#i won`t blame you for forgeting this series

[otomes-world]

"Under fantasy disguise" part Pomefiore (1)

Fantasy AU “Under fantasy disguise”: world lore (prologue) heartslabyul savanaclaw octavinelle scarabia trigger warning: some self hate, reader in really bad state (but there is nothing grafic), barrely edited text.

At some point, the clouds flying past completely erased the idea of time and space. Slowly brightening sky marked the beginning of a new day. The lump in throat, the approaching nausea and self-loathing merged into one large layer, settling like a burden in your chest. A heaviness that radiates unpleasantly throughout the whole body.

You wanted to pry open chest if only it could give at least a little peace of mind.

However, the much-desired peace would not come. The subconscious told you, or maybe you yourself understood that you couldn’t let go of the situation. Frankly, what happened - all at once - was not your fault. It wasn’t, but selfishness and the banal desire to survive stuck needles into such a subjective concept of conscience, which you didn’t even suspect. When you live in a world of technology - when you don't have to make tough decisions - the world seems simpler.

You didn’t know where the carpet was going. Perhaps it was simply obeying your unspoken impulse to get away. Anywhere. To a place where it will be at least a little easier.

However, during the time you spent in this world, you managed to come to terms with the thought: it won’t get better. The further you plunged into unfamiliar lands and got to know its inhabitants, the harder the blow to your mental health. At some point you thought that the happiest time of your forced journey was wandering in the mountains.

Taking a shuddering breath, you froze abruptly, noticing movement out of the corner of your eye. Something flew past at incredible speed. Glancing briefly at the sleeping cat, you clenched your fists, your nails - or what was left of them - digging into the skin of your palms. The pain helped calm down a little and focus on surroundings. A moment and something flew by again, this time very close.

It didn't seem to you.

Waking Grimm up with your left hand, you tried to look down. The carpet did not slow down, and therefore it was difficult to try to see anything. The barely brightening sky did not help at all. Suddenly the fabric shook and you felt something cold millimeters from your other hand. Imagining the worst, you looked down, noticing the thin scratch on your skin and the arrow.

Everything inside you suddenly stopped.

Heart began to beat sharply, making already labored breathing difficult. The mind tried to come up with a solution, an escape, something, but apparently the third arrow was the last warning. The last one before something incomprehensible collided with the carpet, paradoxically sobering and frightening at the same time. Intuitively stretching out your hands towards the sound of meowing, you realized in horror that you were falling down. The carpet, which had saved your life several times, was flailing in the air, trying to extinguish the flames that were engulfing the fabric faster and faster.

You closed your eyes and prepared to fall. The sharp blow, it felt like it, knocked out the remaining oxygen on the branch, as did a further fall onto the wet grass. The pain darkened vision. You wanted to scream, but you didn’t have the strength to unclench teeth and utter even a sound. Bent over, you still clutched Grimm to your chest, simultaneously trying to think about something good.

Heartslabyul still caused waking nightmares, but there were incredibly beautiful roses there. Flowers. Pleasant baking aroma. The softly shining sun.

A slow, careful breath literally created a storm inside. The lungs protested, the muscles tensed to the limit. It would be so easy to close your eyes and plunge into darkness if it weren't for the adrenaline still flowing through your veins. Your attacker was still somewhere nearby.

Sitting up with an effort of will, you could hardly resist so as not to fall back. Your side was burning, and the notorious stars were flying before eyes. What kept you from giving up was the realization that the breathing of the cat, limp in your arms, was becoming weaker. The fear of being alone in this world turned out to be enough of an incentive to go against everything: fate, a tired body and, possibly, broken bones.

A rustling sound came very close, and you tensed, preparing for the worst. Having spotted a dry branch nearby, you wondered how much time and effort it would take to grab it. There was a rustling sound again, and this time the steps took him by surprise, but a child appeared from behind the bushes. Even in the semi-darkness, you noticed his light gray hair and pointed ears. Gradually, two more appeared behind him: one with burgundy strands sticking out to the sides and a gloomy expression on his face, and the second, ready to fall asleep at any moment.

The very first, apparently the main one of the trio, took a step forward, raising his hands in a calming gesture, "How are you feeling? How many fingers am I showing?"

You just shook your head, closing your eyes. The voice of reason insisted that you had to run, but fear for Grimm did not allow you to take even a step..

"Us.. can.. help.. you.. "you didn’t recognize your own voice. It sounded so quiet and muffled that you doubted whether you were heard. Your throat burned, but you opened your mouth again to repeat the request as many times as necessary.

"Dominic, it’s not a good idea to bring someone you don’t know home, is it?" The gloomy child spoke, and for a second you again started to panic. "If we bring everyone we meet and cross, we ourselves will soon become the King’s target."

King? That's all you needed. Previous territories also had heads, but facing the “royal family” sounded much more terrible and problematic

"..only a night.. I can.. stay in the forest.. only Grimm.." It seemed like torture to pronounce every word. Your vision was blurry, but you were obliged to hold out.

“Another guest won’t be such a problem,” Dominic answered. "Can you get up?"

No. Even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be able to get up. You couldn't even lie to yourself. You didn’t even have to answer, the main one came up and extended his hands to the cat. With trembling hands, struggling not to pull them away, you allowed the cat to be taken away

"Groom, stay and look after last one. Shelpi and I will go get Neige"

The one who was called Groom grumbled without ceasing, but still approached you. Watching the children disappear among the greenery, you allowed yourself to relax. At least Grimm was safe.

"Hey. Hey! Come to your senses!"

You felt someone shaking your shoulder, but you couldn’t make out anything else. Only at some point did you hear someone’s worried voice, but you couldn’t make out what exactly he was saying.

You came to your senses, then fell into oblivion again. Voices, sounds, light caused dizziness and rejection. The only thing you remembered throughout the entire chaotic state was that pleasant voice and someone’s warm hands.

"You woke up!" Someone voiced it before you even realized it yourself. It’s just that at some point you stopped distinguishing between reality and a dream, but it seems that this time you were definitely in reality. "Wait, I'll call Dominic"

This name fluttered familiarly in memory. That's right, that was the name of the bright child. Following with an unfocused gaze the young man - although now in your eyes he was just a colored spot - who quickly rushed off somewhere, leaving you for a minute.

Closing your eyelids, you tried to focus on the present. You weren't abandoned in the forest, that's a plus. The attacker didn't show up yesterday, or maybe you just weren't found. The questions “Who” and “Why” remained unanswered. It would be possible to close your eyes and not chase your tail, as before, but your intuition suggested that this time it would be different. That this was just the calm before the next storm. But you no longer had the strength to look for shelter so as not to be carried away to the mercy of fate.

A quiet knock brought you back to reality. It was strange, the young man didn’t seem to lock the door. Opening your eyes slightly, you squinted, trying to make out the newcomer. As you thought, it turned out to be the same child. Next to him stood someone your age - maybe a little older or younger - with a friendly smile. The corners of your lips slightly twitched upward, but they couldn’t become the same full-fledged smile.

"Are you feeling better now?" Asked the child, who continued speaking after a nod from you. “You’re probably still confused, so I’ll try to speak more slowly. My name is Dominic, my dwarf brothers and me have been living in this forest for a very long time. And this,” he pointed at the young man, “is Neige. Although you may already know him. Let me know what happened to you?"

"…if.. I knew.. someone attacked us while we were flying on the carpet.. we turned over and fell, Grimm.. Grimm! Where is he?" An attempt to sit up abruptly was unsuccessful, causing more circles under the eyes and weakness. A brunette who appeared next to you prevented you from turning over and falling out of bed

"Your friend is okay!" The dwarf immediately answered hastily. "He, like you, needs to rest. But you need to do this first. During the fall, you broke a rib" you immediately touched your burning side. “It will take time to heal.”

Having given a short thank you to him and the boy, as a sign that you were already feeling better, you began to hastily rebuild your plan of action. It was impossible to linger, but on the other hand, going in the current state was no less stupid. You understood that the fall could not have happened without something - there was a limit to luck and the capabilities of the human body - but the awareness did not brighten up what was happening.

"Do you know who could have attacked you?“ The young man asked softly, holding out a glass of water that had come from nowhere. However, you weren't complaining.

“No.. No, this is my first time in these lands,” after a couple of sips it became easier to speak. “We were flying… yes, we were flying,” you strained your tired memory. "…someone shot! I remembered the arrow!" Looking hopefully at Dominic, you saw a worried look. As if he realized who exactly attacked you and the Grimm. For some reason, you doubted whether it was worth finding out the truth. "This is not someone from the royal family, right?"

You tried to laugh, but it sounded pathetic even to your own ears. For some reason, the duo didn't appreciate your joke.

“It might have been Rook,” you frowned, another new name. “He works as a hunter and serves Vi,” the young man tried to keep the conversation going with the same light laugh, which came out better than yours. However the impression he made was the same - he did not inspire confidence.

“Vi?” You asked carefully, afraid to confirm your fears.

"Exactly, you don’t know. That's what I call Vil, he is the king of these lands. We saw each other quite often at the castle!"

You were doomed. You could see the world literally crumbling before your eyes. This is exactly what was needed for happiness. Purely to confirm what you already suspected, you turned to Dominic, "What is the probability that… how did you call him, Rook?.. Reported everything to the king?"

Silence was a convincing enough answer.

Despite the chance of being discovered, you remained in the dwarves' house. It was inspired by the hopelessness and persuasiveness of Neige, who took upon himself the responsibility of your personal doctor. Although this was too strong a word, the process was still more led by the chief of the dwarves. Gradually you got to know the others.

Groom and Shelpi were part of the company that day. Although the first one was rude and hot-tempered, you couldn’t call him bad. It just took some getting used to. Shelpi was his opposite. A dwarf with a perpetually sleepy look, although you could understand him. In your current state, all you wanted to do was sleep.

There were four more gnomes: Timmy, Toby, Snick and Hop. You saw Timmy only from afar and only in someone else’s company. Perhaps he was just nervous around strangers. Toby was a sweetheart whose memory failed him more often than usual. Hop was a classic example of a cheerful child, and Snick's specialty was his perpetual allergies.

Watching their noisy but cheerful routine was a pleasant change from the nightmare that was happening in your life before. Nevertheless, you remembered Heartslabyul’s experience and were in no hurry to relax.

The more time you spent in their friendly company, the stronger the feeling of guilt grew. Understanding that they would come for you. Now or a little later didn't matter. Just like how many troubles befell the cat’s head for the company. Asking to take care of Grimm was another breaking through the ceiling called “selfishness,” but… that incident made it clear that problems were pouring down on your head more and more often. Their consequences were becoming increasingly difficult to correct.

Living with guilt was unbearable.

So much so that you were unable to look into the eyes of your faithful friend, who has literally gone through thick and thin with you, and you decided to leave him.

You didn't even hope for forgiveness. Deep inside you understood that this was just an attempt to come to an agreement with yourself, a struggle for the opportunity to hate yourself a little less. Looking at the recovering cat, this thought took root more firmly in consciousness.

The pathetic excuse “it will be better this way.”

Gradually you were allowed to take short walks. Your side still hurt, as did the wounds on back, but the fresh air helped to distract you and not drown in self-flagellation. The only activity for which you always had the strength.

Hoping to find your things, you tried to find the crash site from memory. It was stupid, especially since those trinkets were of no value. To some extent, they simply gave an imaginary sense of belonging. Reminders of your home world, which seemed farther and farther away day by day.

Moving aside the branches, you were finally able to find the desired clearing. It was like all the others, but some internal awareness did not allow you to pass by.

Check and leave.

Simple plan - simple implementation. Searching among the bushes without bending down was another challenge. Having sat down, you rose to your feet again with great difficulty, the shooting pain in your lower back made itself felt every time you tried to find your treasured things.

Breathing heavily, you leaned your hand on the trunk of a nearby tree. A little break won't hurt anyone, that's for sure in your condition. Taking a deep breath, you glanced around the clearing once again, making mental notes of where the bag might have been thrown.

There was not a soul around, or at least it seemed so. Perhaps over time you became too suspicious, but at the moment you could not leave the feeling of being watched, no matter how stupid it may sound. Who could be in the deep forest, right? Unless… who attacked you and the Grimm that day. You tsked and took another breath, trying to calm down.

It was dangerous to return to the house: you didn’t want to let Neige and his friends down. Trying to escape in an unknown direction was reckless. You didn’t know these places, one wrong turn and Robinson Crusoe will appear in this forest. Although you doubted that this world had heard of him. The possibility of becoming a discoverer was not encouraging.

"Ma cheri! What a rarity it is to find such a beautiful creature in such a dense thicket,” a voice that came out of nowhere took you by surprise.

Turning towards the sound at a speed you didn’t know you were capable of, you saw a strange blond-haired young man.

“Are you… talking about me?..” You asked carefully, simultaneously looking for a way to escape. Now the suspicions no longer seemed groundless.

"Oui! Yes and yes! A triple "yes" is not enough to prove the sincerity of my words. How brave and reckless are walks in the wilds, where every animal and people poses a danger. I had already decided that knowledge, Fata Morgana, which had darkened my mind and revealed such a fragile angel in human form!"

He spoke a lot and not very clearly, sometimes you lost the thread of the story. In your best times, you didn’t like such conversations, let alone today. However, this was a good opportunity to look at the blond. He was wearing a cream-colored tunic, loose pants and a hat with a fluffy white feather.

It was necessary to come up with an excuse and as quickly as possible. Perhaps you would be able to wander around, wait for him to leave, and return home without consequences. However, this would be too loud a statement. If there's one thing life has taught you, it was not to think ahead of time.

"Thank you, I guess?.. Did you want something?" You decided to ask directly.

"Oh, that's right. Wandering among the flora and fauna, I found one interesting little thing,” he sadly shook his head while you did everything to prevent doubts from showing on your face. "Obeying the will of my heart, I am trying to find the owner."

Emphasizing the last word, he smiled, narrowing his eyes. The nature of the emotion that flashed through them made you shiver.

"Well, I wish you good luck in your search, sir.."

"Hunt! But you can call me by my name, just Rook,” digging your nails into the palms, you kept a friendly expression on your face through an effort of will. The blond raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, and then also calmly began to close the distance. "I don’t dare to hope that you have heard of me. However, like me about you. His Majesty, Roi du Poison, has been wanting to meet you for quite some time, and who are we to refuse him."

Looking ahead at the outstretched hand and the unshakable figure of - as Neige said - the hunter, you doubted that you had any chance of escape.

[fallingforfictionalcharacterss]

Traitor pt.1

A/N: This is the first part of my mini-series, I really hope you´ll like it. While writing this I mostly stuck to the plot of the books and not the movies, so if you haven´t read the books (for some reason, I really can´t think of now) this might be a bit confusing at some points.

You watched the fire in the fireplace dying slowly. By now, the comfortable warmth it had radiated was fading, still, you and your fellow students were crouching on the couches in front of it and stared into the glow gloomily. Today had been probably the worst day in a long row of bad days. Not only that the DA had been exposed by Umbridge and was now at its end, but also your reckless behaviour had brought Professor Dumbledore in a more than just uncomfortable position, as Harry had told you. Your headmaster was by now on the run, after he had put off Fudge and his henchmen in his office. Now, the school would be fully exposed to Umbridge´s cruel reign. You didn’t even want to think about all the things that might happen in the near future in this school that -until now- had always been a safe haven for you and your friends.

“This is all my fault.”, Harry finally broke the silence and slumped in his seat. “I should have never even started all of this.”

But Hermione was quick to shake her head eagerly.

“If anything, it is my fault. Oh, Harry, you haven´t done anything wrong. This was all my idea.”

“You didn’t even want to do this. We talked you into this, man.”, Ron confirmed.

“But I´m the one who started this. I´m the one who took the lead.”, Harry argued, visibly upset.

“It really doesn’t make sense to put the blame on any of us.”, you cut him off harshly. “This is on Umbridge. And Fudge.”

“But I should have seen this coming. I knew that Umbridge was up to no good.”

“We all knew that.”, Ron said. The boy shrugged his shoulders. “And we all knew that she was going to catch us sooner or later.”

“We can´t change what happened. What´s important now is how we´ll keep going from here.”, you said.

“We won´t do anything anymore.”, Harry stated. “It´s over. We should just forget about it.”

“But there must be something we can do.”, you persisted.

“But Umbridge has the list. She can´t prove that we´ve done something, but she knows that all of us were up to something.”, Ron argued.

Hermione´s gaze shot up and suddenly she seemed to be as energized, as she had been when she had come up with her original idea of founding the DA.

“That´s it, Ron. You´re a genius.”, she stated. Even though you could see Ron flush in the dim light of the fireplace, the look on his face was as questioningly as on Harry´s and yours. But Hermione didn’t seem to notice. “Not all of our names are on the list. Don’t you remember?”

When she grinned at you excitedly, you realized.

Back in the day when everyone had met up in the Hog´s Head, you had been lying in bed with a nasty flue, regretting bitterly that you couldn’t accompany your friends to the very first meeting of the alliance forming against Umbridge. But maybe that exact fact could somehow help you out now. Because while back on that day, everyone had signed up on Hermione´s bewitched list, you hadn’t been there to do so. And by the time of the first meeting, you, as well as your friends, had somehow forgotten about the fact, that officially, you weren’t a part of the DA yet. And if Umbridge would use the list as a register of suspects, your name wouldn’t appear.

“But she still knows that we are friends. And even if there would be no connection between me and any of you at all – what am I supposed to do about the entire situation?”, you asked.

Hermione frowned.

“We have to think of something. And we need to be careful. We can´t allow any mistakes to be made once more.”

You nodded and let out a heavy sigh as you sank back into your seat. Just like Hermione, you weren’t ready to give up the fight yet, but on the other hand, for now, you couldn’t think of a single thing you were able to do in this situation. But as you saw Hermione´s gaze fixed on the fireplace, her brows furrowed and her lips moving constantly, as she talked to herself inaudibly, you strongly suspected that she was already working on a solution for your problem.

And your determination to do something -anything- about what was happening at your school only grew the next day. Because over the night new placates had appeared all over the castle. The Educational Decree Number Twenty-Eight announced that "Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as the Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry".

Many rumours were spreading around the entire school, suspecting what exactly had happened the day before. Surprisingly, many of them weren’t exactly wrong. At least most people were informed well enough to know that Harry had witnessed the entire scene and now he was bombarded with questions. And no matter how hard Harry tried to shield himself from the curious glances and remarks, somehow someone always found their way to him.

One of those people was Ernie Macmillan. You had always liked the Hufflepuff boy, but sometimes his constant talking got on your nerves. Today was one of those days, but then again it wasn’t that hard to appreciate his chatter, since he not only shared your aversion against Umbridge, but he also wasn’t afraid to say it out loud. And just like that, Ernie and Hermione worked themselves into a rage, gossiping about your new headmaster.

But as Hermione was using a barrage of not-exactly-friendly words to describe her, she was interrupted by a sneering voice.

“Do you really want to finish this sentence, Granger?”

You turned around, facing the boy who had interrupted Hermione´s hate speeches. Draco Malfoy had somehow managed to stalk you and was now standing behind you, accompanied by his friends Crabbe and Goyle and a superior grin on his face, making you suspect, he was up to no good.

And you were right. While the grin on Malfoy´s face only widened, he explained to you, that members of the Inquisitorial Squad had by now the authority to dock points from other students. And he promptly took advantage of his new power, as Malfoy docked five points from Hermione for running her mouth over Umbridge, and once more ten for her being a -as he referred to her- mudblood, five from Ernie for disagreeing with him, five from Ron, for not dressing properly, and five from Harry. With Harry, Malfoy didn’t even look for an excuse to dock points, simply stating that he couldn’t stand him. Finally, the Slytherin turned to you, eying you with a sly grin on his face. Until that moment you had just stood there, watching the scene quietly, simply left speechless by the audacity of the boy. You could feel your heart pumping loudly in your chest, as Malfoy´s grey eyes set on you.

“Let´s see (Y/l/n).” He paused, his eyes scanning every centimetre of your body, searching for something to criticise. You could feel your skin burning under his intense gaze. Finally, Malfoy looked up again, his grey eyes meeting yours. The smile on his face only grew wider as he said: “Five points from you for having such bad taste in friends.”

You looked at the guy in disbelief. It took you a few moments to find your ability to speak again.

“Excuse me?”, you squeezed out, as a part of you was still denying what was going on right now.

“You are excused (Y/l/n).”, Malfoy said in a haughty tone, making Crabbe and Goyle giggle meanly.

As he saw the dumbfounded look on your face, Malfoy just laughed, before he turned on his heel, and walked away.

Only when Malfoy was almost out of sight, you slowly started to process what had just happened. And with the realization setting in, you felt the anger boiling up in you.

“That stupid bastard.”, you hissed, grabbing your wand, ready to fire a nasty curse right at Malfoy´s back. “I´m gonna…”

“You won´t do anything about it (Y/n).”, Hermione cut you off, grabbing you by the wrist. “Not yet.”

“But Hermione, we can´t let him get away with that. We can´t let all of them get away with that.”, you said in a desperate voice.

“Oh, don’t worry. We won´t.”, Hermione said grimly. “And I already have an idea how we will do this.”

A few days had passed since the incident with Malfoy. You and your friends turned the situation over in your minds over and over again. And by now, you knew exactly what to do.

You walked along the corridors of the castle until you finally stopped in front of a pink-painted door. You took a deep breath and knocked.

“Come in.”

You pushed down the handle and slowly opened the door. As it swung open, you squinted. You were genuinely wondering how Umbridge was able to spend her time here. Everything was shocking pink. The walls, the accessories, even some of the furniture. By now you had no doubt that Umbridge´s preferred method of torture wasn’t as effective as if she would just lock up the students inside this room for an hour. There was no way anyone would ever want to risk getting in here ever again. As your gaze wandered, you noticed the many cat pictures on the walls. Even if the situation was more than serious, you had to fight a small smile that threatened to appear on your face. You were absolutely certain that Professor McGonagall had taken it as a personal offence when she had realized what Umbridge´s favourite pet was.

Finally, your gaze settled on the desk in the middle of the room. You could have taken the Professor for a part of her office as well since her entire outfit was matching with the walls behind her perfectly. You could see that your arrival surprised her. Umbridge raised an eyebrow questioningly, nevertheless, the toadlike smile on her face was the same as usual.

“Miss (Y/l/n). May I ask you what brings you here?”, she said. Her voice was sweet like honey, but not in a good way. You could see her eyes glistening suspiciously.

You shifted from one foot to the other, your hands buried inside the pockets of your cloak.

“I… I would like to talk to you about something Headmistress.”, you said.

Calling Umbridge like that was even harder than you had imagined. Your voice shook slightly, and you had to bring up all your courage to not pull a face in disgust. But luckily, even if Umbridge would notice how nervous you were, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

“Well, have a seat then.”, Umbridge said and pointed at the chair on the opposite side of her desk.

You mumbled a small “Thanks.” as you sat down. Umbridge placed the cup of tea she was holding in her hand on the desk and looked at you.

“So, Miss (Y/l/n), tell me. What is your concern?”

“I… would like to talk to you about… About what happened earlier… the day Professor Dumbledore… disappeared. About the DA.”

You could see Umbridge´s googly eyes widen. The corner of her mouth twitched upwards as her hands clenched around the armrest of her upholstered chair.

“The DA?”, she said in an even higher-pitched voice than usual.

“Dumbledore´s Army.”, you clarified. As if she didn’t know.

“Very well. So you confess that you have been a part of it?”

You shook your head, even if it broke your heart to do so.

“I haven’t. But I… knew. About some things.”

“Miss (Y/l/n), I really appreciate the fact that you came here. But do you really want to tell me that you haven’t been a part of all of this? That all of your friends have done those awful things, but you were completely unaware of it?”

“I wasn’t unaware of it, Professor. I simply wasn’t involved. Harry has told us that you have seen the list with all the members. You know I´m not on it.”

“And why are you telling me this?”, Umbridge said, by now sounding slightly impatient.

“Because I know that what the others have done was wrong. I knew it back then and now I´m certain. I also know that their resistance is pointless. For my part, I want to be on the right side of this. And this is yours.”

Umbridge nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on you. For a few moments, she remained quiet. Then she let out a small sigh and smiled at you sweetly.

“My dear, I feel like this is going to be a longer conversation. Would you like to have a cup of tea?”

You felt your stomach drop. You knew what was about to come, you had talked the scene through several times, yet, you could feel the palms of your hands beginning to sweat. But you put on your sweetest smile and nodded.

“Yes please.”

Umbridge returned your smile and flicked her wand. From a sideboard, a tea service flew towards you and landed on the desk. Your hands shook slightly as you raised the cup to your lips. You could feel Umbridge´s gaze burning on you. When the warm porcelain touched your lips, you squeezed your eyes, trying to focus on a certain point in front of you. And in your head, you repeated the words all over again: Evanesco. Evanesco, evanesco, evanesco.

 You gulped heavily, even though your mouth was dry before you put the cup back on its saucer.

Umbridge´s gaze fell on the cup, as well as yours. You couldn’t help but let out a small sigh. The cup was by now half empty.

Umbridge, who had seen the same, nodded with a pleased look on her face.

“Tell me, how are you feeling Miss (Y/l/n)?”, she asked you in a mellow voice.

“Good.” Your voice broke. You cleared your throat. “Good. I´m just a bit nervous.”

Umbridge smiled contentedly.

“There is no need for that my dear. It´s just the two of us. And we both want the same, don’t we?” You nodded. “So, why don’t we continue where we left off?”

“The DA?”

“Exactly.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Just tell me everything you know about it.”

Umbridge leant back in her armchair and folded her hands.

“Well, I don’t know exactly much.”, you hesitated.

“That doesn’t matter. Every little detail could be important.”

You deliberated a few seconds before you started.

“They were still at the very beginning. Professor Dumbledore had asked Harry to build the group. This was supposed to be the first official meeting.”

“The first official? So there have been interactions before?”

“I only know about one. They all met up to plan everything.”

“Who is all?”, Umbridge asked.

You shrugged your shoulders.

“I can´t be sure, I wasn’t there. But I suspect everyone from the list.”

“And what was your plan? What did you want to achieve with those meetings?”

“As I already said, I wasn’t a part of that.”, you pointed out. “But I know Dumbledore has asked Harry to teach the students how to fight.”

Umbridge´s hands clenched around her own cup of tea.

“To fight?”, she whispered breathlessly.

You nodded.

“Dumbledore held the view that the purely theoretical teaching in Defence Against The Dark Arts wasn’t enough. He wanted us to gain practical experience. And in his eyes, we didn’t do so in your class.”

“Obviously just an excuse.”, Umbridge interrupted you. “His goal was clearly a different one. The only purpose of this association was to form an army to bring down the ministry.”

“I don’t think so.”, you busted out. You bit your lip the very next moment, regretting your words.

But Umbridge didn’t seem to care. She threw you a compassionate smile.

“My dear, I totally understand that you want to think so. He had been your headmaster ever since you attended this school. But you have to understand that Dumbledore isn’t the man you all thought he was. Do you understand?”

By now, you bit your lip so hard, you could taste the metallic flavour of your own blood. But you nodded anyway.

“It´s just… so hard, you know? I always thought he was such a great man. And now he has done all those awful things. In the beginning, I thought that he might be innocent, but now that he´s on the run… I mean, why should he disappear when he isn’t guilty? But all of my friends still believe in him. And now they are all turning against me, just because I have doubts.”

Who hadn’t any doubts anymore, was Umbridge about your sincerity. By now you were absolutely certain that you had pulled the woman on your side. She tilted her head and threw you a -what she thought was- warm smile.

“I know my dear. But I can assure you that you have done the exact right thing. I am very proud of you.”

About half an hour later, you were still sitting in Umbridge´s office. The tea had by now gotten cold. Your Professor had asked you several questions about the DA, Professor Dumbledore and your friends. You had answered all the questions patiently.

“Well, I think that´s it. For now.”, Umbridge finally said with a sly grin on her face. “Or is there anything else you think you have to tell me?”

You pondered for a moment.

“The Galleons.”, you finally said. “The members were handed bewitched Galleons to communicate with one another.”

Umbridge nodded eagerly and scribbled down something on the pink parchment in front of her, which she had started to use halfway through to make sure she would remember every small detail you told her. Then she put down her quill and looked at you.

“Thank you very much, my dear. I really appreciate your effort. And it will be rewarded. Ten points to Gryffindor.”

You smiled.

“Thank you, Headmistress.”

Umbridge mirrored your smile.

“You earned it. You know what I told you. Good students will be rewarded, while bad students will be punished. Congratulations Miss (Y/l/n), you really honoured your house today. You have been really brave indeed.” Oh, if she only knew how much you had been. “You may leave now.”

You thanked the Professor with a sweet smile on your face and got up. When you had almost reached the door, you stopped.

“Headmistress?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“My friends… They won´t get in trouble for what I have told you, will they? I mean, I know what they have done wasn’t right, but I´m sure they wouldn’t have done it if they wouldn’t have been talked into it.”

“Don’t worry. I am very much aware of the bad influence Dumbledore had on his students. But from now on, that will change.” She threw you a tight-lipped grin. “So please tell your friends that from now on they will be responsible for their actions. And if they decide to keep on showing bad manners, I will take action.”

“I highly doubt that they will still listen to me after what I have done today.”, you responded glumly.

“They will understand that what you have done was for the good of all.”, Umbridge said softly.

You nodded.

“Thank you for your time, Headmistress.”

“Any time, my dear.”

Only when you pushed down the handle, Umbridge held you back once more.

“Miss (Y/l/n)?”

“Yes Headmistress?”

“Why don’t you attend the next meeting of the Inquisitorial Squad? By now there aren’t any Gryffindors in the group. But I want all students to be represented. I am sure we all can benefit from this collaboration.”

If she only knew how much you would benefit from this.

“I would love to. Thank you, Headmistress.”

And with that, you finally left.

But as you returned to the Gryffindor common room, the other students threw you some deadly glances and whispered with one another. And for the rest of the day, no one said a word to you, and everyone treated you with contempt.

pt.2

Taglist: @xodracomalfoyxo @marigold-morelli @army24—7 @lbhmoon @cappgyuccino @writingwitch007

[havin-fun-imagining-twd]

Like a traditional Sunday dinner

When - right after There’s also a bar. Still at the CDC, and thank you Dr. Jenner for meal planning with that spaghetti. In the show, we’re still in the episode TS-19. Masterlist if you would like to read more of the Slowpoke Series.

Relationships - you and the gang! And our redneck is making friends!

Genre - everyone is relaxing for this one. Shane, Andrea, and Dr. Jenner are sort of bummed, but can you blame them?

Pronouns - ain’t got none. But keep in mind that Glenn does make a gag about an...action associated with a particular gender in terms of “you.” Y’all, it’s his first time getting drunk, he’s a dope, and he may or may not have a slight crush on you at the moment, so he would’ve blurted it out regardless. The buttface.

TWs - intoxication, mention of suicide, some adult language, and that inappropriate joke made by the one and only Glenn Jeremiah Rhee, much to his own horror. It is concluded that he owes more than a quarter for it.

Word count - I had fun. And we’ve got pictures!

“Whoa, it’s – it’s hot!” he exclaims after you’ve both tried a taste.

“Like fiery cough medicine,” you offer, uncertain of how else to describe it. Except it’s having the opposite effect of cough medicine in that it’s making you cough because it’s got that spicy thing going on. And it tastes sort of medicinal, to be frank. Not necessarily your favorite, but it’s not bad, it’s just...a little yucky.

If Glenn’s face is relaying any truth, he doesn’t prefer the taste, either. “Yeah, there’s like a fruit-ish flavor or something,” Glenn muses, taking another sip. “Cherry?”

“Daryl, is this Robitussin or Dimetapp?” you throw out. Glenn cracks up at that and adds “I dig the grape one if you have it, man.”

“You two are babies,” Daryl huffs back, tone as abrasive as ever even though he’s visually having fun. With a smirk, he takes a big swig of the Southern Comfort (apologies, that’s “SoCo”) straight from the bottle. He's trying to make friends, isn’t he?

“Show off,” you snark.

“Lightweight,” he dishes right back, making you snort.

Ooh, speaking of dishes – the spaghetti! Holy Moses but it’s been a while since any of y’all had pasta! It tastes fantastic even without any parmesan or mozzarella. All things considered, it is a very fancy meal. Dale was pouring wine for all the adults, after all.

Fancy, carefree, and easy enough to forget all about that big countdown (countdown to what?) on the wall in the big room and all the bad things that had happened and were happening outside, at least for a while. It’s like a traditional Sunday dinner when the whole family gets together, and that warms you.

Glenn elbows you in the ribs. “Don’t forget you owe me five bucks.”

“And I owe the kids 25¢ each for cussin’, so that’s me out $5.50. Oh wait, guess what?” You turn to him. “I happened to have recently won $10 from Mr. SoCo-straight-from-the-bottle!”

“What for?”

“Bettin’ him we’d be having spaghetti for supper. Also I might could’ve said there would be Southern Comfort here, too!”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. All we need are the videogames and it’d be three for three.” Southern Comfort, a Wii, and a big bowl of spaghetti, right?

Shaking his head, Daryl mutters “Still can’t believe that shi- stuff.”

Sophia eyes Daryl but says nothing. You catch her glance and wink.

“Good save, man,” Glenn commends him.

“Hey, want another sip?” Daryl asks, offering the bottle. See, he is making friends! Good for him.

“Yup!” And with that, Glenn accepts the bottle and tips it back. Then makes a face because it’s truly got a kick to it. That amuses Daryl and T-Dog, at any rate. You’re happy to see that Andrea is smiling, too, even if it’s a weak one.

“Carl mentioned y’all had a rule around camp about using poor language around the kids,” Rick says, mouth full of pasta and Lori’s hand in his. Smiling, he asks “That was your doin’, right T-Dog?”

“Figured it was a fun little way to remind people to remember to treat each other better,” he shrugs back, shy grin lighting up his face. Big softie.

“Jim and I had a heck of a time keeping our mouths clean the third time the RV’s hose went south,” Dale sighs. His smile was both happy and sad at the memory as he pours more wine into Jacqui’s glass.

Then Jacqui’s gentle laugh rings out as she recalls “Jim especially had quite the time keeping his mouth clean during that one, let me tell you.”

Nodding, Dale chuckles “But the lesson in self-awareness and self-control was worth every quarter saved.”

“I don’t remember you ever saying one, Mr. Horvath,” Sophia says, voice quiet and sweet.

“We’re very grateful for it, too,” Carol thanks him, and then appears to slide one hand into Jacqui’s and her other onto her daughter’s back where she lightly began to rub. Yeah, any good male influence on Sophia was like gold. God knows that poor little girl had a pretty shitty go of it in terms of that. Fucking Ed.

Oops, you’re drifting back down. Time to raise your spirits back up!

You point your finger at Rick. “So the question I got is if Carl told you about that little rule because he might could’ve caught you with a naughty word on your lips?”

Lori takes a big sip of her wine right at that moment as Rick cracks up and raises his hands in surrender. “I’ll take a page from you and Shane and admit he ‘might could’ve.’”

Glenn giggles at that and takes a gulp (yes, a gulp) of his wine. Oh, okay – then another gulp. Oh my.

Shane looks at Carl and squints. “So, how much he have to hand over for his little slip-up, punk?”

“Fifty cents.”

“Oh-ho, Rick said a twofer!” Glenn teases, voice a touch louder than usual.

“I’m curious. What is the plan for all of those quarters?” Lori wonders.

Almost at the same time, the kids reply “Gumballs” and “Candy.”

“Hey now,” you chide. “And temporary tattoos.”

“Anythin’ that comes in those little hand-crank dispensers at the grocery store,” T-Dog explains.

“And those little toy things that come in those plastic balls,” Glenn adds. “They have those dispensers, too! I saw them at a Publix and a Kroger!”

“Oo, I always liked the ’lil parachute guy,” you exclaim in recognition. You’d forgotten all about those little things.

“Right?!” he announces back with a little too much enthusiasm. “I always loved the wall-sticky guy!” Okay, heck. Glenn wasn’t joking when he said that he didn’t drink much. He’s already getting flushed.

“That liquor hittin’ you fast there, bud?” T-Dog murmurs to him, brows drawn in amusement. “Go on, get some more food in your stomach.”

“The spaghetti goes really good with wine, T-Dog.”

“Mmhm.” T-Dog shares a look with Andrea and takes another bite of his pasta as if in demonstration of what Glenn should be doing.

Daryl even cuts in “Slow down, kid, y’all ain’t even tried the SoCo with the root beer yet.”

Taking your cue and cracking open the can (ahh, don’t you just love that satisfying snap and hiss that a soda can makes?), you ask Daryl “So, what should we name it?”

“We’re namin’ the drink?”

“Yes.”

A pause. “I dunno.”

“Wanna call it the...” Shoot, now you’re drawing a blank. “The CDC? Or The Dr. Jenner.” You make a little salute to the doc in the corner where he was sitting very quietly. He must be feeling very out of sorts, suddenly having so much company after being completely alone for a couple of months.

Daryl hums as he sets up the little paper cups from the water cooler in a row. “Better than my idea.”

“Which was?”

“The Upchuck.”

You groan “Mangy hick,” before you realize that you’ve just said it out loud and in front of him and to him.

Luckily, Daryl’s unphased, he just raises his brows and snorts. “Never been called ‘mangy’ before.”

“S-sorry.”

“What? It ain’t nothing.”

“But I’m also sorry about the thing in the car,” you hint.

“What thing?”

You clear your throat and clarify “When we almost hit the fox,” then continue to pour a little bit of the root beer into the paper cups while Daryl mixes in the Southern Comfort. When we had that minor screaming match in the car, slammed on the brakes, and then pretended that we’d stopped the car because we almost hit something is what you’re getting at.

He hands you your drink. “Whatever.”

Has this man never been taught the danged conventions of politeness, or did he simply not care? “Still, I apologize,” you insist, reminding yourself that he’s a work-in-progress just like everybody else.

And he sounds only sort of awkward when he shrugs and replies “Me too, I guess.”

“You guess?”

Now, Shane is eyeing you both. “Just what are you two chattin’ on about?”

“Glenn, here’s yours,” you quickly say, handing your friend his paper cup before you reply to your brother casually that “Daryl and me shared some heated words in the car.” And hey, it’s the truth.

Taking a sip of his own drink, he states “That so?”

“How many quarters worth?” Carl whispers across the table to you.

“Rules say we only pay up if the babies hear us, you little miser.”

But he just stares back at you with a mischievous look on his face.

“Okay fine,” you relent. “I used...probably about...seventy-five... no, a dollar’s worth.” With a sigh, you press “Using fewer words like that is somethin’ I’m working on. It ain’t the best thing to go on doing.”

“I know,” he smiles back.

“That’s my boy,” Lori murmurs quietly to him, a wry smile on her face.

Then, overtaking all of the other voices at the table comes Glenn’s excited declaration that “This is really good, Daryl! Who else wants to try?”

“Hey, we were supposed to take the first sip together, buttface!” you complain.

“It’s okay, I still got some in here! Ready Y/N? Go!” And – okay, looky there. He’s already finished his cup.

“...Cheers,” you monotone, then lift the cup to your lips and taste it.

Mm, it wasn’t so bad. The alcohol cut through the heavy sweetness of the root beer.

“Not bad, right?”

“Ain’t bad at all, Daryl. Cheers, man!”

“Bottoms up.” And with that, he also finishes his little cup.

Shane seemed to like his well enough, T-Dog tried a sip of yours and nodded approvingly before nestling back in with his wine, and Jacqui had her own purely for the root beer (“That’s my favorite coke, too, Daryl! Have you ever mixed it with sarsparilla cola? It is divine, sugar.”), and Daryl had Dr. Jenner try some as well. Reserved, he commented “Never thought I’d see the day when the CDC had a drink named for it.”

Small as it was, you choose to nurse yours slowly as dinner goes on.

Until little Carl calls over to ask “May I try it?” 

Carl wants a taste? You reckon that might be okay. Looking over at Lori, she bites her lip but then agrees: “A sip is fine.”

“I wasn’t joking when I said it tastes like Dimetapp, kiddo,” you caution him.

Dale, ever the academic, explains “Most liquid medications since their inception have had considerable amounts of alcohol in them.” 

“But it’s got the root beer in it, so it’s not gross now, right?”

“At your risk, punk,” you tell the boy. And with that, you hand over your paper cup.

Carl, bless him, tries the smallest sip possible, makes a face (cue everyone to start laughing, even Andrea, thank goodness), then holds it out to Sophia next, who shakes her head (good girl!) before he offers it to his mama.

“Mm, like rum and coke,” Lori says. “I like this a bit better, to be honest. Y/N, Daryl, well done. What was it you said you named this, honey?”

“The CDC.”

“That fits.”

Again, Dale starts to top off the wine glasses for everyone who wants more. Not for Glenn, though. Glenn is now sitting atop the bar with his own bottle, Lord above. And Shane keeps taking really big gulps from his own glass, to your alarm.

He’s not the most straight-laced of people, granted, but alcohol he’s grown very careful with. So what is he doing now? He should want to be on his guard here, you’d think. Something is definitely weighing heavily on him and the change in him is troubling you.

You’ll try to talk to him later.

“Can I try some of the wine, too?” Carl wonders next, which pops your worry bubble and makes everyone laugh more.

“Curious tonight, aren’t we?” Lori protests, even while giggling.

“Not even a small glass?” Dale chuckles.

“Uh-oh, I’d best keep my eye on you, mister,” she laughs back. Everyone is cracking up and smiling and holy Moses, it feels great.

“Fine,” Dale cedes, still grinning widely. “Though you know,” he slyly mentions as he pours a little more into her glass, “In Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France!”

Rick shakes his head as he happily finishes his supper, and Lori good-naturedly but firmly covers over her son’s cup and offers that “Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then.”

“What’s it gonna hurt? Come on,” Rick then says. And with such a mischievous expression! Anyone could see where Carl got his from. “Come on,” he teases his wife.

Lori is desperately trying not to grin back at her husband as they enter into somewhat of a staring contest. She breaks first, however, and takes her hand off Carl’s cup with a shrug, after which everyone cheers.

Dale pours a decent amount of wine into Carl’s empty cup, and you all wait in anticipation for the kid’s reaction.

“Five bucks he chugs it!” Glenn whispers, his voice now slurring.

“One sip and he’s out,” you counter softly. Easiest five bucks you’ll ever make and it'll mean you won't owe him for the bet you’d lost about who/what “Vi” was.

And Carl’s reaction is perfect! After one sip, his face scrunches up and he (pun intended) whines “Ew!”

After that everyone is rolling, Lori contentedly mumbles “That’s my boy,” as she pours the rest into her glass, and Carl cannot stop exclaiming how nasty he thought the stuff was.

You aren’t sure why Shane still looks so off and beaten down, but you can tell that he’s making an effort to sound upbeat when he suggests “Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud.”

Right when you’re about to lean over and quietly ask if your brother was okay, Daryl points to Glenn, bottle of Southern Comfort in hand. Someone’s tipsy. “Not you, Glenn,” he drawls.

Equally tipsy (maybe more, actually) and more so confused, Glenn just smiles awkwardly from the counter. “What?”

“Keep drinkin’, little man – I wanna see how red your face can get!”

Okay, and there was the hick again. Did he have to go and say that? Maybe he didn’t mean it in a malicious way, you suppose, but it was still casually racist or whatever. Work-in-progress, you remind yourself.

Glenn is still smiling, but he’s got that “ughh” look on his face. He also blushes, which makes his cheeks grow even more red.

“Daryl,” you warn, but teasingly enough. “I’ll fight you in the parkin’ lot.”

Eventually, the laughter dies down and a quiet finally settles at the table. Bellies are full, supper is finished, and most everyone appears relaxed.

The doctor has been very quiet this whole evening, though. You catch Rick frowning at him before he taps his glass with his fork, stands up, and with his wine glass raised, says “It seems to me we haven’t thanked our host properly.”

Nodding in agreement, T-Dog graciously declares “He is more than just our host,” as he holds up his own glass.

“Hear hear!”

“Booyah!” Daryl cheers.

“Booyah!” echoes throughout the room.

“Heck yeah!”

“Yay!”

“Here’s to you, doc!”

“To Dr. Jenner!”

“Whoo!”

“Thank you, doctor!”

Once the cheers are over, your brother decides to out with “So when are you gonna tell us what happened here, doc?”

The quiet that embraces the room isn’t comfortable anymore.

“All the – the other doctors, that were supposed to be figurin’ out what happened. Where are they?”

“Let’s ask about this later,” you whisper to him.

Rick tries to hush him, too. “We’re celebratin’, Shane. We don’t need to do this now.”

But Shane just holds up his hand.  “Whoa, wait a second. This is why we’re here, right?” He’s peering over at Rick but doesn’t look remotely friendly. He is in some damned mood, what is going on with him? “This was your move. Supposed to find all the answers. Instead, we –” he scoffs. “We found him. Found one man. Why?”

Now he has something of a smile on his face, but it’s bitter and exhausted. And you find yourself agreeing that you want answers, too, and fast. But maybe not in front of the kids.

“Doc, I’m sorry, we’re all a little, um,” dang your pulse has quickened, “We’re out of it. You’re our host, you saved us; answerin’ is on your terms,” you assure him. Shane swallows but inclines his head at you in silent surrender.

But the doctor does choose to answer. “Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse,” he goes on, avoiding eye contact with everyone but Shane. “When the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted.”

Wait, so out of everyone who’d been here, this doctor is the only one left? Seems at least a little doubtful.

“Every last one?” your brother challenges, staring him dead in the eyes.

“No.” His response is sharp. “Many couldn’t face walking out the door. They...”

Oh no. You know what he’s about to say. Please not in front of the kids. From the corner of your eye, you see Carol shake her head subtly at the doctor.

“Opted out,” he finally says. And his voice is very quiet when he explains “There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time.”

Lori and Carol have their arms around their children. Jacqui has a peculiar look on her face, but Andrea finally seems to wake up. “You didn’t leave,” she states. “Why?”

His shoulders fall and he heaves a sigh. “I just kept working. Hoping...to do some good.”

After that, no one says anything. This also tends to happen at Sunday dinners, too, right? The night wasn’t ruined or nothing...

Dale and you try to smile at Dr. Jenner. A few of you become overly fascinated with your wine glasses. And Shane is just staring into space. Carl and Sophia enter into a silent kicking contest with each other from their chairs.

And then Glenn hops off the bar and trudges back to his chair while staring (glaring?) at your brother. And God forgive you for how hard you crack up when he deadpans “Dude. You are such a buzzkill, man.”

To your relief, Daryl is right there laughing with you, and soon everyone else starts to relax again, too. T-Dog cracks up and slaps his knee, and Shane nudges you in the shoulder as he starts to somewhat smile despite himself.

“Apologies, y’all,” he mumbles. Avoiding all eye contact, he gets up, grabs another bottle of wine from the shelf, uncorks it, and refills Dr. Jenner’s glass first.

After this, the tension eases completely. Conversation starts to flow again, wine glasses are drained, the last morsels of spaghetti are eaten, and you all feel at peace once more as you all begin to clean up the dishes.

You aren’t sure why you start to feel sad all of the sudden. Possibly because you’d noticed Dale winding his watch, so started to think about everything that had happened. That had been what you were all talking about during the fish fry at the quarry. Your last night all together. And now everything was changed. Amy isn’t here anymore. Jim was left on the roadside. Mr. Morales and Miranda and the kids are God-knows-where. Hopefully they’d reached their family in Birmingham safely already. It was about 40 or so miles from where the quarry camp had been, so –

“– Hey, why so glum?”

You snap out of it. “I ain’t glum, Glenn – oh that’s hard to say. Glum Glenn, glum Glenn, glun Glenn – dang it, messed it up. Your turn.”

“Glum Glemm – shoot I mixed it up already!”

“Ha-ha!”

“Just messed up his own name!” Daryl snickers. “Must be good and wasted, ain’t ya buddy?”

“I dunno, I feel all floaty.”

“He’s wasted!” Daryl cackles (yes, cackles) before downing another gulp straight from the SoCo bottle. Glenn follows suit with his wine bottle. Sure, he’s your best friend at this point, but bless his heart what an idiot. He’s already so sloshed!

“You boys are gonna feel that in the morning,” Carol reminds them.

“Hell yes, we are,” Daryl cackles again. Mangy hick. “Oh hey, I owe you ten bucks, Y/N.”

“Sure do.” Now, why is he reaching into his shoe? Oh, he kept cash in there. A worn, faded, floppy twenty. “Never pegged you for a money-in-the-shoe type.”

Glenn suddenly snarfs a little bit and says something, but you don’t catch it fully. And after a pause, Daryl’s eyes seem to snap in recognition for whatever it was and next he’s snickering like a naughty schoolboy.

A few of the other adults are cracking up, along with a few exasperated groans. Carol and Jacqui are already engaging the kids with some kind of discussion to divert their attention away from whatever the joke was.

Shane looks...let’s call it annoyed. Dale looks plain old confused. And so are you. Whatever is going on, it’s flown right over your head.

“It appears we’ve missed something,” Dale calls over to you.

“That’s more than a quarter out of you for that one,” Daryl tells Glenn in between belly laughs. “Wouldn’t have pegged you for havin’ that dirty a mind, Glenny-boy!”

And as Glenn covers his face, as T-Dog groans very loudly and mumbles “Y’all need Jesus,” and as Daryl says “I actually agree with that dude,” it hits you.

“Shane. What exactly did Glenn say that kicked off all this?”

He opens his mouth, but hesitates.

“Ignore them,” Rick suggests, to which Lori adds “They’re drunk and acting like teenagers.”

Then your brother runs his tongue over his teeth, a sure sign that he’s in angry mode. “Said he hoped you never ‘peg’ at all.”

Oh damn, son! “Glenn Jeremiah Rhee!” you yelp out.

“Someone will have to explain what that is to me,” you hear Dale murmur. “A sexual act, I assume?”

“Huh? That isn’t my middle name. I don’t have one,” Glenn responds to you, still giggling but looking alarmed at the realization of the joke he’d told.

“Daryl’s right about the quarter! You owe – heck, you owe five bucks to each of the kids for that one, nasty boy!” Damn it, you’re trying not to smile, but you’re failing at it. You are mad, but also OH MY GOSH, he’d made a joke like that? Glenn? “And an apology, rude boy!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t even know where that came from!” he keeps giggling. “Ha, you and your brother look so mad! Oh no...”

“Brain-dead but at least his eyes work,” your brother grumbles.

“Hold up, y’all. I got this,” Daryl announces to you, holding out the – oh right, the twenty that he’d pulled from wherever he kept it hidden in his shoe. You’d forgotten he was grabbing that.

“I owe this one ten bucks,” he says, gesturing to you. “And little drunk man over here needs to pay up, so, here we go.”

Nothing that Daryl had ever done before would have prepared you for what he does next.

“Hey little guys, y’all ain’t had school in a couple days. What’s half a twenty?”

“Ten,” the kids answer.

“Exactly.” And he rips the twenty in half.

Yep, that’s you, now buckled over with laughter and unable to stop.

“Ten for you,” Daryl croons (yes, croons), handing you one half of the twenty dollar bill, looking very satisfied with himself. “Still can’t believe you’re two outta three.”

To be specific, you’d said there would be Southern Comfort, a Wii, and (a big bowl of) spaghetti awaiting you all at the CDC. You still can’t believe it yourself.

“And you can split this one to pay the kids,” he finishes, handing Glenn the other half. “That’s about what cash is worth these days, right?”

Daryl Dixon made a funny and was remembering to try and stay respectful around the kiddos. He just made friends with everyone, didn’t he?

And you cannot believe that you’re thinking this but it’s probably just because he’d made you laugh so hard: he looks damned sexy with his cut-off sleeves.

WHOA there. Is it the little bit of wine and liquor you had that’s making you feel that? Damn. But you call to mind what Amy had said about such things and decide to regard your appreciation as purely “objective...”

...Still, you go and grab a water bottle from the shelf and chug like your life depends on it.

Dr. Jenner finally seems more at ease when he calls over everyone to “Follow me. You’ll need a place to sleep and rest up.”

“Yo, I’d give up my shoes for a proper shower,” Glenn mumbles to himself. “A long, hot shower.”

“You are pretty smelly,” you whisper back.

“Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you’ll all have to make do here,” Dr. Jenner calls back to you all as he leads the way. “The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like.” He turns around to face you all.

“There’s a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy,” he bends down and looks at the children directly. With good-humor, he instructs “Just don’t plug in the videogames, okay? Or anything that draws power,” the doctor firmly requests as he stands back up and continues down the hallway.

You rein in your squeal.

No. Way.

They actually have videogames? For real? Whipping your head around at Daryl in triumph, you hold up three fingers and silently mouth “Three for three, motha-fucka!”

“Same applies if you shower,” the doctors mentions as he turns the corner. “Go easy on the hot water.”

Glenn stops dead in his tracks. So does everyone else. He turns to you all, dopey grin lighting up his face. “Hot water?”

T-Dog’s grin matches his. “That’s what the man said.”

[peeterparkr]

perfidy;tom holland|7

chapter 7: the dialogue

enemies to lovers au/enemies with benefits

chapter summary: the name of the game

pairing: tom holland x y/n

warnings:  swearing, angst, fluff, smut (oral f receiving) (skip the * if you don’t wanna read) , ROLLERCOASTER, didn’t proof read

word count: 7.8k BUT IT’S A LIGHT CHAPTER I SWEAR

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You won. That’s what you liked to think. 

One kiss wouldn’t hurt anybody. That was the only thing that had happened, a simple sweet kiss. And it had felt different, it hadn’t been barely a kiss. You’d been the one to lean over, but he’d closed the gap. And it’d felt like a summer breeze, early june, and it tasted like the remaining tea he’d just had. Bittersweet. 

Kissing never hurt anybody. But it had you thinking. 

And he’d tried to lean over again, but you’d stopped him. 

“You finish your lunch and I’ll go take some air, you have an hour to rest,” you said quickly getting off his grip. “Then I’m gonna need you back on set and—“

He chuckled. “Y/N, c’mon we’ve got time,” he assured you, as he walked over to you. 

“You can take care of that by yourself, I’m going to….” you snapped as you stood up, you rushed to your purse and took out your red lipstick, you’d always carry it around. The lipstick was your weapon, it was something that gave you certain protection. Red lipstick gave you a certain sense of being in control, and you perfectly knew you were far from controlling this situation.  

He coughed. “y/n.” 

You watched him, “Thomas.” 

“Are you angry I’m winning?” 

You rolled your eyes. “Winning? Is this a competition now?” 

“It can be,” Tom laughed. “Dunno, it reminds me of ‘don’t cry’” 

“But ‘don’t cry’ was about pissing each other off,” you pointed out. Don’t cry. A game you hadnt played for a while. It was yours and Tom’s game, if you ever dared to call such a toxic thing a game. 

“I know this whole thing pisses you off, and I love pissing you off.” 

You rolled your eyes. “And does it piss you off?” 

“Yes, it pisses me off that I can’t keep my hands to myself because of you, out of everyone, it’s Y/N.” 

You crossed your arms and smirked. “Huh, this is… Seems like I’m winning this situation? Are you crying, Holland? I’m winning this game.”  

Tom rolled his eyes. “You’re not.” 

“The way I see this, Tommy, you’re kind of begging me…”

“I’m just trying to help you out, love,  I made you forget about your ex, didn’t I?” 

He had. That’s exactly why you were trying to run away from. You weren’t down to being played. 

“I… what does that have to do with anything?” You frowned. 

“Dunno, maybe if I keep your mind thinking of me, then you’ll focus more on your job.” He walked over to you, placing his hands on your hips. He stared down at your lips and then at your eyes. He leaned over to you and kissed your neck, two times he touched your neck and only once you blinked. 

“My job?” You cleared your throat. He pushed you against the wall, knowing exactly what he was doing to you. 

“Yes, you know you’re my assistant,” he continued his path from your neck to your ear. 

“I’m a hundred per cent sure this didn’t come in the job description or did you do this with your last assistants?” You smirked. “Haz.. and Harry? Your brother? That’s so disgusting, Thomas, even coming from you.” 

He quickly pulled back from you. “You’re an idiot.” 

“Am I, really?” you grinned. This was great, you’d taken the control back of this situation. “But you know I’m right. This is unprofessional. Were you unprofessional with any of your past assistants?  

And god, you hated him. Because you wanted to kiss him again, but you wanted him to be the one to lose. Not you, definitely not you. 

“No. No,” he cleared his throat. “You’re right, unprofessional.” 

“Glad you agree,” you smirked as you finally pushed him away from you. That didn’t stop you from kissing his cheek, staining it with a plump of red lips. “You better wipe that off before you come back to set,” you warned him. “I’m sorry you lost this one.” 

“You’re wrong about that, darling, I always win.” 

But he pulled you back to him, lips firmly pressed against your mouth, you felt your whole body initially tense up but then relax as you let your head fall into his bliss.  It didn’t go any further than that, only kissing. And it had been… different. The way he’d held your head, and the way his fingers travelled down your arm. His lips so soft, and the way he’d smiled after it. 

“And I’ll keep on winning. Don’t cry, y/n.” 

After that, you ignored the professionalism you had prided yourself you’d had, but one can only ignore something as sweet and pretend it didn’t happen for so long. 

You didn’t want to waste any more kissing because honestly, he was driving you crazy. It was just a little perspective. 

Cruising through the set, changing his schedules and trying to find places where nobody could see you. And so a game started, a game which was so thriving to play. Risky, but fun. So fun. The next few days had consisted of brushing, pinning and teasing. Fingers walking down his shoulders when he was on makeup, helping him adjust his clothes if he was nearby. Him, placing his hand on your waist as he was walking past you, and moving it just slightly down, licking lips and whispering in his ear. At very inconvenient times, like before he was just going to shoot a scene, you’d walk over and go: ‘Your zip is down, don’t cry.’ and zip it up, or when he’d brush against you, or walk his fingers up your thighs. 

Don’t cry, the game of your nightmares. A very toxic game which consisted of Tom and you getting on each other's nerves, pulling each other’s hair, saying something mean but ending it with “Don’t cry.” Which basically meant: “I don’t mean this, but if you cry you’ll have to do whatever I tell you.” 

Those dares included eating mustard which you hated, getting into the shower fully clothed, drinking a salty glass of milk, or whatever you came up with. Eventually you stopped playing so you wondered where this particular game would go. 

You guessed it was embarrassing enough teasing each other and trying to remain calm. It’d, so far, only gotten both of you to make out in his trailer. Twice. You didn’t even know why that had happened. How it had let there with him pushing you against the wall and slipping his tongue in. 

But you continued that game where you both pretended to hate each other, but it seemed different this time. Less real, at least. More… flirty, if you could think of it. But more firstly. 

But Tom was getting on your nerves, because he’d up the game, and he’d find ways to sneak a kiss. ‘Don’t cry’.  He’d try to be careful, nobody could know about this. But he’d sneak a kiss if he could, like when you were on your way to the makeup trailer, or when you were picking up your lunch. And you couldn’t react to it, or else you’d lose. 

But he’d get particularly more… teasing, especially when you were around Timothée. That was hard. Because you couldn’t react in any way, you were not supposed to be aware. 

And it kept going. 

Two weeks had gone by. And the game had only stepped up. 

Harry would be leaving in two days, and you hadn’t seen him. Your mind had barely thought about your last conversation with him, was he really going to propose? But you knew you had to be careful around whatever you said because you didn’t want to hurt him. 

The thought was roaming your mind when you were having lunch with Timothée, talking about life and other stuff, the props, the cameras. But Tom had decided to sit right beside him and not so subtly decided to play footsie. Very stupid, really. 

“Hey, y/n dear, oh, hello, Timmo...y/n dear, I need help with some crying.Will you help me out later?” 

You coughed. 

Timothée would usually only stare at him. You knew he was probably jealous, Tim had always been very reluctant when it came to Tom. You didn’t blame him. You couldn’t blame him. Less now. 

“Some crying?” Tim asked. 

“For the scene, lover boy,” Tom chuckled. “And you might be aware of this but your… girl…. Your friend here really hates me.” 

“And I can make you cry?” You questioned. “How lovely, would love to see you cry,” you answered as you kicked him. 

Tom cleared his throat. 

Timmy frowned but chuckled. “I will never understand how you guys hate each other that much,” he mentioned with poison. “I mean, you grew up together, you must have some good memories.” 

“You’re answering your own question, we know each other so well that we hate each other, you would too if you’d grown up with her,” Tom laughed. 

“Yeah, you’d need a lifetime to hate me, but somehow you only need five seconds to hate Tom,” you snapped back. 

Tim grinned as he let out a poisonous laugh. 

“Hm, you agree?” Tom raised his brows at Tim. 

Tim chuckled. “I’m sorry, I was dating her so I naturally had to hate you, that’s how couples work, if one hates someone the other one should, too.” 

Tom grinned. “Right., but you’re not dating anymore, why should you hate me, now?” 

Tim didn’t say anything, and you just glared at Tom. 

“Anyway I should go back to my friends, shouldn’t I?” Tom chuckled as he then proceeded to walk over to the other members of the cast. 

You watched him walk away. You rolled your eyes, and looked at Tim. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Tim chuckled. “It’s fine, really, but I’m not telling him the reasons I hate him for now,” Tim admitted. 

“You’ve got new reasons?” 

“In a way, yes,” Tim shrugged. “But can’t really be mad at him, I mean thanks to him I get to hang out with you again,” he admitted. “And I get to see your smile, even if I’m not the reason for it right now.” 

You felt a stab into your heart. “You still make me smile, Timmy.” 

He smiled, slightly. “I know, but it’s not my job anymore,” he shrugged. “There’s a vacancy for that job though, can I apply again?” 

You grinned, chuckling slightly. “There’s no vacancy open right now, I’m afraid” 

Timothée scoffed as he clenched his jaw. “Tom already filled it up?” 

“No, no, remember he's the CEO of being my mortal enemy,” you cleared your throat. 

He stayed quiet as he watched you, then dedicated a glance towards Tom who was not so subtly staring at you. 

“He’s in love with you, y/n,” Tim said. 

You rolled your eyes. “If he was, everything would be easier, he’d be nice.” 

He shrugged. “I’m not blaming him, y/n, but I see it, you know? It’s easy to know when somebody else is in love with the girl you love, it’s in the eyes.” 

“The eyes chico, they never lie,” you quoted making him grin. “And his eyes… only have hatred. So you’re wrong about Tom, don’t worry there’s only hate there. Now, I need to get that idiot back where he’s supposed to be, I swear he never knows anything.” You stood up as you picked up your stuff. 

“What about Harry?” Timothée asked. “Was I wrong about him too? 

You only glanced at Timothée, and then walked away. 

-

“So tomorrow’s Harry’s goodbye congratulations party dinner thing,” Tom mentioned as you were handing him a bottle of water as they’d paused a scene. 

“I’m aware,” you answered coldly. 

“Are you gonna bring anything?” He asked, watching you. 

“Dunno,” you shrugged as you called the makeup artist so they could retouch him, while you helped him button up his shirt again. 

“Y/N,” Tom sighed, as the makeup artist was brushing him up. 

“What?” You frowned.

“You’ve ignored me all day long,” he complained. You had, as a matter of fact. You couldn’t stand him, even when he’d tried to keep up with the game. You hadn’t shown any type of response, you hadn’t talked to him if you didn’t need to. You didn’t smile, you didn’t even look at him. 

“Get back to the scene,” you told him as you walked away. 

Eventually, the director gave up for that day and said they’d continue in two days, something wasn’t going well with the scene, they kept pausing and pausing. Tom would forget his lines, or he wouldn’t give in the emotion, something was off, you could tell. The chemistry with the actress or whatever, it was off. Everybody could tell. 

“What’s up? You’re really messing up,” you told him as he approached you. “Maybe you need to rest, you have all day tomorrow to rest.” You’d finally have a free day, a well deserved free day. 

He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, I just… Have my mind elsewhere, alright?” 

“Where?” You asked as you were walking away from him, already pulling out your earphones, not wanting to listen to him as you were walking to your car. You finally had it back.

“Don’t know,” he shrugged. “I.. maybe help me run the lines, tonight, I… I need to see how this goes.” 

You turned to him. “You were a real asshole today,” you mentioned. 

“What?” Tom blinked. 

“You don’t get to joke about my last relationship, alright? You crossed the line,” you snapped, you had to get it off your chest. “And you can’t joke about it in front of Tim and I, it’s not your place.” 

“Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” 

You plugged your earphones in. Tom stopped you. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know and I was not trying to… make fun…”Tom trailed off. 

You crossed your arms. “What were you trying then?”

“I dunno, let him understand that you’re not dating, he sometimes act as if you were—“

“Habits that didn’t wear out,” you shrugged. “Besides that’s not your business, Tom.” 

Tom gulped. “are you trying to get back with him?”

“Why do you care?” You sighed. 

“Are you? ” Tom asked. 

“No, I’m not,” you looked away. “And he knows that, we are friends, alright?”

“He knows?” 

“Yes, we are not trying to get back together, I…” You took a deep breath. Less now, of course, that you were trying to do whatever you were trying to do with Tom, and playing whatever game with him. Of course you didn’t want to get back to Timothée, or maybe you did, but you couldn’t play with him right now. You couldn’t play with his heart, especially because Tim was more aware of your feelings than even yourself. “He knows me too well,” you said out loud. “But that’s not the point, you shouldn’t have said that.” 

Tom shrugged. “He said he hated me.” 

“Well, who wouldn’t? With that damned attitude you’ve been pulling, and flirting in front of him, god Tom, you’re so full of yourself, I can’t believe this,” You snapped. “I… I can’t stand you, of course he would hate you. And why do you even care if he hates you?” 

Tom looked away. “Don’t know. Because.”

You rolled your eyes. “Why did you tell him that?” 

“Because you’re not dating anymore, I just pointed out he’s allowed to hate me for other reasons. Like a reason should be I keep making out with his ex,” Tom growled. 

“Ah, piss off, Tom, you’re… You won, okay?” you frowned, as you walked away, finally reaching your car.  

“No, no, wait,” Tom sighed as he ran after you. “Y/N…Please.”

“What?”

“You’re coming tomorrow, right?” 

“Yes, because of Harry,” You cleared your throat, and then took a deep breath. You couldn’t keep fighting with Tom, even if it hurt you, even if right now all you wanted to do was kick him, you had to write a script. “I...was gonna bake him cookies.”

“What?”

“For Harry. My way of saying goodbye. I think it’s literally my only talent, and I know Harry likes cookies.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, or do you want me to bring in anything else?” You asked. 

“No, no, no, just… come, it’d kill Harry if you don’t,” he commented. 

You opened the door to your car. 

“And it’d bum me more if I knew it was my fault,” he added as you turned around. 

“Look… I…” You really hated yourself more than him for what you were going to do next. “I was gonna open a wine bottle and bake the cookies.” 

Tom chuckled. “Hm, is that an invitation?” 

“No, you know what? Never mind,” you rolled your eyes as you hopped into the car. He stopped you from closing the door. 

“What if I make it up to you?” He suggested. 

“Hm?” 

“What if I cook something for you and we open a bottle of wine and bake the cookies?” He cleared his throat. 

It was time for you to chuckle. “See you in hell, Tom.” 

”Oh, is that a date? Are you asking me out?” He smirked. 

You rolled your eyes. 

He grinned. “C’mon we need to relax a little, and we haven’t really bonded, and we could go over the lines,” he insisted. 

You clicked your tongue. “I would say we’ve bonded a little bit more than required,” you rolled your eyes. “And I don’t want to bond that way.” 

He laughed. “Oh c’mon you know what I mean.” 

“Heard the cast was going to hang out, why don’t you tag along with them?”

“I wanna hang out with you, y/n, besides you were the first to hint at it,” he grinned. “C’mon, I’ll cook something nice.” 

You looked him in his chocolate eyes, you really wanted to say no. All you wanted to do that night was cry until you fell asleep after you ate a whole pint of ice cream or ordered a cheesy pizza. That was what you wanted to do, because Timothée had opened up a wound that you hadn’t touched in a while, and because you knew this was wrong, completely wrong. You shouldn’t be caring about this, you shouldn’t let Tom play you this way. 

“I… sure, fine.” 

“Okay, so I’ll… buy the ingredients and I’ll see you at your place?” He asked. 

“Alright.”

-

Tom had finished setting up for whatever he was going to cook. You were currently opening the bottle of the first wine bottle, pouring each a glass. You handed him his own glass and he grinned before clicking them together. 

“I love your apartment,” he pointed out. “We could film here, it’s got the total aesthetic, 80’s like apartment with flowers and vinyls and…You really got it all, don’t you?” 

“Really? I… Don’t know.” 

“It’s pretty and clean,” he chuckled. “So… tonight uh, we’re having pasta with chicken, because as long as I recall, you were a fan of it when we were children,” he announced. 

You sipped from your wine as you were pulling out the ingredients for the cookies. “Ah yes, big fan,” you chuckled. “Just don’t make a mess… So, I’m going to…” You took out your speakers as you were scrolling through a decent playlist to which he wouldn’t complain. 

“Wait, mind if we listen to my music?” He asked. 

You stared at him. “I—okay.” 

“Don’t worry I made a playlist thinking of you, all old music, rolling stones kind of thing, and Harry Styles because for a reason I know you’re obsessed with him” he pointed out as he connected his phone. 

You blinked, watching him as he started to play the first song. ‘Start Me Up’, a classic by The Rolling Stones. 

You grinned, “Thanks.” You danced slightly listening to it. “That’s abnormally nice coming from you.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Dunno, it seems nicer than usual,” you chuckled.

“I’ll punch you in the face if that’s what you want,” he joked as he dedicated a smirk to you. 

You laughed, and you knew this was risky. Whenever Tom was pulling this kind of stuff it meant risk, and it meant trouble and it meant he was probably trying to hurt you. But you couldn’t help but dance and laugh with him, you even were leaning against him at some point, he’d given you some of the sauce to try and you’d given him cookie dough. 

It was fun, and it was nice, even. You were joking around stupid things about your childhood, and then talking about silly stuff on set or barely anything. Maybe it was the wine but you hadn’t fought about anything. Or not… in a real way, you’d thrown some flour at him playfully, and he’d nudged you. At some point he’d accidentally spilled wine on his t-shirt and he found it as an excuse to stay shirtless. Of course you’d offered him a t-shirt but he’d said he didn’t want to wear a t-shirt that had probably belonged to Timothée. Honestly you hadn’t complained. 

And the second bottle of wine was opened just before you’d placed the cookies in the oven. 

“I know for a fact, that your favorite movie is probably Pulp Fiction or something any other film a film student would say,” Tom said as he was plating the pasta. 

“It’s not.” You laughed. 

“What is it? The Godfather? Fight club?” 

“No.” 

“What?” He seemed in such a state of shock as he stared at you. “Oh okay… 80’s more type of movies right?” 

You scrunch your nose, as you set the table. “Well.” 

“The breakfast club?”

“No, it’s actually Princess Diaries 2,” you corrected him as you sipped your wine, you could tell you were happier. 

“Wait, what?” He chuckled. “I do remember you were obsessed with that movie but—wouldn’t expect it to be your favourite.” 

“It’s amazing!” You declared. “It’s got Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews. References to Pretty Woman… it’s perfect! And it’s got Chris Pine, and I mean… The whole enemies to lovers trope.” 

“Enemies to lovers huh,” he laughed. “But what about the cinematography? I thought you were pretentious.” 

You frowned. “Pretentious?” 

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah, I dunno. I once heard you drunkenly rant about Birdman for 30 minutes,” he pointed out. 

“Oh who wouldn't.” 

“I just…” He laughed as he sat across you. “Well, enjoy, I hope I’m not that bad of a cook.” 

“Cheers, then, to hating each other,” you laughed as you raised your glass. 

“To being enemies,” he added before he clicked the glasses together. 

You both started eating and you actually did compliment him on his cooking. He wasn’t a chef but it was nice. At some point, cliche enough, you’d both reach for the cheese, brushing each others hand.

“Don’t you think it’s amazing that we’ve known each other for so long yet we are strangers?” You asked as you tilted your glass just slightly. 

“We are not strangers,” he frowned. 

“What’s my favourite color?” You questioned. 

“I actually know this one,” he snickered. “Uh… it was whatever colour the sky is, either sunset orange, or breakdown pink… that lilac dawn,” he listed. 

You blinked. “I… well.”

“Am I wrong?”He smirked as you watched him. “You’ve always been so poetic, y/n. So it’s that... the colour of the sky and... yellow in flowers, they make you happy.” He cleared his throat. 

You looked away. “Used to make me happy, now they’re just…. But um,” you sipped your wine instead. “Well, yours is blue, but black for clothes.” 

“I’m simple.” 

Honestly, you didn’t understand what was going on, it seemed irrational, and the whole night didn’t make any sense, talking about nonsense, movies, random things. But then, you were laughing on your couch just after taking out the cookies from the oven. You’d ate a few of the cookies as you had your legs on top of him. 

“Alright, but that scene in Risky Business,” you laughed, drunkenly. “Like, it’s one of the best things that ever happened.” 

“You're only saying that because you have a crush on Tom Cruise,” he laughed, as he searched for his phone. “Let’s watch it.”

He searched it up on YouTube and you leaned against his shoulder to watch it. You mouthed and moved your shoulders to the song. 

“I should try and recreate it,” he pointed out. 

You both stayed quiet but then actually looked at each other. A smirk appeared on both of you. 

 “Do you have… do you hic, have like an old shirt? One of yours, the big ones you like to use?” He asked. 

You rushed to your room as you searched for an old big dress shirt that could fit him, and then gave it to him. “We’re doing this.” 

And without further ado, he stripped into his boxers and somehow managed to put on your shirt. He laughed. 

“I need more wine before I do this, I look ridiculous,” he admitted as he downed his glass. “Alright, what’s… what’s the song?” 

“Old Time Rock and Roll, Bob Seger,” you told him as you searched for it, giggling. 

“Tom laughed. “Wait wait, okay,” he couldn’t stop laughing. “But you’re doing this after me.” 

“No,” you laughed. “Now, go on.” 

“We need… we need to record this,” he picked up his phone, as he pointed the camera at you. “Y/N here dared me to-” 

“I didn’t dare you,” you laughed. “You wanted to do this on your own.” 

“Fine, alright,” he laughed. “Um.. we will try and recreate-” 

“We?” You interrupted. 

“Sh, y/n shh… I’m… I’m gonna try and recreate the Risky Business scene,” he continued. “Now, okay, I’m going to…” He laughed to himself. “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this, alright, alright I’m going to...Play the music, darling, will you?” 

And the first notes hit in, and he rushed as he tried to slide in, failing as he only slid his way down to the floor, face falling flat. You couldn’t help but burst out in laughter, as Tom groaned on the floor. The song kept playing. 

“Are you…” You couldn’t stop your laughter. “Are you okay?” 

“Yes,” he sat up. “Alright, yes, yes I’m okay, man I shouldn’t be doing this… If I get hurt and I’m not able to film…” 

You giggled. “C’mon, you’ll be fine.” 

“Alright… You’re still recording?” 

“Of course.” 

He chuckled. “Your floor is too slippery…” he stood up and then sighed. “Attempt number two.”

“Okay….” You tried to hold your giggles as you replayed the song. And he slid again but now he slid too far and couldn’t stop. “You suck, Holland.” 

“Shut up, y/l/n,” he chuckled. “No wait, I think… I know how to do it.” 

“Another one?” You frowned. 

“Yes, yes,” he laughed. “Man, your shirt feels tight,” he mentioned as he then proceeded to get back. “Okay, okay, I’m ready… wait I need… this,” he picked up a long and thin flower pot. “The mic.” 

You grinned. “Good, now…” you laughed as you replayed the song. 

But he finally slid like he was supposed to, and when the note hit he started to dance, you laughed throwing your head back as he tried to do his best impression of Tom Cruise. 

He smirked as he danced his way towards you, moving his hips and over exaggerating his movements, you rolled your eyes as you watched him, still recording him. He jumped to his spot right beside you, laying his head on you, the way he looked into you made your stomach stagger you with butterflies. You had to ignore this, this was only the wine. 

“So?” You swore he was about to kiss you, as he was leaning over, you pushed his face away. 

“I could do it better,” you claimed and he laughed. 

“No you couldn’t.” He frowned. 

“Yes, give me my shirt back,” you demanded as you tipsily stood up. 

He grinned, “that’s a weird way to ask for a strip tease,” he sassed. 

You rolled your eyes. “Put your shirt back on and give me my clothes I’m going to…” you couldn’t stop giggling as he had already stripped down and pulled you back To the couch, you pushed him away . “Thomas, put your pants back on, never mind I’ll go get another one.” 

He chuckled. “Why? Don’t cry, y/n.” 

“I am going to recreate that scene in risky business too, I can do it better…” you said as you downed your glass before rushing for a mother dress shirt. 

“Y/n, love you’re too drunk, you can’t handle your wine,” he joked, already back with your shirt on, but then cleared his throat as he watched you take off your clothes, and button up your dress shirt. “I’ll stop complaining.” 

“Sh, start playing the music,” you stumbled a little bit. 

“Y/n.” His drunken giggles were music to your ears. 

You laughed. “Wait, sh, you had your turn, now it’s mine alright? I need to… get in the mood.” 

“The mood?

“Tom Cruise mood, k?” You stretched as you tried to slide, practicing, almost falling down. 

“Y/N be careful,” he warned. 

“Play the music!” You ordered as you slid down but went too far. You stumbled down again, cackling up. 

He laughed, “wait wait wait, no no,” he walked over, helping you up. “Okay, no, you’re worse than me,” he placed his hands on your hips. “Look, you’ve got to push this hip—“

“You literally just failed before me,” you complained. But he placed a kiss behind your ear. 

“Sh, I’m trying to show you,” he whispered. “So you’re gonna move the hip forward and up,”he motioned as he moved your hip. “and then slide, okay?” 

You rolled your eyes. “Can I do it now?”

“Can you, love?” He mocked. 

And then you were sliding, again and again, failing until you finally got it right and danced along. To that old song, the piano notes going over and over. 

But then somehow, you were both sliding together, dancing to the song. And Tom came up with a brilliant idea, to slide together while holding each other. 

Of course, when you’re drunk a lot of things look like a great idea. The execution, of course, wasn’t ideal. 

But you did it anyway, and you fell flat to the floor, both of you, Tom on top of you. Giggling to each other of course, as the music continued and then the pain started, your ankle. 

“Are you—are you okay?” He asked between snickers. 

You chuckled. “I… I think I hurt my ankle.” 

“Really?” He looked worried as he was staring deep into your eyes. 

But you couldn’t keep your laughter. “Yes.” 

“Why are you laughing then?” He joined you as he chuckled. 

“I—I don’t know.” 

He snickered as he gradually stopped laughing, both of you running out of breath, but he really stared at you,  pushing your hair back from your face, digging his chocolate eyes into yours, as he slowly switched between your eyes and your lips. 

You were waiting for him to make a move, as you twitched your lips. He brushed his lips slightly against you just as you felt your chest tightening, everything seemed so slow. And he finally caught your lips with a hard and soft kiss, it was weird, as if his lips were kissing a petal flower but were so hungry for it. And he backed away but then kissed you more and more. Peppering with small kisses as if he knew this was wrong and he had to let go but he couldn’t get enough. 

“Tom,” you said between kisses. 

“Hm?” 

“I really hate to ruin this but my ankle seriously hurts,” you admitted. 

He sighed before giving you one last kiss, chuckling into it. “Leave it only to you, y/n,” he said. “Cmon lets get you some ice.” 

Before you even knew it he had picked you up from the ground, making you squeal; and carried you to your bedroom. He kissed you after plopping you on the bed before leaving for the kitchen. 

You hugged your pillow. Where was this going? And why didn’t you mind? 

He brought a bag full of ice but then didn’t give it to you. He stopped at your door frame and looked around at your room, it was simple. Some vinyls on the wall, and lots of cut out movie posters, and Polaroids. Many Polaroids, some even with Tom in them.“I think I’ve honestly never been here,” he pointed out before sitting on the bed beside you. He’d brought two beers. 

“You still have a lot of pictures of Timmo hanging around,”he pointed out as he finally gave you the bag of ice and the opened beer. 

“I—well,” you shrugged. “He’s important to me.” 

“He’s the only ex boyfriend hanging around,” he sassed. “Is there ever going to be another one as important that you don’t take him off the wall?” 

“I’m not ever gonna have a boyfriend again, I lost the perfect guy,”you sipped your beer. “I’m probably gonna die an old maid.”

Tom chuckled. “That’s not true, you’re a witch, remember?” He shuffled to get closer to you, both of you leaning against the wall. “You’re immortal, don’t worry, you won’t die, you’ll stay single, but you won’t die.” 

You stared at the wall. “Mm, oh to be a witch in the woods not bothered by men.” 

He giggled. “that’s a dream.” 

“Yeah, and I’m getting close to it, by not having any boyfriend.” 

“I could be your boyfriend,” he stared at you.

You burst out in laughter, but your head landed on his shoulder. “Ha, sure.” 

“Did you laugh?”

“Yes, you’re joking, people usually laugh at jokes,” you nudged him. “You’re funny.”

He faked his pride. “Am I undatable?”

“Very. And may I remind you that we despise each other?” You recalled as you chuckled. You were drunk, very, very drunk. 

“Ah, minor details,” he laughed as he lifted your chin, “Wait am I really undatable?” 

“Yes.” 

“Or is it only our history?” He questioned. 

You pushed him away and shrugged. “You’re undatable and we have way too much history,” you stretched. 

He shifted to sit in front of you. “Okay, let’s put it this way, imagine if someone set us up... we don’t know each other  and I showed up at your door.” 

You wrinkled your nose. “Uh-huh, yeah, no, hard pass.” 

He frowned. “Really? Am I not boyfriend material?”

“No.” 

“What material am I then?” He laughed. 

“Punching bag material.” 

He rolled his eyes. “But no, okay okay, really, picture it.” 

You scoffed. “Oh, cmon Tom.” 

“I’d show up at your door with yellow flowers,” he trailed off. 

You looked away. “Yellow flowers.” 

“Yes, and I’d take you-“

“To a fancy restaurant? Hard pass.” 

He licked his lips. “You haven’t even let me finish.” 

“But I know you.” 

He shuffled closer. “No, I’d probably take you to a train ride.” 

“A train ride?”

“Ya, all that sceneric shit you like.” He was playing with your hand. 

“But wasn’t this a blind date? How would you know I like that?”

“You think I wouldn’t ask about you? And please I would’ve stalked your Instagram,” he pointed out. 

“And you’d still showed up? Hmm I had stalked your Instagram I would’ve passed.” 

“Really?” He looked hurt. 

You smiled at him. “No.”

He blushed but then cleared his throat. “but then for our second date…”

“Oh, we are having a second date?” 

“Of course.” 

“But we were meant to hate each other,” you laughed. 

“Yes, true but you don’t show your true self on the first date so we wouldn’t fight until the third or fourth,” he commented as he was now walking his fingers up your arm. 

He shifted back next to you, and your head landed back on his shoulder as you played with his hands. “So where would you take me on the second date?”

He kissed the top of your head. “Stargazing.” 

You shook your head. “Hmm no, that’s more of a third date kind of thing.” 

“Hmm museum then? Yes... And we’d probably make out there.”

You laughed. “Why is that?” 

He chuckled,sipping his beer. “I’m 78% sure art turns you on.” 

You laughed. “That’s oddly specific”

“Yes, I need to confirm it but I have evidence to support that,” he laughed. 

“What’s that evidence?”

He smirked. “I turn you on and I’m art,” he lifted your chin and brushed your lips with his thumb. 

You glared at him. “You don’t turn me on.”

“Sh, we are planning our dates here,” he pecked your lips. “So third date?”

“The stargazing thing and that would be my idea… Maybe a picnic in the dark, we could fly a kite at sunset.”  

“Fly a kite?” He frowned. 

“Yes, that’s so romantic,” you laughed. 

“As long as I recall last time we did fly a kite I was the opposite of romantic,” he scoffed. 

“You ripped my kite.” 

“It was an accident.” 

You chuckled. “You were an accident.” 

“Maybe the kite flying would make us realize that we hate each other,” he sighed.

“Too bad, we won’t get to the stargazing,” you mentioned.

“Who knows maybe we do, we start fighting and we keep fighting that the sun fades out and before we know it we’re fighting under the stars,” he chanted. 

“Aren’t you romantic,” you rolled your eyes. 

He turned to you.  “Why do you hate me?”

“Hm?”

“I—I don’t understand why we hate each other,” he whispered. 

You looked at him. “Because I’m always waiting for the next time you’re going to hurt me.”

“What?”

“I… look at this dynamic alright? It’s not like we haven’t had this before,” you started, as you turned to him. “This whole… thing.”

He stayed quiet. 

“Think about it, we’ve been alone like this and everything goes… decent, whatever that means. And we’ve…” you cleared your throat. “And… I simply wait for you to give me the cold shoulder again, and then… just wait for you to find a way to break my heart again.” 

He didn’t say anything. 

“And it’ll be like my teenage years again,” you didn’t know why you were telling him this. 

“What about—?”

You let out a soft chuckle. “I was in love with you.”

He sipped his beer. “Terrible decision.” 

“Ha, yeah. But hey. I was inexperienced, didn’t know better, and you simply…” you trailed off. “I mean I didn’t like you when we were children… but you were the… you were the first person I ever fell in love with…”

Tom frowned. “Really?”

You closed your eyes. “God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this. It’s like I’m giving you the weapons to hurt me, and then telling you where exactly to wound.” 

“I won’t…”

“But… I guess you made me hate you. I didn’t want to hate you. All those years growing up, I was annoyed by you, you were this… kid with lots of energy and with barely any boundaries and then… it didn’t bother me you know? Little did I know it was tearing me apart. And then… you broke my heart, and you knew you were breaking it, and I’m not talking about when we were kids, I’m…it’s stupid okay, but you knew it didn’t you?” 

Tom took your hand in his. “I—“

“So that’s why I hate you,” you admitted. “Because you know all my weaknesses and you use them against me.” You gulped. “So the real question here is, why do you hate me?”

He kissed your hand. “It’s complicated. I don’t hate you, but I do, I hate you because I know I should.”

“That doesn’t make any sense—“

He kissed you, a slow but warm kiss, you closed your eyes instantly.. You could taste the beer on his lips, his fingers were running up from your hips to your stomach, as he so delicately peppered your face with kisses, soft and slowly. You didn’t want an answer, anymore. You guessed this was his answer. 

Your own hands were busy unbuttoning the shirt he was wearing. 

*

Your hands found his stomach and travelled up to his chest. His lips rattled down to your neck, as his hands went up to your breasts, cupping them gently. You kissed his jawline as he pulled back slightly, you opened your eyes, as he was running his hands up your thighs, making you shiver. 

And the clothes were a burden, even if you were barely wearing anything for now, the dress shirts were bothering both of you. You let him take it off of you, as his lips landed on your stomach and slowly placed gentle kisses, trailing up and down. Down to the edge of your hips, and up to your collarbones as if he was trying to map out your body, with his hands delicately pushing against your thighs. His warm breath made you squirm again and he only looked up with a grin. 

His fingers teased the edge of your underwear, pressing his lips on top of it. He looked up at you, caramel eyes filled with lust… but sweetness. He traveled down to your inner thighs, brushing his lips against them, his warm breath making your core shiver. 

“I hate you,” you moaned, making him chuckle as he only made your core tremble. 

“don’t cry y/n,” he said before placing a kiss to the fabric covering your sex, already soaking wet. You let out a moan, throwing your head back. He slipped his fingers past the fabric and pressed the core just lightly. 

“Tom,” you shut your eyes closed. 

He ripped down  the lacy underwear next throwing it across the room, and only chuckled against you, you tried to grip into the blanket as he opened up your legs more. 

“You’re gonna hate me more, but you already ate something I cooked,” he assured before he ran his fingers up through your folds.

“Thomas,” you whined in protest. 

He chuckled before leaving a soft trail of kisses on your heat but avoiding where you needed him the most.

You tried to close your legs trying to get any type of pressure, but he kept them open.  He licked his lips before finally placing a soft kiss to your clit, you let out a moan. 

“T-Tom,” you could barely say it as he continued to lick around the sensitive nub in slow motion, as his fingers were slipping in through your folds. You ran out of breath as he curled up his fingers inside you. 

Your stomach tightened with pleasure as you continued to moan his name out loud. 

Your hand went down to tug his hair, and you swore you could feel his smirk against your heat. But he continued, up and down, in circles. In and out. And you were close and he knew it, so he went in faster and harder. 

“Come for me, darling,” he ordered and his name fell out of your mouth again in breathless gasps, as you came all over him. 

You had to catch your breath as you came down from your high. 

 But he climbed back up with sloppy kisses. And you cupped his face, running your fingers down his hair and crushing your lips against his. 

You pushed him back, sitting up so you’d finally be able to push back his shirt, and finally wrapping your legs around him. His hands clumsily ran behind your back as you kissed and sucked on his neck biting slightly, his hands finally managed to unhook your bra as you pulled back, you cupped his face again, staring into him. 

His sloppy kisses found a sweet spot on your neck his hands went down to knead your ass, and he moved your hips, rocking into you. Your finger traced down his toned muscles as you felt you were running out of breath, as you slipped your hands into his underwear cupping his hard length. You caressed it but he pushed you back into the bed, pushing your head against your pillow as he grinned and squirmed. His hands wrapping your waist as you helped him pull down his own underwear, his cock hitting his stomach. 

“I need to be in you, y/n,” he admitted as he positioned himself in between your legs, rubbing the tip against your folds. You reached for your drawer this time, knowing damn well you had some spare condoms from when you were dating Tim. You wrapped the condom around him, and he teased you again. 

He didn’t even warn you before in a single rough movement, he thrusted into you, he squeezed his eyes shut as his body curved into you. You were still recovering from your own high as he started pulling in and out, you rocked your hips against him, helping you get your own friction as he thrusted in slowly and steadily but roughly. Your nails dug into his skin, as your lips found a sweet spot on his neck. Sweat dropped down his face as he connected his lips back to yours. 

He bucked his hips to meet yours as he was moaning your name. You didn’t know how long it took him but you were so invested in his lips, as he arched his back, quickening up his movements to reach his own high. Your hands exploring down his body, and kneading his ass, the friction against your core building up your second orgasm,reaching your high even with more pleasure.. Before you knew it he had yelled out your name and squirmed his high, filling you up as you . 

*

He pulled out but kept kissing your neck, not even needing to catch his breath, as his hands walked down your body. 

But his lips landed back on yours and then he stared at you. You were panting as you pushed his hair back. 

You wouldn’t have been ready for what he asked you next even if they’d warn you. 

And you… feared it again. 

Because he was poisonous. No. He was like that song that you fell in love with and you loved listening to it, over and over, until it eventually bothered you because it was overplayed. It got old. But one day, without you noticing, it played on the radio and you realized that you were falling in love with it all over again.

“What are we, y/n?” He asked as he nuzzled against your neck, placing soft kisses against it. You reached out for the blanket to cover both of you. 

“Mmh?”

He cleared his throat. “I mean… this whole thing we’ve got going on?”

“Don’t know, didn’t expect to end here.” 

He gulped. “Neither did I”

You say up just slightly and turned to him. “But does this need a name? Can’t we just… not”

“Cmon, it’s not that complicated, I just need to know what you think we are, so we are both on the same page,” he reached out to push your hair back. 

“Why would you need that?”

He shrugged. “So I know where my boundaries are, what’s the name of this game?”

You bit your lip. “I’d say we are...Enemies with benefits.”

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[tomboyneedshercoffee]

Thin Ice Pt2 || Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Y/N and Peter’s slippery interaction on the ice leads to the beginning of a friendship.

Word Count: 2.6k

Author’s note: Sorry this part took so long I’ve been studying for my midterms! Also, this is one of the last times Y/N nerds out over snowboarding so I promise, I won’t have as many confusing references or anything like that! Also also, thank you to everyone who requested more parts and wanted to be added to the tag list! I’m super glad yall are enjoying this series! 

Warning: Swearing!! But ughhhh that’s it

part one || part two || part three || part four || part five || part six || to be continued 

You grabbed your skates from the counter and sat down on a wooden bench next to Cindy who was already done lacing up. The snow had stopped falling and left complete fluffy powder in its place and the air wasn’t as harsh or crisp as yesterday was. 

This was Cindy’s big moment to shine; she was never seen as an athlete but boy did she love to show off when it came to her ice skating skills. You, on the other hand, weren’t the best at ice skating which didn’t really make sense to your friends since it’s kinda like snowboarding in terms of balancing. Nonetheless, you weren’t going to be the only person sitting out while the rest of your classmates had fun so you did your best to participate gracefully. 

After getting your skates on (with much help from Cindy and Betty), you slowly got onto the ice and hung onto the wooden fencing. 

You were all out there for almost two hours and you wondered when Mr. Harrington would call it quits for today but he was nowhere to be seen which worried you. This was your first-time ice skating outside on an actual lake and you were terrified you would fall through but the girls convinced you that you were just being paranoid. 

“ Uhm, where is the trusted adult chaperone? I didn’t spend my savings trying just to slip through the ice and die,” You said in a jocking tone but the girls knew you were somewhat serious. 

“ I don’t blame you, you’re probably still traumatized after Peter practically ran you over yesterday,” Cindy replied as she skated backwards so she could face you and Betty. 

You held on to Betty’s hand tighter as some kids who couldn’t be older than eight whizzed by you. You felt your subconscious say to stick your leg out and trip them but you pushed those dark thoughts aside and tried to keep your cool.

 You kept looking at the ground just in case you saw any cracks in the ice but you still rolled your eyes at Cindy. 

“ For the last time, it was an accident. Besides, I think I look badass,” You pushed out your bottom lip and revealed the small gash from yesterday that was still healing,” I just hope Peter isn’t beating himself up about it.”

While the girls conversed with one another, Peter and Ned skated several feet away as Peter listened in on the conversation with his ‘spidey hearing’. He couldn’t help himself but when he started to feel guilty, he turned to Ned. 

“ Maybe I should go talk to her. I don’t want her to think I forgot about what happened cause I feel-”

“ Insanely guilty yes, you’ve said it almost a hundred times within the last hour,” Ned interrupted as he shook his head,” but of course she didn’t forget. She has a huge cut on her lip to remind her what happened.” 

Once again, Peter felt another wave of guilt before MJ skated beside him. He watched as your group skated further away and he felt his legs slow down. Say what you will about MJ, but she wasn’t the type to thrive off of people’s pain and suffering especially when her close friend was whining about a girl. 

“ Don’t let this get to your head Peter, but she couldn’t stop talking about you last night in the hotel room. It’s safe to say that she forgives you indefinitely,” MJ said plainly as if that wasn’t the best news Peter could’ve heard. 

Peter stopped in his tracks completely,” Are you serious? What did she say about me? Please please please tell me-”

“ Parker!” Cindy shouted as she bumped into him harshly which caused you and Betty to fall over towards Cindy.

You and Betty both fell onto your hands and knees as you thanked the universe that you didn’t smash your face in once again. 

You ignored the gasps from your friends as you tried to push yourself up with your hands. Your legs wobbled and you gave up, sinking to your knees to avoid further embarrassment.  As MJ and Cindy helped Betty up, Peter rushed over on his skates and slid over to you with his hands out. 

“ Y/N, I am the worst person in the world I’m sorry,” Peter apologized and you felt like you were having major deja vu. 

You reached up towards Peter as he lifted you back onto your feet but since he pulled you up so fast, you fell forward again, leaning up against his chest. Peter stabilized his feet and held onto your waist, making sure you didn’t take both of you down. 

You hung onto his shoulders as you pressed up against him more, your feet shifting nervously. While you could hide your blush against his chest, your friends could all see that the cold wasn’t the only thing making his face looked flushed. 

Peter’s mind was buzzing as you squeezed him tighter; oh my fucking god this is really happening right now. 

“ Y/N, um, you can open your eyes. You’re not going to fall,” Peter consoled you softly as you nodded, opening your eyes. 

You looked up at Peter and you pulled away when you realized how you were mere centimeters from his face. You let go of his shoulders and instinctively grabbed his hand instead so you didn’t fall over again. Peter looked down at you hands and gave you a reassuring squeeze. 

“ Thanks, Pete. I guess you redeemed yourself from yesterday,” You gushed as you looked down at your interlocked fingers. Even though you were both wearing gloves, you still felt weird holding his hand in front of everyone to see. 

You pulled away and awkwardly dropped your arms to the side as Mr. Harrington called out that it was time to explore the shops in the snow village. You gave one last look at Peter and smiled softly before shuffling over to the exit with Betty and Cindy. 

“ Ooooo Y/N and Peter sitting-”

You turned to Cindy and you weren’t sure if it was the soreness of your feet or how little sleep you got last night but your playful push turned into a hard one as you pushed Cindy into the snow with a soft thud. Cindy whined as you and Betty rushed to help her up to her feet. 

“ What were you saying?” Betty teased as Cindy let out a mocked laugh. 

“ Ha ha way to treat your friends.” 

After lunch, Mr. Harrington set all the students loose to look around the shops. Each had their own little gimmick like On the Edge Snowwear or Snowbunnies R Us.

You bent down to be eye level with one of the shelves that had a colorful array of snow goggles and studied the snow goggles as if it was the Mona Lisa. As you picked one up, you watched Brad come over to you from the corner of your eye but you kept your attention to the shelf. 

“ Really? Another pair of goggles? You have almost a dozen at home,” Brad said as he clicked his tongue and took the one you were holding out of your hand,” oh my god Y/N these cost more than the plane ticket!”

You grabbed the goggles back from him and shook your head,” They’re not just any goggles, they’re limited edition from the 2018 winter Olympics, see?” 

You pointed at the band on the side of the goggles and showed him the rings with the flag of South Korea beside it. 

Every student at Midtown had their own obsession; Flash was into expensive cars and was always at car shows during the weekends, Betty’s skin was always glowing because she’s completely obsessed with  Korean facemasks and feels the need to have collections of the same one, and Peter was strangely in love with Spiderman because he would always talk about how cool he was and asking everyone around him if they felt the same way. 

Your weird obsession was snowboarding and watching food ASMR videos but you decided to keep one of those things a secret. 

“ It was the year for snowboarding I mean come on, Shaun White won the most snowboarding medals at one Winter Olympics and Chloe Kim brought home the gold she’s our age!” 

You pulled out your phone and took a picture of the goggles before putting them back on the shelf. You could tell how disinterested Brad was but that didn’t stop you from taking a picture of the whole shelf altogether. 

When you stood back up, you looked across the shop and watched Peter and Ned laughing over one of the corny t-shirts on the rack. Peter felt your gaze on him but when he looked up at you, you moved your gaze to a random shelf. 

Brad looked at Peter and then back at you,” Is there something going on between you and Parker?” 

“ What makes you say that?” You asked as you walked over to the window where you watched MJ slam a pile of snow into Flash’s face. 

You knew exactly what he was asking but you had already put that embarrassment behind you and you didn’t want to relive it. 

“ You two were pretty cuddly on the ice this morning. Just be careful, I don’t want him to hurt you again.”

There was something a little harsh in Brad’s voice and you already knew something was up with him. Brad’s temper was always like rolling a pair of dice; some days nothing annoyed him while other days would set him over the edge. 

Whenever he used that voice, that meant you got the luxury of deciding how he would be handled in that place and time. 

“ Careful now, you sound a bit jealous,” You said, almost studying his face as he clenched his jaw,” what’s going on inside that head of yours Davis?” 

“ Why would I be jealous of him?” He asked bitterly as you put your hands up in defense,” I’m telling you to be careful or you’re going to end up in the medic station again.”

There was something definitely wrong but you were already so tired from this morning and decided not to fight this battle. 

“ Hey look, I’m just playing around. Is something wrong?” 

Brad ignored you, turned around, and pushed through the doors as he left you standing there in the middle of the store. You didn’t bother chasing after him because you knew how he was when he was annoyed. Besides, you were on this trip to have fun, not babysit. 

 You looked around the store and when you made eye contact with Peter again, you decided to put your embarrassment aside and walk over to him. 

“ I couldn’t help but notice your burning gaze from across the room,” You teased as Peter laughed,” tell me, do you come here often?” 

He was glad that there was nothing awkward between the two of you, especially considering what had happened this morning with how close the two of you were. He set down the snowglobe he picked up and stuffed his hands in his pocket, trying to get the image out of his head before his whole face turned red. 

“ Oh sure. I love spending my free time at a store called Tis the Ski-son boutique.”

He followed you as you both walked out of the store side by side, leaving with no other purchases. Peter wrapped his scarf around him tighter, even though he was slightly embarrassed for being cold (which of course didn’t make any sense) while you breathed in the cool air. 

You watched your feet as you listened to the snow crunch from underneath you, almost getting lost in an icy trance. 

Time always felt slower when it snowed outside and yet, this trip was going by so fast. You only had a few more days left before the trip would be over and you knew you would miss it already. 

You watched Peter who looked so uncomfortable out in the cold and tried to find a store to settle in for a bit. 

“ Edgewater Cafe has really good hot chocolate if you want to check it out?” You offered as Peter nodded his head, almost too eagerly. 

You and Peter had quickly shuffled over to the cafe and once you got inside, you could feel Peter melt beside you, feeling at peace in the warm coco shop. When you ordered for the both of you, Peter insisted that he paid and even slapped your hand away while you tried to give the cashier your card. 

He claimed it was his treat but you both knew it was a way to apologize for both yesterday and today’s events. 

Peter found a quiet area in the corner and sat on one side of the couch as you took the other. You both brought the cup to your lips at the same time but you watched him as he took a small sip with his eyes closed. 

“ So, what do you think?” You asked as you took a sip, savoring the rich chocolate. 

Peter nodded and took another sip before putting resting the cup back onto his thigh,” Okay, it’s not bad but I wouldn’t say it’s the best.” 

“ Oh come on! Where else can you get hot chocolate this gourmet?” 

“ If by gourmet you mean a cocoa mix with boiling water then yeah, I guess it is gourmet.”

You shook your head at him as you took another sip, not caring what he thought. You watched Peter as he rubbed his finger up and down against the cup as if he was deep in thought.

Out of nowhere, Peter’s heart started to race and he was glad that you couldn’t tell the difference. It finally hit him that you two were hanging out alone, which rarely ever happened unless you two were doing a school project or shared the same subway home. 

You felt this too and decided to break the tension,” This isn’t weird, right? Like us hanging out? Alone?” 

Yes. 

“ No, why would it be weird?” Peter asked as his voice cracked slightly. 

You shrugged and took another sip before putting the cup down on the table. This was definitely weird but for some reason, you didn’t mind. You had a pretty good radar on people and Peter never seemed like a creep so you felt at ease. 

“ I don’t know to be honest. We’re classmates but I never really knew if we were friends or not,” You admitted as you watched Peter’s smile fall,” I mean, do you want to be friends with me?”

You shook your head and laughed, your mind processing what you had just offered,” I know that sounds childish like we’re in kindergarten or something but yeah, I guess what I’m saying is that I think we should be friends. Does that sound childish?” 

Peter didn’t know what to think. He felt like he had just gotten friend-zoned but on the other hand, being friends was a step up from what you two originally were. 

Of course, Peter wanted to just spill everything about his not so small crush on you but relationships take time. If he had to wait and be friends with you, he would gladly take that. 

“ It does sound childish..but yeah. I want to be friends with you,” Peter said as you both shared a sweet smile,” does this mean we have to make friendship bracelets or something?”

“ I’m two steps ahead of you Pete,” You picked up your cup which was almost empty by now and lifted it up towards Peter,” how about a toast...to new friendships.” 

Peter lifted his cup and pressed it against yours as his heart slammed against his ribcage,” To new friendships.” 

@yeahimcrying @greatpizzascissorstaco @mysticalbanshee @weyheyavengers @infinityflamesworld @peterparkoure @fandom-fangirl22​ @holland-in-disguise

[popculturebuffet]

Hickman’s X-Men One Year In: Part 2: The Dawn of X

And we’re onto part 2. Since it took me a while to talk about Hickman’s Series outside of Giant-Size and the setup here, that’s in part one if your curious, I split this little retrospective into two parts, with this part here talking about the rest of the books. This isn’t to say they aren’t great, many of them are, it was just easier to do this as a two parter so with HIckman himself out of the way how did his hand picked batch of talented writers handle the lofty status quo he set up?Find out under the cut. Pax Krakoa baby. 

Mauraders Okay just to get this out of the way this is my second faviorite x-book running, after X-Men itself and it often equals it and far and away the best tile of the run and restored my faith in Gerry Duggan.  Duggan is not a bad writer and I blame the messy finish of his otherwise awesome guardians run with infnity wars on marvel trying to cram other characters into it and then a weird mash up idea that while cool, kept the guardians out of their own damn event and from confrting a now mad gamora, but that and deadpool made me forget the guy is a good writer and can do great things. Maruaders however won me back to him with intrest.  A unique concept, the x-men as pirates helping ferry goods to krakoan allied states and ferry trapped mutants from hostile ones, is fucking awesome. The only thing missing is nightcrawler and it’s clear hickman has other plans, though I still feel he shoudl’ve been on the boat as he has both the relation to kitty pryde and pirate pedgree that fit in perfectly.  Speaking of kitty after years of writers misusing her due to having a crush on her as a kid and shoving her into half baked romances with peter quill and her ex peter rasptuin, the latter failing so badly that marvel pulled the plug on their wedding because fans clearly didn’t want it, and battling my own reluctance ot see her front and center again, Duggan makes good use of her again: Kitty is given the unique hook of the portals not working for her and no one, even her old friend Doug after he gets back, being able to figure out WHY. Though I do hope Doug does show up here and explain it more, as him being kitty’s best friend once is rarely brought up since he got back and it’s silly it hasn’t been. But rather than take this on the chin Kitty strikes up a crew consisting of big sister Storm, first class graduate x-man, badass gay and kitty’s friend and ex iceman, bishop who reluctantly joins as her bishop more on that in a second and the best of them by a mile: Pyro. The original, finally brought back and given some intresting backstory: he was the first mutant brought back and felt good about it..t ill he realized that despite sacrificing himself to save a, if your familiar with the various cartoons this will be baffling but trust me, reformed senator kelly as Pyro himself was dying from the legacy virus, only to find out they did him first because they considered him expendable basically and naturally was upset over that, drunk a bunch of the liquor kitty smuggled in, for logan naturally, and passed out and then joined in on the rescue mission that formed the team because why not and stayed because it was a great offer.  Speaking of offers with a new purpose, Kitty accepted her old enemy Emma Frost’s offer to be red queen, which includes a seat on krakoa’s council and was basically emma’s way of saying fuck you to her old cohort who she was forced to bring back on to handle the seedier side of Krakoa’s dealings via his underworld connections, sebastian shaw. Emma is the fincical  backbone of krakoa, having the shipping connections to get the flowers in and out and now having kitty to handle the stuff she can’t and do some of the shipping, as well as again tell Sebastian, who naturally wants both gone and is pissy at Emma being so far ahead of him, wants gone. And while he’s seemingly succeded with kitty I not only have every expectation that while ressuection is failing to work on her she’ll be back, but that trying to murder one of the most beloved x-men whose consdiered family to among others three of krakoa’s captains, bishop after this series, four of their council, five if you include Doug whose best friends with both his left arm which is also a deadly space robot and the very place they live on. The only reason he’s not going to die 80 times in increasingily horrifying ways is because the five can’t take on that kind of workload and one murderous ass beating from half of krakoa and krakoa itself is close enough. 

Emma is easily one of the books best parts, being written back as she should: An anti hero who while quick with a cutting quip, truly cares for her charges, and mutantkind as a whole and has grown from the monster she started as or even the kind of person who’d use a therapy session from a desperate man having issues opening up emotionally after apocalypse used his body as a rental car to convince him to fuck her.  And yes that’s how things started with Scott and Emma and yes it’s really fucked up and yes the story treats it as such, though I still wish Scott would get actual therapy, but as Linkara recently pointed out in his House of M Review the Marvel and DC universes weirdly lack therapists for the most part and thus it was left on my mind the last two weeks.. and yes I know DC tried but when your final product at trying to serious tackle mental health is heroes in crisis.. I award you no points and god have mercy on your soul.  But while Emma and Kitty get the lions share of the focus the rest of the group is enjoyable, well done and intresting, if not given many arcs to themselves, but still have enough character moments to counterballance that. The standout of the rest of the crew is easily Pyro, taken from “why is he still dead despite being super popular and used in a heavy role in X2 that’s garnered fans of that version to this day and bafflement he became a foot note in the next movie and used in every adaptation” to fun side character with a skull on his face and a love of booze and setting things on fire. He’s finally given the respect he deserves sorta and while I hope more is delved into his ressurection angst, he’s a ton of fun and it again makes me wonder why it took 20+ years to bring him back, but i’m glad the right person did it. The rest of the crew are fun with Bishop being another standout.  That being said part of the reason there isn’t a lot of focus is simply because in additoin to our brave crew the book is juggling a LOT of characters.. the morlocks and calisto, both given a proper treatment after wya too long, jumbo carnation a minor character from morrisons run who was introduced in the same issue he died is emma’s designer, shinobi shaw and christian frost, the latter I question why a main relative of one of marvel’s a-list mutants who was one of marvel’s earlier gay characters hasn’t been used in a big way till now but no time like the present, Sebastian and the people he shares his big bad spot with Homines Verde aka those tweens who ran the hellfire club during jason aaron’s run because the man is nuts and who I only seemd to liked, brillinatly revamped as a racist replacemnt for the hellfire club and so far a clever threat. The book is just stuffed iwth good characters, beautiful art, and a great tone that combines spectacular humor with really good story and worldbuilding. It’s also a nice contrast to hickman’s stuff: don’t get me wrong I love hickman’s writing style but it’s nice to have something JUST as good.. but with a cheerier tone and less weariness to it, while still not lacking weight. I can’t wait to see where this goes.. it’s a pirates life for me. 

Excalibur:  Like most of the dawn of X-Line outside of fallen angels, more on that in a minute and even then that had an intresting new directoin for betsy braddock, I was pumped for this one. A team I loved: While I struggled to find a run I loved with Claremont’s run having Brian Braddock be a raging dick whose terrible to his girlfriend and gets away with cheating on her and Claremont not really bothering to explain Saturnyne or other characters and their history with Brian well to us yanks who never had the chance to read those tales.. though why stories by alan moore and chris claremont haven’t been republished properly or in epic collections is beyond me. Warren Ellis, who I now loathe for being a scheming weasel who treated women like garbage, had a decent run with plenty of warlock, in a weird phase where he thought he was doug, Moira and Wolfsbane stuff I loved.. but also had 30-40 something pete wisdom shacking up with 18 year old at most kitty pryde, with Pete at the time being basically Warren Ellis badass self insert character, and given recent revelations i’m pretty sure he damn well knew kitty was just 18 and even if he didn’t having his own fanfic character deflower her is just all kinds of EWWWWWW. He also had Colossus, fresh of being a villian for a while for understandable reasons, nearly beat pete into a coma in a jealous rage over the ex.. the ex he dated while she was still a minor, and left because HE , and editorial, was uncomfortable with it for damn obvious reasons. I can see why fans like to see her as bisexual and pair her with Illiayna.. I mean why the fuck not? They have better chemistry than most of he hetrosexual intrests and are paried because of that and not because the writer wanted to make out iwth kitty as a teenager and forgot “oh yeah she’s fictional and i’m 40!”  Christ thank god for Gerry Duggan.  But yeah moving on from that I was still pumped as a magical x-men book with Besty Braddock now captain freaking britan, and apocalypse on the roster. And rictor and jubille? nad rouge and gambit I guess.. I don’t knokw if they fit but whatever. Sign me up. The actual result is a mixed back. I do like Tini Howard’s work here to a point: Betsy gets good character stuff and theres actually good tension from the fact that the new captain britan is no longer primarily a british ctizen, and the book brought back a character I felt marvel needed to do more with: Jamie. if you don’t know, Jamie is betsy and brian’s, her brother and the former captain britian, older brother who went insane due to his powers and thus just goes around in his underwear convinced reality isn’t real and he can do what he wants and the tension with Jamie refusing to have anything to do with his brother for no good reason is really good. Rictor and Apocalypse are likewise good sensable additons: Rictor turns out to be a natural to being a druid which is a nice twist and makes sense given when he lost his powers the biggest issue with that was loosing touch with earth after having a connection to it be a vital part of him for years. Apocalypse as an ominus chess master slowly securing magic for mutantkind with some goal we’re about to get answers to is really investing and adds a layer to his character, that much like doctor doom he’s as much sorecer as he is scinetest and given the guy’s immortal, it dosen’t feel like it was pulled out of nowhere.  The problem is the other half of the cast.. dosen’t really work. I fucking love Jubilee, a faviroite of mine as an xman despite not being a huge 90′s x-men cartoon fan, just feels kinda shoe horned in. Her son becomes a dragon and she worries about him constantly, but her worrying about her son possibly not being a mutant on mutant land could be done in any other x-book, and fraknly I feel her personality would fit better with the maruaders, and it’d be intresting to see kitty and her on the same team since both really haven’t interacted. Here she just feels like “well tini wanted jubilee and no one else did soooo I made her son a dragon to justify getting her”. I feel more could be done and hope Tini has better plans for her. Rouge is one of my faviorte x-men and All New X Factor and Kelly Thompsons work with him and Rouge made me like Gambit again, and I DO love their marriage and it was a way better idea than the one Guggenhiem had planned.. but while the idea of Rouge being reborn is intresting and all, she still dosen’t really get to do much and like Jubilee just feels weirldy out of place while Remy has that plus he’s annoying, as while he’s the only one rightfully supscious of apocalypse he also won’t shut the fuck up about it for five minutes. Ig et where he’s coming from  but it dosen’t make him less annoying. These aren’t bad characters, but sof ar they just feel weirdly out of place in a magic based book and unlike Rictor tini hasn’t made any of htem but Rouge feel in place. 

That being said I could ignore that more.. but the villians are also week. So far at least, as the return of Satyurne has given the book it’s first good antagonist.. but what I feel drags the book down the most from it’s potential is the bad guys; Morgan Le Fay is the first antaognist, being mad at apocalypse’s intrusions and corrputing Brian.. but her motives are just so boring: She wants power and to rule, she hates mutants... while “hates mutants” is a qualifier for every other antagonist so far, she just feels bland.. Tini just dosen’t make her feel like a good antagonist and it’s a shame as mutant hater or not she’s something DIFFRENT from the throngs of mutant hating conspiracies, mostly from russia in the other books... she’s just so bland it dosen’t work. And after her is Cullen Bloodstone who as far as I can tell is written out of character.. haven’t read his book but I had both a friend confirm it and having read his marvel wiki entry, it just seems like an odd turn to have him be a racist asshole. But even with all my problems and underwhelm here.. I still WANT the book to get from okay to amazing, and feel it genuinely has the potetial. I’ve seen books sharply improve after a rough first arc, Duggan himself showed me that with his Guardians run. Sometimes it just takes time for something to truly blossom and I have a feeling even with my issues, with x of swords coming up howard’s going to flip it all on it’s head and leave me standing there gasping like a moron. I have hope for that. And if nothing else the book is at least UNIQUE. And not in a trainwreck way: by giving mutants a piece of the magic pie and having them tackle far weirder threats, it’s at least doing something new and it probably lands for other people if not me, and if nothing else it does brian 80 times better than the claremont run did. not a high bar but I do like the character and it’s nice to see him take such an intresting path, and the same goes for Betsy. Tini’s still got magic to do, and I have a feeling it’s going to take me by storm very soon. 

Fallen Angels: Now for the other half of the coin as it were. Some fans weren’t happy about Betsy getting her old body back, and yes Psylocke wasn’t orignally asian but a white british woman bodyswapped iwth a japanese assasian and yes that’s as ludicrious and unteitonally offensive as it sounds, because horrible implications of said Body Swap or not, Psylocke was one of the few asian superheros of note. So to compromise , Hickman and co decided to split the diffrence: Betsy would come back and get a rank up to captain britan, while Kwannon, said assasian, would take over as Psylocke. Hence Excalibur above and fallen angels here and I was excited about it. The Body Swap thing went on a decade too long and this way fans got the character they knew as Psylocke in another book while the face they recognized would finally get some fleshing out. I was excited about that and while probably the least excited about this book of the intitial 5, it did have an intresting lead, two characters I did like (Kid Cable I grant was only under hickman who turned him from that brat version of cable who killed the one I really love to a good character in his own right), and an intresting antagonist in a sentient machine.  In practice it was okay. The best I can say is that writer Brian Hill DOES do a great job taking a mostly minor x-character and really fleshing her out and making her engaging and Kwannon’s quest to save her daughter is really compelling.. but the premise of those who don’t fit with krakoa dosen’t work with the roster given. Laura Kinney is not only sticking with the x-23 name after dropping the wolverine mantle for no reason previously, something Hickman fixed as soon as he realized how fans felt for her apperance in the main book, while Cable feels nothing like the far more fun version from Hickman’s X-Men and later Duggan’s Cable. Add in Husk and Bling who do deserve to be on a team but feel out of place here, and it just.. is okay. The book has an intresting angagonist and a great lead, but just dosen’t work as a team book and would’ve been better off being JUST about kwannon herself, who is far and away the best part about the book and i’m glad she got fleshed out. Not TERRIBLE but nothing special and it’s a shame given the antagonist, whose name I can’t even remember at this point, is intresting and ties into mutantkind’s greatest enmies being man and machine accoridng to house and powers.. basically a decent concep twith a flawed execution. Maybe hill’ sbatman and hte outisders run is better. I need to get on that. That being said the premise and idea is so far being done well in Hellions which we’ll get to, even if I’m being cautious really getting into the book with Zeb Wells track record. But more on that in a bit. 

X-Force: Time to make noise, bad guys leave us no choice.. you know the rest. But yeah X-force. The concept here grabbed me, having X-Force rather than just be the black ops squad but be literal black ops for krakoa, was really great and fit the brave new world.. what worried me was the writer, Benjamin Percy. Now a lot of x-fans probably knew him from the much beloved “Wolverine: The Long Night” podcast, which i’ve heard is utterly fantastic as is it’s followup.. but I hadn’t heard it, and had only heard of Percy from DC comics where under his belt was an okay teen titans run and a not very good and politcally unsubtle green arrow book. And i’m not against politics in comics it just wasn’t done at all well there and the “oliver queen looses hif ourture due to a shadowy conspiracy thing” was already done better by jeff lemire. So yeah I was going to give this a chance but figured like those books it’d start strong and then peter out.  I. Was. Wronnnnggg. X-Force is easily one of the best of the dawn of x and uses said premise well. It started a bit roughly, mostly becasue the first arc idnd’t make clear x-force didn’t exist yet but was a great origin story: a squad of military commandos working for a shadowy consirtum who become x-force’s big bad, plunge onto Krakoa and massacre a bunch of mutantas and assinate charles xavier. He comes back, though it’s trickier for obvious reasons, but it’s clear from this, and from wolverine and kid omega’s sucessful investigation and finding domino, that this can’t go on and thus X-Forces is formed; The intellegence and black ops arm of Krakoa and the one arm of it’s goverment exempt from the ‘dont’ kill humans rule”. What followed was nearly a years worth of fast paced adventures with good character stuff: Wolverine is in his element, kid omega, while I had my doubts due to quinten being way overused , turned out to be a perfect choice basically being a more compitent teenage sterling archer, cocky and loving this but also really good at his job, while Domino gets a great arc dealing with her trauma over her mutalation and having some of her power stolen by the shadowy masked dickheads while Colossus deals with his trauma over what went down when he rescued some Russian mutants, with the book slowly building up new threats and towards a showdown with Russia, something that’s also been built up by conflicts in Wolverine and Mauraders, which again makes the world of x feel more like an actual world instead a bunch of comics in one cast herd.  Jean Grey is good for intellegence, though by now seems to have noped out as she couldn’t take the toll, it’s not for everyone and most notably after 5 or 6 years of being treated worse and worse and written worse and worse and becoming a bigger and bigger piece of shit Beast is FINALLY put in the right spot: his darker turns aren’t ignored but he’s back to being an actually intellegent hero as X-force’s director, still a bit greasy but now for good reason and without a god complex or some such bullshit and with a tiny bit of his humor back. Not much else to say really, X-Force is well paced, enjoyable and gritty, getting the spirit of the team at it’s best down right while doing something fresh with it. 

New Mutants (Ed Brisson) Last one, New Mutants is the odd duck of the dawn of x line in terms of how it was launched. Fallen Angels ended up being a mini series both due  to Hill being busy and it’s cast being needed elsewhere but will presmibly get a follow up later, but it’s not the ONLY mini series in the line with Fantastic four/x-men, the giant sized one shots and now Empyre: X-Men all debuting in wave 2. New Mutants however is the first book to change writers and said writer STARTED in the middle of hickman’s run, partly due to scheduling delays but even before that it was partly by design and those issues haven’t been collected yet, with hickman’s short run being collected first. So you have a run that builds off what Hickman started but with it’s own ideas that started insidei t and suprisingly it .. really works.  While I do think there are better books in the line Brisson’s new mutants is enjoyable, combining humor and character work. New Mutants focuses on the sextant, which was first brought up in hickman’s run, the series of habitats for younger mutants on krakoa that the new mutants look out for, and while the original new mutants are in space, Armor decides to try and bring some old friends in to join in paradise with the help of Glob Herman, that big pink guy with a visable skeleton and eyes, and Maxine and Manon, who in the tradition of layla miller were created for an event and not great htere but turned out amazing under the right writer.. who I think also wrote that event but whatever, a pair of empaths and telepaths who have trouble grasping the right ethics for using their powers.  The four go to get one of my faviorite x-men back: BEAK! I missed him even if he’s weirdly suddenly repowered. Beak and his wife Angel only haven’t joiend in with their kids because his dad’s sick, and things soon escalate when a bunch of criminals try holding them all hostage and it’s up to boom boom, bored since everyone left her alone, to save the day! After that we deal with Magik rangling them and the team’s new mission statment: not wanting ot mess up again like she did with beak, who did join them but not without loosing his dad and then his memory of his dad thanks to the twins misguided efforts, Armor still wants to try welcoming new mutants in with the vetrans help, and thus we have our puprose: focusing both on how these younger mutant 20 somethigns of various ages from early to late work together to make a better world nad help their own get back to this world. it’s intresting.. I’m not in love with it like mauraders or x-force, but it’s still pretty good and their first big foe so far, DoX, a blog that well.. doxes mutants that haven’t arrived yet, seems to be intresting. Not much to say just pretty good and and better at mixing comedy and character stuff, and getting the cast right. Ed Brisson had already proven himself on old man logan, but this cements him as one of the hottest new x-writers around and i’m glad he was given a book here. He’s also succeded in making me actually like Glob Herman so that’s a plus. 

Fantastic Four/X-Men The first title of wave 2 and easily one of the best, right up there with mauraders nad probably JUSST behind it and ONLY because i’ts a mini series, giving the X-Men their first real step into the rest of hte marvel universe. Sure the 4 had cameoed in the first issue and there’s been mentions of krakoa in other books and one off issues but mostly Krakoa really hadn’t impacted anything.. but that first issue also set things up with Scott’s conversation with Sue Richards

Yeah and in case those who haven’t been aware of what’s going on with the FF lately and either remember franklin as a 6-11 year old or wondered why the hell he was suddenly a teen when they read this crossover, it’s actually simple; At the end of secret wars the Richards family was put on a bus, also so marvel could shove the ff as a proper team out the door due to the whole fox rights thing, and when Dan Slott had brought them back.. and cleverly had more time pass for the richards than for the 616 proper, so he could age Franklin up to his late teens and Valeria up to her early ones, allowing the richards children to actually age since Franklin’s age always had to stay vauge due to marvel’s vage and wobbly time scale. This way they get both consitant ages and more agency.  But the return also came with a price as Franklin, who if you didn’t know is so powerful he can create whole universe and shape the sturcture of the universe, had his powers break saving his family, and thus since he came back, he’s onlyg got so much of them left in the tank before they run out entirely, and it’s been an issue for him in Slott’s run as he worries about being the normal human in a fantastic family and comes to a head here, though rather than Hickman himself, who as mentioned last time has a marvelous track record with the family or FF series writer dan slott Hickman choose a wild card for this, though had both Hickman and Slott’s permission to do whatever he wanted: Chip Zdarsky, a modern marvel for marvel who’d writtne the four in marvel two in one but for some reason didn’t get the main book and this book makes me hope whenever Dan Slott bows out he gets his turn and while this is his first x-men work, Zdarsky proves he’s just as good here as is in most of his work on Howard the Duck, Jughead and Star Lord.. a weird selection I know but all classics. 

With this power outage, Franklin is worried his dad is, at least subconciously, not really trying to help him and to make matters worse teh x-men show up to offer their help.. and Franklin his birthright. The arguments made by both sides are great and I will be covering the series in full soon but in a nutshell the four dont’ want to give up their son/nephew, Reed dosen’t trust Xavier and feels he wants to use his son’s powers while the x-men feel it’s franlin’s choice and he’s old enough to make it, he belongs with them and he’ll be safer there. It also works because Franklin understandably isn’t swayed by either as neither is reallyt alking to him more at him, especially his parents .. and only tries the gate when Kitty Pryde, the two  bonded back in the 80s and a young franklin stopped her from comitting suicide long story but really moving, is the only one to tell him it’s his choice. This dosen’t go quite well though since Reed Richards, father of the year, decided to make a device to mask his son’s mutant gene and no one, including his own family, is happy about htis.  Naturally Franklin, with Val’s help, runs away.. and then as if it couldn’t get worse DOOM shows up wanting to help so now it’s a three way dance between them for hte fate of franklin. The series has gorgeous art form the dodsons a really damn compelling story and great setup for further stories for both lines and feels like the best of both franchises. It’s the x-men’s first huge impact on the rest of the marvel universe,a nd it feels like it with the ending showing that and showing this might not be the last time both sides crossover. It’s everything you could want from a crossover and i’m only being so brief because I want to review it soon as a huge fan of both groups. Easily one of the best x-men stories of the line and one of the best stories for both groups period. 

Wolverine:  We’re onto the final two, and Percy’s second book and the first solo.. and it’s logan again! Makes sense though: Wolverine only just came back from the dead, and while both is daughter and alternate future self carried the woverline banner for him, the original hasn’t gotten his own ongoing in some time. And so far.. it’s pretty good> the first issues a bit messy due to it’s lenght, but overall the book is intresting and has Logan graple with being the best at waht he does and if he can be better or if he deserves paradise while also delivering a compelling solo mission teaming Wolverine up with a federal agent who resents mutants. it also does some good world building, explaning why Krakoan drugs have things like wait lists (they want to control production closely both to avoid having the flower taken away and for quality control), and expanding the russia subplot while using Dracula of all people as a major antagonist, which is clever especailly since this isn’t his first rodeo with the x-men. Just a fun book wiht loads of promise.

Hellions: NOt much to say here as it’s hard to judge after two issues, buti f nothing else this series brought back the delightfully batshit Nanny, who just with last weeks issue offered to nurse Greycrow (who had his name changed from scalphunter because of course marvel did why wouldn’t they) and falling down. It combines humor with an odd but well thought out cast and makes Alex Summers intresting without making everyone else assholes, a hard but earned feet. If it continues to be good.. I dunno, especially since i haven’t been impressed by any of zeb wells other works especially his new mutants run, good god that one’s am ess, but so far he’s winning me over with a clever concept and roster full of deep cuts.  Final Thoughts:  I won’t be covering Empyre: X_men, though I did enjoy it and i’l save that one for next time. For now this has been a hell of a year of x-men comics, with even the weaker books still having something intresting and none being outright terribule and only one had a bad grasp on some of it’s cast and for a line this big and expansive, that’s a gold medal achivment. After YEARS of stasis the x-men have finally risen again better, bolder and stranger than ever. IS every book A+ gold star etc etc, no, but what’s important.. is that it’s all DECENT. There’s enough standout books to make it work but as i’ve made clear what isn’t the best of the best is still good or decent. There’s nothing bad, no one phoning it in or not giving an effort, everyone is trying thier hardest and succeding on SOME level even if not completely and that.. that’s truly amazing and I look forward to more of it as this line continues. Pax Krakoa and hopefully i’ll see you again. 

[brown-bi-beautiful]

Supernatural Series Rewrite

Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

Dean Winchester x Named Reader (eventually)

Series Warning: language violence, angst, fluff, sexual content, Gore, molestation, mention of sexual harassment, usual supernatural violence. (If you’re triggered by any of these then please don’t read)

(A/n- I had to give the reader a name, there’s reason behind it but you can change it if you want. I changed some of the plot and some of the scenes but mostly it’s the same. I do not own the supernatural series but there are some things that are completely my imagination, it has nothing to do with the actual mythology or the series)

Bloody Mary (part 2)

Season one. Episode Five.

Bloody Mary (Part 3)

"I was on the job for 35 years, detective for most of that. Now everybody packs it in with a few loose ends but the Mary Worthington murder.....that one still gets me." The detective said answering one of your many questions.

"What exactly happened?" Dean asked as you sat silently looking around the room and the three men.

"You guys said you were reporters?" The detective said.

"We know Mary was 19, lived by herself. We know she won a few local contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana being an actress. And we know that at the night of March 29th, someone broke into her apartment and murdered her. Cut out her eyes with a knife." Sam said, obviously being the only one out of the 3 of you who actually read about the case. Usually you'd do it but your mind wasn't in the right place right now.

"See, sir, when we ask you what happened." Dean said confidently.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to have a copy of this." He said pulling out a folder from the cabinet, you watched as the brothers shared a look. He started going through the folder and finally stopping at a picture which you assume was Mary laying in the pool of her own blood.  "See that there? T-R-E?" He asked and you all nodded in incision. "I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer." Detective suggested.

"You know who that was?" Sam asked.

"Not for sure. But there was a local man, a surgeon, Trevor Sampson." He said pulling out a picture of a man in tux. "And I think he cut her up good." 

"Now, why would he do something like that?" You opened your mouth for the first time since you guys arrived here.

"Her diary mentioned a man she was seeing. She called him by his initial, T. Well, her last entry, she was gonna tell T's wife about their affair."

"But how do you know it was Sampson who killed her?" Dean asked.

"It's hard to say. But the way her eyes were cut out, it was almost professional." Detective said with a glint of sadness in his eyes.

"But you could never prove it?" You said, wording out the guilt inside his head. "No, no prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous."

"Is he still alive?" Asked Dean.

"Nope......If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guys secret. But she never could."

"Where's she buried?" Sammy asked.

"She wasn't. She was cremated." He said and you almost rolled your eyes.

"What about that mirror? It's not in some evidence lock up, is it?" You asked.

"No. It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago."

"You have the names of her family by any chances?" Sam asked and luckily he gave you the name of Mary's brother.

On your drive back to Toledo Sam called Mr. Worthington to ask about the mirror. "Oh really? That's too bad, Mr. Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror ok, well maybe next time. All right, thanks." Sam said hanging up the phone. "So?" You and Dean asked in incision as soon as he was off the phone. "So that was Mary's brother. The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it, one week ago..To a store called Estate Antique. A store in Toledo."

"So wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?" You asked raising an eyebrow although you already knew the answer. "Her spirits definitely tied up with it somehow."

"Isn't there an odd superstition that says mirrors can capture spirit?" Dean asked. "Yeah there is. When someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped." You answered keeping your eyes on them the whole time.

"Mary dies and the mirror draws in her spirit." Dean said in conclusion.

"Yeah, but how could she move through 100 different mirrors." Sam wondered out loud.

"I don't know but if that mirror's a source. I say we find it and smash it." Dean replied to Sam's question.

"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe."

Sam's phone started ringing and he picked it up in the second ring. "Hello? Charlie?" He asked on the phone with concern. "Hey, hey, calm down. Just meet us at our motel and we'll be there soon. Just don't look at anything that shows reflections." He said hanging up and Dean speeded up.

"What's wrong?" You questioned as soon as he was off the phone.

"Someone said it again and now Mary's after her."

When you got to your motel you saw charlie waiting outside covering her eyes. "Hey, it's okay, we're here, let's get you inside." You led her into your room but she didn't stop shaking and didn't uncover her eyes. Sam and Dean covered every reflecting surface of the room while you sat besides her to comfort her. "Charlie, you can open your eyes now, it's okay, you're safe now. Now, listen, you're not gonna look at glass or anything that has reflection okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you." You soothing voice which Dean always referred as creepy.

"But I can't keep that up forever. I'm gonna die, aren't I?" She asked and you shook your head.

"No, you're not, not anytime soon." Sam said.

"Alright, Charlie, we need to know what happened." Dean asked, sitting on her other side.

"We were in the bathroom. Donna said it."

"That's not what we're talking about. Something happened didn't it....In your life? A secret, where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it." Dean asked and more tears left her eyes.

"I had this boyfriend. I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night at his house...We got in a fight. Then I broke up with him and he got upset and he said he needed me and he loved me. And he said 'charlie, if you walk out that door right now I'm gonna kill myself.' And you know what I said? I said 'go ahead' and I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just.. I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." she started sobbing again after finishing her story. You looked at her with sympathy. "Charlie it wasn't your fault." you said rubbing her back but she didn't accept it.

"We're gonna go take care of this thing ok? Don't look at anything reflective.” The three of you got in the impala and started to the antique shop.

"Alex was right you know. Her boyfriend killing himself, that's not Charlie's fault." Dean said from behind the wheel and his eyes met with yours through the rear view mirror but you quickly looked away breaking the eye contact.

"You know as well as I do....spirits don't exactly see shades of gray, Dean. Charlie had a secret, someone died. That's good enough for Mary." Sam said and once again your heart dropped at your stomach. All you could think about was your secret right now. You know it shouldn't be the first priority here but you couldn't help it. "you know I've been thinking.. It might not be enough to just smash that mirror." Sam said and it caught your attention, pulling you out of your trail of thoughts.

"Why, what do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Well Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirrors. Who's to say that she's not gonna just keep hiding in them forever? So maybe... We should try to pin her down.. You know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it." Sam said.

"Well how do you know that's gonna work?"

"I don't, well not for sure." Sam replied.

"Well, who's gonna summon her?" Dean asked and before Sam could answer you opened your mouth, "I will. She'll come after me for sure." you said and the brothers looked at you with similar frowns. "No. You won't." They replied in unison suddenly acting all protective.

"No I'll do it. She will definitely come after me." Sam said, sounding guilty.

"Alright. You know what? That's it." Dean said pulling the car to the side to have a conversation with both of you.

"This is about Jessica, isn't it?" He asked turning toward Sam. "you think that's your dirty little secret that you killed her somehow?" He asked but there was no answer from the younger man which only proved Dean right. "Sam, this is gotta stop, Man. I mean..the nightmares.. and-and calling her name out in the middle of the night, it's gonna kill you. Now listen to me. It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something then blame the thing that killed her. Or why don't you take a swing at me? I'm the one who dragged you away from her in the first place."

"I don't blame you. " Sam said.

"Well you shouldn't blame yourself. 'cause there's nothing you could have done." Dean said. You decided to stay quiet because you damn well know of you say a word the lecture will suddenly turn to you.

"I could've warned her." Sam said and you frowned.

"About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen." Dean said and Sam looked away from him you could swear to God he was hiding something from you guys. "And, besides, all of this isn't a secret. I mean we know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway."

"No you don't." you knew it! He was hiding something.

"we don't what?"

"you guys don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything."

"what are you talking about?"

"Well it wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?" Sam said and Dean was taken aback for a second.

"No I don't like it. It's not gonna happen. Forget it."

"He doesn't have to do it. I'll do it." you chipped in.

"No you won't. None of you gonna summon her. And seriously Alex, what is wrong? You have nightmares all the time, you barely sleep and when you do, you cry in your sleep." He snapped and you gave him a look. "yeah I hear it. Every night. I don't say anything because I want to give you your space. I know we don't know a lot about you but we know you enough and you will never hurt anyone intentionally. So whatever it Is, it's not your fault. So none of you are gonna do it. " He said and you felt a tear slid down your right cheek. 'only if you knew, Dean. Only if you knew you wouldn't think so highly about me.'

"You have no idea." you said in a small voice. His words only made you feel more guilty. How are you ever gonna tell him. And if they ever find out, they'll hate you. "Dean, that girl back there is gonna die. And you know what? Who knows how many more people are gonna die after that unless one of us do it." you said.

"And it's not gonna be you." Sam said turning slightly toward you. "Sam...... Please don't fight me on this one." you said and he sighed. "fine. We'll do it together. Maybe she'll get confused about who to kill first and we'll have a little more time in our hands." Sam said and you nodded agreeing with his plan then both turn to Dean. "Dean, you've gotta let us do this." you said in a very soft voice and he say silently for a few secs he nodded his head.

"But I don't like it, I don't like it at all." he whispered before turning on the car and driving toward the Antique store.

You were kneeling down in front the door of the antique store with your lock pick in your hand. You were successful in your third try. You opened the door and got inside, followed by the Winchesters.

There were way too many mirrors in that shop. It made spotting Mary's mirror even harder for you. "Well, that's just great." Dean commented sarcastically. He pulled out the picture, showing us the mirror in front of which Mary died. "Alright start looking." He said and Sam started walking deeper into the store. You turned to follow him but Dean grabbed your wrist pulling you closer to him, looking deep in your eyes he said. "Are you sure about this?" you nodded. "I don't like you doing this. At All." he confessed.

"I don't like it either but we don't have another choice." you said and this time he nodded.

"But when this is over, you're gonna tell me everything. No more secrets."

"Somethings are better off as secrets, Dean. Please promise me you won't ask me about it." you said and he looked away. "Dean, please." you cupped his face making him look at you.

"Fine I promise." He said and you don't know if you feel relieved or even more guilty. "let's just get this over with." He said pressing his lips to your forehead briefly. As in queue Sam called out. "Found it." and the two of you walked to where he was. He was standing in front of the mirror shining his torch on it. Dean opened the picture to confirm it was the same mirror. "that's it."

"you sure about this?" he asked Sam. He sighed and the 3 of you walked in front of it together.

"Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." you both said in unison. Sam grabbed your hand with one of his and with the other he raised his crowbar. "Bloody Mary." you finished, squeezing his hand tightly.

A light shined through the shop from the window and we looked toward it. "I'll go check that out. You guys stay here. Be careful." he handed you his crowbar and started walking out. "smash anything that moves." He said and you nodded.

You heard a breath and turned toward one of the mirror. You saw a feminine figure standing in the mirror and took no time to smash it. You heard Sam smashing another one. "come on, come into this one." you said turning toward the main mirror. You frowned when you saw your own reflection smiling creepily at you. You heard a cry of pain and turned to Sam to see him bleeding through his eyes. You took a step toward him but stopped when your own eyes started burning. You could feel the warm liquid coming out of them. "it's your fault." your reflection said as the crowbar fell from your hand. "you killed him and you killed her too." you heard yourself in the mirror. From the corner of your eyes you saw as Sam fell on his knees clutching his chest. "Sam" before you could take another step there was a sharp pain in your head and your whole body. Sam was looking at the mirror but you couldn't see what he was seeing. "They told her. Everyone told her you were a monster but she never listened to them. They told her to kill you but she didn't listen to any of them and this is how you repay her. You killed them." you groaned, crawling toward Sam. "Sammy, Sammy don't listen to it. We can do this." you said grabbing the crowbar he dropped but before you could do something Dean ran by you and smashed it.

"Sammy! Sammy!" Dean said kneeling down in front of you guys and grabbing his face. "it's Sam."

"God, are you guys okay?" He said turning to you and taking your face in his hand and Wiping the blood from your face but you were pretty sure he just smeared it even more. "uh, yeah."

"come on. Come on." he tried helping you to stand up. "I'm fine help him." you told him and he did what you said and helped Sam to get to get up as you got as yourself.

He put one of his hand over his shoulder and the three of you started walking out. You were limping behind the Winchesters when you suddenly heard clinking of glass and heavy gasps behind you. You guys turned around to see that bloody Mary has crawled out of the mirror.

It only took a second for Dean to grab you and pull you behind him but it didn't help any of you. The three of you fell to the ground, groaning in pain as she walked toward you. More blood came out of your eyes.

You saw as Dean grabbed a mirror from beside him and held it against Mary. She stopped in her track and started looking at her reflection. "you killed them!" you heard a deep gruff voice. "All those people! You killed them." It repeated you saw as she melted in a puddle of blood right in front of you. Dean threw the mirror down, shattering it.

"Guys." you groaned out

"yeah?" Sam asked.

"That's gotta be like, what, 600 years of bad luck?" you said looking at all the broken mirrors, making both of em chuckle.

As you got up and walked out of the store Sam took no time in getting inside the impala and crashing down.

"Alex." Dean said before you could get inside as well, making you turn around and face him. He just stood there staring at your face. "what-" before you could finish your sentence he grabbed you by the waist and smashed his lips on yours. You were taken aback at the first but then kissed him back with the same force. You pulled away panting heavily. "what was that for?" you asked opening your eyes and looking at him.

"I'm really happy to see you alive." he said. "I'm really happy to see you alive too." you said, grabbing his collar and pulling him down for one more kiss.

The next morning Dean pulled up in front of Charlie's house to drop her off.

"so this is really over?" Charlie said looking at the three of you. "yeah, it's over." Dean said.

"Thanks you." she smiled at him and then got out of the car and started walking toward her house "Charlie? " Sam called out to her and she turned around. "your boyfriend's death... You really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did... You probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happens." Sam said and she went inside her home giving him a slight nod.

"that's good advice." Dean said pulling out the car from the driveway. His eyes met with yours through the rear view, making you blush and him smirk. He winked at you and you rolled your eyes but you couldn't hide the big smile on your face.

"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up before you guys decide to do anything stupid again." you said making a pillow from your jacket and lied down in hopes that maybe just maybe you could take a nap without any nightmares.

*******

(A/n:- HEY GUYSSS.... I know it's been so long. I said I would post soon and then I betrayed you. I actually got into this minor accident, broke my right wrist (talk about my luck.) and my right leg. It was just hairline fracture. They took of the cast a couple days ago but my wrist was soo stiff because of the plaster that I couldn't type. But I'm completely OK now and I can type again. Although not continuously, I have to keep taking break. I really hope you guys forgive me. I LOVE YOU ALL.

And also. I lost my tag list so any of you who want to be tagged in the series just ask. I know I can go and peak at the old chapter but I wanna make a fresh tag list (don't know if that's even a thing.) but whatever just let me know...

@rach5ive @paintballkid711 @chubby-dumplin @hobby27 @colie87 @iilooveereadiingfiics @spnchick1996 @greenarrowhead @for-a-brothers-love @deanw-is-pretty @puppies-make-me-extra-happy @eternaleviee

[darkzorua100]

In works of fiction, one of the hardest things to do isn’t so much as writing a solid story but trying to find a way to end it with a satisfying conclusion. It could be a happy, sad, or all of the above as long as it fits the story that you have building up to at this point. After all, this is the last thing your viewers are going to be seeing. The last big take away before they have to move on. What is going to be the legacy of this fiction? A ending can make or break a series after all. Just look at Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V for example. Looking back at it, it was such a groundbreaking entry into the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise for being the first series to make all the Extra Deck Summoning Mechanics relevant to the story instead of pushing them off to the side for the newest one in Pendulum at the time. It was a huge nostalgia trip by paying homage to the past series that came before it from using their locations for the different dimensions to bringing back past characters, in a way anyway, to the forefront. There is just so much more I could say about that spin-off but to put it in a nutshell, ARC-V just did so much right at the time but of course we all can’t forget that damn ending. The way that ARC-V ended just left pretty much everyone who had watched it from the very beginning with such a sour taste in our mouths. I don’t think I need to explain why, anyone who has seen the final knows exactly what I’m talking about, but yeah, it goes to show that a finale leaves a lasting impression and is pretty much why, even to this day, a majority of people consider ARC-V to be the worst Yu-Gi-Oh series to date. 

So with all that being said, how did Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains finale do? Was it able to wrap everything up into a perfect little package with a nice bow on top? Well honestly, the package itself was a freaking mess and a half but I will say the bow on top wasn’t half bad for what it was worth. We all knew with Vrains ending way to early compared to the previous series that things were going to be getting rushed at the end but I will say that even if things were rushed, and it wasn’t the most satisfying ending they could have given us, what they did give us still left me feeling fulfilled and with Vrains being the absolute train wreck that it was, at the end of the day, I’ll call that a win. 

So let’s start off with the final part of the Playmaker vs Ai duel. These two really were just full on neck and neck that it literally came down to their aces (because yes, Decode Talker is Playmaker’s true ace monster of show) batting each other, once again like from the opening, with Yusaku only being able to pull out the win in the end because Ai wanted to make sure that he was going to be able to finish him off during his turn. If his greed didn’t get the best of him, he would have actually won. That is actually really crazy to think about. At one point, just before Playmaker summoned Accesscode Talker, I seriously thought he was going to summon a Link 8 since he had the total Link Rating on his field with his three monsters plus Darkfluid being a Link 5 but nope, he summoned basically his new combination of the six Ignises in the form of a Code Talker (which all seem to be model after an Ignis anyway). I mean how he was actually able to summon out Accesscode was kinda BS but that’s just normal BS when it comes to the final duels in a Yu-Gi-Oh final. I’m still questioning how in the actual world did Yusaku not deck himself out during this duel. Seriously just how many cards did this boy go through? Way to many from the looks of things.

Now let’s talk about Playmaker and Ai scenes. My god, those shouldn’t have hurt as much as they did. Just at the beginning when Yusaku was telling Ai about how the bonds between others were the things that created the future, not predetermined simulations, and how Ai just couldn’t understand it just hurt right off the bat because I can understand why Ai can’t think that way. Just like he told Yusaku, he is data. To find a situation to a problem is all he knows. To base something with nothing to support it makes no sense to him especially when he can’t chance it. He has seen the alternative and my god, Ai. We didn’t even see the full simulation play out (but what we did see is definitely getting censored in the dub no questions there) but I could already tell what exactly played out. If Dr. Kogami was right about anything, it is that it is inevitable for humanity not to turn against artificial intelligence out of fear that they would one day surpass humanity and try and take us over or just kill us on the spot. I think the future we saw in that simulation was just that with Yusaku trying to convince them that Ai was no danger to humanity and well....we all saw how well that ended. Honestly I lowkey wished we got to see more of that simulation just to see the moment that Ai snaps and murders anyone. Because lets face it, Yusaku literally is the only family that Ai had left at that point. If something happened to him, Ai was actually going to snap. And it wasn’t even if something terrible would happen to him. Yusaku is still human while Ai is an artificial intelligence. If nothing happened to him, Yusaku would have just aged over time and eventually pass away while Ai would always remain immortal which once again would probably lead to a snap. I honestly don’t blame Ai for picking the path that he did in the end. Even if Lightning never showed him the first simulation, I don’t think it would have been long before Ai would have put the pieces together and start doing his own simulations. Ai was just a goner since the moment he was created as a A.I. with free-will. As for his death scene, I almost did start crying because things shouldn’t have had to have ended this way. I don’t care what Yusaku said. You should have took the fusion deal, young man. It worked out pretty freaking well for Judai and Yubel. Heck, regardless how stupid it was, the Yuu Boys and the Bracelet Girls were all still their own individual people too. I don’t see how that would be any different for you two, especially considering that Ai came from you, Yusaku. I have a lot of feelings about this but I will say that the moments that really hurt for me was when Ai asked Yusaku if he was a good partner, to which Yusaku answered “yes”, and when Yusaku explained to Ai that his name meant “love”. I actually didn’t think they were going to explain the meaning of Ai’s name in the show but I’m so thankful that they did but damn, that freaking hurt! Also Aiballshipping is canon. I actually find it hilarious that Ai stole Yusaku from Ryoken at the last second XD

As for everyone else’s endings. As much as it is still the most convenient bullsh*t ever, I am happy that Jin was able to move on after freaking years of being tormented by his PTSD and by Lightning in season 2 and is now happily working with his brother at the hot dog truck just like Kusanagi always wanted. I’m glad that they are slowly starting to make up for all the time that they have lost together because of this one incident. Aoi seems to be doing okay but I won’t lie, I was bit salty that Miyu wasn’t with her when she was visiting the brothers since it seemed like the perfect opportunity for them to be together and to show that their friendship is still strong after all of these years. Like what the heck? If they are going to force this stupid storyline on us, at least commit to it damn it! It has been three months and wait? Is she still in the damn hospital? Like we literally don’t know what happened to Miyu after all of this and I just find that infuriating but what’s new there? Akira is now CEO of SOL Technologies and I’m kinda mixed on how to feel about this. I mean we all were expecting this since the very beginning but again it is one of those things like what happened to Queen? Vrains threw away the rest of the Chess Pieces long ago but Queen was still a character. I mean I like to think that Queen just up and give Akira the company out of fear of being attacked again by someone else in the future but it is still one of those things that you wished you knew what happened to her as to how Akira got this position. It seems that Vrains has continued to grow and expand during this three month time skip and I don’t know if it was intentional or not but all the connections make it look like The Arrival Cyberse @Ignister and if that truly was the case that was a really nice detail to add, Vrains. Emma and Kengo seemed to have teamed up as a brother and sister bounty hunter team in the network which is fitting. Go is back to being his entertainer self to please his younger fans. I’m planning on giving my full thoughts about Vrains sometime later this week hopefully so I’m get into more detail about him and everyone else there. The Knights of Hanoi are taking Takeru’s declaration to heart and are watching over Link Vrains from Ryoken’s freaking cruise ship apparently while Ryoken and Spectre are watching over everything inside of Link Vrains. Now that Vrains is over, I officially have to ask. Where the actual hell is Ryoken getting all of this money from? Correction, WHERE IS HE GETTING ALL OF THESE BOATS FROM?! Geez and I thought we as a fandom were the shippers. This boy has a freaking navy of them in hiding.

HOMURA TAKERU GOT HIMSELF A GIRLFRIEND! MY BOY IS GETTING LAID TONIGHT! 

No but seriously, before they showed the duel disks and just them sitting on the bed, my brain went places. The dialogue did not help. Yes my brain is extremely dirty but that’s besides the point. 

ENTRUSTSHIPPING IS CANON! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I like to think that wherever Flame ended up in the A.I. afterlife, he is looking down at Takeru with a proud smile during this moment. I also just find it fun that since Kiku doesn’t have an avatar, if anyone knows her in real life sees her in Link Vrains with Soulburner, they are obviously going to put the pieces together real quick about who Soulburner actually is. I’m in just such amazement right now over this even though I had any idea that something like this was going to happen. During the closing interviews from the VAs, Kaji Yuuki made a comment about how we were going to be seeing Takeru getting “unmasked” during the finale and I just knew that something like this was going to happen and I was not disappointed at all. I’m sorry but I just have such a huge sh*t eating grin across my face because of this. 

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS CANON!

How is it that Kiku, a freaking SIDE CHARACTER, ended up being my favorite female of Vrains? I don’t know, I’m just going to move on before I start freaking out again about these two being so freaking adorable. 

I do like how Naoki, as soon as he saw these two, makes it his new goal to get himself a special someone of his own. I don’t know how that’s going to work out for him but hey good for him.

And as for Yusaku, the shows ends with him going on some kind of journey, leaving his final fate obscure which is pretty normal for a Yu-Gi-Oh series as they did the same in the past with Judai and Yusei. My guess he’s going around the network to try and find a way to bring back Ai and maybe the rest of the Ignis.

Speaking of which, the last scene we get of this series is that Ai is apparently alive. Maybe. Who actually knows. He could be in A.I. heaven for all we know but if that’s the case I feel they would have shown us a scene of him being greeted and welcomed by the rest of the Ignis but what we got of him instead was him in his eyeball form looking to be restored. Man Ai is literally like a cockroach and I am saying that in the nicest way possibly. He gets his data eaten by a dragon, tore to pieces by a Data Storm, destroyed by a powerful program, and even kills himself by his own hand and yet he still lives. I am very curious to know if anything is going to come from this reveal, such as if YGO 7 actually is a crossover series, or if this was just the writers giving us a break and letting us know that Ai is still alive and there is hope of him returning. I mean I’m happy he is alive, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like it would have just been fine keeping him dead with the rest of the Ignis. Because if he is still alive, won’t Ai just try and kill himself again? Seems kinda counterproductive but I digress.

So yeah, I very much enjoyed the final episode of Vrains. The series had a lot of problems, and I mean A LOT of them, but it had its shining moments, such as this. Like I said, I’m planning to go into more detail about my full thoughts about the series but when it comes to its ending, I think it delivered what it needed to. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains. You were a freaking struggle to watch at times but you were a joy to have around all the same. I guess the best compliment I can give you is that you literally are Ai. You are insufferable at times but you had your charm that kept me coming back for more and I’m sad to see you go just like I was with Ai.

Now it is onto Yu-Gi-Oh 7th and who knows. If it actually is a crossover series, Vrains might just be back sooner then we expect. I hope so because I’m not ready to say goodbye to my meme-lord and my fire child and his new girlfriend yet! I don’t think it has fully hit me yet that Vrains is actually over and it is going to suck when next week comes around and there is just no more episodes.

[ahgapride98]

REFLECTION ABOUT GOT7’S COMEBACK

Hello baby birds! I know it has been a long time since I last posted and I’m so sorry about it, I’ve been extremely busy with college and life in general and couldn’t find time to post anything here. But… good news: I’m finally free and I plan on finishing my ‘Memory Lane’ series, but first I need to address some things regarding this comeback that I’m not so happy about.

1. GOT7’s ‘Eclipse’ MV views in the first 24h. It’s no secret that we only got 6’5M views for Eclipse in the first 24h after its release (less than the views for ‘Miracle’ and ‘Focus On Me’ – JUS2 subunit). Now, I don’t really know who we should blame for this: YouTube or ourselves? While streaming the MV I noticed that the views were frozen for approximately 1h whole hour, and the worst part of all is that we never got those views back. I was so mad at YouTube for doing us dirty when we were putting all of our best efforts there for the boys (we had a great start, 500.000 views in just 1h after the release); But another thing I also noticed was that our streaming party didn’t really work, it was like ahgases were not working together to reach our 15M goal. It almost felt like we weren’t there, and that makes me sad because we almost got the same result as we did with ‘Look’ (6M views). I really had big hopes of breaking Lullaby’s record (10M in the first 24h), but it seems like we are going backwards instead of forward. This made me feel like the fandom decreased instead of growing - something that is not true because our fandom got bigger after the world tour. Now, like I said before, I don’t know if we should blame YouTube for this or ourselves. I honestly think it’s a combination of both, YouTube really did us dirty but we should have tried harder for our boys. (Funny thing: our views in the first 24h were really low but we managed to reach 30M views in just 5 days, beating our own record…).

2. Melon issue. This is something I talked about in my ‘Lullaby Comeback Reflection’ post, and I still think the same thing. I don’t know why Melon hates us, but they do. On the first day (20/05), we debuted at number 52, and just went downhill from there reaching the 71st place. Then, on the second day (21/05), it seemed like we went up for a bit and managed to reach the 45th position, then we dropped to 55 and from there we charted 100 and eventually disappeared from the chart. On the third day (22/05), we appeared again at number 90 only to drop to the 91st place, and then go up to 75. Finally, on the fourth day (23/05), we charted the 82nd place and after that we disappeared from the chart. As you can see our results are not good enough, ‘Eclipse’ charted really low compared to other songs. On top of that, we only charted for four days before completely disappearing from the Melon chart. I’m positive this is Melon’s doing, they did us dirty in our last comeback too and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are supressing our listeners and sabotaging our streaming party. I’m so sorry for the boys because they worked really hard for this, but their efforts are still not recognised in Korean charts (specially Melon).

3. Timing. This is a really important point. We have to be honest and admit that GOT7’s comeback came in the worst time ever. First of all, it was scheduled shortly after Bambam’s ‘Black Feather Tour’ in Thailand, Jackson’s birthday fan meeting in China and JUS2 debut and tour. Many ahgases spent a lot of money buying the new subunit albums and tickets for all the shows. Also, we have the world tour just around the corner, so it makes sense that many ahgases prefer saving their money to buy tickets for the tour instead of buying the new albums. On top of that, we can’t forget that the majority of the fandom are teenagers and young adults that have final exams around this time of the year (myself included, the day of the comeback I had my first final exam in college). This obviously made the fandom focus on other things that were by far more important to us than the comeback (sad but true).

4. Sales – Album stock. This is closely related to the last point. Because of the timing the comeback was scheduled, our sales weren’t good either. On the first day, we sold 62,002 copies (our best result ever), but throughout the week we only managed to sell 214.125 copies (not good enough to win on music shows). Now, this has to do with the lack of stock: for some reason there weren’t enough albums and a lot of ahgases had to wait until Wednesday to be able to purchase them (that’s a whole day lost there, thanks for nothing JYP…). I don’t understand why this happened, especially if we take into account that GOT7 is the best album-seller under JYP Entertainment (‘Eyes On You’ sold 223.844 copies in the first week, the best-selling album under the company). They should have been more prepared and have stock ready knowing that even though GOT7 are not digital monsters, the rock with album sales.

5. Music shows. We don’t have to be geniuses to know that with our bad charting and lower sales, we have very few options of winning with ‘Eclipse’, even if we do well with MV views. In music programs, they give more importance to digital sales than physical album sales, and since we are not even charting anymore (in most charts), I am going to be honest here and say that I don’t think we are going to win anything (‘You Are’ 2.0). My thoughts are based -specially- after today’s Show Champion: we were nominated but didn’t win. Usually the time to bring trophies home is during the first week after the comeback was released (or the second week of promotions), after the first week winning is really hard. But based on our horrible start and everything that happened last week, I don’t think we are going to get any trophy with this comeback (just my opinion, I could still be wrong).

EDIT: I WAS WRONG, WE WON ON MCOUNTDOWN (30/05), MUSIC BANK (31/05) AND INKIGAYO (02/06)!!!!! 💚💚

6. JYP Division 2 - Promotions. This is something that has to do with this comeback, but also something that I have been accumulating for months now. The way Division 2 handles and promotes GOT7 is pure shit, it’s like they are not even focusing on them. First, they barely put them on variety shows, and the only one they went to -Idol Room- was lacking promotion music wise; and the promotion period is just two weeks (meaning that this upcoming week is the last one we will be seeing them on music shows). They spent the first 30 minutes of the program talking and messing around with Doni and Coni, and then introduced ‘Eclipse’. For a non GOT7 fan, an outsider, this could get boring pretty fast. Secondly, the album stock situation: because of that mistake we lost sales, sales that were crucial for music shows. Thirdly, the time they decided to release the comeback was extremely bad calculated, they should have known this could happen. Also, their decision of debuting a new subunit and sending Bambam on tour was something benefitial at the moment but with not so good long term consequences, as everything now seems rushed and poorly done. I understand that it’s really hard to schedule comebacks, specially if we take into account the company as a whole: Itzy’s debut - JUS2 debut / Jinyoung drama - StrayKids comeback - Twice comeback - Itzy comeback - GOT7 world tour - Twice world tour - StrayKids world tour... but even though everything is packed, I still think that things could have been done differently. There’s something wrong with the management team in Division 2 that is affecting GOT7 negatively, and that also makes me fear for Itzy (as both groups are under this division).

7. JYP strict rules towards fans – Fansigns problems. This point has to do with issues that happened weeks prior to the comeback, but that is clearly affecting the promotions. In case you didn’t know, ‘fans’ followed GOT7 members everywhere (yes, even to their homes), the situation got so out of control that even the boys had to post in their personal Instagram accounts the official statement released by JYP Entertainment, and because of that JYP reinforced the rules that ahgases must follow when they are with the boys. But this rules have gone as far as to not even allowing the fans to touch or high five the members in fansigns (now, let’s remember that the fans that go to the fansigns have spent a ridiculously huge amount of money on albums just to get the chance of going), and not letting the members write the names of the fans in the albums (they just basically sign the album and that’s it). And not only that, recently ahgases that went to one of the fansigns last week took to Twitter to express their discontent with how they were treated by the staff. I’ll leave some of the messages that ahgases posted on Twitter:

I do agree that we must protect the boys, and I think those rules are great to be followed outside. But on a closed space with security to watch over everything that’s going on in the event, not allowing fans to even get a high five with the members is going a bit too far. Also, the staffs’ attitude needs to be checked: they are there working, not having fun with their friends. They should know their position in the fansigns, and not disturb the conversations going on between fans and the members of GOT7. I really hope JYP Entertainment thinks things over, because if not the consequences could be catastrophic. Take as an example the upcoming tour, no info about VIP tickets has been released yet. In fact, for the America leg of the tour there are no VIP tickets. That makes me wonder how things are going to be done in the tour.

8. Album and comeback thoughts (focused on just the boys and music). After so many negative comments, the only good thing about all of this is seeing the boys together and doing what they love. I can’t express with words how happy I am to see them together again after so much time. Also, the whole album is a bop. It’s the bop of the year (fight me on that): all the songs are amazing, the vocals, the raps, the lyrics, the music, the style, the concep... just everything is out of this world. I’m so glad that they get to perform on stage and carry out the message this album has. I couldn’t relate more with the meaning of this album, and I know we all ahgases feel the same way. Even though a lot of negative things have happened in the past few weeks, I’m still happy to see they are back and better than ever. As their fans, the only thing we can do is support them no matter what and be there for them just like they are here for us when we need them the most. Also, I can’t wait for the tour to start and I can’t wait to see them again this year. I’m so excited that just listening to the songs of the last tour makes me feel tingly on the inside!

Well baby birds, that’s it for today’s post. I’ll update my ‘Memory Lane’ series as soon as possible as some of you have been asking for the remaining members. I love you all!!! 💚🐥💚

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 001

We now ask that you please rise for our national anthem.

HFIL YEAH IT’S TIME FOR DRAGON BALL Z.   Where do we start with this thing?    I guess we ought to talk about what the Z stands for.  

As far as the manga was concerned, there was never any change in the title.   American editions of the Dragon Ball volumes 18 through 42 were published as DBZ volumes 1-26, but that’s probably the only acknowledgement from the manga of the “Z” added to the anime’s title. 

I’m not sure why Toei wanted to change the title of the anime at all, unless they thought they needed some sort of rebranding to keep people interested.   The story I always heard was that Toriyama was planning to bring the Dragon Ball storyline to a close, so the Z is a reference to that, since Z is the last letter of the Latin alphabet.    I guess if you wanted to be a real pedant, you could divvy up the 153 episodes of Dragon Ball and call them “Dragon Ball A” through “Dragon Ball Y.”    Of course, those segments would only be six episodes long, on average. 

The great irony of Dragon Ball Z is that it ended up going on almost twice as long as its predecessor.   I’ve always heard that Toriyama wanted to end it earlier than he did, but Toei and his editors “pressured” him to keep going.   I don’t know if that means they begged him or they drove a truck full of money to his house, or they kidnapped his pet cat Koge.   Personally, I’ve never put too much stock in the idea of poor ol’ Akira Toriyama, being forced to produce low-quality sequels to the Frieza Saga.    The last 184 episodes are friggin’ awesome as far as I’m concerned.   In any case, it sure looks like Dragon Ball was going to wrap up with Frieza, and then it looked like it was wrapping up again with the Cell Games, and then it actually ended with the Buu Saga... at least until 2013 when Toriyama returned for Battle of Gods.  What can we make of this?  

Of course, let’s not forget that the original Dragon Ball anime ended with a pretty solid finale.   Goku defeated Piccolo, won the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, and married Chi-Chi.    That would have been a perfectly acceptable place to end things, right?    Everyone talks about how things were supposed to end with Frieza, but I don’t see why.   It could have ended with the Red Ribbon Army, really.  

I don’t know enough about the behind-the-scenes creative decisions behind Dragon Ball post 1989.   I don’t particularly care either.   I feel like anyone who claims to know usually has some agenda to push.   They’re trying to suggest that the Saiyans Saga or the Frieza battle was the high water mark of the series, and everything that followed was a trash dump.   And anyone’s entitled to that opinion, but I don’t buy the need to try to factualize that opinion with a bunch of talk about how Toriyama-sensei secretly agrees with that, but he was forced to make all of my favorite parts of DBZ.    No, I prefer to take DBZ as a whole.    Call that Death of Author, or whatever you like, but the fact of the matter is that DBZ is this 291-episode behemoth, whether it was meant to be or not.    Whatever the Z was supposed to stand for, what does it actually mean in light of it’s gargantuan length and false finishes?

I mean, when you really get down to it, can anyone truly say-- Wait, what the fuck is that thing?

Oh crap, it’s a meteor!   No wait, it’s a spacecraft!   It’s a good thing Farmer with Shotgun was nearby.    He’ll know what to do.

Oh snap, it’s an alien!   A very big alien!  

He scans Farmer with Shotgun to assess the tactical situation.    Good, maybe now he’ll realize that the heroes of Earth are nothing to mess with.   Farmer’s shotgun was forged in the mystic fires, and loaded with ammuniton from the sacred halls of Second Amendment Firearms just off State Road 64. 

Wait, did this guy just catch the bullet?   Hold on...

Wha--?

Holy shit!   He flicked the bullet back so hard that it hit Farmer and knocked him back into his own truck, popping the hood!  

What the hell is going on here?    How did the shotgun break apart?   This is insane!

Meanwhile, here’s Goku’s son, Gohan, named after Goku’s adoptive grandfather.   He’s a cute li’l tyke who wanders off a lot because he’s super into animals, like this butterfly.  

Also, he’s kind of a wuss.    Then again, he’s only four, so who can blame him.

The long and short of this episode is that Gohan wanders away from home and gets lost, so Goku has to go out and find him.    I always used to forget why he’d get lost like this, but his fascination with nature seems to have a lot to do with it.  

Eventually Goku finds him, but not before Gohan falls over a waterfall, except he somehow manages to end up in a tree branch far higher than the falls.  Goku retrieves the boy, but neither of them know how he got up that high.

Meanwhile, our alien menace tracks down the strongest power in range of his sensor, which just happens to be Piccolo.    What’s Piccolo doing all alone out here?   Beats me.   I’d like to say he’s training to beat Goku some day, but when we see him, he’s just standing around like he’s zoning out.  

Piccolo gets cranky so he tries to kill the alien, but it does absolutely nothing.    The alien threatens to respond with an attack of his own...

But then he detects another big power signature, and takes his leave.  

Piccolo drops to his knees, utterly terrified from this nearly fatal encounter.  

All we really know about this guy going in is that he’s looking for someone named Kakarot, and since it’s not Piccolo, he’s convinced that it must be this other strong power on the planet.   Only, he thought Piccolo was a weakling, so the only other guy on the planet who’d even be worth his notice is...

Hoo-boy.  

So back to what I was talking about before.    There really isn’t a big ideological shift when we move from Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z.  A new bad guy appears, he’s stronger than the previous bad guys, and the stakes will naturally be raised.   It’s been five years since the previous arc, but it’s not unusual for this story to flash forward a few years.

What is unusual is that the stakes are being raised far higher than they’ve ever been before.   King Piccolo took over the world, and then Piccolo Junior threatened to do it again.   This new guy took Piccolo’s best shot and laughed it off.     He’s so much stronger than Piccolo that there’s no way Goku even stands a chance, and this guy already knows it, because he has a device that tells him how strong people are.   Whatever he’s after, he didn’t come here to conquer the world like Piccolo.    That would be... beneath him.    He has a completely different agenda that goes far beyond the pitiful concerns of the Earth and its inhabitants.  

A long time ago, this wrestler named Jake “The Snake” Roberts used a finishing move called the DDT.    It’s kind of lost some of it’s mystique in recent years.   Randy Orton uses a modified version to soften his opponents up, but Jake’s DDT was absolute.   He hit you with it and you were down for the count, period.   That’s why it got the name.    DDT is a pesticide.    It actually stands for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.    The story goes that someone once asked Jake what the name “DDT” stood for in reation to his finishing move, and he ominously replied “The End.”

And that’s what the “Z” was supposed to stand for in Dragon Ball Z.   The End.   Only it never quite seems to be the end, does it?   This alien’s arrival heralds a time of great upheaval, and given how badly he humbled Piccolo, it sure looks like there’s no way anyone can stop him.   We’re only an episode into this thing, and it already looks like the world is doomed.  

But it’s not the end.    Z is the last letter of the alphabet.   Beyond it lies oblivion, but we’re not past Z just yet.   Z isn’t the end, it’s the last stop before the end.   It’s a precipice we stand upon as we look down into the abyss below.   Yes, this certainly looks like the end of the world.  

But not yet.    Not yet.

[hujikin]

How Kubo developed Romance in bleach (IR mostly)

http://www.well-storied.com/blog/the-dos-and-donts-of-crafting-your-storys-love-interest (Here is the link I used to reference for any writers out there.)

Types In Bleach

Enemies to Lovers

Friends to Lovers

Love Triangles

Second Chances at Love

Rags-to-Riches Romances

Star-Crossed Lovers

Opposites Attract

Fated Romances

Pretend Relationships

Love at First Sight

Royal Romances

Arranged or Political Marriages

Isshin’s and Maskai’s love and destiny gets repeated in Ichigo and Rukia (sigh* Kubo o.o)

Here Kubo introduces love tri and displays jealousy in Orihime (I know some I/H is gonna say some ish about how IR isn’t romantic blah blah well look Orihime displayed a jealousy towards Rukia and her effect on Ichigo and this is after Rukia had said (lied ill explain) that she didn’ t like Ichigo so why feel jealous of a close friend? Why would Kubo put this in if it was unnecessary? She wasn’t jealous of Tatsuki, because Rukia is special to Ichigo in a way she is not.

Rukia shows the series signature fake smile as she puts up her actor front and denies feelings for Ichigo but we get a look into her inner thoughts and she mentions “love, companionship and friendship” And how her like or hate for Ichigo is troublesome. She wouldn’t mention love of she wasn’t thinking of it or feeling it. She also separated love and friendship, if all she felt was a simple friendship for Ichigo she wouldn’t need to say love. Then we take into consideration her expression Bleach’s signature fake smile; a smile in the series that shows that you are pretending, lying, holding back emotion and/or putting up a front. Multiple characters have used this smile (below). Why would Rukia use a fake smile while answering about her feelings for Ichigo? She has never been one to beat around the bush this here displays that Kubo wanted Rukia to have feelings for Ichigo different from friendship, something that was growing. He even titled the chapter Needless Emotions.

#1: CHOOSE THE TYPE OF CHEMISTRY YOU’D LIKE TO BUILD.

Chemistry is that potent magnetism that draws two people — or, in our case, characters — together.

• A bond over shared interests or experiences • A broadening of one another's horizons • A grounding balance between dichotomous personalities • A shared admiration for one another’s spirits

Love interests that do not have lives outside of their story's protagonists aren’t characters at all, I’d argue. They are objects, cardboard cutouts, prizes to be won.

Your love interest should exist as a fully-formed individual, with a life outside of the protagonist's story. ( >.> hmmm lol)

Ichigo is stubborn, short-tempered, strong-willed, impulsive, genuinely compassionate and empathetic towards others . outspoken, hot-headed demeanor 

Rukia is grim, somber, stoic, straightforward, tactical, compassionate, selfless and had a difficulty making friends.

Before Rukia came along Ichigo did not smile because he blamed himself for his mother death. He was dealt with guilt and what some could say depression (rain in his heart) for years until after saving Rukia where we see his true smile for the first time, and this rain reappears many times to display Ichigo’s inner distress. Rukia is used as the cure to that distress multiple times, like here for example (below). One minute Ichigo is crying and covered in rain then after his powers are given back the rain stops completely and from then on out no one is getting rained on, not ginjou, Urahara, especially Ichigo, and so on, its as if that specific rain storm was related to Ichigo’s emotional turmoil and as soon as Rukia arrived and fixed everything it stopped. Also notice how of everyone Rukia is the only one that isn’ t getting wet by the rain (Kubo all the f-ing symbolism for nothing)

Rukia comes into the first arc as a character that looks defeated and emotionless because she blames her self for Kaien’s death, she is alone and the only family she has doesn’t speak to her. Ichigo teachers her to trust other, to make friends, to smile as well, and gives her a stronger will to live. Everything that Kaien once did for her Ichigo now does for her. She puts her trust in others and now feels joy. If we see Rukia changes in expression from the first chapter to the end of the SS arc you see just how much of a positive impact Ichigo has on her.(look below)

They balance each other out and as Orihime said they have pure chemistry, Rukia brings out a great Ichigo, an Okay Ichigo, and makes Ichigo feel better 

chapter 181> chapter 1 (Ichigo and Rukia change in expression

#2: DEFINE YOUR PROTAGONIST’S ROMANTIC INTERESTS.

To choose the best type of chemistry to pursue in your story, you may find it helpful to first understand what your protagonist needs in a relationship. Not what they want or what they think they need, but what will truly bring a little love into their life. 

In the throughout the series we see an emotionally conflicted Ichigo constantly battling with his inner demons (literally). In the beginning we see him emotionally conflicted with his mother death, then with his hollow, then with his vasto lorde form (which I/H love to claim as an I/h moment even though that form caused im anguish/ despair lmao *look below*), then when he lost his powers, and so on. Rukia constantly ,not in all these moments but most, play a pivotal part in Ichigo’s emotional stability. Kubo makes her Ichigo’s rock (ray of light, stopper of rain/angish) he makes her someone Ichigo needs to get back to normal for four Arcs (Sub-shingami, SS, HM, and Fullbringer). He makes her the reason why Ichigo can smile again. He makes her what Ichgo needs. Not once has he made Hime that. Throughout the course of the series he made her a friend, a girl in love with Ichigo, a healer and comical relief ; but not once has she made her someone that resolves the main problems Ichigo has emotionally and mentally. Ichigo was literally depressed for a year and a half up and she couldn’t do anything for him and throughout the F.B Arc Ichigo doesn’t smile once... we get one of his fake smiles that makes Yuzu sad but that's about it

GIVE YOUR LOVE INTEREST AUTONOMY.

This trope, which disproportionately affects female love interests, is a form of objectification that's sure to leave a bad taste in many readers' mouths. To counteract this, treat your love interest as the protagonist of their own story, giving them autonomy in the form of their own goals, desires, and needs. 

Hime has displayed this trope after the SS arc Kubo makes her a Kurosaki-Kun machine. Her feelings for Ichigo become the largest part of her character or her role as a healer or as a damsel. When they aren’t fighting hime is imagining him in Shojo like scene which is comical in a Shounen ( he went from Ichigo to Usui lol). We understand that she is working but often times when she is in a panel its because she is going to see Ichigo she doesn’t have her own story in the series. Not even some panels showing her working. Just her alone at home thinking about Ichigo, talking about Ichigo (to or not to Tatsuki), Her walking to Ichigo’s Job, Her going to Ichigo’s house, you get the point...

MAKE YOUR LOVE INTEREST IRREPLACEABLE.

Further your love interest's development as a character by giving them a role in your story that is unrelated to their romance with the protagonist. 

Rukia place in Ichigo’s life is unique. When Rukia disappears the first time Ichigo speaks on painfully feeling her absence (ch58). Then when he mentions Uryu he says that he’s absent but at least he would remember Rukia (instead of saying “oh yeah Uryu got hurt pretty bad so it makes sense that he’s absent...”) Then gain he mentions this odd feeling about how the world keep going even with out Rukia all in this chapter. This become reiterated in one of Kubo’s signature poems in Vol. 49(below) Ichigo now directly wonders again how can he keep up with the speed of the world without her in it ( It still makes me laugh when I/H deny this...) Then take into consideration that Rukia is the rain stopper (sadness stopper) in Ichigo’s life (another role only she has) Then the chapter where Ichigo gains his fullbringer powers, right before Rukia get a full page dedicated to her as Ichigo thinks of moment that could trigger his power and it is Rukia. Then when he loses his fullbring Rukia brings back his powers again. Rukia being the one who changed his world in general. Kubo again making all these specific decision, put Rukia’ s importance to Ichigo on the forefront. 

ENSURE INFLUENCE IS A TWO-WAY STREET.

Relationships are a push-and-pull, a give-and-take. Protagonists are often challenged or transformed by their relationship with the love interest, but don’t forget to allow the relationship to shape your love interest in return.

Throughout the series Rukia is a positive influence to Ichigo. Not once has she ever caused negative development for him. The Ichigo has given Rukia people in her life that she can call her friends. He brings back joy in her life or as Renji says “ a shine in her face” (below) Because of Ichigo, Rukia gains the courage to finally confront Kaien’s family and she too begins to smile again. Because of Ichigo Rukia gets a second chance she can’t protect Kaien but she can protect Ichigo, he brings back her humanity and they give each other balance.

Kubo built all of this up only to go left in the end...

[shireness-says]

Playing the Part ch. 18: Song of Love

Summary: As a stage manager who’s clawed her way up from the bottom, Emma Swan can handle just about anything thrown her way. But does that include handsome lead actor Killian Jones? A CS Broadway AU.  Rated T. Also on AO3.  Prologue  Ch. 1  Ch. 2  Ch. 3 Ch. 4  Ch. 5  Ch. 6  Ch. 7  Ch. 8  Ch. 9  Ch. 10  Ch. 11  Ch. 12 Ch. 13  Ch. 14  Ch. 15  Ch. 16  Ch. 17

A/N: Thanks for your patience, waiting for this one! I ran out of my stash of already-prepared chapters. I think this one is worth the wait though! After this, there’s just an epilogue and we’re finished.

Chapter title from “Once Upon a Mattress”. My beta, @snidgetsafan, and I would both like you to know this was almost named “A Night We’ll Never Forget” after “Carrie: the Musical”, but thought that might be a joke too far. We’re trying to keep you guys from questioning our sanity.

Tags: @kmomof4, @winterbaby89, @thejollyroger-writer, @mythologicalmango, @onceuponaprincessworld, @idristardis, @teamhook, @courtorderedcake, @aerica13, @revanmeetra87, @snowbellewells, @searchingwardrobes, @mystrangedarkson

Let me know what you think - I promise next week will be up much more promptly!

Somehow, Emma’s hand doesn’t leave Killian’s for the rest of the night. Well, that’s not strictly true; they separate their palms to clap, as is required by an awards show, but their hands keep wandering back together afterwards. It’s becoming an unconscious gesture, but truthfully, Emma doesn’t really have a problem with that. It’s… comfortable isn’t quite the word - that’s somehow too small to describe it. It’s natural, she supposes, like something they were always meant to do. Maybe they were; maybe her resistance was the only thing holding them back. Regardless, she appreciates the comfort and support the gentle pressure of his hand provides.

She needs the support, too, as the surprises keep on coming. Somehow, in all the emotions involved with Killian’s win, she’d forgotten that the production was up for Best Musical until there’s a call for everyone to return to their seats for that award after a break for commercials. Emma’s already seated; that’s not the problem. The problem is a sudden flash of awareness that with two acting wins and a series of technical awards, they’ve really got a chance. And God only knows what will happen then.

“Buck up, Swan,” Killian whispers in her ear as the announcer begins speaking. That phrase has always kind of grated on Emma’s nerves, truth be told, but when she turns to glare at him, Killian’s already grinning and waggling his eyebrows in that way she knows means he’s teasing. Maybe he already knows that about her too; the things he remembers about her always surprise Emma. Regardless, though she rolls her eyes at his antics, some of the tension eases out of her shoulders while the corners of her mouth tease at a smile. That last part wasn’t intentional, but that seems to just be the effect Killian has on her lately.

(She’s already half in love with him, Emma knows, and that might be part of it too. God, there’s so much she needs to say to him once this is over, so much she wants to do to him.)

Still, it’s a good thing she’s got a good grip on Killian, because she needs that grounding when Pride & Prejudice is announced as the winner. She hears the words, knows what they mean, but that doesn’t help her brain process the declaration at all. The applause is so loud and this means - well this means everything to Emma: professionally, emotionally, possibly spiritually if the actualizing of all of Mary Margaret’s hope speeches can be counted as Emma’s religion. It’s hard in the moment for her mind to wrap itself around the fact that they’ve won, that she’s part of the team responsible for a Tony Award winning show.

Emma’s on autopilot when she stands up to let Mary Margaret and David through to reach the stage, but Killian tugs her out into the aisle instead.

“Aren’t you coming, Swan?” he grins, his intent obvious.

“Oh, I don’t know —” Emma demurs, but Killian is already tugging her up the aisle.

“It’s your baby too,” he whispers as they reach the stairs up to the stage, carefully handing her onto the first steps so she doesn’t trip. He has a point. After his lovely speech, too, it seems stupid not to just get up there and bask in the applause for a few moments.

Merlin gives the acceptance speech, but honestly, Emma doesn’t hear most of it. The lights are so bright and the ambient noise of the crowd so much louder than she anticipated that it’s overwhelming. Emma’s never been more glad that her job is in the shadows and the corners of the theater most people will never see, if only to avoid the hundreds of intense stares in her direction. It feels that way, at least, even if Emma consciously knows they’re just looking at the stage in general, and most likely at Merlin at the microphone. Still, it’s mildly terrifying, and Emma’s grateful for the gentle pressure of Killian’s hand on her back.

The real benefit of winning the last award of the night - besides the obvious perk of, you know, winning - is that all those gathered on stage for the acceptance speech get ushered off into the wings and towards the press, avoiding the masses all trying to file out down Radio City’s aisles. Merlin’s speech may have been one of the shortest of the night or one of the longest - Emma doesn’t really know for sure, far too preoccupied with trying to process the significance of the moment - but the crowd roars its applause again as the play-off music swells and Killian starts to gently steer her offstage. Emma doesn’t mind, she’s fine to go; there’s so much going on that it’s kind of nice to have someone else to direct her.

They’re barely clear of exiting cast, crew and producers before Killian’s excitement bubbles over and he sweeps Emma off her feet, whooping and twirling around in a circle. It must look very dramatic, well suited to the venue. His Best Actor trophy digs a little into her back, and Emma knows he’d be deeply apologetic if she complained, but truthfully, she’s too caught up in the joy of the moment to care overly much.

“Can you believe it, Swan?” he asks with a smile stretching from ear to ear, before continuing without waiting for an answer. “God, this is all just… Gods.”

“I know!” Emma laughs. Maybe to anyone else his sentence wouldn’t have made sense, but she hears enough of the surprise and pride and pure elation to know that she shares the sentiment, even if neither one of them can quite put it into words.

“We couldn’t have done it without you, you know,” he says, purposefully making eye contact to drive home his point, though he still smiles like a happy maniac. “I wasn’t kidding, this is your baby too. No one deserved to be on that stage more than you.”

Emma’s stomach suddenly flips. She’s wanted to talk to Killian since his touching speech, but now she’s struck with nerves. This is the moment though, even if there are still people milling about. Looking at his joy, however, restores some of her calm. It’s miraculous how much his smile can achieve.

“Speaking of,” she starts, “I just wanted to say — ”

Before she can get any further, her phone starts buzzing insistently in her handbag. It’s undoubtedly Henry; God, she loves her kid, but his timing really needs work. Groaning, she retrieves the device from her purse, noting that it is indeed her son. “Sorry, I’ve just got — ” she starts to explain.

“Not to worry, love,” Killian replies genially, his face settling into a fond expression. Emma’s not sure whether it’s affection for herself or for Henry or for both, but she loves that expression regardless, and all that it signifies.

She’s barely connected the call before Henry begins shrieking on the other end, so loud that she has to keep the phone pulled back from her ear and Killian laughs. “You won! You won, you won, you won!” Henry cheers. Emma can practically picture him in her mind’s eye, bouncing around Elsa’s living room in his excitement.

“Yeah, we did, kid,” Emma laughs right back once she can finally get the phone safely near her ear. “How do you feel about that? I can’t tell,” she teases. Killian’s being directed towards where the press awaits by an insistent theater employee as she talks, the moment she thought she’d grasped slipping even further away. I’ll be back, he mouths, quickly tossing up a hand in a little wave.

Meanwhile, Henry continues on the other end of the phone call. “This is so cool!” he gushes. “Did you touch the statue? Can you bring it home so I can show all my friends? Is there, like, a certificate too or something?”

“Slow down, kid,” Emma says, but it’s probably a lost cause. Emma doesn’t blame him; this is a big moment, and she’d probably be doing the same thing in his shoes. “Killian let me hold his earlier, but I haven’t touched the show award yet. I don’t know what will happen with the show statue, but I bet it will be at the theater for your friends to come see. Otherwise maybe Robin or Killian will let us borrow theirs. I don’t actually know if there’s a certificate, but I can probably find out.”

“Is Killian there? Can I talk to him? Liam wants to talk to him too.” Emma can’t help but smile fondly as she remembers Henry’s starstruck reaction to Liam Jones only a few months ago; now, you’d never know. That’s her son, though, ready and determined to make friends with everyone that crosses his path.

“Killian is actually doing press stuff right now, but I’ll make sure he calls his brother later. Now in the meantime… don’t you have your last Monday of school tomorrow? I think it’s time for bed.”

“Mom,” Henry whines, but Emma won’t be swayed. It is approaching 11:30 pm after all; he’s only been allowed to stay up this long because it’s a special occasion.

“Nope, none of that,” she chides back. “Go get ready for bed, we’ll do the full recap tomorrow. I bet you’ll realize how tired you are when you crawl under the covers.”

“Fine,” he huffs. “But you’d better tell me everything.”

“I promise. Love you, kiddo.”

“Love you too, Mom. I’m happy you won.”

“Thanks, Henry. I am too.”

———

Killian’s probably less chatty in his interviews than the red carpet reporters would prefer - not to mention the show’s publicity department - but he’s too anxious to find Emma again to bother with more. She’d had a look on her face right before Henry called, one that said she was about to say something significant, and he’s itching to know what it was. He’d bet money it was about his speech, but he’s got less of a guess about what she’d have to say on the subject. He hopes it would be a thank you - not because he did it for the gratitude, but because that would mean she has accepted that her own role deserves thanking and attention and recognition, accepted that she plays an integral role not just anyone could fill. If her initial reluctance to join everyone onstage to accept the award for Best New Musical is any indication, though, he’s afraid that might not be the case.

By the time he makes it through press, she’s already waiting for the cars with the rest of their group except Belle, who must still be making her way through the crowds herself. It seems slightly ridiculous to Killian that they’re driving the few blocks instead of just walking ten minutes to the Plaza for the official afterparty, but then again, he’s not the one wearing high heels. They would have looked a little absurd walking down the messy streets of New York in their formal wear anyways.

“Hey, you survived the masses,” Emma teases. He wants to know what she was going to say, demand she continue right now, but Killian knows it’s not the right moment; not here, in front of all their friends.

“I did,” he replies instead, smiling at Emma. With those lovely heels she’s got on, it’s less of a downwards motion tonight; they’re almost level in height, though he’s still got an inch or two on her. “Not to jinx myself, but I think I may actually be getting the hang of this public speaking thing.”

Emma snorts at that. “Yeah, that’s what the statue says,” she replies dryly, though the smile creases around her eyes and mouth say that she knew he meant the interviews, not the acting. “You should call your brother, by the way.”

“I will once we get into the car,” he promises. “Less noise that way.”

As if summoned by magic, the first of the SUVs appears just then, pulling up to the curb. The idea of getting out of this mass of people - or at least getting to the next mass of people who will inevitably be waiting in front of the Plaza for pictures before they enter the afterparty - is appealing, but Killian also doesn’t want to leave the rest of their party behind. Belle’s still working her way through the press line, the bright flowers of her yellow dress only just visible when Killian turns back to look, and God only knows how long it will take for her to break free. It feels rude to abandon Will, Mary Margaret, and David, just because his own ride is here and waiting.

He should have counted on Mary Margaret having other ideas though. “Go,” she smiles, “I can tell you’re ready to get out of here.”

“We’re fine waiting, it’s really not a big deal,” Killian tries to protest - albeit weakly - but Mary Margaret just waves him off in a little shooing motion.

“We’ll be fine, I promise,” she assures him.

“It’s really best not to argue with her,” Emma sighs, though there’s obvious affection in her voice. “Mary Margaret may look sweet, but she gets her way in the end.”

And really, who is he to argue with that? Especially if it would be pointless anyways.

Killian gladly hands Emma up into the interior of the SUV, clambering up after her and trying not to step on her dress as they squeeze into the very back row, Regina and Robin climbing in right after. Emma slips out of those lovely heels as soon as she’s seated, letting out a borderline inappropriate groan of relief as her toes and arches are freed from the contortions they’ve been forced into. Killian doesn’t blame her for that - even if they’ll be in the car for less than ten minutes, he’s sure every one of them feels heavenly.

(It’s a little hard to concentrate when she makes those noises, though.)

“God, that feels good,” she sighs. It doesn’t help matters in the least. His face must make quite the picture, as Emma huffs a little laugh in the back of her throat when she looks in his direction, her mouth quirking up at the corners in a poorly-suppressed smile. “Are you going to call Liam?”

It takes an embarrassing moment for the words to process, and Killian has to actually shake his head to settle his thoughts back into order. Well done, Killian. “Yes, yes, of course. Thank you. I’ll do that now.”

Liam picks up on the first ring, which makes Killian think he was just waiting for the call. “Congratulations, brother!”

“Thanks, Liam,” he replies bashfully. It’ll take some getting used to, hearing all the congratulations for his work, but it’s something Killian thinks that he could get used to. Not that there’s much of a choice there - as long as he’s got this statue, there will now be people applauding his having received it. “Were you able to see everything on TV?” It’s admittedly a stupid question, but it will hopefully turn the conversation back away from him. In the adjacent seat, Emma rolls her eyes like she knows exactly what he’s doing. She probably does, frankly.

So does Liam, unfortunately. “Yes we were, but this isn’t about me, Killy,” his older brother reminds him. “Now tell me, how does it feel to have won?”

“It feels pretty damn fantastic,” Killian admits. It’s the first time he’s said that and really meant it; with the press, it was just convenient words to say, and the ones they wanted to hear anyways. No one wants to hear a celebrity try to work through their muddled feelings on the red carpet when anyone else would be immediately thrilled.

“It’s well deserved, Brother, I promise. How’d Emma react to that speech?”

Killian has to force himself not to look in Emma’s direction at the question, needlessly paranoid it would give something away. “Don’t know.”

“She’s sitting right there, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Well get back to her, get back to her!” Liam urges. “If that speech didn’t impress her, she’s crazy, and Emma Swan doesn’t strike me as crazy.”

“Oh my God, shut up, Liam,” Killian hisses into the phone. Emma’s quietly chuckling next to him; at least someone is enjoying this. “Go back to your date or whatever, I’ll talk to you later.”

“It is not a date — ” his brother starts to protest, but Killian disconnects the call before Liam can take the excuse any further.

“Liam pulling your pigtails?” Emma asks.

“He’s a piece of work,” Killian grumbles right back, much to Emma’s amusement as she lets out another peal of laughter. That gets him to smile at least; she’s always been able to do it, like a special superpower.

“He loves you,” she points out, and well, that’s true too.

“Yeah. I know he does.”

As if on cue, Killian’s phone buzzes inside his jacket’s breast pocket.

I’m proud of you, Kil. Have a great time with your girl.

Any lingering annoyance with Liam melts away immediately. That’s all he’s ever wanted, after all, ever since he was a little kid: to make his brother proud. Liam’s always been his hero, so that’s the highest compliment that can be paid to him.

Killian tucks his phone away with a new sense of peace and happiness about him, conveniently just as the car pulls up to the hotel.

“You ready for more?” Emma asks, bending nearly in half to secure her stilettos once again.

He’d rather have that conversation with Emma, but it’s still not the moment for that, not with a crowd of people waiting for him to make an appearance. For now, they’re just here for a celebration. As such, there’s really only one answer to her question.

“Lead on, Swan.”

———

She probably should have figured that the afterparty would be boring. After all, the executives aren’t exactly known for being a rolicking good time. That’s the actors.

It’s not awful, it’s just kind of… bland. The music is perfectly acceptable, but no one wants to dance. The food is fine, but not exceptional. It honestly seems like most of the money has been spent on decorations, and whatever trendy vibe they were going for manages to clash spectacularly with the staid, old money aesthetic that exemplifies the Plaza Hotel.

There are highlights too, of course - namely the way Killian sticks by her side like glue all night, one hand always tangled in her fingers or wrapped around her waist. Whenever their eyes meet, Killian seems on guard, like he’s waiting for her to tell him to stop, but Emma never does. She never wants to. So instead, she just smiles, and turns back to the party.

The people make up for it, somewhat. Her own little crew keeps her smiling and laughing, and at a party like this, there’s plenty of famous faces around who all seem to want to congratulate Killian. It starts feeling like a bizarre fever dream, meeting all these celebrities she usually only sees in magazines. Everyone is perfectly nice, of course - Emma’s particularly happy to discover that Lin-Manuel Miranda really is the friendliest man alive, and tries not to geek out too much when Matthew Broderick comes up to graciously congratulate the man who beat him and ends up shaking her hand like it’s a totally normal thing to do and not one of the highlights of Emma’s life.

Killian’s off getting them drinks when Merlin sidles up beside Emma. “Hey, congratulations!” she says as soon as she notices him; in addition to accepting the award for Best Musical on their behalf, he’d also been recognized for his directing.

“And you as well!” he wishes her in return with a wide smile on his face. This just might be the happiest Emma has ever seen him. It’s a little odd to see her director in such a celebratory mood - though Merlin is certainly enthusiastic and generally happy, this is something else altogether.

Still, Emma’s not sure she deserves his congratulations. “I don’t know about that,” she hedges with a smile on her face, not outright rejecting the sentiment but not fully embracing it either.

That visibly perturbs Merlin, a little serious frown etching itself onto his mouth. “I’m not sure you’re aware of exactly how indispensable a role you’ve played, Emma. It takes a certain kind of person to not just do your job, but do it well. And with the way you anticipate problems, you’re possibly the best I’ve worked with,” he states confidently, heedless of the blush spreading across her cheeks. “Anyhow, what’s the saying? It takes a village? I think that could be applied to a show as well. And you’ve done a lot to keep the villagers from running around in circles like madmen,” Merlin confides, chuckling a little at his own joke.

Emma’s never been good at accepting praise, probably due to lack of opportunity in her youth, but it still means something to hear that from her director, her boss. “Thanks. That, uh… that means a lot,” she finally settles on.

“I speak only the truth,” Merlin replies. “Now, I know this is a ways out - several years, most likely - but a friend of mine is working on a new musical, a madcap murder caper. I don’t suppose you’d be interested? Availability permitting, of course, and we’d discuss it further once things became definite, but I think we’ve made a good team.”

Emma remembers Robin’s words from all those months ago, about how directors like to work with an established team. Now that it seems like that may actually be developing, she’ll have to thank him for his wisdom and encouragement. “I’d love that. Keep me in the loop.”

“Excellent. I’ll let you get back to your date,” he excuses as Killian returns with a pair of champagne flutes, “but really, congratulations. It’s been such a pleasure working together.”

Emma flushes an even deeper pink as Merlin walks away, but there’s a grin there too.

“Good news?” Killian asks as he hands her a drink.

Emma laughs a little, mostly to herself, before quipping, “I think I might have made it, kid.”

“I never had a doubt.”

———

They somehow end up in Granny’s diner at the end of the night. It’d probably been inevitable, really; it seems like so many of his and Emma’s milestones along the way to where they are now - wherever they are - have happened in that restaurant. It doesn’t hurt either that the food at the official afterparty is boring buffet fare, and Granny’s is open 24 hours. The lady herself has long since gone to bed - it is one in the morning - but the kitchen is more than happy to send out a variety of burgers and fries and grilled cheeses with onion rings. Emma has seemed slightly on edge all night, though happy; Killian is eternally grateful that she was able to accompany him and witness their win herself, but he knows the awards weren’t quite her scene. Here, in Granny’s corner booth with a dollop of whipped cream on her nose from her oreo shake, she’s more in her element, laughing with their friends and sticking her tongue out at him when he swipes the whipped cream off.

(God, he loves her.)

His heart does a happy little jig when Emma rests her head on his shoulder as hot drinks and slices of pie are distributed, though he does his best to play it cool. Still, Killian can’t resist the urge to wrap his arm around her waist, both to support her and to tug her just a little bit closer. If the little sigh Emma exhales onto his shoulder is any indication, she’s not opposed either.

She wasn’t supposed to fall asleep, though; that was never something Killian had anticipated happening. Part of him doesn’t want to wake her back up. Emma looks so peaceful in sleep, her features fully relaxed and serene, and it seems like such a shame to disturb that. They’re closing in on three in the morning, however, and as much joy as Killian takes from having Emma Swan nestled against him, her own bed must be so much more comfortable than this booth and his bony shoulder.

“Swan,” he whispers at first. That’s not particularly successful; Emma hums a little half-asleep sound, but makes no attempt to make her way back to wakefulness. Indeed, she tries to burrow her face further into his flesh. It’s endearing, certainly, and cute beyond words, but not particularly helpful. “Swan,” he repeats, “you’ve got to wake up.” A little nudgey shrug is more successful, causing Emma to finally lift her head with bleary eyes and her brows furrowed in confusion.

“What time is it?” she slurs, stretching in a way that does not accentuate her bust in the least.

“Nearly 3 am. Can I walk you home?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” she yawns.

“I think it’s about time we were all heading home,” Mary Margaret cuts in, sliding out of the vinyl booth seat. Will and Belle already departed almost an hour ago, off to their own celebrations that Killian would rather not know more about, and Robin had left immediate after they were done eating to pick Roland up, but Ruby, Regina, Mary Margaret, and David had all stuck it out - though David looks like he’s about to fall asleep on the tabletop as well. There’s hugs all around as everyone piles into various cabs, but finally, it’s just Killian and Emma - just the way he’s wanted all night. They’ve both got things to say, Emma especially, and Killian’s ready to listen to all of it.

———

The night is peaceful, just the two of them - at least as far as that’s possible in a busy city of millions. The more Emma thinks about it, the more she thinks that the peace she feels is less due to the time or location, and more due to some inner serenity. It sounds ridiculous to think of it like that, but that seems to make the most sense. She’s happy; that’s what matters.

Her apartment is only a few blocks away, so without any verbal agreement or further discussion, Killian and Emma both set out walking in that direction instead of hailing a cab. She doesn’t need escorting home, not really, but she’d happily accepted all the same for the chance to spend a little more time in Killian’s company. It will give them a chance to talk uninterruptedly, anyways, if Emma can bring herself to upset their current harmony. She’s not nervous about it anymore, far from it; still, in the midst of such a perfect moment, it’s hard to bring herself to interrupt it with something so silly as talking.

Emma’s just preparing to break the silence herself when Killian jumps in first. “It’s a lovely night, isn’t it?” he asks softly, a gentle smile playing across his lips as he looks towards the skyline.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.” Emma’s not talking about the weather. She thinks Killian might not be either. Quickly, she plows ahead with her intended speech before they both get lost in another moment again. “Listen, I just wanted to thank you, Killian. For tonight, and the speech - God, especially that speech - and… everything. Thank you.”

“Oh, Swan, that’s nothing you need to thank me for,” he replies, blushing red and letting his hand steal away to that nervous spot on his neck again.

“Yeah, there is,” she insists right back. “You didn’t have to do that.”

That catches Killian’s attention, his body suddenly snapping back upright from the bashful position it had curled into. “Of course I did,” he says. There’s a fire in his gaze that wasn’t there before, that Emma usually only sees at the theater when he’s passionate about what he’s doing. “I know you don’t do this for the thanks, but I see all the work you put in every day. Hell, some days you hold this entire thing together through sheer force of will. All without any thanks.” He pauses to take a deep breath. “I didn’t do it for your thanks. I did it because you deserve to be thanked. I think we all know I’m not exactly an unbiased source,” he chuckles wryly, “but what you do, day in and day out, is amazing. You’re amazing, and brilliant, and… I just wanted everyone to know that. Yourself included.”

It amazes Emma, most days, the fierceness of what Killian feels for her. To hear him speak, you’d think she was an angel sent to earth, a powerful goddess walking amongst mortals, the most amazing thing he’s ever encountered. It’s even more awe-inspiring to realize that that’s exactly how he sees her.

The thing is, the way Emma sees Killian isn’t much different. Maybe she wouldn’t get so melodramatic in her descriptions the way he might - she’s never been one to use the word “angel” anyways - but she’d readily call him one of the kindest, most thoughtful men she knows, and more than deserving of all the good things that have come his way.

“Now, I don’t mean - please don’t take what I’m about to say as a demand for thanks, because it’s not, I didn’t say all those things for the thanks,” he continues, fully babbling now, “but I was just wondering - well, you see, I like you, Emma, really like you, rather halfway in love if I’m placing all my cards on the table - and I know I’ve asked before, but so much has changed, and… well, to borrow the quote, my affections and wishes are unchanged,” he grins a little at his joke, albeit somewhat nervously. The silly man. “I suppose what I’m getting at, what I’m wondering — ”

Emma doesn’t wait to find out what he’s wondering, however, even if she’s pretty sure she knows what’s coming. Too impatient to wait any longer for him to collect his thoughts - can that boy ever ramble - she surges up suddenly to pull his face down to hers and mash their lips together, one hand sliding into his hair to tug and caress the strands the way she’s wanted to for longer than she’s willing to admit. Weeks, for sure; probably months. Whatever the case, the moment is now, and she’s going to revel in every bit of it.

Though Killian is initially caught off guard, emitting a little shocked grunt (Emma would kill for photographic evidence of it, imagining cartoonish popped eyes and pinwheeling arms), he relaxes into the kiss almost immediately. Maybe if Killian was initiating, their kiss would be a gentle, deliberate thing; that’s the way she’s always imagined it, at least. Emma’s the one in charge though, so this kiss is fierce, hungry, almost desperate. She wants to learn all of it, all at once - the way he sounds when she nips at his lip or sucks at his tongue, whether he likes it when she pulls on the hair at the nape of his neck (and oh, if those groans and moans are indication, he does, he absolutely does), all of it. Killian seems much of the same mind as his hands settle possessively at her hips, thumbs tracing along the sheer panel at her midriff as his head tilts and readjusts in a quest for the perfect angle at which to explore her mouth. It’s the realization of months and months of longing and repressed feelings and they slam together, pressed tight against each other’s fronts as their mouths practically meld into one, and it’s perfect.

They finally break apart when more than the quickest gulps of air become necessary, but Emma’s hand slips down to grip Killian’s lapel - for stability or comfort or whatever else she doesn’t know, but it somehow feels necessary for her continued existence. “That was…”

“Yeah, it was,” he replies, before letting out a laugh - a joyful, winded sound. “God, what was that? You didn’t even let me get out the question,” he teases gently.

Even his ribbing can’t wipe the smile off her face, though. “You were taking too long,” she shrugs, mindlessly nosing at his neck. It’s a new frontier, one she looks forward to kissing and nibbling once she gets a second wind.

“Ah, well, forgive me. This seems a little redundant now, but I don’t suppose you’d want to get a cup of coffee sometime?” He’s obviously aware of the sense of deja vu from his first attempt at this, grinning madly with a twinkle in his eye.

“What do you think?” Emma whispers in reply, drawing him back down for another round of kissing.

As if there was any other answer now, after all they’ve done and all they’ve been through, but the most enthusiastic yes.

[btsfanficss]

Lust and Limerence Pt. 5

Read 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Series: Slytherin! JJK x Reader x Gryffindor! KTH

Word count: 5.7k

Genre: more angst and explanations this chapter! // Harry Potter AU!  

A/N: Seriously considering retitling Lust and Limerence to Angst and Tears lmao. No, but seriously, this chapter is a little intense. 

The plane ride home was hell. Not because of the stares and murmuring, but because your heart felt like it’d been ripped out of your body and trampled on, the broken pieces still bleeding out on the floor. You couldn’t blame the people for the strange stares though, or even the murmuring, because you were completely out of it and looked the part, your hair messy and your tears like endless waterfalls. 

You didn’t know it was physically possible to cry that much. It was starting to become a new record for the longest time of salty streams down your cheek and chin, occasionally hiccuping as the ache in your chest worsened as each second passed. 

You tried to sleep off the thoughts, every fibre of your being worked to erase that disgusting image from your exhausted mind but nothing worked. Every time you closed your eyes, the same image of him and that girl in the bathroom would pop up in your mind, leading to even more of an outburst of tears and contributing to an all-time peak of heartbreak. 

How could he cheat on you? 

Did he even feel guilty? Was it just you this whole time, putting everything into the relationship? Did he ever mean any of his words? Did you ever mean anything to him?

Your trust was completely shattered. You clutched onto the painful thumping area over your chest, praying that somehow, you could forget about him temporarily to ease the pain. 

You ran into Taehyung’s room, violently throwing the luggage to the side only to jump into the embrace of your best friend, who opened you with welcome arms and worry painted on his handsome face at the sight of your tears. 

“I-I hate myself for not listening t-to you,” you loudly sobbed into his chest, hiccups interrupting your broken sobs. Taehyung’s arms held you close to him, his hand rubbed your back to soothe your painful cries, hushing you gently. “What happened?” His voice was kind and calming in your ringing ears. 

“I c-can’t believe him!” You yelled into his chest, gripping onto the fabric of Taehyung’s robes as he attempted to smooth his hands through your hair, taming the wild strands that fell over your face. “I can’t believe h-he’d do that to me,” you said, softer, and he could feel the pain you were going through. 

“What did he do, (Y/N)?” Taehyung cupped your face; his thumb wiped away the hot tears that flushed down your moist cheeks as he stared into your crying eyes. You took a mental note of the way his eyebrows were furrowed as you shared the painful gaze with him. 

“H-he cheated on me.” The words left your lips, and you watched Taehyung’s worried expression immediately boil to a fury.

 He tightened his arms around your frame, but you didn’t mind, the tight embrace made you feel safer, hoping that if he squeezed you hard enough, your heart would piece back together into one after Jungkook had shattered it to smithereens. 

“I can’t believe he cheated on me,” you helplessly cried into his chest, and Taehyung stood there, fists tightened in fury, but the boy’s first priority then was to calm you down or at least... attempt to ease your pain despite his burning desires to hurt Jungkook. Badly. 

“This isn’t your fault,” he clutched onto your body, resting his head on top of yours to further press your face into the warmth of his chest, muffling the painful sound of your loud sobbing. “(Y/N), I want you to know that none of this is your fault,” Taehyung gently kissed the top of your head. 

“How could he do this to me, Tae? How could he hurt me like this? Did he not love me? Did he ever care about me?” 

“Baby, you need to calm down,” Taehyung let go of the hug only to cup your face with both of his hands, once again wiping away the hot tears from your bloodshot eyes. “Breathe,” he encouraged, inhaling a large amount of air in front of you, in hopes that you’d imitate him. 

Your long inhale was interrupted by the hiccup of your tears, making you even more frustrated with the situation. You sounded like you were hyperventilating at that point, and it seemed to freak Taehyung out a whole lot. 

“(Y/N), please. I need you to breathe. I want you to take a deep breath for me, okay?” Taehyung seemed to know what to do to calm you down, even if it was just a little bit. 

“That's it,” he soothed, “I want you to steady your breathing for me.” 

You did as he told you, finally allowing yourself the luxury of oxygen in your lungs again, soothing the burn in your lungs slightly. But the tears didn’t stop. And it didn’t feel like it was going to stop anytime soon. 

“Now,” he said, “will you be ok explaining to me what happened? You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Taehyung said, his voice soft in your ear.

With a small nod of your head, Taehyung sat you down next to him, the two of you sinking into the sofa cushions. He continued to wipe away your tears, this time with his jacket sleeve as his thumbs did no justice. He waited patiently until you were comfortable enough to start talking, or at least, able to form sentences without breaking down again. 

“J-Jungkook,” you shuddered when his name left your lips. Never did you think that you’d be so hesitant to say his name. “I... I went to surprise visit him like you suggested.” 

“So he had no idea that you were coming?” 

“Yeah.. I mean.. I thought everything was okay because we were still writing to each other and even though it wasn’t every day, the things he was saying to me through those letters made me feel like... he genuinely missed me.” 

Taehyung sat there, an emotionless farce because in reality, he could feel his veins pumping with rage from just the idea of Jungkook cheating on you. 

“When I reached Ilvermorny, I went to the office and got myself a visitor’s pass. I went to Jungkook’s dormitory and snuck inside.” 

“You snuck inside?” 

“Well, I thought it was going to be a better surprise that way... but when I got inside and looked around for a bit, I caught his bathroom door slightly open. It was just enough for my line of sight to see what was happening inside a-and--” 

Taehyung figured that was when your heart was ripped from your chest. He quickly pulled you into another hug to muffle the growing sound of your tears. He hushed you gently, occasionally kissing your forehead with his cloud-like-lips to ease your pain. 

“He- he was making out with this random girl who was sat on the bathroom sink. Taehyung it-it was... disgusting,” you sobbed into Taehyung’s chest again. 

“There were so many hickeys on her neck and-- they were just about to fuck--”

“--Shhh,” Taehyung placed his soft fingers gently over your wet lips. “Let’s stop here. You’re so brave for telling me what happened. Thank you, (Y/N).” 

You filtered out his kind words as the burn in your lungs began again, this time, stronger than before. You were hiccuping endlessly with tears, completely soaking his cloak in your salty tears. Taehyung continued to comfort you, at one point, pulling you fully onto his lap so he could run his hands through your hair easier. You became so familiar with the warmth of his chest. 

And even though the feeling of fingers through your hair reminded you of Jungkook, you didn’t want him to stop. Not because it was comforting, but because it reminded you of Jungkook that you didn’t want him to stop. And that was purely, no doubt, 100% fucked up. 

How could you be thinking of him in this situation? He’d cheated on you. Why were you so reluctant on getting that through your head? There was only so much bs the state of limerence was willing to swallow. 

Taehyung stared at your sleeping face, analysing the way your brows were finally given a break from their constant furrowing. You finally looked at peace, and that seemed to give Taehyung a fresh breath of air. Taehyung placed a kiss on your cheek before getting up from his bed to think. There was no way in hell he was going to let Jungkook get away with this. As much as he wanted to yell at you and lecture you, saying that he told you all along, you were obviously in no state to take on any of that. 

Taehyung and Jungkook used to be friends. Weirdly enough, they were actually really close. Apart from your house, the only other person that Taehyung would go crash at was Jungkook’s. But back then, his young mind wasn’t aware of the dangers that came with associating himself with someone as... loose as Jeon Jungkook. 

Tae and Jungkook got along immensely well. They went to parties together, helped wingman for each other and things were going well. Taehyung kept that aspect of his life private from you because he knew that you weren’t the type of person to stamp him a seal of approval for the way he was making reckless decisions. 

And that was fine with him. 

As long as you didn’t get your hands dirty, for you were; the kindest and purest soul to Taehyung, he was happy to keep his dirty desires a secret from you. But that one party he brought you to-- that was the start of the biggest downward spiral. 

Taehyung knew he shouldn’t have made that stupid stupid bet with Jungkook. To be fair, he was in no state to process how fair the deal was since it was 4 in the morning and both of them were pissed drunk. 

“If I can win the next 5 rounds in King of Fighters, you have to get (Y/N) to come to the party this weekend.” 

Taehyung should have never let his 4-am-alcohol-infused spontaneous mouth get the better of him. 

He’d already made it clear to Jungkook that (Y/N) was off-limits from the beginning. He didn’t explain exactly why, and perhaps that’s why Jungkook was even more interested in you but regardless, he listened to Taehyung. To an extent. Jungkook never made moves on you, but he wouldn’t shut up about you, either. 

So when Taehyung agreed to take you to that one party if Jungkook won the bet, both of them were genuinely surprised. Taehyung was, unfortunately, surprised a little later, when his brain cells were finally intact in the morning. 

“Jungkook you can’t be serious.” 

“No, you can’t be serious. Hyung, you agreed to the bet so there’s no backing down,” Jungkook said with a childish grin, a toothbrush in his mouth. 

“Didn’t we establish from the beginning that (Y/N) is completely off limits?” Jungkook could tell the frustration in Tae’s voice, but that only cheered on his curiosity as to why Tae was so protective of you. 

“Then why’d you agree on the dumb bet?” 

“Because I was fucking drunk at 4am. Even you think the bet is dumb so can’t we just-- forget about it?” 

Jungkook rinsed his mouth and Taehyung only watched in silence until he finished his morning routine. “No.” 

Taehyung grunted in anger. “Hyung, I don’t understand why you’re so protective of her. I get that she’s your best friend but that surely can’t be the only reason. If there’s something important that you need to tell me, tell me right now and I’ll back down.” 

If only Taehyung had blurted out those 3 words in his mind, then, Jungkook wouldn’t be so insistent. He would drop it. Jungkook was pushy, yes, but he wasn’t going to go after a girl that Taehyung liked for the longest fucking time. Because that was low, even for Jungkook. 

But of course, Taehyung bit down on his bottom lip to prevent those words from escaping, even though they were itching to crawl out of his mouth. 

“Because I think she’s fucking cute and I want to get to know her,” Jungkook confessed, making Taehyung click his tongue. If Jungkook could admit it so easily, why couldn’t he bring himself to? 

Was it ego? Was it because he was scared of having those feelings-- knowing that things would be so awkward after he admitted his feelings to his best girl friend since childhood? 

He chose to think that the reason why Taehyung was so secretive was because he valued your friendship with him too much. It was too risky to put it to the test for some relationship that could potentially end up in flames, with him ultimately being forced to erase such a large portion of his childhood. A large portion of his heart. 

“Morning, sunshine,” Taehyung smiled down at you gently, your eyes were too hazy and swollen to process his handsome and endearing smile. You only groaned in response to your best friend. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Like death,” you laughed. 

“Not to freak you out but you just slept in the boys' dormitory overnight. Even if it’s a holiday, you could get in a shitload of trouble.” 

“It’s fine, I sneak out all the time with... Jungk-” 

Suddenly, the world came crashing down on you again. You immediately turned around, your back facing Taehyung. Instead of Taehyung questioning you, he simply laid down next to you, wrapping his arms around you again. 

“Do you want to eat anything?” he asked and you could feel his warm breath tickle your cheeks. 

You bit down on your lip to prevent a sob.

“Pancakes.” 

A shot of pain in your heart. 

The whole holidays were spent with Taehyung, cooped up in his room, watching the hours pass in the comfort of his arms and blankets. He’d comforted you through your longest crying sessions as the stinging and burning in your heart was still strongly present despite the weeks that’d past. 

And even when school opened again, you were in the same condition. It was worse because you weren’t even receiving any mail from him. 

“Won’t he even break up with me properly despite telling me that he loved me?” Taehyung continued to rub circles on your hip before whispering what he did every night before he drifted off to sleep, “Ease your mind and go to sleep, (Y/N). Good night.” 

“Miss. (L/N), please concentrate. The most important exams of your life are just a few months away. How could you be so carefree about your studies during this time?” the professor scolded, arms crossed as you let out a sigh. 

“I’m sorry,” was all you could mutter out before Taehyung dragged you out of the classroom with a swift pull on your cloaked arm. The class was left with a choir of murmurs and indistinct scolding from the professor in charge, protesting your departure. 

Regardless, Taehyung closed the door behind him and turned to you, staring into your bleak eyes that he was always heart-broken to see. “(Y/N),” he simply said, a small waver in his voice and you couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. 

“I have something important to tell you,” he confessed and you didn’t even look surprised. You were so out of it that nothing really seemed to evoke any response from you. 

“Does it have to be now?” you said, blinking slowly at him. 

“Well,” he started, “it’s related to your studies and... I’ve been analysing your behaviour since this whole Jungkook thing and... you haven’t really been--”

“--Tae. Just please get to the point.” 

“I have a proposition to make.” 

You raised a single eyebrow at him, intrigued at what he had to say. But not intrigued enough to a point you were willing to skip class. That sort of behaviour was reminding you too much of a certain someone you didn’t want your thoughts to be occupied with. 

“Can you tell me about it later? I don’t want to be yelled at again by our Professor. You already know that my grades aren’t top-notch right now. I should at least pretend to care about my studies before I become a neet.” 

“Don’t look so happy to see me,” Taehyung growled. He could already feel his hands were balled into fists. 

“I-I’m sorry I...” Jungkook looked completely speechless but he couldn’t wipe that dumb smile off his face, thinking that you’d had sent Taehyung for some sort of reconciliation. “How is she?” 

“What do you think, asshole? She flew here to surprise you only to find out that you were fucking a random on your bathroom sink. Real classy, Jeon Jungkook. I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he spat, closing the distance between himself and the raven-haired boy. 

“What’s got you so worked up? Hasn’t she been reading my letters?” 

“You honestly think a couple of letters is going to fix this shit storm you’ve brewed?” 

“Taehyung,” Jungkook’s eyebrows furrowed, “have you been hiding my letters from her?” 

“Do you even know what you’ve done to her? Do you know how crippled she is because of you? Jungkook, I knew you’d fuck up her life and that’s why I told you to stay away from her from the beginning.” 

“No no,” Jungkook chuckled, yet a sense of boiling anger was evident through the toxic sound. “The only reason why you told me to stay away from her was because you had feelings for her and you didn’t want to admit it.” 

“That’s not the problem right now!” Taehyung gripped onto Jungkook’s collar, gritting his teeth at his past friend. 

“Jungkook. (Y/N) is sitting her exams in a couple of months and she can’t concentrate on anything because everything reminds her of you. Why couldn’t you just fuck her and move on like you normally did? Is it because I like her that you feel some sort of sickening satisfaction from playing with our feelings?” 

Jungkook pushed Taehyung away, a violent loosening of his grip on his wrists. “What the fuck?” Jungkook scoffed, disbelief painted all over his face. “If you seriously think that I have no feelings for (Y/N), you’re a lot dumber than I thought.” 

“How dare you say that!” Taehyung roared. “Are you listening to yourself right now? You’re the one who cheated on her! How could you mention anything about your feelings in this situation?!” 

“I had my reasons! I explained everything in those letters you’ve been hiding! If you’d given her the letters by now, she’d be doing better!” 

“Better?” Taehyung squinted his eyes at the boy in front of him. “Better as in, only crying once a day instead of every two hours? Jeon Jungkook, you don’t know how much pain you’ve put her through.” 

Jungkook bit on the inside of his cheeks, his heart stinging from the image of you crying for hours and him being the reason why. “We didn’t even fuck--”

“--Defending yourself is not going to earn your anything besides a punch in the face.” 

“Let me fucking explain!” Jungkook finally raised his voice, the sound of his deep yell bouncing off the walls, capturing the attention of the students walking past the heated argument. The girls immediately started whispering to themselves, obviously very interested as to why their school eye-candy was so angered.

“I was with that girl only to get my parent’s memories back! That girl I was kissing-- she’s one of the top Potion students in the world. She promised me that she’d brew me something that could potentially trigger their memories,” Jungkook explained in a much softer voice than before. Yet, his fists were clenched, and his mind was foggy from the thought that you didn’t know of that reason. 

You’d understand, right? You knew that he was willing to do anything to revert his mistakes. Even though the idea was... risky, Jungkook thought that you wouldn’t find out about it. He didn’t kiss the damn girl because he wanted to. How could he fuck anyone else if all he could think about was you? But of course, you wouldn’t think that anymore. 

Especially not after you walked into him making out with a random on his bathroom sink. The realisation hit Jungkook like a 3-tonne-truck. You must’ve been so heartbroken at the sight. There was no explanation or follow up of his actions since Taehyung had been hiding the letters.

“And you thought it was a good idea?” Taehyung’s eyes remained squinted.

“I don’t care about what you think. I care about what (Y/N) thinks of my decision and because you’ve been hiding those damn letters, she’ll think I’m just blatantly cheating on her! If you’d just given her the letters, she’d understand why I did it.”

“You’re taking advantage of (Y/N)’s forgiving nature. I get that you’re trying to fix your mistake but don’t you realise that you’re making even more mistakes in the process?” 

“Taehyung please,” Jungkook hid his face in his sweaty palms, “just please go back and give (Y/N) the letters.” 

“I’m not going to watch her suffer any longer Jungkook, so no, I won’t be letting her read about your wreckless reasoning because she deserves to move on from you. You’ve already dealt enough damage. She needs to move on and if framing you as some sort of disgusting cheater is the only way, I’ll take it.” Taehyung distanced himself from the other.

There was silence. It wasn’t the type of silence that lulled you to sleep. Rather, it was a terrifying and tense sort of silence that cloaked fuming anger from the two.

“What else are you going to say to me?” Jungkook sounded soft, almost weak. “Surely you didn’t come see me to say just this. What else are you scheming, Taehyung?” 

“I have a proposition to make,” Taehyung admits and Jungkook scoffed. 

“I knew it.” 

“It’s an actual proposition. Without any cheating,” he spat out, death glaring the noir haired boy. “I will brew you that potion. It won’t be identical but it has similar effects.” 

Jungkook was evidently surprised at the words that came out of Taehyung. It seemed way too good to be true. “What’s the catch?” 

“You’ll stop contacting (Y/N),” Taehyung said easily and Jungkook shook his head quickly. 

“I’m not taking the deal,” he refuted immediately. 

“I thought you were willing to do anything to get their memories back,” Taehyung scoffed, a smirk pulled up his left cheek. 

“This is different. I... I can’t do that... she’s special to me,” Jungkook stated and Taehyung clicked his tongue at the sentence. 

“You say that but you cheated on her pretty easily,” Taehyung shrugged his shoulders. “That seems a little off.” 

“Is that it? I reject the deal. I can’t lose her. I’ll find another way to get their memories back.” Jungkook turned around and began to walk away. 

“Wait,” Taehyung called out from behind, stopping his steps. He glanced behind him to see Tae with a thin line across his lips. It was difficult to read what he was thinking. “Don’t contact her until the N.E.W.T exams are over. You know how important those exams are, don’t you? I don’t need you distracting her.” 

“And then what?”

“I’ll brew you the potion as long as you don’t contact her until the exams are over. I will tell (Y/N) about the deal and she can choose to be apart of it but that’s completely up to her.” 

“Why would she be involved?” Jungkook asked with his teeth clenched at the ambiguity behind Tae’s statement. 

“Because, Jungkook, believe it or not; she still cares about you - despite how much pain you’ve put her through. There’s nothing she wants more than your happiness. The deal I’ll offer her will be somewhat similar... I’ll tell her to stop thinking about you and to only concentrate on her studies. If you can both manage to move on with your lives until the exams are over, I’ll brew you the potion.” 

Jungkook remained silent, in his mind he was listing out all the possible consequences or twists that could potentially mess either you or him up, but he didn’t find any. The deal he was offering seemed fair. 

But it hurt Jungkook to know that you were perhaps still willing to help him get his parent’s memories back... despite him accidentally cheating on you. 

“It’s a win-win situation for both of you.”

“And what about after the exams?”

Taehyung rolled his eyes and scoffed, an uneasy smirk on his face. “I don’t care about what happens then. You just need to ensure that you won’t be contacting her until then. As I said previously, she needs to study. She’s was working so hard to prepare for these exams until you came and...” Taehyung sighed. “I’m not going to let you destroy any more aspects of her life, Jungkook.”

“It’s a deal,” Jungkook agreed, still unsure of himself but he let the words slip past for now.

“Remember, (Y/N) needs to agree, too.” 

Taehyung closed the door gently behind him, thinking that you already huddled up in the blankets of his bed, so he was surprised to find you seated on the sofa, an unamused expression on your tired face. You pat the spot next to you and stared at him, indicating that he had some explaining to do. 

“Kim Taehyung,” you said in a low and soft voice. “Tell me,” you crossed your arms and watched as he sat himself down next to you, an immediate tangle of his fingers in your hair to appease you. “Where in the world could my best friend have gone only to return at 2 in the bloody morning?” 

“North America,” he said casually and you tensed up at the possibility that he went to go see Jungkook. 

You’d be lying if you said that you hadn’t been thinking about him despite how close you were to failing some of your classes. You couldn’t help it though, you still had so many questions that were obviously prioritised over your studies. 

“W-why would you be there?” you were surprised at your own voice faltering, blaming it on the exhaustion. 

“Visiting an old friend of mine in Ilvermorny,” Taehyung stared directly at you. “He agreed to the deal. Now you just need to agree, too.”

“Is this the one you were going to tell me about in the middle of class?”

“Yes,” he sighed, removing his fingers from your hair. He leaned over to rest his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together in deep thought. “(Y/N), this will sound a little crazy. I know you’ll need time to think it over and I’m willing to wait..”

“Taehyung... you know you don’t have to hold back on anything. We grew up together, you know everything about me. I trust you the most so whatever you’re thinking of, I’m sure it’ll be the best option for me.”

“I was thinking...” Taehyung rubbed the back of his neck. “I offered to help Jungkook get his parent’s memories back.”

Your eyes lit up for the first time in.. a long time. You wanted to hit yourself for getting excited over such a simple statement. You were supposed to hate Jungkook, not feel relieved that he was making progress with his goal. 

“But you have to be apart of it,” he said under his breath. “The deal I made with him was simple. I’ll help him as long as he doesn’t contact you until the exams are over.”

You processed his words rather quickly and your eyebrows began to furrow a little bit. “I don’t see how that’s going to change anything but... okay?”

“For you... I have something else in mind,” Taehyung’s voice wavered. “I can’t word this any other way so I’ll just get to the point.”

“Please do,” you noted the way Taehyung looked at you with an uneasy expression. 

“I can help bring back his parent’s memories as long as you’re willing to make a sacrifice,” Taehyung gulped, his Apples Adam bobbled as he twiddled his thumbs. “I’m not going to force you to do anything so I want you to know that the choice is yours.”

“Taehyung please, you’re freaking me out.” 

“It’s a trade of memories. If you really want to help Jungkook get his parent’s memories back, you have to sacrifice your memories of something that’s equal value.” 

Your throat felt dry all of a sudden because you knew exactly what he was insinuating. No words escaped your lips even though there was so much happening in your mind. A bitter silence enveloped the two of you again, this time, leading Taehyung to get up and pace nervously around the room. 

After what felt like hours of dreadful silence, when it was only a couple of minutes, Taehyung finally stopped pacing around the room and sat back down. “You know what I’m implying, don’t you?” he asked and you responded with a meek nod. 

“The choice is completely yours but in my opinion... I feel like there’s nothing good that comes from remaining attached to someone who hurt you so much... (Y/N) he cheated on you.”

“I know that,” you spat out immediately, sounding a little angry but you couldn’t help it. It severely hurt to be reminded of it. 

You knew your relationship with him was too good to be true. Your Christmas holidays plus those hours of endless cheese and nonsense meant nothing in the end. It was even more frustrating because Taehyung was right about him. 

“I’ll tell you straight up now that if you choose to go through with this, you won’t remember who he is at all. But the potion will take its time to work... and that’s why I can’t have him contacting you or the effect will be significantly decreased.”

Taehyung was once again, 100%, annoying right about another thing. Deep down, you knew that forgetting about him completely would be the perfect solution to your constant miserable state. You even considered it seriously yourself before, occasionally telling Taehyung your desires to forget Jungkook, to soothe the burn, to ease the pain, to take a breather. 

“(Y/N)” Taehyung let out another hearty sigh. “I just want you to do well in your exams. I really don’t want you to bomb out on these crucial exams over some cheating asshole that I know you’re inconveniently very attached to.” 

It appeared that laying things out on the table seemed to be Taehyung’s forte. But you didn’t know that his words would hurt so much each time you processed them. 

“I honestly don’t know why I haven’t said yes yet,” you admitted. “There’s nothing for me to lose here. He’s meant to mean nothing to me. He’s hurt me so much and trampled on my heart endlessly yet,” you didn’t realise how unsteady your voice sounded until Taehyung pulled you into his chest. 

“Yet why am I so hesitant? It’s not good for me. I don’t want to remember who he is but at the same time, there’s a part of me that’s unwilling to let go. I don’t want to believe that the Jungkook I knew didn’t exist but I know that... it’s impossible not to. He’s nothing more than a disgusting and terrible cheater so why am I being so difficult--.”

Taehyung wiped away your tears. This scenario seemed to happen way too frequently. You couldn’t help but feel bad for Taehyung as he always had to deal with this. You’d been crying over that douche for what felt like years already. 

“Shh shhh,” Taehyung hushed. “I don’t need an immediate answer. You have time to think this through, baby,” he soothed his hand over your back, a cooling touch on your heated flesh. 

“No, Taehyung,” you peeled yourself off his chest, analysing the stains of your tears on his shirt. “I know what I have to do and you know it too. The quicker I agree to this, the quicker Jungkook can get their memories back,” you reasoned. “I... I know that he’s a cheater but I can’t erase my feelings for him no matter how much he hurt me. I still want to help him. Plus, if I agree to this, I get to help him and also... move on.”

It looked like words were stuck in the back of his throat. He fiddled with his jacket sleeve before replying, “You should really think this through. Don’t make any rash decisions.” Why did those words have to come out of Taehyung? Taehyung blamed it on the guilt biting away at his nerves. 

“Tae, this deal is beneficial for the both of us. I want to help him and I also want to stop hurting.”

Taehyung was surprised that he was the one being convinced of, despite him proposing the idea to begin with. 

Taehyung knew you’d made the right choice by listening to him, because after drinking the potion he brewed, you were evidently happier. Happier because the stabbing pain in your heart was diluted to a blur. The effects of the potion kicked in as time progressed which lead to your memories of Jungkook to diffuse hazily with time, eventually leading to a complete loss of memory due to the trade. 

The day Jungkook got his parent’s memories back, was beyond eventful for Jungkook was shedding tears of both relief and joy. He enveloped his family with the tightest of hugs, crying into their shoulders as they embraced him back, a little confused as to why he was suddenly so affectionate and in tears. 

“I’m so sorry,” Jungkook sobbed into his mother's shoulder, maintaining a tight wrap of his arms around her. “I missed you so much,” he confessed, a stream of tears down his cheeks. 

“Jungkook, darling,” his mother smoothed her hand across his back, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s got you so emotional?” 

Jungkook had a lot of explaining to do. He was eager to let them know how much they’d missed in the years they’d forgotten about him. And also, how much he’d missed them. Jungkook made a promise to himself that he’d definitely, make up for the lost time with his family. He had so much to share with them.

There was someone, in particular, he was excited to talk to his family about. 

[covenantlifestylecentre-blog]

Need to Feed Your Soul?

What on earth is going on? What are you talking about? Can I be changed? I am so full of sins. I smoke dagga, abuse alcohol and do all the different evil stuff.

These were the words and thoughts that I had for many years.

I often came to the conclusion that this lifestyle has been specifically created and granted for me. People have at many times told me that I am a failure which I started to believe. Everything I did resulted in failures which I even blamed my mom for.

My mom was a single mother who struggled to raise me. I could not understand why my dad was absent.

Little did I know that there were demonic forces behind all this. I did not at that time possess the spirit of discernment.

I directed my thoughts towards committing suicide. Every time I wanted to do it, I heard a voice telling me not to. Therefore I asked these many questions. I was not aware of this great path of righteousness.

My life even went in the direction of drugs, mentioned earlier, and other worldly elements. I was not involved in any acts of gangsterism, but still lived a sinful life.

But everything changed on Tuesday 3 August 1996.

We, my wife and I, accepted Christ as our personal Saviour on that beautiful day. At that time we, my wife and me, were unemployed and in desperate need of financial assistance. I was still an active member of Mamre Rugby Club and involved in other activities.

Our financial problems were soon sorted out as my wife received a cheque from her Provident Fund. We could buy food and other necessities. God really came through for us. We also found jobs and I left the sport as the Lord instructed me to do so. He wanted me in ministry.

She is currently following her lifelong dream as a nurse at an old age home and developing her nursing career, while I am completing my degree studies in Christian Education at a well known South African university. The Lord has changed our failures into success. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23v1.

Although both of us grew up in Christian homes, we did not really know the path of the Lord. This means that we were carrying on according to traditional beliefs.

The decision to accept Christ did not come very lightly for both of us. We were (so we thought) still young at heart and not ready for such drastic steps. I turned 32 that year. We were still looking more excitement and pleasure. Little did we know that the Lord had greater things in store for our future.

That incident really changed us, especially me. For the first time I started to feel fatherly love and acceptance as a human being worth living.

As I am a person that loves interacting with other people, I thought that being a born again Christian; I would not be allowed to participate in any social activity. How wrong was I to be?

However, I quickly realized that, being a Christian requires commitment towards the cause. Luckily, despite difficulties during the last few years, I remained dedicated because of His love for me.

Yes, I was once a sinner, but am now cleansed by His blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. I thus feel compelled to share God`s greatness in writing with you.

We were baptized on Sunday 7 June 1998. It was a very cold day, but we never felt the cold as the presence of the Holy Spirit was overwhelming.

The following day the Lord called me into the apostolic ministry. I will never forget the meeting I had with Him. It was quite an unforgettable incident,. I never knew that His Spirit and anointing was so powerful.

Looking back, years later, we can announce that it was all worthwhile in accepting Christ into our lives. The song declares: "It wasn`t easy, but it was worth it."

My negativity changed into something very, very positive. I found that I was indeed worth something to somebody and a place in life. God created me as an image of him. To him I was special.

You might be wondering why I make my private life open to the public. Well, I am not seeking any publicity, but wish to testify what the Lord has done in my life. I cannot remain quiet, but declare that He is really the true God. He is Jehovah Jireh!

Even when I went through a tremendous crisis ten years back, He was there for me. Some of my friends turned their back on me, but He showed His loyalty towards me. If it was not for Him, I would not have survived the ordeal.

The same happened during my illnesses, He supported and healed me. Praise His holy name!

My calling compels me to engage into evangelism and teachings hence the reason for the launching of the series of discussions, but first I need to quickly minister to your soul.

I am glad to declare that the Bible testifies that man has and will always take a special place in the Kingdom of the Great God. God won`t allow His creation to suffer unnecessary and get lost. Anyone who wants to take up serious business with Him is ensured of this special place. This is his reward to you, the child of God, for your perseverance.

In order to continue our conversation, we have to turn the attention to you. I request you to first need to sit down and just let your mind ease for a while. Start thinking about your ultimate destination.

The very first question we need to ask you is, of course, "Where are you heading?". You do know where you are coming from, but what is your final destination?

I would like to ask you more questions. How do you see yourself? Do you think you are good or bad? What do you think? Every person lives under his or her own illusions.

You may not be as bad as you think, nor quite as good as you think. Who, then, do you think will lead a better life of faith? Will it be one who thinks of himself/herself as good? Or one who thinks of himself/herself as bad? Is it the latter?

I also had to ask or answer these questions. God holds the answer to this. He knows all and everything.

Allow me to ask you another question. Who is more likely to be redeemed the one who has committed more sins or the one who has committed only a few sins? What do you think? The one who admits that he/she has committed countless sins is more likely to be redeemed. That person accepts that he/she is a grave sinner. Such a person can better accept the Word of redemption prepared for him/her by Jesus.

This idea really got to my mind on that day in August 1996. I realized that my only chance to freedom is on the doorstep. The decision was is in my hands. I am glad that I made the right decision.

An unknown author expresses it beautifully by saying the following:"My thoughts direct my actions, My actions become my habits, My habits define my character, And, my character is the birthplace of my destiny.

These stunning words gives us indeed, as already stated, something to think about. What forms the centre of our thoughts leads to what actions we are going to take at some stage in our lives. If it is violence, assaults beg to become part our lives. This is unstoppable if we, the individual, do not do something to stop the unfortunate happening. We are not perfect people, but we still need to strive to perfection.

Will you allow the HOLY SPIRIT to play a role in your life? The Holy Spirit reacts only when a person realizes that he or she is lost and need to get back to the Lord.

Jesus is then at all costs exalted by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit provides us with the assurance that Jesus did die for us and took our sins upon Him. Sometimes we doubt this, but let we be assured this happening occurred without any misleading conception.

Are you currently struggling with alcoholism or any other form of abuse? Alcohol abuse is an age old problem and part of man`s sins.Apostle Paul warned the Christians not to stray. He also advised them not to indulge in acts such as alcohol abuse. (1 Cor.6:9,10).

Unfortunately man suffers from the sins inherited from Adam. Sins are created by the acts of human nature.

Adam and Eve`s sins were because of Satan`s deceitful desires. Sin can become an addictive,destructive force.

Satan, the biggest influence on human nature, is the great enemy of God and all humanity. Satan is the ruler of the kingdom of the air and operates in those that are disobedient to the Lord.

People flee to the usage of alcohol as a form of stress solution in order to rid themselves of the problems surrounding them. However, many has been rehabilitated and succeeded in life. The question is is there hope for others?

The answer is a big YES.

Alcoholics need to admit that they have problems. These people often think that they will find a controlled manner of drinking. The same applies to people engaged in other forms of abuse.

There is, unfortunately, no spirit inside a human being that will provide any healing or solution to these problems. The godly medicinal solution is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The power and the truth lay in the crucifixion of Jesus upon the cross of Cavalry. He took all the sins of Man upon Him when He died on the cross.

God made a covenant (Genesis 3:15). The covenant was that He would deliver all sinners. He said that humans would be redeemed of their sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by the water and the Spirit. God sent our Savior, Jesus, to live among us.He also promised to send John the Baptist ahead of Jesus and He kept His promise.

The birth of Jesus lead to the cut off of the shackles of sin for all people. Those people who still have a hard time under sin are slaves of sin.His redemption made it possible that our sins could be absolutely cut off. He removed all our sins. Is there anyone who still suffers from sin?

Our warfare against sin has ended. We shall never suffer in sin again. Our bondage to sin ended when Jesus redeemed us with His baptism and blood. The Son of God has expiated all our sins.

What must be done to receive healing? People must have a desire to be redempted from their sinful nature. Every sinner must accept God into their lives. God can start working when people have acknowledge Him as the only and true Savior.

One thus certainly need to confess God as your Savior.A desire to call to God for help must be present. Faith and believe in Jesus Christ is essential. Jesus,as already mentioned, is the only one that can save you from going lost.

One need to place all your trust in the Lord. Saved people have to end all sinful thinking and deeds.They need to encourage others to also repent and worship a true God. A healthy fellowship with other worshippers of God is also vital.This will help in having a godly manner of speech.

Digging deeper into the Word of God by means of,amongst others, Bible studies will strengthen the move to a godly manner of speech.

Active alcoholics and young people need to be warned against the dangers of alcohol abuse.This can be done by means of testimonies.God is alive and are still healing the sick and solving problems.

God is the Master of the Universe.The greatest addiction, the pulls of the human nature, can be overcome with the help of our Father. I overcame this problem. So did many others.

Faith is caused in our hearts in order to believe that, what is written is really true. God allows us to still sin, because we still live in a sinful world. We cannot sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin is punishable by death. All the other sins need to be confessed. Do you now understand why we need to repent our sins?

God is alive, still healing the sick and solving problems. God is the Master of the Universe. The greatest addiction, the pulls of the human nature, can be overcome with the help of our Father.

Today we, the children of God, are looking forward to going home to a safe haven called Paradise. Why is this? We have got Jesus in our lives and in our purified hearts.

Thanking Jesus for saving my soul. What about yours?

Our article emphasizes the importance of discussing Christianity. Christians need to understand their practice (both in writing and practically). Therefore Biblical Studies cannot be ignored.

This religion, based on a God man relationship, holds the keys to peace and harmony for the soul. Unfortunately, we cannot continue without also mentioning the religion`s birth. John 12 v 46: "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."

Christianity, a major religion, is defined as an inspiration for man`s achievements, is concerned with man`s ultimate destination and makes people passionate. God can also fulfill human needs (hunger, thirst, love, sorrows, etc.) which require attention. Matthew 5 v 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Christianity, a vital factor in Man`s formation, has over 2.5 billion followers. It is a vast topic which no one book can alone cover.

Its founder, Jesus Christ, was born between 2 and 6 BCE (Before the Common Era) and known to be both Man and God. He only had a human mother, Mary, but no human father. The name Jesus means Savior. Jesus was aided by twelve disciples, including Simon Peter and Judas, during His evangelism amongst social dropouts.

His teachings, based on the rapidly coming of the longed for reign of God on earth, and His death on the cross at Cavalry played enormous roles in the establishment of Christianity.

The death of Jesus and Judas, His betrayer, led to the other disciples, along with other believers, gathering in Jerusalem in order to find a new disciple and discuss the road ahead.

The occurrence of a supernatural incident, God`s Spirit was poured out on them, at this meeting resulted in the discipleship expanding to more than 3 000.The first Christian congregation in Jerusalem then combined their beliefs in Jesus as Messiah and (New Testament) Christianity saw the light.

Christianity is today practiced worldwide and covers 33% of the world`s population. Protestantism, the Roman Catholic Church and orthodox churches form part of the prominent traditions within this religion of which Catholicism is the biggest type.

Christian writers normally find that there is so much to be shared. We have to praise Him for this. The winning of souls and teaching followers of Christ are vital purposes of spiritual writings. John 12 v 46: "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."

However, Satan complicates things. He feels that his domain is being threatened and use confusion as centre of attack to prevent this threat. Satan sees followers of Christ as part of the enemy. Luckily, God`s presence and assistance ease matters.

Unfortunately these difficulties rest with all humans and will, however, remain part of life. Christians` beliefs in Christ are daily being put to the test.

Jesus Christ, states that we do not have to fear as He has already conquered the world. John 16 v 33: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

We do not wish to focus on writers nor difficulties, but on the glorious victory by Christ at Calvary. How can one forget the Crucifixion as our victory over daily issues lies behold in the Blood of Christ?

His death grants us peace of mind that Jesus Christ, the greatest prophet, has done it all for us." Psalm 106 v 1: "Praise ye the LORD.O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."

Is it worth staying committed to Christ? Is God worthy to be worshipped and praised? Are there solutions to the many problems?The answer is YES.

The victory by Christ on the cross assures us this. He has conquered the world. John 16 v 33: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Therefore Christianity is the answer to someone seeking the right religion. Christianity promises the provision of peace and harmony for the soul. This is made possible via personal relationships with Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, fantastic rewards in the form of eternal lives await those that are serious in their commitment towards Christ. Studies of the Word remain vital important as the keys to a better future awaits the saints (the children of God).

[ombreecha]

Of Equal Value

Series: Lifetimes Fandom: Naruto Pairing: SasuSaku Rated: T Prompt: Sasuke gets the chance to get his family back but he has to sacrifice something. Like equivalent exchange in FMA. Since he's started accepting his past on their journey he probs won't do it. But Sakura starts the jutsu and tries to sacrifices herself b/c she has the yin seal. But Sasuke somehow stops her and he gets traumatized by almost losing another precious person. I think Sasuke begging Sakura not to leave him alone would be so powerful in the manga. hard to develop. Idea: Anonymous Note: . . . I don't know shit about FMA. I kinda did like a quick google search on the whole Equivalent Exchange stuff. I'm probably way off. Meh. I tried.

He had left all of it behind. He had left everything behind. He had left those he could call family back within their homes.

This journey was what had brought him to this moment as he gazed upon the walls filled with text. They spoke of how to bring those departed back. He could bring those he had longed for since childhood here and now. He had soaked within his desire for vengeance as a child, he had achieved it within his mid-teens, and now he could fix all of it here and now within his early twenties.

There’s a sense of dread within this—there’s a sense of wrong within this.

The whispers within the underworld had spoke of a method. They spoke of being able to create that which was loss. For a price.

His back slides upon the wall that faces the text within the wall. Reaching within his bag he pulls from it the small meal he had packed. This decision would not be rushed. He had seen what knee-jerk reactions could cause.

He had failed to read between the lines before. He had failed to read underneath the underneath.

There would be no failure this time. He had done enough of that. He had hurt. He had caused so many around him—friends, enemies, and maybe those of something more—unrelenting pain. They had fought to maintain their bonds with him. They had fought to maintain their ties.

They had fought, and they had won.

The inhale he takes in is deep as his head leans against the wall. The air is cool, but does not cause discomfort. To make this a reality he would have to give something of equal value. To gain anything within this world something must always be given.

The curl of his fingers upon his propped knee seek to give him comfort. They seek to keep his mind from drowning within this concept. The thoughts of those he had left behind within this journey to redeem himself ring with the clarity he had been given when he had accepted defeat. The blonde would have told him there had to be another way. The male of pale lead colored locks would have told him nothing good could come with a price so high. The one with pale pink locks would have hesitated to tell him that it would not work.

The longing for the family he had lost, and the brother he had taken from the world of the living was just as strong as their words that rang within that clarity. Those that spoke while not here were right. They sought what was best for him—they sought for him to find peace, and happiness after the war they had traveled and fought through.

Selfish is all that he is. He cannot stop the pain that comes with loss even within this age of twenty. That is what had been what made him dig further within the whispers. What would be of equal value for bringing them back?

Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura. They would be of equal value.

Ebony widen. The air is tight within his throat.

He could not—would not—trade them for the other. He was beyond those times when he had fallen deep within his darkness. He had left them this time with intention to return to their side once more. To sacrifice what he had gained, and to give them up would only bring him back to where he had been just years before.

There would be no redemption if he crossed this line. There would be no turning back. There would be no pardoning him for his crimes.

That is all it takes for him to leave this place with only a fleeting glance upon the wall once more. He could only protect what he had now. He would not give into the temptation to see the smile of his mother, or the stern look of pride upon his father’s face.

He would not give into the temptation to bring the brother back who had loved him deeply with such methods.

Team Seven was his family with them gone from him. He would cherish them as such, and he would depend on them as he would have the ones he had hailed from. He had acquired a brother in the loss of his own, and he had acquired a parent in the loss of his own.

He had acquired one who loved when he had been stripped of the ability to love even himself.

The journey is long and he holds no qualms with this. It’s peaceful, and he is helping those he comes across. He had wanted to see this world with clearer eyes. It is all around him. It is all that he breathes in and all that he feels.

There are those that wish to fight, and wish to harm him for his name. There are those that still hold anger within them at what pain he has caused so many unknowingly or intentionally. He does not blame them, and he does what he can to allow their frustrations to be released. He cannot expect all to forgive, and he cannot expect all to forget.

It’s as he leaves a shop within some village far from home that he hears the voices of those he knows well. Ebony find them easily. Four of them are here. The Hyuuga who had never spoke, the genius who had been the strategist in place of his father, the artist who had been meant to replace him, and the blonde you could not miss. He is not all the smiles he expects. There is a tangible solemnity within them as they finally explain that the girl turned woman he knows so well for her pale pink has gone missing.

His fingers curl within the package he has just bought—they are just items for travel. Who had taken her, and where had they taken her too?

He is quickly shot down in those thoughts. She had left all on her own. There is a wild beat of his heart at hearing such things. What had drove her to this point? What had made her leave her home?

The strategist is the one who explains as Naruto voice could no longer find it’s way from his throat. She has heard of the same rumors he has. She has gone in search of what he had already gone to find. She was looking for the wall that held the same scribbled text.

It is far from here.

How long had she been gone, and how long did he have to make sure she had not reached such a place?

He gives no words as he moves to leave. They call after, and then they follow in his hurried pace to span the distance he has already traveled. The beat of his heart will not calm until he has found her. There was such certainty that she would never even consider such methods.

What had she lost that she was willing to give of equal value?

There had been no word of such things, there had been no whispers among them when he had finally come home of such loss, and yet she was looking for the same thing he had found. He is desperate to understand what had pulled her enough to this. He cannot understand how this woman of pale pink, and warmth would ever consider such a method.

She was intelligent. She knew and understood how such forbidden tactics never held promise of happiness in the end.

The seconds—minutes—hours—days and all the time in between come and none give word of their exhaustion with the pace they set. They feel the urgency to get to her that he carries. They understand the panic that has overtaken him in the moments he has heard of her running off.

The lack of sleep is heavy upon them. They had urged for rest after forty-eight hours. They had told him that they could not continue in such exhaustion, and yet Naruto had stood beside him in agreeance that any time spent not growing closer would only let her increase the distance.

They climb the mountain he had climb only weeks ago. There is no desire for normal methods. He can feel her there within the same cave he had sat within as he gazed upon the method of creating what one had lost. He leaves them to travel with their own methods with his use of Amenotejikara. He can hear noises within the cave and light he can only assume is from her attempting the exchange.

He can only gaze as she turns at his appearance. The glow of her viridian is far brighter than the blue that comes from beneath her.

“S-Sasuke-kun.” She’s whispered between them with her thumb pressed within her palm.

The deep rich red that coats her thumb—she’s bitten into it to start what he would not.

He had learned to think things through. He had learned to not make such knee jerk reactions. He had learned to gaze upon the world with a new light. He had learned that if he had changed this point of view far sooner than he had he may have learned to love so much sooner from this woman of pale pink.

There was never a time when he could not read her—even within their distance and time from each other when he had left her for his own selfishness. The smile that is on her face is one of cheap quality. It is not the one that smile’s from within her and into her viridian. It is the smile that she gives when she is wishing to conceal her heart.

That is all it takes for him to understand what it is she is doing, and why. He had never needed words with her. They could give looks, and know what the other felt. They could stare upon each other with an understanding that he did not have with others. She read him as well as he read her.

What would be of equal value for bringing one of his family members back?

Sakura. She would be of equal value.

Ebony are wide eyed and his heart has halted its assault within his chest. She was doing this for him. This girl who had cried and begged to take his pain onto herself. This person who had become precious. This girl who had been the one to love when he could not even love himself. She sought to give him even just one of his family members back. He would lose her if she did such a thing. There would be no coming back to her deep within the village that was his home. There would be no warm smiles and glowing glances at him. There would be no Sakura Haruno if he let her do this.

He cannot lose her. He has lost too much already within these twenty years.

He is not gentle nor is he tender in his assault upon her. He has taken her down easily—she has not fought him with that strength of hers that could make the earth cry out as it shattered under her knuckles. He has pinned her arms to the mountains terrain.

“Sasuke-ku—”

“No. Do not leave me—do not leave me alone.” He cannot even fathom how his face is decorated before him. All he knows is the panic that has left him breathless within it’s thoughts of her no longer there within Team Seven, and her no longer awaiting his return.

“Sasuke!” The blonde yells from the entrance in seeing his best friend on top of their pale pink haired team member.

He cannot hear him. The only thing he can hear is her breathing beneath him as she stares up at him with those wide doe-eyes of her, and lips trembling, “Sakura—please.”

Those tears she lets fall so easily whenever he is involved come with that plea of his, and she finally uses that strength of hers to allow her hands to be freed. If she was determined to go through with this could he stop this woman? If she was willing to give herself up for his happiness to this extent could he keep her from doing so? Was her determination on the level that his vengeance had been once upon a time?

It’s her arms though that circle around his neck that he had not been expecting as she pulls herself to hug him from below. It is overwhelming in all of the tears she sheds as she whispers her apologizes. His own shaky hand that had taken its place upon the earth in her removing them from her own can only push her closer to him. He does not know what words to say in this moment. He cannot even find himself able to erase the wide eyed expression upon his own features.

He can only picture him unable to do this if he had no sought to stop her. He can only picture him unable to feel all the love she always continued to give.

It’s a fear he had not known until now. She had gone even farther than he thought possible. She is a woman of so many possibilities and so much heart.

She truly had only ever wanted his happiness, and she continued to try and give it to him no matter the consequences. The feel of her hair is what begins to ground him and allow him to breathe once more.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her cry is strangled within her throat as her own hold upon him tightens.

“Please, don’t leave me.”

[sadstoriesbook]

Chapter Two...

    Here I am, writing the second chapter on the same day. Call that productive or whatever; I call this therapy session on a rainy day that is slowly turning back into a hot summer day with a beautiful caress of middle-temperature wind.

    You can smell the beach in the wind, and if you lick your lips, you can almost taste the salt on them, hair flying all around my face, almost preventing me from seeing my computer screen. This morning the sky was full of clouds, there was this fresh air, and you could smell the rain, but now it’s like nothing happened, like it never rained, like thunder never screamed last night, like lightning never lighten up the sky.

    Rainy days always inspire me; there is this nostalgia, memories coming back. I always find rain soothing. So on this beautiful Sunday, I’ve started a new book, called “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher.

    This heartbreaking story. I’m sure you’ve heard about it, probably from the Netflix series, but this book was there way before, it has been praised by everyone, Association of Booksellers for Children, American Library Association. It won a Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. Florida Teens Read Award, California Book Award, Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Barnes & Noble’s “top Ten Best for Teens.” Book Sense pick, international reading Association’s “ young adults choices” finalist. Borders Original Voices finalist. Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best Books,” Kansas State Reading Circle’s “Recommended Reading List,” New York Public Library’s “Book for the Teen Age.”

    16 state Award Master lists.

    “Thirteen Reasons Why is a mystery, eulogy, and ceremony. Twenty or thirty times, I snapped the book shut when a sentence, an image, or a line of dialogue was too beautiful and painful.–”

    I relate a lot to this first part of praise. There are so many lines, thoughts from the protagonists that break my heart. Especially this sentence. “And yes, Clay–I’m sorry, too.” If you read the book, you know why this sentence is strong, powerful and full of emotions and is so meaningful.

    “–But I, afraid and curious, would always return to this amazing book. I know, in years to come, I will often return to this book.” - Sherman Alexie, author of “The Absolutely True. Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

    I would close the book because a sentence hurt me, or because I related too much to the current situation but find myself opening the book two minutes after because I needed to see how the characters reacted, would they act the same way as I did when I was in this situation? To be honest, and don’t get me wrong, I love this book, I do not agree with some choices that some of the characters made, but that’s what makes this book so realistic, you don’t agree with everyone’s choices, it’s not yours to make.

    ”Every once in a while you come across a book that you can’t get out of your mind, one you have to rush back to if you must put it down for some reason. Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why is one of those books, and is at the very top of my personal Must-Read List.“ -Ellen Hopkins, bestselling author of Tricks, Identical, Crank, Burned, Impulse, and Glass.

     Even after ten years, this book still has this strong impact on the ones who read it. And even to the ones who didn’t but still heard from it by their friend or online. This book created, opened a conversation that needed to be.

    ”Very clever premise, strong voice, perfect suspense. This one will keep you reading. Jay Asher is a fine storyteller.“ - Chris Crutcher, author of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Whale Talk, and Deadline.

    While reading the book, I sometimes had to remind myself that the author who wrote this book somehow found a way to put himself in the skin of a teenage girl who’s turning into a young woman and has to go through the looks and expectations of everyone. He did it, and some of you might think "well he’s an author,” I’m sorry but many failed at this. When you read this book, you tend to forget that it’s not a young woman who’s writing this book, who’s telling her story, it’s an amazing and talented man.

    “A spectacular first novel. Jay Asher tells his story with such honesty and simplicity that the tragedy feels shatteringly real.” -Gordon Korman, author of Son of the Mob and Jake, Reinvented.

    “the tragedy feels shatteringly real.” Well if I’m going to be entirely frank with you, Gordon Korman, these things do happen in real life! There might not be someone who does thirteen cassettes to tell their story, but it does happen. Some people can push others to kill themselves.

   In this chapter, I might hurt some people and perhaps get some haters.

    I’ve been bullied and on the verge of killing myself. People are mean enough to push others to kill themselves because they are different, not like them. Some people will beat, and some people will use words.

    For my part, the worse was the words that were said. Bruises, I mean physical injuries heal, but words stay, words remain. You can cover scars with tattoos or even jewelry, but you can’t cover internal and mental scars, it’s just not possible.

    I don’t really know where to go with this chapter. I just don’t. I’m mad whenever I think about those who hurt me but even more to those who saw and did nothing to help.

    There is this quote “It only takes a little push to pull on through” - All-Time Low, “Missing You.”

    I remember when I read online the negative comments. How the book tells too much or even the series shows too much, I got mad, and he asked me what was going on.

    “Just some stupid people that are afraid of life.” I spat, anger dripping in every word I say.

    “If you care about everything that everyone says, you’re screwed you know that?” He answers.

    I shut my computer and look at him.

    “Those people are similar to the ones who hurt me. They caution this behavior. ” I said. I didn’t understand why he was telling me this. He knew my story.

    “I know. What I meant was, you cannot leave one single negative comment to hide two positive ones.” He adds.

    “There is way more than one negative comment. That’s the problem. They refuse to see the truth! Thirteen Reasons Why shows this truth, and they don’t like it. Words hurt, actions have consequences. People decide to hate the truth because they know that they have things to be guilty of doing or saying! They criticize the victims, I mean, yeah sure it’s easier. But the fact is the less famous version of it all, the less attractive. You can’t gossip about the truth. ‘Oh well, they killed themselves because they are weak.’ They killed themselves because they were strong for too long. And when they’re dead, they cry, they don’t cry because they’re sad they are gone, no, because they’re gone because of them. They cry because they realized what they just did. They killed someone; there’s blood on their hands.

    But then what’s following could almost be mesmerizing. They can’t blame themselves, I mean, this won’t be fair, so they blame the victim, say that it was just attention seeking, they keep on putting down the victim, they soil the memory of the victim. What they don’t even realize is that by killing them, they’re killing their family, too. This book and the show prove that, and it tells the truth, and they don’t like it because people don’t like the truth.”

    Once again he didn’t answer, he knew better. And he knew I was right. Jay Asher did a fabulous work on this book, and as a bully survivor, I thank him for writing this book, and I thank Netflix for creating this show.

    Truth needs to be said. And for my part, when I will have children, I will tell them about the book and the show, I won’t force them to read it or watch it, but they will definitely know about it.

    The best way to stop bullying and hatred is to educate the ones that will soon rule the world, the next generation. Everything starts with them; things can only change with them.

     Values are something important, something that some people lack, some people are degrading, some people don’t even care about it. Sure it’s easier to be bad than good; you have to fight to be good, you have to fight to keep up with your own expectations. It’s always easier to take the wrong road, but always harder to stay on the good one, you have to look for indications, ask for help when you’re lost. It’s a constant fight, but in the end, it’s worth it because when you arrive at the end of the road, you remember the ones who helped you, the ones who let you down, and the landscapes you saw.

    Everything matters, everything has consequences, everything has an impact, minimal or not, it does matter, so make the most of it.

    Don’t wait the next day to say you’re sorry; there might not be a next day. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

    As I love to say, don’t live with regrets and do not leave with regrets.