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kaywinchester · 4 years

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Shopping Spree

anon request: Hiya Kay! Hope all is with you you and your readers during this time of self isolation.Got a cutesy, and yes, very funny idea for u in which S & D spend time @ the mall w/ their sis, set specifically inside a lingerie store( ex. Victoria Secret). Needless to say, embarrassment(@sis's expanse) & hilarity ensue in which D models bras, offer non helpful suggestions to sis, and just acts like a real dork, while S appears MAJORLY uncomfortable/embarrassed by the whole thing. Can be as silly as u want

Word Count: 1,200

A/N: I honestly did not know what to call this fic lol. But two fics being posted within a week.....!! Finishing up some old requests so once I'm done with those I will open requests again! Also thought this gif was perfect XD

It had been a few days since any of you had found any recent hunting leads, and you desperately needed to get out of the bunker for a while. You know your brothers did too, but you've been around them all week and decided to take yourself on a little shopping trip. It wasn't that often that you got to spoil yourself with new clothes, you thought it would be a nice outing, until Dean had to be nosy.

“Hey, you wanna watch this movie with Sammy and I? Pretty sure this is the uncut version too.” Dean snarked as he held up the dvd case.

“Sounds fun, but I’m actually gonna go on a little shopping trip.” You said as you packed your wallet into your bag.

“Oh, uh we can tag along with you...” Dean suggested.

“That’s okay, I kind of just need to get out for a while.” You declined politely.

“That makes 3 of us. We’ve all been cooped up in here when were not out hunting. Let’s make it a trip!” Dean cheered.

“Uh, actually-”

“Hey Sammy!” Dean cut you off as he went to fetch Sam.

“Ugh, you've got to be kidding me.” You muttered as you grabbed your stuff.

You three drove to the mall that was a little far, but it had a variety of stores to shop from so you didn't mind. You just didn't think you would have your older brothers tagging along with you. And from your past experience, Sam and Dean hated going shopping, unless it was something in their interest. So you guessed they must've been pretty desperate to get out of the house. But, you weren't gonna let that stop you from enjoying your shopping trip.

You started with a few of your favorite clothing stores, browsing in a few of then you finally found the one that carried stuff more your style. Picking out a couple of shirts and jeans, you turned to your brothers that had been following you around as they ate their mall pretzels.

“I’m gonna try these on, why don't you guys go look for some things that you like?” You suggested, trying to get them out of your hair for a while.

“Fine. Meet us back by the food court in an hour.” Dean finally agreed.

You tried on a few tops, flannels, and some jeans. Then realizing you could really use some new bras. You wanted a few that you could wear while you weren't hunting, something other than sports bras.

After purchasing the few outfits, you made your way over to the food court. Sam and Dean were sitting on one of the couches with drinks in their hand.

“Did you guys get more food?” You asked, kind of hoping they got something for you.

“Uh, no. Just these.” Dean motioned to his drink cup.

“Sure.... look I wanted to stop by one more store so I’ll be back here in about 30 minutes.”

“No, c’mon we’ve been sitting here for 30 minutes.” Dean whined.

“Did you guys even buy anything?” You motioned to the bag.

“Yeah, this.” Sam handed you the bag. You pulled out a package out of the Spencers gifts bag and looked it over to see that Dean had bought a fake pile of vomit for pranks.

“Why did you show her?” Dean said with disappointment.

“Because it’s stupid and she probably wouldn't fall for it anyway.” Sam sighed.

“Whatever, I’ll be back in a bit.” You scoffed.

“Don’t worry, we’re coming with you.” Dean said as he hoisted himself up from the couch.

You knew you weren’t gonna convince your giant twelve year old brothers to sit still any longer so you just kept walking to the underwear store that you wanted to go to.

“Uh, Dean let’s just wait out here, I don't think she’ll be too long.” Sam huffed as he saw that you went into the Victoria’s Secret.

“Dude, what are you embarrassed? It’s just a store.” Dean nudged Sam as he walked in.

Sam sighed and just followed Dean, not wanting to awkwardly wait outside the store by himself.

You walked through the aisles and looked at the mannequins and saw a few lace bras that you thought looked comfortable. Grabbing a few, you turned around and saw to your surprise that your brothers had followed you in there.

“Sheesh, how many bras does a girl need?” Dean joked around looking around.

“However many she wants.” You said, not letting your awkward older brothers embarrass you. “I’m gonna go try a few things on.” You motioned to the fitting rooms.

Dean continued to walk around with a very uncomfortable Sam following closely behind. He started looking through the drawers and found a bra with spikes on it, Dean grabbed it and put it around his chest.

“Like what you see, Sammy?” Dean joked.

“Can you put that down.” Sam whispered as he saw a few stares.

“Guess not.” Dean laughed. Once you came out of the fitting room you looked around for a while. Dean showed you his cool find.

“You should get this one, Y/N.” Dean suggested sarcastically.

“Looks like something you'd find at hot topic.” You laughed. Sam rolled his eyes.

Dean started trying on more stuff that was within reach. “Hey I didn't know they sold more stuff besides underwear here.” He said as he put on a pair of girly sunglasses.

“I can't take you anymore.” Sam told Dean as he walked out swiftly.

“What’s up with him?” You asked.

“Who knows. Probably crabby that I dragged him in here. Anyway, you almost done? I kinda wanna get back.” Dean looked at his watch.

“Yeah, and so much for getting you two out of the house.” You laughed as you turned to go wait in line.

....................

You walked out of the store with your bags in your hands. “You ready to go?”

“Yes.” Sam said abruptly.

“Aw, do you feel all awkward?” You teased him.

“No, just wanna get back.” Sam lied. You and Dean looked at each other and silently laughed to one another.

Who knew shopping with your brothers would take so much energy, and embarrassment on Sam’s end.

You drove home since it was your idea to go out. Dean rarely let you drive baby, but he was in a good mood and made an exception. Dean adjusted his long limbs in the back seat, trying to get comfortable.

“So, with what you just bought, who are you planning to wear all that for.....” Dean spoke up.

“Myself actually, if you should be so nosy.” Rolling your eyes at Dean’s overprotective ways.

“It better be for yourself....” Dean trailed off with sarcasm.

“Shut up, Dean. They're just clothes. Can’t a girl feel good for once, it’s not that often I go shopping.” You retorted.

“Whatever you say.” Dean said.

You let out a sigh as you kept your eyes on the road. You hoped to Chuck that you could get out by yourself sooner or later. These brothers of yours could be too much at times, but damn you were grateful for them either way. No matter how dorky they were....

Requests Are Closed

Taglist:

@jackjackljaqui @hunting-the-grievers @susan-is-in-the-house@flirtyonsie @mersuperwholocked-lowlife @justsomedreaming

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miraculouscontent · 4 years

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Askplosion #11:

(note that I know I mentioned a “Voiced Askplosion” last time in the tags for anyone who put a 🎤 in their ask, meaning they wanted to hear me respond verbally to it, but I only got one and it wasn’t anything serious - just a tease from someone I know - so I either won’t be doing it at all or will be holding off)

Asks responding to previous posts:

ALYA NO!!!

(the idea of Sabrina avoiding not only Ms. Mendeleiev, but also Alya, is very amusing to me)

The fact that the special focuses on the love square instead of Sabrina and Delmar is a crime.

(also note that “Need some help?” is rhetorical in this context; Alya doesn’t care)

Highly recommended, honestly, otherwise it just turns into a big shame because there are shows I really like but with some content that I don’t like, and why torture myself with it when I can cut it out instead?

Just to give a rough idea, here’s my cut of “Desperada”; mind you, this is just my quick cut of it (basically a “beta” version where I just removed everything I disliked without much care for transitioning/having everything make sense; some of Marinette’s friends talking, the guitar scene, Aspik, etcetera), as I’m not comfortable handing over my “perfect” cut of it since it’s like my personal copy.

Yeah, that’s a super awkward scene. As much as I’d like to imagine that Adrien just doesn’t understand the “guy time” thing (which I still hate), the fact that they use the word “guy” specifically is--ugh.

I wasn’t aware of what he said in the French dub, so thanks! It’s really painful to see her throw so much love his way, openly and publicly and obviously, then be so humiliated for it, only for Adrien to feel nothing for her.

Say whatever you want about Chat Noir’s advances and how sAAAAAAD he is when she rejects him, but her rejections are just that; in private. There aren’t other heroes who are around and Chat is never really humiliated. Even in “Prime Queen,” Chat wasn’t the target - Ladybug was, and then Ladybug shifted it to Nadja - so Marinette is the one taking all the heat in love while Chat gets to sit on the sidelines (plus, then “Oblivio” happened and now people probably all thing they’re a thing).

Yeah! That’s the group I was thinking of!

Thank you!

I’m so sorry that happened. ;—;

I’m not aro but I am ace and I’ve gotten the whole, “oh it’s just because--” stuff before, so I know what it feels like to have people put on the pressure/invalidate you.

YES.

IT’S GORGEOUS.

I’m not really familiar with how holidays are celebrated outside of the bare basics of Christmas/New Year (which I am trying my hardest to forget lol), so I couldn’t say.

Sorry!

New Asks:

10/10 thought, would fantasize again.

Though would also accept MC Audrey just doing some “spring cleaning” of the whole staff in general. I have no idea how she’d replace Jeremy since he’s the company’s poster boy but most of the writers have to go at the very least and Jeremy should be given less power.

I think MC Audrey would appreciate how Kagami carries herself, though potential bonus if - while Tom and Sabine just openly trust whatever Marinette wants - Audrey does a bunch of digging to make sure Kagami is “worthy” of being with Marinette (she takes this all very seriously).

Double potential bonus if Kagami takes it just as seriously, so here’s Audrey and Kagami acting as if Kagami dating Marinette is like some sort of job interview.

Kagami handing over a “resume” of her accomplishments to Audrey. Audrey has already looked all of it up herself but appreciates the effort put in.

If the question in Miraculous is, “Do we really need a--” and the thing being introduced is something the staff came up with then the answer is usually “no.”

The movie will look pretty and that’s all I’ll expect. It’s just Jeremy’s take on Miraculous. Luka and Kagami probably won’t even be around so I’m not even interested.

I’ll watch it, but I’m also not interested lol.

Honestly, I’d rather turn into bubble froth.

oddly specific but... I mean, damn

I have no idea, and I try not to throw around words like “spite ship” because I know people could genuinely like the ship, though I will say that I went on AO3 and - unless I read from - the first Maribat fanfiction on there was posted after the airdate of “Chameleon.” I think it might’ve started with inspiration from “Marinette moves schools” ideas at the very least.

Non-Miraculous Asks responding to previous posts:

Oh, I understood, no worries! It was just funny for the split second it took me to figure it out.

My bad, that’s not how I meant to come off (especially since “magical girl shows” is a little broad; I mean, obviously I don’t think something like Cardcaptor Sakura is aiming for fanservice when Sakura’s--like... ten). I answered all those asks in the last askplosion in the same day so my brain was a little fried by the time I got to that ask.

I’m not even talking about Sailor Moon either; it’s just that I knew there are shows with fanservice and there are certain magical girl outfits where I kind of give the side-eye.

Absolutely zero problem with girls fighting in pretty outfits though. I fully admit that I’m a bit of a prude so sometimes I see fanservice where there might not be any. Super short skirts without shorts, for example, inherently throw me off (shout-out to Saint Tail - which I discovered while looking up “pretty magical girl outfits” - because the main character does have a skirt in “magical girl” form but also tights/boots and a cute hat, which is one of the more unique ones I’ve seen).

Non-Miraculous Asks:

Do you mean Sailor Moon Crystal? Yeah, the only reason I hesitate on Sailor Moon in general is because I’m not crazy about the transformed designs. It’s not really a matter of animation but more a design choice that takes me out of the experience.

I have seen all of Cardcaptor Sakura anime though, and then all of the Clear Card arc. I like the former, despise the latter, and I tried to keep up with the manga but once one of the big plot details were revealed, I officially dropped it.

As for Revolutionary Girl Utena, I looked it up a while ago and don’t remember what exactly turned me away. It might’ve been the darker tone though if what you say is accurate that it’s a darker take on a magical girl show.

Also, I may or may not have looked up the ending of at least Princess Tutu and I’m sorry, I’m sure it’s a great anime, but if there isn’t a happy ending then I give whatever anime a hard pass.

(note: yes, I realize the hilarity of saying that when I continue watching Miraculous)

(More Madoka Magica talk/salt below!)

Ohhh, it started a trend? I had no idea since I don’t actively keep up with every anime out there; descriptions need to really pull me in (the only current anime I’m keeping up with is Hanyou no Yashahime, Otherside Picnic, and Cells at Work (Season 2)).

The focus on specific--uh--body parts in magical girl transformations also reminds me that I think that’s usually what kills it for me, not because of the sexualization but because I expect transformations (especially ones that get repeated over and over) to be really dynamic with changing angles and such, which is harder to do when the camera is trying to draw focus to specific places.

Obviously you have to do it for some moments (I’ve always imagined Miraculous transformations like a potential sheep or another one for rabbit, then rabbit!Jean from Leave for Mendeleiev and fox!Juleka from LadyBugOut) because things will be weird if you focus on nothing, but I think there are ways to draw the eye without trying to sexualize.

Not having Ladybug-esque bodysuits is a good start. It reminds me too much of the Catwoman with just a bodysuit so it leaves nothing to the imagination.

How did I forget about that Sayaka scene? omg (though I dunno if the Bechdel Test is hard to pass if there aren’t really any endgame male love interests? are there rules about that? not saying a pass isn’t a pass but it feels like cheating)

It is nice when fans can respect the opinions of others without having to outright attack. I have had a few people come to me with, “I see your point/respect it even if I disagree,” instead of accusing me/others of--well, you get it.

Fandoms can be really messy, particularly as they get larger. I think there’s a certain balance between small fandoms that all know each other and a big fandom that’s out of control. Then there are things like “loud minority” and it’s just uggggh.

Anyway, back to the asks themselves, yeah, I’m not crazy about taking things that are just meant to be positive/cute/whatever and being like, “OKAY BUT WHAT IF IT WAS EDGY AND SAD.”

n o , p l z

Oh, I’ve never heard of that one!

Sayaka dying didn’t really do anything for me either. It’s hard to explain when I saw it so long ago, but it was just Sayaka’s attitude about the whole thing and it made it feel underwhelming. It was a shame too because I liked her and she had potential.

She was Madoka’s friend so I was just like, “Yeah, she’ll die soon.” Probably didn’t help since I knew what I knew about the show being “dark.”

Madoka/Sayaka is probably what I’d support the most out of all the potential shoujo ai ships. To my knowledge, none of them are really canon, though I remember a special song after the death Sayaka and Kyoko which I guess makes them the most canon and that did basically nothing for me since their relationship didn’t interest me (nor did I care for Kyoko as a character). The PSP game might have more intimate potential between the girls, but I never played them so I can’t make those claims (I only remember something about everyone potentially living and then a bad ending for Sayaka where part of her body was decayed when they didn’t get her soul gem back in time).

The tomboy argument makes me think back to a conversation with a friend of mine where we were discussing tomboys in anime and... we couldn’t really think of any? At least any that really qualify as “tomboy” for me.

Like, Misty from Pokemon, for example. I knoooooow everyone really likes Misty, but regardless of my opinion on her, it’s hard to see her as a tomboy.

I feel like they try to lean that way by making her super aggressive and violent (because... m E N) and I think Ash makes a comment once about her not being “like a girl,” but... I feel like that’s just how general “aggressive” female characters are written?

I mean, that’s tsundere female characters I’ve seen in general. Really loud (and not in a “gIrlS aRe sO lOuD aND ScReEcHY” way but like... the way anime gives them big heads while they scream at whatever male character they’re mad at), angry a lot, short fuse, etcetera.

But Misty is still crazy about clothes and dolls, she still gushes about cute things and romance, and both of those things seem pretty indicative of what “standard girl character” would be defined by, since they’re all “stereotypically girl thing” (I say stereotypically for obvious reasons since boys can like blah and girls can like blah and gender exclusivity is blah--). I get that she dresses differently, but that’s about it, and it comes off like, “she dresses differently and she’s ANGRY and VIOLENT, so she’s a tomboy,” which... yeah. They even gave her three beauty queen sisters with CURVES and BUSTS as if to say, “See?? These are GIRLS, not TOMBOYS.” (busty females can exist who are also tomboys, thank you have a nice day).

This becomes more complicated in magical girl anime since girly clothes are usually part of that so “tomboy” means that frills and skirts probably wouldn’t be a factor.

I mean, if you gave those sorts of outfits to me, I’d be like, “SCREW IT, I’M NOT A MAGICAL GIRL ANYMORE. IF LOOKING PRETTY IS REDUCED TO SKIRTS AND FRILLS, SOMEONE ELSE CAN SAVE THE WORLD.”

I’d also like to see some mixes between personalites and “tomboy” things. Like, non-stereotypical tomboy personalities doing tomboy things. Mix and match, y’know?

This was really rambly, but to answer the question... no, I wouldn’t count Sayaka as a tomboy.

All of this.

I think it also exemplifies the whole “dark and edgy magical girl show” thing because... ugh, how do I put this...

The “girls are overly emotional” thing is already bad, but then you realize that there not being any magical boys is also because that doesn’t hit the “shock value” threshold as much.

Y’know, because boys equal dark and edgy shows, so if there was even one magical boy it wouldn’t be as shocking when Mami gets her head chomped. They could’ve done, “emotional teenagers are the target because they’re in that vulnerable stage; smarter and more physically capable than children, but not as mature/stable as adults,” but having some boys in there for balance (it makes me feel weird saying that when I’m all for girl power shows with an all female cast, but in this show’s logic, it’s a different ball game) would make the show seem less bright and “girly” and thus lessen the shock value.

Does that make sense?

#((Aspies who also deal with Winter Blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder))#((how do you do iiiiiit))#((my usual methods aren't working and I'm constantly sluggiiiish))#category: trash #special: Miraculous New York #MC's Art #art: single picture #relationship: alya cesaire & sabrina raincomprix #category: salt #episode: Party Crasher #relationship: love square #relationship: adrien agreste & marinette dupain cheng #MC: Audrey Bourgeois #relationship: kagami tsurugi & marinette dupain cheng #character: marinette dupain cheng #other: non ml talk

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monotonous-minutia · 4 years

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top 10 favorite new-to-you operas of 2020 and top 10 favorite overall opera productions (which can be ones you’ve watched before 2020) of 2020, as well as why! (take all the time and space you need to answer this one)

thanks!! :)

top 10 favorite new-to-me operas (tried to remember the order in which I first watched them, but I could be wrong): La fille du régiment Just a really fun, humorous, adorable opera with a great cast of lovable characters and some really slappy tunes. Les Huguenots This one went onto my list of top favorite operas almost immediately. Another cast of amazing characters (aside from the really despicable villain), especially some lovely leading ladies; adorable trouser role who gets two (preferably) arias; some really gorgeous music; and an absolutely devastating tragic ending that's so powerful and meaningful. Idomeneo The ladies are fighting over the mezzo; Idamante is one of the cutest and purest opera characters EVER; incorporates Greek Mythology which is one of my favorite things; great cast of characters (though Idomeneo himself still drives me crazy); very sapphic; lovely relationship between the main couple (kinda enemies-to-friends-to-lovers); and again some really great music La clemenza di Tito TWO mezzo bois; very VERY gay on all levels; angst with a happy ending (though depending on the production the ending can be more ambiguous than happy); entire cast of Disaster Bis; one of the smartest sopranos in the world (Servilia); lovely portrayals of loyalty and friendship; and, of course, some AMAZING music. Cendrillon Mezzo love. That's pretty much all I need to say. But also it's got a lot of my favorite things: the libretto is super poetic and beautiful; the music is absolutely fantastic at evoking the fairy tale feel, especially in the scene in the forest; wonderful lovable characters; and simply ethereal music and singing for the leading ladies. Chérubin it's the adventures of our dear Cherubino, what more could I want? How can I not love an opera that's all about this wonderful disaster child? It's so lighthearted and fun and sweet and also just really spot-on hilarious. I was laughing my head off the entire time. Plus it's Massenet so the music is gorge, especially the mezzo music :D Benvenuto Cellini Not least because it introduced me to one of my favorite trouser roles, but also because (as we've discussed) it has basically everything you need in a (not-tragic) opera: fantastic cast of lovable, wonderful characters; exciting and somewhat angsty plot; joyous happy ending; really cute and pure lead couple; adorable trouser role; Disaster Bi hilarious semi-villain you just can't help but love; some really fantastic music; and so much fun and hilarity in general. La Rondine I give this one props because it somehow made me bawl my eyes out even though no one dies. And of course it's the whole Puccini "let's pretend this thing is an operetta for an hour and a half :) and make everything all lighthearted and happy :) and have everyone just have a great time singing some wonderful music :) and then break everyone's heart in the last half hour and leave them obliterated." Also that ensemble in Act II just makes me CRY even though it's like the happiest bit of the opera?? it's just so freaking pretty omg. Alcina Props for being one of the frickin gayest operas on the planet. Also contains one of my favorite pieces of music ever in the history of ever. In general has a lot of opportunities for folks being gay as heck. Oronte can fall off the face of the earth, though. Also I am a sucker for Handel in general. Plus mezzos loving mezzos. Can't go wrong with mezzos loving mezzos. (Yeah, I know technically Rugierro can be played by a countertenor, but I don't watch those ones ;p ) The plot is still "WTF???" in my head, but does that really matter when it's basically one nonstop gay mess? Die Fledermaus Really don't understand how this took so long to get into my life (especially because German operetta was my Thing back in the day) but now that it's in my life I love it to pieces. One of the most iconic trouser roles ever, and an entire cast full of lovable buffoons, as well as just one bop after another. Plus a really slapstick plot. Basically laughed through the entire show.

10 favorite overall opera productions of 2020: It was so hard to narrow this one down! I've seen so many amazing opera productions this year. To make it a little easier for me, I tried to focus on productions of operas that weren't new to me this year (though I HAD to put the Pelly Cendrillon on here. I couldn't not) so I could focus more on the production itself. These ones aren’t in any particular order bc I’m lazy:

Sher Hoffmann (Met 2009/2015) Surprise, surprise. I simply adore the production, set, costumes, staging, etc.--all so wonderfully weird and delightfully eccentric, without distracting from the very odd and complicated story. Plus, I love the casts in both performances, esp. Kate Lindsey but you knew that already ;) Sher Barbiere (Met 2017) Three words: DiDonato. Flórez. Mattei. Plus Del Carlo and Relyea and it's Sher so really, where can it possibly go wrong?? It's an absolute delight from beginning to end that just takes all the comedic gold from the story and runs with it, and, as with his Hoffmann, provides a delightfully eccentric set and staging without being distracting. Salzburg 2013 Don Carlo Super gay, amazing cast, beautiful production, contains material not seen many other places, and introduced me to Maria Celeng's Tebaldo, which will undoubtably forever be my favorite. Did I mention how gay it is? Garsington 2017 Nozze A really fun, charming, heartwarming, and beautiful staging of one of my favorite operas. I love the cast and set and costumes and that people in general are pretty nice to Cherubino, and the Count isn't as creepy or mean as in some productions, and has some legit nice moments with Rosina during the opera so his apology at the end actually comes across as kinda genuine. In particular I love the really adorable Figaro and Susanna (individually adorable, as well as being a really adorable couple) and Cherubino. Pelly Cendrillon (Met 2018/ROH 2010) Super gorgeous production that does an amazing job evoking the fairy tale feel. Not thrilled with 100% of the choreography but I love pretty much everything else about it--the sets, the staging, the cast (especially the Met cast, though there is one little detail in the ROH one I like better) and even the lighting are super intricate and effective. Munich 2011 Hoffmann Just a really delightfully weird take on this opera, with a great cast, some fantastic singing, hilarious sets and costumes, and some quirky staging and edit choices that make it really unique and fun. Met 2017 (Sher) Roméo et Juliette I should basically just say everything by Sher is my favorite now huh? I legit want to write this guy some fan mail because his work (especially for Hoffmann) has in a lot of ways just been really meaningful to me. I didn't even like this opera until I saw this production. It's so GORGEOUS and timeless and yet simple and sweet, and the cast is to die for. Met 2017 Norma Flippin gay, that's really all I need to say, oh my lord. Plus the cast is amazing. Honeslty don't remember much about the sets or costumes, I just remember how amazingly gay it is. Met 2009 Orfeo ed Euridice The dancing in particular is what draws me to this one, but also the expansive moving sets and some really heartbreaking choreography and blocking. Side note, I know a lot of people are annoyed with Amor's outfit, but I love how ridiculous her sparkly pink ensemble is compared with the sombre outfits of the leading cast (and chorus representing all those famous dead people historical figures). I mean, she's basically Cupid, right? When has Cupid every been spiffy or dignified? Plus the whole thing is super gay and really underrated in my opinion. Bonus: Stephanie Blythe is now hands-down my favorite Orfeo. La Scala 1995 Hoffmann Set and costumes are okay, effective but not particularly memorable, but holy lord is this one GAY as hell. That's my favorite thing about it, plus much of the cast (Mentzer and Shicoff, obviously, as well as Natalie Dessay being my favorite Olympia and Denyce Graves being one of my top favorite Giuliettas). There are a few kind of weird things about the staging, and the edit is far from being my favorite, but I adore how fully it embraces every aspect of gay that this opera presents. Plus it's one of the few I've seen that actually has a legit nice ending (others being Munich and Sher).

Thanks for the ask, sorry it got kinda long!

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psalloacappella · 4 years

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Teach Like Me

It’s time for rare!pair love

Title: Teach Like Me Pairing: NaruIno Other deets: one-sided NaruSaku, canon-verse, Shippuden-ish, mentions of other canon romances, cuteness, slice of life, bicycles

“Naruto,” she says through gritted teeth, “get your dumb ass on this bike.”

Grimacing, he lobs a response that might just get him killed. “Ew, like with you?”

In which Ino spends an afternoon teaching Naruto new tricks.

Read ao3 | here, or ↓

Ino likes to think that Naruto, as other young boys her age, pops into her family’s flower shop when she’s off duty to pay her some mind, grace her with a little attention. Not least because they’re friends, but because she’s still a girl, and a cute one at that. He may have soft and stupid eyes for her best friend, but damn it, she’s still going to preen; being run ragged by missions can sometimes make her feel exhausted and charmless, and it’s not always in line with the portrait she’s interested in painting of her lovely self.

When she asks herself why it matters at all, she concludes it’s simply torrid boredom and according to Sakura (and Shikamaru, who agrees without agreeing in that languid and noncommittal way he does) a dash of narcissism.

But every time the village’s hyperactive, thickheaded, Sasuke-chasing, obnoxious ninja shows up to bother her, the result is always that she realizes and has to process as new, as though she’s never had to consider it before, that he’s a complete dunce.

The flowers in the shop whisper to one quietly; amid the bursts of vivid color, whites and reds and periwinkles, colorful themed bouquets reminiscent of abstractions of sunsets and midnight trysts and tentative apologies and condolences, Ino lets her chin fall into her palm. Leans on her elbow and groans at the long day stretched out before her with no sign of interesting respite. Someone in this village needs to bring the drama, drop some dribbles of gossip that they can gnaw on over her counter, for she’s bored and bone-tired and all of her friends are busy or deployed.

Stands in front of her blinking as a confused fish, waiting for her to surface from the reverie.

Realizing he’s there, and close! she jerks back and makes a noise of disgust that only serves to prompt a sassy scrunched face in riposte. With his chin in both hands and elbows on the slippery counter, rear wiggling in the air, he sticks out his tongue. “And I thought you were bored? Your face is no better.”

Ino blinks, a double-take. “Bold words for a guy who cowers from a girl with pink hair.”

“Honestly, you scare me too,” he admits. “But I want her to like me, so that’s the difference.”

“Why are you here? What do you need?”

Naruto blinks, nonplussed. “What would I need?”

Straightening, Ino indicates the botanical menagerie as she opens her arms loftily, an embrace of her surroundings. The eye roll seems to spark an understanding. Shakes his head vigorously.

“Oh, right! Nah, I came to see you. I don’t need flowers, I—”

“Hey!”

A patron pokes his head around the doorframe, grinning. “Sweet bike. Whose is it?”

“Bike?” Ino’s eyebrows knit together while Naruto, having whirled around at the mention of it, grimaces and makes a quiet noise under his breath. Wilting like a dehydrated flower himself. Noticing his behavior, Ino glances at him askance and then clarifies. “As in a bicycle?”

“Yeah.” The stranger hangs on to the door frame as he leans back, sets his eyes on what must be the bicycle, as if to confirm it hasn’t disappeared in the last few seconds, and resumes his previous position. “Looks brand new.”

Naruto sweats profusely, and Ino has the urge to dress him down for being weird in front of a potential customer, but rolls her eyes and remembers some words from Shikamaru about fiery tempers and laying off Naruto a little — his usual dulcet whining. She shrugs, folding her arms. “Doesn’t belong to me, sorry.”

Frowns; but then the villager’s eyes sparkle at the possibilities. “Huh. Maybe someone left it here by mistake. Might go turn it in — but, not without taking it for a spin.” A lopsided grin graces his young face, and he tilts his head toward her, leaning over the threshold. “What do you say, it’s not busy here, pretty miss? Come and take a ride with m—”

Naruto makes an angry sound, some amalgamation of a grunt, snort, and unintelligible syllables that sounds more like the short-circuiting of machinery than anything human. Jarring enough that the other two jump in response, staring. Eyes closed tightly and arms folded, he has the look of someone out in the bright sun, blinded — or perhaps one who needs a solid dose of fiber.

“Why don’t you try that again,” Ino says, rolling her eyes. “Human speech this time.”

Kicking at the floor with the toe of his boot, Naruto says through gritted teeth, “It’s. Mine.” Bright red heat blazes high in his face.

Laughing, Ino leans over the counter and gives him a solid punch in the arm. “Dork. Why didn’t you just say that earlier?” Waving her hand as if fanning away small gnats or wafting dust, she blows at a strand of long blonde hair, lilting like feathers in her vision, and grins. “Sorry about him — he forgets how to interact properly.”

Eyes pinging between the two of them, the patron shrugs in response and lifts a hand in a wordless goodbye and means of departure.

Ino keeps up the princess wave for a few more seconds after he departs, then visibly shifts into an annoyed stance. “What is with you? It’s nice of you to care about strangers hitting on me, but,” and she tosses her hair again in that lovingly preening, vain way she manages to make endearing, “you’re busy after a girl who’s into men that are, decidedly, not your type.” Clicking her tongue, she comes out from behind the counter and without pretense, shoves her face in his face. “So where’d you get the bicycle?”

“It’s new, like that guy said! Heh, heh.” But the way Naruto rubs the back of his neck and can’t quite look her in the eyes means he’s almost certainly in the middle of one of his pranks.

Narrowing her eyes in response, her lips draw a thin line. “Naruto—”

“Okay, so I borrowed it!”

Eyes wide, she punches him again. Hard. Not taking his breath away like a certain teammate of his, but close enough; he’s always all types of sore between training, reckless endeavors related to training, and also perhaps putting himself in harm’s way for the sake of securing even a sliver of that same teammate’s time. The familiarity of it, regardless, paints a blush in his cheeks and feels oddly comforting. At least he knows where he stands.'

“You can’t just borrow things like that; they’ll know it’s missing!”

“Just — let me explain the whole story, Ino. One of the old ladies that I used to do genin missions for, saving her dumb cats all the time — they always ran away from her, and honestly, I would too if I lived with her — she squeezed them half to death, even that bastard would say so—”

Bringing an arm across her eyes, she groans. His perplexing digressions are either a sign of brain damage or tender excitement or both, but always classically Naruto, including the inability to stop thinking about a guy who’s been gone for at least two years and last tried to murder him in a valley. Not that she can judge — he’s still their friend, but it’s hard to process the depression over the gaping hole in their team. “Stay on topic!”

“Anyway,” he emphasizes, raising his palms up in a shrug, “her leg’s broken from tripping over the cats and her nephew or someone got her a bike, and something something she can’t use it, I planned to borrow it—”

“You did borrow it, it’s outside—”

“And realized I can’t . . .”

Naruto’s voice fades into unintelligible syllables for the second time. With hands on her hips and chin lowered as she gives him a pointed look, she shakes her head as if she can capture and funnel the rest of it into her ears. “Well? Can’t what? Speak up!”

Folding his arms tightly in the way of a straightjacket, still red, he says through gritted teeth: “I don’t know how.”

Exasperated and baffled, her laughter cascades without warning as she shakes her head again. Hilarity abounds, though an undercurrent of guilt ripples through her stomach as she again reflects on her own teammates’ suggestions to work on the nice-to-Naruto thing; it strikes her that he grew up without anyone to teach him how to ride.

Well. Now I feel like a jerk.

Naruto’s flush hasn’t abated, and she feels the sudden urge to remedy his sad look; it’s too difficult to exist in the same space with, and goodness knows he’s already been handling a lot of less than stellar incidents in his life. Avoiding his eyes and looking askance, she reaches behind her back and begins to untie her apron. “Hang this up for me.”

She tosses it at him — it wafts in the air for a second, then drapes itself over his frizzy blonde hair. Yanking it off, his bright ocean eyes are wide and confused. “What?”

“You can’t not know how to ride a bicycle. How will you ever go on a date with a girl that way? Nope, that’s unacceptable.” Clicks her tongue again, tsk tsk. “Luckily for you, I happen to know how and am fantastic at that, so.”

With confidence she walks out the front door of the shop, and he follows. As she locks the door behind her and flips the sign to closed, Naruto smiles to himself, a small and shy thing that disappears almost as quickly; a warm and soft knot nestles somewhere into his chest. Then he frowns in genuine concern.

“Wait, Ino. How are you going to teach me in that?”

Pocketing her keys, she tilts her head. “What does that mean?”

Pointing at her purple skirt, he continues. “You can’t ride in that outfit.”

Sputtering, she straight-arm smacks him in the sternum with an open palm. Over his pouting ow, Ino! she raises her chin with a regal air and says, “Just you watch. And don’t talk to your instructor that way.”

Little she know it would never be as easy as anticipated, because Naruto wasn’t exactly known for his analysis or even picking a skill up on the first try. Or the second. Or even the hundredth.

“I’m doing it, I’m really doing it!” His exclamation is endearingly excited for someone shaking uncontrollably in the vein of a startled rabbit, desperate for balance. Ino keeps one finger on the handlebar and sighs.

“You’re trying almost too hard,” she says. “This isn’t something you need chakra for or even, really, brains.”

“Hey.”

“I’m only saying,” she presses, “it’s muscle memory and balance. Nothing to do with being a great ninja or hero or whatever you’re trying to do with your life.”

“Shikamaru’s right — you’re pretty sarcastic.”

“I am both pretty and sarcastic, and I also don’t listen to him.” Removing her finger from the handlebar, Naruto’s vibrating becomes more pronounced. Tipping, he yelps and plants his feet in the dust to keep himself upright.

Ino’s brows furrows deeply, a divot appearing in the middle of her forehead. She muses about face wrinkles and the stress from trying to teach the unteachable. After a few moments, exhales with a relenting sigh and elbows him off the bicycle, seating herself on it instead. As if by magic, she starts pedaling in wide circles and dust pings away from the front tire, reminiscent of fish leaping out of the way of an oncoming boat. Naruto watches, frowning.

“You make it look so easy. And there’s no chakra?”

“Not a bit,” she says with a smile. Continues steering the bike in lazy circles, even letting a hand off the handlebar to give him a little regal wave. Braking, she comes to a stop and lowers herself into a straddle, folding her arms across the front. “I’m going to hate myself for this, but come on, you need to get on the bicycle. Let’s go.”

Neither of them move, Naruto watching her expectantly in anticipation of more instructions. After an awkward beat, she motions impatiently for him to come closer.

“Naruto,” she says through gritted teeth, “get your dumb ass on this bike.”

Grimacing, he lobs a response that might just get him killed. “Ew, like with you?”

Ino wishes she was on a mission in which she could release her rage on invading some enemy minds; it may spare her from her inevitable sentence in the local prison when she leaves Naruto’s entrails smeared on the Hokage mountain and in front of the hospital. Sakura wouldn’t even get a piece of him to throttle by that point.

Her face steaming, chest heaving, and ocean eyes wide, Naruto’s even less inclined to join Ino on the bicycle, but makes his first intelligent choice of the day. “Fine! But I want to be in front; I can’t be seen holding onto a girl.”

Ah, well, almost.

“You really sound like Shikamaru. Unreal. That tough guy ship sailed a long time ago.” Still, she scoots back on the seat and obliges, Naruto grumbling as he clambers back onto the bike, wobbling like a newborn fawn with brand new legs. For a moment, she’s unsure of where to put her hands; capitulates to her inner revulsion and places them stiffly on his shoulders.

Though it’s not as bad as she expects; the world doesn’t end and she doesn’t fall in love with the so-called hero and he’s absolutely not my type and he manages to get the bicycle moving, albeit wavering and managing to clip the nearest tree trunk with a yelp and a curse.

Time for bossing and instructing, her favorite. “Gather some speed, it will make this easier. And don’t be so stiff — be one with the bike, or something.”

Fairly sure some of those grumbling, childish curses are directed at her, but she prefers to keep her eyes on the road as they head toward a larger street that pipes through the heart of the village, where there are market stalls and children running through adult’s legs without a care and many more obstacles that could easily impede his progress.

Eyes alighting on someone familiar, she squints. Neji Hyuuga. Of course she’s about to pass the incredibly handsome tortured genius, though of course, he's been distinctly more lucid after he’s had some sense beaten into him by Naruto those few years ago. Of course she’s about to pass him clinging to the resident village dork as she teaches him to do something that almost everyone else knows how to do. Her fucking luck.

Of course Naruto manages to hit an uneven spot in the dirt and jerk the bicycle around as the handlebar slips a bit out of his control, and she lunges forward against his back to straighten it to preserve the beauty and sanctity of her marriageable face — after all she only has one of them.

As far as her dignity, however, that feels long gone with her other arm wrapped around Naruto’s torso and the Hyuuga tilting his head and staring at them in bemusement.

The wave she attempts as she passes him feels like some last-ditch effort at controlling a narrative that will surely be on the tongues of everyone before sun sets; not because of him, but due to his annoyingly and increasingly familiar bond with Tenten, who will definitely tell everyone, especially all of the other girls. Which means Sakura will know. Ino makes a mental note to get to her first or it will be the single most embarrassing thing in her life thus far.

As they fly past, Naruto shouting out a greeting to Neji that’s lost in the sound of the prissy chime of the bicycle’s bell, Ino’s face is the color of a daring evening-only-shade of lipstick, and the heat, she hopes, melts the stupid ugly orange outfit to tatters.

“Hey, I’m doing better! It’s easier when you go faster, you were totally right, Ino.”

Hiding her face in the comfortable span of his shoulders, I mean, at least he gained some muscle while he was away 3 years, her flat “Yay” comes out muffled.

Ino reflects that she’ll never do favors for Naruto again, even if he is improving as the day goes on, because she’s managed to pass every attractive man she’s ever wanted to look her way, and even those she doesn’t know but could, conceivably, and here she is clinging to back of a stolen bicycle with the most obnoxious person in the village. These are going to be the gossipy stories of legend.

Still, he’s not as slow of a learner as she expects, partly because he persists at things with the tenacity and thickheadedness of a bull. And obviously, because she’s a fantastic instructor.

“Try not to hit bumps in the road — remember, we have to return this.”

“I got it!”

“Also please don’t hit another cat—”

“Look, I didn’t even see the cat coming, it was a total accident and I said sorry—”

“Yes, I’m sure it heard you while it was screeching.”

He grumbles in response.

“Eyes on the road! Remember — one with the bike. And if we fall and you smash up this face, yours will look worse when I’m through with you.”

“How come,” Naruto pants, exerting effort up the hill, “every one of my teachers is so demanding? Kaka-sensei, Pervy Sage, you—”

“It’s the role of a teacher,” she says at his shoulder. Chin resting on it, she’s inches away from his face. With her arm tightly gripping his stomach (depressing and empty - they skipped lunch for the cause) and parts of her pressing against his back do not go there do not go there, he feels vindicated in his bicycle pilfering and also ready to whisk some young lady away on the handlebars. Once he has the other one off it, although it’s not nearly as gross and uncomfortable as he previously assumed.

And once he’s conquered the tallest hill in the village, obviously.

Fuzzy from the heat and the edges of her vision shimmering, Ino lets her eyes fall closed. This isn’t the worst.

Too bad he’s absolutely sopping and sweating from the effort of pedaling. Something perks her up, piques her brain.

“Naruto,” she asks, “where are we going?”

Her question is answered as he triumphantly crests the hill and they both stare down at the long and winding road that leads through quite dense and lively parts of their village. A serpentine road stretching straight from the peak and disappearing amidst colorful rooftops and tented awnings and possibly the lanterns and streamers of a small festival.

Naruto cheers and lifts his hands from the bars and feet from the ground. Immediately they start tipping to the side until he plants his feet again, regaining control.

“No. No, no no.” Ino smacks him again with an open palm in the sternum, hissing, “What did I say about my face?”

“Then you can get off, but this is the biggest hill in the village and the last thing I have to conquer.”

“Conquer? This isn’t a mission, you’re being such a — such a boy right now!”

“Unless you’re scared?”

When did Naruto get the guts to tease back? Heat unfurls in the high points of her cheeks, eyes narrowing angrily. Puffing up like an angry animal, she has the urge to scream in his ear. The nerve! She’s been trying to get him a date, she’s doing this for him, not making a competition.

“I taught you. If you do this badly, I’ll lose face. And if we die, I’ll have Sakura bring you back to life like a river fish and kill you again.”

Tightening her arms around his torso, eliciting an uncomfortable shifting from him, she whispers, “So you’d better pass the test.”

If he was older, a little wiser, a tad more fluent in the language of women, he might have indulged a moment to feel how close she is to him, the murmur in his ear that sends chills tapdancing along his spine and a strange fluttering in his gut. Heat dashes across the back of his neck, bright red, and she interprets his reactions as fear; most certainly they are in part, though the strange sensations in him, low, so low, and the giddiness at the prospect of reckless bravado — all of it seems like an easy choice.

“Hang on!”

Suspended at the top for a moment, they both feel the flipping of their inner organs as they balance at the hill’s precipice. When Naruto kicks off and Ino clings on tightly, they scream much earlier into the descent than either had personally planned.

Those screams warn others as they gather speed.

Chouji and Asuma step out of a cafe, blinking in the sinking evening sunlight.

“To tell you the truth, I haven’t seen them all day,” he says, speaking over his shoulder to his sensei. “Shikamaru’s acting as ambassador, remember, so he’s been with that Temari of the sand girl a lot lately.”

Chuckling, Asuma grins around the cigarette he’s popped into his mouth. “How sweet.”

“You’re one to talk,” Chouji responds. Grins with a snarky expression, laden with implications.

A loud sound approaches, high in pitch and growing in intensity.

Continuing, oblivious of the sound, Chouji continues. “You and Kurenai-sensei, and I mean.”

“All right, all right,” Asuma says, intent on shutting the line of discussion down.

The sound hits an ear-shattering apex and then just as quickly disappears. The only notion that something had passed was the ruffling of their clothes and hair.

“What was that?”

They shrug at one another, though the jounin has an instinct, a guess.

In a bustling street, stall and streamer-laden, Shikamaru and Temari wander among them and maintain a professional, appropriate distance between them. Inquiries of the nature of their time together has been a hot topic lately, a spark in the bored, droning discussions of village operations. Even men and women of responsibility seek gossip.

Temari’s ears perk at the sound of an approaching wail — or a scream, an intermingling of them, searing through the calm evening and also managing to produce an effect similar to instruments. Alternating beats, cacophonous.

“I hope that’s not an attack,” Shikamaru drawls. “I’m off-duty.”

Temari gives him a stern look.

“I’m entirely serious.”

“I always err on the side of lazy with you.”

As it intensifies and comes closer, Temari steps in front of Shikamaru and places her body between him and the street. He sighs. Other heads start to turn, people standing on tiptoe to gaze up at the hill that winds down into the low streets of the village.

“I can’t let you do that. So embarrassing.”

A flash of blue and blonde, orange and purple, and the sound of a crate of fruit upending. Syncopated dull sounds as watermelons hit the ground and the tear of shorn streamers —

Shikamaru looks after the commotion, the hurricane that just ran through —

at a long and wild parachute of shiny blonde hair.

In its wake, no one seems to know exactly what it was. Shikamaru lets out another dismal sigh, longer this time.

Temari blinks. “Wasn’t that your teammate? And—”

“Yes.”

“. . . Well? Aren’t you wondering?”

Nudging a watermelon out of the way with his foot, he clears her path so they can continue down the street.

“I’m sure I’ll hear about it later.”

They lie flat on their backs on the ground of an open training area, in the dust. Breathing hard as if they’ve been running for miles, unable to speak. Every time they try, there’s nothing left except fierce outbursts of giggles and the insurmountable actions of trying and failing to stand.

Finally Naruto succeeds: “I did it!”

Wiggling in the dirt like an insect, he punches a fist in the air above him with a cheer. Ino attempts to run fingers through her hair and winces at the knots, tangled like the makeshift nests of birds. It’s not coming out without help.

“Congratulations. Now help me up.”

Naruto bounds to his feet on a second energetic wind and holds out a hand to bring her to her feet. He eyes her hair warily, keeping distance between them.

“Yeesh.”

“Be quiet.”

“Well, um,” he starts, clearing his throat. Rubbing the back of his neck and keeping his eyes from hers, he settles on the ground, at his shoes. “Thanks a lot. For all your help. You spent the whole day with me.”

Still with her fingers in her hair, she raises and lowers her shoulders. “It was nothing.”

“It was, though. It was fun! And you can teach, kind of.”

Despite herself, she smiles with white, bright teeth and reflects that he’s not quite such an idiot after all.

“Now you know what you need to do, right?”

“Right!” Naruto runs to the bicycle, previously left on the ground on its side, and prepares to mount it. Slaps the seat. “See if a girl will want to take a ride.”

Ino lowers her chin, an impatient tuh! falling from her lips. “You have to take it back to the owner. You want Sakura to find out?”

Shivering, Naruto reconsiders his quest for love and wilts. “You’re right. Kaka-sensei probably wouldn’t like it either. And if Sakura-chan finds out, she’ll turn me into a bike.”

“Exactly.”

“So . . . I feel like I should return the favor. You know, for teaching me.”

“That’s nice of you. Maybe you’re not that hopeless with girls.”

“Ramen?”

“I take that back.”

Shrugging, he says, “I don’t know what to say most of the time.”

Grinning, she pats him with a gentle hand on the cheek. “I have just the thing for you, Naruto.”

Ino vaguely recognizes the man from a couple days ago, when he proposed to take her on a bicycle ride. It’s possible he does in kind, smirking as he crosses the threshold.

“Hello again, pretty miss.”

“Hello again, and welcome.”

Glancing to the back of the shop, he observes the blonde in the back watering flowers, but doesn’t say a word. Said person is extraordinarily quiet in comparison to last time, concentrating on his tasks.

“So,” she says briskly, “what are you hoping to find today?”

“Well, there’s this girl. I had to take my brother to the hospital and his nurse was, oof, let me tell ya.” Conspiratorially, he leans on the counter as if expecting Ino to be impressed, or ignorant. Refraining from rolling her eyes, she smiles to herself at the joy this is likely about to bring. She has an inkling.

“Biggest, beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen. Of course,” he adds, winking, “not as striking as yours.”

“Sure,” Ino responds. She has a way with the tones of scathing disinterest. The sound of plants being watered stops.

“And pink hair, super exotic looking, you know. I was chatting her up while she was working on my brother—”

Ino snorts at the prospect of Sakura chatting up this man while on duty, especially one so decidedly not her type. She’s not sure if she’s irritated at him trying to compare the two, or defensive.

“— and I’m about to go right back to that hospital and ask her out.”

Oh, Ino thinks, he’s so dumb.

The patron looks to the right and startles; Naruto is standing there, fists clenched and face red in his elegant shop apron, fingers still around the watering can.

“Can I help you?” the man asks.

Without any preamble, Naruto just says, “You’re an idiot.”

“This isn’t your business, I’m speaking to this lovely girl here—”

“Sakura-chan won’t date you, because she already loves someone. A better guy than you. And if you’re trying to make Ino like you, you’re even dumber than you look. What girl wants to hear you compare her to another girl?”

Ino stifles a snort, manages to pass it off as clearing her throat. A bit of pink shows up in the man’s cheeks, and he pulls himself up to full height in an attempt to intimidate.

“Look, I don’t know who you’re even talking about, all these names. I didn’t ask.”

“And I’m Naruto Uzumaki. So now you know.”

“Listen,” he says, beseeching Ino with his admittedly attractive face. Struggling not to laugh, Ino’s lips stretch thin. “I’m just—”

“Honestly,” she says, shaking her head a little, “you’re welcome to make whatever purchase you want, though you may be surprised at the outcome.”

Naruto folds his arms, seething and hovering in the way of a protective dog, as the man finishes his courting purchase and leaves. As the bell tings upon his departure, they both look at each other and find it difficult to hold in their laughter.

“What an idiot,” Naruto repeats.

“He’s poor on charm, that’s for sure.”

Naruto avoids her eyes, kicks at the floor with his toe again; it makes him look like a child caught by his mother doing something wrong. Swallowing hard, he says, “And what he said to you too was stupid. No girl wants to hear that.”

Flashing a grin, incandescent, Ino hopes the smile covers up her slight embarrassment. “Aww, are you concerned he hurt my feelings? That’s mature of you.”

“W-whatever.” Whirling around, she sees the back of his neck, bright red. “You know how nice you look.”

“O-ho , I look nice, yes, pretty too. Naruto, you will be a womanizer yet.”

He doesn’t answer, just pouts as he straightens his apron with dignity and goes back to his tasks.

When a few days later, Sakura, Ino, Naruto, and Shikamaru all sit around a table in an alley-hidden izakaya and the medic laments about a pushy brother of a patient trying to take her on a date, Naruto and Ino start cracking up over the dregs of their drinks and the remains of snacks long-eaten.

When Shikamaru asks if Naruto returned the bicycle to its rightful owner and gives Ino a significant look, following up with an inquiry if he really knows how to ride it now, their earlier laughs give way to sputtering and blushing. It might be the drinks or the heat, but Shikamaru seems to be saying more than he’s saying, and it might be Ino’s imagination, but she visualizes smacking the small grin right off his face.

Sakura and Shikamaru exchange a grin, brainy and self-satisfied.

Ino reflects that perhaps, she could find another skill Naruto fails to excel in and teach him that too, if only to continue to blackmail him into doing the tedious watering and tasks in her shop. He enjoys it, after all.

And frankly, he’s not bad company. Not one bit.

#NaruIno #Naruto X Ino #fanfiction #psalloacappella #rarepair

42 notes · View notes

dolantmego · 5 years

Note

94 and 95 with gray plsssss ❤️❤️❤️

A/N: Alright. This is way too long and this the first ask that I have ever done. So hi doll! Thanks for sending in! I hope this is what you were looking for? Sorry it took so long I got carried away. Also this is the first like SMUT SMUT I’ve done so hello hi. Who knew I’d be doing all these things for Gray first? Lord above.

Warnings: Smut? Language? TERRIBLE WRITING????

94. “Saddle up doll.”

95. “Did you just look me up and down and then bite your lip? ‘Cause if you did we’re having sex. Right now.”

“Grayson you look like an idiot.” You giggle at Ethan’s words and nod in agreement, giving your boyfriend another once over. He’d forced the two of you to sit in the living room while he went to grab the surprise he’d been planning for the next video. The camera panned between Ethan and Grayson, who had deflated slightly.

“We’re going to the rodeo!” Gray imitates pulling guns out of side holsters and makes small noises while jumping from side to side. The whole ensemble–hat, chaps, boots, belt buckle, the hilarity of it all–struck you all at once. You couldn’t contain your laughter at this point and you start cackling.

“GRAY. THAT IS THE DUMBEST IDEA I HAVE EVER–” Ethan starts.

“ETHAN ITS PERFECT WE GET TO WEAR–”

“GET TO? GRAYSON YOU LOOK LIKE–”

“DON’T BE MEAN BRO ITS FOR FUN!”

“I’M NOT DOING THIS”

You slump back in your chair and listen to the boys argue. It was always funny, when one boy had an idea to do something stupid, the other hated it. And they would go back and forth and back and forth. But as always, lo and behold, a few hours later and the twins were decked out in the most ridiculous rodeo garb you’d ever seen.

Thank god you had chosen to be in the background for this video, because you were able to dawn something a bit more normal. I.e. jean shorts, boots, and a button up. The boys on the other hand–or Grayson rather–had gone all out. Huge belt buckles, colorful boots, chaps with fringe. They really looked dumb, cute, but dumb. But that was half the fun of hanging out with the two of them, they made life interesting.

It took all day to get footage of the boys running around and trying crazy stuff. You just thanked god that the bull had been mechanical. Seeing Grayson on a huge animal like that would have given you a heart attack. Not that both of them didn’t try to get on a real bull. As well as fail miserably on the mechanical one. You had been the one who had made it the longest atop the machine.

“What can I say gentlemen? I know how to ride.” You wink at Grayson, who had been secretly foaming at the mouth for you all day, but after that wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. He pulls your hips against him by your belt loops, and wow were you just now noticing how sexy he actually looks in that hat. Ethan groans in annoyance, and grumbles about definitely NOT putting any of that in the video.

The final activity for the day was the one you were most looking forward to, going horseback riding. Luckily not at the rodeo since the boys weren’t into sticking around for the nightlife part of the experience. Which made sense since they a. Didn’t drink and b. Couldn’t drink. Not that you were complaining. The whole day had been fun, but the crowds of people, animals, and food had started to really unsettle your nerves. So a quiet horseback ride with your boyfriend after the camera shuts off was going to be the highlight of your day.

Both boys had lost the chaps by the time you got to the horse ranch. Grayson’s had ripped on his thighs and Ethan declared that if Grayson didn’t have to wear them than neither did he. So you looked like a relatively more normal crew. Or as normal as three teenagers dressed in rodeo outfits with an entire camera crew surrounding them screaming “PEACE” could possibly look.

As soon as the cameras are down Ethan hops off the horse and hands over the reigns to you. Your eyes go wide at being face to face with the prospect of getting on the giant creature. Had horses always been this big?

“Saddle up doll!” Ethan says chipperly. Usually the nickname makes you feel better–much to Gray’s annoyance–but not this time. You look back and forth between him and the horse, slightly panicked. “Y/N you haven’t shut up about this all day and now you’re not even gonna get on it?” Ethan huffs and tries to force you up onto the horse, but you can’t do it. It’s too big. You’re exhausted. This animal looks terrifying up close. No thanks.

“Maybe another time guys. I don’t think…” You trail off and look up to Grayson–still wearing the jeans, button up, and hat–and the air in your lungs evaporates. The sun is setting behind him and he looks tan and perfect on top of his horse. And he’s staring down at you with heat in his eyes.

“Just ride with me.” He says, holding a hand out to you to join him on his horse. You walk over slowly and take his hand, Ethan disappears to return the other horse to the stables. Grayson helps pull you up behind him and your arms instantly wrap tight around his waist. “ Come on mama. I gotcha.” He assures before flicking the reins so the horse moves toward one of the trails.

Once you get used to riding the horse it is actually really nice. The trail leads back through a wooded area, the sun is slowly setting, and being pressed up against Gray like you are right now? Well you couldn’t really complain. This would fuel your cowboy fantasies for the rest of your life. So much so that you’re flat against his back as you can be, peppering kisses on his shoulders, running a hand up his thigh when you can, and digging your small fingers into his waist.

Grayson stops the horse in front of an overlook and slides off the horse easily. He turns around and holds his hand out to you and you swear you almost swoon. How did he look so hot like this? The goofball persona now gone, and now he was just Gray. Gray dressed as a cowboy, but just Gray. Being himself and knocking you off your feet.

“Ma’am.” He says in a gravelly voice, as he pulls you down off the horse, pressing you against him as he slides you down his body. You turn bright red when you can feel how hard he is through his jeans. This boy could go from goofball to, well, daddy, in two seconds flat and it always shook you to your core. He lets you go once you reach the ground, and tips his hat to you dramatically.

“Why thank you…sir.” You return the small playful language and give him a slow once over and suck your lip in between your teeth. He was sweaty and he looked like every girl’s fantasy. You whimper slightly, and that? That is what does it.

“Did you just look me up and down and then bite your lip?” He growls, wrapping an arm around your waist and jerking you to him. He’d felt you press closer to him on the horse. Felt the bounce you had behind him. Your hands had drifted down to rub his thighs more than once. This boy is turned on and beyond ready to be inside of you. “Cause if you did we’re having sex. Right now.” And before you can even open your mouth to say anything his hand is in your hair, pulling it back roughly and he is capturing your lips with his own.

You moan into the kiss and that gives him the access he needs to slip his tongue inside your mouth. He tastes like the mint gum you gave him on the drive over, and vaguely of the cotton candy you’d shared at the fairgrounds. He tugs on your hair harder and his fingers dig into your hips. He loves it when you make the little sounds that you do, the pants and whimpers of want. You pull back to breathe and Grayson immediately moves to your neck, digging his fingers into your hips at bruising point now.

“Gray,” You pant, trying to get his attention, he hums into your neck, “Gray please.” He pulls back and takes your hand to pull you back from where the horses are to a tree on the edge of the trail. His tall frame traps you against the tree and his arms, his endless gorgeous arms, trap you between them.

“Don’t worry mama I’ll give you what you want.” He grins cockily and lifts you against his waist and the tree, you yelp and wrap your legs around his waist, a panicked look on your face. He chuckles again and runs his nose down your cheek lovingly, “Where’s my brave girl?” He rocks his hips against yours slowly. Enough so you’re eliciting those little whimpers again. “You looked so sexy up on that bull today. I couldn’t stop thinking about you bouncing like that on my cock.” He bites your neck and sucks the skin there hard enough to make you cry out. “But after that little stunt you pulled rubbing up on me on the horse?” He tisks and flicks his tongue before shoving you against the tree harder, “I just wanna see you take it.”

And with that he’s balancing you on the tree and unzipping your jeans and slipping them down your legs. You’re out on a random horseback trail bare from the waist down. And you’re begging him for it. He groans at the sight of you and you reach forward to help him unzip his pants enough to get his cock out.

Despite the fact that you’re dripping and Gray is beyond the need to be inside you, he still reaches forward to drag his fingers through your heat, swirling around in your wetness almost languidly. His fingers brush your clit each go around and you start squirming against him and the tree, needing more friction than he’s giving you. He chuckles and leads forward to get right next to your ear.

“Look at you Y/N. Squirming around from just my fingertips. You look like such a slut for me right now. You want it so bad you’ll let me fuck you against a tree, mama?” You nod frantically at his question and he nips your ear, “You know better than that mama. Use your words yeah?” He slips one finger inside of you and growls when you tighten around him, his cock gets impossibly harder.

“P-please Gray. Please I need you.” You whine, you actually whine form him. Nothing else has your focus at this moment expect doing anything you have to, to get this man inside of you. His finger feels good, but it’s not enough. Even when he adds a second finger and curls them inside you, you only whimper more. “It’s not enough please please I want to cum. I need you Gray.”

That seems to satisfy his needs to hear you beg because the next thing you know he is pushing into you hard and fast. Two fingers wasn’t enough to stretch you open for him and his pace is relentless. You’re sure his groans and your screams echo through the trees, and the nail marks in his back will definitely bruise tomorrow. But the way he feels inside of you makes you feel so full and tight, its got your eyes rolling in the back of your head.

“Rub that clit for me mama. I wanna feel you cum on my cock.” He groans, knowing he isn’t going to last for much longer. You reach down with the free hand that’s not wrapped around his neck and rub your finger over the hard bundle of nerves, your body tightens as that familiar feeling starts to wash over you. “Fuck Y/N you’re so tight. Cum for me baby. Come on.”

“I want you to fill me so bad Gray. So bad.” You whimper, and his pace quickens, he loved it when you begged for him to cum in you. You rub faster on your clit and finally hit that spot that has you practically milking Gray’s cock while you scream your release. He can’t take the sight of you coming undone for him like that and joins you, latching his mouth to your neck as his cock twitches inside you and fills you up like you love.

After a few moments of nothing but heavy breathing, grayson easily lets you down and you wobble on your legs slightly. He chuckles and wraps an arm around your waist before kissing your sweaty forehead.

“You’re so good for me.” He grins against your skin, and you smile back tiredly. “You’re a mess right now though.” You scoff in mock offense and shove him slightly. He grins and pats down your hair a bit before you smack him off so he doesn’t make it worse.

Gray, ever your sexy goofball.

#this is so much #I'm so sorry this is probably awful #grayson dolan x reader #grayson dolan #grayson dolan smut #grayson dolan imagine #ask #dolantmego #help me #sin #smut #ethan dolan #ethan dolan x reader

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jeonakookie · 5 years

Text

I Wish (2)

Pairing: JungkookxOC

Word Count: 3k

Summary: Zoya and Jungkook had lost touch years ago. When a situation brings them back into each other lives, they try to go back to how things were as best friends once again. But a lot can change in 8 years. People. Feelings.

Masterlist

A sudden numbing pain on her foot bought Zoya’s mind back to the present. “Ow! What the hell!” She exclaimed. Someone had swung the door to the room open like a maniac. After tending to her foot making sure it was okay, she looked up to glare at the idiot, only to freeze up. Kim Namjoon is in front of me. He was in his black stage outfit and there was a slight glow to him. Quickly recovering from her star struck daze as Namjoon apologised, she introduced herself, “Hi, I’m Zoya, nice to meet you. Yes, before you ask, I am supposed to be here. It’s a long story but your staff led me in here to rest.” Zoya’d be damned if her first interaction with perfection personified was her telling him that she walked into a damn pole.

“Okay…” He responded unsure.

“Don’t worry, I’m an ARMY just not a crazy ARMY. Although…that’s what a crazy fan would say…but I promise I’m not. I’m sorry, am I rambling? I feel like rambling. Okay I’ll stop.” Zoya face started to feel hot and she knew she was blushing. She was thanking God for her melanin, she didn’t need to be looking like a tomato on top of her embarrassing rambling.

Namjoon chuckled, finding the rambling girl endearing. “Hello Zoya, nice to meet you. I’m – “

“Kim Namjoon, otherwise known as RM, the leader of BTS. Sorry, like I said, I’m a fan. Nice to meet you.” Zoya could probably admit that she was a little overexcited and making a fool of herself, but she couldn’t begin to care in the moment. This caused him to laugh out loud, much to Zoya’s surprise.

“Well, Zoya, it’s nice meeting you.” Accepting the hand, she stuck out hers for him to shake. “If you’re going to be here during the concert do you mind staying back here a little longer? You can meet the others if you want.”

“Well, I did pay to enjoy the concert…” She said in a teasing way, but it didn’t seem Namjoon caught on.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He said.

“Are you serious? Of course, I’ll stay. I was just teasing. Meeting you was more than I expected, already.”

“Oh, awesome.” He smiles so big that his dimples made an appearance. How cute, she thought.

“Oh! One tiny thing. I kind of came here with a few friends. They can’t leave without me and stuff. Do you mind if they come?” Zoya requested, hoping she wasn’t pushing her luck.

“Sure, that’s fine. Just let security know who they are and where they are, and they’ll fetch them at the end of the concert. I’ll send one of them in soon.” Namjoon said. At some point he had sat down on a seat next to Zoya, and he stood up to leave, “I’ll hopefully see you later, I have to get ready for my stage.”

“Sure, good luck.” Zoya said with, she was sure, a huge smile on her face. Why wouldn’t she smile, she just met Kim Namjoon. Waving bye to each other, Namjoon left.

Just as Namjoon had said, a security person came and Zoya informed them about Lauren, Alice, Hope, and Arielle, a friend of Hope’s. After that, for the next 2 hours, Zoya just watched the concert from the screen in the waiting room and enjoyed it, just as much as she would have if she was out there.

Once the concert had ended, it wasn’t long before Zoya heard familiar voices growing closer until they were in the waiting room.

“Zoya!” A chorus of relieved shouts greeted her.

“Oh my gosh, what happened? How are you here?” Lauren questioned with worry.

“I kind of, maybe, you know…walked into a pole.” Zoya mumbled.

“Sorry I didn’t hear that. Stop being quiet suddenly.” Alice chastised.

“I walked into a pole.” She, once again, mumbled with her head down.

“Zoya,” Alice sighed, “We can’t hear you. Speak up man!”

“I walked into a stupid pole! Okay!” Zoya exclaimed and, looked down again with embarrassment. All her friends could do was stay silent because just as Zoya thinks herself, it was a situation that only she would get into.

“I can’t even with you sometimes” Hope said with a hint of a smile and soon they all broke out into a small laughter at the hilarity of the situation. After their laughter died down, Hope asked “So are we going now?” A question to which Zoya smiled widely at.

“No. I have something to tell you guys. Sit.” They all proceeded to do as they were told. “I met Namjoon.” Zoya squealed.

“Oh, come on! First Jungkook and now Namjoon? What kind of luck are you running on?” Lauren complained.

“If you let me finish. Like I was saying. I met Namjoon and so will you guys! Actually, we get to meet ALL of them! Surprise!” Zoya exclaimed. This caused them all to start speaking at once. There were a few ‘oh my god’s’ and ‘are you serious?’. “All I ask is please Lauren. Do not cry or faint.”

“I’m not going to cry or faint. Gosh. You guys have no faith in me.” Lauren said rolling her eyes.

“You just cried at the concert.” Alice deadpanned, which caused Zoya to give Lauren a pointed look.

“I won’t! Gosh. I promise. The crying is out of my system.” Lauren exclaimed, throwing her hands up in defence.

“Yeah, you say that…” Alice started.

“Okay guys! She can control herself.” Zoya finished before they went around in circles again over who’s going to cry and faint.

“We’re going to meet our man Alice.” Arielle pipes in. Alice laughs in excitement.

“Just make sure not to refer to Jimin as your man when he’s here.” Zoya laughed.

“How are you coping? Or have you had the time to process after meeting Namjoon?” Alice asked Zoya.

“That and the fact that I’m still kind of dying of excitement on the inside.” Zoya clapped in excitement.

“Are you nervous about Jungkook?”

“Not too much, I’m fine to be honest.” Whilst she shrugged, on the inside Alice’s question hit her like a brick wall. Zoya stupidly hadn’t even considered the fact that Jungkook was also going to be there. Her thoughts ran through her mind, a mile a minute. Will he realise it’s her? Will he even remember her? What if he doesn’t? All those thoughts haunted her mind. Before she had much more time to ponder on the subject, the door to the waiting room opened with a smiling Namjoon, now in more casual attire from when she’d previously seen him.

“Zoya!” His dimpled smile was still ever so endearing.

“Namjoon! Hi again.” Zoya glanced at her friends and saw they froze, but thankfully only for a second and resumed to try and act calm. “These are my friends, Alice, Lauren, Arielle and Hope.” She gestured to them each as she spoke their names.

“Nice to meet you guys.” He chose to sit on the sofa opposite to them, but close to Hope and Arielle as they were sat on the sofa beside the two sofas. Uncharacteristically all Zoya’s friends smiled at Namjoon but didn’t speak a word. Giving Alice a small nudge for her to say something, she scowled at Zoya but said, “Nice to meet you too, the concert was great.”

“Aha thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. The others are on their way.” Namjoon informed them.

Right on cue there came a loud “Namjoon-ah!!” and a mop of black hair peeked through the door. It was as if time had stopped for all 5 girls because they were not ready to see Jung Hoseok in that moment, A quiet “Shit.” was heard from beside Zoya which led to her giggling, knowing how much J-Hope affected her friend. Realising the girls’ presence in the room, Hoseok came in to introduce himself. “Hello. I’m your hope-” Before he could continue his legendary introduction Namjoon interrupted him.

“Ah, please don’t.” He whined to his friend in Korean. With a chuckle the older boy obeyed Namjoon’s request.

“Hello, I am Hoseok. Nice to meet you.” He reintroduced himself with a wide smile as he sat beside Namjoon. He was met with a chorus of shy ‘Hi’s’ and smiling. As if to speak more, Hoseok opened his mouth but a chorus of laughter interrupted him and became more apparent and louder, signalling that the source of it was coming closer.

A window wiper like sound could be heard along those laughs and lo and behold Seokjin walked in, along with Jimin and Taehyung. “Lord, this is too much for me. I might faint.” Lauren whispered as she looked starstruck.

“Don’t you dare. Zoya get your friend.” Alice murmured. Shaking her head in amusement at their antics, Zoya looked back at the boys who had just come in and heard Namjoon explain who the random girls were, to the members he failed to notify earlier on. After being filled in, they introduced themselves as if the girls didn’t know who they were and proceeded to also sit down.

“Hello, I’m Taehyung Van Gough.” All the girls were very aware of his actual last name but can’t say they were surprised by him going by a fake last name yet again. Zoya noted that he oozed exuberance just by his energy from simply introducing himself with his boxy smile, and his presence just put a smile on her face.

“Hello, I’m Seokjin. How are you?” If anyone told them that Kim Seokjin wasn’t as handsome in real life, they’d refer them to the opticians. If there was anything to be enamoured by in this world, Seokjin’s face didn’t seem like a bad subject.

“Oh, I’m great now honey. The name’s Hope.” Her friends looked at Hope in amused amazement at her slightly flirty response. Seokjin’s small smirk and confidence wavered because he didn’t expect the response and his ears went slightly red. Zoya and the girls laughed a little at his now flustered state and Hoseok let out a boisterous laugh at his friend’s face.

“Hello, I’m Jimin.” He said with a bright smile and Zoya felt the blood circulation to her hand practically get cut off by Alice’s tight grip on her wrist. Alice wasn’t dying because he spoke, but because he decided to sit on a sofa next to the girls and Alice was the closest to him at that moment. Slowly, she loosened her friends vice grip on her wrist with a quiet “Ow.” and, in revenge, or as a reward depending on how you look at it she introduced Alice to Jimin. “Hi. Jimin this is Alice. She’s a huge fan of you.” If that death stare didn’t show how much she wanted to hit Zoya, she didn’t know what would. Alice gathered her sanity to speak to him and got Arielle roped into the conversation, who was slightly envying Alice’s position. Soon enough everyone was talking, mostly the girls hyping them over their performance.

In that moment, Yoongi walked in and had a relaxed expression due to Namjoon letting him know beforehand of Zoya and her friends. He sat in a single armchair that was next to Jimin and let the boys know that Jungkook needed a minute to get here, causing Jimin to excuse himself to probably help Jungkook.

The chatter started to build up again and Zoya decided to observe her friends and the boys naturally talk. All the girls were paying attention to Namjoon as he helped translate and Hope and Jin were laughing together with Taehyung. ‘Who would have known’ Zoya thought with a smile on her face. If the language barrier became a problem they’d continue to turn to Namjoon to help them out. This time, however, Alice asked Zoya to help her translate her conversation with Taehyung and he seemed confused as he asked Namjoon in Korean “She speaks Korean?”. Just as surprised, Namjoon looked at her and she decided to reveal that she ‘spoke a bit’ in Korean.

“Wah! Daebak.” Hoseok let out to express his surprise and that he was impressed. Zoya laughed it off, considering he was hyping her over a small sentence. Yoongi, suddenly, asked how she had learnt Korean. He was, just as she was, observing everybody. Just as Zoya was about to answer, Jimin walked in before, a mostly stable, Jungkook. Her breath caught in her throat and Zoya’s heart was beating hard and fast, she felt slightly self-conscious if everyone in the room could hear it. One thing Zoya missed was that Yoongi had noticed her reaction and he smirked. He muttered to her “Do you like Jungkook?”, to which she shot her head up to give him a startled look and he took that as the answer to his question, and he just gave a knowing look with the smirk remaining on his face. Zoya couldn’t deny that Jungkook had grown to be a handsome guy, but Yoongi was way off the mark.

“Hello.” He simply said with a shy smile as he sat down on the empty sofa next to Alice with Jimin. Zoya softly smiled in response while the girls replied with their own ‘Hello’s’. Alice nudged her friend to say something, but Zoya shakes her head. Zoya realised that she wasn’t ready for this, but most of all neither was he. She knew that he was only here for 2 days and he would then carry on with his busy life. Jungkook’s life had changed in many ways from when he was a trainee, but he was still, if not even more, busy. It was right then that she decided that Jungkook didn’t need to know. After giving her a questioning look, Alice had surprisingly let it go. “Ask him if he’s feeling okay at least.” She says and Zoya was confused as to why she would want to ask that. “He injured his foot today, didn’t you know?” Alice answered Zoya’s unasked question. Zoya knew something happened, that’s what she gets for taking a toilet break in the middle of a concert. She looked towards Jungkook who was laughing at something Taehyung said and Zoya was building herself up to ask Jungkook what Alice wanted to say. Why was she so nervous? She was fine with the other members. With a deep breath in and out to calm herself, Zoya asked for the attention of Jungkook by calling him and proceeded to ask Alice’s question in Korean.

“My friend wanted to ask if you’re okay, I didn’t know you injured yourself.” Zoya asked, but then she realised she made a mistake by asking if he was okay in satoori which was why the five other boys were looking at her with a weird look. Zoya’s hand flew to her mouth and with an “Oh sorry!” she then proceeded to ask the question in the standard Korean.

“You speak Korean?” Jimin asks in surprise, everyone realised Jimin and Jungkook weren’t here when they had discovered this information. Jimin went on further to ask in disbelief, “In Busan dialect?” The last bit was news to everyone.

“Where did you learn Korean?” Yoongi asked, remembering his question from earlier on. Zoya’s nerves grew as all eyes were on her.

“I…I lived in Busan for a couple of years as a child.” She explained, and her eyes automatically went to Jungkook when she said that. He nodded along with all the boys with understanding.

“Well I’m fine” Jungkook says in Busan dialect with a teasing smile. Zoya couldn’t help but smile and laugh a little. It was just then that she noticed the blank expression on her friends’ faces.

“Oh damn, sorry! I’ll translate.” She let her friends in on what had happened, and Alice and Lauren gave her a look as if to say ‘And?’ “…So yeah, that’s it.” Zoya made sure to emphasise the last part for her two disapproving friends. She knew they wanted her to tell them everything, but Zoya felt content without Jungkook knowing. However, Jimin and Yoongi seemed very inquisitive about Zoya’s life.

“How old were you when you moved there?”

“I was about 5.”

“Are you originally from here?”

“Yes, I was born in this country.”

“What area of Busan did you live in?”

“…Erm, I actually can’t remember, it’s been a while. My mum probably knows.”

Zoya tried to give vague answers, but they made it difficult and the answer to the last question was just an outright lie. Sure, Sara knew where they lived, but Zoya knew too of course. It’d be a little weird if she didn’t know where she had lived by the time she was 13. She saw Jungkook was very into the conversation, and she couldn’t risk saying something that would click in his mind. Saying she used to live in his hometown may ring a few bells that she didn’t need to be ringing. Not too long after that, their curious eyes were off Zoya and back to conversing with everyone else.

Despite, her best efforts in avoiding giving explicit details, Jungkook now glanced at her like an unsolved problem and that left her feeling unsettled.

“What school did you go to?” He asked, with a determined look in his eyes. Zoya knew that Jungkook was starting to put pieces together and she conceded in her effort to keep him from knowing who she was. She answered his question calmly, to which his eyes lit up as he asked one last question, “What’s your name?”

It was then that, Zoya realised Namjoon was the only one who knew her name from when she introduced herself to him, but the others didn’t. This gave her an opportunity to get out of the situation.

“Zoya. It’s late, we need to go.” Zoya closed her eyes and sighed. Then again nothing really went right for Zoya. The girl turned to her friend, oblivious to the situation between Zoya and Jungkook, and saw that they gotten up and were saying their goodbyes to the boys. Without missing a beat, Zoya grabbed her stuff and quickly said bye to them all, whilst avoiding Jungkook’s eyes all whilst ushering the girls out.

A/N Has Jungkook realised that it’s Zoya? Let me know what you guys think in the comments and remember to like :)

-A

Masterlist

#bts fluff #bts angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #jeon jungkook #kookie #bts fanfic #zoya #bts funny #bts

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robininthelabyrinth · 6 years

Text

Fic: Nocturne (25/30) - Ao3 Link

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Pairings: Mostly Gen

Summary: In which Cor Leonis loses his temper, accidentally acquires a kid, and tries to single-handedly dismantle the Lucian immigration system – and that’s before he and his lawyers find out about this Prophecy business. If the Astrals think Cor’s going to let his kid’s best friend die without a fight, they’ve gotten the wrong cheetah ‘taur.

(a young adult novel set in @kickingshoes’ ‘taur AU)

—————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————

It's not like Noctis is an expert at this whole hero business, except maybe in video games (where he kicks hindquarter like nobody's business), but he's pretty sure accepting the bad guy's invitation to a party is, like, a bad idea? Or something?

"We've thought of that," Dad tells Noctis when he brings it up. "But we don't see how we can avoid a full-fledged siege of the Rock otherwise – and a siege we will more than likely lose, and lose badly, since Niflheim is both closer and has greater forces than we. So, in lieu of any better options, we go to have fritters, roast meat, and fruitcake with the enemy."

"Fruitcake with a fruitcake," Noctis says.

“Be nice, Noctis,” his mother says, drifting through the room. "Regis, do you think Noctis can wear his traveling clothes, or are those not formal enough? I want something sturdy, in the event of disaster, but good enough to pass as appropriately formal..."

"Perhaps the dark blue travel outfit, instead of the black?" Dad suggests. "It's a little less used, but still thoroughly broken in..."

Noctis throws his hands up into the air. "What do we care? The only person we'll be impressing is Creepy McCreepytaur!"

Noctis' parents look at him with injured "you're not getting it" expressions that quickly shift into "well maybe he’ll understand when he's older" ones that are even more annoying.

Cor, who's sitting on the floor near the fire with Prompto, snorts, though, because he's cool. He gets it.

"Don't worry, Noctis," he says, running a brush through Prompto's silky fur. Prompto likes it when Cor does it for him, rather than just doing it himself; Noctis isn't sure if that's a canidaetaur thing, a laziness thing, or a Prompto thing. Either way, he's totally going to go over to demand some brushing as well, even though he'll probably get bored of it after two minutes. "No matter what you wear, we'll be there to back you up. With an army."

"Quite literally, in fact," Uncle Clarus puts in. "We're fully expecting an ambush, and we're bringing all the forces we can spare from Insomnia's defense. We'll all be there, hanging back in the event you need us."

"Even Gladio and Iggy and Prom, right?" Noctis says eagerly.

That gets frowns from the adults. "Noctis," Dad starts, "I don't think that that's –"

"They helped me with all the other Covenants!" Noctis argues. "Maybe they're necessary!"

"We are fulfilling the Prophecy in a non-traditional manner," Iggy volunteers from where he and Gladio are playing checkers. Luna, Iggy's usual opponent, isn't there, since she's off packing in her quarters (picking her clothing, more likely), so Gladio has volunteered himself and is losing amiably. "Our presence may be necessary. You don’t know for sure, and why take the risk of not bringing us?"

"You're children," Aunt Cyrella points out, but she sounds thoughtful. "And it will undoubtedly be quite dangerous. Though you've been in dangerous situations before..."

That's a good sign!

"I'm fairly sure I don't like the idea of sending children – any children – up against the Accursed," Uncle Clarus says, frowning. "Much less ones he already has reason to know of."

Less good.

"You know, while we're at it, I don't like that we have to kill this Accursed Izunia fellow," Scientia says from where she's nose-deep in some book. "We're a nation of law, by Bahamut's scales; we ought to try him by jury, just like anyone else."

"Oh, come now, Scientia, really," Aunt Cyrella objects. "Please remember that we're talking about a person who is, as far as we can tell, quite literally the incarnation of the Starscourge."

"Doesn't matter," Ms. Scientia says firmly. "The Lucian charter doesn't qualify between individuals, no matter their crimes or, er, composition: all sentient beings get a trial by twelve of their peers. And you can't say he's not sentient, not with all the trouble he's caused."

"But really, under the circumstances, Scientia..."

"Oh, I'm not saying we can do it," she concedes. "Just that it would be nice if we could do it legally."

"I don't know where we could even hold him for long enough for a proper trial," Cor says thoughtfully.

"I've given in already, Leonis; there’s no need to rub it in further."

"Hey, no, I'm agreeing with you," he protests. "It would be preferable if we could, but I don't think we can. Besides, the battlefield has its own laws."

"Hmmm. True enough, I suppose."

"Well, I still think the very idea is absolutely ridiculous," Aunt Cyrella huffs. "The fact that you're both still concerned with the rights of –"

"I think the blue will do quite well," Noctis' mom decides before Cor and Scientia's hackles can go up any further. Her voice is calm and gentle and also somehow manages to interrupt everyone's conversations with no effort whatsoever, pulling everyone's attention to her instead of to their tiff. "What do you think, Noctis?"

Noctis groans.

"I don't think he cares," Gladio translates. "Did we ever make a decision on whether we're coming or not? Because if we're not allowed to come, we're just gonna try to stow away. Cor will help."

"He will not," Dad says, giving Cor a hard look.

Cor shrugs noncommittally.

He totally will.

"Cor!"

"I didn't say anything."

"Oh, yes, but you 'didn't say anything' in a way that speaks volumes. Don't think I don't know -"

"This entire discussion is irrelevant," Mom says with a sigh. "We've seen that the Accursed has his ways to get into the city regardless, and if he launches another attack on Insomnia while we're abroad there won't be anything we can do. So we may as well bring the children – it's the Inferniad holiday, after all, which is meant to be celebrated by bringing families together. Not to mention that we aren't exactly leaving anyone at home to watch them, except perhaps for Cyrella's mother..."

"She's watching Iris," Aunt Cyrella says. "That's all she agreed to do. You try to push three boys on her, she'll lead a palace revolt."

"Successfully, too," Uncle Clarus mutters, his fur going flat. He's always been a bit afraid of his mother-in-law, which has constantly been a source of hilarity to Noctis and Gladio because Grandma Romulea happens to be very sweet and so near-sighted as to be half blind even with her frankly enormous glasses.

"So we're going?" Iggy asks eagerly.

"Not to the party itself," Mom says. "You're not invited."

"But otherwise yes," Scientia says. "Consider it a contract."

Iggy breaks out into a momentary grin, then gets control of himself again. "Thank you for this opportunity," he says politely.

"You may assist by wrestling Noctis into his traveling clothing," Dad says wryly. "He needs to try it on before we go."

"Nooooooo -"

"You have to."

"I can do it myself! Don't sic my friends on me!"

And that, as far as Noctis can tell, is that, and next thing he knows they're on their way to the Rock of Ravatogh for the world's most screwed up Inferniad party ever.

They go in an airship, at least – a small one, with Aranea driving and being more awkward than he might've believed possible after having known her for a few weeks as a Crownsguard. Apparently she has a totally different approach to Noctis' Dad and Luna's Mom than she has to regular people - far, far more respectful and awestricken.

Like, Noctis can't blame her, but it's super annoying.

Luna grabbed Noctis to sit by her, and made sure her other side was right next to the wall, which probably means that she and Ravus still haven't made up. Luna's mom looks all pinched up about it, too.

Ugh, Noctis is glad he doesn't have siblings. They sound like way more trouble than they're worth.

When they get close to the Rock of Ravatogh – bare of snow and unseasonably warm as always, no matter the weather - Noctis looks out the window and abruptly realizes exactly why his parents and all the other adults agreed to this whole ridiculous thing.

There's an army already there.

MTs, all of them, standing in rows and rows, unmoving tin soldiers with glowing red eyes – just deadly.

There's a lot of them.

A lot of them.

Noctis thought the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive force that's following behind them at a far distance was impressive, but it's not anywhere near as impressive as this.

All the MTs are just standing there, out in the open, unmoving, and their army is encircling, as far as Noctis can tell, the only pathway up the mountain. Trying to get past them...

Yeah, okay. That would be impossible.

It'd definitely be impossible to do it before Niflheim called for backup from its massive airship fleet.

Its slightly-smaller-than-previously airship fleet, thanks to Aranea.

Aranea lands their airship without any of the MTs taking a step in their direction, although their heads all creepily rotate to focus on them.

All together, all at once.

Creepy.

"Good luck," Aranea says, and she sounds pretty doubtful about their chances. "I'll wait here until I see you safely up."

"They might fire on you once we disembark," Luna's mom says.

"I have shields for a reason, your Ladyship," Aranea says. "I don't think they'll let me stay more than a few minutes, but those minutes I can, I'll be here."

Luna's mom smiles at her and puts a hand on Aranea's lower back, just lightly. "You're a good one, Commodore," she says, and when she lifts her hand away, it's glowing a little.

Aranea looks dumbfounded for a second, and then extremely honored. "Yes, my Lady," she says, looking even more awestruck than before.

That must be the Oracle's Blessing.

(Big deal. Luna can do it too.)

They get off the ship.

Once the MTs see that all six of them are there – Dad and Mom and Noctis and Luna and Ravus and their mom – they abruptly move, choppy uneven movements like the creepy quasi-robots they are. The ones of them in the front turn to the side in a single uniform movement, opening up a narrow path between them, just large enough for one or two ‘taurs to pass through, just barely, and the back rows march in a turning style to stand side-by-side to continue the walls of that path all the way up the side of the mountain.

Up and up and up the mountain.

It's like watching dominos, except instead of falling they're rearranging themselves into a different pattern with perfect precision.

So, so, so creepy.

"I'm glad I brought my cane," Dad sighs. He has an old wound in one of his forelegs – he has a knee brace that he wears for it, more and more often, and he's been using his cane to get around. It's a nice cane – it goes up to his chest in height so that he can lean against it, like a staff, and it's very pretty – but Noctis worries. He knows that the Ring drains the King's health, but surely it shouldn't be doing it so fast..?

If his Dad's ill health is part of the Prophecy, Noctis is going to be super mad at someone.

Probably Bahamut.

"We'll go slowly," Mom says firmly. "There's nothing wrong with being fashionably late. Sylvia, if you would..?"

Luna's mom takes Dad's arm – her hands glowing again, this time focused more on healing him so as to make the climb easier – and they all start going up the mountain.

Per Mom's instructions, Luna goes next, and then Noctis, and then Ravus, and finally Mom, covering their tails.

It's pretty slow going. Worse, with MTs on both sides watching them go, it's hard to even really enjoy it – they're basically stuck in single file, twisting and twining their way up the mountain path, and they can't even really talk to each other or anything to make it less boring.

Ugh, Noctis really hopes this isn't actually a trap. Or, if it is, that Cor and Uncle Clarus have some really awesome plan to get them all out of it.

The MT path ends up diverging from the actual pathway and going up some sheer rock, forcing them to follow that path instead, and that's even harder on Noctis' dad, making his breath come faster and his limp worse. If Noctis didn't hate this Accursed guy on principle already, he definitely does now.

And then they finally get to a cave, and inside that cave is –

Oooooh shit.

"Is that a Lucian tomb?" Luna's mom murmurs. "It resembles the one in Succarpe."

"It is," Regis confirms. "The Tomb of the Fierce – the last of the Royal Arms that Noctis requires."

"Indeed it is!" an extremely obnoxious voice purrs from the side. There's a leopard 'taur there, half in shadow, half out, his eyes hidden by the shade of his hat but the whiteness of his teeth entirely evident as he smiles. "Please, come inside – I insist! You should feel entirely free to collect your little...trinket."

"Chancellor Izunia," Dad says icily.

"A pleasure," Mom says. "As ever."

She sounds amused and a little fond.

Noctis' Mom has the weirdest sense of humor.

The Chancellor pulls off his hat and holds it to his upper torso, still grinning. "Your Majesties do me great honor in accepting my little invitation. I've set us up a nice picnic further in – please, do follow me."

He waves casually at the MTs, causing them to start marching back down the mountain, and then the Chancellor turns his back on them – he's got to be immortal or something, because literally any of the adults could probably get him right between the shoulder-blades without even trying, and he seems utterly indifferent to the idea – and saunters in.

Literally saunters.

The rest of them all follow slowly, the adults looking suspicious (well, except Mom, who mostly looks interested in the cave walls and not unlike she's on one of her visits to the general populace, calm and collected as always), but nothing happens when they walk in. The Chancellor even walks right by the tomb as if it's unimportant.

Noctis hesitates when they get close, looking up at his parents.

"Go ahead, Noctis," Dad says, his eyes still fixed firmly on the Chancellor.

Noctis tries to absorb the Mace as quickly and quietly as possible. Well, as quickly and quietly as is possible when the weapon turns all glowy, rises up into the air, and stabs him in the upper chest.

At least it's not accompanied by an orchestral score or anything. That would be weird.

Even if Noctis has played enough video games that he can very vividly imagine how it would go.

Still, it's kind of a relief to have it. He has all thirteen of them, now – Luna's mom gave him the Trident earlier (he gave the real one back at once, of course), and he's had a copy of Dad's sword since forever. He kind of expected it to be a bit more of a moment, some sort of gold star "here! you've done it! you've got them all!" but honestly that might just be the gamer in him. This is real life, not a game.

He shakes his head and quickly catches up to the others. The Chancellor is leading them deeper inside, to a big cavern where there is, in fact, a series of blankets and picnic baskets laid out in a circular fashion, surrounding the nine-pronged candlabras traditional to the Inferniad.

"How nice it is for us to all be together, on this of all days," the Chancellor says cheerily. His voice feels slimy. "Now, first things first – who among us will light the candles?"

"Chancellor Izunia –" Luna's mom starts, sounding very stiff.

"Please, please! Call me Ardyn," the Chancellor – Ardyn – says. "We're all friends here, are we not?"

"It's very easy to be friends when you have an army outside the door," Mom says, her cheerful and sincere good mood making even Ardyn's intimidating creepiness seem a little less scary. "Wouldn't you say?"

"I do find that it helps," Ardyn agrees, smirking conspiratorially with her. The smirk is noticeably less fake than all the other expressions he's had on so far, less rehearsed and fake, but that's probably because he likes Noctis' Mom. Everyone that Mom likes likes her back, it's like her superpower or something. "But then, that's why I expect that you brought your own, wouldn't you say?"

Dad and Luna's mom stiffen - Noctis is pretty sure Ardyn wasn't supposed to know about their army - but Noctis' mom is entirely unperturbed. "It would be rude not to meet courtesy with courtesy," she says cheerfully. "And we do so try not to be rude. Etiquette is so easily forgotten these days."

"Well said, well said," Ardyn says, looking vastly amused.

"Is there any chance we can get to the point of these discussions?" Ravus growls. He growls very well for an ungulaetaur.

Ardyn tsks.

"So impatient," he says. "The follies of youth! But youth, of course, represents the future. And on that note, why shouldn't we have our dashing prince and lovely princess light the candles, as the youngest of our little company? I believe that's the tradition."

"Very well," Dad says slowly after a few moments. "Luna, Noctis, go ahead."

Noctis looks at Luna. She doesn't look particularly happy about it, but she's straightening her back in a way that suggests that she's going to do it.

And, well, if Luna's going to do it, then obviously Noctis will as well.

So they head into the center of the circle to the candles, while the adults all settle down in a loose semi-circle around them, and they light the candles together, reciting the traditional Inferniad blessings.

"How lovely it is," Ardyn says when they finish. "Ah, youth and beauty – and they make such a lovely couple indeed."

Noctis, who'd taken Luna's hand in his for the candle lighting, immediately drops it. "Couple?!"

Ardyn chuckles. "I see the prince is not yet old enough to properly appreciate the bounty that has been placed before him."

"It's not that," Noctis says, wrinkling his nose at the thought of Luna being called a 'bounty', whatever that meant. He's pretty sure Ardyn doesn't mean like a bounty hunter. "We wouldn't be a couple anyway. Luna likes girls!"

(Pity, too - Noctis would totally have married her and Prompto both if he could.)

Still, Noctis' announcement gets the smug, self-satisfied look off of Ardyn's face, if only for a moment while he blinks at them.

"And has a girlfriend already," Luna adds, her voice a little waspish. She reaches out to take Noctis' hand again in order to guide him over to the blankets to sit down. "Assuming my input is at all relevant here, of course."

"Hardly the fairytale match you thought it would be, Ardyn?" Mom says wryly. "But then – we haven't really done any of this the way you thought it would be, have we?"

"Indeed," Ardyn says, but the smug look is back on his face. "I must say, it's positively heartwarming, really, to see all of you working together on the duties of the Chosen King – the Prophecy of Bahamut is so cruel, wouldn't you say, your Majesty? After all, if it all goes the way the Astrals intend, you'll be giving up both husband and son to their destines as Kings of Lucis."

"We have no intention of giving up anything," Luna's mom says. "There is always light, even in the midst of darkness, and where there is light, there is hope."

"Such charming philosophy," Ardyn says, then settles back, looking them over. "Charming, yes – quite charming. Six of you here, six Astrals above and below, and yet between the two groups, it is we mere mortals who are chosen to pay the price for the Astrals's folly."

"That is still better than encouraging it," Dad says. He inclines his head to the cave entrance. "Or do you deny that you invited the Starscourge to Niflheim, so that it might grow stronger?"

"You misunderstand me entirely," Ardyn says, hand over his upper heart, clearly insincere. "I wish for nothing more than to see your lines united so as to see the Prophecy properly fulfilled – Chosen King and Oracle, come together at last to defeat the darkness!"

"I suppose that would be important to you, wouldn't it?" Mom says musingly. "After all, you yourself sprang from such a union."

Ardyn's face goes utterly flat, all humor disappearing. He clearly wasn't expecting that.

Mom pours herself a cup of tea from a thermos she pulled the picnic basket, all casual and awesome.

"The line of the Oracle and the line of Lucis do not often unite," she says, still causal as if she's commenting on the weather. "And almost never through arranged marriages, the way you implied would be appropriate for Noctis and Lunafreya – almost never, that is, except for once, centuries ago, a handful of generations after the world was turned and the fight against the Starscourge began in earnest. A near cousin of the Oracle was a lion 'taur, through some well-placed marriages, and so able to meet the already established Lucian standard of only marrying lions. And so they married, and had two sons."

She studies a silent Ardyn.

"Isn't that right?" she asks.

"It is," he says. His voice has lost that nauseatingly intimate tone he'd been using up until now; it's very flat. "Tell me, what exactly is it that you think you've found?"

"Izunia," she says instead. "What a strange surname for you to take – that of the younger brother that took the throne of Lucis instead of you."

"The throne of –" Dad says sharply, even as Luna's mom stiffens.

Noctis looks around. He's not sure he understands.

If Ardyn is centuries old, and he was once in line for the throne of Lucis – a line that has been unbroken from the very beginning, when Bahamut blessed them with the Ring and the Crystal – then that means...

"You're a Lucis Caelum," Luna's mother says blankly.

"And a Nox Fleuret," Ardyn says, his eyes glittering. "If one believes my ancestry to be true."

"It is true," Mom says quietly. "Genetic drift was always a possibility, even if no one knew about it back then. Two lions could have a leopard for a son – even an eldest son."

"And yet the throne went to the second son," Ardyn says. "A second son, with a different mother, as leonine as the first, but he was born a lion. And thereafter the line of the Lucii and the Nox Fleurets diverged thereafter forevermore."

"But –" Noctis says, still unsure. "But that means you're..."

"Oh yes, my young Chosen King," Ardyn says, and smiles. It's not a nice smile. "That makes you and I family. But then, isn't the Inferniad traditionally celebrated by families coming together?"

"What happened?" Luna asks, her eyes wide. "If you were Lucis Caelum and Nox Fleuret both...? How did you – why did you..?"

Ardyn laughs. "Let me tell you a story," he says. "It is about a young King-to-be – a young healer, by virtue of his mother's side – who traveled throughout the land to fight the Starscourge, using his abilities to pull the plague from the bodies of his subjects into his own so as to free them from their burden. And yet, when he returned home, his family and his subjects all declared that he was too corrupted to take the throne that was rightfully his – they declared, further, that he had no right to the throne, his true heritage made questionable by simple virtue of the spots on his back – the spots of a leopard, rather than the clean lines of the lion - and because of this, they had him executed. But the Starscourge he had absorbed – the countless daemons he took into himself, rather than let them afflict his land and his people – oh, it would not permit him to die so easily. He did not die. Instead they chased him out, and wiped his name from history."

He turns his eyes to Mom, arching his eyebrows. "Or at least, so I'd thought. It appears a whisper of that story survived, deep within the archives of Lucis."

"The Starscourge corrupts," Luna's mom says with a frown. "To take the daemons into yourself, rather than to purge them – your judgment would have been tainted, your reason unbalanced. That would be why you were denied the throne, not your heritage or your spots."

"They would never have turned on me if not for that," Ardyn hisses, suddenly fierce. "The line of the Lucii, so obsessed with remaining pure – it could not tolerate something different. Anything different!"

"You're mad," Mom observes, her voice neutral – all amusement gone. If anything, she sounds regretful. "Perhaps you were only angry, once, but now you have become consumed – by the Starscourge, and by your hatred."

"Perhaps," he says. "Perhaps. But really, who can blame me?"

He rises to his paws, and so do the rest of them. Noctis doesn't like the way Ardyn's face has gone twisted with anger and the remnants of condescending humor. It makes him seem much more dangerous than the condescending asshole he was just moments before.

He steps back as Ardyn steps forward.

"But now, this time, this time it will be different," Ardyn says, his voice low and his eyes fixed on Noctis. "Now I will face the Chosen King himself – younger than I'd thought, perhaps, but no matter. I will face the Chosen of the Astrals, the Chosen of Prophecy, in the full bloom of his power and might, he who received all the inheritance that should have been mine, and I will show the Astrals who condemned me to my fate the ruinous folly of their ways, of their cruelty –"

There's a muted sound of an explosion, and the room shakes, causing them all to stagger.

"What's happening?" Dad shouts.

Noctis looks at Ardyn, assuming it's his fault, but no – he looks as surprised as any of them.

Another explosion – not in the room, Noctis realizes, but on the mountaintop above them. And then another, and another

"It's a Niflheim bombing run!" Luna's mom exclaims. She’s more familiar with them than most, being from Tenebrae.

"Well, those certainly aren't our people doing it," Mom says, grabbing onto Dad to help him keep his balance as the cavern quakes and ominous cracks begin to run up the walls. "They know we're here - and anyway, we wouldn't use up the bombs like that."

"They've turned on me," Ardyn says poisonously, realizing. "Niflheim – they've turned on me - they're trying to take out two birds with one stone –"

He turns his face back to where Noctis is standing, towards the back of the cavern with Luna.

"It's too soon," Ardyn says, and his voice has gone horribly raspy. "You have not fulfilled your quest yet. You cannot die, Chosen King, not yet, not until your mission is done – I will have my revenge done properly –"

His face is different all of a sudden, his eyes yellow lights in a pit of blackness, with filth the color of tar spilling down his cheeks and out of his mouth, his skin gone grey like a corpse – the corruption inside revealed –

A giant rock falls from the ceiling right next to Luna, making her scream, making Noctis look up and realize just how much the ceiling of the cavern is fragmenting.

"Luna!" Ravus shouts. He charges forward, knocking both Luna and Noctis back just as the ceiling begins to collapse, and the three of them tumble down together, falling backwards – backwards through where the wall of the cavern used to be – backwards and down, going down through some newly-revealed fissure in the wall, tumbling onto some slippery slide where their paws and hooves can get no grip.

Sliding down and down and away, into the center of the volcano.

"Noctis!" someone shouts after them, frantic, and through the echoes Noctis can't tell if it was one of his parents – or if it was Ardyn, seeing his revenge slip away from him.

#final fantasy xv #noctis lucis caelum #ardyn izunia #lunafreya nox fleuret #ravus nox fleuret #regis lucis caelum #aulea lucis caelum #sylva nox fleuret #aranea highwind #cor leonis #clarus amicitia #cyrella amicitia #apollonia scientia #ignis scientia #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #nocturne #my fic

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drbtinglecannon · 6 years

Text

Be there or be square

Todoroki Fuyumi finally agrees to go on a date with Hawks on one condition; he doesn't show up late. Unfortunately for Hawks, the universe has different plans.

(Hilarity, a handful of villains, tardiness, candy, and awkward flirting ensues.) Read it here on Ao3!

---

Months of joking, suggesting, and then flat out asking Todoroki Fuyumi on a date eventually paid off when she finally (begrudgingly) accepts. Hawks had greatly enjoyed her varying reactions, ranging from polite declines to eye rolls while sighing. “Fine.” She has her eyes closed with a poorly disguised look of annoyance on her face. “...wait what?” Her eyes stay closed as she adjusts her glasses. “I said 'fine’. I know this is all a game to you, but I'm tired of playing along. I figure if I finally agree, perhaps you'll lose interest and leave me alone.” Hawks opens and shuts his mouth a couple times. She's right, it did start as a game, mostly to annoy Endeavor cause that guy needed to fucking chill out. Over time though Hawks became genuinely excited to see Todoroki-san, tease her, and guess what her reaction would be that day. He never thought she'd say yes, but a guy can dream.

“Oh, uh. Ok, yeah great! I’ll make a reservation. Is Friday at 7pm alright?” “Fine.” She still had her eyes closed. After a beat of silence she opens them and pins him with a look. “However…” Hawks watches her face morph from disinterested to an almost evil looking smirk. He shivers, wandering if she used some of her quirk to freeze the air when making that face. “I’m leaving if you're even one minute late.” The silence that follows is palpable. Todoroki continues to sport her smirk, and Hawks regards her with a wary expression. Hawks prides himself on keeping his personal life very personal (which is easy when you have no life outside Hero-ing), but being ranked the Number 2 Hero means some of his habits will become common knowledge. Things like Endeavor's short temper, Best Jeanist’s obsession over appearance, Edgeshot’s need for disguise and keeping everything secret, All Might’s tendency to be really dorky, nothing that would take a genius to notice about these heros who are constantly in the limelight. Hawks’ biggest weakness that the entire world is aware of is punctuality. He can probably count on one hand the number of times he ever showed up on time for an event, and just forget about showing up early. It's the wings, he decided long ago; since he won't hit traffic if he flies, he always leaves late, which makes him get there late, which results in him just being late all the time. He also will always sidetrack if he notices villainy on his commute, which doesn't help his tardiness. Todoroki looks thoroughly pleased with herself. “I hope that isn't too difficult for the Number 2 Hero.” Tone sickeningly sweet as light gray eyes bore into him. He gulps then tries to put on a signature charming grin. “Not at all!” Her smirk widens a little, enough to show Hawks she wasn't falling for it. “As they say, ‘be there or be square’.” “You're lucky the saying doesn't mean literally becoming square, Hawks-san.” Ouch. She's lucky she's cute. He holds his index fingers and thumbs into a square shape over his face and winks. “Even if I were a square, I’d still be super handsome.” She rolls her eyes, Hawks’ favorite reaction to pull from her. She adjusts the purse straps on her shoulder, quickly glancing around the park to mentally count all her students were still where they needed to be. “Well, Hawks-san, you have my number already somehow…” He won’t tell her he snuck it from Endeavor's phone once while the hero was busy yelling at a server. He changed some of the contact names and put a selfie as the lock screen image; the fire hero’s reaction was priceless. “When you decide where to meet, please let me know. Until then, Hawks-san.” She nods politely before heading off towards the class, calling for their attention to let them know the short break was over. Hawks waves to some of the students who not so subtly point at him before he takes off. His mind wanders as his wings lead him through the air. How hard could being on time really be? --- Apparently it's super hard. Hawks wouldn't admit it out loud, but he's been stressing all week about the date. Sure, he's hooked up a handful of times during his Hero career, but the last real relationship he had was back in high school, and it wasn't terribly impressive. A huge downfall was his lack of time management. A major development was made last night in a case some big name heroes were brought in on, and he was out until 6 in the morning working on the wrap-up paperwork. He passed out face down on his bed still in his gear, and woke up sore and groggy a few hours later. He wakes up just in time for a police meeting most of the other top heroes were attending. It's the first of monthly meetings where they'll converse and draft up proposals for new laws surrounding quirk use and Hero-ing since All Might’s retirement. Hawks groans loudly as he gets up, the meeting starts in 6 minutes meaning he'll be late. He desperately wants to shower but couldn't spare the time, already being in his hero outfit he does a quick once over before running to the balcony of his flat and jumping off. He lands at the police office 7 minutes late. “How nice of you to join us, Hawks.” The Best Jeanist drawls. He's unafraid of calling people out on their shit, a trait Hawks respects, even though it means being nagged about tardiness every time they meet. Hawks shoots finger guns at Jeanist, who merely shakes his head in response. “You look like shit, you're supposed to be the Number 2 Hero.” A deep growl pulls Hawks’ attention towards Endeavor. “Really? Cause I feel like a million yen. And I thought looking like shit was the duty of the Number 2 Hero.” He winks as Endeavor’s eye twitches, clearly about to scream but is interrupted by the head of police continuing the meeting. The meeting drags for hours and Hawks struggles to stay awake, contributing very little to the conversation. Thankfully no one points it out, and when it finally ends he makes a quick escape. Ok, I have 4 hours to get home, shower, get ready, and get to the restaurant on time. Piece of cake. Hawks mentally tallies everything to do as he lands back on his balcony and crawls through the bedroom window. He looks at his bed longingly. I have enough time to nap. --- Almost three hours and a half hours later Hawks finally wakes up, looks at the clock, and makes a mad dash out of bed to the shower.

The water is too cold but he was on a time crunch, quickly washing his face and body then hopping out. He brushes his teeth as he pulls up his pants, neglecting his hair since it'll get messed up flying anyway. There's no time to panic about what to wear, but thankfully they agreed on a more casual dining place. Black jeans, a dark blue button up, black loafers, and sunglasses for the trip over (it was annoying to fly without something covering his eyes). Not too shabby if say so myself. He grabs his bomber jacket, one of his few tops without holes for his wings specifically for use when he's trying to be discreet, and his dark green messenger bag before hurrying off the balcony once more. Hawks checks the time on his phone as he soars over building tops. Doing a swift once over of the area, he lands a touch-too-harshly in an alley a few stores down and removes the bright feathers from his wings until they're as small as possible, pulling the limbs tightly against his back. The feathers and shades are piled into the bag and he slides on his jacket while walking over to the restaurant. The winged hero stops in front of the entrance and is immensely proud of himself when he sees his phone read 6:53pm on the top of the screen. He ignores any passersby who stare when he does a small cheer. HA I can be punctual! Shit, I should tell Best Jeanist about this. Hawks strides inside when an alert beeps on his phone; there's a villain attack two blocks over and they're requesting backup. Most heroes keep their location on with the police app even when off-duty, which means whomever sent the alert knows the young hero is nearby and is logged in. Which further means he can't ignore it, not that he would anyway. A groan escapes his throat and Hawks wonders if the universe is conspiring against him. Now he has to rush over to this altercation but Fuyumi might not believe him if he sends her a text explaining the situation, after all he's very notorious for being late and getting sidetracked; it may just look like an excuse for not being there on time. He looks up to lock eyes with the polite hostess at the podium and an idea pops into his head. The hero smiles wide as he approached her. “Hello! Excuse me, but could you relay a message for me?” “Of course, sir. Are you supposed to be meeting with a 'female colleague’ and need to stay discreet? We can seat you in the back away from windows and let her know.” The woman nods sympathetically. Hawks drops his smile and confusion blankets his expression. “What? No. I have to do something for work, but could you tell a woman with white hair with red flecks in it that I'll be back as soon as I can be? The reservation is under ‘Takasu’.” The woman nods along to his message, making a small note to herself next to the reservation name. “Also, please be specific on the time I was here. Thank you!” Hawks gives her no time to respond before rushing out the door and running down the street towards the incident. He scrambles with removing his jacket from under his bag strap as he bolts down the block, maneuvering out of the way of people fleeing the area. Though he was much faster in the air, Hawks had very good cardio and could move fairly fast on the ground. He skids to a halt right at the end of the targeted location the same moment he successfully removed the jacket. “Hey there!” Hawks shouts at the one individual standing, given their position over a couple unconscious people he recognized as lower rank heroes it was safe to assume they were the evil-doer. The villain stands at a hulking size and snarls at him. “Mind if I cut in?!” He tosses the contents of the bag out and hundreds of crimson feathers fly out at the villain. They scream out as the quills surround and cut them while Hawks throws his jacket and bag on the ground against the wall, no time to spare thought on worrying if that'll dirty them. He's about to move closer when there's a distortion wave ebbing from the villain. They split apart into three distinctly different looking people, and all of them look pissed . “Well, that's an interesting quirk.” Hawks mumbles. “This is going to be more of a pain than I thought...” Two of the villains charge forward, one has claws flashing and the other has a murky looking fog pouring out of his hands. Hawks stands his ground until they get closer, waiting until the last second and... now! He jumps overhead just high enough to kick the one with claws in the face. With his wings at their reduced size he can't really fly but he can still gain some air. The clawed lady goes down easy, blood trickling down her face most likely from a broken nose. The man with the fog blasts a cloud at Hawks, who narrowly lands on his feet ducking out of the way. He dashes closer and punches the man square in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Hawks inhales as he rounds towards the third villain to see the large woman is… absorbing his feathers?? with a fiendish smile on her face. The mental connection with them becomes fuzzy, and he grimaces, realizing he can't really control them if they're protruding out of the woman's arms and torso by the power of her own quirk. “Hey! Give those back, I need them!” The winged hero knows it's pointless to complain, but dammit that was a dick move. The woman laughs with a husky voice before nodding behind him. He whips around just in time to see a cloud of smoke hit him right in the face. Hawks coughs into his fist a few times and takes a few steps back, but the cloud dissipates almost instantly. He cautiously eyes the man on the ground who looks completely out of breath before flicking over to the absorber woman. “Um?---” Hawks starts, but suddenly his ears ring harshly and his own voice felt far too loud. He clutches them and winces in pain. “How’da’ya like that, hero scum…” The man coughs out before dropping his head and arm back down, clearly not able to stand up yet since getting punched. The man’s voice booms and it hurts so damn much. In fact the noise is so loud Hawks is sure one could see the sound waves bouncing around the alley like whenever Present Mic uses his quirk. Or so he thinks if he could open his eyes; he tried but suddenly it's far too bright everywhere. His eardrums feel like he has his head pressed against speakers at a concert and his eyes feel like he's staring directly at the sun. What the hell? Why is everything so loud and bright?! Footsteps approach him, and the noise echoes unforgivingly around him. Hawks gasps and holds the sides of his head even tighter. The footsteps move past him, and there's a loud chiming in front of him where the man was lying. “We don't got time to deal with ya, youngster.” Hawks took offense to that jab, but not as much as his ears took to the volume it was said at. The footfall moves even further and then another chiming sounds off over by the claw woman. Hawks grits his teeth, trying in vain to pry his eyes open to watch where they were going. The hero curses mentally, he's supposed to be the Number 2 and he fell for such a rookie mistake. Focus, damnit, open your eyes!! It is not pleasant forcing his eyes open slowly, but he clenches his jaw and deals. His vision is spotty but he can make out the silhouette of the oversized combined villain. Hawks tries to advance toward them, but sliding his foot forward makes his leg tremble and ache from the vibrations. Fuck I can't even move?? The villain must've noticed his suffering, and laughed a warped sound. “Nice try, kid, but ya senses are so sensitive, it's like ya’a baby chickie again!” He frowns deeply at that joke, but notices the sound didn't hurt quite as much that time, which must mean the effects are wearing off. Hawks figures to beat them they'll need to split again, but before he can do that he'll need to stall until he can properly move. The winged hero slowly steps closer, grinding his teeth together as the vibrations creep up his legs with such force he's surprised he hasn't collapsed. The laughing from the villain stops, and they grumble. “Back down, kid, or else…” The villain hisses, clearly annoyed he hasn't given up yet. Hawks sticks his tongue out, a petty act but it does it’s job. “Alrighty then, tried to warn ya, chickie…” They stomp towards him, the sound loud even without the added shockwaves the quirk caused. Hawks is violently grabbed by the collar and hoisted into the air, despite not getting hit yet he body protests in pain. He snaps his eyes closed, sharply inhaling in preparation for how badly the incoming hit will sting, when something tickles the back of his mind. He opens his eyes wide and blinks his vision into focus rapidly. The vibrant feathers stuck to the absorber woman are twitching ever-so-slightly. Hawks wastes no time and wills them forward back to his wings, and they shake so hard they distort the space around them. The villain quickly looks down and drops him onto the ground to throw both hands on the quills to keep them in place. The wind is knocked out of Hawks so hard when he lands on his back he thinks his lungs turned inside-out. Thankfully the quills keep moving, and suddenly the same warped distortion from when he first attacked duplicates resulting in the three people splitting again. The claw woman falls face first, still unconscious, the fog man falls onto his hands and knees, and the absorber woman falls backwards on her bottom. His feathers drift lazily to the ground around them all in a flurry of red. "The hell was that??!” Fog man coughs. The large woman groans trying to get up. “I had too much stuff, I wasn't expectin' all them feathers to move on their own!” Fog man crawls forward and puts his hand right in front of Hawks’ face. “Ya wanna play kid? Fine, I’ll make ya so sensitive you'll BEG for death when I'm done beatin’ ya!” “Aren't you..ngh...gonna buy me dinner first?” Hawks grumbles cheekily. The man yells an angry, ugly scream and is about to blast more fog when feathers fly directly into his face and throw him several feet away into a dumpster with such force he dents it. Finally. The absorber woman stumbles up and rushes to him, before rounding back and stomping on Hawks’ chest. The hero wonders if the quirk also made his skin and bones more delicate, because the sensations shooting through his body makes him think his entire rib cage was just crushed. The woman kicks and stamps him repeatedly in the sides, in the face, the legs, Hawks can't really keep track because the shock waves of agony racking his entire body feel absolutely torturous. He kind of wants to cry, but he can do that on his own time. The woman seems to tire easily and huffs and heaves as she stumbles away to collect her co-conspirators again. A loud buzzing stops her in her tracks and she locks eyes with Hawks. The look on her face says she knows more help is on the way. “You got a phone?? Shit! ” She turns so fast back towards the fog man she didn't notice she was rushing straight into another wall of red feathers. They dash past her with such force she falls backwards and --- Lands right on Hawks. Man, fuck today. He decides to lie there and wait for that back up, more so because he can't really move with the husky woman on top of him and his various injuries rather than because he wants to. A few short minutes later there are a handful of cops charging down the alley, securing the area, handcuffing and dragging the villains away, and helping Hawks and the other heroes up. He doesn't want to deal with statements, embarrassed he struggled so much with the situation but that's what he gets for charging in blindly on foot. The lead cop eyes Hawks warily as he pats some dust off his reformed wings. “Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital? We can call an ambulance?” “Nah, it's ok.” His voice is raspy and he really wants water. “I'm fine, promise.” He tries to smile reassuring but knows it falls short. Thankfully the cop just nods stiffly and lets him leave. Hawks goes to collect his things on his way out of the alley, sighing when he sees how grimy they got. He stuffs the jacket in the bag and slings the strap over his shoulder while walking sluggishly back towards the restaurant. His body is sore but compared to the overbearing suffering the weird fog quirk earlier caused he's feeling a lot more normal now. Physically anyway, mentally...Hawks is honestly afraid to check his phone and see how late he is. Sucking in a deep breath he keeps one eye open while clicking a button to light up the screen. It reads 8:23pm in the most mocking tone possible from a phone screen. The winged hero throws his head back and groans loudly. There's no way Todoroki-san’s still around. I can't blame her though, I didn't even send her a message myself. Maybe she never showed up...being stood up would be a little less worse than making her wait almost an hour and a half without a word. He continues down the street with a frown plastered on his face. It feels pointless to go all the way back, but he needs to see for himself she wasn't still waiting. Then he can fly home to shower and sulk in peace. “Oh my God, Hawks-san?!” A feminine voice exclaimed loudly with a gasp. He looks up and his breath catches in his throat. Standing in front of him is Todoroki Fuyumi, with her hair down long, in a comfortable red dress that stopped right above the knee, black flats, and a light gray cardigan with 3/4 sleeves. One of her hands is clenching her purse strap and the other is clasped over her mouth, wide eyes roaming over his body. She looks beautiful...I mean she always looks amazing but, wow. Despite his heart hammering and his face heating up, guilt coiled in his stomach over how badly this all turned out. He tries to smile but winces slightly. The action doesn't go unnoticed. “Hey, Todoroki-san…” His voice sounds hoarse and miserable. There's a brief pause, before she surges towards him, firmly grabs his wrist, and drags him behind her as she walks urgently towards the closest convenience store. Hawks’ wrist is freezing where she holds him, and he looks down to see a small dusting of frost on their skin. Fuyumi leads them down the aisles straight to the medicine, grabs a basic looking first aid kit and regards him hastily before also grabbing wet wipes and painkillers. Hawks reaches over to carry the items and she just brushes his hand away. “At least let me pay for that stuff…” His voice sounds a little more whiny than he likes. She purses her lips before agreeing. “Fine, but I'm carrying them.” She reaches into a cooler to grab a bottle of water. They approach the counter where they get a well-deserved confused look from the clerk. Fuyumi awkwardly focuses her gaze down and Hawks gives a forced smile, fully aware of how terrible he must look. Thankfully the clerk doesn't say anything and bags the items. Right before they finished Hawks glanced at the various candies by the register, and tosses a small bag of Hi-chews on the counter with the various medical supplies. He pays and immediately Fuyumi is dragging him off again in the direction of the nearest bench outside. They sit and she wastes no time opening packages and offering him two tablets of the painkillers. He tosses them back with a swig of water. A few minutes go by before anything is said. Fuyumi is gently dabbing antiseptic on the few scraps and cuts on his cheek and hands while Hawks stays perfectly still, not even flinching from the slight burn it left behind. “You're a much better patient than my father or brothers are.” Fuyumi finally supplies. She peers up at him before focusing her attention back on wrapping up his bruised wrist. He opens his mouth to make a flirty joke, before deciding against it. “Yeah well, I look a lot worse than I feel.” Hawks shrugs instead. She gives him a flat look. “Honest! Don't get me wrong it hurt like a bitch at the time, but they really didn't hit that hard, it was just the effects of a quirk.” “A quirk did this??” Her eyebrows go up to her hairline in shock. Hawks gives a brief explanation about the event, trying not to go too into detail on a case with a civilian. “Sensory overload fog? That sounds... terrifying, and horrible.” He sighs a little. “Yeah, definitely on my top 5 of 'least favorite villain quirks’ I've dealt with.” There's a small lull in conversation as Fuyumi packs up the first aid kit. Hawks wipes excess filth off his face and arms with the wet wipes, furrowing his brow over how ineffective they are on his shirt. He clears his throat before finally asking the question that's been nagging at the back of his mind this entire time. “So, uh, you stayed even though I was more than a minute late?” Fuyumi doesn't reply at first, simply smoothing out her dress before placing her hands on her lap. “I got your message from the hostess, I assumed it was urgent and last minute if you couldn't send a text. She did include you were there before 7. Plus...I was worried.” “Sorry I didn't tell you directly…” Hawks rubs the back of his neck. “It's alright, I'm very used to how sporadic the Hero life can be...” He winces at her clipped tone, knowing it wasn't really directed at him but still feels crummy. “Sorry, that was a little harsher than I meant.” “No, no, I deserve it. I made you wait a long time, but…” Hawks attempts to maintain eye contact, yet shies away, instead closing his eyes with a wide grin. “I’m really happy you decided to stick around, thanks for your help.” The corners of her lips turn up softly. “I knew when I agreed to go on a date with you I was going to have to wait.” “WOW!” She laughs at his exclaim, but he can't bring himself to mind. “Well, I am very sorry about that.” “Don't be, surprisingly this isn't even the worst date I've been on.” Fuyumi adjusts her glasses with this self-deprecating emotion on her face. “One time I agreed to go on a blind date a friend set up, and the guy spent the entire time talking about his ex.” “What a jackass!” “I know!” She chuckles then leans closer to speak in a lowered voice. “Another guy I meet at a bookstore asked me on a coffee date, I agreed and he brought his wife with him.” Hawks’ jaw dropped at that one. “They wanted to ask me how I felt about threesomes...” “Well...how do you feel about them?” She shoves his shoulder. “I’m serious, it's important.” Hawks continues with a fake stern expression. “Is your wife asking you to find out?” “Just for my general knowledge.” Fuyumi rolls her eyes but can't quite hide the smile on her face. He laughs before cupping his hand around his mouth to whisper. “Honestly it might be a good thing we didn't go to that restaurant. When I asked the hostess to take that message I’m pretty sure she thought I was meeting my mistress and offered to cover for us.” She snorts loudly into her hand. “What? No! I heard such good things about that place!” They both laugh for a few moments longer. Hawks reaches into the shopping bag and pulls out the candy he bought, opening it and offering one to Fuyumi. “What is that?” He looks between her and the candy bag a couple times. “You’ve...never had a Hi-chew before?” She shakes her head slowly. “Do you eat candy?” “Junk food and snacks were never allowed in the house growing up… at this point I’m so used to it I've never really tried any on my own time.” She shrugs awkwardly. Hawks observes the candy in his hand for a moment before making up his mind. “Todoroki-san? If you'd give me a chance I'd like to try and salvage this date.” She cocks her head. “Well, I suppose...what exactly did you have in mind?” She yelps softly when Hawks hopped to his feet and pulled her up with him. “Hey, wait, where are--- back to the convenience store?” The winged hero marches them back over to the store heading right towards the candy aisle. He turns on his heel to face her with a grin. “Grab literally anything that looks interesting.” The young woman merely blinks a couple times. “Seriously, my treat! Do you like chocolate, or fruity flavors? Spicy?” He gestures at the rows of candy, seeing she was still confused he just starts grabbing stuff to hold up. “Have you ever had pocky?” She shakes her head. “You've never had pocky?? ” He whispers in awe as he grabs two boxes, before moving along and holding up other stuff. Soon she starts reading labels before timidly grabbing something, looking at him to make sure it was ok. He nods enthusiastically, and from there they both start to scour the aisle for a small collection of candy Hawks knows he likes and candy Fuyumi decided to try. He waltzes over to the coolers, looking over the drinks. “I’m assuming if candy and junk food weren't allowed sodas and energy drinks weren't either?” He looks over his shoulder to see her nod once. “Want to try one?” She purses her lips as she walks closer to also examine the options. Fuyumi points at one and looks at Hawks for his opinion. “Mitsuya cider? It's pretty good, like a blend of ginger ale and lemon-lime.” “Are those...good?” “I think you'll like it.” He opens the door and grabs a bottle as well as a bottle of melon soda. “If you don't, I'll finish it for you!” The hero flashes her a toothy smile and relishes in the slight flush it causes on her face. They head to the register and the same clerk from earlier is there with an even more confused look. Fuyumi looks down again and Hawks grins largely. “Hello again!” The clerk smiles back apprehensively before scanning the various snacks and piling them into a bag. Hawks pays for this trip as well, and they two leave the store again. “Hm… I have a suggestion, but I'm not sure you'll like it.” “That depends what it is.” “I could fly us to the destination, but…” They both look over his clothes which have a decent amount of dirt on them. “...I wouldn't want to ruin your outfit, you look rather lovely.” Fuyumi’s cheeks redden slightly. “I'm sure you looked better before you got beat up.” “I did not get beat up, I won, thank you very much.” She giggled behind a hand, clearly not believing him. “Well...I don't mind my clothes getting dirty, after all I can always wash them later.” She shyly tucks her hair behind her ear and Hawks is so damn smitten he momentarily forgets to reply. “However...are you well enough to fly carrying another person? I might be too heavy…” Hawks wonders if his ears suffered permanent damage from earlier. “Pfft, no, no way you are not too heavy for me to carry. Don't worry, I said before it looks worse than it feels! I can very easily fly with you and a bag of candy in my arms.” The young hero flutters his brilliantly colored wings and flexes his arm with a wink, highly enjoying the blush it causes on his companion’s face. Fuyumi eyes him warily for a second, before mumbling, “ok…” She takes the bag of candy and bag of medical supplies, then squeaks when Hawks scoops her off the ground into his arms and collects wind under his wings before lifting off the ground. Hawks bites his tongue, trying so hard not to tease her especially since he can feel the young woman’s eyes glaring holes into him. The temptation really is too great. “Did you squeak?” “Shut.Up.” Fuyumi grits out. He spares a glance down and sees her entire face is cherry red. He only laughs a little as he flies them to their destination, and she patiently waits until he lands on a rooftop before smacking his arm. Doing a quick once over, Hawks is happy he hardly dirtied her outfit at all, even if she insisted earlier it would be fine. He takes the bags from her before moving a few steps ahead. “Over here, Todoroki-san.” He waves her over while moving to sit on the ledge of the building. Fuyumi cautiously approaches and gasps at the view. They're high up on some business building right over the heart of Musutafu’s downtown shopping district. With the sun set, you can clearly see all the neon lights of the night life flashing from below. “Wow...it's amazing.” “I like to come up here and people watch sometimes. It's also a good spot to scout when I'm bored at night and want to keep an eye out for any incidents.” Hawks pats the spot next to him for her to sit. Fuyumi sits down but keeps her feet on the roof instead of dangling off the edge like Hawks. “It's a nice view.” He watches her as her eyes scan the different scenes down below, gray eyes filled with wonder. Yeah it is. “Anyway, I was thinking we could sit up here, chat, and enjoy the view for a bit someplace far away from your dad so you can eat candy in peace.” He scratches the back of his head nervously. “I know it's kind of lame and a spur of the moment decision, so if you're not interested ---” “No, I would like that very much.” Fuyumi interrupts with a bashful smile and pink cheeks. Hawks briefly forgets how to breathe so instead he nods quickly. The hero grabs the bag of candy and places it between them, encouraging Fuyumi to try this and that and tell him her opinions. Overall the candy haul was a success; Fuyumi really likes chocolate but doesn't like sour chews too much. They talk about random topics such as things they notice happening down below, their careers, food, and other miscellaneous subjects. Fuyumi pulls another matcha dipped pocky out of the box. “This is the last one, did you want it?” “Nah, it's ok.” Hawks answers easily after knocking back the rest of his soda. “Are you sure? You seemed to like this flavor and I ate most of the chocolate ones...” She looks a little hesitant to take it, probably feeling guilty eating so much sugar. Hawks puts the bottle back into the bag to recycle later and jokes, “We could always play the pocky game.” “'Pocky game’?” Hawks tenses when he realizes he said that out loud, and that he'll definitely have to explain what it is. Fuyumi has proven to be quite stubborn, a trait he imagines is commonplace in the Todoroki household. “Um.” He awkwardly starts. “Um?” Fuyumi leans a little closer. “I think there must be more to this game than 'um’.” The winged hero dares to make eye contact and regrets it quickly, coming face-to-face with a devilish smirk, the same one Fuyumi wore earlier in the week when she gave her ultimatum for this date. Hawks would much prefer an eye roll right now, he's an expert on Todoroki Fuyumi eye rolls. Evil smirks though? Not so much. “It's uh, y’know, just a stupid middle school game.” He chokes out, trying to think of a way to change the subject. “Is it? Because you look uncomfortable all of a sudden. I'm curious how innocent this suggestion of yours really is...” Fuyumi tilts her face down just enough so she can peer up at Hawks from under her white lashes. This is another expression Hawks has no expertise on. He considers just grabbing the offending biscuit stick and chucking it off the roof, but that would just open a new line of questioning. Hawks decides there's no escape and clears his throat. “One person puts one end of the pocky in their mouth and another person puts the other end in their mouth, and you try to be the last person to back away. It uh, usually results in a kiss.” His face feels very warm, even all the way up on the rooftop with the chilly night breeze. “Think 'Lady and the Tramp’ dinner scene.” Fuyumi looks down, white and red flecked hair covering her face. “Oh...I see.” “Mhm.” Hawks hums in response. Well I blew it...and it felt like I was doing so well fixing this too. “...I suppose if you bring a box of chocolate pocky to our next date, I'll consider playing this game.” She lifts her head and takes a bite of the matcha flavored stick she’s holding, keeping her tone playful despite how pink her cheeks are turning. Hawks’ eyes widen. “...wait, next date?? ” “If you want I mean ---” “Yes!” He interrupts too excitedly but he doesn't care. He still doesn't care when she laughs at his eagerness. “On one condition…” She narrows her eyes and points the biscuit in his face. “I will actually leave if you show up late, appropriate excuse or not.” The winged hero searches her eyes to see she means it. He licks his lips before launching forward to take a bite of the pocky before Fuyumi can pull it away. She mock gasps at the chunk he took, but giggles too hard to be convincing that it really annoyed her. “Deal.” Hawks winks. “‘Be there or be square’, right?” “You are a square.” The patented Todoroki Fuyumi eye roll. “But you better be there this time.” Hawks definitely plans to be there, potential hero crises be damned.

#fuyumi x hawks #huwumi #first date #minor blood and injuries #swearing #pocky game #fluffy #rating: t #tinglecannon

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plumedesimili · 7 years

Text

Shall we dance?

“So, how do I look?”

If anything, the look on Terra’s face should have been enough of an answer. The young man completely froze, agape, staring at her with big round eyes, his cheeks slowly turning a nice shade of pink. But Aqua was so worried that she didn’t read the signs well, and took that silence for something different.

“I knew it. That’s too much, isn’t it?”

“N-No, it’s just… You are… You look…” Terra was stuttering. And he never stuttered. He cleared his throat, trying to regain some of his dignity. “You look okay. No worries.”

This was clearly not the correct answer, he understood as she frowned. But what word could he use? She was wearing a blue dress that complemented her shapes, and her delicate makeup somehow made her face shine brighter. What word could he use? He no longer feared to lose her in a crowd, because no matter how much people there would be, she would still stand out, a light on her own, and his eyes would find her right away.

“Okay? Thank you Terra. It took me quite a while to achieve this result, so I’m glad I look okay. Coming from you, I’m going to assume it is a compliment.” The tone of her voice made it clear that she really wasn’t taking this as a compliment at all. But he had no way to express how he felt right now.

“Wow, Aqua, you are beautiful!” Oh, right, he could have used these words, he supposed. It was too late now that Ven said them, though. The boy whistled and stared at Aqua with an appreciative smile. “You’re going to steal the show, you know! All men will want a dance with you!”

Terra clenched his fists. He’d like to see that happening. Ven slid a nasty look at him and grinned. “Don’t worry, Terra, you look okay, I’m sure that some old lady will take pity of you and ask for a dance.” He then started pouting. “But why can’t I come with you guys? It’s so unfair, I wanna come and have fun too!”

Aqua giggled and ruffled his hair. “I’m sorry, Ven, but you can’t come just yet. We are not going to that ball to have fun, you know. The Three Good Fairies have asked us to protect Aurora if Maleficent or any other danger showed up. Our outfits are only so we can blend in.” She put a kiss on his cheek. “I promise I’ll save you the last dance. Deal?”

Ven being Ven, he couldn’t pout more than thirty seconds anyway and grinned at them instead. “Deal! Enjoy your evening, then! Aurora will be safe with the two of you, I know it!”

“The Lanes Between have been opened.” Master Eraqus said from the door. “It’s time to go.” He looked at them with pride. “You both look beautiful. This is your first official job, but I do not worry. Have a good time.”

As they both summoned their armours (who, for magical reason, wouldn’t damage their clothes or anything), Terra heard Ventus snicker. “He said she looked okay, I can’t even believe that…”

“Oh, shut up, Ven.” Terra answered before waving at his Master and his friend, finally taking off with Aqua.

“Here you are!” The Good Fairies welcomed them with a bright smile. “We have already set up a magical barrier around the Castle, and we are pretty sure everything will be alright, but your presence is a relief. This is Aurora’s 17th birthday, we can’t let anything happen!”

“Sorry we’re a little late”, Terra apologized, “it took us a bit longer than expected to travel.”

“Terra got lost.” Giggled Aqua.

“I did not! I was just… disorientated for a minute.”

“Don’t you worry, Terra, we both know your sense of orientation is okay anyway.” She repressed a smile but her eyes betrayed her hilarity. The young man sighed.

“So what would you like us to do? Patrol around the castle? Guard the door?”

“Oh, none of that, dear!” Fauna covered her mouth with her hand, as if shocked by his words. “Please just enjoy the party as any guest would. If anything comes up, we know you will react quickly anyway.”

“Fauna is right. Enjoy the music and the buffet, and hope nothing happens!” Nodded Merryweather.

“And you both look so pretty in these clothes, it would be a shame if you didn’t dance. Come on, hop hop, go to the ballroom and enjoy your time!”

The two apprentices looked at each other and laughed. That evening would be enjoyable. Terra offered his arm to Aqua, who took it with a bright smile, and they entered the castle.

There were many people in there already. It was easy to spot the Princess, already dancing with her Prince in the middle of the room. Aqua smiled. Aurora was a very nice person, and Philip was made for her. They both looked so happy together.

“No Maleficent in sight.”, said Terra, scanning the room for a scary lady with horns or a devilish raven. “Look at that buffet, though. Ven would be crazy.”

Aqua giggled. “He really would. We could try to bring him some cake back, what do you think?”

“I think you are trying to steal a Princess, and that’s really bad, Aqua. But that’s also for Ventus’s happiness so I could hardly say no.” They laughed again, thinking of how Ven would react at so much food.

“Hey, Aqua?”

“What is it?”

“Would you like to dance? With me, I mean.”

Aqua smiled, her cheeks slightly blushing. “Thanks for the precision, or I would have run to dance with the first stranger I’d meet.”

“That’s not what I…”

“I’d love to.” He smiled back at her, taking her hand and leading her to the center of the room, joining the other dancers.

Finally, these months of learning waltz paid off, as he didn’t step on her feet once, and neither did she (his left foot still remembered the pain of her heel crushing his toes). After a moment of focusing to find their marks, they had found their pace.

“Aqua, by the way, I’m sorry if I hurt you earlier… I didn’t mean to… You know.”

Aqua chuckled. “It’s okay. Sorry I teased you about that. I know you were trying to be nice.”

Terra sighed, squeezing her hand. “It’s not just that… I wasn’t trying to be nice. You just looked so pretty, I couldn’t find the right words, and I feared that if I stayed silent any longer you would think I really didn’t like it… I do. I really do. You look amazing.”

While her cheeks took a bright shade of pink, her blue eyes started sparkling, another blow to his heart. She really was the prettiest woman he’d ever meet. Then, suddenly, something else appeared into her eyes. Was it… Worry? Sadness? She escaped his gaze, but he had seen it already.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing, it’s stupid.”

“Just tell me. I will listen.”

She took a deep breathe in, her hand slightly shaking in his.

“I’ve just realised that once we both are Masters, we eventually will have to find apprentices. We won’t both stay in the Land of Departure. We will live apart. Worlds apart. I can’t imagine a life without you by my side. This would be… So lonely.”

He squeezed her hand, pulling her closer with the hand on her hip.

“Then don’t imagine it. You keep saying it yourself. There is always a way. And there is a way for us not to live apart.”

She looked at him, her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she was processing his words. He smiled softly, gently tucking a wild lock of hair behind her ear.

“I’m asking you to be mine, Aqua. Be mine, and nothing should pull us apart.”

She laughed, putting her forehead against his chest. “You’re stupid.” If his heart started racing at her sudden proximity, he frowned at her words, until she looked at him again with very soft eyes.

“Be yours? I can’t think of a single day of my life when I wasn’t yours, Terra. I’ve always been yours.”

They stopped dancing, and he let go of her hip to place his hand on her cheek, slowly leaning closer until their lips met. He felt her warm fingers on the back of his neck, and when she smiled at him, the whole world seemed to disappear, and it was only the two of them, dancing till the end of the night.

There was no Maleficent to ruin their evening, and when the ball finally ended, it was incredibly late.

“We would like to give you a present before you go.” The Good Fairies caught them just as they were about to summon their armours. “As a thank you gift for your presence.”

“Oh, but we didn’t do anything, really!” Aqua answered, embarrassed, but Flora clicked her tongue.

“You can’t refuse a present, now, can you? We are really grateful that you came all the way to protect Aurora, and you deserve a retribution. No arguing. Ready, ladies?”

The tree of them wiggled their wands for a few seconds, and a flow of light arced from them to the two apprentices.

“It fits perfectly!” cheered Merryweather. “It really does!” agreed Fauna.

Terra and Aqua looked at each other, looking for what could have changed. Until they looked at their hands.

The fairies had given them matching rings. Terra’s was a simple one, with three jewels, a blue one, a red one and a green one embedded in it ; Aqua’s was a little bit more sophisticated, with the same three stones.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. They look beautiful.” And Aqua meant every word of it.

“Oh, don’t mention it. Be careful on your way back!” The three fairies left, and the two young adults exchanged a cheerful look.

“I guess we should go home now.”

“Yeah. You promised Ven a dance. He’ll be crossed if he doesn’t have it.”

They chuckled. “I guess you’re right. I had a wonderful evening, Terra. Thank you.”

He kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you. I love you, Aqua.”

“I love you too.”

They summoned their armours and flew back home. They held each other’s hand the whole flight.

[END]

First post to start the blog \o/ This is Simili-Anonyme’s side blog where some fics will be posted from time to time. I might add some other fics that are already on FFNet or AO3 as well as some new stuff from time to time. Yes I like to say time to time. Since my posting schedule is pretty full on AO3/FFNet I might post some stuff here as well!

Anyway, this fic was inspired by one of @chachacharlieco ‘s streams where she drew Terra and Aqua with royal outfits, aaand suddenly I felt like writing something about these two at a ball. This fic up there is set up in an AU where Xehanort never stepped in, I guess? None of them are Masters yet either.

Man, I’m more nervous than I should be to post it here, why do I feel so vulnerable and embarassed? hides under her blanket

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johnnythirteenguns · 7 years

Text

just seen justice league (this isnt spoiler free at all)

also went to thor: ragnarok for the third time to wash the taste out.

so i went to go see it for miller, momoa, and mera in that order. i was super impressed with mera. i thought they were gonna go the like easy way and give her an Accent like the amazons, but they didnt. even though her cadence was different like idk man i know very little about dc but i picked up a one-shot earlier this year where mera neatly beats the fuck out of the justice league on her own and she’s a semi-jerk who kind of hates surface dwellers and you know what for the thirty seconds we had her onscreen i believed it and she was powerful and felt like a character with backstory and i COMPLETELY didnt hear what aquaman was saying i just heard her side of the conversation

man ben affleck really doesnt wanna be here huh anyway we should recast him at the earliest convenience

also why was batman 90% CGI like fine i get it no one can be a gymnast in a 50 lb rubber suit but like every single one of his moves that required any bending had to have been cgi

speaking of which the cgi isnt like bad in and of itself it’s just typical like it’s the cgi youre used to seeing. it doesnt blend seamlessly into anything and the characters dont blend seamlessly into it. the cornfield looks fake as can fucking be and i dont really know why? what else there was another fucking weird cgi moment. anyway, steppenwolf is ugly as sin and has no emotion and is all one color and is??? generally weird looking

speaking of which. he is not frightening at all. the New Gods isnt something casual dc fans are gonna be familiar with (i am barely familiar with it) and like? apparently, darkseid was supposed to have scenes in this but didnt? anyway go see thor ragnarok which features 1) a horned villain that is legitimately terrifying and powerful, that you fully believe can do the things she does, and who is beautifully designed and 2) features glow-y eyed masses of disposable soldiers that are cool but goofy and dont take themselves too seriously but were still frightening and made for thrilling fights because you believed they could actually pose a threat to the characters they were attacking

the beginning... uh i think like three scenes of the film looked pretty good, but they looked like cutscenes. very GOOD cutscenes, but honestly... if i wanted it to look like this id have played... a video game. like, i want it to look like a real place even if it’s heavily stylized. uh but the first showdown where batman is luring a parademon out looks beautiful if fake as shit. the scene with wondy in the bank (which features a group of girls from an all-girls school... at a bank?) and terrorists wearing cheap pinstripe suits (like, this is fine! it’s nonsensical and stupid but fine it’s a comic book movie) was kind of cool because for once i felt like... maybe diana was a creative person who goes in wit ha strategy? like picking the dude up with the lasso and holding him up was fun i was like oh!!! thats not something a typical movie would do! it was the first time she felt like Wonder Woman to me (ive seen the wondy movie itself, it was... eh). uh and idk what was up with the standing on the scales of justice or whatever idk the hilarity of gal gadot on that statue which sits on top of a bank like. it was funny.

hey question what the uh... fuck was the “what are you” “a believer” line about it made zero sense in context at all

dont quote me on the order of scenes i dont remember fuck all of this movie in order because literally, the pacing was so weird. so... it was very obvious there were parts missing from the movie. not like, cuts made where you could be like oh there was something there or maybe there'll be a deleted scene no like you Knew there was stuff that was necessary that was gone. the football scenes with victor from the trailers were gone!!! i think the movie was trying to set up a really strong friendship with wonder woman and cyborg but it never really went anywhere? and i suspect because it all got cut! and i dont understand why because ray did a really good job and he sold cyborg to me so well i loved his take!

also... i dont know if theyre saving it for the aquaman movie next year but did Arthur get a bunch of his stuff cut too? because i like jason momoa, and i like his arthur and so im sort of torn because, like, he didnt have much to do. like, he has the bit where he sits on wonder woman’s lasso of thruth and tells them all this stuff but you dont know enough about him for any of it to land? but i really wanted to know more (at some point i did give up on, this was a very passive viewing experience). my friend was saying that like literally why did they try to make arthur so Cool he’s already jason momoa he is by default cool now you can do whatever you want with him we’re all going to love him.

speaking of the lasso scene... was the entire last half of the movie re-writen and re-shot by whedon because like? the lasso scene is a whedon. the bit at the end where wondy goes “children. i work with children” is a whedon (THERE’S NO REASON FOR HER TO SAY THIS? I THINK THIS WHEN SHE HAS TWO TEAM MEMBERS LIKE LAYING ON THE GROUND AFTER NEARLY BEING BLON UP? IT WAS FUCKING WEIRD). i genuinely cant tell if all of barry’s dialogue was written by whedon or if that was ezra improvising but uh... man he’s... he needs to practice if that’s hm. if it’s just whedon i mean fine but he also doesnt have the shitty RDJ quality thats let’s him say those lines with believability.

speaking of which, going to see barry was my priority because apparently im gay for miller rn so like. uh. man he wasnt funny like there were a couple parts where he was cute and the line landed and it was fine but generally he just... wasnt funny? because the movie wasnt funny? like... idk man ezra really acting his heart out and ive said like cool i wanna follow his career and see if he does good stuff and gets even better at his stupid art but maybe he peaked with credence barebone i dont know. the first scene where we meet barry, with the flash pad and the pizza, that was good, that was funny. the bit at the prison was good. he has very soft eyes and thats nice. the panic attack is cute in the clip and the beginning like rhrgrh moment he has is good but then idk the pacing falls apart again

why is his character like this? i just dont think ezra’s... funny enough yet. (tbh i think he takes it too seriously even if he’s trying to be light-hearted man sometimes jokes is just jokes). there’s a bit where theyre digging up superman’s body and it’s JUST HIM AND CYBORG FOR UH? SOME REASON? maybe they explained why they sent the two babies but i didnt hear it and it’s literally just them two. and he tries to fistbump victor but vic is like “no” and tbh barry is annoying? like maybe u think he’s cute and an audience member but he’s uh... you can tell he’s annoying in the story and anyway then the flash says “right, racially charged” ABOUT A FISTBUMP? WHICH? LITERALLY MADE NO SENSE? WAS THIS LINE IMPROVISED? WAS IT WRITTEN? IM GONNA PUT MONEY ON IMPROVISED BECAUSE HE IS EXACTLY THAT KIND OF STUPID BITCH

if they were breaking into the lab why even bother going through the front door? barry drives the thing in (theyre trying to smuggle superman’s body into star labs) disguised a soldier (the literally most unconvincing thing, not to me as an audience member, because it was cute and funny to me,, but that a guy with THAT FACE is military like yeah sure, why did that guard believe him) but then they get to like the normal ass parking inside and the other three are standing there in full costume in full grey DC-brand daylight? are you telling me between 5/6ths of the justice league they couldnt sneak in a fucking pine box when wonder woman can lift a fucking tank on her own? like.

speaking of which uh.... superman is stupidly overpowered. like i said i read an issue of JL where mera hands every one of the justice league members their own gently roasted ass in hand on her fucking own. diana regularly kicks superman in the head. why was she not able to take him down? when theyre fighting steppenwolf for real it’s not until superman shows up that they even have a real fighting chance. they dont fight as team, they dont even fight as people casually unified in a common cause. theyre playing high-stakes legos and cyborg gets pulled away from them like three times?? and it gets fucking annoying? and then supes shows up and literally wipes the floor with him. it is so completely bizarre and stupid.

here’s a problem i still have with wonder woman: why is she so thin? the other amazons (except Hippolyta and maybe one other one) look built as FUCK? LIKE THESE WOMEN COULD EASILY TOSS ME ACROSS THE ROOM. wonder woman has serious fucking arms, where are they

also those amazon bikinis were bad. the whole styling of this movie is bad, but especially the amazons. everything is red and gold, for some reasons? the outfits dont looks heavy like armor, they look heavy like bullshit material. there is no reason for the fucking bikinis. the gold cloak hippolyta wears is??? heavy and looks like? like drapes like window dressing like thats the weight of it. additionally, there is no reason for their hair to be SO STYLED. it’s really like prom night hair it’s like shiny and muss free and always loose and in perfect clearly salon-styled curls. also, why are they so heavily made up? it’s really prominent. wondy herself has the same issue going on, she looks much more heavily made up (why is everyone’s blush so PINK, like it's distracting, is this a side effect of the recoloring process) and her hair isnt loose and doing its thing like in BVS or Wonder Woman it’s like... idk she looks really. Pretty when she’s on the field and it makes no sense.

the amazon fighting style is still ugly and makes no sense ive never seen such a wasteful fighting style it made sense exactly once during Wonder Woman

why is themyscira entirely the ugliest cgi i have ever fucking scene

why does the camera INSIST ON MOVING LIKE THAT. the action is super hard to track, the cgi is ugly as fuck (it really cannot be overstated)... i made it to about... i want to say when theyre on the way to the big fight and then the combined everything gave me a heaache that o had for the rest of the movie

i mentioned earlier that the pacing is weird the transitions are also weird. you get cuts to and from places that never fade into each other, it’s always a hard jump cut but it’s never the right cut to make? like, in thor ragnarok for example, there are a bunch of scene changes that happen via the bifrost, via people going through doors. there are wide shots that jump to wide shots in other places, so youre not suddenly on a close-up. there are a lot of people emerging from something into view, and there are a lof of people being alone in the center of the frame. it’s a very smooth and easy to watch movie. JL is the opposite of this in every way. I SUSPECT. AGAIN. THAT WHILE THIS WOULDNT HAVE BEEN FIXED ENTIRELY. THAT THOSE EXTRA TWENTY MINUTES THAT WERE CUT WERE PROBABLY REALLY IMPORTANT

the lois lane bit where she calms supes down just reminded me of the age of ultron and i quoted “sun’s going down” at my friends who were with me and they shit themselves laughing

ma kent calls lois lane “thirsty” in a Hilarious Teen Humor Gag thanks joss whedon you fucking hack

bruce wayne is fucking useless he could have got barry ANY JOB EVER and like... my god whatever.

also i still dont understand how how voice sounds like that when he’s batmanuh the after after credits scene is setting up, according to my friend, a sinister six movie. deathstroke isnt played by manu bennett so it’s fucking usless thanks for coming to my ted talk

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rumtumteddy · 7 years

Text

What’s In A Name?

"You don’t need to know my name. I’m a concept. I’m a mystery. I’m-”

“Being really extra today.”

Thomas wants to know Anxiety’s real name. Patton, Logan, and Roman try to help. Hilarity ensues.

I wrote a Sanders Sides fanfic! It basically reads like one of the Sanders Sides videos. I also posted it on archive in case you want to read it there. I hope you enjoy it!!

“Maybe, good enough to tell us… your name?” Thomas gives Anxiety a hesitant and hopeful smile. Patton claps in agreement.

“You are the last one, and even we don’t know your name, so we’re kinda curious!”

“Well…” Anxiety’s glare softens and he shrugs. “Okay. My name…”

Thomas, Patton, Roman, and Logan all hold their breaths in dramatic anticipation. Anxiety (real name to be announced imminently) bathes in the suspense.

He smirks.

“Is Talyn!” Everyone blinks as ‘AnxieTalyn’ grins back at them.

- “Okay.”

- “That is upsetting.”

- “Well!”

Patton pauses. “Wait, is it Talyn?”

Anxiety is back to looking like Thomas. His glare returns. “No! You take turns changing me into different friends today and expect me to open up to all of you? Fat chance!”

Thomas sighs. Anxiety has a point.

***

Thomas is walking around the mind palace, trying to become more accustomed to it. He loves it, and he knows all his sides do too, so he’s trying to go outside the comfort and familiarity of his apartment every so often and get to know the mind palace better. Honestly, the only two downsides to the mind palace are the weird echo and the unfamiliarity; other than that Thomas could spend ages in here looking at the art on the walls or the pictures of loved ones that Patton has put around the place.

He glances at the dark corner Anxiety likes to frequent (but not right now – right now Anxiety is sitting on surfaces that aren’t chairs and listening to My Chemical Romance), and a thought comes to his mind.

“Okay, is it just me or is everyone dying to find out Anxiety’s name?” He doesn’t say this to anyone in particular, just out loud.

“I sure am!”

Thomas startles to see Patton appear in his new usual spot (Patton tried to suggest 'newsual', but that was shut down by everyone), next to all the photos of Thomas’ friends and family.

“Patton!”

“Hey there, kiddo! How are you liking the mind palace?”

“I love it! Shame about that echo, though.”

Logan appears in front of his bookshelves. “While I can perhaps suggest remedies to the echo, I too am curious about Anxiety’s name.” He adjusts his glasses. “Your viewers all want to know, you don’t know, neither does Roman nor Patton, and – though it pains me to admit it – I don’t know either.”

“What?!” Patton cries. “But you’re so smart!”

“Oh, Logan, you’re here too!” Thomas smiles at the unexpected entrance.

“Of course. Being your logical side, my purpose is the pursuit of knowledge, which, in this case, is the knowledge of our cynical friend’s name.” He adjusts his glasses again; a move which Thomas is beginning to suspect isn’t actually to fix his glasses. “I assume you’ve called us here to try and figure out his name? Or perhaps…” He switches into his Sherlock Holmes outfit, barely hiding the joy from his usually monotone voice. “Deduce it?”

“You need to chill,” A third voice says, and Thomas turns to see Roman cringing at Logan’s outfit.

“You’re no fun.” Logan mumbles, back in his normal outfit.

“You’re no fun!” Roman yells back. “That’s your whole thing!”

“Roman!” Thomas grins. “Why are you here?”

“Well, as much as I… dislike Anxiety, I have to say I am curious about what his name is. I mean, we all knew each other’s names, but we don’t know his.”

“Oh.” Thomas furrows his brow. “That’s kind of sad. Have you asked him?”

Patton nods furiously. “I’ve asked him tons of times!”

“What did he say?” Thomas asks, Logan and Roman listening intently.

“Nunya.”

“Nunya what?” They all ask in unison.

“Nunya business.” A new voice comes from the dark corner and everyone jumps to see Anxiety glowering at them.

“Ah! Anxiety!” Thomas yells (in the same way he always does when Anxiety shows up – he feels a little bad at this point). “I thought you were listening to My Chemical Romance?”

“I was,” Anxiety growls, “but then I ran out of material, because they broke up.”

“Too soon.” Patton sighs.

“Really a tragedy.” Roman laments.

“Yikes.” Logan comments.

“Ouch. Okay, well, we were-”

“You were just talking about me?” Anxiety glares. “You know that makes me…”

“Anxious?” Logan asks.

“Yes, exactly. You don’t need to know my name. I’m a concept. I’m a mystery. I’m-”

“Being really extra today.” Roman interrupts.

Anxiety rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to find more surfaces to sit on.” He disappears.

“Well, that was… pleasant.” Roman says sarcastically.

“Now, Roman, I know you’re not fond of Anxiety, but maybe you oughta be a bit nicer to him!” Patton says in a tone that can only be described as - fittingly - paternal.

“But he’s not nice to me!” Roman whines.

“Okay, okay, let’s calm down now.” Thomas says. “So, Anxiety won’t tell us his name. What do we do?”

Logan thinks. “We could all think of ways to find out, in our own unique way?”

Thomas smiles. “Yes! Good idea, Logan!”

“Lit.” Logan says. “Did I get that right?”

Thomas shrugs. “Close enough."

"Lit. Shall I go first?”

"Only if you stop saying lit."

Logan

Logan stands in front of a whiteboard. “Okay, so we want to find out Anxiety’s name.”

Thomas nods. “Yes.”

“You know what this means.” A pause. Thomas blinks.

“Uh.”

“I swear, I am the intellectual powerhouse of this personality,” Logan complains under his breath, and uncaps a whiteboard marker. “We brainstorm.”

“Wonderful!” Roman sings.

“That sounds fun!” Patton grins. “Brain storms sound cool and gross! Where do you get the brains from?”

“Obviously not from you.” Logan hisses.

Thomas winces. “That’s… not what that means.”

“You know what a brainstorm is, we talked about them so much in the originality video.” Roman says in a confused tone. Patton shrugs cheerily.

“Please don’t ruin the sacred process of brainstorming, Patton.” Logan sighs. “No, we write ideas and theories of Anxiety’s name on this whiteboard.”

“Sounds remarkable!”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Get it? Because whiteboards are re-markable? And this is going to be remarkably fun? It’s a pun!” Thomas would be mad if not for the beam radiating off Patton right now.

“I hate you.”

Thomas steps in before Logan can insult any more of Patton’s puns. “I do think this is going to be fun, though!”

Logan nods in agreement and adjusts his glasses. “Of course it is, Thomas! Now, are you familiar with Latin?”

“I’m sorry, what now?”

***

After a solid hour of brainstorming, Logan has written a long list of name ideas and Patton has found another whiteboard marker and is drawing an actual brain storm on the other half of the whiteboard. Thomas yawns. Roman got bored and left ages ago to duel some dragon-witch, apparently.

“Okay, so at five minutes and nine seconds duration into your 13th vlog featuring us personality sides, titled ‘My Negative Thinking,’ you asked Anxiety for his name, and he said “no”, but you cut him off before he could finish, which could imply his name begins with the syllable ‘No’. So let’s write down any names that begin with that syllable. Noah, Noel, Norman-”

“I don’t think so.” Thomas says, shaking his head.

"You think my name is Norman?" Anxiety appears next to Thomas, looking up at the blackboard with a disgusted look. "I'm almost offended."

"We are scraping the barrel, to be fair." Logan concedes.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. You didn't even guess my name. Anthony? Angel? You're kidding me. Nice try." He disappears again.

"What now?" Thomas asks.

"Well, does anyone have a green whiteboard marker?" Patton asks. "I want to draw some lasers in here."

"Why?" Logan asks. Patton shrugs. Logan sighs. "Well, we could keep brainstorming."

“No, no, no!” Roman exclaims, having returned from his apparent dragon-witch duel. “This isn’t how you find out Anxiety’s name!”

“Of course it is, it’s brainstorming.” Logan says.

“As much as I love brainstorming, you have to be creative about these things! Stand aside, Logan, it's my turn!"

He pauses. “Did you actually put ‘Nunya Business’ on the board?”

“Well, I couldn’t rule it out, could I?” Logan says.

Roman

“Anxiety, could you come here for a second?” Roman calls out.

“Oh, Roman, it’s just you. I was afraid it was someone important.” Anxiety drawls.

“Do not use The Lion King against me like that!” Roman shrieks, shielding his ears dramatically. He huffs. “Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to someone.”

“What?” Anxiety asks. “You realise that meeting people isn’t… my thing. Like, at all.”

Roman pointedly ignores him. “Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to… Valerie!” He gestures at a waving but confused Valerie.

“Uh.” Anxiety pauses. “I know Valerie. She was here for the Valentine’s Day video. And you guys turned me into her for last video.”

“What was that?” Valerie asks.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Roman hushes her. “Anyway, you might know Valerie but she doesn’t know you.”

“Uh.” Anxiety and Valerie both utter in unison.

“No, I know Anxiety,” Valerie says, “We hang out sometimes.”

“What?” Roman utters. “When? Why? Actually, nevermind. Valerie does theatre-”

“Along with all of Thomas’ friends-”

“-Let’s just act like I’m introducing you two for the first time.”

“Oh, fun!” Valerie grins.

“I don’t like this.” Anxiety says. “We’re acting? Is there a script?”

“No, Surly Temple, there’s no script. Improvise!”

Anxiety freezes. “Oh no. Improvising.”

“Valerie, you go first!”

“Okay. Hi!”

“Um.” Anxiety stammers, not making eye contact.

“I’m Valerie, what’s your name?”

“Nothing. I mean. I. What. Thank you?” Anxiety stutters. “I… have to leave.” He vaguely gestures to his phone as apparent excuse and walks out, backwards and rapidly.

“... What just happened there?” Thomas asks, having been watching from a distance with Patton and Logan.

“Yeah, I’m very confused.” Valerie adds.

“We're trying to find out Anxiety's name."

"Oh, that makes sense."

“Sorry for dragging you into this, Valerie.” Thomas says.

She shrugs. “Roman said he'd do Disney duets with me if I helped out.”

“I think he's probably getting more out of that than you.”

“Maybe.” She grins. “But princess duets!”

***

“Okay, well that didn’t work.” Thomas says after Valerie has left. “What do we do now?”

“Well, kiddo,” Patton exclaims dramatically, “It’s my turn!”

Patton

“Please will you tell us your name? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?” Patton is clinging to Anxiety’s foot whining while Anxiety - who initially looked standoffish and contemptuous - is now beginning to look around awkwardly for an escape, face reddening just slightly under all his pale foundation.

“I can’t tell if he’s being genuine or if his plan was to annoy Anxiety into telling us his name.” Logan says, watching the scene in fascination. “Whichever one it is, it looks effective.”

Anxiety sighs. “Patton, get up.”

Patton scrambles to his feet. “Are you going to tell us?”

“No!” Anxiety’s usually quiet and monotone voice raises much higher than Thomas or any of the sides are used to. “You guys just don’t stop, do you? You don’t get it! Last time, I didn’t tell you my name because you all took turns changing me into your friends and I wasn’t going to open up to you after that. You think I’m going to open up after you pressure me to tell you my name? Maybe I don’t want you to know my name! Maybe I think you’ve realised you don’t know my name and now you just pity me and want me to feel included because none of you actually want me here!”

He stops. The colour and anger drains from his face as he sees Thomas and the other sides.

It’s times like these when the fact that all of them look alike is so evident. All of them are looking at him with identical expressions of pity and shame.

“I’m sorry for yelling.” He mumbles, and disappears.

There’s a prolonged silence in which they all look at the empty space where Anxiety was standing.

“Oh.” Logan is the first to break the silence. “We did… something wrong. Again.”

Patton nods. “We messed up. I feel horrible. Anxiety didn’t need that.”

Roman sighs. “I agree, we shouldn’t have taken our curiosity this far.”

Thomas grimaces and looks at the other sides. “This is all my fault. I let my curiosity get out of hand and gave you all this idea.”

Patton shakes his head. “We were all pretty big jerks to Anxiety. It’s not just your fault.”

“Indeed, we were all responsible for the pressure he was feeling,” Logan says, “Not just you.”

“I admit, I took this too far as well.” Roman concedes, ashamed. His usual prideful look is missing.

Thomas sighs. He doesn’t know how this got out of hand so quickly. He sighs, and starts to speak.

“Identity is important, guys. And you all didn't tell me your names until you felt it was right. We pressured Anxiety, and he lashed out, rightfully. I guess this is a lesson in respecting boundaries.”

The three all give some sort of murmured agreement.

“And,” Thomas continues, “I know Anxiety might be on the more… negative spectrum of my emotions, but he's still one of us, and he's still valid as a side of my personality. We can't exclude him. He actually helps all of us.”

Patton nods. “He knew that your friends helped you last time, and he didn't shut me out in the growing up video.”

“Agh, you had to bring that up.” Roman winces. “You’re right, though. He knows your creative limits and he's realistic about your goals.”

“He’s also the only person I can have a decent debate with.” Logan adds. “And, like me, he’s not fond of… sunshine.”

“See? He's not bad at all! He's just-”

“Monochrome.”

“Dismal.”

“Spicy?”

“-Anxious. I was going to say anxious.”

“Right.”

“That makes sense.”

“I still think he's spicy.”

***

Thomas scours his apartment and the mind palace for Anxiety. He checks Anxiety’s dark corner, he checks his bed, and he checks the bath (why Anxiety is prone to fully clothed bubble baths while drinking purple Gatorade out of a wine glass, Thomas will never know).

He finds Anxiety sitting on the stairs, in the spot he’s usually in for videos.

Thomas sighs and sits down next to Anxiety, who is pointedly staring at his own hands. “I’m sorry, Anxiety. I shouldn’t have been trying to find out your name by pressuring you to tell me.”

Anxiety stays silent, but Thomas notices an attentiveness that makes him continue.

“You don’t have to tell me your name at all if you don’t want to. And if you do, just do it when you’re ready.”

He waits. Anxiety says nothing. Thomas goes to stands up, assuming that’s his cue to leave, but he hears-

“I…” Anxiety looks up. “Thanks.” He smiles at Thomas, with one of those small, genuine smiles that he rarely does, which always melt Thomas’ heart. “I will tell you, at some point. But not today.”

“No pressure, buddy.” Thomas smiles, then pauses. “Hey. I’m sorry if me or the others give you a hard time.”

“Whatever.” Anxiety shrugs. “I’m used to it. I am your anxiety, after all, and that’s not exactly creativity, or kindness, or intelligence.”

“That’s not true. You look out for me. Sure, you can be a bit cynical and grumpy, and yeah, you can be really negative at times, but so can the others! So can I! But you’re realistic, you care about me and the others, and you just want what’s best for us. We don't pity you, and we don't hate you. You're one of us.”

Anxiety doesn’t reply. Thomas doesn’t think he will. “See you later?”

Anxiety huffs a soft laugh. “You always do. Especially if you get invited to a party.”

#me #my posts #my writing #my fic #oneshot #thomas sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #anxiety #anxiety sanders #logic #logan sanders #morality #patton sanders #princey #roman sanders #thatsthat24

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simplystefanie-rae · 8 years

Text

why doesn’t marinette ever play rizzo in grease fics

So I know in ladybug !grease aus!, or rather 'the school puts on a play' scenarios, Marinette is usually cast as Sandy or makes the costumes, or both. Which is fine, though a lot to take on. However. Sandy definitely isn't the one wearing a red and black polka dot dress???

I just think there's hilarity potential in Marinette being Rizzo. For one thing, no one would expect it. The casting call gets announced for Grease during the end of class and Alya excitedly nudges Marinette, saying she should go for the role of Sandy to impress a certain blonde model. The idea would be tempting to Marinette, certainly, but I think she'd be more interested in making the costumes, and doing that and trying out for the lead role might be too much. So she declines Alya's suggestion because she'd rather focus on costuming, and with a laugh, says if there was any role she'd go for, it would likely be Rizzo.

And Alya just stops dead and stares at her friend. And asks why.

Not understanding Alya’s shift in behavior, Marinette tries to explain that she just appreciates the character’s styling more, also it would be a lot less of a role to take on if she were to juggle costuming too.

At this point Alya bursts out laughing, not cruelly obviously, but the idea of the cutest girl in class, baring Rose of course, playing the brash, sultry Rizzo was hilarious. And Alya tells her this.

Now Marinette is feeling just slightly offended, which Alya sees plainly on her face. And so I see the rest of the exchange going something like this;

Alya: I don’t mean it as a bad thing! Rizzo’s character can just be pretty abrasive and in your face -

Marinette: -I can get in people’s faces!

Alya: *Laughing again* Yeah, when someone else is being mean, you’re all about truth and justice. Newsflash girl! Rizzo’s the mean one through a lot of it. You don’t have a mean bone in your body.

Marinette: *At this point she really begs to differ, but doesn’t want to get into how she has quite the mean jealous streak that still ashamed her*. It’s just acting. How hard can it be to pretend to be a jerk?

Alya: Easier for some people. Sorry Marinette! You’re just too... nice and cutesy.

Marinette: *Mumbling* I can do more than ‘nice and cutesy.’ Besides, you think I should be Sandy! She has to wear that leather outfit at the end and sings a song that’s anything but cute.

Alya: *Looking playful* True. Maybe Frenchie would be a better fit for you? She’s super nice!

Marinette: Urgh. You’re just poking fun now.

Alya: *Chuckling* A little. I still think it’s ambitious.

Marinette: It’s not like I said I was going to do it. She would just be my top pick.

Meanwhile Nino and Adrien finishes packing up their schoolbags and turns around, clearly interested in the commotion going on behind them.

Nino: Do I hear an actual argument going on between the ladies? What’s going on?

Alya *Chuckles and ignores Marinette’s glare* Hardly an argument. Marinette think’s she can be Rizzo!

Marinette: I don’t want to actually be in the play at all-

Nino: Rizzo? Ain’t she like... the sexy one?

Alya: Yes! And jerky. It would be weird, right?? She’s too cute!

Marinette: I’m right here. And no, it wouldn’t be weird!

At this point Nino and Alya are stifling chuckles, and even Adrien looks to be cracking a smile.

Adrien: I don’t know, guys, She’s talented enough, she could pull it off.

Marinette blushes heavily at the compliment, naturally. She was absolutely gonna die-

Adrien: Although... Alya might have a point.

Marinette: ...what.

Adrien: *Looking sheepish* Well, you’re the sweetest person I know. It’s a little hard to imagine.

Marinette: ...what.

Marinette.exe has stopped working.

And Marinette feels really conflicted at this point. Although she’s blushing like mad and her heart is soaring through the heavens (he thought she was sweet!), she really, really doesn’t like when others think she can’t do something. It was really... really... annoying!

She could totally be more than sweet as pie! She was Ladybug, for crying out loud!

Nino and Alya, meanwhile. just send each other a knowing look.

Nino: Dude, even when you’re not trying to be, you’re super smooth.

Adrien: What do you mean?

Alya: Seriously? I think you just broke my best frie-

Marinette: I’m doing it!

All three of her friends just look at her, surprised.

To emphasize the point, Marinette stomps up to the front of the class to grab a flyer advertising the musical’s casting call.

Marinette: I’m trying out to be Rizzo. And I’m gonna get the part.

And of course she does.

_______

No but like I can imagine it clearly. She would have to channel all of her Ladybug flirtiness, and maybe even a bit of Chloe, to really get that sultry, abrasive attitude down, but when she performs a part of ‘Look at me I’m Sandra Dee’, it’s a shock to almost everyone watching, and a little familiar to Adrien, thought he couldn’t tell anyone why.

This whole post was inspired by me just really thinking it should be a no brainer that she’d play the character wearing the polka dot dress. Yep.

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cloudbattrolls · 7 years

Text

> GLIESE: further discuss plans with Emerel.

The second installment of Let’s Discuss Kit’s Future Without Kit. Gliese and Emerel meet at the renaissance fair to talk business, just before Emerel and Hadean screw each other up.

> GLIESE

You finally found him. Stupid motherfucker, you think, grinning as you take a big running leap and land right next to the fence that separates the ring from the benches and cup your hands around your mouth. “EMEREL! ” He looks busy in a fight, though, so you just slide onto a bench and kick your feet. “Come on, beat this guy into paste so I can say hi to you properly, geez.” You call.

> EMEREL

Tellus is a tough one. You like fighting this guy. He gives you a hell of a challenge, even for an olive. As caught up in the fight as you are, you only vaguely register the sound of your name somewhere to your right. Your opponent, however, seems more curious about it than you are. When Tellus turns his head, you take the opportunity to sweep his legs with the butt of your halberd, kicking him hard out of the circle amongst much cheering from the crowd and swearing from him. You win again~ Laughing, you give him a hand up and a clap on the shoulder before you go to talk to Gliese who you've now spotted on the benches. "Thanks for the distraction, Gliese." You snicker, twirling your weapon once and resting it on your shoulder. "What's up?"

> GLIESE

You grin, tossing your hair with a jaunty shake of your head. He’s so damn tall, gangly motherfucker, him and Hadean alike. At least Pheres has the decency to be short like you. “You’re fucking welcome for saving the night.” You say, extra-lofty. You just barely manage to keep a straight face. “Not much. I dropped by Pheres’s booth, saw his choice of outfits - “ You stress the last word like you’re saying ‘blood sacrifices’ or ‘mutant support posters’. “ - and then decided I wanted to find you instead. Hadean texted me he got a SEADWELLER customer too, some old lady.”

> EMEREL

"I just don't know what I would have done without you!" You exclaim, putting your hand to your head like you're in a fucked up stage drama. "It would have been messy, let me tell you." You tap your fingers on the handle of your halberd, pleased with your own joke. "Oh, yeah. That." You cheeks fill with air and you turn away, laughing hard enough that you have to lean on your weapon for support. "I saw that!" The memory of it still fills you with a fun combination of cringe and hilarity. "I tried to give him fashion suggestions, but he said he looked just fine and needed to match Hadean. Speaking of, what IS Hadean even wearing?" Your eyebrows go up at the mention at an elderly seadweller and you whistle. "Wouldn't have expected old fish hags to come around here. That's new."

> GLIESE

You grin, wide and sharp, ears flicked straight up as you push your hands against the smooth brown surface of the bench, gripping it like you’re going to leap off. Maybe you will! “It’s okay, I accept your undying gratitude as payment.” You say, teasing him back. You laugh along with him - it’s infectious, Emerel’s brand of humor is so like yours, being around him is easy and relaxing.

“Oh my god, why didn’t he listen to you, he’s such a fucking dork. I don’t know WHAT Hadean’s wearing, besides not much.” You snark. “I wanna know what that designer was smoking, I bet I could grow it and be rich as a fuchsia.” You shrug. “Yeah, wasn’t expecting to see an adult here. I mean, not that I’ve seen her and not that I WANT to, but still weird. Also…” You look around. No one’s paying too close attention to the pair of you - just another fighter and spectator. Still… “Do you have time to talk longer? I have stuff I want to tell you about…our last one-on-one chat.” You say, knowing he’ll understand.

> EMEREL

"He really is. Fuck that guy." You laugh again. You're still joking, of course. You love Pheres. You just think his fashion is horrible and have no idea why he's determined to get his ass kicked over his dumb as fuck wardrobe. "At the very least he could have worn a shirt that laced up instead of that...whatever the hell that is, I don't even know what what is." You bury your face in one hand, snorting.

"If you find out, tell me and we can go into business together. We could both use the money. Though I'm not surprised about anything Pheres wears by this point. I've seen him in white fur suits and lace-ups. What the hell, Pheres." Oh, that was horrible. When she starts looking around, you frown. You know that body language. She's making sure nobody's listening, which gives you an idea of what's coming next. And when she asks if you can talk longer, you nod. You were expecting that. "Yeah." You lower your voice to a barely audible whisper on habit, looking around yourself. "My next event's not for a while yet. Come on, I know where it's quieter." You put your weapon away and gesture to her to follow you.

> GLIESE

“That, Em -” You say, pausing dramatically. “- is what we call a disaster in plainspeak. Also, did he really kill that animal himself? He said he did and I guess he could be more of a fighter than he looks but level with me here.” “HA, yeah.” You say. “Oh man, you have got to tell me about his other outfits, I wanna hear the horror stories.” Your ears flick, their large surfaces catching what he says just fine despite the drop in volume. You follow him, your own voice quiet. “I have good news and bad news, and…frustrating news.”

> EMEREL

"Not sure about that one. But he does taxidermy, so he probably stole the fur off some animal and wore it. He's not much of a fighter, trust me. He can battle in a pinch, but he'd sooner blind everyone to get out of there." You slap your knee, smirking. "There was the fuzzy poncho with red and green laces, the scarf actually made from wolf fur with the head still on it, all the white he wears. The guy is a walking fashion emergency."

You're going to dress him properly one of these days. You will, damn it. Of course, that has to wait until after you talk to Gliese. You call out to your teammates, telling them you'll be back later so they don't come looking for you, leading her to a quiet gazebo way towards the edge of the property. It's kind of run down and there's no tents or attractions in this particular area, so there's nobody around right now. You sit yourself down on a rickety bench, gesturing for her to take a seat. "Good, bad, and frustrating. Let's hear the bad first." You're still whispering.

> GLIESE

“Pffft, yeah, that sounds probable.” Matari also loves taxidermy, god knows why. Maybe it’s some sort of weird rust thing. “Oh, what, are his psiionics a real light show?” You gape at him as he tells you about the clothing. “Oh my god…a scarf from wolf fur is cool, not going to lie, but WITH THE HEAD STILL ON? Sweet Empress.” The gazebo is nice, even if the area itself is kind of shabby. You don’t mind, really - your bony shoulders lower slightly as you relax a little. You sit down across from Emerel, biting your lip with a long fang, not hard enough to draw blood yet. “Bad news is, I don’t know everything about Kit’s implants.” You admit.

It’s frustrating, but not terribly surprising. “I’ve found out some stuff, but the problem is, any general info about implants I could find is probably not exactly the same, especially factoring in different models and psi levels and junk.” It all gives you a pan-ache; you had no idea this shit was so complicated, and that was just from doing a little background research. There’s so much that could go wrong. It makes you wonder if you’re really doing the right thing, but you know anything - anything - is worth Kit not thinking he has to submit to cruel treatment for the rest of his life. “Kit’s told me some things, and the worst part of it is that the damn thing has a fleet tracker, so we have to be able to neutralize that, maybe even before we take it out.” You grind your fangs. It makes things so much harder.

> EMEREL

"Are you serious?" You groan, lifting your glasses onto your head and rubbing the bridge of your nose. You squint at Gliese through blurry vision, your pan going over every tactic or strategy or breakneck risk you can think of that might give the two of you the upper hand. "Alright, tell me everything you do know for sure. Maybe we can get some kind of an idea out of that." You rest your arms on the railings of the gazebo, chewing at your lip as you think. Shit, this is very bad. "How recent are Kit's implants? Are they close to yours? And-" You frown. "-Who were the previous Lepuses?" Is that a word? Who cares, she knows what you meant. "Do we know anyone with actual skills in maintaining ports. Or maybe a defector from your base itself? Someone there has to know something."

> GLIESE

“I’m sure as hell not telling you ‘cause I think it’d be funny.” You snort. You wish it were easy. And this is only part of the puzzle you have to solve; even once you work out how you’re getting the implants out and how best to deal with them, you have to figure out who’s doing it and how you’re going to even get away with it. God. You’d be going against the fleet itself, tampering with property… Does Kit count as property, since he has a port, even if only one? The idea makes you feel sick, and for reasons that make you uncomfortable about yourself…and some things you’ve said to him.

Ugh. No need to get into that now.

“I know his implants need periodic tune-ups. There might be some way we can use that. And aside from training, when they turn them down so he can use his psi, they stop him from doing much with his powers outside of that. As far as I know, there weren’t any before us, though how Leoffe even found out about us is a mystery to me.” You say, shrugging. “Maybe they just decided to use the first strong psychic cerulean they found.” “I told you before I don’t have any implants, doofus. Kit’s are so special they aren’t easily replicated, I think, plus they’re still testing them on him since he’s the first. No, I don’t know anyone with helm skills. I wish. And I decided I don’t want to ask Riccin; way too much of a security risk, they’d blab to the Empire in a heartbeat if they thought I was up to anything.”

> EMEREL

"If this was a bad joke, we'd be doing pretty good. Welcome to real life, where everything is a bitch." You put your glasses back, letting out a long sigh. This is probably the most dangerous thing you've ever been involved in and you're stressed to hell and back. If this gets fucked up, then Kit's done for. Gliese is done for, you think as you shoot your gaze back to her, chewing the inside of your mouth in thought. You're beyond done for. You don't even want to know what they'd do to you in particular. If they really want to fuck you both up, Pheres is probably done for too. It puts a cold, scared feeling in your chest and your fingers are trembling slightly just thinking about it. "Like a tune-up that conveniently shuts down the tracker? That might be doable. But we have to find someone who knows what they're doing with that first. We don't need to cause the guy permanent pan damage. Or spinal damage. Or whatever else damage might happen if that gets fucked the hell up.

"Let's try making that our next plan: finding someone who knows more about port development than we do. I don't suppose we could pose as curious students and ask a manufacturer." That suggestion is more wishful thinking; you know it wouldn't work. "...Unless they'd had test subjects before." You say, your voice grim. "Usually, big projects off this aren't done on a whim, they're done on previous research. Which means they probably did have a pre-Lepus program of some kind where they did their testing." You pause. "I don't want to know what happened to whoever that poor sap was." You shake your head, tugging on your collar. You're freezing, but covered in sweat. It's a weird feeling and you just want to take a long shower right now. "Right, right. Excuse me for having a lot on my mind here." You stick your tongue out at her, crossing one leg over the other. "Do we at least know a good psionic blocker?"

> GLIESE

“I know what real life’s like, Emerel, it dragged me into the fleet by my ears.” You say, sighing along with him. What the hell are you two doing? It’d be worth it, but is it even possible? It has to be. You blink and your ears flip back to half-mast from drooping as he voices his idea. “Could be. Framing the helmstech would be tricky…unless we bribed them, which is definitely possible. It’d have to be pretty high if we wanted to ensure their silence, but it might be a risk worth taking.” You shake your head at his next question.

“Yeah, and I doubt Prisma would answer us either, damn shame since they seem like they know a lot. I’ll just have to search my contacts.” You shrug at him. “Maybe? But I doubt those were ceruleans; those of with psi aren’t exactly a dime a dozen, and we’re uncommon anyway. They probably just used lowbloods with similar powers.” A pair of your skinny fingers flicks Emerel on the arm playfully. “Never. You will eternally live in disgrace.” The cheshire meowbeast would be hard-pressed to beat the grin spreading across your face. “Now, THERE I have good news - the base also trains plenty of lowblood psions, and obviously they have blockers around, so I just figured out what the best of their tech was and then got Dionna to buy a similar one for me with caegers, so they can’t trace it.”

> EMEREL

"What a world." You spit on the grass next to your bench, annoyed. The two of you are up against an absolute whirlpool of iron spikes and shit with no good way around it and no safe way in it. You really, really need to think hard. Gliese has the connections that you don't, so she must know something the two of you can do even if she doesn't realize it yet. All you have to do is keep pushing and picking her brain until something helpful comes forward. "That also leads us to the problem of the 'take the money and rat you out' kind. Bribery is good, but we have to make sure we're throwing money at someone who actually will be quiet if you pa them enough." You drum our fingers on the wood, noting the taste of blood in your mouth; you bit your cheek a bit too hard. "Something tells me that Prisma definitely doesn't fall under the buy him out category. Damn it.

Who's left in your contact list that would voluntarily do this without ratting us out or being a general liability?" "Still. If the project is really that old, there's probably old research on it. Even if Kit's new and improved in terms of tech, I bet the blueprints are somewhere. If we could just get our hands on them, we'd know what to do to get rid of them. But where would they be?" You look expectantly at Gliese, your face set in a frown.

"And by that I mean, how well-guarded is the place?"You chuckle a bit when she hits your arm and it lightens the mood a bit. "I am now sufficiently disgraced. Excuse me while I exile myself to the isle of despair!" You say, dramatic, as you get up and make like you're going to throw yourself over the gazebo railing. You laugh as you take your seat again, feeling a bit better despite the knot in your chest. When she grins at you like she's got an idea, though, you lean forward, both eyebrows raised. This sounds promising. "Gliese," You say, rubbing your hands together as your eyes gleam. "I think we just had a breakthrough here. Do those blockers work on, say, blueblooded psionics?"

> GLIESE

“I know.” You mutter, staring at the ground, before raising your voice so he can hear you clearly. “But it’d be way more dangerous to sneak someone of our own into fleet staff, impersonation’s a risk we want to avoid unless we absolutely can’t. So bribery’s probably safer.” “I have Dionna, she’s down for this as long as I pay her, and my other good news is that her moirail bitched at me plenty but Ionole finally agreed as long as HE gets paid a good deal too. I can take care of those; a chunk of my stipend, but I’ll still have plenty left. You snort. Emerel’s not getting it; well, how can you blame him?

“It’s not, to my knowledge. It’s just Leoffe’s thing, and you don’t know the fleet well, do you Em? Those blueprints will be digital-only, and on a lockdown so extreme that getting to them would be impossible. I bet they’re not even at the base. It’s a good thought, but we’d never manage it without a whole damn team of people, and I don't think I have to explain why that's a bad idea.” You make an amused noise at his response and then your eyes get wide, ears flicking up. “No reason they shouldn’t. Sure, the caste is different, but blockers aren’t like implants - it’s external tech meant to suppress all psiionic power, no matter what kind of troll it’s coming from.”

> EMEREL

"And the last thing we need is extra risk factor. Bribery it is. If you end up running low on cash from operation greased palms, let me know and I'll contribute what I can." So far, so good. It's at least a start. You want so badly to get Kit out of there and it feels like the whole damn world is trying to stop you. "I really wish we could just talk to Kit about this and get him to see it but...that's a hell of a task. I mean, we both know Kit. He'll curl up into himself the second you frown at him. Or at least that's what he does with me and Pheres. I don't know all the details of how he acts around you." You do know Gliese is tough on him, but you highly doubt it's as nasty as what Leoffe's been doing.

"Well, I never said they'd be on paper. I was thinking digital blueprints, Gliese. I'm not an idiot." You touch your tongue to your fangs, making an 'uggggh' face at her. "If all else fails, I vote we drive a full ship into the side of the wall. It might land on Leoffe in the process and then all our problems are over." You hope she doesn't think you're serious on that one, even if crushing Leoffe with heavy objects does sound appealing. "Is this starting to feel like the plot of some fucked up movie or is that just me?" "Alright, next question." You lean forward on your knees, running your tongue over your fangs in anticipation. "Is there any way to attach that to Kit without having the tech team or Leoffe notice? Or at least keep it near him?" You tap your fingers together, continuing. "Would they take him off duty if his powers suddenly stopped working? Or...would that just make Leoffe angry?" You frown, that possibility just now coming to you.

> GLIESE

“Should be fine.” You say, shrugging. You still find it a bit ridiculous that Emerel’s so damn rich for a jade, but hey, as long as it helps. You laugh a little - he’s close, but not quite right. “I’d like to think he’s grown a little bit of a backbone since he first met me.” You say, grinning. “Sometimes he actually zings back at me when I give him shit. Progress is slow but there. He just always gets frustrated when I’m rude, but he doesn’t get it. He’s so soft-pumpered, I just know someone’s gonna use it against him and screw him over. So I figure if he gets used to me, it’ll help.” It’ll help. Won’t it? You’re doing the right thing. If he can object to you, surely he can learn to object to Leoffe…

You mean like he has despite them being around him for sweeps?

You once again abruptly stop your internal dialogue. Emerel’s talking, you need to respond. “Yeah, even those would be impossible to get, or else, way too risky to try.” Then you bark laughter at him. “Great idea! Where’s the rebel hideout we’re gonna vanish to later, Em? Tell me, I want to pick the wallpaper.” You nudge him in the side. “This was already a fucked up movie plot. You’re the eye candy, and I’m the rugged protagonist, obviously.” You frown as you think. “Not while he was in the base, because it’d dampen the psi of everyone else near him too. I…” You hate saying it, but you don’t know, and it shows in the frustrated cast of your gritted teeth, the way your ears tilt almost all the way down. “I don’t know. I don’t know what the protocol is for that.”

> EMEREL

"Does he really?" You raise both eyebrows, grinning. You're quite glad to hear that. "He got sassy with me once, when-" When he informed you you didn't pop his rainbowdrinker cherry, to quote him. You cover your face, laughing at the thought. That's such a good memory and you will treasure it forever. "-Well it was pretty great, let me tell you."

Does Gliese need to know you're a drinker and fed off her signmate? Nah. "Maybe that's the solution we should be going for. Just keep being tougher on him until he starts toughening himself up." That one is hard for you. You don't want to be tough on Kit, you want to coddle him. And you know it, as pathetically pitiable as that sounds. "We just...have to get him to adjust to the world and maybe it'll start bleeding through to the rest of him. If I catch anyone screwing with him because he's too nice..." You twitch your mouth to the side.

"Another question. Do we know anybody really skilled in psychology? Because that might be the best thing we can do for Kit right now. There's got to be some kind of mental magic we can work here." "I don't know, I thought the ocean floor seemed like a nice place for it." You roll with her snark, waving a dramatic hand at her. "Everyone goes into space, but nobody thinks to hide right in the enemy's lair. It's the perfect plan, they'll never find us. And I was thinking old colonial for the wallpaper myself."

You snort, knowing how silly this sounds. You do enjoy being ridiculous with Gliese, honestly. "No fair, the rugged protagonist always gets the best love interests. And the eye candy usually dies first. I am offended!" You huff, putting your hand to your forehead in mock offense. "Gliese...." You trail off, your face switching back to worry. "Find out what protocol is for that before we go any further. The last thing we want is them deciding Kit's power is gone and throwing him out the airlock or something because he knows too much."

> GLIESE

Your eyebrows contort into several interesting positions before you finally snort in amusement. “Well, good. Glad to know he’s got it in him.” Good to know he’s not incurably goody goody and boring all the way through. “Yeah. Like…” For some reason it’s difficult to say. Why do the words feel trapped in your throat? “He’s got to learn at some point.” Will he learn? Has he learned all these sweeps? Can you teach him? Does he need you at all? Of course he needs me! You fire back at this new, irritating voice in your head. I’m going to help him! I AM helping him! It’s not like Leoffe at all!

“Yeah.” You agree more strongly. “I’d fuck up anyone who tried to fuck him up.” He’s yours. He’s yours and…and… You’re not like Leoffe. “I don’t think so. You mean like some kind of professional moirail or something? Nobody comes to mind.” You say, shrugging. You reach over to shove the much taller jadeblood jokingly, careful not to actually knock his lanky form over, and your tongue goes at him as well as you look up. “Old colonial? Boring , I was thinking, like, broken tridents and shit, going for that extra rebel aesthetic.” Then you grin, sitting back down on the bench as you kick your feet. “Haha, sucks to suck.” But your face darkens along with his, and you nod. “Yeah. I guess there’s not a lot more we can try to plan before then. I’ll figure it out.”

> EMEREL

"If we just keep up the pressure, it's got to sink in soon, right?" Your voice sounds a little breathless. It's not surprising; you're worried sick about Kit now. "I mean, it takes time to undo things when you've been stuck with them your whole life." You rest your elbows on your knees, setting your chin on your hand. "And this is pretty much his whole life by this point." That sickens you. Can everything that worries you about Kit really be traced back to fucking Leoffe? Motherfucker. "Count me in. We can double team it and smash some skulls in." You crack your knuckles then your neck, your tone threatening.

"But at this rate, I think pooling our resources to find someone who knows how to make subconscious stuff tick is going to be the safest route for Kit and the most cost effective one for us. It doesn't have to be a professional moirail, just somebody's who's good at that shit. Plus, I'm sure it's easier to find than someone skilled in port tech." You shove her back, sticking your tongue out at her, the mood temporarily lightened. "No, no. We need rusty anchors. That's definitely how you hit that extra rebel aesthetic. Rusty anchors and maybe some spray paint. Spray paint is cool, right?" Hell yes it's cool. "So for now, you look into that, I'll look into rebel base decor, and we'll both keep an eye out for a competent psychologist or something." What other choice do you have?

> GLIESE

“What, don’t you trust in my incredible talents?” You say, managing a smirk. You’ve ash-leafed before, how is this any different? Emerel doesn’t need to know your doubts. He’s your friend, but…that’s moirail business. And you don’t even have one. Your ears lower a bit, though, and you become more thoughtful. “Well, his life’s been different ever since I got there.” You say, and for once you’re not boastful - it’s a fact. “I bet I can change things.” “Maybe not easier to find, but less dangerous to deal with.” You retort dryly. He’s definitely right about cost, though. You grin as he pushes you back, amused at how he has to bend down slightly to do it. Being short can be useful. “Spray paint is DEFINITELY cool.” You declare. “Though if we’re going that route, I’m making graffiti murals, sorry, non-negotiable.” “Yeah. Sounds good. Have a good fight, Em.” You say, stepping away but waving goodbye to him as you do.

You have a lot to think about.

#this isn't perfectly formatted but [Maui voice] come to think of it I gotta go!#Gliese Benral #Emerel Victis

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shenmeizhuang-blog · 7 years

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legend of the dragon pearl: the indistinguishable road – midway musings

(This is a 90-episode drama, so at this point, I’m really up to Ep 45. Exactly, right smack in the middle of this show.)

Yes, that’s right – in order to retain the greatest accuracy and objectivity, I resisted temptation with three released episodes left unwatched – all for the sake of this post and you, the readers.

JUST KIDDING! It turns out that in the case of Longzhu (the pinyin of this show’s [shortened] native name, as the full title, 龙珠传奇之无间道, is a bit too cumbersome), wherever I stop to provide “commentary” really doesn’t matter. In fact, in trying (admittedly not very hard) to write this post, it became apparent that the best meta viewers can create for this is either live-blogging or the snarkiest recaps ever. Because let’s be real – there’s really nothing to analyze or synthesize at all (yet? Eh, I highly doubt so.)

So, of course, I’m doing neither. Let’s start from the basics. From what I’ve gathered, the “plot” is something like this (maybe?):

SYNOPSIS: Lots of weird mix-ups happen, resulting in a Ming Dynasty princess with a terminal illness (supposedly curable by the emperor’s tears) with no idea of her real identity and betrothed to a fake Crown Prince entering the Forbidden City to help this secret organization overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Naturally, she and the young Emperor Kangxi fall in love, but, 45 episodes into the show, apparently not yet, because everyone is stuck dealing with corrupt officials both in the palace and in the countryside.

Comments and comparisons on the web have revealed this as essentially really this weird mash-up of Princess Huai Yu (identity and love-line with Kangxi), Mischievous Princess (fallen princess + wild personality & young emperor + attempting to overthrow the new dynasty), and The Duke of Mountain Deer or The Deer and the Cauldron (anti-Qing organization, (b)romance with Kangxi, finding some key treasure, helping Kangxi defeat Oboi). But since I’m a relatively newer drama watcher who hasn’t seen these shows at all, I’ll give the scriptwriter the benefit of the doubt and accredit these plot points and bits of humor to the writer herself (spoilers and lots of roasting below the cut):

To be brutally straightforward: Longzhu is really a visceral mess. If I really bothered to pick out all the show’s flaws and plot holes, I would have more than enough material to write my own 90-episode drama. But from basic things from the questionable costuming (see: our protagonist Li Yihuan’s fugly “prostitute” outfit, the concubines’ hairstyles, or really overall a clear low budget) and shaky execution to ridiculous mistakes such as thinking Oboi’s (鳌拜) last name is “鳌” or “O” (lmao…), even when he’s clearly part of a prominent Manchurian clan under the Eight Banners (I’m especially sensitive about historical accuracy when it comes to the Qing Dynasty), or just the very many plot holes riddled everywhere, I must say I’ve dropped better shows.

(There’s also the matter of watching The Firmament of the Pleiades alongside this, which definitely highlights a lot more flaws than usual. For one, both shows deal with a young emperor trying to assume full power, but the way either show deals with such really speaks measures of the genre differences.)

Another thing that’s been nagging me for the longest time is: why go with this plan – training these kids lots of weird stuff like espionage – at all, instead of mobilizing the masses? Why endanger important people like the Crown Prince in this “dangerpous plan”? If Zhu Cixuan is so smart, why would he so easily display his amazing medicinal abilities, rather than display himself as “good enough to become an imperial doctor, but not the best” to avoid suspicion? Why hasn’t there been suspicion?

So what’s the saving grace? Throughout the sometimes decently interesting “missions” our leads, or the recruits of the secret anti-Qing organization 明珠谷, accept, there are indeed moments of hilarity.

There’s no denying it; it’s a nice show to get a good laugh out of, be it from sheer stupidity or mostly Yihuan’s quirky and adorable persona.

The plot goes by both quickly and frankly nowhere, making each episode easy to breeze past without much thought; given the amount that I fast-forward through, I tend to watch it 5 or 6 episodes at a time. Frankly, the show should be grateful that my Chinese is decent enough/the language is simple enough that I can watch this at 1.5x and 2x speed, because otherwise I’d definitely be dropping this. I think. I guess the producers and promoters really didn’t have high expectations for this, either – they’re actually dropping 12 episodes at once for Premium Youku and Tencent Video users every Sunday, which I find a strange format.

Even so, I’m still not quite sure how this is supposed to be 90 episodes. Although, since Princess Huai Yu was apparently 105 episodes long, maybe, just maybe, it’ll all work out.

Yet already Longzhu is showing signs of some dragginess – I guess out of ideas after the whole initial set-up and Oboi arc, the writer decided to pull a In The Name of the People and have our characters leave the palace in disguise and deal with corrupt officials in the countryside … for the freaking past 20 episodes, and judging from the YouTube thumbnails, it’s not going for a while. (I know the show is trying to depict Kangxi as this super awesome emperor who really cares for the well-being of the common people, and does crazy things like copy Buddhist scriptures with his own blood to end a drought, and honestly this was never going to be a good palace drama, so it’s not too bad, I guess.)

Of course, throughout all this, we have this complex love heptagon thing with multiple “enemies-to-lovers” relationships, as typical when dealing with people from two different dynasties. There’s been lots of tension and character interactions presented throughout the stupid plot, but weirdly it feels that everyone is pretty much still at square one, with honestly little meaningful development. (When was this show ever about meaningful development?)

(Oh wait, I think I was supposed to talk about this show’s strengths and ended up roasting it again.)

Easily the best thing about Longzhu is the cast’s solid acting and wonderful chemistry – given the mostly flatly written characters, actors for the corrupt officials such as Oboi, Liu Dezhao, and Qiu Gui have managed to give memorable, even adorable, performances. Even very minor roles, such as the suffering peasants, are portrayed with admirable nuance, despite some of their really stupidly made-up names.

Of course, I am largely fond of the leads. From real-life couple Yang Zi (portraying protagonist Li Yihuan) and Qin Jun Jie (Emperor Kangxi)’s sizzling chemistry, as well as Qin Jun Jie’s hilarious and intense expressions, to **Mao Zi Jun **(fake Crown Prince Zhu Cixuan)’s charisma (is that him looking ridiculously hot in the Qing hairstyle? I think I under-appreciated his beautiful face in The Glory of Tang Dynasty, but here I’m half-drooling) and Shu Chang’s phenomenal acting in differentiating (probably long-lost twins) Shu Wanxin and Xue Qincheng, this drama easily fits into the “great cast and acting but trash plot” category. (Also kudos to He Zhonghua for masterfully portraying long-lost twins Li Dingguo and Li De Fu (Eunuch Li), characters who frankly couldn’t be more different.)

(And, yeah, Allen Ren cameos in this…for like ten minutes…)

Combined with my fondness for the actors, the characterization is overall likable (Kangxi might be a bit too pushy and clearly doesn’t really get boundaries – typical of royalty – but I like how he’s motivated, though at times (like most characters in this show) prone to bouts of stupidity), with characters from both the Qing and anti-Qing largely rootable. I also adore certain side characters such as 索额图 and his nephew, so I actually haven’t resorted to looking for an OTP cut.

However, as likable as Yihuan is – I like the whole “jack of all trades, master of none” idea – I can’t help but complain about how Yang Zi seems to almost always be typecast into these sort of roles. Lu Xueqi in Noble Aspirations (Chusen) the notable exception, it seems that most of her roles – even Xiang Xiang from the critically acclaimed Battle of Changsha – are largely “quirky, immature, and adorable foodie with exaggerated expressions”. No one is involved in this production is particularly concerned by this, either – the official promotions actually call Yihuan the “ancient version of Qiu Yingying” (Yang Zi’s character in Ode To Joy).

Another problem is: given that the main appeal is Qin Jun Jie and Yang Zi’s relationship and strong chemistry, the show should know to service us with OTP moments, but apparently they’d rather show the characters dealing with corruption and a revenge plot-line that, frankly speaking, no cares about.

Then when I consider dropping this, they serve up fanservice of all kinds on a platter. The experience is something like:

Me: cringes at the off-putting execution

Longzhu: Look! An Allen Ren***** cameo!

Me: Yeah, I’m not relating with this who anti-Qing revenge plan. Maybe it would be better if I skipped these parts

Longzhu: But look at how likable these leads are!

Me: Okay, this is getting draggy

Longzhu: Hey, it’s a flashback featuring 李嗣兴 (re: RJL cameo)!

Me: They’ve been at this stupid corruption arc for so long; maybe I should drop this

Longzhu: K even though the OTP won’t be mutually admitting of their feelings for a while, it’s fine because we’ll drug them with an aphrodisiac! Then they can have an intense make-out scene!

(& etc.)

Despite being a very flawed show, I think I might actually watch all 90 episodes, and not just for the cast – it’s stupid and cliche (remember: based on the premise that the emperor’s tears can cure our heroine’s terminal illness), but somehow inherently likable and decently addictive. I guess…I’m looking forward to the angst and falling-out?

*****Allen Ren is this bundle of talent, cuteness, and extra-ness with super nice micro-expressions who also is probably the closest person to my bias.

#don't get me wrong i still like this show #sort of?#i'm being entertained #legend of the dragon pearl #legend of the dragon pearl: the indistinguishable road #legend of dragon pearl: the indistinguishable road #i'm laughing at how the official youtube channel is translating it to 'legend of the dragon ball'#龙珠传奇 #龙珠传奇之无间道 #commentary #long post #my commentary #a bit more of a roast #cdrama #cdramanet #yang zi #qin jun jie #mao zi jun #shu chang

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