’s screams piercing all the way down the long corridors. The way his body had writhed and bucked in violent pain as it died and regenerated again and again, rejecting the philosopher’s stone that had been wrongfully injected into it. The way he had suddenly gone lax while Q had done his best to burn through the literal living wall of obstacles out of existence to get to him.)

He gathered all his strength to curl up his legs and kick Bond in the stomach.

No, not Bond. (But that was still his face.)

Not anymore. (Still his eyes, his voice, the low gravel of his laughter, chest-deep and oh so warm.)

Just Greed.

(What if he was still in there?)

The momentum of that kick thrusted Q out of the vice-like grip as he landed onto the ground with a dull thud. A twang of stabbing pain in his side knocked the air out of his lungs, distracting him from the stings of having steel claws dug long strips into either side of his throat.

(The thing was that: if he really was still in there…)

“Damn it,” Bond—Greed—hissed, staggering back before steadying himself with an annoyed huff of breath.

Like this, Q recognized that whoever was in front of him then, despite appearing and sounding exactly like him, didn’t have the firm stance that Bond had always maintained, edged into his bones from all the arduous training he’d put himself through.

The red Ouroboros tattoo on the back of his left hand seared into Q’s vision like a brand, as though sealing a death sentence.

(... If he really was still in there, Bond wouldn’t have willingly punched a hole straight through Q.)

Once the thought sank in, Q’s stomach plummeted.

“Could you stop being such a nuisance?” Greed clicked his tongue.

When he tried to reach out again, molten fire engulfed the room at another snap of the fingers.

And in the roaring flames, Q screamed.

He wakes with a startled gasp, cold sweat breaking all over.

It takes a moment, but the familiar ceiling of his office finally shifts into focus once more, and Q lets out a shuddered sigh. The documents he was looking at lie strewn across the littered desk surface right where he left them, and at this very moment, the phone rings, shattering the disquiet that has settled over his foggy mind.

He doesn’t notice the long overcoat that’s, apparently, been laid over his person while he slept until he reaches over to make a grab for the handset. It slides down from over his shoulders and pools in the middle of his lap with a rustling of fabric.

Q purses his lips and picks up, free hand settling over his now healed side to ease the aching phantom pain.

“Yes.”

“Brigadier General, sir,” the operator greets. “Major General Moneypenny is on the line for you.”

“Put her through.”

The line clicks after a final ‘yes, sir,’ and instantly, Eve’s voice filters through from the other side. “Why am I not surprised that you’re still there despite the atrocious hours.” It isn’t a question, and he smiles.

“Hypocrite,” he replies without heat, thumb smoothing along the raised ridges of those scars that he can still feel even through the thick layers of his uniform. “How has Briggs been welcoming you back?”

“Oh, you know, the usual warmth and sunshine,” she says, a joking lilt to her tone, and Q winces just from imagining the howling gales of a normal Briggs snowstorm that must be sweeping through the barracks even as they speak. “Now, enough of your diversion scheme. How are things on your side?”

Q thinks he’s too tired to do much of anything else and chooses the easy way out. “I’m fine.”

“Right,” Eve hums, entirely unconvinced, but doesn’t point out that his answer isn’t all that she asked. She knows him too well by now to press. “Sometimes, though, I do wonder if you should’ve just retired and gone to Rush Valley to do whatever it is that you automail enthusiasts do.”

The sentiment sends a soft snort through his nose. Not that he doesn’t wish to be a simple automail mechanic from time to time, especially when the price paid doesn’t seem equivalent to subsequent results, but in life, simple wants and actual needs are two different things.

They’ve all learnt this the hard way.

Even so, Q appreciates Eve looking out for him. Thousands of miles away, she’s still one of the few people who truly know and understand him. One of the few whom he trusts with his life. “Oh, definitely—once I find someone suitable to man the post for me, that is,” he muses, only half-serious. “No promises otherwise.”

There’s a knock on the door. “Sir.”

“Come in,” he calls and straightens up, popping the crick in his neck. “Gotta go now. Send my regards to Captain Tanner, would you? God knows the length that man’s gone to to keep up with you.”

Eve laughs, and he smiles, too, just as Bond walks in and closes the door behind him.

(There’s no Ouroboros tattoo on his hand, Q notes and subconsciously relaxes.)

(He shouldn’t feel bad for it—but he does anyway. Just the same as Bond, who didn’t mean to lose control long enough for Greed to hurt Q the way he did.

Emotions are fickle things.)

Eve has gone quiet for a long second as well, probably considering her words. In a way, Q feels he already knows what they are going to be, and grim satisfaction paints his tongue when what she says next is precisely just that, “How’s First Lieutenant Bond?”

How are things between you two, goes unsaid, but he hears it loud and clear nonetheless.

Bond is patiently waiting for him—hands tucked behind his back, perfect military posture, too proper and formal to bear—and Q squeezes the coat that remains in his lap.

(He misses the casual dynamics, easy tandem they used to have. One not laden with guilt and second-guessing.

It’s just one more hurdle for them to work through, he supposes.

Together.)

“We’re… getting there,” he replies, mildly surprised by his own honesty. “Talk to you later. Goodbye, Major General.”

He hangs up, and Bond has gotten closer, despite maintaining a minimum distance of three steps.

Q crosses his arms in front of his chest and waits, eyes expectant.

Eventually, Bond can’t but break the silence. “Was that Major General Moneypenny, sir?”

Q suppresses a sigh and nods. “Yes. Just one of her usual check-ins.” He pauses. “She did ask about you, about us, and how we were doing. And I said we were getting there—you heard.”

When Bond doesn’t reply, Q narrows his eyes, shrewd. “So, are we, Lieutenant? Getting there?” Most likely, he’s coming off much harsher than he originally planned, but Q doesn’t give a damn about that. Not right now. “You said you were following me to the top. Is this how you intend on doing it? By pretending to be a good little model soldier while keeping me at arm’s length?”

At this, Bond seems to further straighten, if that’s still physically possible. There’s steel in his eyes, but not the lost, abandoned kind given into avarice like that of Greed.

It’s all just sheer solid nerve and hardened integrity. It’s all Bond and so much more.

“I will do whatever it takes to protect and help you reach your goal—”

“Don’t you get it? You can’t protect me for damn if you’re always three steps away from me! That only means we’re no longer the team you seem to think we are.” Q’s mouth twists into a snarl. “Do you understand what I’m getting at, Bond?”

Bond turns his head away, staring out into the endless expanse of the night through the large panel of Q’s windows. Bond has never liked them, these ‘uselessly big windows that Central Command seems to prefer for their offices.’ Makes his job harder than it already is, he said.

Q tears himself away from the sudden memory.

“My only mission is to protect you,” Bond grinds out, hands that have fallen to his sides clenching into fists.

“And you have not failed.” Q’s voice has somewhat softened as he stands and clears his throat. “What happened, back then. It just means that we need to update our measures of counterattacks.”

They stare at each other now, mutual challenge shining in their eyes like a beacon to safety in the middle of a raging storm.

(“Q. I’m sorry.” Bond said, desperation ripping his voice raw and vulnerable. Q had never heard him like this. “I–I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me.”

“James, there’s nothing to forgive.”)

“We can discuss that tomorrow, then.” Bond bends down to pick up Q’s coat from the floor and gives it a few perfunctory pats before handing it back over, a tentative smirk on his lips. “Are you ready to go home for the night, sir?”

Q scoffs and takes it, not hiding his own smile. “Just about.”

It’s a long road ahead, but they’re getting there all right.

Bonus art:

#00q #teambondvillains #007 fest #007 fest 2020 #my art #my writing #my drawing

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eirian-houpe · 3 years

Text

Darkness Falls On Hyperion Heights - Chapter 2

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold

Characters: Belle (Once Upon a Time), Rumplestiltskin|Detective Weaver, Wishverse Captain Hook | Detective Rogers

Additional Tags: Angst, Supernatural Elements, Hyperion Heights (Once Upon a Time), UST, Smut

Summary: When Librarian and Scholar Belle French arrives in Hyperion Heights in search of an artifact stolen from the British Museum and to enlist the help of Detective Weaver in that search, events in the Heights go from mildly intriguing to dangerously terrifying. Can Belle and Detective Weaver find the truth before time runs out?

Read previous chapters on AO3

Chapter 2 - Two AM

Two in the morning was not Weaver’s favorite time of the day by any stretch of whomever’s imagination you cared to examine, but that night he longed for it to finally arrive. It had been the dullest night in the history of Hyperion Heights. They hadn’t even brought in anyone drunk and disorderly on whom he could take out his frustrations, which left him pushing paper all night long after a particularly unsatisfying cheeseburger that dripped grease onto the front of his shirt and sent him scurrying for the break room in search of some Dawn and a paper towel to take the worst of it off before it ruined the entire garment.

Rogers left at midnight, claiming he had to see a man about a dog, and Weaver supposed he deserved that, but none-the-less spat invectives after his partner, and ill wishes about getting soaked, then catching his death of cold, none of which he meant. The other detective might annoy the fuck out of him sometimes, but he wouldn’t really ever wish him ill, and it really was coming down out there.

The first flicker of power happened precisely thirteen minutes later, just as Weaver got up to go and re-fill his coffee cup to get him through the next couple of hours until quitting time. The wind suddenly picked up, throwing the sheets of rain against the precinct’s windows. In the next minute there was a sharp crack, and the air inside the station fizzled. Weaver felt the hairs on his bare arms, and the back of his neck rise. Overhead the strip lights faded in and out twice with an accompanying electrical buzz, all of which was drowned out by the trailing explosion of thunder, so loud that the windows shook, and some of the desks in the front office actually moved, visibly, across the polished floor.

“Fuck!” Weaver hissed, rubbing his hands up and down his arms as if to ward off a chill that wasn’t there. “Shit!” he added a moment later - for good measure. He wasn’t afraid of thunder - there actually wasn’t much at all that Weaver was afraid of - but there was something about this that made a cold sweat form on his brow.

The hum of the copier warming up as the power stabilized both made him jump, and provided a comfort. Everything was fine. Everything was normal, just fifteen minutes later than before. He hadn’t thought it had been that long, but with everything, he wasn’t really paying attention to how much time had passed; only what was happening, and how he’d felt.

With a sigh, he retraced his steps back into his office, closed the door and locked it, then he threw himself into his chair, and reached for the bottom draw of his desk, rewarded as it opened with the steadying clink of glass on glass.

Belle stepped out of the hotel bathroom, her hair twisted up into a towel, her body wrapped in a thick, comfortable bath robe, and little else.

She didn’t usually shower so close to bed time, because it always woke her up, meaning she would be awake for hours longer, mind buzzing. Even if she tried not to think about anything she’d seen or read - anything she’d noticed, after the long flight, the meeting with the detective, and then looking through all her notes and papers - the artifacts of her research, she felt grungy and uncomfortable.

It seemed the promised storm had finally materialized. Lightning flashed outside of the windows, illuminating the room in white brilliance instead of the muted yellow light of the lamps on the nightstands, heralding, by barely a few seconds, the rolling moan of thunder. The rain sussurated insistently against the window and Belle shivered.

She rubbed her tired eyes, and glanced over at the bed on which her photographs and notes lay strewn, only partly organized while she was reading them. The rest could wait until morning. She would just leave it all where it was and sleep in the other bed tonight.

She shivered again at the thought of sleep, crossed to the door of her hotel room, and flipped the deadbolt. It wasn’t her physical safety that bothered her though, in spite of a degree of lawlessness she’d already witnessed in Hyperion Heights. Her discomfort - her feeling that shadows were gathering in more than just the corners of her hotel room - was always stronger when she had been studying her notes, and trying to get to the bottom of the theft of the Spear of Camlann. It wouldn’t be the first time if she woke from sleep tonight crying out from some kind of nightmare… feeling wet, and cold and alone - in pain and heavy with destiny.

“Stop it, Belle,” she told herself firmly. “You’re only setting yourself up for a fall.”

In spite of her self-admonition, she still glanced in the directions of the corners of the room, watching the gathered shadows that shimmied and danced in the unpredictable flashes of lightning as the storm continued to wreak its havoc on the city.

In the name of the gods, may Birch stand before me and Willow behind; Holly to my left and Oak upon my right.

She thought the words as she whispered them, and in her minds eye saw the trees as if their branches wove an invisible roof above her head, and walls all around her. It was a common practice for her and she’d taken to it several years in the past, when strange thoughts and nebulous fears disturbed her sleep.

It gave her comfort even if it did nothing more practical than that.

With a last look around, she pulled back the covers of the bed not strewn with papers, and slipped beneath the soft, cool cotton, letting the robe fall to the ground beside the bed as she did. Tomorrow would be soon enough to find the next step in the trail.

She would also call in on Detective Weaver again just to see if he had changed his mind.

A hot cup of coffee later, and his composure restored, Weaver took a walk down to the evidence room. It took him a few tries to get the security system to register the swipe of his card, but eventually the lights on the panel turned green and he was able to pull open the door.

He flicked on the overhead light, pausing for a moment in the doorway to let the light that slowly chased away the shadows reach into the far corners of the room. Perhaps not completely composed then. With a deep breath to bring himself to order, he finally stepped over the threshold and allowed the door to close behind him.

He reminded himself that he had come down to put away some of the outstanding items of evidence that had been sitting around on his desk for far too long, but he wasn’t sure that he convinced himself that it was the real reason. Why else would it be?

“Not exactly any less fucking creepy down here,” he said aloud, uncomfortable that he’d felt the need to break the silence of that room otherwise only occupied by the slight buzzing of the fluorescent lights.

He knew exactly what was going on. He knew what he had to do to figure it all out: follow the evidence. How could he know that everything French had told him was true? He had allowed her to get under his skin - inside his head with the tales of her missing artifact. That was proven by the feeling that he clearly recalled he’d experienced as he looked at her photograph. It was still far too fresh in his memory, even after so many hours.

“We’ll see about that,” he said almost angrily and strode across the room to snatch up the receiver and hit the button to connect him with the operator.

”What do you want, Weaver?” The sergeant he spoke to sounded bored. ”It’s late, and I’m tired, so this better not be another one of your wild goose chases.”

“Get me the London Metropolitan Police,” he said.

”Excuse me? London, England, Detective?”

“No, fucking London, Timbuktu-yes of course London, England,” he snapped.

”I, um… Hold on, I’ll see what I can do.”

Weaver hooked leg of the stool that was pushed beneath the table with the toe of his boot, and pulled it out from underneath, before falling, with mounting fatigue, onto it. What had gotten into him? It had been no longer a shift than any other day, and yet he felt as though he had been working for twenty-four hours straight. He began, idly, to push around the pieces of evidence that he’d come down here to deal with, not really paying much attention to any of them.

There was the cast of what looked like a boot print, a work boot by the look of it; a cigarette lighter - the kind with the flip lid, where moving the wheel produced the spark, a sliver of flint - about three inches long, with an edge that looked razor sharp, that had been napped by repeated blows by another object, presumably another stone. There was a dried and flaking blood stain on the flint shard. There was also a piece of ribbon, twisted and knotted at one end, but otherwise an unremarkable strip of half inch wide, ivory colored silk. Almost in the middle of it, was a single, partial print.

He stared at them all for a long time until the phone rang, startling him back to full attention. It made him jump, jangling in the thick silence of the room, and he hurried to answer it as though the sound of it would offend some unseen being.

“Weaver!”

“Detective Weava?” The voice on the other end of the line had a distinctly foreign, distinctly Cockney, London accent, and the Glasgow in him bristled. He grunted confirmation. “Detective Inspecta Lewis, London Met. What can I do for ya?”

“D.I. Lewis, Thanks for taking my call,” he thought politeness would be a good start, although for reasons other than his Scottish roots, just speaking to the man completely rubbed him up the wrong way. “I… had a visit today from a young woman. Said she was a curator at the British Museum. Chasing after some stolen artifact, apparently.”

“Oh, Fak me!” the words came out as almost a huffed sigh. “That’s where she’s rolled up, is it?”

“Brown hair, beautiful blue eyes. An accent you wouldn't soon forget…” he frowned at himself. Since when had he noticed the color of her eyes in the way he’d described? “Gave her name as French. Belle French.”

The detective inspector let out a shallow laugh, that ended in an almost verbal frown. ”Belle French. You sure? Coz that sounds an awful lot like Lacey.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just went on, “Wha’eva she told ya’s a load o’ bull. There’s a warrant out for ‘er arrest. I can fax it to ya if ya like.”

Weaver frowned, Liking the British detective even less, but thanked the man anyway, and recited the fax number. He wanted to see the warrant with his own two eyes before he even thought about what he was going to do next.

“Anyway,” Lewis was still rattling on in what Weaver felt was an annoyingly superior way, “She’s the one what broke in. Made off wiv ‘alf a dozen bits and pieces, none of it werf a damn accordin’ to the director of the Weston Gallery, but it’s the principle of the fing, right? Lets face it, B&E is a crime no matter ow ya frame it.”

“Yeah,” Weaver answered absently, making several assumptions based on the man’s words. “How about you send a list of the stolen items along with that warrant, Detective Inspector, and I’ll see what I can do to recover them for you.”

“Tha’d be smashin’,” Lewis answered. “Got it all right ‘ere’ on me desk. I’ll send it right ova.”

“Thank you. You’ve been very helpful,” Weaver countered. “I’ll be in touch if I find anything more.”

“Right,” Lewis answered. “Yeah, I’ll keep in touch.”

“Tosser!” Weaver spat as he hung up the phone. He snatched up his jacket from where he’d left it lying on the top of the table, and swung it over his shoulders, putting it on as he strode toward the door, and shoving his hands deep into his pocket.

#Rumbelle #woven beauty #supernatural elements #hyperion heights #UST #Smut #Darkness Falls on Hyperion Heights

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notthatiwilleverwriteit · 4 years

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I don't know if you ever answered something similar but here's my question. Once in a while there's comments saying that he tian is forcing himself on mo, but I think they misunderstand the situation because mo is a tsundere and will always say something like "fuck off" to he tian, even if he cares. So my question is: in your opinion is tianshan still toxic like in the beginning?

Good morning, anon-san!

I have actually talked about Tianshan’s (power) dynamic quite a lot. Here are some previous answers/posts you might find interesting:

Tianshan coming a full circle

My 19 Days OTP

My favorite Tianshan moment

Physical and emotional closeness in Tianshan

Will there ever be a verbal Tianshan confession?

Future of Tianshan

He Tian’s jealousy and possessiveness

Is Tianshan toxic?

The last link on the list probably comes the closest to what you asked, but there was actually something I wish I had included. So, I’ll take a look at your question and also talk about the things I left out. There will be some repetition, though.

“comments saying that he tian is forcing himself on mo”

In my previous answer about Tianshan being toxic, I came to the conclusion that toxicity is in the eye of the beholder. What we see as being toxic depends on our own perspective and individual taste. I don’t think it’s really about misunderstanding but rather reading things through differently tinted lenses and different things appealing to different people. To each of us, the line between “toxic” and “non-toxic” is different. Our tolerance for a certain kind of behavior can differ quite a lot from other readers’ - He Tian’s character and Tianshan being an excellent example.

Tianshan is a certain type of dynamic that often appeals to a lot of people but it will always also have a fair share of anti-fans. So, I doubt there is such a thing as enough development to make the comments about Tianshan being toxic stop. At least not without changing the dynamic fundamentally in which case, it would become something else. As a Tianshan shipper, I wouldn’t want the development ever go in that direction.

However, that doesn’t mean fans should stop listening to each other. I believe people who think Tianshan is toxic can have a lot to add to the discussion. Their points are based on their original perspectives just like ours. Just because we might disagree doesn’t have to mean we can’t learn from each other.

“in your opinion is tianshan still toxic like in the beginning?”

To be honest, I never really saw Tianshan overall as toxic. To me, there isn’t some point in the story prior to which their relationship was toxic and after it was less toxic. Then again, I have quite a high tolerance for behavior that others deem toxic or problematic. I’m usually drawn to those kinds of dynamics in fiction and find them endlessly interesting instead of something that should be get rid of. More often than not, they end up being my jam and OTPs.

But I’ve always wondered what people who see “before” and “after” in Tianshan think has been the defining moment that turned their relationship for the better. Personally, I’m struggling with that since I have never really had a problem with how their dynamic works.

Instead, I see Tianshan’s journey through the development of both He Tian and Mo Guan Shan’s characters. Both of them have gone through some changes but also have some parts that won’t probably ever change and ultimately affect the overall dynamic of their relationship.

Mo Guan Shan has gradually started to trust He Tian more and warm up to him. His walls aren’t as high as in the beginning. He doesn’t want to deny their connection as fiercely anymore. And he even shows more of his “tsun” side towards He Tian. His resistance has become more about getting flustered and being increasingly conscious of He Tian than rejecting him out of resentment.

But. Mo Guan Shan will never not stand up to He Tian and strive for being independent. He will still tell He Tian to go fuck himself and ask if he’s supposed to be that familiar with him. He will always spit that He Tian can’t tell him what to do and that he can’t control him. And that is, in fact, one of the reasons why He Tian admires him. As persistent as He Tian is, Mo Guan Shan will agree to things at his own pace. That is both a warning and a promise.

He Tian, on the other hand, has come to learn Mo Guan Shan’s limits and to be more aware so he can keep earning his trust. The nature of his strength has changed. It’s gone from “you better watch your mouth because you answer to me now” to “I don’t care how long it takes but please don’t leave me”. He Tian’s role as the strong savior and someone honing down Mo Guan Shan’s personality has started to slip. We readers and Mo Guan Shan have seen more and more of his weak moments, fears, and insecurities. He has started to feel safe and secure with Mo Guan Shan. And I suppose all of that is where the usual arguments about the development from “toxic” to “less toxic” stem from.

But. He Tian will never not be pushy and dominant. Even if he doesn’t want Mo Guan Shan to become meek and agreeable, he still won’t let his objections and resistance discourage his affections. He will never be the type that asks for permission for everything. Or even every other thing. He will always keep his arm hooked around Mo Guan Shan’s shoulders despite how much he keeps struggling.

You could see all of that through the lenses of “toxic” but also as two characters developing together. It can be a very subtle difference in perspective, but I think it’s a rather important one.

Some time ago, OldXian gave us part 3 of the Christmas special that takes place in the future. I saw readers being somewhat disappointed that Tianshan hadn’t developed as much as or in the direction they had wished. These two panels especially seemed to dampen the mood a little (ch. 313):

It didn’t seem like they had grown much closer. However, I would say their future relationship is pretty much as I expected it to be. Mo Guan Shan was quick to say no as a knee-jerk reaction but kind of letting He Tian get away with things. He wasn’t putting up quite as fierce of a fight as he would have in the past. He Tian, on the other hand, was still physically dominant and mischevious and yet affectionate. It almost seemed like he was craving for physical closeness.

If you take into account the things I think are fundamental about the characters and will never go away in their relationship, I think the level of development might make more sense. I doubt Mo Guan Shan will ever be honest or open about his feelings towards He Tian. But he will grant us little pieces of subtle, unexpected affection here and there. Little hints that he doesn’t mind He Tian’s company as much as he claims. And in return, He Tian will keep pushing because he knows he’s not truly making Mo Guan Shan do something he really doesn’t want to. But that dynamic is still toxic in the people’s eyes who have always thought so.

Moments that have bothered me

As much as I ship Tianshan, there have been a few moments in their dynamic and development that I have been bothered by. But again, I don’t really see them as being toxic but rather as learning curves of their relationship.

The first kiss (ch. 174):

I have never found this kiss hot or sexy. Actually, He Tian sticking his tongue out like that and shoving it in Mo Guan Shan’s mouth always freaks me out a little. I’m frankly turned off by it. But it served as an important lesson. And I don’t think it made He Tian toxic. He hadn’t meant the kiss the way Mo Guan Shan took it. He was genuinely confused by Mo Guan Shan’s reaction and realized he had crossed a line with him.

Let’s make a run for it (ch. 273):

I know this was a rather minor moment, but the level of disregard by He Tian at the moment has always annoyed me. Mo Guan Shan has responsibilities he’s getting paid for, so he can’t just up and leave according to He Tian’s whims. The world doesn’t work that way. But his life has always been vastly different from Mo Guan Shan’s, so it’s good he’s exposed to different ways of life.

He Tian and people who aren’t Mo Guan Shan (ch. 295):

I doubt He Tian really pays attention to the group around Mo Guan Shan or cares about them. I think that also means he wouldn’t hesitate to be an ass to them if he’s not feeling particularly nice or thinks they’re getting in the way. That trait is what I have always disagreed the most with the thug way of life. Not really caring about people who don’t directly concern you and thinking it’s okay to be over the top offensive if someone happens to wrong you somehow. In society, you don’t have the right to take matters into your own hands and become the judge. And just because He Tian happens to care about Mo Guan Shan the most, it doesn’t entitle him to treat others badly or bark orders like they don’t have a choice but to submit.

I’m not in a good mood (ch. 295):

Kind of a continuation of the previous one. I think this was the most frustrated I have been with He Tian. I know what ultimately made him behave that way and it made sense, but for a while, I was annoyed because it seemed He Tian had regressed back to his old ways. Like dude, the world does not revolve around your moods. Other people have feelings, too. The fact that He Tian doesn’t bow down to anyone is one of my favorite things about him, but the lack of humility can also get a bit annoying at times. He Tian is quite physical when it comes to showing his feelings but I hope he will keep getting better at using his words, too. Luckily, Mo Guan Shan is someone who can take him at his worst.

I’m not trying to make it sound like people who see Tianshan as toxic are somehow wrong or can’t make valid points. As you noticed, even I’ve had certain moments I didn’t agree with. But perhaps because crying “toxic” is so common in fandoms these days and it’s used as a weapon to diss other’s taste in fictional relationships, I somewhat prefer to distance myself from that particular way of looking at things. He Tian and Tianshan most certainly aren’t flawless, but if you take a step back you come to realize toxicity is a surprisingly narrow perspective. It leaves out the characters as a whole by pointing at just certain traits and removing them from their context.

Thank you for your question, dear anon-san!

#tianshan #19 days #He Tian #mo guan shan #answered ask

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4pondsinabox · 4 years

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Women of the Waverider: Mona Wu

The Reviews Are In, so guess who’s back to deliver some more of her fandom feminist mantra? What can I say, I serve to please.

For the second installment of my Women of the Waverider series, also known as “the four most hated characters on Legends of Tomorrow who deserve so much more than what they are given by the fans,” I will be discussing Mona Wu. The amount of hate and downright slander against Mona in the fandom has surpassed any I have ever seen for a single character, and that’s coming from someone who uses a River Song icon. Many viewers are already likely aware of this, as this negative response is what resulted in Ramona’s significant role reduction in the latest season, but it’s never too late to thoroughly dig into what really fueled such backlash.

The most interesting part? How much in common she shares with a male fan favorite.

Why Mona Wu deserves MUCH more from you

Of the four characters I have focused on in this series, I will be very direct in saying Mona is my least favorite of them, but I don’t hate her by any means. There’s just a lot of love to live up to when it comes to the other three. I’m pointing this out because I was surprised how easy it was for me to defend her. A character doesn’t have to be one of your favorites or “click” with you to recognize when people are treating them unjustly.

Personal bias aside, Mona was introduced in series 4 as a generous, bright-eyed delivery girl who always wanted to see the best in everyone. Prior to her arrival, only one other character on the show maintained this eternally positive outlook on life (to the occasional annoyance of the rest of the Waverider team), someone whose departure this season angered many fans.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that bright, opportunistic Mona Wu was written in as a potential replacement for bright, opportunistic Ray Palmer. All that was missing was a few science degrees. The team greatly benefited from the presence of such optimism onboard, Nora Darhk is living proof of that, but the fans’ poor reception of Mona’s character meant this plan was cast aside - rather hurriedly. So the question remains, what went wrong?

Much as Ray did with Nora, Mona saw the potential for goodness in all magical creatures. Like Ray, Mona stood firmly beside them even when just about everyone else turned against her. There was even a love story involved in both cases, although their endings were significantly different. Her person of interest being noticeably non-human could have definitely turned some viewers off, as that can be an odd thing to watch, but that’s not an argument that’s generally been used against her and was rarely even mentioned as the series went on. Let’s break down a few of my favorite, hard to believe but real, quotes I’ve seen the past few months and find out, shall we?

- “Why tf does she seem happy all the time?”

Ok, why does Ray seem happy all the time? He’s always cheering people up and excited to experience new things even at the most inconvenient of times, but no one has gotten on his case about it. Is the problem that you can only accept female characters when they’re moody and averse to people? Considering other members of this series, I wouldn’t be surprised. There seems to be a trend in fans hating happy, relaxed women, which is concerning when you consider the real life implications. I believe I may have mentioned this in a previous installment, but tragedy and trauma are not what make women interesting. Maybe you do find Mona annoying, but do not attribute that to her happiness when other characters are loved for it.

- “How dare Mona expose Charlie like that in front of Rebecca Silver’s fans, for all she knew she and Mick were on an undercover mission!”

You ... do know what being a fan is like, right? If one of your friends was imposing as a favorite author or actor, wouldn’t you be offended? Stop holding women to impossibly high emotional standards when white men in the same show are beloved for constant drinking and having angry outbursts. Of COURSE Mona was hurt seeing someone she knows pretend to be one of her favorite icons, it’s an insult to all the writing the real Rebecca has done. Why would she have allowed anyone to get away with that, much less people she thought she could trust?

- “How DARE Mona called herself a legend!”

If Wally West is considered a Legend after one episode, Mona absolutely deserves that title too after her handful of episodes. Just because you don’t personally like her doesn’t mean her contribution to saving the world on a number of occasions matters any less.

- “The writers didn’t know what to do with her storyline”

As previously described, there was a clear progression from helping magical creatures, to loving one, to becoming one. Following that, she needed to learn to control her powers and accept her new self. The writers knew perfectly well where they wanted to take her afterwards but the fans stopped them from doing that, so they brought her in only when needed. If you choose not to see that, then fine, but not liking a storyline doesn’t mean it wasn’t well planned out to begin with - even if plans had to change.

- “The actress can’t act”

Now you’re just being petty. It’s all fine and well to dislike a character, but to focus that frustration on the actor themselves? That is step number 1 to becoming an internet troll. Legends of Tomorrow was not Ramona’s first gig and it hasn’t been her last, so clearly many casting directors with far more experience than any individual fan would have something to say about a “bad acting” claim. Mona does have a very distinctive presence, which clearly isn’t for everyone, but attributing that to acting skills is just a poor attempt to justify one’s negative opinion.

Mona is kind, generous, and overly perky much of the time, all traits she shares with fan-favorite Ray Palmer. On top of that, although very brief, we’ve seen the heavy weight her disapproving parents have on her, which makes Mona’s persistence to help others all the more inspiring. If one of these two characters can be recognized for such positive characteristics, then the other absolutely should as well.

#women of the waverider #mona wu #ramona young #legends of tomorrow #character analysis #lot ladies #long post #arrowverse

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iamfallinforeverything · 5 years

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Mr. Burglar

So @terminallygenius asked for a “possessiv flirty Kol” and here’s my try haha. I don’t think it turned out good but hopefully it’s somehow something like what you wanted it to be, I’ve tried my best 😅

Fandom: The Originals, The Vampire Diaries (Kol Mikaelson)

Summary: Kol is too late back home and you’re trying to proof a point.

Warnings: possessiv flirty Kol obvious (even though I don’t think he really is), swearing, angry Kol?

01.17 am.

Great. And Kol was still not here. Where the fuck was he again? In some bar flirting with some dumb girls that fell for his vampire charme? Probably. It's not like I have to work tomorrow and I would like to sleep. Can’t he just stick to his word and be here at the time we said? Why does he always have to do this kind of bullshit? Am I not enough for him anymore?

I decided to get up. I couldn’t sleep anyway and just lying in bed was slowly driving me crazy. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and then went into my kitchen. Maybe a hot chocolate and something to eat would help. Maybe that could calm my nerves. From my cupboards I took out everything I needed and prepared a small place on the counter. Just as I had the knife in my hand to spread butter on the toast, I could hear a noise coming out of the hallway. Kol never made such a noise when he came home.

That my heart slipped into my pants was an understatement. I had the feeling it would jump out of my chest any moment because it hit my chest so hard.

The noises became louder and louder and l clenched the knife firmly in my hand. It was only a blunt knife, but it would help me somehow. It had to. Why can't my vampire boyfriend be there when I need him? Today of all days my apartment is broken into when Kol is not there.

Tensely I looked at the door. I didn't dare to take even one step out of fear that the burglar would hear me. That he could of course see the light from the kitchen didn't occur to me at that moment. Maybe I was lucky and it was Kol after all? Or the burglar would be at least so common to kill me quickly.

I could hear steps that were getting louder and louder. Great. Of course the fucking burglar came first into the kitchen. Why not? As if there was something valuable in the fucking kitchen.

I held my breath and raised my hand with the knife in it. Why did it have to be such a blunt one? Couldn't I have tried something stupid today and used a sharp one for spreading the butter instead? That would help me more than the crap in my hand.

Before I could see the burglar I could hear him speak: “I know you wanna stab me, but please upgrade from a butter knife.” And I swear to God, I could hear his fucking smile in his voice.

“You stupid asshole! I almost wet my pants because I thought you were a fucking burglar.”, I answered and looked at Kol as he stepped into my kitchen.

“I saw that. Was kinda funny.”, he laughed but that made only angrier.

I wasn’t hungry anymore so I just threw the knife frustrated towards the sink. It made an ugly sound when it landed in the sink.

“Shut up Kol. I don’t have the nerves for your bullshit right now.”

“What the fuck is your problem?”, he hissed and didn't look amused at all anymore.

“You are my fucking problem! Are you too dumb to look at a clock? Have you seen how fucking late it is? You promised me to be here by 11.30. It’s...”, I quickly looked at the clock on my stove, “1.30 am.”

“And? It just got a little later. You're not my mother. You can't dictate anything to me.”, he glared at me. As if he wanted to rib out my throat.

“Have I said that I want to do that? No! We agreed on a time because I need to get up for work and you know that I can’t sleep while you’re running around and probably flirt with some bitches!”, I said back.

“Who said that I’m flirting?”, he asked and raised his voice.

“Me! Because you’re always flirting with some dumb bitches. Every. Fucking. Time.”, I shouted back.

“I’m not. I’m just talking. Is that a crime?”

“Oh my God, you don’t understand it. You know what? Next time we’re out I’m just going to show you because you dumbass don’t understand what I’m trying to tell you.”

“You don't have the guts my love.”, he smiled at me. He thought that you wouldn’t do it anyway.

“No? I can do it right know. Just one call. You know my coworker would be more than happy to hear that my stupid boyfriend was a fucking dick and that I’m in desperate need for a shoulder to cry on.”, my smile was even wider than his and I started to walk in his direction. My phone was still in my bedroom and I need to pass him to get into my bedroom.

“You won’t do that.”, he said and shook his head.

“Watch me Kol.”, I challenged him.

I walked past him and into my bedroom. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and started to look for the number of my coworker. He had said to me that I could always call him when I needed something and right now I needed to show Kol that he can’t do whatever the fuck he wants. It might have been a little unfair towards him, but I had to.

After a couple of seconds I found his number and clicked on it. It started to ring. But it didn't ring for long because Kol tore my phone out of my hand and just crushed it.

“How fucking dumb are you? You can’t crush my phone you dumbfuck!”, I screamed and got up to get my phone back. Or what was left of it.

“No. You’re going to listen to me darling.”, he growled and took my wrists in his hands.

“You’re never, not in a million years, going to call that ugly piece of shit. You’re my girlfriend. You’re mine, got it? And I’m not fucking flirting with some dumb bitches. You’re the only one I’m flirting with. I don’t want anybody else, alright? So stop making some shit up. I want you, only you.”, in the beginning he almost yelled at me, but then he became quieter and calmer. I had rarely experienced Kol so seriously.

We looked at eachother for a moment and then he let go of my wrists.

“Why are you always out then? We rarely spend time together. You’re always gone.”, I said and watched Kol. He turned around and I could see how he went through his hair with his hand.

“Because I need to get my mind off some things and I don’t want to bother you with it.”, he said quietly. He didn’t turned back around.

“Kol.”, I simply said and walked in his direction.

I went around him and put my hands on his cheeks.

“You’re not bothering me. You can tell me anything, Kol. You can talk to me. You would never annoy me with it. I am there for you. I love you.”, I said and made him look into my eyes by pulling his head up with my hands.

“I love you too.”, he said and wrapped his arms around me.

We hugged eachother for a while before I let go of him.

“Come on, let’s go to bed.”, I said and took his hand.

Together we laid down and Kol wrapped his arms around my body. Gently I stroked his arm that laid over my belly.

“I’m sorry Y/N.”, Kol said quietly.

“Me too.”, I answered.

“Good night my love.”, Kol said and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“Good night.”, I sighed and closed my eyes.

I finally got to rest and was able to sleep. I could sleep the best when Kol was lying beside me.

But before I fell asleep and I needed to say one more thing: “You’re going to buy me a new phone tomorrow Kol.”

“Of course my lady.”, he said and I could hear how he was laughed right after his sentence.

I just rolled with my eyes and then finally fell asleep.

#kol mikaelson #kol mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson imagines #the vampire diaries imagine #the originals imagine #the vampire diaries #the originals #tvd #tvd imagine #kol mikaelson gif #lills pieces

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fanpom-imagines · 5 years

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Requested by @infinity-war-heartbreak : I know Lord of the rings isn't as popular as it use to,but could you maybe do a Legolas x half elf half human!Reader? Maybe ,the reader is told to help with the quest to destroy the ring and at first Legolas and the reader bicker a bit,but when the reader gets hurt Legolas realizes that he could lose her and confesses his love?(sorry if it's cheesy)

Imagine being a Peredhil (half elf half human) and being with the fellowship while having a rivalry with Legolas.

Masterlist

Fandom: Lord of the Rings

Words: 2289 (got a little bit carried away)

Warnings: none

(Gender Neutral Reader)

(Translation: condo means prince in Sindarin)

In all honesty, I had no idea how I ended up on this long journey with four hobbits, one dwarf, one Dúnadan, one man, and one elf, but I guess it doesn’t matter does it? Since I’m already this far along with the fellowship.

It’s quite a peculiar circumstance, isn’t it? Kind of sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. All we need to do is walk into a tavern and we would be the joke of the realm. I thought to myself as I kept on walking not really paying any mind to where I set my feet which was a bad choice on my part. In return for not watching where I was going I end up tripping on a rock that stood out from the ground at ended up tripping which then ended with me bumping into the elf in front of me.

Great.

He looked back at me in anger with sharp pointed eyes that were almost as sharp as his ears.

“Watch where you’re going, Peredhil,” he growled the last word as if something foul tasting was stuck in his mouth. As if the word itself was disgusting to even think let alone speak.

“Oh, I’m sorry, condo,” I grumbled back in Sindarin which he only replied with a grumble under his breath as he moved along.

I huffed in irritation, but moved along nonetheless and followed in tow with the rest of the fellowship who by now had gotten used to mine and the elve’s antics.

After traveling for a good whole day once more, with gladly no interuptions, we set camp for the night to be able to rest and gather back the energy we had lost along the way.

I groaned out in relief as I stretched my back and my arms hearing a few satisfying pops and feeling my sore muscles starting to relax. I sigh and yawn as I lay down, but of course Legolas has to add in a comment once again.

Scoffing he says, “Do all Peredhil’s tire so easily or is it just you? I mean you haven’t even chosen to claim the Gift of Man yet you seem to already have the characteristics off a Peredhil who has.”

Before I could even reply Aragorn cuts me off and glares at the both of us before saying, “Can the two of you stop fighting for two seconds?! You fighting is starting to get unbearably annoying for all of us at this point. Both of you are my close friends, yet you do not seem to be able to get along.”

“How could I get along with this, condo, who can’t get off his high horse and actually treat me as his equal rather than as if I was below him?” I huffed out as I glared at Legolas when uttering the word ‘condo’ and then turning back to face Aragorn once more to finish what I had to say.

“All I’m saying is, is that the two of you need to find some common ground before you drive the rest of us mad.” Aragorn tried to reason as he massaged his temples in agitation and frustration.

“I got to agree with the girl on this one, even though she is half-elf, Legolas can be insufferable at times.” Gimli added in which only raised the tension in the air once more.

“Oh my God,” Aragorn groaned out as he just sat down as well.

Legolas was about to reply, but one of the hobbits, Samwise, cut in, “Could you two just not fight for the night? We all need rest and we won’t be able to get any if the two of you keep going on like this.”

“I don’t need rest,” Legolas muttered out as if he was a child which just earned a groan from the rest of the fellowship and made me on the other hand more irritated than before.

I honestly do not even know how we came to have such a rivalry. When we first started off on this journey. Legolas and I were quick friends, but it seems after he found out I was a Peredhil, he started to distance himself and become more snappy which in turn made me also aggravated and I guess from there the tension just started to build more. I don’t necessarily understand why he would feel the need to become more distant from me, but it may be the fact that even though Elves don’t have a specific social hierarchy, us half-elves have always been deemed as lesser by full blooded elves. I do not know if it’s because we have a choice to either live as elves with immortality or be able to live out the rest of our lives as humans after accepting the Gift of Man, but it has just never made sense to me. Though Legolas and I have a lot in common and not just our race wise, but also our culture wise as I as well had been raised by not just humans, but elves as well.

The whole situation between him and I was confusing to me and I believe to him too. It may be that because of how he was raised; he looks down upon me more just because that is what he was taught, but who knows really.

After a small glaring contest between the prince and I. We all ended up going to sleep seeing as there was no point in continuing any further in this unnecessary fight between the two of us.

It was a peaceful night with crickets playing their song of the night and the wind blowing from time to time, but it seems it wasn’t long lived. The world hasn’t seemed to be on our side as of late.

In the dark of night orcs had ambushed us. Though Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli had woken up before the ambush there wasn’t enough time to alert the rest of us quick enough. So the hobbits, Boromir, and I woke up to a rude awakening with Orcs surrounding us.

Without another thought, as an orc launched itself at me, I unsheathed my sword and and jumped into battle slashing and stabbing my way at the enemy along with the others. As I was fighting off one of the orcs from the corner of my eye I saw one orc coming up behind Samwise. I couldn’t just let the poor halfling fend for himself, I had to do something so I ran up behind the orc closing in on him and killed him swiftly, but it was a short lived victory as another orc came to ram into my side pushing me over into the ground and falling right on top of me with its full weight. I groaned out in pain, but twisted my body and pulled out my knife and stabbed it in the eye to be able to get a chance to escape from under the large beast. Thankfully, my plan worked and I was able to pull myself out from under it, but before I could stand back up to my full height and send down my sword on the orc for its finishing blow the orc stabbed me with its weapon in my thigh. I screamed out in pain and clutched my thigh and in turn dropping my weapon. A stupid and grave mistake, but thankfully before the orc could recover and stand up to full height Legolas swooped in and swiftly took care of it.

Legolas looked around seeing as that was the last orc and he turned to me and was about to open his mouth, but then his eyes widened as he caught sight of my wound and quickly ran over towards me. He kneeled down next to me and examined the wound as he stared at it in concern and worry.

“Aww don’t worry to much, condo, ‘tis merely a flesh wound,” I tried to smile, but my face twisted into an expression of discomfort as more pain shot through my leg.

“This is no time for jokes (Y/N). We need to get this sword out of your thigh and stop the bleeding before I becomes anymore serious,” Legolas said sharply, but rather than it being his usual tone of irritation it was now laced with concern.

I just nodded as the others came to huddle around me as Aragorn and Legolas took charge as they had the most knowledge of herbs and medicines.

All I could honestly remember from those painful hours of recovery was just pain and the fact that throughout the whole process Legolas was always there at my side. Huh, I guess he doesn’t hate me as much as he lets on after all.

After resting for a few days not only for me, but for everyone else to patch up any wounds they might have acquired or to hunt for any extra game or search for any extra supplies or food to help us on our journey and help restock what we lost in the ambush. I was able to walk again seeing as my elven-side’s recovery kicked in to help save my leg and help save us time as well.

During the night before we planed to one again head off on our way I stared up at the sky not really thinking about anything in particular; just taking in the views the world had to offer, but my stargazing session was cut short as Legolas’ voice cut through the air, interrupting the silence along with it.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

I just shrugged at him knowing I had no real answer to his question.

After that we fell into silence once more till my mind wandered back to the day we got ambushed and I then realized, “You called me by my name.”

“What?”

“During the ambush you called me by my name rather than Peredhil,” I clarified for him.

“So?”

“You’ve always called me Peredhil, except at the beginning of our journey where you did not know that I was half-elven, and speaking of why do you hate me so much? It seems like the fact that I’m a Peredhil makes you uncomfortable around me.”

“I don’t.”

“What?” Now this time it was my turn to look at him in confusion.

“I don’t hate you. I just don’t really know what to do.”

“What do you mean?” At this point my mind was racing with many different possibilities and scenarios, but none of them seemed to make enough sense to me so I just let him speak.

“I have a sort of, how do you say, uhm...admiration for you, but the fact that I’m an elf prince and you’re a Peredhil makes me also very conflicted.”

I blushed at his statement. Sure, I had suitors in the past and I had a few court me none of them were, well, Legolas. I guess you could say, that even with all this bickering, I still somehow ended up admiring him too and seeing him in a light of more than just a partner.

“My my mind is conflicting with my heart,” Legolas confesses, “I’m royalty and I should marry to royalty and to someone who is a full blooded elf, well at least that is what my mind is telling me, but my heart is pushing me more towards you so I in turn though that if I had you hate me then maybe the decision between what my heart and what my mind wats wouldn’t be so difficult, but atlast it seems it didn’t really do much, did it?”

I chuckled out at him and smiled at him as he also returned it while we made eye contact with the other, “No, I guess it didn’t.”

“You know I was worried the two of you wouldn’t ever confess, but here we are,” Legolas and I whipped our heads toward the voice only to see Aragorn smirking at the two of us before winking and turning back around to catch more sleep, but not before muttering, “Before you do anything remember, people are trying to sleep.” And with that he fell back to sleep leaving the two of us wide eyed.

After a pregnant pause we looked back at one another before we ended up laughing lightly, as to not wake anyone else up, at what he said.

“It is kind of ridiculous now that I think about it.” I laughed out as my mouth widened into a larger smile.

“Yeah it is,” Legolas sighed out as he leaned closer to me which somehow had made my body react in the same way. Compelling me to lean forward. I glanced down at his lips as he did the same and I smiled up at him, with him returning it, but just as the two of us were about to meet Legolas let out a yelp, and I giggled at his reaction. Legolas quickly turned back to the source that had kicked him and caused him the slight pinch of pain only to see a grumpy Grimli glaring at the two of us.

“Save it for when you’re alone, lover boy,” and at that the dwarf went back to his slumber leaving a baffled and aggravated elf and me, a peredhil trying to contain my laughter at the events that just took place.

“I guess we could continue in the morning,” I laughed out as I kissed Legolas’ on the cheek before also turning in for the night leaving a blushing elf as he looked on into the night trying to refocus on trying to spot any enemies that could attack us during the night.

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