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sokkascroptop · 4 years

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traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 10

part 1 | part 9 | part 11

A/N: it only took 10 parts but....we have Sokka and Y/N interacting!! If you’ve read the atla comics this is inspired by “The Bridge”. If not, it doesn’t matter! This is just what happens after Aang is injured by Azula and before Season 3 episode 1

Everything about being on the boat made Y/N uncomfortable. She had fought with Katara and Aang in the crystal cave proudly, but now that she was out in the open and more people knew what she had done, she felt like an imposter. She still held the weight of regret high on her shoulders, especially now that she realized that no one was ever going to fully trust her. Nobody was going to trust someone who was willing to change sides in a war. She would always be a traitor whichever side she landed on.

“I told you Sokka, she helped Aang and I. She’s staying.” Y/N could tell Katara’s patience was waning. Two days aboard the Water Tribe ship and she had told her brother and the earthbender––Toph––what had happened in the catacombs four times, and yet Sokka was still persistent that Y/N needed to leave. The four of them were sitting below deck in the mess hall drinking tea from thick ceramic mugs. It was colder being on the water and Y/N was grateful for the warmth.

“Look, we can even be nice and give her one of the canoes!” Sokka countered. He gave Y/N a pointed look. “You know, as opposed to throwing you out of sea.”

Y/N nodded. “Yup, I caught that. Thank you.” Y/N really didn’t like that they were talking about her like she wasn’t sitting next to them.

“Snoozles, I think you need to give it a rest,” Toph said. She sipped out of her tea cup and pressed her knee into Y/N’s. The girl had either taken a quick liking to Y/N or she really liked to piss Sokka off, and Y/N guessed it was the latter.

Sokka ignored her. “We should leave it up to Dad whether we take her as a prisoner or not.”

“He has more important things to worry about, and so do I!” Katara yelled. She stood, nearly spilling her teacup. She pressed it into Sokka’s hands. “And she’s not a prisoner!” She left the room fuming, likely to go check on Aang who was unconscious in the healer’s room.

Y/N looked around the room awkwardly. “Does this boat even have, like a place to hold prisoners?”

Sokka glared at her.

“Yeah, so this is fun, but I’m going to go find anything else to do.” Toph moved to leave only to have Sokka pull her back down.

“I want to hear it again. From her, not Katara.”

Y/N couldn’t help but groan. “Again?”

“Why do you need me here?” Toph sat down again.

“Tell me if she’s lying.”

“She isn’t interested in lying to the people who are keeping her safe right now. I’m a fugitive,” Y/N said angrily. “I watched someone who I used to call my best friend nearly kill her uncle. I watched her become a person I didn’t recognize anymore because of this mission. Except,” Y/N turned her empty cup over in her hands. “I’m beginning to think she was always that person, and it wasn’t her that changed, it was me.”

“She’s not lying, Sokka.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Look, all I know is that the Fire Nation is full of evil people. You can’t just expect us to forgive you–”

“I don’t,” Y/N interrupted. “I know you’re mad. I can see the looks the crew gives me. I don’t expect forgiveness from anyone. I don’t even think I forgive myself yet,” she painfully admitted. “I just need redemption.”

What she had said didn’t look like it had convinced Sokka any and Toph’s expression was the same as it was before.

“Come on, let’s go for a walk on the deck, Toph.”

They left, and Y/N was alone. Y/N picked uncomfortably at the hem of the tunic Katara gave her to wear. The green pants were three inches too short when she bent her knees and the actual tunic was almost immodestly tight but it was the kindness that Katara showed her by giving them to Y/N, even if they were just some Earth Kingdom clothes she was given while she was in Ba Sing Se.

Y/N wandered below deck after leaving the mess hall. There wasn’t much to see, the ship wasn’t as large as a Fire Nation ship, just one hallway and a smattering of doors that she probably wasn’t allowed in. Ahead of her though, was a door that was cracked open; the healer’s room. Y/N peeked through the crack at Katara kneeling over Aang. She must have just finished a healing session with him, and she was muttering to herself.

“–have to get better.”

The boat rocked as it crested a wave and Y/N bumped into the door startling Katara. She lifted the water from the basin she was using and then immediately dropped it when she saw who it was.

Y/N, caught now, closed the door softly behind her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She pretended not to see Katara blink tears out of her eyes.

“I was finished anyways.”

“How is he?” Y/N asked, unable to come up with anything else to say.

Katara looked back at him and Y/N followed her gaze. He looked like a little kid, not the all powerful Avatar she had seen a day ago.

“The same as before. Hey,” she pointed at Y/N’s head. “Do you want me to heal that cut some more?”

Y/N lightly traced the gash on her forehead that she’d received when her and Katara were thrown into the rocks by Zuko and Azula. It reached into her hairline and the only reason she let Katara use her healing powers at all was because it was still bleeding when they’d boarded the ship. She’d only had the energy after healing Aang to close it enough for it to stop bleeding.

“No, don’t worry about me.” Y/N smiled and left without another word, feeling like an intruder. She didn’t need any more hospitality from them.

---

There weren’t any spare hammocks on the ship for them so the four of them slept on the floor in the crew cabin. They laid out fur pelts underneath their sleeping bags to make it softer; and much like the night before, Y/N was in the middle between Katara and Toph, Sokka at their feet.

Y/N knew this arrangement was purposeful. They were still suspicious of her, and if she was surrounded by them she would have a harder time getting up and leaving. She wasn’t a prisoner, but she wasn’t free to roam either.

For the first time in a long time, she dreamt of home; of playing on the beaches and swimming in the warm ocean. She was happy and Y/N realized she hadn’t felt like that in a long time. She didn’t even mind when she was woken up by Toph kicking her in the shin the next morning.

“Come on, we need to go above deck.”

“Why?”

“They spotted a Fire Nation ship.”

Y/N had never pulled her boots on faster. She braided her hair on the way as they ran up the steps. It seemed like the whole crew was milling around the deck, muttering in small groups, all eyes turned to the east where a trail of black smoke announced the arrival of enemies.

Hakoda nodded at her as Y/N and Toph approached. He’d been just as cautious with Y/N as the rest of the crew, but nicer to her than his son. “Do you know what kind of ship that is?”

Y/N tied off her braid and threw it over her shoulder she squinted and leaned on the rail. “Looks kind of small, maybe a scouting ship?”

Hakoda hummed. “That means we’re going to be outnumbered fast.”

“We won’t be able to fight them, ‘Koda,” Bato warned. “And we can’t run, our sails are torn to shreds from our last fight with them.”

The two shared a look. Surely, they weren’t thinking of surrendering, were they?

Katara evidently thought the same. “We have to think about Aang, Dad. We can’t let the Fire Nation have him! We have to protect him.”

“We will! All we have to do is think of a plan.” Sokka seemed unusually happy for their situation.

Beside him, Toph punched his arm. “Alright, idea guy! Lay it on us.”

“If we can’t beat them, join them!” Sokka beamed.

Y/N let out a humorless laugh. “You can’t possibly be suggesting that we switch sides.”

“What, are you excited about seeing some of your Fire Nation buddies?” he asked, his voice was light, almost joking, but she could hear the accusation.

“Sokka!” Katara clenched her jaw.

He held up his hands. “Okay, okay, sorry!” He did not sound sorry. “What I meant is that we just switch boats.”

Katara, Bato and Hakoda stared at Sokka like he was insane. Toph gave him another punch on the arm. “That’s your plan?!”

Y/N on the other hand, nodded her head. “Huh.”

Hakoda looked at her like he was looking at Sokka moments ago. “You think that this could work?”

“Yeah, I do actually,” Everyone seemed surprised that she agreed with Sokka. Especially Sokka. “I mean, scouting ships have soldiers on them but they aren’t the best fighters and they don’t station firebenders on them. Their job low risk; just to scout out enemies and relay messages back to bigger ships. If we could find a way to sneak up on them it is very possible that you have enough warriors to take them out and steal the ship.”

Nobody had anything to say to that. Hakoda grabbed Sokka’s shoulder. “Alright, what’s the plan, son?”

---

Sink the fleet.

Y/N still couldn’t believe that this was Sokka’s “brilliant” idea. And she really couldn’t believe that Hakoda had let them go through with it.

Y/N looked back from her place at the front of the canoe to the smashed wooden ships behind them. The point was to make it look like the Water Tribe had already been beaten, so Katara and Toph had used their bending to flood and crush the ships. It was sad for her to watch it all happen, she couldn’t imagine what it was like for the warriors who had called the ships ‘home’ for years.

A sharp kick to the bench under her jerked her out of her thoughts. “Keep paddling! You’re making us turn the wrong way.”

Y/N put her oar back into the water and wondered how good it would feel if she just slipped a little and let her elbow fly back into Sokka’s nose. Just how cute would the Water Tribe boy be with two black eyes and a broken nose?

Y/N swallowed down her anger. “Oh shut up, I haven’t done this since I was nine.”

---

The Water Tribe had found a treeline to camp in for the night. At dusk the next day, they would attack the Fire Nation ship.

Y/N lay in the grass a few feet away from the Chief, Katara and Sokka and Toph, staring at the stars. She traced the constellations she knew with her eyes, she was just looking for ‘the dragon’ when the stars were blotted out with a figure standing over her.

“Come sit with us by the fire. It’s cold out.” Sokka crossed his arms.

Y/N shook her head and sat up. “Thanks, but I’m good.”

He dug the toe of his boot into the grass. “They won’t let me come back until I bring you.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Y/N smiled and flopped back onto her back. “Guess you won’t be eating dinner!”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “Is this punishment for being mean to you?”

Y/N rolled her eyes. She could tell him that, yeah it probably was, but it wouldn’t be fair of her. Y/N was pretty sure he had a right to be mad with her for joining out of the blue.

“If you can be nice over dinner, I’ll go over there with you.” Y/N nodded towards the fire. Katara turned away quickly when she locked eyes with Y/N.

“Deal! I’m starving.” Sokka held a hand out to help her up. Whether it was because he was trying to be nice or force of habit, she accepted it and let him pull her to her feet.

They let go of each other quickly and didn’t look at each other on the walk over.

Turns out it was easy for Sokka to keep his promise because he ignored her the whole time and spent the entire meal chattering about the plan for tomorrow with his dad. It was fine with her, Y/N was more interested in Katara’s silence than anything. Anytime either of the men tried to talk to her she shut them down or snapped at her father.

She nudged Katara’s elbow. “Are you okay?”

She looked up from where she was scowling into her bowl of food. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

Y/N nodded. Katara was lying but Y/N didn’t want to press. She could have been stressed about Aang who was still unconscious in the tent behind them. And if there was anything going on between her and her dad, it wasn’t Y/N’s place to meddle in, especially when her relationship with the Water Tribe was as precarious as it was. But something gnawed at the thought of leaving it completely alone. “Let me know. If you want to talk, or something.” Y/N shrugged noncommittally.

Katara didn’t say anything the rest of the night to her, not until they had snuggled into their sleeping bags around the dying fire and Sokka had already started snoring. Somehow, Katara knew Y/N was still awake.

“Thanks, Y/N.” She whispered the words so quietly that they could have been Y/N’s imagination. She figured out it was real when she opened her eyes to find Katara closing hers. Y/N smiled and tucked her head closer to her chest and fell asleep to the buzzing of cicada-bats in the trees.

---

The next day, Hakoda did something that surprised her. “Here.” He thrust Y/N’s sheathed sword under her nose. She was seated on a rock next to their smoldering fire, just hours before the Tribe planned on leaving to raid the Fire Nation ship. All around her, warriors were sharpening their swords and spears.

“Um, thank you?” Y/N hesitantly reached out for it, wondering if this was a trick. She had turned it over to him the moment she slid off of the Appa’s back. And to be completely honest, she wasn’t expecting to get it back at all.

“I want you to come with us.”

Y/N widened her eyes. No one had explicitly told her, she wasn't going, she just expected to be left behind. “Why?”

“I heard you can fight.”

Y/N wondered which sibling gave him that information because that could be a good or a bad thing. She lifted one shoulder in a small shrug. “A little.”

He chuckled. “I also heard of a few of my warriors making a bet on when you would turn on us.” He started to walk away. “Don’t make me lose silver to Bato because I think you’ll stick around.”

---

The only sound around was the soft lapping of water against the metal sides of the ship. Y/N’s heart began race and her muscles tensed in anticipation. She drummed her fingers on the side of the canoe, not able to keep still.

Behind her, Katara was less enthused about being brought along. “I should be with Aang, not here.” She muttered to Toph.

“Aang is going to be fine. And once we take this ship he’s going to have somewhere safe to recover.” Katara went silent.

As quiet as possible, the Water Tribe warriors scaled the side of the ship with grappling hooks and rope. Y/N could hear shouts of surprise come from the soldiers on the deck as they jumped over the railing.

When it was Y/N’s turn, she landed on the metal deck next to Toph and Katara. Some warriors had split off to taken down any soldiers on the bridge as well as look for soldiers sleeping below deck. Katara bent water over the railing to knock down three soldiers that rushed them. Two more came from the right; one of them wielding a spear, the other a dao. Y/N deflected the tip of the spear and sliced down, snapping the wood in half. She kicked him in the chest, and he skidded backwards on the deck. She parried a strike from the other soldier, and sent her elbow flying into his face, bringing him to his knees.

Y/N watched in awe as Toph ripped a piece of the railing off the boat and bent it around the two of them on the ground, restraining them back to back. Y/N looked around the deck and noticed Sokka kneeling, tying another soldier’s hands behind his back. What he didn’t see what the Fire Nation soldier who was sneaking up behind him.

Y/N’s breath caught in her throat and she ran.

She got there just in time to intercept his sword with her own. But catching him so late in the blow cost Y/N her upward momentum and the tip of her sword scraped the deck. She grabbed his wrist and pushed it away. She brought her left knee up into his side, using their closeness as an advantage. He groaned and bent forward. She swung the flat of her blade against his wrist, forcing him to drop his sword on the deck. For good measure, she grabbed the back of his head and sent her knee into his face. The soldier sprawled back on the deck; dazed, with a bloody nose.

Snickering behind her drew Y/N’s attention. She watched as Hakoda elbowed Bato in the chest, and Bato, irritated, pushed him away.

“I told you so!” Hakoda called after him.

---

Y/N was surprised when Katara said that she could have her own room.

“Everyone else, has their own. We figured you would want one too.” she shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal and left. Except it was a huge deal. Y/N grinned. They weren’t worried anymore that she was going to wake up in the middle of the night and go on a murder spree. They were giving her an inch of trust and that meant everything to Y/N. She knew that she had a long way to go, but this was something.

She pulled her hair out of it’s tangled braid and dropped her sword–which Hakoda had allowed her to keep–next to her bed roll before collapsing onto it. She sat back up immediately as someone knocked on her door.

“Yeah?” she called, crossing her legs. She began to comb the knots out of her hair with her fingers.

She dropped her hands in surprise when Sokka opened the door. He closed the door behind him and leaned on the wall just inside.

Suddenly the room felt stiflingly hot. He had traded his blue Water Tribe clothes for a soldier’s uniform and replaced his wolfs-tail with a Fire Nation top knot.

“What’s up?”

Sokka shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “I want you to teach me how to sword-fight.”

“Oh?” Y/N was surprised to hear that come out of his mouth. “Why?”

“I would have died if you hadn’t been there,” Sokka admitted. “I feel like I rely on the others too much in a fight. I’ve never had a Master to teach me anything.”

“Well, I’m not a Master,” Y/N said apologetically. She could understand where he was coming from. She was born into a family of firebenders as the only nonbender and it made her special in all the wrong ways. She had to be good at something to survive.

“Maybe not in title, but you’re good. Really good. I–actually never mind.” Sokka turned the handle to the door.

“No, wait! I’ll do it!” She shot up and grabbed his arm. It didn’t matter how much he had hated her twenty-four hours ago. This was something they had in common and if she ever wanted to be in their good graces, she needed to do this.

“Yeah?” He looked hopeful, and little surprised like he figured she would have said no.

“How about we start tomorrow?” Y/N asked. She realized her hand was still wrapped around his wrist. She pulled back and crossed her arms.

Sokka nodded. “Tomorrow.”

---

A/N: now I’m just trying to decide how much of a slow-burn this is going to be.... ALSO two things! One: you’ll notice that I keep mentioning her being a non-bender. You’re all like, “yeah, yeah we know.” but it’s important!! If you haven’t read the Imbalance comics, I highly recommend you do. I have taken some of the issues from that and decided to use them in here because they moved me so much. Being a non-bender is part of Y/N just as much as being a waterbender is to Katara. It defines her, even if she doesn’t like it. Two: No Master Piandao here because, why would we when we can get Sokka and Y/N bonding over sparring and sword-fighting lessons? :)

Taglist: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon @reclusive-chicken-nugget @astroninaaa @aangsupremacy @beifongsss @crownofcryptids @welovediaaxx @littlefluu @lozzybowe @thebluelcdy @ohjustlookalive @sugarmoongey @fanficdepot @teenbiology @13-09-01 @riespage @davnwillcome @naanlianid @creation-magician @lunariasilver @vintagerose1014516 @bcifcng

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squarefriend · 4 years

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1 with Alphys or Toriel with 15? ^^

Once again, we’re doin’ both >:)

Ok so!! First off, Alphys:

At first she hated getting sick. It makes her feel miserable and achy and all that bad stuff. Worse, she gets sick rather often since she’s so sensitive to things like cold weather. So it’s at least a yearly thing that she catches a case of the sniffles.

Back then, she would normally just lock herself in her lab, feeling miserable until things got better. Luckily, Mettaton roomed with her for a bit and was there to lend a helping hand. He cleaned up and got her soup and all that good stuff. But, when he moved out....

She hated getting sick even more cause now no one was here. And now she felt even lonelier. And now she felt even more miserable.

This loathing kept up until the first time she got sick on the surface. I like to think winter hit pretty hard since there was no way to actually escape it like in the Underground. The quickly decreasing temperature meant Alphys was due for anouther bought of flu, so when the symptoms hit she was already holed up in her and Undyne’s appartment. She was all ready to have a long, miserable, cold season....

....But as it turns out Alphys actually enjoys being sick.

Well, less of actually being sick. She’d never admit how much she adores to be pampered and taken care of by her girlfriend. They snuggle up and watch anime, eat ramen, and just take a lot of time to love on eachother. Even if it’s certain that Undyne’s gonna get sick too, nobody can separate these dorks all winter. I mean, it’s just like in Alphys’s favourite fan fictions!!

Onto prompt 2, Toriel’s vacation habits!!

Ok so, admittedly a lot of my head cannons for Toriel are based off my own mother. Hell, even this doodle I was working on reminded me starkly of my mum. She loves traveling, and kinda shaped a lot of my views on how to do a good ass vacation. Also nastolgia.

Anyway!!! I like to think Toriel likes a nice, laid back vacation. She asks each person in thier little vacay group what they wanna do, then plans accordingly. Her favorite spots are usually old architecture, national parks, or good restraunts. Though, if it has a nice, warm spot to read, she’ll be happy.

Tori actually takes Frisk on a vacation every summer! They pack up the car and go to a new spot every time, mostly just sightseeing and other touristy things. Frisk’s chosen activities can be a little fast paced for her, but she manages well enough.

The one exception to the laid back, very pg vacation is when her and Sans decided to go to Las Vegas.

They’d been wanting to go on a best buddies road trip for a while, it was Summer, everything just worked out perfectly. Originally, it was going to be a normal, chilled out weekend with lots of sightseeing..... But they ended up going to a Casino and things got fucking intense.

Niether can actually remember what happened, aside from the fact that Toriel won too many drinking contests and Sans discovered he was really good at gambling. Kinda helps when you have loaded dice though.

They woke up at an entirely different hotel with a couple hundred extra bucks, 2 sets of party sunglasses, and absolutely no memory of the night before. So, they both decided to pack up and pretend that such an insane night never happened. It’s never been spoken of since

Mostly, Toriel just takes really chill, fun vacations.

#undertale #sans #toriel #Undyne #Alphys #askbox #I need to write an Alphydyne sicfic #they’re so soft I love them #I mean it’s cannon Toriel does some pretty insane shit while drunk #I like to think Sans would just go along with it #He’s a chill enough dude #They did end up going sight seeing tho!!!#Just a lot more hungover than initially planned

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ga-yuu · 3 years

Text

~Yoshitsune~Main Story Chapter 6~

Chapter 5

--------Part 1---------

As soon as I got back to my room, I was so tired that I fell onto my bed.

(I just met Yoshitsune-sama. It feels like a dream when I think about it now.)

But the words we exchanged, is proof that it was real. It was so vivid that they stayed with me.

------FLASHBACK-----

Yoshino: “Is there no other way but to kill each other?”

Yoshitsune: “This is the fate we chose.”

Yoshino: “But—-”

Yoshitsune: “But what? Why do you care so much? You just got involved in all of this, right? Whether Yoritomo and I hate each other or kill each other….why does it matter to you?”

Yoshino: “Even so—.”

------FLASHBACK ENDS------

(I really want to know more about Yoshitsune-sama.)

(He saved me. He also helped a random lost kid.)

(He's a man of integrity and honesty, and I'm sure he's a kind man at heart.)

(At first, I just thought he was scary, but he's not really.)

I wonder why I'm so interested in an enemy general.

(No. It's because he's an enemy general and that's why I'm interested in him.)

----If he was just a scary opponent, I could fight him without feeling anything, right?

Maybe I should not pry in too much.

(There is still time until the war with the Rebels.)

(I have to sort out my feelings before I stand on the battlefield.)

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

A few days after Yoshitsune visited Kamakura-----

He was resting in his room when Benkei suddenly barges in out of nowhere.

Benkei: "Yoshitsune-sama!"

Yoshitsune: "What's up, Benkei?"

Benkei: "Is it true? I heard you went to Kamakura, ALONE!"

Yoshitsune: "......Who told you that?"

Benkei: "Kurama told me."

A deep crease is etched between Benkei's eyes.

Benkei: "I've been away for a couple of days and look what you've been up to....That's the enemy's zone now. What if something happens to Yoshitsune-sama!? I know you have your own interests, and I'm not telling you to never go. But, if you wanted to go, you could have told me. I'd have accompanied----"

Yoshitsune: "If you had accompanied, you'll go berserk."

Benkei: "YOSHITSUNE-SAMA!!"

Yoshitsune: "....just kidding."

???: "Chill out, Benkei!"

A lazy voice breaks their conversation.

Yoichi: "It's not the first time our Lord had wandered off, is it?"

Benkei: "Yoichi.....stop eavesdropping."

Yoichi: "I wasn't. I could hear your screams all over the house. I understand your concern, but just have a little more faith in Yoshitsune-sama. That's all I'm saying."

Benkei: "I trust Yoshitsune-sama, even if you don't tell me. But, what if something bad happens to him?"

Yoichi: "Do you really think our Lord would just sit and wait for something like that? Look, he has come home safe and sound."

--------Part 2------

Yoichi: "Do you really think our Lord would just sit and wait for something like that? Look, he has come home safe and sound."

Benkei: "................"

Benkei silently stared at Yoichi, still feeling unconvinced.

Without a care in the world, Yoichi smiled at Yoshitsune.

Yoichi: "So? Did you stretch your wings, Yoshitsune-sama? Do you have any stories to tell us?"

Yoshitsune(smiling): "Yes. It was nice to see Kamakura till the end."

Benkei sighs deeply, as Yoshitsune happily squints.

Benkei: "....I won't say anything this time. But please tell in the future before going somewhere like this!"

Yoshitsune: "...........................Okay."

Benkei: "What was that long pause for!?"

Yoshitsune: "It's all in your head."

Benkei: "No, it isn't!"

Yoichi: "I know you really love Yoshitsune-sama, but you're being too overprotective Benkei."

Benkei: "I'm not being overprotective."

As Yoichi shrugs his shoulders at the unconscious remark, Yoshitsune suddenly opens his mouth.

Yoshitsune: "Also, I happen to meet the fox princess."

Benkei and Yoichi: "!!!!"

Benkei: "...You also met her on the battlefield the other day, too."

Yoichi: "Is it a coincidence? I think not. Fox princess.... at first glance, she looks like an ordinary town girl."

Benkei: "Yeah, so ordinary that she helped a demon she never met before the very first day."

Yoichi: "That's not all. She also didn't hesitate to save one of our soldiers."

Benkei: "Yeah. I don't get it. What was she thinking while doing all of that?"

Yoshitsune: "I agree."

Then suddenly Yoshitsune-sama smiles like a flower.

Yoshitsune(smiles): "......She's weirder than I thought."

Benkei: "Yoshitsune-sama...."

Yoichi: "......."

Both Benkei and Yoichi were speechless at Yoshitsune's unexpected reactions.

Yoichi: "......Hmm. How unusual, isn't it? Yoshitsune-sama talking about someone else other than us, like that."

Yoshitsune(expressionless): "I wonder why too."

Yoshitsune opens his mouth after thinking for a moment.

Yoshitsune: "Maybe because she's an enemy who accidentally got caught up in this turmoil."

Benkei: "Maybe."

Yoichi: "....................."

As Benkei was somewhat agreeing to Yoshitsune's reasoning, Yoichi was sitting on the side, with his eyes closed, thinking about something.

...........

A few days later----

I was heading to the dojo to deliver the medicines that they ordered.

(I'm almost out of stock for wound medicines. I should start making more after delivering this!)

Yoshino: "Ohh!!"

While I was distracted by my thoughts, I accidentally bumped into a vassal who was passing by.

Yoshino: "I'm sorry!"

Vassal: "No, no, it was my fault."

I managed to stay on my feet and apologized to the vassal, who was leaving for work.

(He looks busy...)

Not only him, but all the vassals were also running around in the corridor.

(Oh yeah, Kagetoki-san did tell me...)

----I remembered the conversation that one day we had when I was helping him like usual.

------FLASHBACK-----

Yoshino: "Drought?"

Kagetoki: "Yes, you know there's been a lot of sunshine across the country, but...."

------Part 3------

Kagetoki: "Yes, you know there's been a lot of sunshine across the country, but....countries with limited reserves are expected to suffer."

Yoshino: "Hmm.....I see."

Kagetoki: "We have already started receiving a number of requests for help. Although we are about to go to war with the Rebels, we want to concentrate on our internal affairs now before we start gathering food for our troops. It's the same with the army over there."

-------FLASHBACK ENDS------

(It's still the hot season, and it's a difficult situation...)

(I hope it rains soon.)

Yoritomo: "........is Yoshino, they say."

(Hm?)

As I walked past the hallway, I heard my name.

(That voice. Was it Yoritomo-sama? I wonder what he's talking about.)

(It's not good to eavesdrop, but just a little....)

I stopped quietly and listened to the conversation from outside.

Yoshino could listen to Yoritomo and Kagetoki discussing something serious.

Yoritomo: "The letter about postponing the war arrived early this morning from the Rebels. In the meantime, they want to make an agreement not to attack each other."

Kagetoki: "So Yoshino and Benkei are exchanged as hostages between Hiraizumi and Kamakura?"

At the same time, Kagetoki folds his hand and thinks.

Kagetoki: "It's unusual for Yoshitsune-sama to make a request like this."

Yoritomo: "Yeah, he's willing to go with it without a fight. Looks like someone else is making him agree to this."

(Hostages?)

I blinked in surprise at the conversation I just heard.

More than that, Yoshitsune-sama is willing to exchange Benkei-san. his right-hand man, for me.

(Now, what is Yoritomo-sama and Kagetoki-san going to do....?)

I feel bad about eavesdropping, but I was curious because the conversation also has me in it.

The conversation goes on as Yoshino listens from the other side----

Yoritomo: "I'm sure they've got a lot on their plate, at least enough to make such a suggestion."

Kagetoki: "In any case, in this situation, we no longer need to be wary of the enemy outside. The fact that we will be able to focus on domestic affairs is very attractive."

Yoritomo: "If we let the people starve any longer, there will be trouble."

Kagetoki: "So are we going to accept their request?"

Yoritomo: "No."

Yoritomo looked down at Yoshino's name written in the letter.

Yoritomo: "If she's exchanged for Benkei, I am sure she won't be killed. But I feel Yoshino's heart is not ready for this." (Buddy, if you go there, Hiraizumi would be a warzone.)

Kagetoki: "I suppose so. Reluctantly, Yoshino is the key to our victory in the upcoming war. If Yoshino's heart is broken, she won't be able to stand on the battlefield. So exchanging is a bad idea."

(.....I see.)

(I'm glad Yoritomo-sama and Kagetoki-san care about me...)

(But, is it actually alright?)

(If my going as a hostage will help the starving people, then...)

Yoritomo: "Okay then."

Kagetoki: "Let's give our refusal to the Rebels----"

(Enough with the eavesdropping.)

I made up my mind and opened the sliding doors.

(After all, if there is something I can do, I don't want to pretend not to see it...)

Yoshino: "I volunteer!"

Yoritomo: "You what.....?"

------Part 4------

Yoritomo: "You what.....?"

Yoritomo-sama and Kagetoki-san's eyes widened at my sudden appearance.

Yoshino: "I volunteer to go as the hostage from our side."

Kagetoki: "Eavesdropping someone's conversation is a bad hobby."

Yoshino: "For that, I sincerely apologize... "

I bow my head and chose my next words carefully.

(I know they're not willing to sacrifice me at any cost. Also, I'm scared about the idea of being alone in the enemy territory. But....)

Yoshino: "Yoritomo-sama said that he's sure that I won't be killed if I go there, right? If the only reason for refusing their offer is my feelings...I would choose to go to Hiraizumi of my own free will if it meant that you could hold out a little longer and save a lot of people!"

Kagetoki: "You didn't just say that on the spur of the moment, did you?"

Yoshino: "I did."

(It's my way of making sure you guys won't regret it.)

Yoritomo: "......."

The eyes that resemble the night sky look straight at me.

Yoritomo: "You will be surrounded by enemies. There won't be a single friend there. Even if you're a hostage, we can't guarantee your life if things go wrong. After hearing all that----can you still say that you'll be okay?" (Don't worry Yoritomo. She'll survive no matter what. In Kagetoki's route, she pointed a knife at the emperor. In the upcoming route, she will be walking on people's dead bodies.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. I'm worried, but...(+4/+4)

2. That's....

3. Of course!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoshino: "Of course, I'm worried, but...."

(That Yoshitsune guy won't break his promise once he gave his word.....and I'm sure of that.)

Yoshino: "But if there's something I can do. I wanna do it."

Yoritomo: "I understand that you're ready."

Yoshino: "Then...."

Yoritomo: "I'll write to the Rebels that we're agreeing to this."

(Yayy! He accepted...!!!)

Yoritomo: "What do you think, Kagetoki?"

Kagetoki: "There's no reason to stop someone who wants to go. Although, it's a completely unexpected development."

Yoritomo: "You're right."

Yoshino: "I-I'm sorry?"

Yoritomo: "Why are you apologizing, dummy?"

Yoritomo-sama sighed.

Yoritomo: "You're about to do a humble duty for the Kamakura Shogunate. You should be proud of yourself."

Yoshino: "Hehe, it's nothing compared to what you do."

Kagetoki: "You also have the nerve to interrupt a Shogun's meeting. What do you have to say about that?"

(Errrrrrrrrr.........)

Yoshino: "No comments...."

(Because I thought, if I didn't interrupt them I won't be getting another chance....)

Yoritomo-sama smiles when he sees me struggling with words.

Yoritomo: "You're really weird sometimes. When you come back, I'll welcome you with open arms."(It would have been actually nice if Yoritomo was the love rival in this route.)

(Welcome me with open arms? That's a bit too much for someone like me. But I'm happy.)

Yoshino: "Thank you very much!"

It was encouraging to see Yoritomo-sama's concern in the mean tone of his voice.

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

Soon, that day arrives-----

It is time to say a temporary goodbye to the Shogunate. Everyone also came to see me off.

Tamamo: "I didn't believe at first when I heard you volunteered to be their hostage....As expected of the woman I chose."

Yoshino: "You're exaggerating. Of course, I'm worried."

Tamamo: "That's natural. By the way, there's always the possibility that I could sneak along with you."

(It's amazing how Tamamo can do anything!)

I can't help but laugh at Tamamo's mischievous suggestion.

Yoshino: "Thank you, but don't worry. It would be reassuring to have Tamamo around,...but that wouldn't be fair. I want to be sincere with them."

Tamamo: "Awww..."

A bitter smile dwells on Tamamo's lips.

Tamamo: "I'm not used to being rejected. Fine. I'll go and play in the palace and wait for your return.

Shigehira: "What are you so carefree about, Tamamo?"

Shigehira-san stared at the satisfied Tamamo and then turned his gaze to me.

(What did I do?)

Shigehira: "Since you started helping me out, I think I could say you're not that useless."

------Part 5------

Shigehira: "Since you started helping me out, I think I could say you're not that useless. But just because you've decided to help the Shogunate doesn't mean you have to go that far."

Morinaga: "Shigehira, again, if you're worried about Yoshino, why don't you just say so?"

(Eh?)

Yoshino: "You're worried? Shigehira-san."

(It feels like déjà vu...)

Shigehira: "....Don't just speculate things. Who says I'm worried?"

Yoritomo: "Heh....I can't believe I'm hearing this from the same man who came running to me after he heard the news that Yoshino was going to be taken as a hostage."

Shigehira(blushing): "No I...."

(No wonder....!)

Shigehira-san was at a loss for words, but Kagetoki-san opened his mouth without hesitation.

Kagetoki: "Isn't there any other way!!?' was what he said. You also were protesting the idea furiously. He finally gave up when he found out that Yoshino's intentions were firm, though. I haven't seen such a desperate Shigehira in a long time."

Shigehira(blushing): "..........." (He just never learns.)

(I knew he'll be worried about me....)

I knew this all along, so I'm less surprised when I hear this now. But, I'm still glad...

It's because I know that Shigehira-san is a kind person.

Yoshino: "Thank you very much for worrying about me, Shigehira-san."

Shigehira: ".....Also, stop doing that, will you?"

Yoshino: "What?"

Shigehira: "Stop using honorifics. It's annoying to hear it all the time. Besides, ....I'll at least grant you that privilege since you are now brave enough to enter the enemy's territory."

Yoshino(blushing): "Shigehira-san...."

Shigehira: "Don't keep adding 'san' after my name. You can call me whatever you want."

Yoshino(blushing): "I will....I mean, yes!!"

(Aww! I'm so happy! I can finally talk to him informally.)

Shigehira: "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

Yoshino(blushing): "Yes! umm....Shigehira-kun!"

Shigehira(blushing): ".....Mm."

Morinaga: "I see. So, Shigehira wanted to be friends with Yoshino for a long time now."

Tamamo: "You've been waiting for the right opportunity, this whole time, isn't it? Shigehira-kun?"

Shigehira-kun shakes off the two teasing grown-up hands on his shoulder.

Shigehira(blushing): "Stop speculating things!"

As we were chatting lively, it quickly became time to leave.

(I gonna miss them....)

Tamamo: "Don't cry because you miss me, okay? I won't be able to wipe your tears away."

Yoshino: "You too...don't be lonely just because I am not here, okay?"

Tamamo: "I can't promise that."

Kagetoki: "Take care of yourself. I mean what I say because there is no substitute for you."

Yoshino: "Of course. Only if you also promise to take care of yourself too."

Morinaga: "Leave that to me. If no one takes care of him, he'll do nothing but work."

Yoshino: "I learned that since I started helping him."

Morinaga-san and I laughed brightly.

(Kagetoki-san not just sounds scary, but he's so dedicated to his work that he sometimes forgets to even eat or drink.)

Kagetoki: "Don't get cocky. When you return, I'll make you do more work, so be prepared."

Yoshino: "I'll keep that in mind!"

Before I knew it, there were smiles on everyone's faces.

Morinaga: "Yoshino, I'll be waiting for your return."

Shigehira: "It's not too far, but still...do your best."

Yoshino: ".....Everyone, thank you for everything!"

Yoritomo-sama saw me saying goodbye with a lonely face and opened his mouth.

Yoritomo: "Be brave, Yoshino. You're a member of the Shogunate. Don't let the Rebels think of you as a crying pathetic little girl."

(I'm a member of the Shogunate.)

(Even though, I've only spent a short time in the Shogunate...)

(Unknowingly enough, I've come to trust these people so much.)

(As long as everyone is waiting for me, I know I'll be okay.)

I stood straight and smiled sincerely once more.

Yoshino: "Then, I'm off to Hiraizumi."

I turned the many words I received into strength and took a step forward.

Chapter 6

#ikemen series #ikemen genjiden #ikemen genjiden yoshitsune #ikemen mc #main story translations #otome #cybird #cybird otome #cybird ikemen

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thebonggirll · 4 years

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Chapter 31 - Attention

Chapter 30

The next two days of the training camp, Class 1-B joined Class 1-A in training with their quirk. The students worked on improving their quirks differently with a different exercise. Y/N decided to focus on her training since that was her top priority at the moment anyway. To be honest that was good for her and what distracted her from whatever happened the day before.

But good things don't last long.

As evening arrived and the time came for the students to eat dinner, they remembered what they were explained the previous day - the Pussycats won't cook the food. Instead, they provided the students with the ingredients to make curry. While every other student were too tired to even think about cooking, somehow Tenya's encouragement brought back the spirit to work together again.

But well, cooking wasn't exactly enough to make Y/N forget about how she was an extra to Bakugou. As the girls were separating the vegetables on the table, ready to cut it into pieces, her eyes kept searching for the blond. He was standing with the others near the stove, who were working on lighting it up.

But god, it made her feel stupid. Stupid how she was still looking for him after what he said. Stupid how a smile covered her face when she saw him bickering with her classmates. Stupid how...how a simple glance from him made her blush.

She quickly averted her gaze and cleared her throat towards the girls in front of her. "Cut the potatoes, will ya?" Mina said passing her the potatoes she washed and peeled. Y/N smiled and with a sigh of relief she started doing her part of work.

Dinner wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Well, ofcourse apart from the tiring day, when you put effort in cooking something it always tastes amazing.

"Can you eat by yourself or..." Kyoka asked concerned, "I think it's best if I feed you today."

"Honestly I keep thinking about what Momo said. It's probably better if I eat by myself. It's good for training!" Y/N chuckled, holding her shaking right hand.

"Shut the fuck up," Kyoka said and took her plate, feeding her the dinner.

Yes, training was a bit hard and using her hands excessively made it shake. On the top of that, she decided to cut the potatoes and ended up cutting a little bit of her finger. So, Kyoka decided to do what was best for her stupid best friend.

"Did you talk to him?" she asked.

"I did actually and um.." Y/N gulped down her food and said, "let's just say I didn't like his answer."

"What did he say?"

Y/N chuckled and fiddled her fingers, "He called me an extra."

Kyoka knew how much she hated the word, especially if it came from Bakugou but tried to be a bit positive for her friend, "He calls everyone an extra."

"Really? I never heard him call Kirishima an extra," she looked down with a painful smile on her face.

Kyoka sighed and fed her another spoon, "You know what, there's no use in sugarcoating the words. Look if he's calling you an extra even now, I think it's a signal for you to stop being in this one-sided friendship."

"Maybe...I'll try I guess," she said, "I think it's better to focus on my training."

"Damn right. But yeah don't be stupid and overwork yourself like you did today. I get that it's...not easy but distracting yourself from the problem only means you're stalling from facing it. Eventually you have to deal with it."

"God, can you for once try to be fake and like cheer me up?"

"No," Kyoka smiled, "Besides, you're both the problem here. He's being a dick and you think it's okay to be friends even when he doesn't acknowledge it. Take your time but fucking get to it."

The third day of training, Y/N decided to take Kyoka's advice.

Well, only a little bit. She ignored Bakugou instead of slowly retreating herself from the friendship. She needed time to deal with it and for now, training was mostly important to her.

And Bakugou noticed it too. She was looking at him lesser than usual. Sure, it made him feel relieved but at the same time, if he was being honest, he wanted her to look.

He wanted her attention.

Something that he loathes when it came from his other classmates if it's excessive. Bakugou knew she tried to talk to him like the way she usually did, but the thing is, when he's aware of her feelings it's hard to ignore. And he didn't know what to do about this information. Talking to Kirishima meant endless teasing, and he didn't want to be a part of it. But her feelings..he didn't know how to handle it. The only possible solution was to pretend like nothing happened and go back to how things were earlier.

He was more observant now when it came to her. He could feel her bitter mood just by looking and whether he liked it or not, in the end he knew he just can't deny this thing they had - call it friendship or study buddies. But when he thought about it, somehow he didn't like to imagine Y/N stopping it. He didn't want her to treat her like the others. He didn't want to let go of how he can affect her.

He just needed some time to get over this bullshit, right? It would go away after a few months.

As dinner time arrived, the students got ready to prepare their meal again.

Y/N went towards the table, getting ready to do her part of work when she noticed Bakugou standing in her place. She quietly stood staring at him, wondering if she should ask him to move after ignoring his presence the whole day. But to be honest, she didn't even know if he even noticed her the whole day in the first place.

Deciding that her feelings shouldn't be in the way of her work, she approached him. "Uh hey, that's kind of my job."

Bakugou who was cutting potatoes like a pro, stopped for a moment and said, "You are needed elsewhere. Start up the fire or something, don't disturb me. You are bad at this anyway."

Y/N noticed the perfectly sliced potatoes and turned to go to Momo, for instructions. Bakugou looked at her retreating figure and then his eyes went towards her hand, on the little band-aid on her finger. Surely she has handled worse than this.

But...it annoyed him to watch her struggle the day before. She was bad at this and he in no way was going to allow her to ruin the food....

....or her hands. Whatever.

Y/N got to cook the food instead. She cooked a curry with all the ingredients prepared by the others.

"We've filled our bellies and clean the dishes! It's time for test of courage!" Pixie Bob said as Aizawa took the remedial students to study while the others stayed behind to play the mini-game.

Class B will start as scarers and be in their positions while Class A will leave in pairs and walk around the forest and collect tags with their names in end of the routes. The only rule was that Class B wasn't allowed to make any physical contact, but they can use their quirks to scare the students.

"Pairs, huh?" Y/N muttered as her eyes went towards Bakugou, and released a tiny gasp. He was looking at her, but she couldn't understand why. Cause he was surely looking at her like he usually did but this time she noticed something more in his eyes. She couldn't pinpoint it. And before she began to overthink it, she decided to look away, concentrating on the instructions.

A blush covered her face as she thought of it. It would be a lie if she said she didn't imagine this before. A girl and a guy together in a scary house? It gave both of them a sense of closeness and comfort. She imagined herself, holding onto Bakugou's arm during the game, while he kept his usual demeanor. And then someone scares them, she hugs him close...

...and then Bakugou slaps her to Mars. Cause let's be real, Bakugou already found her presence annoying. It always feels better in imagination, doesn't it?

The pairs were decided randomly by drawing papers including their names and Y/N ended up with someone she drifted away from since the course began.

"How's it going fanboy?" she asked approaching her partner.

"It has been a while Y/N," Midoriya said, smiling.

Chapter 32

SEASON - III

Ignite

MASTERLIST

Tags: @honeylemondragonemperor @mikithekiki @kkikiss

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scottymcgeesterwrites · 3 years

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Some Goddamn Curtains

When I was in college, I kept getting the compliment, “Wow, your room is really nice for a guy.” I never understood what that meant for the longest time. Then I actually paid attention to how most guys kept their dorm room. I once waited for a guy to get ready to head down to an event. I realized that I had never actually stepped foot in his room, much less even glanced inside of it. So when he stepped out and said he was ready to go, I leaned to the side over his shoulder and oh my god it was like downtown Baghdad during the worst of the Iraq War. Damn bruh, you live like this? I liked all my college roommates but the most untidiest one was in sophomore year. He left his toothbrush lying around in the open in a sock drawer, and it would end up somewhere else each night. Maybe he liked to play scavenger hunts to keep himself on his toes? He never put the DVDs back in their respective cases. I once couldn’t wait to watch Iron Man with a friend at their dorm, only to open the case once I got there and realize that my roommate had replaced it with Season 1 of Martin. He would also do this thing where he would drink a can of Coke (that I bought), not finish it, put it back in the fridge, then later open a new can of Coke that he didn’t feel like finishing, and rinse and repeat. First year roommate wasn’t that bad. Third year roommate was nearly as tidy as I was. Then in my fourth and final year I lived alone, so my sense of the idea that “guys were messy” didn’t really hit me because I’ve only had one bad experience and chalked it up to “It was just that one guy”. I’m 31, and by now I have noticed people saying things like, “Oh my God I was actually thinking about what curtains I liked and I’m such an adult. This is what adult thinking is like. I’m adulting now.”

I hate hearing shit like that. I grew up blithely admitting liking things that an adult would “normally like”, such as curtains. The curtains thing came up in high school when I hung out at the senior lounge. The senior lounge was this bare room that looked like it was meant for old people to sit and play bingo. It was boring and dull and I hated it. It felt more lke a prison cafeteria really, with some worn out couches. I would bring my video games to that lounge, namely GoldenEye 007, to play with friends during our free period. The room didn’t have any curtains, so at a certain time in the afternoon, the sun would beat down directly onto the screen, making it difficult to see properly. A lot of us would squint and move closer or lean forward. I then said, “This room needs some curtains.”

A pause, and then someone replied, “Did you just say this room needs curtains?” And I was like, “Yeah. Maybe something blue. Something dark.”

And he looked at me and scoffed, and all the other guys did the same - they gave me this funny sideways glance and scoffed. I asked what the problem was, but they mostly shook their heads in disbelief. I was frankly annoyed by their response. So I said, louder, “This room needs some goddamn curtains”, because I thought it was perfectly fucking reasonable that a person would logically do something about the fucking glare from the fucking sun. Maybe they liked blinds better. Who knows? But it took me ages to fully realize two things: 1. It’s not socially acceptable for boys to be interested in style - whether it be about living spaces or clothes. I was fiercely made fun of for the clothes I wore as a kid throughout young adult life. I hated all kinds of t-shirts. I think growing up thin and gangly made me too self-aware of my arms. But I never specifically wanted to wear anything that had a band name or a company logo or even my favorite video game or movie. I would feel like a walking advertisement, and that would piss me off. I often liked ties, long-sleeved shirts, and sweaters. I never left the house in sweatpants or pajamas. I always had to comb my hair and put on a good shirt. Sweatpants were when you worked out or worked around the house fixing things. I grew up in Catholic school, so we had uniforms. On dress down days, my classmates would come up to me and say, “Eddie, you were supposed to dress DOWN, not up” or “I can’t believe you’re wearing that on a dress down day!”. I didn’t have a problem with people dressing how they dressed. Sure I was never into the goth thing, but I didn’t want to judge. I just wanted to dress how I wanted to dress. And maybe I was influenced in some way by how my parents dressed me up, and maybe other times I did feel embarrassed, but I knew that at the end of the day I would wear what felt most comfortable to me. Sometimes my mom would give me a sweater that was a tad too bland, so I went to the bathroom once I got to school and took it off. I would like the polo but untucked it and unbuttoned the top buttons. Half-and-half. Right idea, but lemme wear it like this instead. College was really when I started to develop my everyday style, my “main outfit”, like a video game character. I always wore some untucked button-down shirt with a tie, jeans, and sneakers. I liked it. It was this weird blend of dressing up and dressing down. People my age thought I was overdressed but my parents and people over 50 complained that I was underdressed. It was great! It feels so special to piss off both sides! My parents still remember the time I got an award at college and I went up the stage wearing that getup. You look at the picture and see the students standing side-by-side in nice dresses and dockers, and then there’s me wearing jeans and sneakers with a shirt and tie. There always seemed to be this false dichotomy for how men should look and be - either the dapper “metrosexual” man who was slightly effeminate or the rough-and-tumble strong man who didn’t need to use an umbrella when it rained and never cared to fix his hair because that’s some “gay shit” for silly city folk. That false dichotomy is always played out in media. There’s a million buddy cop movies about the book-smart guy who is suave and sophisticated teaming up with the street-smart guy who is all muscle and manly and goes for the more practical route. Yin and Yang. Hot and cold. Good cop and bad cop. Lucky and Wild. Tango and Cash. But growing up I thought, “Why not both?” I loved watching James Bond as much as I loved watching Indiana Jones. Why couldn’t I be both if I really wanted to? It fit me best to play both roles. I AM GOING TO MIX THESE TWO THINGS AND YOU CAN’T FUCKING STOP ME! I WILL BE BOTH BOOK-SMART AND STREET-SMART. I KNOW THE QUADRATIC EQUATION AND HOW TO CON SOMEONE. THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM. The fucking worst though is being an adult now and hearing women wish they knew a guy who “dressed properly”, and men complimenting my clothes saying I look sharp.

Fuck all of you, honestly. 2. Young people are afraid to admit they like things that adults like. I grew up with extended family members living in cozy homes. I liked to admire their grandfather clocks, their decanters, their entertainment center, their offices and their chairs. I liked to wander around their houses during the holidays and poke my nose into their closets and admire old things. Maybe it’s something that an only-child might relate to the most. I wasn’t required or asked to be upstairs to attend a younger or older sibling. The adults just did their own thing and so I wandered off. Ikea always tickled my fancy as a kid. I would wander through the model rooms of offices and bedrooms and bathrooms, and I found whatever felt coziest to me and pretended that I was home. Better yet, I sometimes daydreamed that the entire Ikea facility was my home. How about that? Tired of sleeping on the bunk bed? Go to the next room to the big bed. I feel like cooking in that kitchen today, not this one. Some days I’ll feel more serious and work in the wooden office desk and other days I’ll feel silly and be in the kids room. I’ll take the whole building, please. This is where I live now. Swedish meatballs for dinner and creamy European chocolate bars for dessert every day. Young people fear being old and facing responsibilities. That doesn’t mean you liking these things makes you older. Taste and style is part of who you are, and there’s no shame if you have an interest in some bath mats or a nice decanter when you’re 20 or 17.

When I lived in my single dorm back in senior year of college, I realized that I was truly living alone for the first time. It brought some sanity to me that I didn’t know I needed. I was able to organize things how I saw fit, and hosted parties whenever I wanted. If I felt like something needed adjusting, I didn’t need to ask anybody’s permission. I really started exploring my sense of style and taste. As I grew up, I developed really specific tastes about where I would live: 1. Everything has to make sense. The placement of shelves, TVs, desks, dressers, paintings, pictures, all have to feel like they are easily viewed and accessible without needing to awkwardly turn to face them or reach them. 2. Symmetry is not always necessary but still good to fall back on when you don’t know what to do. 3. I never liked to sit with my back to the window(s) or the door. I always needed to see who or what was going to approach me or look at me. 4. TVs should never go on top of fireplaces. 5. Always have some kind of drawing room for guests to wait. 6. Never put your keys or sensitive documents in the foyer, drawing room, or wherever else strangers can easily find them the minute they walk into the house. 7. Open concept is pretentious. 8. It is far easier to cook if you have an island in the kitchen. 9. McMansions are the bane of style. Fake balconies, fake shutters, brick facades - everything about them is evil. 10. Get some goddamn curtains.

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cynthiaandsamus · 3 years

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Custom Toonami Block Week 73 Rundown

Code Geass: Lelouch and co. are still stuck in China and Xingke’s flipping out because the Chinese assholes are gonna kill the Empress and go with someone less problematic for their political marriage to Britannia’s creepily overaged prince. However Lelouch pulls out a Knightmare that’s basically the Twink version of the Gawain and busts everyone up as well as pulling a Father Cornello on them and letting the people know they’re all elitst 1% assholes that don’t care about them, which I suspect all countries probably know about their leaders but it sucks to hear it in a recording so riots show up all over China and CC Geass Flashes Anya to take her out so Britannia has to back out because the Chinese Hierarchy are now the least popular people in the world. So Xingke gets to be with his Empress and joins the Black Knights but Dietard wants the Empress to marry someone on their side so they can basically do the asshole move Britannia just tried to do but for them. All the girls are like ‘hey no’ and Lelouch is like “Oh hey Tamaki buddy, let’s go talk and get me the fuck out of here” so before Lelouch actually has to give Tamaki more lines and elevate him beyond the Black Knight’s Yamacha Shirley calls and Lelouch just straight up asks Shirley about love in a weirdly forced series of circumstance. But Shirley’s like “Yeah don’t fuck with love, don’t you love anyone?” and Lelouch is like “Yeah I do, Nunally!” and I don’t think that’s at all what Shirley meant but it does mean Lelouch sees that fighting for something beyond politics is powerful and agrees to not marry off the twelve year old girl, so that’s good. Lelouch decides to return home while they hunt down the Geass cult which is in China for some reason despite that being one of the like two places on earth Britannia doesn’t control and the Geass Cult largely being a Britannian affair. Meanwhile Sayoko is basically a Lelouch Vtuber at this point with her insanely accurate Lupin III mask of Lelouch and kisses Shirley so Shirley’s a little bit more gay than she was before and is not sure how to feel about that. When she’s about to tell the real Lelouch he kisses like a girl, Anya and Gino show up because we’re retreading the whole ‘sleeping with the enemy at school’ thing from the first season except with way less interesting enemies. Also the preview for the next episode is Lelouch dramatically talking about enemies finding out he’s Zero overtop footage of Shirley and Milly absolutely naked in a batthouse scene so I think we know what kind of episode that’ll be.

Inuyasha: The Panther Demon filler concludes with everyone meeting at the site where the Panther Master is being revived behind a strong barrier, if only someone just got a barrier upgrade to their sword, oh wait. But yeah everyone manages to free the hostages so even though Kagome’s jewel shards revives the Panther Master he’s still a zombie without a sacrifice which is weird since Naraku managed to completely revive the Band of Seven with one jewel shard each from skeletons and the Panther Lord has three shards so idk the rules here but yeah he steals the souls of his own men to revive and is Wind Scar Proof because he just is. It’s pretty cool to see him shooting his claws and lightning and shit but he’s too big and slow for it to be much of an interesting fight. Sesshomaru’s about to go full demon which would be interesting since we haven’t seen his full demon form since he lost his arm but in a neat bit of character development, Tenseiga calms his rage and tells him to use it instead. You get the feeling Sesshomaru only goes full demon when he flies off the handle and forgets about speed and strategy so him opting to not repeat the mistake he made against Inuyasha is pretty cool. Anyway Tenseiga heals the souls of the Panther Demons and drains their energy from the lord so he’s back to Zombie Cat Man which Inuyasha can Wind Scar because that’s what happens to villains on this show, all Wind Scars all the time. The Panthers don’t wanna fight anymore since their boss just killed them and tell Inuyasha to tell Sesshomaru the feud is over and they’re going back to the West. Honestly this is basically the same backstory they gave Kirinmaru in Yashahime so it’s funny for them to say they’re going back to the same place Kirinmaru is from, wonder if it’ll ever come up in Yashahime since most filler seems canon there.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke and Kuwabara continue the assault on Tarukane’s compound and basically plow through the lower demons easy since they’ve been fighting minor deities up to this point. It’s always pretty cool in Shonen to just have a few rounds to show how much power creep the heroes have had where certain things just don’t bother them anymore. Toguro murders a Chimera which has an oddly similar backstory to Nina from FMA and he seems really bummed about it but he’s like “Hey we’re both monsters made by humans telling us to do shit, so sorry for killing you bro”. And Tarukane basically sees Toguro is the next boss and is like “Yup time to scam some people off of this” and he sets up a betting ring for how far Yusuke and Co will get into his compound. This is kinda neat because it puts Tarukane in the weird position of betting against his own guards and hoping Yusuke will make it all the way to Toguro and then lose after everyone else has seen how awesome Yusuke is and bets on him. And funnily enough Sakyo’s in on the betting and he’s watched anime before so he knows to bet on the plucky teenagers with weird powers. So yeah Yusuke and Kuwabara finish plowing through the demons while Hiei kinda stalks them and remembers getting his eye surgery and wanting to help his sister but it’s kind of against spirit world rules for demons to just go plow through humans even if they’re scumbag humans so now Yusuke and Kuwabara have to go fight the Triad of boss demons Toguro has under him before Hiei busts in and just murders everyone for kidnapping his bird-loving jewel-crying little flower of a sister.

Fate Zero: So Kiritsugu can break Kayneth’s Terminator 2 Gaara defenses with rib bullets that just say ‘no’ to using magic and fucks his arrogant ass up. Saber and Lancer do some combo shenanigans to stab Caster right in the book and disrupt all his hentai tentacle demons but the book heals so idk why he can’t just make more. Kirei fucks up Maiya and Iris but didn’t double tap Maiya and DID double tap iris but she’s got Saber’s bullshit healing scabbard on her which no one knows about so Saber’s like “uhhh why are you healing” and Iris can’t tell her so she’s basically “Uhh internet?” Lancer comes in to save Kayneth’s worthless ass and tells Kiritsugu to stop being a dick to Saber because she’s pretty dope. But as usual for an early Fate encounter, no one dies and nothing of terrible consequence happens despite it being teased a couple times. I’ve noticed a trend with Fate that it really doesn’t like killing characters early so you’re basically guaranteed to have the first 2-3 major battles have a zero net gain/loss. Rider in UBW was probably the subversion to that since it happened crazy fast and anticlimactic but even that wasn’t till like ten episodes in.

Konosuba: So we finally meet Wiz the big booby Lich and Kazuma learns a new skill, both fun things. Also the gang gets a house to stay in after escapades with an army of haunted dolls and the most “I need to pee” in a horror setting since Corpse Party. But yeah, good progress this time honestly, the living in a stable gag was getting kind of old so Kazuma’s a bit stronger now and they have a home base so that’s pretty cool. Also Wiz is a Demon General or some shit but no one cares cause there ain’t no money in murdering busty zombie waifus.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So turns out Minako is Princess Serenity, except everyone who knows anything about Sailor Moon or indeed plot structure knows Sailor Moon is Princess Serenity, that’s like the Luke I Am Your Father of this series. But still turns out Minako has been guiding everyone with the power of video games but also thinks the power of friendship sucks and she’s gotta go do everything alone. This makes things super awkward because Mamoru’s pretty sure he was in love with the Princess but likes Usagi, now instead of running with this interesting thread of a reincarnation falling in love with someone new we’re gonna do the reveal that Usagi’s the princess and the whole ‘till death do us part’ part of marriage was just a metaphor and you’re stuck with one person no matter how many times you reincarnate. But yeah, Minako fights the bad guy on top of the tower but he has Naraku’s Barrier now and Minako doesn’t have the Red Tessaiga upgrade yet so she needs the power of friendship but this barrier is friendship-proof and this fight is basically a bunch of kids on the playground making up increasingly stupid powers that negate the other powers the other guy just made up. Anyway Tuxedo Mask shows up and is like “Holy shit Sailor Moon I love when you kiss me and kick ass, go get em sweetie I’ll hold your flower” and they kiss and Usagi has learned that if she just pretends she got this the power of her confidence will beat the bad guy. Unfortunately she does not got this and Tuxedo Mask has to pull a Piccolo and throw himself in front of the blast.

Durarara!!: So now that we’ve had our climax for the arc we have a six month timeskip and everyone’s just kinda living life, Mika and Seiji are being clinically insane together, there’s cops harassing Celty to the point of mental breakdown (normal cop stuff) Shinra’s dad’s in town, Namie’s become Izaya’s secretary for blackmail shit, you know, normal stuff. Also there’s a katana-wielding maniac going around slashing people and Anri’s being bullied and sexually harassed to the point of mental collapse, normal stuff.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Code Geass #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Zero #Konosuba #Sailor Moon Crystal #Durarara!!

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himbo-buckley · 4 years

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Sex, Intimacy and Buddie (better known as I have a lot of feelings about this show, some of which are related to the before mentioned topics) - Part 5

Hej alla,

hur cool att du är här! Vad kul!

(Kay, that’s it, all the Swedish I remember from two semesters of not really studying, so it’s probably also wrong, uups?)

(Still passed though.)

You guys! We made it! And please, do not imagine this read to you in a happy voice. I am sobbing. I already miss it!

(Also, if you do imagine how I might sound please consider due to several unforseeable circumstances of student exchanges in my youth I have a very weird mixture of British and American English, which basically translates to sounding like either of those doing a bad impression of the other accent - or you know, Australian.)

I’m really having a hard time finishing this meta because I loved doing it so much and I loved talking to all of ya’ll so much. This is a sad moment. (HEY, what if ya’ll came and visited my askbox and I get to discuss random stuff with you!)

Just a fair warning now, somewhere hidden in the middle: this thing is fucking long! We are talking longer than Season 2, so be warned!

Anyways, in case someone is new:

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4

And some general info:

This meta was supposed to be a lot shorter and only talk about how both Buck and Eddie use sex to distract their respective partners from whatever topic they actually wanted to talk about but since I decided to rewatch the show to make sure I don’t miss any such scenes, it has exploded a bit and taken on more topics

I should also mention that I am a Buddie shipper and while I tried, you will find several references and arguments for the ship in this Meta, not all of which necessarily call for a romantic pairing but just: These two are deeply connected and you cannot look at one without discussing the other and they are each other’s strongest emotional connection.

I should also preface this by saying that the whole of the 118 has some obvious intimacy / commitment issues except Bobby (which is sort of surprising) but *John Mulaney voice* we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

On another note I cuss a little in this Meta because my parents let me listen to TicTacToe as a small child and after that it never stuck that cussing is wrong so, uhm, parental supervision is advised or something

This Meta has FIVE parts. Season 1 and 2 make up one part each, while Season 3, due to something pesky called feelings and the fact that I can’t shut up, has been split in three parts: Part 3 aka Season 3A, which spans 3.01 - 3.10, Part 4 which spans 3.11 - 3.17 and this part which is officially only one episode - but still manages to be just as long. Yay! (Sorry.)

And now for the last time for now: part 5 (also called „You’re a godless, half-witted himbo, Evan Buckley, and I wish I loved you less so I could talk about it more“)

Episode 3.18:

My oh my, this episode.

I loved it but I also … didn’t.

It was way too much and at times felt a little rushed and the pacing was just weird.

I mean I loved the party but did we really need 5 min of it? Did we really need Josh’s storyline and Michael’s so randomly in the middle of the episode? Could we have gotten a longer apology scene? Why the weird phone call?

Let’s talks about all of that! (It’s why you clicked read more, right?)

Ya’ll, I gotta be honest, I am from Europe and I regularly go to places via train and while it’s better than a bus, I can’t see anyone falling in love with that! I am just gonna assume Abby did not go by train in Germany. Or Austria. Or Italy. Listen, I like trains just fine but man, do they not look like what we see here!

But also, as someone who has watched Community, the train lady saying „This isn’t Subway“ in an Episode where the human embodiment of Subway acts is very very funny to me.

I feel like I don’t have to point out how significant the cut from Abby saying „They stopped waiting for me a long time ago“ to Buck and Eddie discussing Chris is. Everyone has talked about it by now. But yes, it registered, as did the fact that Abby is dating a single father - while Buck is apparently basically dating a single father. But, you know, that probably means nothing! *chugs a whole bottle of wine*

The co-parenting was very cute and honestly I feel for Christopher and Carla and the firefam is Buddie does happen because they will try to out-protect each other and it will be glorious and also Chris might never get to leave the nest ever. That poor boy.

Sidenote: We as a fandom have not talked enough about Eddie’s reaction to Bobby yodelling and I think that’s very tragic of us. Because his reaction is the best, all: „Is he - should I - no, you know what, fuck it, Eddie, ignore this, that’s too much, you can not unpack all of this, just move on. Brush it off!“

Just watch his face ya’ll, it’s great! (He will be talking to Frank about this, I know it.)

Sidenote: Also Eddie in 3.15 / 3.15. / 3.17 / 3.18 > any other Eddie, and no, I do not take criticism. That boy has always been fine but the military hair cut or what ever is doing things to me as do his happy eyes and the smiles - my god, the smiles!

It does seem significant though the way the show focused so heavily on Buck’s reaction and - as it had been the case since „Eddie Begins“ - we basically don’t see Eddie without Buck and that’s weird. That feels pointed and important, the fact that after realising, who his family is, Eddie basically never leaves Buck’s side if they are at work.

Also the way Chimney and Bobby look at each other in between, yeah, again, making fun of Christopher’s dads! Like, even if you don’t read this as Buddie, you cannot not read this scene as somewhat confirming the „Buck is Christopher’s other parent“-thing. And I know I answered an ask on Tuesday(?) where I said he wasn’t really but yeah, he is getting there. The whole season spent a lot of time focusing on Buck’s relationship with Christopher and even if it isn’t about Buddie, I still think it will cause trouble in Season 4 if Eddie begins dating again, specifically Chris’ teacher.

I also need to talk about Eddie and control, because like I said in part 4 Eddie needs to learn to let go of Christopher a little which is what we see here happening, specifically through the lens of making Buck even more overprotective than Eddie to really cement the fact in all our minds that Eddie is trying to let his son have some freedom. I am so proud of him, you guys! He just signed up for the worst two weeks of his life, he will be dying on the inside out of concern and Buck will pester him every two seconds about whether or not Chris is fine. This is why these three haven’t been to Disneyland, ya’ll! Eddie wouldn’t be able to handle it without murdering either Buck or himself. I’m sorry.

And speaking of how the episode is cut:

One thing I love about 911 is the way it always makes me consider new character pairings and connections I myself would have never thought of, in the context of this episode: Athena, Josh - and Eddie.

And look, the Athena and Josh thing is daunting enough but you can probably still catch my train of thought, because both are recent victims of assault and the episode shows them dealing with trauma and confronting their attacker, even though in Athena’s case it was just theoretical. But now you’re probably wondering, okay, why Eddie?

Well, for starters, what the episode made me realise, whether on purpose on not through cutting from scene to scene is how many similarities there are between Eddie and Athena, both of them always trying to be in control, both of them more prone to violence / more okay with violence than the others, both soft underneath, both with a tendency to let anger take over, both considered to be extremely capable, both with an intense need for control, both straight talker.

And now I will obviously not pretend that letting your child go to sleep away camp for two weeks is similar too confronting your assailant who beat you up, but still: facing fears and letting go of control vs. finding different ways to regain control is the theme for these three in the episode (or this Season in Eddie’s case) and I like it.

I really like what they did with Athena in general in this episode, because, while I don’t think we will see her as a civilian in Season 4, I am confident they will address her trauma and PTSD - especially if they only do a short time jump of say three months and not jump all the way to January / February which is when it might air if we’re lucky.

And I do think the comparison between her and Josh is very nicely done as both characters did the whole brushing it off / moving forward / I am not fazed by any of it thing, as we as viewers clearly saw what utter bullshit this was.

Which of course connects nicely to Mr. „Brush it off and move on“ who has spent a whole season learning to not just move on but to talk about it. A lesson he might have learned? At least that’s what the episode made me think, from the way he came to Buck / the firefam to talk about Christopher and camp to the way he so clearly tried to get Buck to open up about Abby. Jup, that is some motherforking growth right there!

I also wanna say hi to Brooke Shields and say I hope we see her again, cause her character seemed interesting!

And I do appreciate Athena herself addressing the fact that she messed up a little by not calling for back-up right away. This is not meant in a victim blaming way, I just think Athena is very used to handling everything on her own and not asking for help and it is interesting to see how that changes, now that it has backfired on her once.

And now we are getting into the Abby of it all and if anyone reading this is anti Buddie or severely pro Abby this is the moment to either leave or scroll down some more, because ya’ll I won’t really hold back!

(I think.)

I wanna begin by saying, uhm, Abigail, honey? Can you not read what is written on Eddie’s and everyone else’s helmets? Yes, he is from the 118, it literally says so on like every article of clothing he is wearing, omg!

(Writers, do better, that made an already unlikeable character seem downright stupid.)

Now it is very interesting, that the first person we see Abby interact with directly from the main cast (I’m counting the phone call with Maddie as indirectly) is Eddie who doesn’t know who Abby is but who is close enough to Buck to know the second he sees her who she is. The episode spends just as much time focusing on his reaction to Abby as 3.15 did on Buck’s reaction and tbh that feels … fairly non platonic. Of course we can always go back to „Stuck“ and remember what Hen said about Tatiana but still. That was one scene, here we have several scenes highlighting Eddie’s reaction to Abby and just, what do you want me to do with this, Tim?

I mean, the meeting scene literally goes like this:

Eddie *talking to Abby* > cut to Buck, coming closer > Buck: „Abby?“ > cut to both Abby and *Eddie* > Abby: „Buck?“ while the camera is still on her and Eddie > cut to just Eddie’s face having a realisation > cut to Buck

That is some very extreme focus if we’re being honest.

Also her panic reminds everyone of Buck in 3.15, right? The way she is screaming, disregarding her own safety, all desperate to get to her fiancé. Yeah.

I like how Eddie lets them talk and then steps in when he realises Buck is too shocked and only then rushes off, nearly touching Buck. Too be honest I didn’t realise his hand didn’t make contact until I saw some gifs of the scene.

Also the way Oliver plays this scene? The whole scene is so painful and I love it a lot, his whole delivery is so very painful, from the way he says „We’ll find him.“ to the „Um, what’s his name?“ to the „No. Oh. Don’t worry about it.“ because you can actually see him go through all the emotions from devastation to being so very pissed off and then locking that shit down!

Listen, I know it was teased that Buck had to grapple between being a professional and his personal feelings and I think this episode is him being a professional, because this is Buck and Buck cares so for Buck being a professional means risking his life for some guy on the train, regardless of his promise and who he is engaged to.

Sidenote: This episode really brought home why Eddie is a firefighter and not a paramedic, because his bedside manner is shit. „This is gonna hurt a little“. Way to downplay, dude!

Also, while I do love the idea of Buck getting to be Captain one day, I think this episode shows why he won’t be. Because even when he is being professional and having great ideas Buck still cares too much and is unable to make the hard decisions. Compare it to Eddie, who, yes, does say „If we have to choose“, but also is willing to make the choice. Because sometimes you have to. (And now I’m crying a little and oh my, this is why I do not work in any job that has me make such decisions because I could not imagine living with myself if I did.)

I do think however Buck did good, from the way he talked to Sam being his usual self and all.

I’m also such a fan of smart Buck and him standing up for himself with Bobby because he doesn’t get to do this often enough and because it is important for him as a character to learn to trust his own judgement and not depend so much on Bobby’s approval. So yay, my baby is growing up!

(Also, obviously Bobby’s worry was also about Buck and not just Athena, we’ve had half a season of Bobby doing the most to „protect“ Buck, mostly against his will, so I really like that Buck got to do the rescue his way in the end, because it shows growth on both sides.)

Now, Eddie and his dramatic reaction in this scene, first of all:

I wanna take a moment to remember the fact that Edmundo Diaz, my main man, my love, my absolute ray of grey sunshine, apparently lacks any kind of self-awareness - or he would stop acting all high and mighty around Buck because the second Buck is out of view he like, drops any pre-tense of having critical thinking skills or something akin to self-preservation and does the next thing that enters his bird brain no matter the consequences. So a moment of silence for Hen, Chimney and Bobby and all they had to go through in the 6/7 months between Buck getting crushed by a ladder truck and coming back to work, because Buck? They can at least make fun of. Or tell him: yo, bro, you being stupid!

You can’t do that with Eddie - because when Eddie does stupid he gone nearly die but like in a heroic way where he still ends up saving himself and you have to be impressed. Urgh, the nerve!

So, you know what, how about, Mr. Edmundo Diaz, you do not judge Buck for wanting to save people and risk his own life UNTIL WE HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU CUTTING THAT MOTHERFORKING ROPE? Got me? Thanks. (I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed, dude.)

(But then again EVERY MOTHERFORKING CHARACTER ON THIS DAMN SHOW SUFFERS FROM CRAZY STUPID DISEASE and no, I do not take any criticism.)

Also I loved Eddie’s dialog and how clearly the whole thing about the promise slipped out if the way his hands closed are anything to go by (or was he imagining punching some sense either into himself or Buck because in both cases: Call Frank, Eddie!). Anyway the way he just left, like, „I can not deal with ya’ll’s stupidity, I am leaving!“ has me shook! That is the top tear entertainment I expect from my favourite show and I love them for it!

I do love how both Buck and Eddie are in protector mode in this episode, Buck with Sam and Abby and Eddie with Buck, especially because if we’re being honest, which we are (this is a safe space ya’ll), Eddie is the one being far more unprofessional! For his standards, of course.

But this is the closest Eddie has come to showing some form of violence since 3a viewed chronologically (because 3.15 happened mostly in the past) yet Buck is just being is usual too caring self. It’s telling and it’s interesting and I’m just gonna say one thing:

„No one is good when it’s personal.“ - because for Buck with Sam it isn’t really personal (though that won’t hit him until later) but for Eddie it kinda is because he is worried about Buck. (And now I did spell it out! But, oh well, I did say we were gonna do some Buddie right around here!)

Sidenote: what exactly was the meaning / reason of that phone call between Abby and her stepdaughter? We already knew Sam had children and from the was she was looking outside they could have had her just see Buck and step out of the tent to watch the rescue, so why do it this way I ask? Why this incredibly unnecessary phone call that felt so very awkward?

Also I am not gonna talk about that scene right now, because I get mad every single time!

So I will just leave a link to what I’ve said about this scene so far here *and* give you the notes I took on this scene:

ALWAYS READY TO DIE

godless heathen of a man he makes me so angry i hate him i hate this show I wanna leave

EVAN BUCKLEY LOOKS GOD IN THE EYES AND SAYS NAH BRO NOT TODAY

(It’s not like his suicidal tendencies are relevant to this meta anyways because like I said a few paragraphs ago: The whole firefam has them! )

Also, for the first time ever: here is a picture I took while watching the show because what are these two extras doing? Why are they touching like that? Who are they and will we see them again? Does my brain get easily distracted by completely unrelated things?

Anyways, the way Buck answers Sam „She’s down there waiting for you.“ when he asks for Abby and his „Good to meet you Sam.“ really brings home how none of his behaviour was about Abby and all about Buck being Buck. (And now I am angry at him again, urgh, THE NERVE! Selfless fucking himbo!)

I really liked that Sam knew who Buck was and that they got to have this little interaction where he probably reevaluated the whole night because that boy just risked his life for him, the guy marrying his ex-girlfriend, and has spent the whole night being so very nice to him and talking to him. Not gonna lie, Buck is a good guy through and through and Sam probably feels like shit now.

Also Eddie coming to stand in front of Buck - I know some people think it was out of protectiveness, which got me thinking:

Tbh at first I was convinced it was a camera angle thing? Because if Eddie stood behind Buck we wouldn’t really see him. Then I thought, so why choose this angle to film it? Obviously the set had to be built a certain way so was there no other way to do it? Also why was it even important, that we saw Eddie arrive like that, couldn’t they have just changed the angle after Abby was gone to get Eddie in the frame? Why was it important that we knew that Eddie was there and 1) was putting himself physically between Abby and Buck meaning 2) that when Abby leaves with her single father, Buck is left with his single father? Why does an episode that is supposed to give Buck closure focus so much on the reactions of his non romantic partner?

(Because tbh, even if they needed to find ways to use Ryan Guzman in this Episode without adding too many scenes, they could have done it with less focus on Abby. I say this as a Buddie shipper who does recognise how important the connection Buck and Eddie have as friends is: storyline wise Bobby would have made more sense in most of these scenes and Eddie could have been used in a different way.)

I’ll leave this scene with the very nice visual of Buck running back to the traincrash and Eddie following him. These two. Like magnets.

And a quick topic change, because I do wanna talk about Michael and Doctor Hale as well in this meta, one because I found them very cute and two because I’ve now talked to a few people about Ana and Eddie and while we by now know she will probably be in Season 4, I feel like we need to compare Michael and Doctor Hale vs Eddie and Ana. Because there is such a difference in the way these love interests where introduced.

Now, of course we need to realise that Eddie and Michael are fairly different characters and Michael has way less relationship related baggage than Eddie has which is why he goes after what he wants way faster (also, carpe diem, he just found out he won’t die). Also of course, there is no moral component to address in Michael dating some doctor vs. Eddie dating his son’s teacher, but still:

Michael and Dr. Hale had one scene together and it wasn’t even overly flirty and yet, we knew where it was heading, we felt the chemistry and everyone ended the episode saying: I ship it, more of that - which they did give us, just *one* episode later. They had some awkward moments, yet the show never left a single doubt in your mind where this is heading.

Now look at Eddie and Ana:

Sidenote: I do wanna say be kind to the character and no hate, especially not to the actress! Yes, she needs to be flashed out more; no, what we saw so far does not make me ship them; no, I do not mind if they dated a little.

First of all we learned more about Doctor Hale in the two short scenes than we did about Ana in four scenes. That seems deliberate.

Second, while we do realise Eddie thinks Ana is attractive from the get go she repeatedly shuts him down by pointedly saying „Mr. Diaz“.

Third, every scene between them - and I mean every single scene - is connected to Buck in some way:

In „Fools“ we cut from Buck saying he likes being single to Eddie doing parent-teacher conference and yes, meeting some other teachers first but also Ana, showing us that while Buck is fine with being single - Eddie might not be. Also, Carla’s „blue eyes“ line which is a little clown-y, so take it with a grain of salt that it could connect us to Buck

Then of course her next scene is Eddie getting in her face about Christopher being hurt. Later in the episode we see Buck reference this on a call, meaning either Carla or Eddie told Buck about it (I am leaning a little toward Carla making fun of Eddie in front of Buck and Eddie then having to come clean about all of it, because I cannot wrap my head about the idea of Eddie telling Buck about having a crush, I’m sorry.)

Her next scene is Eddie coming to apologise to her and she gives her speech about limitations - which we can of course connect to Buck and Eddie talking about Christopher and his limitations before that and then afterwards going skateboarding with them. (It does feel a little deliberate.)

And then of course we have „Eddie Begins“ and you guys, they could have very very easily have either Carla or Buck make a joke about Mrs. Flores and Eddie’s crush in the firehouse scene, but they didn’t! And then we do get to see her at the end where she has one whole line and Eddie barely looks at her and you know what happens? They have a child ask the same question Buck asked at the beginning, making us think of Buck. Like, it would have been enough to establish Eddie doesn’t feel like a hero if the question was asked only once - twice in the span of 45 minutes constitutes a callback, meaning we are supposed to think of the other scene and that means thinking about the other person that asked, which was Buck

And yes, once Season 4 premieres and we get Eddie and Ana in this epic romance because Tim Minear wants to be the next Rick Berman, I will go back to this meta and beat my own ass. Or something.

(Listen, her returning in Season 4 does not mean endgame or the end of Buddie, it just means Eddie might get a love interest. Tbh I actually think it could get us closer to Buddie and you know what, I’m just gonna link all my Ana Flores posts here here and here now so you can read all the other stuff I, alongside some other people, said on this topic, if you’re interested because none of this has a point right now.)

Now, let’s get into the meat of things and talk about *that* scene:

Was it a good apology? No.

Did Buck deserve better? Fuck yes.

Did he get closure? Yes.

Is the way that scene was done actually perfect? I mean, ya’ll, yes? A little?

Listen, this scene was always about closure and that’s what Buck got here and that’s what Buck needed.

Buck, who in Season 1 had described Abby as the perfect woman, needed it to go down like this so he could realise she wasn’t and he could finally let her go. And that’s what it was about!

Obviously looking at Abby’s character this episode does not make her look good, like not at all and I’d be very surprised if we ever saw her again. But looking at it from Buck’s point of view it was exactly what he needed. (Not what he deserved, but yeah, if this show was about what Buck deserved it would be a whole lot different and Buddie would be canon by now.)

One thing I really loved about the scene was the way it was filmed, with LA in front of us, Abby and Buck with their backs to the camera and us only ever seeing them in profile, because it was a private moment and this sort of made you feel like you were intruding. Like you were listening in on a conversation and I liked that a lot.

Also I think her speech about losing herself through helping people is very interesting because it contrasts her to Buck. Buck found himself in helping others and lost himself when he was no longer allowed to do that and I think that is what she means when she says she would have lost herself with him again. Because Buck is selfless and he is so selfless he inspires others to be the same, except Abby isn’t but being with Buck she would need to be and that is a problem.

Look, if you’ve followed this blog at all or maybe just read part one of the meta you have probably guessed by now that I don’t like Abby. I found her character boring. I thought she overstepped all the time. I got so mad at her for the way she treated Buck in Season 1!

Because in 1.06 she *actually* complains about him being too thoughtful and scared of messing up while calling him a *toy boy*. The truth is, after 1.05 and their first meeting, Abby no longer takes him seriously. She hardly ever takes his feelings into consideration. The relationship, from Valentines Day onward becomes all about what she wants and what she needs and our Buck is the selfless idiot who gives her his all.

I mean, she never even talked to Buck about wanting to leave, just presented him with her decision and then lived her life and never thought about him again.

And like, I think she is wrong if she thinks she’d have lost herself with him again, because Buck was what showed her that she lost herself in the first place. He helped her on the path of self-aquaintance (I guess? I’m lacking the word here), but she is right if she means the relationship wouldn’t have worked.

Because one of them would have lost themselves, though I do think it would have been Buck and not Abby. After all, Buck was the one who gave everything up from the get go and yes, Abby helped trigger him finding himself alongside Bobby and the job and she did help him stay on that path in the beginning - but in the end it was never about her at all. It was about him and him alone and the amazing person he had always been.

And I think that is what Buck realises in the scene. Despite Abby ghosting him, he still looked at her through rose coloured glasses and with fondness, but here, he realises, oh, Abby isn’t perfect. Abby isn’t like the woman I made her out to be. Abby never really cared about me. And as much as that probably hurt, this is what Buck needed to let go of her!

He needed to see that Abby wasn’t the perfect woman so he could let her go - and find himself the perfect person, someone who reciprocates and doesn’t just take. (Am I crying?)

(And look, I am not saying he already found someone like that, someone who proved in this episode how much they care about Buck and his feelings and making sure he comes home every night to his family - I’m saying he found someone who is working on being that person!)

Let’s talk about Eddie and Abby for a second, again, okay?

(Bro, how did I just get to that topic? So random! *laughs in Buddie*)

When I watched the episode my second time to take notes, I wrote one that said ‚Abby and Eddie parallels / lawsuit‘ - and I gotta be honest I barely remember what I meant. But I did still produce some thoughts (just not sure if that was where I was going with the note, so if anyone has some other ideas, please share):

You know how Abby talks about losing herself when she is with Buck? Well, I know someone who lost themselves just this season because he wasn’t with Buck! (Jup, we’re back with the lawsuit, ya’ll really thought I wouldn’t bring this up? You guys! More than 20000 words and you still don’t know me!)

It’s a very nice parallel to have Abby talking about losing herself with Buck when we saw Eddie losing himself without Buck. Because while I think Eddie himself is a selfless person just like Buck, similar to how Buck needed Abby in Season 1 as a catalyst of change so to speak, Buck was the catalyst of change for Eddie.

I talked a lot in the other parts about Eddie having problems with voicing his needs and feelings - and now please once again look at his relationship with Buck. Because here he has been doing this, not from the get go of course, Eddie didn’t take one look at Buck and his whole life was turned upside down (that was Buck looking at Eddie), but I think Buck steamrolling through Eddie’s life helped Eddie find himself. Buck, from the get go, is a calm centre for Eddie, an anchor, even after he reconnects with Shannon. Buck is who he turns to in a crisis, who he trusts with his son, with having his back.

And I think in both cases - Abby and Buck as well as Eddie and Buck - the relationship is brought to the next level through Buck’s selflessness and willingness to help. But while Abby just takes it and doesn’t really see it as the gift it is and never fully lets Buck in, Eddie does the opposite. Eddie, whether knowing or unknowing, makes himself exactly what Buck needs: someone who puts trust in him, who treats him like an equal, who opens his home and his family to him. And he also tries (and this is a big thing considering who we’re talking about right now) to be there for Buck, to be his anchor just like Buck is his - which obviously works with mixed results, because one person, no matter how hard they try can never fix the problems of someone else alone. Believe me. I’ve tried.

And wow, did that get deep and fast! Damn ya’ll and I haven’t had a drop of alcohol in like 5 days. This show really gives me all the feels!

Now, to keep me and maybe ya’ll from crying I’m gonna change the subject and talk about something else, also known as the rest of the episode:

To go back to the start of the episode, Buddie really had some extreme couple / family vibes going on, especially with Christopher in the mix. It’s telling that they included a scene of Buck and Christopher specifically and it was to remind us once again that these two have a strong bond. I won’t go all: Buddie confirmed, this is were we are heading, ya’ll! Because as you must have realised by now I am fairly cautious when it comes to this and am always fighting to keep my own clownery at bay, but I do have to say so far nothing in this show and Season 3B specifically has read as a red flag for me, disapproving the possibility or making me feel queerbaited. Now, maybe I am just very off in my intuition and they will change gear in Season 4, but well, right now I have some hope! I also loved the scene of Christopher going to camp and the card which reminded me of 3.01 and also, Eddie looks so good here! And he came so far, letting his son go to camp and all!

Of course I would have loved to see Buck there as well, but one, that would have been a Buddie confirmed and we’re not quite there yet and I’m glad cause right now they aren’t fully ready (in show terms, fanfiction is something different), and two this proves what I said about Buck and Christopher being connected and him having parental / fatherly feelings toward the boy but like, not being his actual father yet! Buck loves Chris and Chris loves Buck and obviously he is part of the Diaz family - but he also isn’t.

(Also: I went to something like camp when I was 11 and you think both my parents brought me? Nah, son, they didn’t. My dad brought me while my mom made breakfast.)

Now, some sidenotes to round it all off:

Karen is a gift and I really hope we see more of her because omg, I wanna be her friend, I wanna be her wife, I wanna learn about life from her! She is awesome and I will never fully forgive Hen for cheating on her, like girly, Eva isn’t even close to Karen on any level?

And speaking of Hen, I love the subplot of Chim coming to terms with her potentially leaving and deciding to help her because he was who she really needed on her side - not anyone else. I’d write a meta on their relationship but tbh it’s so consistent and unproblematic, I really don’t know what to write except: goals about 10000 times. Which isn’t that different to me finding new ways to write THE CONNECTION, if we’re being honest but oh well! Now it’s too late to stop that!

I loved Athena getting spooked by Bobby showing up behind her when she was getting a drink - talk about this show finally addressing the trauma these characters go through! And it only took, oh well, about 35 episodes. Let’s hope that is the energy they bring into Season 4.

Now the apology scene with Bobby, I do hate how Buck is once again the one apologising and especially since it’s with Bobby but I do think it was a nice scene and a great callback to 3.01. Also this episode showed a lot of growth in Bobby and Buck’s relationship. Because after 3a was all about Bobby projecting onto Buck and making decisions for him based on what he thought was the right thing, this episode not only had Buck standing up to Bobby in a healthy and adult way (no lawsuit this time!) but also Bobby giving in and letting Buck make the decision even if he disagreed. That is some motherforking growth right here and Babe, I hope you are not to disappointed with me, but if they keep Bobby like this I might actually begin to see his appeal to people (still need him to suffer the consequences of his actions, though).

But to end on a great note:

Buck is doing okay and - most importantly - MADNEY BABY!!! You guys, we knew it was coming from the promos and all but I cried! I cried so hard! I am so happy for them! These two soft characters and their amazing, open, caring, trusting, adult relationship deserves all the luck in their fictional universe!

Whew, you guys! We’ve done it! And it’s longer than Season 2 (I’m sorry, are ya’ll surprised? This episode was a lot!)

I feel like I should write some form of conclusion to this whole meta and yet my words elude me. Here are the few I have for you though:

This meta began with the idea that neither Buck nor Eddie really knew how to be emotionally intimate with a person and instead used sex as a substitute. This is no longer true for either character.

Buck has learned through his relationship with Abby, that he can be both physically and emotionally intimate with a person and he has proven how this is still true in his reaction to Taylor and his relationship with Ali, what little we saw of it. Furthermore Season 3B specifically showed that Buck, while still afraid to open up to people, is trying. I do think Season 4 is heading toward some kind of romance for him and while I am praying to several deities I do not believe in and the universe itself that it is Eddie, I am not sure. I hope so. But never the less, my shipping aside, Buck has grown tremendously in the course of 3 Seasons and I am so impressed both with his character and the way the show has so realistically done it. I love him. Even more than Buddie I hope we get to see him truly happy in Season 4, happy and settled and learning what life actually holds for him because that kid could rule the world if he wanted to. Now, Eddie: It’s funny, when I began this meta I felt more connected to Buck, I didn’t really see myself in Eddie, I barely had a grasp on his character at times. Now? Now he is my favourite, I love his greyness, his goodness despite his faults, the way he always struggles with himself to do better, to be better because it doesn’t come naturally to him, because it has been taught to him to do the opposite. And that is so impressive. I love the growth we saw in him, the evolution, the fight to be a better man than his own role-models and I love especially how all of this was motivated by and for his son. He truly loves him more than life itself and I am so impressed with 911 subverting something that feels like a very female storyline by giving it to a man.

But of course Eddie isn’t done yet and Eddie still struggles with intimacy and opening up but he is getting there. Through Frank and Buck and for Christopher he is fighting and he is getting there and I love that for him and about him! He deserves to be happy in Season 4 just like Buck, but mostly he deserves to be at peace with himself!

And I already talked at length about Ana and their potential and linked what I thought didn’t fit in here, so I will not bore you by repeating myself and just say: wait. Wait and see. Maybe the show will surprise us. Maybe it won’t. Maybe corona will kill us all before we have a chance to see Season 4. Maybe we are in the Matrix and the blue pill is a metaphor for being trans. Life is strange!

Also on a more personal note I wanna say thank you to everyone who has read and liked and reblogged and commented. I love all of you. Your support and trust in what I am saying has meant a lot and will mean just as much in the future and I do hope I get to do this again in like a year once they return!

(Also, not to sound needy but another reminder to please reblog and comment? Because I *am* actually writing this because I really wanna talk about the show and my feelings and your thoughts and you know, that can only happen if ya’ll do some reblogging)

(Or come to my ask if you are more comfortable being even more anonymous, I don’t judge - I NEVER ask question any other way!)

In diesem Sinne: hamma wieder was gelernt, recht herzlichen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit und auf Wiedersehen!

Also, of course, the tagging:

@chimbuckleys @angelcamael @greyhello @the-family-we-choose-118 @ipleiade @sevensoulmates

#buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie meta #buck meta #eddie meta #911 meta #911 #911 fox #meta #textpost #mine #season 3 #my meta

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years

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hii, can you tell me more about why you’re anti sukka?

... Okay, now, that’s an inaccurate statement.

As per current internet terminology, I’m not ANTI Sukka. These days, an anti is someone who obsesses with the ships they hate, and spends an insane amount of time harassing fans of the ship, attacking other shippers, making content to disparage the ship and pretending they’re on some sort of superior moral high ground by doing all these things. While I’ve made occasional posts on why I don’t ship Sukka, I don’t think I’ve made any since AGES ago. I don’t get in the way of anyone who does ship it and I wouldn’t even say I HATE the ship. In truth, I just don’t care for it. I won’t read or look for content about it, but that’s not the same as hating a ship, let alone the same as harrassing its shippers: so I’m not anti-Sukka, I just don’t ship Sukka.

Now, since your question’s intent was to figure out why don’t I ship it...

... Warning: long, long essay that won’t sit well with any hardcore Sukka shippers right under the cut. I would be using a truncated term like su*ka throughout the whole post if only the anon hadn’t already used the actual ship name, but regrettably, it’s likely to show up in your tags all the same. I am sorry, preemptively, if it does: please ignore it for your own good and go on your merry way without letting me ruin your day.

I haven’t talked about this for ages tbh. But anyways, here we go.

When I watched The Warriors of Kyoshi for the first time, I actually liked Suki plenty. I liked her initial conflict and chemistry with Sokka, though I wasn’t big on how she made him wear the Kyoshi Warriors uniform when it clearly made him uncomfortable, but all in all, I liked how their relationship had shaped up at that point and I even looked forward to Suki returning in future episodes.

On my first watch of ATLA, I seriously saw nothing wrong in Sukka. I didn’t think a lot of things through during that first time I watched the show, I was just binging the whole thing like a maniac (like a lot of people are doing at the time), so I found their relationship perfectly acceptable as it was, for the show I was watching.

And then later rewatches, even before the Sokkla bug bit me as hard as it has, I realized maybe that wasn’t entirely true.

One of the things I really, REALLY don’t like about Sukka to this day is how unequal their relationship is in terms of how the characters are written in the show. Basically, the same complaint I have about Asami in LOK applies to Suki ever since she reappears in Book 2, but ESPECIALLY in Book 3: her character ends up revolving almost exclusively around Sokka.

Meanwhile, Sokka appears to forget about her surprisingly often and easily.

Instance #1: there’s no sign of Sokka holding a torch for Suki when he first develops a crush on Yue. Implying that, while Suki impressed him, his feelings for her weren’t necessarily romantic despite she outright kissed his cheek... whereas he is crushing, HARD, on Yue. In contrast, Suki was so affected by Team Avatar’s visit to her island that she took off to help people around the world to follow their example. Sokka (and his friends) have a huge impact on Suki’s life... whereas Suki’s impact, sure, taught Sokka to set aside his sexism, but he’s never even seen reflecting on how much Suki has changed him because of this? Neither is Katara portrayed mentioning how much nicer he became after meeting Suki? There’s not a single sign through the rest of the season of how much Suki has meant for Sokka, whether as a teacher, friend or potential love interest.

Instance #2: after initially hesitating to kiss Suki in the Serpent’s Pass, Sokka finally kisses her once they’re about to part ways before she returns to the Kyoshi Warriors. It’s soooo very romantic... until, a mere episode later, Ty Lee openly flirts with Sokka and, instead of reacting as he does later in the season (with a comment along the lines of ”Uh, I’m with someone else”), Sokka merely WAVES AND SMILES. I... don’t even understand why the writers did this. They spent the entire season featuring Sokka avoiding Ty Lee, or being fully hostile with her, but somehow RIGHT AFTER establishing his relationship with Suki, he’s shown behaving like this? It doesn’t make any sense to me. It basically says either he’s not taking his relationship with Suki all that seriously, or he’s just blatantly disloyal, and considering how devoted he was to Yue, I can’t bring myself to believe it’s the second thing. A writing oversight? Eh...

Instance #3: when Toph talks about the moon turning mean, Sokka rages and rants about how nice the moon is. Why do I bring this up? Because Yue is out of reach. Yue is gone: he still feels the need to defend her from someone who isn’t really insulting her despite that. MEANWHILE... Suki’s fate, at the time, is unknown. Sokka has no idea if Azula captured her, left her for dead, tossed her in a river, sold her to a traveling circus...? He doesn’t. He seriously doesn’t. He can’t KNOW what Azula did because the last thing he knew, Mai and Ty Lee were masquerading as Kyoshi Warriors. Implying them, and their leader, did something to the group his girlfriend was part of. And yet, for an entire season finale AND the first half of Book 3, Sokka betrays zero intentions of wanting to discover what happened with Suki, or guilt about not being able to save her UNTIL AZULA BRINGS HER UP. I know it’s very sad for Sukka fans to see Sokka crying over Suki as he did when Azula taunts him... but why haven’t we seen the slightest sign of how affected he is by Suki’s presumed capture/murder/whatever he was imagining happening to her, when Book 2 features Sokka suffering over failing Yue in the Swamp, as well as rejecting Suki initially over guilt because of his lingering feelings for Yue, paired with fear of failing to protect those he cares about? And then in Book 3 he’s even standing up to Toph when she makes a careless comment about the moon spirit...? Why is it so easy to bring up Yue, but not Suki? Is this really just another writing oversight? So we’ve had TWO writing oversights about this relationship already, both of which suggest Suki is barely on Sokka’s mind at all? Is this oversight... or accidental characterization? :’)

Instance #4: Sokka and Zuko travel to the Boiling Rock. Sokka is determined to save his father. It’s a really cool, absolutely acceptable, very important decision for his character... but here’s the kicker: Sokka knows now, at this point, that Suki might still be alive and a prisoner of the Fire Nation. Azula outright said Suki had been WAITING FOR HIM AND GAVE UP BECAUSE HE NEVER CAME. This is what drives him to tears and to shout at Azula while wasting time during the Eclipse! :’D And then? Then he goes to Zuko, to ask him about Fire Nation prisons, and my gullible, first-watch self thought “oh, he wants to save Suki now that Azula said she’s alive! :D” ... only for his intent to be exclusively about his father. I’m not saying it’s WRONG for Sokka to privilege Hakoda over Suki, I mean, he is his father and Sokka really cares about family. It’s one of his main priorities, always has been. But isn’t it WEIRD that after Azula taunted him SO BAD about failing Suki, after saying Suki GAVE UP ON HIM, Sokka makes zero moves to find out if she might be alive and within reach? He could ask Zuko about her, maybe, seeing as he was on Azula’s side in Ba Sing Se and may have known a thing or two about any prisoners she captured in the Earth Kingdom? Sokka could have mentioned he wants to save BOTH Hakoda and Suki, and it doesn’t harm the story in the least for him to say something like that. It doesn’t make his efforts for Hakoda any lesser, and it shows Suki is a priority for him too... But no. Instead let’s feature him bumping into Suki by sheer luck, because that’s truly what it was, and instead of feeling any guilt for not helping her sooner, he’s just lovestruck and attempting to put moves on her when she doesn’t even know who he is yet. Super funny. Super romantic. Super lacking and I can’t understand why, WHY, someone would ever think this is how to write a quality romantic relationship?

Instance #5: connected to instance #4, actually. When traveling to the Boiling Rock, Sokka and Zuko have an awkward conversation. During this awkward conversation, Sokka asks Zuko if there was anything he left behind in the Fire Nation that he might have missed. Zuko smiles and talks about Mai. Sokka is surprised that the “gloomy girl who sighs a lot” was his girlfriend, and Zuko looks genuinely fond of her as he smiles and thinks of her. And then Sokka brings up his own romantic experience... WITH YUE. Instead of bringing up the girl who taught him girls can fight too, instead of bringing up the girl he hasn’t been able to save yet, the girl who MIGHT BE in the prison he’s headed towards, Sokka brings up the girl he absolutely CAN’T save anymore. He brings up the girl whose death most clearly scarred him, deeply, and I’m not trying to lessen the blow Yue’s sacrifice takes on Sokka... but Suki literally, LITERALLY, has something to do with the plot of this very episode? While “My girlfriend turned into the moon” “That’s rough, buddy” is a well-loved hilarious scene and line, I’d have sacrificed that IN A HEARTBEAT if the writers had thought to feature Sokka talking about Suki instead. He could’ve said Azula took her! He literally KNOWS this now, for a fact! Zuko could’ve told him “Hey, maybe she’s in the Boiling Rock too!”, and the plot of the episode wouldn’t have changed in the slightest, beyond featuring Sokka actively looking for BOTH Hakoda and Suki! But no. Again, no. Again, the writers choose to privilege Sokka’s bond with Yue over Suki. With Hakoda over Suki. With anyone else over Suki.

... whlie Suki, most obviously, has no one else she cares about more than Sokka. Why? Because she hasn’t even had enough screentime to establish any other significant relationships, and after the Boiling Rock, she doesn’t establish them anyways.

This causes Suki to feel like a Sokka satellite: SHE revolves around HIM. But Sokka? Sokka doesn’t revolve around Suki IN THE LEAST. Would it be healthy for him to be completely devoted and crazy over Suki to the point of disregarding his ties with other people over her? Hell, no! But it’s not healthy to feature Suki as good as doing that for Sokka either! :’D Suki doesn’t even have a solid, established friendship with any of the other Gaang members. She has POTENTIAL for it, but ever since she joins the Gaang she is most frequently shown interacting with Sokka and only on occasion with the others, but in no memorable, meaningful way with anyone but Sokka. She even joins Katara while searching for Aang in Sozin’s Comet, and we don’t see the slightest sign of unique, important bonding between them. She saved Toph from drowning once, found out Toph has a crush on the same boy she likes, and it’d have been interesting if she, for instance, had refrained from seeking an openly romantic relationship with Sokka out of respect for Toph’s feelings? They could’ve had a conversation about it? With Toph telling her to go for it, maybe, because Sokka liked her too? Suki saying she doesn’t want to hurt her? A perfectly nice bonding situation for these two girls, showing quite a lot of respect between them, as well as respect for their personal relationships with Sokka?

But no. That doesn’t happen.

The second important character Suki bonds most with is Zuko, and in the show, it’s exclusively because they’re with Sokka in the Boiling Rock. Once that’s over you can’t really say there’s any relevant, personal dynamics between them in the show. Heck, Suki tells him she wants a rematch with Azula in the Boiling Rock: Zuko could have offered her a chance to come with him to the Fire Nation and get that rematch, instead of offering it to Katara :’D Why doesn’t he? Because they DID take their time to establish a relationship between Zuko and Katara, even derrailing the show for a whole episode to ensure they would convince Katara to forgive Zuko for all the wrong he did, in the most absurd and contradictory situation possible. Meanwhile, a simple “sorry” from Zuko is enough for Suki to stop holding a grudge. You absolutely CAN interpret this as Suki not being the type to hold a grudge! Which, great! But you also CAN interpret this as the writers being way too lazy to give Suki as much time to forgive Zuko as she could have/should have needed. And sadly, while story-wise I’ll choose to read it the first way, I think, realistically, what happened was the second thing instead.

Suki doesn’t even have a meaningful relationship with Aang. AANG. I’m not saying she should have been his best friend, but Oyaji outright says “you kids had a big impact on her”. It’s PLURAL. It’s not supposed to mean “Sokka had a big impact on her”. Hell, Aang is Kyoshi’s PAST LIFE. Kyoshi is, in all likelihood, Suki’s hero! :’D And yet... nothing. Not even featuring Suki as a Kyoshi fangirl who knows all sorts of random facts about her, such as her favorite foods or the habits she enjoyed most, and Aang saying “oh hey, I like doing that too!”, so that they both could rejoice in this unique, curious shared common ground!

Nay. Nothing. Literally nothing. Her only serious, meaningful relationship is with Sokka... and like I said, whenever Sokka is asked about meaningful relationships with girls, his brain goes “Yue”, immediately, even when the plot would benefit from him saying “Suki” at least ONCE. He’ll sit out at night watching the moon, but he can’t be bothered to bring up how frustrating it is for Azula to have captured Suki whether before or after the Invasion. Yes, Sokka is shown to be the kind of guy who grieves quietly: why is it so much easier, then, to see his quiet grieving for Yue than his concern for Suki?

The truth is, it’s a writing shortcoming. It’s not even something I’d blame on Sokka’s character because, as I always have said, his relationship with Yue really highlights what a wonderful boyfriend he can be when he’s seriously interested in someone. He takes Yue out on dates, gives her gifts, fights for her people, fights the fiancé who only objectifies her, tries to protect her from fulfilling a destiny that will kill her? This is all top-tier romance hero behavior. It is. Why the hell isn’t this behavior seen with Suki too?

It’s not a matter of Suki being a warrior rather than a Princess so she doesn’t need him to act the same way he did with Yue: the show outright, literally, explicitly states Suki is a girl and a warrior, implying Sokka could easily enough woo her the same way he does with Yue, if he cared to. But he doesn’t. It’s Suki with the initiative when their actual romantic relationship begins, and later on Sokka can forget Suki is his girlfriend whenever it suits his fancy, to absolutely no consequences.

So... does this mean, then, that Sokka, in canon, only tries really hard when he’s chasing after someone he can’t be with? That he slacks off and drops the ball when the girl is already his? Well, that’s... not good. Not healthy. Not pretty.

This doesn’t mean that there’s nothing good about Sukka altogether, there are a few things about the ship that aren’t bad... but even then, scenes like “Sokka makes a gross sand sculpture and says it’s Suki” aren’t really that heartwarming to me. It’s not only a comedic relief scene that tries to feature these two as super romantic dorks... but it only reinforces one of the main shortcomings in this relationship for me:

Sokka doesn’t even have to TRY.

He doesn’t. He can make a gross-looking statue, say it’s Suki, and she won’t even make suggestions to improve it? She just says it’s perfect this way. It’s basically the kind of coddling Ursa did with Zuko when Zuko messed up in his firebending display and Ursa said it was wonderful. In the case of a couple, it feels like a mix of cute and condescending? Suki accepts Sokka as he is, sure, so she doesn’t challenge him, doesn’t try to make him do better, he doesn’t need to improve his work... because she’s fine with whatever she gets from him.

This is complacency. It’s a relationship neither one needs to make efforts for. Suki will always accept Sokka’s occasional romantic gestures, even if he leaves so much to be desired in his relationship with her, as opposed to his relationship with Yue. And I’m not saying Sokka DOESN’T care about Suki, but he doesn’t need to do better with her, and while that’s just what Sokka may think he wants/needs for the future, in truth, that’s not what makes his character thrive.

What makes Sokka’s character grow amazingly is CHALLENGE. And I don’t mean that he needs a girlfriend difficult to be with and out of reach (like Yue): I mean that, when faced with a love interest who keeps him on his toes and makes him continue pushing his boundaries, Sokka would genuinely develop and grow further as a man, warrior, leader and love interest. Look at how fast he develops into a quality swordsman while training with Piandao: why? Because it was a challenge. Because it was an opportunity to hone his skills. Because he had to rise up to prove himself, and HE DOES. In the Invasion? He feels he can’t measure up to Hakoda, but in the end? He winds up LEADING the whole operation. People FLOCK to him as he draws out the battle plans and strategies they’ll follow so they can figure out where Ozai is and take him out before the eclipse ends. Right after thinking he couldn’t do it, when the situation DEMANDED that he stepped up, he did and he goddamn EXCELLED at it, proving himself well above these challenges indeed.

THESE are the moments where his character shines the brightest. And a relationship that wasn’t so complacent would do this kind of thing for Sokka’s character just as well: a challenging relationship would promote his GROWTH. He wouldn’t be stunted in simplicity with someone who doesn’t give up on him when he spends MONTHS disregarding her circumstances. Because the truth is, I see Sokka as an overachiever in denial: he wants to go the extra mile, to do things no one else has done before, but because he’s stuck in a world where he doesn’t have the crazy powers his friends do, he wrongfully assumes they’re the ones who’ll do amazing things and he’ll just lag behind them, so he figures it’s better not to bother trying to stand out at all. Yet look at him, figuring out the perfect plan to take down Ozai’s fleet: look at him, making such an impression on Piandao, epic swordmaster, that Piandao even says “If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am.”

Sokka has incredible, extraordinary potential as a character. He has huuuuge anxieties and sources of anguish and insecurities, and those only make his potential greater. He has flaws that can be worked on, there’s so much room for growth...

And the true reason I can’t support Sukka, on Sokka’s end, is because I don’t think that relationship will encourage him to grow any further.

Meanwhile, I can’t support it on Suki’s end because I don’t think she deserves to be an afterthought for a boyfriend who has so much going on in his life that she’s a secondary or even tertiary thing in his life unless she’s right in front of him. And even when he doesn’t have that much going on (meaning, during the first FOUR comic trilogies), he’s shown traveling the world with his friends instead of spending time with her. And heck, where Suki SHOULD have arrived in the South Pole with Zuko as his guard during North and South, Suki doesn’t show up at all. Why? Seriously, what sort of logic explains that the Fire Lord’s appointed BODYGUARD would stay behind in the Fire Nation while Zuko travels halfway across the world, with hell knows how many dangers ahead? If she HAD gone with Zuko, she would’ve had a chance to spend more time with Sokka and it’d even be a point in Sukka’s favor. But that doesn’t happen. To make matters even worse, Sokka doesn’t even tell Aang to say hi to Suki for him when Aang leaves to the Fire Nation by himself in Smoke and Shadow? There are TWO WHOLE PANELS as Aang takes off on Appa with NO DIALOGUE. Sokka calling after Aang to ask him to say hi to Suki literally would’ve fit PERFECTLY, right there! But no. Suki doesn’t even get that much from her boyfriend.

Seriously, it’s NOT THAT HARD to show a healthy long-distance relationship. It’s not that difficult to feature Suki and Sokka longing to see each other but having too much going on to meet up. But that’s not what we got with Sukka, not in the comics, not in the show. Fans ARE free to believe otherwise, and I’m not going to trample on someone who thinks we just conveniently never get to see the healthiest aspects of their very positive relationship... but there’s no genuine evidence to back up this belief. It’s just wishful thinking and hoping that things are far better behind the scenes than what we’re genuinely shown.

Again... I blame the writing. Especially seeing as Yang’s writing of Sokka is DISMAL. But it doesn’t erase what’s already there. It doesn’t do away with the very obvious problems in this relationship.

The positive moments Sukka gets are offset, for me, by all the negatives. The meaningful relationship they could have developed feels underdeveloped instead, something we should take for granted is there and nothing more. And even those positive moments and episodes aren’t necessarily that positive?

In particular, I point to The Ember Island Players: there are soooooo many messed up things about Sukka in this episode I have no idea how people aren’t more bothered by them. First of all: the episode features Sokka crying about Yue’s staged death scene, and Suki is shown amused, saying she had no idea Sokka had made out with the moon spirit. First of all: SOKKA DIDN’T TELL SUKI ABOUT YUE. Her initial reaction here is amusement, for some reason...? Yet as we already saw that there’s no real bad blood between her and Toph despite she, of all people, KNOWS Toph has a crush on the same guy she likes, there’s no real reason to think Suki would behave like a jealous fiend if she knew Sokka had a relationship with someone else before her. Yet Sokka doesn’t tell her about it: this implies he either doesn’t trust her, or doesn’t know her well enough to realize she WON’T be a jealous fiend, and outright assumes she will be one because of mistaken preconceptions about how relationships work.

At this point, Sokka and Suki have been officially together since Book 2, episode 12. Book 2 happens in spring. Book 3′s conclusion is at the end of summer. This means Sokka has had about four-five months of a relationship with Suki. Out of which, yes, she spent the majority of those months in prison :’D but then he rescued her! And... apparently proceeded not to tell her about his experiences while fighting in the war? To not share his biggest failure to protect someone he cared about? So... to NOT open up to Suki about anything that genuinely mattered?

Considering he’s willing to snap at Toph when she brings up the moon could be “mean”, considering he’s willing to tell Zuko that his first girlfriend turned into the moon when they’re only starting to trust each other... this unwillingness to tell Suki about Yue feels OFF. It doesn’t make any sense. His relationship with Yue was far from something to be ashamed of. It meant A LOT to him. Why the heck hide it from Suki, when all the reasons sound either condescending or distrustful as hell?

Ah. Because the writers thought this scene would be funny, that’s why.

And the funny scene gets even BETTER when Sokka shushes Suki and proceeds to cry about Yue’s death: he’s shutting her out. And hey... Suki doesn’t like this. She turns her face around and looks pretty irritated, whether by being shushed or by his unwillingness to share his past with her or BOTH THINGS...

... And then the show doesn’t acknowledge this OBVIOUS, SIZABLE, IMPORTANT shortcoming of their relationship ever again.

We’re supposed to assume Sokka explained everything later just because? Hell, he looks like he has absolutely no intentions of doing that. If you ask me, it even could feel like he thinks his relationship with Yue is none of Suki’s business? And that’s not pretty. That’s not good romance writing, no matter how you look at it.

This, of course, is not everything: there’s another two unpleasant situations in this episode alone! :’D

The second one is a slightly smaller one, but bears mentioning all the same: Aang is annoyed when the play makes a mockery of Zutara, so he gets up and leaves: Sokka tells him to bring him snacks. After his initial request, Sokka wraps an arm around Suki and they’re shown surprisingly cuddly now, DESPITE their previous impasse. At first, Suki smiles fondly at him. But then he turns around and asks Aang for more snacks. And then Suki outright looks ANNOYED, while Sokka looks like he doesn’t give a single crap.

This, I feel, ties in with what I mentioned earlier about how Sokka doesn’t even have to try with Suki: Suki isn’t merely a happy girl who thinks Sokka can do no wrong. She CAN be annoyed by him and his behavior, but for some reason, she chooses not to bring up her grievances with how he’s acting, even if it doesn’t sit well with her?

So while there’s supposed to be something so very cute with the monster blob sand statue, her approval doesn’t feel genuine to me. I simply can’t see it as genuine. Because when you feature Suki smiling in that strangely motherly way, saying the statue is “sweet” (instead of, I don’t know, saying she actually sees the artistic merit of it (if she did) or saying he just needs to put in a bit more work), she’s focusing exclusively on making SOKKA feel better about himself. And when Suki is annoyed? He doesn’t have to show remotely the same amount of consideration or compassion she displays for him. Why? Because she sweeps her feelings under the rug and lets him get away with everything he does, even things she’s not happy about. She lets him get away with keeping important secrets, lets him get away with annoying her in the middle of the play, AND...

... lets him get away with rubbing in Suki’s face that Azula kicked her ass :’)

Look, I’m not even being my biased shipper self here. The third unpleasant thing in Ember Island Players is that Suki decides to point out that Team Avatar keeps getting out of deadly pinches by sheer luck and that they lose a lot! She doesn’t say this with concern: she looks sardonic, like she’s legit mocking them. It’d feel completely out of place if she hadn’t been annoyed by Sokka earlier, so it feels (to me) like she’s just taunting him because she’s already not in the best of moods and expects to feel better by making fun of him. Not a terrible crime, but a rather strange one to commit too, considering she’s making fun of her boyfriend damn near dying all the time. You’d think, maybe, that kind of possibility should worry her a little more...?

... But then Sokka retaliates with: “You're one to talk, Suki. Didn't Azula take you captive? That's right, she did!”

Isn’t it goddamn WEIRD that Sokka would bring up what, according to a large amount of Suki’s fanbase, must have been a terribly scarring experience for Suki... just to win an argument with her? Just to piss her off because she’s making fun of him? They’re BOTH shown being remarkably inconsiderate towards each other and the struggles they faced in their respective journeys in this scene. It’s supposed to be lighthearted bickering, but the subject they’re choosing to talk about isn’t lighthearted AT ALL.

According to some Suki fans, Suki could have even been tortured, tormented in thousand ways, by Azula when she took her prisoner. There were whole posts going around about how heartwarming it was for Suki to still be waiting for Sokka, no matter what...!

And THIS is how Sokka reacted to Suki’s patient waiting for him? THIS? By telling her “lol loser Azula caught you anyhow so your argument’s invalid”? If Suki HAD gone through some serious torture, beyond getting stripped off her uniform, how on earth would it be healthy for Sokka to use this allegedly mentally scarring experience AGAINST HIS GIRLFRIEND?

Now then, it WOULD BE fucked up, but the truth is, Suki wasn’t tortured at all, so the whole delusional, tragic “Suki is so emotionally strong because she believed in the man who would come save her even in the darkest of moments!” is honestly nonsense in the end: a girl who was tortured, tormented and anguished by the memories of whatever she experienced in Azula’s hands wouldn’t have retorted to Sokka’s comment with an irritated: “Are you trying to get on my bad side?”

Yet again, Suki is annoyed.

They’re both annoyed by each other’s arguments.

But their discussion ENDS at this point, and goes forgotten, again.

Suki isn’t even a quality bickering source for Sokka, because as soon as Sokka rebuffs with a counterargument she doesn’t like, she turns things personal and takes offense. Where he may not have taken her initial taunt as a particular, personal attack, she does interpret his words that way.

AND THEN THEY PROCEED TO FORGET ABOUT THEIR ARGUMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS, YET AGAIN :’)

Now then... is all this so terrible? Am I making too big a deal out of small things that shouldn’t be inspected so closely, especially as they were likely written with humorous intent and nothing more? It’s entirely possible!

You see, I don’t exactly love the way romance is handled in ATLA because it’s frankly always flawed and faulty beyond belief. People often have said one of the three canon relationships is better than the others, but at this point I disagree altogether: they’re all written to be flawed and have huge gaps of logic in the behavior of the characters involved. The girls are always shown as prioritizing the boy above everything else ever, and the boys are too often shown leaving them behind, forgetting about their love interests alarmingly frequently, being outright FORCED by the plot to let go of their attachment to them, whereas there’s no such conflicts or situations with the girls, in the least! Implying that it’s fine for girls to be completely devoted to a relationship, to the point where their whole LIVES revolve around the boy they like, but the boy shouldn’t behave the same way and must learn to leave the girl behind or put her aside instead?

... The implicit sexism in this consistent writing element in ALL THREE CANON RELATIONSHIPS is honestly pretty disturbing. I don’t think I need to say much more about it, do I?

Now though, I will, however, point out that it’s relatively good for canon NOT to show Kataang, Maiko or Sukka as perfect relationships because it IS realistic. It’s not pretty, but it is realistic. These characters are children or teenagers who quite often didn’t even have good role models of romance in their parents or peers, let alone even slightly decent childhoods, so for them to be 100% healthy in terms of romance would have been utterly absurd. Therefore, these kids would be expected to make mistakes and then learn from them so their relationships improve over time.

Sokka and Suki’s relationship is flawed, which only lends MORE believability to it, because the characters aren’t warped to fit the narrative, to play them as unmistakably perfect, ideal partners for each other. But those flaws do lend for problems like the ones I pointed out above...

And you see, the ultimate problem is that these characters DON’T learn from those mistakes. They don’t. Mai and Zuko are shown making the exact same blunders in the show and the comics, hell, sometimes even worse ones in the comics. Sokka and Suki still act like they’re totally in love ONLY when they happen to be in the same place and even then? Suki outright ignores Azula’s zapping attack at Sokka in The Search! SHE’S IN THE SAME COURTYARD! But it’s the THREE BENDERS who come to Sokka’s “rescue”, despite he doesn’t even NEED rescuing, since the attack was goddamn meaningless anyhow.

The point is, however, that Suki is right there, damn it, taking care of APPA. And she’d sooner look after the sky bison that than check on her boyfriend, who was just “attacked” by her WORST ENEMY, WITH WHOM SHE WANTED A REMATCH???

Seriously. What logic is this. What kind of ROMANCE is this. It doesn’t make any sense to me, and if I were a Sukka fan I’d be beyond outraged by watching my favorite relationship written so carelessly.

So, because Yang’s writing isn’t even ALLOWED to move anything too far forward, because Bryke don’t want that, none of these relationships have developed in any interesting ways after the show. AT BEST you could say Kataang definitely act differently in the comics than they did in the show, for better or for worse, so you can say there’s some changes in their dynamics, though those changes aren’t necessarily related to genuine character growth. But Maiko? Same old story. Sukka? Same old story.

What exactly does Sukka do for Sokka at this point? He has someone to make out with whenever they cross paths? Yeah, okay, cool. And? That’s it? For that matter, he could be making out with anyone else just the same. What kind of room for growth does she offer him? Going by how she doesn’t even need him around her, by how she has never needed anything but mediocrity from him, I can’t say there’s anything to be found. Their relationship already dealt with its biggest possible hurdle WHEN THEY FIRST MET. That’s the main growth Suki offered Sokka, and now she can’t give him anything else because he’s way too efficient and learned everything she could teach him right away :’) Paired with this, Suki wasn’t developed enough as a character either, so if she has other regards in which she can teach Sokka a thing or two, we simply don’t know it, and the comics refuse to show it to us too, so up to date, Suki is severely underdeveloped by canon and will continue to be, as far as I can tell.

Which, of course, factors in the next question: what does Sukka do for Suki? Honestly, nothing. If this relationship did something interesting for her character, we’d have tons of things to say and discuss about her, but the truth is all Suki-related discussion tends to have nothing to do with Sokka (her past and growth as a Kyoshi Warrior, her future post-canon, whatever the heck happened to her by LOK’s time... I’ve never seen anyone genuinely pondering anything about her relationship with Sokka beyond “did they stay together or not?!?!”). Suki is at her best when she’s with the Kyoshi Warriors, because it’s the only element of her character that DOESN’T revolve around Sokka. Going by the plot of the Shells comic, she could go travel the world teaching girls self-defense, and kicking the asses of sexist dudes! It’s not really going to deepen her character, sadly, because that’s basically ALL we know about her since the start of the show, aside from her attachment to Sokka. And she doesn’t need Sokka to do this. She could do it by herself just the same.

Literally, just for the sake of giving Suki something else to do, not even for my personal OTP’s sake, I’d gladly see Suki breaking up with Sokka so she can damn explore who she is beyond this relationship? The Kyoshi Warriors serving in the Fire Nation Palace was probably the first interesting development for Suki in canon since she first met Sokka, and even then her role there was never explored fully, let alone was her potentially red-herring budding relationship with Zuko.

But who am I kidding? :’) not gonna happen. For all I know, they got married in canon and had a perfectly happy life together. A perfectly happy, mediocre life, where neither one has to make the slightest effort for the other, in the least. Taking each other for granted, every step of the way!

*sigh* I can’t want this for Sokka, seriously. I can’t. I love his character a lot, but I absolutely hate how he’s written in this relationship. Most my understanding of how Sokka behaves in a relationship has come from how he behaves with Yue, precisely because, as brief as their relationship was, he seriously appeared to value her above so many other things, to fight for her, to do anything he could to help her without asking for anything in return. And that’s why I write him as I do.

Love can feel different when you experience it with different people, of course, and I’m not asking for Sokka to be written exactly the same in two different relationships... but the difference is just way too vast. I don’t question he cares about Suki, but I do question that he genuinely loves her. This is NOT how someone in love behaves. And frankly, Suki’s behavior isn’t that of a girl in genuine love either. She likes him plenty, is impressed by the things he and his friends have achieved, but is it genuine love? How can it be, when they apparently can’t even trust each other about their personal experiences (Yue in Sokka’s case, spending months as a prisoner in Suki’s)? When his behavior rubs her the wrong way and annoys her when they’re at their most casual? When the bickering he’d likely enjoy having with a significant other just falters after two exchanges with Suki because she takes offense to what he said?

In conclusion:

Writing: the writing of this relationship is frankly really, REALLY flawed, far more than most fans are willing to acknowledge (whether fans of the ship or of the show in general). They try to make jokes with this relationship, but these jokes end up highlighting serious flaws in this relationship that are never addressed. Also, their relationship is hardly ever treated as something majorly important for Sokka, who constantly privileges his bond with Yue over Suki, which is radically contrasted with Suki, who has no meaningful relationships in the show beyond Sokka. As I pointed out earlier, the writing proposes the boy doesn’t need to revolve around the girl, but the girl DOES revolve around the boy? Absolutely appalling.

Dynamics: beyond their exchanges on their very first episode, their dynamics don’t offer anything unique to their characters. You can replace Suki with any other female character, and Sokka’s struggle to let go of Yue and accept a new love interest in his life wouldn’t change in any considerable way. It didn’t HAVE to be Suki, let alone a Suki whose original personality (sassy, demanding, proud to the point of bordering on arrogant, prone to making mistakes because of this flaw...) was completely hijacked by a new one (perfectly nice, friendly, reasonable, considerate, flirty, not demanding in the least, virtually flawless...). There’s not much Sokka can teach the Book 2-onwards Suki, or much else Suki can teach Sokka. There’s not much they can learn together either, because the writing never offers them new challenges they haven’t handled before. Their dynamics exclusively hinge on Suki being reliable in action situations, weak humor centered around Sokka being a mediocre boyfriend, and making out. That’s all their relationship provides, and frankly, they BOTH can do better than that.

Potential: I don’t think Sukka has much more potential beyond what we already have seen. Their natural chemistry isn’t anything out of this world, it’s FINE, but it’s not exactly something extraordinary that can’t be found anywhere else. And that’s really at the crux of why I don’t ship it or find much enjoyment in it: neither Sokka nor Suki appear to be at their best in this relationship. Suki is outright worse off by this relationship because she went from feminist poster child to a girl who REVOLVES AROUND A BOY. Please, let’s let that sink in? There are better possible relationships for them, relationships that absolutely could explore aspects of BOTH characters that have gone underdeveloped and overshadowed in canon, just for the sake of weak humor and make-out sessions.

*sigh*

Fact is, most the problems with Sukka are a matter of poor writing. With better writing, the relationship could be good, and would be easier to take seriously. But even then? I wouldn’t ever expect this relationship to outshine other possible ships for both Sokka and Suki. If you feature another girl as Sokka’s big, rude “girls are fighters too” awakening... what’s left for Sukka? Speaking from experience, seeing as I outright wrote that: without this factor, their relationship wouldn’t be anything particularly noteworthy. Sokka would respect Suki right off the bat, sure, maybe surprise her a bit because of how unpredictable and unexpected he can be, but there’d be no genuine reason for them to seriously develop feelings for each other. That their entire bond hinges on their first encounter, rather than the growth of their relationship across time, is far from appealing for me in a relationship. I absolutely need more than that to ship something.

I’ve already brought up most these arguments in the past, as well as others I probably forgot to mention, but I can give you one more post to look at (if you want it), specifically about how a certain ship can be a vast improvement for Sokka over Sukka :’D This, I’d hope, will clarify what I mean when I say other ships can offer Sokka far more than Sukka does. I didn’t dig into it here, since I tried to focus exclusively on why I won’t ship this, but that might help expand your understanding of my reasons not to support it. And then there’s also the ship I support for Suki... here are my arguments on that topic too. Admittedly, I was more centered on Zuko in this second post, but I basically already gave you all the arguments why Suki in Sukka doesn’t work for me :’D and there’s a few arguments in there about why Zuko would be a far more interesting love interest for Suki than Sokka has been so far, too. So... that’s that. I hope I gave you plenty to think about :’D

#anon #all this is about the ship itself #I have no qualm with the shippers except a select few #who exhibited some really gross behavior years ago #and whom I've happily not crossed paths with since then #I have no severe qualms with this ship's supporters #not like I do with OTHER ships #that won't be mentioned #so no I'm not saying no one should ship it #but I'm saying this is why I don't #*breeeathes*#anyways I hope you enjoy the veeeery long post anon

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thorne93 · 4 years

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Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 25)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 3716

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy, @carryonmyswansong, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

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“I can’t believe this is happening,” Spencer sighed as he threw his ready bag on the floor next to the bed in the hotel.

“I know. I’m sorry,” you apologized.

“What were you thinking?” he demanded, looking at you with such anger it baffled you. You didn’t think you’d ever seen that look.

You frowned. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Spencer was understanding. Ever since you’d made your peace he hadn’t had one negative thing to say towards you. Now he was suddenly accusatory again?

“I told you what I was thinking,” you reiterated. “We’ve gotten inside the minds of these people for years… I just… I wanted to stop them for once.”

"We’re supposed to think like the unsub, not become them!"

“Don't tell me that after fifteen years of getting inside their heads the thought hasn't run through your head to just stop these people, dead in their tracks. No way to keep wreaking havoc on society."

He raised his voice, responding, "An errant thought is one thing but you buddied up with a serial killer!"

You stared at him for a second. "What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say I'm sorry? Well I'm not," you all but growled. "I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I betrayed our trust. But I am not fucking sorry for the lives I saved by getting those scumbags off the street. You of all fucking people should understand that."

“I thought you picked him because he’s supposedly so good.”

“Well he’s killed over thirty people without raising suspicion,” you reminded evenly.

“Yeah, except for the nearly twenty bodies tying both of you to the murders,” he countered.

“How could you keep me in the dark? Could you really not trust me?” he asked, anger and disbelief in his face and voice.

You frowned. “You didn't trust me enough to tell me our colleague, our friend, is in love with you. How in the hell could I tell you the truth?" you asked, exasperated. A look of frustration crossed your face as you threw your arms out beside you.

“Those are two completely different things, Y/N,” he firmly stated.

"It's not two different things. I hid my secret from you, and you hid yours from me."

He pressed his lips together in a hard line, clenching his fist. This meant he was past the point of pissed. "I didn't tell you because I was worried about how you'd take it. But why didn't you tell me about all of this? Did you really not trust me?"

With a hopeless look in your eye, you responded, "Did you honestly expect me to?"

“Of course! I thought we were the type of couple who told each other everything.”

“How could I? You kept JJ from me, not to mention telling you I’m a serial killer? What exactly do you think I was supposed to say?”

“Keeping JJ from you was entirely different.”

“You keeping the JJ thing from me is far worse than me killing some people."

“How can you even say that? How does it even compare?" he demanded, his hands waving wildly.

You held your hand up, ticking things off your fingers. "Check the history. We've both killed in cold blood. But only one of us hid a romantic secret with our coworker."

“I can’t believe you’re actually comparing the two. Has the gravity of the situation even hit home for you yet? Do you realize what kind of danger you’re in? That I’m in?”

“It’s fine. Dexter will handle this, and anything he can’t handle we’ll divert the team's attention.”

“What, so we’re just supposed to lie to people we’ve worked with for a decade?”

“Yeah, I mean… we both have,” you quietly said. “It shouldn’t be that hard.”

“I don’t like this. I don’t like what he’s made you,” he retorted, pointing at you.

“He didn’t make me this way. Don’t blame Dexter.”

“Oh? Then who should I blame?” he snapped.

“Why do you need someone to blame?” you cried out.

“Because I can’t believe the sweet, compassionate woman I married is capable of this. What I saw out there… those bodies, mutilated. I can’t imagine you approached someone like Dexter and actually asked him to show you how to do that. I just… I can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Yeah, well when you dosed those drugs in the jail with poison without a second thought, I was taken aback too. Guess we’re both capable of things the other one never imagined.”

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. “Look, I just… I’m just upset because if you had told me before… If you had told me you wanted to this… I don’t know, maybe I could’ve stopped you or made sure you were at least doing it as safely and effectively as possible.”

“I know. I know you want to protect me. I’m sorry for putting you in this position.”

He gave a slight half smile, almost as if thinking of something humorous to himself.

“You know, I never have understood it.”

“Understood what?” you wondered idly.

“You and Dexter were meticulous, right?”

“Yes.”

“You told me about all the plastic, the dumping, the erasing of paper trails--”

“Right,” you prompted, hoping he’d get on with it.

“So why, when I suspect you of something, did you fold immediately? I mean, why put in all that effort, time, attention to detail if you were just going to tell me the moment I could tell something was off?”

You looked at him, an amusement in your eyes. “You honestly don’t know?”

“No,” he stated firmly, shaking his head.

“Because the thought of losing you to anything but the truth was unbearable. The idea that you could think I was cheating was heartbreaking. At least if you left me, it would be for the right reasons, for things I actually did. If it was anyone else, Emily, Rossi, Matt… I could’ve lied right to their faces.” Before you knew it, tears were in your eyes and you buried your face in your fists. “I’m so sorry, Spence. I didn’t mean to get you involved.” You raised your head, swallowing some of the tears and the lump in your throat. “If we get caught, promise me you’ll feign ignorance.”

“What?’ he asked, baffled. “No, I won’t--”

“Spencer, there’s no reason for both of us to go down over something that was my choice. If they find out I was involved, I want you to pretend like you never knew. If you got punished for this, it would break my heart. Please…”

He nodded for a moment, pressing his lips together in contemplation.

Spencer looked at you with a look of… love. That’s all you could describe it as. The same look you saw on your wedding day, the first time you made love, when you were found safe after an unsub had taken you hostage. He put both hands on the side of your head.

“I love you, so much. I’m going to keep you safe and protected, alright? I won’t let them get to you.”

------------------------

“Any updates?” you asked as you met the team in the morning, tossing your bag down.

“No, but that’s why we’re gonna look at the victims,” Rossi announced.

“Oh,” you said, trying to calm a shaking voice. “Yeah that makes sense. Let’s get an idea of how this guy operates with the victims in the last hours,” you agreed. You were holding on to remembering that this needed to be a case like any other. You had to be a profiler, not a serial killer on defense. Well, to be fair, you really needed to be both. But in order to fool your colleagues, you had to be the best profiler on the team still.

With that, the BAU team, Batista, Masuka, and Debra walked outside to the large tent where the bodies lay. A forensics technician stopped all of you before handing you paper aprons and gloves, a signal to suit up before entering.

Why did your heart feel like it was about to explode? Your gloves were soaked on the inside. You kept flexing your hands, opening them then closing them, hoping it would soothe you or calm your nerves. Nothing was helping though. You were about to be face to face with these bodies, some of them your victims.

All of you walked forward, past the plastic curtains and suddenly eighteen bodies were in front of you.

Someone just sucked all of the oxygen out of the room.

Nausea hit your gut like a wrecking ball. And it wasn’t because you were disturbed by the bodies, sadly. It was being face to face with how close you were to marching down death row yourself.

Everyone slowly dispersed into the room. You wanted to chance a glance at Spence, but decided against it. He was probably focusing on the bodies anyway. Either to study them for his own curiosity, or to keep anything from throwing up a red flag.

You followed suit and walked in casually, eyeing the victims. Most of them stood out to you.

Berry Cooper - you studied his case before meeting Dexter. His body was unidentifiable, at least just by looking at it. But the name cards helped after they were identified with dental records.

Kevin Mott - you helped Dexter lure this guy to his death. You could still tell who he was. He was instantly recognizable to you and the evening you helped get him away wasn’t one you were incredibly proud of. You pretended to be a drunk girl “looking for a good time” when you enticed him out of a bar and into a dark alley where Dexter was waiting. Guilt and pride swelled unusually within you as you stared at him. You wanted to look away, but you knew if you grimaced, the team would notice.

Shannon Reynolds - She was one of your victims. Her...well you couldn’t feel sorry for her. She did awful things to innocent creatures. You cut her up yourself, Dexter’s insistence. He said you would need to know how to do this when you got back to Washington. Although clearly that plan fizzled out.

You heard your team and the Miami team talking but you were tuning them out. So many bodies… So many… pieces of evidence.

“Why did the killer cut them up like this?” Batista asked.

“Ease of disposal,” Masuka suggested.

“Or for fun,” Debra added. “You don’t kill this many people because it’s a chore. You do it because you like it.”

“What kind of sick puppy likes this?” you muttered, hoping it would add to the narrative that you weren’t any part of this. “Alright, well that helps the profile,” you added before huffing out air.

The lot of you finished your rounds looking at each body before you went inside. You pretended to work on the cases and not know intimate details of the case for hours before you went and found Dexter. He was in the break room.

“Hey, got a sec?” you asked as calmly as you could, so no passersbys would get suspicious.

“Sure.”

He walked towards you and you leaned into him. “So I’m seriously freaking the fuck out,” you whispered. He glanced down at you before looking around.

“Do you think you could get away from here for a bit?”

You glanced down the hall into the conference room. “Yeah, they’re hitting brick walls. I think I could excuse myself for dinner.”

“I’ll grab my keys. We’ll go to my place.”

“Okay.”

You followed him to his lab, he grabbed his things, and you two left in his van.

“Did I tell you how much I love your new car?” you joked.

“No, not yet,” he said before laughing. “It actually has a lot of cargo room that comes in handy.”

“I bet,” you said, your tone loaded.

You rolled the window down and let the heat and ocean breeze waft into your face. You tried to let the drive calm your nerves a little bit, but your shaking leg said different. Once you were inside, dex offered you a beer, but you declined, shaking your head.

“They took us in the tent,” you began.

Dexter nodded, leaning against his counter, eyeing you as he drank.

“They were all there, Dex,” you continued, your throat getting tight as your chest began to constrict. “Your victims, my victims. I… I didn’t realize until now… We’re fucked. You know? This isn’t some lazy investigation. This is the BAU, we haven’t found a case we couldn’t solve. I found you all by myself. I tied you to these disappearances long ago.”

“You’re better than your team, you know this, I know this.”

“But they’re going to find out. If I can do it, they can. They’ll follow the trail back to you, and it’ll lead back to me. I just…. I didn’t think about it until they were all right there, right in front of me. They’re all evidence of what we’ve done. Physical, cold, hard, proof in your face, evidence.”

Dexter put his beer down before looking at you. “What can they prove other than some people were killed with various tools and instruments?”

“I don’t know but--”

“But nothing. We’re fine. We’re gonna be fine,” he assured. He took a step towards you and smiled at you. It wasn’t the fake smile you usually saw that he put on for so many people. This was genuine.

“Really?” you asked, your body still wracked with nerves.

“Absolutely.”

---------------------

The next morning, you and Spence met with the team to go over any new leads. You, Spence, and Dex needed to discuss what happened if some form of evidence did turn up, how you would divert it, but at this point in the game, all you could do was wait. So far, they had confirmed that thirteen of the eighteen bodies had felony records.

Great. This meant they would be down the same rabbit hole you were soon. It was very difficult to walk the thin line of “smart enough to be a profiler” but “stupid enough to not be the killer.”

Rossi announced this and Matthews responded, “Organized crime.”

“No, no organized crime or affiliation with gangs,” Rossi countered. “However, we do have one thing. They were all either tried for muder or suspected of murder.”

“Well, we already knew that,” you reminded, frowning. “How does that help? I already questioned everyone here in Miami PD. I thought it might be a vigilante but…”

“Then we need to dig further into the profile,” Luke offered. “What else would want to make someone be a vigilante, if not for their involvement with the law enforcement?”

“It might be a county policeman, or maybe even a state policeman,” Spencer stated.

“Or, it could be someone who had a loved one murdered,” Rossi said. “Maybe they’re trying to exact revenge for them.”

You asked, “Want me to have Garcia get the last unsolved murders going back fifteen years in Miami?”

“Make it twenty,” Rossi stated. “We’ll start there.”

“On it.”

You called Garcia, trying to keep the smile off your face. If you could keep leaving breadcrumbs like this, maybe you could lead them away from you and Dex.

“Speak and be heard, oh wise one,” Garcia greeted, and you had her on speaker.

“Hey, sugar,” you said with a warm grin. “I need you to get me the last twenty years of unsolved murders in Miami.”

A pause hit the phone line.

“Garcia?”

“You do realize that will be an extensive list, right? Like… this is Miami we’re talking about here. Crime is--”

“72% higher than the national average, and In Miami you have a 1 in 22 chance of becoming a victim of any crime,” your handsome husband interjected. You peered up at him with a look of impressiveness and adoration.

He smiled back at you, thankfully, the notion warming your heart.

“Right, thank you boy wonder for pointing out the terrible and the obvious. What I’m saying is, it’ll take a long time to get you that list.”

“That’s fine. Just get it to us,” you assured.

“I’m already on it. Garcia out.”

The line cut off and you grinned at Spence. “What are you going to do?”

“Geographical profile,” he answered simply.

“Ah, I’ll be right back then,” you said.

You headed back to Dexter’s office.

“What’s up, doc?” you teased, walking in and handing him coffee you picked up on the way in.

“Nothing much. Analyzing some blood from a crime scene this morning. Oh, and get this,” he said.

“Hmm?” you hummed after taking a sip of coffee.

“Rita thinks I’m a drug addict and is forcing me to go to AA.”

You frowned. “Uh, come again? How does--”

“The late nights, the shifty way I act when I come over. She caught me in a lie. She actually thinks I might’ve killed Paul or had something to do with his death.”

“What the fuck?” you whisper screamed. “And how the hell is AA going to help this situation?”

“It’s fine. She thinks we got into it over some junk. I lied and said I’m an addict. The group is actually helping. I just plug in the word ‘heroin’ for ‘killing’ and speak about that.”

“You realize this is absolutely mad,” you said, shaking your head. “There is no way this isn’t going to blow up in your face. You don’t even have any needle marks for God’s sake. How does she miss that?”

“Rita is… obtusely perceptive.”

“So I noticed…” you muttered.

“How’s the chase going?”

“Slowly. I’m putting Garcia on some leads,” you explained. He stopped and stared at up at you, forgetting his microscope altogether.

“Are they--”

You shook your head, signaling this would put both of you in the clear.

Just when you were about to speak again, Masuka came running in. “Dex, FBI chick, you’re not gonna believe this. I got a huge break in the Bay Harbor case.” He smiled before running toward the conference room.

You and Dex traded a look of sheer terror before you all but threw your coffee on his table and followed Masuka.

“So I found algae,” he began and you stood next to Spencer, incredibly close. Your knees felt weak. Your world slowly crumbling again. Every step Miami and the FBI got closer to the truth of this case, was another crack in your foundation. You were so close to your husband your arm was pressing against his. You knew he could feel the need to be comforted resonating out of you, but if he held your hand in a professional setting like this, it would set off alarms to your team members.

“Algae?” you questioned. “How does that help?”

“It’s microscopic, and there are over hundreds of thousands of kinds, right?”

“Alright,” Luke said, shrugging. “So you think this type can help tie us to the murderer?”

“It’ll tell us where he at least keeps his boat. It should narrow down the marinas,” Masuka explained.

“That’s great work,” Rossi complimented.

“Thanks. I just need a marine biologist to come in, confirm some things on this, then we can start the hunt.”

“Great news,” Luke said.

With that Masuka left. You wanted to run to Dexter, to tell him to get his boat the hell out of the dock. Hell, burn the sucker down, because the noose was tightening. But you couldn’t. You had to wait. If you ran to Dexter right now, or any time soon, it’d look fishy. You two being friends was one thing, but hanging around him, whispering in corners already raised unwanted attention, you didn’t want to do that again.

“Alright, well while we wait on that, I think we need to figure out what the link these last five victims have,” Rossi stated. “They weren’t officially tried for murder, but maybe their families or friends may know something we don’t. I’d like us each to reach out, see what we can find.”

All of you nodded and mumbled some form of agreement before heading out.

Of course you knew what you’d find when you went to talk to your victim’s family. Dexter had explained each of his past kills to you. It was part of your training. You tried to pretend to pull information from them rather than fill in the information you shouldn’t know. It was rather easy. They cracked pretty simply.

Spencer met you back at the station.

“Let me guess,” he started, “that was a waste of your time?”

“Not a complete waste,” you commented jovially. “But I didn’t learn anything new. And you found out your vic is suspected of murder.”

“Yep.”

“So we need to tell the team.”

“You know they’re close to a profile, right?”

“I know,” you said. “But we’ll deal with it… right?” you asked, peering up at him, worry starting to trickle into your veins again.

“Absolutely.” He took your hand and kissed the back of it.

-------------------------

The shift ended and you and Spencer were walking to your car when Dexter jogged up next to you two.

“What’d they say?” he demanded.

“Hello to you too,” you said with a sly smile.

“Is this funny to you?” he asked.

“No, but I’ve never seen you flustered,” you noted with a grin.

“Algae,” Spencer deadpanned. “They found aglae on the bodies. They think they can identify specific regions it comes from.” He stared straight ahead, a look of subdued anger on his face. You’d seen it before, a few times. Right now, you hated that it was aimed at Dexter.

“So...if I can ruin the evidence…” Dexter began and you peered at him, waiting for him to continue. “Then… that’ll kill one lead.”

“Essentially,” you stated. “Got any ideas?”

“A few… I’ll see you later, okay? Thanks for the tip.”

“Any time.”

Dex went his separate way towards his car, and you and Spence walked towards yours.

“What do you think he’s gonna do?” he asked, watching as he walked away.

You joined him in peering after him. “I don’t know, but it’s probably brilliant.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tagging:

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#inside the criminal mind #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fic #dexter #dexter fic #dexter morgan

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gewoon-ellianna · 4 years

Text

Let’s talk about JTV...

Yes, you read this correctly: I have returned from my Tumblr slumber to submit my review about the final season of a show I have loved and enjoyed for many seasons: Jane The Virgin.

***OBVIOUSLY THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IN THIS POST SO MAKE SURE YOU’RE READY TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES***

Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend season 4 was all that either, but at least it still make some sense to me and didn’t anger me to the core. Honestly my face the entire season:

Ever since I’ve watched it - which is almost around a year ago - I still can’t shake off the anger this show has brought me to. While I was watching the series I’ve made a lot of frustrated selfies and notes I later shared with @fmrcheerios and I will now share with you all. So let’s begin...

1. When Michael returned we didn’t even got to see a great reunion between him and Rogelio. I mean WHAT?! They used to be the Best Buddies, but even when Michael got his memories back the showmakers didn’t even include a scene like that. Their friendship was one of the cutest in the show and now we’re just going to pretend that never really happened? OKAY.

2. After Michael came back in Jane’s life and she OBVIOUSLY had to figure things out and take her time, Rafael immediately fell back into his old habits. Good way of showing you had like what? 0% character development? Now I know I’m a little bias here since I used to be a huuuuge Team Michael fan, but even since Michael died and Jane and Rafael slowly fell in love again, I could definitely see them being happy and getting married. HOWEVER... after this set back and shocking life event, Rafael reminded me why I was never a member of his team: his absolute horrible behavior. Well done mate, up top!

3. Was Mateo even in this season...? I felt like Jane and Rafael only ever bothered about Mateo when he got in trouble/things were not doing so well. I understand that you have to make choices which scenes you are going to show, but in the last couple seasons Mateo was a very important character. Where he at??? Something I also didn’t get was all the drama about his diagnose? Maybe it’s because I’m not a mother, but I wouldn’t actually cry over such a thing I believe...

4. Alba and Jorge... I mean.........

5. A very important note that I thought I would never say: Michael should have stayed away. His character is not only ruined now that he returned to the show - honestly, I truly dislike his character now - but the only reason they brought Michael back was to tear open old wounds and create a poorly attempt at the old love triangle business seasons 1-3 was based upon. Back then it was a good storyline, but now it just felt stupid, unnecessary and mostly painful. Michael used to be my favorite character in the show, but after the final season I’m not even sure if I would ever want to rewatch JTV again.

6. Something I found quite strange was the absence of Xo and Alba trying to help Jane make her decision between Michael of Rafael. I’m sorry, but didn’t these two legends helped you get through every struggle in life? Guess they were as done with this crap as I was...

7. Around episode 8 it became quite clear how important Michael’s return was: surprise, it wasn’t. They could’ve started the season from this point and no one would have bat an eye about the stupid Michael return plot. It seriously broke my heart to see them not choosing each other this time around and Michael walking away...

8. GOOGLE PRODUCT PLACEMENT ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! In episode 9 suddenly all the new Google Phones weren’t here to stay after all? HMKAY...

9. As much as I love LGBTQIA+ representation, I didn’t care a single bit about Petra and JR. It felt like a cheap move to make Petra’s character a little bit more interesting - which wow I didn’t know you could USE LGBTQIA+ to boost up someone’s personality??? I didn’t like it, I didn’t care about them, ROISA FOREVER BABY!!!

10. Talking about Roisa: I was so freaking done seeing Luisa being used like this again... She was finally happy, away from the drama, living her life and she only got used by the other characters to get to Rose...

11. I love musicals. I really do. IF IT’S MEANT TO BE A MUSICAL SERIES/FILM. Can the CW honestly STOP making these awkward stupid episodes in non-musical series?! Gossip Girl, Once Upon A Time, Riverdale, Sabrina... YOU. HAVE. DONE. ENOUGH.

12. Something I found hilarious was the fact that the car crash scene wasn’t even filmed like ehm isn’t the whole purpose of a series that you like... I don’t know... SHOW IT? I guess the product placement money didn’t come through...

13. Something I mostly don’t enjoy about Jane x Rafael is the constant restrictions and fear she seems to have around him. Everything SHE does is wrong, SHE should apologize, SHE is the problem meanwhile Rafael is supposed to be the perfect man? Sis what? Call me old fashioned, but to keep a healthy relationship both parties are required to WORK for it. Right now, Jane and Rafael almost seem to become the next Jorge and Alba... No thanks honey.

14. Around episodes 12-13 you could feel the RUSH in the plot. I haven’t really took the time to investigate the reasons behind this, but rushing a show towards the final ending seems to be the story of our lives these days... I get that you have to make certain choices, but the first episode with the return of Michael were so insignificant that I believe it would’ve been better to only keep around 2-3 episode in about that stupid hassle and leave it at that. Period.

15. I cried so hard of laughing about Rose her escape scene. Even though I get the idea and it was really cool, the way they filmed it was probably one of the most messy scenes I have ever seen in TV history. On top of that: wasn’t Jane like terrified of Rose and now that she escaped I don’t see her hiding/scared/staying inside? Guess she grew over her fears, good for her!

16. Aaaaand there’s Michael again. And he’s with Charlie. And she’s pregnant. And Rafael suddenly doesn’t think Michael is competition anymore. Wow. Great. What a story people...

17. Besides the wedding being an ABSOLUTE MESS, something I found especially funny was the fact that Rafael didn’t even give a speech because “he had to cry so intensely”. Sure, let’s not pretend you were in a hurry, didn’t get the time to write at least a decent script, had no idea what Rafael would write to Jane and how to top MICHAEL’S speech at Jane’s and Michael wedding because that was freaking perfect... Writers, I’m looking at you!

OKAY, I had many more complaints to make but this post is already way too long for any regular JTV fan to read I think hahaha. Besides: it’s been quite a while since I’ve watched the show and I’m not ready to watch it any time soon again... If you did make it all the way to the end of this post: please let me know what you thought of the final season. I’m currently a Team NOBODY because both Michael and Rafael were dicks in the last season and Jane was just trying to get through this while obviously being very emotional. Let me know if you would be interested in how I would’ve wanted the show to end and I might post about this in my next Tumblr Talk.

Thanks for reading, talk to you later. xxx

#Jane the Virgin #jtv #rant #angry #frustration #review #final season #rafael solano #jane villanueva #michael cordero

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crazy-little-cool-cat · 5 years

Text

Hand in Glove - Chapter 28 | Ben Hardy x OFC

A/N: We’re getting closer and closer to the end here. The anxiety is strong. The creative juices are flowing. The hangover is mild but still real.

Warnings: Implied smut, and the usual.

Word Count: ~3.4K (disappointing, I wanted it to be longer)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14 , Chapter 15 , Chapter 16 , Chapter 17 , Chapter 18 , Chapter 19 , Chapter 20 , Chapter 21 , Chapter 22 , Chapter 23 , Chapter 24, Chapter 25 , Chapter 26, Chapter 27

“Bloody bureaucrats!” Annie barked, walking into Jamie’s trailer as he finished up his breakfast on Tuesday morning. “I hate everything!”

“What happened?”

“The amount of documents and appointments we need to hand out and set is just unreal!” Annie started ranting. “Also, guess what? Doesn’t matter if I don’t want a big wedding - we still have to exchange vows and -”

“Annie -”

“We need two witnesses.” Annie mumbled.

At that, Jamie smiled his best shit-eating grin and puffed his chest out. “Well?”

“What?” Annie avoided eye contact.

“Ask nicely.” Jamie’s smugness made Annie shudder. “Go on.”

“Will you be a witness at my wedding?” Annie looked down at the floor. “Please?”

“Try again. With more passion this time.”

“You know what? Fuck off.” Annie said and started to turn. She stopped when she realised that other than Jamie, she had no one else to ask. “Jamie, will you please be a witness at my wedding ceremony?”

“God, I love seeing you squirm.” Jamie chuckled. “Yes. Of course.”

“Motherfu -”

“Would you look at the time! I’m late for hair and makeup!” Jamie patted Annie’s back and left.

###

“We should ask Rami to do it.” Ben said, slightly out of breath.

“We most definitely should not.” Annie moved the phone from her right ear to the left, tucking it between her shoulder and her ear so she could start washing the dishes. “He’ll tell Lucy, she’ll tell Joe…”

“Gwil, maybe?” Ben suggested.

“Nope.”

“We’re kind of running out of options here.” Ben started to get frustrated with Annie’s stubbornness.

“Andy, maybe?” Annie suggested. “You’ve been friends since you were, what, two years old? I’m sure he’d love to be at your wedding.”

“He’ll snitch and tell my mum and dad, and they will tell everyone. Literally.” Ben sighed. “We’ll find someone. Don’t worry.”

“We need to have their names ready when we give notice.” Annie almost whined.

“Don’t worry. I’ll finish up here, come back, and we’ll find someone and give notice.” Ben said, suddenly rushing. “Annie, I’m late for something. We’ll talk later, alright?”

“Yeah.” Annie sounded a bit off. “Sure.”

“Annie, I love you and we’re going to do this even if we have to pay people to pretend to know us so they could act as witnesses.” Ben paused. “We’ll find someone. I promise.”

“I love you, too.”

###

Shooting for season three was the hardest work Annie had ever done. Not only were her personal life in constant whirlwinds, her character’s life was just as chaotic. After failing to produce a male heir for the king and losing her grasp on him - it was time for Anne Boleyn to meet her new lady in waiting and the king’s new crush, Jane Seymour.

Annie was quarantined on set for the entire day along with Mike and Clara to keep her company. There was no structured script for the meeting - Annie just needed to channel her inner Anne and react. Then, finally, it was time.

Annie sat at a cards table with Clara and Mike. They were playing Go-Fish for hours on end now as they waited. The director’s assistant showed up and started briefing them about camera locations and lighting directions. All Annie wanted to do was get this over with so Anne Boleyn could start falling from grace and lose her head.

While everyone fiddled about on set, the three Boleyn siblings felt like they were a bit stir-crazy. Annie started to dance a little jig, while Clara hooted ‘yee-haw!’ and Mike pretended not to have any association with the two lunatics.

“Places!” the director called and Annie and Clara both heaved a sigh of relief. Finally. One take. Just this one take and the day is done.

“Roll film!” the director called and put on his headset. “Action!”

The three siblings chatted idly when the door to Anne’s apartments flew open.

“The lady Jane Seymour!” the herald called out. Anne’s entourage parted and created a hallway for Jane to walk through. A plump blonde young lady walked over to where Anne was standing, her eyes locked on the carpets under her. She curtsied deeply.

Anne looked down in disdain at the newcomer and scoffed. George, her brother, sneered at the timid creature at his sister’s feet. Mary seemed preoccupied with her own dress.

“Your majesty.” Jane squeaked out, eyes cast down.

Anne side-eyed her brother with a smug smirk on her face and gestured at the girl to rise.

“Welcome to court.” Anne greeted her dryly, a snarl curling up her upper lip. “Milksop.”

“His majesty the king!” the herald announced and the entire room bowed down. All except for Anne.

“Ah!” King Henry waltzed in and stood between his queen and her new lady, his eyes fixed on the blonde. “I see you’ve met your new lady in waiting.”

“Cut!”

The cast members exchanged knowing looks. This scene marked the beginning of the end. Annie felt tears pricking at her eyes and blinked quickly, holding them back.

###

“What in the bloody hell?!” Annie barged into Jamie’s trailer, yet again, after she changed out of her costume. “What kind of fuckery is this, James?!”

Jamie tilted his head curiously.

“Sources close to the two castmates say that the ice-cold silent treatment has finally been broken. They reported the two Greensleeves stars are sharing meals, spending time together off-set and looking very snuggly on location?!” Annie roared as she read from the article on her phone. “I know this is your doing.”

“You know me so well.” Jamie shrugged.

“What on earth is wrong with you?!” Annie shrieked.

“Unbunch your knickers, Annie.” Jamie said, his jaw clenched. “Or if you can yell louder, that would be best. That means I won’t be the one to leak our lover’s tiff.”

“Fuck off!” Annie hissed. “Do you even know the colossal clusterfuck you’re about to unleash with Ben’s mates?!”

“Yes.”

“Yes?” Annie repeated.

“Yes.”

“What the fuck, Jamie?!”

“You wanted to distract the world from what’s really going on, right?” Jamie asked, his voice calm and rational. “Stirring the pot is the perfect way to do that.”

“Does Ben know of this?”

“Sent him the link myself.” Jamie shrugged. “He sent me an audio note of himself, laughing hysterically.” Jamie smiled. “We’re all good.”

###

“She’s not bad looking.” Mike mused the next morning as he and Annie walked to set together after getting into costume and getting their hair and make-up done. “She’s just… plain.”

“See? Milksop.” Annie smiled proudly. “Best insult I could come up with, on the spot.”

“My God, woman,” Mike snickered, “you’re actually turning into Anne Boleyn.”

“Just calling it like it is.” Annie shrugged. “I’m sure Milksop won’t mind her nickname.”

“You’re evil.” Mike chuckled.

“Well, well!” Jamie rounded the corner and joined them. “If it isn’t my soon-to-be-headless wife and her incestuous brother!”

“Jamie, it’s too early for that.” Mike groaned.

“Mind if I steal her away for a bit?” Jamie asked with a wink.

“I… sure?” Mike frowned as Jamie took Annie’s hand and led her away with him.

###

“We should call Ben.” Joe was determined. “It doesn’t matter what the time is, he’s our friend and he needs us.”

“You’re overreacting, mate.” Gwilym yawned and sipped his coffee. “It’s probably just some bullshit article. He and Annie are just fine.”

“How would you know?” Joe asked.

“I asked her.”

Joe blinked at Gwilym, his face blank of any expression.

“What are you giving me the stink-eye for?” Gwilym rolled his eyes.

“She’s cheating on him. Why would she tell you, one of his best friends, that she’s doing it?!” Joe’s hands waved about as he spoke. “Seriously. Come on!”

“You know what?” Gwilym huffed. “Fine. Call him.”

Gwilym and Joe sat and waited for Ben to pick up the phone, bouncing their knees anxiously.

“M’lo?” Ben’s sleepy voice came through.

“Hey, mate!” Gwilym looked at Joe for guidance.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“We just, uh,” Joe started, “we just wanted to check up on you. See how you were doing.”

“I’m fine?” Ben rubbed at his eyes.

“Was that a question or a statement?” Gwilym rubbed his stubbly chin.

“I meant, I’m fine.” Ben blinked into dark. “Are you?”

“Yeah, we just wanted to let you know we’re here for you.” Joe intervened. “If you need to talk about it and stuff.”

“Talk about what?”

“Uhm, Annie…” Joe looked at Gwilym, confusion splattered on his face. “We saw the article.”

“Article?” Ben mumbled to himself, “what...? Oh. Oh!”

“Yeah, we, uh, we know.”

“That’s just a bullshit article, guys.” Ben sighed. “I talked to her about it. She promised it’s just tabloids looking for trouble. Relax.”

“Yeah?” Gwilym quipped.

“Mhm. It’s fine.” Ben yawned.

“That’s not what Clara’s been telling me, mate.” Gwilym pursed his lips.

“Sorry?”

“Clara thinks there might be some truth to that so-called bullshit article.” Gwil added. “She says Jamie and Annie are very, very close and handsy lately. Not just during scenes.”

“Well, I trust her.” Ben rolled his eyes. “She’d never cheat.”

“Well, that’s true.” Joe agreed. “But just because she didn’t do anything with me doesn’t mean -”

“Look, I appreciate the concern and all,” Ben was more than done with the conversation, “but nothing’s going on between them. I know Annie. I can tell when she’s lying. If she said nothing is happening - I believe her.”

“So Clara’s imagining things?” Gwilym scoffed. “Really, Ben.”

“Maybe she’s jealous Annie started hanging out with Jamie again, I really don’t know what to tell you.” Ben yawned again. “Anyways, I have a super early morning. I’m going back to sleep. Miss you guys!”

“Miss you too, buddy.” Joe said. “Good night.”

“Night.” Ben hung up the call and fell asleep with the phone in his hand.

###

“What, you’re carpooling now?” Clara scoffed when Jamie and Annie got out of Annie’s car. “Are you joking?”

“My wheels broke down.” Jamie shrugged. “I live pretty close to Annie. She offered to help.”

Clara looked from Jamie to Annie and back again.

“Thanks for telling Gwil I’m cheating on Ben, by the way.” Annie locked her car and walked past Clara, nonchalant. “I really appreciate that.”

“I… Well it’s... “ Clara stammered.

“No, really.” Annie turned around, grinning happily. “Gave us a good laugh.”

“First of all,” Clara stalked behind Annie, “he asked me what I thought of that gossip site article thingy.”

“Clearly you thought they hit the nail on the head.” Annie noted.

“Well, no, but you two are acting very…”

“Friendly?” Annie suggested.

“Nice?” Jamie offered.

“Snuggly.” Clara corrected them both. “And I know both of you for years now. When you two get snuggly, it usually means your genitals are snuggly too.”

“I’m engaged, Clara.” Jamie took off his sunglasses and placed them on top of his head. “You’ve got it wrong.”

“Why are you so defensive, then?” Clara raised an eyebrow. Jamie opened and closed his mouth, seemingly at a loss. “Whatever it is you two are up to,” Clara chastised them as if they were schoolchildren, “it’s wrong and it’s going to hurt those you supposedly love so much.”

Annie scoffed and rolled her eyes.

###

“I’ve missed you.” Ben kissed the top of Annie’s head in the airport arrivals hall. Home. For good. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“You’re home now.” Annie mumbled, one hand on the luggage cart. “I’ve missed you so bloody much.”

It was still dark outside. The cold air hit Ben. The familiar, faint smell of rain made him feel at instant ease. He was home, for good this time.

“Rors?” he asked while yawning.

“At your parents’.” Annie led the way to the car. “I have work tomorrow but I already told them I’m coming in late.”

They idly chatted as they walked through the parking lot towards Annie’s car. When Ben collapsed in the passenger seat, he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

“M’so tired.” Ben mumbled and placed a hand on the back of Annie’s headrest. “How’s Jamie?”

“Good, good.” Annie started the car. “Always alert. Clara’s mad at me.”

“How come?”

“She feels like I’m hiding something and I’m pretty sure she’s ninety-three-point-eight-percent convinced I’m cheating on you.” Annie sighed. “And I’m not confirming nor denying it.”

“Gotta stick to the plan.” Ben smiled lazily. “I’ll keep her occupied. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, yeah?” Annie glared at Ben through the corners of her eyes. “What’s that mean?”

“Oh, relax.” Ben chuckled.

###

Award season was not a fun time for Annie.

At first it was fine. Late nights with Clara, rooting for their men while watching the live broadcasts. Shrieks of joy whenever Rami won. Waking Rory up with said shrieks and then having to bounce-bounce-tap her to sleep again.

Then, Ben started asking Annie to join him on award nights. While she tried to weasel her way out of it, he insisted and she complied. She didn’t mind the pretty gowns and spending time with her soon-to-be husband; what bothered her was how utterly boring these award shows were.

Annie’s stomach growled loudly. Loud enough for Gwilym and Clara to look at her with raised eyebrows. Loud enough to make the people in the table next to them giggle quietly. Loud enough to hurt.

“Hungry?” Ben leaned over and whispered to her.

“What gave it away?”

“The dinosaur noise coming out of your body.” Ben smirked.

“Was it that loud?” Annie blushed.

“I think the people on stage might have heard it too.” Clara interjected, making Annie slump down in her chair.

“I brought candy.” Ben whispered in Annie’s ear and kissed her cheek, whipping out a Snickers bar from his slacks. “There’s more where that came from.”

###

This wasn’t Annie’s first time attending the BAFTA awards. She’s been here before with Jamie for their rendition of Hamlet (and lost), but the excitement still consumed her. Ben and Annie matched. He wore a glittery black dress-shirt; she wore a glittery black evening gown with a plunging neckline.

“You two make a stunning couple!” the interviewer on the red carpet said. Annie and Ben exchanged smitten looks. “Will you two ever tie the knot?”

“Sooner than you might expect!” Annie giggled as Ben pulled her closer by wrapping an arm around her waist. “Who said we’re not already married?”

“You’re certainly acting the newlywed part!” the interviewer laughed with a confused look. “Yet, there are no rings…”

“Ben! You’re holding everyone back!” Joe called from a distance.

“Sorry to cut this short. Lovely talking to you!” Ben winked at the interviewer and tugged Annie along by the hand.

Once they were out of earshot, Ben turned around and stood still. Annie almost crashed right into him.

“What the fuck?” Ben asked, his palms open and facing upwards, jaw clenched. “Have you lost it completely?”

“What?” Annie giggled nervously.

“Either you want people to know or you don’t,” Ben glared at his girlfriend. “Pull a stunt like that again and I’m sending out invitations to everybody we know, you hear me?”

###

After-parties were Annie’s favourite part of award shows, and the BAFTA after party was fun. Open bar, great music and great company. The BoRhap group hung out on the balcony. Drinks were flowing, conversation was great and Joe pulled out all the stops with his dance moves. It was only natural for Ben to whip out his phone and film it.

Doing a simple two step, Joe slid from right to left and snapped his fingers. He shuffled his feet and popped the button on his tux jacket open and started moving backwards, waving one hand to the beat. Moving forward, he did a little turn and bounced his shoulders, his body swaying in perfect sync with the beat, lip-synching to Drop it Like it’s Hot as he danced. Shuffling backwards, he then step-touched once to the front, once to the back. Flicking his coat-tails back, he danced his way over to a very amused looking Ben.

“Where did you learn to dance like that?” Clara’s eyes glinted playfully.

“My parents own a dance studio.” Joe shrugged once the camera was off. “It’s in my blood.”

“Amazing.” Clara laughed. “Truly.”

“Thank you!”

###

“Ooooh, don’t we look good together? There’s a reason why they watch all night long…” Clara and Annie sang, as they danced with each other. To appease Ben, who was still clearly pissed off at Annie for the interview slip-up, she knew how to make him forget all about it. The dance got frisky and handsy pretty quick.

“Yeah, know we'll turn heads forever; So tonight I'm gonna show you off!” the girls sang, stepping away from each other. Annie ran her hands down the length of Clara’s arms and held onto her hands. “When I'm walkin' with you; I watch the whole room change..” Clara pulled Annie closer in a spin and wrapped her arms around her. “Baby, that's what you do; No, my baby, don't play!” they swayed their hips together to the beat. “Blame it on my confidence; Oh, blame it on your measurements…” they rolled their bodies together, Clara’s hands running down Annie’s sides. “Shut that shit down on sight - That's right!”

“We out here drippin' in finesse; It don't make no sense! Out here drippin' in finesse; You know it, you know it!” Their bodies snaked and writhed together to the music, each girl throwing seductive looks at her man while Rami filmed them on Clara’s phone. Clara’s flowy red dress was a stark contrast to Annie’s glittery black gown.

###

“Finally!” Annie sighed when Ben unlocked the front door after four failed attempts due to being absolutely blitzed and the fact that it was dark outside. “Jesus!”

“Get in there, brat.” Ben muttered and nudged Annie forward before smacking her bum playfully. “You are a menace.”

“Me?” Annie wore the most innocent expression, batting her eyelashes and pouting her lips. “A menace?”

“Mhm.” Ben took off his jacket and undid his bow-tie, slurring his words. “Dancing like that. In public.”

“I have no idea what you’re referring to.” Annie giggled and yelped when Ben pulled her close. “Sounds to me like you were jealous.”

“Jealous?” Ben raised an eyebrow.

“Yup.” Annie placed her hands on his shoulders. “Super jell.”

“You think this is a game, huh?” Ben’s deep voice sent electric currents in Annie’s intoxicated brain, almost hypnotising her. “You think you’re so cute…”

“I know I am…” Annie purred, eyes closed.

“Yeah?” Ben smirked slyly. “You think I’m your little toy?” he bit his bottom lip. “I think you’ve got it all wonky.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You’re my toy to play with.” Ben bent down and threw Annie over his shoulders. “And I’m just getting started. This is going to be a long, long game.”

###

“Ah, the dynamic duo!” Mike grinned when the girls practically stumbled together onto set the next day, hungover and frazzled. “Nice moves!”

“Ugh.” Annie shut her eyes tight. “Not doing this right now.”

“Out here drippin’ in finesse…” Mike sang teasingly.

“Children, are we ready to listen, now?” the director and scriptwriter approached the trio. “Girls, I don’t care how much you’ve had to drink, get it together for Christ’s sake.”

“Lights. Too bright.” Clara mumbled, fighting the urge to rub her eyes. “So tired.”

“Annabelle, we want you furious for this scene. Your husband gave your lady in waiting trinkets and she has the nerve to wear them in your presence. Go insane on her.”

“Not a problem.” Annie stretched her neck.

“Take your places, then. Let’s get started.”

Once the director called ‘Action!’, hungover Annie was gone and fierce, jealous Anne arrived. They shot the scene in ten takes, only because of changing camera angles.

###

“We have a second witness. And a third one, in case Jamie nopes out.” Ben beamed when Annie came home later that night. “Trustworthy, they know both of us, would never tell a soul. You love them.”

Annie pondered over Ben’s declaration for a minute, trying to figure out who these mystery witnesses might be.

“Annie, my love, do you need a clue?” Ben chuckled and warmed up Annie’s dinner in the microwave.

“It hurts to think today.” Annie admitted.

“Does it hurt to walk, as well?” Ben smiled cheekily. “Feeling a bit exerted, hm?”

“Yes.” Annie blushed. “I have bruises everywhere.”

“Good.”

“So, who are these mystery witnesses?”

“Rock legends and honorary grandpas to Rory.” Ben tried to hide his smile. “Also known as -”

“No!” Annie’s smile lit up the room. “No!”

“Yes!”

“Ben! I’m… I’m…” Annie blinked quickly, indicating she was close to tears.

“You’re welcome.”

###

TAGLIST: @ramibaby @xgoingdownx @qweenly @violetpond @sweeterthancheese @drummerqueenrmt @westansstuff @justgivemethekeys @blondecarfucker @cheeseedreams47 @deacy-dearest @pinkmarvel @onceuponadetectivedemigod

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oqpromptparty · 5 years

Photo

Hi everyone! If you’d like to take part in this year’s Prompt Party Week, just select any of the prompts from the list below and write a fic, make a video or create some art based on it. Please note that more than one person may choose the same prompt.

You may submit new stories or include the prompts in any of your existing verses (though all your entries must be posted for the first time during Prompt Party Week).

Art/Video makers may use any of the prompts, but there are some Art/Video specific ones at the bottom of the post.

I have condensed some of the prompts that were a little too long and removed some that felt repetitive or have been sent before… feel free to take some liberties with some of the more specific prompts!

If you have any questions, please tweet @OQPromptParty

OQ Prompt Party week will run from 27th May - 2nd June 2019. Please don’t post anything until then.

Prizes:

Everyone who posts a prompt for all seven days of the OQ Prompt Party week will be sent a limited edition, one of a kind Outlaw Queen button/badge. These will never be available again, so don’t miss out!

Each day there will also be the opportunity to win another prize. You will be entered into a prize draw and the more prompts you write, the more times your name will be entered into the draw. I will announce which prizes will be available on each day soon.

There will also be a separate prize for most prompts included in a single one-shot/chapter (crack!fic encouraged).

And now! Without further ado, here are your prompts:

Lonely Robin paints/sculpts a picture of the woman of his dreams and she comes to life.

Roland’s first lost tooth.

“Sorry I thought you were someone else.”

Regina has scars from surviving a fire and thinks nobody can love her, Robin proves her wrong.

Roadtrip AU: Regina and Robin go to DisneyWorld for the first time and take Henry and Roland

Regina is the (little) sister of Robin's over-protective best friend.

One (or both of them) is in a coma, and they keep meeting in their dreams.

The first time Roland calls Regina "Mama"

Fighting Wolves.

A positive resolution or a rewrite of the baby storyline - Robin isn't the father / Regina is the mother.

Robin and Regina pick up a stranger at a bar and have some fun

Henry, Robin and Roland play Mario Kart

Regina over-hears someone talking about Robin in a language he doesn't know and she defends him.

Robin meets Daniel or Regina meets real Marian.

Regina and Robin are professors at the same university, enemy-to-lovers

OQ AU in a Love+Death+Robots scenario.

Enchanted AU: Regina finds herself trapped in the real world, New York City and finds something unexpected: a happy ending.

Regina asking for something she considers weird in bed

Modern AU: Regina is a witch and when Robin discovers it accidentally, his reaction surprises her.

Makeup sex

Regina’s new obsession is bubble tea, Robin just thinks it’s weird

Regina and Robin in a cooking competition.

Season 6 AU: Robin goes to the Wish!Realm with Regina and they both meet their Wish!versions.

MCU AU: Either Robin or Regina gets taken in the Thanos snap. Bonus points if you also wipe out one or more of the kids for maximum angst.

Robin, Regina and the boys in an escape room.

A little private time in Camelot.

Robin is a warlock who cast the first curse, and Regina is an archer who steals from the rich to give to the poor.

Ella Enchanted AU

Robin leaves after he feels betrayed

Summer vacation

Quiet times near the fireplace.

The Princess Diaries 1 and 2 AU

"Only You" AU

One of them gets injured and the other has to take care of them.

Robin and wishHook have to plan a part of Robin & Alice’s wedding (bonus points for a crack fic).

Spilled wine/coffee.

Robin & Regina are expecting twins.

Regina as a sex therapist.

Regina is thrown from her horse, Robin is the one who helps her.

Confessions of a Shopaholic AU: but Regina/or Robin is a hoarder of books instead of clothes.

Atlantis.

Accidental magical body swap

Bedsharing

Good Girls AU - Robin as a stay home dad, Regina as a criminal

Robin is custodian of a cemetery and meets Regina when she buries Daniel and keep meeting as she mourns.

Regina didn’t realize marrying Robin meant that she’d also be getting custody of all the Merry Men

The Sound of Music AU

One of them falling (any kind of fall), the other helping

Person A almost losing a loved one and person B tries to comfort them.

Inspiration from Pet Sematary - Regina or Robin dies and the other buries them in a place that happens to be cursed so that those buried there are resurrected. Regina or Robin is resurrected but are soon to be revealed as being darker and more sinister than they were.

Henry’s graduation.

Letters

Fic based on “Die From A Broken Heart” by Maddie and Tae. Robin and Regina have a massive fight after he shows up wasted with a few buddies... he walks out on her and slams the door behind him and she runs to her mom for comfort. By the end Robin comes to apologize and slowly win her back. AU (Cora is the good guy)

AU - Robin attends a convention with Henry and Roland.

Robin catches Regina full on dancing around in the kitchen while making dinner.

Pregnancy horniness.

Lost AU.

Roland's bedtime routine is exhausting.

OQ wedding + Robin carries Regina bridal style into their house.

Season 7 AU: Roni takes in a stray fox who turns out to be Robin.

Starting a new relationship after having slept together.

Stuck on a crowded train.

Regina and Robin visit New York City.

Regina hates celebrating her birthday, but Robin finds out and does something special for her.

Hiking in the woods.

Regina as a female knight and Robin as her Squire.

Robin and Regina are in Regina’s vault and Robin accidentally knocks over a potion, turning Regina into an animal.

“I didn’t know you speak…”

OQ get arrested for public sex

Grown up, Robyn meets grown-up Roland in the Enchanted Forest.

Regina and Robin take a walk on the beach at sundown.

Chaperoning Roland's first date.

Robin makes Regina a romantic meal and it doesn’t go to plan.

Person A pretends to be alright on their own but they finally accept they want Person B's company.

Regina shares an unusual fear.

OQ falling asleep on the sofa together.

San Junipero AU: Robin and Regina meet through a simulation meant for older people to live freely as their young selves once more.

Edible body paints.

Robin disguised as a priest and seeks shelter at a monastery where he meets novice Regina.

Henry and Roland plan something special for OQ's anniversary

OQ + war

First curse AU: Robin comes to Storybrooke with everyone, he and Regina meet and he instantly falls for her, but she tries to pretend she doesn’t care or isn’t affected by his charms, but fails miserably.

An "accidental" kiss.

He’s in for robbery. She’s in for murder. A prison romance blossoms when Robin Locksley notices a quiet inmate across the fence on her daily one hour out on the yard.

Robin at Regina's coronation.

Leo causes trouble for OQ

Missing year + a spell of kindness

DOQ CAOS AU: Mal & Regina as Hilda & Zelda who both fall for the Human Robin

Regina gets a happy ending massage from Robin.

Robin dealing with ED issues (temporary or permanent)

Robin surprises Regina with a puppy/cat as a birthday gift.

Every day, Regina takes her beloved sheltie to the same local dog park. And every day, she sees the same handsome blue-eyed blonde entertaining his adorable little corgi. Perhaps some day, she’ll muster the courage to say hi. Perhaps one day, it’ll not be her, but the dogs that will decide.

How to Train Your Dragon AU

AU: As a kid/teen/young adult, Person A was kidnapped. Years pass but Person A's family still hasn't lost hope and are still looking for them. Eventually the family hires Person B, the best detective in the country to find Person A and bring them home.

Regina meets Robin’s parents.

Party

Robin Locksley is the lead actor on a fantasy TV show “Happily Ever After.” Regina Mills is the typical troubled Hollywood ‘queen’ whose been cast as Robin’s new love interest only because the producers need a big name to bring in ratings and Regina needs a way to fix her reputation. They might play lovers on screen but off screen they can’t stand each other. Until they get to know one another; then real life most definitely begins to reflect fantasy...

Henry seeks Robin's advice on a very important matter

The Merry Men accept Regina into their group.

Regina is Roland’s therapist - he gets bullied at school and Robin and Regina end up liking one another.

Labrador puppies!

Regina works at an animal shelter, Robin and Roland want to adopt a dog.

A day at the beach.

Robin comes back when Robyn is 8 to find his daughter is a spoiled brat, Little John and Regina split up his children, Hook got to come back before him and Regina split her soul.

Regina and Robin are surprised to find that Roland has magic.

A (magical) circus visits Storybrooke.

“It’s the reason why we broke up in the first place.”

“I thought you were gay.”

Sharing body heat to stay alive.

Roland is secretly Regina’s biological child.

Gender Swap version of their story. Robin is the struggling to reform Evil King. Regina is the leader of the Merry Men.

OQ/Stargate crossover.

Robin spends a whole day with Henry while Regina spends it with Roland.

“I just want to see you smile”

Visiting a castle in present day.

Bandit!OQ - one gets captured/caught, the other has to save them

OQ modern world AU with no magic.

Season 7 AU: Regina meets Robin in EF2 but he doesn’t remember her.

Robin and Regina go to John’s farm with little Roland who becomes obsessed with a little piglet named Wilbur and spider named charlotte and Regina can’t stand the farm life and has a panic every time she dresses up Roland only to have him get his clothes full of mud- can be modern AU.

Robin gives Regina a ring.

Secret relationship AU.

Stalker.

Robin consoles Regina after one of their kids yells "you're not my real mom."

North of the Wall.

Robin catches Regina doing something awful.

Regina and Robin as a king and a queen of separate kingdoms who fall in love (and unite their kingdoms).

DOQ on vacation.

Lion King AU: While hunting far to find food, Regina reunites with Robin, her childhood friend and betrothed, after years of thinking him dead when his father, the King, was mysteriously killed.

Accidental spell that makes Robin and/or Regina lustful.

Going shopping.

Storybrooke Community Theatre is putting on ‘Snow White & the Seven Dwarves’ and Regina gets cast as Snow White while Robin gets cast as Prince Charming.

"My little sibling has been talking about his/her new friend for a while now but I always thought you were an imaginary friend or something but holy shit you are definitely not imaginary (for real how are you so hot???)"

Regina forms a friendship with Little John.

Monster in the closet.

Dark!OQ's wedding.

Fake relationship AU.

Robin & Regina in a Jaime & Brienne-type relationship (pref minus the incest backstory)

OQ meet again after a long time like on this Nescafé Gold advert: https://youtu.be/jZtEXMBbaZg

Byzantine empire or Ottoman empire AU.

DOQ Roland calls Mal mom.

Three Wishes.

Robin doesn’t reach Regina in time. The crystal hits her but instead of killing Regina, it kills their unborn child.

Mother’s day/Father’s day.

Fic based on the movie “Moonstruck”.

Enchanted Forest AU: Person A is a member of the royal family. An assassination destroys their family, but Person A manages to escape and is believed to be dead. Person A finds out that their power-hungry relative (Person C) was behind the attack and wanted the throne for themself. While on the run, Person A meets Person B, who invites A to their camp. After finding out A's true identity, B and his/her friends agree to help A to stop Person C's tyranny so A can be crowned as the rightful king/queen.

Regina’s past haunts her.

Robin is known as the Vicious King whose first love Marian was murdered because his step son David couldn’t keep a secret. Tinkerbell leads Robin to his soulmate, a beautiful brown eyed peasant woman with a feather tattoo.

Game of Thrones final season watch party.

Robin, Roland and Robyn are incredibly poor, borderline homeless, Regina is the CPS caseworker assigned to investigate them.

A mysterious stranger appears in Hyperion heights, no one knows who he is, but he has a gorgeous voice and he sings at Roni’s bar every Friday, and then rides off on a motorcycle.

After Regina brings Robin back she has a problem letting him go even for a second to the point where it becomes a problem.

Robin is a cop who goes undercover in a deadly dangerous motorcycle club, Regina is the president’s old lady.

Robins soul wasn’t obliterated, but instead was sent to the worst part of Hell as punishment for loving the Evil Queen and Regina just found out.

Robin & Regina get into a fight and have near death experience and angsty make up sex after (canon).

Robin the handyman.

Hunchback of Notre Dame AU.

Regina and Robin are actors on the same Broadway show.

The occupants of Misthaven discover a new land full of murder, betrayal and deaths, a land where the dead walk, a land called Westeros.

Robin and Regina’s daughter’s first prom.

Road trip.

Robin watches Regina and their kids from heaven as they continue with their lives (canon or AU).

Regina talks to Robin for the first time.

Regina accidentally hurts Robin with her magic.

DP with Robin, David & Regina.

Regina and Robin discuss moving into the woods when the last kid is preparing to leave the nest.

The Durrells AU.

Robin isn’t dead when Regina splits herself in two.

OQ stranded on an island.

“Inside my heart is breaking, my makeup may be flaking but my smile still stays on.”

Robin cooking in Regina's kitchen for the first time.

Regina dealing with menopause.

Robin finds out Nottingham & Regina dated (or he finds out that Cora tried to hook them up in the ‘Mother’ ep).

Robin and Regina want to adopt a baby.

DOQ and quirks of living together.

Kissing Booth AU.

“Your curse is to remember.” Robin, who remembers everything, is in Hyperion Heights while Henry, Roland, Robin and Regina, who’s with Facilier, have no idea who he is.

AU: OQ as teenagers/young adults

Robin detests Snow more than Regina does.

Regina proposes to Robin.

“Robyn is eloping with the daughter of a pirate and a nature goddess, Roland is having an affair with a married princess, Henry’s mother in law is threatening to kill everyone and you still want to have a party?”

“I know you care for her, Regina, but I don’t want Zelena around my son.”

Robin and Regina join Twitter and find themselves involved in a fangirl argument over Henry’s ‘Once Upon a Time’ book.

Evil Queen introduces Wish!Robin to Roland or Robin.

Robin travels back in time with Hook & Emma.

Regina and Robin are neighbors who can't stand each other.

“You kissed Snow?!”

Beetlejuice AU: Robin and Regina are both dead and haunt a house with one another whilst trying to find a way to move on together.

Fireworks.

Regina is betrothed to a pompous son of some Lord who lives out near Sherwood Forest that she’s never met before in her life. Robin’s future intended is the spoiled daughter of Princess Cora and Prince Henry who he never even laid eyes on. But how could Regina ever love the man she was supposed to marry when she’s fallen so hard for the forest smelling peasant she met in a tavern? Not to mention how could Robin ever hope to care for some princess when he’s head over heels in love with a brown eyed peasant woman whose smile he sees every time he closes his eyes?

Robin loses his memories, Regina must make him fall in love with her again.

Perfect Date AU (Netflix)

DOQ find out they share a soulmate bond

Waitress AU

Jurassic Park/World AU

Nashville

“If i’d known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have...”

The original meaning behind the lion tattoo

Lost in time

Henry and Roland have a fight

Both Robin & Regina are hot tempered.

Video Prompts

"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith

Pretty Woman

Loving Can Hurt

This is Me

Season 1/2/3/4/5/6/7 AU

Fight song

“Tishbite” by Cocteau Twins

Any classical music

“Don’t Treat Me Bad” - Firehouse

“Paradise” - George Ezra

“Walk Me Home” - Pink

“Here We Go” - Wild

Up Town Girl

Any song from a Disney animated movie

“Shallow” - Lady Gaga

“I’ll Be There” - Jess Glynne

Art Prompts

Historical AU

Angels & Demons

Art a favourite fic

Sunset

Rainbow

Comfort

Anniversary

The 90s

Comic book

Sherwood forest

Fire

Trouble

Romance

Hero

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