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#i broke the line limit again so needed to add another one
shanastoryteller · 1 year
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ShanaStoryteller’s Prompt Answers Masterlist H (SIAT Ab) - K
SIAT 7th Year Drarry SIAT Abigail SIAT Andromeda on Percy SIAT Asim SIAT Asim and Lucius SIAT Asim and Lucius Siat Astoria Siat Cassius/George SIAT Cassius and George SIAT Cassius and George Siat Catalina and Sharon SIAT Cedric and Tonks SIAT Cedric/Cho SIAT Cho and Cedric SIAT Colin SIAT Colin and Dennis Siat Cormac McLaggen SIAT Costumes Siat Dean/Seamus SIAT Dean and Seamus SIAT Detentions SIAT Dobby Siat Drarry SIAT Drarry SIAT Drarry Siat Drarry Siat Drarry Siat Drarry SIAT Drarry SIAT Drarry SIAT Drarry Seating Chart Siat Dumbledore SIAT Dumbledore SiaT excerpt Siat!Flamels Siat Fleur SIAT Fleur and Soulmates SIAT Forgetting Luna SIAT Fruity Wolfstar SIAT Future Draco and Narcissa SIAT Future Pansy the Designer SIAT George and Cassius Siat George and Cassius in Vegas SIAT George, Cassius, and Oliver Wood SIAT Ginny/Luna/Neville SIAT Gringott Siat Hagrid and Harry SIAT Hagrid and Lucius SIAT Hermione Career SIAT Kakusareta District SIAT Kingsley and Amelia on Tonks and Percy SIAT Kiss SIAT Lavender SIAT Lavender Latte SIAT Lily SIAT Lily and Severus SIAT Lily and Sev SIAT Lucius SIAT Lucius and Narcissa Siat Lucius and Narcissa SIAT Lucius and Narcissa SIAT Lucius and Narcissa Siat!Luna Siat Luna SIAT McGonagall SIAT Millie SIAT Minerva and Hagrid SIAT Minerva and Hagrid SIAT Minerva and Tom SIAT Missing Time SIAT Mother SIAT Nagini and Theophania SIAT Narcissa and Lucius SIAT Narcissa and Lucius New Years Tradition SIAT Narcissa and Lucius Wedding SIAT Neville SIAT Newly Headless Nick SIAT No Rest for Nazis SIAT Pansy SIAT Pansy SIAT Pansy and Lop SIAT Pansy and Winky SIAT Parents SIAT Parents Get Along SIAT Parent Professor Conference SIAT Percy SIAT Percy/Tonks SIAT Percy and Love SIAT Percy and Tonks SIAT Percy and Tonks SIAT Percy and Tonks SIAT Percy and Tonks SIAT Percy and Tonks SIAT Percy and Tonks SIAT Percy and Tonks Combat Training SIAT Percy and Tonks Wedding Night SIAT Quinn and Clarence SIAT Quinn and Ravens SIAT Quinn and Severus SIAT Rave SIAT Remus SIAT Remus’s Career SIAT Ron and Alchemy SIAT Ron and the Flamels SIAT Seamus and Dean SIAT Severus SIAT Severus and Florean SIAT Severus’s First Day SIAT Sirius and Narcissa SIAT Sirius and Remus SIAT Sirius and Remus SIAT Sirius and Remus Meeting SIAT Snake Summoning SIAT Snape and Quinn SIAT Sophia SIAT Standards SIAT Susan SIAT Tabloids SIAT Teachers Betting SIAT Tonks SIAT Tonks/Percy Siat Tonks/Percy Siat Tonks, Percy, and Oliver Wood SIAT Tonks and Percy SIAT Tonks and Percy SIAT Tonks and Percy SIAT Tonks and Percy SIAT Tonks and Percy SIAT Tonks and Percy Siat Tonks and Percy Proposal SIAT Tonks and Snape SIAT Tonks and Snape SIAT Tonks’s Career SIAT Tonks's Parents SIAT Unseen Caretakers SIAT Useless Names SIAT Valentine’s Day SIAT Viktor and Ron Siat Wolfstar SIAT Wolfstar Chimney SIAT Young Narcissa, Part 1 SIAT Young Narcissa, Part 2 SIAT Young Narcissa, Part 3 SIAT Zaira Siat Zaira and the Malfoys Scarlet Woman Hermione Slytherin Harry Slytherin Harry, Part 2 Slytherin Harry, Part 3 Slytherin Harry, Part 4 Slytherin Harry, Part 5 Slytherin Harry, Part 6 Slytherin Harry, Part 7 Slytherin Harry, Part 8 Slytherin Harry, Part 9 Slytherin Harry, Part 10 Slytherin Harry, Part 11 Slytherin Harry, Part 12 Slytherin Harry, Part 13 Slytherin Harry, Part 14 Slytherin Harry, Part 15 Slytherin Luna Slytherin Luna, Part 2 Slytherin Luna, Part 3 A Slytherin Wife A Slytherin Wife, Part 2 Steamy Wolfstar Trans Draco Trans Boy Harry Trans Girl Harry Trans Girl Harry, Part 2 Trans Hermione Trans Ron Tiffany the Basilisk Tiffany the Basilisk, Part 2 Tiffany the Basilisk, Part 3 Time Travel Drarry Time Travel Drarry, Part 2 Time Travel Drarry, Part 3 Time Travel Drarry, Part 4 Time Travel Drarry, Part 5 Time Travel Drarry, Part 6 Time Travel Drarry, Part 7 Time Travel Drarry, Part 8 Time Travel Drarry, Part 9 Time Travel Drarry, Part 10 Time Travel Drarry, Part 11 Time Travel Drarry, Part 12 Time Travel Drarry, Part 13 Time Traveling Sirius, Part 1 Time Traveling Sirius, Part 2 Time Traveling Sirius, Part 3 Time Traveling Sirius, Part 4 Time Travelling Sirius, Part 5 Time Travelling Sirius, Part 6 Triwizard Champion Draco Coda Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 3 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 4 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 5 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 6 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 7 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 8 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 9 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 10 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 11 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 12 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 13 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 14 Triwizard Champion Draco, Part 15 Usually Werewolf Marauders Wolfstar Soulmates Wolfstar Divorce Yule Ball, Part 1 Yule Ball, Part 2 Yule Ball, Part 3
HOTEL DEL LUNA
shrine or scar [expanded fic on ao3]
HOUSE MD 
Wood Ducks
IT
Babadook and It
KIM POSSIBLE 
Crossed Lines Crossed Lines, Part 2
KINNPORSCHE
After
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iamsuperbi · 1 year
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could you possibly do Jacob x Dylan? My multishipper brain has been thinking about nothing but them and the fics are very limited
I really like this ship! ^-^
Jacob x Dylan (The Quarry)
“Stupid, it’s stupid,” Jacob sniffled, throwing another rock forward into the quarry. He was so stupid. What did he think? That one more night would magically fix he and Emma’s relationship? God. He’s so dumb. So stupid. He should’ve never messed with the van.
“Hey.” A body dropped to sit beside him.
Jacob hurriedly wiped at his tears, ashamed of them as he looked over at Dylan. “H-hey.”
Dylan didn’t look at him, staring out at the island across the water. “You okay?”
Jacob followed his line of sight to the island, sniffling to himself before shrugging. “Not really. But I’ve gotta get over it, right? She clearly has.” Jacob’s nails dug into the boardwalk.
“That was shitty of her,” Dylan agreed. Jacob felt his shoulders relax, relieved that someone was on his side for the first time since all of this started. It’s been ‘good for Emma’ or ‘tough shit, Jacob’ since the breakup yesterday. Not once has anyone gone ‘are you okay?’.
Like sure… they broke up. Jacob had known it was coming. Everyone did.
But they didn’t need to rub it in his face.
“Yeah. It… uh, it was.” Jacob nodded. “It was shitty.”
He studied Dylan’s side profile for a moment, the warm yellow of the light above them making his eyes shine a little as he looked ahead of them.
“Why’d you come after me?” Jacob asked. He hears Dylan take in a deep, suffering breath, but his face is fairly blank when their eyes meet.
“I don’t think Kaitlyn and Ryan noticed I left. Too busy staring into each others eyes.” Dylan’s voice is soft, a hint of bitterness. Then he shakes his head. “I came after you because I… I guess I don’t get it, but… I get it. You know?”
Jacob frowns, but slowly nods. He… thinks he does.
“I thought he’d kiss me.” Dylan adds after a small pause in the air. “Maybe that’s like… selfish. But… for a moment there I thought he really liked me back.”
Jacob’s hand gently landed on Dylan’s forearm, giving a small squeeze. “I thought Emma would kiss me.” He isn’t saying it to bring the attention back to himself. He’s doing it to say ‘I see you, and I felt the same way’.
Dylan’s arm twitches underneath his hand, and Dylan looks over at him, their eyes connecting. A soft, tiny smile touches his lips, and Jacob can see the faint peeking of his dimple.
Dylan’s eyes dart around his face for a moment before whatever moment that had bloomed was broken by him clearing his throat and standing. A smile teased his lips again, more playful, more like the Dylan Jacob had come to know this summer.
“So, are we gonna sit here moping? Or are we gonna have fun for our last night?”
Jacob felt oddly… disappointed. But he nodded and stood, too, glancing around. “What do you want to do?”
“Well… are there any towels left? We could go swimming.”
“In our clothes?”
Dylan’s smile stretched, his head tilting a little. “Not necessarily.”
Jacob blinked for a moment — then his eyes widened and his cheeks pinkened. “Ooooh. Okay. Got it.” He turned to go look for the towels, ears incredibly focused on the sound of Dylan’s clothes shuffling as he took them off.
Was Dylan… flirting with him? He wondered this as he moved up the stairs, warm under his green sweater. Was he okay with Dylan flirting with him?
…yes, he found himself thinking. He was definitely okay with it.
The search for towels is fruitless, and he returns to find Dylan stripped down to his boxers, gazing at the water with a contemplative expression. “Hey, no towels.” He announced from a few feet away, and Dylan’s shoulders — were they always so broad and… grabbable? — jumped in surprise.
“Aw, shit. Guess we’ll have to dry off the old fashioned way, hmm?” Dylan waggled his brows playfully, and Jacob felt a smile spring to his lips and his eyes.
“Shake it out doggy style?” He joked. Where he knew Emma anyone else would’ve groaned and gagged at his joke, Dylan laughed brightly, nodding.
“Hell yeah! C’mon, get naked. I’m feeling all shy,” Dylan laughed, before turning and jumping down into the dark green water.
Jacob’s lips stayed in their upright position as he tossed his clothes off, setting his hat on top of them just as Dylan resurfaced, soaked hair fallen onto his forehead, water shining as it slid down his face.
“Hurry up, slowpoke!” Dylan called, splashing water near Jacob’s feet. Jacob laughed, shaking his head as he readied to jump in.
“Slowpoke, huh? Seems like someone’s never met Hurricane Jake,” His words make Dylan laugh again, splashing more water in his direction. Jacob’s body felt light as he ran forward, yelling out, “CANNONBALL!”
He resurfaces to see Dylan wading in front of him, wet hand pushing at the hair dropped on his face. “Excellent form,” He praised. Jacob swam closer as he replied.
“Thank you, I worked really hard on it.”
“I could tell.”
“Mm, could you?” Jacob hummed. Dylan’s smile was infectious.
“I could.” Dylan nodded, tilting his head at him for the second time. Jacob felt his eyes inexplicably drawn to Dylan’s neck, shiny and slick from the water, but he quickly tore away from it before he was noticed.
Jacob hesitated for a moment, studying Dylan’s face for a moment. He felt like he needed to do something, say something. But… what?
Dylan’s smile faded a little, and a small breath left him. “I’m sorry Emma broke up with you. Even if she told you it was a fling at the start, it… it became real for you, didn’t it?”
Jacob swallowed hard, suddenly finding the water more interesting to look at. “It did. But… she never felt the same way, I guess. Did she… even try to come after me?”
Dylan drew closer to him, and the movement drew Jacob’s eyes once more to his face. “She went after Abi. Nick went back to the lodge. Ryan and Kaitlyn…” He trailed off, then brushed past those two. “I didn’t want you to be alone, so… I came after you.”
Jacob expects a sharp sting at the news that Emma hadn’t even thought to come after him. Instead, he’s just glad she would be there for Abi. He sighed, and gave Dylan another, softer smile. “Thanks. I’m… glad it was you.”
He’s not sure what he means by that. But he doesn’t really care because all he can focus on is Dylan’s face, much closer than before. His lightly parted lips were a pale, pouty pink. His doe eyes were staring into his when Jacob looked to them, a gentle glint shining them softly.
“Me too.” Dylan’s voice was quiet, kind, breathy.
Jacob wanted to kiss him. Was that weird? Maybe. He and Dylan rarely talked during the summer. Then again, he’d been too focused on Emma. But…
Dylan came after him. Dylan understood what he was going through. Dylan made him smile and laugh. Dylan was…
Pretty.
Dylan was pretty.
Jacob took in a soft breath. “C-can I…?” Kiss you, he’s going to ask — but he’s interrupted by a loud scream filling the air. His head whips towards the woods — and he can see Dylan doing the same beside him.
Abi?
Jacob rushed to get out of the water. Dylan was close behind — and Jacob began to rush forward, only to pause, hand patting at his hip. The rotor arm.
“Shit.” He looked down at the water.
Dylan’s hand curled around his arm. “That was Abi, come on!” He insisted. Jacob hesitated again.
Then he screwed his eyes shut, and allowed Dylan to tug him away from the water. Away from the rotor arm.
Time to help Abi.
He’d think about how soft Dylan’s hand was later.
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confusedkeyssys · 11 months
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Tone tag masterlist!!!!! :]]]
I know we just posted, but the idea popped up and I had to post this before I forget
Here's a masterlist of tone tags and their meanings, along with examples :] Note that it's only the ones I know so far and please feel free to tell us if I missed anything!
Click the "Keep reading" for the masterlist <3
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/j - Joking - Used to indicate when the tone of text/speech is a joking one, or to indicate that something is a joke and/or someone is joking {Ex: "I lit the dog on fire again /j" "You're a damn fool timothy /j"}
/hj - Half-Joking - Used to indicate when the tone of text/speech is one that is half or partially joking, or to indicate that something is partially a joke or someone is partially joking {Ex: "My dog will bite you /hj" "Well then i guess i'm santa claus /hj"}
/hsrs - Half-Serious - Means the same thing as /hj, but usually has more serious undertones, or more on the serious side {Ex: "Aw darn it the cat broke another fine china /hsrs" "they have no idea what that is /hsrs"
/srs - Serious - Used to indicate when the tone of text/speech is serious, or that one is not joking, and that what is being discussed is not a joke {Ex: "My sister just ran outside to catch a worm /srs" "I lost my limited edition jesus christ plushie /srs"}
/pos - Positive - Used to indicate when the tone of text/speech is a positive one, that what is said is in a positive or non-insulting manner, or that something is positive and uplifting {Ex: "HE LOOKS LIKE A WORM /pos" "Jason just got like 6 dollars in xer bank account /pos"}
/neu - Neutral - Used to indicate when the tone of text/speech is a neutral one, that what is said is in neither a negative or positive manner, or that someone is neutral on a topic {Ex: "i think umber needs to get off the subreddit /neu" "Oh my god he has a baby face /neu"
/neg - Negative - Used to indicate when the tone of text/speech is a negative one, that what is said is in a negative or insulting manner, or that something is negative and gloomy {Ex: "Their haircut looks like walter white /neg" "THIS SODA TASTES LIKE ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURING /neg"}
/sar or /sarc - Sarcasm - Used to indicate when the tone or text/speech is a sarcastic one, that what is said is in a sarcastic manner, or that what is said is sarcasm {Ex: "i love being single /sar" "Yeah sure you totally dont like xim /sarc"}
/ref - Reference - Used to indicate that something is a reference to something else, like a show, movie, book, video game, or other {usually fictional} work {Ex: "Thats because ey have 70 alternate accounts /ref" "sorry my girlboss but your princess is in another castle /ref"
/lyr - Lyric{s} - Used to indicate that what was said are the lyrics of a particular song {Ex: "A PETTY LINE OF WHITE NOISE PACK UP YOUR BAGS AND THROW OUT THE TOYS /lyr" "i kissed a girl and i liked it the taste of her cherry chapstick /lyr"}
/p - Platonic - Used to indicate when something that can be interpreted as romantic is platonic and not with romantic tone or gesture, or to indicate that something is platonic {Ex: "god i love you so much /p" "Yeah rai're my damn wife /p"
Thats all of them for now :] I know I definitely missed some, and I suggest doing your own research into tone tags and tone tag carrds and these can also be very helpful {Also, tone tags are also sometimes called "Tone indicators" if that helps at all}
Edit: An anon sent a large list of tone tags to add to the masterlist so I'm putting them here! {Ty, anon!} {I'm also copypasting them and not adding descriptions because I'm lazy but I'll probably get to it later(Hopefully-)}
/j = joking /hj = half joking /mj = mostly joking /nj = not joking /ij = inside joke /s or /sarc = sarcastic / sarcasm /nsar or /nsarc = not sarcastic /srs = serious /msrs = mostly serious /nsrs = not serious /g or /gen = genuine /gq or /genq = genuine question /rt or /rh = rhetorical question /naq = not a question /lh = light hearted /t = teasing /nm = not mad /u = upset /lu = little upset /vu = very upset /nu = not upset /ay = at you /nay = not at you /nbr = not being rude /nbm = not being mean /nbh = nobody here /sbh = somebody here /th = threat /nath = not a threat /cb = clickbait /f = fake /nf = not fake /q = quote /l or /ly or /lyr = lyrics /c = copypasta /m = metaphor / metaphorically /li or /lit = literal / literally /hyp = hyperbole /p = platonic /r = romantic /fl = flirting /nfl = not flirting /sx or /x = sexual intent /nsx or /ns = not sexual intent /pc or /pos = positive connotation /nc or /neg = negative connotation /neu = neutral connotation /vpos = very positive /vneg = very negative /e = embarrassed /nabr = not a brag /br = bragging /nafx = not a flex /fx = flex /st or /state = statement /nao = not an order /ao = an order /nav = not a vent /ny = not yelling /ot = off topic /irre = irrelevant /unre = unrelated /npa = not passive aggressive /pa = passive aggressive /c or /conf = confused /av = a vent /nav = not a vent /ex = exaggerated /aff = affectionate (i.e. I hate you /aff) /tech = technical /h = helpful /ns = not sure /fi = figuratively /curi = curious /sg or /sug = suggestion /tys = typing stim /stim = stim /sat = satire
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goofyhoffy · 3 years
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known stranger | jjk | Chapter 1
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people say your bestfriend's rival is your rival too. But what if you fall for your rival.
✿ Pairing :  Jungkook × female reader, Jimin × best friend reader
✿ Genre : enemies to lovers, stranger au, personal assistant au, manager au, mutual au.
✿ Summary : always seen him around your mutual friend, but one day you  noticed the known face. Everyone find you so interesting that they always want to be your best friend, yet you never find anyone close to your heart. Jimin your so called bestfriend gone through the worse break up but instead of caring him you fall for his rival. You never thought of liking someone who would beat your bestfriend, but you fall for Jungkook there. Unfortunately, Jungkook became your personal assistant who hated you the most for supporting Jimin. What if Jungkook also wants you back?
✿ Warnings : fluff, strong languages, reader is a psychopath, angst, anxiety, anxiousness, double faced, bullying, overthinking, mean people, Jimin here is the meanest, ignoring, explicit, smut, fake friends, manager and personal assistant au, mutual friend, swearing, filled with flirty lines, rival, lovey dovey, break up, makeout, humiliation, oneshot, texting.
✿ Series : a drabble fanfiction of 3 sets
✿ Word Limit : 5 k+
MASTERLIST
✿ Author's note : wishing you many happy returns of the day, kook. I thought of making this fanfic a oneshot but my mind never cooperates with me. So, here I'm again with my drabble series. Read it and let me know if you liked it. To get add on taglist, send an ask.
(๑˙❥˙๑)(๑˙❥˙๑)(๑˙❥˙๑)(๑˙❥˙๑)(๑˙❥˙๑)(๑˙❥˙๑)(๑˙❥˙๑)
"See, I changed your contact name to 'Bestie' , it's looking perfect dude." Jimin rejoiced. You just gladly looked at his phone screen with your two owl eyes. "Now, you also need to change my contact name in your phone to 'bestie'. Do it fast, I'm waiting, piggy."  Jimin said happily.
"Ya, I'll do it later some day." You weirdly smiled at him. It's always been like that. Jimin being too clingy, always said that you're his best friend, his own girl, whom he adores the most. But somewhere you never felt that. You never denied him of being your friend or you can say your best friend but you always hesitated to accept. You never called him sweetly, never even seen him like your bestfriend but something less than that. A vibe just didn't match with him. Yet, he was always the one who texted you, asked for hanging out, call you by pet names, always loved you, always treat you like his bestfriend. You never showed this emotions neither you did denied all that .
"You always do this things. You know, you're always first for me. First priority,____(y/n)." Jimin sighed.
"Ya, always first. But-" you got intreuppted by him.
This Areum gonna kill me one day. This girl already broke up with me but still cling to me." Jimin said while checking his phone. Few weeks ago, Jimin had a worst broke up. More likely, a betrayal kinda thing happened with him. Before that he was so happy, bright and always busy with his girlfriend. And never ever asked you how were you back then. There you got it, how really a toxic person he was. That's why, you never wanted to call him your special person. Cause after every break up he only comes to you. And during his relationship phase he never even asked you nor did he talk to you. A complete stranger basically.
" Why don't you just ignore her. Block her if she's distrubing you so much." You said.
"I did, but still. Well, she's only for fun. She also have fun making out with me and I do the same. So no problem." Jimin chuckled.
"Also fun when she calls his boyfriend and his friends to beat you up as you're assign of molesting her." You rolled your eyes.
"____, you clearly know that. You have seen that. She was the first who directed me to kiss her , touch her and everything. But later that bitch just called her bodyguard boyfriend to help her out. It's only a strategy for breaking up with me." Jimin sighed.
"Then, why did you do the same thing again Jimin? Just leave her. It really feel bad to see your friend suffering." You asked.
"Bestfriend not friend." Jimin corrected.
"Whatever. Do you want to have red stamps on your ass again?" You sighed.
"No, but I can't. That time I was so mad at Areum so I didn't do any harm to her boyfriend. Unless I would have kicked him in nuts." Jimin giggled.
"Everything is not a joke, Jimin." You rolled your eyes as you left for your daily shift.
You got freahen up after a hectic day at your work. After taking good hot shower, you sat on your bed and checked your phone. You glared at how many messages Jimin had sent you to ask about your day, your mood, what's you're doing and stuff like that. You completely ignored it. Sometimes you feel that, the boy put so much of his time on you just to get some friendly love from you. But at the second thought, you imagine all those moments when he ignored you, your texts, your calls for hours and days just because he don't need you.
At last you saw the flooded messages at the new group chat you got added. You don't have enough patience to read what the group chat was about and who were the members. So, you directly called the one who added you.
It's Bora, who added you. Your long lost another best friend. Who also treated you like her best friend but you never like being her friend. But you felt so glad that someone still remembered you. You called her.
"Hello!"  You nervously chuckled.
"____, I missed you bub. Don't you missed me sweets?" Bora excitedly asked.
"Sure. I-I mean I did. A lot. Bora." You weirdly smiled
"Then you're definitely coming to the Mall? Don't you?" Bora asked.
"Mall? About what?" You asked.
"I added you to the gc dude. Checked that. Everyone is coming. Please you also need to come. I have many things to talk about you." Bora pleased.
"I saw that, that's why I called you. Cool idea! Definitely gonna come Bora." You said.
"Call me sunshine. Okayy, tomorrow at eight at evening near the south mall. Don't be late. We all will be there." Bora said happily.
"Sure sunshine. I'll be there promise. Good night. Meet you tomorrow." You said cheerfully.
You're kinda excited to meet your old goldies. Not to lie but you missed them so much. All the shit they talk, crazyness they do and everything about them is all you need right now. You missed Bora in real. Like, in days she was so toxic that gives you anxiety unnecessarily but still she missed you. You always love the person who mentioned you anywhere unless or untill it's Jimin.
At the Mall, you're already late to go their after your hectic schedule. But still you're not late as it's only nine and they asked you to be their till eight. But you always a late lateefa. More like a queen for whom everyone waits. You saw Bora, and ran cheerfully towards her.
"Sunshine!" You sang.
"_____, again late." Bora exclaimed arrogantly.
"Really sorry Bora. Tell me if I missed anything." You asked.
"Everything. Legit everything." Bora said.
"Why? I'll cry dude." You sighed
"Everyone already gone for movie. I'm just here to wait for you girl. Thank me." Bora rolled her eyes
"Then let's go for the movie. We can join the movie." You cheerfully smiled.
"Wait. I didn't call you here to hangout with you. I need to tell you many things." Bora said.
"Then whom we're waiting for. Let's have some goosip coffee, Sunshine." You chuckled as both of you just walked upto the near counter coffee shop. There you sat the same place you used to and have endless laughter.
She explained how she's going to marry the man of her dreams. Tells you everything about what happening in every one's life and their love life. During your old days to, Bora was the one who tells you all the goosip and love life of others. She was so much interested in other life than her own. Unfortunately you were always the one who used to hear all those boring goosips. You were never interested, neither you are now interested.
As the weather is getting happier the dark clouds surrounds the mood. You saw Areum and his Boyfriend Seokjin was also there at the mall. They're strolling down the Mall with grabbing eachother hands. They looked so happy. But you felt so bad for his boyfriend Seokjin. He never knew the actual face of Areum. You have seen after Jimin's break up also, she used to make out with him. Jimin share each and everything about that. How she bite his upper lip so much and how she was acting that everything was good and still were together. Jimin was an actual fool and you knew that. He didn't understand that, the thing which he was telling fun and gain is actually the entire opposite. Areum was all having fun with her new rich boyfriend and having a good physical life with Jimin. But here Jimin was always so sad because of her. She's an actual bitch  and act like an innocent fool.
"Bora, this is the girl I'm talking about." You pointed at Areum indirectly.
"She was Jimin's girlfriend? Ew. I always know he had a bad taste." Bora said.
"See the boy beside her, he's her new boyfriend. A total bitch." You fumed. As both of you sitting at the corner of the coffee cafe looking at them and goosiping.
"That's Seokjin. Lord." Bora yelled.
"You know him?" You asked.
"For sure. He's the friend of Jungkook. That boy is way too flirt." She giggled.
"Jungkook? You mean that boy?" You asked.
"Ya, remember during the high school party I invited him. You met him quite a few time, ____" she said.
"Wait. There's a  Long story about him also dude. Let me finish." You chuckled as you sipped your cold brew.
You explained her how during the break up of Jimin and Areum, she called her new boyfriend. With his new boyfriend there was Jungkook there to threaten Jimin. You had witnessed all the threatening Jungkook given. The way he said 'back off your little ass' , 'fuck another girlfriend, leave Areum' , 'seokjin is like my brother, if anything happens to her girl I won't leave you". All his aggression, confidence in his eyes and a way of firece. Not to mention you liked it.
All this years, you have seen Jungkook. You have seen him in the partis, malls and streets. But after he threatened your bestfriend, you kind of liked him. After that you noticed him in real. How he was flexing his arms while talking to Jimin, how he was rolling his eyes, how he was just standing there looking immensely handsome. With the white t-shirt on and cargo pants, he was looking handsome. That's the first time you actually noticed him.
You really felt bad for Jimin that all the boys get over him. But a certain part of your giggling to recalling all the moment of Jungkook. You never talked to him, neither he took an interest on you. You both were just a known stranger to each other. Known by the faces and stranger by the identity.
At the end of the meet and greet day, you were on your way to outside. Bora was with you. You both were laughing. You met with other old friends too after so long. You took some good memories photo and you felt so good at the end.
"Bora! Hey!" Someone shouted at Bora who was standing beside you at the exit of the mall. She looked back and realized it's Jungkook.
"Hey, Kook. You're here." She giggled.
"Come here with Seokjin. You too here?" Jungkook asked.
"Yeah, with _____(y/n). Meet my bestu." She pointed at you.
"I see." Jungkook just rolled his eyes on you. It's completely like ignoring you. You also completely just looked at your phone to cut off eye contact. It was like ignoring both of their conversation.
You know why he always looked so uninterested on you. After Jimin's broke up, you took Jimin's side and then all those so called cold war started. He absolutely hate you because you opposed him and supported your friend. But you know you were correct. But that never mean that you could not have a crush on him.
His dark hairs falling at his eyes with the little puppy eyes look immensely fierce. His everything is quite recognisable and you remembered each of the detailed about him. But always a guilt that you never spoke to him. You wanted to but his expression kills your inner whore.
"Then spend time with Seokjin. Meet me soon." Bora said.
"Cool. You also spend time with your bestu. I'll meet you soon." Jungkook greeted as he left both of you alone. He gave you a scary look before leaving which you clearly noticed but rolled your eyes.
You entered at your work place. That day you had a lot of work to do. So, you piled up all the papers needed for the work. Basically, you were working as a manager in a hotel as you want to have enough money to publish your book. You work daily so hard to accomplish all your dreams to be a writer. Being a manager you saved enough for your book and have enough to spend the rest on your own. Your work was always way to comfortable for you.
"Good Morning,____." Your boss entered at your work place and greeted you.
"Good morning boss. Do you need something?" You asked.
"I want you to meet someone. Kook! Come in." He shouted to call someone. As he called, a guy entered in the room and it's none other than Jungkook itself.
"Meet Jungkook. From now onwards he will assist you. Your personal assistant." He said.
"Dad! I'm not anyone's assistant here. I'm not doing this thing." Jungkook barked angrily.
"You have to think about that before the car accident. To be more sincere, you have to work as an assistant until or unless I'm sure you can do something on your own." Your boss hissed. You never knew that Jung kook was son of your boss. Your boss looked quite young for a big boy like Jungkook. And never did Jungkook had been in this five star hotel you worked at. You were quite shocked while giggling inside that he had to assist you. That's mean proper supremacy.
"But dad -" Jungkook been cut off by him.
"Meet _____(y/n). I really want you to work with her. She's sincere as well as profound at her work. I think you will be a good Manager -  assistant thing." You boss said. As he mentioned your name , Jungkook looks at you. He was as stun as you.
"Thanks Boss. Hello Mr. Jeon Jungkook." You greeted and try to be as professional as you want to stop him from invading in your personal life.
"Now, you both can start your work. I'm leaving." You boss said as he left your work place leaving you and Jungkook alone.
For few minutes it was like a dread silence. Only your computer making the typing sound. You don't know how to start a conversation. The only thing you know was that you should be professional with him. No perosnal talks. Only see him as your assistant or more like your boss's son. Jungkook was there right behind you still astonished and don't know from where to start. He was already feeling so sad about being someone's assistant but it made worse after realising it's you. You were his manager. Internally he hated you, but you liked him. You know he hated so much. But neither you had talked to him nor he talked to you. It was an internal war of friendship. Because both of your mutual friends were rivals. So, you both also knew you have to be each other rivals too.
"You work here?" Jungkook smirked.
"Yes, Mr. Jeon. As you're my assistant now, I'll teach what you have to do." You weirdly smiled.
"I'm not your assistant first of all. It's for my dad sake. Or I would never have to work here." Jungkook arrogantly said.
"It's okay Mr. Jeon. But I have to abide by my boss rules." You said.
"What's with Mr. Jeon? Don't you know me?" Jungkook asked smirkingly.
"Do I?" You asked.
"Dude, you're Bora's as well as Jimin's bestfriend. I clearly have seen you hundreds of times. Don't deny that you never have seen me." Jungkook smirked.
"Sorry, Mr. Jeon. But I'm at my work place. No perosnal talks please." You hesitantly said. You felt like a large piece of stone got off from your heart. You never want to talk to him about your personal matters or it would go real wrong.
"Stop calling me Mr. Jeon for God sake. Call me Jungkook." He ranted.
"Okay, Mr. Jungkook. Anything you like." You said.
" God! You're so annoying dude. No more formalities please. Jungkook only." Jungkook yelled at you. You know how to annoy people. You were just testing his patience and as expected he was way more patienceless than you have thought.
"Okay Jungkook. Call me _____(y/n) then." You smirked.
"Whatever." Jungkook rolled his eyes as he sits at the table.
He was on his phone through out you were working. You thought of giving him some work. But the way he was sitting, getting annoyed by you and those priceless smiles across his face whenever he was playing in his phone. You can't deny but you want to admire him all day long. You and Jungkook was all alone in the room. No one was there. You were working on your files and peeping at him when he was not looking at you.
"Dude, give me some work or something. I'm getting bored." Jungkook sighed as he put his phone aside and looked at you.
"I thought you don't want to work! But sure, being your manager I'll give some work to do." You proudly said.
"Only for my dad. And also I'm bored so thought doing something with you." Jungkook said.
"Something with me?" You asked. Your sarcasm is way too knowledgeable to your friends. How you turn simple things to some random jokes.
"I-I mean some work with you." Jungkook stumbled.
You told him everything he have to do. All the rules and regulations he had to follow. But at all your words he just rolled his eyes. That kind of annoying to you and you want to beat the shit out of him. But you can be a bigger annoyance than him. And you decide to be one. As Jungkook would never find you interesting or beautiful but you would force him to do so.
After the work, when you finished all your daily work and wrote down all the things you have to do tomorrow on your diary. You were ready to go to your home and work in your book and have some delicious coffee.
"Jungkook now you're good to go. See you tomorrow." You greeted him with a smile.
"So, now what are you gonna do?" Jungkook asked.
"We did all the work today so early. So, now you can go home and so do I." You said.
"Go home! Don't you have anywhere to go? Hangout or parties?" Jungkook chuckled devilishly.
"I prefer home Jungkook. Meet you tomorrow." You said and you're on your way to exit.
"Wait ____. I'm trying to start a conversation. And you're only ignoring me." Jungkook yelled.
"I'm not ignoring. It's just I have pile of work to do." You laughed
"So, if your professional life ended can we talk about your personal life?" Jungkook asked jokingly.
"No. I don't want to." You said as you left the venue for your home. Jungkook was standing there all astonished that why you react like that. Thinks if he asked you something wrong.
As soon as you reached home, you got a text from an unknown number.
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You're internally giggling and smirking that it was not you who texted first but it was him. You were happy that finally you got his number. But still you don't want to show that you liked him or anything. You just want to be professional with him so that he'll beg you to talk to him. You're way too annoying and you want to show that to him. You now just want to go tomorrow and annoy him more and more.
"You did well today. You should be proud of yourself!" You smiled at him.
"I'm always proud of myself. Well, now home?" Jungkook asked.
"Yeah, let me just get my things and we'll be good to go." You said as you packed your bag up.
There Jungkook standing looking at you and your curves. He was really so rude to you at first but now he was cooperating with you. He does everything you told him and obediently he did that. As you were busy packing your things. He grabbed your diary across the table to hand over to you.
But before that he looked through the pages of the diary. First few pages, you marked all your day to day plan. Yet as he turn the pages over he looked the brief description you have pointed about everyone. This was something you do whenever you find someone interesting. You always note down their physical and behavioural characteristics about them. Because in a thought that maybe it'll help you in the near future on your books. You always make your books character with attachment of the real people existed. It's kind of a thing you really like.
"His deep ocean eyes when he looked at his rival. For me it his dark hairs which he glides with his veiny hands." Jungkook louldy sang. As you didn't noticed that Jungkook already have your diary and you're looking for it. But those lines he sang just clicked your mind.
"Jungkook! What the hell? Give me my diary." You shouted at him and punched his arms.
"Dude, I'm giving. Wait, let me read some more." Jungkook chuckled devilishly.
"Give me or I'll leave." You rolled your eyes. As he gave the diary back to you. You look at the pages he turn over and generously you looked at it. Properly examining if he fold any of the pages.
"It's okay. I didn't eat your pages." He rolled his eyes.
"I'll check that up." You arrogantly said as you pick your bag up and left for home.
The lines Jungkook read loudly was actually about him. You have written everything about him which you find interesting. You don't want to reveal your secret that you liked him. But you just wished that he didn't read his name there.
As soon as you went home, you got Jungkook's text. It's now kind of become a routine for you to get text from him at night. The whole day you just spend with him and at night we wished you 'sleep well' to end the day. You can't thank your boss enough for him. He's rude but kind. You're annoying but sweet.
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"Today we don't have many work Jungkook. You can take a leave today. " You said as you pile up the papers.
"It's okay, I'll help you." Jungkook nonchantly said.
"Well, I also don't have work. So, I'm leaving already." You chuckled.
"It's only afternoon dude." Jungkook sighed
"So? You're so enthusiastic to work, huh?" You asked.
"For you." Jungkook sighed under his breath.
"Wait. You're free now? Any plans for evening?" He asked.
"No I guess. Will eat and watch something so far." You excitedly said.
"Let's hangout?" Jungkook smirked
"Huh? With whom?" You dumbly asked.
"With me of course dude. You and me. I never have talked to you in person. You always so professional." Jungkook giggled
"Umm... I might be - " you got intreuppted by him.
"Please don't say no. I also want to know why every one wants you be there bestfriend." Jungkook pleased. You really want to go at the first go but you want him to plead to you. And he did, and you accepted that.
"Okay then but home by night." You smiled. 
He accepted and asked you to wait for him till he take his car at the front. You waited for him at the main door. But you saw he forget his phone at the table. And repeatedly his phone just lights up as there were messages flooded on his phone. You decided to peep into it. Your inner detective rises as you checked his phone. You know it's wrong to check anyone's personal thing but he also did first with your diary. You looked at the top messages, it's filled with many flirty girls texts, some work related texts and lastly Seokjin text which popped up as soon as you open it.
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Your inner self was burning right then. You thought Jungkook was not like that but you were wrong. He was like that, a total rude brat. But before you he acts like all sweet and flirty. Yet he was totally the different personality in real. He still thinks of you as a ugly and rival person. You can't process what did he mean by 'I'll fuck a pig than you'. You were keep repeating the lines in your head. The more you imagine it, the more your blood was boiling for him. He was traitor or a chameleon who only knows how to changes colour. You can guess how he thinks about you. He only thinks about you as a ugly, little and fatty bestfriend of his rival. You just want to see him and kick him so hard and want to know why he acts like he actually interested in you.
You were already been worse , you don't want anymore to get worst. You only need to go home and drift in your blanket and sleep till you forget that Jungkook is okay to fuck a pig but not you.
You left for your home without greeting Jungkook a bye. You don't want to hangout with him anymore. You now just want him to beg you to fuck him. You're a total psychopath for this. Your ego is far more bigger than anything in this world. Either he should beg you to fuck him or you never will see his face. You know your ways how to do that. As you think, Jungkook already called you to enquire why did you left after promising for hanging out. But you declined the call. He texted you over hundreds time to know what's wrong with you. But neither you did answer. You were completely ignoring him.
The past days you just ignored him, his texts and calls everything. Everytime he comes to talk to you at interval you just passed him. If comes to ask you something you directed him to the other managers. Even ones he asked you why you were acting so differently and ignoring him. But you straight up rolled your eyes on him. He got so annoyed by your actions. He only wants to know if he made some mistakes. But more than the mistakes you feel that it's a double game. He only wants to insult you and nothing else. You also know it's better to stay away from double faced people.
You were at your workplace constantly ignoring Jungkook. You never pick any personal calls during your work. But as it's lunch time and Jimin was calling you, being a good bestfriend you picked it up.
"Bestie! You're at work?" Jimin asked through the phone.
"Umm.. yeah. Anything?" You said.
"Today, I prepared dinner for you. Specially for you. Please come over at my place." Jimin said.
"Ahhh! Jimin! Tonight I can't. There's a lot of undone work." You ranted.
"You always say this things. Shut up, you have to. Else I will pick you up. Okay?" Jimin asked smiling.
"No need to come here. I'll come, it'll be late." You sighed.
"Great bae. Love you always." Jimin sang.
"Meet you tonight. Bye." You said.
"Say it back, piggy." Jimin shouted.
"Ahhhh love you Jimin! Bye." You also sang the same way he did and declined the call. You were already tired and again you have to go there.
Someone was there to noticed all the things you were doing, it's Jungkook. He heard all the talks with Jimin. Heard the way you have a plan tonight with Jimin, the way you sang love you to Jimin and the way you were giggling all the time talking to Jimin and not him. His inner spirit boiled to know you were again talking to that little brat who was his rival and he got jealous that you never hangout with him but you at once get ready to hangout with Jimin. He couldn't sit with his inner boiling ego. He need to ask you what happened, why did you hangout with Jimin and many other questions which a boyfriend need to ask his girlfriend. Time by time there was some sudden urge which keep him engaged with you. It  could be your personality, your way of showing emotions and everything you do. He also fall for you but still didn't know it.
Jungkook just entered the room where you were working and shut the door arrogantly. You were amazed what he just did but without caring much you did your work.
"Working, huh?" He asked. You just nodded a yes.
"Free tonight? Thinking of taking you to any restaurant." Jungkook smirked.
"Busy tonight. Hope you will understand." You rolled your eyes.
"Busy tonight with your boyfriend Jimin, huh?" Jungkook chuckled devilishly. Your eyes just burned to hear that. You frowned.
"Sry, my mistake. I mean your so called best friend Jimin." Jungkook rolled his eyes.
"Jungkook, mind your own business." You shouted. He walk up to you and stand straight right before your face.
"Now,I understand why Jimin broke up with Areum. Jimin got you." He said as he pinned you at the wall. He thoroughly looked into your eyes leaving no gap. His hot steamy breath could be sensed by your cold skin. Each word he spokes makes your heart pound. His wide chest touches your torso. He was furious and angry that time you could clearly guess. But more he come nearer to you. You felt like hugging him. Instead of asking him to leave you, you just glared into his eyes. Both of you were stolen in each other eyes. No one was taking back.
"Love you Jiminiee." Jungkook mimicked you.
"Jungkook, stop it"
"Tell me that you love Jimin and I'll leave."
"What if we stand like this forever." You winked.
"Don't play with me, ____(y/n)" Jungkook smirked as he come closer to your face.
"What if I kiss you now?" You smirkingly said.
"Then do that! Jimin again got a cheater girlfriend. Poor Jimin." Jungkook giggled.
"I'm glad that he didn't get a girlfriend like Areum." You frowned.
"Mind your business. Dare not to speak anything about them." Jungkook arrogantly said.
"Who started, huh? Who's now pinning me? Who's jealous about Jimin? Who wants to take me to dinner? Hear yourself, baby." You playfully winked as you punched him to get off from him. He took a back from you.
"Seokjin is right my taste is real bad. Live with your Jimin happily." Jungkook said.
"First of all he's right to say that. Having a friend like Seokjin shows your taste. Secondly, Jimin is not my boyfriend. Lastly, don't ever dare to talk to me and fuck off." You ranted as you leave the room.
(✿ ♡‿♡) (✿ ♡‿♡) (✿ ♡‿♡)
TAGS : @mellie1409 @pariyansha @alienatedkitten @chans-baby-girl @mwitsmejk @hello-stranger24 (sry the tags are not working)
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ejzah · 2 years
Note
Densi adjacent fic request. Sam and Callen bringing up what happened in mexico in season 9 finale. Either during or after its up to you.
A/N: I’m assuming this refers to Kensi and Deeks’ argument/temporary falling out in “A Line in the Sand”.
***
There’s A Lot to Lose
“This isn’t good,” Sam sighs, closing his eyes as he sinks onto his bed in the hotel room and finally allows himself a minute to register the pain radiating through his leg. It’s definitely not good, but he’s never telling G that.
“Going on an unsanctioned mission to Mexico to rescue Mosley’s son from her cartel ex with my injured partner?” Callen summarizes with full sarcasm. “Yeah, not exactly how I would have planned things.”
“No, I’m talking about Kensi and Deeks. You could have walked through that tension on the plane.”
“Mm, did Kensi mention anything about what caused their frostiness?”
“Nope.” Sam shifts again, trying to find a position that doesn’t make his entire leg throb. After a few more seconds, he gives up. “But Woods mentioned that he heard Kensi say something about kids and Deeks calling off the wedding over it. Maybe like he was giving her an ultimatum or just reached his limit,” Sam says, feeling a little uneasy about what feels like second-hand gossip. “Wood couldn’t be sure though. Kensi walked off and they had to escort Deeks from the premises per Mosley’s orders.”
“Damn,” Callen murmurs. He shakes his head, silent for a moment. “You think it’s true?” When Sam raises and eyebrow and gives a slight shake of his head, he clarifies, “Do you think Deeks broke things off? Or that one of them did?”
“I don’t want to think the worst of either of them.” It’s true; Sam respects Kensi and Deeks. But he also knows that tension and strife has grown between them in the pasts months. He’s heard bits and pieces, references to Deeks being ready to cut and leave while Kensi…well, he’s heard many things. “Whatever happened, we know that they’re barely speaking to each other and every time they make eye contact, it seems like they simultaneously wanted to apologize and never see the other again.” He can only imagine their misery.
“It’s been a tough year.”
That’s certainly an understatement and Sam nearly smiles at that.
“The point is, can they hold it together enough to see this mission through,” he says. Tilting his head to the side, he heaves another sigh as Callen considers his question.
“I think so,” he decides. “I knew something was wrong between them when Deeks called and I decided that he had his head in the game then.”
“Really.”
Callen huffs out a sounds that’s more resigned than humorous.
“Or maybe I just knew that Kensi would be more distracted without Deeks by her side. At least this way they’re together.”
“For better or worse,” Callen adds, ending the conversation on a rather dark and dreary note.
***
The next morning, Sam watches them. He watches them look just past each other over breakfast. He listens to Deeks pointed comments about the danger, how they don’t need to be there. And he hears Kensi’s annoyance, mixed with hurt, as she snaps back.
He hopes they survive this. Not just in terms of their lives, but their livelihoods and relationships. Sam hopes that Kensi and Deeks are able to repair the giant cracks that are widening between them. They have so much they could lose in Mexico.
***
A/N: I hope this is alright. Thanks for the prompt!
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rainydaydream-gal18 · 3 years
Text
(TFATWS) Bucky x Reader: Protective- Part 1
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 (Author’s Note: I watched TFATWS and loved it.  So here we are).
 The tension had finally fizzled out an hour or so into the trip- at least for a little while.
   Your consulting criminal, Zemo, made himself comfortable as soon as he set foot on the jet.  He was leaning back in his seat across from you, looking very pleased as he read a book and took an occasional sip from his champagne glass.  His contented demeanor had visibly affected both of your friends, Sam and Bucky, causing their irritation with him to skyrocket earlier.  But after some of the confrontations concerning Bucky’s inherited notebook from Steve, Sam’s music, and Zemo’s observations of you, things had finally calmed down.
   He was a crafty one.  He knew how to push buttons, knew exactly what to say to trigger each individual’s weak points.  Things had begun to escalate especially when Zemo turned his attention to you.  His piercing gaze had you frozen in place as he made inquiries.  While he didn’t ask anything outwardly uncomfortable, the probing questions about your life were starting to make you uneasy.
   The other two males didn’t take too kindly to Zemo’s attempts at conversation with you.  Bucky stared out the window with his jaw clenched.  At one point, Sam let out an exasperated sigh, causing the criminal to halt mid-sentence. He leaned over to raise his brow at you diagonally across the aisle of the jet.   “_________, is he bothering you?”
   You didn’t have to speak: the look on your face said it all, and Sam shifted in his seat again to look over at Zemo.  “Alright, that’s enough.”  His tone was firm and leaving no room to question.
   Directly across the aisle from you to your right, Bucky’s shoulders relaxed when Zemo followed Sam’s command.  The jet had fallen silent except for the muffled whirring sounds of its mechanics.
   You pretended to skim through a magazine that you’d found laying on a tray.  With one hour down and twelve more to go on the flight, you felt the need to unwind a bit.  Everything had happened so fast from the moment you agreed to go with your friends to Berlin to see Zemo.  After Thanos’ horrible plan came to an end, things heated up when John Walker went public as “the new Captain America.”  He’d even offered you a place working with him since you were part of Team Cap back in the day.  You declined, of course, and found yourself even more determined to help Sam and Bucky.
   You were happy for Steve.  You were.  It was still hard to have him gone.  For years, ever since the Avengers broke apart over the Sokovia Accords and Bucky’s framing, you’d followed Steve.  Even before then, when it was discovered that Hydra had been infiltrating SHIELD, you’d left the broken agency to join him as he continued his fight against threats to the world
   You hadn’t imagined that you and the others would be left to keep fighting without him.
   “You in the market for a new grill?”
   You were drawn from your deep thought to a set of dark blue eyes that looked from you to the magazine page that you hadn’t turned in at least ten minutes.  You chuckled and closed the magazine, playing along.  “Yes, I figured with all this extra time, I’d do a little shopping.”
   The corner of Bucky’s mouth twitched up in a brief show of amusement.  You rose from the seat to go to his side, kneeling down beside his chair.
   “Why does he even have this?”  You lowered your voice as you glanced at the eccentric baron, setting the magazine back down onto the tray.  “You’d think there would be more European fashion magazines or something.”
   Bucky’s eyes flickered to the man in question before leaning in to speak in an equally quiet tone.  “I have to admit.  We lucked out with him.  Not only does he have a lead, but he’s got private transportation so we can stay under the radar.”
   “I think we made the the right choice going to him,” you replied.
   “We can only hope,” he muttered.  “Seriously though, what were you thinking about when you zoned out?”
   “Oh.”  You averted your gaze, playing with the hem of your jacket.  You didn’t want to delve into your train of thought.  It was plain as day that Bucky and Sam were both dealing with Steve’s departure in their own ways, and you didn’t want to add to it or open up any healing wounds.  So, you settled on being vague.  “Just...everything.”
   He seemed to know what you meant anyway.  The silence that followed made guilt gnaw in your chest, but before you could say anything, Bucky spoke.
   “Hey,” he nudged you with his shoulder, making you meet his gaze again.  His eyes had softened significantly and forehead smoothed in absence of the lines caused by furrowed brows.  It was a nice change from the scowl he had since the mission started.  “Sorry we dragged you into this.”
   You dismissed the apology with a casual wave of your hand.  “You guys didn’t drag me into anything.  I was along for the ride from the beginning.”
   A comfortable silence fell between you then.  He returned to gazing out the window while you stood up and headed back to your seat, sinking into it and letting your head tip forward.  You figured that a cat nap was in order since you hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.  All that business with an internationally-known criminal breaking out of prison had you on edge.  With nothing but the sounds of occasional page-turning from Zemo’s book and Sam tapping his foot lightly to the beat of music he listened to on his phone with earbuds, sweet sleep claimed you in no time.
   You were pulled from your dreamless slumber by voices, but your body wasn’t ready to respond just yet.  The first thing you noticed was that you were leaning against something on your right side, your face resting on a soft material that held the scent of leather and cologne. Bucky’s scent.  It must’ve been his jacket balled up to serve as a pillow.  In fact, it was his voice rumbling closest to you.
   “Stop looking at her like that.”
   “Apologies, James, but I don’t know what you mean.”  Zemo’s accented voice was quieter, but there was a sprinkle of amusement in his tone.
   “You’re doing it right now.”
   “Bucky, come on,” Sam interjected.  “We managed to make it a few hours without killing the guy.  Don’t let him get to you now.”
   Zemo’s tone took on a new intensity, as if he was gripped by fascination.  “You seem very protective of __________.  The way you move around her is intriguing, as if prepared to defend her at a moment’s notice.”
   “Don’t engage,” Sam warned in a low voice.
   By now, you were almost fully awake.  Despite the potentially awkward situation that Zemo was creating with the analysis of your friend, you figured it would be best to intervene.  You shifted, blinking your eyes open.
   “What’s going on?” you muttered, voice still a little rough from sleep.  “It better be good because I haven’t slept that well in a while.”  You lifted your head from Bucky’s jacket, eyes darting up to see him staring out the window again.  “Sorry,” you muttered, brushing a bit of drool from his jacket before handing it back to him.  He stole a glance in your direction again, not seeming to mind.
   “No big deal.  You needed the sleep.”
   Bucky didn’t say another word, so you turned to Sam for answers.  He shrugged with the shake of his head.  “Zemo’s being... well, Zemo.”
   You nodded in understanding, as if that simple phrase was all the explanation you needed.  Zemo caught your gaze, the corners of his lips turning up a smile.
   “As I mentioned before, we will have to go undercover to meet with Selby in Madripoor.  I was merely thinking of disguises for you and Sam.”
   He seemed like was telling the truth, but you didn’t doubt that he relished the added bonus of getting under Bucky’s skin in the process.  While Bucky had been protective of you and those who chose to put themselves on the line to prove his innocence when it came to the UN bombing, you hadn’t expected him to be quite that defensive in this situation.  As flattering as it was in some ways, it made you worry.  Zemo knew what buttons to push.  Would he eventually push a button to make things go his way?  To forward some plan of his?
   You got up to stretch and use the refresher.  You took your time since there were still several hours left in the flight.  Zemo had informed the group that upon landing, there would be  limited window to get into costume and go over your characters before heading to Selby’s club.
   - - - - - - -  
   “Only an American would assume that a fashion-forward black man looks like a pimp,” Zemo complained.  You stole a glance at your friend who gave his outfit another displeased look.  “You look exactly like the man you’re supposed to be playing.  The sophisticated, charming African rake named Conrad Mack, aka the Smiling Tiger.”  He handed his phone over so Sam could get a look at his character’s picture.
   “He even has a bad nickname.  He does look like me, though.”
   “And who am I supposed to be?” you asked, pulling the jacket over your form tighter.  You wore a dark blue dress that went to your knees.  The material was soft and had a subtle glimmer in the light, and the outfit was complete with a pair of black heels that clacked on the pavement with each step, a shiny silver bracelet, and the black jacket that you were glad to have in the chilly air.  The group was walking to the halfway point of the bridge to be picked up.
   “You will be my date,” Zemo replied casually.
   You gave him an incredulous look.  “Really?  I’m just the date?”
   He released a sigh before launching into explanation.  “You don’t exactly resemble any crime bosses.  Besides, it’s not uncommon for dates to come and go in this town.  No one will be asking who you are.  No one will expect what’s coming to them if we need to fight.  You may have the greatest advantage out of all of us.”
   As much as you hated to admit it, he had a point.
   “Just remember to remain at my side at all times,” Zemo continued.  “Make it look convincing that we are together.”
   You refused to meet his amused look.  “Yeah, yeah.  Whatever.”
   A black car idled just ahead, and Zemo once more reiterated how important it was to stay in character. He told the group about High Town and Low Town, though you were a little distracted by the city lights reflecting off the water.
   You squeezed into the backseat between Bucky and Sam.  The ride was tense with only the sound of your breaths in the small space.  Bucky stared straight ahead through the windshield even as motorcycles surrounded the car and escorted it the rest of the way.  The car dropped you all off near the club, and Zemo held out his hand to help you out of the vehicle.  He put an arm around your waist at a respectful level, but Bucky took one look and halted.
   “Okay, this isn’t going to work,” Bucky snapped.  Everyone’s eyes were on him.
   Sincerity was written all over Zemo’s features as he responded.  “I assure you, it will.” Suddenly, his eyes flickered with realization, though you glanced between the two men in confusion.  “I know you don’t trust me, James, and I understand your discomfort.  However, you are playing the part of the Winter Soldier.  It is best if she remains inconspicuous as my date.”
   “Wait, that’s what this is about?” Sam asked in disbelief.  “Who ________ pretends to date?”  Your eyes fell to the pavement.  The situation was already unpleasant.  The last thing you wanted was to bring confusing feelings into the mix while in the middle of an important mission.
   Bucky began to protest.  “No, I-”
   “Relax,” Sam said, holding up his hands to show he meant no offense.  “________, you can stay by me.  Smiling Tiger can have a date, right?”  He looked to Zemo for confirmation.
   “Excellent idea.”  He nodded in approval.  “Just remember to stay in character.  All of you.”  
(Link to Part 2)
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willowbleedsonpaper · 3 years
Text
Winter In The Shade V
Part V
Sirius Black x Ravenclaw Reader
W.C. : 2913
Requested by @amourtentiaa : It is Sirius’ fifth year at Hogwarts, the same year he ran away from home and to the Potter’s. Soon, he discovers the unfamiliar sight of his brother Regulus smiling and looking truly happy, next to him a Ravenclaw girl who immediately captures his interest. What will happen when the Black family gets involved in their sons lives and the ones they hold close to their hearts?
Warnings: None (?)
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Masterlist | Series Masterlist
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“Anything I need to know for the party?” you asked Regulus as you two entered the charms classroom, both sitting in your usual spot while waiting for the rest of the students and the professor to arrive “You know, colors?” you said, raising an eyebrow “Do you want to get matching outfits? Should I be ready to leave at midnight before our carriage turns back into a pumpkin?”
“Pumpkin?” he asked, confused.
“Nevermind.” you waved a dismissive hand in his way, remembering he didn’t even know what a T.V. was. “What I mean is, this party's going to be the last time we see each other for weeks! We need to make it special so I can go back to the memories when the bitter reality hits me and you're not there.” you finished, letting out a dramatic sigh as you placed the back of your hand over your forehead.
Regulus looked at you with concern “Are you being dramatic or serious? I can’t tell.” he asked.
You narrowed your eyes, letting your performance fall as you flew a piece of hair out of your face “You’re not fun.” you grunted “And just so you know, I am being serious.”
“It’s only two weeks, Y/N.” he reminded you “You’ll survive.” He was met with silence, turning to look at you and the angry pout of your lips. He let out a long sigh “You have lived most of your life without me, what’s two weeks?” he asked.
You scoffed, letting your jaw fall as you crossed your arms “I don’t know, you cold hearted man. Maybe two weeks of boredom?” you said, watching as his eyes turned into one of disbelief “Torture.” you added “What am I supposed to do with two weeks by myself?” you asked him.
“What did you do before we became friends?”
Your brain froze at his question, both mind and eyes blank as you stared into the void. Regulus calling your name brought you back and your face turned sour as your eyes focused back on the raven haired boy before you “You are no good influence.” you mumbled sourly.
“Pardon?” he asked, his eyebrows scrunched together as he placed his book down, his attention completely on you.
“Since that day you hit me in the head my entire life revolves around you!” you whispered yelled, watching his shoulders relax as he tilted his head “And don’t try to deny it, we both know it's true.” you said, starting to pick up your things and shoving them inside your bag.
“What are you doing?” he asked, never trying to stop you and instead handing you the things you had placed on his side of the table.
“I, “ you said, placing a hand in your chest as you stood from your chair, looking down at him “am taking space from you. You have consumed my entire life.” you hissed, the urges to laugh coming through as a small smile broke through you every now and then.
Regulus watched you walk a few feet from where he sat, patiently staring at the back of your head with a small smirk “Y/N.” he called, his voice steady and calm “We have class, remember?”
You stopped, sharply turning to face him again from the front of the classroom. You purse your lips, glancing between the door and Regulus. You gave up in the end, letting your shoulders fall and dragging your bag all over the floor until you reached your chair again, falling into it.
Regulus bent down from his chair to pick up your bag from the ground, placing it on the table as he turned to look at you with a small smile “If it makes you feel better,” he said, breaking the silence that had fallen in the classroom “You have consumed my entire life as well.”
Your face broke from the bothered look you had put on, swinging your head so you would be looking at Regulus “It does,” you smiled “We’re attached to the hip.” you said, moving your chair so you would be next to him.
“That’s why we are spending the winter break separate.” he told you, his arm resting around your shoulder “So we don’t get bored and before we end up killing one another.”
You chuckled lightly “The thought had crossed my mind.” you admitted, resting your head on his shoulder “That doesn’t mean it won't be difficult to be away from you. You’re my best friend.”
A silence fell all over the room and took you into it, pondering over the fact that a couple of months before you didn’t even acknowledge the existence of the other. You thought fate was funny in that way, friends you made on the first days after starting your life at Hogwarts were now strangers that glared at you from the opposite side of the Great Hall at dinner, people you knew your entire life now strangers you barely knew how to start a conversation with, even greeting them represented a challenge; friends you thought would be there for the rest of your life were now gone.
You had met Regulus months ago and you couldn’t imagine your life without him, and that scared you. The feeling of not being friends with him, of not knowing if you would ever see him again broke your heart and filled you with dread. Sure, you were spending two weeks apart but you knew you would see him once the holidays were over. The thought of losing someone had never made your stomach twist and your heart race quick the way it did when you thought about losing Regulus.
“I think that’s the beauty of us.” he said, capturing your attention immediately “Time is not the core of our friendship, it’s something else.”
You smiled, relaxing against his side as you hummed “Like what?” you asked.
“I don’t know.” he answered honestly “But I will like to find out.”
“Hmm, me too.” you sighed, another peaceful silence taking over the room “Promise me you’ll write.” you said out of the blue, his chuckle vibrating all over his body and through yours.
“You’ve made me promise I’ll write a thousand times now.”
“I don’t mean just these two weeks. Anytime you need something, that we’re away from each other, or if you just saw someone falling and it reminded you of me just… just promise me you’ll write.”
With his heart skipping a beat, Regulus couldn’t believe the words that had just left your mouth, his gaze falling at the top of your head. Never would have he thought you would be scared of him leaving, that you would be scared of losing him as he is of losing you. In his eyes you were so confident, so sure of what you do every single time, you had lost all our friends and because of what. Because of you, he reminded himself.
“I promise.”
Your mouth was left with a bittersweet taste after charms class. It wasn’t every day that you and Regulus got that deep in your conversations. Usually, the matters you talked about were more sarcastic and almost on the humorous side of the aspects of your life; school work and competitions was common as you spent at least an hour of your day glued to the chairs from the library. Deep emotional conversation was just unknown. You knew Regulus didn’t like it, and yet he seemed to be the most comfortable out of the two of you. He might be your best friend but Rowena Ravenclaw knows, you’ll never fully understand him. You’ve made peace with that.
It was the older Black brother you had trouble with.
Charm class was the last one for the day, Regulus having an extra class he worked on late at night that left you with hours for you to exist by yourself. Something you silently thanked as you walked outside the Great Hall after dinner.
Standing on your toes, you moved your gaze over the sea of heads that flowed from the Great Hall, all the chat and laughter making you snap your head in every direction that sounded slightly similar to the one you searched for. The green and yellow of the robes stood out the most, your eyebrows scrunched together as you lowered yourself to your usual height. You started to move, following the students as you held tightly onto your bag. “Where are all the Gryffindors?” you asked inside your head. And that’s when you saw it, the flaring red from Gryffindor robes as they all ran and cheered down the hills. The Quidditch pitch.
*******
Sirius and James had led the Quidditch team to the pitch, their loud cheers and whistles enough to draw the attention of the entire team and drag them down to an unplanned practice. Although they referred to it as a small game to celebrate Friday night, Sirius knew James wanted them to practice.
They were all in the air as soon as they crossed the lines drawn on the grass to mark the limits of the pitch, bags and school work scattered in the ground without a care. Peter and Remus sat on the grass, chatting calmly as they watched their friends play.
“Hey, Remus.” Peter asked, getting a hum from Remus as he never broke his gaze from the Quaffle, “Do you think Sirius likes Y/N?” he asked with the shake of his head.
Remus let out a laugh, head thrown back in the air as he got a few looks from the players “Was it ever a question?” he asked back, turning to Peter.
Peter laughed, the small chuckle dying down as he stared at one single point in the distance “Yeah, that wasn’t really my question.” he said, their hair flying to their faces as the two seekers rushed in front of them after the snitch. They blinked back, following the game without actually paying attention. “Do you think Y/N likes Sirius?”
Remus’ attention broke from the Quaffle, his look thoughtful as he considered it. What were the chances Y/N liked Sirius? Not many, he thought to himself. “I don’t know.” he answered “If I had to guess I’d say no.”
Peter smiled, his eyes scanning the air as he smirked in James’ direction, the act capturing the Captains’ attention as he followed Peter’s gaze “I think she does.” Peter said confidently, “I actually think she was in the crowd tonight.”
“Right.” Remus scoffed.
“Want to bet?” Peter asked, an eyebrow raised in his direction as he extended his hand towards him.
Remus nodded, clasping his hand in Peter’s as he shook it.
The match lasted a good two hours. Both sides of the Gryffindor team started the game as a playful practice that now had them at each other's throats like the red in their robes had turned green at some point during the game. James yells and instructions could be heard over the commotion of the crowd and the team, the tension palpable in the air as the players flew in the air at top speed. They were flashes of red in the eyes of the crowd. In the end, James’ side of the team won. The entire team flying down from their brooms with grins plastered in their faces.
Peter had jumped to his feet as he saw Sirius lowered himself until he walked on the grass, the smirk permanent on his lips as he walked to greet his friends. “Great game.” Peter said, giving a subtle nod in James’ direction as the smirk he had was mirrored in James’ face. Peter patted Sirius in the back as he was in proximity, his hand holding his shoulder as he leaned on his side “Pulling you best moves for the ladies, huh?” he asked.
Sirius laughed, nodding his head when James walked next to them, nudging Peter’s side knowingly.
“Or should we say Lady?” James asked, wiggling his eyebrows in his direction.
Sirius' face fell, his lips in a line as he recognized the glint in his friends eyes. They didn’t.
“Sirius.” he heard you say, his confused look erased in the blink of an eye as he put on his best smile, turning on his place.
“Hello, darling.” he said, his tone flirtatious.
You smiled briefly, your eyes wandering over all his friends standing too close behind him with expectant eyes. “Hi.” you said to them, all three immediately a mumbling mess as they turned and pretended to fall into deep conversation. You almost wanted to laugh, but you focused on the task at hand “Can I talk to you?” you asked, looking straight into his eyes.
His smile fell momentarily, nodding his head as he made a sign to his friends, who only smiled tightly.
“You little shit.” He heard Remus hiss, making Sirius turn to see James holding Remus back, a smug looking Peter running as fast as he could once Remus got free.
He shook his head with a laugh before he focused on you, following you to a more quiet place, the buzz from the people left behind as you turned to face him “Are you alright?” he asked as soon as you stopped walking.
You let out a breathy laugh “I’m okay.” you assured him, your eyes remaining on him for a second before you recovered your voice, “I wanted to talk about this.” you turned to your side, rummaging through your bag until your fingers felt the soft material of the box, pulling it out and holding it for him to see “You can’t do this.”
He had a confused look on his face, the smirk he usually wore coming back as quickly as it fell “You’re giving me back a rose?” he asked.
You blushed, suddenly feeling stupid for wanting to give it back “No… I mean, yes!” you mumbled, cheeks darker by the second “It’s not the rose, it’s the act.”
“You want me to take back...my actions?”
“I need you to stop.”
He nodded in thought, leaning against one of the wooden posts. He held himself back from teasing you and the red in your cheeks, or the fact that you said need. The only thought in his mind was that you didn’t actually want him to stop.
“So that means you won’t be going to the party with me?” he asked, a fake pout in his lips.
“I have a date.” you said, crossing your arms over our chest.
“You do?” he asked, his back straight as he mirrored your stance.
You ignored his reaction, taking a confident step towards him. You reached for his hand, holding his palm out to you as you placed the box there. “Please, just stop.” you whispered, the volume of your voice enough for him to listen as you stood so close to one another.
He closed his hand over the box, his free hand taking a hold of your wrist as he held it back to his chest, the movement making you stand closer to him “Do you want me to stop?” he asked, his eyes looking directly at yours before his gaze roamed all over your face expectantly.
Your heart started to beat hard inside your chest, your feet rooted to the floor as you stood frozen under his eyes. He tilted his head, his thumb moving over the skin in your arm “Do you?” he repeated.
His skin felt warm against yours, the feeling sending electricity all over your arm before it woke you. You shook your hand out of his grasp, taking a step back with wide eyes “That is what I’m asking you. Yes.” you said shakily, holding your arm against your chest.
He tried to suppress his smile, he really tried but in the end he broke in a grin. “I’ll stop.” he stated, looking down to his palm before he connected your eyes once more “I only ask for one thing.”
He didn’t expect you to stay and listen, your jaw clenched as your look turned into a glare “What is it?” you asked harshly.
“Save me one dance.” he said, his voice soft and rid of any teasing or amusement.
“Right.” you scoffed, turning your face to the sky in disbelief. But you were met with silence, making your arms fall at your sides with a questioning look “You’re serious.” you asked, watching the glint in his eyes light up as he smiled. He opened his mouth to talk but you cut him off, lifting one finger right in front of his face “I swear to Godric Gryffindor if you make a joke you’ll be dancing by yourself.” you said harshly.
He bit the insides of his cheeks, letting himself feel the flutter of his heart at the simple gesture of you stopping his joke, like you knew him already. “Do you accept my offer, then?” he asked, offering his hand.
Your eyes lowered to his hand doubtfully “Do you promise you’ll stop?”
He nodded his head softly and you sighed, taking his hand.
What you didn’t expect was the squeak that left your lips as he took hold of your hand, holding it to his lips as he placed a short kiss over your knuckles.
“I’ll see you then, Y/n.” he told you, turning on his place as he went back to the pitch.
“See you.” you mumbled to yourself, staring at him and cursing him for the hurricane of thoughts left in his place. That didn’t go as planned.
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scolopendress-tag · 3 years
Text
I said I'd make a post detailing my kid Asra working for Lucio theory in this post so here it is! 
So Let's get STARDED.
So! To start off, how it began. We do know when Asra and Muriel were kids, Lucio came to them each seperately with a deal.
Essentially: work for me, or I'll hurt your friend.
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This was the sentiment he repeated for both of them. So, not wanting the other to be harmed, they both agree - unaware of the other's deal.
For Muriel, it was playing heel/excecutioner at the coleseium. For Asra, it was doing... Well, we never know, aside from he worked under Lucio. But that's what we are here to discuss in any case.
Continued under the read more, for the sake of people's dashes.
Now presumably, if I got my timeline right, Asra at this time would've been around 12 or 13. We don't know much about how Asra was when he was younger, other than that he has certainly changed.
It's also worth noting that it's not amiss to say they were both also still homeless at the time, and the hut hadn't come into the play until after.
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Asra was still living on the streets.
This all isn't overly important for any of my claims later, but perhaps someone else could make something of it. It does provide us with some framing for the situation as a whole, though.
Now onto Asra's time under Lucio. I don't know that we have any indication of how long it was, but presumably at least a year if not more.
We do also know that Lucio knew who Asra was. Both in that he knew Aisha and Salim had a kid, and that he knew Asra was said kid.
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This is bring this up because we know Aisha and Salim were incredibly talented, and likely incredibly powerful. Lucio wouldn't settle for any run of the mill magician or alchemist for the work he needed. So he must've had some idea that Asra may take after that power as well.
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To top it off, he also interacted and talked with the dock kids he also used, (two of which would actually later become palace guards,) and seeing as this is seemingly how he learned of Muriel, it's not off to think that this is also how he heard of Asra again to start. The kids knew of Asra's magic, and roughly where he was, and could've even continued talking about both Muriel and Asra to Lucio for unknown amounts of time.
So now Lucio knows that the kid of his two powerful practitioners of magic is not only still around, but taking after them as well.
If Muriel's intimidating size and physical power are what drew Lucio to him, why wouldn't Asra's considerable metaphysical power and talents draw Lucio in as well?
We know how much Lucio loves power, and that he has an interest in magic because of it, as mentioned in the main story. (no ss sorry... If you have one send so I can add. )
Plus, homeless kid in a vulnerable spot. Easy pickings.
That's what I think this whole thing was about, really. It's all power. Though Asra likely didn't have the full scope of power he does in the current game, he was probably still considerably talented, and was only getting better.
What Lucio specifically probably wanted from Asra then was either to be taught how to use that power, to use Asra for things that required it, and/or use his power for entertainment akin to how he used Muriel.
I think out of these however, using him for his power was most likely. Why? (And teaching him now, more on that further down)
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(Sorry for bad quality lmao it's a small image. Also thanks to @8-bit-space for showing these to me like months ago. As you can see I can't stop thinking abt it)
These are screenshots from the old prologue. While they're not canon any more, there's reason to believe they still hold merit as to how Lucio feels about Asra.
Two things to me are major here. First is the "powerful potent magic," and how it's the "real deal," equating to a large part of how he views Asra yet again tying back to a heavy interest in his power. Now, you could argue this relates to using his powers in the palace during the plague, but the second point stands out even more to me.
"The one who broke him for me?"
What this implies to me is that Lucio could never quite get all the way through to Asra or control him when he was younger, and he's been dying to do so. He wanted Asra broken, presumably so that he'll become essentially a tool for him to use for his skill and not put up a fight- something Asra likely did as a child.
Because it seems that Lucio for the most part relied on control through fear when it came to Asra, threatening to hurt Muriel, lying to him about how he executed his parents, likely other things as well. But things seem to point to that never quite working like he had hoped.
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This could allude to this as well. Though "impossible" is something Asra's been called a few times, namely also by Julian, there's no reason to assume Lucio wasn't also including his work with him as a kid in "always". Impossible to hate could be his draw to Asra for his power, his talent, his skills, the prospect of which I'm sure Lucio found practically mouthwatering. Impossible to love could be his stubbornness or reluctance to do what Lucio wants, always pushing against him or being hard to deal with, both as a kid and during the plague.
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And lines like this, where he calls him a coward. I find it hard to relate this to the plague ritual as he was for the most part willingly helping with that, so it could be resenment for when Asra eventually ran off as a kid, unwilling to put up with him any longer, or his reluctance to do certain things for him then in general.
We know, and it has even been mentioned by a character within the canon, that Asra can be incredibly stubborn, to back that up. Plus, he could've been even harder to work with then both being a kid and as I mentioned earlier he has changed from how he was then, so he could've had more spunk to him or such.
This also easily means that what Lucio was trying to get Asra to do then was something Asra was quite obviously opposed to. Being used for his power is already degrading enough, but there could be more to it.
You'll notice in the post that was linked at the top (the reason I'm writing this) I mentioned pushing Asra to his physical limits and magical extremes. This could be one of the reasons for a push back.
If Lucio was having Asra do things for him involving magic, it's not out of pocket to assume he'd practically run him into the ground- I'm sure he really wouldve loved testing the limits of what Asra could REALLY do.
Wether it be huge expendure of power all at once, or tons of smaller things one after the other, it would absolutely take it's toll. We are shown a few times that using magic can exhaust someone, and I don't remember if this is shown in canon ever (tell me if so!) but pushing it even further could definitely lead to other things such as passing out, (Or nosebleeds, for the aesthetic,) alongside likely being incredibly painful and draining, both mentally and physically.
Basically, abusing his powers and the body that commanded them. It's also possible that the stubborness to work with Lucio could also be partially percieved because of this- Lucio taking Asra's literal physical inability to continue as defiance.
Another reason for push back from Asra would be making him do morally compromising things. This is a little more vague, but intimidation is a common headcanon I see for what Lucio made Asra do, and that could tie in here. Other things could be meddling in things and business he shouldn't, but again, it's a vague thing. Make of it what you will. Fucked up stuff all around.
[EDIT - TEACHING LUCIO]
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(THANK YOU @tea-tye for showing me these, and credits to @hangedman-magician for the video they came from!!!!!!!)
...I cannot BELIEVE I forgot this, I KNEW I was missing something. Especially when I was fairly certain I remember Lucio being obsessed with the idea of magic. SO, MOVING ON,
There's not terribly much to pick apart here as it's rather direct- Asra saying he has in fact tried to teach Lucio magic. So in my eyes this solidifies that this was a component of Asra's time under Lucio. I still think my points about Lucio treatment (pushing Asra to his limits) stand, as well.
This can also tie in the stubborness mentioned as, well, can you imagine teaching Lucio? Asra backs this up by saying nothing he has ever said stuck with Lucio, and you know how Lucio gets when things don't go his way. He would've blamed his inability to learn on Asra, likely.
Looking to other quotes mentioned: the 'broke him' line still rings to me like he was trying to use Asra in other ways, and the 'coward' line could go either way from refusing to teach Lucio certain things, or refusing to do certain things for Lucio when he was merely being used. The "impossible" line could also go for others, as trying to teach someone like Lucio would've undoubtedly caused some head butting.
This is certainly really exciting and interesting to me as it gives a more complete picture on the exact situation at hand here. I still stay by my reasoning for Lucio simply using Asra as well on top of being taught because it seems highly likely that Lucio would've been too impatient to learn to do certain things himself, and like I said as well, I don't doubt he also just wanted to see what Asra was REALLY capable of. Something he could've saw as a tantalizing insight into the kind of power he could aquire of this kid would just... work with him.
NOW we have a MUCH clearer answer as to what exactly Asra was likely doing under Lucio, or at this point, almost certainly doing. It's a sad picture for Asra of course, but with this you can draw some interesting points as to how he could've been affected by this, as I'm sure it would've left some kind of imprint on him.
Sure it may not have been as traumatic as what Muriel went through, but when you look at it, it's hard to say it DIDN'T leave it's scars. If we consider all the points presented in this post truth we have:
A 12/13 yo homeless child, threatened with his friend's life to work for the Count that he knew was the one responsible for orphaning him and making him homeless in the first place.
Said child believing his parents are still alive, and as we see in Travel at Night, could very likely still be trying to find them. In a situation like Asra's that glimmer of hope probably was a big deal in helping him push on. This may also be a reason he agreed on top of Muriel's safety.
While working under the count, he is told that his parents were executed, no doubt devastating. The manner in which this was mentioned is up for debate, and could affect exactly how it was taken. Options could be Lucio joking or bragging about it (treating it as trivial or an accomplishment), or using it to threaten Asra, (as in I killed your parents, I'll kill you too,) both would work when it comes to controlling by fear.
It is also mentioned that Lucio told him the reason for his parents execution is that they messed up his gold arm, so Asra also has the knowledge that his parents were killed over something so unbelievably trivial.
Being used as a source of power and nothing else, both for teaching and pure work/entertainment, all for the man who killed his parents, day after day.
Being pushed to physically painful and mentally draining limits, expending so much energy that he completely exhausts himself, day after day.
Likely taking all sorts of verbal abuse from Lucio, day after day.
Like mentioned earlier, it seems clear that Lucio wanted to break Asra, so some other form of trying to chip away at his psyche to make him more convenient for Lucio is likely as well.
Those points alone, to yet again a CHILD no less, seem more than enough to cause some traumatic impact, and depending on certain specifics of what exactly went on during that time, it could be worse. I may make a post looking into the long lasting effects of this on Asra, I may not. It would mostly be headcanon regardless. If you want to add your hc relating to this situation though, I'll gladly reblog it!
And now that we are closing out, it's time to revise my summary. So, without further ado, THIS is what I think was going on during this time.
Lucio knows of Asras existence and parentage.
Lucio learns Asra is around and that he's got power.
Lucio LOVES power, so he threatens Asra into working for him.
Lucio uses Asra for his power and to be taught how to use it for himself.
While using Asra for his knowledge and power, runs him into the ground by pushing his limits to physical and magical degrees, possibly even moral.
Asra pushes back against a lot of this, or is at least percieved to, frustrating Lucio.
Lucio does what he can to try and control Asra even more, primarily via fear, but can't seem to crack him.
Eventually it's too much, and Asra leaves. Likely when the plague hit like Muriel, but it's possible it could've been somewhat sooner. Lucio is PISSED, because he wanted that magical power all to himself.
Less related, I can see Lucio trying to brush it off and pretending to be fine with it, excuse being "he was too difficult to work with, anyways," or something.
...And then... years later, as far as Lucio sees it, Asra comes crawling back- and he's tamed down to a degree! He's actually working with him. Lucio might not know what or who did it, but Asra is finally broke for him, and I'm sure he was absolutely ecstatic to have that power back in his hands- and more than ever before.
Think of all of this as you would like!
At the end this is all still speculative, so definitely feel free to make your own points or say if you feel any different abt anything- expansions or counters on this theory/headcanon welcome!
And if you also have any other screenshots or info not here that could add to the theory or change the outlook of certain things definitely add them!!! I feel like I'm missing stuff for sure, and my memory has probably muddled some things (hopefully I didn't get anything wrong, though.)
And @asrascherry thanks for the offer in helping word my hcs also! I forgot to say that. This one is just so long I wouldve felt bad bringing it all to you 😔 it's probably still messy as a result but I tried lmao (worried it's repetitive or unclear 😬)
Uh yeah! That's mostly it for NOW.
+All the love to Asra for going through so much I'm so sorry bb,,
Thanks for reading!
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gogglor · 3 years
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Cap-Ironman RecWeek: What-If Wednesday
Time for another installment of @cap-ironman rec week! Today’s theme: AU’s.
I know AU’s in different settings are half the reason most people read fanfics, but they’re not really my thing on the whole. AU’s where different choices are made, or different events transpire? Absolutely. Coffee shops? Not my cup of... you know.
So, here’s my AU recommendations for mostly “turn left” scenarios. This time with an under-the-cut break so I don’t take over everyone’s timelines (sorry about that last post). Also with some summaries truncated for length.
Alone Like This
Author: GotTheSilver
Word Count: 7,452
Summary: Steve, post waking up, runs away from SHIELD, and Tony's the one who tracks him down.
Why You Should Read It:
First off, GotTheSilver’s been consistently and regularly putting out solid Stony since 2012 and not only are they not stopping, they’re only getting better. This writer doesn’t get nearly the fanfare I’d expect in Stony circles for someone who puts out this much good stuff, and here’s hoping this post can be a part of changing that.
While I am always a sucker for enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, there’s something to be said for stories where Steve and Tony hit it off right away. And watching these two very different people look at each other and see the same sense of being lost, then finding each other again is... excuse me, there’s something in my eye, ignore me.
Second Chance Lives
Author: raeldaza
Word Count: 43,872
Summary: Tony's gonna die of palladium poisoning anyway, why not join a pointless expedition to recover Captain America’s body? And after, well, why not dedicate his last few months to making sure an American hero settles into his new life? What else is he going to do, get drunk at parties?
Why You Should Read It:
This writer doesn’t write a lot for the MCU but when they do, dang.
“Tony is the one helping Steve acclimate to the new century before Avengers 2012″ is a whole genre of Stony fanfics that scratch an itch I didn’t even know I had before I started reading fanfiction, and this is one of the best ones out there. It’s got it all - Steve poorly coping with his PTSD, Tony poorly coping with his immanent mortality, some breathtakingly poor communication between the two most emotionally stunted men in the MCU, and a cat named Roomba. What’s not to love?
Should You Choose to Accept It
Author: elwenyere (look, you’re gonna be seeing a lot of them this week, sorry-not-sorry)
Word Count: 27,106
Summary: After a terrorist attack and a field operation gone wrong, the Avengers realize that Nick Fury's secrets are just the start of a much bigger mystery. Steve and Tony try to keep some things from each other as well, but that can't possibly affect the mission — right? Mission Fic + Getting Together (or Mission: Getting Together) that mashes up elements from Iron Man 3, CA: Winter Soldier, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season one, and Mission Impossible 3.
Why You Should Read It:
You can see my post yesterday for singing El’s praises, but what I really liked about this fic was how how damn creative it is. The CAWS/IM3/AOS mashup is everything I wished the actual MCU gave us and more, with well-developed characters and an exciting story to put them in. And because it’s El, you know the banter’s gonna be on point, the way the characters care for each other is gonna be emotionally constipated but touching, and the pacing’s gonna be exciting enough to draw you in and keep you there. Also, this fic doesn’t have nearly enough kudos so please go read it and fix that or I’m gonna have to try to hack AO3 and that’ll just be embarrassing for all parties involved.
What Happens In Vegas
Author: sabremc
Word Count: 161,951
Summary: “What the hell, Tony?” Rhodey demanded brusquely.  Tony winced and drew the phone away from his ear.  “You’ve got cops and Feds all over the hotel.  I’m watching you perp walk out of the police station on repeat on CNN.  They’re saying you tried to bribe Stern?  Fox News has you selling weapons on the black market, and God that picture they’re using is the one from Bali in ’09.   You look like shit.  They wheeled Stern out and put him in an ambulance, by the way.  Got some paparazzi swearing you decked the guy.  Now they’ve got ‘copters following it like he’s OJ.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, Sourpatch, I’ve got it covered.   Uh, though, I should probably tell you that, purely in the interests of national security and the greater good, I kind of had to fake marry that stripper-gram  you sent.  Thanks for that, by the way,” Tony added quickly.
Why You Should Read It:
If you’re deep enough into Stony to see posts like this on Tumblr, you probably know sabre’s what we in the business call a “big name author.” They’re prolific, they’re popular, and most importantly, they write words good (technical term). Seriously, sabre just keeps cranking out high quality stuff over and over again, raising the bar for the rest of us like a jerk (not really. I’m not bitter they write stuff so good I wish I’d thought of it first. Not at all.)
I never read stripper!Steve or stripper!Tony as a rule, but this came so widely recommended that I broke that rule and boy am I glad that I did. This is also the only fic on this list that’s a true-AU, with Steve being a non-powered vet from Afghanistan who left his army career to help Bucky and is stripping in Vegas to raise money for a prosthetic arm. He’s booked to do a private show for Tony, shenanigans ensue, and now they’re fake-married. This fic’s got some top-of-the-line banter and character development, but I particularly love it for its rich setting. Sabre paints a Vegas not just with strip clubs and blackjack tables, but KISS-themed minigolf, romantic dinners on the Eiffel tower, gaudy hotel lobbies, and making out on giant ferris wheels. It’s such a richly developed playground for the characters to play on, and through it, Steve manages to find a life for himself he’d given up on, and Tony finds multiple ways to show his kindness and depth of feeling for Steve. I know the word count’s long for this one but trust me, you’ve gotta read this fic.
Wait & Sea
Author: Lenalena
Word Count: 53,244
Summary: In which Tony and Steve get sent on an undercover mission aboard a cruise ship to make contact with Hydra. In this AU the military has kept the discovery and defrosting of Captain America a secret, so Steve and Tony have never met before. Yet they are to pose as newlyweds....
Why You Should Read It:
This one’s old and popular enough to be considered one of the “classic” Stony fics, and for good reason. Lenalena doesn’t write too often and not as much as they used to, but the fics they have up there are an absolute delight.
This is another fic that I skipped a bunch of times for being outside my comfort zone, but when I finally read it I saw why everyone’s so wild about it. In this story, Steve’s defrosted a bit earlier and not revealed as Captain America. He and Tony are sent undercover to sniff out Hydra shenanigans on a cruise and, because it’s fanfiction, they’ve got to pretend to be a married couple while onboard. There’s tons to love about this fic, but the things that bring me back to reading it over and over is first, Tony’s kindness and the way he’s attuned to Steve’s feelings, which... God, just inject “kind, observant Tony” straight into my veins, please and thank you. This is also another really rich setting for a story, and Lena knows how to fold the the hokeyness of the cruise into the seriousness of the mission and the depth of feelings Steve and Tony are finding for each other in a really beautiful, layered way. It’s funny, it’s heartfelt, it’s steamy, it’s gripping... why are you still reading this here? Go check it out for yourself!
Ashes to Ashes
Author: dirigibleplumbing
Word Count: 51,582
Summary: After regrouping following some surprise time travel, the world's heroes and sorcerers come up with a plan to protect the Mind and Time Stones by taking them into space in opposite directions. The result involves a lot more time loops than Steve would like, but at least they're getting a second chance to stop Thanos. (As well as a third, and a fourth...) And if Steve takes the opportunity to try to reconcile with Tony, too—well, they have the time, and Steve's going to make the most of it.
Why You Should Read It:
Dirigibleplumbing’s another name in Stony fanfics that does not get nearly as much fanfare as they deserve. They’re consistently a really creative voice in Stony fanfics and I always look forward to their stories showing me something new. Go read all their fics, I need more people to geek out with me over them.
I tend to limit myself on Steve-and-Tony-mend-things-after-Civil-War fics not because they’re not good, but because they’re so heavy, and also the Sokovia Accords have five hundred layers of crap in them that no good fic could possibly hash out well. This one, though? When you add in the Infinity War/End Game fixit? Poetry. Art. Music to my ears. DP wrote a really engaging, twisty story where it’s hard to predict what’s coming next, in spite of it literally being a pseudo-Groundhog day scenario. The characterizations are great, the story is engaging, and the feelings are big and sad and eventually happy. Go read it, you’ll love it.
I have tons of other recs for this category but this seems like a good place to stop for today. Tomorrow’s Alternative Media Thursday, and I’ve got some real gems I’ve been saving for that day (aaaaand possibly a self-rec or two ;)
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Press/Gallery: How Elizabeth Olsen Brought Marvel From Mainstream to Prestige
“The thing I love about being an actor is to fully work with someone and try so hard to be at every level with them, chasing whatever it is you need or want from them.”
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  GALLERY LINKS
Studio Photoshoots > 2021 > Session 008 Magazine Scans > 2021 > Backstage (August 19)
Backstage: Elizabeth Olsen grins widely over video chat when recalling many such moments on set with her co-stars. Yet, she can’t bring herself to divorce such a lofty vision of film acting from the technical multitasking it requires. The camera sees all.
“But then you move your hair, and you’re in your brain, like: OK, remember that! Because I don’t want to edit myself out of a shot. I know some actors are like, ‘Continuity, shmontinuity!’ But the good thing about continuity is, if you remember it, you’re actually providing yourself with more options for the edit.”
That need to balance being both inside the scene and outside of it, fully living it and yet constantly visualizing it on a screen, feels particularly apt in light of Olsen’s most recent project, “WandaVision.”
The mysteries at the heart of the show grow with every episode, each fast-forwarding to a different decade: Could this 1950s, black-and-white, “filmed in front of a studio audience” newlyweds bit be a grief-stricken dream? Might this ’70s spoof be a powerful spell gone awry? Could this meta take on mockumentary comedies be proof that the multiverse is finally coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
The series’ structure, which branches out to include government agents intent on finding out why Westview has seemingly disappeared, calls for the entire cast to play with a mix of genres, balancing a shape-shifting tone that culminates in an epic, MCU-style conclusion. What’s key—and why the show struck a chord with audiences during its nine-episode run—is the miniseries’ commitment to grounding its initial kooky setups and its later special effects-driven spectacle in heartbreaking emotional truths. It’s no small feat, though it’s one that can often be taken for granted.
“I was thinking how hard it would have been to have shot the first ‘Lord of the Rings,’ ” Olsen muses. “Like, you’re putting all these actors [into the frame] later and at all these different levels. All the eyelines are completely unnatural. And yet the performances are fantastic! And technically, they are so hard. People forget sometimes that these things are really technically hard to shoot. And if you are moved by their performance, that took a lot of multitasking.”
As someone who has learned plenty about harnesses, wirework, fight choreography, and green screens (she’s starred in four Marvel movies, including the box office megahit “Avengers: Endgame,” after all), Olsen knows how hard it can be to wrap one’s brain around the work needed to pull off those big, splashy scenes.
“​​If you think about it, it’s, like, the biggest stakes in the entire world—every time. And that feels silly to act over and over again, especially when people are in silly costumes and the love of your life is purple and sparkly, and every time you kiss them, you have to worry about getting it on your hands. Those things are ridiculous. You feel ridiculous. So there is a part of your brain that has to shovel that away and just look into someone’s eyeballs—and sometimes, they don’t even have eyeballs!”
The ability to spend so much time with Wanda, albeit in the guise of sitcom parodies, was a welcome opportunity for Olsen. Not only did it allow the actor to really wrestle with the traumatic backstory that has long defined the character in the MCU, but having the chance to calibrate a performance that functions on so many different levels was a thrilling challenge.
“It was such an amazing work experience,” she says. “Kathryn [Hahn] uses the word ‘profound’—which is so sweet, because it is Marvel, and people, you know, don’t think of those experiences as profound when they watch them. But it really was such a special crew that [director] Matt Shakman and [creator] Jac Schaeffer created. It was a really healthy working environment.”
Related‘WandaVision’ Star Kathryn Hahn’s Secret to Building a Scene-Stealing Performance ‘WandaVision’ Star Kathryn Hahn’s Secret to Building a Scene-Stealing Performance Considering that the miniseries spans several sitcom iterations, various layers of televisual reality, and a number of character reveals that needed to feel truthful and impactful in equal measure, Shakman’s decision to work closely with his actors ahead of shooting was key.
“We truly had a gorgeous amount of time together before we started filming,” Olsen remembers. “Our goal was—which is controversial in TV land—that if you wanted to change [anything], like dialogue in a scene, you had to give those notes a week before we even got there. Because sometimes you get to set, and someone had a brilliant idea while they were sleeping, and you’re like, ‘We don’t have an hour to talk about this. We have seven pages to shoot.’ And so, we were all on the same page with one another, knowing what we were shooting ahead of time.
“Matt just treated us like a troupe of actors who were about to do some regional theater shit,” she adds with a smile.
That spirit of camaraderie was, not coincidentally, at the heart of Olsen’s breakout project, Sean Durkin’s 2011 indie sensation “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” As an introduction to the process of filmmaking to a young stage-trained actor, Durkin’s quietly devastating drama was a dream—and an invaluable learning opportunity.
“It was truly just a bunch of people who loved the script, who just were doing the work. I didn’t understand lenses, so I just did the same thing all the time. I never knew if the camera would be on me or not. There was just so much purity in that experience, and you only have that once.”
The film announced Olsen as a talent to watch: a keen-eyed performer capable of deploying a stilted physicality and clipped delivery, which she used to conjure up a wounded girl learning how to shake off her time spent in a cult in upstate New York. But Olsen admits that it took her a while to figure out how to navigate her career choices afterward. In the years following “Martha,” she felt compelled to try on everything: a horror flick here, a high-profile remake there, a period piece here, an action movie there. It wasn’t until she starred in neo-Western thriller “Wind River” (alongside fellow Marvel regular Jeremy Renner) and the dark comedy “Ingrid Goes West” (opposite a deliciously deranged Aubrey Plaza) that Olsen found her groove.
“It was at that point, when I was five years into working, where I was like, Ah, I know how I want it. I know what I need from these people—from who’s involved, from producers, from directors, from the character, from the script—in order to trust that it’s going to be a fruitful experience.”
As Olsen looks back on her first decade as a working actor, she points out how far removed she is from that young girl who broke out in “Martha Marcy May Marlene.”
“I feel like a totally different person. I don’t know if everyone who’s in their early 30s feels like their early 20s self is a totally different human. But when I think about that version of myself, it feels like a long time ago; there’s a lot learned in a decade.”
Those early years were marked by a self-effacing humility that often led Olsen to defer to others when it came to key decisions about the characters she was playing. But she now feels emboldened to not only stand up for herself and her choices but for others on her sets as well.
“[Facebook Watch series] ‘Sorry for Your Loss’ I got to produce, and I really found my voice in a collaborative leadership way. And with ‘WandaVision,’ Paul [Bettany] and I really took on that feeling, as well—especially since we were introducing new characters to Marvel and wanted [those actors] to feel protected and helped,” she says. “They could ask questions and make sure they felt like they had all the things they needed because sometimes you don’t even know what you need to ask.”
It’s a lesson she learned working with filmmaker Marc Abraham on the Hank Williams biopic “I Saw the Light,” and she’s carried it with her ever since. “I really want it to feel like we’re all in this together, as a team,” Olsen says. “That was part of ‘Sorry for Your Loss’ and it was part of ‘WandaVision,’ and I hope to continue that kind of energy because those have been some of the healthiest work experiences I’ve had.”
If Olsen sounds particularly zealous about the importance of a comfortable, working set, it is because she’s well aware that therein lies an integral part of the work and the process. As an actor, she wants to feel protected and nurtured by those around her, whether she’s reacting to a telling, quiet line of dialogue about grief or donning her iconic Scarlet Witch outfit during a magic-filled mid-air action sequence.
“Sometimes you’re going to be foolish, you know? And [you need to] feel brave to be foolish. Sometimes people feel embarrassed on set and snap. But if you’re in a place where people feel like they’re allowed to be an idiot,” she says, “you’re going to feel better about being an idiot.”
This story originally appeared in the Aug. 19 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.
Press/Gallery: How Elizabeth Olsen Brought Marvel From Mainstream to Prestige was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen
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scapegrace74-blog · 3 years
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New Ways of Turning into Stone, Chapter 5
A/N  Sorry for the long break between chapters.  As some of you might have seen from my Tumblr blog, I’ve been off on vacation these past two weeks.  Plus, when I felt the urge to write, it was my new Vaquero AU that kept calling to me (21,000 words and counting!), rather than this fic.  Which is probably a good argument for why I don’t like to post WIPs.  In any event, here is the next chapter some of you have been asking for, entitled Third Appointment.  Be careful what you wish for.  Angst ahead, plus a trigger warning for infertility trauma, miscarriage.
The first four chapters are available on my AO3 page.
The Thursday after her impromptu encounter with Jamie and his niece at the Royal Hospital for Children, Claire woke with a strange twisting pain in her gut.  Skipping breakfast, she was halfway to her office before she diagnosed herself with an acute case of nerves, the kind that sprouted between her lungs and ribcage like a vestigial organ whose sole purpose was to unsettle her.
She wasn’t in the habit of meeting patients outside of the clinical confines of her practice, but it was more than that.  Jamie had caught her in a moment of weakness, with both her personal and professional armour missing.  What he might have seen and how he could have interpreted it had occupied her thoughts ever since.
Eating lunch was out of the question.  By the time two o’clock approached, her insides were a buzzing hornets’ nest of anxiety, her palms clammy with sweat.  A half-empty bottle of Xanax called to her from the bottom of her purse.  Before she could weigh the implications of taking one at work on an empty stomach, Jamie’s familiar knock intervened.
She could tell as soon as he entered that Maggie hadn’t needed a transfusion that week.  His russet curls shone like garnets in the midday sun and his uncanny eyes glittered like sapphires.  Still, he avoided looking directly her way as he settled into his usual chair, and she wondered if the overlap of their personal and professional lives had left him feeling unnerved as well.
“No wheat grass smoothie,” he commented, his gaze running over her desk.
“No, I didn’t have time for lunch today.”  It was a blatant falsehood, since she’d spent her lunch hour picking her cuticles until they bled, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Ye should eat more, Sassen..., Doctor Beauchamp.  Ye canna help anyone else if ye’re no’ properly nourished.”  She caught the slip, and for some reason it angered her.
“Is this your attempt to negotiate a reduction in your fees, Jamie?  Dietary advice in return for counselling?  Because if so, I’m afraid I don’t bill on the barter system,” she snapped, despising her churlish tone.
Jamie’s eyes narrowed, then dimmed.  Message received, he sat up straighter in the armchair and crossed a foot over his knee, assuming a position of poised and detached calm that had no doubt served him well during business negotiations.  She regrouped by pretending to glance at her journal for the notes from their previous session, although the space next to his name was accusingly blank.
Boundaries thus defined, the session went surprising well.  Jamie spoke of his relief that Maggie’s latest round of chemotherapy was over, allowing her to return home and to some semblance of a regular life for a child of six.  Claire coaxed him gently towards the topic of his overwhelming guilt for abandoning his family when he was most needed.  Jamie processed pain through the recounting of stories, coming to terms with his self-decreed transgression by weaving together the tale of those he loved and pointing to the holes his absence had caused.
As his resonant voice spun its web of words, Claire became aware of an underlying hum.  At first it was subtle, like the mumble of traffic from a far-off motorway.  But as their hour together ticked by, it grew in strength until she could no longer ignore the buzz that pressed against her from all directions.
“... saw that it was really Jenny and Ian who I was... Claire?  Doctor Beauchamp, are ye well?”  Jamie was watching her with concern, and she realized she’d been shaking her head, trying to dislodge the omnipresent hum.
“Yes, I’m... yes.  Sorry.  Just a funny noise that’s...  Please, continue.”  When Jamie didn’t immediately pick up the thread of his narrative, she tried again.  “You were saying something about Jenny and Ian?”
Instead of continuing his previous thought, Jamie picked that moment to broach the topic she’d desperately hoped he would avoid.
“I hope ye’re no’ upset about the other day, at the hospital.  I didna mean tae impose or tae... o’erstep the bounds of our relationship.  No’ that we have a relationship, mind,” he hastened to add.  “Only a professional one.  But when I saw ye, I couldna resist introducing ye tae wee Maggie.  I hadna told ye about her yet, and I thought...”
“Jamie, it’s fine,” she cut in, halting his rambling explanation.  “She’s a lovely girl.  They all are.  It’s only that, I’m sort of...”
“Ye’re verra good with them.  Children, that is.  Ye’ll make a fine mother one day.”
All the oxygen left the room at once.  Her heart beat so hard there was a bruised feeling behind her sternum.   Launching to her feet, Claire stumbled blindly away from her desk.  She wanted to run, to scream, but her vision was a narrow chasm and a now-deafening throb filled her ears.  She only made it a few steps before her knees buckled and the carpet floated upwards to meet her.
“Ifrinn!”  Jamie leapt to her side, catching her by the shoulders before her head could hit the floor.  He lowered them both carefully to the ground, resting her body against his lap.  “Sassenach?  Claire?  Can ye hear me?  Do I need tae call an ambulance?”  The words reached her from very far away, but the threat of medical intervention acted like a dose of smelling salts.
“No,” she groaned, the room spinning around her like a kaleidoscope.  “No hospital.  I just... need to eat,” she grasped at the most innocuous explanation for her current state.
Without dislodging her, Jamie stretched his long arm and brought back the small basket of miniature muffins that were the day’s offering from Geillis.  With surprising dexterity, he peeled away the paper one-handed and broke apart a bite-sized morsel, holding it gently against her lips.  Realizing that her dignity couldn’t get any more battered, Claire opened her mouth and allowed Jamie to feed her.  After only a few bites, the buzzing disappeared and she was able to sit up on her own.
“Thank you,” she murmured, afraid to look into his eyes for fear of the pity she knew she’d see there.  “You were right. I  should have eaten lunch, I guess.”
“Claire.”  Jamie made a prose poem of the single syllable of her name.  She looked up at him through her lashes, stunned to find him looking back, not with pity, but with something akin to adoration.  “Mo nighean donn,” he ran a tender hand through her loosened curls.  “Ye need tae care more for yerself.”
“I will.  I’ll try.”  And when she said it to him, she really meant it.  Jamie made the impossible seem probable.
They stared at one another, shoulder to shoulder on the floor of her office.  She couldn’t think of anything else to say, but nor did she move.  Her gaze flitted over his face, noticing a vestige of boyish freckles across the bridge of his nose, a mole hidden in the harvest stubble on his cheek.  Jamie was performing a parallel inventory, eyes finally coming to rest at the level of her mouth.
“Ye’ve got a wee crumb, jus’ there.”  Unconscious, her tongue swept out, triggering a predatory response, twin blue laser beams narrowing on the target she had just painted on her lower lip.
“I... I’d verra much like tae kiss ye, Claire.  May I?”
An amputated moan was all she could manage in response, but Jamie must have understood its meaning.  He bent his head until only a whisper separated them.  The air crackled, sending that extra organ plummeting towards her hollow womb.  Clenching her eyes shut in defeat, she closed the infinitesimal gap until they met in an effervescent caress of lip and tongue.
Cold washed over her skin, bathing her in gooseflesh.  Jamie tasted like he looked; a banquet of fresh, volatile flavours that called to mind a picnic in a meadow, a spray of sea foam, the warmth of hearth and home.  She could feel him trembling against her, his moist breath rushing against her cheek in shallow pants.  For a score of heartbeats, Claire was the happiest she had ever been.  Then, reality crashed down around her.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered, pulling away.  “I... this can’t... I’m sorry.”
Jamie leaned back with a mixture of longing and resignation.  She hated adding herself to his list of regrets, but it was for the best.
“I’m your doctor, Jamie.  This isn’t right.”
“Aye, I ken.  I should apologize, but I canna seem tae find it in me tae repent.”
Jamie stood, reaching down to help Claire up as well.  As soon as it was apparent she was able to stand on her own, he dropped her hand as though it burned.  The line between his brows deepened, and she could see the question forming before he gave it voice.
“What if ye werena my doctor?  Would it be right then?”
“That’s neither here nor there, because I am, Jamie.  A relationship between patient and doctor of a romantic nature is ethically off-limits.”
Jamie nodded, apparently accepting her explanation at face value. Her heartbeat calmed.  He moved slowly, gathering his coat and starting to leave.  
“But what if ye weren’t?” he said, facing the door.  “If we’d met at the hospital, or out on the town?”
“I...” she stammered, searching desperately for any answer except for the truth.  “No, Jamie,” she said at last, watching as she destroyed his last bastion of hope.  “I’m sorry.  I just don’t feel that way about you.”
Nodding abruptly, Jamie let himself out of the office.  She listened to his low murmuring voice through the door as he spoke to Geillis, heard him make an appointment for the following week, then the loud snap of the main door closing.  Only then did she allow herself to collapse once more to the floor, angry sobs overtaking her.
***
“Are ye out of yer fuckin’ mind?” Geillis inquired with her usual brutal eloquence.
With the help of a Xanax, Claire had managed to see her last two patients of the day, and only needed to navigate the shoals of her office manager’s ire before she could go home and fully medicate herself into a dreamless sleep.
“Jes so we’re clear, ye want me tae write a letter terminating your services as a doctor an’ suggesting suitable alternative providers?  An’ ye want me tae send this letter, over email, tae Jamie Fraser?”
“That’s right.”  She had determined that icy calm was the best antidote to this conversation, which was fortuitous, since she felt numb all over.
“An’ what reason am I tae give fer this abrupt conclusion tae yer association wi’ Mr. Fraser?”
“I don’t owe him an explanation.  Only sufficient notice and an opportunity to seek counselling elsewhere,” she said, feigning reasonableness.
Pushed past her limits, Geillis rose from behind her desk, a tiny tempest of moral indignation.
“Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp, ye are a good friend, a fine doctor an’ a fair employer.  But I swear by the Almighty that if ye dinna drop the façade and tell me wha’ is going on I am going tae smack ye until yer ears ring!”
There was a certain relief in knowing that Geillis wouldn’t take no for an answer.  And unlike Jamie, she knew where Claire lived and would not let her rest until the truth came out.
“He kissed me.  Or rather, I kissed him.  And I liked it!  That’s why, Geillis.”
Her friend’s shoulders sagged, all righteousness gone in an instant.  She reached around Claire’s frame and held her in a bone-crushing one-sided hug.
“Och, hen.  An’ ye figured ye could deal wi’ those pesky feelings by jes, what? firing him as yer patient?”  
“I can’t deal with this right now, Geillis.  I can’t feel the way he makes me feel.  And this practice is all that I have left.  There’s no way I can risk losing it just for an affair that won’t even last the summer.”
She didn’t need to elaborate on her reasons for that dire prediction.  Geillis knew them as well as anyone.
“He’s an intelligent man, Claire. He’s gonna ken something is up.  Moreover, he’s a good man.  He deserves tae hear the truth.”
Shaking her head sadly, Claire walked towards the door.  Just before exiting, she called back softly to her friend.
“Geillis?  Make sure to include Dr. Rafferty’s name on the list of referrals.  I think they’d be a good match.
***
Monday morning dawned with little promise for the fledgling week.  Moving robotically through her weekend routine, Claire thought frequently of chickens.  How their bodies kept moving once their heads were lopped off, nerves and muscle and bone continuing to function for a time despite the fatal blow.
The elevator chimed its arrival on her floor.  As the doors slide open, Jamie was the first thing she saw.  He loomed by her still-locked office, a sun-topped thundercloud gripping a sheet of printer paper.
She’d worn her best black suit and a pair of chunky heels that brought her closer to his height.  Perhaps, on some subconscious level, she’d anticipated this confrontation.  Perversely, she relished it.  Vitriol and deceit didn’t suit her, but it was preferable to feeling absolutely nothing.
“Do ye mind tellin’ me,” Jamie began before she’d even set foot in the hallway, “jus’ what this is about, Claire?” He brandished the paper like a wanted poster.
“I would think it was self-explanatory, actually.  I’m terminating our professional relationship,” she huffed, golden eyes coming to life for the first time since Thursday.
“Via email.  Sent tae me by Miss Duncan, because ye dinna have the guts tae do it yerself.  Christ, Sassenach, even my ninth grade sweetheart didna dump me so cruelly!”
“I’m not your sweetheart!” she burst out, a flood of emotion cresting with her rising anger.  “Don’t call me that!  I was your doctor, Jamie, and now I’m nothing to you.  Nothing.  Just go.  Please.  Just go,” she finished weakly and without any hope that he’d listen.
“All this jus’ because I kissed you?” Jamie persevered.  At her stubborn silence, he continued, “Nah, I dinna think so.  Ye’re many things, Claire, but a coward isna one of them.”
She found this hysterically funny, since a coward was the only role she played to perfection.  She didn’t have time to laugh, however, because Jamie was suddenly standing much closer, forcing her to lift her chin to meet his stormy eyes.
“Nah,” he continued smoothly, a big cat alerted to the smell of its prey.  “If ye’d objected tae the kiss, ye would have told me so.  Read me the riot act or kneed me in the bawls.  I think ye’re scared, Doctor Beauchamp.  I think that kiss terrified ye, because ye realized ye liked it.  Somethin’ ye couldna  plan for in yer wee journal, right there under yer nose.  Bet it made yer heart beat so fast. So fast, jus’ like it is now.”
Jamie’s hand rested gently over the placket of her suit jacket, where he could surely feel the trip hammering of her pulse.
“Please,” she begged.  “Don’t.  I can’t...”
“Can’t what, Sassenach?” he whispered back, goading her.
The truth hung on her lips, and the toll of the past few days meant that she no longer had the strength to stop it from spilling forth.
“Can’t have children.  Ever.  I tried, for years.  Fourteen miscarriages, fourteen lost chances.  And seeing you with those children last week.  I know it’s presumptive, but I could never deny you that chance, Jamie.  That’s why I can’t see you anymore.”
She was looking down, watching the buttons of his shirt rise and fall with his agitated breath, but as she finished speaking, their movement ceased.  Chancing a glance upward, she was stunned by the fury that had overtaken his expression. 
Jamie opened and closed his mouth several times before he managed to speak in a gritty growl.
“Mutation of the RUNX1 gene tha’ causes leukemia.  I was tested, along wi’ Jenny an’ Ian, after Maggie was diagnosed.  I have a fifty percent chance of passing it along tae my children.  An’ since I canna stand the thought of ano’er bairn havin’ tae suffer as Maggie has, as soon as I got the test results, I went out an’ had a vasectomy.”
Claire recoiled as though she’d been slapped, a high pitched whine in her ears.
“Ye’re no’ the only one who’s hurting, Claire!” Jamie continued, voice dashing against the rocks of her name.  “We’re no’ meant tae suffer alone.  Ye, of all people, should ken that.”
Stunned in the silence following the thunderclap of his revelation, she couldn’t find the words to express her sorrow, her outrage, and her crippling shame.  By the time the power of speech returned, Jamie was gone. 
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razorblade180 · 3 years
Text
Interdimensional Moms pt3
Part 2 right here! <-
Team RWBY continue their interesting chat about their respective worlds. After the emotional roller coaster that was Weiss’s, a bit of light hearted stories would be welcomed.
Yang:Okay, does anyone have some real feel good things to talk about for their world? Just run of the mill pleasant life?
Ruby:Guess I’m going last....
Yang:Oh no!
Weiss:We’ll circle back to you then. Blake, I guess you’re up.
Blake:Wouldn’t you want calmer stuff at the end?
Yang:Blake, I would very much like to go at least ten minutes without wanting to cry.
Blake:Hmmmm I can guarantee you like...six I think.
Yang:I’ll take it! Blake Belladonna, tell me about a world where you and Jaune Arc are happily married. How did such stars align?
Blake:You make it sound crazy?
Weiss:Blake, there’s list of people I could see you with. Now I’m not saying Jaune couldn’t be one of them, but he’d have to fight his way up that list.
Blake:You...that’s kinda fair. It’s a bit hard to explain really. It happened back at Beacon initially, or our bonding did. Some days his team was busy and I didn’t tag along for the crazy antics you three wanted to do all the time, so we occasionally bumped into each by circumstances. He’d go to the library for a book, I’d do training and he was there, or sometimes he’d knock on our door and not realize I was the only one around.
Weiss:Was he trying to sing to me?
Blake:That plan did show up at our a few times, yes. One of those times I asked him out of nowhere to sing the song anyways because I just had to know if it was any good. Hehe, it wasn’t sonically pleasing at times, but you could tell it was genuine. Eventually though...he just sort of gave up on you. It was actually a little sad to see, even you thought so. It was strange. Jaune was definitely stumbling through his flirting and it came off as childish, yet the day he gave up, it was easy to see his heart was breaking a bit. Like all his insecurities ate even the faux confidence away.
Yang:Ma’am, it has barely been three minutes and I’m getting sad about thinking of Jaune being sad.
Weiss:Yeah don’t tell me I broke his heart!
Blake:Whoops, sorry. It’s important though. Jaune kinda kept to himself a little more after that. He still chatted pretty regularly but it was easy to tell he dived more in studies as a way to keep his head clear, which lead to us being on a project together. I was the only person in our friend group that wouldn’t actively try to make him open up about how he feeling. At first I thought it was a bit rude when he told me that, but I didn’t room to talk when it comes to socializing.
Yang:One more time for the people in the back.
Ruby:I’m the back.
Blake:*smirks* I was very against socializing about my feelings at Beacon.
Ruby:Yeah you were.
Weiss:I couldn’t even ask if you slept well without a lukewarm answer sometimes.
Blake:I’m better now. That’s all that matters. Romance and feeling love is a personal thing and talking about it is uncomfortable. I think we both recognized that in each other during our project. Trouble is, there’s only so many conversation starters and small talk subjects. Talking only about the project was dry and eventually all the facts a person could say about themselves ran out. Favorite food, color, hobbies, etc. We eventually had to dig a little deeper into those topics. To our surprise, we actually more in common than we thought when it came to how we felt about certain pieces of literature and music.
Ruby:Awwww, bonding over smut.
Blake:*red* It wasn’t all adult literature! Some were poems and stuff. Even when the project ended, we began being less formal around each other and hanging out. We went to the bookstores we mentioned and he even got us tickets to bands I liked. It...it was nice. I never really got to have just a normal teenage experience before without it being political. He always felt bad about being average compared to everyone but average was so foreign to me that I welcomed it. I liked having a normal time out. It was a thing we all took for granted. Especially when Beacon fell.
Yang:Yeah, that probably put a real bind on your relationship.
Blake:Actually....we technically never officially started to date.
Ruby:What? You courted each other all of Beacon.
Weiss:Ruby, who the heck says courted? I’m a Schnee and even I have never used the word courted.
Ruby:Hush, I read a lot of bed time stories to a five year old.
Blake:We were a bit shaky on labels. Me for obvious reasons. As for Jaune, it’s really true about what they say about guys when they get heart broken.
Yang: “Never again.”
Blake:Hehehe, it’s funny to look back at it but he’ll tell you it’s a bit cringy. He was so on gaurd. I could tell all the time when he was mentally telling himself to not be excited whenever we hung out or I complimented him.
Ruby:Hey it takes guts to shift feelings to a teammate of your first crush. That could blow up in your face.
Blake:Yeah...about that. *looks at Yang* you...were another reason why nothing was official. You uhhh, we actually had some jumbled up emotions.
Weiss:*sarcastic gasp* You and Yang, liking each other? Who could’ve seen that coming?
Yang:Was it mutual or...
Blake:Very mutual. Also...intimate at times.
Yang:*red* Oh....yeah. Yeah that tracks.
Blake:That jumbled mess was only more confusing after you got hurt trying to rescue me from Adam. Meeting up with-
Ruby:Question, so was Sun just not on your radar?
Blake:Sun? We’re just friends. He’s cute and I’m glad he was there for me when I needed help but things between us were always pretty calm. I think he noticed how confused I was with other people in my life and chose to not add to it.
Ruby:Bless him. Please continue.
Blake:Learning about Salem and reconnecting with you all was a lot. I’d really been out of the loop and my Yang and I were on....shaky ground.
Yang:That’s what happens when you leave someone who’s been left their entire life.
Blake:Sigh...yeah. It was a trying time, but not with JNPR. It’s funny, Oscar and I also hit it off quite well from the jump. I think we were both glad to have each other learn on the craziness at once. Even with readjusting, Jaune and I fell back into a groove naturally. Instead of doing average things we day dreamed of the things we did. Once again we become this little slice of simple life in this crazy adventure. Still didn’t date.
Weiss:What is this, a slow burn!?
Yang:Weiss, you literally didn’t date your Jaune until Atlas.
Weiss:There’s a difference. I didn’t make any heart eyes at him until around Atlas. I say I may have been a little quick. These two were “courting” for over a year at this point.
Ruby:Stop making fun of me!
Blake:Well anyways, I wouldn’t say much was too eventful in terms of romance with world destroying things happening. Salem, she was way too much to deal with. Every move age did was calculated and unrelenting. Keeping our head above water wasn’t easy. In fact, it was boarder line impossible. Yang and I barely beat Adam after all.
Yang:How’d you two feel about that?
Blake:Relieved. Huge weight off my mind, and yet...a piece of me still wishes things never got so dire. At least now I know that in another world, things aren’t.
Ruby:Sounds like your world was put through their paces? You survived though.
Blake:Not conventionally. I gotta say, hearing the ages and how you beat Salem so far makes me feel more than a little embarrassed. To be frank, we didn’t have this grand battle that involved the entire world making a final stand. We had Atlas, and then we had Haven. With their might and a plan to gain more time, we managed to seal Salem in a vault.
Yang:*chokes on water* Y- cough what!?
Ruby:You put her in a vault!?
Weiss:Thah sounds harder than a last stand honestly.
Blake:No matter what way we looked at things, we just weren’t ready for her, so we locked her away until we were. Two years on constant defense from her followers and grimm until Ruby had trained enough to use her silver eyes and we were all strong enough.
Ruby:Two years!? How old was I then?
Blake:Twenty I believe.
Weiss:Hey, you beat mine by a year.
Yang:Not mine, I think we either tied or just narrowly beat yours by like a year. Honestly it hard to keep track of birthdays and stuff.
Ruby:Wow. No offense to myself, but that’s a little disappointing. I guess being the same person really doesn’t mean we were all at the same level.
Blake:Hey, my Ruby put everything she had into saving the world. There wasn’t a second she wasn’t trying her best to defend it!
Ruby:My point exactly. If that was her at her absolute best then by all accounts, she doesn’t hold a candle to me; at least back then anyways. But I have no reason to believe she would be at my level now.
Yang:Okay little miss prideful, care to tell us when you saved the-
Ruby:Seventeen.
The reaper took a long swig of coffee while the others processed that information. It took a her a couple of seconds to realize she may be acting just a tad bit arrogant.
Ruby:Uhh, sorry. I think I was tooting my own horn a bit there.
Weiss:Seventeen....why so soon?
Yang:Why? Don’t you mean how?
Blake:That’s....almost unbelievable.
Ruby:Really? I don’t think so. I’ll dive into it when it’s my turn but for now all I really gotta say is people needed help, and I was going to answer those cries. I bet your Ruby had a similar urgency in her, but for some reason or another just had different limitations. I got hurt a lot as a kid. Maybe an injury did more damage in one universe than another? Who can say?
Blake:I...wouldn’t know. Odd, I know if my Ruby heard this, then she’d probably be more than a little upset. Saving lives is still what she’s all about. I know when she put everything she had into fighting Salem when the day came. All that training paid off. Her skills were polished and her silver eyes eradicated the grimm essence in Salem.
Ruby:Wait, she’s not dead?
Blake:No. Salem roams Remnant with Oz keeping an eye on her until one day she can finally grasp the lesson the gods wanted her to have.
Yang:That uhhh sounds risky.
Weiss:Yet oddly okay?
Blake:Funny, my Weiss said that too. Those two get checked on in secret. Can’t be too careful. With Salem beaten though, Remnant entered a state of...let’s call it average chaos. All in all, it’s way more peaceful but you know, people will be people. Downside about a secret war is you don’t get the unity of the masses. Atlas and Haven working together was still a great step in the right direction though.
Yang:Woah, I’m a little jealous. My world felt like a race against the clock. The pressure either broke you or made you harder than diamond, with most people crushing under it.
Weiss:Yeah. The tension and meet of extremes I had on the frontlines was beyond imagination. The unity was great, but to feel it on the battlefield against the odds was feeling with way too much adrenaline and stress. Can’t say I enjoyed it. I simply lived through it.
Blake:Well it isn’t like I had a walk in the park. But I guess in comparison, my experience was a tad more mellow. Still, people were lost and hurt. Oscar isn’t himself anymore, don’t have Penny, former classmates and a few enemies turned allies fell in battle. Family.... it took a bunch to get the plan of containing, then it took a lot more to do it. In a way though, the two years of training is time I can’t regret. It tested bonds, strengthening and reestablishing others.
Ruby:I take it since love couldn’t bloom on the battlefield, it bloomed in the training yards?
Blake:*red* You can say that. That’s when Jaune and I got serious. *frowning* But.....
Yang:We fell apart?
Blake:Yeah. I didn’t learn my lesson well enough the first time about the potential problems of dating a partner. Only difference this time was I felt like I was the one being cruel. We had gotten into arguments and apologized more than once. Your fear of being left and my own insecurities just kept butting heads. I’d cry, you’d cry, our friends would be concerned. Then the day came where you put it all on the line. You confessed genuinely how much you loved me and how you felt a bit jealous when it came to Jaune. I had never seen you look so vulnerable; letting your gaurd completely down. And though a piece of me loved you and wanted you in my life for ever....this sense of genuine comfort Jaune gave was something I want-needed for so long. So I did the one thing I didn’t want to do. I broke your heart. I hurt you again.
Yang:Sigh....*leans back in chair* Okay, let’s see how well I know myself. My eyes went red automatically, followed by tears. I lashed out at you angrily out of pain and embarrassment until I was probably blue in the face. But to take make things worse, somebody probably overheard. No matter who it was, I yelled at them too for trying to calm me down and then I eventually run off leaving everyone unhappy. A good old meltdown. Sound about right?
Blake:To the letter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so distraught.
Yang:Of course not, I’ve never been in love before meeting you. I....did a similar thing with my Blake over the stupid Adam shit. *covers face* of all the things to be similar, it had to be my temper. Please tell me our team didn’t suffer too harshly?
Blake:The good thing about two years of training was it didn’t have to be together all the time. Team RWBY didn’t fall apart, but it didn’t feel comfortable either. Outside of missions, the four of us didn’t hang out as much. It was three at the most. Nobody pinned blame on me or Yang for it but it was obvious.
Ruby:I mean how can you blame someone for feeling sad or not in love with someone? Pointing fingers doesn’t do anything. However, I bet missions were rough.
Blake:Bumblebee was shelved. We did any other team up we could. When push came to shove, Yang and I did put feelings aside. Neither of us wanted our feelings to get anyone killed. That’s probably what kept us connected for awhile, especially with Salem. I don’t think we questioned each other when it came to watching one another’s back. Slowly, our relationship got a bit better. Until....we stopped speaking to each other altogether about a couple years later.
Yang:Wait, why!?
Blake:I got pregnant.
The three listeners’ faces scrunched up and they let in a sharp breath like they just got cut. No one had considered that bombshell.
Blake:Marriage was rough enough. Having Jaune’s kid and starting a family just...cut deep I guess. You didn’t make a scene or anything if that’s what you’re worried about. One day you told me “I just can’t do this” and exited my life. I wanted to keep you close to me, but you wanted to be closer. That was a thing I couldn’t do. Hehe, I can’t tell you how weird it is talking to you like this again.
Yang:So that’s it!? We just don’t see each other at all!?
Blake:Certain events and celebrations have us in the same room, but that’s all. Ruby is the only thing that regularly links us, but she’s busy living life too.
Ruby:Is it a good life?
Blake:The best. You’re the huntress you always wanted to be and a hero to many.
Ruby:*smiles* Really? That’s good. May she ride that high for as long as she can. Though I bet she wished she had a special someone to share that with.
Blake:Huh? Oh, you married Weiss.
Weiss:*red* What!?
Ruby:Aye, nice.
Weiss:Weren’t you upset about thinking of other people with Jaune besides you!?
Ruby:Yeah, but I won’t deny if I am going to be with someone that isn’t him, I’m very happy it’s the other special person in my life. I mean come on, the only reason we don’t get weird in your universe is because I married your brother and you already invited my sister.
Weiss:I mean...it’s mainly the brother portion. The second part...
Ruby:Weiss, that’s weird.
Yang:Eh...
Ruby:IT’S WEIRD! YOU CANNOT TELL ME OTHERWISE!
Yang:*sips coffee* Eh.
Blake:Anyways, Weiss, you’re running your company. The Schnee Dust Company was scrubbed top to bottom to remove as much corruption as possible. No department was overlooked. In times of money, there’s a notable decrease in how much the company used to make.
Weiss:Gee, I wonder if that’s because the other me is doing oh let me guess, paying all their workers and not cutting corners in safety?
Blake:The SDC people approval has gone up considerably, just so you know that too. Turns out people like it when the company they buy from have good morals.
Weiss:Am I happy though? I make time for my social life and hu- I mean wife?
Blake:Yea, you’re happy. In a way I think we’re all happy, but....
Yang:We’d be happier if we were all happy together? Yeah, that’s how it works. You’re only as happy as the most miserable person in a family or group; if you all care about each other that is. Ugh, I wanna punch the other me. I get how she feels but it’s fucking immature to just ignore years of teamwork and family. At the end of the day, team RWBY is a family! Can’t believe I’d runaway from it instead of figuring out...I don’t know! Something!
Blake:*small smile* Well if you feel that way then there’s no reason to believe she doesn’t. My Yang just struggles with it more I guess, but I hope she can come around one day. Not really for my sake, but for her own peace of mind. As well as Lucas’s.
Ruby:Lucas? Your son I take it?
Blake:Mmhmm. My strong and lazy young man. He got his father’s hair but my eyes and ears. I can’t think of a person who warms my heart quite like him. He acts uninterested in a lot of things, but his heart is so big.
Weiss:Ah, so he’s just you?
Blake:More or less hehe. Though I’d say I was passionate about things all my life. Lucas will sleep all day if he could and doesn’t like going out without a reason.
Weiss:Still sounds like you if I’m being honest. Teenager?
Blake:Seventeen, almost eighteen.
Yang:You said he’s need peace of mind too? I’m not...hostile towards him am I?
Blake:No, not by a long shot. On the occasions you two have meant, you were polite. It’s just he knows why you don’t visit or talk to me. That’s rough, knowing your parent’s closest friend stopped being apart of their life because you were born. I think sometimes he believes it’s actually his fault.
Yang:I really, really want to meet this other me and have a few words. She needs to know she isn’t trying hard enough. I’m proof.
Ruby:Yeah, but you’re only well off because the person that helped you get over Blake, was Jaune. Yeah she still can find love, but who that person will be would be uncharted territory for everyone.
Blake:Also I’m not entirely sure exactly if my Yang is even bi like you.
Yang:Sigh....
Weiss:Love.
Blake:Huh?
Weiss:As long as a person shows your Yang genuine love and a place in their heart where she’ll remain forever, Yang would fall for them. They just have to make it a point to make her feel like they’ll stay. Yangs are softies like that.
Yang:Wow, you an expert on me and all the versions of me now?
Weiss:No, you’re just a bleeding heart that’s super emotional. Let me guess, you fell for Jaune the moment you realized just how relaxed and vulnerable you could allow yourself to be around him.
Yang:*red*.......he holds me when I’m overwhelmed.
RWB:Awwww
Yang:Shut up! Blake, take the heat off me.
Blake:Not too much more. Lucas is a smart kid who generally stays out of trouble. Unfortunately, trouble finds him. Mainly because of his semblance.
Ruby:Don’t tell me...
Blake:No no, it’s not bad luck like your uncle, but Lucas can’t always control it so their similar in that regard. Premonitions, that’s his semblance.
Weiss:Like...the future? You child can see the future?!
Blake:Yeah. *sips drink* it’s terrible.
Ruby:What? That sounds so handy! Man, if I could someone fighting me before it happened, I’d be a monster on the battlefield.
Blake:Lucas isn’t a fighter. Well, he’s not aspiring to fight. He can fight, pretty dang well in fact.; but randomly seeing the future is not a gift. Imagine picking up a book and you suddenly know the ending, or watching a movie and you start seeing the middle of it right after you press play?
Yang:Ahhh, that’s why he’s lazy and unmotivated. His semblance is massive spoiler alert. Half the fun of new things is not knowing what will happen.
Ruby:Oof, you have a point. I’d be paranoid to no end.
Blake:To a point, he was. Ever since he was ten. Disasters happen at the drop of a hat. Lucas isn’t the kind of person to watch bad things unfold, so whenever it was possible or even if it was risky, he’d do whatever he could to prevent said disaster. But.....there’s only so much anyone person can do. There’s only so much information he sees. The constant strain and guilt that came from failing ate him up. The. There’s the incidents he’s seen that didn’t show him how it began or how it will end. *rubbing her hands* It’s bad...
Weiss:Hey, I...I’ve noticed your hands and frankly even your face are a bit....slim. Your skin isn’t as colorful as I’m used to either. Almost like it’s regaining color.
Blake:Hehehe.......I guess you were bound to notice of all people.
Weiss:Of course. I may not run a a company in my world but I keep tabs on my brother and have had my fair share of visits to a doctor. Why wouldn’t I notice.
Yang:So can we talk as if there are people who have no clue what’s going on?
Weiss:Blake has had one of two things happen to her. She’s either worked way too hard to the point she’s not taking care of her health, or she’s fallen very ill and her body is still recovering.
Blake:Yeah, it’s more of the second one, but probably because of the first one as well. Forwarding equality, I was overzealous with it. One day Lucas just started shaking and crying when he was twelve and I couldn’t understand why. Turns out he kept seeing me bedridden and unconscious without a reason. Day in and day out he simply cried and tried his best to get another premonition to learn more, but couldn’t. A week later I started feeling a little dizzy, and then blacked out after vomiting. At first I thought maybe I had the flu or something. Nope, a tumor.
Weiss:What?
Ruby:Blake!?
Yang:Oh shit, are you-
Blake:Perfectly fine! *smiles* I’m fine. Liver cancer, but it was caught early. No more tumor what so ever, but the meds and the entire process was really draining. Got sicker a couple of times. Not once did I feel like I was dying necessarily, more like...slipping? I felt myself getting drained. The whole time Lucas was so scared; blaming himself for not preventing this or knowing how to fix it. Though simply knowing he saw me like was a warning most people wish they got. I know I said seeing the future is terrible, but the scariest part through all of this was not knowing how it ended. Choosing medicine, doctors, surgery possibilities, it made me crack under pressure a little. I think he noticed that. I wasn’t sure if I picking an option that lead me dying or getting better. The stress alone may have killed me. Ever since then Lucas hasn’t been so outgoing.
Ruby:....
Weiss:....
Yang....It was already said, but there was no way this wasn’t going to get sad was there?
Blake:Take it from me, there’s joy in pain. So many people came to visit me when I was recovering. Even Yang dropped by for a bit. After I got out, I don’t think Lucas ever hugged me so hard. Jaune tried to stay calm through the whole ordeal but it was rough for him too. He was all but spent emotionally when I came home.
Weiss:I’m surprised Lucas didn’t become an older brother.
Blake:The last thing a recovering patient needs is a pregnancy, but as far as missing me goes...
Ruby:You can stop right there with that tangent.
Yang:We’ll talk about that in private. I wouldn’t mind that story.
Blake:*playfully rolls eyes* These days I try not to over do things. I’ve only officially been deemed completely cured for about a year. I can feel that I’m still not entirely up to strength. It’s fine though. It gives me an excuse for Lucas to dote on me a little. He’s a mama’s boy at heart. My biggest worries these days is peeling him out of this shell his semblance had put him in. At the very least I want him to smile like he used to and find away to live in moment when possible. His entire life is ahead of him. Hopefully he doesn’t see all of it.
Ruby:I guess too much of anything really is bad. Knowledge included. I hope things work out.
Yang:Me too. A happy life is something you definitely earned.
Blake:Thanks. That seriously means a lot, which is why I made sure to not end this on a sour note.
The happy faunus pulled out her scroll to scroll through pictures and her friends eyes lit up. The first one was a beach photo. This Jaune was different from what they were used to. He let his hair grow a little bit longer and the back went down his neck, but it was definitely still him. This jaune was pretty toned and went for a lean look than bulky like Weiss’s, but a tad slimmer. On his shoulders was an adorable toddler with wide amber eyes and big blonde cat ears. Both men were enjoying the sunset on the waves.
The next photo was more recent with Blake right in the middle of hopping into Lucas’s arms. Weiss noticed the girl still had on the hospital bracelet. She must’ve just gotten cleared. Lucas had grown like a weed. He was now roughly Jaune’s height. His hair was messy and looked like Jaune’s in his younger years. Also like his father, Lucas was jacked! His sleeveless purple shirt should off his biceps as they wrapped around Blake’s torso for a hug. His baggy purple shorts had black and gold trim through the seams and the shorts stopped right below his knees; but showed of his well defined calves. A smile of pure joy and what could’ve been a few tears were visible as he looked lovingly at his mother. It warmed all of the ladies hearts. Still, the girls also could tell under his eyes were a little dark. Lucas must’ve been very tired.
The final picture had to be the most recent. It was Blake and Lucas sparring. Both looked at each other with excitement and ease as their wooden blades clashed. Their clothes mirrored one another by being black and white kimonos. They even wore the traditional shoes and everything.
Weiss:Yeah, that’s your kid.
Blake:Damn right. Unfortunately that makes him a little too stubborn. But I guess that’s okay. Without a doubt, someone’s gonna break through that shell of his.
Yang:Oh? It sounds like you already know who?
Blake:Well....I have a hunch.
xxxxx
RING! RING! RING! Lucas’s scroll chirped, in the middle of the night. The boy let out a long, agitated groan of sleepiness as he rolled over in bed; reaching for his scroll on the nightstand to answer.
Lucas:Hello?
???:Did you know you are mathematically more likely to choke on a hotdog than get attacked by a shark?
Lucas:....Serenity, who gave you my number?
Serenity:Your parents, and it’s Serendipity!
Lucas:Too many syllables. Also a bit ironic given who you are. With the way you act though, my name for you is better.
Serenity:Ooooo so we’re moving on to pet names? How forward of you.
Lucas:Five seconds before I hang up. Three...two-
Serenity:You’re late! You promised to guide me around the beach at twelve. That’s now.
Lucas:.....P.M. Twelve P.M. Serenity. Why in the world would I mean midnight!?
Serenity:It’s romantic and personal. Nobody else is around. I thought you were trying to use that Belladonna magic on me by acting all cool and aloof in the moonlight.
Lucas:.....
Lucas:Please delete my number.
Serenity:Not on your life, my whiskered bodyguard!
Lucas:Don’t have whiskers-
Serenity:If you don’t wanna move that butt of yours to hang out with a pretty girl in a floppy hat and sundress with a bikini underneath, that’s your loss. I’m still going for a dip.
Lucas:Do not go in the water when nobody is around.
Serenity:Pfft, I’m a strong swimmer.
Lucas:Sharks.
Serenity:It’s more dangerous to eat a hotdog.
Lucas:Sharks feed at night.
Serenity:Are you trying to tell me the statistics aren’t as reliable just because it’s nighttime.
Lucas:That’s exactly what I’m saying.
Serenity:Then you better move your butt just in case. Either you get a snack or the sharks do. Either way, I get attention.
Lucas:Difference is one wants to eat you.
Serenity:My goodness Lucas, oh brazen of you.
Lucas:......
Lucas:Tell the sharks I said hi.
Serenity:Okay! Byyyyyyeeeee! *hangs up*
Lucas:(She’ll be fine.)
..........
Lucas:*putting on shoes* This is bullshit. Who thinks midnight!? *walking down stairs* Can’t have a peaceful day or night....
Jaune:*watching tv* Hey Lucas, going some-
Lucas:I’m giving out your phone number to a homeless man the first chance I get! *walks out door*
Jaune:.....(Whatever gets you outside more.)
It took about fifteen minutes of aggressive walking for Lucas to wrap around to the back of his house towards their section of the beach. Where Serenity walked around humming and collecting seashells without a care in the world.
Lucas:The next shell you grab will have a crab in it.
Serenity:Huh? Oh hey you’re finally-ahhhh! Ow ow ow ow ow ow!
Lucas:Should’ve listened.
Serenity:Have a better warning!!!! It won’t let go!
Lucas:Pull it off.
Serenity:That’s hurt!!! Lucas, help!
Lucas:Fine, if you delete my number.
Serenity:*sniffling* Stop being mean!!! This really hurts, it’s breaking the skin. Isn’t a young and pretty girl’s tears payment enough!? I thought you were getting paid to-
Lucas:Oh my goodness! Okay, just shush. I’m too sleepy for this.
Serenity:You’re mean when you’re sleepy. At least your waking up voice sounds handsome though.
Lucas:Please....stop. Stop everything. *removing crab* Happy?
Serenity:No, you’re not happy. Also my finger is bleeding.
Lucas:Yep, looks like you can’t go swimming now for real.
Serenity:Eh, I lied anyways. I’m not getting in that water. There are sharks in that watery grave.
Lucas:So. Why. Did. You. Wake. Me. Up?
Serenity:....*red* I...don’t really, have friends here. Besides you. Umm *points to pail and shovels* sandcastles?
Lucas:*inhales*......I’ll get the water.
Serenity:*smiles* Yes! I’ll delete your number later.
Lucas:*red* You....can keep it of you really want.
Serenity:....Kek, okay Mr. Tsundere
Lucas:You can remove the next crab alone.
Serenity:Don’t joke like that! That was a joke, right?
Lucas:Welp that pail isn’t gonna fill itself. *leaves*
Serenity:What!? Lucas!!! You were joking right!? Right!? *looking around the sand* you’re a lousy bodyguard!
Lucas:Good, fire me.
Serenity:I...you....ugh!
Lucas:Cheer up, I’m happy now after all. *smiles*
Serenity:*pouting* This is why I’m a dog person.
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Text
Come As You Are
Summary: Dean takes Y/n dress shopping for a hunt, both of them blissfully unaware of where it will lead. 
Pairing: Dean Winchester x Plus Size Reader
Word Count: 3.9K+
Warnings: Language, self-esteem and body image struggles, public intercourse, unprotected intercourse (wrap it before you tap it)
Author’s Note: This was written for an anonymous request, 
“Hey babe I don’t know if your taking requests but I had a groovy idea dean x shy plus reader where they have to get the reader nice sexy clothes but she feels really uncomfortable in them and refuses to leave the dressing room and dean confess how he feels and they have sex in the dressing room ? Fluff and smut” 
I truly enjoyed writing it so I hope it lives up to your expectations anon. Remember, feedback is like crack to writers, and we always love to hear what you thought xoxo Alex
Consider checking out a book from Alexandra’s Library!
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A frown etched itself on her face as she ran her hand over the fabrics hanging from the racks. All of it felt foreign underneath her fingertips. Satin, chiffon, and everything else that was far more expensive than she was used to. Y/n’s wardrobe mostly consisted of denim and polyester blends that tended to fray after two washes. It was all that a hunter could afford, after all. 
“How in the hell are we gonna afford any of this crap?” She whispered to Dean, who was eyeing the rack behind her, the gowns in front of him all a deep shade of red. 
“Charlie’s miracle card, remember? There is no limit,” Dean raised his brow at her, a grin etched across his perfect face. 
“Fine,” she groaned. “I still don’t see why I even need to go dress shopping, I’m sure I could find something in my closet.” 
“I’ve seen your closet, and none of it is right for this case. You’ve got to distract the coroner for the night and you can’t do that in baggy jeans and flannel.” Dean huffed as he picked a dress off the rack. Y/n’s eyes went wide as she took it in, the hem was short for anyone’s standards, then add in the plunging neckline and this dress left nothing to the imagination. 
“That is so not happening,” Y/n pointed at the offensive garment, her stomach fluttering at the simple idea of even trying to slip into it. Every spot on her body that she hated would be on full display in that thing. Her thick thighs, the roll that sat on her bra just under her arms, and don’t get her started on her abdomen. 
“Come on, just try it. You never know ‘till you try it on.” 
“Ugh,” Y/n snatched the dress from his hand before stalking off to look at more dresses. There were a couple more options that she grabbed to try on that were closer to her comfortability level. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t be caught dead in any of the items in her arms. But Dean had this way about him, always able to convince her to do anything without question. Maybe it was the way his skin crinkled around his eyes or the brightness that always seemed to live behind those deliciously green eyes? Who was she kidding, it was all of that and then some. The huntress had fallen hard for him from that first meeting. Sometimes she wondered why she chose to torture herself. 
Dean Winchester was the cream of the crop when it came to hunters, as was his baby brother, Sam. The whole world knew who they were, including heaven and hell, so how could she be expected to resist him when he smiled at her the way he does. Or even when he made her coffee in the mornings just how she liked it and picked up chocolate and pain killers for her when he knew it was that time of the month. He was exceedingly attentive to her, something that she was sure he only directed at Sam. It was just another thing that surprised her about the legend of a man. 
Yeah, like an idiot she fell for the eldest Winchester. There was no stopping it even though she was certain that her feelings would never be reciprocated. Y/n wasn’t like the other woman that Dean went for when he was on the prowl at bars. It’s not that she was ugly, it was that she was plain at best. People didn’t turn their heads when she walked in the room, men’s gazes didn’t linger on her from across the bar, no, Y/n was merely average. That’s how she knew that Dean would never see her as more than a friend because he had never looked at her in any form of want. 
“Are you ready to try those on?” A sales woman’s voice broke her out of her unrelenting train of thought. Dean answered for her before she could process the woman’s words. 
“Yes, please.” He smiled brightly and Y/n watched as the woman’s face flushed under his gaze. Y/n almost felt bad for the woman who was now just another victim to his charm. The saleswoman at least would be able to relish in his attention, wondering about what could have been had Y/n not been there with him. Y/n on the other hand already knew her fate. But mostly, if she was being honest, she was jealous. 
Dean put his hands on her shoulders and guided her along behind the boutique worker who took them into the back of the store where the dressing rooms were located. The area was mostly quiet, just the music from the speakers could be heard in the space. Three large mirrors sat in front of a stage on the far wall, the rooms spaning out on either side of it. In the center of the room were three plush chairs for those waiting for others to sit in. 
The worker unlocked a door for her as Dean plopped down in one of the chairs. Y/n slipped behind the door, letting out a deep breath as it closed behind her. If there was one thing she hated it was trying on clothes. Nothing ever seemed to fit her right or look anything like what it did on the hanger. It made the task a constant battle with her self-consciousness. 
Y/n had always carried extra weight on her body. It wasn’t that she didn’t live an active lifestyle, she was a hunter, after all, it was the diet that hunters were accustomed to. It was fast food and dives in every small town in America. Not many mom and pop places tended to offer an egg white omelet, and it wasn’t her inclination to eat them either. So, she had always been bigger than most, and if she was being honest she had grown used to that. Maybe she used it as a shield to protect herself. Making connections with people as a hunter only tended to end in heartbreak, so this was easier. 
The hunter hid the scary red thing Dean had selected behind all the rest of her haul, hoping she would find something before she ever even got to the thing. Y/n stripped from her flannel and jeans tossing them on the bench in the corner. She also added her bra to the pile, knowing all of these garments necessitated that she did not wear one. That left her in her favorite pair of panties. They weren’t anything special, but they made her butt looked its best.
The first dress in the line up was a straight black dress that hit just above her knee. The neckline wasn’t anything too crazy but the sleeves rolled off the shoulders a strip of fabric wrapping around her bust. Y/n was able to slip it on and tug up the zipper on the side. With a slide of her hands against the fabric, she frowned at her reflection. Not that it would flatter any figure, in her opinion. 
“What’s taking so long in there?” Dean called out from his spot in front of the mirrors.
“I’m not coming out in this thing,” she called back as she began to take the dress back off. 
“Oh, come on sweetheart,” 
“Nope, next,” Y/n heard him huff even through the door and she imagined he rolled his eyes as well. 
The next dress was a deep blue color. It had a wrap and pencil skirt, with an asymmetrical shape between the hem and the neckline. She supposed it was pretty but it also kind of looked like she had wrapped herself in a towel. Mostly, she felt like the point in the neckline was going to stab her in the throat, and she was not sure how to be sexy when she was trying not to die. It was another pass for her. 
There was only one dress left, and at that moment she was wishing to whoever was listening that she had picked out a few more choices. Dean was whistling now, some Zeppelin tune she couldn’t exactly identify and she knew he was getting impatient. Y/n swapped the fabrics on her body, pulling the thin straps of the red satin piece up onto her shoulders. The dress clung to her skin, the fabric lightweight. 
“Y/n/n,” Dean’s voice was just outside the door, the new proximity of it startling her. “Come on, you have to show me at least one. I know you and you’ll just try vetoing them all.” Y/n swore under her breath because he was right and it pissed her off that he knew her that well. The zipper was out of her reach on her back and she supposed she wouldn’t be able to truly see what it looked like on her unless she zipped it up. 
“Fine, I need help with this zipper anyway,” she sighed and held the fabric against her naked chest while opening the door with her other. Dean was beaming when he came into view on the other side of the door. He snuck inside faster than a flea, the slamming of the door startling her again. 
Get it together woman, you kill monsters for a living, Y/n cursed herself. 
“Turn,” Dean instructed her with his fingers, and the woman obliged as she faced the mirror. Dean brushed her hair off her shoulder with his fingertips, the action barely distinguishable but it sent the hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention. With one hand holding the bottom stop, he used the other to tug on the pull tab, sliding together the teeth in one fluid motion. 
“Thanks,” Y/n’s words were soft as she made eye contact with the green-eyed hunter in the mirror. He ran his tongue of his bottom lip, pulling the plump flesh between his teeth as his eyes wandered over her exposed skin. 
Y/n visibly cringed as she looked at herself. Unfortunately, this was her favorite out of the three, but that didn’t mean she felt like she could venture anywhere in public in the thing. “Sweetheart, if that coroner hadn’t already been eyeing you up today, he would not know where to start when he sees you in this.” 
“Shut up,” Y/n scrunched her nose as she spun around to whack Dean’s shoulder. “You are so full of it.”
“Am not,” Dean scoffed, his eye softening before he continued. “Y/n, why don’t you see how beautiful you are?”
Y/n whipped around to stare at him, her arms crossing over her chest, not believing that those words come out of his mouth. Surely, he was playing with her…
“Have you looked at me, Dean?” Y/n slapped her hands against her thighs, emphasizing their jiggle upon impact. “I’m nothing special.” 
“I have looked at you,” His gaze traveled down her body again, his breath hitching slightly as he did so. “I’ve been looking at you for a while now.” The drop in Dean’s voice sent heat rushing through her body, the gravel undertone making her shiver. 
“Dean--” words escaped her as the hunter stepped into her personal space, pushing her back against the mirror. Dean’s left hand came to rest against the reflective surface just beside her head as he chewed on his lip. 
“I don’t think you know how hard it is for me to keep my eyes off of you,” he leaned into her, his nose brushing alongside hers. “And now, seeing you in this dress, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands off you.” 
A rush of confidence coursed through her blood as his hot breath fanned over her face and Y/n slipped her hands behind his neck, pulling his lips down to meet hers. The movement was anything but smooth, though the action sent both of the hunters into action. Dean growled as he nipped her lower lip and she opened up to him, allowing his tongue to invade her mouth. 
A moan involuntarily came from her as his hands moved to her hips, the heat of his skin seeping through the thin material where his finger pressed into her flesh. He stepped back, pulling her after him as he backed up and dropped to sit on the plush bench. Dean bunched up the material to her hips as he urged her to straddle his lap. Y/n used her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, the new bulge in his pants a surprise to her as she settled in his lap. 
“Yeah, and you thought I was kidding,” Dean took in the slight rise in her brow, leaning forward to run his lips across her jaw, taking note of the places that made her shiver. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she allowed Dean to explore her body and let herself just feel him. Dean raked his teeth along with the shell of her ear, causing her to buck her hips and both of them to groan.  
“Fuck,” her words were a breath on her lips as she repeated the action, the roughness of his jeans just enough friction on her aching sex. 
“That’s it, beautiful, take what you need,” Dean sat back and used his hands to keep her body moving against his own, watching the way her brows scrunched together in the center of her forehead. With a shift of his hips, he had her pushed back and straddling his left thigh, his hands still in their place on her hips. “Can you come like this, sweetheart?”
“I don’t--” a jolt of electricity had her halting her denial, instead she chose to just nod and place her hands against his chest to balance her movement. She could feel Dean’s heart hammering in his chest under her palm and the quick rise and fall of his breath. Even at this moment, she was disbelieving that he was that turned on watching her get herself off on his thigh, but she had the proof hammering under her fingertips. Y/n was biting her lip to keep quiet in the small room. “Dean, I’m so close.” 
“I’ve got you, come for me, Y/n,” he husked as his grip tightened, though she wasn’t sure how that was even possible, seeing as there was already gonna be bruises there later, that she was sure of. The sound of his voice reverberating in her head had the coil snapping inside of her, heat flooding her body as every nerve sparked and faded out. A rush of air left her lungs, her body slumping as her muscles relaxed post-orgasm. 
“Oh my god.” As her arousal ebbed from her body and the reality of what just happened came to her sense, Y/n clammed up and she tried to climb from his lap. Blood rushed to her face and her hands flew to her cheeks to hide the heat settling there.
“Woah, where are you going?” Dean stopped her from making a hasty exit, his eyes searching hers in question. 
“Dean, what the hell just happened?” 
A smirk replaced the confusion on his face as he leaned forward and nuzzled his face in her neck, tracing his tongue up her pulse. “You just got yourself off on my thigh while I tried not to cream my jeans,” he breathed in her ear. It was like he already knew every button to push on her body, his dirty talk doing everything she needed it to for her body to already be aching for him again. 
“I--”
“Shh, sweetheart. That was hot as fuck, and all I want now is to be buried deep inside that pretty pussy of yours.” 
“Jesus,” her eyes shifted to his, taking in the mischievous glint shining behind his iris. “You aren’t kidding.”
“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’ at the end of his word and Y/n nodded as she climbed off him. She turned her back to him so he could undo the zipper, and it took a second for Dean to catch on to her silent action. He jumped to the edge of the bench and tugged down the zipper before sliding the material down her shoulders. Dean hooked his fingers into the edge of her panties, placing a kiss on the dip in her lower back before pulling the soaked material to pool at her feet along with the dress. He stood then as she turned back to him and pushed his jacket and flannel down his arms, adding it to the pile of discarded clothes in the room. 
“Come, on we don’t have a lot of time before someone gets suspicious.” There was a quiver in her voice as she lifted the hem of his tee and tugged open his belt. It was taking everything in her to quell the shaking in her hands. Dean’s fingers came down to wrap around her wrists, halting her movement and she looked up at him. 
“Y/n we don’t have to,” he was trying to read her mind as he examined her face. The trepidation was seeping through her pores, but not because she didn’t want this. Hell, the painful ache between her legs told her how much she wanted this, but her brain couldn’t help to race through the million thoughts about what it all meant. 
“No, I-- God do I want this,” Y/n began chewing on the inside of her cheek as she tried to come up with the words to explain to him what she was thinking. But the longer the time passed the more nervous she grew, standing there stark naked and he’s still basically fully dressed. “I think I’ve wanted this for a long time now, but I’m just scared.”
“Of?” He urged her to continue.
“That this doesn’t mean the same thing to you,” Y/n cast her glance down, her eyes fixated on the way the fluorescent light glinted in the metal of his belt. 
“You think that this is about getting my dick wet for me.” It wasn’t a question, because she had all but spelled it out for him. “Y/n,” He put his fingers under her chin and turned her head back up to his, brushing his lips against hers, the action soft and unhurried. “I told you, I’ve been watching you for a while now, trying to learn everything I could about you. I would have done this the first night I met you if I hadn’t thought about what it would do to you. But I’m done being scared because I think I fell for you a long time ago and no amount of whiskey or other women could make me forget that. So I’m done fighting it.” 
“Yeah?” Her eyes were swimming with unshed tears now, and Dean answered her with another kiss, pulling her body flush against his own as he invaded her mouth. The pair only pulled apart when they could no longer fight the need for air. “Dean--”
“Yeah,” he breathed, dropping his grip on her to finish what she started with his belt. Y/n watched his movements, her breath getting caught in her throat as she watched him pull his length from its cotton confines. Dean signaled for her to turn with one hand as he stroked himself with the other. She obliged, of course, and Dean pushed her gently between her shoulder blades until her hands were pressed against the mirror. He nudged her legs to open a tad wider, meeting her gaze in the mirror. 
“Do we--” 
“I’m good if you’re good,” she told him, knowing where he was going with his question. He nodded to her before lining himself up with her entrance. Dean held her gaze as he entered her from behind, both of them sighing together as he became fully seated. Y/n closed her eyes as she tried to compose herself, her head falling between her arms. 
“Fuck, open your eyes, look at yourself,” Dean was biting his tongue as he swatted her ass to get her to lift her head again. She indulged him, looking at herself in the mirror before turning her eyes back to his in the mirror. “There you go,” he praised her, the words like music to her ears as he pulled back out and slammed into her hips. 
Dean set up a steady rhythm, careful to not shake the walls of the dressing too much with his movement. The couple kept their eyes on each other in the mirror, the moment the most erotic thing she could ever remember doing, but for the life of her, she couldn’t be bothered by it. Even from her vantage point, she could see how blown his pupils were, the black of his iris’ all but drowning out the green that she loved so much. To be honest, she wasn’t sure which she liked more now. All she did know was the feeling of him moving inside her and the way her muscles were shaking. 
A small knock had Dean stilling his movements, and Y/n stood up, pressing her back against his chest. He slipped an arm around her chest as she signaled for him to be silent. “You doing alright in there?” 
Y/n swallowed the lump in her throat and let out a breath, “Yeah,” she called back, afraid her voice would be too wrecked if she said anything else. 
“Is there anything else I can get you? Maybe some different sizes?” The saleswoman tried again. 
“Nope, I’m all set, thank you.” 
“Okay, just let me know.” The sound of her footsteps could be heard retreating from the dressing room, and Dean pressed his face into her neck, the pair of them chuckling. 
“Come on, sweetheart,” he adjusted their position, resuming the movement of his hips as he snaked his free hand down to rub against her clit. Y/n jolted in his arms at the contact, this time closing her eyes as he built her back up. “I’m right behind you. Can you come for me again?” Y/n nodded against him, her hands flying to his forearm as she felt herself jumping over the cliff, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her knees buckled and Dean had to adjust himself to keep her from falling, still fucking her from behind as her fluttering walls milked him to his own orgasm. He bit into her shoulder to keep himself from groaning out loud. 
“Sweet Jesus,” her body went limp in his arms as the pair of them caught their breath in the now muggy space. 
“Yeah, you are so not going out with that coroner tonight. We will find a different way.” Dean admitted as he pulled his now softening cock from her. Y/n flinched at the feeling and the subsequent rush of his release inside her. 
“What?” She turned to him as he began righting himself, not understanding why he didn’t want her to do her job.
“‘Cause you are all mine now,” Dean tugged her into his chest, his fingers around one of her biceps. “And I want to spend all night making sure you can’t walk tomorrow.” 
“Oh,” Dean laughed as she blinked at him, clearly lost for any sort of coherent answer to what he just told her. 
“Get dressed so we can get out of here and kick Sammy out of our motel room.” Dean tapped her ass again and she pushed him away from her, a stupid grin on both of their faces.
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freddiekluger · 3 years
Note
please drop the essay length analysis Judas and Jesus (extra gay Swedish edition), O great and knowledgeable monarch of our times
alright, you ask i deliver! please excuse any typos, my eyes aren't exactly working rn
welcome to my probably super subjective but correct analysis, aka
Judas Was Right and Jesus Was A Victim (At Least, In Swedish)
Before we get started, a couple points: i’ll try to avoid comparisons to other specific productions, i’ve only seen the other recorded 2012 british version which i didn’t like for reasons including but not limited to the amount of white people with dreadlocks. Also, my understanding of swedish is limited to a couple words and phrases, so most of the lyrics i reference will be english subtitles from Ola Salo’s swedish translation and therefore might not be the most accurate !
There’s so much i could cover in this, but for now i’m going to focus on how jesus and judas are portrayed in the 2014 swedish arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS) starring Ola Salo as Jesus and Peter Johansson as Judas, along with how this production more implicitly views god. 
From the opening number, translated into swedish as En Dimmig Himmelsdröm (A Foggy Heaven’s Dream), Peter Johansson’s acting and semantic differences in the lyrics present us with a deeply sympathetic portrayal of Judas. Looking purely at language, the english equivalent Heaven On Their Minds instantly paints Judas as much more of a faithless doubter- lyrics exclusive to the english version like “all your followers have gone blind / too much heaven on their minds” and “they think you’re the new messiah / and they’ll hurt you when they find they’re wrong” strongly enforce Judas’ main motivation for his actions being that he has less belief in Jesus and God’s plan than any of the other disciples with strong statements judging the other disciples for following him and claiming that Jesus ISN’T the messiah. The swedish translation doesn’t paint exactly the same picture- the focus of Judas’ number becomes his fear for Jesus’ wellbeing, not because he isn’t the messiah (the production remains fairly ambiguous on this point), but because Jesus can’t cope. The root of Judas’ concern comes from fear for Jesus’ wellbeing, and the disciples are referenced as regularly misunderstanding and wilfully twisting Jesus’ words. The swedish equivalent lyrics for the above examples are “they say, “jesus is god’s son” / but you know how people can change” (judas isn’t concerned with truth, just the danger that jesus will be in if the tide turns), and “the kingdom of heaven is within us, that’s what you said / bu they sew it, stitch by stich into some kind of foggy heaven’s dream”. Judas is showing that he HAS been listening and cares for Jesus’ teachings, but ‘they’ [his disciples] are turning them into something else entirely, and Judas’ worries that the support of the masses is fragile at best- the lines “and everything you say gets twisted by your lackeys / it will be anything but what you’ve said”  and “you are being used by people who want you in their battle” reinforces this again. When combined with Peter Johansson’s tough but tender performance, in which he dances between disdain for Jesus, the institution, and affection for Jesus, the man (an important distinction), Judas is the harsh realist doing his best to look out for the man he loves. The way he takes Jesus hands and looks at him with love and urgency straight away establishes that his motivations are pure- Judas is doing what he thinks is best, even though it feels like no one will listen to him. 
That was long, but En Dimmig Himmelsdröm is the perfect character introduction for Judas. He’s not totally unrecognisable, still delivering digs about ‘Jesus, the little carpenter’s son’, his manner is still rough and at this point we’re not sure whether or not the claims he makes about the disciples have any truth to them, BUT we can also see how much Jesus means to him, an important point that give context to the intensity of their future arguments and really makes the whole story much more heartbreaking.
This brings me to Ola Salo’s Jesus. Delightfully camp and queercoded, Judas describes him as being caught up in his own magic and mystery and buckling under the pressure, and he’s not entirely wrong. Throughout the first act, Jesus basks in the luxuries that being messiah can give him (the oils Mary paid for using disciple funds that were supposed to go towards helping the poor, him absolutely thriving in the shopping cart in What’s the Buzz?), and is shown actively avoiding any reminders of the seriousness of his position. He’s sick of the disciples asking him for a plan, he chooses the comforting Mary, who’s theme consists of telling Jesus everything is okay and he doesn’t need to think about anything, over Judas, who is less perhaps ‘cosy’ but is actively trying to warn and protect Jesus from an awful fate. During The Temple, he starts to crack as he’s overcome by the followers begging him to make him well, fear in his eyes as he raises his arms while frozen on the spot trying to avoid being devoured by the frenzy in desperate need of a messiah. Judas’ point about Jesus buckling under the pressure is starting to look more and more reasonable, and the dashes of showbiz campness add to the sense that much of Jesus is a persona constructed for the masses to give himself enough distance to prevent him from being crushed by the weight of God entirely. Jesus, the institution, prances around, lays his hands on his followers, and projects an air of easygoing calm. Jesus, the man, is scared and alone, and Jesus, the man, really comes out in Last Supper, but before we get there, I want to circle back to the Jesus/Mary/Judas thing.
Jesus, Mary, and Judas are presented as a love triangle: so much so, that Judas seeing Mary sing of her love for Jesus (I Don’t Know How To Love Him) is actually played as the inciting incident that sends him to the pharisees. Judas, the picture of the jealous lover, storms onto the scene, breaking them up and attempting to kiss Jesus, who instead shoves him to the ground in disdain. Judas, who is perhaps a little controlling, realises that any influence he had over Jesus has gone, and it’s likely a combination of jealousy and the knowledge that Jesus won’t stop that prompts him to head to the pharisees. In his meeting with the pharisees (known in english as Damned For All Time, although that phrase doesn’t appear once in the swedish), Judas’ expresses outright that “I’m the one who sees / Jesus, he can’t handle it anymore” “the truth is that this hysteria is making him lose control”, once he can get past explaining how much this plan of action feels like a last resort. He never even verbally or physically accept the pharisees’ offer of money, he denies it twice before it is eventually thrown over him after he reluctantly gives them the date and time to find Jesus- we never even see him pick it up, unlike other productions which show Judas grabbing for the cash and place a higher emphasis on Judas making sure he ‘won’t be damned for all time’, painting Judas as far more self serving. When it comes to Jesus, Judas is active- he’s running around trying to help, caressing him, embracing him, grabbing his hand, kissing him. They share countless moment of intimacy, especially at the start, establishing the fondness between them instead of instantly jumping to their conflict. When it comes to Mary (and admittedly, this is partially because she’s a secondary character- don’t get me wrong I still love her and Gunilla Backman does a brilliant job), she’s much more passive. Other than the much more gentle kisses in I Don’t Know How To Love Him and her penchant for dabbing Jesus’ forehead, she’s mostly just ‘there’. She cares for Jesus after the fact, and even when performing acts of intimacy like the oil and the kiss, she maintains a lot of physical distance- her songs touch on this as, much like Jesus (admittedly for different reasons), she actively distances herself from feelings to protect herself, so naturally she literally places distance between herself and the object of her love.
This brings me back to Last Supper, Gethsemane ( I Only Want to Say), and the kiss of death that broke all of our hearts. Throughout this segment, this is when Jesus, the man, really comes through, and it’s devastating. In Last Supper, he properly expresses the sheer amount of loneliness he feels, reiterating how he feels everyone will forget about him once he’s gone, and doesn’t really care about him as a man (”for you, my blood is not worth more than wine / for you, my body is not worth more than bread” “you will have forgotten me as soon as i give up my life”). This devolves into the disciples fighting each other and, you guessed it, ignoring him. For the first time, Jesus meaningfully lets out his anger, and as it turns to Judas, Judas does the same. Because of the set up of their complicated romantic relationship and the stakes involved, the amount of personal attacks and anger that comes out of Jesus and Judas’ repeated fights (which get physical) make complete sense- Jesus’ frustrations come from the fact that his entire fate has been predetermined and to him, Judas is just another instrument in the ways he’s been controlled (both with Judas being his betrayer, but also the way that Judas’ constant advice and interference with Jesus’ life (most obviously, the mary thing) are acted by Ola Salo as becoming increasingly frustrating to Jesus)- these frustrations are directed at their real cause, God, in Gethsemane. Judas’ frustrations come from the fact that no matter how hard he tries to help Jesus and keep him safe, Jesus keeps rejecting his efforts resulting in “all that we’ve built up [being] destroyed”- Judas’ heart hasn’t just been broken by Jesus rejecting him romantically, but on every level. Here, he’s actually shown to be the disciple most passionate about helping people practically and long term, being the only one concerned about Mary taking money which was supposed to help people, manipulated by the pharisees with the promise of doing good for the masses, and criticising Jesus for how they could be doing so much for people, ending his part of Last Supper with “every time i look at you i ask myself why you let all your things go so wrong? / all i ever wanted was to help you”. 
This is also the point where Judas’ claims about the disciples are essentially confirmed, and this productions intent to portray Judas as more of a tragic hero become absolutely clear. In the english version, the disciples chorus remains virtually the same each time it appears, generally being far too calm considering their leader is about to die, revealing their aspirations to be apostles, and their intent to write the gospels to be remembered. the swedish translation still achieve this, but with variations from chorus to chorus it becomes much more poignant. i’m just going to stick to ttwo, which are choruses 1 and 3. In chorus 1, lines roughly translate to “i’ve always wanted to be an apostle / life is so nice when you’re saved/ then when we’ve got time we’ll write the gospels / then everything will be the way we want”-  the apostles declaring that life is so good when you’re saved supports Judas’ opening statement that they care more about some idea of heaven than anything else, not to mention ignoring the absolute horrors that Jesus will have to go through to be saved, while the final line about the gospels introduces their intent to change whichever details they need to make ‘everything the way we want’: once again, exactly what Judas warned us of in En Dimmig Himmelsdröm. In chorus 3, taking place after Judas storms out for the last time, these lines change to “never really liked that judas / never saw what jesus saw in him / then, when we’ve got time we’ll write the gospels / and we’ll angle it so he gets all the blame”. Judas as a sympathetic character is confirmed here, as the disciples straight up admit how they don’t like Judas anyways and intend to write him as a villain (also inadvertently admitting that, since they have to write the gospels to make it look like only Judas’ fault, Judas isn’t really the sole one responsible for everything that is to come). It’s deeply unsettling, and for me was the point where I really began to question how good any of these disciples were, and by extension, how good is this production’s God if his truly sanctified followers are acting like this?
Jesus vents out all of his anger and desperation in Gethsemane. He acknowledges his own powerlessness and begs him to change the plan, but with the dark stage and no response (along with Ola Salo’s spectacular acting) it becomes clear that if anyone is there, they’re certainly not listening (”you, who have all the power / can you please change the plan / for i can already feel the pain burning in me”). It’s worth mentioning that a lot of the imagery in this swedish version is much more intense than the english, both in this song and the production as a whole. Jesus plainly calls god “thoughtless”, begging to understand, and it’s that this point we realise that he agrees with much more of what Judas has been saying than he’s been letting on- Jesus’ faith appears to be the only thing keeping him from listening to Judas and running away. Judas’ messages about people misunderstanding Jesus’ words also come out (”you care that everyone sees / but not that anyone understands”), and his eventual agreeing to die is played less as an inspiring act of faith, and more an act of desperation as he realises, he realise has no other choice. In this song, we see just how much of Judas Jesus has valued and taken on board, and that his air of carefree aloofness which frustrated Judas was, as we’ve already touched on, a complete act. The line “might as well finish what i’ve... what YOU’VE started” is absolutely miserable, reinforcing one of the major themes of this production: the idea that Jesus and Judas were both just ordinary men tormented by futures defined by forces out of their control. Just as Jesus has absorbed Judas’ logic, as an audience so we have, and it’s difficult to view the rest of the play’s events as anything other than an immense and unnecessary act of cruelty.
we’re almost done i promise!
Even knowing what Judas has/will do, Jesus still greets him with love. Judas, still under the impression that Jesus will be okay and that he’s doing what’s best, approaches him with the utmost tenderness, and the kiss is a beautiful signifier of two things. For Jesus, the return of his love for Judas shows his realisation in Gethsemane that Judas isn’t the one who’s sealed his fate and has only being trying to help, it’s god himself who has decided Jesus’ future. For Judas, the kiss shows that despite all of the anger and frustration that has been pouring out of him, he truly does love Jesus, and the way he cradles the scared and alone Jesus to his chest afterwards shows just how much he wishes he could be the one to help him and keep him close. Even with all their arguments and dysfunction, here Jesus and Judas find comfort in each other, and it almost seems like everything will end up alright. It’s in this moment that Judas and Jesus are most identifiable not as enemies, or as villain and hero, but as archetypal lovers from a Shakespearean tragedy. Neither of them set out to hurt each other, but through miscommunications, their own flaws, and external forces (both natural and supernatural), their love is simply never to be. Furthermore, in the following torture and spectacle, everything that Judas predicted for Jesus is about to come true. Another detail I find interesting is the way that Jesus and Judas both sport black nail polish, leather pants, and similar length hair: along with just looking cool as hell, the similarities really reinforce how close they are and how much they influence each other- it feels like a contemporary version of carrying a cameo or a lock of your lover's hair with you, a way for 'star crossed lovers' to keep a piece of their beloved no matter what.
The disaffected persona of Jesus, the institution, comes back as he’s taken by the authorities and subsequently insulted, degraded, and whipped. Also the swedish version of The Arrest, when the chorus starts singing questions, contains this dick joke and I think we all deserve it: “why were you dating a whore? / talk about a huge magic wand!”
Skipping forward to Judas’ Death, this is where both his character and the production’s conception of god beautifully (and miserably) align. When Judas runs to the pharisees, minor semantic changes (along with the genuine concern and great acting from Peter Johansson) reinforce that this Judas genuinely didn’t know that Jesus would be beaten and sentenced to death the way he has been, and Judas’ concern regarding how things look is played less as ‘oh no people will hate ME!’, but how having sentenced the man you love to death is one nightmarish thing, but for everyone to think you did it knowingly and willingly and then congratulate you for it is unthinkable. Where the english shows Judas’ attempting to evade responsibility for Jesus death, the swedish is more focused on Judas’ guilt, horror, and regret. The english “I’d save him all the suffering if I could / don’t believe our good / save him if I could” is swapped in swedish for “If anyone should die here I should / don’t say I’m good / better if I died”. While the english statements are somewhat empty (sure, Judas says he’d save Jesus’ suffering if he could, but he can’t so we’ll never truly know) and are still focused on Judas’ attempt to construct himself as a good guy, the swedish translation has Judas admit his guilt (even if it’s not really his fault), and make the promise of “better if i died” which, given the name of this sequence, he later delivers on. When english Judas sings “Christ, I’d sell out the nation / For I have been saddled with the murder of you”, swedish Judas sings “Jesus, I’ve been deceived / because of my act your blood’s now being spilt”, and instead of ending this first section with “I should be dragged through the slime and the mud”, swedish jesus returns to the theme of character assasination with “i will be cursed as the one behind your murder”. 
The swedish translation of the next rework of I Don’t Know How to Love Him also places much more emphasis on Judas’ genuine romantic love for Jesus- we’d be here for hours if i listed everything but here are a few key contrasts. The english has Judas sing “I don’t know how to love him /  I don’t know why he moves me”, whereas the swedish has Judas crying while singing “how do I show my love / all I want is to be close to you”. Along with acknowledging Judas already loves Jesus, the entirety of this segment is shifted from Judas singing about Jesus in the third person ‘he’, to a direct address. Judas isn’t performing his sadness, or venting his emotions, he’s emitting one last desperate cry to the man he loves as he sobs on a stage completely shrouded in darkness, and it’s devastating. Peter Johansson lets his voice run raw as he’s belting, and interrupts lines with sobs, and this Judas answers the question of “do you love me too? do you care for me?” with a quiet “no”- Judas is about to go to his death convinced Jesus must hate him, just as Jesus will face his knowing his love inadvertently put him there.
We finally reach Judas’ actual death, and the production’s far more ambiguous (if not negatively geared) depiction of god comes to a head. Judas’ screaming at god the moment he realises that his god essentially forced Judas to be the one to kill Jesus (an act of ultimate cruelty given their love) comes across as horrifying in it’s validity, unlike in other english language productions where it follows the more common characterisation of Judas being an unbeliever who can’t take responsibility for his own actions. When he spits on the ground, screaming “you have murdered me!”, we can’t help but agree- Judas was trying everything he could to stop Jesus from dying, and yet here he is. Most notably, Judas doesn’t set up his own suicide- a noose literally descends from the heavens, already tied, and Judas is literally trapped between the edge of the stage, and the symbol of death behind him. Much like he didn’t choose to kill Jesus, Judas has no choice in his own suicide- it’s suggested to merely be another part of the plan god has for him, and Judas raising his arms to form a crucifixion pose before he finally turns and jumps, disappearing into the depths of the theatre as the rope trails down (somewhat evocative of a leap to hell), highlight the sick joke. Much like Jesus begging in Gethsemane, a plea with god that in anyway implies fault or cruelty is met with silence followed by a death sentence. 
When Judas reappears to the broken and bloodied Jesus in Superstar, he appears as more of a twisted hallucination than the literal spirit of Judas. He’s the opposite of everything he was in life, draped in colour, surrounded by red lighting instead of the signature blue, his hair quite literally let down, joking and dancing. Despite singing about him, Judas virtually ignores Jesus for the whole song except when he’s taunting him, snatching his hand away after a broken and desperate Jesus reaches out for the image of his beloved (refuting Judas’ belief that Jesus would die hating him), along with the swedish additions of Judas repeatedly addressing him as “little Jesus”. Where the living Judas was serious, sometimes harsh but always well intention, often paying more attention to Jesus than he received, this Judas is the opposite: light hearted but cruel, not caring about Jesus one bit. It’s somewhat an inversion of the beginning of JCS, where the tormented Judas was constantly reaching out to Jesus, and often met with scorn and insult (see: most of their arguments, this line from Everything’s Alright: “the thought is beautiful but quite unrealistic / yes, even quite stupid”). As the song goes on, and even as Jesus is crucified, the victorious scoring of the Superstar theme ends up reinforcing the cruelty and questioning of god distinctive of this production: Ola Salo’s Jesus is one of the bloodiest Jesus’s (Jesii?) I’ve been able to find, with blood covering his torso, his arms, and all over his face, not in passive dribbles, but violent ‘swooshes’ spreading out from his eyes, emphasising the fear and pain contained within them. As the music suggests how great and wonderful Jesus’ death is, the images straight out of a horror movie before us don’t seem to match up: as both Judas and Jesus question, if no one is understanding what Jesus is saying, why kill him? instead of making a point, you’re ensuring that the falsehoods continue to circulate, unless spreading the true message isn’t really the intent at all. or, simply that Jesus was wrong: his interpretation and teachings of god were far too kind and practical, and the true god really is the one that he briefly saw in the garden of Gethsemane, and that Judas saw before his death- a cruel and vindictive god using them for his own sick purposes. If you're a strong Christian, I'm sure you could watch this production and still believe that God was right (although I think Jesus and Judas being in love counts as blasphemy), but I think in doing so you'd lose part of what makes this production so hard hitting and, as i keep saying, devastating.
that’s pretty much it for this one! i feel like jesus and judas as a queer couple is less significant to this production than the fact that it’s specifically jesus and judas that are in love - they don’t face explicit homophobia as such, although i do think the paratextual and historical associations of queerness (both with them each looking visibly queer, and them as a couple) adds a beautiful dimension by subverting the standard christian teaching of Jesus’ sacrifice as “a love that changed the world” and making the love that truly could have been transformative (and was, to a degree) the love between Jesus and another man, not to mention the way in which queerness is often viewed as radical perfectly upholding the ‘radical’ views of god and the story of Jesus shown in the production. Why wouldn’t the love between two men be the love which has us questioning god, faith, and that which many of us have been taught since birth? Ola Salo has talked about how he’s able to be positive and negative towards christianity, along with how he wanted Jesus and Judas to really represent two sides of the same coin (’faith and intelligence’), and being bisexual along with having alluded to being raised christian (not to mention Breaking Up With God, a song by his band The Ark), it’s not surprising he’s managed to present such a nuanced and layered interpretation of Jesus Christ Superstar that even me, a trans exvangelical, can fall in love with.
UPDATE: @bands-and-hobbits has just let me know that Ola's dad was a priest! Apparently he's said that he liked the organs and the music, but that was all when it comes to christianity, which (when combined with Ola stating in interviews that the JCS soundtrack has been one of his favourite albums since he was 14) makes a lot of sense about the level of familiarity he had with the text giving him confidence to go in and make changes to really capitalised off of some of the themes that are hinted at in the english version- you have enough information to understand how everything works together, but aren't so dedicated to preserving belief that you feel you can't improve/change things (and my god are we glad he did)
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More Chapter 6 Predictions, more specifically: Idia's Unique Magic, and Pomefiore vs Ignihyde
For anyone who hasn't gotten the memo, unique magic plays a huge role in the twisted wonderland main story line. Each time a new chapter is released, we get to see the unique magic of the main dorm's respective students. With some exceptions from the most recent Chapter of course (we still don't know Rook's). Every unique magic reflects the personality of the user in some way, and this can be used for conflict in the story. So today, we're going to be looking at the possibilities for Idia Shroud's unique magic, and there are a few different possibilities.
So to start off, we need to look at the other unique magics used by the Overblot victims of the past chapters and find out what they have in common. And there are a few different things that all of them do have in common.
All unique magics are a direct reference to the person they're based off, and it is a reference to something the corresponding villain has done, or is known for doing. (Ex: the Queen of Hearts was known for beheading anyone who didn't agree with her)
This factor was pointed out by @mia-pon289 stating that the unique magic of the Overblot victims was a manifestation of what they hated the most, and that they reflected the trauma from their childhood, so when the magic is cast, the person they are up against gets to experience a small sample of their trauma. (Ex: Riddle was always restricted by the rules, and could never be happy or normal because of it, thus his unique magic allows the person to share in his restrictions by losing their magic.)
All unique magics (expect for the recent one) play the important role of setting off the Overblot. (Ex: Riddle used his collar on Leona, and the collar broke). However the exception to this rule is in Chapter 5, and the reason the pattern was broken is because Jamil is NOT a dorm leader, but a vice instead.
The unique magic is used on the person who is considered their enemy. This is definitely the case for all chapters, because in most of them, it was dorm leader vs dorm leader or vice depending on the circumstances. In chapter 5, Jamil used his unique magic on Neige because Neige was the one they were up against competition wise and not Vil. Neige was the enemy, not Vil.
Given this information about the magic, we can now ask the question: what is Idia's unique magic?
Their are a four different possibilities I can think of off the top of my head, and some seem pretty accurate, while others might not be that close. I'll give the list and an explanation as to why along with references and possibilities. However there is a high chance none of these are actually correct because every prediction I've ever made has never happened.😑
1) Life for Life (let's make a deal)
This unique magic idea is a reference to Hades, and his ability to make deals with mortals. Basically how it works is that Hades can take away something from a person (like strength or freedom) and in exchange, preserve the life of another person. However, if the person under protection gets hurt, then the deal breaks.
How this unique magic would work for Idia is that its basically the same thing, exchanging a favor for a favor, but if he fails to hold up his end of the bargain, then the magic is cancelled. We've actually seen Idia doing something like this, except it wasn't magic, just a competition: the Star gazer event.
How does this fit into the pattern? Idia wants to be left alone and hates interaction. One thing that I can relate to in this senecio is that whenever Idia says something important, no one listens, and the only thing that happens to Idia is that he loses his confidence and patience. So having an interaction were you lose something instead of gaining something would definitely make a person see that Idia hates talking. So they would lose something in exchange for another's wellbeing.
2) Necromancer (bringing the dead into the living world)
This idea is another reference to Hades, or more specifically, his job as ruler of the Underworld. He keeps track of all the souls who come into the world of the dead.
Idia would be able to bring spirits from the Other side to Twisted Wonderland, and they would fight for him. One of the magic rules is that ghosts can only appear in places with a high concentration of magic. Idia would be able to sustain an area making it possible for ghosts to appear. He would also be able to vanquish them. The reason we didn't see him using this power in the Ghost marriage event was because he was caught off guard.
Again with idea of social interaction, it makes him uncomfortable. So imagine trying to appease a crowd of dead people, instead of living ones. Now try fighting them. You'll find it pretty difficult.
However, this one is the least likely to be the case, because Idia would've tracked down Ortho's soul and brought it back. But we still don't really know much about that. My money is on Ortho being dead from the start, so...
3) Misfortune ( bad luck always follows)
Unlike the previous two, this one doesn't have that close of a reference to Hades, maybe his terrible luck and things not always going his way, but besides that, I don't really know.
Unlike every unique magic that we've seen, this one would work differently. Every magic so far is active, meaning that it is a spell the people can cast against someone. This magic would be passive, meaning that it's always activated with no way to turn it off, but it can still be amplified and made stronger. This magic would bring bad luck to either himself, or everyone around him.
However, this might not be his unique magic, but it could tie into the Shroud family curse, or something. I think that Pomefiore going up against Ignihyde is a good, but also bad choice because Vil's unique magic is Cursing objects, and Idia has probably had bad experiences with whatever curse is running through his family. I think that since Idia is human, his inhumane traits of flaming hair and pointy teeth are a result of the Shroud family curse. As for bad luck, that's another result of the curse. And because of the bad experiences, in chapter 6 I believe Vil is going to cast a curse on Ortho. Vil can't curse people, but he can curse objects, and I think that Ortho would count in this case because he isn't a human being.
4) Gateway to Suffering (portals)
Hear me out on this one. We've seen teleportation magic before from the Diasomia students, but this isn't just snapping yourself from one location to another, this is literally tearing a hole through time and space and bending said space to open a gate from one location to another. This is a reference to the planets alignment in the Hercules movie, more commonly referred to as the prophecy of the Fates.
There are two ways this one can work:
Freestyle. Basically it has no limits to where you can open a portal or go to. You have limited magic energy, but the possibilities on where you can go is endless. However, you need to know where your going and what the place looks like in order for it to work.
Kindred Link. You can only open a portal that leads to a person you know. In other words, if you met someone, and you remember their name and face, then you can open a portal that leads straight to them.
I believe the second one is the more likely option. Idia doesn't like being around other people, but sometimes, you need help with something important and you don't have the right skills to do it then you could bring someone over to you who can help. Idia has stated in the past that he hates working with other people, but I imagine there's a time when he needs help with something, and he doesn't like to resort to that. But his unique magic betrays him by getting help. And he probably hates it. Or maybe the portals can open to where he's needed most.
There are a few other reasons why I like this one. If we end up seeing Idia playing against RSA in the upcoming Magift tournament, then this unique magic would be incredibly useful. It's against the rules to cast spells on players, but technically you wouldn't be casting magic on the player. You could easily move people around the field to where they're needed most, and it wouldn't violate the rules. Another consideration is Chapter 7 when we go up against Diasomia. If we, or someone else, ends up getting captured and imprisoned by Malleus, then this would be the magic used against Malleus to free the prisoner, causing Malleus to Overblot in the process.
And maybe there's a way to customize the portals with magic so we can go home. Who knows?
______________________________
Anyway, that's all the ideas I have for Idia's magic. I might make a later post about the possibilities for Epel's unique magic. If you have any other ideas on the topic, feel free to add to the list.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!☺️
(Also yes. The kindred Link and the bad luck magic ideas are both references to the Brawen twins Raven and Qrow from RWBY :3)
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chaneajoyyy · 3 years
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Who’s writing new BP fics? It’s feeling kinda dry out here
Oh you gotta keep looking cause they out here!!!
NEW/NEW-ISH BP FICS
- winter wonderland series (25 days of christmas challenge), Chunk series (updated)- @ghostfacekill-monger
- you better watch out series (25 days of christmas challenge), baby daddy series- @teakturn
- couple’s getaway series, message therapist erik, erik and you have relationship issues that need to be resolved, incubus erik x reader series, gamer erik humiliates his girl, christmas wishes & mistletoe kisses series, all vampire eriks stories, drug dealer erik gets ino an entaglement with a married woman series, erik teaching his daughter how to love her dark skin, assassin erik and his girl london make up for lost time-   @nahimjustfeelingit-writes
- all i want series- @thadelightfulone
- the jabari that stole christmas, misfit wakandans, er*k in a box, t’challa’s 12 days of christmas, the jabari-cracker, christmas even will find erik, the coffee prince series (updated), song of stevens (not new but do read), will the bell ring? (updated)-  @eerythingisshaka
- chrismasing with you-  @ceeverse
- mama is wild, how he acts when he’s sick: m’baku “mama’s other baby’ jabari, peaches, how he acts whe he’s sick: erik “i can do it myself” stevens, how he acts when he’s sick: t’challa i’m fine” udaku, final decision, body pillow, the most dangerous game-  @akimi-youngblood
- his majesty, my king series; he chosen bride, a jabari wedding (not so new but do read), he wasn’t mad enough for me, clean-up woman, i wish you would, mistletoe series, dadmonger series- @snowbaku
- what if...?, without question, polaroids, the temple series, queen shuri, wh you are series-  @tchallasbabymama
- biggest puddle ever, crab legs, play fighting, the fight, let me tell you a story, stop, got it bad, what would you do series, sugar babe series, poetic justice, messing w/ erik while he’s playing the game, erik had a reputation of being a fuckboy. tha meant you had to be careful around him. guard your heart. it was a solid plan until he came in and ruined all your plans- @dreamingofmilk
- our christmas, how to feel, warm colors series (not so new but do read), thanksgiving w/ mr. stevens, valentine’s gumbo (sequel to thankgiving with mr. stevens)-  @mermaidchansons
- she likes me, huh? nuh uh, cute enough to eat, screams in the night series (updated), open up, autumn leave & cookie thieves, one way or another, mr. telephone series, you ain’t hear that?- @supersizemeplz (check masterlist)
- anniversary blues, the chosen one series (updated), the sweetest thing series, in the light series-  @devnicolee
- the arrival series, boxer!baku series (updated), fireflies and foot races, sessions-  @muse-of-mbaku
- 85 “you can’t cum unless i say so” & 89 “you’re drooling. you really don’t deserve it though, do you?”, seventy-three, “29, 75 & 82″, “5, 13, & 69″- @marvelmaree
- subconscious- @freddiefcknmercury
- shameful series- @iwrite4poc
- only forever series, what lies beneath series,bunme takes new york (part of space between series)- @dramaqueeenamby
- letters for my love series, just for this moment series, she’s mine series, abiona au series- @sarcastic-sunshines
- redemption series (updated), starlight series, dress up- @airis-paris14
- new start series (with “reader meets erik who is a single father”), round 2 series, reader sleeping over a erik’s, “erik and reader are opposites- like she’s so nice, calm and soft, and erik is mean... as always and his family is so confused on how they’re dating”, imagine where erik and the reader has heir firs date and when he get home he’s super excited and tell his friends how happy and in love he is?, erik with goofy reader on a mission, reader catching erik using her expensice skincare products afer she told him it’s off limit, hug time, erik ghosting after a fight with his gf & she hears he’s out acting single so she decide she’s single too. but he shows up & all like “who said we broke up?”,  reader is not answering her phone and erik is worried/irrirated because the day before he was mean to her and she left his house crying?, an imagine where erik finding out the reader is powerful (like a mutant), erik & mbaku fighting over the reader, found you series, erik helping his need tomboy bff get a makeover & he starts to get jealous of how much attention she starts to get from other guys,  vulnerable soft erik where he and the reader get into an argument and later that night he’s trying to sleep but can’t because she’s refusing to come to bed with him and he has to be vulnerable with her and tells her “you know i can’t sleep without you”?, “short imagine or headcanon ha erik finds out his girlfriend has more body’s then him or his a mafia leader, something between those lines. but instead of being upset for her not telling him he’s actually cool with it”, erik comforting the reader after finding out she lost a loved one and he had a good day, reader learns she’s pregnant and comes up with a creative way to tell erik , erik and the reader are set up on a blind date by mutual friends, “reader is studying for her upcoming test and she is frustrated with the amount of studying she has to do.  erik notices she has been studying for a long time, and tries to do everything to relax her mind”, erik takes reader to wakanda for the first time, erik sees his girl still sleep with a stuffed animal and by kinda makes fun of her but when she puts it up he sees she struggles withouth it?, “imagine with erik inspired by the somg caretaker by dram and sza, like maybe the reader is feeling a bit ill/nauseous and erik to take care of her”, diaper change, sofboi erik where he asks the reader to marry him, hc of erik being jealous of his girl is too close to t’challa? always texting/wanting to hang out when they visit, back to you series, readering driving erik nuts with cravings & mood swings. ex: interrupting his sleep for food runs only to say she doesn’t want that anymore when he returns & demand something else, “ whatever you’re trying to butter me up for, the answer is no”?, how did he meet his love?, life together, your first time, hurting, fears, sick day, jealous series, when you’re sick, night fights, two lines, opening up, newborn, comfort, some love, insecure, first steps, it’s time series, cool down time, first day back- @killmongerdrabbles
- back & forth-  @supremethunda
- baby mama series, again, move, guess, night, nsfw alphabet, bow- @woahitslucyylu
- reactions o their girl’s wap (with erik), erik and reader being petty in the house after an argument-  @tastingmellow
- next lifetime series, days off with erik, girls trip series (updated),the way you make me feel- @theficplug
-  only then am i human series,a little vacation- @opalsandlace
-faded series, waves series, concrete cowboys series, black boys bloom thors first series (volume 3)- @uzumaki-rebellion
- black tie event-  @laketaj24
- genuine, numb- @taterfics
- city boy and his country girl series, wake up, meet the furys- @blackmissfrizzle
- come thru, this lil’ game we play-  @writetimes
- in between the lines series- @melodyofmbaku
- him, her and us series; conversations and coffee trips series, dancing around each oher series, mrs., you again series, where are we now?, cold coffee, here we are again series, summer love (could be any of the marvel men including t’challa); love, apps, and attitudes series; give me a reason (search for t’challa x reader)-  @iliketowrite1996
- homewrecker series (updated), family reunion- @shaekingshitup
- unexpected things happen in the clucky’s drive-thru, where you going: a quarantine quickie, halloween, delicate series, the best man-  @majesticbrownjawn
- i like tha series (updated), shea butter (baby) series  @nachtaiwrites
- the spririt of christmas, dentist series (updated), waiting to get home, best friends series, line love series, hell loves satin: tales of a mascochist, tattoo party- @hearteyes-for-killmonger
- uncharted series (updated), metamorphasis series, the remodel series, the boy is mine series (collab with @dashhoney25), sweet heat, quarantine bae, throttle, sugar, toxic, fair is fair, work boo (updated)-  @soufcakmistress
- caught up series- @twistedcharismaaa
- homebody series- @truglori
- roadtrip series- @cecereads209
- lights out, a better man- @reelwriter19
- you mean it? series, haunted series- @heykillmongerluhme
- end in flames series, my health- @bvlckgirlmvgix (not so new but do check out!)
***PLEASE HIT ME UP TO ADD YOUR STORIES!!!***
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