#of all my wolves I have ti think the least about what he does | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thiswasinevitableid · 7 months

Text

Faithful (Sternclay)

The last fill is the winner of the more sweet than spooky prompts: My friend/relative is too sick to go trick-or-treating, so I’m taking their kid

“Thanks so much again for bailing me out” Lillian ties her scarf around her neck before kneeling down, “Grace, you be good for your uncle okay? I’ll be back in time to tuck you in.”

“Okay” Joseph’s niece smiles and bends her head foreward so his sister can kiss it.

“That’s my girl. And don’t eat too much candy” She stands and gives Joseph The Look, “moms rules, got it.”

“Got it. Drive safe.” He hugs her, then holds Grace’s hand as they wave her off to her car.

His niece looks up at him with what he can only describe as the Stern Family Gaze, “what are ‘Moms Rules?”

“Your grandmother would let us eat as much Halloween candy as we wanted on Halloween itself. But only if we ate actual dinner first.”

“What are we having for dinner?”

“You mom left some chili for us.”

“Blech”

“All the candy you want, remember?”

She narrows her eyes, “Fine. But I’m getting into my costume first. You’re helping me.”

“Of course, my little lake monster.”

Ten minutes later, he’s staring at grotesque chicken in place of his niece.

“You’re…an evil robot?”

“Her name is Chica and she’s possessed by a murdered child.” She says with the scorn only a seven-year-old child can muster.

“Okay then. Come on, it’s dinner time.”

He’s bemused that his sister would let be something from a horror game but on the other hand maybe this means he’ll one day have someone to watch scary movies with. Not that he’s testing that theory tonight; Lily has baby pictures and is not afraid to use them if he accidentally traumatizes her kid.

They set out into the streets as it gets dark, porches lighting up orange and purple and the smell of candy and singed pumpkin drifting through the air.

This neighborhood is full of families, so they spend plenty of time waiting at the foot of steps for other kids to collect their candy. It takes all of five minutes before someone is telling Joseph what a good dad he is just for holding her hand when a flock of boisterous tweens storm past covered in fake gore.

He smiles and corrects them; this happens to him a lot. Lily works on-call half the time, and his brother-in-law is an RN whose schedule seems to think he does not actually have a life. A perk of having left the FBI is that Joseph can set his own hours, so at least once a month he’s summoned to keep an eye on Grace. Not that he minds; it’s nice to talk with someone who still thinks he’s the coolest guy in the world.

Grace insists on the long route for candy collection, and by the time they’re heading along the park towards home there are hardly any families on the street.

As he’s asking her what her favorite decorations were, she freezes and tugs his arm.

“There’s a dog in that bush.”

He follows her pointed finger, expecting a beagle or pomeranian cowering in the foliage. Not a fucking wolf.

“Yes, it seems there is” there are no wolves in Madison, so this has to be a really big husky or a wolf-dog or something, “but let's leave him be.”

“But he’s hurt.”

She’s right; the animal has a cut on its snout. Joseph takes a step, then another, and all the dog does is whimper.

“It’s okay, big guy, we’re friendly. Are you lost?” He gestures slowly for the dog to come to him, “let’s see who you belong to, then we can-” he sighs as he sees there’s no collar or tags, “we can figure something out.”

The dog licks his hand, sad brown eyes staring up at him. Its fur is gorgeous dark brown and very soft when Joseph pats its head. He can’t shake the feeling that he’s looking at a wolf that’s just not quite right in the face.

“Is he nice?”

One floppy ear perks up at Grace’s voice, and then the dog flops onto its side, showing her its belly. She laughs and kneels to pat his head.

“It seems like it. I’d say he should come with us but I don’t have a leash. So how about this; we get you home, then I’ll come back and look for him and see if we can find his owner.”

Grace agrees, reluctantly stands, and takes Joseph’s hand. A few seconds after they’re back on the pavement, this a click-click of claws following behind.

“Uncle Joseph, look, he likes you!”

He glances behind them with a smile, “That or he wants your candy. Either way, I guess he’s coming home with me.”

Joseph coaxes the dog into his car to wait until Lily gets home. Once his sister is back and his niece is putting away her candy, he hops in and drives back to his house. It’s on the outskirts of the city, where the woods start to encroach, and the dog sniffs the air in the direction of the treeline as he unlocks the door.

“Now, I have a dog already. Her name is Nessie. She’s a little scared of other dogs, so she might run away or hide from you. If you chase her or bully her, you will spend the night outside. Got it?”

The dog boofs once, a low and happy sound.

“Good enough.”

As he expected, Nessie skitters out to meet him and freezes when she sees what he’s brought home. But instead of running, she cautiously comes closer, sniffing the newcomer, who sits patiently during her inspection. Then she licks him once on the face and trots over to Joseph for attention.

Interesting.

“I missed you too, girl. Now let’s find our new friend somewhere to sleep.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------

In Barclay’s defense, he never meant for it to get this out of hand.

He’d known this area had some nasty off-shoots of vampire hives, but he’d also heard that some of his friends might have found safe haven here. So he was willing to risk the trip. Turns out nasty gangs of vampires breed nasty gangs of humans (or maybe it’s the other way around), and said humans like to stab first and ask questions later. He’d avoided a knife to the gut but not the face and ran for his life, changing into a wolf once he lost them so any humans would see an injured dog, not a huge scary man. The plan was to lay low until he could sneak into the night and find a safe place to hide.

And while the foot of Joseph’s bed is certainly safe, it’s weird to lay here in the dark with a human happily asleep and completely unaware they let a vampire into their house.

Weirder still has been how gentle Joseph is with him. No raised voices or threats, no getting annoyed when Barclays bulk knocks things over. Just the offer of dinner (Barclay managed to let Nessie eat his share without the human noticing) and then a bath. A bath during which a very good human stripped to his boxer-briefs and undershirt in order to scrub mud and blood from Barclay’s fur. A bath after which Joseph toweled him off and put a bandaid on his nose and called him a good boy for being so well-behaved.

Barclay would have gone belly-up for him in that moment even if he was in his human form.

His plan is to escape come morning, but Joseph doesn’t leave for an office as Barclay assumed he would. Instead he spends the morning on the phone calling around and checking online to see if anyone is missing a dog. When that search turns up nothing, he bundles Barclay into the backseat of his car and drives to a vet.

Mercifully, he just wants them to check Barclay’s cut to make sure it doesn’t need stitches. He doesn’t, and he uses the moment of eye contact with the vet to put them in enough of a thrall so they tell Joseph no other care is needed.

Joseph stops at a burger shack on the way home, pulling into the lot to eat. Barclay’s pleading eyes earn him a fry, which is for the best; he couldn’t handle much more mortal food than that without getting sick. But it’s not his fault salt and fat still smell good to a vampire.

In the evening, Joseph walks him over on a makeshift leash to a pet store, then back towards home on a sturdy, tartan-patterned one. As they’re cutting through an alley, a figure steps from a back door and calls Joseph’s name.

Barclay knows another vampire when he sees one, and bares his teeth as the man steps closer.

“Easy, big guy” Joseph says calmly, “Alan is a friend of mine.”

“More like your fucking servant.” The vampire smiles, “my sister got out yesterday; the fang-mark stuff you showed the cops did the trick.” He offers his hand, “You ever need to woo someone or go to a funeral or anything, your orders at my place are on the house.”

Barclay glances up to see Gravedirt Florist printed on the backdoor.

Joseph says he’ll keep that in mind and waves goodnight. As they walk he muses to Barclay, “You didn’t act that way towards anyone else today. I wonder…can you tell vampires from humans? Or do you just want to protect me?”

Barclay barks in what he hopes is an affirmative tone.

“That gives me an idea. After all, a vampire ‘hunter’” he makes literal air-quotes, “can use all the protection he can get.”

They reach the door of the house. Barclay shouldn’t follow him through it, shouldn’t let himself be alone in a room with a fucking vampire hunter, sure as fuck shouldn’t agree to be his guard dog. He should use all his strength to yank the leash free and run for the hills.

Joseph rubs his head, “We can sleep on it, right big guy? You deserve a break and to be spoiled after being lost and fending for yourself.”

Blue eyes shine, trusting and kind, as the grip on the leash loosens so he can open the door.

Barclay cuddles up to Joseph’s thigh and follows him in.

Just a few more days. Then he’ll go.

—-------------------------------------------------------

A week after bringing the new dog home, Joseph follows the sound of Nessie’s barking into the living room. As he expected, a vampire with a grudge is waiting for him.

“That’s the most pathetic guard dog I’ve ever seen.”

He needs at least a few seconds to grab his tool-belt from its hook.

“Oh, Nessie is just the alarm.” A growl grows in the darkness behind as he says glibly, “Bigfoot is the muscle.”

It turns out when you have a massive, snarling dog, troublesome vampires show themselves out without fight.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------

Barclay stands, surveying the house for the last time. For two and a half weeks he’s only left it with Joseph or on the few nights he snuck out to visit the butcher. It feels wrong to be leaving with no intention of coming back.

Nessie prances at his feet, UFO chew toy in her mouth. Whenever Joseph is gone for the day, Barclay will turn human and play with her for hours before cuddling up on the couch to read from Joseph’s excellent collection of mystery novels.

“Sorry, sweet girl. Not today.” He rubs her ear, “take care of him, okay? And for go-ow, for goodness sake try to get him to sleep more.”

He slips out the front door and down the street. His first stop is the butcher for some blood, then to the library to use the computer to look for somewhere to live. When he comes out, no leads to be found, he sees Joseph on the corner, asking the guys at the falafel food truck if they saw a large, brown dog come this way.

Barclay’s not going to feel bad. He’s not going back. He’s not.

He sees Joseph several more times throughout the evening, having some version of that same conversation.

At three in the morning, his curiosity gets the best of him, and he sneaks back to the house. Through the window he can see the human on his laptop, refreshing what looks to be the community notices page; the one where people post lost pets.

Joseph closes the computer and leans back, wipes his eye and casts a hopeful glance at the backdoor.

No one’s mourned his departure that much in years.

He takes his wolf form, scratches at the door, and waits only a few seconds before Joseph is on his knees, hugging him and making him swear to never do that again.

He can’t promise that. But maybe he can hang around a little longer.

—-------------------------------------------------------

“Well that could have gone better.” Joseph peels off his bloody shirt, already standing in the shower to avoid making the whole bathroom into a crime scene.

Barclay nods, a habit he hasn’t managed to hide and is praying Joseph won’t notice. His fur is matted with blood from a truly horrendous night. He didn’t know there was such a thing as a multi-mouthed graveghoul, but it turns out there is and that it’s aggressive as fuck.

Joseph points to the tub and he climbs in, lets the human scrub him clean and run his hands over him in search of injury. Once he’s clean and dry, Joseph shoos him out so he can take a proper shower.

Seeing him step out ten minutes later in only a towel makes Barclay hot under both the literal and figurative collars.

“I’m glad you’re okay, big guy” Joseph ruffles his fur, “we make a good team.”

They do. But lately all Barclay can think is they’d make such a better one if he could be human. If he could make breakfast for Joseph after a long night, could sit and read while the human looks over his case files, could walk holding his hand instead of on a leash and talk with him about everything.

(Could feed from him instead of sneaking drinks from a carton)

But being honest with Joseph can’t mean anything but losing him. And Barclay’s not quite ready to lose him. Not yet.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Here we go, some entertainment for you” Joseph sets the puzzle toy down for Bigfoot, “and some light reading for me.” He laughs at his own joke as he drops a stack of new, vampiric history books on his table.

Bigfoot wags his tail at him, then settles in to nap. Fair enough, they did have a long night of chasing down a vampire hunter who was lighting vampire businesses on fire for the hell of it.

The first book is A Compendium of Vampirical Powers. When he hits chapter three, he turns the page to a plate showing an illustration of a vampire who has taken the form of a wolf. Assuming this is an accurate image, he’s impressed; it does look like a wolf.

A wolf who’s not quite right in the face.

Joseph looks at his guard dog. His guard dog who only eats when Joseph isn’t looking at him, who learns commands as if he understood english, who always seems to bark when a human would reply to Joseph thinking aloud.

“Bigfoot?”

The dog opens its eyes and lifts its head to regard him.

“If you…if you were a vampire, you would tell me, right?”

The dog tenses, which does nothing to soothe Joseph’s worry.

“I wouldn’t be angry. I promise. But if I’m onto something, and you care about me even a little, please be honest with me.”

Bigfoot closes his eyes with a resigned sigh, and then there’s a large, bearded man on Joseph’s rug.

“Um. Hi.” Strong arms wave from a ratty t-shirt, and thick, hairy legs stick out of shorts, “So, you’re right, I am a vampire. I was being chased by some of those shitty guys we dealt with last week and I panicked and turned into my wolf form to hide and then you were there and…yeah” he undoes the collar at his throat, “I’ve been living as your dog for months.”

“Ohjesus” Joseph runs a hand through his hair, “I can’t believe I was so dense, it was so obvious, oh god I have rubbed your belly so many times and you, you slept in my bed!”

“You said you wouldn’t be mad.” The vampire winces away from him.

“Sorry. I’m just…why did you let it go for so long?”

“At first I needed somewhere to hide, then I couldn't handle running away and making you upset and I, I really, I like you, Joseph. You saw a huge, scary dog and took him home instead of calling the cops, and you were so good to me I didn’t want to leave. Even though I knew I should. I’m so sorry.” He sits up, scrunching in on himself to seem smaller, “I can go.”

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Not really.” The vampire says sheepishly.

Joseph slides down to the floor so they’re face to face, “Then I’m not kicking you out. I trust you; if you were a threat to me, you would have attacked me by now.”

“Never” The force of the reply surprises them both.

“Am I right that you don’t have a job either?”

“Uh huh.”

Joseph touches a tattooed arm, “What’s your name, big guy?”

“Barclay.”

“Here’s what I propose, Barclay: I still need extra protection. And I have the money to pay for it. So if you want, you can keep working for me and living here. Just as a roommate.”

“I’d really, really, really like that.”

“Then it’s a deal” Joseph helps him to his feet and tries for levity, “but no more sleeping in the bed.”

“I thought it was what a dog would do! Plus it gets cold at night and Nessie hogs the spot by the heater.”

Joseph chuckles, “She really does. I’ll guess I’ll just make sure there’s lots of extra blankets in the spare bedroom.”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The benefits of Barclay having told Joseph the truth are many, starting with the fact that Barclay is an excellent cook and likes making meals for Joseph even when he can’t eat them himself. Joseph feels like a spoiled husband whenever he wakes up to breakfast already made or comes home to dinner waiting on the table.

Barclay is also an excellent conversationalist, even though Joseph is playing catch-up when it comes to getting to know him while Barclay is familiar with all his most embarrassing habits. Then again, it’s tremendously relaxing to be around someone who’s seen him sing to ABBA or curse at the dishwasher and still wants to spend time with him.

For his part, Barclay is clearly enjoying not having to hide anymore, and is just as protective of him as a man as he was as a wolf. He’s also still using the dog shampoo Joseph bought him because he likes the way it makes his hair soft.

Joseph does miss being able to touch him, and with every passing morning the temptation to reach across the table and hold his hand as they have coffee becomes less bearable.

Tonight, Barclay is humming along to the radio as he dusts pumpkin ravioli with ricotta. As he bends to grab a plate from the dishwasher, Joseph notices an odd lump in his back pocket. If it’s what he thinks it is, it’s a very interesting situation indeed.

He stands and slips it free just as Barclay straightens.

“Whoa, hey there” Barclay laughs as he turns, “you that…hungry…for..oh man I can explain I promise.”

“Please do” Joseph dangles the old collar between them.

“I kept it as a, uh, a souvenir. Of the part of being hidden I liked.”

“Keep talking.”

“I liked” Barclay looks down, “I liked being good for you. Being yours. I like belonging to you because I knew you’d take care of me and it made me so fucking happy and also it was really fucking hot to be on a leash for you which gives me all kinds of weird feelings. And being with you now is agony because it’s so close to being yours, and now I know how well we work together, but I don’t want to make you feel like you have to want me….

“So what I’m hearing is that you’d like to keep being mine under certain, um, conditions? My good boy who’s also my boyfriend?” Joseph sets the collar on the counter.

“Please.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Joseph leans in and kisses him, the vampire whimpering until Joseph puts his arms around him and holds him close.

“Does this mean I can sleep in the bed again?” Barclay smiles, fangs glinting promisingly in the kitchen lights.

“Yes, big guy, it does.

#taz amnesty #sternclay #agent stern/barclay #vampire boyfriend #human/monster romance

14 notes · View notes

spearxwind · 2 years

Note

Aaaa I’ve been struggling through watching my favourite streamer play the quarry! What a mess! I’ve not even reached the ending yet but I think I’m not going to be watching that video again, which is rare. It feels like a realtime fandub of the actual game, but without any of the humour or life. All the screens where you focus in way too close to a characters face as they debate A or B are goofy as hell, that one guy was either falling asleep or on his phone while reading his lines, the werewolves are goofy as hell, and I’ve actually lost the plot. I don’t know what’s happening. Some old lady got shot? Was she a werewolf? I don’t know. Another guys in a cage. Why. I don’t know. you could say that’s my fault but I feel like in a game with good consistent writing I’d be able to at least *guess* at what’s happening

also the constant not-telling-people-whats-going-on is going to be the end of me, I think. Everything is made so much worse by the awkward as hell lack of communication.

If I can say one positive for the game— and it’s one, very, very small positive, it’s that A werewolf did look spooky for maybe 3 seconds. That influencer girl, she encounters one in that tree house and the lightings all dim, and you only see it a bit until suddenly you focus on the face and those eyes. I paused there and thought ‘that’s a neat shot, it looks like it actually wants to hurt her. If they keep the werewolves looking like that then they might get a little spooky leeway.’

They did not keep the werewolves looking like that. Classic thing— making the horror monster too visible.

And this is more a personal thing but I’m not even scared of the game and I’m the biggest pansy alive. I *cannot* handle horror without getting Way Too Spooked and the quarry just bores me

Honestly yeah I struggled watching through to the end, just because I wanted to see the story at least resolved, but the whole last section was just... not worth it at all. It's very confusing and convoluted for no reason, the ending itself is incredibly underwhelming, and yeah Ryan's voice lines are... bad delivery.

I tried not to be too harsh on him though because I thought it might get justified later but it doesnt and he does feel just... completely disinterested in whats happening. Honestly you can guess 90% of whats happening because it comes down to 'hey theres monsters out there and some of them might be us kind of' and the only mystery is how the fuck that bit from the start ties into everything else

I also thought the wolves might like.. be a progressive kind of thing where when they begin the transformation they look like that and the longer the night goes on the freakier they look but no they just look like that

The more I think about it yeah the more it just feels like they tried and failed to make until dawn again. except this time the monsters are there all the time and instead of unraveling a mystery and getting characters killed due to negligence or bad decisions its always "do you want to kill this character >yes >no" it kinda feels a lot more random when deaths happen

Yeah the tutorial thing was very jarring but I thought it was charming. it definitely takes you out of the experience though, they should have put those in like... a menu section for when youre paused or something.

and man yeah!! the transformation is so weird like... just explode into blood and bam theres a werewolf underneath. tbh i wouldnt have minded as much if like.. they made the wolves visually different from each other or actually resemble what person each one is but no its literally 1. explode into blood 2. instant model change like. alright

i dont really do teen drama anyway but i thought it was alright, at least some of the banter seemed pretty decent, and yeah campy movies that this is based on usually have all this drama stuff so I can excuse that

also kaitlyn deserved so much more screen time for real she was the only one with an actual braincell

----

actually as a sidenote theres just so many things that dont make sense from the setup at all i just remembered theres also a shot of a corpse in a lake and this is never explained nor mentioned nor acknowledged for the entirety of the game.

#ask #anon #ask dump #the quarry spoilers #long post

15 notes · View notes

seancecircles · 2 years

Text

season 3 thoughts under the cut ! spoilers for the entire thing.

I'm a little exhausted today, because tua3 took a lot out of me, but I'm feeling mostly positive.

None of the Brellies were sideline, which was really nice, and I would say I really enjoyed Klaus, Luther and Diego the most this season. Especially Klaus - god, my heart broke a few times.

I think in general my issues are that the initial setup was interesting enough on its own. The idea of a Sparrow Ben and is compelling enough to last as a season arc tackling the kids familial trauma, or at least be a story, but the season seemed to give up on the Sparrow idea early on. I don't mind that so many of them die so quickly, but Fei was wasted. This could and should be compelling enough on its own.

That being said, I loved what we did get. Loved the change between trying to navigate a new timeline and initial rivalry, to then trying to fix a paradox together, then ultimately nihilism, then Reggie's plan.

Allison did some awful things these seasons. I don't know how to feel. Her feelings and emotions and arc are all so justified considering she used to mention in 1 and 2 how awful and dependent on her powers she used to be. She's never been the perfectly healthy, positive person she's tried to force herself to be. And especially considering her trauma and the way she's been unable to express her emotions, I think it's a compelling and justified ones. But I think it sucks that the most significant female character on the show, especially as a black woman, has been put in a position where her arc is causing a lot of instant hatred. I think the scene with Luther absolutely does count as sexual assault, but could have been portrayed a lot better. To me, her wording of 'you want me' is meant to be lonely and isolated rather than sexual, but it's still sexual assault and not handled well within the show. But still, I think people are using "she sexually assaulted Luther" as a way to fight against any possible defence, compassion or explanation for her actions. What she did in the show was not okay in the slightest, and I think the writing DID throw her to the wolves in the sense that now she's seen as irredeemable to a lot of fans. It's messy, I don't know what to think. Emmy Raver-Lampman did a phenomenal job though, and I found her character so compelling.

Klaus. So much better handled than season 2. It's an interesting mix where they didn't go a super angsty route with him, but he felt very true to the character we saw in season 1. He's still Klaus, roping Five along on a road trip for his own purposes, but he's also still intensely compassionate, this time to his own detriment. Seeing his relationship with Reginald both warmed and broke my heart. I think it was so wonderful to watch Klaus try and tackle his own pain and trauma head-on, as well as genuinely help Reginald, only to get cast aside the moment he's not considered useful anymore. I'm glad to see Klaus develop his powers but I'm also so glad that we see Klaus in wonderful ways that aren't tied to that. I especially loved the scene where he spoke to Sparrow Ben about Umbrella Ben, being the one person to not treat his Ben as an angel. I like that Klaus's power development story arc wasn't like... the big hero moment to save the day or anything inconsistent and big, but a very self-focused thing that has its VERY important uses during what goes down. His dynamic with Luther was especially wonderful.

Luther is my second fave character and GOD. God I sobbed a few times. Genuinely believed they'd killed him in episode 9. What a lovely, sad, tragic arc for him. I don't have much I want to say but Klaus and Luther (and possibly Ben) feel like they've been set up for a s4 dynamic that I am super, super excited for.

I also loved Lila a lot more in season 3. Think that this was a great way to take her character after season 2. Diego of course I adore. Viktor was handled well and I loved to see him happy and included, and I also enjoy that they're taking the show in a direction where his actions are getting called to question, even though we see how much his siblings love him. Watching him bond with Luther especially was so lovely. But YES yes I loved him!!!

But anyway I loved the season. Very much always buzzing with new ideas. Can't believe this post was mostly about Allison but, y'know...

If anyone would like to talk, I'm very much all season 3 thoughts all of the time.

#~ [ out of character ]#s3 spoilers #tua spoilers

6 notes · View notes

writingforfun0714 · 1 year

Text

Hi all I wanna talk about the Star Wars Celebration 2023 so-

Warnings: Spoilers, long post, not a fic, idk what else

SPOILERS!!!! SPOILERS RELATED TO ANY/ALL NEW STAR WARS CONTENT!!!

So I wasn’t really aware of Star Wars Celebration this year cuz my b-day was Friday and this past Sunday was Easter so you can bet I was excited to see the live streamed videos on Youtube. After going through most videos available, I started going online and looking at different articles and whatnot (I also saw those vids of KK walking out on stage to quiet/shame applause lol).

I hate KK with a passion so I’ve been unsure about new Star Wars projects but from what little I’ve seen, I definitely feel a bit better about the future of Star Wars (and hope KK is on her way out).

I’d like to talk about Ahsoka (live action) first. I love the concept of continuing the Rebels story. I enjoy Rebels. Not as much as Clone Wars and is about tied with Tales of the Jedi, but I definitely enjoy Rebels more than Bad Batch (which I’ll get into later).

First off, the cast for Ahsoka. I think it’s great! We’ve seen Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka (and obviously Hayden Christensen as Anakin/Vader) so I was really only wanting to see the animated Rebels characters (Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, Chopper, Hera). While Zeb wasn’t shown in the Ahsoka trailer shown, we did get about 30secs from Mando when he talks to Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s character (I forget his name). I thought Zeb looked great and loved they got Steve Blum (the original VA) to play him. The other Rebels that have been shown are Hera, Chopper, Sabine, Thrawn and a hologram image of Ezra. Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine looks amazing and Mary Elizabeth Winstead looks great as Hera. Chopper, being a droid, obviously looks great as well. Eman Esfandi as Ezra looks amazing as well. For a while, like lots of fans, I thought Mena Massoud would be Ezra (he was coming off his Aladdin success) but when Eman Esfandi got the role, I saw Massoud’s response and was put off from the guy. Massoud didn’t seem happy/polite, to me at least. Plus Esfandi looks more like Ezra than Massoud does (especially w/ the nose, eyebrows and chin). I also think Esfandi looks a lot like Ezra’s father Ephraim Bridger. Idk if Eman Esfandi’s been in anything else but I’m not put off by new actors. I think new actors can be amazing (the only disney example I can think of is Neel Sethi as Mowgli from the live action Junglebook remake from 2016).

Now for the main man, Thrawn. I know he’s a comic/Legends character but for the purpose of this post, he is animated first then shown in live action. Because he was shown in animation first, I’m always on the side of getting the VA to be their character in live action (James Sie is doing this in AtLA as the cabbage man). When I found out that Lars Mikkelsen is Thrawn I was over the fucking moon.

Controversial opinion?? Thrawn was done dirty in Rebels. I was 16 when I first watched Rebels and I definitely think he was overhyped. I know Rebels is more kid-oriented, but I’d say going into the 2nd half of S1 had a more CW-esque feel to it and definitely by the end of S2, I thought Rebels was gonna be CW 2.0. I learned that Thrawn is supposed to be cold, calculating and patient so I re-evaluated my feelings on S3 and realized that Thrawn was building up to the S3 finale. By S4 and with the introduction of the Loth Wolves, I definitely thought Thrawn should’ve made some waves at this point. I’d say that the only real damage he’s done was in the S4 finale, forcing Ezra to sacrifice himself.

I think Ahsoka is the perfect chance to show just how dangerous and lethal Thrawn can be. I HAVEN’T READ THE THRAWN TRILOGY BOOKS so everything I know about it is from wookieepedia and google. I’m wondering if they’ll bring in any Legends characters related to Thrawn (ELI VANTO!!! He’s right there c’mon).

Lastly I wanna talk about Huang, the lightsaber construction droid. We first see Huang in Clone Wars S5 with the Ahsoka/Younglings/Hondo arc. Huang definitely reminds me of the wand guy in Harry Potter, but sassier lol. I’d heard from leaks online that Huang was going to be in Ahsoka, but to actually see him was amazing. I immediately questioned if the other Younglings are still alive at this point (they’d probably be mid 30s?) We get confirmation that Gungi is alive in Bad Batch S2 E6 Tribe, so I wouldn’t say it’s impossible that the others are alive.

I know that bringing back familiar Jedi is controversial among lots of fans (feeling it takes away from O66). But I actually like it because it shows that even though O66 was planned from the beginning (w/ Sifo Dias/Dooku/Palpy), the plan wasn’t perfect (and then of course the retconning of brainwashing from prequel trilogy to inhibitor chips). I’m sure Palps never expected the inhibitor chips to degrade or that the clones would be independent thinkers. I actually like when they bring back familiar Jedi.

So, overall, I’m definitely stoked for Ahsoka. We haven’t gotten confirmation but I definitely wanna see Lothwolves, the World between Worlds, and Jacen Syndulla (Hera/Kanan’s son). I didn’t particularly like his design in Rebels (he should’ve had lekku w/ his green hair imo) so I wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t look exactly the same. I’d also like to see more clones. I’d like to see Ahsoka reunite with Wolffe, Cody, Rex and Gregor. I’d even be fine with unnamed clones.

I’m assuming Ahsoka takes place during Mando S2/3, maybe S1 was well but I’m focusing on the 2nd and 3rd season. That means the Empire has been gone for about ~7yrs (10 at most I think) and Vader is dead. I’d like to see Obiwan show up as a force ghost to Ahsoka as well. He was there for Luke after his death in ANH, but I’d argue that Obiwan loves Ahsoka just as much as Luke. I’d like to see Ahsoka using to Force to feel when Obiwan died in ANH like how she did in hyperspace, sensing Anakin’s fall in CW S7 finale. Make it painful, I wanna sob lol.

I also wouldn’t mind Ahsoka meeting Boba Fett again. They met once in S2 I believe when Boba tried to kill Mace w/ Aurra Sing and her crew. Plo Koon took Ahsoka with him to go face them and while Ahsoka and Boba argued pretty much the whole time, I think her words really got to him so I can see them starting out tense then as they get to know each other, Ahsoka would see similarities between Boba and the clones she served with and he’d be annoyed lol.

So yeah, I think those are my thoughts on Ahsoka and I don’t want this post to get super long (even though it kind of is).

The next show I wanna talk about is Skeleton Crew. I’m excited about this show but I’m more curious than excited. I love Jude Law and the idea that it takes place in some uncharted region in space is great (new planets/locations/people). I love the whole premise that Jude Law’s character protects a group of Younglings since it matches my own HC of Hondo protecting the Younglings he met. Idk who else is in this show, but I’m definitely looking forward to it. I can see them bringing in Cal Kestis in live action (with Cameron Monaghan obviously) for this show (then perhaps have him crossover with other shows like Mando/Ahsoka). I don’t know much about it so I don’t really have a lot to talk about with this show.

Now I’d like to talk about Acolyte. I saw the leaked teaser uploaded to Youtube (idk if it was taken down but I can’t find it—it was phone footage and had no commentary). I believe this show is supposed to be set during the High Republic era (350-50yrs before the Skywalker Saga). Love that timeline setting. We hardly have any canon info on that era so this is perfect. Also Acolyte is about the rise of the Sith (in a time that was considered prosperous for the Jedi) so I think that’s super interesting. I had heard that it could also have Palpatine’s origin story??? YES PLEASE!!! Given that the High Republic Era ended 50yrs before TPM, it’s possible Palps was alive at least during the end of the High Republic Era. I’d like to see his master Darth Plaguis as well and that whole story Palps tells Anakin in RotS during the bubble opera.

I saw that martial arts is going to be a major part of this show and I’m super excited. Jedi have been shown to fight hand-to-hand before but I hope martial arts connects somehow to the Force (like how AtLA uses different martial arts for the bending types). Speaking of AtLA, I’m wondering if SW is utilizing martial arts BECAUSE of AtLA’s success (the Netflix live action show, Avatar Studios). Dave Filoni (Felony) also worked on AtLA so I wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be true. But anyways, I’m also super excited for Acolyte as well.

Alright now for the animated shows.

Tales of the Jedi is confirmed for a 2nd season and reportedly there are more writers. I’m hoping that means we get either more episodes or longer episodes. I don’t believe anything else, story wise, is confirmed, but I’d love to see Jedi we didn’t quite see enough of. What I’d like to see:

—Quinlan Vos training Aayla Secura

—Mace Windu training Depa Bilaba

—Yoda/Yaddle relationship confirmation (I HC they are baby Yoda’s parents cuz obviously).

—Luminara/Barriss Offee bonding (I’ve seen so many people hate on Luminara for her treatment of Barriss and I definitely think they all miss the point but that’s a whole other post).

—Caleb/Kanan bonding w/ Younglings like Ahsoka did w/ Gungi and the others.

—Yoda making Shaak Ti in charge of the clones (and her being a mom to every single one of them). She would definitely be the one to bring Younglings/Padawans in to train with the cadets so they learn to work together.

—Plo Koon being a dad to Wolffe/Ahsoka/the 104th (I wouldn’t mind seeing Plo’s backstory either).

—Kit Fisto’s story (being discovered, training, meeting Monnk, meeting Nadar).

—Anything about Saesee Tiin, Eeth Koth, Adi Gallia, Stass Ali or Ki Adi Mundi

—I could also see Cal Kestis making his animated debut (outside of video games) in this show as well.

—Ahsoka getting her 2nd lime green saber/Ahsoka getting her white sabers/purifying kyber crystals.

If the show did stories about other characters besides Jedi:

—Tales of the Clones (obviously unwhitewashed—I can dream can’t I?)

—Grievous’s backstory. Seriously this would be amazing.

—Huang’s backstory. When was he created? Was he a droid belonging to a Jedi (like R2/3PO and Anakin) or was he made specifically by the Jedi to be the lightsaber constructor. Maybe have a scene w/ a Youngling/Padawan Yoda??

—Shmi Skywalker being happily married to Lars. Bonus points for being a mother figure to Owen and her feeling like she failed Anakin (Obiwan parallel). Idk just more Shmi Skywalker. TPM didn’t have enough Shmi content.

All of these ideas could potentially tie in Jedis so it could still fit ‘Tales of the Jedi’.

As for Visions Season 2, I have absolutely no idea what to expect (just like S1) but all the animation shown looked 🔥 so I’m definitely excited for this. I believe in S1 we saw Boba Fett make a cameo in one episode. I didn’t recognize any cameo appearances from what was shown but please let me know if I missed anything (I’m not good with Legends/Extended Universe characters). Again, like Skeleton Crew, I can’t talk much about Visions simply because I don’t know enough/not enough has been shown. But definitely excited for this.

Now for Bad Batch Season 3.

Those that follow/have seen my posts regarding Bad Batch know that I don’t particularly like the show. I never have. In short, THE WHITEWASHING, the writing, the animation (regarding Omega’s emotional intensity), and Cid are all subpar. You can definitely tell this is a Disney Star Wars show (like the 1st half of S1 of Rebels—Rebels was the first disney animated SW show).

I will say that there are particular ideas that I liked but I just don’t think they were executed well. Dooku’s warchest/Serrano, Cody, Gungi, Echo leaving, the Zillobeast, Mayday/Crosshair duo, family vs soldiers trope, and even one of CF99 making a sacrifice are all great ideas I just don’t think it was done justice.

Season 3 is the final season and I can’t express how happy I am. I know that we are just going to get more of the same. The clone model/Omega’s design will not change (fuck Jennifer Corbett, Brad Rau and Dave Felony honestly), Cid is technically still in the picture, and the story has changed from saving Crosshair to saving Omega. I think it’s important to note that Hunter has no reason to believe Omega and Crosshair are together. Omega isn’t like the group. That’s the whole point of S1 w/ the bounty hunters. So having Tech sacrifice himself FOR CROSSHAIR, then having Hunter at the end say they are going to rescue Omega instead just undermines Tech’s sacrifice. Also the way Cid looked somewhat remorseful when accepting payment from Hemlock in the finale got me nervous. PLEASE NO REDEMPTION ARC FOR CID!!! GET RID OF HER!

I think the only thing I’m looking forward to for S3 is the music and the scenery animation. I don’t think I’ll watch Wednesdays. I was in no hurry for S2 and the disappointment I have for both S1 and S2 has made me not want a S3 but at least it’s almost over and they can do a new show. I love the CW-style animation, just make POC look like POC!!! It isn’t hard. I’m still hoping for a more adult/Andor-style CW-animated show completely disconnected from the Skywalker Saga (IN THE KOTOR ERA PREFERABLY!!) That’s my dream.

So yeah, I guess that’s all my thoughts on Bad Batch S3.

Lastly I wanna talk about that new animated Young Jedi Adventures. It’s set in the High Republic Era and features new characters (along w/ Yoda) but it’s aimed for preschoolers. Honestly I’m actually kind of excited for this show. I’m wondering if we’ll see any familiar faces or not (and if we do, will they be changed from Legends?). I don’t know anything else except the names of the characters have been released. I’m assuming it’ll be a kind of basic toddler show about learning the basics like what to do when you feel sad, how to share, bullying maybe, idk basic little kid lessons you know? I’m assuming these lessons are the ‘core’ foundation of who a Jedi is supposed to be—selfless people who do good and builds the Younglings up and maybe will end with the main group becoming Padawans/getting assigned a Jedi Master. Idk that’s just my guess, I could be totally wrong.

So out of the whole Star Wars Celebration, I’m mostly excited for the live action stuff (I didn’t talk about it, but that mando movie sounds pretty cool), but I am looking forward to Tales of the Jedi S2 and SW Visions S2. I didn’t talk about this either, but I’m a bit on the fence about the new Rey Skywalker/sequel movie. Apparently it’s 15yrs from Episode 9 Rise of Skywalker and Rey is a Jedi Master building the New Jedi Order or something like that. I LIKE Daisy Ridley. I DO NOT like Rey Skywalker (like many fans). I agree with pretty much all of Rey criticisms (being instantly good at Jedi stuff, overpowered, Kylo Ren x Rey pairing, etc).

Thanks for reading and I hope you also enjoyed the Star Wars Celebration💕

—Maisy

0 notes

peachy-writings · 2 years

Text

Time of Dogs & Wolves ✩ Part II

Content: Flangst | GN Werewolf!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of violence, blood & death

Word Count: 10k

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Send an ask to be added to the taglist!

↳ @heojangmi

A/N: what’s up friends! it’s been a while to say the least. life has been wild lately but i’m so happy to finally be posting this <3 let me know what you think of this part of you want, it would make my day!

Recap: Last week, you woke up in a house full of Wolves, were told that you yourself are a Werewolf, and that you fought one of the pack members on the night of the full moon. You found people you trusted, people you were indifferent toward, and perhaps an enemy amongst them all. Most interestingly, you realized that something’s been hidden from you, the big mystery of the house: What is wrong with Changmin?

Day 9 [21]

“These are peak gardening hours,”

Jacob merrily enthuses as the two of you exit the back door of the house.

He wears a floppy sun hat with a ribbon that frames his face, tied into a neat bow beneath his chin. You chose to opt out when asked if you wanted to wear a hat similar to his, preferring to feel the sun’s warmth on your cheeks instead.

“I can see why,” you tell him when you reach the area designated to Jacob’s garden.

A series of wooden planter boxes forms a large grid in the yard, each containing a variety of plants. Jacob shows you around, pointing out various sprouts and vegetables, and you can tell that this is a great passion in his life.

“I knew you were busy training for the last couple days and I didn’t want to bother you, but I’m so glad you could finally come out!”

You chuckle fondly as you lean over to peek at a young head of lettuce. “Training is pretty fun, but it’s a nice change to have a peaceful day out. Does anyone else help you with all of this?”

Jacob shakes his head and the corners of his lips dip downward ever so slightly. “No. Nobody really comes out here with me because they think it’s boring. Even Sangyeon checks out when I talk about the garden.”

When you think about it, you can imagine how uninterested the others would be in this activity. Most of the pack is focused on their own hobbies and activities that either involve exercise or solitude. Nevertheless, you can’t comprehend how not a soul would come out at least every once in a while. You picture Jacob alone in his garden, quietly tending to his plants with his big hat and bucket of tools as his only company. The image nearly breaks your heart.

“Well, I think plants are interesting,” you tell him earnestly. “It’s really cool how you can just grow whatever you want and use it to feed everyone. There isn’t a lot of room for that in the city, so I can’t imagine anyone taking all of this space for granted.”

The wide smile that stretches across Jacob’s face when you say this warms your heart, and you’re more than willing to do anything to keep him glowing like that. A small bluebird flies down and lands in one of the planter boxes, halting your conversation. Jacob crouches down to its level and takes a bag of seeds out of his pocket, pouring some into his hand. When he offers it to the little bird, it casually hops into his palm and begins crunching on the seeds.

“And how are you today, Beatrice?”

Your jaw drops, and then unable to contain yourself, you bellow, “Wait, we can communicate with animals?!”

The bird startles and flies off, and Jacob laughs. It begins as a breathy chuckle before he starts gasping for air, cheeks red and eyes glistening with amusement. “No, no, we can't,” he giggles. “I just like making friends with the animals that visit my garden.”

A brow quirks. “And you name them?”

“Yeah, they have so much personality!” He tells you. “Beatrice is sweet and shy, and there’s this squirrel I call Kevin because he’s so moody—Don’t tell Kevin about that.”

You listen to Jacob go on about his animal companions, laughing when he says something unintentionally hilarious. All the while, the two of you gather vegetables for tonight’s dinner. It’s the first time you get to see Jacob’s personality truly shine. Sure, you spend more of your time with him than any of the others, but the conversations always feel a bit too cautious. You’d talk about yourself mostly, and Jacob would rarely speak of his own activities.

At first, you thought that he was a simple kind of person. Now that he’s opened up and you’ve gotten a glimpse of him in his element, you find that he is definitely more complex than you once thought. And extremely witty on top of that. You admire how much care he puts into everything he does, how much room is in his heart for every living thing that crosses his path, including you.

“Okay, we should be done for the day now, but I have something for you.” Your brows raise, following Jacob with your eyes as he goes into a shed attached to the house, only to return with a small pot in hand. “This is for you.”

Not knowing what else to do, you accept the gift, taking a look at it. It’s some kind of fiber pot with a sprout growing inside.

“What is it?”

“It’s a promise,” he tells you with more sincerity than you expect. “I’d like you to plant it in the garden, and when it blooms, you’ll have been here for about a month. It’ll grow with you, like a reminder of the progress you’re already making.”

Jacob digs a hole in the moist soil and you carefully lower the pot into place, smoothing out the surface before standing and dusting your hands off. You find yourself smiling as you look at what you’ve just done. There’s a certain satisfaction in gardening, and you can’t wait to see how that tiny sprout grows over time.

Time.

“Hey, so, I know this is kind of off topic, but could you tell me a little more about Changmin?” You suddenly ask, turning around to find Jacob already becoming visually antsy.

He lets out a flat chuckle, hastily picks up his bucket of tools, and tells you, “There’s nothing to worry about. We have him under control. Lets get inside, hm?”

—

You spend the rest of the day a little out of it; a little in your head, swept away by your thoughts and ponderings. The outing with Jacob was very soothing after all of the training you’ve been doing lately. However, you can’t help but feel resentment toward him. Not just him, but the rest of the pack as well.

Every time you try to bring the Changmin situation up, you get swiftly shut down or simply reassured that ‘everything’s fine’. It’s bordering on patronizing at this point. You want to trust the people who have so kindly taken you in, especially Sangyeon and Jacob, but it’s hard when a secret hangs in front of you so blatantly and yet completely out of your grasp.

Changmin continues to go absolutely berserk whenever the two of you cross paths, and you’re beginning to feel paranoid as a product of this. You never know when you will see him, so you keep close to Jacob, Eric or Juyeon during the daytime. Chanhee only comes out at night, functioning more like a nocturnal creature than a Wolf, and Haknyeon stays holed up in his study mostly.

You often find yourself wishing that you had more opportunities to get closer with Haknyeon so that you’d feel more comfortable tapping on his door, and that distance leaves you with less options for protection. It would be easy for you to hang around Sangyeon, but you’d feel a little guilty about distracting him from his daily duties. He is always in his own study or either running around the house, organizing things amongst the pack members and cleaning up after them.

Jaehyun is still indifferent with you, as is Sunwoo, but that’s all there is to it. You don’t feel as threatened by them anymore, just more prone to avoiding them when you can. But that disdainful look in their eyes chills you to the bone no matter how harmless they appear to be. Makes you wonder how deep this secret goes, and if you are really to blame for whatever is happening behind the scenes.

Younghoon and Kevin frequently bump into you and exchange small talk for a short while before proceeding to their activities. You find those interactions to be a little soulless, but you’d take them over feeling threatened any day. Presently, you find yourself looking deeper into everything everyone says or does in your presence.

You contemplate your trust in them all, especially when juxtaposed with your futile attempts at getting information out of them about Changmin. You deserve to know the truth. You deserve to feel safe. And if they won’t reveal what is going on soon, you plan to leave and face the consequences that lie for you in the city.

No matter how warm, attentive, or welcoming any of them are, the words of reassurance you’ve been given feel hollow against the backdrop of Changmin’s snarling face.

Day 10 [20]

The sun shines brightly, painting the grassy clearing behind the house a lime green color. You and Eric sit on the ground chatting and joking around for a while, until the person you’ve been waiting for shows up. Juyeon stands in front of the two of you, plants his hands on his hips and theatrically raises his nose into the air.

“Today…” A dramatic pause. “We race!”

Eric immediately begins cackling, falling forward onto his hands as he does. You can’t help the urge to join him, thoroughly amused by the frankly dorky way in which Juyeon presents himself. The aforementioned pays no mind to the hysterics of his counterparts and drops a duffel bag in front of you and Eric.

“These are the supplies for the day. Take a look.”

Curiously, you reach forward and unzip the bag, looking in to see the familiar off-white color of the robes, as well as…

“Is that a gun?” Eric noseily shoves himself next to you so that he can see too.

“Yes. But not just any gun,” Juyeon explains as he takes hold of the item, displaying it clearly. “It’s a starting gun.”

“Whoa, when did you get that?!”

You watch silently as Eric and Juyeon gush over how cool and official the presence of a real starting gun is, a calm smile spreading over your face. That brotherly dynamic really comes to light whenever it’s just the three of you. Witnessing their cute bond first hand is something that brings you immense joy. Makes you wish that you too had somebody you were that close to here. Or anywhere for that matter.

“You’re going down!” Eric hollers, excitement practically radiating off of his entire being as he hops around, taunting a stone faced Juyeon.

“Well, I guess that means we should get on with it,” you breathe, finally standing to match the other two.

“Alright. So, we’ll be having regular races around this general area. There’s a path within the woods over there that leads back here. Might be a little difficult to figure out the first time, but you’ll pick up fast…”

Juyeon trails off, his eyes focusing on something behind you. Eric is quick to whip his head around and then raise his brows when he looks back at you and Juyeon. Unexpectedly, Jaehyun strolls over to your group and casually places himself beside Juyeon.

“I heard we were racing,” the new arrival quips with an odd amount of unearned satisfaction in his grin.

Juyeon half-rolls his eyes. “Who invited you?”

“I live here,” Jaehyun responds through a deadpan.

Eric snickers and comes between the two men, pushing them forward to where you suppose the invisible starting line is. “I think you guys should race first to show us how it’s done.”

“As much as I’d like to, I think you and Y/N should go first,” Juyeon decides after a moment of silent contemplation.

“Alright, whatever floats your boat.” Eric turns to you. “You ready?”

“Uh…”

Noticing your uncertainty, Juyeon explains that this is just for fun and that Eric will help you if you manage to get lost. It’s a five mile path through the woods that loops back around to where the four of you stand. Eric reassures you that he won’t leave you behind with a genuine smile that puts you at ease.

Your guard is up, though, one eye on Jaehyun as he watches you and Eric prepare. There haven’t been many instances in which the two of you have interacted for more than a second, but you still can’t say that you feel open to getting friendly with him. He hasn’t been anything but cold to you in the short time you’ve been here. A small part of you hopes that, similarly to Juyeon, he just has a hard outer shell. A bigger part, though, is instinctually observant of his every move. You perceive him as a threat.

“Are you guys ready?”

You and Eric respond affirmatively and you mirror the runner-like way he crouches down and places his fingers against the earth. A deep breath helps you focus on the task, bringing your eyes forward and your mind off of Jaehyun just long enough for the gun to go off. You spring forward, Eric immediately taking the lead.

The air that enters your lungs is crisp and exhilarating, causing you to test your new limits by pushing harder, catching up to your partner before you reach the edge of the clearing. The two of you follow the path, side-by-side, until it thins and Eric takes the lead. He speeds up now, his competitive streak taking over.

You fall behind, not used to prolonged physical activity. You haven’t run for this long without a break in a while, and even with your heightened physical abilities, you’re nowhere near the level Eric is on. Just before he can disappear from your sight, he catches your eyes over his shoulder and slows considerably.

“You good?” He pants out once you catch up.

“Yeah. Just. Tired,” you manage to say through heavy breaths.

“Just a little more to go. You can do it, Y/N!”

Teeth clenched in a concentrated grin, you push harder and before you know it, you are out of the woods, stumbling behind Eric and then dropping to your hands and knees. Juyeon places a water bottle in front of your exhausted form and gives you a couple of encouraging pats on the back.

“Not bad. It’ll get easier the more you train.”

And with your race over, Eric is taught how to safely use the starting gun. When you finally move yourself into a sitting position, Juyeon and Jaehyun are kneeling in the grass. The mood shifts into something more serious once Eric stands in front of them and clears his throat.

“On your marks… Ready… Set…”

Bang!

The two take off at an impossible speed, flying through the clearing and leaving you in absolute awe. You sit there and gape until they reach the edge of the clearing and disappear into the trees seamlessly.

Eric crouches down and places a hand on your shoulder before whispering, “Those two are the fastest in the pack. I’m almost as fast as them, though. But they always compete for number one, so this should be pretty interesting to watch.”

You turn to him, the pieces coming together. “Oh, so they’re like rivals?” Eric nods easily, standing up straight again. “So that’s why Juyeon looked kind of pissed when Jaehyun showed up.”

He chuckles. “Yeah. Those two can get a little snippy with each other when it comes to things like this, but otherwise they’re really close.”

“Interesting…”

After a moment, you perk up and the hairs on the back of your neck rise. A growl is heard from the forest and you look to Eric for an explanation. He has an amused smile on his face, shaking his head as he utters an, “I knew this would happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jaehyun’s not playing fair,” your friend sings, directing his focus to the gap in the trees you came out of just minutes ago.

You feel that odd innervation once more, and by the way Eric shakes his head again, you assume that Juyeon is retaliating against his competition. The sound of branches snapping, feet pounding ground and brush ruffling gets closer and closer. Unfamiliar with what exactly is happening, you stand up and move closer to Eric, grasping his arm with your eyes focused on the same spot as his.

A tan colored Wolf bounds out of the forest and straight at you, only to be overtaken by a black one that jumps into the air and gains the lead. Your eyes are wide, unbelieving of what you’re seeing. The two get closer and you’re almost afraid that they’ll run into you, but then the black Wolf comes to a halt directly to your left. Less than a second or two later, so does the tan one, on your other side.

“Juyeon wins. Nice try though, Jaehyun,” Eric announces, and then he focuses on you, pulling his arm from your grasp to rest his hand on your shoulder. “Crazy, huh?”

Once the two men are back in their human forms with robes on, an argument you weren’t expecting breaks out. Juyeon scolds his counterpart for cheating, and Jaehyun deflects the accusations with a roll of his eyes, only spurring Juyeon to put him in a headlock. They wrestle in the grass as you watch on in surprise.

“Look, I know we’re literal Wolves, but can you stop acting like animals? It’s really embarrassing,” Eric tuts to no effect.

Eventually, they go back into the woods to retrieve their shredded clothing for repurposing, all the while bickering and shoving each other around. You want to ask which pack member fixes their clothes, but Eric is already loading up the duffel. You’ll ask later.

“C’mon, Y/N. Let’s get out of here.”

“Sure…”

You sit on a stool at the island whilst Eric kicks his feet in the air, settled on top of the counter with a popsicle in his hand to match yours. As he enjoys the cold treat, you think about the other two and how they should’ve come in a while ago.

“Are you sure we should just leave them out there? Aren’t they going to hurt each other?”

“Nah, it’s fine. They do that sometimes,” Eric tells you, before crunching on his popsicle until only the stick remains in his hand.

You simply blink at him, watching as he throws the stick into the trash and leans back on his palms, lips smeared with red, not a care in the world. You guess that you shouldn’t be concerned if he isn’t, but the concept of a friendly rivalry in this house isn’t easy for you to grasp just yet.

“You’ll get used to it, don’t worry,” Eric reassures when he recognizes the thoughtful look in your eyes.

His easygoing smile lessens your worries until Juyeon and Jaehyun enter the house laughing. You guess not all fights are fueled by anger. You have a lot to learn.

Day 12 [18]

It’s mid-afternoon and you are just getting up from a nap when you sense someone approaching your door. You can tell they aren’t Sangyeon, getting a faint inkling but finding it hard to place exactly who it is. They knock and you crack the door, fully opening it when you spot a friendly face.

“Hey, Haknyeon,” you chirp, voice a bit higher than usual in your surprise.

“Hey! I know we haven’t talked in a bit, but I've been working on something. Wanna see?”

He gives you an expectant grin, hands clasped in front of him as he bounces his shoulders up and down. Excitement bursts from every pore in him, gleaming in his eyes as he awaits your reply. How can you say no to a face like that?

“Yeah, I’d love to!”

“Okay, follow me,” he gasps out, turning on his heel.

Haknyeon leads you into one of the rooms downstairs, and you discover that it has been repurposed as a place for him to sew and mend clothes. There are shelves full of fabrics and materials, a clothes rack with some finished, some unfinished pieces. There’s even an antique looking mannequin situated in front of the window, backlit by natural light.

“Do you like it?” He asks, approaching the mannequin and smoothing down the loose fabric that’s been draped over it.

“Is that… for me?!”

“Yeah, remember when you told me and Hoon about your favorite color? I started making this for you so you’d have something to wear that actually fits.”

“You remembered?” You’re absolutely touched that such a simple thing stuck with him so much.

Haknyeon smiles warmly. “Of course I did. And now, I just need your measurements so I can finish,” he explains as he fiddles around in a messy drawer, producing a roll of measuring tape. “If that’s okay with you.”

“Sure. I've never gotten fitted for anything, though,” you admit, just as taken aback as you are extremely flattered.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll guide you through it, okay?”

You nod, becoming bashful once he approaches you and asks for you to raise your arms so that they are parallel with the floor. The process doesn’t take long and Haknyeon’s directions are easy to follow, but there is one thing that continues to bother you.

“Why do you keep laughing?” You mumble.

Your arms are still spread out as he measures from your shoulder to your waist, standing behind you with the roll of tape between his teeth. His laughter is muffled by the object, but you can still hear it every once in a while.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he giggles out, gently lowering your arms so that they dangle at your sides. “It’s just kinda funny, y’know?”

Your eyebrows come together and you turn your head over your shoulder to look at him in all of your puzzlement. “How is it funny?”

“It just is.” He swats at the air dismissively and takes down your measurements in a journal kept on his work desk.

What a strange guy…

“So, you’re the one that puts together all of the torn up clothes around here?” You ask after a beat, hands busy playing with some silky fabric you find sticking out of a nearby cubby.

“That’s me! It keeps me busy day and night, and I love it,” he tells you absentmindedly, walking over to place a few pins in the mannequin.“Do you know how to sew?”

You shake your head and then, realizing he isn’t looking your way, tell him, “No. Never got the opportunity to learn. You’d think they’d teach you practical stuff like that in school, but no.”

His head swivels in your direction. “I could teach you! If you want, I mean.”

“Yeah, I’d really like that actually. Seems like a good way to take your mind off of things, and I really need something like that right now.”

“Well, shop’s open all hours if you ever want to stop by,” he responds in a tone that tells you he recognizes your small cry for reassurance.

“Thanks.”

Haknyeon offers you a seat in a comfortable, beige colored chair, and you watch as he finishes pinning everything in place. His movements are very precise, eyes narrowing so that he can place each and every pin in the perfect spot. It’s silent as he does this— not accounting for the near constant noises that flow from every nook and cranny in the house—until he begins humming.

A sweet tune that sounds almost familiar, but you can’t place where you’ve heard it when you try. Your focus goes to the window, a scene so serene. The sunlight streams through gaps between tree branches and scatters light in different places in the grassy clearing. A distant river glimmers as it moves. Birds fly around, dancing in the sky only to swoop down and chase one another.

You like to think that they’re playing some sort of game, every living thing always having pursuit for amusement. Your hand cradles your chin, body twisting in the chair so that you can properly take it all in. Some time between looking out the window and Haknyeon’s humming ceasing, you are reminded that you haven’t seen much of Chanhee in these last handful of days.

He’s barely turned up for dinner and you haven’t been inclined to visit the sun room lately, so wrapped up in training and keeping yourself away from Changmin’s range that you had almost forgotten his existence entirely. The notion seems a little rude when you think about it, but then again, there are so many people in this house. Still, you find your thoughts shifting completely to Chanhee, wondering what he’s been up to.

The first person you’ve come to trust here, ever so elusive.

“Alright, this is kind of what it’ll look like when it’s done!”

Haknyeon’s announcement draws your attention from the window, to where he is standing with his hands out, presenting his work to you. Honestly, it looks very similar to how it did before he adjusted it to your size, but the attention to detail and his own bubbling excitement brings a genuine smile to your face.

“Looks great,” you tell him, getting up to take a closer look.

“Glad you think so. I’ll have it done fairly soon. Eric’s been tearing up a ton of clothes lately, so I have to mend those too. I swear, that guy does it just for the hell of it.”

Haknyeon’s face scrunches up in mild frustration and you can’t stop your laughter from slipping out. He is just so adorable to you, all lighthearted and bright.

“Do you think I could come here more often?” You ask, out of the blue.

“Of course, you’re welcome any time,” Haknyeon responds so quickly you think he’s read your mind.

You nod, slightly out of it. “Thanks.”

“Whatever’s on your mind, you can talk to me about it if you want.”

His words shock you, throwing you off and leaving you speechless for a moment. You want to ask how he knows that you’ve been preoccupied, but the answer seems obvious; you aren’t exactly the most aloof person. You’ve never been able to keep your heart from creeping onto your sleeve, and the elevated emotions you are still trying to get control of make that quality all the more present now.

A sigh. “I appreciate that, but I think I’m okay. Just have to deal with a couple things.”

“Alright. Well, have fun, I guess.” A small giggle punctuates his statement.

And then you are waving from the doorway before heading off in the direction of the sun room, feeling just the tiniest bud of guilt bloom within you. You wish you had gotten to spend more time with Haknyeon, but something is pulling you to Chanhee. You’re worried about him all of a sudden, and you aren’t sure if it’s just unaccounted for nerves, or if your intuition has sharpened along with your other senses.

—

“I don’t want any company right now,” is what you hear upon tapping on the door.

Tentatively, you push it open and poke your head in. “What if I want your company?”

Your cheeky reply grants a heavy eye roll, but Chanhee makes no move to shoo you when you step in and shut the door. He sits in his usual spot at the small table, an elbow leaned against the surface to support the weight of his head. His posture is odd, back curved with his legs to his chest and his heels on the edge of his chair. He looks small, you notice. Small and inordinately vulnerable.

As you take a seat on the other side of the table, you contemplate whether or not you should say something. You want to test the waters, but there’s a feeling that fills the room with something unequivocally melancholic. It’s enough to make your heart rate slow and your muscles unwind into a heap of mush.

The sunny weather directly outside of the large windows juxtaposes with the cloudy atmosphere inside in a thunderous clash of moods. You study Chanhee, what you can see of him with his face behind his hand, and wonder what is going on with him. Wonder if you should really be here while he’s in such a gloomy state.

“You haven’t been eating with everyone lately. I missed you,” you state bluntly, not wanting to garnish your words too much.

“Is that all you came here to say?”

Chanhee shifts, arm lying flat on the table so that he can get a good look at you. His eyes are tired and glossy. You wonder how long he’s been awake. Can almost feel the way his brain burns within his skull, tension building up behind his temples.

“I don’t know. I didn’t come here to say anything, really. Just wanted to check on you…”

He makes a hmph sound and doesn’t respond, but he keeps his eyes on you nevertheless. You feel inclined to say something more, to offer your help—but what can you really do for him? It’s apparent that he doesn’t take kindly to being babied. You’ve known his type before, somebody who pulls away from the warmth of a helping hand shoved directly in his face. You’ll have to get creative if you want to spend time with him and dive deeper into your acquaintanceship.

“So, do you just hide out here all the time?”

“No, I have one other place I go when I want to get away from everything else.”

You don’t respond, letting him make the decision on whether or not he wants to reveal his secret hiding place to you. Your eyes go to the window, once again getting lost in the interactive art installation that is nature. Minutes pass in silence, with Chanhee’s gaze still on you, with you not daring to look back at him. Finally, he shifts in his seat and you glance his way to find him on his feet.

“I’ll show you.”

—

A thin river flows through jagged rocks amongst the grass and flowers in the clearing, not too far from the house. The soft pinks and blues of the sky make the moving surface appear as though it is made up of water colors, dancing with the light of a slowly dying sun. Chanhee sits with his legs crossed near the edge, and you beside him. The moment you saw the river, you were taken back to the first day you met the man.

That story he told you about awakening his curse; why would he like to go here? You don’t say a thing, just study the side of his face as he looks out at the dimming sky, a forest of trees below almost cradling the orange sun.

“You’re wondering why we’re here, of all places, right?”

He’s as sharp as ever. You nod. He doesn’t see, gaze still fixated on the skyline, but still he proceeds.

“I started coming here to try to get over everything. Like exposure therapy, I guess.” Chanhee sighs. “It didn’t work, but I kept coming anyway. I’ve spent so much time here that that nasty, guilty feeling is numbed almost all the way, so it’s almost soothing. I guess it’s like visiting a grave or a shrine in a way.”

“That’s dark,” you breathe, still looking at him, and he turns to look at you, to give you the ghost of a smile.

“It is. But not everyone can walk around naming bugs and giggling like they don’t have secrets of their own.”

“Sounds like somebody’s gotten on your nerves,” you comment, scooting closer to your counterpart. “I’m not trying to be nosey but you’ve really piqued my curiosity now.”

A dry chuckle. “I don’t think it’s in my best interest to spill my guts to someone who hasn’t told me a thing about themselves.”

“Fine then. Ask me something—anything. I trust that you aren’t the gossiping type.”

Chanhee raises an eyebrow at this. “Really? I can ask you anything and you’ll tell me the truth? You promise?”

Before you can begin to hesitate, you agree. Although you don’t see him much, you’ve grown to trust Chanhee, and today you realized that you do care for him more than you once thought. You have nothing to lose at this point in time anyway. It’s not like he’ll track down your friends or colleagues just to tell them something embarrassing. And even if he did… there’s little to no chance you’d ever know.

This is your life now. This is your home. And the man that sits beside you is your friend, perhaps.

“Alright then… How did you awaken the curse?”

—

A myriad of emotions are stirred up during your talk with Chanhee, and even after a long period of thoughtful silence and the calming walk back to the house, fragments of your shame and guilt still speckle you internally. You find yourself in the kitchen, sitting on the cold, tiled floor with a weight in your gut and your head tilted back against the refrigerator. The sun has fully set now, the moon glowing forebodingly outside of the large window next to the pantry.

“Hey, uh, whatcha doing down there? I need to get a popsicle if that’s okay.”

You glance over to the island where Eric leans his hip against its edge, chin tilted downward to give you a curious look.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” you breathe, slowly rising to your feet and slouching against the other side of the fridge.

Eric grabs two popsicles from the bottom drawer of the freezer and slams the door, casually unwrapping one and offering it to you. You look from his hand to his face and zone out for a moment, until you feel him slowly place the stick into one of your hands. You flinch, it falls to the floor, both of you look down at the broken, green bar, and you let out a loud sniffle.

“It’s okay!” Eric immediately says, passing you the other, fully wrapped treat and grabbing the broken one from the floor. “You can have that one and I’ll eat this one! It’s nothing to cry about, I promise.”

You sniffle again and nod, wanting to laugh as you watch your friend start gnawing on the most likely dirty popsicle. But your emotions are so high and not even Eric can pull you out of them, so you cry. The building tears in your eyes roll down your cheeks and you stutter on an inhale, trying to calm this sudden rush of everything at once.

“… This isn’t about the popsicle, is it?”

You shake your head with a small smile. “No.”

“Okay. Let’s go hang out.” It sounds like more of a question than a statement, and you’re confused because in all the time you’ve been here, nobody’s ever asked you to ‘hang out’. It’s always been either you lingering around someone or completing a task alongside them, but never an invitation so friendly and casual.

You think this is why you agree and follow him upstairs without hesitation.

“Whoa,” you mutter once Eric opens his bedroom door and lets you in ahead of him.

“Is that a good ‘whoa’ or a bad ‘whoa’?” He questions as he hastily grabs a remote and turns on a colorful lamp in the corner. “I haven’t gotten to show anybody my room in forever! Look at this poster Kevin printed out for me last week!”

A smile comes to your face when you take in the image of some sports guy printed on computer paper and hung within a frame. Eric is undoubtedly proud of it and you are easily endeared because you’ve come to understand that he’s very passionate about everything in his life. You love that about him. You love that even when you are feeling a bit numb, he has enough energy to fill the room for the both of you.

Your eyes continue to wander around this new space, and you realize that you’ve never seen any of their actual bedrooms before. You come to the conclusion that this room is very eclectic, and unmistakably Eric. There’s a skateboard mounted on the wall, a shelf full of manga, then on the shelf below are study materials; textbooks for all kinds of stuff. And he has many small trinkets that are all so interestingly unique.

What shocks you the most is how clean it is, as well as how everything seems to have its own carefully chosen place so that it can all be displayed well. You wonder how his mind works, how much lies under the playful surface of your friend.

“You can chill on the beanbag, or the bed, or whatever’s comfortable to you. I even have secret snacks, but they’re secret so don’t tell anybody,” Eric announces once you’ve gotten the full tour.

You agree to this, finding a nice spot in the beanbag and stifling a laugh about how serious he is about his snacks. It feels a little strange to be in any room other than your own, but it’s just unfamiliarity, you suppose. You definitely like this space, having felt at ease ever since you walked in. And Eric is quite the tentative host, keeping the energy up and peppering you with easygoing conversation.

You ask about his manga collection at one point and he springs up from his spot on the bed to grab one off the shelf and pass it to you. “You can read it if you want.” So you do.

It doesn’t take long and the storyline isn’t that interesting, but it’s nice to get a little lost in something for a while. As you take in this new world, illustrated by powerful, inky images, Eric is humming and playing with a Rubik’s cube. One of his legs is kicked up against the wall beside his bed and his head dangles off the edge, the object held above his face as he concentrates.

“How are you so entertained by that?” You question, setting the thin book to the side.

“It’s a whole thing. I’ll show you! Come here.”

Eric moves to make room, flipping over so that you can lie on your stomach next to him. He shows you the basic premise of the cube and explains his strategies, then he laughs when you get frustrated upon trying it for yourself. Your eyebrows furrow and you groan when you can’t manage to get the little boxes to line up with the corresponding colors.

“Okay, no more Rubik’s cube, you’re getting a little too angry over there,” Eric chuckles out, gently pulling the puzzle from your grasp.

You frown at this and fold your arms, resting your head against them. Silence follows, the comfortable kind, for a moment until you turn your head to the side.

“Hey, Eric?”

“What’s up?”

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure.” He moves to mirror you, giving you his full attention as he can tell that the tone has switched to something more earnest.

“Well… Lately, I’ve been feeling a little weird about everything going on in the house.” You choose your words carefully, hoping that he will catch on and tell you what he knows about the Changmin situation. But he turns out to be surprisingly just as affected by it as you.

“Yeah, I noticed that. I don’t know what it’s about, but I feel like the older guys are keeping something from everyone else, y’know?”

You let out a huge sigh, your previously rigid body melting into the surface below. “Thank goodness. I thought I was going crazy.” A pause. “You know, Jacob’s really good at convincing people they’re worried over nothing.” You don’t realize how affected you are about it until your words come out in an unexpectedly sad tone.

Eric frowns. “I’m sorry. I know you’re super close with Jacob, but trust me when I say he wouldn’t keep things from you or me if it wasn’t important.”

You hum. “I know. It just sucks. I feel like I’ve gotten to the bottom of everything, but I’m just missing a small piece. It’s frustrating.”

Eric perks up when you say this. “What? How do you know more about what’s going on than me?” He chuckles afterward, but you can tell that he’s heavily invested in your findings.

“I’ve been asking questions lately,” you start,”about Changmin… And every time I do, I never get a straightforward answer. I almost can't even be around Jacob right now because I know he’s lying to me. Or, I guess, withholding. And it hurts. It makes me feel like I can’t trust him, or anyone for that matter!”

“Yeah, I know what you mean—at least a little bit. I’m the youngest, so they never trust me with any important information like that. I feel left out a lot of the time, which I guess is why I try so hard to one-up everyone on the things they’re good at. Like at practice: I train on my own just to improve my times so that, hopefully, one day I’ll be able to beat Juyeon or Jaehyun. I don’t know what would happen then, if it would change the way the rest of them see me, but it’s something to keep me motivated I think.”

“I’m sorry,” you say, and you reach over to pat his head.

Eric smiles and shrugs a little. “You have to find something to keep you going, Y/N. Everyone does. And mine is competing against the others… What’s yours?”

You pause for a long while but can’t come up with anything quite yet. “I’ll think about it, and I’ll tell you once I find out.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need any help with that, alright?”

You nod, a smile making its way to your face. The two of you talk like this well into the night, lying on your stomachs with your feet hanging off the edge of the bed. Words get quieter and quieter until you fall asleep in the middle of a conversation, unaware that the sun has already begun to rise.

Day 13 [17]

“Younghoon was wondering where you were last night,” Kevin mumbles over the rim of his coffee—or is it tea? You arrived in the kitchen after he sat down with it; after everyone had made their rounds in the pantry for their after-lunch-but-before-dinner snacks—cup.

You stare at him and his mug, the handle supported between two fingers in a balance. You think this adds to his pragmatic, mysterious image, and you wonder if it’s all theatrics or if he really acts this way without effort.

“Younghoon was asking about me? Why?” Your voice is a tad gravelly, still half asleep after waking up with a start when Eric threw his arm out in his sleep and smacked you in the head.

“I dunno. He said you weren’t in your room. He went to check on you or something.”

Strange, you think to yourself, noting that you haven’t had many conversations with the man, so why was he wondering about you?

“He was just being nice,” Kevin supplies, seemingly attuned to your inner monologue. “Said he felt some kind of disturbance in your force or whatever yesterday.” He chuckles lightly after this, one hand coming to hold the bottom of his cup. Cradling it closer to his face, the warm steam billowing up and caressing his fine contours.

“Oh, I see.”

You don’t elaborate on what exactly caused the so-called ‘disturbance in your force’, but you do find a light smile developing on your face at the thought. Someone else cares about you; isn’t that nice? Still, on the other hand, you almost feel… Is embarrassed the right word? For putting out such strong feelings whenever you aren’t in a great mood.

It’s like your emotions are copied and pasted onto a billboard for the whole house to see. You wonder if that’s something you will learn to control. You don’t sense it much from the others, especially Younghoon, so there’s got to be some kind of trick for shielding your emotions from the others.

“Mindfulness,” is the answer you receive when Younghoon bumps into you later on.

After going through the motions of greeting one another, he asks how you’ve been, tells you exactly what Kevin shared over the rim of his ceramic mug. That conversation takes on an amusing tone quickly when you explain that you were with Eric—No, not with Eric, just… Seriously, platonically sleeping on the same bed. It’s a long story!

Younghoon’s kind eyes and soft tone ease you into a calmer, less frantic state. Soon, you’re able to fall into conversation about the usual things that go on in this house. You don’t have the energy to ask about Changmin, so you let the topics shift naturally as you get comfortable on the living room sofa.

“You’re pretty new to all this, but you seem like you’re already attuned to a lot of things.” A light smile.

“You really think so?” You guffaw. “I feel like I learn a thousand things about Werewolves every day… And I still can't figure out one thing.”

“Well maybe I could help,” Younghoon offers, gesturing for you to continue from his curled up position on the opposite side of the sofa.

“Hmm. I don’t know how to phrase it correctly, but I feel like I have this sixth sense for knowing when someone is near me. And it’s not the energy thing, it’s… Different and I can’t figure it out!”

An eyebrow quirks up in your direction. “I don’t know what you mean. Could you give me an example of this,” air quotes, “‘sixth sense’?”

You feel more than a little silly but go along with his request. “Okay, so the other day when Juyeon was on his way into the kitchen, I knew it was him. And it wasn’t because of his energy, I still can’t quite separate anyone other than Sangyeon’s. But I just knew. And it only happens with people I’m more familiar with… so, yeah.”

Younghoon’s eyes wander around the room, he looks at you, cracks a smile and then tries to bite it back. “My love… I think you’re talking about your sense of smell. You can differentiate people from a distance by smell because you have the nose of a Wolf now.”

You feel as though you burst into flames, and being on the receiving end of that forbearing look only makes the embarrassment kick up a few notches. How didn’t you realize that sooner? Of course it’s your heightened sense of smell, what the hell else would it be?

You bury your face in your hands. Younghoon chuckles fondly.

“Don’t worry about it. I mean, they don’t teach these things in schools, how were you supposed to know?”

You look up at him. “So far, almost everything I’ve seen in Werewolf movies has been true, but I somehow forgot the most obvious, cliche thing.” He chuckles again. “What?”

“Nothing. I just think that those campy romances being the most accurate source of Werewolf knowledge is kind of hilarious, don’t you think?”

You smile, hands falling into your lap. “Yeah, it is pretty funny.”

“If only they knew…”

—

“Come in,” you call before Sangyeon can even knock.

You aren’t surprised by him visiting you, but you weren’t exactly expecting his arrival either. He enters your room and you watch him closely, noticing that he’s being cautious around you once again. Something’s going on with him but you can’t tell what.

“I’d like to have a talk with you, if that’s alright,” he says, after seating himself on the edge of your bed.

“Sure. What about?”

He inhales slowly before sighing through his nose. “I want to talk to you about Changmin.”

Finally.

“Good,” you respond before you can stop yourself. “I mean—“

“No, no. That’s a valid response.I know you’ve been feeling antsy lately, and it’s not fair to keep you in the dark about the situation.”

“Which is?”

His lips pull into a thin line, hands clasped on his lap. You feel his demeanor turn more serious. The hairs on the back of your neck rise and you become stiff with a foreboding kind of innervation.

“There’s something wrong with him. Ever since the full moon, he’s been more aggressive than ever… At first, we thought he was just being territorial and holding a grudge because of your fight, but it’s like he isn’t himself anymore. Sometimes we’ll get glimpses of the regular Changmin, but most of the time, it feels like he's miles away.”

You take a moment to let his words sink in, and you get the feeling that Sangyeon and you may be on the same wavelength about this whole thing. “Has this kind of thing happened before?”

“Not that I know of. I’m getting in contact with another pack, but in the meantime, he’s going to be more heavily supervised.”

“So… He’s going to be okay?”

Sangyeon turns to you with a sad smile, a glossy quality to his eyes as he places a hand atop yours. “We’re figuring it out.” A sigh. “We’re working on ways to calm him down currently. Changmin’s always been territorial and more on the angry side. That, along with the fight you guys had, is probably making his instincts go crazy. He senses you and immediately thinks ‘danger, threat, et cetera’… But that doesn’t mean he hates you.”

You try to make your nod convincing, holding back words that would only express the opposite.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that we are getting to the bottom of things, and I know he will calm down soon. For now though, it’s gonna be a little rough, but you are protected.”

“Okay.” That’s fucking terrifying. “But how do I know that’s true? I haven’t felt safe at all lately.”

He lets out a long sigh, shifting in place and running his free hand through his messy, blond hair. “I’m sorry you don’t feel safe, I sincerely am, but I’m doing everything in my power to try and make things better before I have to take serious measures.”

You want to ask him what that entails, but the gloomy expression and energy he gives off when he says this is enough to tell you that it’s nothing good. Nothing you want to hear right now, because it’ll only deepen the pool of guilt within you.

“It must be hard,” you find yourself whispering. Sangyeon turns his head to acknowledge you, and you stack another hand atop his, enveloping his hand between yours. “Being in charge of the pack, I mean.”

“It’s difficult sometimes, but it feels right, y’know? When you’re an Alpha, you naturally feel the need to take care of your pack, and doing that fulfills me. But it also hurts so much worse when one of them is in pain or going through something I can’t figure out.”

Sangyeon’s honest words make a lot of sense to you. They clear away the messy brush that’s grown around the truth you’ve been searching for, revealing not an answer, but a motive. You understand how he’s feeling and can guess why he and the others haven’t been as forthcoming as you would have liked. But it’s also starting to sound as though there is no big secret at all.

Well, other than the pack not knowing what’s happening with Changmin. And learning this doesn’t quell your worries at all. If anything, it makes them grow, and your urge to flee increases alongside it. For now, though, you save the rush of worry and confusion for later. For the first time since you became a Werewolf, you are able to compartmentalize, and you use that sudden control to continue this conversation with Sangyeon.

There’s just something about the man that makes you feel as though you can trust him. Maybe that’s why you are able to hold your tongue and think before speaking. You aren’t as temperamental as Sunwoo by any means, but you do have a hard time keeping your thoughts from tumbling out of your mouth when confronted with strong emotion.

“I’m sorry this is happening,” you finally say, after a long pause. “I’m sorry you’re in pain… But, if you’re getting in contact with another pack and doing your best, an answer should come soon, right? And then a solution?”

He nods stiffly. “I can only hope. For his sake, and yours. I feel like I’m being pulled in two different directions when I think about the two of you.”

“How so?”

“Well, I want to do everything I can to treat Changmin as humanely as possible and get him back to his usual self, but… When I think about you and the way I can feel your fear when he’s around—or even when somebody mentions him—I want to make sure he can’t get within a mile’s reach of you. I feel protective over the both of you, but naturally those feelings conflict.”

You shake your head from side to side. “You don’t have to treat me like I’m a member of the pack, Sangyeon. I could leave tomorrow and never come back, and I haven’t even decided if I accept your offer to join. You don’t have to worry about me just yet.”

He turns to you with a small smile. “‘Yet’? You’re being all tough but your words reveal your true intentions.”

“Maybe,” you admit. “I do feel the urge to stay here. Over going to prison, I mean… But feral Changmin is quite the dealbreaker.”

“I see.” His shoulders sink and his gaze returns to the floor.

“That’s just how it is.”

“Well, if it means anything to you, I’d like it if you stayed. And if you do wake up one morning and decide to leave, do let me and Jacob know. I want to make sure you’re prepared for the outside world, and I think it’d break his heart if you just disappeared. If you haven’t noticed, Jacob has the biggest soft spot for you.”

“It’s probably because I go out to the garden with him.” You find yourself relaxing where you sit, releasing the bedspread you unknowingly had clutched in your fists. “You know, he told me that none of you ever go out there with him. That’s so sad.”

Sangyeon bellows a hardy chuckle, sitting up from his slouched position to openly grin at you. “Hey, it’s not my fault nobody else likes that stuff. After hearing about animals and insects with everchanging names for years, it gets old. And most of us would rather run around than stay put when we’re outdoors.”

“I guess that makes sense. But you can’t even sacrifice one afternoon every once in a while to go with him? He seems so lonely when he talks about it.” You find yourself frowning when speaking of the image of Jacob in his garden, unaccustomed by a friend that you’ve created in your mind.

“Well then, that’s where you come in, right?”

You click your teeth and roll your eyes, but the conversation is warm and pleasant, taking a sharp turn from the previous topic. You haven’t spoken so comfortably around Sangyeon before, and you find yourself getting lost in a dialogue that spans for nearly an hour before you both hear someone calling the two of you downstairs for a meal. Slightly grateful that you’ve been rescued from hearing another terrible Dad joke, you jump up and urge Sangyeon to do the same.

“Why so excited? Have you not eaten yet today?” He questions as he slowly rises from his place at the end of your bed.

“No, I have, but I’m hungry again,” you half-lie.

“Well, you know what they say about a Werewolf’s diet,” he begins, but never gets the chance to deliver his punchline because you are already flying down the staircase.

“Sorry, Sangyeon,” you whisper, not knowing if he can hear your apology or not.

The closer you get to the kitchen, the more heavenly the food smells. For now, your worries are set aside for later, tossed into the pantry to become a late night snack in the face of a large spread laid out on the dinner table.

Day 14 [16]

You are absentmindedly talking to Jacob about some things you learned from Juyeon and Eric when your friend stills in place. His back goes ramrod straight, eyes widened. The tone in the living room doesn’t shift, more so snaps in an instant. Suddenly, you feel a white hot pain in the back of your head. You’ve been tackled to the floor. Jacob’s above you. Shifting into his Wolf form.

Confusion and terror don’t so much as grip you, but curl around you until you realize what is happening all at once. Eric is yelling something, and then he is growling and you watch as he grapples with another Wolf, falling onto the floor not too far away. Jacob groans and rolls off of you, shrinking into his human form again to reveal a long gash that runs from his shoulder blade, diagonally across his back.

You are completely frozen, halfway sitting up as you stare at all of the blood. It just keeps coming, running down his sides and soaking the carpet beneath him. There is a commotion to your left, where Eric and the Wolf landed, but all you can focus on is Jacob.

A soft voice in your ear. Haknyeon calmly tells you, “It’s okay,” and hoists Jacob up into his arms, bringing him down the hall.

Changmin, now back to his human form, is thrown into the basement by Eric and Jaehyun, after Sangyeon shifts into his Wolf form and lets out a loud growl that causes everyone to flinch back and cower. You even find yourself curling up in fear, and then remaining in that position for a while.

The basement is where they keep the more feral members when it’s nearing time for the full moon, or when they’re misbehaving. Juyeon told you this a few days ago when you inquired about the locked door beside the living room. You are left sitting on the floor, unable to comprehend the fact that Changmin just tried to kill you and Jacob saved you.

“C’mon. Let’s go check on him,” you hear and look up to see Juyeon extending a hand for you to take.

Hesitantly, you grab it and he pulls you up off of the floor, grabbing you by the waist when you nearly collapse on your buckling knees. “What?”

“Jacob. You need to see that he’s okay or you’re gonna lose it,” Juyeon says knowingly.

When you arrive at a room you aren’t familiar with, you spot Sangyeon inside, talking calmly with Haknyeon and Chanhee. Jacob is lying on his stomach atop a table, covered from the waist down with a blanket. A large bandage covers the wound on his back. You gulp when you see your friend, but Juyeon ushers you in nevertheless, Haknyeon sending you a warm smile.

“Is he okay?” You ask shakily, staring at Jacob's face. He appears to be unconscious and he’s extremely pale.

“Yes, he’ll be fine in a couple of days, thanks to fast healing. But are you okay?” Sangyeon replies.

“I’m fine-“

“You’re not,” Chanhee chides, and you sigh.

“You’re supposed to feel safe here and one of our own tried to attack you, ending up with him attacking his own pack member. That’s not okay,” Sangyeon says, voice firm, but you can tell that he is very stressed out.

“I should go back to the city.”

“No. There's still so much you need to learn,” Sangyeon immediately denies.

“I'll be fine. I know enough.” You stand, sure in your decision.

Only bad things have happened since you arrived. Hell, you might not have even wound up here if it wasn’t for your initial fight with Changmin. You feel sick when you think of all that has transpired within this group—this family, as a product of you. It’s only right for you to receive the punishments of the mundane world for your actions, isn’t it?

Juyeon takes you by the shoulders and looks you in the eyes, his gaze penetrating. Your lungs flatten and it feels as though you haven’t breathed in minutes. “Why do you want to go? Because you feel like you’re causing trouble? Because you feel responsible for what happened to Jacob?” Your lip wobbles. “If you feel responsible, you need to stay and learn how to fight for yourself. Otherwise you’ll be as good as dead. Or worse.”

You are near tears now. “W-worse?”

“You’ll end up becoming like Changmin, but more violent. You'll end up killing people and other Wolves. The life of an Omega is lonely and will leave you soulless,” Haknyeon interjects, surprising you as well as Juyeon. He still keeps eye contact with you though. “We're not saying this to threaten you or make you feel trapped. We’re saying this because we don’t want to have to end up killing you.”

Your blood runs cold. “You would k-kill me?”

Juyeon looks away and his grasp on your shoulders falls. You look over at Haknyeon and see his head bowed. Sangyeon has his eyes closed, a solemn expression pulling at his features. You look to Chanhee.

“If you went off and became a feral Omega that killed on a whim, yes. We would have to put you down because that’s how we keep order here. If you put the lives of innocent people or our pack members at risk, that’s what happens.”

You don’t get a wink of sleep that night.

#ficscafe #tbz #the boyz #angst #fluff #the boyz oneshots #eric sohn #jaehyun #juyeon #sunwoo #kevin moon #jacob bae #younghoon #sangyeon #changmin #chanhee #ju haknyeon #fanfiction #peach.pen #tdw

28 notes · View notes

julek · 3 years

Text

a humble offering to @west-moor and @kueble, for bringing this post to life. they’re very dumb, your honor. | read on ao3

It starts at dinner one night.

They settled in a few days ago, bringing the ice cold from the mountains and the snow with them, after trudging up the Killer for two weeks. They sit at the wooden table and before them stands Vesemir’s famous roast, the one Geralt had told Jaskier all about.

Geralt helps himself to some potatoes, and gestures to Jaskier’s plate. “You want some?”

Before Jaskier can nod, Lambert cuts him off. “Darling,” he says with a pointed tone.

Geralt turns to him, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “What?”

“You seemed to have forgotten you were speaking to your bard, there,” Lambert quips, and sits back with a knowing smirk. “Just wanted to help you out.”

Geralt blinks. “Uh.”

Jaskier notices the way he’s frozen in place, and gently touches his forearm, ignoring Lambert’s non-sequitur. “I’d love some, Geralt. Thank you.”

“Uh,” Geralt repeats, and doesn’t take his eyes off Lambert as he fills Jaskier’s plate. “Sure.”

Jaskier pads into the kitchen the next morning, eyes still fuzzy with sleep and an old, worn woolen sweater hanging off his shoulder. Geralt looks up from his bowl of kasha and smiles.

“Morning,” Jaskier mumbles, and sits down at the table.

“Good morning.”

The shout comes from the pantry, followed by the unmistakable sound of pans and cups clattering. “Morning, honey!”

Jaskier narrows his eyes, and looks at Geralt for help. He shakes his head. “Um. Hi?”

Out of the pantry walks Lambert, hands full of baking ingredients, a flour scar crossing his cheek. “How’d ya sleep, sweetheart?”

Jaskier decidedly does not blush a bright shade of red. He doesn’t. “Well, that’s just— thank you, Lambert, for asking. I slept well, even though this keep’s freezing cold and my bed was entirely too big for one fragile bard such as myself.”

Lambert frowns. “What do you mean, too big? You’re not sharing with Geralt?”

Geralt chokes on his kasha, momentarily. Jaskier snorts and shakes his head. “No, I’m staying in the east wing.”

“Ah,” Lambert says, a wolfish grin on his face as he ties the apron behind his back. “That’s… interesting.”

He shoots Geralt a look that’s there a second and gone the next, and Jaskier would’ve missed it, if not for the developed skill of observing Witchers and their fleeting emotions. Still, it’s a look he can’t decipher, a mix of amusement and mischief. Best not to find out, he decides.

“So, Lambert,” he starts, a touch louder than he should. “What’s that you’re making?”

Geralt had warned him, Jaskier thinks in retrospect, that Lambert was a bit weird. An acquired taste. And he is, Jaskier won’t deny it, but he’s also incredibly unpredictable — his gruff demeanor and rough disposition always, without fail, betray the sweet words that leave his mouth.

He’d been brushing the horses down when Lambert ruffled his hair and called him dear. Geralt nearly dropped his sword one morning, when Jaskier walked out onto the courtyards and Lambert called out hello, sunshine. On their way to the library to get absolutely smashed, a gentle touch to his elbow and little bird.

They’re all incredibly sweet, incredibly unexpected delicacies, and Jaskier doesn’t know what to make of them. Sure, Lambert isn’t horrible to look at in the slightest, what with the entire lean-body, scarred-face look he has going on, with the playful teasing and easy smiles he gets out of him. He’s objectively handsome, and funny, and kind, when he has to be, and Jaskier has let him know, many times. He hasn’t been exactly subtle in feeling his muscles through his linen shirts and sending looks his way whenever he’s said something salacious and tempting — signs so clear even the brother of one of the Continent’s most oblivious Witcher could read them. Which is why it’s so infuriatingly confusing, the fact that name-calling is all Lambert’s got for him.

And it’s not lost to him at all, the way Geralt frowns and fiddles with his medallion whenever Lambert lets a honey-sweet pet name slip. He doesn’t miss the way Geralt stubbornly looks straight ahead, focused on absolutely nothing at all, nor the way his mouth twitches, almost, almost resembling a pout.

It’s amusing, to say the least.

“Well, I’m off to bed, my wonderful friends,” Jaskier announces one night, after playing a few annoying renditions of Toss a Coin, until he got Eskel to break and beg him to stop.

The wolves say their goodbyes, and just as Jaskier’s about to leave the Great Hall, Lambert calls after him.

“Night, love,” he says, offhandedly, and continues his conversation with Eskel, as if nothing had happened.

Jaskier scans the room, and his eyes fall on Geralt, who’s trying very hard to remain seated, even when his knuckles are white and his leg is bouncing wildly enough to propel him into the night sky. His amber gaze follows Lambert’s movements and if Jaskier didn’t know better, he’d say Geralt was about to throttle his brother.

“Hmm.” He murmurs. “Goodnight, Lambert. Goodnight, Geralt.”

Jaskier smiles sweetly and leaves the room at a leisurely pace. He can feel Geralt’s eyes on his back.

One particularly chilly afternoon, Jaskier’s leaving the library when he hears voices that carry through the hall.

“Well? Gonna explain yourself?”

Oh, the middle-aged woman that lives inside Jaskier’s heart and loves to gossip jumps up and down in joy at the prospect of what seems to be a very interesting conversation. He slips out of the room and presses his back to the wall, even when he knows the Witchers could sense his presence. It’s more fun if there’s a risk to get caught, he reasons.

Lambert’s voice is low, and Jaskier can hear his smug smile as he says, “Well, you weren’t doing anything about it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Geralt’s voice echoes.

“It means, you thick-headed idiot,” Lambert drags the words out, like he’s speaking to a child. If Jaskier’s quiet, he can hear the way Geralt’s blood boils in his veins. “That you’ve been walking in circles for too long. Jaskier’s here.” At the mention of his name, the bard perks up.

“I know that, Lambert. I invited him. What’s that got to do with this— this sweet talking thing you’ve got going on? It’s weird. Creeps me out.”

“What? I can be decent when needs must!” Comes Lambert’s offended retort. “What I’m saying, pretty boy, is that he’s a good thing, the kind that Witchers never get to have. Not that you own him or anything— it’s just. He’s good, and he’s obviously waited for you to make a move, sometime in this past decade. He’s here, for fuck’s sake— in an old ruin in the middle of fucking nowhere, holed up with four Witchers and a goat, nothing else. Ain’t exactly a walk in the park.”

Jaskier stands very still, his heart beating out of his chest.

“Hmm. I still— I don’t deserve him.”

Lambert laughs. “Well, too bad, then. You can’t come to me with that self-deprecating shit, I’m not Eskel. But, fuck, if you don’t deserve him, who the fuck does? Certainly not me, but— I need you to listen very closely— he won’t wait forever. He might even settle for me, if you don’t make a move soon.”

“Ugh.”

“Yeah.”

Geralt’s footsteps echo down the hall, moving closer to Lambert, Jaskier thinks.

“You’ll stop with the pet names, then?”

Lambert laughs, again. “Absolutely not. It’s too fun seeing you get all hot and bothered.” He steps out of the room, thankfully, in the opposite direction, and calls out, “Don’t fuck it up!”

Jaskier lets out a breath and slides to the floor, gathering the new information in his brain. Geralt wants him. He wants him, and worst of all, thinks he’s undeserving — damn him and his humility. He lets out a laugh in disbelief.

Geralt wants him.

The next morning, when Jaskier walks into the kitchen, he’s greeted by a blushing Geralt.

“Hi,” Jaskier says, an amused smile curling his lips, and sits down at the table. “How are you this morning, dear?”

Geralt pushes a bowl in his direction, a bit too strongly. “Good.” He coughs. “Uh, I’m good… Sugar face.”

“Huh?” Jaskier stops mid-bite. He quickly regains his composure. “Um— that’s good, I’m glad, yeah.”

Geralt grimaces, and an awkward silence follows. Jaskier digs into his breakfast with more enthusiasm than necessary, until Lambert walks in, firewood under both arms.

“Lambert! Thank the Gods— I mean, uh, it’s so good to see you. It’s a bit chilly this morning, isn’t it? I’m sure you agree, what with coming straight from the great outdoors and such— I’m going to the library, if anyone needs me, uh, just,” he rambles as he washes his bowl, “just call. You know. My name. Jaskier the bard, ha— that’s me! Anyway, see you.”

He makes haste to leave the kitchen, and as he walks down the hall, he hears Lambert clicking his tongue.

“Fuck, Wolf, it’s not even mid-morning.”

Jaskier stays in the library until the sweet aroma of Vesemir’s stew reaches the room and his stomach rumbles pleasantly at the thought. Given the way he’d fled the kitchen, he wouldn’t be surprised if no one called him to lunch — they probably thought he was having some sort of stroke, with his word-vomiting and hurried escape. He’s just opened a new book when he hears a knock.

“Come in,” he says, voice steady.

The door opens, and sure enough, Geralt’s standing at the doorway, a sheepish smile on his face and a terribly endearing flush creeping up his neck.

“Hey, love,” Jaskier says, because it’s difficult to call him otherwise. “You okay?”

“Hmm.” Geralt walks over to his chair, and stands there awkwardly until Jaskier gestures to a bench next to him. “We’ll have lunch soon.”

Jaskier smiles. “I was just thinking about that. It’s stew, isn’t it? Oh, Vesemir spoils me so.”

“Thought you’d be hungry,” Geralt says, looking at his hands. “You left breakfast early.”

Jaskier pales, then lets out a nervous laugh. “Oh! Yes, well, I had suddenly remembered a book I just had to examine more closely, and—”

“Jaskier.”

Geralt’s looking at him now, and Jaskier closes his mouth, choosing to look back into his amber eyes and wait for whatever comes. Nothing does, for a while — they just stare at each other, waiting for the other to speak up. Finally, Geralt does.

“I invited you up here, to spend the winter with me,” he rasps, “because I couldn’t bear the thought of not being close to you, Jaskier, I— I can’t stand it.”

Jaskier’s heart breaks a little. “Geralt.”

“I should’ve asked you to come up here years ago. I wasn’t brave enough. Thought you’d hate the idea.” He grimaces.

“Geralt,” Jaskier repeats. “When you asked me to come here with you— you have no idea what it meant to me, knowing you still wanted my company. I couldn’t have been happier.”

Geralt sniffs and gives him a weak smile, his white hair falling on his face.

“I’m not good at this,” he says, and gestures vaguely at the space between them. “The whole…”

“Calling me disgustingly sweet and somewhat alarming pet names?”

Geralt nods.

“I know, dear heart.” Jaskier takes Geralt’s hands in his own. “I know, and I don’t expect you to.”

“I’d still like to call you something, though,” Geralt says, the tiniest hint of a pout on his lips. “Can’t let Lambert best me.”

Jaskier snorts. “So it’s all about honor, then?”

Geralt shakes his head. “It’s about you.”

And oh, he sounds so sincere, so open and fragile, Jaskier can’t find it in himself to tease him any further.

“You know what I loved the most about traveling to Kaer Morhen with you?”

A tiny frown knits Geralt’s brow. “What?”

“‘T was when we stopped in those hamlets, the ones that aren’t even on maps,” he murmurs. “Where you gather your supplies, where people know you and call you by your name. You know why?”

Geralt shakes his head.

“Because,” Jaskier whispers, bringing their foreheads together, “whenever they asked you about me, about who I was, your answer was always the same.”

He’s my bard, Geralt had said to the horse trader when they bought a mule. My bard, he’d answered, when the chatty shopkeeper had inquired about the colorful fellow trailing after him. My bard, he’d said with a shrug and a fond smile, as Jaskier and the tailor entwined themselves in an argument about fabrics and the season’s colors.

My bard.

“You always called me yours.”

Jaskier closes his eyes when he feels Geralt’s lips on his own, a soft, gentle thing. They move slowly, simply exploring — when they part, there are kisses being pressed to his cheeks, his brow, the corner of his mouth and his jaw.

Geralt smiles at him, and Jaskier smiles back, aware that they probably look like two lovesick fools staring at each other, but far too gone to care.

“I don’t need flowery names or honey-soaked terms of endearment,” Jaskier assures him. “Being called yours is more than enough.”

Geralt presses a kiss to his knuckles. “Hmm. Can’t go around claiming you as mine, though. ‘S a bit archaic.”

“Mm. You’re right. Love of my life, my moon and my stars should be enough, then. Rolls off the tongue, even.”

Geralt growls. “Jask.”

“Dearly beloved— no, that’s too formal— I’ve always been fond of Angel, though I doubt I’ve earned that title.”

Geralt kisses him again, and Jaskier half-suspects it’s less about the tender gesture and more about shutting him up.

“I’ll think of more, you know. You can’t distract me with kisses forever.”

Geralt huffs a laugh. “Okay.” He pecks his cheek. “Bard.”

“Yours,” Jaskier says smugly.

Before Geralt can open his mouth, the library door swings open.

“Fucking finally, Geralt! We’re all so very happy for this revelation, way to go, and all that.” He clasps his hands together. “Now, you both need to get your asses to lunch, otherwise Vesemir will kick you out. Jaskier, baby, please be grossly in love with Geralt later.”

Geralt groans. “Fuck off, Lambert.”

He leaves with a cackle. Jaskier smooths out his doublet, gets up and holds his hand out to Geralt. He grins.

“You coming, sugar face?”

#mywriting #geraskier fanfic #geralt x jaskier #fair warning this turned out way softer than i intended. it's geraskier tenderness hours #also it largely does not make sense #like. at all #hope y'all like it still!#this was fun #also yes there are only two locations at kaer morhen they’re the kitchen and the library. no i do not take criticism

847 notes · View notes

therealvinelle · 3 years

Note

Are the Cullen's and Denali's even close? They sort of remind me of that movie character who has no friends at school but gets along with one (1) person and so consider them their best friend. Also, it's weird that both covens have characters who are basically the same personality trope just a slightly different version. Like Esme and Carmen, Eleazar and Carlisle, even Kate and Rosalie to an extent. And they've known the Cullen's for how many decades? And they were totally cool with letting them die because they weren't allowed to kill the wolves who were protecting Edward's (unmated, looking for love for the past century Edward!) human girlfriend/ proclaimed mate?

No, they’re not.

In Eclipse they had no problem leaving the Cullens to their miserable deaths. Carlisle wouldn’t let them butcher the shapeshifters (their motive for wanting this: the shapeshifters protected Edward’s mate from an attacking vampire. According to the Denali, this makes the vampire the victim, and he should be avenged), and Tanya said “then perish.”

Let it be known, before anyone tries to excuse this, that it wasn’t like Carlisle was asking them to die for him:

“We’re going to need help,” Jasper said. “Do you think Tanya’s family would be willing . . . ? Another five mature vampires would make an enormous difference. And then Kate and Eleazar would be especially advantageous on our side. It would be almost easy, with their aid.” (Eclipse, page 175)

They had two options, nothing to lose either way, and their choice was to leave the Cullens to their sorry fate.

(One can speculate that they in fact had something to gain. The Cullens made it clear they would stand in the way of Irina’s vengeance. Step aside. Let Victoria do her thing. Now there’s nothing in the way of Irina’s vengeance.

Not saying this is why the Denali didn’t help out, I don’t. I think their motivation was a simple, black-and-white “you don’t scratch our back, we won’t scratch yours.”

But assuming the Cullens did perish, would Irina have left the shapeshifters in peace?)

By comparison, Carlisle’s other friends (some of which he hadn’t seen in generations) came in Breaking Dawn to most likely die by his side. Some had selfish motivations, yes, but Siobhan’s coven, the Amazonian women, Alistair (the guy left his hermit cave for Carlisle, that’s huge. I can’t fault the guy for not wanting to be part of a suicide mission(and he still did more than the Denali in Eclipse!)), Benjamin and Tia, Garrett and Peter and Charlotte, all came because of their friendship to Carlisle/the Cullens. To them, that was enough.

I highlight this because these people appear to value their relation to the Cullens a lot higher than the Denali do. Some of Carlisle’s friends have his back, others don’t. As of Eclipse, the Denali have made it clear they’re in the latter category.

And yes, the Denali were there for the Breaking Dawn confrontation, but they were already involved. Their sister had gone to the Volturi and was the reason for all this, and they were worried crazy about her. This wasn’t situation they could ignore up in those Alaskan mountains. So, yes, they were there, but after Eclipse I just don’t buy that they would have been there otherwise.

Then we have other interesting facts, such as the scene where Eleazar realizes Bella has a gift. Eleazar is surprised to learn Edward can’t read Bella’s thoughts: this is news to him.

The guy was at their fucking wedding.

I’ll give that Eleazar and Carmen do seem to be afterthoughts in that coven. There’s the Denali sisters- and oh, that’s right, there’s those two as well.

But for no one to have brought up around Eleazar the fact that Edward can’t read Bella’s mind leaves us with two possible explanations. One, the Cullens and the Denali talk all the time, but they never brought up one of the major things about Edward’s new mate. It never came up. Eleazar is the resident gift expert, yet it simply never came up.

Two, the Cullens and the Denali don’t talk.

At some undated point the covens tried living together. I’m guessing in the 30′s or 40′s, since they met in the 30′s. However, they had to leave because there were too many of them, and they called attention to themselves.

Well, I think this was another case of someone in Eleazar’s life telling him their grandma died, so they can’t go to his party.

Which is to say that I think the size of the coven was the excuse, and the real reason was that the Denali are small dosage friends.

We have Eleazar, who’s insensitive, arrogant, and not very bright (meta for that last claim is in my draft, guys), the Denali sisters who quit the people diet for the worst reason, and the fact that they’re people who would let their so-called family die over the pettiest, most vile motivation I can imagine.

Edward pontificates about how the sisters are sad orphans who cling to the Cullens because they need family, and you know what, I’m sure he’s right. Because those are easy things to want and easy claims to make, but while the sisters may think the Cullens are well and good for playing house with every now and then, that’s apparently not the same as caring for them.

Carlisle also does some pontificating, in the form of “vegetarianism makes emotional ties deeper!” which, sure, Carlisle. There’s a river in Egypt you might want to look into. However, I think that very vegetarianism is what makes these two covens who don’t really get along, and at least on one side don’t care that much about the other, stick it out. It’s a big world out there, not a lot of vegetarian vampires in it, and that means these weird kids have to stick together. Your friendless kid in school analogy is spot on.

So, in that sense, yes vegetarianism deepens emotional ties because without it, these covens would have nothing tying them together.

As it is, they have a comfortable relationship in canon where the other coven represents a refuge, a change of scenery, when it’s needed for whatever reason. The Cullens during a dark period in New Moon, Edward when he had to flee Forks. However, I think the main reason why they’ve become this to one another is because of their similar lifestyles.

And, more damningly, we see countless examples of other vampires that appear much closer to members of the Cullen coven. (Carlisle and Aro, Carlisle and Siobhan, Carlisle and Zafrina (from what I recall of those two), Carlisle and Garrett, Jasper and Peter/Charlotte) These people are actual friends, who get along because of personality reasons, not simply because they were the kids in school who did the Naruto run through hallways and now they have to lunch at the dweeb table.

Edit: Turns out it wasn’t Carlisle who did that “vegetarianism makes emotional ties deeper!” pontificating at all. My due apologies to this fictional character who was in no way affected by my mistake.

#this one got far too long #but people seem to enjoy my rambles #denali #cullens #tanya #irina #kate #eleazar #carmen #twilight #twilight meta #twilight renaissance #bittemoi #ask #long post

196 notes · View notes

dialovers-translations · 2 years

Text

Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Yuma Dark [06]

ー The scene starts in the living room of the Sakamaki castle

Yui: ( ーー Some time has passed since we came here to the Demon World, but nothing noteworthy has happened so far. )

( It’s almost hard to believe we actually went through that traumatic experience... )

Yuma: Ahー ...

Yui: Yuma-kun? What’s wrong?

Yuma: ...I’m bored.

Yui: Eh?

Yuma: Like I said, there’s nothin’ to do.

Here in the Demon World there’s no field, no flower beds, no nothin’...How am I supposed to keep myself busy?

Oh well, guess I’ll just go back to the human world then.

Selection

→ Sounds good...

Yui: Sounds good. I was feeling a little bored as well.

Yuma: Right? Well then, let’s not waste any ti...

→ You can’t! (♡)

Yui: You can’t! Those Wolves might come to attack you again...

Yuma: I know that! But I’m bored outta my mind so what other choice do I have?

Yui: But, Ruki-kun warned you as well, remember?

Yuma: It’ll be fine. He won’t realize if I’m gone for just a couple of hours.

ー Ruki walks up to them

Ruki: I suggest you lower the volume of your voice when discussing secrets.

Yui: Ruki-kun...!

Yuma: Geh! You were ‘round!?

Ruki: I believe I was very clear about keeping our guards up high? And that I explicitly stated to avoid the human world.

The Founders...Those First Bloods will most definitely come for us again. This is simply the calm before the storm.

Yuma: Ya sound awfully certain of yer case. What makes ya so confident, huh?

Yui: Ruki-kun, do you know something we don’t?

Ruki: ...Right. Since it concerns you directly, I suppose you should know about this.

Yui: ( Me...? What does he mean...? )

Ruki: Livestock...It appears that you are part Founder. I heard from Yuma.

Yui: Yes. That’s what Carla told me.

Ruki: Something about that story caught my interest, so I did a bit of research and eventually, reached the following conclusion.

It is most likely your heart ーー In other words, Cordelia who had ties to the race of Founders.

Yui: Cordelia did...?

Yuma: Hold up. Does that mean those stupid triplets are Founders as well?

Ruki: No, they are not. To preserve their pure bloodline, Founders would only marry fellow Founders.

I heard that they dislike the idea of ‘tainting’ their blood by mixing it with that of another species more than anything.

Yui: Then how come I’m part Founder...?

Ruki: There are two different possibilities.

Either one of Cordelia’s parents was a Founder, or both of them were.

However, Cordelia’s Father ーー The Demon Overlord Burai was most definitely a Vibora.

Therefore, it is most likely that her Mother was a Founder, or at the very least part Founder.

Yuma: Ahー ... I don’t get this shit. So whose mom was what?

Yui: Um...That means that there’s some remains of their DNA left in my blood, right?

Ruki: Exactly.

Yui: But, why are they...Why are Carla-san and Shin-kun trying to capture me?

Ruki: Don’t you think you know that better than anyone else?

Yui: Eh...?

Ruki: You have found yourself in the same situation plenty of times before, no? Time after time, you have been captured and fought over by those around you.

All because that special blood of yoursーー

Yui: T-Then...Those two are also after my blood...?

Ruki: I cannot think of any other reason. They are most likely hoping to accomplish something through your blood.

Yui: Something...?

Ruki: Good question.

Even if you are not a pureblood Founder, you possess traces of their DNA...huh?

The one thing I can say for sure, is that it is your blood they are after. They are most definitely not interested in you as an individual.

I suppose I do not have to tell you...How they will treat you if they were to successfully capture you?

Yui: Uu...

( Oh no...I’m shaking... )

( Why? Why must I continue to be targeted time after time, just because my blood is a little special...? )

( I don’t want that...I’m scared...Save me... )

Yuma: Oi, Yui.

Yui: Eh...?

ー Yuma suddenly embraces her

*Rustle*

Yui: Yuma...kun...?

Yuma: How do ya feel? No longer shakin’...?

Yui: Ah...

( He noticed how I felt. That’s why he embraced me like this... )

Yuma: Don’t worry. I’ll protect ya. Always, without fail.

So rest assured.

Yui: ( His voice is so gentle...It slowly calms my nerves... )

( I can tell...Just how much he cares about me... )

Yuma: Whatcha goin’ quiet for...? Are ya still scared?

Yui: Eh...?

Yuma: Guess I’ve got no other choice. I’ll make ya forget some other way then. ...Nn.

*Smooch*

Yui: Uu...

( H-He suddenly kissed me... )

Yuma: Hah...Now I’m the only one on yer mind, right? Don’t let it wander to trivial shit again.

Yui: Y-Yeah...

Thank you, Yuma-kun. I’ll be okay now.

Yuma: Ya sure? I won’t hold back if it turns out you’re just puttin’ on a tough facade?

Yui: I swear. I’ve completely calmed down thanks to you.

I mean, I would lie if I said I’m not the slightest bit scared still...But as long as you’re with me, it’ll be okay.

Ruki: ...Either way, that’s the current situation, so don’t be reckless.

Yui: Ah...

ー Ruki walks away

Yuma: Shit, I completely forgot ‘bout Ruki standin’ there...

Monologue

ーー Ruki-kun told me.

That those Founders are after my blood.

I wonder if as long as I have this heart and this blood,

is it simply my fate (運命) to continue to be targeted?

That is extremely terrifying.

I nearly start shivering just from the thought alone.

However, Yuma-kun is here for me.

“I’ll always protect (守る) you, without fail.”

He told me with a gentle, yet reassuring tone.

Just those words alone,

make me believe that I can face any hardships.

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

<- [ Dark 05 ] [ Dark 07 ] ->

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #yuma mukami #dark fate #diabolik lovers translation #dfyumadark6

43 notes · View notes

readerbell · 2 years

Text

The Eye of the World Reread

Chapters 10, 11 & 12.

Summary: Egwene goes on an adventure while everyone else runs for their lives. Rand channels. Moiraine does some Tar Valon witchery.

Chapter 10 - Leavetakings (part 1 of how many?)

“Rand exchanged shaky smiles with his friends, trying hard to look as if he really was eager to be off.” He’s trying so hard to put on a brave face. 😭

Master Luhhan gave Perrin the axe. One day a Shaido will regret it.

“For the first time Mat noticed the sword at Rand’s waist, and pointed to it. “You becoming a Warder?” *looks around uneasily*

“My mother thinks Tar Valon is the next thing to Shayol Ghul.” - Your mother is right, Mat!

Suddenly Moiraine was in the doorway. “You talked to your father about this journey?” - YES, MOIRAINE, HE DID! As he should!

Egwene is ready to go on her adventure & burn anyone who would stop her. It never stops. She’s completely misread the situation & refuses to back down (she is after all, Nynaeve’s apprentice). She dismisses the boys’ stories as if theirs are some nonsensical notions… as if she didn’t see what happened! And here starts a behaviour that never stops. Egwene will never take these boys seriously (at least, not until the very end).

When the show started, I was team-I’m-glad-Egwene-is-Ta’veren/a dragon candidate. Her leaving the village because she has to in a way… cleanses is perhaps not the right word… smoothes(?) the bumps of her departure. Egwene is witness to the scale of disaster. She knows how worried everyone is about rebuilding & still chooses to go. As someone from a culture that places community at the heart of life, I struggle with that decision. I understand she’s 17 & she’s always wanted to see the world, but this…is not something that gives you a sympathetic view of her. Having said that, the show in taking this away, took away a character defining action: Egwene will, time and again, for better or for worse, put her dreams first. On one hand, taking that away makes her immediately more sympathetic to the audience. On the other, it robs the audience of the journey we go with her as book readers. We see her grow & learn to manage this. She goes from only caring about her own progress to caring about the world’s. I LOVED going on that journey with her. I also understand not wanting the audience to side-eye a protagonist from the start.

Thom comes along.

Egwene doesn’t have the right clothes or shoes for the journey. She’s so unprepared for what is to come both literally and figuratively.

“I promise I will take care of you.” Rand is so earnest. If only that earnestness was returned. 😭

The gang are off.

“Wolves don’t like Trollocs, blacksmith, and Trollocs don’t like wolves, or dogs, either. If I heard wolves I would be sure there were no Trollocs waiting out there for us.” - Interesting that this is directed at Perrin. Telling us dogs don’t like Trollocs is also useful for when the dogs start wilding out in the next chapter.

The watch parties are also off. Their sartorial code tells us everything. They’ve clubbed together old leathers, ancient armour and rusty weapons. Our kids are from a village that has no reason to know violence & boy, do they have a hailstorm of trauma coming their way.

“A fine adventurer I am, he thought. He was not even out of the village yet, and already he was homesick. But he did not stop looking.” 😭😭

And here we have our intro to Dragkhar.

Why is Moiraine giving Thom dark looks for telling them what a Dragkhar is? Does she have a monopoly on creeping the kids out?

Chapter 11 - The Road to Taren Ferry

“The gleeman never turned his head, reserving his eyes for where they ran, not what they ran from.” This tells us about Thom, a man who is always looking ahead (and is super sharp/aware of his surroundings). Compare that to Rand, who only wants the home he’s left behind.

Rand is so worried that Lan & Moiraine will leave Egwene behind. She’s not as important as they are (at least at this stage) so he blindly channels for the first time to give Bela strength to run like the wind. If there’s a defining characteristic for Rand: it’s that he will always put his loved ones first. The moment he stops doing that is the moment he stops being the Rand we know & the person he truly is.

Moiraine notices that *someone* channeled to give Bela strength…

They’ve never been further than Watch Hill but guess who knows what the name of the local tavern is. Matrim Cauthon.

Eww, the Dragkhar’s wings touched his face! Why didn’t it croon to paralyse him? Did RJ not yet make the decision to include that tidbit of lore at this stage? Or is the Dragkhar just too in a rush to do that? Or maybe it doesn’t want to kill him…

The Dragkhar is reporting their whereabouts. Time to start running again, a run that will last a few books.

He draws Tam’s sword and is so embarrassed other people saw him because he knows he can’t use it. I forgot how unsure of himself he once was.

‘Egwene’s face in the moonlight was smiling in excited delight.’ I hope this is an unreliable narrator speaking because Egwene still treating this as an adventure is very…🙄🙄

Moiraine does a little razzle dazzle with the fog to hide them from the Dragkhar.

Rand is suspicious as hell of the One Power… *whispers* you used it yourself earlier. Is this all just his natural suspicion or some of the channeling sickness settling in?

We spent so much time being told how far and different Taren Ferry was. IT WAS LITERALLY A FEW HOURS AWAY. This is as far as anyone in the village ever goes. This is another reminder of how insulated their world is.

‘At the top of the stairs Lan hammered with his fist on the door. “I thought he wanted quiet,” Mat muttered.’ You tell him, Mat. I don’t know why I’m annoyed with Lan this time round lol. Maybe it’s because I forgot that he started off mean and dismissive of Rand. He has to win me over 😤.

Chapter 12 - Across the Taren

Well, I know this icon. Hello, Flame of Tar Valon. This tells me Moiraine is going to do some more Tar Valon witchery. As I wrote that, I remembered just what she does in this chapter and Tar Valon witchery is a very apt description.

She starts planning her witchery very early too. “He will remember too much as it is, and no help for it. If I stand out in his thoughts....”

Thom just wants a hot meal, a fire and some mulled wine.

Rand is resentful of Egwene’s adventure-seeking because he’s so miserable. “There must be a difference in what you saw, it seemed to him, depending on whether you sought adventure or had it forced on you. The stories could no doubt make galloping through a cold fog, with a Draghkar and the Light alone knew what else chasing you, sound thrilling. Egwene might be feeling a thrill; he only felt cold and damp and glad to have a village around him again, even if it was Taren Ferry.”

And they will never fully understand each other. Though… they’ll get better at this.

Lan is trying to make them look like merchant guards complete with weapons.

Rand copies Lan. “He did not think he could achieve that deadly-seeming slouch. They’d probably laugh if I tried.” A time will come, dear Rand, when people won’t laugh. 😭

Rand turns to Lan for reassurance. Lan grants it. They bond over rumours about what Taren Ferry folk might or might not do. Rand accepts that he doesn’t know anything about the world.

“With a shiver he hitched up his cloak, sodden as it was.” He senses Moiraine channeling once they get off the ferry.

“He was really out of the Two Rivers, now, and it seemed much farther away than the width of a river.” He only gets further and further from everything he knew from hereon in. Taren Ferry is the far end of the world as he knows it & the events of the past day and a bit have ripped up his safe little world.

“No whirlpools on the Taren.” Hightower sounded empty. “Never been a whirlpool....” IT WAS THE WITCH, MR HIGHTOWER(!)

“An unfortunate occurrence.” Moiraine’s voice was hollow in the fog that made her a shadow as she turned from the river. Lan echoes this in a flat voice. They leave Mr Hightower in his panic.

The fog disappears as soon as they leave.

Rand connects the dots but chooses to deny what he suspects deep down because who wants to face the fact that they might be travelling with an Aes Sedai who does the devious things they stories say they do? Rand started off mistrusting Aes Sedai, then he puts his hopes in one & he’s quickly realising the truth might actually be something in between his initial ideas and his hopes for a trusted adult who will keep him safe. Moiraine is both.

“Egwene’s side, leading Cloud, and she grinned at him. He did not think the shine in her eyes was all from moonlight.” I wish we got an Egwene POV because I need to know if she was scared or if she was high on the Tar Valon witch/adventure kool-aid at this stage.

Moiraine gloats at her ability for a moment. Not many Aes Sedai could manage that feat. She then shares why she did what she did. She did it to busy the Fade & to buy them time.

Rand wonders but it’s Mat who asks if that was necessary. Knowing the way Mat’s mind works, I wonder if he did the calculations on how much the ferry would’ve cost to see if the coins were worth it lol.

“You all want explanations, but if I explained my every action to you, I would have no time for anything else.” - I feel you, Moiraine. I also feel Rand when he decides he can’t really trust you anymore.

Egwene starts showing signs of tiredness. Rand revels in it because he wants her to see it’s not an adventure and immediately feels bad… do you know why? Because my son has no bad bones in his body that’s why! In fact, he asks for a rest stop too. Because Egwene’s comfort matters to him. He’s an empathetic boy with a pure heart.

Lan does a here’s-something-I-prepared-earlier in the style of your favourite TV art show. In this case, he pre-prepared a rest stop.

Moiraine starts grooming Egwene in the world of Tar Valon witchery. It goes a little like this:

We get introduced to the differences between Saidin and Saidar and the thin film that taints the male half of the source… something that will plague our boy for…9 books? Longer? He has Saidin sickness for longer right?

“And you really think I can learn?” Egwene asked. Her face shone with eagerness. Rand had never seen her look so beautiful, or so far away from him. - He wants no part in this & so their separation begins.

“Men who have the ability to touch saidin born in them die, of course, if the Red Ajah does not find them and gentle them....” Thom growled deep in his throat(!)

Rand shifted uncomfortably. 😩

“Men like those of whom the Aes Sedai spoke were rare—he had only heard of three in his whole life, and thank the Light never in the Two Rivers,” Just you wait. The Two Rivers is about to become a gold mine for the two towers in about 7-9 books time.

Moiraine teaches Egwene to channel. Does having Aes Sedai supervision make her a non-Wilder? Or is she still a wilder because she channeled pre-tower.

“Rand’s fingers dug into his knees; his jaws clenched until they hurt. She has to fail. She has to.” He so badly wants nothing to do with this that he wants her to fail too because she’s an extension of him.

“You may go far. Perhaps even the Amyrlin Seat, one day, if you study hard and work hard.” Robert Jordan winks at the camera lol.

If someone put together motivational mottos for the EF5:

Egwene’s would be, “If you study and work hard.” The girl is such a try hard lol. Moiraine saw that clearly.

Mat’s motivational quote is: “DO NOT DO IT!

Rand & Perrin’s is, “you must be the one to do it.” They will do what must be done.

Nynaeve’s is: “It’s impossible.” If I remember correctly, she’s the only one of the EF5, bar Rand, who actually impresses Moridin with her impossible achievements. She also frustrates Graendal in finding a way to read Compulsion.

“Rand, did you hear? I’m going to be an Aes Sedai!”

1. This is the last thing Rand wants to hear.

2. She’s so excited. I want to hug her and preserve her innocence and excitement for her.

3. She will become Aes Sedai ™️

#wheel of time #the wheel of time #wot book spoilers #rand al’thor #egwene al'vere #moiraine damodred #the eye of the world reread

21 notes · View notes

thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 3 years

Note

I feel like you've touched on this in some of your AUs, but I was wondering what you think about the characterization of Bella as a danger magnet.

Originally, I thought it was used as a plot device to allow Edward to be her savior in the parking lot and in Port Angeles (which to me read as the typical romance trope) and for the James and Victoria plotlines to play out, among other things.

In-universe, however, I find the mention of this distracting. I don't think fate or life work that way where one person would have horrible luck or attract more danger than anyone else (outside of marginalization, which isn't the case here. Even considering the power imbalance between vampires/werewolves and humans doesn't do much of the leg work.)

Is it just a combination of Bella's clumsiness that has landed her in the hospital multiple times and her not being scared of the supernatural? Her sweet, sweet blood that attracts predators? In canon, both Bella and Edward accept that she's simply a danger magnet but that explanation doesn't make sense to me. What do you think?

I'm actually not sure I have touched on it, at least, not directly. I think I just make one-liner gags then go on my merry way.

But let's get into it.

Regardless of whether this is a reasonable thing to believe or not, both Bella and Edward have their reasons for wholeheartedly believing it to be true.

Why Does Edward Insist Bella's a Danger Magnet?

Edward, early in Twilight, is actively panicking about his involvement in Bella's life. He knows that a better man would stay completely away from Bella, worse yet, Carlisle keeps reminding Edward that a better person would move out of Forks altogether (as Carlisle keeps begging Edward to do rather than tempt fate and eat Bella).

Edward cannot justify his existence in Bella's life and it utterly torments him.

And then, it happens, Edward realizes that the gods themselves despise Bella Swan. Bella is riding in the chariot of a man hated by Zeus.

He likens this to a feeling of divine revelation: Bella Swan needs him.

Without his involvement in her life she might be crushed by a van, raped in Port Angeles, eaten by bears, you name it. Something terrible will happen to the most wonderful creature on the planet unless he personally is there to stop it.

Edward is suddenly no longer the monster (or at least, not only the monster), he is Bella's personal protector, fighting against fate itself to keep this beautiful creature alive. A dark protector, kind of like Batman, but cooler.

Edward now not only has reason to stay in Bella's life, he must do so, otherwise she could very well die. THAT SPIDER IN HER BED COULD EAT HER RIGHT NOW.

And true, he still planned to leave in due time, but he also breathed a sigh of relief as he could assuage his torn conscience. Don't worry, everybody, if Edward's not lurking in Bella's bedroom every night with her blissfully unaware then she'll be eaten by a space shark. So it's all cool.

Of course, he always intends to leave her, but now he can do so at a later date.

In New Moon, Edward is reminded that this isn't quite the case. He himself, his family, is the greatest danger to Bella there is. He can no longer justify his presence in her life. As a result he cuts ties immediately.

When he comes back in Eclipse, given all the shit that's happened to Bella, he can once more justify his presence and get that sweet sweet relief knowing that, without him, the universe will literally collapse upon Bella Swan.

Hence, Edward's theory: the universe is actively out to get Bella Swan. Either God is a cruel jackass who is tormenting this perfect person or else made Bella, the perfect woman, specifically so that Edward can protect her. Edward can't decide which.

Bella thought Edward confessing this was deeply romantic.

Why Does Bella Insist She's a Danger Magnet?

Bella is a depressed teenager. Like many teenagers, she thinks everything is about her. Everyone hates her, everyone's looking at her, everyone thinks she's ugly, the universe is literally out to get her.

Bella is not the first, and not the last, teenager to think that the world is literally against her. Everything terrible happens to her and life is woe. This isn't all that weird of a thing for her to believe (especially as, in general, weird shit does happen to her).

More, Edward presents his case very eloquently. Edward's batshit insane, but the beauty of him is that he somehow says it in a manner that's not always immediately obvious. He often sounds rather poetic and reasonable.

Edward says, "Perhaps God is trying to kill you."

Bella sits there eating her mushroom raviolli, "Makes sense to me. Also, you know that waitress is hitting on you, right?"

Is Bella a Danger Magnet?

Well, we don't know anything about higher powers in the Twilight universe, that's left very open ended. What I will say is that a lot of weird shit does seem to happen to Bella with a frequency that, were I to sit down and do the back of the envelope calculations, is statistically unlikely.

Now, some of these follow the others: Victoria hunting Bella is related to Bella first capturing James attention. Bella's involvement with the wolves is related to James and Victoria showing up. Bella's interaction with the Volturi centers upon having met Edward Cullen.

However, let's break down the bullshit that happens to Bella Swan.

First, she happens to move to Forks during the period where the Cullens are in Forks. That Bella happens to move to the small town where there are vampires is highly unlikely to begin with. That she moves there in the time period in which the Cullens happens to be there is also unlikely.

We're already talking small probabilities.

Two, Bella happens to be a singer for one of these vampires. Singers are extraordinarily rare. Aro, who is 3500 years old, has never encountered one. Carlisle, 350 years old, seems to have never met one. Emmett seems to be many standard deviations off the normal for meeting two, still meets them decades apart across a wide variety of space. This is a very small probability.

Three, not a week later, Bella is nearly crushed by a van in a parking lot. Now, this one's a lot more likely. P(Fatality|Icy Conditions) is not devastatingly high but it's not P(Move to Town With Fucking Vampires), but if we're doing the joint probability this is getting really really low likelihood (P(Move to Town With Fucking Vampires) * P(Vampire Singer) * P(Nearly Hit By Truck | Icy Conditions) ~= 0))

Not too long after that, Bella nearly gets raped and left in a dumpster in Port Angeles. Now, this probability, that of sexual assault, is sadly rather high. Especially in the conditions Bella was in. Now, happening to run into a serial rapist who is actually planning to kill her and put her body in a dumpster, that's a bit less high. What's suspect here is, again, the timing of it all.

Not too long after that, Bella happens to be watching the Cullens play baseball when three man eating vampires happen to be in the area. These vampires happen to include James, rather than any other vampire, who decides it'd be great to hunt Bella for sport. Which, of course, dominoes into the rest of canon.

Is Bella clumsy? Does she make poor decisions sometimes? Do some of these events lead to others? Yes.

Doesn't mean a bunch of weird shit doesn't happen to her. If I was Bella, I too, would be wondering what the fuck was up with my luck. I think it's safe to say she fails the Null Hypothesis test.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #bella swan #edward cullen #anti edward cullen #meta #headcanon #opinion #probability #statistics #mathematics

99 notes · View notes

pascalpanic · 3 years

Text

At Last (Frankie Morales x gn!Reader)

Summary: you, Frankie, and your fur baby go camping! Little does Frankie know what you have planned.

W/C: 2.1k

Warnings: flirting, innuendo, alcohol, food, language, otherwise, this is toothaching fluff!

A/N: SAMMY MY BELOVED @sanchosammy GAVE ME THIS IDEA! I hope it’s as cute as I think it is :) also, Charlie (Frankie’s pup) isn’t involved in this fic but she is still part of the fam :)

Pine trees surround you on either side, tall and majestic. You can see the blue-gray sky patching through the canopy; the clouds are leaving, but some linger a little longer to clog up the sky. The air is warm and slightly humid, but a wonderful breeze rustles through the trees and rushes across your bare arms. Your trail shoes squelch underfoot in the damp ground. You sigh, totally content with this moment.

Frankie’s flannel is tied around his waist, leaving him in his khaki cargo pants and t-shirt. A couple of curls peek out from under his ball cap, turning into little ringlets at the nape of his neck. He walks in front of you on the trail, his boots pressing prints into the soft ground. His back profile is beautiful, even with the large camping pack, and you can’t help but grin.

Foxtrot embodies her name- Frankie is holding her leash, and the auburn and white dog trots up ahead of him, sniffing along the mulched and muddied path. The air smells of humidity that’s just passed over and that wonderful accompanying petrichor. Fox’s white paws are surely getting dirtied, but that’s only to be expected. You don’t care, too excited to watch your boyfriend and dog walk ahead of you.

Frowning at the bend of Frankie’s back, you catch up and take his free hand. “Let me carry something, baby.”

“No,” he shakes his head, lacing his fingers through yours. “You have important cargo,” he teases and pats your back lightly.

Strapped to your back, in a backpack-style blue case, is your ukulele. One hand carries the cooler, slung over your shoulder, filled with food and drinks for tonight. Frankie carries the heavy-duty stuff- the tent, stakes, more essential supplies. “At least let me take Fox.”

Her red ears perk up at her name and she stops, turning and growing excited, as if she forgot you were there. “Yeah, hi Foxy!” You coo as she runs towards you, jumping with her front paws in the air in excitement. “Yeah, you love it out here, don’t you?” You ask her in a baby voice, scratching behind her ears as she circles around your legs and prevents you from moving. Frankie drops her leash in order to prevent your legs from being tourniqueted by it, and it drags behind her in the mud.

When you pick up the leash, it’s sludgy and damp, but you don’t mind too much. You continue the hike forward and Frankie and Fox follow at your sides, both beaming ear to ear and enjoying the serenity of the woods.

Frankie picked the campsite, so he’s technically leading the way, but the trail is fairly straightforward, meaning you don’t need to be led. Frankie points out wildlife here and there: chipmunks, rabbits, cardinals and chickadees flitting through the pine-needled canopy. He’s in his element, and you’re in yours: with him.

The mud gives way to drier ground ahead, and luckily enough Frankie pulls off to the side. It’s the perfect spot, with a beautiful little field of wildflowers. “Welcome to your five-star hotel for the night, babe,” he assures you and kisses you softly, making you giggle and kiss him back with excitement and a pinch of nerves in your stomach.

There’s a routine the two of you have silently adopted. Frankie sets up the small tent, just big enough for the two of you and Fox. You gather kindling, set up a fire, arrange the chairs and all-around make the outdoor area of your campsite ideal.

Frankie is a man of patience, truly, but sometimes the little portable tent proves to be a challenge. You allow Fox off of her leash, knowing she’s well-trained enough to stick around the site, and find your way to the mess of fabric and stakes covering the man. “Baby. For the love of God, we do this all the time,” you tease.

“Well, something must’ve fucking changed,” he grumbles as he fiddles with the parts. You get on your knees on the soft bed of dried pine needles and help him out. With your help, the tent takes no time at all to put up, and you stand and brush off your hands. Frankie gives you a sheepish smile and you give him a kiss.

The two of you don’t need to converse while you set things up. You enjoy the woods, the rustling of the wind and chirping of birds. Fox curls up on the blanket you set out for her, and when everything is done, you unzip the cooler and hand Frankie a beer. “Well, now we’re all set.”

“Let the fun begin,” he chuckles and twists the top open, clinking his glass bottle to yours.

“So, Francisco,” you smile over at him. “What do you have planned for this trip? I know you have some sort of plan laid out up there,” you tease and rap on his head softly, through the trucker cap resting there.

He blushes a little and looks away. “I don’t always have a plan.”

“Hey.” You turn his face back to yours by the chin. “You do and I absolutely love it. Now tell me about it, please, baby.”

Frankie removes his hat and runs a hand through his curls. “Well, I figured we could start the fire soon, cook dinner over it. It’ll get dark pretty quick. Then hang around the campfire, maybe play some of the games I packed.”

“Is a quiet tumble in the tent on the cards?” You ask him with a teasing grin, nudging his side.

He shrugs, jokingly, as if he’s considering it. “I don’t see why we couldn’t squeeze that in. We only have, oh… three hours of time in between these plans.”

“Then we’ll use all three of those hours,” you shrug and steal a kiss, smiling into his lips. “I love you. And I love it out here.” You were never a nature person before Frankie, usually preferring indoors adventures to hiking or camping. Frankie looks like he belongs out here, and he probably thinks he does. Even if you didn’t enjoy the fun of outdoors adventuring, you’d have at least one thing to enjoy: Frankie’s excitement and enthusiasm over it. “Thank you.”

Fox is curled at Frankie’s feet, and he bends over to scratch her ears, running his fingers through her scruffy fur. “Thank you, baby. For coming out here with me and putting up with all of this. I couldn’t ask for a better adventure partner.”

You do, indeed, cook dinner over the fire. You’d prepped all kinds of chopped vegetables to be grilled over an open flame, and had additionally packed pre-cooked hot dogs as well as s’mores ingredients. Frankie is a firm believer that it’s not camping if it doesn’t include graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows.

Luckily, your Frankie is a skilled griller. He always is, always has been. He takes care of the cooking part, since you prepared everything else, though he lets you hold the hot dogs over the fire to roast. “I feel like I’m at camp again,” you laugh as you slowly rotate the food over the fire.

Frankie is taking charge of the vegetables, expertly. They’re getting a beautiful char, you notice. “It’s much better, because you don’t have to sneak around to make out with your boyfriend at night, huh?” He teases and tosses you a grin.

“But I get my boyfriend all to myself,” you nod and confirm. “And I have my baby girl with me,” you coo as you rub Foxtrot’s head, where she’s resting at your side.

The meal is delicious, of course, when the two of you work together and each used your strong skills. Frankie slips bites to Fox when he thinks you’re not looking, of course, but it’s endearing, the way the dog’s big brown eyes mirror those looking down at her.

There’s not much conversation while you eat, mouths occupied with food rather than speaking. That’s alright. There’s plenty of time for that tonight and tomorrow.

The sun starts sinking lower when Frankie brings the marshmallows from the tent. “Guess what time it is!” He exclaims as he rips open the bag, skewering two marshmallows and holding them over the fire.

Like he’s a skilled griller, he’s also a wonderful marshmallow-toaster. Frankie toasts yours to perfection, just the way you like it, and you do your part as the s’more-sandwicher, shoving the marshmallow between the graham crackers and chocolate.

There’s no signal out here, and you agreed neither of you would use your phones unless an emergency happened. Frankie frowns as he sees your phone. “Hey. Put that away. Don’t use that.”

“There’s an emergency, Frankie,” you whine, opening the camera app with one hand and eating the sugary dessert with the other.

“And what’s that?” He asks, taking a bite of his s’more.

Strings of gooey marshmallow connect the sandwich to his lips, making him laugh, and you snap a picture at the perfect moment: Frankie’s closed-lipped smile as his s’more falls apart on him. “You’re too damn cute, that’s the emergency,” you laugh and set the photo as your lock screen, tossing it away.

Frankie’s schedule actually worked itself naturally. After the s’mores and a wet-wipe hand-washing to remove the endless marshmallow from Frankie’s hands, you find yourself sitting around the fire, no light left in the sky. When you look up, all you can see is inky blue and pine trees, the stars yet to make their nightly rise.

“I have a song request,” Frankie asks and raises his hand like a child in a classroom.

“Yes, Francisco?” You tease as you walk to the tent, grabbing your ukulele and returning with it, sitting back in your lawn chair with it. “Hit me.”

“Only The Good Die Young by Billy Joel. No, wait- Country Roads.”

Laughing, you noodle around with the strings for a moment. You knew this moment would come, and here’s the opportunity. “I can play all of those and more, Frankie. We’ll do the Billy Joel first,” you nod decisively.

Frankie sounds like the forest wolves at night when he sings along. He absolutely howls, taken away by the song, taken to a place where his voice isn’t just a little on the rougher end of good. He belts the words and dances along in his seat, like you do.

Then Country Roads. You thought the last one was bad before you hear Frankie’s booming voice echoing the ballad of West Virginia through seemingly the entire preserve. But you don’t care in the slightest. You sing along proudly, strumming your ukulele harder and harder until you’re sure you can’t add any more volume before snapping a string.

After the song, you pause and rest your ukulele flat on your lap. “Frankie, baby. Can I ask you something?”

He nods, smiling over at you. “Any time. What’s up, buttercup?” He asks, taking one of your hands and kissing the knuckles.

“Will you marry me?” You ask. The question is straight and to the point, blunt and honest. Your face conveys your hope, and the grandiose speech follows. “I love you beyond belief, Frankie. I love you almost as much as you love these woods. I know you love me too. I just… think it’s time. We’ll be perfect for it. What do you say?”

You can feel Frankie’s slightly-chapped lips curve into a smile against your hand. He’s grinning and then he’s crying, soft water droplets forming in the corners of his eyes. “Of course I’ll marry you,” he grins, grabbing your ukulele and setting it aside.

Once the ukulele is on the ground, Frankie stands in front of your chair and lifts you to your feet, kissing you with such fervor you can’t help but gasp. When he breaks away, you smile, eyes watering too. “I know it wasn’t the most elegant of proposals, but-”

“It was the most us,” Frankie cuts you off with a teary grin. “I would be honored to be your husband, my love. You really want me enough to do that?”

“Frankie,” you coo, cupping his face in your hand. “You are the best husband I could ever want, could ever dream for,” you assure him and kiss his nose gently.

The man laughs, wiping his tears away. “Then let’s get married,” he whoops excitedly, then lets out an excited shout to the woods. “We’re getting married!”

You laugh at his loud and booming declaration, but nothing can detract you for the love and joy in your heart.

When you and Frankie settle down in your chairs again, you pick up the ukulele and finish off with one last beautiful song that you and Frankie have always adored, with a title that truly fits: At Last.

taglist:

@remmysbounty @mishasminion360 @blo0dangel @binarydanvvers @sleep-tight1 @apascalrascal @randomness501 @spideysimpossiblegirl @notabotiswear @pedro-pastel @sanchosammy @lv7867 @greeneyedblondie44 @hunnambabe @astoryisaloveaffair @emesispo @pedritobalmando @magikfanatic @a-court-of-feysand-and-elorcan @princess76179 @starless-eyes-remain @tacticalsparkles

#frankie morales x reader #frankie morales #frankie catfish morales #frankie catfish morales x reader #francisco catfish morales x reader #francisco catfish morales #catfish morales x reader #catfish morales #francisco morales x reader #francisco morales #pedro pascal #jose pedro balmaceda pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal x reader #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier #frankie and charlie

112 notes · View notes