#so at some point maybe i will explain. but for now heres estelle | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sunnyshiftyy · 2 years

Text

Date - TE one shot

Book: The Elementalists (Book 1) (takes place before the pairing's together)

Pairing: Beckett Harrington x f!MC Estelle Russel (not together yet but ~tension~)

Words: 3479

Rating: General

Summary: Shreya convinces Estelle to go on a date with a random guy, and oopsies she spills the tea to Zeph and Beckett when Estelle walks in on their study session in their common room.

TW: Probably cursing

A/N: Since this is my first piece of fanfic writing, i should clarify some points. 1) I've decided to write this in third person and present tense for now. 2) I've built this world in my head in excruciating detail, so a lot of the side characters are my characters. In this piece in particular, Nathan. If you want to know more about my OC’s in my TE universe, click here. The main characters are not mine and belong to Pixelberry. 3) English is not my first language, excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes! 4) My masterlist can be found here.

A/N 2: December 26th, 2022: Edit spelling and grammar.

Tags: @theclassycandy

Let me know if you want to be tagged in future fanfics or TE content!

And on that note, i hope you enjoy!

Estelle hears voices getting louder as she approaches her common room door. Well, not voices. A voice.

"Three, Zeph, it says three!" The sassy tone tells her this probably isn't the first time she explained it in the past hour. As she steps through the door, Shreya immediately snaps her head up from Zeph’s worksheet and starts grinning widely.

"Oh my Gods, she's back! How did it go on your date?!"

Estelle’s face instantly scrunches up. The others don't know about this. Or at least, they didn't. She can't blame Shreya for blurting it out like this, since she never explicitly told her it was a secret. But, you know, you would expect your best friend to read your mind, so.. With Shreya’s words the guys’ interests are piqued, and Zeph and Beckett look up from their books. Zeph quickly chimes in,

"Wait, you went on a date?" Fantastic. Why doesn't he scream it even louder? In the hallway maybe?

"Ugh, Shrey..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry.. Now spill!" She sits up excitedly, with that sparkle in her eyes she only has when she hears new gossip or sees pictures of cute cats. Either or. Estelle's gears turn as she tries to think of any possible way out of this, but does it even matter now? She defeatedly walks up to the sofa and swings one leg on the backrest.

"It went good.. I guess," she sighs while untying her shoelaces.

"How good? Like, you like him good or..." Shrey’s hands make the 'Tell me more of the story, I need my drama fix'-motion. You would almost think she only set her best friend up on this date to talk about it after. It was probably at least half of the reason.

"He's cool. And nice. Too nice actually. He didn't let me pay my part of the bill."

"Who asked who?" Zeph asks. Estelle presses her lips together and looks at him pleadingly. Oh my Gods, why is this so important? Shreya replies,

"He asked her."

"Well then he should pay." Her brown haired head bops back and forth between the two of them.

"That's what I'm saying!"

"Whatever, it was okay. And he's also not bad looking so... Yeah," Estelle interjects, hoping to end this convo here. And for a small moment, no one says a thing. Okay, so that wor-

"Did you kiss him?" Shreya asks excitedly.

"What? No!" She takes a step forward, but then immediately composes herself again. For a second, there's a hint of a confused look on her face, that the others don't notice. She's taken aback by her own voice, as it came out loud and defensive.

"Aww, boo! You should've. He's hot."

"It's the first date!" Estelle exclaims. Shrey dramatically rolls her eyes.

"Oh, screw the games and just go with the flow!"

"I don't play 'games', Shrey, I just didn't want to kiss him yet, jeez." Shreya sighs and calms down slightly.

"I'm sorry, I went a bit overboard with that.. I just want you to be happy and have fun."

"I know. And I appreciate that you care about me," she tries not to sigh. Estelle takes a quick look at the coffee table. It's full of books, stationary and even Shreya's cauldron. The books are mostly Beckett's, since Shrey and Zeph each only have one book in front of them. She peers over Zeph's shoulder. The first sentence she can read out of his heavily used copy tells her exactly what they're doing.

"Studying potions i see?"

"Have been for the past two hours, but you're welcome to join!" he says, grinning. Shreya smiles in agreement, but Beckett has long put his head back down and is studying again. An awkward silence passes through the room, but only Estelle seems to notice it.

"O..kay, I’m just going to change and get out my stuff then," she says, as she heads towards her bedroom. She opens up her closet door and stares right back at herself in the mirror she put in a few weeks ago. Her face is flushed, but her hair still looks as pristine as a few hours ago, when Shreya put it in bubble braids, with little gold rubber bands. Estelle huffs. This is so stupid. Why did she even go on this date in the first place? She takes a deep breath, calming herself down, and grabs some leggings and a sweater out of the drawers. As she changes, she can't help but feel something gnawing at her. And she knows what it is, but she pretends she doesn't. It's easier like that.

Estelle walks back into the room and sits down next to Beckett. She studies his face for a second, but quickly looks back down to open up her book. She doesn't know what she would have expected. A look? Any sort of movement? Making space for her stuff? But he just sits there, still, concentrated.

"I don't get this sentence, does anyone know what the hell it means?" Estelle asks, trying to ease the tension. She makes a point to look at everyone. Shreya and Zeph lift up their head and Estelle spins her book around so they can read. Shreya's eyes narrow to read the tiny font.

"No idea.." she says. Zeph searches frantically through the pages of his book.

"I think it means the grass needs to be dried for 4 days.. upside down?" His uncertain tone is directed towards Beckett, who's still conveniently really focused on this -in Estelles opinion- very unclear and useless chapter. Only when they all look at him, he looks up at Zeph.

"Yeah," he says, slightly annoyed. And as quickly as he responded his head is back down again.

"Well, that mystery is solved!" Zeph smiles enthusiastically, still oblivious to the weird vibe in the room. Maybe Estelle's the only one thinking this is awkward? She responds,

"Sure.. thanks. Oh and also, um, does this mean red or orange cause it never sa-" Suddenly, there's a harsh sigh coming from the left of the coffee table.

"I will need to take my leave, thanks for having me, Shreya. Zeph," Beckett states, as he looks around the table, his gaze pausing as it falls on Estelle’s face. He hesitates.

"...Estelle.." He swiftly breaks eye contact, packs up his many books and speed walks out of the door. The three of them are still staring at the dark oak-wooden door in an unsettling moment of silence as it falls closed.

"That was weird," Shreya comments, strangely unbothered. Zeph quirks an eyebrow at her.

"Even for Beckett," she clarifies. Estelle feels the little gnawing thing in the pit of her stomach getting bigger.

"I think it’s my fault? I don't know, he just seemed so.. mad? At me?" she gets out. Shreya shakes her head.

"You didn't do anything, hun, you weren't even here for most of the time." Estelle nods and looks back at her work. This study session probably isn't going to be as productive as she originally thought.

"Maybe he's mad cause his favourite study buddy wasn't here?" Zeph laughs.

"Hey, I showed up!" Estelle defends herself. Not that it really matters. It's not like they invited her or even let her know this was happening. Why is she even stressing over this? Shreya waves his comment away.

"Nonsense, maybe he just had a bad day."

"Maybe..." Estelle mumbles. She tries to refocus on the letters in front of her, pushing the excessive thoughts out of her head. She'll talk to him later.

Thirty minutes later, Zeph thuds his book closed. "I'm done with this for today," he sighs, crossing his arms in front of him and defeatedly laying down his head. Potions is a notoriously hard part of Natural Studies, and especially at Penderghast. Zeph doesn't get how some people just get this stuff by reading it once, and even get A's on the practical. He has been doing better as of lately, mainly because of the help of Shreya and Beckett, who somehow are really good at potions. He's not at all surprised Beckett's good at it, but he should've known that running an actual business based on potion making makes one quite an expert. Shreya lays a hand on his arm.

"It's okay, you worked pretty damn hard today," she comforts him. An idea strikes her. She tries to not let her face betray her as a mischievous grin crosses her expression for just a second.

"Aahh!" Zeph shouts, and he bounds up like lightning. Estelle startles with the sudden yelp. "Shrey! Don't do that!" He rubs over his left wrist with a pout on his face. Shreya laughs.

"It looked like you could use some energy..," she says smugly, "And I delivered." She holds her hand up and lets little bright lines spark between her fingers. She looks at Estelle, wiggling her eyebrows.

"As long as you don't do that to me," Estelle laughs, packing up her stuff.

"Can't promise that. If you ever fall asleep in my lesson.."

"If you show up as TA in my next metal spell class I am leaving the room!" Zeph exclaims.

"Oh, shut it, you big baby, it wasn't that bad. And I'm never going to be a TA, no thank you. I'm drowning in responsibilities already," she almost sighs, thinking back to all the errands she still needs to run. "That reminds me, I have to go to Penn Square to get some ingredients for Serene and Sublime. Anyone want to come with me?" She says, while opening her compact mirror.

"I'll go! I deserve food after this torture called studying," Zeph says, suddenly very energetic again. He stands up just as Shreya’s eyes widen.

"Oh my Gods, I'm going to be late!" Shreya quickly snaps the ornately detailed sides together and pockets it, hurriedly sliding together all her papers. Why do stores have to close this early?

"Don't worry about it, I'll pack up your stuff. Just go get you ingredients!" Estelle offers. Shreya nods thankfully. "Thanks, you're the best! Let's go, Zeph!"

"Coming! Bye Estelle!" he yells as they step through the portal.

"Bye," she murmurs. She stacks the books and sheets neatly together, and stands up, walking her own things back to her room. Should she go talk to Beckett? He was acting very weird. Screw it, who is she kidding? This is also about her feelings towards this situation. She wants to talk to him, to explain it to him. She would've never gone on that date if Shreya didn't insist on it. Face downcast, she organizes her books in the spacious wooden drawers of her desk and plops down on the chair. A few seconds of silence go by. Even thoughts stay away. The soft ticking of the dark blue rimmed alarm clock makes her feel at peace. Then, she takes a deep breath and stands up. Procrastinating is only going to make it worse. She puts on her sneakers and walks out of her dorm, towards Beckett’s.

Not even 5 seconds after she knocked, the door to Beckett’s common room swings open. A blond, slender guy in the door frame looks at her in surprise.

"Yes?" His eyes look her over before the recognition flicks across them. "Oh, hey!" He holds the door handle as he leans on the other hand.

"Hi! You're Nathan, right?" Estelle plasters a smile on her face. She's never seen him before, but Beckett mentioned him once. A friend from high school. With the emphasis on 'a'. They were never besties, that's for sure. Beckett also doesn’t seem one for friends. At least, if the first few months of the academic year were any indication.

"Yeah, that's me. And you're the.. girl that Beckett's always hanging around with. To which school did you go again?"

"Wait, high school? And I never really told anyo-" she says, looking at him questioningly.

"Yes," he interrupts her. 'Yikes,' Estelle thinks, as she tries to hide the dislike for him she already feels crawling up her torso. Is he always like this, or..?

"Oh, West Eden high school..," she answers dutifully, taken aback and trying not to flush by his directness. Why would he possibly want to know this? He looks up and mentally lists all the names that come to mind, but quickly gives up and looks back at her.

"Weird, I’ve never heard of it…"

"How could you know all the names of all the high schools in America?" the girl laughs, trying to not come off as nervous. Suddenly, his face falls into a disapproving grimace.

"...Oh, it's.. it's a public school. Should've guessed," he almost scoffs. An awkward few silent seconds go by. Estelle purses her lips and stares uncomfortably at a spot on the door frame, and a few times back at him. She hoped something like this wouldn’t happen, but deep down, she knew it would eventually have to.

"Okay, ..Well, I just had something to say to Beckett, so..," she breaks the silence. Nathan instantly turns around, slowly sauntering back to his dorm room door.

"Close the door behind you, will you?" he says, dismissively. And without a backward glance, his frame disappears behind the door. Stunned to silence, Estelle glances to the other side of the common room. She’ll just go knock, right? Hesitantly, she steps through the door and closes it. As she notices the soft thudding of Unattuned music she turns her head back in the direction of Nathans’ door. As much as she hates to admit it, he has good taste. It seems so long ago that she was immersed in the Unattuned word. Oh Gods, she’s like one of them now. Her world, she corrects herself. The world she grew up in. Does she miss it? She smiles. Not really. It’s nostalgic. It was fun. Still is. But ever since she opened her eyes, soaking wet on the banks of the lake, sun blinding her, the buzzing sound of the people and the leaves of the trees moving in the wind, she felt a sense of home. Something she’s always been searching for. Clearing her head of thoughts, she knocks on Beckett’s door.

"Come in." she muffledly hears. Here she goes.. She opens the door. Beckett sits on his bed, with his back to her, leaning against the headboard. The book in his hands looks thick and old, and is definitely not part of the normal curriculum. Since he has the dorm other side, everything’s mirrored to her room, just like Shreya’s. The only difference is the sheer amount of books everywhere, his windowsill garden, how neat his room is and the fact that he sleeps to the wrong side with his head. Well, not wrong, just not how she would do it.

"Hey. It’s me," she greets him happily.

"It is," he sighs, not wanting to let his eyes leave his book. ‘Of course she needed to come here,’ he thinks. There’s a reason why he left the girls’ common room. So he wouldn’t have to deal with… this whole ordeal. Estelle closes the door. This is going to be tough. How does she start this conversation without it being awkward?

"Uhm… I just wanted to ask if you’re okay."

"I’m good," he answers, still concentrating hard on his work. Or, trying to not concentrate on the fact Estelle’s standing within three feet from him. Or that she’s clearly just taking pity in him. Why does she even bother?

"Oh..," she mumbles, looking at the tips of her worn down shoes. The sound of Beckett turning a page interrupts the silence.

"Was that everything?" he sighs, sounding almost annoyed, still not looking at her, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"Well.. I don't exactly believe you," she gets out, after she mustered up the courage. Estelle studies the right side of his face, trying to get a read. The only result she gets is a sigh. Growing tired of his lack of words, she initiates conversation once again.

"You were so short with me and the rest at my dorm and I just had the feeling you were kind of... Feeling off." Beckett shakes his head in frustration. When will she give up?

"Well, that feeling was wrong. I'm fine, I just have a lot of homework to get through, which would be a lot easier if you weren't here," he states, trying to not let his irritation be heard in his voice. Why does he even like this girl? Why did he have to like this exact one? Why did he have to like anyone? Estelle is quiet for a second. She knows he isn’t being rude to her just because he can. It’s because he has to. The moment that thought crosses her mind, she wishes she never went on that date. Again, for that matter. Did she even want it a little bit?

"So Zeph was wrong," she casually comments. "He said you 'missed your favourite study buddy'."

"I can study fine on my own. Which is good, since I'll have to get used to it." The last sentence was said with a particular tone in his voice, which Estelle can’t quite decipher. But she knows it has something to do with what happened today. He stands up, and without sparing a glance, puts his book back in it’s place on the nicely organized shelf above his desk.

"What are you talking about?" she asks, trying to get some clarification. Beckett sits down on his fancy spinning office chair, this time facing her.

"Nothing," he denies, wishing he never said anything. The thought of going back to how it was, studying alone for most of the time, is in some way both alluring and saddening. He likes her company. He likes her. Gods, why does this have to be so complicated?

When Estelle doesn’t respond, he looks at her face, making eye contact for the first time she’s been here. The pulling sensation he feels in his chest causes him to look away again. He’ll just have to come to terms with the fact she’s probably not interested.

"I'm happy your date went well," he sighs, trying to not sound annoyed. Estelle eyes roll at the mention of that dumb date.

"Oh please... 'well' is a little optimistic."

"Oh." Beckett attempts to not sound relieved.

"I don't know, I just.. don't like him that way. I'm not gonna go on a second date. Also no firsts anymore. At least for a while. It's so stupid." Estelle babbles. She starts fiddling with one of her braids in annoyance. Beckett nods. "I wasn't even gonna go at first, but Shrey said ‘live a little’, so I did. And I found out life sucks."

"It's not because you don't date that life sucks," Beckett comments, sounding very logical.

"I know, it's a.. metaphore..," she defeatedly smiles. "Whatever, I just think dates are so mechanical. You're basically forcing yourself to like someone. I don't want to do that. I don't decide who I like. I like who I like, that's it," she blurts out. It comes out so fast she only realizes what she said a few seconds later. She feels her cheeks getting warmer. Why did she just say this?

"Yeah..," he halfsmiles, thinking back to the feelings that overtake him every time he thinks about her. The feelings he never asked for.

"I'm sorry, that was way too much, I'll be going now. Please don't tell any of this to Shreya, she's gonna flip…" Estelle rattles off her sentence, pleadingly looking in his grey-brown eyes. She should’ve just bitten her tongue. Why is she like this?

"I won't," he answers. Beckett isn’t one to gossip, and especially not to Shreya. Estelle jokingly calls her Shreylock, because the way she finds out gossip could get her a job as a detective. Then Shreya jokes back that that’s why her hair’s so big. ‘Because it’s full of secrets’. Beckett never understood that joke. But even he knows telling Shreya is a guaranteed way to make your secrets not so secret anymore. And why would he? What even would be interesting to Shreya about this conversation?

Estelle breathes a sigh of relief and reaches for the door handle behind her back. She smiles at Beckett as she says,

"Thank the Gods for you." A little glint in her eye betrays the double meaning behind her words. A silent two seconds pass, when she laughingly shakes her head and opens the door. "Okay, thanks, bye!" she yells, as she ducks away through the door opening.

"Bye," he can’t help but smile at her quick disappearing act. The door of the common room thuds closed. After a few seconds in silence he shakes his head. Will he ever understand what goes on inside her head?

#the elementalists #te mc #theelementalists #playchoices #playchoices the elementalists #Beckett x Mc #beckett harrington #beckett harrington x mc #shreya mistry #zeph hernandez #te fanfics #the elementalists fanfic

16 notes · View notes

unknownwriting · 3 years

Note

Hiiiii, can I request of Ace survived b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ f̶u̶c̶k̶ A̶k̶a̶i̶n̶u̶ and his s/o was pregnant with his child then after 2 years of time skip (they don't know Ace survived) can please Luffy & Sabo reunited with Ace, to his s/o and child and having family moments 🥺🥺🥺 👉👈

ｓｕｍｍａｒｙ- requested ^^

ｗｏｒｄｃｏｕｎｔ - 2.9 k, i honeslty could write a whole book

ｓｏｎｇｉｎｓｐｏ- i love you - billie eilish

ｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｓ - Portgas D. Ace, Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy

ｗａｒｎｉｎｇｓ - None :)

ａ/ｎ- my sense of time is fucked. I could’ve swore it was Tuesday...but i still had a lot of fun writing this. I cried half the time but Ace 🥺🥺 so I hope you enjoy

(unedited)

“The weeds!! The weeds Luffy!! Not the flowers!” (Y/n) shouted as she leaned out the kitchen window. Even then Luffy still began to yank out the barely budding roses. For as much as he wanted to do the garden, Luffy sucks at it. (Y/n) eyes trailed over to the small pile of weeds and roses, where Luffy continued to toss the roses in. Let out a heavy sigh, (Y/n) called out to him again, “Luffy! Not the roses!”

“Huh?” Luffy hummed as he looked up and around before finally making eye contact with (Y/n). She scoffed at her absent-minded brother-in-law as she stated again,

“Your weeding the weeds, not the roses.”

“Eh? But they all look the same?” Luffy hummed as he looked back to the pile of weeds and roses then back to the rosebuds in his hands.

“See the little green ball on top of that the stem, those are roses that have yet to bloom. Those need to stay in the ground so they can bloom, what your getting is the other green plants.” (Y/n) explained as she pointed down the weeds that surrounded the roses. Luffy’s eyes followed as he began to finally see the difference between the 2. And with a chuckle, Luffy had gone back to work pulling out only the weeds this time. (Y/n) scoffed once again as she leaned back from the window and turned around on her heel and looked back at her blonde brother-in-law. She was so grateful for Sabo and Luffy. They sat through everything with her and supported her throughout it too. Keeping her safe and healthy when she found out about Ace’s death, being there to help her through her pregnancy even sitting with her through her labor, and even now they still come and visit her regularly, checking up on her and her family. The trio of brothers are the best people she has ever met. Brightening her smile, she shook her head and began to walk past them.

“Ya’know for as much as Luffy wanted to do the garden, you’d think he’s at least how to do it.” (Y/n) sighed as she made her way next to Sabo at the table. She had taken a spot right next to him and picked up the pair of pants she was stitching back together. Sabo continued to shuffle through some paper as he glanced over at (Y/n) and chuckled.

“Well, you pretty much banned him from doing anything else. The garden is the only thing Luffy can do now.” Sabo pointed out, taking the pile of papers in his hands and setting them to the side, then began working on the other pile.

“...It’s his fault for being so reckless. If he’s your brother you should’ve raised him better.” (Y/n) huffed, cutting the string off the pants and tying them up. (Y/n) was currently fixing a pair of Estelle’s pants that were destroyed when he and Luffy were playing. It wouldn’t be a big of a problem if it wasn’t one of Estelle’s good pants. It was one of the best days Estelle had though, so it was easy for (Y/n) not to get too mad.

“Ace was the one who was the closest to him. I lost my memories although that time.” Sabo answered, as his gaze shifted down to the paperwork

“Looks like Imma have to call Ace out on that then-”

“Mama!!” A loud voice had shouted as the door to the small house swung open and a small (h/c) colored child had rushed in. (Y/n) was quick to drop the pants and open her arms to greet home her child.

“Estelle! Welcome back, baby.” (Y/n) smiled brightly as she gave a huge hug to her child. Estelle giggled and happily hugged back. Estelle wasn’t gone for long, only about 3 hours but it was easy to tell that he missed his mom. He definitely takes after his dad, being a very family-orientated person. Standing up from her chair, she pulled away from Estelle yet keeping him on her hip, she smiled, “We’re you nice to Doctor Cherry?”

“Yeah, she even gave me a candy.” Estelle proudly shouted as he stuck out his tongue and showed (Y/n) its blue color.

“Wow, You must’ve been such a good boy. I bet Dcotor Cherry was happy to spend the day with you.” (Y/n) smiled, as she set Estelle back on the floor and looked up at the red-haired lady that stood at the door.

“Of course, Estelle’s one of my best patients.” Cherry smiled as she looked down at Estelle. Estelle giggled loudly as grinned up from his mother's side. Cherry was another person who stood by (Y/n) when she was going through such a hard time, helping (Y/n) nurse back to health and helped a lot with the pregnancy. She was another that was close like family. As Cherry took a step into the house, she had opened her mouth to speak again but Sabo and Luffy were quick to interrupt.

“You’re not even gonna say hi to your uncles. Estelle, you make us so sad.” Sabo teased as he and Luffy walked up to join (Y/n). Quickly turning around to the sound of the voices, Estelle smiled brightly again.

“Uncle Sabo, Uncle Luffy!!” Estelle shouted as he jumped into their arms. The boys were quick to hug back and spoil Estelle in all types of affections. (Y/n) smiled at the view, that's one of the many things that she wants Estelle to learn that no matter what family is always important. With Estelle already being a very family-oriented person, it seemed that (Y/n) didn’t have much of a lesson to teach. Giggling to herself, (Y/n) turned back to Cherry to see what she was gonna say early. Once Cherry had seen that (Y/n) was back on her, she began again,

“Someone was asking around for you early today. I’m not sure who, but he seemed almost desperate.” Cherry explained as she watched (Y/n) face twist into shock and just for a moment, there was a huge flash of hope in her eyes that seemed to cloud her judgment for a moment. It was for a brief moment, but even with that flash of hope Cherry could tell that (Y/n) wants, more like needs, to see who it is.

“Asking for (Y/- Ow!!” Sabo hisses as he quickly pulled his arm towards him and began to rub the red spot that Estelle pinched, “He’s still in his pinching phase? I thought we were over that.”

“With Estelle? Of course not, he still goes around pinching everything and everyone. I’ve been trying to get him to stop but he doesn’t want to. I’m surprised that you thought he grew ou-”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow!! My nipples!!” Luffy cried as he pushed Estelle away from him. With the pain still written over his face, Luffy cupped his nipples and hissed. (Y/n) laughed as she watched Luffy sit there trying to soothe the pain running through him.

“Yeah no, he’s still pinching.” (Y/n) laughed before her, and Sabo, both turned back to Cherry and continued to question her.

“Who’s looking for (Y/n)?” Sabo questioned. It was easy to tell that his overprotectiveness was kicking him. The only response that Sabo got from Cherry was a shrug and then slowly walking out of the house as if to lead the others. Sabo then turned to look at (Y/n) asking the same question to which (Y/n) only ended up shrugging too.

“I’m not sure. Sail with Ace and Whitebeard-san I’ve met a lot of people, so I don’t know.”

Sabo hummed in response as he began to follow Cherry outside. Something inside of (Y/n) made her so anxious, but something has her heart racing, palms sweating, and her legs aching. Something about this guest just had her body aching, as if she couldn’t sit still. In the back of her mind, a small voice continued to echo, but there was no way it could be true. He’s dead, he passed away 2 years ago. Last time (Y/n) you can’t raise the dead either. So with one last shaky sigh, (Y/n) began to make her way out the door and towards Sabo and Cherry. Trying to push back her feelings, it’s like this every time, always getting her hopes up only for them to come crashing down. She tries to keep her cool.

“So, does it look like anyone we know?” (Y/n) questioned, as she took a spot next to Sabo’s side. Sabo let out a small grunt as he squinted his eyes to see the figure. (Y/n) had followed suit. Just at the bottom of the hill stood a man with broad shoulders. He looked around confused as he stumbled around the bottom of the hill. A soft laugh left her lips as she watched him, he looks so out of place.

“I-I-I….I don’t wanna jump to conclusions here, (Y/n), but doesn’t that look like-“

It didn’t take long for the man to make eye contact with the 2 at the top of the hill. He starred for a moment as if he was taking in the view before he smiles brightly and slowly began to make his way up. As if the world has stopped around (Y/n). That smile. That was the same smile that started this whole adventure, that made her happy even on the saddest days, that was the same smile that she fell in love with. It was hard to believe. As if time itself has stopped, (Y/n) stood there speechless. She couldn’t even muster a sound or a reaction. Something like this never happens, maybe one in a million but last time she checked the skeleton on Luffy’s crew was the one. This was impossible, it had to be a prank or something. This couldn’t be happening and just as (Y/n) had open her mouth and rat at the person standing below them a laugh echoed through the field. It was real, this is all real. That laugh was one she couldn’t and wouldn’t forget. That laugh belongs to her later lover,

“Ace.” Breathlessly and barely above a whisper was all she could do. She was scared if she said it any loud she would have started to cry right there. (Y/n) began to inch forwards slowly trying to wake her body up and tell it to move. God, if only she could wake it up faster. Soon enough those baby steps turn into bigger ones then fast ones, then finally she was running. She was running as fast as her feet could carry her down the hill. Tears swiftly fell from her eyes as she made her way to her lover. Maybe dreams do come true. After all these days, weeks, months of wishing, her wish came true. And even now it’s better than what she wished for.

Not being able to stop herself and not even trying to, (Y/n) jumped straight into Ace’s warm embrace for the first time in years. Automatically (Y/n) inhales deeply taking in Ace’s smell of burnt ambers and sunk deeper into his strong and warm embrace. By now she couldn’t help the waterworks from coming. Neither could Ace, the 2 of them held each other close, taking in each other scent and loving embrace. As if this moment latest forever, the 2 of them didn’t let go for as long as they could. However, (Y/n) can only cry so much into his shoulder before taking a deep breath. So barely pulling away and with a red-eyed and snot-filled face, (Y/n) smiled as she tried to speak up the loudest and clearest she could.

“Y-y-y-your… you’re alive!! Ace is alive. Your alive!!” (Y/n) cried as she tried to call out to the others however your attention was all on Ace. She was scared that if she looked away he would disappear, so she kept her around him and locked her eyes with his.

“I’m alive. I’m really alive.” Ace sobbed back keeping his eyes locked with (Y/n)’s. She didn’t even care if his voice has reached them, she doesn’t want it to reach them. All she wants is to be with Ace now. Smiling through her tears, she pulled her hand up to Ace’s cheeks and began to rub her thumb against his freckled cheeks feeling his rough skin against hers. Ace, still through his tears, smiled and hummed as he leads into her hand, enjoying the softness and warmth her hands had provided. This moment should last forever, they both wished. Just as (Y/n) has dropped her hand to his chest and was able to lean in to kiss his lips that she wanted to feel and taste once again, 2 pairs of very loud footsteps came behind them. Before the 2 of them could even react, 2 bodies came crashing down onto them.

“Ace!!” The 2 of them sobbed as all of the 4 bodies fell over in the grass. Both Luffy’s and Sabo’s sobs could be heard for miles, like (Y/n) and Ace, they couldn’t hold back their tears. So all 4 of them laid on the ground and just sobbed, they couldn’t do anything else. Each one of them held onto the other with such an iron grip, it was hard to breathe but nobody wanted to move. The only time they moved was when Ace pulled back and started at Sabo for a while trying to figure out who it was.

“S-s...sabo. Y-you’re alive too?!!” Ace gasped as he could feel more tears falling. Sabo looked up and smile at him, nodding. And Just with that simple nod both of the boys began to cry even harder and the hug got tighter. This whole hug was a mess, they were all crying loudly. People in the village soon came to even check on them but none of them cared. After 2 years each of their dreams had come true and nothing else mattered.

“Welcome home, Ace.”

“Luffy don’t-!” (Y/n) tried to protest all she wanted, but as soon as she had put down the food, Luffy was all over it. And taking after his uncle, Estelle was right there digging into the food with Luffy. Let a heavy sigh past her lips as she walked back into the kitchen to get the rest of the food.

“Oi! Luffy save some for us!!” Ace’s voice rang through the house as a loud thump followed along with Luffy groaning in pain. Like music to her ears, hearing Ace’s voice once again causes (Y/n) so much happiness and relief. Having her black-haired lover back is the best feeling in the world.

After all 4 of them had somehow managed to stop the tears, they didn’t spend a moment from each other. Where ever one went the others always followed because they were all scared that if they left then Ace would disappear. Although, out of the whole reunion, being able to reunite Estelle with his father was the best part. Luckily he’s only 2 so things weren’t awkward and he was able to quickly adapt to Ace. Being again to finally introduce Ace to his son and Estelle to his father was by far the best part. It only made (Y/n) cry even more.

“Hey, Daddy you can’t hit Uncle Luffy. Mama will get mad at you.” Estelle laughed as he waved around the bone. Even the word was foreign to Ace, it still took him a while to get used to even being a dad. But after staring at Estelle for a moment, just taking in the fact that Estelle’s actually his kid. Ace chuckled and smiled.

“Oh, will she now? Last time I check, I think I can handle your mother when she’s angry.” Ace chuckled as he leads back in his chair and crossed his arms. She could cry just looking at him. After all these years he hasn’t changed a bit. Messy black hair, freckled skin, a huge smile that could light up the room. The only thing that had changed, was the giant burn mark on his stomach. It was huge and very upsetting but it’s not like Ace didn’t have scars from before. With one last shaky breath, (Y/n) pushed back any sadness she had and quickly replaced it with joy. There is no way (Y/n) was gonna be sad.

“You better think again fire boy.” (Y/n) had stated as she hit the back of his head while she took a seat next to him at the table. Ace hissed at the pain while Estelle laughed in response. Sabo and Luffy were quick to follow in suit. All their laughter sounded like music to her ear. There really wasn’t anything else she could wish for. Ace was back, she’s having dinner with her family, and she was happy. It was all too perfect, it was almost like this whole thing was a dream. God, (Y/n) was terrified that it was all just a dream. The thought of having them go back to a time where Ace was gone and that-

“Ouch.” (Y/n) hissed as she grabbed her arm. Looking over next to her, she saw Estelle gigging up at her. Estelle and his pinches are gonna be the death of her.

“You so deserve that for early. Good job, Estelle, you’re learning quickly.” Ace laughed out loud as he looked over at his son. Estelle smiled bright and laughed along with him. (Y/n) couldn’t even be mad, but she wasn’t about to let Ace get away with it.

“Oh, you watch it, because last time I checked Estelle was still a mommy’s boy just like his father.”

#one piece #one piece x reader #Portgas D. Ace #sabo #monkey d. luffy #portgas d ace x reader

184 notes · View notes

posallys · 3 years

Text

i saw a post about percy and poseidon and i figured i'd drop this stupid little headcanon i have here (i also take stuff from this analysis, so go read that mayhaps)

Ya know how we’ve established i think that Percy’s fatal flaw should be control and not loyalty? And how I talked about the whole “Percy and Poseidon are quick to anger” thing in my analysis of them? And how it’s literally in their nature to want to be in control of everything around them?

okay, well, for whatever reason, percy is on olympus (maybe a solstice? maybe annabeth is talking about stuff for her rebuild? idk)

and a god somebody says something and it he gets pissed, and since his emotions are so closely linked with his powers, he accidentally triggers an earthquake

except, poseidon could obviously tell that there was going to be an earthquake bc he could feel it, so he just kind of pops in front of percy and grabs his wrists/hands and is like "that's an awfully big earthquake you almost caused, ya know."

And Percy’s kind of shaking because he could feel the way the anger took over and how he couldn’t stop the earthquake himself. He was trying so hard to restrain it, to hold it back, but he couldn’t.

He doesn’t really say anything to Poseidon, because he’s clenching his jaw to the point that it’s painful, but he looks up at Poseidon, and his eyes kind of give it away.

(and it may not have been obvious to anybody else, but it was obvious to poseidon because he can't even begin to count the amount of times that look has been on his own face)

So Poseidon takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and nods a little (meanwhile the rest of the gods are just like 👀 👀 because percy almost fucked a lot of shit up and poseidon is being very calm and also being a dad and trying to help his kid)

So he lets go of percy's wrists and is like "come with me"

And Percy kind of hesitates for a moment, but then Poseidon is like “It wasn’t a question” because he knows it’s probably the only thing that’ll help, so it’s Not A Question.

(and poseidon knows that he should have done it after the titan war. He should have helped Percy sooner, but he didn’t, so he has to do it now, and he’s going to do it, because he's not going to let percy keep walking blindly through the mess that is their powers)

Poseidon does some god shit and flashes them out to like. The middle of fucking nowhere. like just creates a little slab of land in the middle of the ocean. nothing around for hundreds of miles except open water

Percy just looks at him like wtf? "Dad, why are we in the middle of the ocean??"

And Poseidon just kind of chuckles and is like “yeah, actually, we are in the middle of the ocean. This is the point that’s as far from any land that you can get.”

“Uh? Why?”

“Because it gives me enough time to stop any damage before it happens.”

Percy’s like “???? what damage?? Pls explain”

“I should have done this after the titan war, Percy. I should have—well it doesn’t matter what I should have done. You have to learn how to let go, and I’m going to help you.”

And Percy doesn’t like the idea of that. He doesn’t want to let go. He doesn’t trust himself not to hurt someone or cause destruction (after all, his name means to destroy).

He must be making a face because Poseidon looks at him sympathetically.

“I know it’s hard, Percy. Believe me, I know better than anyone.”

Poseidon pauses for a moment and then continues… “How do you survive a riptide?” he asks.

Percy answers immediately. “You have to let it pull you out. Eventually, it’ll let you go out the side or the back. You don’t want to fight it, though, because you’ll probably drown trying.”

Poseidon purses his lips and nods, and Percy’s looking at him confused for a moment, trying to figure out why his dad asked about a riptide (because Poseidon obviously knows how they work).

And then he Gets It. “You mean...I have to stop fighting…”

“You have to let go. You have to let yourself be carried out sometimes. The longer you fight, the more tired you get, and the worse it becomes. The sea doesn’t like to be restrained, Percy.”

“But I—” Percy’s voice cracks

“I know you don’t want to, but I promise you, it helps.”

Percy nods and lets Poseidon tell him what to do.

Poseidon tells him to scream. To really let everything out. “I know, I know, you’ll probably feel stupid doing it, but do it anyway. No restraints, no worries. let it flow out of you.”

And so he does. He screams the way he’s wanted to for what’s felt like forever at this point. And the ocean responds to him. It responds to his frustration and his anger and his pain. And the waves are rough and choppy and the sky is turning a shade of grey, and the ground is trembling, and then the waves are getting higher and higher and they’re building, building, building, and then they’re crashing onto the ground around him.

And it feels good, really. To let go. to not have to restrain himself

And Poseidon is there watching him (and he’d stop anything Percy may cause before it got to a place where it could cause harm (there’s a reason they’re in the middle of the ocean, after all)).

And Percy’s scream dies out, and he sits down and he breaths and he feels like the world has been lifted off of his shoulders again.

But he’s not done yet because Poseidon is coaching him through things, making Percy create earthquakes and hurricanes and tsunamis, helping him find the balance between controlling them and letting them control him.

And then poseidon teaches him how to release his anger. He walks Percy through the steps. Start with your hands; unclench your fists. Relax your arms, your shoulders. Roll them out, hold yourself up straight. Unclench your jaw, stretch your neck out. Don’t hold the anger back, but don’t let it consume you. You have to change it, you have to feel it. Let it move through you like water flowing down a river. Feel it in your arms and your fingers and your legs, but then push it out. Not aggressively—calm. It has to be calm. You have to let it carry you to a certain point, but you can’t struggle. It’s a riptide, Percy. Once you surrender to it, you can escape it. Once you surrender to it, you really have control.

And it works. Percy goes through the steps, slowly relaxing himself, letting it move through him until it’s no longer anger and he no longer feels like he’s being crushed.

“I caused a lot of destruction when I was a younger god, Percy. I didn’t have a good grip over my anger. It took me a long time to figure out that, while I may control the ocean, the ocean also controls me. Do you know why? Because I am the ocean, and so are you. The ocean is inside of you, and you must find the balance between controlling and being controlled.”

“How often do you do this?”

“Every few months. It’s easy to get caught in the cycle of control again. It’s in our nature to want to be in control, so conceding isn’t easy for us. So when I feel myself on edge, when I start angering quicker, I come here and I let go.”

So they make a habit out of it. They come out to the middle of the ocean every other month, or about as often as either of them needs it, and they let go, and Percy slowly gets better at becoming one with the ocean, better at finding the balance.

(and then they go to this diner in Montauk that Poseidon has a weird obsession with….)

And when Estelle is older, the three of them take the trip out to the middle of the ocean together, and they teach Estelle how to find balance. And she’s younger than Percy was, so her anger hasn’t had time to peak.

Unlike Percy, whose anger is silent, sneaky, creeping up out of nowhere (the way he’s smiling one moment and lashing out the next) Estelle’s anger was a storm you could see coming a hundred miles away. Her anger brews on the horizon, building and building, slowly getting bigger until there's nothing left but for it to shatter. Which makes it easier, really. She’s better at letting go than Percy is—she has time to let it dissipate before it reaches her.

#yes estelle is a demigod no i don't make the rules sorry #i feel like this is really hard to read so i apologize #but i have Thoughts #and this is just one of them #taylor's thoughts

57 notes · View notes

kitty-does-stuff · 3 years

Text

Hardcore Henry Lore (Aka for Payday fans wondering what Hardcore Henry means for the world of payday)

Now this isn’t a perfect breakdown of everything, if you want full context you should watch the movie & then read Hardcore Akan (aka the one issue vcomic tie-in). But this should go over the whole backstory & lead up along with answer stuff like basic ages of Akan & Jimmy

Since this is rather long it is going under the cut, if I am missing anything lmk.

Also warning that this spoils all of hardcore henry.

The Timeline

The events of the Hardcore Henry world notblely start on April 26, 1986, aka the chernobyl disaster, during the disaster Akan’s mother was starting to give birth, with how things are told within the comic she died due to a pill that those going to the disaster were given to trick them into killing themselfs, that she took after being told by her husband that it would save her.

The newborn Akan was taken in by a doctor working at chernobyl, that within this world was the one at fault for the disaster, the man (Dr. Akanov) was likely the one that named Akan, given that the first name seems based on the last name.

It is likely that during the 80’s that Jimmy is old enough to watch the news & remember details about it, mainly this is likely due to a joke he makes about watching a news story in the 80’s

Sometime around here is when Henry may have been born.

During Akan’s childhood & teen years he us bullied by his peers due to how he looks and likely some traits he showed around others his age, in his late teen years before going to university he convincses his father to no longer use animal testing at his labs & as a whole behaves in ways that make it hard for his father to later believe his crimes

Within university Akan is still bullied but he is able to join an underground animal fighting ring, said group as a twist that the animals (only seen with frogs) were made into cyborgs, this means it’s likely that Akan himself had talent with robotics & making cyborgs. During this time he does nearly get a girlfriend but he unwisely took her to the fighting ring & she did not approve of the animal abuse.

Shortly after schooling Akan became a part of the clubbing & partying scene, likely starting with selling others drugs before he ended up making his own, which was meant to be one that would activate at the same time no matter when tooken, he was very sure in this drug so took himself (either meaning he was overconfident or skilled at drug making).

Sadly the drug did not do it was meant to and instead more- melted, those that took it, Akan being the only person that took it that lived, though after making up from his coma he had the power to move things with his mind (likely he always had this power, the drug just made it show itself).

After this he learned what his father had done by mistake & more about his past, after this he kills his father and everyone at the head of Akan industries

After taking control of the company Akan shortly after hiring James “Jimmy” a biolesit from the uk who wished to use dead bodies in his studies, it is likely that Jimmy had a pretty good idea on what the company was doing.

Sometime after Jimmy is hired but before he is uh… “fired” Slick Dimitry was hired, likely at first as a bodyguard as he is seen with Akan when Akan breaks Jimmy’s back. It is unknown when Slick Dimitry became a cyborg but I believe he is likely a beta test for one, maybe he willingly became one or maybe it was Akan’s way of saying thanks for a loyal worker.

Jimmy makes the first prototypes of the super soldiers, but they are mindless & overall useless, which makes Akan decide to break Jimmy’s back & fire him, likely thinking Jimmy won’t have the nerve to fight back afterwards or would be unable to.

Jimmy makes his clones, likely starting with Nerd Jimmy as this clone is the closest to the Jimmy that worked for Akan personality wise, it is unknown how he was able to do this, set up his lab or where he even got the money for all of this.

Estelle likely becomes the head of the super soldier project, she may have already been married to Akan or they became close during this time, what is likely is that she is a big part of the project.

Shortly before the events of Hardcore Henry the timeline splits, in the main timeline Akan does not try to hire the Payday Gang (As they likely do not exist as anything other than a video game that Jimmy is likely a fan of given his mask which would fit the game). Meanwhile the 2nd timeline is the Payday timeline, in which Akan tries to hire the Payday gang but Jimmy pays them more & is able to steal research about making super soldiers, which likely means Henry is never made into a super soldier & the events of the movie never happen.

Henry somehow dies & his body is found/already agreed to be used as the main super soldier for the first field test/programing phase, it is unknown as to why Henry was picked or why he naturally has a lot of skills that other super soldiers don’t have (he is able to beat other 200 of them, so it’s likely he has a past with fighting in it)

At the start of Hardcore Henry’s movie Akan is 29-30, Jimmy is likely in his 40’s, Henry is likely the same age as the maker of the flim, & the other characters are unknown/likely the same as their actors.

The events all take place during the same day, by the end of the day almost all named characters are dead other than Henry, who is left within a helicopter after killing Akan & Estelle. The screen goes black and hears that Jimmy left a message for after he died, with one last job (it is unclear when he would’ve made this or how Henry (who likely is the one listening) found this message.)

Other Events

It is likely that Hardcore Henry is within the same world as the music videos of the music vidoes that inspired the movie, the story follows a highly skilled spy (who’s skillset is like Henry’s, they may be the same character at different points within the timeline, Henry being a spy that was looking into Akan but was killed by Akan’s forces would make sense) who has blended into a evil unknown company, there is a hacker also posted there. They are there to get a device that can teleport. When he tries to get it the alarm goes off and the mission goes loud.

At first he is unable to get away with it & is catched, his partner is killed and he is then able to get the device back after fighting his way through the company forces & the one with it, the last of the fighting takes place within a baby’s room, who after the fight is other grabs the device and uses it by mistake, it is unknown where the baby went or what became of the spy.

Fixing the whole chernobyl problem

So the way the chernobyl disaster is shown in Akan’s comic does not make sense and would’ve made things go a lot worse worldwide & would’ve made history different (Butterfly effect problems)

So my best try at fixing this is that Dr. Akanov lied or Akan made up his own version of events, here’s what both would mean:

Dr. Akanov lying likely would mean that he likely blames himself for the event or at least a lot of the death around the event, he was a doctor after all so it isn’t unlikely that most people he tried to treat would die in horrible ways, making there be trauma that could’ve had him make a version of the events where those he treated died quicker, in more peace. Akan’s mother was likely a women close to giving birth when the disaster happened & got readied, later dying in childbirth with Dr. Akanov adopting the child due to the birth father dying from the disaster & the radian

Akan making up likely means the story is just his way of explaining his own powers, him having albinism & getting rid of any guilt he may have had about killing his own father.

What is missing

So there are parts of the story missing, mainly because everything that was meant to come out hasn’t, mainly another movie & more comics.

We know very little about what happened between Akan hiring Jimmy & firing him, this likely would’ve been covered by comics, along with the stories of some of the notable people that worked for Akan, like Slick & Estelle.

We don’t know how Henry’s body ended up in Akan’s & Estelle’s hands, nor do we know anything about his past outside one moment from his childhood & that he got a tattoo.

We also don’t know what Jimmy’s last job was.

We don’t know what the serious version of the story would’ve been like

No clue on when Hardcore Henry Meets Rooster Teeth fits into any of this, maybe it’s the happy end au where Jimmy doesn’t day & him and Henry are like roommates or something

#hardcore henry #payday #payday 2 #pd #pd2 #payday jimmy #payday akan #Akan Akanov

49 notes · View notes

andrewmoocow · 3 years

Text

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 24: Fragments (originally published on August 23, 2021)

AN: The end of the Alternate Future begins here! Or this story at least, I've got a few follow-ups planned after finishing this one, one of which I might set up here. But regardless, here we are at the end of Part 3 and from here on out, things will go downhill for our heroes & uphill for our villains. Can Steven be saved from both himself and Black Rutile? Who knows? Except for me that is, and a very select few as well. But I've had enough keeping you in suspense, let's get straight to the action.

Synopsis: Steven's condition gets worse and he seeks help from Jasper.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion

Ron Perlman as ?

"Hear me my followers and rejoice!" Black Rutile declared, with Aquamarine perched on her shoulder, as she recorded herself making a grand speech to her remaining minions in her cave lair. "Our day of revengeance is at hand! No more shall that sanctimonious half-breed tyrant enforce his iron-fisted rule over our people! Because despite claiming to be a pure-hearted child, recent intel has confirmed he is far from it."

As an example, Black Rutile played the footage of Steven crashing his father's van that her satellite had gathered. "Look at this absolutely abhorrent act." She stated. "What kind of child would ever dare murder their father without any rhyme or reason?"

"Actually, there have been a few throughout this planet's history that have done just that." White Topaz leaned into view to point out.

"SHUT IT TOPAZ!" Black Rutile angrily commanded before turning back to her viewers. "Anyways, soon he will be exposed as the monster he truly is, and with the army we have regrown from the colonies some of my subordinates have retaken, we shall lay siege to the tyrannical Crystal Gems and strike them at our weakest!"

"You sure about that my Rutile?" Black Rutile's Topaz bodyguard leaned back in, much to her master's anger. "'Cause I've gotten word from Cinnabar's faction that some of your former Black Pearls have formed, like, a little squadron to fight back against her."

"Can you not ruin my speech, you ignoramus?!" Black Rutile shoved her Topaz away. Just as she was about to make a grand conclusion to her speech, Black Rutile quickly declared "End transmission." and shut off the recording. "Now look what you did, I was making a motivational speech to my allies, but you had to keep getting in the way just like you always do!"

"Always?" White Topaz replied while making shadow puppets against the cave wall. "Look, I may spoil your plans some of the time, but your ego is just as much to blame the rest of the time."

"That is indeed true Topaz, but now I must ask," Black Rutile said. "what is with this attitude? Where's the overly polite idiot that always followed my orders without question, no matter how horrible they are?"

"I'm betting she's already having second thoughts about your plans." Aquamarine advised her superior.

"You mind if I," Eyeball suggested before making a slashing noise with her mouth and pulling her chisel from her gem. "put her to rest?"

"I'm being serious you guys!" White Topaz said. "The three of you may think you're Gems of the people, but I don't think Gems like those would ever hyperfocus on ruining the life of one person instead of just focusing on something healthier!"

"Like what, forcing ourselves to join those ingrates and deprive ourselves of our way of life in favor of becoming part of a hive-mind?" Black Rutile asked, menacingly pulling out her bowie knife to threaten her Topaz with. "I have been plotting against the Crystal Gems ever since Steven brainwashed the Diamonds, and I refuse to abandon those plans just because you don't like them! Now, are you going to be a good little bodyguard, or do you want to ditch your best friend in favor of the hypocrite?"

Although White Topaz showed tons of reluctance, she nervously got down on one knee and bowed her head to her three teammates. "No, my Rutile. I am at your beck and call, whenever you need me."

"Very good my Topaz." Black Rutile put away her knife to pat White Topaz on the head with an evil smile, before turning away to tap at her visor. "Now if we have nothing else to discuss, it seems the seeds of doubt I have planted in Steven's mind that fateful night have finally begun to grow." She stated before her visor created a holographic chessboard with pieces resembling herself & her minions on one side, and the Crystal Gems & the Diamonds on the other. "Now all we need is just one last push." On that last word, Black Rutile then spawned a chess piece resembling Jasper that she put squarely in the middle of the board.

Far from Black Rutile's lair in the woods, Steven and Greg had finally returned home to Beach City after a father-son outing that turned rather disastrous. Fortunately, the Crystal Gems were already home to be told of what happened and as Steven gazed out over the deck, Bismuth asked Greg what happened.

"So Steven just flew off the handle because of a song?" Bismuth asked while helping Greg put his van back together. "Frankly, I could think of weirder reasons to get angry."

"No, it wasn't because of the song." Greg admitted to the blacksmith. "It was because we drove off to my childhood home in Keystone and he learned that my upbringing wasn't too different from his mom's."

"I don't think you ever told anyone about when you were a kid." Bismuth replied.

"Not that I wanted to until now." Greg stated. "But after that crash, I don't think I ever want to bring them up again. Steven started ranting about how he wished the Gems never found Earth and he had a normal human life like I had."

"Whoa whoa whoa, where did all this come from?!" Bismuth yelled in alarm, raising her hands towards the former rock star.

"That's what I said!" Greg exclaimed before turning to his despondent son. "And now that I think about it, maybe he had good reason for those wishes after all he's been through."

Steven looked down in utter shame and regret before he walked back inside the beach house, clearly avoiding a chance to speak with his father about the incident.

As soon as Steven got inside, the other Crystal Gems were there to greet him, but the looks on their faces told Steven things weren't going to be good.

"Sit down on the couch Steven, we need to talk." Pearl commanded the son of her deceased lover, who did as he was told before Pearl began pacing around. "I just can't believe you, Steven! Crashing the van with Greg inside?! You know how fragile humans are, young man! These pink outbursts need to be dealt with!"

"It's not an outburst!" Steven yelled, briefly inflating himself as he turned pink.

"See, this is exactly what I'm talking about!" Pearl exclaimed before Steven got back up and started walking away. "What is happening to you?!"

"It's nothing, just puberty, honest!" Steven cried as he struggled to keep his pink form at bay.

"Whoa no little dude, I've seen enough sitcoms to know that is not what puberty is like!" Amethyst declared. "Right, Garnet?"

"I can confirm, this is not regular puberty." Garnet nodded before Steven put up a literal wall between him and his guardians.

"Steven, drop the wall this instant!" Pearl ordered as she pressed against the pink, hexagonal dome.

"I'm sorry Pearl!" Steven gasped in apology before the wall disappeared. "I just need some space, okay? I'll be in my room." But as Steven walked upstairs, Amethyst rushed to keep him from going any further.

"Not so fast, my dude!" Amethyst declared. "You gotta tell us what's going on!"

"It seems like Steven wants to avoid a serious discussion altogether." Garnet analyzed.

"No, I'M NOT!" Steven yelled, dropping to his knees and pounding his fist on the stairs, creating a shockwave that shook the entire room.

"Steven, either you talk to us about what's going on, or you're grounded until you're able to explain." Garnet firmly declared.

"She's right man, you gotta chill!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"We need to do something about this before anyone else gets hurt!" Pearl stated as Steven continued struggling where he stood.

"Don't let these strange powers control you." Garnet tried desperately to calm the half-Gem down. "You're better than this."

"LEAVE ME ALOOONE!" Steven finally roared, causing a pink shockwave to burst from his body and seemingly force the Gems to move in slow motion. Or rather, he was moving faster than everyone else. "I'm speeding up again!" he muttered while gazing at his equally pink hands. "I gotta get out of here!"

Steven ran out of the house and far away from the Crystal Gems. There was barely anywhere he could go right now. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl kept enabling these strange new powers, yet Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth probably barely knew what to do about things. Thus, there was only one Gem left he knew could help him in his time of need.

"The Gems tried to help me, but they just kept making things worse." Steven explained to Jasper later that night while the two sat around a campfire in front of her cave. "And that's why I refuse to go back."

"So what you're saying is," Jasper answered before dramatically removing the cloak she was wearing. "you want a rematch?!"

"What?! No!" Steven exclaimed. "I just told you why I came here in the first place. I think my Diamond powers are coming out, and I have no idea how to control them. I just want to be alone so I can't hurt anyone or be super toxic and controlling."

"So, you finally admitted it, eh?" Jasper rolled her eyes as she got up and walked away. "If you want to be alone, your definition of it is horribly wrong!"

"But Jasper, this is the last place anyone would look for me!" Steven explained before running after Jasper. "Wait, don't leave me here!" he begged the bigger Gem. "This thing with my powers is the real problem."

"The only problem you have is your friends." Jasper declared, much to Steven's confusion. "Just like how you keep holding everyone back, they're doing the same to you!"

"Are you sure?" Steven asked. "I definitely believe I'm getting them all worried."

"That's because they're afraid of you." Jasper responded. "And not just of your powers, but your control over others. And you are too! You came out here to hide, but I'm not one to hide myself. I don't need to hide my power or try to stifle it, I let everything out by training!"

"Like this forest?" Steven wondered, looking around the patch of destroyed trees he and Jasper have stumbled upon.

"Exactly." Jasper answered, walking up to a tree and making it fall over with a single punch. "And to control that power, I have to use it. Those so-called friends of yours don't understand because they always want to make you feel bad for being yourself!"

"Yeah, I do feel bad." Steven muttered to himself, gazing at his fist before walking over to punch another tree, turning pink as he landed a blow that created massive cracks on the bark and wounded his hand.

"Yeah, crush that weakling tree!" Jasper cheered Steven on.

"No!" Steven exclaimed before kissing the tree to fix the damage he did.

"Are you kidding me?! That's disgusting!" Jasper gagged at the sight when she looked down to discover that Steven's kiss caused some grass to grow around them. "No, the grass!" she yelled and rapidly pulled out the grass beneath her. "Get out of here!" Jasper then angrily turned to Steven and picked him up by the collar of his jacket. "Quit helping this planet's ecosystem and show me! Show me your power!"

Jasper harshly threw Steven to the ground, causing him to groan in pain. "No way Jasper!" Steven coughed as he got up from the toss. "I can handle myself!"

"Shut up!" Jasper yelled and lunged at Steven, who turned pink on reflex and created a barrier to defend himself from the Quartz's ruthless attack, but it proved ineffective as Jasper punched straight through it, causing Steven to fall to the ground. "This is it; this is all you were worried about?! What a rip-off!"

As Steven helped himself off the dirt, Jasper just kept on yelling. "I am way stronger than everyone you hold back and are holding you back in return!" she bellowed while pointing at Steven. "Because I'm not afraid of this, and you shouldn't be either!"

In response, Steven turned pink again and created another shield to launch at his opponent. "Yeah, that's more like it!" Jasper declared eagerly and prepared to defend herself, smashing the shield with just her arm. "Now tell me, was it good to let your anger out that way?"

"Y-yeah." Steven realized how good it felt to vent his rage on someone who could be a match for him, allowing Jasper to let out a loud laugh. "If I stay here, will you teach me how to control all this?"

"I won't teach you until you fight me!" Jasper refused the offer.

"Well, I won't fight you unless you teach me!" Steven replied.

"Ugh, fine!" Jasper groaned in resignation.

"Really?!" Steven smiled as he returned to his normal color.

"Here's lesson number one," Jasper responded. "No smiling."

"But I've seen you smile." Steven pointed out the goofy smile Jasper wore when he agreed to fight her not too long ago.

"Lesson two, shut up!" Jasper yelled before she kicked Steven into the air, and the boy landed far from where she could see him with a thud.

"Guess my training starts now." Steven declared to himself before he heard footsteps behind him and turned around to find who was behind him. "YOU!"

"Training with Jasper, Steven?" Black Rutile snickered disdainfully. "Wow kid, you're not just one Spinel, you're an entire circus of them!"

"What do you want with me now Black Rutile?" Steven asked his new archenemy as Black Rutile's three minions appeared behind her.

"We just came here to talk." Aquamarine answered. "As much as we would love to kidnap you and hold you for ransom, or maybe even kill you right here and now, we think hanging with a brute like her is much more fitting."

"Besides, we all know you'll just drive her away like you did to everyone else." Eyeball laughed. "Or maybe even something worse!"

"Look, what we're trying to say is that you should just give up now and get the help you really need." White Topaz cautioned Steven, unaware of how angry she made her teammates. "We only want what's best for you, so you won't get in the way of my Rutile's plan!"

"Are you seriously trying to help our enemy here?" Black Rutile growled with eyelids lowered at White Topaz. "I thought you were at my beck and call whenever I needed you!"

"If you're trying to ruin my life again, it won't work." Steven firmly declared as he got up to face the four insurgent Gems. "I know what you really are, Black Rutile. You're no hero to Homeworld, you're just a callous bully who will do anything to get her way."

"GROW UP STEVEN, GROW UP!" Black Rutile abruptly yelled at Steven's face. "Sociopath, hypocrite! Refusing to save a dying pet because of the natural order when he refuses to accept everyone is leaving him! Who's the real villain between us two, my boy, hm?"

"Still you." Steven remained resolute against the Rutile.

"You can't even begin to comprehend my current plans." Black Rutile replied just as resolutely. "Soon, everyone on this accursed rock will see you for the monster you truly are."

"Hey, where are you?!" Jasper bellowed from afar, and Black Rutile saw this as her cue to leave.

"Wouldn't want to keep a certain someone waiting." Black Rutile smirked. "But at least the three of us agree the Crystal Gems are the real problem."

"Aw, but I wanna turn Jasper against Steven too!" Eyeball complained. "Plus it would be an honor to see her in person again. The real deal, not an Amethyst shapeshifting into her."

"Oh, shut up, and let's get out of here." Aquamarine slapped her Ruby partner and dragged her away by the hand.

"Hey, no hard feelings kid?" White Topaz asked Steven, causing Black Rutile to slap her mouth shut.

"We'll see each other again Steven." Black Rutile declared. "But until then, I'll be watching you, just like I've always had since our last fight."

As the four rogue Gems left, Steven was left alone with his thoughts once more. And with those thoughts, a certain voice in his head re-emerged. "You know, she does raise a few good points."

"You again!" Steven said to the voice. "What do you want now? Are you another Gem working for Black Rutile?!"

"Well, kind of." The voice answered. "I'm not directly working for her, but it's thanks to her that I'm even speaking to you now. Remember that night while the Gems were out in Los Diego? She helped me grow."

"I thought so." Steven muttered in a moment of clarity. "But please, just leave me alone!"

"Maybe I'll just sit back and watch while you worry your so-called friends sick." The voice laughed deeply. "Don't you worry, we'll be seeing each other again very soon."

With that foreboding goodbye, the voice once again vanished from Steven's thoughts. Was it true, was that voice even haunting Steven because of what Black Rutile said to him? Or could it perhaps be even older than that?

"Are you dead or something?!" Jasper yelled for Steven. "Come back over here if you aren't, we got training to do tomorrow!"

"I'm coming!" Steven cried and raced back to Jasper's cave. As soon as he got there, Jasper threw her cloak at his face. "What was that for?"

"Think you might need this." Jasper stated while peering out from her cave. "Humans need to sleep, right?"

"Aw, you really do care for me." Steven blushed at the seemingly kind gesture, but Jasper just scoffed and retreated into the darkness of her home. Steven then just shrugged and laid down on the ground with the cloak covering him like a blanket, gazing up at the stars and wondering how the Crystal Gems must be doing.

The next morning, the Crystal Gems were now searching across Beach City for the missing Steven. Pearl had placed posters all over town while Greg helped Lion and Amethyst sniff around for him, but so far they found nothing that would help them.

"Whoa, easy Amethyst!" Greg yelled as he tugged on the leash of a purple-furred Dalmatian with an amethyst gemstone on her chest, which then turned into an exhausted Amethyst.

"We're getting nowhere with this!" Amethyst complained. "I mean, I learned how he could slow down time through Smoky Quartz, and even I don't have a clue!"

"I hope we find him soon, I'm getting worried." Pearl whimpered before she found Garnet walking up to them. "Anything from Little Homeworld, Garnet?"

"Nothing, Peridot and Lapis told me they didn't see Steven recently." Garnet answered. "However, Zuli said she did see a pink blur zoom past yesterday."

"That's the same one I saw with Bismuth while we were fixing the van!" Greg declared. "Could that be Steven?"

"It probably is." Pearl said before she began to break down into tears and hug Greg tightly. "I miss my baby!"

"We all do Pearl." Greg sniffed and returned the hug, followed by Garnet, Amethyst, and Lion joining in to comfort the Pearl. "We all do."

However, little did the Gems know, Steven was perfectly fine. But not the kind of fine they want him to be.

Far off in the woods, Steven had fallen fast asleep underneath the blanket Jasper had lent him. But his rest wouldn't last long as Jasper emerged from her cave and smashed a wall, shocking him awake.

"Rise and shine, your training begins today!" Jasper barked as she walked up to the half-Gem boy and picked him up by the neck. "Now tell me, what are you here for again?"

"Uh, to get a better control of my powers?" Steven answered.

"Not enough energy." Jasper shook her head in disdain. "Why don't we start with the only way you can talk to people?" she suggested and then cleared her throat. "So you're here because of your mother, kid? Well, whoop-de-doo!" the big Quartz began singing while circling Steven. "You still haven't realized more have suffered than just you! If you wanna get tougher kid, here's a tip. I got three little words for you: get a grip!"

"Shouldn't that apply to you too?" Steven asked his new mentor.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jasper growled while walking towards some boulders and picked one up.

"I mean, you're stuck here because of me." Steven continued, much to Jasper's anger. "Not to mention closets full of-"

"Do you want my help or not?!" Jasper roared.

"Yes ma'am!" Steven nervously complied before Jasper threw him a boulder.

"That's better." Jasper grinned smugly as she hoisted up more boulders on her back and walked away. "Follow me."

"You've been through a lot brat, but let me say something about that." Jasper began singing again as Steven followed her up the mountain with boulders in hand. "As a veteran, I've seen far messier, you should've seen the Clash at the Theater."

"I don't think I've heard of that before." Steven stated while setting the boulders down nearby.

"Doesn't matter, just giving an example." Jasper replied as she dropped her boulders too. "Now come on, throw me some shields!" Steven nodded before he turned pink and summoned multiple barriers to unleash on Jasper, who managed to break through all of them. "The fusion's all high and mighty. Amethyst can be pretty flighty. And the Pearl, wow, she's nuts, you see! They all got experience, but none like mine!"

"Maybe when you're done, you'll be feeling just fine." The next day, Steven continued training via splitting logs in half on a stump, while Jasper demonstrated her superior strength by knocking down a tree with just a push. In the meantime, Black Rutile whispered something into Jasper's ear without her knowing the Rutile was even there.

"If you wanna get tougher kid, here's a tip." As night began to fall, Jasper challenged Steven to a race, her spin-dash against his pink form's speed. "I got three little words for you: get a grip! Ya hear me!"

"Yeah, those three little words are 'Get a Grip!'" Steven joined in on the song as he began catching up to Jasper.

"Now we're talking!" Jasper cheered triumphantly.

"No time for healing!" As the training went on to the day after that, Steven had grown slightly taller and more muscular, and even began growing a beard as he threw another barrier at Jasper. "Who needs feeling?!"

"You're still reeling?" Steven caught a fish in the river with a more polygonal bubble that he cooked up to eat, while Black Rutile loomed behind him with another lie to tell him. "Well, my tips are quite appealing! Let's say it again!"

"If you wanna get tougher kid, here's a tip." Steven and Jasper harmonized while clashing fists in a forest clearing. "I got three little words for you: get a grip!"

"Yes, for everything to go as planned, get a grip." Black Rutile muttered while watching the two train with an evil smile, eager to see how far Steven has come and how far he'll fall.

The next day, thunder began rumbling far from Steven, who knelt in front of a campfire with a more muscular body that made him as tall as Jasper and a wildly different hairstyle.

"I found more rocks!" Jasper called out to her student while tossing over some more rocks for him to train with. "You won't believe how hard it is to find a good rock around here, especially since we broke most of them."

"I'm done with rocks Jasper." Steven declared while getting up to face Jasper. "I'm finally ready. For our rematch." He then put out the fire behind him with one stomp, showing the other Gem how serious he was.

"Took you long enough!" Jasper cackled as she cracked her knuckles and prepared for her long-awaited round 2. "Then come on, show me what you got!"

Steven responded by creating another hexagonal shield to launch at Jasper. However, Jasper jumped over the shield and attempted to punch Steven, but suddenly, she got punched instead. As Steven let out a gasp, Jasper summoned her horned crash helmet and slammed it into Steven's head, sending him tumbling backwards into the ground.

"What are you holding back for Steven?!" Jasper yelled while the resulting smoke began to clear. "You think you can't take it, that I'm just going to coddle you the whole way through, just like the Gems?! You still want to go back to them?"

"No!" Steven coughed from the smoke.

"You still afraid to be strong?!" Jasper continued taunting her foe. "Are you dull?! ARE YOU PITIFUL?!"

"I AM NOT!" Steven bellowed out loud, causing a shockwave that knocked Jasper back, and nearly shook a certain Rutile from a tree she was hiding in as he lunged at Jasper with fury in his eyes.

"Is that all?!" Jasper cackled arrogantly, forcing Steven to create more barriers to strike at her with, which finally landed a hit on Jasper and slammed her into a tree. "That's more like it!"

Steven let out a sadistic giggle before he lunged again, far faster than normal as he started repeatedly punching Jasper while the two soared through the forest and into the air.

"Come on, come on!" Jasper beckoned Steven as their brawl took to the skies. "Show your master what you can really do!"

Steven's maniacal laughter grew louder and louder with each punch before kicking Jasper to the ground. "You were right Jasper!" he declared while summoning more shields to trap Jasper with before forming an even larger one in front of him. "I HAVE BEEN HOLDING BACK!"

With a murderous smile and white diamonds in his eyes, Steven made his barrier grow razor-sharp spikes before launching it at his captive opponent. And for the first time in what felt like ages, as the spiked shield rocketed towards her, Jasper felt one emotion that she barely showed to anyone else.

Pure, unadulterated terror.

What had she done?

The cloudy skies gave way to a loud thunderstorm as Black Rutile climbed up to the top of another tree to watch the outcome of the fight, and she was more than happy with what she was seeing.

"Bravo Steven, I never knew you had it in you!" Black Rutile clapped loud enough for Steven to hear as he returned to his senses to realize what he had just done. "If I hadn't planned for that, she would've made a great bodyguard!"

With tears and raindrops staining his face, Steven hid whatever he was hiding in his balled-up fist while glaring at Black Rutile before he raced back to Jasper's cave. When Black Rutile decided to climb down the tree, she was greeted by the nervous look on her Topaz's face. "So, who were you betting on to win?"

"I was betting on Steven to curb his problems more healthily, and you just kept stringing him along!" White Topaz accused her superior, but her accusations were shut down by a bowie knife pointed straight at her face. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Would a shadow puppet make you feel better?!"

"No need." Black Rutile frowned, hiding behind the tree to watch as Steven, now wearing his jacket again, hid his fist in one of the pockets while running out of the woods. "Nothing makes me happier than seeing him squirm."

"Oh yeah, it's funny how pathetic he is." White Topaz laughed nervously in agreement. "Come on, let's head back to the cave. Don't wanna get wet."

"Indeed," Black Rutile agreed and strolled back to their lair with her arms behind her back. "wouldn't want anyone knowing what we did to him."

"I sent so many messages, but he hasn't replied!" Pearl fretted while pacing around the beach house as the storm continued. "Do you think he even had his phone when he ran away?! What if something horrible happened and it's all our fault because he wanted to stay away from us?! What if-" Pearl's panicking soon turned to hyperventilating as she curled up into a ball on the floor and began rocking back and forth when Amethyst stepped in to calm her down.

"Pearl, chill out!" Amethyst literally shook Pearl out of her traumatized state and picked her up off the floor. "Panting and sweating over everything won't bring Steven back! It's not like he's going to just barge in as soon as I finish talking!"

Just then, Steven finally returned home, much to the Crystal Gems' delight and worry. However, he had no time to tell them where he's been as he gunned for the bathroom.

"Steven, where have you been?!" Pearl cried out in fright for her surrogate son.

"No time to talk!" Steven exclaimed before ducking into the bathroom.

"Seriously man, we've been looking everywhere!" Amethyst added just as the door closed in front of her. "Hey, what was that in your hand?"

"Nothing important!" Steven replied, peeking out the door one last time before going back.

"The way he said that makes me get a bad feeling about this." Garnet declared ominously.

'This has been a horrible day.' Steven thought to himself while filling up the bathtub and snatching the three Diamond essence bottles from the mirror, taking a moment to find a dark shadow in the exact shape of his muscular self from earlier standing behind his reflection.

"I never knew you had it in you either." The shadow growled before Steven turned to dump all the Diamonds' essences in the bathwater and pulled his fist out of his pocket, unfolding it to reveal Jasper's shattered remains in his palms.

"Please work, you gotta work!" Steven muttered in total panic while piecing Jasper's broken gemstone the best he could and submerging it in the water. "Please Jasper, I'm sorry!" he began sobbing for the deceased Gem, his hot tears streaking against his face and dropping into the water.

"I'm sorry."

END OF PART 3: FRAGMENTED MIND

TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART 4: WE WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR FAMILY

Wow. Great googly moogly, it's all gone to shit, just the kind of shit that Black Rutile likes. Is Jasper truly gone? Okay, definitely not since next chapter after the break will be Homeworld Bound. Has Black Rutile won? Maybe. Will the voice in Steven's head take the wheel? Who knows? Find out on the epic final part of Steven Universe: Alternate Future, to perhaps begin after the usual two-month hiatus. Or maybe I should go for a shorter hiatus this time. Or maybe longer? What do you guys think? I mean, by the time I publish this, I'll be getting ready for sophomore year of college so my time will most definitely be filled up. But regardless, there are now only eight chapters left of laughs, tears and adrenaline rush, so don't even try to miss the next arc! Okay, peace!

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #garnet #amethyst #pearl #jasper #black rutile #white topaz #aquamarine #eyeball ruby #greg universe #bismuth

13 notes · View notes

darkhymns-fic · 3 years

Text

Blossoms in Flight

Estelle is having trouble working on her next book, so a visit from Rita was more than welcome - and possibly give her a solution to her writer's block.

Fandom: Tales of Vesperia Characters/Pairing: Estelle/Rita Mordio Rating: G Mirror Link: AO3 Notes: So here’s a 3 month late bday gift for @taco-night-frenzy ! Please forgive. :) Enjoy some lesbians trying to fly together and it (mostly) turns out okay!

Inspiration just wasn’t striking.

Estelle put her pen down, heaving a sigh that traveled from the very pit of her lungs until it left her mouth. She had been at this for a solid twenty minutes, having cleared her schedule to give her some well-needed writing time. And yet, as the blank piece of parchment before her told her…the words wouldn’t come.

She just couldn’t understand it! She had all the essentials down for a productive writing session; a recently cleaned-up desk where a simmering teacup was set next to her right, flowers placed on the windowsill to give her room a pleasant fragrance, a locked door so that no well-meaning knight (Flynn) could come in and ask if she needed anything, and she had even put up some nice pictures on her wall, a few paintings depicting landscapes and wildlife. Many of them were so pretty that she found herself staring at them for quite a while… or was she just finding an excuse to not do the task at hand?

Estelle shook her head, even tapping her temples with her fingers. “Focus now! You can do this!” She had the habit now of talking to herself when she tried to get into a creative mood, though always making sure her door was locked before she did. “You’ve written one book, now it’s time to write another! So…let’s get started!”

Another breath, taking back the quill pen in her hand. She could hear the children from town playing outside, but she had made sure to lock the window to minimize outside distractions. It was the best way for her to concentrate! Although even just thinking about the outside got her curious to maybe leave her room for a break… Wait, no! This was the problem!

“Focus…” Estelle whispered, taking another deep breath, staring daggers at the page as if to will her words into existence. “Focus…”

The children outside were being quite loud though – sounding as if they were just at her room, knocking their hands against the wall! But she was on the second floor, so that was clearly impossible. It must have been just wishful thinking anyway… She liked to ta her walks outside and read her latest book to the group of children. In some ways, that had been her own source of inspiration as well-

“ -elle! Estelle!”

Oh, sometimes they’d shout her name like that too, especially when she was lost in thought, looking over the great tree of Halure, with its pink petals that floated over them all. She had only moved to this town a few months earlier, along with a few trusted knights, including Flynn, for protection. But she had never felt safer. Never, except when with-

“Estelle!! Open the window already!!”

A sharp gasp left her throat, prompting her to stand up. Her chair was knocked on its side from the motion. “What? Who’s- who’s there?” Was it that ghost that the children sometimes spoke of again…?

“I’m right here!!! Hello?!”

Oh, wait, someone was actually at her window. And going by that voice…

A smile lifted her face as she turned. “Rita? Is that you?”

Her home in Halure wasn’t too tall, but with her room on the second floor, only birds and the like would make it to her window. Often she would open it to the see the town outside, along with the pink petals that floated on the warm breeze, sometimes catching onto her hair. (And with her hair the same pink shade, she would rarely notice the petals until someone such as Flynn helpfully pointed them out). But instead of the town, she saw a sight that was even more heartwarming and exciting.

Rushing to the window that she nearly stumbled, her hands pressed against the glass to push it open – and nearly Rita along with it.

“Agh! Careful!” Rita flailed a bit but latched her fingers onto the windowsill, her brown hair a bit frazzled. She struggled with the action, especially as she seemed to be carrying a sort of mechanical contraption on her back.

Estelle stared for a moment before she realized to grab onto Rita’s hands to keep her steady. “I had no idea you were here! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t have to worry that much.” Rita sighed, gripping back Estelle’s hands. But she didn’t move to go through the window, at least not completely. The window was tall, enough to take in Rita’s entire height, so she deftly placed her feet on the windowsill, looking down at Estelle. “I was just out here knocking on your window for the past ten minutes…”

Estelle gasped. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I was just so busy trying to… well, focus for a while.” She shook her head, pushing away such worries. “But, I didn’t know you’d visit me!”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Rita frowned at that. “I told you I’d see ya again, just after I finished my latest project.” With that announcement, she jutted a thumb to the machine strapped to her back. “In fact, I used this to go and visit you!”

Estelle’s eyes widened with awe. “Wow… is that a new backpack?”

“It- It’s more than just a backpack! See the fan blades here?” She gestured to the things, currently very still, numbering about four blades altogether, seeming to stick out from Rita’s back like metal wings. “It’s my new flying machine. I told you that I’d show it to you.”

A memory jogged within Estelle. “Ah, that’s right! You did tell me that. I apologize. It seemed to have slipped my mind…” Still, she looked at the flying machine, how compact it was, fashioned from metal. “And all without any blastia?” Always she was impressed by the girl’s genius.

“Of course! It’s utilizing the law of physics anyway. Aerodynamics and such, so you just need to determine the lift, the weight, the drag and the thrust. Though mine works a little differently because of the shape of this, but I still have to calculate how the force of gravity affects it, and if enough thrust from the propellers can lift me up…”

Estelle nodded very slowly. She was impressed! Even with all the information making little sense to her.

Rita noticed. She blinked, cleared her throat, then crossed her arms. “Anyway… I was just in town… wondering if we could get tea together, you know…”

“Oh, that would be wonderful! I know how busy you are with research.” Estelle clasped her hands. “And I have plenty of honey this time!”

“Well, good! Tea is only good with honey, so you should always have plenty!” Rita was really quite adamant about this, which Estelle well-remembered. And if honey made Rita came by for tea more often, she would always make sure to have enough on hand.

The girl remained standing up on the windowsill though, occasionally adjusting the straps wrapped around her torso (perhaps trying to get it off?). Sometimes a rotor blade hit the sides, but Estelle didn’t mind the noise of it. In fact, she found herself a little in awe of the sight, Rita’s silhouette against the backdrop of the sky, where the stray petals of cherry blossoms floated in the breeze. They fluttered all around Rita, who didn’t seem to notice them in the slightest, too preoccupied with her machine.

Estelle must have been staring for far, far too long. “Uh, what is it?” Rita asked with a raised eyebrow. “I-I almost have this done so just get the tea ready!”

Estelle flushed just then. “Oh, Rita it’s not that! It’s just, um…” Recently, the words always seemed to escape her, not just from her pen, but just through speaking. It was as if anything significant thoughts she had just seemed to flitter away from her mind, like frightened birds. But Rita was right in front of her, so at the very least, she could keep track of what she wanted to say… “It’s just, you look really heroic standing up there right now!”

It was clear right away that Rita had no idea what she meant. “Huh?” Although her face also seemed a bit red. Flying must have taken a lot of energy and exertion, which made sense as to why she wanted tea so much. “I don’t…well… I mean if you think so…”

But the longer Estelle looked at Rita, the more she believed the image before her to be true. “Yes! Especially with the cherry blossoms falling around you. Like something out of a novel…” At that, she paused, blinked, then clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s it! The new protagonist should be someone like you!”

Rita seemed to get even redder, and Estelle wondered if maybe the heat of the day was getting to her. “W-what? Estelle, can you make sense please?”

Ah, that’s right. She hadn’t explained it at all to Rita. That was rude of her.

“Sorry. Actually… you caught me at a weird time.” She finally decided to move, going over to a side table in her room where a teapot and some cups were placed. Luckily, the water inside was still hot, and she carefully arranged a chosen tea bag for Rita’s own cup. “You see, I’ve been trying to start my new book for the past hour, but nothing’s coming to mind. It feels like I’ve hit a roadblock, so to speak.” She sighed, pouring the water into the cup. Oh, and of course added in some honey from a small dispenser nearby. “My first one came to me so easily, I just don’t understand what the problem is…”

“…Huh. Can’t say I relate much to that.” But once she turned to Rita with filled teacup in hand, she saw the girl scratch her head, looking at the floor. “Sorry. That was thoughtless to say.”

“Oh no! That’s alright.” Estelle shrugged, once again looking up at Rita against the window. She still looked so heroic, and also just so very cool. She wondered if it was possible to have a painting like this… It was just too bad Estelle couldn’t draw very well. “Maybe I just need to do something a bit differently… I’ve already tried so many different tea brews already.”

“…You really think the kind of tea you’ve been drinking is the issue here?”

“Well, this one time I accidentally switched out my chamomile tea with the ginger one, and it had me up all night!”

“Hmm…”

For a while, Rita seemed to have not heard her, preoccupied with thinking, which happened sometimes. Estelle would usually just let her go through it before interrupting her with anything else. But whatever her musing was, it didn’t last long.

Rita turned her head just over her right shoulder, looking out into the sky. The sun was just beginning to set, casting hues of orange light against Rita’s hair. The petals continued to float around, doing so in such intricate patterns, it seemed that they danced about her. Even the wind picked up, gently rustling Rita’s clothes, including the yellow ribbon wrapped around her arm.

Once again, Estelle could do nothing but stare.

“Well, if you need more inspiration for your book…” Rita said, before fully turning back to her with a smile, one that was full of confidence. “I think I know a way to help with just that.”

Estelle still held onto her teacup, blinking occasionally. “Really?”

“Yeah! The thing is, you’re going about this all wrong.” Rita then finally jumped from the windowsill onto the hardwood floors of Estelle’s room. She did so without any thought to what she still wore on her back, which must have been lighter than it looked. “Just sitting around waiting for inspiration isn’t gonna cut it. You have to go out and look for it! If I waited for inspiration to go and continue my research, I’d just get nothing done. And if something still isn’t working out, I move onto something else. It’s as simple as that.”

Estelle nodded along, fascinated as Rita paced about her room, spilling out advice that was truly so inspiring. “But then… where can I find my inspiration?” she asked with a bit of reservation. “I’ve tried taking walks around Halure, speaking with the children… but I keep having trouble just writing down a few words at most.”

“That’s routine, Estelle. And while routine is nice, it gets boring and expected.” Rita stopped her pacing, facing Estelle with crossed arms. “I only write for academic research instead of any creative writing, but it sounds like you need a new perspective.”

Maybe here was where Estelle got a little confused. She tilted her head. “A new perspective?” How could she do that?

Rita apparently read her mind then. She asked her question so matter-of-factly. “Ever saw Halure from above?”

This was the only time Estelle ever felt just a bit unsure around the genius researcher that was so dear to her.

“Are you sure this is the best way?”

“I told you that it’s fine! You don’t think I’m strong enough, is that it?”

“Oh no! I just worry I’ll hurt you if we’re not careful…”

But as Estelle looked up at Rita from above, she saw the determination in her eyes, the way she pouted cutely like so when she was being, perhaps, just a little bit stubborn.

The reason she was above was because Rita had instructed her to lay down, so that way it would be ‘easier.’ Estelle didn’t question it, and so she complied, using the bed in her room as the best place for her to lay down straight. Rita stood by her bedside, eyes hard, arms crossed.

“…Am I laying down wrong?” Estelle questioned. Sometimes she didn’t always understand directions very well…

“No no, it’s alright! Just… thinking how to do this right.” Rita took a deep breath, then uncrossed her arms to stretch them out. Her face was still a bit red, and Estelle wished she had served her the tea a bit earlier. But Rita had declined, determined to help her find her inspiration, as she had said.

With the flying machine still strapped onto her back, Rita stretched out her arms, then nodded. “Okay! Just be sure to hang onto me once I got you up.”

Estelle, slightly nervous, nodded. “Got it!” Still, she worried. Rita was a bit shorter than she was…

Could she really carry her that easily?

Rita had sounded excited at the idea she herself proposed, and Estelle couldn’t help but be caught up in that same excitement. But, now that the prospect was happening, a few doubts popped in her head – mostly concerning herself. For one thing, her dress was probably not the easiest thing to deal with for the person who would carry her…

But before she could voice any more concerns, Rita brought down the goggles she always wore on her head, placing them over her eyes, effectively hiding them away. Then she was bending down, arms slipping underneath the other girl’s back and legs. “And… okay, just, gotta use my knees…” Rita paused, her face a bit near Estelle’s, the heat from her cheeks a bit apparent. “Uh…”

“Are you alright?” Estelle asked, feeling ashamed. “We don’t have to do this if you changed your mind-”

“I didn’t! Don’t assume that!” And with a pout, Rita slipped her hands further so that she got a better grip on Estelle. “I’m just preparing! Okay… one, two…three!”

She lifted Estelle up so quickly that she almost tripped.

“AAAH I-I mean! I have this, don’t worry!” Rita re-balanced herself, holding up Estelle much more securely. She stood up straight, legs trembling slightly, taking deep breaths every so often. “Hurry and…hold onto me…”

“Oh, right!” Estelle wrapped her arms around Rita’s neck, head leaning into her shoulder. “This good?”

“Y-yeah…” Rita turned to look at her, mouth half-open as if to say something. It was hard to see her expression with those goggles on… But then she turned away again. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

Estelle nodded. “Okay!” Still, she hoped she wasn’t too heavy for her…

But she knew better now to make any mention of it. So, she stayed cradled in Rita’s arms as the girl marched over to the open window, careful to keep her back straight, all while muttering, “All in the knees… Just like Karol said, all in the knees…”

Estelle’s lower half of the dress practically engulfed Rita’s arms, at least from what she could tell from her angle. Maybe I should say something… But the thing was, she liked being carried this way.

Rita then hopped back onto the windowsill. The suddenness of the motion made Estelle squeak. Rita’s arms shook, but only for a bit. And then it seemed as if she ran straight off the edge out into the sky. “Keep your eyes open!”

Because Rita told her so, that was exactly what she did.

It wasn’t the first time she had been up in the sky – far from it in fact. Back when she traveled with everyone, they would ride on Ba’ul and the ship he carried, over towns and cities, over the sprawling grasslands, the oceans that seemed to lead forever into the horizon. She’d feel the wind in her hair, raise her head up to the stars, drawn to the brightest one.

But it was different now.

Held close to Rita’s chest, and hearing the whirr of the rotor blades of her flying machine above them both, Estelle felt something much more different now. Her legs dangled in the air, the petals flying close to her face, bringing with her the scent of the cherry blossoms… and she couldn’t help but keep her gaze on Rita’s face, the goggles covering her eyes to protect her from the wind.

Rita seemed to notice, and though she couldn’t see her eyes, she had a feeling the girl had been caught off-guard. “I-I didn’t mean keep your eyes open on me!”

“Oh?” Estelle half-shouted, the wind carrying away both of their voices.

“At Halure! Look at Halure! Y-you can look at me later!”

Estelle did worry excessively that she had done something wrong then, but with Rita’s insistence, she finally did so, following the petals that drifted around them, to the houses that lined the pathways of the roads, to the trees themselves that extended so high above the town and into the sky. Rita flew around the branches, moved along with the wind currents, all as children shouted excitedly from below.

“Told you I could carry you easy,” Rita announced, eyes straight ahead, the rotor blades continually whirring behind her. “Now you got a new view! Is it helping?”

And though Estelle did look all around her, in awe at the height they were at, at how even with Rita’s arms, there was always that faint sense of precariousness, one that sparked something wonderful in her heart. It was exciting and wonderful, and with the setting sun, the town had never looked so beautiful just now.

But even with all of that, her eyes kept going back to Rita, who had always been so, so inspiring to her.

She had to let her know. “Rita!”

A little shake, Rita turning to Estelle in surprise. “Huh?! Don’t just scream in my ear!”

Estelle was too happy, wrapping her arms around Rita’s neck even tighter, hugging her close. “You just look so very cool right now!”

“Estelle, wait! I’m gonna lose control of my flying-!”

Too late. A brief tilt in the air, messing up the already uneasy momentum that they had, and soon enough, were flying right for that same tree, pink petals flooding both of their sights.

When the great tree had been dying, its leaves wilted and its branches drooping low to the ground, so many had lost hope for it. Estelle had felt a desperate wish in her then, one that she could barely bury down, and didn’t want to. Even as monstrous blood infused with the roots, she had begged, she had pleaded, and that alone had been enough to bring it back.

If only she could do such a thing for her very own self so easily, with just a wish. I want to feel like I can do something again. But sometimes, she realized, one had to look outside of one’s own self to find that inspiration.

As Rita and Estelle flew haphazardly, they landed against one of the branches, with a blanket of blossoms cushioning their fall. Rita flailed, Estelle now effectively on top of it. “Agh! I got cherry blossoms in my throat!”

Still, Estelle couldn’t let go of her. She nuzzled her head against the others, feeling so giddy. “You’re just… so great, Rita…”

“You could have hugged me at any other time!”

Her smile hadn’t left, even as the rotor blades now whirred a little less effectively, their mechanisms a bit clogged from all the petals that went into its crevices. If this solved her creator’s block, she wasn’t sure just yet – but she wouldn’t trade this experience for anything else.

#tales of vesperia #rita mordio #estellise sidos heurassein #ristelle #fanfiction #oneshot

10 notes · View notes

horselover107 · 3 years

Text

Alright so I wasn’t going to make a post at all here but:

Let’s talk about Bi erasure and Torchwood. When the show was created RTD gave an interview where he stated it was “a show about a five of bisexuals that live in a sewer under Cardiff”. Jack would later have the term Omnisexual applied to him in EU material, and in some more recent interviews I’ve heard Pan used. So in Jack’s case it’s a bit of a pick your label situation, so long as we’re acknowledging he’s attracted to everyone regardless of their gender. This is not the case with everyone else. They’re Bi. As stated by their creator.

There aren’t a lot of bisexual characters. Not just in the whoinverse, or in scifi/fantasy, but like in general. Even fewer that have same sex attraction shown on screen. All five main characters are shown kissing someone of the same gender at least once on screen. This is actually pretty rare, and was ground breakingly unheard of in 2006 (Buffy, which incidentally was a major Torchwood influence, had finished airing a few years prior in the US, and for the first year of their relationship Tara and Willow from that show were barely even allowed to hold hands on screen). Ianto, Tosh, and Jack had full on relationships with people of the same gender shown on screen. But that didn’t invalidate their opposite gender relationships either. Jack had been in love with Estelle. Ianto had been in love Lisa. Tosh was in love with Owen.

It’s important that people see people like themselves on screen. It normalizes us. It normalizes our experiences. Our identities. This doesn’t mean they’re role models that can do no wrong (because the point of this show is that these five people in particular are fucking disasters), just that they’re people. Existing. Who happen to be canonically bisexual.

Now wait. What about [Ianto’s it’s just jack line, jack suddenly being attracted to mostly just men in miracle day etc.]. Look literally no one’s saying this show was perfect in its rep. Honestly pretty damn far from it. I think it’s fair to say that in these instances the show itself was committing bi erasure from what was previously established. In Ianto’s case he’d explicitly called himself bisexual in the EU* Later entries into the EU written after this moment also imply he was attracted to men and women all along (The torchwood one audios definitely make the case he had a crush on his male coworker even if he didn’t realize it as such at the time). Jack of course is famously attracted to everyone, so the Miracle Day thing was just...weird adaptational biphobia, maybe as an attempt to make Jack more “palatable” to American audience? He’s still attracted to Gwen in that series at least so uhhhhh who knows.

*okay full disclosure I inadvertently started this discourse by sending an ask to someone explaining that I actually don’t like that scene. But not because of what it said about Ianto, but because in the same breath it can be interpreted as implying Gwen is straight which she also is not.

So anyways the point I’m making, is at the end of the day all five characters are not straight, they’re not gay, and they’re given a label by the show creator. They’re Bi. Erasing that erases what little rep bisexual have in...all of media.

It’s cool to have sexuality headcanons related to how they interact with their identity. Like maybe Gwen didn’t realize she was Bi until torchwood or Tosh has a very specific taste in or women or Ianto has very strongly held internalized biphobia (that last one is pretty canon). Maybe that’s coupled with trans and non-binary headcanons too. But stating that they’re not Bi, is erasing rep. Full stop. And this includes but is not limited to: claiming Ianto is straight with an exception (yes even if the show implied that one time), claiming Ianto is gay, calling Tosh straight with an exception, calling Gwen straight, calling Owen straight etc.

There is so little bisexual rep. Just let us have this.

#torchwood #Ianto Jones #bisexuality #captain jack harkness #Gwen Cooper #toshiko sato #owen harper #wall of text

16 notes · View notes

aaliyah-babe · 4 years

Text

The One With The Butt: Part One

pairings: eventual joey x reader, jamie x reader

authors note: i own nothing from friends, all credit goes to their respective owners. feedback is always appreciated!

feedback is the glue that holds my writing together!

you guys had gotten invited to the play that joey was in, you were sat next to pheobe on the end,

“oh look! look, there’s joeys picture! this is so exciting!” rachel squealed, showing you all joeys picture.

“you can always spot who’s never seen one of his plays before, notice no fear, no sense of impending doom...” chandler trailed off,

“the exclamation point in the titles scares me. you know, it’s not just freud, it’s freud!” pheobe exclaims, and you giggle at her.

the lights went down as you readied yourself for joeys plays, they weren’t all bad, but they weren’t all good, don’t get yourself wrong he was a good actor, he just chose the wrong stuff to act in.

“shh. the magic is about to happen!” ross shushed everyone

“well, eva,” you heard joey say with a german accent and you sighed, knowing it was gonna be another bust. “we’ve done some excellent work here,”

you looked at pheobe and she gave you the same look before you started giggling quietly, and ross gave you a warning look which made you stop.

“and i would have to say your problem is quite clear,” joey said before stopping. a piano intro started playing before joey got up from his seat and began singing, “all you want is a dinkle, what you envy’s a schwang! a thing through which you can tinkle, or play with or simply let hang,”

you looked at ross before whispering, “now can we laugh,” and he started chuckling aswell.

the play went on for what felt like hours, you had looked through the cast around five times, pheobe nudging you to look at joeys dancing and singing at times which made you both laugh quietly, before the show was finished.

everybody on the stage took a bow before you all got up and started clapping, yelling at the cast,

“yes! excellent!”

they walked off the stage as you all groaned, sitting back down,

“oh my god, that was nauseating,” you sighed into pheobes shoulder,

“i feel violated,” rachel agreed,

“did anybody else feel like they wanted to peel the skin off their body to have something else to do?” monica asked,

“ross, 10:00,” chandler nudged ross,

“i’d it? feels like 2:00,” ross groaned,

“no, 10:00,”

“what?”

“there’s a beautiful woman at 8, 9, 10:00!” chandler sighed which made you all look in his direction and see a very beautiful woman touching up her lipstick.

“wow she is pretty,” you agreed with chandler,

“she’s amazing! she makes the women i dream about look like short, fat, bald men,”

“well, go over to her. she’s not with anyone,” monica said to him,

“oh yeah, right. and what would my opening line be? “excuse me..” chandler said before blubbering words,

“oh come on! she’s a person, you can do it,” rachel encouraged,

“oh please could she be more out of my league? ross back me up here,” chandler patted ross on the back,

“he could never get a woman like that in a million years,” ross agreed,

“thank you,”

“oh, oh! but you know you always see these really beautiful women with these really nothing guys, you could be one of those guys!” pheobe encouraged him,

“oh yeah! come on chandler, do it!” you told him.

“you think?” he asked you all,

“oh yeah!”

“oh, god. i cant believe i’m even considering this. i’m very, very aware of my tongue,”

“come on!”

“here it goes,” chandler walked away and started talking to the woman,

he started saying a few things before he started walking back over,

“chandler?” the woman asked, making him go back over,

“wow, go chandler,” you nudged monica.

joey walked out and you all said hey.

“i didn’t know you could dance!” ross said,

everybody else said stuff to him about the play,

“was it good?” he asked, hopeful. your heart hurt for the boy.

everybody was silent before they all said the same things they did before.

“come on you guys, it wasn’t that bad, i was the lead! it was better than that thing with the trolls!” he argues,

“you’re right joey, you are, come here,” you hugged him,

“did you at least like it?” he asked, still hopeful,

“i’m not gonna lie to you joe. it wasn’t the best play,” his face fell, “but! you’re a good actor i just think your always going for the wrong roles!” you said and he smiled a little,

“thanks y/n/n,” he hugged you again, before letting you go not completely and just let his arm drape around your shoulder.

“she said yes! she said yes!” chandler ran over before turning to joey, “awful play man! woah!”

you rubbed joeys back, feeling bad for him a little.

“her names aurora and she’s italian and she pronounces my name “chand-ler,” “chand-ler,” he was proud of himself you could see, “i think i like it better that way- oh listen! the usher gave me this to give to you.” he gave joey a card.

“what is it?” rachel asked,

joey read the card as his face lit up, “estelle leonard talent agency, an agency left me its card!” he smiled,

“told you,” you whispered to him and he smiled at you.

“maybe they want to sign me!” he smiled happily,

“based on this play?” pheobe asked and joey frowned, “based on this play!”

you guys were hanging out at the coffee house and jamie had joined you, and once again joey distanced himself from you and him. what the hell was his problem? it pissed you off that your bestfriend clearly didn’t like your boyfriend and didn’t even try to hide it!

“hey, kids,” chandler walked in, after his date with aurora.

“hey, chandler,” jamie said to him,

“well this line is passion, and this is just a line,” phoebe read monica’s hand,

“wow i can’t believe i’ve been here seven seconds and you haven’t asked me about my date,” chandler said,

“how was your date chandler?” everybody asked,

“yeah, chand-ler?” monica said, making you smile.

“it was unbelievable! i’ve never met anyone like her. she’s had the most amazing life! she was in the israeli army...”

“luckily, none of the bullets hit the engine block. so, we made it to the border. but just barely and i... i’ve been talking about myself all night long, i’m sorry. what about you? tell me one of your stories!” aurora said to chandler, who smiled at the woman in front of him.

“alright, once.... once, i got on the subway, right? and it was at night and i rode it all the way to brooklyn, just for the hell of it,” he said which made aurora laugh and he smiled again,

“we talked till like 2:00,” chandler said, “it was this perfect evening... more or less,”

“all of the sudden we realise we’re in yemen!” aurora exclaims,

“i’m sorry we is?” chandler asked,

“we would be me and rick,” she answered,

“who’s rick?” joey asked,

“who’s rick?” chandler asked her,

“my husband,” she answered.

“ew,” everyone groaned for chandler,

“oh, so your divorced?” chandler asked,

“no,” she said,

“oh, i’m- i’m sorry your widowed... hopefully?” he asked again,

“no, i’m still married.”

“so uh, tell me. how do you think your husband would feel about you sitting here with me, sliding your foot so far up my pant leg you can count the change in my pocket?”

“don’t worry. i imagine he’d be okay with you because really with ethan,” she giggled,

“ethan? there’s an ethan?” chandler asked,

“ethan is my... boyfriend,” she answered

“what?!” everyone exclaimed.

“explain something to me. what kind of relationship do you imagine us having if you already have a husband and a boyfriend?” chandler asked,

“i suppose, mainly sexual,” she offers.

“huh,”

“aw, i’m sorry it didn’t work out,” monica apologised,

“what not work out? i’m seeing her again on thursday,” everyone looked at him confused, “didn’t you listen to the story?”

“didn’t you listen to the story?” you asked,

“yeah, this is twisted! how could you get involved with a woman like this?” monica asked,

“i had some trouble with it at first too, but the way i look at it, i get all of the good stuff, all the fun, all the talking, all the sex and none of the responsibility! i mean this is every guys fantasy,”

“that is not true,” phoebe said, “ross, jamie, is this your fantasy?”

“no,” they both said,

you smiled at your boyfriend before kissing his cheek, he looked at ross before they both nodded their heads, “yeah, it is,”

you glared at jamie.

“maybe somebody shouldn’t be with somebody then,” joey muttered but you heard him anyways, what is his deal? you were so going to talk to him after this.

“so you guys don’t mind going out with someone else, who’s going out with someone else?” monica asks.

“i couldn’t do it,” joey says,

“good for you, joe,” pheobe says to him,

“when i’m with a woman, i need to know that i’m going out with more people than she is,” that made you sigh,

“well, you know monogamy can be a tricky concept. i mean anthropologically speaking...” everybody pretended to sleep and fake snore as ross bored everyone,

“fine, fine. now you’ll never know,” he sighs,

“we’re kidding, go! tell us,” monica says,

“all right, there’s a theory put forth by richard leakey...” and there goes everybody snoring again,

let me know if you want to be mentioned in future taglists!

taglist: @zestygingergirl

#chandler bing #friends #friends series #joey tribbiani #monica geller #pheobe buffay #rachel green #ross geller #x reader #funny

29 notes · View notes

cerastes · 4 years

Note

You talked about the most unfuckable Arknights characters, now who are the H O R N I E S T ?

Estelle due to her immense massive hefty horns HAHA WHAT A JAPE so, with that out of the way for me and anyone leaving a comment, horniest characters, mmm, I’ve not really thought about it, but as I machete through the cyan mental branches in the forest of my mind’s eye, two options become apparent.

Option number 1, perhaps the most on the nose example, would be Gravel, given that her recruitment line is literally *teleports in front of you and smooches you*, and her files more or less make it clear that She’s Here For You first and foremost.

Option number 2, and this is more of a Maybe If We Read Into It thing, SilverAsh. Now, AGAIN, it’s a “read into it” thing, but he’s sure as HELL very fond of Doctor, and seems to be really into wanting to praise Doc, wanting to be praised by Doc, and wanting to have a climatic showdown of wits and intrigue with Doc, not because he dislikes Doc or Rhodes Island, but because he simply cannot contain his desire to test his mettle against theirs in the very field of battle that he considers Doctor a god of. Now, it could simply be true and pure admiration and respect for someone he considers a friend and a fascinating person, but it’s not too hard to also stamp this with the neon pink label of Sexual Tension. Doctor calls for a strategy meeting one day, when they inevitably have to fight SilverAsh for whatever reason, and shows six PowerPoint slides full of SilverAsh posing in the nude.

“What is this, Doctor!?” Amiya asks.

“It’s all of our intel on them. Every time our spies poised themselves to take a picture of critical information, SilverAsh disrobed and posed. It’s extremely concerning but also, not gonna lie, really incredible how he protected his vital info and flirted with me at the same time,” Doctor explains.

“...A-ah, and what about the encrypted information we got from their computers in last week’s infiltration operation?” inquired the rabbit.

“After spending hundreds of Lungmen Dollars decrypting it, it turned out to be a binary sequence...” sighs the good Doctor.

“...And what did it say...?” Amiya paid for the whole seat, but she only needs the edge.

“It said ‘Call me <3′ and the rest is just his phone number, his Discord address, and, unbelievably enough, his Skype,” elaborate the tired but not uninterested Doctor.

“N-no one uses Skype anymore!” exclaimed Rhodes Island president, close to a heart attack.

“I know, right? SilverAsh really is ready for everything. Can’t help but respect that,” replied Doctor, adjusting their collar. Did Ifrit sneak into the meeting room at some point or was it always this hot?

So yeah, basically, Assassin or CEO, pick your poison.

#arknights

257 notes · View notes

hollenka99 · 4 years

Text

Henrik and Joline

Summary: Henrik and Joline spent many nights under the stars.

Warnings: Referenced death/infant death

After playing SoulScape last weekend, I really wanted to write something based on it. Please check out @power-of-friends-games on GameJolt because their games are really cool.

The night had been like any other. After clocking out, Henrik had walked down the road to his usual stargazing spot. Before long, he'd located both Hercules and Ophiuchus. It was as blissful as ever. Nothing could distract him from his time here, not even the sound of cars passing by. Or so he believed. "Excuse me. Do you mind if I join you?" Shooting upright in alarm, he momentarily forgets himself as their eyes meet. Oh. Well, he hadn't expected for her to look like that. While he can't see her eyes properly in this light, the waves in her hair are like the sea gently lapping along a beach. That three quarter length skirt she was wearing looked pretty on her as well. In years to come, he will swear this was the very moment he fell for her. "Oh, well sit, sit!" "Thanks." She drops down next to him. With a hand extended, she says "I'm Joline." "Henrik." They smile at each other as he returns the handshake. The two of them spend the night chatting and admiring the night sky. With no effort at all, 10 minutes become 100. The first time he hears her laugh, he knows he wants the chance to hear it as often as she'll allow him. And that smile... well, the sentiment remained the same. At one point, Joline begins talking about the sky, how she adores the amalgamation of swirling colours always present above. She's always had a soft spot she can't explain for the blue parts of it. He says nothing other than casual agreement. "You know, I've never seen you around. Was this your first time coming here?" "No, I am here a lot." Joline's brows furrow in thought. "Huh, that's odd. Would've thought I'd bump into you before tonight." "Well, we've met now. And I think I would like to keep meeting. What about you?" "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'd like that too." They go their separate ways soon after exchanging contact details. Henrik struggles to stop smiling slightly to himself the whole trip home. ---- Visiting their usual stargazing spot had become a practically daily affair by this point of their relationship. Henrik honestly wondered how he'd been able to be here on his own before meeting Joline. Some nights, they conversed on and off throughout their stay. Other times, silence would surround them comfortably. Tonight seemed to be one of intermittent chatter. It begins with Henrik and Joline laying on the grass. Their hands have effortlessly found each other with the sound of the breeze accompanying them. Their little contest to identify as many constellations as they could had concluded a while ago. Joline sighs contently. "I can't wait to be able to do this as a family." "That sounds lovely. I'm sure it will happen someday." "How about as soon as next year?" A beat passes. Henrik's face contorts into varying expressions before settling on amazed disbelief. Sitting up, Joline can do nothing but grin at her husband as he stares at her. "Henny, we're going to have a baby." She bursts into a fit of giggles as she falls back from the force of a body colliding into hers. Henrik seems not to take much notice of the playful warnings to be careful. Instead, he tightens his embrace. There comes a peck on her lips followed by a reminder that he loved her. It is a while before the joyful excitement dissipates enough for there to calm once more. "I didn't think anywhere else could have done this announcement justice. Just you, me and the stars above. They're responsible for bringing us together and now, well..." A few brief chuckles. "You know, you could say the stars ali-" His finger rapidly positions itself on her lips. "No, please. Being friends with Chase is bad enough. All those bad, bad jokes." The finger is gently removed. "But still, a baby." "A baby." He echoes in an exhale. "Our baby." "I can't wait." She gazes his way, grin firmly fixed on her face. He lets their eyes meet as fingers entwine. "Me neither." ---- Henrik double checks he had essential items such as his wallet and keys when Joline burst into the corridor. Odd, she'd been reading a magazine only a couple minutes ago when he kissed her goodbye. What on earth could be so urgent? "Henrik, wait." "What's wrong? I need to go to work right now. The clock is ticking." "I'm sure this is worth being a few minutes late." Joline beams as she grabs his wrist. His face lights up upon realising where his hand was being directed. Even more so when he feels the fluttering sensation she'd intended him to. If he had it his way, he'd spend all morning ensuring their daughter knew how excited they were to meet her. Joline regrettably cuts it short after a number of minutes. "Henny, you should probably leave." He grumbles. "But-" "Go! You don't want to be late for work, do you? We'll still be here when you get back." Despite the momentary reluctance at the door, Henrik begins his shift in a better mood than he was expecting. ---- It was clear Joline couldn't find comfort tonight. The larger her bump got, the more difficulty she had with finding a good position to relax in. This extended not only to their bed and sofa but also the ground at their favourite spot. Perhaps even more so. Either way, the manner she kept shifting worried him. Henrik is somewhat glad when she unexpectedly takes advantage of him lying back. "Have you ever considered a career as a pillow?" "Surprisingly, no." "Hmm. Maybe replace a couple of those ribs with whatever they stuff actual pillows with and you'd be good to go." "If you say so." He strokes the top of her head. In the night air, they revive the name discussion. For months, they'd thrown suggestions around but while a few had been decent contenders, none seemed to be quite right. There was still time, of course. However, the time that remained was growing ever shorter with each week that passed. Options such as Estelle were brought up without any real consideration. "No, I think I actually like the thought of an E name. How about... Emma? I like Emma." "Emma von Schneeplestein does sound nice." "We going with Emma?" "Hmm, maybe. Make sure we don't forget to write that down later." The two of them lie there with only the wind and the results of its influence to be heard around them. Joline drifts off with ease, head remaining on her husband's stomach. And for a good while, he doesn't dare disturb her. ---- Joline wasn't going to make it. Henrik had been there when she'd unexpectedly collapsed, doing everything he could think of to help save her in response. However, when all things were said and done, there was nothing more he could do for his beloved wife. Well, perhaps there was one thing. There was still Emma. Their little angel, as precious as she was small. If anything, Joline would want him to be with her. As if she had to ask. Their daughter shifts slightly in her incubator. Oh Emma. Don't worry, it was going to be okay. Daddy's right here and he's not going anywhere. They would go home together. Just without... without Mummy. They'd manage though. He promises he'll be there for her, regardless of the circumstance. Time slips by as he ensures his daughter knew how much he loved her, how much Joline loved her despite them never getting to truly meet. Emma becomes the sole audience to a multitude of stories featuring her parents. She learns of the day Joline had bought a light blue turtleneck to tease him, only for it to genuinely become one her favourite choices for the colder months. The anecdote revolving around how he knew he wanted to marry her is also told. Then there was obviously the time a beautiful woman had asked to sit beside him as they stargazed. They wouldn't be here today if the Mindscape hadn't been generous enough to allow their paths to coincide. As much as he wishes things could have gone differently today, at least there was one good thing coming out of it. Throughout the day, he monitors the baby's wellbeing. When his eyelids grow heavy without permission, his brain reacts by instinctively causing his head to jerk up. No, he couldn't rest yet. He needed to keep an eye on Emma. He could sleep once they were both cleared to return home. He's sure his little girl will like the crib Joline picked out. Being confused as to when he fell asleep is the least of his problems when he wakes. Emma is gone too. No, this couldn't be happening. He should have noticed the signs. Why didn't he spot the warnings? Surely this could have been prevented if he had been more observant. There must be something he'd missed due to his negligence. If only he hadn't been stupid enough to sit down and allow himself to pass out. He leaves reluctantly following several sympathetic prompts to head home. Supposedly, that was the best place for him right now, though he certainly disputes the notion. The issue is, he's not sure where he wants to end up. One thing is for sure. He doesn't want it to be home. Who would ever want their destination to be an empty house? ---- He avoids that particular spot. Their spot. It's not easy by any means. The damned place was to the side of the only road leading to the hospital. Despite every self protective effort, the day does eventually come when he finds himself standing where he'd spent countless evenings admiring the stars with his wife. Too long had he stood frozen on the other side of the road. He'd simply remained transfixed, mentally battling himself regarding whether this was a good idea. It wasn't but he doesn't believe sheer avoidance would be beneficial either. A particularly bright star catches his eye once he gains the courage to glance skyward. He knows it is most likely Venus or a similar celestial body. That doesn't prevent him from fooling himself enough to hear her voice for a short lived moment. From beyond the grave, she greets him with "Hi, Henny." And well, he supposes it was somewhat fitting she had used Venus just to say hello. Joline had been a display of utter beauty that he'd loved more than any other person in his life. As for desires? Ha! The one desire he had concerning her was to have her back by his side. Preferably with Emma in her arms. Not that he would deserve it, given how he'd betrayed their trust in failing to save them. "Good evening to you too, Joline." He brokenly mutters back. With another glance at the stars, it's almost as if she was beside him. He swears he can feel Joline sliding her fingers inbetween his and resting her head on his shoulder for a fleeting second. His fingers curl as his head leans sideways, both expecting to meet something solid. Instead all they find is air. No. No, sorry, he doesn't believe he can do this. Not tonight. Any remnants of Joline that had been anticipating his return here would have to be left disapprovingly watching him flee. ---- Henrik had travelled along this route so many times over the years it was practically second nature to him. The quantity of memories made here were innumerate. Granted, a great deal of them were filled with him and Joline not talking about much. He wouldn't take back a second of that time spent together. He certainly recalls getting through some rough shifts thanks to the promise of being able to relax with her at the end of it. A version of this location was the entry point to his worst memory. He's replayed that terrible day an unhealthy amount. Yet it was in the name of saving his son in everything but blood that he'd done it. He would force himself through it again if it could help Angus. He's so relieved the serum is being accepted by the hunter's soul. "Hellooo? Dad, are you there?" "Hmm, yes? Sorry, what did you say?" "I was just wondering what you thought about my idea. I know it's kind of a trek to get to my home from Attitude City and I should be focusing on letting the serum do its job but... I want to do this for Anti and the others. Especially after everything I did." "The party?" "Yes." "It is a great idea. I am proud of you for wanting to organise this. But let me help his friends first." "Dad, his birthday isn't until the 10th. I'm sure you'll have figured this stuff out before then." "Well, don't do anything too strenuous yet, okay? Until I am sure you are recovering, I want you to be careful." A chuckle is heard over the line. "Don't worry, Dad. I think I already feel a little better than yesterday." The call soon ends, leaving Henrik to sit in an all too familiar patch of grass. And for the first time in too long, there is no pain in coming here.

#jacksepticeye #henrik von schneeplestein #power of friends games #septiscape #soulscape #soulscape spoilers #my writing #tw death #tw infant death

14 notes · View notes

bittybattybunny · 4 years

Note

So he's a hungry noodle but with taste? No wonder Hattie convinced him so fast

*sobs on floor* i had a really nice long response typed out and I’m gonna retype it and hope i get it all---

But yeah!!! He was so sick of rotten fish, hunting and the like (hunting takes a LOT of energy and when you are ALREADY hungry as hell it makes it harder. And he could never hunt enough to feel any sort of full) so when this small child who wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest and mostly sassed him, gave him the option of REAL HUMAN FOOD he took the chance.

He’s also kinda a food snob on certain aspects too

This is a snippet from either 9 or 10 (i say that because Im not sure if i can fit everything that needs to happen before hand into the prior chapters)

he gives Eclipse shit for the raw meat thing a lot; because he never wanted to eat meat raw, while she’s over here doing it on whim

“Makes sense.” He nodded, he was still hungry. He frowned, they didn’t have a lot of eggs. And he really didn’t want to eat all of their food. Well. he could. He didn’t care that much.

“What’s wrong?” Eclipse asked, walking in, placing her plate on the floor on top of hattie’s.

“Is that how you wash dishes?” He asked with a grimace.

“No, just a treat for her if she can have it.” She explained, looking at the carton on the counter and the open bacon. She snagged a piece of the raw meat, eating it without much thought, “looks like we need more eggs.” she grabbed a pen writing it on the fridge list.

“What are you doing?!” Snatcher snapped as he processed what had happened.

“What? Adding to the list?” she asked while chewing on the bacon.

“That’s raw!” He reached to take it from her but she dodged around the counter island. He stumbled, whacking his chin on the counter. Crumpling to the floor he glared up, “Are you trying to die young?!”

“If I was going to die young, I would have done it already!” she laughed, swallowing, “it’s fine, it’s smoked!”

“That doesn’t mean cooked!” Snatcher pulled himself off the floor, “how have you not killed your kid?!”

“Mom doesn’t let me eat it raw. She always heats it in the pan. You’ve had her cooking before.” Hattie pointed out as she grabbed the floor plates to put in the sink.

“You’re mad! Both of you!” He snapped as he leaned on the counter. He rubbed his side from his fall, “Honestly! It shouldn’t take I, the Subcon Snatcher! To tell you to cook your food!”

“You really like announcing that huh?” Eclipse rolled her eyes as she reached for another slice only to get slapped away, “Stingy!” she pouted, rubbing her hand.

“It’s my name!” He frowned, fangs sticking out of his lips, as he curled them back in disgust, “I ate raw, half rotten fish and human corpses for 200 years, I’m not going to watch someone who has the option of actual decent food eat something raw!”

“You know some meat is meant to be raw.” Eclipse laughed loudly. It almost sounded like a bark as she did, “Specifically some fish!” She snickered, “Well then. Let's do that!” She clapped, “We can get sushi for dinner!”

“Ooooo.” Hattie grinned, “I bet he’ll like that!” She clapped with her mother excited, “We should get him extra wasabi!”

Eclipse wrinkled her nose, “Why? It’s so spicy...”

“He liked my hot sauce.” Hattie beamed, “So I think he’ll like wasabi too! Or candied ginger maybe?”

“I just want to taste things again. Strong things.” He couldn’t help a small smile himself, getting caught up in the girls excitement, “So what is sushi? Or wasabi?”

Eclipse grinned, squinting as her mouth pushed her cheeks up as she stuck her tongue out, “If I tell you, you’ll say no. So we’ll wait for dinner.”

Snatcher does most of the cooking for the family as well! He loves having CONTROL over his own food! Because it’s the first time he has been able to really do that. As a Prince he often only got to eat his food once it was cold as it had to be poison tested first. He begged Estelle to teach him to cook so he could have something warm now and then. (that’s why he even knows how to cook) He also finds it super fun to experiment with cooking; and his family’s smiles at his food becomes something he’s proud of! he loves cooking as a fun outlet.

He also loses his mind at Thanksgiving and Xmas because of the sheer volume of food and the fact he’s actually allowed to just. Keep eating as much as he wants. (Snatcher turned human again around mid October) It was one of the first times in a long time he was able to actually feel full. Not to mention the excitement of the whole family being there (DJ and Connie, Connie’s Daughters and spouses, his other grandkids, DJ’s brothers and sisters--) He was exhausted by the end but he was also really happy.

Plus once they figured out his birthday from him (His birthday is October 31st btw) Eclipse went out of her way to get a big ass cake with multiple flavor tiers and various frostings and toppings (nothing with chocolate though as she wanted to eat some cake too) to figure what kind to get him the next year (they found out his birthday around Hattie’s on January 17th. For the record Eclipse’s birthday is July 8th)

He wound up deciding he really enjoyed the ginger carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. So it becomes the tradition for his birthday.

He also cried when she brought him the big cake, because it was about getting what HE wanted for HIS birthday. It was the first time he was involved in his own birthday choices (and he was 26 when he became a leviathan---) and it wasn’t made to be a big party or something. She and Hattie were just trying to celebrate HIM and making it another year!

he also forms a good bond with C.C. because he feeds her often to keep her from biting him when he’s a leviathan.

Hattie at one point also tried to get him to do a MukBang Channel on youtube because of how much he always eats but he vetoed that fast.

He also has a really bad issue with junk food. it’s easy to eat so he tends to eat a lot of it. Eclipse forces him to do a lot of house chores because it eats the food budget a lot. They aren’t struggling persay but. She’s also a big eater (huge ass wolf stomach in a 5′11″ woman) so having two huge eaters really costs in food. Also he’s always hungry because his body is trying to fight the curse always. When he’s human he slowly gets better because his curse isn’t as strong; and he does semi split his curse later so it gets even lesser. he still eats like no one’s business though.

#the little contractor ask #anon #tlcAU Lore #not art #bun rambles #he just like really loves food and the options he gets #he also at one point wound up forbidding pasta on Wednesday #because the girls were being trolls #idk hwo many of you have ever heard of #Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day as a saying #but its something in my household #so hattie found out about it and i mean think about it #prince spaghetti #prince noodle #snatcher is a prince noodle #so they started cooking pasta every wednesday to see when hed notice #when he did he got angry threw the food he was making in the sink and told them they were eating out that night and no more pasta for a whil #the girls kept laughing their asses off #a few weeks alter they went to DJ and connies for dinner and it was wednesday and they had pasta and he was so angry hwoever it was jsut #a pure coicidence lol

24 notes · View notes

labyrinth-runner · 4 years

Text

One Day I’ll Fly Away

The Greatest Thing Chapter 9

Moulin Rouge Fanfic

Christian x OC

Read it here

Words: 2.9k

The season had come and gone and Estelle walked around like an empty shell of herself. London seemed less interesting, less like home without Christian. The only solace she had were her talks at William Cavanaugh's house. She spent most of her time there, now. Sneaking out by saying that she would be visiting with Annalise. They were lies, but only Mary really knew, and Mary didn't have the heart to give her up. She could see the tension between her sister and her father. Mr. Devereux's disappointment was palpable in the air whenever she came back without having a marriage proposal or at least an intention of courting from someone. He'd set her up on countless outings with the sons of his business partners, and she had managed to ruin any future with them all. His disappointment came to a head one morning at the breakfast table.

"Estelle, you're running out of eligible men in London, and you are ruining your name. Do you wish to become a social pariah, child? Because if you keep this up, you won't last another season," he huffed, watching his daughter pick at her breakfast.

"They're not suitable, father," Estelle replied.

"They may not be suitable to you, but they are suitable to me," he shot back.

Estelle looked at her father with such scorn, the likes of which Mary had never seen before. "Yes, well, you are not the one marrying them."

"You are my daughter, and I will give you to whomever I deem fit," he replied. His words were cold, but they felt like a hot slap across the face, shocking at first, and then a searing pain settles in.

Estelle calmly stood up from the table and left.

"Where do you think you are going? You haven't been dismissed," her father commented.

Estelle shook her head and continued out the door. "Prior engagement."

Mary sat in stunned silence. No one had ever walked out on her father before.

"She's too much like your mother," he sighed. "She'll ruin us."

Mary looked at her father for a moment, as if seeing him for the first time. Quietly, she asked, "May I be dismissed?"

He nodded.

She got up to leave, pausing at the door. She turned back to him and asked, "Ruin us, or ruin you?"

Her father swallowed and she left to catch Estelle before she left.

"Elle!"

"Mary, I don't want to hear it. I need air. I'm going for a walk," she replied, her hand on the front door.

"I know. Just... be safe and tell Will and Anna I say hello," Mary smiled.

Estelle nodded before going out the door. In truth, there was no prior engagement. She just needed to breathe. Her house was suffocating. She was being crushed under the weight of her father's expectations. Her social card was no longer her own these days. Her nights, however... those were a different story. She spent more time at Grub Street than she did sleeping, but she didn't care. Why dream of freedom in her sleep when she could live it? Her feet carried her on their own accord to just outside of William's building. She shouldn't be here, not in broad daylight. No respectable woman would be seen here, and her father would be furious should he find out.

"Fancy seein' you here, sweetheart," a voice called from across the street.

Estelle turned towards the voice and grinned, spotting its owner in the window of the building opposite. "Poppy!"

"Been seein' a lot of you lately out my window at night when I'm... preoccupied," Poppy smirked. "Come on up. Let's catch up."

Estelle looked around the street. A whorehouse. She was about to enter a house of ill repute in the middle of the morning. This might as well happen. Swiftly, she made her way over and into the house. The smell was oppressive, and the house looked like it needed some repairs. The wallpaper was peeling off the wall, and there was a layer of dust around the chandeliers, but she could tell that it had been nice at one point. Cautiously, she made her way up the stairs which creaked under her feet. She walked past open doorways, catching glimpses of naked women either sleeping or in other states of relaxation. Then, she found Poppy, smoking a cigarette while looking out her window. Gently, Estelle knocked on the door.

Poppy's eyes lit up as she turned towards her. "It's different to see you in the daylight. You're a proper woman, Ms. Devereux."

Estelle blushed. "Yes, well, so are you."

Poppy looked down at her night gown and laughed. "Proper is a relative term."

"So it seems," Estelle smiled.

"Well, come and have a seat. I've got a fresh pot of tea we can split," Poppy said, clearing off two of the chairs by her bed.

Estelle walked over and daintily sat on the edge of the chair, finding it to be surprisingly comfortable for its shabby design. Poppy poured them each a cup of tea before fixing her with a hard look.

"What is it?" Estelle asked nervously as she picked up her teacup.

"I'm not quite sure, but you seem melancholy," Poppy replied.

"What makes you think that?"

"Darling, you don't get so great at my profession without being able to pick up on these things," she winked. "I fulfill needs. All of them."

Estelle sighed, "I have been having a difficult time lately."

"Is it because that man of yours isn't here anymore?" Poppy asked.

Estelle choked on her tea, "Well, he wasn't exactly mine to begin with..."

"I saw the two of you together," Poppy murmured. "As much as I make love for a living, you can never buy that."

Estelle looked down, "Yes, well. He left a while ago. He's with the Bohemian's in Paris, now."

Poppy's eyes widened, "Like at the Moulin? Oh, darling, you may never seen him again."

"What makes you say that?" Estelle asked.

"Well, I may be good, but the girls at the places that those Parisians frequent, like the Moulin Rouge... Well, they are the best."

"Do you really think Christian could be with one of them?" Estelle murmured.

"I'd like to say no, but they are very skilled at ensnaring men, so anything is possible," Poppy shrugged.

Estelle bit her lip. "Teach me."

Poppy laughed, "Teach you what?"

"How to be like that," she replied. "If Christian is looking for someone a little more... worldly, then perhaps I should try to be that."

"Don't be anything you're not for a man," Poppy said pointedly.

"Poppy, I'm not asking you to make me a prostitute. I'm just asking you to teach me a little more about what you do and... maybe a classier way to incorporate it into my daily life," Estelle said hopefully.

"You want to learn how to talk dirty, but in high society? Is that what you're asking me to do?" Poppy asked.

Estelle shrugged, suddenly feeling embarrassed, "I just want to do things that might set his heart racing."

"Darling, what I can teach you will definitely get his blood pumping, but just to other places," Poppy winked.

Estelle leaned forward as Poppy began to teach her about suggestive phrasing.

"It's not always about the words you say, but rather the tone of voice and the hazy meaning behind it," Poppy explained after it was all over.

"Right, therefore I can turn something innocuous into something more charged based off the situation and how I say it," Estelle smiled.

"Oh, I'd like to see him leave you now," Poppy grinned.

Estelle deflated slightly, "R-right."

"Darling, I didn't... I mean... Oh, this is what happens when you befriend a whore. We say what comes into our heads without thinking about it first," Poppy said, resting her hand on top of Estelles. "I apologize. I'm sure he didn't leave you when he left."

"No, you're right. In a way, he did. He may have told William that he was leaving because of his father, but by leaving London, he did leave me," Estelle sighed, getting up. "Thank you for your kindness, Poppy."

"Atwell," Poppy murmured. "Poppy Atwell. I haven't said that part of my name in years, but I feel like I can trust you with it."

Estelle smiled at her. "Have a good day, Ms. Atwell."

"You as well, Ms. Devereux," Poppy nodded.

Estelle made her way back outside, running into William's chest.

"Ms. Devereux?" he asked in confusion.

"Mr. Cavanaugh," she said sheepishly.

"Were you just... leaving a whorehouse?" he asked carefully.

"This stays between us," she said sternly.

"You know I can't keep anything from Anna," he said in exasperation.

"I mean it, William," she replied.

"Estelle, I can't lie to her. She has a way of knowing whenever I'm keeping something from her. It's honestly a little frightening," he responded.

Estelle sighed.

"What were you doing there, anyway?" William asked.

"I was talking to a friend."

"Your friend is a prostitute?"

"Listen, have I ever judged you?" Estelle asked pointedly.

"No," he replied, running his hand through his hair. "May I escort you home?"

"I would prefer not to go home," she murmured.

"To Anna's, then?" He asked, holding out his arm for her.

She nodded, taking it.

"William, I know he didn't leave because of me, but that doesn't make it any easier," she sighed after turning off of Grub Street.

"I know, my dear. He really knows how to bungle things up, doesn't he?" he replied, gently tapping his hand on hers where it rested on his arm.

"I just wish he would write to me," she replied. "To let me know that he's alright."

"He's tried," William replied without thinking.

"What do you mean?" Estelle asked. "Has he written to you?"

"Estelle, he doesn't know what to say to you. He knows he's misstepped when it comes to you, and he isn't quite sure how to recover," William said, committing to telling her the truth.

"He talks to you?" she asked softly, feeling something in her break.

"Yes, but all he does is talk to me about you. He asks me how you're doing, if you've met a match, and if you are happy."

"William, I can't keep going on like this," she admitted. "My father wants me to move on and find someone else to court, but how can I move on when Christian is my future?"

"How do you know that he is?"

"How do you know that Anna is?" she countered.

William sighed and looked down. "It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside that I get when I'm with her."

"Like a swarm of butterflies in your stomach that make you feel as though you could just be lifted into the air by it?" Estelle asked with a faraway look on her face.

"Or like I'm riding atop a carriage while drunk like I used to back in college. You feel a rush of excitement when you see them and you know that regardless of what happens, you'll have a good time," he chuckled.

"Did Christian also ride these carriages with you?' she laughed.

"Heaven's no. I needed someone to drive," he grinned.

Estelle shook her head at him as they made it to Annalise's house. They both waited for Annalise in her parlor. The grin that grew on William's face was as bright as the sun when she glided into the room.

"Mr. Cavanaugh," Annalise smiled. "What a pleasant surprise. And with Elle? I knew it was going to be a good day when I rose this morning."

Elle snorted. "It's nice to see you, too, Anna."

"I'll have the servants bring tea out to the garden. I'll meet you both outside," Annalise smiled before going to the kitchen.

The garden was quiet today. In the early afternoon sunlight, it almost seemed like they had traveled to another place, another time. The air was fresh after last night's showers, and Estelle closed her eyes as she breathed in the clean air deeply, letting it fill her lungs. She opened them, hearing the chirping of nearby birds.

"One day, I'll fly away like those birds," she murmured. "They're free to go wherever they want and start lives with whomever they want."

Annalise and William shared a look.

"But, Elle, London is your home," Annalise replied. "You can still find someone here to love you."

"Anna, I won't love them back. My days are blurring together like a Monet and all I long for is the nights discussing ideals with all of our friends. I can't stand waking up in my house with my father making the walls close in faster. London stopped being my home when he left," Estelle sighed.

"Home is a place," Annalise replied.

"No, home is where you feel loved and safe. It's where your words and dreams are valued and encouraged, not destroyed. Home is what I felt with my mother, and when she was gone, with Christian," she replied, looking back at her with sorrow in her eyes.

"Should we tell her?" Annalise asked William.

"Tell me what?" Estelle asked curiously.

"Where he is," William replied.

"Paris, I know," Estelle groaned. "It's a little far from London."

"Estelle, I have his address," William admitted.

"What am I to do, William? Show up at his house and demand that he talk to me? He could have a whole life without me by now. Not to mention, my father would never allow me to just leave," Estelle laughed.

"Maybe not on your own," Annalise said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after the season, it's not odd for members of society to travel," Annalise said, fleshing out her idea more. "What if you and I went on a European holiday? We could track him down along the way."

Estelle felt a bit of dread set in. What if she went all the way there just to find him in the arms of another woman? "What about Mr. Cavanaugh?"

"Who am I to stand in the way of true love, Ms. Devereux?" he grinned. "Besides, I'll still be here when you both get back."

He had said both, but Estelle knew he was talking to Annalise.

"We could also write," Annalise added. "In case Mr. Cavanaugh gets too bored without us."

Estelle looked out at the garden. She might as well not even be here.

"My father would never go for it," Estelle added.

"My father would pay for the both of us if I ask nicely. Besides, he owes me. I saw him out at the opera with his mistress and didn't tell my mother," she winked.

Estelle chuckled. "Alright. I'll ask him when I get home."

The rest of their time together was spent discussing the latest fashions across Europe as Annalise was extensively planning her wardrobe for the trip. When Estelle finally made it home, it was almost time for dinner.

"Estelle," her father called out to her from the library.

She took a deep breath and went to face him. "Yes?"

"About this morning," he said.

"I'm sorry, father. I should never have spoken to you like that," she replied, looking down.

"Are you really so unhappy here?" he asked.

"I just feel like I need a break from London after the season," she said, picking her words carefully. "I have done nothing but try to secure a husband the past few months. It takes a toll after a while."

Her father nodded. "I suppose it does."

Estelle came to sit on the floor next to his chair. "Father, Annalise would like to take me on a tour of Europe. Her father said he would pay for the two of us. I would very much like to go."

"Perhaps a change of scenery would do you some good," he sighed. "I'll allow it, on one condition."

"What is it?"

"You try to make some matches while abroad. Perhaps there are people outside of London who are of good social standing that may suit you," he said reluctantly.

"I'm sure I'll be able to find someone," she grinned. "After all, Europe is quite large."

Her father cracked a small smile. "Yes, well, we will discuss more of the finer details later this week. Go get ready for dinner."

Estelle squeezed his hand as she got up. "Thank you, father."

"You're welcome, Estelle."

She practically raced up the stairs in her joy.

#christian moulin rouge #Moulin Rouge #The Greatest Thing

10 notes · View notes

gaamagirl565 · 4 years

Text

Matters of the heart S2 Ep11

Matters of the heart Season 2 Episode 11 Only Shards {OPENING CREDITS} {Open to a ship docking at a pier as ocean waves splash up against it; a few sailors lay down the gangway off of the ship and some men begin unloading wooden crates off of the ship; Pan up to Isaiah looking at everything from the Quarterdeck} Isaiah: Wow… Captain: Welcome to the dark kingdom, my boy. Isaiah: The dark Kingdom? my grandfather used to talk about this place. Captain: used to be abandoned for a long time. only within the last decade or so did it start becoming a normal Kingdom again. Isaiah: it's truly amazing… {the captain drops a bag of supplies at Isaiah’s feet} Captain: I truly wish there was more I could do for you. that bag there should have enough supplies to last you a few days but it’s not much sorry. Isaiah: you've done plenty for me! you gave me new clothes, you let me stay on the ship until you reach your next port, you even let me work for a small amount of pay. Honestly what more can I ask for? Captain: I wish Corona was our next port so I could just take you home. You gave us quite the scare. you injured yourself pretty good. Isaiah: you've done more than enough for me. {Isaiah bends down and picks up the bag: showing his bandaged leg} Captain: at least let me tell you the lay of the land so you don't get yourself lost. Isaiah: well that could certainly be helpful. Captain: Right now we're in the Gorge that connects the main town of the dark Kingdom to the outside Forest Area. after the black rocks in the gorge disappeared it allowed ocean water to flow through here creating a new port and opening trade for the dark Kingdom. there should be a gondola to take you out of the Gorge. Isaiah: thank you sir but I think I'm going to explore the port a little bit and try to find a ship to Corona. hopefully, the captain will be as nice as you. Captain: let me tell you something my boy ships are always looking for help. as long as you work hard you shouldn't have a problem finding a way home. also, be careful about your wounds they're still healing. I know by now they're only a couple of cuts and bruises but even still that leg was really banged up… Isaiah: I promise I'll be careful. it was truly an honor to meet you captain and thank you for everything. Captain: the pleasure was all mine, Isaiah. tell your old man he did a good job raising such a fine young man. also if you ever need me or my crew just send for the captain of the SS. Salvator. {Isaiah salutes him; The captain laughs and salutes back; Isaiah walks off} Isaiah: Don't worry dad... I'm coming home. {cut to old Corona; Varian stands coldly with Zapada sobbing into his shoulder; around him are Lance, Adira, Akina, Rapunzel, an exhausted-looking Eugene, Lily and her Siblings, Catalina and Keira, and Nathaniel; they’re all wearing black and watching as a preacher blesses a headstone with Isaiah’s name on it} Nathaniel:...I can’t believe he’s gone... I keep thinking I'm going to hear his obnoxious laugh anytime now… Lily:...Isaiah… Cyrus: It’s alright lily...we’re all here for you. {Rapunzel walks up to Varian and places a hand on his shoulder} Rapunzel: Varian? you've hardly said anything, are you all right? Varian:... what's there to say? My son is dead... I Have Nothing Left to Lose. Zapada: Iubirea mea… {Varian walks away from the service} Zapada: Varian! Eugene: it’s alright, Zapada... I’ll handle it. {Eugene follows him}

Preacher: may this boy rest in peace, Amen… All:...amen… {Varian is on the edge of the river tossing stones in} Eugene:...Varian I- Varian: We didn't even have a body for the service… Eugene:... I know… Varian: we just... set up a headstone for him. that's all I have of him now. a stone with his name carved in it. Eugene: Varian… Varian: Haven't I suffered enough? but it just keeps piling on... I Fall In Love... I lose her...my family starts to become whole again... I lose my father... I become a leader, my wife is expecting our first child together, and I finally have a way to get rid of the cult for good...and then… {he throws the rock harshly into the water; Eugene flinches} Varian: my son is taken from me... the one thing I had left of Estelle. every time I looked in his eyes I saw his mother. it made every day a little more bearable because part of her was still here. and now he's gone. it's all gone… {there is a moment of silence between the two with nothing but the sounds of the countryside before Eugene walks over next to him} Eugene: ... I'm so sorry. Varian: it doesn't matter now… Eugene: ...one of the cult members was wounded... we captured him and he is currently waiting for us in the dungeon. {Varian looks up at him} Eugene: We might be able to get some answers out of him... maybe you'll get some closure. {Varian gets up and starts walking away} Eugene: Varian? Varian: I'll meet you at the dungeon later today... be there and be ready. Eugene:..uh..Okay!...ready for what? {cut back to the dark kingdom trading port; Isaiah is still walking around he finds another ship docked at the pier and runs up to a sailor by it} Isaiah: Umm... excuse me. {the sailor snores and Isaiah groans before taking a deep breath} Isaiah: EXCUSE ME!!! {The sailor yelps and falls over} Sailor: what ye’ going and doing that for!? Isaiah: look I've been walking around all day and I'm exhausted... I'm trying to find a ship that will take me to Corona I'm willing to work to stay on board. Sailor: Corona? Sorry, Lassie. But the next ship to Corona isn’t going te’ be here for another 3 weeks. Isaiah: What do you mean 3 weeks!? Sailor: I mean 3 weeks, lassie! The trade ship for Corona won’t be comin’ ere for 3 more weeks! Isaiah: What am I supposed to do for 3 weeks!? Sailor: I don’t know, lass...maybe some odd jobs around town...maybe an inn...ye’ seem like a resourceful kid. Isaiah: no I can’t wait 3 weeks I have to go home… Sailor: Corona is a 4 day trip on foot… Isaiah: i’ll...i’ll need a map...and provisions..plus I need to heal my injuries... Sailor: That’ll take coin. You need te’ work for that. As for te’ injuries...that’ll take time. Isaiah: then..i’ll need a place to stay for the time. Sailor: more coin, Lassie! Isaiah: You are literally no help! And stop calling me Lassie I’m a Laddie! {They stare at each other before the sailor starts walking off} Sailor: I think I’ll be needing a pint… Isaiah: HEY! G-Get back here! Sailor: Good grief, Laddie! What do ye’ want? Isaiah: You know you could be a little nicer! Sailor: I could be but I choose not te’ be... look this town isn't very accepting of newcomers and strangers. and if ye’ truly have te’ wait a while before setting off I suggest ye’ find a way to survive. this is the real world. There isn’t a mummy or daddy here te’ protect ye’. Figure it out, kid. {the sailor leaves and Isaiah walks away looking nervous; he looks around a bit before sighing and walking towards the gondola. He steps on and quietly rides his way up} Conductor: all departing! {Isaiah steps off and notices most head for the bridge connecting the kingdom to the outside forest. He looks from the bridge to the forest and starts walking for the forest. As he’s walking there his eyes flash in colour for a moment} Isaiah: AUGH! {he falls to the ground and grits his teeth waiting for his episode to pass; once it does he whimpers and curls in on himself; cut to the entrance of Corona’s dungeon where Varian is waiting} Eugene: You're here earlier than expected. Varian: let's get this over with. {Catalina and Keira walk up} Varian: And what are they doing here!? Catalina: moral support. Keira: I just want to get a good look at the guy who dared to touch a single blonde hair on that boy's head. Lance: that’s my girls... Rapunzel: They just want to help, Varian… Varian: ...fine… {Eugene walks over and unlocks the door to the dungeon; they all start walking down} Keira: so what do you think this guy is like? Catalina: anyone willing to hurt a kid is probably a piece of crap. Keira: he’s been running with this weird cult crew for a while I heard… Catalina: I don’t care who he ran with… the point is he was directly involved in Isaiah’s death. I’ll never forgive him for that… {Eugene opens the Cell door to reveal Noremoth tied to a pole in the middle of his cell with his shoulder bandaged} Catalina: *gasp* Noremoth: ...Catalina… {Catalina shakes her head slowly in shock} Noremoth: Cat...please let me explain! {Her lip quivers and she runs out of the cell in tears with Keira close behind her} Keira: Catalina, wait! Lance: Should I be concerned about that? Noremoth: it’s none of your concern… {Lance get close to him } Lance: oh I think it is… Eugene: Lance is Catalina’s father. Noremoth: * gulps*... you’re her father? Well then. Do what you must. Though do aim for the neck please that’s the quickest way. Varian: We're not going to kill you... yet. Rapunzel: Or in general! nobody's killing anybody! we just want to know some information. Noremoth: of course you do. Eugene: If you cooperate we’ll loosen your restraints.also I'm going to need to take your helmet and any weapons you may be carrying. Noremoth:... fine...W- wait a minute. why didn't you just pat me down for weapons when you threw me in the cell? Lance: We were a little more concerned with the fact that you were bleeding out. Noremoth: fair enough… {Eugene walks over and takes off his helmet and takes his weapons; he eyes the nordic necklace around his neck and lifts it up to look at it} Noremoth: Not that! {everyone jumps} Noremoth: please not that...it’s all I have left. It was given to me as a baby. The orphanage said I was dropped off with it...please...Y-your majesty. {Eugene lets go of it; Varian narrows his eyes} Eugene: don’t worry I’m not taking it. Noremoth: Thank you… Varian: enough of this…you’re going to answer our questions whether you like it or not, Noremoth. Noremoth: I never said I wasn’t, Varian. Lance: he knows you? You know him? Varian: He was the one that stole the blueprints to the device all those years ago. he's also larkspur's right-hand man. he's been a collective pain in my side ever since. Noremoth: I could say the same about you… {Varian puts his hand into his satchel} Varian: tell me Noremoth... do you know what it's like to lose people you've loved? people you swore to protect? Noremoth:... not really. never had anyone care about me in my opinion. Varian: Well then, let me enlighten you. you have to wake up every morning realizing that no matter how hard you tried they still died. and now I have one of those people responsible for the deaths of those that I loved in front of me right now. give me a good reason why I should show you any Mercy. Noremoth:... I can't think of one. Varian: no you can't, can you? Rapunzel: Varian… {Varian takes out a flask with a glowing yellow liquid inside} Rapunzel: *gasp* Varian: do you know what this stuff is? It's a chemical solution of my own design. it grows at an exponential rate and encases everything it touches... I wonder what would happen if I were to... inject it into someone. Eugene: VARIAN! Varian: you can tell us what we want to know... or you can possibly go through a long and agonizing death. your choice. {Everyone is silent but Noremoth blankly stares at Varian and then slouches against his restraints} Noremoth:...do it… Varian: what!? Noremoth: do it... honestly I don't know what you're waiting for. in your mind I killed your son even though I wasn't anywhere near him when he went over that cliff. none of that was supposed to happen. I tried to stop her... but it was already too late. her mind was made up. I've never held any real power in the decision-making. the fact that they all left me behind should prove how much I actually meant to them. I've never mattered to anyone so what's the point? {Noremoth looks up into Varian’s eyes} Noremoth:.. do it… {Varian trembles slightly before Eugene runs up and grabs his hand} Eugene: Don’t! Varian: Y-You heard him! He- Eugene: Varian, Your king commands you to stop! {Varian looks downward} Varian: ...My apologies, your majesty. {He starts to walk away out of the cell} Noremoth: for what it's worth... I'm very sorry for what happened to your son. please understand... it was never our intention. {Varian bites his lip and exits the cell; cut to the edge of the forest where Isaiah is stumbling weakly; thunder rumbles above him and rain starts to fall} Isaiah: No! AH! {he runs through the forest before happening on a cave; he looks around before going in and sitting down shivering; He whimpers and he sneezes before his eyes droop and he falls asleep} Juniper: Over here, papa! {She runs in the cave} Juniper: Mama told you it was going to rain! you never listen to us! I knew it was a bad night for hunting. {Hector walks in the cave dripping wet} Hector: it's never a bad night for hunting. Juniper: Papa, look! {she points to Isaiah} Hector:... it's probably a kid from town. Juniper: what's he doing out here? Hector: most likely the same as you and me... hunting.. maybe Gathering... who knows and who cares. he was probably waiting out the storm and fell asleep. {Juniper walks over and touches his forehead} Juniper: he's freezing! {She takes off her cloak and drapes it over him} Hector: W-What the- Juniper that is a premium fur cloak! Juniper: and I can make another! I swear Papa you’re such a misanthrope. Hector: And I swear I don't know where you get this sassy attitude of yours. Juniper: you had best be joking...brr… {Hector rolls his eyes} Hector: Alright enough of that... now get over here before you get sick. {Juniper runs over to where Hector is in the cave and sits next to him; Hector wraps his cloak around them both} Juniper: *yawn* do you really think he's going to be okay? {Hector looks over to the boy and cocks an eyebrow before looking back at his daughter} Hector: he’ll be fine… {Cut back to Old Corona and Varian looking up at the stars} Zapada: Varian? I’m heading to sleep… Varian: I’ll be there soon… Zapada: are you ok- Varian: I’m fine! {Zapada jumps slightly} Varian:..I...I’m fine..just go to bed, you need the rest. {Zapada closes the door; Varian looks back up at the sky} {begin song “never enough”} {VARIAN} Make one mistake and it paints you for life Try to move on from all the pain and the strife We pray that life is forgiving to all, young and old But the thing we seem to forget is that life is Cruel and cold And although my heart screams to just give up My head screams back that it is never enough The path before me is laid out And although it’s dark and bleak I won’t give it satisfaction It will not hear my mournful shriek. Every day just brings new pain As this grief continues to wrack my brain I keep wondering if I should just give up Of is it true that it’s never enough? It’s never enough. Never enough. {End song “Never enough”} {END CREDITS}

#tangled #TTS #RTA #matters of the heart #MotH #rapunzel’s tangled adventure #Rapunzel #Varian #Isaiah #Eugene Fitzherbert #kiera and catalina #tts hector #fanfic #zapada #tangled oc #tangled the series #tts oc #rta oc

14 notes · View notes

benisasoftboi · 4 years

Text

Unorganised thoughts on Trails From Zero:

So I had to experience this one via Let’s Play (shout-out to TheTwitGamer over on YouTube) due to computer limitations, which made the experience a little different. But not worse, because Zero is very, very good

I learnt that I have been pronouncing a lot of things wrong (most egregiously, I’d been saying Liberl as ‘liberal’ and Aidios as ‘eye-dios’)

Oh, also shout-out to GeoFront for their excellent patch work

I’ve also been playing Cold Steel 1 at the same time (nearly at the end), which has affected my views on a few things

First thing I’ve got to say is that I think Crossbell has the best art style I’ve seen from the series so far. I don’t dislike Sky’s, but it’s a little unpolished, and meanwhile Cold Steel is maybe too polished, to a point that it looks kind of generic. Crossbell and its characters have a really distinct, stylish look, and I love it. I actually prefer Renne in this style

(the exception is Joshua. What did they do to his eyes!?!?!)

So, overall plot - very good, well paced, picks up nicely from Sky while also introducing new elements. I cannot believe it got darker than Star Door 15

Like during that whole scene where Joachim is explaining all of the truly, truly evil things the cult did, I was just sitting there silently screaming ‘REMEMBER WHEN THIS SERIES WAS ABOUT A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS EXPLORING THE SEWERS UNDER THEIR HOMETOWN AND ESTELLE’S BIGGEST WORRY WAS HAVING TO TAKE A WRITTEN EXAM CAN WE GO BACK TO THAT PLEASE’

Am excited by all these mysterious bells in Crossbell. Can’t wait to find out what that’s all about

Never trust a mayor’s secretary or an eccentric professor is what I’m learning from this series

Now the characters! The main thing I really care about in any story!

So overall I think having a close knit group of four at the centre was a smart choice because it meant I really came to care for all of them in a way I sort of haven’t with all of Class VII so far

Lloyd: I like Lloyd. I wasn’t sure I would at first, he seemed a little generic, but the thing that swung it was the scene after he talks with Elie on the roof. The others start teasing them about being a thing and this stupid, stupid man starts going into Full Denial Mode, and he’s just such a moron in that scene. I found it extremely funny and now I love him (honestly, all a man really needs to do to get me to like him is be an idiot)

There’s also that scene later where the man has his hand on Elie’s cheek, they get interrupted, and then when she suggests they continue this later he has the AUDACITY to not know what she means. My LPer and I were equally exasperated at his sheer density. I love it

Elie: Elie might actually be favourite non-Estelle girl in this series so far. She’s well designed, smart, makes a good Team Mum... she’s Katara. She’s Katara from ATLA. Which I recently rewatched. Oh my god

Oh I really liked that her parents are divorced and not dead. Makes a nice change from all the other dead relatives in this series

And yes I think she and Lloyd are cute haha

Randy: Easily my least favourite of the four, but I like him well enough. I think it was a good thing that I was far enough ahead in Cold Steel to know about Red Constellation, it made that reveal more impactful. I’m looking forward to learning more about him. I like how he nicknames people, also

Tio: Might be my other favourite non-Estelle girl. Heartbreaking backstory, gets some really funny lines, her relationship with Jona was great - Tio’s just awesome

KeA: Adorable and loveable. Suspiciously adorable and loveable... Very excited to learn more about her origins

Noel: Don’t think I know enough about her yet, but I like her so far, she’s cool. So’s her sister, I loved the sidequest with Anton. The sound effects in that one, PEAK comedy

Dudley: He reminds me of Miles Edgeworth, one of my favourite characters in anything ever, so of course I like him

Arios: Again, don’t think I know enough to say...

Wazy: Oh, man, like I have a huge bias for long-haired pretty boys but I instantly loved Wazy. So excited for more of him :D

Renne: So glad we got to see her story finally get a happy ending. She deserves it. And man she is just such a good Mysterious Character

I forgot to mention this before, but I think it’s hilarious that she has three PhDs. Who gave them to her!?

Estelle and Joshua: So of course I love them and was very happy to see them again... but also maybe they shouldn’t have been here? They ended up feeling a little superfluous to me, ngl, kinda like Falcom weren’t confident people would play the games with a whole new cast if they weren’t around. Was really fun to see them from an outsiders perspective, though

Joachim: So, I’d been thinking for ages now how interesting Aidios is. In most JRPGs you get to meet and/or fight God at some point, so it’s very, very clear that they exist. But since as early as FC I’ve kind of been wondering... is Aidios real? In universe. Like, the way we see worship work, it isn’t a Fire Emblem thing where God is right there and you can chat with her - instead, it’s very similar to our world. And from there, what I’ve been thinking is ‘it would be really cool to see an Aidios atheist’

‘Ai-theist’?

So this was very exciting for me. I would also now like to see an ai-theist who is not an evil, evil monster, but I’m pretty happy as is

Oh, yeah, Joachim is obviously a horrible person, good villain

It kills me that they were all ‘oh no, he died, I wish we could have saved him’ at the end. Guys. The man set up multiple child torture facilities. You weren’t going to be able to Zuko him. This is for the best

What else

Crossbell City is a very cool location, big fan

I am now spoiled on the following - something about timelines, resetting and divergence, the grass comes back and is linked to septium veins, something Bad happens to Olivier (NO), and something Very Bad happens to Crossbell (but like, I knew that, because they keep mentioning how precarious their situation is and I have basic literary comprehension skills)

I hope Ziet is more relevant in Azure

More of Wazy and Wald’s weird friendship please (are they a ship? they kind of feel like they would be, at least in Zero. Rhetorical question, btw)

I hope we see Rixia again, I liked her and her deal, I think I’m also spoiled on Yin returning in Cold Steel in some capacity? Exciting

Yeah this was a really, really good game, and I hope it gets an official release one day (honestly, whoever’s doing Falcom localisation these days - buy Geofront’s work. It’s damn good)

Super hyped for Azure and to keep playing Cold Steel!!

No but seriously what did they do to Joshua

Like, this is after he stops being dead inside, right? Either way, I’m never sleeping again

#trails #trails from zero #kiseki series #trails series #crossbell arc

2 notes · View notes