#or is it a secret third option where it’s a complicated mess of both

[cerebralabyss]

let’s play a game. it’s called “figure out if this alter is an introject of an oc i made 7 years ago or was that oc secretly a personification of the alter”

- 🥀

[bonesandthebees]

now for the strategy exercise

I think phil choose that exercise on purpose, believing it could show well the benefits of tommy being a blank slate (just as this phrase isnt getting out of wilburs head, youre not getting away from the unintentional lyric reference)

also the solution tommy gives is pretty simple, it kinda shows how niki and q both tried to go the way they are most familiar with, showing off a bit their capabilities, thinking about more tricky stuff like the psyche of the people, with niki especially

the exercise is about coming up with a super complicated strategy, its more about finding out what APPROACH they would take to this situation

and like I understand the problem with nikis solution but tbf to niki, she came up with a much better solution to the presented problem when you focus just at the result, unlike tommys plan hers was thought thru and didnt have that many loopholes, it just didnt fit phils expectations, like when this happens to me in an exam, im also arguing with the teacher that the fact that it wasnt their answer doesnt mean my answer isnt correct

now im bit saying I think thats the best way to rule a kingdom BUT niki is very rightfully angry about phil praising tommy

and honestly I just think good for niki yk, like yes, go get that power, whatever it takes

I love her standing up against phil but than being scared she messed up, there are so many layers to her it's amazing

you always treat your female characters right and rose!niki is prime example of that, she is everything I adore her so much and I support her rights and her wrongs

and when it comes to q, hes the one that confuses me bc he seems so easy to read and very certain about being chosen as the heir which is very dangerous in court and foolish and first look youd think hes just not good at hiding his opinions which could tie into him being a less likely heir

but like hes been at the court for quite some time and must know how much of a disadvantage being readable is so maybe hes playing is double layered, pretending to be easy to read while actually hiding the important stuff, I mean wilbur calls him really smart and witty

or theres a secret third option where its only wilbur whos able to read him so well and we wouldnt know bc its from wilburs pov but the way its described, compared to how wilbur reading niki is described this is unlikely id say

and the worst is that with the kind of character quackity is he could be either, like he turns out to be super smart and calculative ill be like thats so like him but if he turns out to be actually just that egoistic and easy to be ill be like yeah thats exactly like the train wreck of a man I know and love

I mean quackity knows his strengths and how to play on them, knows it wont be easy getting the throne and so he does stuff like partnering with schlatt, calling the meeting...

but with the strategy exercise it shows that hes putting everything on his strong suits and thats not always gonna be enough

oh yeah phil definitely chose the exercise for a reason. tbh it was a test for all three of them, less to learn their war strategy and more to learn how well they take guidance and criticism. definitely highlights the benefits of tommy being a blank slate.

and that ties into the issue with niki. while her plan had some issues, it was the most realistic of the three. the problem was her reaction to phil's criticism. she had a right to argue with phil regarding the success of her strategy, but that's not what phil wanted.

I'm glad you're enjoying rose!niki so far. like yes, she stood up to phil and was stubborn and angry and ruthless, but she was also scared. she was worried she messed up and regretted speaking out because she deals with so much pressure to always maintain a certain public persona and reputation, because her future is so reliant on it. I'm so happy I get to spend so much time focusing on niki in a long fic like this. rose!niki is so complicated and has so much going on with her, I'm really excited to continue diving into her character.

hmm won't go into detail to what's going on with q, but I'd say there's a mix of things going on from what you said. wilbur's pov definitely plays a role in how well we're able to read him, but also he is very aware of the games being played and knows how to adjust his behavior accordingly.

[maxwell-grant]

I hope you don't mind me dropping asks on you every day? Anyways, a general question on modern-day attempts at using existing Pulp Heroes; do you think there is value in setting such tales in the modern day, rather than being period pieces? And if one does do so, do you think the best approach is to go full setting update, or to somehow translate the characters into the modern day, or to go the Legacy route?

I eagerly look forward to answering all kinds of questions, so don’t hesitate to send any my way!. Any feedback or excuse I get to go off on a subject is extremely appreciated. 

Okay so on to your question: 

...Man, that really seems like the billion dollar question when it comes to the pulp heroes, isn’t it? The one at least that every conversation regarding adapting these characters, giving them reboots or new stories, seems to inevitably get stuck on: Should these characters be left as is, or modernized? Is there any point to trying to modernize them when often, at least in the public view, the only thing that separates them from being diet superheroes is their time period? Can these characters even survive as anything other than historical footnotes if they don’t move past the trappings of time holding them back? I’ve been very firmly on both sides of the question at different points and I think every answer inevitably brings up solutions and problems of it’s own. 

For the moment, I’m going to start by saying that it’s something of a case by case basis. For example, The Scarlet Pimpernel is a timeless archetype, but one who’s specific characterization and history is so tied up to it’s time period that it’s far better to just reimagine the Pimpernel into a different character set in a different time, than to try and remove the Blakeneys from their time period, likewise with characters who cross into historical fantasy like Conan or western characters, where they have such strongly defined settings and playgrounds that you’d be losing much by removing them from it. 

But on the other hand, you have characters like The Phantom, or The Avenger, who very clearly could exist at just about any point in time and don’t have any specific complications holding them to the 30s (in fact The Phantom was arguably designed for this, being he kickstarted the whole legacy superhero concept). A lot of the times, people seem to think or insist that certain pulp characters cannot be separated from their time periods, even when they were well on their way to doing so before some unfortunate cancellation. The Shadow, for example. Gibson had no problems updating the character’s adventures to the 60s for the Belmont series, and if The Shadow had maintained the kind of continuous publication that Batman and Superman had, I have no doubt whatsoever that nobody would even peg him as a character that belongs to the 30s and the 30s only, even if a lot of important aspects of his character are tied up in 30s America and The Great War and whatnot. 

To try and streamline this response into something more general, I’m going to state that, yes, I do think it’s a case by case basis where some characters don’t work as well outside their time periods, and others should have left them ages ago, but in general? I think most of the pulp heroes would stand to benefit much more from being set, not just in modern times, but outside of time. Or at least, outside of a specific time period being something that defines and entraps them. Pretty much none of these characters, outside of historical fantasy examples like Conan or characters whose genres are locked into specific past time periods like cowboys, were intended to be period pieces, and yet that’s what they became, because time has been extremely cruel to the pulp heroes in many ways. 

To bring up superheroes briefly, while I maintain that I think the real secret to making pulp heroes work and achieve success again is to distance them from superheroes, or at least the popular blockbuster superheroes, as much as possible, the superheroes have been around running the show for a while now and experimenting a lot as an inescapable facet of pop culture that's worked out monstrously well so far,nso clearly there’s a lot to learn there. The superheroes by and large belong in shared universes held tight by copyright where the weight of accumulating timelines inevitably forces them to either undergo reboots every couple of years, or endure constant quiet retcons snipping away at continuity so the cohesive “Superhero Universes” can function. But there’s no such thing as some big “Pulp Hero Universe” existing anywhere near the same capacity, there’s works gesturing to the idea like the Wold Newton Universe and LOEG and Dynamite’s shared author works largely scrapped together from separate sources all drifting apart, and most of these characters have largely fallen through the cracks of copyright law and into outright non-existence, or are halfway there. Very few modern instances of "cinematic universes" outside of the MCU work, so what we do instead is go the opposite route, closer to DC's "throw anything at the wall to see what sticks" approach.

What I’m getting to is, I could flip through the pages of Jess Nevins’s Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes, pick about 3 or 5 random characters, put them in a story regardless of whatever time period they used to be a part of, and make something out of it, without anyone stopping to question “Hey, hold up, why is Joel Saber not on Victorian England? Why are Uirassu and Tom Shark in a loving relationship when they don’t even belong in the same decade? Why did you turn Allan Crystal into a talking sparrow? You are betraying the source material, these characters don’t work outside of it”. Because nobody has any idea who those guys are, they might as well be just original names I made up (I didn't, btw), and nobody has any reason to care, they will only care if they read good, engaging stories with strong characterizations that give them a reason to be invested. And if achieving that requires ditching adherence to the source material (which doesn’t even exist anymore for at least a third of these characters), I cannot see that as a bad thing. 

He's nowhere near the ballpark of pulp heroes but I'm going to bring up King Arthur as an example because he’s been on my mind today. 

All of these, and countless others, are King Arthur. I’m no expert in Arthuriana, but from what I’ve gathered, I’d make a pretty good guess that one of the main reasons why King Arthur has been able to endure so strongly, and have so many variations that we have an entire area of study dedicated just to untangling those messes we call Arthuriana, has less to do with his historical or mythological importance (you hardly see that many stories about Cú Chulainn), but because the lore and imagery and events surrounding King Arthur have so utterly transcended the source material that people still dispute what the source material even was, or if he was a real person, or if he was created by the Welsh and stolen by Brits, and etc, and because he's completely free for any writers and artists to mold and use to anything they see fit.

King Arthur is not so much a character as much as he’s a sandbox that literally anyone can play in and reshape as they see fit, with no shortage of existing events and characters and magical items that you can treat as either essential staples, or guidelines and suggestions at best. I have three separate ideas for King Arthur as a big shark man in a greaser outfit who yields an oversized hair comb with fishhooks attached as Excalibur, one where he’s a monstrous dragon who sleeps in the ruin of his former kingdom guarding the only remaining memory of Guinevere left, and one where he’s a disembodied consciousness inside a giant mechanical bear. I could pick any of these and make a story out of them, or insert these into a story, any time I want, and nobody could stop me.

Point is, I think a lot, even most, of the pulp heroes would benefit from having some kind of “no-holds-barred, just do anything you want out of whatever you find interesting about the original” approach, a lot more so than the superheroes already do, because if there’s a single group of characters nowadays that best embodies an “anything goes” approach, a group that is almost entirely in public domain nowadays save for it’s biggest icons and therefore is already available for people to take and spin any way they want, it’s the pulp heroes. These characters have been in stasis for so long, or all but faded into nothingbbut mere footnotes in encyclopedia or records in libraries not even available online, and sometimes not even that. Most of their fanbases have largely died off and they are nowhere near close to gaining new ones, and our changing media tastes call for contrasts as much as it calls for profit. No sensible person would invest in most of these properties as they stand now, which is precisely what ultimately gives them the freedom to be anything at the conceptual stage. The only thing that really, really holds them back is time, which, again, has really not been kind to them. So why adhere to it? Screw time and whatever power it’s long held over these characters, let’s get weird with it. 

So if I have to choose between “full setting update, translating the characters to modern day, or the Legacy route”, all three of which are perfectly viable depending on the character, I think the best option, generally speaking, is full setting update, if only because the setting should never be the main priority in the first place. The setting, like everything else, is there to serve the story and the author’s needs and wants, and I’m of the opinion that the setting should always primarily exist in service of the characters, as my writing and my favorite writings are all character centered above all else.

I think putting the pulp heroes in radically different time periods and settings could even yield interesting results. Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal stars a caveman Conan/Tarzan type protagonist interacting with dinosaurs, Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta is a Shadow-esque character set loose in a dystopian future, Grendel is the Fantomas of 1980s New York, and so on. The precedent is there and I think it can be taken much further.

Really I think a lot of the problems and arguments that have arisen over the years in regards to adapting the pulp heroes often result of people overthinking things, lord knows I do enough of that all the time. I really think it’s just something that only seems impossible because it hasn’t really been done yet. Of course, in regards to The Shadow I obviously have a whole different text as to whether I’d want him to be adapted or not, but in general, my ultimate response to what you asked is just do whatever you think is gonna make the story better and the characters more interesting. A.K.A, do whatever you want. 

[livefordrama]

Reviewing Dramas I Have Watched Part 8

Again, here is my rating system:  1- Did not like, 2- Enjoyed but probably wouldn’t watch again, 3- Enjoyed and would watch some episodes again/may watch again, 4- Enjoyed and would watch again, 5- Loved 

Korean Drama

My Strange Hero: 4

Trigger Warning: Suicide, Bullying, Verbal and Emotional Abuse

My Strange Hero is about a man named Bok-su (which stands for revenge), who was falsely accused by his friend and girl friend of shoving his friend off the school roof and expelled from high school. Now nine years later, he gets the opportunity to return to school but he isn’t just going to go back nicely, seeing the seemingly cozy lives those who betrayed him are living he decides to enact his revenge by proving how corrupt the high school and the people working in it are. However, his plans for revenge get more difficult to achieve when he begins to fall for his ex-girlfriend once again. 

This show was cute and interesting, it made me mad and lot and Yoo Seung-ho never disappoints. I ended up watching it in less than a week with studying and all so it draws you in really fast. I absolutely loved the realistic factor of not having to forgive everyone for a good ending and to move on. Many shows, kdrama or otherwise, make characters forgive even those who did horrible things to them just for a good ending, and it’s not always that simple nor do you owe those who did horrible things to you an apology to be a good person and move on looking at you Missing Nine. However my main complaint with it is that the ending isn’t as impactful or satisfying as the ending three episodes previous. I’m glad they had the three ending episodes because the other characters got more closure, I just wish they would have made it as impactful as the ending of episode 29. It is about thirty minutes an episode so it’s a really fun and interesting watch if you need something on the shorter side. I highly recommend!

Love Alarm (Season 1): 3 

Trigger Warning: Bullying, Suicide, PTSD, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Abuse 

Love Alarm deals with the concept of having an app that can read your emotions and alerts your phone when you are in 10 meters of someone who loves you or alerts your crushes phone if they are within the 10 meters. It follows Jojo, a girl with a mysterious and sad past, who can’t download Love Alarm because of her phone. She is in an unhappy relationship and begins to have feelings for the new student. After being kind to a student, he gives her the phone and she can finally download it only to find that love is a lot more complicated than she originally expected. 

Okay, I started this show because the new season was coming out and everyone was freaking out about it. I had been avoiding it all this time because I love Song Kang and have been following his work since his smaller roles, hoping he would get bigger roles. I was so excited when I first heard he would be the main here but couldn’t ever bring myself to watch it cause I don’t like romance love triangles and already knew he was playing the webtoon second lead which made it worse. Plus I have a trauma with anything that has Kim So-Hyun in it. I adore her acting, she is so good, too good. She just always plays in really sad, dark Kdramas and I always like the second leads in her shows so I just get sad and angry when I watch her shows. I at the time just didn’t feel like dealing with being annoyed and finally got in the mood to watch a cheesy love triangle romance. *spoiler alert* I can confidentially say that while no character and no ship is necessarily healthy, I do prefer Sun-ho to Hye-yeong. No, not because he is played by Song Kang, in the first few episodes I hated his character. I wanted to punch him so badly, but with all his immature flaws he did do some mature things. He told Hye-yeong to not fight over Jojo and to let her pick which I loved because, shows like to have the two people fight amongst themselves who gets the crush and that’s so stupid to me, Jojo is a person with feelings too and she might not like either so I loved that he said that. I also loved that instead of telling Hye-yeong not to pursue Jojo because he still loved her, he told Jojo to stay away from Hye-yeong so that he wouldn’t be hurt by her like Sun-ho was. He still loved her but his friend came first, and I felt horrible when he lost almost everyone who genuinely loved him. Hye-yeong is okay, but he isn’t even a healthier option, he literally stalks her all the time without her even knowing about it, he memorized her daily routine, where he’s going to college so he could move there to be around her, it’s just too creepy to me. Yes, Sun-oh stalked her too and that is not okay at all, but he made his presence known so that she can voice if she was uncomfortable or knew to call someone if she felt threatened, Hye-yeong sneaks around and doesn’t even talk to her and that’s super creepy to me. I just think they are both immature and personally with some growth I think Sun-oh is more fitting than Hye-yeong cause the two really do seem like they are in love with each other while Jojo and Hye-yeong seem like a crush that will turn out to be more platonic. I know it’s wishful thinking but that’s just my hopes. *spoiler over* I did really love this show actually, sometimes you just need a trashy dramatic romance. Yes, it had toxic behaviors but I still liked it, it felt like a realistic teenage couple in high school (minus Mr. Stalkery Stalks.) I think that not everything has to be analyzed, I enjoyed the cute romantic scenes at face value, even though I knew they weren’t healthy. If it happened to me in real life, I would have punched a bitch but it’s fun to watch on a screen. 

Blood: 2

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Suicide, Terminal illness, Murder, Abuse. 

Blood is about a surgeon who is also a vampire. He tries to control his vampire self and help humans while working on a way to make himself human. When he transfers to a new hospital things take a turn for the weird as the patients of the new ward start exhibiting symptoms he is all too familiar with. 

Blood was really good for the first two thirds of the series. I watched it before I found out about the main couples real life situation but continued to enjoy it because it’s none of my business what they do in their personal lives (so please don’t message or leave comments about that situation or your opinions on it.) Both couples were super cute and there were some plot twists that admittedly got me. I liked the story line and the idea that vampires were viruses that doctors were researching in secret. I really got hooked for most of the story; however, the last few episodes felt almost like they switched writers and the new writer had never watched the previous episodes. Comments were made that never were brought up again, like the thirty minutes of vaguely discussing his parents and who he was as an infectee that was never even slightly brushed upon for the rest of the episodes let alone resolved. Not to mention that last episode was a total mess and the ending sucked. The last two episodes are not canon in my mind that’s how weirdly out of place for the show they felt, it was like a 180. The ending was so confusing and I just really hated how it all played out. Because of this, I give the show a 2 cause I did enjoy it a lot but I won’t watch it again. Once of that was enough. 

Legend Hero: 4

Legend Hero, also known as Legend Hero Samgugjeon or Legends Heroes the Three Kingdoms, is about people who compete in a dream battle to acquire their ultimate dream. The main character acquired three spirit helpers which help him in combat by transforming him into an armored knight with special power, and later befriends angels who help him in the battles by boosting this power. He has to fight friend and foe alike to achieve his ultimate dream but that begs the question, is a dream really worth it?

I really enjoyed this show, it was admittedly difficult to get into at first but once I did, I was hooked. The characters were so cute and endearing, the plot had humor, angst, and fluff alike. The acting was a little silly at points but it was made for kids so it’s a little overdramatic. It was all around a very entertaining watch, I watched the whole series while on vacation during the resting hours when my family and I were lazing around the hotel and it was such a refreshing, happy, lazy watch. I highly recommend for those who enjoy a happy watch when they just wish to relax.

Web-Drama/Mini-Series

Power Rangers Dino Force Brave: 4

Power Rangers Dino Force Brave, while technically a sequel to the super sentai series, is a original stand alone production and sSouth Korean take on the power rangers series. While the power rangers finally enjoy the peace that had come to the earth, a new threat is brewing. The Neo-Deboth Army has arrived looking for the power of the dinosaur king, the power ranger once more have to come together to defeat this threat.

This show was super interesting and cute. I have never seen any of the power ranger series so I am entirely inexperienced when it comes to their world. However, I can confidentially say this is a good stand alone as I was not confused while watching it. The first episode got recommended to me on youtube and since I was bored and unsure of what to do, I decided to watch it. I believe I finished the whole series in only a few days. It was super cute and I liked how ironic and silly the ending was with all the characters, including the evil ones dancing together. I’m sure die hard power rangers fans hated that but as someone who knows nothing about the series, I found it quite hilarious. The plot itself was entertaining and cool, it had some angst moments and some cute moments. I loved the ending, but that’s all I will say about that. 

Founder of Diabolism Q: 3

Founder of Diabolism Q is simply snippets of cute or funny scenes from the book that didn’t make it into the series or at least not in as much detail. It follows many characters in small, five minute long episodes and the shenanigans they get in to. 

Founder of Diabolism Q was super cute! I have watched The Untamed and read some of the book but haven’t watch the actual anime yet. Still, I decided to watch this short series. I watched each episode as it came out and loved every one. There isn’t much to say on it though, other than it was super cute and if you love The Untamed or its adaptions, I highly recommend. Just make sure you watch or read one of the full adaptions first otherwise you will be very confused. 

Imaginary Cat: 4

Trigger Warning: Depression, Suicide, Vomit, Illness, Death

Imaginary Cat is about an aspiring webtoon artist who, after loosing his crush and falling into a depression, finds a cat in an alley and takes her in. He is able to recover from the loss and get back into writing when he meets a girl who is obsessed with cats especially after she lost her kitten as a child. He is just trying to get his webtoon accepted and she just wants to get close to him and his cat. 

This was such a cute little easy watch, but was really sad at some points throughout the series. I teared up through some scenes and laughed so hard through others. I also related a lot to how the main plays with his cat, especially when said cat wants none of it. It was a really nice mini-drama to watch in the very little time I had between studying and moving house. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend to those who want a easy watch that’s a little sad and very cute. 

Korean Movies

The Magician: 4

Trigger Warning: Blood, Abuse, Drugs, Suicide Attempt, Murder, Death

The Magician is set in the Joseon Era and follows the famous magician, Hwan-hee. He along with his blind friend Bo-eum ran away from their abusive caretaker as children and are still worrying about being found by him even to this day as they perform to keep their livelihoods. Meanwhile a noble lady who was sold to the Qing dynasty comes to town. The two end up running into each other and quickly fall in love, however they both have to overcome the obstacles in their way in order to be together. 

I loved this movie, I had to pause a few times just to process how much I personally enjoyed it. I wish I was able to watch it in a better quality because I never once saw how his one eye was blue, I just took their word and the movie poster for it. Unfortunately, it was the only place I could find to watch so I took what I could. The only reason I am giving it a four instead of a five is the ending sucked. I hated the ending. It just felt unnecessary and honestly really pissed me off. I don’t always need a happy ending but I also didn’t need that kind of ending either. I would still recommend it to those who like angst with some romance and a open-ish ending. 

Seondal The Man Who Sells the River: 5

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Death, Vomit, Gore

Seondal is supposedly a comedy about a group of swindlers who become fast family after escaping from a war they were drafted in. They work together to swindle their way into riches and out of dangerous situations. They gained a huge name in the Joseon dynasty for even swindling the king. However, after tragedy strikes, they decide to do their greatest job yet, sell a river of fake gold. 

The movie was really good, both funny and heartbreaking. My friend and I watched it together thinking it would be a nice comedy after we watched some sad kdrama earlier that week however, it was most certainly not. We both ended up crying and raging. So just be warned it claims to be a comedy and it is hilarious for the first half of the movie, however it quickly turns dark so fast you are just sitting their in shock wondering what happened. I thought Xiumin’s acting was great and his character was adorable. I had not seen his acting before and he easily became a favorite. The movie’s plot and writing kept you engaged and entertained throughout and the ending was great in my opinion. Overall it was a really good watch, I have seen it twice now and thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend to those who enjoy both comedy and angst.

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[notgonnarememberthis]

A Compromising Engagement - Chapter 5

Inspiration strikes out of nowhere but here we are! Honestly I got this idea while on a trip a while back. It’s been sitting in my head for a minute but FINALLY the ideas started flowing. Once I get conversations in my head THEN I know it’s time to begin writing. Honestly, getting inspiration for this was rough recently because I have a new fic idea that absolutely will not leave my head. I was trying to force myself to think for this one instead so I could finish a work first but that’s literally the worst idea when you’re trying to write something. Once I stopped pressuring myself, BOOM, idea. I also had to watch an episode to get their voices straight in my head again but that’s another story. Hope y’all are staying safe!

Watson settles into her seat eyes piercing the suspect across from her. The woman is eerily familiar to her, a pompous air that resonates from her very being. An attitude calling that she can’t be caught.

The case is a rough one, triple homicide with no solid evidence. Even what they managed to obtain from witnesses is circumstantial at best. The woman knows that without a confession, she’d slide by in court. Enough money for a good lawyer and an alibi that she didn’t trust. She’d been at this for an hour and she’s growing weary. There’s absolutely no security footage of her where she claimed to be. It simply doesn’t make sense.

A scream cuts her question short. She leaps up into action, medical instincts taking over as people outside the door call for 911. She grabs the door handle only for it to remain still in her hand. She tries again and again only for the realization to dawn on her that she’s locked inside. “Sherlock?” She calls to her partner who should be just on the other side of the mirror. “Sherlock let me out so I can help!” Her heart sinks when there’s no response. “Marcus?” Again, nothing. “Abreu? Coventry?” Nobody’s on the other side. Great.

She pounds on the door hoping to catch somebody’s attention. “Someone! Let me out! I can help!” She shouts. A chuckle behind her sends a chill down her spine. Her eyes flash back to the woman in the handcuffs, Elana March sits where the woman once was. A wicked grin spreads across her face.

Action settles into her as she pulls out the keychain Kitty gifted her for her birthday. She presses the blunt end against the two way mirror turning her head as the spike inside shatters the glass. She hoists herself through the new opening, adrenaline rushing too fast to feel the glass likely piercing her palms. She reaches for the door only for it to stubbornly stay in place yet again. She looks through the window in the door hoping to catch anyone passing, even in a rush to assist but what catches her eyes sends her into full blown panic.

Two cups of coffee spill across the precinct floor. Marcus is leaning over an all to familiar form giving manic chest compressions. “Sherlock!” All sense leaves her as she slams her shoulder into the door, trying desperately to force it to swing open. “Sherlock!” She cries his name, tears spilling down her cheeks. A scream rips through her when Marcus sits back on his feet, grief consuming his expression.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She shoots out of bed with a strangled gasp desperately trying to catch her breath. It takes her mind a second to catch up to her surroundings. A shadow passes across her room and her body moves unconsciously fetching her singlestick from her bedside drawer. She’s not quick enough, however, as the looming figure catches her wrist midswing.

“Watson!” Sherlock shouts, snapping her out of her state. He sits on her bed in front of her, worry etched into his face. She disguards her singlestick flicking on her lamp.

Her chest is still heaving from adrenaline as she tries to piece together what happened. “Why are you in here?” His brows furrow, confused.

“You were screaming my name.” His knees bounce trying to rid of the remaining anxiety in his own way. “I thought you were in danger.”

Her eyes close in both embarrassment and realization. Her nightmares had been recurrent since that night she stood up to Morland. They all ended the same with someone she cared about dead by the hands of someone she and/or Sherlock helped put away. This one, however, was the worst of the bunch. “You’re hurt.” His right hand is held close to him but she can tell he’s bleeding.

“I was doing an experiment when I heard you scream. I wasn’t careful getting out of it but it’s fine. Merely a scratch.”

“Let me look at it.”

“Watson.” He tries to bat her off again but she only looks at him. A look that tells him that she needs this right now. He obediently follows her to the bathroom for supplies and better lighting.

Once in there she determines that he is correct. It’s a painful cut but stitches are not necessary, thankfully. An apology is on the edge of her tongue when he speaks up instead. 

“What was the dream about?” She tenses not wishing to explain. Not when she’s had so many in the course of two weeks. He’d understand, of course he’d understand. The answer is simple.

“Make sure you wash this so it doesn’t get infected. I’ll go clean up the mess from the experiment.”

He catches her wrist as she tries to walk away. His grip is more gentle than before, his eyes begging her to talk to him. “Joan.” Her name makes her breath catch and for a moment, she wants to tell him everything. How she’s been extra on edge since Morland’s threat to remove his ‘extra security’ if there ever even was such a thing. It did its job, however, as she always brings her singlestick on cases now. She wants to tell him about how she’s worried he’ll take their whole livelihood away in one fell swoop. She knows he supports what she said that night, yet parts of her wish she could just take it back. Taking it back, however, would mean not standing up for Sherlock and that’s absolutely not an option.

“I’m fine.” She insists instead. It’s easier than explaining what he already probably knows.

He doesn’t push, thankfully. He only nods slightly with a sad smile. “Very well. I’ll clean up my mess. You get some rest, we have lunch with your family tomorrow, remember?”

“My mother won’t let me forget.” She jokes halfheartedly. He relaxes slightly at the return of the banter and it’s enough for now. She sulks back to her room hoping to reach a point where she’s tired enough to fall in a dreamless sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sherlock keeps his eyes on her the next day. The rest of the night he’d kept quiet, listening for even the slightest cry. When none came he assumed she’d managed to fall into a peaceful sleep and resumed his experiment. However, when she came down the steps ready for lunch it’s more than clear to him that she hadn’t slept any more at all.

He makes no mention of it, only making her a cup of coffee before they set out which she gratefully accepted. She hides her exhaustion well with others but he’s more than familiar with it by now. With his habits of waking her up early he’s recognized her patterns at different levels of needing sleep. He tries to curb his concern when she drags her feet across the kitchen floor. He bites his tongue when she catches herself going to rub her eyes for the third time only stopping to not ruin her makeup concealing the dark circles under her eyes. He rocks when he has to repeat himself several times when she misses something he says about the experiment he’d conducted the night prior. She’s far too tired, is what he concludes. A type of tired where if they had a case he’d wait another hour before waking her lest he be on the wrong end of a snap in her exhaustion.

“You ready?” Her head lifts following the sound of his voice. He wishes he could give her more time for her coffee to kick in but they’re behind as is.

“Remind me why we scheduled this again? As if that brunch with my mother was bad enough now we have to answer to Oren, Grace, and Lin?”

“Come to recall I don’t believe Lin gave us a choice in the matter.”

“Right.” She chuckles dryly. “Let’s go.”

The ride to the restaurant is blissfully long. It gives Watson the time she needs to wake and him time to think. Not that he hadn’t done it all night but paired with the opportunity to observe Watson, it’s beneficial at least. She no longer seems shaken by the events of the night prior, also not shocking as Watson in the past has pushed back emotions for the lack of confrontation. 

Everyone is already seated when they arrive at the restaurant. Sherlock places a hand at the base of Watson’s back for the appearance but stays back when she goes in to hug her family. He waves politely pulling out Watson’s seat before taking his own.

Conversation flows naturally with the Watson family, all things given. She seems to forget her exhaustion as they discuss how they’ve all been recently, though she does order a coffee with her meal.

“I can’t believe I had to find out about your engagement through mom.” Oren laughs. Watson shifts in her seat a little only offering an apologetic smile.

“At least you found out through someone.” Lin challenges, “I found out via the engagement party invitation.”

“And she will never let me hear the end of it.” Watson shrugs. “Truthfully we were going to keep it a secret for the sake of professionalism and the danger in our jobs.”

Lin gasps, a realization hitting her. “Did you never tell Marcus?”

“No, we didn’t.” Sherlock provides biting the inside of his cheek.

“He’s going to flip when he hears about it. I mean, the whole precinct had a pool deciding when you two were going to get together but engaged?”

“They had a what?” Watson sits up a little straighter, “How do you know about this?”

“I’m the confirmation for when you two finally get together.” He and Watson both share a look of alarm.

“Did you tell anyone?” He asks, Watson’s hand grabs his leg under the table. He’s not sure if he’s grounding her or the other way around. The entire precinct knowing about their ‘engagement’ would complicate things in unimaginable ways. They’d already lied to Hannah at the gala. If that were to get out they’d be dealing with more than minor knowing looks from coworkers but actual anger and hurt from Bell and Gregson both. Dealing with wedding questions from family was bad enough. In the workplace? Sherlock can only grab her wrist in return in order to keep himself from spiraling.

“Of course not. I got Joan’s message loud and clear that I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone. Nobody has even asked recently so you’re off the hook.”

They both breathe a sigh of relief. He lets her go but Watson’s hand remains, though relaxing her grip. He’s caught by how natural the position feels. Simply holding each other was an action he’d never thought he’d find so comforting yet her hand just above his knee curbs his anxieties he’d been feeling having to pretend. They’re partners, afterall, how much pretending did they really need?

The rest of lunch is unremarkable at best. Discussion of wedding ideas fended off with excuses over how busy they’ve been with work. Lin threatened to plan for them and for a moment it didn’t sound like a horrible idea until he thought of how long that guest list would be.

He shakes his head when that thought truly settled in. How long had he been thinking like this engagement was real? Thoughts of actual weddings and Watson going dress shopping as if that weren’t something Mary and the whole Watson clan in general wouldn’t want to be involved with.

“I think I broke him.” Lin teases gently. He’s more than used to her at this point but he’s certainly overwhelmed. Watson squeezes his knee pulling his gaze to her.

“It’s ok.” She coaxes with a smile that could calm him instantly, “We’ll figure it out.” He offers her a small smile, if only she knew what he was trying to figure out.

When they say their goodbyes his hand reaches for Watson’s, his fingers interlacing with hers as they make their way to the car. Even as the climb in the back of a cab his hand covers hers in the drive finding the comfort he yearns for in the simple touch. He didn’t realize how badly he needed it until she climbed out when they arrived home and her touch was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He almost forgets about Watson’s nightmare in the panic that gripped his mind for the rest of the night. It’s not until Watson lingers in his doorway, her face more vulnerable than she lets most view her as, that he remembers the encounter. She schools her emotions so well most days.

“Any new cases?” Her voice sounds pleading and tired.

“I thought you’d be reading your book right now.”

“I finished it last night.” She admits with a sigh.

“Unfortunately nothing. It appears all the interesting murders have taken a holiday.” He jests, “I’d say let's take a trip to New York City but I believe they’re not quite keen on having me back any time soon.”

“Well you did lick what they thought was a deadly poison and made an officer faint.”

“Anyone with a sense of smell knew that it was italian dressing Watson.” She looks away when he meets her gaze. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.”

“Clearly not.” She shifts her weight from left to right and back again.

“You died.” He rears back, almost shocked that she relented so easily. “I was stuck in interrogation with a suspect and I heard screaming. I was locked inside and I couldn’t get out. I saw you on the ground. Marcus just stopped trying to save you. Nobody could hear me and I could’ve helped, I know I could but.” He’s up easily and in two steps he’s wrapped his arms around her. Her hands freeze in the air but when he holds her tighter she relents trembling in his arms like he could make it all stop.

“It’s alright.” He whispers into her hair. “I’m ok.” He feels her nod into his shoulder. He’s more than familiar with these nightmares, however. No amount of words can shake that uneasiness they bring. “Was this the only one?”

Her silence is enough of an answer as is.

“Only me?”

She tightens her grip but he can feel the just barely there shake of her head. “We saw your family today. They’re happy, if a tad relentless in pushing us to plan our fake wedding.” He feels her shoulders shake: a laugh, that’s good. “Kitty and Archie are likely cuddled up together after watching a Disney movie that Kitty pretends not to like but we both know she’s a secret softie hm?” A nod. “As for me. Well, you can stay in my bed if you’d like that way I’m right here if you need me.”

She stiffens and for a moment he believes he’s gone too far. She lets out an agonizingly long breath contemplating his offer. She swallows heavily, nodding more distinctly this time. It’s slow, almost giving herself the opportunity to change her mind. He guides her to the bed laying down first, controlling his breathing tightly so as to not make the smallest move that could scare her off.

She looks so small as she crawls in beside him. This woman that he associates with so much strength looking so vulnerable in this moment. He wishes he could take her pain on as his own. He’d do it in a second if he could. He opens an arm making the silent offer to her. A small smile that he hopes tells her if she doesn’t need it she doesn’t have to take it.

He has to force himself not to stop breathing when her head settles on his bare chest where she can listen to his racing heart. Her hand comes to rest on the base of his ribs content to just feel like slight expansion and contraction of his breathing. His own hand settles on her back, content to spell out meaningless formulas and ludicrous patterns until she’s lulled into a deep restful sleep.

He listens to her slow even breaths as his eyes drift closed.

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

@tamarknott @averageinside

[rubberduckyrye]

Abt your 4th chapter analysis, how did you first come to the conclusion that Kokichi actually wanted to mercy kill everyone and didn't just kill both Miu and Gonta to save his ass (because the second option is what 99 percent of the fandom thinks)

How did you first come to the conclusion that the mercy kill plot in ch4 was genuine bc 99 of the theorists think this was Kokichi's lie to convince the ch4 blackened to kill the victim so that Kokichi can get away with murder.            

I'm asking not because I think you're wrong, but because I'm interested about how did you find out abt this possibility. bc pretty much everyone dismisses it.

Well when I started analyzing Kokichi, I noticed that there were discrepancies/contradictions with the idea that he only manipulated Gonta to kill Miu to save his own skin/get away with murder/for his “I am the Mastermind” plot/He wanted to prove a point of some kind.

As I’ve said before, during the first half of the trial, Kokichi very purposefully acts like he’s guilty. He purposefully draws suspicion onto himself by:

Sharing knowledge that conflicted with the lie that he never went to the roof (I.E. Knowing about the brick handrail when you can’t see it from anywhere besides the roof)

Leaving himself off of the suspect list, to make himself more guilty/sneaky

Acting nervous when his lie about not going to the roof was called out for him knowing about the brick handrail

Keeping quiet about information that would have proven Kokichi’s innocence long before the class could suspect him (his special avatar settings)

Intending to have Gonta in the Virtual World put the toilet paper back where it was, so no one would figure out the murder weapon or the means of Gonta escaping the rooftop (giving Gonta a pseudo alibi)

And, he also manipulates Shuichi in the investigation by:

Tailing him and making sure no one could get involved with Shuichi’s investigation, effectively isolating Shuichi as much as possible

Steering Shuichi away from Gonta being the culprit, despite knowing 100% Gonta killed Miu

And, to top it off, Kokichi’s outburst in the cafeteria going from a harmless prankster to threatening someone’s life, to which even Kaito noticed something was really off about him. After the trial, Kaito also points out that Gonta and Kokichi both lost it after seeing the Secret of the Outside World.

Also, the aftermath of the trial is inconsistent as well. Kokichi cries from the whole ordeal, and after Gonta’s execution, Kokichi is hanging his head and completely silent until he’s addressed

He also begs to die with Gonta (not in replace of, mind you, since we already know by this point that Kirumi couldn’t have a replacement for her execution) and has a lot of lines that imply guilt, grief, and self hatred

And during the trial, Kokichi gets viciously angry at Gonta and lashes out like we’ve never seen him before

He says that he was faking/lying about his crying over Gonta, only because he wanted to “calm Gonta down” or keep him from getting mad

Now, with all of these facts laid out, you can start to see why those other theories don’t line up.

First interpretation: Kokichi wanted to prove a point that you can’t trust people

This is contradicted by Kokichi’s actions in making himself suspicious and not immediately giving his alibi/bringing the fact that his avatar had special settings that made it impossible for him to kill Miu

This is also contradicted by Kokichi steering Shuichi away from Gonta during the investigation

He makes things unnecessarily risky for himself in that he acted like the guilty party and nearly died because of it, and had he been chosen as the blackened, he would die with only a short few minutes for a “Ha ha I told you so!” after the trial ends. And that is really stupid.

Second interpretation: Kokichi was only using Gonta to further his mastermind plot/make himself look more evil

This plot is contradicted by, yet again, him hiding the fact he himself was innocent and steering Shuichi away from the truth, as if all he wanted was to use Gonta for his mastermind plot, he sure dragged it out for no fucking reason/made unnecessary and risky complications where if Gonta had actually hidden the toilet paper as he was told, Kokichi would have been voted for as the blackened and his plot would be screwed over anyway

Third interpretation: Kokichi used Gonta to save his own skin before Miu murdered him

This is, yet again, contradicted by Kokichi not immediately outing Gonta/proving his own innocence/steering Shuchi away from the truth. If he really wanted to save his own skin, why would he make himself look guilty and risk dying in the class trial instead of completely outing Gonta from the start? That’s extremely counter productive.

Fourth Interpretation: He was just doing all of this to fuck with everyone

This is yet again contradicted by how Kokichi basically nearly died during the trial because of him acting like the culprit--and we’ve seen Kokichi mess around during cases before, and those are very different than this.

This is also contradicted by Kokichi’s rage during the trial, as if he was actually doing this to fuck with everyone, this would be exactly what he wanted and he would be enjoying it, not throwing a rage fest

Those are the major interpretations I can think of, though you can probably do combinations but still have contradictions (I.E. Kokichi was using Gonta to save himself & messing with everyone--this being contradicted by the rage during the trial)

And when you think about it (or any logical contradiction towards it hasn’t been made known to me and be actually irrefutable) the only thing that doesn’t fall to inconsistencies and contradictions is this: Kokichi saw the Secret of the Outside World, fell into despair, and in his grief, threw away his original plan of maybe usurping the role as the mastermind/this Killing game must be a show being watched by an audience/his previous deductions in favor of mass mercy killing the rest of his classmates before they could see the mind breaking truth and fall into despair like he had.

Miu’s plan probably only pushed him further into his plot, having one of two friends he trusted planning on betraying him, and deepened the grief that he was truly alone.

He only back pedals out of the plan during the trial due to his rage, probably brought on by the fact that he wasn’t able to determine Gonta was “lying” despite knowing he had to be lying. Since Gonta didn’t know he was lying, he didn’t have any reason not to believe he was telling the truth. Due to Kokichi’s paranoia (probably also amplified by Miu) he probably came to the conclusion that Gonta was far more manipulative than he originally thought and probably assumed that Gonta was manipulating/using him to get away with murder.

Anyway, in the end, it’s upsetting that the mass mercy kill plot goes overlooked and ignored, even when you stop to think about it, all other possibilities have some kind of contradiction.

In the end, everyone is still valid in interpreting what they’d like, but these are just my thoughts and reasons as to why I’m convinced otherwise.

[darks-ink]

What A Nice Surprise CH.6

Tumblr is still living that sweet no-linebreaks life so I would strongly recommend checking this chapter on either AO3 or FFnet via the mirror links down below. As for the chapter itself... well, it’s not as fluffy as previous ones, sorry!

First Chapter - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter AO3 - FFnet

---

Danny laid back on his bed, staring at the blank ceiling above him. Not that he was really taking it in. He was too occupied with his thoughts. Thinking about his life, about his parents and their relationship with Phantom… All of the recent events, really.

Because the relationship between his parents and Phantom was mending. And that was good, right? He had come by a couple times so far, tried to visit every weekend to encourage this. To have them look at him with pride and love and… well, like a son.

But between the way they looked at Phantom and the way they looked at him… The way they talked about their own son instead of the ghost they hated so much…

It was starting to feel like maybe he was getting ignored. Falling away. And it wasn’t his parents’ fault, of course – it was him who kept choosing to spend time with them only as Phantom. Who hid himself away, afraid of…

Of what, really?

Not of getting revealed as a ghost, not really. If they could be so nice to Phantom, they would be the same to him – whether they discovered he was Phantom or not.

And that wasn’t it either. Sure, he was still trying to avoid being outed as Phantom, but not because he was afraid of them. He was afraid for them. That they would limit him, distract him, try to help and endanger themselves…

But neither of those were good reason to explain why Danny Fenton kept avoiding his parents. Was it because of the way they looked at him, wistfully? Knowing what could be, if he wasn’t in his room so much? If his grades would pick up further, his attendance not as bad?

Of the way they treated Phantom like their son because their real son refused to spend time with them?

He groaned before rolling over onto his stomach. Buried his head into his pillow and groaned again, muffled. Why was his life such a mess?

Already he was regretting his decision not to visit as Phantom today. He’d had planned to spend time with them as Fenton instead, but… but what if something came up? If a ghost attacked?

Phantom could leave easily – it was what he was expected to do. Danny, however, would have to come up with an excuse. And a good one, more than likely. And boy was he a bad liar, despite his years of practice.

That, and he couldn’t think of a good way to breach the subject. It felt awkward, to just walk to his parents and tell them he wanted to spend his Saturday with them.

What if they asked him why now? What if they asked him what changed? Why he wanted to be with them now and not before?

He didn’t know the answer to that. Well, he did, but he didn’t know what to tell them. It wasn’t like he could tell them that he was spending so much time with them as a ghost that he was starting to feel like his normal life was getting neglected. That wouldn’t go over well, truce with Phantom or not.

Burying his face even deeper into the pillow, Danny groaned a third time. What he wouldn’t give for an excuse to get out of this stupid loop in his thoughts.

The doorbell rang, and he jolted up. Who on Earth rang the Fenton’s doorbell? The only person who has, recently, was Phantom. But he was Phantom, so that couldn’t be it.

He was already out of his room and in the hallway upstairs when he heard his dad open the door.

“Vlad?” the man asked, voice tinged with confusion and a hint of fading exuberance. He’d been expecting Phantom, of course. Danny would enjoy the fact that his dad was happier about seeing him than Vlad more if he hadn’t been feeling so conflicted about it earlier.

“Vlad, how nice to see you!” Maddie said, now also appearing from the kitchen. “What’s the occasion?”

“Must I have a reason to visit my friends?” Vlad stepped inside, leering at Maddie. “Can I not come visit just because I want to?”

The frown on Maddie’s face suggested that she certainly didn’t feel so, but she didn’t protest. Instead she led them further inside, where the three of them sat down. Maddie, tactfully, sat down in the armchair so Vlad couldn’t take a seat next to her.

Seeing that no one had noticed him, Danny ducked back inside his room. He wanted to keep an eye on them, but he had no desire to interact with Vlad if he didn’t have to. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Vlad was here for a reason. And knowing the man like he did, that reason either involved him, his mom, or both.

Danny let the cold power of his ghost form wash over him, glad that there were no ghost sensors in the house anymore. There had been, for a while, until his parents (and him, and Jazz) got tired of them all responding to Danny.

Sometimes he really wondered how no one had figured out he was Phantom. Besides Vlad, that is.

He turned himself invisible and intangible, then sunk through the floor. In the living room, the three adults were still talking about nothing in particular – still small talk, it seemed. Not that Danny had been out of earshot for long, but you never knew with Vlad.

Taking position behind and above the couch, he let go of his intangibility. No one would notice him as long as he was invisible, and he only needed his intangibility to prevent the breeze he caused while flying. Both his parents and Vlad were around invisible ghosts enough to tell when one was present, otherwise.

The small talk lasted for a bit longer, although Danny tuned out most of it. He had to, really – if he heard another word of Vlad attempting to woo his mom he would puke and blow his cover.

And then finally, finally, Vlad brought up the topic he had wanted to talk about – or so Danny assumed.

“Say, I’ve heard the most ridiculous rumor about you two lately…” Vlad shifted, folding his hands together in his lap. “People are saying that you two are working with Phantom – that you three have a truce. Unbelievable, the kind of things people come up with.”

Jack and Maddie shared an uncertain glance, then Jack cleared his throat. “Well, actually. We kind of do have a truce with Phantom.” He scratched his cheek, an uncomfortable and shaky smile on his face. “We’ve been working with him for a couple weeks. He helps us with our research, we help him with ghost hunting, you know?”

Vlad’s face fell. “You’re… what? You are working together with– with–”

“With Phantom, yes.” Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “That is not a problem for you, surely? As the mayor, you must realize how much Phantom helps this town. If it wasn’t for him, human hunters would have to be hired – and paid. Meanwhile Phantom does it for free, at any time of day.”

“Yes, well.” Vlad shifted, clearly uncomfortable. Danny wasn’t sure where Vlad had heard of his new alliance with his parents, but he clearly hadn’t believed the stories. Whether one of the ghosts had told him, or Valerie had, or maybe he really had heard rumors about it in the city… Vlad obviously hadn’t thought that the Fentons would ever willingly join forces with Phantom. Ha! Joke’s on him.

“I am simply… surprised,” he finally managed. “The two of you were so… strongly against him. What made you change your mind?” A glance over to Jack, then a quick correction. “Minds, I mean.”

Oh. Oh. He probably thought that Danny’s parents had discovered his secret, and that that was why they were working together now. That… made a lot of sense.

“I suppose we just saw a different side of him,” Maddie said, slowly. Picking her words with care. “And we came to realize that he was… not who we thought he was.”

“Yes, exactly.” Jack nodded energetically. “The kid’s got power, but he needs guidance. Help. And we’re perfect for the role, right Mads?”

Vlad’s face twisted in a complicated mess of emotions. Quite honestly, it was beyond Danny’s ability to decipher. “I see.”

Then he suddenly stood up, wiping imaginary dirt off of his clothes. “Well, I’m sorry to say that that was all the time I had today. I simply must be going.”

Danny watched the man storm out, a little surprised. He figured that Vlad would’ve been annoyed to discover that his parents no longer disliked Phantom, but this seemed a little… extreme.

Should he… Should he follow Vlad? Sure, the man caused trouble a lot, but if he hadn’t been expecting this twist he wouldn’t have a plan yet. Right?

Yeah. Yeah, that seemed about right. For now, Danny knew enough about Vlad and what he was working on. There was nothing to be gained from further reconnaissance except a potential fight.

Having thus made up his mind, Danny moved back to his room. He sat down on his bed, legs hanging off of the side, and switched back to human form. Holding invisibility for longer stretches of time was, unfortunately, still tiring. Maybe his parents had been right about regularly training his powers… Building more stamina and endurance certainly couldn’t hurt.

Before he could put too much thought into the matter, however, his core stirred to life. Energy flooded through his system and cold air forced itself out via his mouth – his ghost sense.

Danny cursed, pressing his hands on his eyes. “Jinxed it,” he muttered under his breath. Of course Vlad wouldn’t leave it at this. More than likely he had left for the nearest hiding spot to swap to Plasmius.

Briefly, he considered the option of simply… not going. Vlad’s ecto-signature wasn’t one he could recognize, but the strength and timing checked out perfectly. And Vlad was here just for him, probably.

But if Danny didn’t come, Vlad would cause trouble and force him to come, more than likely. The man didn’t like to be ignored. So it was safer – and better for the town and his reputation – if he went.

That didn’t mean that he had to like it, though.

Light washed over him as he shifted back into Phantom, and Danny flew out of his window. Invisibly, of course.

Tracking down Vlad was easy – his ghost sense allowed him to hone in on other ghosts as long as they were within reach.

Plasmius hovered over a mostly empty street, glaring up a storm. Pink ectoplasm sparked around his hands, but it seemed more like an extension of his angrily flickering aura than an actual attempt at an attack. At least he was high enough that no one would be able to overhear them.

Having released his invisibly on the way there, Danny flew into Vlad’s view, fists clenched.

“Vlad! Haven’t you caused enough trouble yet?” he taunted, knowing how much Vlad hated his quips.

“Daniel, how nice of you to finally show up.” Despite the smooth purr in his voice, Vlad’s flaring aura showed that he was still more than a little angry. “Perhaps you could do me a pleasure, my dear boy, and tell me what on Earth you were thinking. Giving away your secret to your parents?”

He snarled, baring his fangs. “Risking my secret as well?! What about our deal, you buffoon!”

Danny’s aura flickered brighter in response, his fingers digging deeper into his palms. “Our deal?! Oh, because you’ve done such a great job of following that as well, huh?” He blew out a breath, loudly, then continued with a calmer – but still forced – tone. “But you don’t have to worry about our secret, jeez. My parents don’t know – they don’t even know that Phantom is only half ghost, only that he’s weird.”

“Oh, don’t try to trick me, Daniel.” Vlad balled his fists as well, the pink sparks swirling into lit balls of ectoplasm. His voice had dropped into more of a hiss than the purr he normally spoke with. “Like your parents would go against decades of hatred for any reason beside their oh-so precious family.”

“I’m serious!” Danny protested, or tried to. He barely got the words out before a blast of pink hit him in the chest, blowing him several feet away – and toppling him head over heels.

One hand still smoking, Vlad raised his other and aimed it at Danny. “You won’t fool me, boy.”

He underlined the statement by firing his other shot. Legs melting into a tail, Danny barely managed to dodge it.

“Come on!” he shouted back, forming a heated ball of ectoplasm himself. “I’m telling you, it’s the–”

A blast of heat against his back, pushing him downwards. He hit the street with a crash and a groan. Man, he hoped he hadn’t broken any bones. It was rare, these days, but such a frigging pain.

Danny pushed himself out of the crater, hovering just above street level. Vlad was lowering himself slowly, his cape spread wide in the wind. Dramatic bastard.

“Have you learned your lesson yet, little badger?” he sneered, his aura still spiking around him like flames. “That you are nothing without me?!”

Vlad opened his mouth to say more, but a white-hot blast of ectoplasm hit him right in the cheek. His mouth snapped shut, head whirling around to glare at the point of origin. Danny, too, turned to look – he hadn’t been the one to fire.

And there stood his mom, hands wrapped around an ecto-gun with its end still smoking. Her hood was down, her red goggles glinting in the light. Behind her was the massive bulk of his dad, holding an equally enormous ecto-bazooka.

“Sorry to interrupt,” his mom said, not sounding sorry in the slightest, “But I’m afraid I don’t quite agree.”

Vlad’s eyes narrowed, flicking between Danny and his parents. His aura flared, almost impossibly, even brighter. “Is that so?” he asked, voice a low hiss. “What makes you think you can intervene? It’s not like you’re his parents, are you?”

“No,” Jack said, so simply that Danny could almost see the pain it caused Vlad. “But we are his allies. And if you want to get to him, you’ll have to go through us.” For extra emphasis, he pressed down on the trigger at the last word, making the gun hum as it prepared a shot.

Danny took the distraction for what it was and moved closer to his parents. Whether Vlad would go for him or them, he didn’t know – but he couldn’t risk it either way.

He couldn’t help but notice the onlookers, however. The few people that had been in the street were now watching the spectacle, wide-eyed. The cat was out of the hat, he supposed. After today, all of Amity Park would know about the fact that he was working with the Fentons.

The smoke around Vlad’s hands thickened into ecto-fire again as the man eyed up his targets. Danny took position in front of his parents – but kept enough space for both of them to fire around him if necessary.

Apparently they posed enough of a threat, because Vlad extinguished his hands again.

“Fine,” he huffed, his aura dimming only slightly. “Fine, have it your way. But know this, little badger. You might’ve won the battle, but you won’t win the war.”

And with that only slightly dramatic speech, he grabbed the edge of his cape. Swept it over himself in a grand display and faded into pink smoke as he teleported away. To his mansion, probably. Didn’t matter much to Danny, anyhow.

He lowered his hands, knowing that Vlad had left entirely – no traces of energy which indicated duplicates. Then he turned to his parents, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck.

“Thanks for, um, protecting me.” He grinned, a little awkward. “I really appreciate it.”

“Of course kiddo!” Jack let go of his weapon with one hand, clapping it on Danny’s shoulder instead. “We said we would help you, didn’t we?”

“And I’ve been waiting for a chance to tell him what’s what since you told us about him,” his mom confessed, also lowering her weapon. “Not to mention for the times he has threatened me or Jack.”

Danny glanced over at the crowd, but they remained distant. Still, he lowered his voice a little so they couldn’t overhear. “Sorry that I didn’t drop by today. I’ve been… busy.”

The massive hand on his shoulder lifted again, and Jack shot him a friendly smile. When he spoke, he also dropped his volume – as much as Jack Fenton can, that is. “Don’t worry about it, Phantom. We enjoy your visits, but they are in no way a mandatory event.”

“I know, I know.” He shrugged, loosely. “But it became a bit of a habit, to visit on Saturdays. And I didn’t want you to worry if I didn’t show up, but I also didn’t want to just zip by because I would’ve wanted to stay when I couldn’t and…” he trailed off into silence, shooting them a faltering and lopsided grin. “Y’know?”

“It’s fine, honey.” His mom holstered her gun, then uncertainly balled her fist like she had to force herself not to touch him – comfort him. “You’re allowed to have your own life, even if you’re not longer among the living. Just… Come by when you’re not as busy anymore, please? We really do enjoy your company.”

“I will.” Danny nodded. “I, uh. I should really get going again – busy, you know? – but um. I’ll try to come by again this week, if that’s okay? Next weekend, for sure.”

“We’ll look forward to it.” His mom smiled as well as she pulled down the hood. “See you soon, Phantom.”

“Yes, indeed. Stay safe, Phantom.” Jack raised a hand to wave him goodbye, and with a grin Danny returned the gesture.

As he zipped away and towards his home again, he ran over the events in his head. After today, everyone would know about the truce – the alliance – between Phantom and the Fentons. What kind of consequences would that have?

Knowing how things tended to turn out for him… nothing good, probably.

---

When his mom called for dinner, Danny was still feeling kind of guilty about lying to his parents. He hadn’t been busy at all, unless you count moping about life and how difficult relationships were. Not romantic relationships, but the strange familial ones he had with his parents.

It was just… It was just weird. And hard. He didn’t want them to know about him being Phantom, about what he did and how much danger he regularly put himself in. Didn’t want them to risk themselves trying to protect him.

But wouldn’t they anyway? Weren’t they getting so close to Phantom that they would throw themselves in front of an angry ghost just to keep him safe, even if he wasn’t their actual son?

Would it be better if he stopped doing this? If he stopped getting so close to them as a ghost, stopped pretending to be their son when he was Phantom and started being their son again as Fenton?

That. That would probably be a good idea regardless. If he could get closer again without them questioning him too much, without them trying to dig into his secrets again.

He sighed and rolled off his bed, trudging downstairs. Jazz had already gone – he had heard her skitter by while he was still, for the lack of a better word, brooding.

“Hey kiddo,” his dad greeted him cheerfully when he entered the kitchen. “You wouldn’t believe who came by to visit today!”

Danny sat down in his usual chair, quirking a brow at his dad. Pretended not to know the answer already. “Was it Vlad or Phantom?”

Jazz looked up from her book, intrigued. Right. She had been in the library all day, she wouldn’t have known that either had come by.

“Vlad came by to visit, but we talked with Phantom as well.” Maddie placed the steaming pan of mac and cheese on the table in front of them. “Apparently he was too busy to visit this weekend, but he said he would drop by later.”

“He was busy?” Jazz repeated, half incredulous and half intrigued. “I wonder with what? Do you think that he finally told his parents – or his friends – about who he used to be?”

No, it was just a dumb lie. And how dearly he regretted ever telling it – count on Jazz to start psycho-analyzing a ghost she barely knew based on a single shoddy lie.

To distract himself Danny started spooning some food onto his plate. It was steaming hot still, but whatever. He would just have to wait a little longer before he could start eating it as a form of distraction.

“I don’t think so sweetie,” his mom said, enthusiastically continuing the conversation. “He didn’t seem emotionally affected. But a while back a few ghosts were talking about figuring out a way to get mobile phones working in the Ghost Zone, and Phantom expressed an interest in helping with that. Maybe he was busy doing that, instead.”

“But if he was in the Zone, how did he show up so quickly?” His dad leaned forward, leaning his massive weight on a single arm on the table. “Supposedly Plasmius hadn’t been around for too long before Phantom showed up. And he can detect ghosts, sure, but not while in another dimension.”

“Unless another ghost saw Plasmius and warned Phantom,” Maddie suggested, now scooping some dinner onto her own plate. “We don’t know how Plasmius arrived here, but if he came from the Ghost Zone a ghost might’ve spotted him.”

Danny blew on a bite of macaroni before sticking it into his mouth. Why were they still talking about this? Surely he wasn’t that interesting?

“I suppose that that’s possible,” Jazz agreed with a nod. She moved to scoop some food on her plate as well. “Still, I hope he tells his loved ones sooner rather than later. It would be good for both sides, I think, to have that resolution.”

“Hopefully we helped mend their opinion today.” Jack took the pot and emptied the rest of it onto his plate. “Now that people know that we’re working with Phantom, maybe his parents will take that as a sign that he’s not that bad. And then he won’t be afraid to tell them!”

Oh yeah, that was why he still hadn’t told them. Uh huh. It definitely didn’t have anything to do with him worrying about them stopping him from helping or anything.

“What do you think, Danny-boy?”

Danny snapped out of his thoughts, fork lifted halfway to his mouth. “Huh?” he asked, eloquently.

“What do you think, Danny? About Phantom telling his parents about who he used to be when he was alive?” his dad helpfully repeated.

“Oh, um.” Danny put the fork down again. Jeez, what a loaded topic. Wasn’t dinner conversation supposed to be lighthearted? “I guess… it would be good? If he told them, I mean. A secret like that, you can’t hide forever. Better to tell it on his own than wait for them to discover it in some horrible way, right?” Not that would stop him from hiding it for the next eternity, but still.

Jazz nodded energetically, swallowing a bite of her mac and cheese. “Yes, exactly! His parents – and his friends – deserve to know what has become of him. And Phantom himself could really use the support of his loved ones. I can’t imagine the strain it puts on him, knowing that his parents hate him.”

Danny could imagine it very easily, actually. But, thankfully, it was no longer a thing he had to worry about. No, nowadays his only worries about revealing his identity was that his parents would get even more smothering.

To distract himself from those thoughts he scooped another bite of food into his mouth. Then he hissed, spluttering – he forgot to blow on it to cool it down.

“Danny!” his mom scolded, her tone worried. “Be careful!”

“Srry,” he said, sticking out his tongue to cool it. Oh, how he wished that he could use his ice powers without making his eyes glow. “F’got to blow.”

She rolled her eyes, exasperated. “Then don’t eat so quickly. Why are you always in such a hurry, Danny? It’s like you never want to spend time with us.”

Uh oh. Now that was a dangerous topic. He pulled his tongue back into his mouth so he could talk properly. “That’s not it, I swear! It’s just– I’m just–” He shrugged, at a loss for words. “Just being a teenager, you know?”

Maddie’s eyes trailed over to Jazz, who sat primly as she forked away her own dinner. Jack, too, was spooning away his dinner at a remarkable speed – clearly trying to stay out of the conversation.

Once her eyes returned to him, they had softened. But Danny could still see the fire lingering in them. “I’m just worried about you, Danny. Your grades and attendance have been so poor for the last two years, and you hardly spend any time with us anymore.”

He shrugged again, eyeing his dinner. But there was no way he could get out of this conversation by just stubbornly turning back to his dinner – not without risking what remained of his relationship with his parents. “I know. But it’s just…”

A heavy sigh as he put down the fork again. He looked up, looked her right in the eye – and then turned to do the same with his dad. “There’s nothing wrong, okay? Don’t worry about me. I love you guys, and I know you love me too. I’m just… you know.”

“Some teenagers just need space,” Jazz supplied, finally coming to his rescue. Imagine the good she could do if she knew about him being Phantom. And imagine how much she would chew him out if she found out – yikes. “Being anti-social is just part of the deal sometimes. The best we can do is be supportive.”

Danny nodded his agreement. “Yes, exactly. It’s not that I don’t love you, because I do. But I just want to spend time alone or with my friends.”

“And that’s fine.” Maddie glanced over to Jack, clearly hoping for some support, but the man just shoved another forkful of food into his mouth and smiled apologetically. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Danny. “But parents worry, and a mother especially. And I suppose… Seeing Phantom as we do now, it reminds me of how things could be.”

Stiffening slightly – and hopefully unnoticeably – Danny swallowed the bite of food in his mouth. “How so?”

She sighed, weary and sad. “It’s just hard to see him without imaging you in his shoes. You’re the same age, I think, and… It could’ve been you. A dead teen with family and friends living in Amity Park, hated by his own parents for becoming a ghost?”

Well, um, oof. “But it’s not me,” he tried, despite it being a bare-faced lie. It fitted so perfectly because it was him. “So you don’t have to worry, Mom. And I know… I know that you would always love me, ghost or not. So I would– I would tell you, if that ever happened to me.” Wow, another dirty lie. Good going, Fenton.

“But it won’t.” His dad gently gripped his mom’s shoulder. “He’s a Fenton, Mads! Nothing will happen to him.”

“I know.” The corner of her mouth quirked up a little, the barest hint of a smile. “But a mother worries.”

Jazz put down her fork with a clink, her plate cleared. “And that’s perfectly normal, mom. But Danny’ll be okay. No ghostliness for him, right Danny?”

He swallowed, grinned hesitantly. “Yeah, right. I’m perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about.”

[toloveawarlord]

Shattered Glass (Ch.2)

You can find all my other works here!

My eye twitched in irritation. It’s been 14 days since Edgar’s unexpected arrival into my life and he continued to push his way into every aspect. The first day he had obliged to my request to stay at the apartment until I had gotten off work for the night. Every other day since he has found his way to where I am, whether it’s my workplace or any place I meet my friends for meals on our mutual days off. Today turned out to be no different.

He leaned against the counter, giving that charming smile to my co-worker who ate it up. “Have you known Nova long?” Edgar asked, having the complete attention of Marie. She had yet to move an inch since his arrival, leaving me to deal with the customers and clean tables.

Marie bobbed her head in response. “Oh yes, she and I both began working here around the same time. We even trained together,” Marie answered, twisting her finger around a strand of her black hair. She refused to take her eyes off him but asked me, “It’s been over a year now, hasn’t it? You never mentioned you had such a lovely boyfriend.”

I froze mid-motion to count out the change for the customer waiting in front of me. “He’s not my boyfriend!” I said, sending a glare at Edgar. He’s enjoying this. “He and my brother, Luka, were high school friends and he works with my eldest brother. Right now, he’s just being nosy.” It hadn’t mattered how many times I begged him to wait at the apartment, he still showed up claiming that he was bored.

Edgar remained unfazed by my words, but his green eyes were sparkling with amusement. “Is it a crime to be worried about a young lady that is practically my little sister as well?” he asked.

Thanking the customer for their business with a smile, I sighed the moment they were out of sight. “If you’re going to bother me at work, at least order something.”

Marie jumped on the opportunity to make him some tea. Her bubbly attitude with him scratched at my mind. She hardly knows when to leave someone alone. I rounded the corner of the main counter with a wet cloth in hand. This was supposed to be Marie’s job, since I was running the register but clearly, she had the most annoying customer to attend to.

It was nice to have room to breathe, since Edgar hadn’t followed me from his spot at the counter, giving me the freedom to collect my thoughts. In this short amount of time, he had adapted to the world quite well. It had taken me a solid three months to understand how the town functioned without magic. Being away from Cradle had terrified me, yet Edgar had the same calm smile and demeanor as he always had.

He could at least be a little wary about this world.

We had yet to talk about my family either. He hadn’t brought up the subject and I hadn’t the courage to ask about either of my brothers. There were no doubts that they were both perfectly fine and healthy. The main question was how they were doing without me around. I had a million questions to ask him, but none came out. What right do I have? I chose to run away and stay here indefinitely.

My shift ended without much incident. Edgar hung around the entire day, sipping the free tea that Marie insisted he accept. He chatted with her kindly, though his watchful eyes followed me as I avoided him. It didn’t strike me as odd until an hour later.

He had been sitting quietly on the sofa while I made us something to eat. Stirring the noodles around in the pot, my whole body jerked in surprise when a book was plopped down onto the counter beside me. Getting a better look, I noted that it was indeed my journal… that was locked in a box under my bed. “What the hell, Edgar! You’re going through my things now?”

“You surely weren’t going to tell me what I need to know,” Edgar answered, tapping his fingers on top of the leather. He gently pulled the pages back, opening it to a specific page. “The first few were typical, but this one really caught my attention. Who is that you’re referencing?”

 Jonah,

It’s been three months since I ran away from Cradle to the Land of Reason. It’s not any easier. I miss everything about our world. Science is complicated here. The few valuables that I took were enough to pay for a place to stay, but it won’t last. I’ll have to get a real job. What I wouldn’t give to hear you lecture me about something trivial. I’m afraid that one day I’ll forget what your voice sounds like. That thought terrifies me. But all of this is my own fault, for thinking that I could have everything I wanted. I’m not strong like you and Luka. I can’t face what I’ve done… What I made him do for me. There’s no ending where I can fix this and the Clemence family comes out unscathed. I wouldn’t be able to bear it if my actions caused problems for you. I guess, this is my own way of trying to protect you.

I’m sorry.

And… I wish that I could tell him that I’m sorry too, but I doubt it would soothe his guilt. I really messed things up.

Nova

Scanning over the words that were engraved into my memory, I swallowed down the lump in my throat. The two entries before this were just apologies, over and over. It wasn’t until the end of the third month that I could bring myself to mention my transgressions.

Coming out of the haze of my memory, I finally realized what it was about his behavior today that was bothering me. Coming to my work, keeping a close eye on me, going through my personal belongings. This is beginning to seem like an investigation. “Why did King Lancelot send you to find me? I want a real answer,” I said, searching his eyes for it.

Being the master at disguising his true intentions, Edgar shrugged his shoulders. “Seems like we are both full of secrets.”

“Kyle. I was talking about Kyle.”

“I see.” Edgar leaned back against the counter, watching each move I made as I continued to make the pasta. His silence was unnerving. “King Lancelot is worried about you.”

With a scoff, I rolled my eyes. “You expect me to believe that excuse?” Surely, he could come up with something better than that.

“What would you like to hear then?”

“The truth, Edgar!” I snapped.

A heavy silence fell over us. The bubbling of the sauce of the stove filled the space between us. He had always been like this. Hiding the truth behind lies. I squeezed the handle of the ladle, frustration building up inside. “You’re here to investigate me, aren’t you? That’s the only reason you’re here.”

“Nova-”

Jerking the journal out of his hands, I glared up at him. “I’m not going back.” I wouldn’t admit how much it hurt me to find out that he had only come because of an investigation. The reality of someone coming to look for me had been in the back of my mind, but not this way.

Edgar’s hand latched around my upper arm. “Nova, don’t act any more rashly than you already have,” he said, easily overpowering my attempt to pull free. His warm tone didn’t match the accusatory words.

It struck me that he was trying to keep me close to him. The month was half over. The full moon would be here soon. My body stilled, and I could only stare at the floor. “There is no option where I can stay here, is there? I never had a choice.”

“I was hoping to convince you to return of your own volition, but I have orders to bring you back to Cradle,” Edgar explained, loosening his tight grip.

“Against my will?”

“Yes.”

Finding the courage to face him, I clutched my journal tightly to my chest. “Then why all the questions? Don’t you already know everything?” He’s going to take me back to Cradle so that I can be tried and convicted.

A soft smile touched his lips. “I’ve been tasked with finding out the truth, Nova. The only thing that we do know, at this point, is that your ex-fiancé went missing and the family received a letter last month stating that you were involved. King Lancelot was forced to open an investigation, per request of your grandfather. I thought it best to get the answers from the source,” Edgar said. He released me entirely, sure that I would bolt for the door at the moment.

If that were true, then Kyle would know that the investigation was happening. Why wouldn’t he tell them? He had been so angry with me when it happened. That had been the final wedge between us, setting the two of us down different paths. “Does Jonah know?”

“He is aware of King Lancelot opening up an investigation, but he does not know that I came to the Land of Reason to find you. There was a small chance that I couldn’t find you.” He said it, but I doubted that he meant it.

The conversation ended there. He had made it clear that he would not relent in watching me and that he would drag me back to Cradle if he had to. I made my peace with that. It had been over 2 years and my sins had finally caught up with me. My last two weeks in my false reality came to a quick end.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally added a second chapter to this story! I’ve had bits and pieces scribbled on paper that I found at work and finally got it all put together! For a moment, I thought Nova might have feelings for Edgar but she does not. Besides Kyle, the only other one she had any feelings for was Lancelot. Jonah talks about him a lot, so she has an infatuation with him, though it would never go anywhere.

[realitachifacts]

hi! ooc question (for the mod!), what do you think about itachis role/story in the show/manga? 💞💞

oh thank you so much!!! i love answering questions like this aaaaaaa

TL;DR: a ton of missed potential ):

okay so i’m gonna take this in a slightly different direction and also write about how i would have written itachi’s narrative alongside my analysis/opinion of it. this is DEFINITELY going to be long so it’s under the cut.

it’s pretty evident that the characters given the most focus in the show are naruto and sasuke. this is pretty much indisputable, with naruto as protagonist and sasuke fitting into the more complex role of antagonist-protagonist-antihero (which wasn’t given fair treatment by the narrative itself but again that’s another story). regardless, sasuke’s arc has a strong dependency on itachi, all the way back from the character’s introduction. and thus, this makes itachi one of the most important characters in the story, despite somewhat limited appearances. all of this can be pretty easily gleaned, but still, i think it’s worth repetition in an analysis like this.

while sasuke’s arc has strong dependence on itachi, itachi’s arc has an equally strong dependence on sasuke; at his point of introduction, kishimoto literally had planned no backstory for him, only that he wanted to “attribute to itachi some violent action that would have sasuke wanting to kill him”. though, later on, “when itachi was introduced, kishimoto had the idea to make itachi konoha’s secret agent who killed his clan under their orders” (which accounts for all of his character’s inconsistency throughout the series, and i personally have a hard time believing the decision to change was made at the moment of his introduction). itachi was introduced as a source of sasuke’s ambition and trauma, giving his character a driving arc. which, i mean, is fine. for a shonen story it’s a pretty average/decent goal and fits well within the universe and plot. as a character itachi’s design is solid, especially for playing the role of villain. his powers are cool. he’s interesting. 

and i think the biggest problem is that his story was over-complicated and just not thought out from the beginning; arguably, there was some foreshadowing early on to his position as an actual good guy. sasuke mentions in the forest of death that itachi is likely pushing him because he feels bad for what he’s done, and wants someone to kill him as justice. but… there was no weight for that and it seemed like a pretty baseless accusation on sasuke’s part, who appeared to harbor nothing but hatred for itachi and nothing even remotely resembling any form of sympathy or willingness to understand his older brother (i actually totally believe that sasuke could have guessed at itachi’s true motives, but the concept was pretty much immediately dropped after that statement- which, again, annoying lack of consistency). i love the relationship him and sasuke have as children, as i’m sure i’ve stated before. older brother as a villain to overcome/turned evil is interesting, turning out to be good all along even more so; but the second half is handled poorly, what i mean by missed potential. plus, itachi more or less needed to have hidden motives to push sasuke’s story in the direction it went in after the pein arc- sasuke wouldn’t really have anywhere to go after that and would probably struggle with a lot of internal conflict. and again, as i’ve talked about in a previous ask… the small amount of reconciliation provided wasn’t enough for either of them (especially sasuke).

so, here’s what i would have done.

in terms of canon adherence, there are pretty much only three options: 

1.) have him die a villain (admittedly killing his clan to test his abilities wasn’t the most believable goal, but eh, he’s an anime bad guy so whatever). as much as i don’t like this (i’m sort of a sucker for character redemption, but they pulled it off very badly), it would have made more sense within the storyline. it would’ve been nice if they pressed what sasuke believed on “he felt bad so he wanted sasuke to kill him” to the point where he was sympathetic but not good or redeemable. their final battle could’ve ended the same, with the forehead poke and all that, and just flashback scenes of things we haven’t seen in canon (that sasuke will never see) that prove his assumption was correct, and itachi did want to be martyred. it would keep him a pretty bad person but it would make both his and sasuke’s arcs feel more… conclusive, i guess. i personally believe the primary antagonists should have been the akatsuki and after pein’s death, the series should have wrapped up. was sasuke a little too messed up emotionally to just go back to the village at that point? …yeah. but him returning to the village voluntarily would’ve been more satisfying, and i’m honestly sure that, if the story was put in the hands of someone with plot-writing capabilities, it could have been done. this is supposed to focus on itachi so i’m not going to hypothesize on a hypothetical canon “story ends after pein arc” ending.

2.) have him be redeemed. this just… literally had to have been done from the beginning. unconditionally. in the previous ask i talked about how the characters are all displayed as wholly “good” or wholly “bad” and making a wholly bad character like itachi “good all along” just isn’t really possible with the way good characters are framed. it puts him in a middle ground that’s inconsistent with that categorization and fans are more or less forced into picking a side for him based on personal opinions. that alone could’ve been fixed by better characterization but again, off-topic. the torturing sasuke thing would have to go. sasuke could have returned to the compound either after itachi had left already (and was given some sort of clue or learned later that it was him) or itachi could’ve noticed him and left without speaking; very clearly not hurting him but he also just killed the rest of the clan so you can mark it as “okay, he’s a bad guy, but he spared sasuke entirely. why?” and there’s already suspicion he had an ulterior motive. sasuke could have decided on revenge on his own; made hateful through pain and loneliness along the lines of gaara or no-iruka naruto (it would make gaara’s communications with sasuke later around their battle/attack on konoha more chilling or get through to him more). i feel like it also would have made it easier to convince sasuke to return to konoha because naruto is pretty able to get through to people like that. in the hallway scene, itachi would still refuse to take on sasuke but eventually do so, and should have been clearly going out of his way not to hurt him; ending the battle by making him unconscious with the sharingan or something, i dunno. the indifference would (unintentionally, on itachi’s part) fuel sasuke’s choice to get revenge; which he would have made apparent that that’s what he desires (though of his own volition this time). itachi probably wouldn’t be expecting that, but as he’s dying later in life, he’d give in to a final battle with sasuke, both feeling himself being redeemed throughout it and giving sasuke the satisfaction of killing him. but if it was super clear he went out of his way to hurt sasuke at any cost, the “itachi was good all along” thing would make so much more sense. however…

3.) this is a subset of 2. for 2 to exist and itachi to be painted as a good guy, the reason the clan was killed would need to be different. so, canonically, it’s stated that the uchiha are oppressed, they want more rights, threaten a coup d’tat if they don’t get them, and so danzo the third hokage orders them to be killed by itachi. this is where we get into trouble. as i’ll repeat time and time over, the narrative frames people as being unconditionally good or bad. in the eyes of the average fan, the uchihas fighting back against the leaf village- konoha is always shown as good- for more rights is morally gray at the absolute best, and more likely to be seen as bad, as with most revenge/opposition to the system motives in fiction. which is another unfortunate product of the very morally polarized lens the characters are placed under. but, more in theory, it is very hard to make itachi and sasuke “good” at the same time. if you’re going down a fighting oppression arc in a story, you want the character fighting against it to be viewed positively (like katniss, right?). so, by extension, itachi or sasuke gets to be the bad guy, and it’s 100% reliant on what the uchiha clan’s motive was. frankly, a lot of the uchiha get painted as villains (with the curse of hatred, it makes partial sense)- madara, sasuke, itachi, obito, etc, so pretty much all the main ones are “bad” at some or all points of their story. what would’ve worked best in my opinion is to go back to madara’s time and the initial interactions between the uchihas and the hidden leaf village. basically just… make them bad/a threat from the beginning; no government oppression, they were always just villains/in the “bad box” (note that this is in terms of canon adherence and i’ll get to my own personal “if i wrote this” in a second because eh, i don’t like framing the hidden leaf village as good at all lmao). they were just bad and going to take over the village, so they were killed by itachi before they killed everyone else. after obito got to sasuke, he could have constructed an elaborate lie about what the village was “secretly” doing and made it convincing to anyone watching, as well. so you think itachi is bad again, and sasuke is justified in wanting revenge against the village, learn later that itachi was good, but then it’s also hard to fault sasuke, since he was only working with the information that he was given and had the right idea at heart. but basically with what we’re given it’s almost impossible to make everyone “good” so it’s probably not even worth it. i mean it’s: itachi, sasuke, hidden leaf, uchihas- pick two to make redeemable at most. i don’t think telling a thirteen year old to just kill his whole family is really ever justified and i’m super biased so i’m going with itachi and sasuke.

in terms of what i would have done if i had full control (and the massacre HAD to happen), here’s what i’d do:

1.) itachi explains to sasuke at the beginning what happened and basically tells him to grow stronger through friendship/bonds to prevent this from ever happening to someone he loves; sasuke’s narrative then revolves around revenge against the government instead of his brother, which would be a good parallel to naruto’s wanting to be hokage, since the two are so paralleled in general. they could both learn something from that. plus i would want the words of “grow stronger from love” (instead of from hatred) to impact him and he has a deeper desire to grow closer to people and make friends, i guess. (this is my most preferred outcome not gonna lie)

2.) i also wouldn’t be opposed to itachi just taking sasuke with him but that would usurp most of the actual story.

3.) the writing is good and itachi lives and gets more time to reconcile with sasuke. he returns to konoha and becomes hokage and takes care of his crows and chickens and spends time with his niece sarada and his nephew-in-law boruto and niece-in-law himawari who all adore him. admittedly this is INCREDIBLY self-indulgent but hey, i have control of the story now. and there’s no reason this and 1 can’t exist at the same time, haha. 

god that was so long i’m so sorry anon but i hope you like it!!!! i like… am not gonna read this over to edit it so sorry for typos. ): thank you again for asking!!! aaa if you read it and would like to please let me know what you think!!!

[tysonrunningfox]

Open Flames: Part 14

I know 3 things: Smitelout is too powerful for this world, Festercup makes me fucking cry, and Tuffnut is my favorite 

This is a big chapter, both content and length, and tbh, I sat on it way too long, it just took me forever to stab my boy and get here.  

Masterpost (Note to self, update tonight, part 13 has .1, .2, and .3)

“Odin’s saggy ballsack,” I swear under my breath as the bandage around my forearm bleeds through for the third time. I can’t even feel it, I’m too sick from fighting with Fuse and tired from dealing with Elva’s visit and my head is throbbing worse than the knife wound. It reminds me that the fucker who did it is alive and in our one jail cell, because I don’t even get to make that decision.

I pause at the edge of the dark square, pressing my torn sleeve hard against the wound to try and stop the bleeding with pressure. The linen and wool soak through in a few seconds and I swear under my breath, looking up at the chief’s dark house and sighing.

I don’t want to go up there.

I don’t want the chief to see me bleed, not after tonight.

And Fuse is mad at me and I deserve it and I don’t remember the last time I felt so absolutely alone.

And my arm does need stitches, clearly, because it’s still oozing through my sleeve and dripping down the back of my hand and off my fingertips. I’m glad Bang isn’t with me, he’d be freaking out. I almost think I’d be freaking out if I had any energy left to put into it.

I look around the square again, hoping some option will jump out at me, and my eye catches on the forge’s dark windows. I bet Smitelout has a needle and some thread in there, she has to for saddles, and I’ve stitched Arvid up before. It wasn’t this big of a cut but it wasn’t hard. Luckily it’s my left arm.

I use the key I know is hidden above the door frame to let myself in and shove my bloody sleeve up to see the wound before throwing some kindling on the fire and giving myself some light. It takes a minute to tie a clean rag around my arm, just below my elbow, and tighten it enough that my fingers start to go numb and the bleeding slows down enough for me to clean the cut. It’s not even that bad, I don’t know why it won’t stop bleeding. I know it didn’t hit any big vessels because it never spurted blood, only infuriatingly oozed for hours and hours.

Finding Smitelout’s sewing kit is easy too. There aren’t any curved needles and the thinnest thread in the box is thicker than I would really like it to be, but this is better than going to the chief’s house. It’s better than admitting I fought with Fuse and not being able to tell anyone why.

She cried and I couldn’t make it better. She was crying and she was right and somehow, I really am as bad as the chief if I’ve made Fuse feel so alone. Godsdammit, I don’t know how to make this up to her or myself or anyone. I don’t know what to do.

The first stitch through my arm provides some sense of clarity, because right now, I actually do know what to do. At least for as long as it takes to sew myself up. And it’s harder to focus than I would have imagined because the slow pinch and drag of the too thick thread through my skin hurts more than I expected, even with my fingers numb from my makeshift tourniquet. My right hand starts to shake by the third stitch and luckily I’m taking a quick break when the door slams open.

“What the Hel are you doing in here, Twerp?” Smitelout stomps inside, dropping an armful of weapons on her anvil and pausing when she sees my arm on the counter.

“Oh, you know, catching up on some forging. How about yourself?” I want her to leave and unfortunately, being nice is the quickest way to make that happen.

“Are you stitching up your own fucking arm?” Her tone is irritatingly familiar and I scowl at her.

“Are you using your mom voice on me?”

“You break into my forge,” she pulls a stool over with her toe, plopping down on it and trying to take the needle from my hand. I reflexively try to keep it from her and the cord yanks my arm hard enough that I wince and whimper. She uses my one moment of weakness to snatch the needle away from me, her touch on my hand surprisingly gentle as she pulls it towards her. “You steal my favorite rag, you steal my needle and my favorite thread--”

“I’m just borrowing the needle, technically--”

“I don’t want it back, Twerp, that’s disgusting.” She presses my arm to the table and wrinkles her nose, “these stitches are awful, I really should take them out and start over.”

“I can do it myself.”

“You can botch it yourself,” she scoffs, “are you trying to prove how tough you are or something? Because I think you already bragged about that enough by taking a knife to the arm for no reason.”

“Right, I should have just let it stab the chief of an ally tribe, gotcha, I’ll keep that under advisement.”

“Hold still,” she grabs my hand, pressing the back of it flat to the counter and moving to pinch my skin together with disconcertingly gentle fingers that don’t match her tone at all. Her stitches hurt less and are closer together, her wrist moving smoothly like she does this all the time. “You should really let a healer do this, as much as I fully believe you’re as dumb as a saddle, you’re probably at least a little more complicated to put back together.”

“I always knew you liked me.”

She slaps me.

Hard, with the back of her hand, her knuckles knocking against my cheekbone as my teeth clack together with a bright burst of pain through my jaw.

“What the Hel--”

“Stop it with the tough guy shit, Eret.” She goes back to stitching up my arm, which admittedly hurts enough to distract me from the ringing in my ear from where she fucking slapped me for no reason. “You’re a mess. You apparently spent the entire evening bleeding out from the giant knife wound in your arm and no one even noticed.”

“You hit me.” I’m pouting. I’ll admit it. As if my day hasn’t been bad enough, then Smitelout has to haul off and hit me. I open and close my mouth to make sure my jaw still works and my cheek starts to prickle as I’m sure it turns red enough to match my beard.

“Someone had to.”

“I really don’t think anyone had to hit me--”

“Well, I didn’t know what else would get through that dense head of yours, Twerp.” She ties off the stitches and cuts the thread. “The first few are botched but it should hold. I can’t believe you’re so proud or stupid or I don’t even know--”

“As much as I love you propping up my self-esteem--”

“Thor-dammit, Eret, this isn’t funny.” She looks like she wants to slap me again and I almost ask her to get the other side and make it even, but the words die in my dry throat.

Smitelout looks worried.

More than that, I think she’s worried about me.

“I’m fine, Smite--”

“Don’t make me fucking hit you again,” she shoves me in the chest and I almost fall backwards off of the stool, barely managing to catch myself on the edge of the workbench. My arm flexes against the new stitches and I hiss to hold in a groan at the pain. “And don’t stress those, Thor’s beard, Twerp, you have to start taking care of yourself.”

“Not you too,” I scowl, “sorry, I’ve been a bit busy, a week long trip to the spa isn’t really in the realm of possibility right now--”

“Cut the shit. How the fuck do you expect to take care of those kids you have coming if you can’t even take care of yourself? How are you going to take care of Fuse?” She asks almost gently and that makes it sting worse.

“Fuse and I had a fight.” I cradle my forehead in my left hand, squeezing my temples like it can fend off the headache or the throbbing in my arm or the tired, itchy film across my eyes. “She’s...Gods, I don’t know what to do.”

“Are you asking me what to do?”

I look back up at her and shrug, “if you’re giving advice, I mean...Ingrid is too good for you almost as dramatically as Fuse is too good for me.”

“Gods, you’re so exhausted you can’t talk right.” She shakes her head, “go home. Talk to your mother. I have my own kid to worry about, I can’t be on your case too.”

“What do I say to her?”

“I don’t know, Twerp, have you thought about the fucking truth?” She sighs, “you know, we’re all keeping this secret for you and Fuse but what are you going to do when there are babies coming out of her? It’s already near impossible to hide.”

“I know that,” I squint my eyes shut, “I know it’s--can I just sleep here? I’ll be out by morning--”

“No, you can’t,” she grabs my left hand and yanks me to my feet before shoving me at the door with rough hands on my shoulders, “I’m officially evicting you. Go talk to your mother. Try and infuse some of the truth in there. Do you need a snack?”

“Huh?” I trip on the door jamb and turn back to look at her. “A snack?”

“You lost a lot of blood, you must be light-headed. Do you want a snack?”

My stomach growls, answering for me, and I don’t actually remember eating anything at the feast, I was so busy running interference for Fuse and Elva and diving in front of throwing knives.

“Yeah, I could use a snack.”

She reaches into her pocket and tosses me a small bag of what feels and smells like fish jerky and I open it, shoving two pieces into my mouth and swallowing almost before I can chew them. She wrinkles her nose.

“Go home, Twerp.”

“Yeah.” I look up at the chief’s house and scuff my boot on the ground. “Thanks. Why do you have snacks in your pocket anyway?”

“I have a two year old.” She rolls her eyes, “don’t make me chase you home.”

“Fine.” I sigh. “I’m going, I just--”

“I don’t care,” she slams the forge door behind her, taking the spare key from it’s hiding place, “I’ve got to find a new place for this so that bleeding future chiefs don’t fuck with my shit anymore.”

Future chief. Yeah. Right. Like that’s ever going to happen.

Oddly, it’s just the depressing thought I need to force my feet to move.

“Goodnight, Smitelout.” I wave at her as I start shuffling up the hill, staring at the stitches on my arm briefly before pulling my sleeve down to cover them. Mom doesn’t need to know about those. She’d just worry.

I feel like anyone I tell the truth to would worry. Maybe I’m worried.

Gods, I’m so worried. I’m worried about Fuse and the fact that I’m at exactly the same point in my life that I was at four years ago. Everyone else is moving forward and I’m just stuck here, almost chief, still not good enough.

The house is quiet except for the crackle of a low fire in the hearth and Stoick’s dragon is snoozing peacefully in front of it. I pause in the doorway, letting my eyes adjust, and more than that deciding whether I’m staying or not. Smitelout is right, as hard as it is to admit. I need to talk to Mom.

But the thing that no one ever says is that even if the right thing is obvious, it still takes effort.

I’d still have to walk inside, walk up to the bedroom door, knock, wake Mom up. Ask her to come talk to me. And that’s the easy part, then I’d have to sit down and tell her the truth while she’s looking straight through me and worrying. I should be able to handle this myself. I shouldn’t have to bring her into it.

“Fuck,” I sigh, stepping inside and shutting the door hard behind me.

“What did that door do to you?” The chief's voice startles me as he comes down the stairs, barely there smile apologetic and irritatingly hopeful that I'm not mad.  I wish I were, that'd be easier. “I thought you’d grown out of slamming things.”  

"Never," I barely get the word out, throat closing in on itself, threatening to make me sob or pass out or I don't know what else.  I swallow hard and try to cough, the world spinning around me when I close my eyes.  I open them to the same chief standing in the same place, but he looks more like a mirror than ever, more like a sad inevitability I don't know if I'll never live up to.  "Where's Mom?"  

"Are you ok?" He asks, taking a hesitant step towards me, hand outstretched like I'm a dragon in need of training.  He's not mad anymore, he's worried too, and I wish he'd yell at me instead of looking concerned.  I walked out on a direct order, he should yell at me.  If he yells at me, I'll yell back, but I don't know what I'll do if he's calm.  

"No," I laugh, chest tight and eyes prickling like I'm going to cry.  That's the last thing I want him to see.  "I'm really not, but..."  My knees wobble, I catch myself on the edge of the table and my arm smarts, the sting traveling straight up my arm to my eyes, making them blur.  

"What's wrong?"  His voice is low, comforting, and I want it to work, I want it to make my heart stop throbbing and my head stop spinning.  "Is it your arm?"  

"No, I'm fine."  The words echo in my head like it's a cave with no exit, each repetition making me feel more and more trapped.  

"You just said you weren't, Eret," he takes a step towards me, a dwindling candle on the table catching his face at the right angle to make him look younger, like he's just another person I should be able to take care of.  "Do you--"

"I'm good," I lie, voice shaking, back of my throat again threatening to sob.  Or maybe throw up this time, I'm not sure, and I wish I hadn't eaten anything.  "Really, Chief."  

It hurts him when I call him chief.  I know that it used to, but I would have thought he'd be used to it by now.  Maybe he is used to it and that's why the flicker in his expression is so quickly glossed over.  He puts himself together faster than he fell apart and it almost makes me want to lean on him, like I could learn how to be that sturdy if I did.  

"Do you need anything?"  He offers, easy smile as disarming as Aurelia's but completely lacking intent.  His usual will to make me like him is replaced with something genuine, but it's so seamless that I think maybe I've been wrong about it for a while.  "Some water?  A doctor?  A hug?"  

I tug at my sleeve, making sure the stitches are covered.  I probably should have washed the blood off of my hand.  And my shirt.  And my other hand.  

"I'm good."  Saying it doesn't make it more true and I double down, "do you need anything, Chief?"  

"If you're offering, I could go with that hug."  He opens his arms, ready to laugh about being rejected, and I just don't have the energy to hate him right now.  I don't want to.  I want to lean on something I'm not holding up.  

"Ok," I cross the room and hug him, hooking my chin over his shoulder and squeezing tight enough that the new stitches on my arm burn.  I really might cry now, I'm not sure why this is pushing it over the edge, but my eyes prickle and I glare at the wall behind him, trying to slow my breathing.  It doesn't work.  He thumps me on the shoulder, gently, carefully, and the sobs I couldn't put onto Fuse start coming out, burning in my throat, scraping every raw thing that was said and making it hurt all over again.  

"Whoa," the chief starts rubbing my back like my mom used to when I was little and couldn't stop crying.  

I feel pathetic but trying to stop makes it worse, my chest throbbing with the force of the sobs tearing their way out as the chief keeps rubbing my back, coaxing it out of me.  Maybe it's good, maybe I just need to get rid of some of it and then I can deal with the rest.  

"Hey, it's ok," his tone is easy, controlled, and I cling to it, pressing my face into his shoulder where the wool absorbs the tears.  I'm probably getting snot on him, but he doesn't seem to care.  "It's ok."  

"It's really not," I blubber, pulling away and scrubbing my eyes with my clean sleeve like I can rub away the outer layer and start fresh with one that's less pathetic. When I cough out another sob, the chief hugs me again, thumping on my back like I'm choking and he's shaking it loose.  Maybe it works.  Maybe it was already loose and he's just willing to catch anything I throw at him.  "Fuse and I had a fight, I don't think we've ever had an actual fight before."  

"Do you want to talk about it?"  He lets me take a step back and I wipe my eyes again, breath shaky.  He's shorter than me but it doesn't stop the sudden urge to tuck myself into his chest, to get small and easier to shelter and protect.  

I could tell him.  I don't know how Fuse would ever forgive me if I did, but I don't know how she's going to forgive me anyway.  If it were Mom, I'd want it to be a happy thing, I'd want to be excited and not crying like a pathetic child, but it's the chief.  He knows what it feels like to be conflicted about being a dad, to feel alone, to be unprepared and outside where he wants to be.  

I nod, not quite trusting my voice yet.  

"Ok," he pulls out a chair at the table and sits down, "let's talk, I'm sure we can figure this out."  

I sit across from him, staring at my hands.  

"What did you and Fuse fight about?"  

"She was mad that I took that knife to the arm," I shrug, sniffing and wiping my dripping nose on my sleeve, "or at least that's how it started.  I--and it spiraled.  And I made her cry and I couldn't make it better and I just...I ask too much of her, you know?  I'm asking so much of her."  

"Hey, from what I know about Fuse, she's not exactly going around doing what's asked of her," the chief puts his hand on mine and I don't shove it off, "so I don't think you can put that all on yourself."  

"This is different."  

"How so?"  

I take a deep breath and look up at him, "she's pregnant."  

His face is blank for a long second, his hand cool and still on mine.  I wait for him to brag or be cocky or yell at me.  I wait for him to produce a contract from one of his pockets and try and make me sign it.  He doesn't do any of those things.  His smile is slow and cautious, eyebrows worried as he squeezes my hand.  

"Ok, that's--give me just a second here," he sits up straight and runs his hands back through his hair, "I'm going to be a grandpa, wow, that's--how long have you known?"  He redirects the focus to me and I don't know why I laugh, probably because I'm straight out of tears, but it's hoarse and tired.  

"About four months."  

The chief doesn't answer immediately, face waffling between happy and solid and excited.  I try and tuck my hair back into its tie but give up, taking it out entirely and barely resisting the urge to start hitting my head on the table.  

"A reaction would be--"

"So it's been a secret," the chief cuts me off.  "Probably a pretty big secret if you've known for four months."  

"Honestly, probably a larger secret than you're thinking because it's probably twins."  I laugh again, miserable, and he exhales like the revelation physically hit him in the chest.  "Fuse doesn't want to tell anyone, she's going to be pissed that I told you. Pissed and confused, you're the last person I thought I'd tell."  

"Sounds about right."  

"I couldn't take the thought of you hearing and thinking you won, that you finally had your chance to force me into marriage, but..."

"Would I be forcing you?"  He asks gently and I shrug one shoulder.  

"Not really.  Not anymore, I--Fuse though."  Her words from earlier ring in my ears in time with my arm's throbbing and I wipe my nose again, "neither of us were ready for things to change, but they're changing anyway and well, I--earlier when we were fighting, she said maybe it's better if our kids are Thorstons if I'm going to keep being so reckless," I push my sleeve up and show him my stitches, "because of the whole Haddock mess with heirs, I guess."  

"Eret--"

"And I'm starting to wonder if she's right."  All the thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head start to crystallize and I think about Smitelout being worried about me and Aurelia's fond annoyance and Fuse.  Mostly Fuse.  Fuse crying.  Fuse needing me to be something I should be able to be.  "I'm not someone she can trust or follow or depend on, I'm...and she sees it now and I'm scared.  I'm so scared."  I jump up, pacing back and forth.  Before tonight, I never really put much thought into why Fuse never pushed to marry me, instead assuming it was contingent on me being chief or something.  But maybe she just couldn't handle her kids being half-Haddock disasters like their dad.  "Hel, do you think Ingrid would honor kill me?  I don't think I want Tuffnut doing it, that sounds painful--"

"No one is honor killing anyone," the chief says in the tone that makes it law, "you and Fuse are going to have fights, Eret, you're going to have so many fights and something like a single fight isn't enough to change how she sees you."  

"This is bigger than that.  It's not just a fight, it's--"  

"Can I ask you something?"  He cuts me off before I can find the word for what a frost giant sized turd of a situation I'm in.  I shrug.  "What do you want?"  

"What do I want?"  I laugh, "that's funny, chief--"

"No, it's not.  I'm serious.  I see you running yourself into the ground trying to make everyone around you happy, trying to be who everyone else thinks you should be.  What would you do to make yourself happy?  What do you want?"  

"I..."  I sigh, deflating slightly, "I want everyone to be safe."  

"No, that's not an answer," he insists and anger flares enough to overwhelm my sadness, even for just a second.  

"What do you want me to say then?"  

"You don't see it," he sighs, "you're so much like your mom.  And my dad," his smile is sad and proud and I could crumple under it, the weight of that statue's eyes on my shoulders on top of everything else.  "You don't get to decide for everyone to be safe."  

"Because I'm not chief yet," I snap and his eyes drop to my arm.  

"Trust me, if being chief could keep people safe, you'd be a lot less stabbed all the time."  

"I'm fine," I don't believe it and he doesn't either.  It's too close to what Fuse said, to what Smitelout said, to what must be the truth because the most unapologetic people I know are all orbiting around it.  

"What do you want, Eret?  If instead of making up some answer that you think I want to hear or you think is the most self-sacrificial you actually thought about what you want, what would it be?"  

The chief is the last person who'd ever call me selfish and I hate that it feels protective right now.  I hate how good it feels to let myself think selfishly, to catalog the mental and physical bumps and bruises and weaknesses I want to hide and to put them first, even theoretically.  I swallow hard, forcing my voice louder than the scared whisper it wants to be.  

"I want Fuse."  I sit back down, collapsing into how tired I am, arm throbbing like it's on fire, head aching, "I want Fuse and I want to wake up next to her more often than not.  I want everything with the babies to be ok, and I know I'm not supposed to decide for other people to be safe right now, but I'm going to anyway.  I want them to be safe.  And I want to start living my life instead of waiting for it to start."  I want to be chief but I don't say it, because something about this conversation with...my father is making me feel like nearly killing myself for the title hasn't convinced him of anything.  "And I think I could go with being stabbed a little less.  It does really hurt, it just hurts less than anyone else getting stabbed."  

"Sounds to me like you need to go talk to Fuse."  

I nod, "I'll go now, I doubt she's sleeping any better than I am."  I jump to my feet but he stops me with a wincing look.  "What now?  Is that not the right decision or--"

"Stop second guessing yourself," he gestures at me, "I was just going to suggest that you change out of your bloody clothes.  Maybe get a bandage on those stitches.  If you're feeling really wild you could wash the blood off your hand.  Gods, you're a mess."  He laughs and I join him, wiping my hand over my face and nodding.  

"Yeah.  I am, aren't I?"  I shake my head, "I'll change and then I'll go talk to her."  

"Good plan."  He pats my shoulder as he stands up and I let him, "and you know you have to tell your mother about this tomorrow, right?"  

"You won't?"  

"It's not my secret to tell, but I think you know how much trouble we'll both be in if we make her wait much longer."  His whisper is conspiratorial and I scoff.  

"What do you mean?  I'm already in trouble."  

"But I'm not.  I could still help you if you stay ahead of that."  

I hug him again before I can convince myself not to, thumping on his back with my good hand and laughing when it makes him wheeze, "I'll take you up on that."  Maybe it's because he's not looking at me hopefully or expectantly when I pull away, but I can't call him chief, not now.  "Grandpa."  

"Don't go making me cry," he points towards the stairs, "go change, go figure this out."  

"I'm going," I tiptoe upstairs, trying to think of what the Hel I'm going to say.  

I need to propose, I know that much, but more than that I need to do it in a way Fuse will agree with.  And not just agree with, I need her to get it, I need it to be a decision that feels right to her, because she doesn't do anything that doesn't feel right and I love that about her.  She's more gut feeling than I am, she can't push through months and months of being generally uncomfortable with her convictions for a cause.  I finally feel like that's straightened out for me though and I try not to fixate now on the fact that the chief is the one who helped me reorient.  

A bandage over my arm makes the stitches throb more but burn less and clean clothes make me feel like I'm not quite so walking wounded.  My eyes are dry though and no amount of blinking lets me forget the crying I just did, but maybe it'll incite some pity to make Fuse listen to me.  

I've never doubted that she'd talk to me quite like this, except maybe when I feared she'd heard I was engaged to someone else, and even then I assumed she would know it wasn't my doing.  

I hope the chief is wrong about how many fights we're going to have, but I doubt it.  All my siblings bicker with their wives or in Aurelia's case, husband, but that's kind of double counting.  Maybe I thought if Fuse and I didn't get married, we wouldn't have to deal with all of the supposedly normal married things that I didn't and don't like the sound of, but there's no benefits either, not anymore.  Not for a while, probably even before she got pregnant.  

It's almost sunrise when I go back downstairs, a thin gray line breaking the dark horizon, and the chief isn't anywhere to be seen, which means he probably went to bed.  I'm glad about that, as much as I appreciate last night, I don't want a rehash right now because if there's ever a time I need to keep myself together it's now, and I'm worried I'm still unfortunately close to crying again if someone were nice to me.  And that's why I stop short when I open the front door to see Mom and Dad climbing the hill, chatting comfortably in a way that makes me wary for whatever brought them pleasantly together, because usually that only happens when one of us does something wrong.  

"Glad we caught you," Mom zeroes in on me with peak efficiency and I look over my shoulder, like the closed front door will either produce an escape route or an answer to who got my parents involved.  Oddly, I don't blame the chief, it seemed like he meant it when he said he wouldn't tell her until I had a chance to figure things out with Fuse.  "Can I make you breakfast?"  

My stomach growls.  She drives a hard bargain and I look at Dad, trying to figure out their intent.  If it's just a stitches check, I could stay for some food, but Dad's face is a trap, easy going smile luring me into some sort of lecture that requires their joined forces.  

"I already ate," I lie, patting my stomach and half expecting it to echo like a drum.  

"A second breakfast then," she bribes me and I must have done something really objectionable for her to be luring me back inside this hard.  

"I can't right now," I take Smitelout's advice and infuse a little truth into the situation, and it's not even a lie, I really can't focus on anything until I see Fuse and know there's some chance of her forgiving me and marrying me and moving forward.  

She looks like she's going to argue with that but Dad puts a hand on her arm, and she closes her mouth and nods, "dinner then?"  

"I really don't know how my day's going to go, guys."  I take a side step to move around them and I think Mom is going to try and stop me, but instead she hugs me, too tight, hooking her chin over my shoulder and squeezing.  "Hi, Mom, what's going on?"  I look over at Dad, "is everything ok?"  

"As long as you're ok," he nods towards my arm, the bandage peeking out from under my half-pushed up sleeve, "did you get that taken care of?"  

"Yeah, it's fine," I hug Mom back with the hope that it'll make her let me go so that I can breathe, but it doesn't quite work like that.  Her hair smells like saltwater and she's still wearing her clothes from the feast last night, so there's no armor or thick leather jabbing me and making this uncomfortable, and it's about comforting enough to restart the tears, so I put gentle hands on her shoulders and try to pry her off.  "You good?"  I ask when I'm finally successful, even though she's still holding one of my arms like she doesn't want me to get away.  

"I won't keep you," she takes a step back and I have all of a second to breathe before Dad is picking me up in an Arvid style bear hug that makes me feel small for the first time in a while.  

"Dad! Put me down!"

"Sorry," he brushes off my shoulders when he does, grinning in a way that's out of place with the majority gray of his hairline.  "Just wanted to see if I still could."  

"I think you knew you could, it's whether you should," I jokingly chastise him, straightening my shirt and pointing over my shoulder, "so I've got to go if neither of you have to assault me again."  

"I'm good for now," Mom hesitates a little before continuing, "try and have fun today."  

I look at Dad for confirmation that she's been hit very hard on the head but he just nods at me like this is normal and that's a normal Mom thing to say.  

"What's fun?"  I joke, playing into whatever strange act this is and Mom's fragile smile evaporates.  She looks at Dad and they share some silently communicated thing, like they used to when I was little and they were trying to figure out what I'd done wrong.  It looks weird to me now and maybe it's the lack of sleep or the blood loss or the crying, but everything is starting to feel off kilter, like I'm on an island very similar to the Berk I know.  "I'll uh...see you guys later, alright?"  

"Sure," Dad nods, hand on Mom's elbow as the urges her towards the door.  She doesn't shrug him off, just keeps looking at me with that worried expression, and I hop onto Bang for the short distance rather than feel their eyes on me as I walk away.  

Bang finds a soft pile of hay with Hotgut outside of the Thorston-Ingerman barn and I walk the rest of the way to the Thorston front door, wiping my hands on my pants and building up the courage to knock.  I still don't know exactly what I'm going to say, but I guess it depends on how Fuse acts when she sees me.  I brace other hand to catch the door and hold it if she tries to slam it in my face and then knock three times, like I do on her shed door, the sound of the fire proof wood echoing around my rattled brain.  

The door opens.  

Tuffnut has a black eye that he's holding an ice block to but he sets it down when he sees me, gesturing at my face with an easy, wincing smile.  

"Hey, twins."  

My heart drops, "she told you?"  

This is when it happens.  The honor kill.  I think he has a mace in there somewhere and of all the days to be honor killed, I think that's at the bottom of my list.  It's a bone crunching, blood-spraying way to go and I don't trust him to do it in a single hit.  I should have asked Ingrid, I should have brought Ingrid alone, just in case it came to this.  

"What?"  He cocks his head and then nods, "oh, yeah, she did, but I wasn't talking about that."  He points at his eye and then to my face, "we're facial bruising twins, looks good dude."  

"Huh?"  I pat my cheek to figure out what he's talking about and hiss, because it's tender along my cheekbone and jaw, pulpy and slightly swollen in that new bruise way.  "Fuck," I wince, testing my expression and flinching when a deep frown pulls at the skin, "Smitelout."  

"Mine is my sister's handiwork," he picks up the block of ice and hesitates before offering it to me, "I can get another."  

"No thanks,"  I shift between my feet, trying to figure out what to do with my hands.  Pockets seems too casual and not optimal for blocking the mace swing I'm sure is coming.  Hands out in front feel like surrender, which is only half what I'm here to do, except it's not really a surrender, it's just a new understanding of the solution.  "Um, I'm here to see Fuse."  I point vaguely towards her closed door.  

"She's asleep."  

"Oh," I hadn't thought of that and the barely brightening dawn makes me feel dumber for it, "I can come back, I guess."  Maybe I still have time for that second breakfast Mom offered, except maybe I don't want that because she and Dad were acting so weird.  I could go by the Great Hall, I guess, I know there will be food there for Elva and her remaining people.  

Fuck, she's still here, John is still imprisoned at the arena.  Fuck.  There's too much going on.  

"You can wait here if you want," he gestures for me to come inside and I'm sure the mace is going to come down the second I'm inside, but it doesn't, and I take an awkward seat on a bench near the mostly burned down fire.  

"Thanks."  

Chicken VII pecks at my boot and I lean down to pet her head.  She bites me.  I tuck my hands in my pockets so she can't do it again.  

"So, pretty crazy feast last night, huh?"  He sits on the ground near the hearth and feeds Chicken VII a handful of grain with the hand not holding ice to his face.  "Not as crazy as Fuse hiding being pregnant for months--"

"Sorry about that--"

"No, I'm kind of impressed, you might just be trickier than you look."  He points at me and I frown.  

"Thanks?"  

"Don't mention it."  

Another minute of awkward, heart racing silence passes and I spend it staring at Fuse's door.  I want nothing more than to open it and wake her up or even lay down beside her to finish sleeping, but the fact is she might not want me to and that makes me kind of want the random mace attack to hurry up and happen.  If it even has to happen, I am here to propose, however unconventionally that might end up looking, and now I'm sitting here with Fuse's father, whose opinion she respects more than almost anyone's and I haven't run it by him.  

I clear my throat and he doesn't look up.  

"Uh, Tuffnut?"  I start, heel tapping anxiously as I try to figure out how to say this, "I'm actually here to talk to Fuse."  

"You could try that through the door, if you want, but she's a heavy sleeper."  

"No, I mean I could, I guess."  It's a weird enough suggestion to trip me up, not that it would take much right now, "but I want to both see and talk to her, if that makes sense."  It does, but I doubt it when I say it out loud.  "I'm here to ask her to marry me though, and I just realized I didn't ask you first, which I should, theoretically."  

"Theoretically, yeah, and probably before she was pregnant, but considering I already signed a contract with Hiccup like four years ago, I think the rules are slightly different in this case."  

"Right, I always forget that everything is already all...agreed upon."  

"Except you and Fuse," he pauses, "well, you seem to be agreed upon it now so it's just Fuse."  

"Yep."  That doesn't inspire a lot of confidence and I bite my lip.  "Any idea how this is going to go for me?"  

"You aren't mad at her, right?"  

"No," I shake my head and pause, "she told you about our fight?"  

"A little bit," he shrugs, "she was pretty upset, but the future potential babies stole the spotlight a little bit, as they do.  You'll get used to that."  He nods over my shoulder at Fuse's slowly opening door and stands up, "I'm being overshadowed as we speak, I'll give you two the house for all the yelling and throwing stuff that might be about to happen."  

"Thanks for that," I glare at his back as he walks away.  

Fuse stands in the doorway, groggy and squinting at me, like she's not sure I'm actually here and I wince when the front door slams shut behind her fleeing father.  

"I think I did enough yelling last night," she says quietly, stepping out of her room and making cautious eye contact that I hate.  I hate her being shy around me or more reserved than she usually is, it's like salt in my stitches and I find the chief's question echoing in my head.  What do I want?  

"Any less yelling and I don't know if you would have gotten your point across."  

"That's why I said enough yelling."  She clarifies, sitting down on the bench next to me, "as in I don't need to do anymore."  

I love how precise she is.  I love how she doesn't doubt herself and how clear and honest and direct she is.  And I want more of that, I want it tempering my overwhelming urge to make other people happy, I want it helping me see a straight line through whatever mess is ahead of us.  I clear my throat, looking down at my hands and trying to string the right words together the first time.  

"I think...no, I know we both have a lot of reasons why getting married seems...negative, and I don't think we've talked about them all, because I was so caught up in my own that I never asked about yours."

"There was no reason to," she dodges the suggestion with the same precision, reaching for my arm and pulling my sleeve up to show the bandage.  She peeks underneath like she's making sure I'm not hiding a festering wound and I hate that I made her worry about me so much.  

"You're right, it did need stitches."  I gesture at my cheek with my other hand, "Smitelout did me the favor in exchange for hitting me."  That makes her jaw twitch and I sigh, "and maybe before there wasn't a reason to ask about your reasons, but now there are two, and they're setting the schedule here."  

[huangfilms]

Prince!Mark

Day Nine: The five times you/i wanted to say i love you but it didn’t happen + the one time it did

↳ requested by: a sweet,,, sweet,,,,,,,, anon,,,,,,, i Love This im crying  ❤️❤️

↳ warnings/word count: fluff? small amount of sad if u squint / 3081 words

↳ side note: wow this! is! the! end! i can’t believe this! hopefully this makes sense to you all ! i love you all! thank you all for requesting! im in awe because i finished my series! i never thought i could do it but! here i am! anyway i am so thankful for you all, you all mean a lot to me i love you! until next time again queens! (which might be VERY soon! ;) )

↳ writing challenge masterlist

↳ masterlist

the first time you met mark was when you were merely a toddler. sticking by your mother and barely wobbling on your feet by yourself. your parents were all close friends, them having children at the same time an accident, but nonetheless pushed a friendship onto the both of you.

‘y/n, i want you to meet your new friend. his name is mark,’ your mother cooed at you. the first meeting made you feel shy, hiding behind your moms legs, you gave her an unsure look and then glanced at the boy in front of you. he stared back at you with big, doe eyes and you immediately looked away.

‘come on baby, you gotta say hi to mark.’ somehow, your mom coaxed you to leave the safe space behind her legs and had you say hi to him. you stuck your hand out cutely and announced that- ‘hi! my name is y/n!’ little baby mark jumped at the loud announcement, but smiled at you and took your hand.

the blubbering boy with the chubby cheeks was someone you never thought you would call your best friend when you were seven. you two were attached at the hip, always found playing together in the gardens, eating together, playing pranks on your older siblings together.

you and mark giggled quietly from a far corner in the castle, waiting for your victim to walk into your prank. this time, you two decided on taping the bottom portion of the doorway, so when they stepped they would get caught.

‘mark! laugh quietly, i think someone is coming,’ you whispered to him. he laughed once more before he zipped his mouth shut and buried his face into your shoulder to muffle his laughs. before you knew it, there was a step and then nothing. no scream, no groan, just steps. you and mark shared a confused look, but was then replaced by a look of surprise to find his older brother, taeyong, looking down at you guys.

‘and what are you two little monsters up to now?’ he crouched down to your level, smiling in the process. looking over at mark, you both nodded your heads.

‘nothing!’ you both shouted, already getting up and sprinting away from him.

when you were twelve years old, you two were absolutely inseparable. always traveling together, sneaking out to stargaze. you two gossiped about everything and everything, always having sleepovers. when you had to leave to your palace you always begged your parents to let you stay one more day. you never wanted to leave his side.

‘but mom! just one more night!’ you pleaded, already getting onto your knees. your mother chuckled, ‘y/n, you have your lessons on mannerism tomorrow morning. you can’t just skip out on them bub.’ she ran her fingers through your hair, ‘i’ll tell you what, you can have mark come over this weekend for a sleepover.’ she saw how your face lit up, then told you to say goodbye to mark.

‘i’ll see you this weekend, mark!’ you yelled. he replied with an ‘okay’ and waved at you a little sadly.

you were sixteen when mark told you he was going to be arranged in a marriage to another neighboring kingdom.

‘oh,’ was your only response. you weren’t sure how to feel about all of this.

‘oh? what’s that supposed to mean?’ he says. you give him a glance, finding an emotion you couldn’t quite place.

‘oh, meaning, i don’t know what to say? i just- do you want this mark?’ you asked quietly. he shrugs. ‘i don’t want to let my family down,’ he says. you end the conversation there, unsure of what to say.

it took you two weeks to figure out that you were in love with your best friend. when you saw him with another, you felt the green monster come at you like a slap in the face.

one.

it’s been weeks since mark told you about being married when he was older. he’s been disconnected, always with the neighboring princess. it was always a, ‘sorry, my parents scheduled a dinner with her family and mine, rain check?’ or a simple, ‘i can’t, i’ve got plans with the princess, maybe next time?’

there was never a next time.

you thought that it was finally time to tell mark your feelings. you knew that it would create complications, it could ruin your friendship, he could reject you, and every other bad outcome you’ve thought about. but you just had to do it. He needed to know before it was too late.

so you went to go and find him.

you looked throughout his palace, asking around the maids and the palace workers, looked in your secret spot (which wasn’t that much of a secret anymore). you couldn’t find him anywhere.

‘mark, where are you?’ you said to no one in particular. you trudged down the wide hallway, looking at all of the paintings, pictures, banners, decorations. you just needed a small sign of him. going out of the gates, you looked through the garden to find him on a bench by himself, gazing up at the stars.

you made your steps a little louder to avoid scaring him, mark turned around at the noise and flashed you half-smile. ‘hey y/n.’ he patted the seat next to him and looked at you expectantly.

‘can i tell you something? promise you won’t freak out?’ you say shyly. you don’t know how you were going to do this, thoughts were rushing in and out of your mind. you just had to say it, you opened your mouth to start and then-

ring.

‘oh, one second,’ he glanced at the caller id, ‘it’s the princess, it’ll only be a minute,’ he smiles and then answers the phone. he gets up and goes a few feet away from you, ‘yes?’

‘right, the princess,’ you mumble. turning away, you look all around you, and then up at the stars. ‘why me?’ you thought, ‘why do i have to suffer like this?’ in no time did you have mark sitting by your side again, ‘so what was it that you wanted to tell me?’

‘oh it was nothing, just forget about it,’ you smiled, ‘have a good night, mark.’ you got up, and then you left. mark looking at your retreating figure with confused eyes.

you could always tell him next time.

two.

you waited out a month before attempting to tell him again. currently, you were hanging out with mark at the village. you two were playing with a few kids, picking flowers, playing tag. you took a break to just watch the kids and mark with a fond look in your eyes.

you felt so much for him it was so hard to cope with the fact that he was to be married when you both turned 18. in 2 years. he needs to know, but you didn’t know how to tell him, yet again. mark looked over to where you were standing and waved you over with a grin on his face. you smiled back at him and decided it was now or never.

‘never doesn’t seem like a bad option,’ you thought to yourself.

‘mark, i need to te-’

‘prince mark, we need to be leaving soon for your plans with the princess,’ the guard says. you stopped in your tracks. mark looked up at you with an apologetic look.

‘i’ll be at the carriage soon, thank you,’ he replied to the guard. when he saw your face, he read an expression that he wasn't used to. ‘you were saying something, y/n?’ you snapped out of your trance, and just looked at him before flashing a big, fake smile.

‘it can wait, now go,’ you waved, ‘your princess awaits.’ he looked unsure to leave you, but he nodded and made his way to the carriage. when you were sure he was gone, you turned around and rubbed your temple.

‘never was a bad option,’ you sighed into the air.

three.

the saying, ‘third time’s a charm,’ was completely invalid.

you sat on a bench outside of the palace gates, looking at your surroundings. your silence was cut short when you heard your friend, whisper something to your other close friend.

‘why is y/n being an angsty teen?’ chenle asks. renjun shrugs for an answer, but his face quickly lights up, ‘it’s because they want to confess their love to their precious little prince ma-’ you quickly placed your hand over renjun’s mouth to prevent him from saying anything else.

‘i came to you in confidence about that!’ you laughed, ‘plus, i’m going to tell him today. i can feel it.’ your friends looked at you unsurely and just slowly nodded their heads at you.

chenle sighs, ‘well i hope you’re ready for that time to be now because here he comes!’ he pulls renjun up with him and runs the other way before you can say something back to him.

‘y/n!’ mark shouts, ‘what are you doing out here?’ he takes a seat next to you while you try come up with an excuse other than, ‘just waiting for you so i can tell you how much i love you.’

‘enjoying the nice air,’ you replied instead. ‘but anyway, i kind of wanted to tell you something, and it’s really important,’ you looked over at him to make sure he was listening. he gestured for you to continue. you took a deep breath-

‘mark! what are you doing out here! we were supposed to leave a few minutes ago for the gala!’

oh.

you smiled at the princess approaching you two, an angry look on her face and a glare sent your way. ‘who’s this, mark?’ she says.

‘this is y/n, we were kind of talking and they needed to tell me something important so can you wait, five minutes?’ mark pleads.

‘well they can say it to my face, too.’ the princess shot back. you quickly shook your head at the both of them, ‘no! no, it’s okay! you’re already late so just talk to me later, okay bye mark!’ you stood up abruptly and went to find renjun and chenle.

you were a blushing mess and decided to try again in a few months .third time's a charm really did sound fake at this moment.

four.

it’s been a little bit over a few months. does a few months still count when it’s been seven months? over time, you’ve slowly given up. your first three encounters really brought you down. maybe this was a sign that you shouldn’t tell him anything at all. you were currently laying on your bed, looking up at the ceiling, and avoiding all of your responsibilities.

‘your highness?’ someone called from outside your door, ‘there’s someone here to see you.’

you sigh out of frustration and shoved a pillow on your face. realizing you never gave an answer, you quickly pulled it off of your face, ‘tell them i’m busy please!’ you flipped yourself so you were laying on your stomach.

‘y/n, it’s mark,’ you jumped off of the bed out of surprise and walked to your door.

‘why are you here mark? i mean not that it’s bad that you’re here but it’s just a surprise? you don’t come over to see me anymore- and that’s fine! don’t get me wrong but just-’

‘just open the door,’ he laughs. you laugh quietly while unlocking the door, immediately being in a warm embrace. ‘woah, you okay there, mark?’ you nonetheless wrap your arms around his neck.

he sighed into your hair, ‘i haven’t seen you a while it just feels good to be with you.’ you blushed, but you both eventually let go of each other. ‘listen, mark i really need to talk to you.’

mark was confused when you suddenly became serious, ‘sure, i’m all ears.’ and then he smiled and suddenly you forgot what you were going to say. you froze on the spot, ‘i-i, um. i. forgot. sorry, wow, lets get some breakfast!’ you rushed to the dining hall, mark trailing behind with a confused look on his face.

confessing can wait, you just wanted to spend this time with him.

five.

‘y/n, let’s go! we’re going to the lee’s kingdom, don’t you remember?’ your mother called for you, waiting downstairs to leave.

‘yes! i remember! i’m going down now!’ you shut your door, and rushed down the stairs, careful not to trip on the stairs. you and your family placed yourselves into the carriage, waiting on the long trek to mark’s.

you looked out the window, hand in your palm, ‘penny for your thoughts, love?’ your dad asks. you jump in your seat, ‘it’s nothing,’ you smile, ‘just a little tired, is all.’

he looked doubtful of your answer but didn’t pray and just half-smiled at you. the carriage comes to a halt, and you see his palace out from the window. you exited out of the the carriage, looking around and just breathed in because you felt it.

you just knew you were going to tell him today. i mean, you had to. you dragged this out for so long, he was to be married in less than a year. you sighed at the thought, a frown placing itself on your face. you walked through the entrance, heaving a deep breath before you go and find mark. ‘y/n, we’re going to go up and have a talk with mark’s parents, you okay by yourself?’ your mom asks.

you nod at her with a smile, ‘i’ll try and find mark somewhere,’ and you wave them off. you walked in the opposite direction from your parents, going into the garden since that seems to be mark’s favorite place now.

‘listen, mom, i don’t think i can go through with this marriage,’ you heard.

‘and why not mark? we proposed this to you a year ago, why now, sweetie?’

there’s mark! you were about to round the corner when-

‘i love someone else, and i-’

you left. you didn’t understand? maybe he was talking about you?

no.

you didn’t want to get your hopes up. so you told your guard you were going to visit the village and maybe go home. sighing once again, you turned around and made your leave.

you don’t plan on confessing. ever.

plus one.

it’s the week before mark’s wedding. your mother dragged you everywhere to be fitted for an outfit that matched the theme and attire, but not so much that it would outshine the bride. ever since the day you heard that conversation, you waited and waited until there was an announcement to call off the wedding. but it never happened.

so here you were, fitting into another outfit for an event you didn’t want to attend to. you stood in front of the mirror, admiring the clothes, but you just couldn’t stand the fact that this was really happening.

‘mom, are we almost done?’ you asked politely. your mother looked up from her magazine and smiled at you, ‘yes, sweetie. did you need to be somewhere?’ you thought for a moment before answering, ‘chenle and renjun made plans earlier and they invited me.’ she nodded at you and went back to reading.

when you finished, you left to renjun’s kingdom, only a mere 1 hour travel. you arrived soon enough since you took a small nap in the carriage. stepping out, you thought you saw a familiar face but when you blinked, the figure was gone from your sight.

you took a deep breath and found renjun on the bench with-

‘mark?’ you whispered.

the two boys on the bench looked, ‘i’ll leave you two to talk,’ renjun says. ‘wa-’ you called, but he was already leaving.

he patted his hand on the empty seat next to him and gestured for you to sit. ‘i need to talk to you.’ he says. you’re suddenly very nervous, knowing mark, he’s never this serious. so you sit down next to him and wait for him to continue.

‘i called off the wedding,’ you look a him with wide eyes, ‘i called it off months ago. my parents haven’t made an announcement yet because i’m still get married just not to, well her.’

‘why did you call it off?’ you were hesitant, still unsure yourself if you wanted to know why.

‘i don’t love her, and i don’t want to marry someone i love.’

‘why are you still getting married? and to who?’ you felt your voice waver.

‘that’s what i wanted to talk to you about.’ he pauses, you watch him with baited breath. ‘we’ve been friends for a long while, yeah? we’ve known each other for our whole lives basically. it just took me a long time to realize what i truly felt for you. when we were sixteen, and when i first told you i was in an arranged marriage, i… i felt guilty. I felt like i was betraying you. I didn’t know exactly why back then, but now that we’re two years older i’ve realized something and it’s opened my eyes.’ he takes a deep breath.

‘what i’m trying to say, is that i love you.’ you felt your breath hitch, ‘i have loved you for a long time but i didn’t know it yet. so i told my parents and instead they want me, to get married.. to you- but! that’s only if you want to because i don’t even know if you feel that way about me and i didn’t really think-’

‘i love you, too.’ you say.

he stops and looks at you, a grin overtaking his face. ‘you do?’

you nod with a big smile, ‘i’ve been trying to tell you for months but it wasn’t ever such a great time. you always had plans with the princess or we always got interrupted. plus i was scared of rejection.’

he looks surprised. the next thing you knew, you saw mark leaning in, you meeting him halfway. you felt tingles in your body, warmth flourishing throughout your whole being. you wrap your arms around his neck, his around your waist. pulling away, you placed your forehead against his and closed your eyes.

‘say it again,’ you hear.

‘say what again?’

‘say that you love me, again.’

you pull back and look him straight in the eyes.

‘i love you.’

[rosezure]

Captured Pt.1

Anon requested:  I would like to request a one-shot where the reader newly joins the avengers post AOU under the alias of Tigress and has the same skill sets as Natasha. Her and Steve are teamed up and they don’t get along at all. They argue all the time about how something should be done. The whole team easily likes her. She and Steve get sent on a mission where they have to be a married couple (alias of Chris Evans and Sonia Evans). In a dangerous situation they realize they love each other. (“you” POV pls)

I wasn’t sure what you meant by a “you” kind of POV so I hope I didn’t mess up or something. Also, I got so carried away with the story I thought it got to long and divided it into two parts. Enjoy! Sorry if it’s too long.

Summary: You’re the Avengers’ newest member and you all get along splendidly. Except for a certain blonde haired Captain. Steve Rogers, a.k.a Captain America, seems to hate you. But does he?

Warnings: Language, torture, blood and gore in general, mentions of death perhaps.

(Y/N) Your name

(Y/N/N) Your nickname

(Y/L/N) Your last name

(h/c) Hair color

(e/c) Eye color

(f/c) Favorite color

____________________________________________________________

“I can’t believe you, Rogers! You can’t seriously be calling me out over that!” You yelled, your face red with anger. Steve returned the glare you were giving him. This would be your third fight that day.

“I am. What you did back there was completely unnecessary, (Y/N).” He retorted, crossing his arms across his stone hard chest. You were discussing how you had attacked a superior Hydra agent in order to get him to cooperate. You scoffed.

“Do you really think he was going to come peacefully? I had to knock him out! Otherwise, he could have tried taking down one of us.” You gritted out. Steve rolled his eyes

“We would have handled him easily.” He snapped. You threw your hands up in disbelief.

“He had a bomb strapped to him. A. Fucking. BOMB!” You yelled, getting extremely close to the super soldier. Steve felt his breath hitch at your proximity.

“We. Would. Have. Handled. It.” This time he gritted out, clenching his jaw and focusing his baby blues on your flaming (e/c) ones.

“Really?” You scoffed once again, rolling your eyes. “Oh and since we’re on the topic of unnecessary and dangerous decisions, why don’t we discuss what you were doing in the control room with a hard drive connected to their main computer?” You challenged, placing your hands on your hips. Steve froze.

“That’s none of your damn business.” He snapped. You cocked an eyebrow, genuinely surprised that the Captain America was keeping secrets from his own team.

“Keeping secrets now, are we?” You spat, narrowing your eyes. Steve glared. He hadn’t counted on you being so persistent. But of course he should have expected that from you. You were as good as Natasha, if not better, when it came to detecting a lie.

“I’m not keeping secrets. I was collecting valuable intel for Stark to analyze. I would have told you earlier, but you were busy killing people.” He said, his voice harsher and colder than he intended. You visibly tensed.

Steve winced, knowing he had hit a nerve. You had joined the Avengers to do good, to redeem yourself for the things you had done as a mercenary. He knew you were just trying to do your job in the cleanest way possible, and yet he had to go and pour salt on your wounds.

You power walked towards him, stopping mere inches from his face. Your nostrils flared in anger, your face was becoming hot and tears were threatening to leak. But you’d be damned if you let him see you cry.

“Like hell you would.” You muttered in a dangerous tone. Abruptly stepping away form the infuriating man, you sped off towards your room.

Today’s mission couldn’t have been more complicated. It was a simple raid and destroy mission involving another Hydra base, or so you thought. Steve had other plans. He seemed to have an agenda of his own, searching through as many of the facility’s date base and hard files as he could.

Of course, that didn’t got unnoticed by you. But by the time you had reached him to inform you needed to evacuate because the mission had gone south, it was too late. Agents were attacking the team and you had to act fast. Your methods were still a little unorthodox, though, so by the end you were surrounded by dead or unconscious bodies.

You both fought over that, too obviously.

You needed a long bath to relax, and not just because of the mission.

You didn’t know why you bothered arguing with Steve. Yes, he was infuriating and self righteous and arrogant. But you weren’t one to get easily fired up. You were just as good as Natasha, meaning practically nothing and no one could get a reaction out of you. Except for Steve Rogers, of course.

Steve watched your retreating figure with longing. He wanted to hug you, kiss you even and apologize for being such a jerk. But he couldn’t. You didn’t feel the same way, that much was obvious by how many times you both fought. You clearly hated him.

And he couldn’t get close to you, not when he was still looking for any leads on his long lost friend, Bucky Barnes, best known as the Winter Soldier. If his findings were any proof, treading those dangerous waters was close to suicidal, and he didn’t want to drag you into that. So he pushed you away the best he could, hoping that he was keeping you safe that way. Even if he knew you were more than capable of handling yourself.

“Cap, I found something.” Sam Wilson announced, walking into the debriefing room he was still in after you had left. Steve nodded, following Sam out.

“What have you got for me?” He asked, stepping inside one of the base’s research laboratories. Natasha Romanoff turned around in her seat and smirked.

“We may have found one of the bases Bucky was kept by one of his handlers a while back. It’s just outside of Berlin, which is weird considering it’s supposed to be a secret facility. But you can never be sure with Hydra.” She informed, tapping a few buttons on the screens before a picture of an abandoned factory popped up.

“What’s the catch?” Steve asked, narrowing his eyes.

“They holding an auction for the building and its contents in two days. It’s a fancy event, probably a gala. You won’t be able to go alone, they’ll be suspicious. And I can’t go with you because I have to leave in four hours for an undercover operation with Wanda.” Natasha said, already hacking the events guest list to obtain the invites.

“You know what that means, right?” Sam asked, smirking slightly and crossing his arms over his chest. Steve sighed defeatedly, letting his head hang.

“I know…” He replied, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

“Good luck, Cap.” Sam pats his shoulder before leaving the room to head down to the gym.

“You could just tell her how you feel, it would make things less… Frustrating.” Natasha smirked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

“Does anyone else know about it?” Steve asked exasperated, referring to his not-so-subtle feelings towards you.

“Everyone knows. Everyone but (Y/N), that is.” Natasha winks before heading out as well. Steve is left to his own thoughts.

You’re his only chance at succeeding in this mission. But he doesn’t want you there, it could be dangerous and risky. He couldn’t forgive himself if something happened to you. And, saying he did ask you to accompany him in this mission, he couldn’t let you know the real reason behind the mission. If you knew too much you could get hurt, or worse. But he had no other option. No one else to rely on.

Sighing, Steve had made his decision. He walked out, closing the door behind him ever so slowly. He looked up, praying to whatever god there was that things would go smoothly.

“You want me to what?!” You exclaimed, looking between Natasha and Steve. They had just informed you that you were assigned to an undercover mission with none other than Steve himself.

“We want your help with an undercover mission.” Steve repeated, feeling slightly agitated at your reaction. You furrowed your eyebrows.

“And why can’t Nat go?” You asked, narrowing your eyes suspiciously.

“I have a mission I have to leave for in a couple of hours with Wanda. Cap has to go with someone otherwise the operation is at risk.” Natasha explained, smirking in amusement at your frustration.

“And why can’t Sam go with him? You know, as entrepreneur friends or something?” You asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because this is Hydra. They are not morons. The story wouldn’t be as believable. Besides, if Steve and I were to go as a couple, those homophobic little shits would have a heart attack.” Sam answered, not looking up from the books he was reading on the couch in front of you. You nodded, mulling the idea over in your head.

“So let me get this straight: You want me to pretend to be his wife so we can infiltrate a high profile gala event and supposedly scan the building that’s going up for auction for possible intel?” You repeated the plan, making sure you hadn’t overheard or misheard any of the details while eyeing Steve with rosy cheeks.

The idea alone of pretending to be his wife made you all sorts of nervous. And you hated that. You were almost always in control of your emotions, and having just one person scramble them because of a hypothetical situation is unnerving.

“Exactly.” Steve answered a little too quickly. Natasha pressed her lips together to avoid laughing at how obvious Steve was being. You gave him a questioning look before turning back to Nat.

“Okay, fine. What is our story? Our names?”

“He’s Chris Evans and you’re Sonia Evans. He’s a millionaire looking to expand his corporation to Germany. You two met in London during one of his conferences three years ago and have been married for two months. That means you’re still on the honeymoon phase.” Nat smirked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. You blushed and bit down on your lip, avoiding Steve’s gaze at all costs.

“Right. Two months into our marriage. I’m Sonia Evans. Met in London during a conference. What’s my personality?” You listed off, memorizing the information.

“Make something up. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Natasha winked before leaving the living area to go and look for Wanda. You slowly turned around to Steve.

“So I guess we’re married then…” You said awkwardly. You heard a snort and turned to see Sam trying to contain his laughter.

“Got something you’d like to say, bird boy?” You challenged, narrowing your eyes and placing your hands on your hips.

“Not at all, Tigress.” He smirked knowingly at you, using your code name. You had been given it because of the razor sharp blades you had on your gloves and your feline like style of fighting.

“Good. I’ll be in my room packing up. Since it’s a gala I’ll probably have to wear something formal, right?” You said, turning your attention back to Steve only to find him staring at you intently.

“Right.” He replied in a monotone, causing you to scoff and stomp off. He could at least pretend to not be so bothered by the circumstances of the mission.

Three hours later, you were ready to be shipped off. You had a large suitcase where you had packed what you liked to call your mission costume. It also had a secret internal compartment containing your equipment, including your suit, weapons and other important devices you’d need to complete the mission.

You and Steve boarded the private jet provided for the cover you guys had. It was a luxurious one, as well, making you slightly uncomfortable. Thankfully, no one said a word during the whole 8 hour flight which made the situation a bit more bearable. Not that you minded being sent on an assignment with Steve, it’s just that not one of them had ever ended with the both of you not arguing.

A/N: Yeah, so this got super long so Part 2 is here and I hope you’re enjoying it so far! Thanks for requesting!

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s WandaVision: Scarlet Witch’s Avengers and MCU History Recap

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It’s been quite a long break, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back from hibernation in 2021, starting with WandaVision. As the climactic Avengers: Endgame and its denouement Spider-Man: Far From Home concluded Phase 3, we’ve had to wait the entire chaotic 2020 before Phase 4 could start up in 2021.

You might have a friend or relative asking you, “What is WandaVision, exactly?” and folks, that is a loaded question. Especially if they haven’t watched many or any of the Marvel movies. How do you explain a plot about an ever-evolving sitcom reality that gradually falls apart due to the complicated and traumatic relationship between a reformed terrorist with too much power on her hands and a polite android who shouldn’t even exist? And don’t get me started on the pre-existing supporting characters from other Marvel movies.

To get you or your hypothetical loved one up to speed, here’s a look back at the history of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, in the MCU, as played by Elizabeth Olsen.

THE AVENGERS

To explain the Scarlet Witch, you have to go back to the forming of the Avengers. Once upon a time, a group of heroes from different walks of life banded together to stop an alien invasion. A powerful megalomaniac named Thanos was obsessed with obtaining the Infinity Stones, six cosmic gems that could give its wielder immeasurable power over the universe itself if fully collected. He armed his underling Loki with a mind-controlling staff and gave him his own army of alien warriors in hope of conquering Earth and getting his hands on an artifact known as the Tesseract.

The Tesseract and the gem powering the staff were both Infinity Stones (the Space Stone and the Mind Stone, respectively). Loki was ultimately defeated by the Avengers. While the Norse Gods held onto the Tesseract for safekeeping, the staff ended up in the hands of the worldwide government agency SHIELD.

Having saved the day, the Avengers were beloved by many. But not everyone.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers discovered that SHIELD had been compromised by HYDRA, a science-obsessed offshoot of the Third Reich. For many decades, HYDRA personnel had infiltrated SHIELD and used its resources for its own nefarious ends. In the end, Captain America defeated HYDRA’s plot, but a mid-credits scene showed that the organization was not yet destroyed.

At some point, HYDRA operative Wolfgang Von Strucker got his hands on Loki’s staff and was able to experiment with the Mind Stone. Two test subjects were able to survive the experiments: Wanda Maximoff and her twin brother Pietro.

The two came from the fictional country Sokovia, where they were orphaned by munitions created by Tony Stark’s company. Hating Tony Stark and the Avengers in general, the two allowed themselves to be made guinea pigs by Von Strucker. The Mind Stone unlocked special abilities in the two where Pietro – known as Quicksilver – gained amazing speed powers while Wanda – the Scarlet Witch – could do everything from energy manipulation to telekinesis to mind manipulation and flight.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

The Avengers got together for what was supposed to be one last hurrah as they sieged the last stronghold of HYDRA in Avengers: Age of Ultron. While they made short work of Strucker’s goons, they ran into trouble with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Ultimately, the twins escaped, though Scarlet Witch messed with Iron Man’s head and increased his paranoia that another alien invasion would one day arrive and crush Earth’s heroes.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner ran their own experiments on the Mind Stone and tried to create a world-protecting AI out of it. Upon being born, the AI immediately went mad and took the form of a genocidal robot with the personality quirks of Stark. Ultron sought out the Maximoffs and recruited them against the Avengers.

Wanda did her damage against the Avengers by screwing with their heads one-by-one and making them live out their personal nightmares. The most disastrous part of this was how she caused the Hulk to lose control and go on a massive rampage. Although he was eventually subdued by Iron Man, the Hulk’s freakout caused massive cracks to appear in the Avengers’ reputation.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver ultimately turned against Ultron after realizing that he wanted to wipe out billions of lives as part of his plan to “save humanity.” They teamed up with the Avengers to defend Sokovia against an army of Ultron drones. During this time, Wanda found herself mentally overwhelmed by the battle, but Hawkeye was able to motivate her into continuing the fight.

Read more

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Avengers: Age of Ultron – Marvel Universe Easter Eggs and Comic References Guide

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Defending Avengers: Age of Ultron

By Guy Buckland

Quicksilver sacrificed himself to save Hawkeye’s life, filling Wanda with dread and anger. She ended up destroying Ultron’s main, most powerful form. Soon after, all of Ultron’s drones were annihilated and he was fully defeated.

Scarlet Witch joined the new Avengers roster, made up of herself, Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, Falcon, and Vision. Vision, a more human-looking android created by Ultron, was powered by the Mind Stone and had it sticking out of his forehead.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

A mission in Lagos, Nigeria went terribly wrong at the start of Captain America: Civil War. Although the Avengers were able to defeat the terrorist Crossbones, he detonated a bomb on his body in hopes of taking some of the heroes with him. Scarlet Witch tried to move Crossbones’ exploding body away from the area, but accidentally killed many others in a nearby office building.

While it was an accident, it was also the straw the broke the camel’s back. The Sokovia Accords was written up, making the Avengers’ existence a legal matter. In order for them to fight the forces of evil, they had to do so under the orders of the world’s governments. The superhero community disagreed on this ultimatum, causing a massive rift in the Avengers.

The guilt-ridden Wanda remained at Avengers Headquarters, where she bonded with her teammate Vision. While they became close, it was also apparent that Vision was there to keep her from leaving the premises, as certain members of the team thought it would be unwise for Wanda to be seen in public. Hawkeye arrived to recruit Wanda onto Captain America’s side of the war against Iron Man and the Sokovia Accords. While Hawkeye was out of his league against Vision, Wanda’s powers and connection to the Mind Stone allowed her to easily counter the android.

Read more

Movies

Captain America: Civil War – Complete Marvel Universe Easter Eggs and References Guide

By Mike Cecchini

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Captain America: Civil War Ending and Post Credits Scenes Explained

By Mike Cecchini

A massive battle took place between Captain America and Iron Man’s teams. While Captain America and his friend Bucky were able to escape, Wanda and the rest were defeated and taken into custody. She, Hawkeye, Falcon, and Ant-Man ended up in a special island prison with high-tech restraints keeping her from being able to use her powers. As Iron Man came to see the prisoners, the other three threw verbal abuse his way. Wanda just remained silent.

In the end, Captain America returned to free the prisoners. A new “Secret Avengers” team was put together of Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch. Together, they would do missions from the shadows, against the authority of the government.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Having figured out the locations of all six Infinity Stones, Thanos decided to make his move. His intent was to gather the six gems, snap his fingers, and use their power to remove half of all life in the universe. It was his own twisted plan to prevent universal overpopulation. While this was bad news for everyone, it was especially bad news for Vision.

Wanda strayed away from her Secret Avengers team in order to have a romantic relationship with Vision. As the two vacationed in Scotland, they were attacked by some of Thanos’ lieutenants. The Secret Avengers appeared and rescued them.

Logic stated that in order to stop Thanos from achieving his goals, they would have to destroy the Mind Stone. While Scarlet Witch could theoretically use her powers to blow it up, doing so would kill Vision. She refused to do so and Captain America backed her up. Instead, they went to Wakanda, where they could seek sanctuary from Thanos’ forces and get the technology and knowhow needed to remove the Mind Stone from Vision without killing him.

Read more

Comics

Avengers: Infinity War Easter Eggs and Marvel Reference Guide

By Jim Dandy and 2 others

Comics

Avengers: Infinity War Comics Reading Order

By Jim Dandy

While Thanos was busy gathering the other Stones through the cosmos, his forces invaded Wakanda. Scarlet Witch was forced to abandon Vision’s side in order to help fight the aliens. She and her allies were successful in taking out Thanos’ top henchmen, but by the time Thanos appeared in Wakanda, there was virtually no time left. Vision was still attached to the Mind Stone and the only options were to have Wanda destroy it along with Vision or allow Thanos to take it himself. Either way, Vision was doomed.

With a heavy heart, Scarlet Witch manipulated the Mind Stone into exploding, killing her true love. It was an empty gesture as Thanos wielded the Time Stone and was able to rewind the event. This time, Thanos tore the Mind Stone from Vision’s head and left the android’s corpse behind. Soon after, he snapped his fingers and caused half of the universe’s population to vanish into dust.

A distraught Wanda Maximoff was one of those victims.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

The surviving Avengers took the fight to Thanos, only to discover that he had already forced the Infinity Stones to self-destruct on their own power. Thor angrily killed Thanos and the universe had to spend five years grappling with the loss of countless lives.

Read more

Comics

Avengers: Endgame – Complete Marvel Easter Eggs and MCU Reference Guide

By Mike Cecchini and 2 others

Movies

Which Avengers: Endgame Deaths Are Permanent?

By Mike Cecchini

Earth’s heroes finally figured out a plan to bring everyone back by using time travel to gather the Infinity Stones. The good news was that their plan worked. The bad news was that the “time heist” got the attention of Thanos from ten years earlier, who was able to bring a massive army into the present and wage war.

Doctor Strange – one of those who returned from oblivion – appeared along with all of the missing heroes and hundreds of warriors from different parts of the universe. Although this incarnation of Thanos was not familiar with Scarlet Witch, the furious Wanda overwhelmed him with her powers and nearly tore him apart. Thanos had his warships fire at the battlefield in order to free himself at any cost. Scarlet Witch continued to annihilate anyone in her way while Thanos was ultimately defeated by Iron Man. Thanos and his forces were turned to dust after Iron Man activated the Infinity Stones.

Wanda appeared at Tony Stark’s funeral, where she and Hawkeye gave each other support for the deaths of Vision and Black Widow.

Through her story, Wanda had lost her parents, her brother, her boyfriend, and for several years, her life. She’s responsible for much death and destruction and has to live with that. Now she’s the star of WandaVision, where she and Vision get to live out their “happily ever after.”

Except…Vision is still dead. Or is he?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

In the comics, Wanda has always had a bad habit of falling into her powers as a way to deal with trauma. At least once she has irresponsibly altered history/reality with her scarred mind and it looks like that behavior is about to make its way to the MCU.

WandaVision premieres on Disney+ on Jan. 15.

The post Marvel’s WandaVision: Scarlet Witch’s Avengers and MCU History Recap appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[wayward-marvel-sommer1196]

Autumn Nights By the Lake

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Warnings: Break up, like one bad word (which is shocking for me), that’s it I think

Word Count: 1896

A/N: This was written for Kari’s (AKA @thing-you-do-with-that-thing ) Seasons of Love – Colors of Fall Challenge. I opted for the secret picture option which you will see down below. I had to write this since fall is coming to an end soon and because inspiration struck to get it written on time. This doesn’t mean I’m neglecting my other challenges many of which I know are overdue. I have like 10 of them outlined it’s just been hell for me the last month so please bear with. Kari, here you go love. I can’t believe I actually got it done on time.

Summary: After a break up that has left you heart broken, Dean decides to fix the other guy’s mistake by taking you out on a dinner picnic at your spot 

^My secret photo for the challenge 

Dean stood in front or your door unsure of what to do. You had retreated to your room yesterday morning after receiving a message and had only left your room to use the bathroom. He had tried to ask if you were okay, but you always said you were fine. He knew you weren’t fine as he heard the silent sobs coming from behind your door. He steeled himself and brought his fist up to your door and knocked.

“Go away,” you said through the door.

“Y/N come on, it’s me, Dean. Let me in,” Dean replied.

“I’m fine, Dean. Just leave me alone.”

“No, Y/N. Not until you tell me whats going on. I know you’re not fine. I know something is wrong. Please just let me in.”

You rolled on your side and groaned. You knew Dean wouldn’t give up and would kick down your door if he had to. You threw your comforter off, stood up, and pulled your flannel tight around your body as you approached the door.

Dean knocked again this time a little louder.

“Alright, I’m coming,” you said as you opened the door.

Dean stepped back and gave you a look over. You were in sweats and an oversized flannel. Your hair was a rat’s nest in a messy bun and your cheeks were covered in mascara streaks. Your eyes were red and had dark circles around them and you had your arms wrapped around yourself. You were a mess and Dean couldn’t stand to see like this.

Without hesitation he grabbed you and wrapped his arms around you in a hug. You snuggled into his chest as the tears began to fall for the 100th time in the last two days. He squeezed you tighter, closed your door, and led you to your bed where you both sat.

“Shhhh... it’s okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”

You sat there for a few minutes before your sobbing subsided. You looked up at Dean and he gave you a weary smile. He lifted his hand to wipe the remaining tears off your cheek.

“Will you please tell me what’s going on with you? This isn’t like you and it has me worried,” Dean said.

“Remember that guy Chuck I was telling you about,” you replied.

“Yeah, that guy you are seeing,” Dean said with a scoff.

“Well, yesterday morning, after I had to cancel on him the night before for the third time because of a hunt, he texted me say that things were more complicated now and that his job was getting busier. He said we just didn’t have the time to spend together and just called a quits. He dumped me, and it was my fault.”

“Hey, Y/N, look at me. This wasn’t your fault. You are a busy woman and if he couldn’t work around that shame on him. Just look at it this way, you dodged a bullet. If he really cared about you he would have fought for the time to spend with you. Now you don’t have to waste your time on him. He wasn’t good enough for you anyway,” Dean said sweetly.

“But I was the one who kept canceling. We were just fine the night before and then I had to cancel and poof its like it flipped a switch. Maybe if I hadn’t canceled…”

“Stop it. You are better than that. You know what let me show you how you should be treated. Why don’t you go take a nice, relaxing, hot shower and get dressed? Meet me by the bunker door in an hour and a half. Deal?”

You nodded your head and he smiled and gave you a kiss on the crown of your head. You gathered yourself, grabbed your towels, and headed towards the shower.

Dean quickly got up from your bed and ran to the kitchen. He grabbed the picnic basket and some pre-made sandwiches he had bought from the store earlier and threw them in there. He grabbed some chips, cookies, pickles, basically everything he knew you loved, and threw them in the basket. He ran to the linen closet and grabbed his soft checkered blanket you loved and put that on top of the basket.

Dean hated seeing you so upset. You were his best friend and y’all shared everything with each other. New conquests, one-night stands, health issues everything. Although as of late, hearing about you hooking up with new guys was starting to anger him. He was afraid this would happen, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was falling in love with you.

Once he had all his supplies together he decided he should go freshen up as well, so he quickly jumped into the shower.

Meanwhile, you had just gotten out of the shower and felt a little better than you did before. You went through your closet and picked out your favorite skinny jeans, your favorite flannel, and your favorite boots. Once you were dressed you tackled your hair and decided on a simple high ponytail. Then you decided you would put on some make up. Not much, but something subtle. Once you were satisfied with your look, you went to the war room.

Dean quickly dried off and got dressed. He grabbed his little picnic kit and headed to the war room himself.

When he met you there he had to stop for a second. You looked gorgeous and he couldn’t help but smile. You were more beautiful in these simple outfits when you were you than when you were all dressed up in something that clearly wasn’t you.

“Where are we going?” you asked Dean snapping him out of his haze.

“It’s a surprise, beautiful. Just wait and see,” he replied.

You both jumped in the Impala and drove for about 15 minutes until you came to your place. Yours and Dean’s place ever since you settled in Lebanon. It was a beautiful lake surrounded by trees that you and Dean would go to when either one of you were having a rough time.

He got out of the Impala running over to your side and opening the door to let you out. He then opened the back door and grabbed all his supplies.

You both walked over to a grassy area and Dean pulled out the blanket and laid it out over the ground. He set the picnic basket in the middle and gestured for you to sit down.

By the sun was setting and it made the scene before you even more beautiful. You removed your boots, as did Dean, and sat down on the comfortable blanket.

Dean pulled out a mason jar and a round ball looking thing. He put the ball in the jar and through a match in it. It created a small flame in the jar and Dean set it in the grass next to you making the scene even more beautiful.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” he inquired.

“Honestly, not really. I’d rather talk about anything else. Like what food you packed and how amazing this is.”

“Well, it’s not some five-star meal, but I did try to include a lot of your favorites,” he said as he started pulling out the food items.

First thing you grabbed at was the pickles and cottage cheese. It was your favorite non-junk food snack. Dean always laughed at the weird combination, but you just shrugged it off.

Next were the sandwiches which were honey ham and Colby jack cheese with mayo. You laughed because you knew Dean hated Colby jack chees so when he pulled out his spare turkey and American it had you cracking up.

Y’all laughed and talked about the stupidest things and just enjoyed your dinner picnic together. You made it through most of his treats even the strawberries for dessert. You were so grateful to have Dean as your best friend. He knew all your favorites to bring to make you happy right down to the blanket you now laid on.

You were laying with your head on Dean’s chest when things got quiet. You knew where this was headed.

“I know you want to ask, so go ahead,” you said.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he replied.

” It’s fine. I have to talk about at some point and its supposed to be cathartic right.”

“Did you love him?”

“Wow, okay starting with the big guns. I wouldn’t say I loved him, we weren’t exactly there yet, but strongly like yes I did.”

“Do you still feel that way?”

“Well, I mean those feelings don’t exactly just go away over night, but I guess they are lessening.”

“Would you be able to feel that way about someone else if presented the opportunity?”

You sat up from Dean’s chest and looked at him as he sat up as well. “Are you trying to set me up with another one of your hunter friends, Dean? Because that won’t work this time. And besides Clyde was a dick.”

“No, that’s not…. that’s not…. I…. fuck. This was a lot easier in my head,” Dean mumbled to himself thinking you couldn’t hear.

“What was a lot easier?”

Dean took a deep breath. “Telling you I love you. Like love love you, more than a best friend. I now you just got out of your relationship with Chuck and this is horribly timing, but I have felt this way for a while. I hate the way Clyde treated you and that’s why we don’t speak anymore, and I hate how upset you are over Chuck. When I see you like this I just want to make it better and I can’t help but think- “

“Dean would you stop rambling, so I can respond?”

He nodded and shut his mouth. “Thank you. Yes, this is horrible timing, but I can’t deny that I get this feeling when I’m with you. It feels like more than just friendship. I mean you know everything about me right down to my favorite blanket that happens to be yours. You always know how to cheer me up and I can just be 100% me when I’m around you. There’s no expectations and there are no fears of disappointing you. I think I might love you too, but I’m scared because every relationship I have attempted has ended with someone getting hurt and I can’t lose my best friend over something like that.”

Dean looked at you with sincerity in his eyes. “You will never lose me as your best friend no matter what,” he said as he leaned closer to you and gently grabbing your chin to bring your face to his. He leaned his head down and placed his lips on yours. Your eyes fluttered shut as you melted into Dean and the kiss. His tongue passed your lips seeking entrance and you gladly let him in. You wrapped your arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

After a few seconds you both withdrew. “I’m willing to give this a shot if you are,” he said looking into your beautiful y/e/c eyes.

“Well, Dean Winchester, I guess if you’re willing than so am I,” you said with a giggle as you pressed your lips to Deans and you both fell back on to the blanket.

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