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hyunjilicious · 4 years

Note

I just read what is and what should never be and it was PHENOMENAL! I love everything you write anyway so I was wondering if you could do a small one where Bucky is alone and depressed and he calls yn because he feels lost and she is just there for him? No worries if you can't! I love you anyway 💕

Omg!! You’re too sweet! I really wanted to do this one justice, but I suck at angst... I love you too!! and I’m sorry if this sucks!

Summary: after the events of Endgame, you and Bucky part ways. Even though you haven’t spoken in months, when he needs you, you’re there ANGST 2.2k

Warnings: overall angsty vibes. Sad Bucky. Idk depictions of depression I guess? shitty writing!

“You came” Bucky's surprised tone pulled you out of your thoughts.

Before saying anything else, you shook your head in disbelief. From certain points of view, he looked exactly the same as when you last saw him months ago, but if you looked past his rugged exterior, it was very easy to tell something was truly eating away at his heart.

“Of course I came” you frowned, “You called me”

“Thought you didn’t want anything to do with me anymore” Bucky mumbled.

You looked him up and down, thoroughly confused by his statement, but decided to keep the tone of the conversation from going too dark too fast. “Shut up, Barnes” you scoffed, “Don’t even joke about that.” A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his lips, but it was forced, you could easily tell he wasn’t truly being himself. “What’s up?”

Bucky took a deep breath as if gathering the courage to word his thoughts. When his eyes met yours he flinched, the pain clouding his otherwise bright blue eyes. He started with a long sigh and a shake of his head but then, cringed as he finally spoke up. “I need help”

His confession went directly to the pit of your stomach. “What happened? Whatever it is, you got it, but what-”

“Nothing happened” Bucky stopped you, “I need help”

“I don’t understand”

“I need someone to-” he sighed, closing his eyes as his head fell forward in what could only be described as shame, “I need someone to talk to” and it was funny, considering he just walked out of his psychiatrist’s office. “Someone that’s not paid to listen to me” he added, “Someone who understands”

It was moments like these that you truly wished Steve was still here. Or Nat. Your best friends, yes, but they were the glue that held you all together, and now in their absence, you were all threatening to fall apart.

But of course you’d be there for Bucky. Whatever he needed you were more than eager to provide, but at the same time, you were fully aware that your capabilities were limited. You didn’t lack the understanding or the experience, but you lacked the words. You had the sympathy, but not the advice he needed. But you were there. Like you have always been and always will be, so, that afternoon you ended up on his living room floor.

Surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol that had no effect on either of you whatsoever, you sat and listened to him rant his heart out until his throat couldn’t take it anymore. And then he broke down - completely. A full on mess, tears staining his cheeks as the temperature dropped in the room with every other pained groan he’d release. But he let it all out and the weight he had been carrying on his shoulder was unimaginable. There were too many things eating away at his heart, but the guilt was what kept him under its spell, what kept him up for the last months, what was physically destroying him.

“Y/n... “ he called for you, face hidden in his hands as he spoke, “I know you’re gonna say no, but-”

“No,” you stopped him, “Then don’t ask me”

“Please”

“No, Bucky” you sighed, grabbing his wrist so you could look him in the eyes, “If you already know it’s a bad idea, please don’t tell me because I’m afraid I’ll actually go through with it right now”

“But i can’t fucking sleep!” he cried out loud, falling back against the couch, arms propped up on his knees, “I keep having the same nightmares over and over again, and I can’t take it anymore”

“You don’t-” you took a deep breath, “You don’t want me to erase your mind, do you?”

The look in his eyes proved that that was exactly what he wanted. And the unshed tears that coated the otherwise pure and radiant blue of his eyes was almost enough to convince you.

“Please-” he begged, “I-”

“No, Buck” you shook your head and shuffled to face him properly, “As time passes, it’s only gonna get worse. The past will eventually catch up to you. You’ll want to know what you did”

He didn’t have it in him to fight you, so silence settled for a while. “You know sedatives don’t work on me?”

“I… never thought about it, but that makes sense”

Bucky gathered his lips into a tight line and nodded his head.

“Lady shrink isn’t of any help?” you asked.

“I have no clue what she’s doing” he shrugged, “Maybe it’s good in the long run, but fuck if I know how she expects me to make any kind of progress right now”

“You are, tho” you reassured him, “Making progress I mean”

“Am I?” Bucky laughed incredulously.

“Yes! You’re almost completely on your own feet. You really pushed through”

“Or maybe I’m just ignoring all of my problems”

“You just told me about them” you chuckled, and threw an arm over his shoulders.

Hesitatingly at first, he eventually leaned in into your hold, allowing himself to completely fall against your chest. “I hate this”

“I think that’s a given” you laughed, curling your fingers around the roots of his way too short hair. “A wise man once said that whenever someone acts like they have their shit together, they’re either lying or delusional”

“Who said that?”

“I don’t know” you confessed, “I saw that on the internet”

For the first time that night, you actually heard him laugh, and it sounded so good - it was short and weak, but it was sweet and honest. “That’s a pathetic attempt at cheering me up, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it” Bucky said as he pushed himself up.

“I wish I could do more” you mumbled, “But I don’t know what, or how, but-”

“Thank you”

“You don’t have to thank me, you know that” you smiled.

He didn’t know that. He’d never stop thanking you for even the smallest gestures. The day where Bucky would understand that kindness, in some cases, is a given, was far away, but you had the patience and determination to work for it.

As you talked and talked, and the topic of conversation kept shifting from one area to the other, the sun set, night settling outside his small windows. It was time for you to leave, and you would’ve done it, had he asked you not to at the last second.

You had your shoes on and one hand on the door handle, when he stumbled over his words, obviously too shy to properly hold his ground. “Actually can you- can you-” he mumbled, pointing to his couch, “Can you stay here tonight?”

And of course you did. The night didn’t last much longer after that, with Bucky settling on the floor, only a blanket to keep him company, and you sprawled out on the couch as silence settled.

But your mind was too busy to drift off. You knew his’ was too, but decided to refrain from speaking up, hoping to let him fall asleep, even for a short while.

It was loud inside your head. You always promised yourself you’d never intrude on someone’s thoughts and read through them without their approval, but you physically felt Bucky radiate energy, and your mind just slipped. But then, your heart almost stopped.

You saw yourself. You saw yourself slapping him back in Wakanda when he decided to go under ice again, you saw yourself moving a car out of his way back in Bucharest, when you risked your life for his because you trusted Steve that much, and because you were that good of a friend. You saw yourself at Tony’s funeral, eyes shiny with tears and then felt an almost uncontrollable urge to hug yourself - and then realised it wasn’t your urge, it was Bucky’s. At this point, your heart beat so fast you were actually afraid he’d hear it. But when goosebumps appeared all over your skin, you realised he couldn’t hear you, that he was asleep and that the nightmares started materializing.

What convinced you to act on it was the sudden jerk of his body and the way to fully tensed instantly after. So, unable to just sit and watch, you rolled over to the side and allowed your hand to fall by his temple, little specks of light rolling off the tips of your fingers as you forced the thoughts away. Seconds later, you saw him relax and shift around, gathering the blanket he laid on to his chest as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

His relaxed form and the steady pace of his breathing put a smile on your face. But you made the mistake of thinking this was a one time thing, however, before you realised, you found yourself leaning over him again, ushering yet another wave of nightmares away. And it kept being an ongoing process until the sun rose, and you cursed yourself as you did not get one second of shut eye. But it was worth it. The sight of him finally resting, knowing he spent his night in his happy place that you this time did not intrude on, made up for your tiredness.

When Bucky drifted out of his deep sleep, you figured it was safe to relax too. But knowing that if you went to sleep right now you wouldn’t wake up until noon, you stood up, determined to give him the full best friend experience.

But all you found in his kitchen was a box of stale cereal, a soft cucumber and candy wrappers. Had he not looked so adorable sleeping shirtless and curled into a ball on the floor, you would have woken him up yelling. But instead, you decided to order some food, and the simple fact that the sound of the delivery guy ringing the doorbell didn’t wake him up, actually terrified you. With a life like yours, no one sleeps that deeply, but then there he was, snoring away the late hours of the morning.

By the time he finally stirred awake, the food was already cold, and you were bored out of your mind. “What- what time is it?” he mumbled, voice rich with sleep.

“A little bit past 2” you yawned from your spot on the couch.

“2 pm?” Bucky huffed, sitting up in a hurry and rushing to grab his phone. “What the-” he turned to you confused, “It’s 2pm…”

“Yeah” you sighed, “And the food is cold”

“Food?” Bucky gawked, looking over at the small table by the window, “You got food?”

“You didn’t have any” you defended yourself. You wanted to scold him for not taking better care of himself, but he looked so homey and cozy and vulnerable, that you couldn’t bring yourself to.

Eventually, you stood up and walked over to him. “I’ll let you eat, Buck, but I gotta go” you sighed, giving him a hug, “Got some stuff to do” you lied, by stuff meaning sleep, since you were exhausted.

“Yeah, of course” he mumbled in agreement, wrapping his arms around your frame, and bringing you closer. He sank his head into the crook of your neck, holding you to his chest for a moment longer than you would have considered friendly. But you didn’t complain, his hold was stern and loving, and you really needed that right now. “Thank you” Bucky added when he finally let you go. His right palm cupped your cheek as he looked down at you, awe and admiration in his eyes.

“Nothing to thank me for, Buck” you smiled, and then pulled away.

He silently watched you get ready to leave, following you around until you reached the door and turned around to say goodbye. And it was weird. Your heart boomed against your ribcage, and you didn’t have to read his thoughts to know he was feeling the same kind of nervous. And it may have been the one too many stories you read but you actually feared something was going to happen. Thankfully, it didn’t. Instead you shared another hug, and parted ways.

However, all you managed to do was reach the staircase before you heard his door open, followed by the sound of his bare feet sprinting down the hallway. “What are you-”

“Can you stay?” he asked, shaking from head to toe, “In New York I mean, can you please stay? Just a few more days”

“Well, I- yeah, I guess I can” you mumbled.

“I just, I need a few more days. You’re screwing my head back on, I just need you now. Steve is gone, and Sam is all the way in Louisiana and I hate phones and I-”

“Wow-” you laughed, “I’m not even the second choice, I’m the third?”

“Shut up, Y/n” Bucky frowned, “Stop being a smartass for a second”

“I’m sorry” you rolled your eyes, but he didn’t care.

In the blink of an eye, Bucky threw his arms around your shoulders and hugged you close, and you weren’t sure if the ‘I love you’ that echoed inside your mind had actually been spoken or just thought, but it was everything you never knew you needed.

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes angst #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan imagine

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raggaraddy · 3 years

Text

Play Pretend

Summary: When the chance comes to escape you're are going to play it smart to make sure you get away.

Trigger Warnings: Murder, gun usage, abuse, violence, kidnapping, imprisonment.

Jungkook

Yandere!Jungkook

Mafia!Jungkook

It's been about a week since Jungkook locked you in. Only now were the bruises on your ribs going down. And no matter how quickly he shifted back to normal and calmed down the damage was done, he’d shown you a truly terrifying side of himself and you knew he couldn’t be trusted anymore. The worst of it was that he never even feigned an apology. He didn’t think he was in the wrong to react like he did. He just went from one day to the next like nothing was different.

You felt so stupid. You had thought there was something not right with him the first time you met him. But instead of trusting your gut, you got swept up in his good looks and charm. And that lack of discernment is the reason why you've been trapped in his house for a week now. You tried to tell him that people would be looking for your eventually. But with full certainty, he assured you that wouldn’t be the case. You weren’t sure why or how, but you knew that he 100% believed it. And that made your situation even more despondent.

This evening, for the first time in 8 days, Jungkook finally left the house. You had thought it might be a chance for you to look for an escape, but to your disappointment, he left one of his ‘employees’ with you. You still can't pinpoint what he does exactly, but all of the people you have seen with Junkook have a similar dangerous vibe. This one is no exception. Tall, strong, large and mean-looking. It completely dashed your hopes of getting away. That was until you heard the clear and threatening order Jungkook gave him. For the second time, you were seeing this sweet kind young man have men double his age, who were larger and tougher looking than him, look weak and fearful. The exact wording slipped your mind, but the gist of it was if anything happens to you while he is gone, Jungkook will violently kill your guard.

After a few hours of stirring, half hesitant to try and half trying to perfect the idea, you finally decide you need to at least attempt a prison break.

Calling the guard, you drop to the bedroom floor, curling yourself tight, clutching your ribs. You knew your bruises were still purple and black there, so it would be the most convincing place to say you had pain. After a few screams, the man dashes in his face draining at seeing you writhing on the floor in agony.

“What happened?” He barks.

“I fell. It hurts.” You wheeze, knowing it's best to keep your details simple to maintain the act.

He bends to help you up and you wail a faked cry of pain, applying your years of watching dramas into practice. You’re not sure how believable your act is, but the man is so swept up in the panic of the moment, it doesn’t really matter. As he gets you onto the bed, you pull up your shirt slightly exposing your marks and bruises and it's the tipping point. He goes from worried to frantic.

"Sh-" he whispers the exclamation under his breath. He looks to ponder his options, and you hope your theory is right and that he is too afraid to call Jungkook first. "Alright, you need to go to the hospital." He declares. You have to lean more into the pained acting to stop a smile from coming onto your face, thankful that your plan is so far working.

The guard picks you up bridal style and carries you downstairs with an urgent patter to his steps. Getting you into the back seat of the car, he rushes into the front and begins driving. Despite his craze, you're surprised to see him driving so steadily and rationally. Abiding the road rules and sticking to the speed limits.

You think your best, or only option would be to get some privacy with Doctor at the hospital and tell him everything. Beg him to call the police. The one risk for going to the hospital is the possibility of the guard not leaving you to talk to the Doctor.

"Fuck." The man hisses under his breath as his phone begins to ring.

The call connects to the cars Bluetooth as he answers, blasting Jungkooks voice in surround sound.

"I'm at home, but you're not. Where are you?" He questions with an ominous tone. The drivers head flicks back to you, his uncertainty flashing through his eyes as he decides what or how much of the truth to tell.

"She hurt herself. Her chest. So I am taking her to the hospital." He reveals everything with a shake in his voice.

Jungkook bursts into a sharp laugh, the sudden piercing of it through the speakers making both of you jump. "She's fine. Bring her back now."

You spring upright, eyes wide. The car rolls to a stop at the traffic light, the man's gaze meeting yours in the rear-view mirror. Jungkook knows! He knows you're faking it. He's going to hurt you again when you get back. You can't let him take you back.

The second the car stops, you don't pause to think, yanking on the door handle and throwing yourself out of the car. Because it is nearly midnight, the suburban area is desolate, but there are a few houses that still have lights on. You know your best option is one of those.

Breaking into a sprint you run across the main road over the island and towards the first house you can see any sign of life in. In a mad frenzy, you begin to pound on the door, calling and screaming for help, begging for them to open. Behind you, you can feel the guard quickly catching up and your pleading gets more desperate.

Giving you pure relief, the front door opens on a middle-aged man looking nearly as petrified as you. You don't wait to explain or discuss anything instead barge past him, hurling yourself through the open door. You spin on your heels, slamming the entrance closed. It doesn't shut though. The full body of the guard powers through the door colliding into you and the homeowner, knocking you both onto the ground in a painful blow.

With a heavy breath and a wild look in his eyes, he stalks over top of you, sealing you all in. The guard pulls a gun and his phone from his pocket, the call to Jungkook seeing to still be active. "Alright, I have h-" he speaks into the receiver, pointing the weapon at the man, rendering him frozen.

"Where are you?!" Jungkook yells, making the guard pull the phone from his ear. Even from a few meters away you can hear his hostile voice loudly and clearly.

For 10 minutes you are sat in the living room numb with fear. You could hear how furious Jungkook was. You can see how mad and nervous your guard is, and you can feel how confused and terrorised the older man is. Without movement, the three of you are stuck in a tense stare off, none able to speak.

On the 11th minute, there is a knock on the front door. The guard peers through the side window and his breath catches in his throat.

You start to physically shake as Jungkook comes in with two more men at his back, looking like an uneven, unsettling mix of calm and intense. Walking in with his hands in his pockets, he takes the size of all three people in the room.

"You left the car in the middle of the road?" He asks the guard, his gaze staying fixed on you.

"Yes. I had to chase her down." He tries to explain shortly.

"Ah," Junkook muses with a click of his tongue. "Get rid of it." He orders one of the other men who came in with him.

The guy nods, rushing to follow the instruction. As the door slams shut, Jungkook walks towards you squatting to your level. "Your ribs hurt Kitten?" he asks with a faked sweetness. He leans down digging his forefinger and thumb into your ribcage. It brings back the true pain of your injuries, making you squeal and writhe while trying to get away from him. His hand wraps around your side, keeping you in place and pushing you to the floor, crushing and gripping your wounds, bringing shortness to your breath and tears to your eyes.

After tormenting you for a few miserable minutes, Jungkook scoffs out a short laugh, standing back up nearly stepping on top of you. "Pick him up" He orders your guard, gesturing toward the homeowner on the floor behind you. He does so, having to hold a lot of the man's weight to get him to his feet. "Anyone else in the house?"

"No, I don't think so." The guard replies with uncertainty.

"Well you're not exactly reliable, are you?" Jungkook sneers.

You jump as two incredibly loud bangs echo out. One after the other, both the guard and the older man drop to the floor. Looking up at Jungkook horrified, he is standing over you holding a gun having just shot the two men. Your stomach is churning at the realization of what he just did. There is only a weak grunt and then silence from the older man, his body slumping still and lifeless. But from the other, there are continued struggled and gasped moans. Jungkook coolly walks to him, another shot firing and the pained sounds stop. Only silence and the pulsing ringing in your ears from the sudden blasts remain.

You're motionless. Panting broken breaths. Too in shock to move. Too scared to do anything. You can't believe this is happening. You're sure you're about to die.

"Go check the house." Jungkook kneels down beside you again, throwing the order to the second man that came with him.

With just the two of you left in the room, he comes closer, speaking lowly and gruffly in your ear. "See what you did Y/n." He motions to the side of you, to the murderous and violent display. You can't bring yourself to look. You know the sounds of those two men will haunt you for the rest of your life. You don't want to add the gruesome image of it as well. "Do want to play? You want to pretend to be in pain?" His hand roughly brushes the hair from off your face. He switches the gun from one hand to the other, his now free left hand digging tightly into your jaw, turning you to him. "Well, we're going home Kitten. And you won't need to pretend when I'm done with you."

#bts #yandere bts #yandere #bts fanfic #bangtan #yandere bangtan #jungkook #yandere jungkook #mafia jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts reactions #bts smut

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mjsparkour · 3 years

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Okay, I asked you a while back for some fic recs and I am in need of more. Have you read any Gina x Ricky lately? Would love for you to share the ones you've loved

Hey!

I’m so glad you liked my rec the last time, there have been alot of fics that have been written since you last asked so this list was super hard to limit. There are alot in this list alone (17 overall I think). I could always recommend more, Rina writers are just so talented. So here's a list of some of my favorites <3

The Story of Us by peculiarblue

‘gina learns that sometimes things have to fall apart so that they can fall back together, right where they were always meant to be’ This is a complete 2 part chapter fic

Thee Rina bible. It’s everything we could ever want and need. Everything we want s2 to be and more. It’s an absolute masterpiece in every way. So many parts where I nearly died, the angst in the fight scene, the tension before they made up (the dress scene that reminded me so much of that amylaurie scene I lost my mind a little more), them being absolutely gone for each other!!! it’s just perfect in every way.

When Your With Me and Were Alone by orphan account

‘Ricky Bowen remembers everything.’ This is a one-shot three-part completed series.

My favorite series, it’s gotta be. It’s the first of its kind for rina fics. Lore does an incredible job of realistically writing rina’s characterization and reactions to Gina moving and what would happen after. A wonderfully talented writer, utilizing the power of her words while minimalist carries an effect.

You Know Me Better by This_is_Riri

‘Gina was moving. This would be her sixth move in seven years. She was used to it by now...only this time, it felt different. Post episode 7.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

This one really gets you at your gut. Heart-wrenching for both characters but mainly gina. The vents that happen to both characters, it just makes sense that so much more than their vunerabilities bonds them together. Perfect execution of the mutual understanding trope.

and I know I’ve kissed you before by ptrprkrs

‘but I didn’t do it right / can i try again, try again, try again? or: 5 times ricky kisses gina + 1 time she kisses back’ This is a complete one-shot.

I love a good five times plus one fic. This one is heartwarming, cheeky and cute. It gives a healthy balance of the inevitable anguish that comes with pining (and not just for the character but for frustrated readers that just wanna put these kids together already) but also the sweet innocence and fluff from first love (or first love adjacent).

what love might have done by rradioh

‘Ricky follows his gut. Everything changes. Some things stay the same.’ This is a completed one shot.

A good look into what could've been for season one. Reflecting moments that felt like they could’ve easily been placed in the show and showed the subtly of the growth of rinas relationship. It wasn’t something that was thrown into our faces but came gradually and this fic facilitates that growth with key moments that add to that. A Great one-shot.

And the 7th Thing I Hate The Most That You Do (You Make Me Love You) by iknowpIaces

‘It doesn’t help that he really does look good in his costume. God, she hates him. She hates him. She hates him. Then, he has the nerve to smile at her. And Gina hates how that smile alone sends her over the moon.’ This is a completed one shot.

SOOOO GOOD. No one understands, I love the trope where one person has a crush on the other and it's unrequited (or it seems that way) but eventually it's apparent that they're also just as gone for that person as soon as they start moving on, or feeling fine with having their feelings not reciprocated. Then they're both just mutual pining messes, ugh I love it. This fic handles the trope with care and rina just comes together organically.

lesson in love by finelineholland

“Give me 4 weeks. I’ll help you out. Like… a crash course, if you will. 'How to be the perfect boyfriend for Nini Salazar-Roberts': A class taught by yours truly.” This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

A rom-com in the form of a fic. It’s so true to Ricky and Gina as characters and their dynamic. The writing is really good and gives so much in terms of plot. I really hope it updates soon because I love a good makeover/transformation fic, it gives she’s all that and geek charming in the best ways.

take me to the feeling by peculiarblue

‘gina meets a stranger at a party she doesn't want to be at, and let's herself fall in love for the night, wherever it takes them’ This is a completed one shot.

Katie does it again. Another classic that makes us fall for rina while they fall for each other under the stars. You can’t help but feel something for them right off the bat because theirs something about the cheekiness of the dynamic and so real. You can’t help but fall for them, a must read.

The Last Time by mytearsricochet

‘this is the one where gina meets ricky and nothing is against them. except for a few misunderstandings, forgotten birthdays, wrong people, and missed opportunities. because as much as love doesn’t care about time, this is the one where time cares about love. and with time, everything falls into place.’ This is a completed one shot.

SO UNBELIAVBLEY UNDERRATED. This fic is too excellent, it's everything rinas could want. it’s an incredibly well done long slowburn that makes you strap in for the ride. With all those teasing moments where they're mutually pining and they're just on the precipice of finding out their feelings for one another only to hold back and stay friends (until the end of course). The end makes you work for it, but so worth it when you get to it.

10 Days in “Love” by kindredspiritsxo

‘It was almost the end of high school and nobody had it figured out. Especially Ricky Bowen. His parents had recently divorced, he had no idea what he's doing for college, his longtime girlfriend dumped him the month before and now he's been replaced by one of the most popular guys in school.

To make matters worse, he leaves for Europe in two days for his senior trip. The same senior trip that said ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend were going on. So, Ricky did what any desperate teenage boy would do to try and get his girlfriend back: he devised a plan. A plan that included the help of Gina Porter and playing pretend for 10 days.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

I love a good traveling fic. Sometimes all it takes to get a character to wake up about things going on in their lives or feelings for character b is a good change of scenery. This fic does a great job of utilizing the enviornment to facilitate rinas love story through one of my favorite tropes, the fake dating trope. There's some angst along the way because nothing can ever come easy but it's not without its reward. It gives me major spiderman far from home vibes just solely because of petermjs adorableness and how that energy kinda translates to rina in this fic more so in the beginning before they have this repertoire.

on the line by peculiarblue

‘with everything in her life finally at a stand still for once the last thing gina needs is one curly haired skater to come in and give her a reason to change again

(or, gina lets ricky back into her life the only way she knows how, at a distance, through daily voicemails, until her heart remembers why she can't love him anymore.)’ This is a completed one shot.

It hurts in the best way possible! that is the best way to describe this fic. Were taken on a journey where I personally wanted rina to just talk to each other in person but the magic was all in the voicemails and the power of their connection. There was a satisfying ending, I couldn't ask for more. If you haven’t read literally everything written by Katie go read it, it won't disappoint.

but everywhere just brings me back to you by ptrprkrs

‘or, ricky is just a little in love with the voice of the girl at the starbucks drive-thru’ This is a completed one shot.

An amazing fic that hits every spot effortlessly, even the ones you didn’t know you had. Like Ricky being a lovesick puppy going to a drive-thru just to hear Gina’s voice for coffee, he doesn’t drink or like. All the while they’d been connected all along. I’m a sucker for any kind of soulmate implications or stories where people are unknowingly connected like that so this ones a real favorite for me. It’s sweet, lighthearted and funny and a great read.

About Love by goldenthread

‘a series of Interconnected one shots and canonical aus for Ricky and Gina <3.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

Here's where I enter some shameless self-promo...I wrote this recently. It’s just some loosely connected one-shots I have of rina based on canon. I write about an alternate first meeting, what would've happened if Gina had to understudy Nini in a rehearsal and (for a future chapter) a babysitting au (for what happened when Gina actually told Ricky the truth, she was babysitting her neighbor's kid when she talked to him at the skatepark). Check it out if it sounds like your thing!

in your eyes by finelineholland

‘you always try to hide the pain, you always know just what to say. i always look the other way. i'm blind, i'm blind. in you eyes, you lie, but i don't let it define you.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

There is something about Rina being written about from an outside perspective that is just so excellent. The story starting with Nini noting the obvious chemistry and their connection and being threatened by it, I don’t know it's just so pleasing to me. Another fic like that one of my favorites (one that I’m pretty sure I’ve suggested in my other rec list), pretend i don’t see it in your eyes by spobylol. Another absolutely excellent read that does not miss once. This story in contrast also writes from rina’s perspective as well which I also thought was well done.

right from the start I knew by anonymous

‘“Uh.” Ricky really didn’t think this far ahead. To be fair, it’s not like he’s ever thought ahead about anything ever in his life, so this is really to be expected. “We - forget about it? Maybe. Or like - I don’t know. I think I have to figure out how to be like - a person right now. By myself.”

“Same.” Gina says absently. “I’ve spent what feels like my whole life thinking about what other people think of me. It’d be nice to - to be able to try looking beyond that for a change.”

Post-Season 1. Ricky and Nini break up, but that doesn't mean things work out right away.’ This is a completed one shot.

The most iconic love confession I’ve read in a rina fic to date. it’s just so good, a certified rush every single time. The mutual pining hits spectacularly especially when you see just how soon it starts to hit Ricky that he’d made a mistake getting with Nini and him paying for that mistake. The writing only amplifies it. Also Ricky telling Gina he’s obsessed with her? yeah, I automatically added this fic to my list of faves.

If they only knew by goldenthread

‘Ricky Bowen never really bought into the whole soulmate thing (except he did) but life got in the way and now he's sort of pretending to date new (totally not intimidating) girl Gina Porter to win back the one and only Nini Salazar Roberts. Not a single thing could go wrong.

The one where Ricky and Gina aren't so good at the whole soulmate thing and they fake date.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

More shameless self promo, sorry y’all but I’m super proud of this one. It’s a soulmate and fake dating au, combining two of my fave tropes into one to make this (surprisingly) long fic. It’s a whirlwind of emotions and a lot of moving parts in the story. I plan on updating within two months then after that there's three more chapters until its finished :) hope y’all enjoy it if you decide to give it a read!

you are the best thing & the worst thing (that’s happened to me this whole year) by tophsgf

‘Gina's roommate Nini is unbearable. What's more unbearable, however? Her very charismatic and totally off-limits sort-of boyfriend.’ This is a completed one shot.

An amazing fic, I need more people to know about it! I really like fics where the development between Ricky and Gina is gradual, which seems to be the case for a lot of fics but for this one in particular I like its execution. Obviously, at first, he’s with Nini so it’s like the dynamic is at a point of comparison from the start but we quickly learn that thanks to good ole mutual understanding and overall compatibility Ricky and Gina are just right for each other. A fun read that hits all the bases.

#rina #ricky x gina #ricky bowen #gina porter #hsm #hsmtmts #high school musical #high school musical the musical the series #nini salazar roberts #rini #rina fanfic #rina fanfiction #rina fics #gina x ricky #disneyplus #disney

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madaras-housewife · 4 years

Text

Nighthawk

I’ve had this idea in my head for like 2 days and I wanted to put it on paper really badly so I wrote it on a whim. It’s poorly edited too so forgive me if there are any grammatical erorrs. 3 am vibes babyyyyy

pairing: Madara Uchiha x reader

length: 1.8k

tw: none

It wouldn’t be too contrived to compare Madara to the weather outside. He was a storm; majestic, grandiose and powerful. And yet, there he slept next to you, in the same bed you had been sharing for a while now. Had it been two years already? Your mind was too foggy to think about something even as simple as that; or maybe the pouring rain was at fault. It was almost too loud for you to hear your own thoughts, but you still heard them, nonetheless.

Somehow, you wished the rain could drown them out, the way you knew your newly planted crops would be soggy by morning. What a shame. Madara was going to be so disappointed after pestering you about planting a garden and having worked so hard on it. He had several skills, ranging from diplomacy to combat, but gardening was not one of them. Nevertheless, he insisted that it would be healthy for your growing family.

Even though your husband was near you, the abrasive feeling of loneliness filled your bones. It was always this way when it stormed, wasn’t it? Especially that night.

You turned your head to the side, squinting your eyes, but the room was too dark to see the clock. Carefully enough, you stood straight so as not to bother your man and rubbed your dry cheek. The thought of sleeping was way past you and, if you weren’t already certain about that, you definitely were when a billowing thunder roared so closely to you, you felt it rock your body with intensity. Before realising it, you recoiled and stubbornly balled your fists.

That night marked five years since Izuna had died. You only met him a few times, before you and Madara had become a couple. It often felt like the Uchiha compound was empty, as if it was missing something. Would it have been odd to say that you were missing someone you barely even knew? That was not quite right. In fact, you knew a great deal about the younger brother from Madara’s stories about their childhood, their squabbles and frequent conflicts regarding war. At one point, it started consuming Izuna’s consciousness, warping it into something dangerous, something that not even his elder brother possessed at the time; desire for conflict.

Whereas you counted years, Madara counted every day, even though he would never tell you that. It was obvious when he called that name in his sleep, almost every night, in a meek, broken voice that sounded nothing like the man you knew. If anything, he sounded like a scared child who wandered alone in the darkness. Even when you hurriedly draped your arms over him and clung onto him, his brows never fully unfurrowed.

Not even when he slept was he at peace.

Without realising, you turned your body to his side of the bed. Madara was sleeping on his back, soundly, as small snores parted his lips. He hated snoring and he swore he would never sleep in that position again, saying that shinobi must have control over themselves at all times. You smiled and promised yourself you wouldn’t mention it when morning came. All you wanted was to bend down to give him a small peck, but instead, you settled for brushing the hair out of his face, caressing his face so gently that you barely touched his skin. Your husband would usually wake up at the smallest touch, since you knew him as a light sleeper, but on that night, he seemed to be more tired than usual. Even in the darkness, you could make out that the creases below his eyes were a tad more prominent than usual. Peace was… exhausting sometimes, to say the least.

A flash of lightning cracked the midnight sky into two, brightening the room enough for you to see that he had a slight frown on his face. Your hand pressed itself against his forehead until you felt the tension slowly disperse. Now he looked rather calm and stress-free, as if a burden had been lifted from him. He seemed to have many of those these days and they piled up, almost forming a wall between the two of you. Deep within your heart, you wondered if that wall would become impenetrable, if you wouldn’t be able to reach him anymore.

You truly wished Izuna had been there instead. Though it was nothing more than an oversimplified solution to the numerous problems you and Madara faced(when, in fact, it wouldn’t even be that anymore, now that his little brother had been gone for so long), you liked to think that he could make your husband happy, happier than you made him. The comparison felt silly, unfair and unwarranted. You even felt selfish for thinking such a thing. Despite rarely ever showing it, his stares had grown a little fonder and his hugs a bit tighter since he received the news, and it was your candle of hope during the grim days, when he chose solidarity over comfort, working all night long, going on missions only to separate himself from the village and the clan which had caused him so much pain.

There would soon be another source of joy in his life and you wondered if you were up to the task. It was something that you had been ruminating over for months, but couldn’t quite put into words until now, though not exactly sure why. Maybe the chaotic life of inhabiting a shinobi clan had made it more difficult for you to truly look at yourself, to see what was inside. So instead, you chose to lash out at your husband again and again, until your anger poisoned him and all the patience he mustered for both of your sakes. But you were blessed with a headstrong man, who, in all that vast sea of insecurities and responsibilities, rarely ever mistreated your heart. Especially lately, when Madara had been sharing the same fears as you did.

On the other hand, Madara didn’t take out his anger on you the way you did. He lets all his fury simmer, lets all his misgivings haunt him, until everything builds up to a tempestuous wrath which befalls him out of thin air. That was how he was taught, and it was one of the few lessons from his father, Tajima, which he didn’t reject. It was what his father had left him with, besides agonizing memories of war. However, when his last sibling passed away, it seemed as if all of Izuna’s own burdens were passed down, leaving him with double, maybe even triple the cargo(or maybe, you couldn’t really quantify suffering in mere numbers, the same way you couldn’t with words).

Madara’s shoulders were heavier. You felt it every day, when you gave him the regular massage in the evening. What was it that you promised him on your wedding day? (It was hard to remember, now that so much had happened.) You promised him you would always be his pillar, so that he wouldn’t tumble when it was too dim to see what was ahead of him, (in reality, no one could ever see what was ahead of them; one can only row the boat facing backwards), but marriage wasn’t as simple as that. If love is controlling, then wedlock is a dictator. It demands a home, sex, patience, shared meals, babies, empathy and eternity.

Another thunder roared mercilessly, making the earth quake below you. Sucking in a sharp breath, you wrapped your arms around yourself, cradling your stomach. The disagreements had become too frequent, the scowls too obstinate and the distance between you too lengthy. How long would it be until you completely failed, until you wouldn’t be an adequate wife for Madara Uchiha anymore? Until you weren’t fit to carry his children?

The rain now hammered the ground, like a deafening fusillade of bullets and, in a moment of insanity, you thought it was taunting you, mocking you. It was so loud that you didn’t even hear the raspy groan next to you, until you felt a hand on your forearm.

“Can’t rest?”. His dozy voice seemed to have pulled you out of your disquiet pitfall of thoughts. Without facing him, you shook your head. The lump in your throat was too thick to even open your mouth.

Your husband then grabbed your shoulder and gently pulled you down, until your back hit the now-cold sheets. For a split second, you glanced at his face and noticed that his half-lidded eyes were locked on your belly, but as soon as he felt you looking at him, he stared back. When Madara noticed your pursed lips and glimmering eyes, he sluggishly crawled closer to you, turning you on your side until his chest was pressed against your back. Wrapping his arm around you, you heard him inhaling deeply into your messy hair.

You eased into your man’s embrace. “Did I wake you up?”

“No. Now come sleep.”, Madara said.

You meekly nodded, pushing yourself against his warm body, the worries gradually dissolving into nothing more than what looked like particles of dust, ready to be washed away by the rain. But when he didn’t hear you reply, he placed a deep kiss on your soft spot, the crevasse between your neck and shoulder.

“You’re going to be a great mother, you know. I love you.”

Could he have read your mind? You didn’t know, but you also didn’t care about the answer. You were at home, exactly where you needed to be, with the person you needed. In that moment, you realised that Madara was going to be a great father, too.

“I love you too.”

Your husband always knew the right words to say; it was as if he could hear you even when you didn’t speak, mainly when you didn’t even want to. It might be that he just understood you that well. After all, he had a knack for reading people. Sometimes you would curse that talent of his, but it was in rare moments such as those when you were infinitely thankful for it, for it all.

It wouldn’t be too contrived to compare Madara to a storm. He was a majestic thunder in the sky, capricious, striking fear and admiration into your heart; a grandiose ocean which didn’t fall from the sky, but was driven, torrential, carving mountains and earth to his own pleasure, omniscient, poised; the powerful wind, howling loudly, as if yearning for a melody to sing his tune, bending trees and tearing houses in his way, almost seeking to outrun everyone else, until he felt forlorn. The floods were promised, the might of nature had already been unleashed, but there would be sunshine and warmth by morning.

#madara uchiha #madara uchiha x reader #madara one shot #naruto #naruto imagines #founders era #konoha #tobirama senju #hashirama senju #madara

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moriarty-bibliotheca · 4 years

Text

—✧ ❝𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮❞ ✉

— 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 ✉

𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔: Hiiii Mina, I was wondering if you could do a Yandere Louis x reader one-shot? I was very happy to see someone else doing Yuukoku no Moriarty, I saw the Yandere William one and I have to say you write wonderful.

❝ 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 ❞

— 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹! 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

— 𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲/𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱

— 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱

— 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱!

☎ 𝒃𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒚'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔: my my, hello there love! thank you so much, i’m glad you like it! just like in liam’s one-shot, darling reader is part of the nobility who lives with the trio. reader discretion is advised! alright then, go ahead and check the story out. remember to read the rules if you plan on sending in a request~ terrible sorry that i haven’t posted for the past 2 days! side note for future darlings wanting to send a request: please please check the request status before you decide on sending in a request! that aside, please do enjoy your read, darling!

As you sipped on the finest tea that Louis served to you, you talked about your day to the younger Moriarty as he listened to you attentively. His two older brothers were out for work, so you and Louis were the only ones in the Moriarty residence.

“And lately, I feel like somebody is stalking me,” this caught Louis off guard as he looked at you, “do you know who it is?” asked the younger Moriarty as he sat in front of you. You looked at Louis and noticed his sudden interest in the conversation, you paid no mind to it and continued talking, “I’m not sure,” you said as you took a bite out of the delicious cake.

“But, it might be that one person that claimed to be fancying me,” you added as you looked at Louis who had a somewhat dark aura, “I see.” You gave him a hum as you continued sipping on your tea, “do you want it to stop?” asked Louis, you gave him a nod then let out a sigh, “badly, it’s creeping me out already.”

Louis let out a hum and smiled at you, you smiled back as you finished your little tea time with the younger Moriarty before bidding goodbye and headed to a tailor shop. As you walked down the busy streets, the sensation of being watched was once again present, you started to feel extremely uncomfortable. Your senses became sharp as you carefully and cautiously listened to your surroundings, you looked back to make sure nobody was following you.

It looked like no one was following you and you thought you were being paranoid, so you continued walking towards the direction of the shop and entered once you have arrived. “Welcome,” greeted the seamstress as you gave her a smile, “are you here for your clothing, your grace?” You nodded at her as she smiled and grabbed a box from the drawer, “a moment, please.”

“I made sure this clothing was perfectly made for you,” said the seamstress as she gave the box with your clothes in it. You thanked her as you gave her an additional payment, “keep the change,” you said as you smiled at her and left. Walking down the streets on your way back to the Moriarty residence, the sensation of being watched wasn’t there anymore. Did this stalker suddenly stopped? You decided not to think much of it and walked back home, you entered and greeted Louis, who was supposed to be there. “Louis?” you called as you looked around after placing your coat on the coat stand, “did he leave to buy something?” you questioned yourself as you placed the newly bought clothing into your room.

As you returned common room, you saw Louis placing his hat back on the stand. “Where have you been?” you asked as you sat on the couch, “I went to buy some ingredients for dinner,” lied the male for he wasn’t carrying a bag of groceries and you thought it was a little suspicious.

“Did the feeling of being watched stop?” asked Louis as he sat in front of you, you thought he was acting odd, but you didn’t want to seem rude by ignoring him. “Yes, right after I left the tailor shop,” you confirmed as he hummed and gave you a satisfied smile, “why are you asking?”

Louis stayed silent for a little bit before standing up and walking his way behind you, he leaned down close to your ear and whispered, “I only wanted to make sure.” His tone had a sinister vibe to it and his aura seemed to be different than usual, it did not help that he was leaning so close to you right next to your ear.

“Why did you ask if it stopped? Do you know something?” you softly asked as you turned around to face the younger Moriarty, he let out a chuckle, as if he was entertained with your eagerness to know the truth. “You’re asking numerous questions, my dear,” said the blonde as he smiled at you and caressed your cheek.

“You’re acting weird,” you confessed, “did something happen?” Louis let out a soft hum, “aren’t you glad it stopped?” You stayed silent for a couple of seconds before nodding at him, he gave you a smile as he placed a finger under your chin, “then, you should be grateful.” His vibe was starting to get eerie and the aura didn’t feel right as he continued looking at you with that smile.

“Well, I am grateful, but you’re starting to act suspicious,” you said as you tried to move away from him, he moved closer as he still wore that smile on his face, but his scarlet eyes seemed to have a glint of mischievousness, the situation was starting to get uncomfortable and you truly wanted to avoid it.

“My dear,” called Louis as he leaned in closer next to your ear, “at least no one will bother you now.” Then, you came to the conclusion that he might’ve something to do with the sudden disappearance of your stalker, he seemed to have noticed your sudden alarmed expression, he chuckled once more as if he was so entertained by you before grabbing your chin to make you look at him.

“Did you find out about it already?” asked Louis as you stayed silent, “my darling is ever so smart.” His words had confirmed your doubts as you felt a huge weight drop onto your shoulders, “what did you do?” You asked as you stood up from your seat and moved a few feet away from him, he let out a short laugh before walking towards you as you continued walking backwards till your back hit the wall. “Louis, this is not funny,” you said as he walked closer and stopped in front of you, he leaned in closer as you noticed his eyes were slightly glowing.

“Your reaction is priceless,” said Louis as he took off his glasses, “do you really want to know what I did?” You didn’t know what to say, you were curious about the entire thing, but you had a feeling that it will be better not knowing. Louis leaned next to your ear, he wasn’t going to wait for your answer for you still need to know anyway, “let’s simply say he’s no longer going to bother you or anyone with his presence.”

“You,” you trailed off as you felt like your words were stuck on your throat, “you killed him?” You managed to ask softly as you felt your heart beating quickly, he gave you a smile as he caressed your cheek down to your neck and said, “precisely, my love.”

“Don’t call me that,” you said, “get away from me!” You pushed him away as you distanced yourself further from him, he did not like your behavior as he gave you a frown, his glare was intense as his aura felt heavier and the atmosphere of the room already felt dangerous. “You’re one ungrateful darling,” said Louis as he glared at you, “don’t be so stubborn, my dear.” He suddenly disappeared in a blink of an eye and you looked around until you felt a hand under your chin coming from behind, “L-Louis?!”

“I did this all for you, my dear,” said Louis as he hugged your from behind, you stood there frozen as you listened to him talk, “I love you so much, I only wanted to make you happy. Hearing you feel uncomfortable because of some stalker didn’t set right with me, how dare that person watch over my beloved like that, taint you with their disgusting look, make you feel so uncomfortable. Oh, my poor darling, you must’ve been so scared,” cooed Louis as he caressed your hair and continued hugging you close.

“You’re mad as a hatter, Louis,” you mumbled as you stayed there frozen in fear. “Is it my fault?” asked Louis, though you did not want to answer him, “it was all because of you, my dear. If you hadn’t been so sweet to me, I wouldn’t have fallen for you. My, you have no idea how much I think of you everyday, your smile was enough to send me to heaven, your voice sounds like music to my ears, love. If only you knew how crazy I am for you, but it looks like you don’t even feel the same towards me, it hurts so bad, my love, and now you’re telling me I’m mad?” You had to admit that if the situation wasn’t like this, his compliments would have been deemed as sweet, but the current situation only made it eerie.

“Whose fault was it that I’m mad, darling? Whose fault was it?!” His voice slowly started to raise as he held you close, you did not speak as you felt like one wrong answer could be the reason of your sudden disappearance. “Well?” asked Louis as he made you look at him, you knew it was never your fault, you believed you were innocent, you did not know a thing about him harboring his feelings for you.

“It’s not my fault your feelings for me caused you to be out of your mind,” you said firmly as you tried to get away from him, only for the younger Moriarty’s grip to tighten as he pulled you even closer. “Not only are you stubborn, you’re also talking back,” said the male, “I need to teach you a lesson or two, love.”

He carried you as you struggled and thrashed around, having the slightest hope of being able to run away. He carried you to a room and locked the doors and windows so you wouldn’t escape, he threw you to the bed as he caressed your cheek.

“Now, now,” said Louis in an attempt to comfort you, “don’t be scared, this is all for your own good.” He wiped your tears as you sobbed, you wanted to run away and hide, but it looks like you were already too late. “After all, I love you.”

☎ 𝒃𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒚'𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆: oh my, this is quite long. apologies, it seems like i got carried away, i hope you like it, anon! thank youuu! also i’m sorry, loves but my requests are currently closed! please read the rules before sending in a request next time!

#louis james moriarty #louis james moriarty x reader #james moriarty #moriarty anime #moriarty #moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #mtp #mtp x reader #ynm #ynm x reader #yuukoku no moriarty x reader #moriarty the patriot x reader #x reader #gender neutral reader #憂国のモリアーティ #anime x reader

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therenlover · 3 years

Note

heyy jac I first wanted to say you are amazing, thank you for going out of your way to give us tfatws content. it brightens up my day whenever I see you post. I was just listening to your zemo playlist and I’m one of those people who when I listen to a song I love to make scenarios in my head. I was wondering if you could walk us through some of your favourite songs on the playlist and tell us how you associate them with zemo. I’d love to hear your thoughts on some of the songs. (if that isn’t too much hassle sorry if I’m being annoying lol).

Anon, you are currently my favorite person in the whole wide world. I absolutely want to give you my favorite songs on the playlist and tell you exactly what I see when I hear them, and you have given me an excuse to do so. This post will probably be long as hell, so I’m putting it under the cut.

Foolish To Think from A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder

We all know Zemo is a baron, but like... we don’t know how powerful baron’s are in Sokovia. We also don’t know pretty much anything about his childhood or rise to power. I am a firm believer that he’s been ever so slightly unhinged even when he was still just a normal dude, so this is him deciding “you know what, I’m about to climb my way up the Zemo family ladder however I need to,” This, in my mind, is the epitome of fresh faced, 18 year old, canon Zemo ready to go fuck some people up for power.

If Music Be The Food Of Love arranged by David Dickau

During his rise to power, still just a normal dude, Zemo falls in love with his wife. I’m a big believer in the fact that, because Zemo was raised as royalty, he knows a whole lot of pretentious shit like Shakespeare and recites it to his partner to be romantic. The line “Though yet, the treat is only sound, sure I must perish by your charms unless you save me in your arms,” is what he used to woo her early in the relationship. So cute, it would be terrible if something bad happened to her...

Bogoroditse Djevo arranged by Arvo Pärt

This one is more of a scene I get in my head. It’s a Christmas tune, and I can see him, his wife, and their infant going to their first Christmas market as a family in Novi Grad. Just... walking from stall to stall, giggling at the performers, eating the food, buying little gifts for the baby to remember the occasion. It’s a calm before the storm.

The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns

This song, in the playlist, marks the death of Zemo’s family. In the past, dancers have interpretted the melody as a badly injured swan, slowly struggling as they die but still being graceful and elegant as they do. As he searches through the rubble, his hope slowly dies, and in the end his hope dies where his family did. Thus begins his descent into madness in...

Daemon Irrepit Callidus arranged by György Orbán

Daemon Irrepit Callidus is Zemo’s descent into madness. From this point on, he slowly loses his softness. The tone of the songs is often much more modern, pulling away from his roots as a baron and man of high status and leaning into something more gritty for much of the Civil War era in the playlist. He has descended into hell and he believes there is no turning back from here.

Songe d’Automne performed by The White Star Orchestra

Reportedly (by Harold Bride, surviving Jr Telegrapher who was washed off the deck as the ship sank) this was the last song the orchestra played as the Titanic sank. Zemo is going nuts. ‘Nough said.

If I Believed from Twisted

This song, along with a few more, is an outlier in the Civil War era. It represents his reasoning for what he’s doing. I imagine this song is the feeling he has after he listens to his wife’s last voicemail. He’s doing everything for her, burning a whole superhero organization to the ground so that he can assure nobody else has to live through what he did, but he can’t deny that a part of him wishes he could just bring her back no matter how illogical that is.

How Does A Moment Last Forever (Music Box) from Beauty and the Beast

This is, again, a softer moment. He looks back on the time he spent with his family and tries to keep it safe in his mind. It anchors him to reality and keeps him focused on his goals. The end is coming soon in his mind, so he clings as hard as he can to those remaining memories of peace.

Dies Irae arranged by Giuseppe Verdi

He sets the Winter Soldier loose murders all the remaining soldiers in the Hydra base on his day of reckoning. Yeah, that’s basically it, it’s just hype music as he has his big moment.

As The World Caves In by Matt Maltese

His plan has been carried out and now Zemo is simply watching as the world caves in around him. He’s succeeded in all of his plans, the avengers are crumbling, he’s listened to his wife’s voicemail one last time and now he’s ready to be dead. He thinks this is it. Well, until he’s taken into custody and locked up forever.

Leonardo Dreams Of His Flying Machine arranged by Eric Whitacre

My man Eric is coming in clutch once again. This is Zemo, brilliant mind and all, stuck rotting in jail. He has nothing but his dreams of grandeur to tide him over So, he dreams. He dreams of escape, of his family, of what waits for him once he dies. 8 years of dreaming pass before Bucky finally approaches as Lacrimosa plays.

Lacrimosa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Fuck you, Mozart. You’re only here because you played in the show. Moving on.

The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani

You cannot tell me that this isn’t what was playing in Zemo’s head as he escaped from maximum security prison and rolled up to that warehouse looking all hot and mysterious.

Sibella from A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Look who’s back! This time, though, I included this because I am adamant that Zemo fucks someone he used to know while he’s escaped and they have a big dramatic love affair. Like, he just does. I don’t make the rules.

WAP by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion

Zemo would just love WAP. He says all that woke shit, so like, he vibes with female empowerment and the idea of them taking back their sexuality. He also loves the annoyed look on Bucky’s face when he plays it, so it stays on the playlist.

The Man I Used To Be from The Count of Monte Cristo

Now, this one is more speculative, but I feel like Zemo will have a minor change of heart. he won't suddenly be a morally straight good guy to the bone, but I think he’s seriously rethinking his ideology and at some point, he might find a way to let go of a lot of the pain and remorse he’s been carrying around.

No More from Into The Woods

This song, in my mind, takes place at the Sokovian memorial. Zemo is there and he’s so tired of running and fighting and grieving. He just wants to be okay again but he doesn’t know how to. He has this mental moment where he’s asking his deceased father for help and yet the memory (ghost?) of his father, who he resented for most of his life, isn’t helping him straightforwardly. He has to figure it out for himself in the end. This line speaks to me most. “No more giants waging wars. Can’t we just pursue our lives, with our children and our wives? Till that happy day arrives, how do you ignore...”

and finally...

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep arranged by Laura Farnell

Of all the songs on this list, this one was the only one I was absolutely certain of including and I knew it had to be the last song no matter what else I included. Its contents, a famous poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye, could refer to either Zemo or his family. In the case that he visits the monument, it could be the feeling he gets there. Finally, he knows that his family is somewhere better, not buried under the rubble of his home. He’s finally free.

If he dies at the end of the series though, it takes on a whole new meaning. It’s about him, how he isn’t trapped by his mortal body anymore. He’s now everywhere, both a constant reminder to the world of the atrocities committed in Sokovia and a testament to how powerful a father’s love for his family can be. Once again, he’s finally free to reunite with those he loves, but this time it’s he who isn’t truly dead so long as people heed his life as a warning.

Wow, this was longer than I thought it would be even when I cut a few songs... I hope you enjoyed!

#jac rambles #playlist #zemo #helmut zemo

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crazy-loca-blog · 4 years

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Personal thoughts on Open Heart, Book 2

Note: As the title says, these are just personal opinions on Choices books and chapters. Of course, you may agree or disagree with them, I only use this platform to express my thoughts on what I read every week and what I’d like to see in the next chapters, because none of my friends play Choices so I have no one to comment the books with.

It’s been a while since I started writing this post, I actually remember saying I would post it months ago. But then things escalated in such a negative way between some people, that I said “well, maybe it’s not the best moment to post this”. So now that the book will be back, I thought it might be a good time to revisit it.

Of course, as this was written before the second hiatus, it’s been done with the original plot in mind, and I don’t read spoilers and the book is supposedly being rewritten, it may be full of mistakes… it just took me so long to write it, that I don’t want it to go to waste! hahaha

I’ve read a lot of people complaining about the plot of Open Heart 2 being all over the place, and some people are worried about the “too many subplots” this book has. Well, sure, there might be A LOT going on in this book, but when you analyze what almost every character is going through (emphasis in “almost”), you’ll realize that they all have one thing in common: they’re all dealing with their past. Also, with a third book confirmed, I don’t think everything is going to find its closure in Book 2. But let’s analyze our gang (they are in alphabetic order, as usual):

Aurora Emery: This girl is so damaged that it hurts. She certainly had trust issues during college and she’s reliving them all over again. Of course, being Harper Emery’s niece is not easy when you go to medical school and become a doctor. Not only people have high expectations on your performance, they also want to be friends with you and you just don’t know if it’s because of your aunt or because they genuinely care about you. Tobias is not making things easier for her either (I’m so ready to punch this guy if he hurts her!), and our MC has been an ass to her lately as well. She truly needs to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m so waiting for the MC to have a chance to apologize because what they did was the stupidest thing I’ve seen them do so far.

Bryce Lahela: Even though I’m in love with this guy (I always say he’d be my BFF in real life), we knew since day 1 that he was hiding something. Well, it took us over a book to discover that his family has a very, very shady past that ended up affecting not only Bryce, but also his little sister Keiki. Of course, discovering that your parents are criminals when you’re a teenager mustn’t be easy, and Keiki escaping because she’s basically living the same hell as Bryce went through in the past has only made him relive some old feelings that he wanted to be forgotten. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can only think of some healing process for him that will probably not have its closure in Book 2, but in Book 3.

Elijah Green: Our boy Elijah has always declared himself a “nerd”. So, it doesn’t surprise me at all the fact that he had problems making friends while growing up. Also, due to his condition and what we know about his past, I bet his parents were super overprotective, making things harder for him. That’s why he is having a hard time when trying to keep boundaries with Sothy, his intern. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be friends, not at all (not only Ines and Zaid consider the MC “a friend”, but my MC is romancing Ethan, soo…). But he certainly tries too hard to be accepted (and not judged) by his intern, to the point that it becomes a risk for them as doctors.

Esme Ortega: Our new intern looks like she’s a tough girl, but it only took us one diamond scene to discover what’s behind her attitude. Her life has been hard and she’s basically facing the world alone since she was 14. Even though this apparently was a topic that was addressed and solved in the same scene, it’s very clear that she sees herself in her teen patient with leukemia. It’s very possible that her parents never told her that they were illegal immigrants, so she can’t stand lying to that kid. She knows how it feels. She knows he’s not a kid anymore and that his parents lying to him will only cause pain in the future. Hopefully we’ll be able to go deeper in her background during the rest of Book 2 or in Book 3.

Ethan Ramsey: Ethan is facing not only one, but two conflicts. The first one is a personal one: his mom left him and Alan (his dad) 25 years ago. Now she is suddenly back in their lives for some reason that we still need to figure out. Ethan believes she’s back because she needs money, and he might be right. There is also this idea that she’s actually sick and she needs Ethan’s help. This could also be pretty accurate. I actually think it’s something in between (maybe some stepbrother or stepsister he doesn’t know about needs medical care but they can’t afford it). The other one is professional: with the money problems in Edenbrook, he’s feeling all the pressure of having to make a choice between attending rich people who can afford their full treatments and being loyal to Naveen’s original purpose when he created the team (that is, to care about people who can’t afford their treatments). My thought is that, in the end, both his family issues and his career in the diagnostics team will be crossed and that this will become a turning point in the book (because yes, we still don’t have that “huge case” as we did have with Naveen’s case in Book 1).

Jackie Varma: Jackie’s issue actually hits home. College debts are a huge issue in my country, and I can tell almost every single one of my classmates is facing them now, even though we graduated a long time ago. It’s pretty common to see families struggling to help their kids to attend university and you can’t imagine how grateful I am that my hard work paid off and got me a scholarship that relieved that burden at home. So I can totally see Jackie in this situation: coming from a low income family who didn’t only become a doctor because she loves it, but also because she saw it as a chance to give her family a better life… and this isn’t happening right now. But she is actually doing something about it already, so she’ll probably be the first one to have her “burden from the past issue” solved, she just seems to need that raise that all residents are supposed to get… at least for now.

Rafael Aveiro: Our Rafael (who’s not going to die and who still is a LI in my opinion) surprised us when he introduced us to his significant other, Sora. I mean… what happened in that two-month period between Book 1 and Book 2? This is one of those times when I desperately need a diamond scene for him to explain everything. Because it doesn’t matter if he is your LI or not, he doesn’t seem convinced about this “new” relationship and you can’t change my mind. Also, the fact that he’s been taking more risks than usual is giving me some weird vibes (maybe he’s depressed and he’s been hiding it?). I’m pretty sure there’s something we don’t know yet… and I’m pretty sure that his conflict at the end of the book (if he is your LI) will be to decide between “staying in the past” (with Sora) and “moving into the future” (with the MC).

Sienna Trinh: Our sweetheart has had little screen time in this book, but that time has been enough to realize she’s having some serious issues, to the point that some people think she’s the one who’ll be dying because of how depressed she shows herself. We all remember that Sienna used to have a boyfriend certain specimen in her life, and how she dumped him in Book 1. Well, toxic relationships are not limited to love life, and that’s the case with her. She’s been repeating all the same patterns with her new resident, Mitch. He manipulates her and he’s basically abusing of her good will… just like certain ***hole she used to date it in the past.

Kyra Santana: I did leave Kyra for the end on purpose. Since the end of Book 1 I’ve been saying that she has to die at some point of the series, basically because we must be realistic here guys and we can’t be in denial: no matter how much we love her, our girl only has 10% chances of surviving cancer and before the hiatus, things were getting worse for her. Based on this… have you noticed how Kyra is the only character in the series (besides our MC) who’s not carrying some burden from her past? Instead, she just lives the present and she barely mentions her future, except in two cases: when she’s talking to the MC about her job interview, and when she says that her treatment “soon will be over”. To me, THIS SPEAK VOLUMES, GUYS!

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stranger-who-writes-fiction · 3 years

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♫ Surfing on a soundwave, Swinging through the stars, Take a left at your intestine, Take your second right past mars!

On the Magic School smelly space bus! ♫

SPOILERS for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #2!

This is a comic where, the longer I sit with a particular issue, the more I’m like, ‘yeah. Yeah. YEAH.’

It’s dense in a way that invites the reader to go through it multiple times, and rewards additional readthroughs.

Also, it helps that the art is FREAKING AMAZING.

Seriously. Evely and Lopes should draw and color everything, forever, always.

(I will honestly be shocked if they don’t get an Eisner nom for this book.)

Anyways, all of this to say: Another issue that I enjoyed. It has one of the most genuinely sweet Supergirl moments I’ve seen in the comics in a good long while.

So, if you’re looking for a quick thumbs up/thumbs down rating, thumbs up!

If you’d like some SPECIFICS, though...

THE STORY

King is an evil genius because we don’t pick up where we left off--rather, we start in the midst of the Space Bus journey.

There is technically a Big Action Scene, but I was honestly surprised by how...casually? the story progressed.

Essentially: Kara and Ruthye are forced to travel by bus because 1.) Krem stole Kara’s rocket and 2.) this corner of the universe doesn’t have the right stars, so Kara’s still recovering from being under a red sun for an extended period of time.

The bus makes occasional stops; they encounter a space dragon; Kara takes some Red Kryptonite and saves the day; they eventually arrive on a planet with a yellow sun.

And again, all of this occurs with a kind of...breezy ease that I was not expecting at all.

I assumed that the space dragon fight would make up the final moments of the issue, after having built up the problem to a point where Kara needed to intervene.

But, noooope. The space dragon happens somewhere in the middle, which helps sell the central idea that this is simply Kara’s life. She’s been there, done that. She’s a badass who takes it all in stride.

But! Important to note! Ruthye still marvels at the sight of Kara taking out the space dragon, as well she should, because:

OH MY GOD. THE aRT.

There’s only so many times I can say, ‘it’s phenomenal, it’s gorgeous, it’s stunning’ before sounding like a broken record.

But it is. It truly is. This is the prettiest monthly book on the stands right now.

(Realizing I’ve been spelling Ruthye wrong this entire time, maybe? IDK. Apologies if I have.)

It’s in the final moments of the book that we learn what transpired after Krem shot Kara and Krypto and fled: Kara managed to get Krypto and Ruthye to a healer, and then passed out for a week.

Ruthye and Kara recovered, buuuuut...

Krypto is still very near death because the arrow was poisoned.

The healer can’t treat him until he has a sample of the poison.

Which Krem has.

(See where this is going?)

So! Kara regains her powers! Ruthye has a super on her side! KRYPTO’S LIFE HANGS IN THE BALANCE!

Gimme. Issue. 3. STAT.

THE CHARACTERS

Very much enjoyed Ruthye in this issue!

There’s a really tricky balancing act you gotta pull off when writing child characters; you don’t want to just write them as tiny adults, but you also don’t want to be obnoxious or cloying in trying to write ‘true-to-age.’

King gives himself a bit of a cheat, by setting her up as a rock farmer from a...what would you call it. An old-fashioned planet? And thus the kind of character who had to ‘grow up fast’ and behaves more maturely than your typical pre-teen might.

BUT! IMPORTANTLY! This is tempered by placing Ruthye in situations where her (understandable) ignorance is challenged/put to the test. Like, yes, she is mature, and well-spoken, and utterly tenacious, but she’s also out of her depth, and still in need of help and guidance.

(Which is how we get to The Best Scene which I’ll get to in just a sec.)

TL;DR - this issue has really sold me on Ruthye as our POV character and I am officially Invested in the relationship between her and Kara.

Speaking of...

It’s KARA-CTERIZATION TIME!

So, okay. There’s some ‘eh’ stuff in this one, but, BUT!

We got the goods again.

And by ‘goods’ I mean this:

Whatever other nitpicks I have (and I do! Have one! Which I’ll get to!) THIS. This right here! This is Supergirl. This is Kara.

And what a beautiful line to introduce this moment:

“And it began--as most things begin when you’re dealing with Supergirl--with a moment of kindness.”

It’s the same gentle concern we saw in the previous issue, where Kara knelt down to address Ruthye eye-to-eye.

Here, Kara’s facial expression, and the way she takes Ruthye’s hands and shows her what to do...

It’s just. SO SWEET.

Ahhhhh it’s so good. :D

So good! In fact! That the above scene offsets my one complaint, which is that Kara came off as harsh, IMO, when addressing the bus passengers, looking for Red K.

Other good stuff from this particular portion of the book: we get Kryptonese (maybe? I think?) And a mention of Kara’s mother being strict about certain things, which is in keeping with the 2000s series version of Alura.

Ruthye also asks if Kara ever tried to avenge the death of her family/culture and she says no; Ruthye says that she heard a lifetime of regret in Kara’s response, which I suppose could be read one of two ways:

1.) That she regrets her choice not to avenge them, or 2.) that she regrets not having the option to avenge them, as there was no one person to punch, no single action that could rectify the destruction of the entire planet.

I personally prefer the second reading.

Which I suppose contradicts the recent-ish “Killers of Krypton” arc, but who knows what is and isn’t canon anymore, honestly. XD

As for the rest of the issue! I found myself thinking of a Grant Morrison interview, actually.

Morrison apparently met a Superman cosplayer at a con and that’s when the character clicked for them: “[The superman cosplayer] was so in the character, but what really got me was the way he was sitting. It was this absolutely relaxed pose with one knee up and the arm bent over, and that’s what broke Superman for me. Suddenly I realized that Superman wouldn’t be a poser, he wouldn’t be a Muscle Beach steroid guy; he’d actually be completely relaxed because nothing could hurt him. He could be so open and friendly to everyone because no one can punch him or hurt him. He can’t get a cold, or be damaged by anything you’re carrying or wearing. For me that was the power of that, whether you want to frame it as magical or not, it actually informed the stories I wanted to write. I felt I understood him in a way I hadn’t until that moment.”

That’s always stuck with me, the idea that Clark would be the most at-ease, chill guy you'd ever talk to.

And THAT, I think, is what we’re seeing here with Kara. That at-ease-ness.

But in a way that is distinct from Clark! In the above quote, it’s clear that Morrison thinks it’s Clark’s powers that are the reason he can be so relaxed and at ease.

But Kara is de-powered here. So why is she so chill?

Because Kara is an alien.

Kara’s in her element, here. She’s used to space travel, she knows the ins-and-outs, she’s not shocked by any of the weird stuff they encounter on their journey.

Love it. LOVE. IT.

I am SO GLAD that King decided to go with Kara being the wizened mentor, as opposed to the naïve kid learning to be tough. It’s a much more interesting angle, IMO.

Also NO MENTION OF RIVALRY BETWEEN KARA AND CLARK. WOO. LET’S KEEP THIS ROLLIN’.

Alright, last, but certainly not least:

THE GOOD BOY! KRYPTO!

When I tell you I stress-read this entire comic first thing in the morning...XD

And I am STILL stressed. And a little sad that Krypto doesn’t get to go on another space adventure but! This is MIGHTY PREFERABLE to what I *thought* was going to happen, which is that Krypto would die from his injuries, and Kara would likewise be out for revenge.

Fortunately, that is not the case!

So like, the stakes?!?! Suddenly sky high. Find that dirtbag Krem and GET THAT POISON BACK TO THE HEALER!!

ART and MISC. STUFF THAT I LOVE

I generally don’t like to post entire pages of a comic, or panels without context, but the...reach? of this blog is extremely limited so. I think we’ll be okay. XD

So, alright! Some moments that I particularly enjoyed!

One of the panels that Mat Lopes shared early on!

I want this lettered version on a mug.

(Also she looks very ’Grace Kelly-ish’ here.)

Love Kara’s facial expression and her line about space travel being more fun when you can fly.

From the same portion of the book--such a neat detail that Kara keeps her cash in her sleeve!

Another set of panels that I think Tom King shared a few months back.

Love Kara’s little smirk, and the, “I’m wearing a big yellow S on my chest, and a very fashionable red skirt.”

It IS fashionable. WE SUPPORT THE SKIRT, IN THIS HOUSE.

Also the slrrrrrrp. XD

It’s good.

Okay, 1.) VERY COOL SCI-FI DESIGN and 2.) that line is great. “Can you feel it, Ruthye? We’re getting closer. The stars are changing.”

Mmmm, them good cosmic Kara vibes.

Kara’s attitude about the Red K here is fun, like, ‘WELP, sometimes you turn into a monster, sometimes you don’t!’ but again, the line is what gets me.

“Did my hair move?”

“I do not believe so.”

Honestly? I could post the whole comic here. Evely’s vision of ‘public transit, but space’ is just so immediately...not ‘real’, necessarily, because there’s such a fantastical element to it all, but it is fully realized. I think I used the phrase ‘lived-in’ and that’s it--this world feels like it has always existed; every grimy nook and cranny, every rando space bus traveler.

And Mat Lopes’ colors!

There are like, five distinct color palettes at work in this issue, and Lopes handles them all masterfully.

I think my favorite is the...I’ll call it ‘ethereal space aquarium’ lighting in the bus as they view the space dragon.

The glow and the shadows and the blues and pinks...

GGGGGGGGAAAHHHHHHHHHH so goooooooood

So, yeah. :D

I am very much enjoying this weird, wild ride with small, precocious Ruthye and wizened, crusty Kara. XD There’s some stuff that I don’t *love* but my goodness, it could be a lot worse!

Let us end on the beautiful title page:

#long post #supergirl: woman of tomorrow #supergirl: woman of tomorrow spoilers #dc comics #kara zor el #comic thoughts #comic opinions

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ts-unpopular-opinions · 4 years

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Side Track Opinions Part 4: Patton

(Only three boys left! I think Patton may be the side who I’ve seen the least analysis about with regards to his playlist, so I’m excited to look a bit deeper)

1) Campfire Song Song: I don’t think the lyrics are very deep with this one 😂 You’ll find that a lot of Pattons songs talk about growing up, so I just find it fitting that a childhood song that probably brought Thomas a lot of joy is Patton’s first song.

2) Turnaround: Both Patton and Logan have songs from The Little Prince on their playlists, so my mind instantly goes to Logan. The song feels like Patton trying to get Logan out of his own head (““Straight (Straight), how can you be so straight? Life is everything but straight (Straight)” “Now, why don't you sing out loud? The tune you keep inside?”) He loves Logan a lot and thinks that sometimes he takes life too seriously and doesnt have enough fun (“Turnaround, and put your pen down”). Patton wishes Logan would relax and just enjoy life sometimes because he worries that taking everything so serious can be harmful (“How can you be so shy?” “Don't say hello, say hi”).

3) I Got a Name: Patton has trouble with Thomas growing up, we know this from the most recent episode. He worries that life is moving too fast and that he doesn’t know how to handle the change (“Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by”). Despite this, he has so many memories of Thomas’ childhood and he holds them very close to his heart (“I've got a song, I've got a song, And I carry it with me and I sing it loud. If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud”). Even though he cherishes these memories, he still thinks hes foolish to dwell on them and doubts he will ever be able to get over those memories (“Like the fool I am and I'll always be” “They can change their minds but they can't change me”).

4) Oranges: This song bothers me... Not in the fact that it’s a bad song or that its hard to understand, but it goes against everything we canonically know about Patton. While on first glance its a silly song about the words oranges and chocolates not rhyming with anything, its deeper meaning is actually more so about hiding away ideas and being afraid to make use of them (“How we take our ideas and put them in storage, But peel back the rind, who knows what you'll find”). If the song is supposed to be conveying Patton’s emotions, then I’m just confused. This song makes me feel like he wants to try out all of Thomas’ ideas and love every part of him, but we’ve seen his distaste for Remus is very obvious (“If you don't open a chocolate, who knows what you get”). I’m still on the train that Patton is the reason creativity split in the first place, so him saying things like these just make absolutely no sense...

5) I Don’t Wanna Pray: Although Patton takes religion very seriously and bases a lot of his morals on his faith, he has some doubts about whether religion can be the answer to everything (“Help me to the sun, hey I'm looking everywhere” “And now I don't wanna pray, no I say I don't wanna pray, no”). Patton has also begun to realize that God has created everything in the world, not just good and love, but also hate and pain (“I love my god, god made love. I love my god, god made good. I love my god, god made hate. I love my god, god made bad”). Perhaps this is shows his willingness to start accepting the darker parts of Thomas.

6) New Soul: Oh this is such a Patton song... Of course theres the obvious: Patton is Thomas’ inner child and encompases a lot of those feelings from Thomas’ youth. He hasn’t quite figured out how to function in Thomas’ more serious, adult life (“See I'm a young soul in this very strange world”). Then there’s lines like “Hoping I could learn a bit 'bout how to give and take” and “Finding myself making every possible mistake” that just feel so Pattony. He’s so lost and confused anymore when it comes to guiding Thomas in the right direction, but he tries his best. We can see that in the newest episode with him trying his less ‘assertive’ guidance. Despite this, he knows that he messes up all of the time and he feels awful for it. Everytime I listen to this song I just think of the “I’m sorry.... Again!...” line from POF.

7) Better Together: Oof... This is a tough one because its so loving and sweet. I find it hard imagining Patton singing to only one person, so I just like imagining him singing to Thomas, Roman, Virgil, and Logan. Patton, as we know, cherishes all of the memories that Thomas has created and that all of them have created together (“Our dreams, and they are made out of real things. Like a shoe box of photographs” “And all of these moments Just might find their way into my dreams tonight” “I believe in memories”). I also though it was super interesting that the song mentions “sepia-toned loving” because Patton’s room has a sepia affect when we see it in Moving On and I think this Patton’s nostalgia and this song go together very well.

8) Vienna: This song is so sad, but so sweet... To me, it’s pretty clear that Patton is singing to Roman (and obviously Thomas as well). He worries that Roman dreams too big and works way too hard in an attempt to acheive those dreams (“Slow down, you crazy child. You're so ambitious for a juvenile” “You've got your passion, you've got your pride, But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?” “Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true”). Patton wishes that Roman would be able to relax and just enjoy what he already has because he knows that Roman will only burn himself out in his attempt to accomplish everything he wants to (“Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? You'd better cool it off before you burn it out” “You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need”). Basically, Patton loves Roman, but worries that some of his dreams are impossible to reach and that is hurting Thomas.

9) It’s You I Like: This song is for sure about Virgil or Thomas. I’m leaning more towards Virgil because the next song is also about Virgil. Really all I have to say is that the title says it all. Patton is ready to accept Virgil for who he is, problems and all.

10) Little Shadow: THIS SONG IS IMPORTANT! Patton is the one who brought Virgil out from the dark sides, or at least convinced him to leave for good (“Little shadow, to the night, will you follow me?”). I think this could be a big reason why Janus and Virgil have a lot of bad blood. Janus used to be Virgil’s source of comfort and protection, but one day Patton just decided to fill in that role and do it arguably better? I’d be pretty butt-hurt if I was Janus too. That explains why Janus was honestly such a jerk to Patton up until the end of the most recent episode when Patton accepted him. I think Janus realized just what Virgil must have felt like way back when Patton accepted him. Janus realized that he wasn’t good for Virgil like Patton is and that had to have stung... I guess we’ll see what happens between those two in the future...

11) Sad: What do yah know? Another Virgil song! This one was actually confirmed by Thomas to be about Virgil so that makes it easier to analyze for me 😂. Patton wants to help Virgil get over his pain and history with the dark sides, but he doubt if anything he does is helping (“You're just too good at being sad. I'm just a Band-Aid on a broken heart. Yeah, I'm the best at making you laugh for a breath, and you're back in your head, you're so sad” “Don't know if I'm hurting or helping” “All I wanna do is take the sad from you, But I can't and you wouldn't let me anyways”). It’s sad, its sweet, its very Patton.

12) Oh Heart: Thomas has a crush! Basically this whole song is Thomas singing about being in love with someone and him begging Patton, or his heart, not to make a fool out of him. I imagine Patton get’s really confused and jumbled up whenever Thomas is in love because love can do that to a person! It’s really cute and I honestly overlooked this song on my first couple of listens through the playlist. Here’s just some cute lines I liked: “Who am I kidding? You're the one” “Oh heart, Oh Heart, stop making a fool of me” “You should look at me. Look at me!” “I'm going to make you laugh again”. With this song and Jumpstarted from Roman’s playlist, I’m starting to see just how hard to handle Roman and Patton may be whenever Thomas has a crush 😂

13) The Flame: This one seems really deep, but for the life of me I cannot crack it. To me it just feels like Patton telling Thomas that no matter how dark things get, he can always look to his heart for the answer (“But hold on for your heart to beat inside To be your guide”). I honestly get really creepy vibes from this song. Like Patton is trying to get Thomas to ignore all of the dark parts of him and instead just keep listening to him and him alone (“There will be times that grow darker with the dusk, But light will still remain in us”). This song is just interesting to me because it feels like one of the first instances where Patton believes he has all of the answers and doesn’t need the others help. But truly, I’m not sure what this song is about.

14) Landslide: Did someone say time to cry? Cause it’s time to cry! This is a PERFECT song for the ending of POF where Patton admits to being afraid of growing up and changing. I think this song is Patton singing to Thomas about these exact fears (“Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?” “Well, I've been 'fraid of changin' 'Cause I've built my life around you, But time makes you bolder, Even children get older, And I'm gettin' older, too”). It’s honestly like this song was just written for Patton and it makes me wanna cry every time I hear it.

15) Float On: One word... REPRESSION! Not much to say other than Patton ignores all the bad things that happen to Thomas and just tries to act like everything is okay. Not a very good thing to do, but very on brand for Patton.

16) With a Little Help From my Friends: Another song that I hate to take at face value, but I don’t really have any other ideas for what it means. Whenever Patton is feeling down or in a slump, he looks to the others for comfort and support. Think, Logan giving Patton the cat hoodie at the end of Moving On. Those are the kinds of vibes I get from this song.

17) What Makes the World: (edited because I was looking at the wrong lyrics) Basically Patton thinks that love is the answer to everything (“Love makes the world go 'round”). No matter what, no matter how dangerous or serious a situation is, you should always trust your heart (“Oh, I heard to turn away a neighbour, Is living without danger, But that ain’t so”). All in all, Patton has a very unrealistic view of society. He tends to always see the good in people which can be a bad thing sometimes.

18) Somewhere Over the Rainbow: You thought the last song was foolishly optimistic... well youre in for a shocker with this one! Patton basically just goes on and on about how great the world is. I’m honestly starting to wonder if Patton is even capable of criticizing the world and the people in it. It seems like the only thing he can criticize is Thomas. Also, like I said in the last song, I think this creates an interesting dynamic between Patton and Janus: One loves the world world and only ever sees the good in everyone while the other despises it and sees the bad in everything.

19) Golden Slumbers: I feel like this one is way too short to get a huge idea on what it’s about. It seems to me like Patton is just comforting Thomas and reasuring him that things will be okay, despite the changes that are happening in his life.

20) So Long: AHHHH THIS SONG IS SO CUTE! It’s very fitting as Patton’s last song as well, based on the events of the last episode. If you can come up with an argument that convinces me that this song isn’t about Janus, be my guest, but it’ll be hard to do. In the song Patton basically sings about how Janus can be a pain in the butt and really get to him, but they work well as a team and he wants them to stay together as a team (“I won't get too sappy, I had no epiphany, I just enjoy your company” “You test my nerves, It makes me stronger. So can you bother me a little bit longer?” “Because it's been so long since I made a friend like you” “I could dot the I's and you could cross the T's, Cause letters alone are lonely”). Basically I love them, they are great, they are best friends now, and that after credit scene still has me shook over how quickly they just became friends. We stan our divorced dads 💙💛

(Sorry this took so long guys! I’ve been procrastinating! Let me know what you think 💙)

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darkdevasofdestruction · 5 years

Text

Memories - Bruno Buccellati x Fem!Reader

"Hey, everyone, it's so nice to see you! This is Giorno Giovanna, our newest team member...Well, more like our new little brother, anyway. So please, treat him well since he's one of us now." I smile kindly at the 4 boys seated at our usual round table at the restaurant, as I help the blond boy in a protective side hug. "Mr. Buccellati, Miss Fiore, there's an old lady looking for you." the waiter got our attention. "Thank you for telling us, Mr. Lorenzo! Now, boys, please play nice and make sure you don't make trouble for anyone, okay? Also, Fugo, dear, thank you for having the patience to help Narancia with his homework, I really appreciate you doing it in my stead!" I clap my hands together in appreciation and hook my hand to Bruno's arm, going outside.

~~~

"Man...I don't get how she can be so kind to everyone." Mista sighed, leaning on the table. "She's always been like that, right? I mean, has anyone seen her angry? At all? Even a bit?" Narancia asked, ruffling his hair. "You can't tell when she's angry, can you? I mean, she hides it incredibly well...But I gotta tell you, the ones who hide their anger so well are actually the scariest. And yeah, I mean scarier than Fugo when he has one of his episodes." Abbacchio shrugged, looking away from the new kid. "I...I don't think I want to see Miss Katrina angry again. Remember that day, Abbacchio? I can't even remember why she was so angry, but she destroyed the whole house." Fugo could feel a drop of sweat run down his face, remembering that time. “Or the time when someone hurt Bruno so badly that she thought he died, and went berserk and burnt the whole forest?” Mista shuddered softly, remembering that accident. “Or the time when she was super tired and we wouldn’t shut up and she started throwing knives at us...Urgh, that really hurt.” Narancia bit his lip, looking down. "If you want to find something out, either ask her directly, or Buccellati, though I doubt he'd actually disclose any personal information on her. They've been together for a long time. They're very protective of each other...And it doesn't help that they act like everyone's parents." Abbacchio rolled his eyes, but the ghost of a smile betrayed his true feelings. "Come to think of it, Buccellati mentioned that she is very fragile, right? And to be careful when around her, so we won’t hurt her, right? Something to do with her past and how unstable she used to be. Well...It's not like I can say anything about that, considering how I am. Or the fact that she's always been patient with me despite everything." Fugo put his hand to his face, pondering. "Yeah...Same here...Hey, why don't we ask Bruno tonight? I mean, we’ve got a new kid here, we can just say that he wants to find out more about us, right?” Narancia got up from his chair with a victorious fist-pump. “That’s...Actually not the worst idea you’ve had so far, Narancia. What do you guy say?” Mista snapped his fingers in realisation. “Hmm...I suppose it could work. Well then, new kid, this will be our first mission as a team. Are you in?” Abbacchio smirked at Giorno, who merely nodded. “If it won’t hurt anyone from the team, then I’m in, yes.” he declared simply. “Then, it’s settled! And even better, we have a team gathering tonight anyway. This should go well!” Mista smirked in victory.

~~~

“Can you believe it, Bruno? Hitting your own mother...Honestly...I’d have killed him with my own hands if that were my child. Poor woman...” I sighed, looking down, sad at what I had witnessed. “It’s all because of drugs...Honestly...It just never ends...” Bruno’s distress was obvious on his face. “Bruno...Look at me.” I stop abruptly, putting my hands on his tanned visage, making him look down at me. “We WILL do the right thing. Give it time, I’m sure things will turn out the way we want them to, okay? I promise.” I kiss his lips softly, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear. “Yeah...We will...Thank you, amore. I was blinded by rage for a second, but you have opened my eyes. Let’s go to the others, we need to have a meeting tonight at our base.” he put his arm around my waist, kissing my temple before we went inside the restaurant, where surprisingly, everyone was behaving...Normally. “Hope we didn’t make you wait for too long. Come on, we should head to the base. Hope you enjoyed the food here.” I smiled at the gently, signing for them to follow us.

It didn’t take long for us to get to the headquarters and make ourselves at home in the living room, everyone taking the spot they were so used to, except for Giorno, who was rather awkward. “Giorno, dear, why don’t you stay in the armchair there? It’s pretty comfy, I promise.” I pat his shoulder, offering him my spot. “I’ll go make some tea and coffee, okay? You go on without me, I promise I won’t be too long!” I winked at them, before going to the kitchen and making everything.

~~~

“I can sense that you’re restless, for some reason. Did anything happen?” Bruno asked, intertwining his fingers together, putting them under his chin. “Well...You see, Buccellati...The new kid said he kinda wants to know more about us, since Kat keeps saying we’re a family and all, and he says he wants to be part of it. Y’know, since she acts so much like everyone’s mum, I guess it’s no surprise. We were all like that, huh?” Mista was the first one to speak, putting poor Giorno ahead to take the blame. “Hmmm...I see...Well, I guess it can’t be helped. It is what she would want, after all. What do you want to know?” Bruno asked, leaning back on his armchair. “That’s...Actually quite the question, Buccellati. We don’t know anything about her, do we? She’s the only one who kept evading the question.” Abbacchio pointed out, making the brunet man sigh. “...Under normal circumstances, I’d say that it’s her story to tell, not mine. However, there are some particular things that you all should be aware of when dealing with her, so we don’t end up with another burnt-base situation. This is especially for you, Giorno, who has only witnessed her mother-like side. The only reason I’m aware of everything is because I’ve known her for a very long time and I’ve witnessed things.” Bruno cleared his throat, looking behind him, making sure the red haired girl wasn’t anywhere near hearing-length. “This already sounds pretty serious.” Giorno commented, looking at his superior attentively. ~~~

“Buccellati, you’re going to be assigned a partner for your future missions. She is a new recruit, her name is Katrina Fiore, but goes by La Volpina. You will see why once you set your eyes on her, but don’t let yourself be charmed. She hardly ever speaks and she’s very reserved, so you shouldn’t have any problem with her. She’s incredibly efficient, but make sure she understand what truly means to be part of our group.” the capo instructed Buccellati firmly, as he went to a door, opening it, letting a girl walk through. “You must be Katrina Fiore, our new member. My name is Bruno Buccellati, your new partner. It’s nice to meet you, miss.” Bruno tried his best to be court with the girl in front of him, who seemed about the same age. “I know.” he voice was low and firm, yet held the same emotionless vibe as her jade eyes did. “Now, now, Katrina, be a good girl and follow Buccellati’s instructions for the next missions. I’m sure I’ll only hear praises, anyway.” the capo’s easy going chuckle irritated the girl, but she said nothing, her eyes boring into his sapphire ones. “Let’s go.” she muttered, walking past him, out of the building, as if she owned the place. “Where are you going?” he asked, rushing after her. “Kill.” she answered, not bothering to walk any slower. “The target is in the opposite direction.” he informed, yet she merely shook her head. “Not anymore.” her voice turned even darker, as she strode towards the brothel nearby. “What are you doing?!” he whisper-yelled, his eyes widening in shock. “Watch and learn.” she crouched and waited behind a wall, until she noticed the target get out of the brothel.

She kept following him for a few blocks, until he went to walk through a shadowy alley, where she was able to easily pounce on him like a cheetah, plunging her knife into his neck, while keeping her hand over his mouth so there will be no commotion. By the end of it, she carried him to the docks nearby, throwing him in the lake, with a heavy rock attacked to his leg.

“How did you know he was here, and not at his home, as we were informed?” Burno asked, completely bewildered. “Magic.” she cleaned her knife in the ocean, before putting it back in his sleeve and walking away nonchalantly. “May I escort you home?” he asked, not sure what to say anymore, completely shocked at what he had just witnessed. “No.” she looked at him with a deadpan expression, before taking off and getting lost in the shadows.

~~~

“I found out later on that she went home, only to get food and go feed a mother dog with her pups. She’d been doing that daily, as she says.” Bruno chuckled softly, remembering the shock he felt at that time. “No way...! Kat? That cold? No way!” Narancia gasped dramatically in shock, getting up from the ground. “That’s...Quite a radical change of behaviour, if you ask me.” Fugo tapped the side of his face, looking curiously at Bruno. “I believe there’s more to this story than that, correct, Buccellati?” Giorno asked, completely absorbed by the brunet’s story. “It’s only a month later that I found out that she isn’t as heartless as she wanted to make me, and everyone else around her, believe...But her violence was no joke.” Bruno continued his story.

~~~

“If the map is correct, we have to go through this alley to the left, and then straight ahead, and we’ll be close to the enemy’s house.” Buccellati informed, looking at the map. “...We’ll take a shortcut.” Katrina muttered, looking away from her partner. “Hm? But it says this is the shortest route.” Bruno raised his eyebrow in confusion, not realising first how he angered the girl. “SHORTCUT!” she yelled at him, her eye twitching, before she heard the yelp of pain from a dog, which made her widen her eyes and run to the alley Bruno was talking about. “Katrina, wait!” he ran after her, only to find her trembling on the ground, with a littler of puppies and a small dog-mother in her arms, standing over them protectively. “You...You...You fucking monster...What have these poor animals done to you to deserve this...? They are innocent from this world...They’ve done nothing wrong...So...Why...?” her voice was, by this time, much softer and dripping with hurt and sorrow, not lifting her head from the ground. “To hurt you, La Volpina! You think I don’t know that you killed my boss?! A whore like you, with red hair like that, doesn’t realise how easily noticeable she is?! You think I didn’t realise how you’d come here every day, taking care of those mutts? Honestly, when I realised my boss was killed, I thought it was some ugly brute, full of muscles and whatever...But it was just some frail bitch! Haahahaha! How ridiculous!” the bastard who kicked the puppies laughed at her condescendingly, making her growl in annoyance. “Buccellati...I know you’re there...Get out here right now.” her voice became harsher gradually, as she slowly got up, looking back at her partner. “Make sure I don’t accidentally hurt them while I kill this fuckass, got it?” she sneered, whipping her head forward, her long, red hair, like a bloody ocean, waving around her. “You?! Kill ME?! Are you insane, woman?! Pahahaha! As if you could!” the man spoke patronising to her, not even taking out his weapon, which made her smirk in victory. “Die.” she muttered, as she raised her hands towards him.

Before he could blink another time, the whole alley was engulfed in a raging inferno of fire, shocking both her partner and the enemy, who screamed bloody murder, cursing with no stopping, feeling his flesh being melted from his bones, yet having nowhere to run to save himself.

Soon, the Hell stopped, and walking towards him, she took the humerus, femur, radius, ulna and tibia bones, waved them around a bit, so they wouldn’t be scorching hot, and crouched next to the dogs, giving them the bones to chew on them.

“You’re so cute...You’re all okay...Here, let me heal you. Yes, baby, you’re okay now, don’t worry...It’s okay, nothing’s gonna hurt you while I’m around...I promise...” she cooed at them, with a soft a soft smile on her pale face, as the puppies kept climbing all over her, licking her face, while the mother was licking her hand, as a thank you for saving them. “That was a nice thing you did there for the dogs.” a forgotten voice called out in a gentle voice, which made the girl turn stiff with shock. “I-I-I...W-Well...I-It’s nothing.” her cheeks flared up from embarrassment, not being used to letting her vulnerable side to be seen by others. “You are a good person, Katrina. You shouldn’t have to hide that from the world.” he crouched down next to her, petting the mother dog, smiling at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” the girl looked away from her partner, much too embarrassed to say anything anymore. “I’m glad to see I’m not the only Stand User around. You are very powerful, Katrina.” he patted her shoulder gently, but the girl whipped around, catching his wrist and clenched her hand around it tightly, making his widen his eyes in confusion. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” this threat, however, she made without looking at him in the eyes.

~~~

“Aha! I knew it! She’s always been motherly!” Narancia fist-pumped the air, but was quickly shushed by the rest. “Shut up, you dead-brain fuckass! If you yell any louder, she’ll hear you, and we won’t hear anything anymore!” Fugo scolded the boy, shaking him violently. “You’re no better either, Fugo...” Abbacchio facepalmed in annoyance. “The good thing is that she’s not done with the beverages, at least.” Mista pointed out, earning a nod from everyone. “The next part is a bit more delicate. It happened about half a year after everything I just told you about. I have to point out that by that time, she almost broke my arm a few times for having this habit of patting her shoulder or back.” Bruno chuckled in amusement, remembering how hostile she’d be. “That sounds so hard to imagine now that you’re together, you know?” Mista smirked slightly, leaning back on the couch. “It won’t be so hard to believe anymore.” he proceeded with the next story.

~~~

“Great, another successful mission. The Capo sure rewarded us nicely, don’t you think?” Bruno tried to create a conversation, but it was obvious that the girl was thinking far away. “Are you okay, Katrina?” he asked, in a gentler voice. “Hmm? Did you say something?” she asked absent-minded, still not paying attention. “Nothing important, I was jus-” he began, but a muffled scream seemed to disturb the quiet of the road. “What...?” the red haired girl rushed to the place where she heard the scream, only to see a man chocking a woman that he pinned on the wall, her clothes disheveled, her face smeared with make up from crying. “You, godamn brute...!” she growled in anger, striding towards him and socking him right in the jaw, the sound of something breaking crackling through the alley, not sure if it was her fingers or his mandible. “What the fuck...?! A woman?! Wha’ the hell?!” the man spoke in a drunken voice, barely keeping his balance. “Get away from that woman. Right. Now.” her jade eyes were sparkling with abyssal rage. “No way! Get yo’ own bitch!” the drunkard was walking towards her, but the girl crouched low on the ground, kicking her leg out to swipe him off his feet, then straddled his torso, punching him in the face repeatedly. “You! Don’t! Fucking! Touch! Women! Like! That!” she kept punching left and right, until his face was bloody and broken, which is when she got off and slammed his head on the stone pavement, finally managing to bash his skull in, killing him. “Godamn it...Men are so godamn disgusting...” she muttered, as she got up and went to keen in front of the woman. “Katrina, are you okay?!” Bruno called out as he stepped closer, but the girl stopped him. “Buccellati, get out of this alley for now. This woman is scared after what happened.” she instructed, and with one look at the trembling woman, he gulped and nodded his head. “I’ll be keeping watch outside.” he spoke, letting the girls by themselves, while listening in. “It’s okay, darling, he’s dead now. I’m sorry that I let you see something so gruesome...I was very angry...I know what you’ve been through, but I’m glad I managed to stop it before things got worse.” the fox girl spoke in a soft voice, letting the woman cry in her shoulder, stroking her hair gently. “I-I-I was so scared! I just got home from work, and went to buy some food for my husband to cook at home, and this...This hobo jumped me into the alley! Th-Thank you so much for saving me...My God, I can’t stop shaking, I can’t believe something like that happened to me...!” she sobbed desperately, as the girl kept trying to coo at her softly. “Hey, your shirt is damaged. Here, take my blouse. I know we’re not the same body type, but it should look okay on you until I get you home.” Katrina took off her blouse, helping the girl discard the damaged shirt, and they exchanged tops. “B-But what about you...? Won’t it be risky for you to walk like this?!” her voice, shaky and concerned, as she gripped the red haired girl’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about me. As you can see, I can manage myself. Besides...I’m...Not alone.” despite all her embarrassment, the fox girl managed to admit that. “Was that man your boyfriend? He seemed very gentle...I hope he’s treating you right, like my husband is treating me.” the girl finally managed to give her saviour a tearful smile, while the red haired girl could only gasp and stutter, her face becoming redder than her hair. “We-We-We’re not t-t-t-together! We’re just working together! B-But that’s besides the point! Uh....Can you walk?! Here, let me help you!” Katrina helped her up, but noticed that her legs were wobbly - not because of the trembling, but because her heel got broken. “Oh no, it seems I broke my heel in all the commotion...I’ll just have to walk barefoot.” she sighed, but Katrina merely shook her head. “No. Take my shoes. They’re sneakers, so I think they’ll fit you well enough.” the girl took off her shoes, handing them to the victim. “N-No! I-I couldn’t possibly let you walk without shoes on!” the blonde girl tried to protest, but it was in vain, and by the time she realised, she already had sneakers on. “Come on, let’s get you home. Guide the way.” Kat helped her up, her arm protectively around her, and walked her out of the alley, where she stole a quick glance at he partner, but didn’t dare share eye contact, because of the shameful situation she was in. “It’s very close! Down the road, to the right, and my house will be up ahead.” the blonde guided the red haired girl, and soon enough, they arrived in front of a cozy looking small house, and through the window, she could see the husband preparing a romantic dinner for the two of them. “Well then, take care of yourself...And treasure the wonderful man that you found. It’s...Rare to find men like him. Believe me, I would know.” she chuckled dryly, patting her head. “Why don’t you come in? I need to give you a change of clothes and thank you properly and-” the woman’s eyes widened as she was refused. “Enjoy your romantic dinner. You won’t see me again anyway...But I’m glad you’re okay. Go on, don’t shy out.” Katrina pushed her inside the house, before shutting close the door and listening closely to the couple.

Inside, the woman jumped into the man’s arms, and told him everything that happened. The man, in turn, was angry that something so horrible had to happen to his wife, but held her tightly and reassured her, trying his best to make sure she’s okay now. The scene melted the fox girl’s heart, and taking a leaf from the tree nearby, she carved a smile and sent it from the gap under the door, so the girl would know she had no reason to be scared anymore.

“You truly are an angel...” a voice startled her, letting out a surprised yelp, turning towards the voice, guarding her torso with her arms. “Oh, it was just you...Honestly, don’t scare me like that.” she muttered, quickly adverting her gaze away from him. “Here, take this. I couldn’t possibly let a woman walk like this.” he said, taking off his top and putting it on the girl, who stood petrified, looking at him. “Wh-Why...?” she was barely able to ask. “Why? Because I respect women, and more, I respect you. Good people aren’t as often found...And yet...Here you are, in front of me. Your kind heart moved me, Katrina.” he spoke, as he gently kissed her forehead. “D-D-Don’t d-do that...” her voice, barely above a whisper, called out, like a little mouse. “Do you hate me, Katrina?” Bruno asked, putting his fingers under her chin, raising her head up to look at him. “N-No...Not that...” she bit her lip, looking away, feeling her heart beat a thousand miles per minute. “Then what is it? Why can’t you look at me?” Bruno spoke in an even gentler voice. “Because...Because...Because...I’m afraid that I will fall in love with you...” her voice trembled, as she hid her face with her hands, hanging her head down.

~~~

“Why did you stop?! What happened after?! I want to know!” Narancia’s voice was loud and obnoxious. “He hugged me and we became a couple, that’s what happened.” my voice called out as I was leaning on the doorframe, holding the tray. “A-Amore...!” Bruno gulped, not daring to look back at his beloved, who heard him tell some of her story. “Honestly...Did you really think I wouldn’t hear you from the kitchen?” I chuckled, shaking my head and putting the tray on the table. “W-Well...You see...” Bruno was left speechless, and he was, for some reason only known to him, more afraid now than when he fought anyone before. “Please forgive us, Katrina. We merely wanted to know more about you. I wanted to become part of your family.” Giorno tried to rescue the gang. “Aww...Giorno, you’re adorable. You blended in so well already...But don’t let these suckers use you for their schemes, okay? You’re too pure and kind for their idiocy.” I chuckled, leaning on the arm rest on Bruno’s armchair, patting Giorno’s head. “Do you forgive us, Kat? Please? Please?” Narancia pleaded, doing his famous puppy eyes. “I have nothing to forgive. I’m not mad, idiots. But maybe next time just ask me, okay? Now then, what else would you like to know?” I asked, looking at them with an amusement smirk. “How did you and Buccellati get to have such a strong bond?” Fugo asked, looking at us with curiosity. “Hmmm...Was it that time where you almost died and I lost control, then used all my energy to heal you, and I wouldn’t wake up?” I blinked down at my paramour, who smiled and intertwined his fingers with mine. “I think yes, that time is when we truly started trusting each other. We were one, not two different people anymore.” he kissed the back of my hand, which made me chuckle. “So? What happened?” Abbacchio cleared his throat, raising his eyebrow. “I can’t remember who exactly we were fighting, but he was a very powerful Stand User. I was alone and I started fighting him, but before I knew, Bruno came and told me to complete the mission, while he would stall him. By the time I came back, he was on the floor and he wasn’t breathing anymore. Next thing I know, the whole place was on fire, the enemy was dead, and I held him in my arms as I used my Healing Water to cure his wounds. After that...I can’t remember much, actually.” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “You fainted from using your energy too much, so I got you home and tended to you wounds. You were in a coma for about a week or so. You have no idea how panicked I was.” Bruno sweatdropped, sighing at the memory. “Oh yes, the best sleep I’ve ever had.” I laughed, raking my fingers through my hair. “And after that, I remember that I could barely move, but I kept cursing that my hair was super sticky with blood, right? And I cursed you until you agreed to help me wash it.” my chuckles carried on with the story. “I’ve...Heard more curses at that time than I’ve heard in my entire life, and I still stand by that.” he smirked, shaking his head in amusement. “Uhm, hello?! Do you KNOW how awful it is to have your LONG hair super gross and sticky?! Come on, Abbacchio, back me up here, I’m sure you know how annoying it is! Fugo? Giorno? Don’t leave me alone here!” I gasped dramatically, looking at all of them. “Well, Buccellati, La Volpina is right here. So? What did you do?” Leone smirked in amusement, resting his jaw on his fist. “Found a way to wash only her hair, so her wounds won’t get infected or hurt from the shampoo. I put her in the bath tub, with her hair draping down where you’d hold your head, and I’d wash it...You liked it so much that you fell asleep.” the brunet man sighed, looking dead inside, while the others laughed at the sight. “Can you blame me? It was super relaxing! And my hair was so soft after that!” I grinned at him brightly. “Yeah...So much that you made me wash your hair all the time after that.” he shrugged, yet he was still smiling. “You’re still doing that?!” Mista gasped in shock. “Why do you think my hair looks so great? I can relax, have nice little scented candles around, listen to music and sing, while he washes my hair for me. It’s really nice, you know? You should get someone to do that for you. It’s SO much better than any saloon treatment! And while at it, a little facial massage is always welcomed!” I winked at the boys in front of me, who were looking at me in shock. “Well...Now I kinda want that, to be fair...” Fugo muttered with a sigh.

That night, we continued gossiping about random things, until night came and we all went to sleep. While at it, I and Bruno lay cuddled in bed, him stroking my hair soothingly.

“Do you remember what I said, that time? In the bath tub?” I asked, in a soft voice. “If I recall correctly, you said my eyes were beautiful, correct?” Bruno asked, a tender smile on his face. “Yeah...And then you blushed and couldn’t stop looking in my eyes. And then you said the same about mine, and I looked away, because I used to hate them for so long. But then...I said that I loved you.” my grip on his hand tightened slightly. “I remember. And you put your hands on my face and put me down in a kiss. I was rather surprised, but it was a lovely surprise, to be fair.” he chuckled, kissing my forehead. “It was my dad.” I say my answer which confused him. “Hmm? What do you mean?” he leaned on his arm, looking down at me. “I have the same eyes as my dad. When I was 7, he left us, which made mum heart broken. After that, she couldn’t look at me anymore...She managed to survive 2 more years, before she took her own life, saying that she can’t live with the same person that reminds her of the one who broke her. That’s why...I’ve always hated my green eyes. I and my dad...We both became thieves. We both looked like foxes. Traitors. Deceivers. Liars. Foxes were always seen as nothing good...And yet...When I met you...I managed to change how I see myself. And it’s all thanks to you, Bruno. I was so afraid that I’d end up like him, that I didn’t allow myself to feel anything. So...Thank you. For making me realise that I’m not my father.” I confess my heart out to him, after so many years of keeping that to myself. “I see...So this is what managed to darken your heart so much. But, amore, you are my everything, and I promise you, I will never let you walk down that dark and lonely road again. You have me, and I will stay by your side forever. I promise. I love you, Katrina. I love your emerald eyes, and your red hair like a beautiful bed of Dahlias and Azaleas. Your golden heart that shines brighter than the Sun is what made me fall in love with you, but you are beautiful inside and outside, my dear.” he brushed my cheek with his hand softly, before leaning down and kissing me tenderly, making my heart beat faster than ever. “And you always know how to make me feel alive, caro mio.” I kiss him back with just as much passion, holding him close to me.

#jojo imagine #jojo x reader #jojo #bruno buccellati #bruno buccellati x reader #bruno buccellati imagine #leone abbacchio #narancia ghirga #fugo pannacotta #giorno giovanna #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo's bizzare adventure stardust crusaders #jojo's bizzare adventure diamond is unbreakable #jojo's bizzare adventure part 2 #jojo's bizarre adventure part 3 #jojo's bizzare adventure golden wind #jojo's bizarre adventure x reader #jojo's bizarre adventure imagine

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allthefilmsiveseenforfree · 5 years

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Candyman (1992)

All I know about Candyman is that I saw the movie cover innumerable times at Blockbuster as a child and it ALWAYS freaked me out. I think bees are involved? And a hook, and maybe a mirror? And the great Tony Todd, whom I know better from the Final Destination films, and whose voice is one of the all-time great voices in horror or anywhere else. With the new Jordan Peele-produced Candyman coming out this year (maybe...if, you know, movies ever come out again during the apocalypse), I wanted to watch the original for the first time, so I’d have an idea of what I was getting into.

Basically a couple of grad students, Helen and Bernadette (Virginia Madsen and Kasi Lemmons), are studying local urban legends and folklore in Chicago when they find out about the legend of Candyman (Tony Todd), a murderous spirit that haunts the projects in Cabrini Green and the poor black folks who live there. As Helen digs deeper into the mystery, strange things start happening to her until she finally is forced to confront Candyman face-to-face and then things REALLY go off the rails. So is this a slasher movie filled with racial tension, the precursor to more cerebral horror fare like Get Out or Midsommar? Or is this more Eddie Murphy Vampire in Brooklyn 90s ridiculousness? Well...

Much more the former than the latter. There’s a lot of stuff going on here, and not all the ingredients in the smoothie work well together. There’s a lot of good - strong performances, some great set pieces, and some truly tense, nerve-wracking sequences. My 7-year-old self was definitely right to be super freaked out by that VHS cover.

Some thoughts:

Ok this Philip Glass soundtrack is already really unsettling and weird in a great way. It turns out the soundtrack is one of the elements that really makes this film memorable and stand out from typical slasher schlock.

Ah, it’s based on a story by Clive Barker, ok so this is gonna be violent and sexual and uncomfortable, got it. [Ed. note: this assessment was pretty accurate.]

I don’t understand in what universe you want to like, play a Bloody Mary type game when you’re about to have sex. Is that what turns some people on? I’m not here to kinkshame anyone, but I just feel like there are other ways to court a bit of danger during sex that don’t involve invoking a murderous mirror spirit.

I am loving these oversized sweaters. Was any decade better for oversized sweaters than the 90s?

The set design is really incredible - this derelict building in the Cabrini Green projects is eerie, there’s an oppressive presence and an abandoned feeling to it all at the same time. And Wife pointed out that man, people really loved painting walls pink in the 90s, you just don’t see that kind of pink anymore. This movie has a really rich feel to it, like all the decisions were made with real craft and care. I can definitely see how this had ripple effects on other atmospheric horror, especially in urban settings, later down the road.

I can’t help but feel like our white woman protagonist is a tourist in a world she doesn’t understand. That sense of not belonging is a big part of the horror here, and at first I was very uncomfortable that this was playing into racist stereotypes of the young blonde white woman being threatened by all the big bad black people. But instead, the film humanizes and offers an air of protectiveness over the residents of Cabrini Green, and in many ways it is Helen who is shown to be the dangerous and harmful outsider.

The jump scares are real, and very effective.

Um what grad student has business cards tho, c’mon now.

Ah yes, the Clive Barker of it all arriving right on time with this completely unasked for child mutilation.

I love Jake (DeJuan Guy) and his incredulousness. He’s a pretty fantastic and emotive child actor.

Can I just say, Helen is really really out of Trevor’s (Xander Berkeley) league. I don't know what she sees in him. And it skeeves me out that he’s a professor and she’s a grad student because, although it’s never explicitly spelled out, I would bet a million dollars that she was his student.

Man, Candyman looking fly as hell with that fur trimmed coat and those shiny black shoes. “Be my victim” ok, Tony Todd, ok, I’m on board!

OH NO THERE IS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE TO A DOG. IT’S VERY GRAPHIC AND SUDDEN AND UPSETTING EVEN THOUGH IT’S FAKE LOOKING.

There’s also a lot of tasteful sideboob if you’re into that sort of thing.

You know, grad school was a stressful time for me, but at least I can say I was never woke up covered in blood and was accused of murder.

This dramatic motherfucker flying out the window backwards. Between this and the outfit, Candyman is extra AF.

I can’t get over how much Virginia Madsen resembles Gillian Anderson in early X-Files days. It’s similar facial structure and those big eyes, sure, but a lot of it is this hair as well. As any millenial lesbian can tell you, Gillian Anderson in early X-Files days was Very Important to our cause, so uh, I’m pretty into Helen’s whole vibe honestly.

At first I thought this was going to be about racial symbolism and Candyman being a physical embodiment of the horrors inflicted upon the black community in urban environments, but thigs get muddy with this whole murder plot and framing of Helen as this victim of some supernatural conspiracy theory, and I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to take from it? But damn, this is compelling and stressful.

OK but if she’s been in the hospital for a month, then this baby has been in this dirty ass room for a month with only a dramatic hook spectre man taking care of him? What did he feed baby Anthony?? I happen to know that he’s covered in bees and babies can’t eat honey.

Why do they have a giant paperclip on their wall as decoration?

The actor who plays Trevor, Xander Berkeley, is so burned in my memory as the foster dad from Terminator 2 that I keep expecting him to make the same dumb face while he’s covered in blood (because let’s face it, I’m expecting EVERYONE to die in this movie, and he’s been particularly shitty) and ope time almost ran out but there it is! 1991/1992 were the glory days for this guy dying bloody in movies.

Did I Cry? No, but I was VERY distressed about that dog :(

Overall, I can definitely see why this has entered the cult classic pantheon. Strong central performances from Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd carry a lot of this film, but there are elements that I’m still confused about, mainly due to a muddled and overstuffed plot. The racial injustice and lynching feels like rich material to draw from but then why is the belief in Candyman yielding the murders of other black people living in Cabrini Green? I would think the vengeance would be on the heads of the folks who actually did the lynching. Why did he have to kidnap the baby? Was it for leverage to get Helen to do what he wanted? Surely someone she had a stronger personal connection to - Bernadette, probably - would have been a wiser choice? And if, instead, this is all some Dracula-esque plot to reconnect with the reincarnated spirit of his long lost love, what on earth was all this other bullshit about? It’s a movie that works best when you don’t ask too many questions about it, and the soundtrack and visuals - especially that mouthful of bees - are ones that are going to stick in my memory for a long time.

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

#120in2020 #candyman #candyman 1992 #candyman review #tony todd #virginia madsen #xander berkeley #kasi lemmons #dejuan guy #movie reviews #film reviews #horror reviews

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wolf-555-writer · 6 years

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Heating Up Part 2

Apparently I always need to write more parts or something... Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Read part 1

Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost x Meta Reader

Summary: Due to Catlin’s ‘unstable’ powers, she leaves Team Flash to go her own way. You respect that but hope to see her again, which will of course happen. Eventually leading to an ‘interesting’ encounter with Killer Frost.

Word Count: 2,180

Jumping through a strange looking portal together with Caitlin and Cisco, you harmlessly land in the cortex at STAR Labs again. Still needing to get used to this type of travelling as your face clearly depicts, displaying an extremely disoriented expression. But nobody has noticed it, because they all immediately rush towards Caitlin. Glad that their Caitlin has safely returned. That’s why you decide to search for a chair to sit on and relax. Besides, you don’t want and also don’t feel the need to interfere in their happy ‘family’ encounter. Exhaling deeply, you completely relax in the seat you found in front of a couple of computer screens. Closing your eyes to rest up for a bit.

After some minutes have passed you perceive a sudden mood change, hearing the tone in Cisco’s voice become bitter. Attentively opening your eyes and turning your head in their direction, you see them arguing with each other. Apparently a discussion ignited? Cisco is using an excessive amount of arm gestures, swinging them around, nearly hitting Iris. And Barry is just standing there, completely frozen, probably thinking of a proper response to give. Then you faintly hear your name calling.

What are they talking about? About me? You start to listen to their conversation, because, well- you are a little curious. It appears that Caitlin feels the need to leave, go her own way as the ‘old’ Caitlin Snow is no more. She needs to discover her powers, and thereby her alter-ego Killer Frost, on her own. Away from her friends.

The other members of Team Flash obviously disagree, so you clearly noticed. They don’t get why she wants to leave. Because finally they’ve found somebody who can help her control her powers, namely you. All eyes are now fixed on you while you sit there awkwardly in a not-so-charming pose.

I don’t want to get mixed up in this. Caitlin can make her own decisions, right?

You simply stand up and decide to go since this is not your problem to fix. Do they want you to take sides or something? You quickly walk away, leaving them as they stare at you in total confusion. Exiting with the announcement: “If you guys need me, I’ll be at Jitters!”. Not even being able to hear if they’ve responded to your abrupt departure.

By the time you enter the brightly illuminated place, you instantly smell the magical aroma of coffee. It’s amazing, right? Craving some well-deserved caffeine after the adventure in the dark, misty woods, you order your favorite hot drink. Placing yourself on the comfortable couch, you immediately take a gentle sip from the coffee mug. Benefits of your power: managing the perfect consuming temperature of a beverage. Very important of course.

Suddenly Caitlin enters through the glass doors, wandering inside, explicitly searching for someone.

“Hi, is it okay if I sit here?”, she carefully asks. “Sure”, you answer, not expecting this visit. Sensing your heart rate rising, you get a little nervous. “Everything okay with your friends?”, you continue, curious about the outcome of their disagreement.

“Don’t worry about that”, she returns, deflecting the question. “I actually came here to thank you. For your help. For saving me.”

“Oh- Eh.. N-no problem”, you stammer, slightly startled by her gratefulness as your heart skips a beat. “If you by the way ever need my help again, I’ll be there”. Hoping she’ll take you up on the offer. You most certainly do not want this moment to be your last with her, even though you just met her.

“Thanks”, she responds while she timidly tilts her head towards the floor, noticing a slight blush on her cheeks. “But I decided to leave Central City for a while. Go my own way. Try to figure out my powers, by myself. So, you won’t be bothered by me anymore”, she declares, probably still feeling extremely guilty about the events that happened when she was her alter-ego. But you don’t care what she did or didn’t do, because it wasn’t her fault, right?

“No, it really is no trouble! I am always happy to help”, you reply, clearly showing your instinct to assist and serve people in need. Especially to someone like the woman in front of you.

“But I do respect your choice. It’s been a pleasure meeting you Caitlin Snow”, you reveal with a smile while you stand up. Eyes locked with her beautiful brown ones. You feel lost again. A warmth rippling through you as soon as your hands touch. “It was also nice meeting you, (Y/N) (Y/L/N)”, she friendly responds, smiling warmly. She softly lets go of your hand and you watch her walk away, exiting Jitters. You’re overtaken by intense happiness, hoping you will meet her again, preferably someday soon.

///

From that day on you’ve helped the team, assisted them on missions if The Flash is in need of your services. You’re still a firefighter though, and in your free time you mostly hang out at STAR Labs with the new friends you made. Just like on this random, ordinary day.

“I'm back!”, you call out, carrying everyone's favorite order from Jitters. You abruptly stop, doing whatever it takes to not drop the different types of coffee as you stare at her.

“Caitlin?”

“Hi (Y/N)”. Listening to her beautiful voice, calling your name gently, you’re just gaping at her a little too long while being totally speechless.

“Everything okay (Y/N)?”, Iris questions now that they all gaze at you in confusion, not knowing what the hell you’re doing.

“Yeah… eh s-sorry. So, you’re back”, you stutter a bit, asking Caitlin this fundamental question. The first thing you notice is that she’s wearing a badass leather jacket. It suits her. It suits her perfectly.

“Well… not exactly. I mean, I came here because I need a little help from you guys”, she responds, causing that grin on your face to quickly disappear.

“Ow… okay”, carefully setting the hot drinks down on the desk in front of you. Honestly... you were kind of hoping for a different answer.

Caitlin continues to discuss the pressing matter with Cisco and Barry as Iris marches up to you. Pulling you away to create just enough distance so that the others cannot hear her announce the following: “You could just ask her out, to grab a drink with you. You know, like normal people do…”. She lifts an eyebrow, seeing right through you.

“Yeah... I could”, you respond, gaze now fixed on the bleak floor. “But, um, I actually have to be somewhere else right now. So... I'll ask her later. Maybe.”

“Gotta go!”, you state whilst advancing your pace, swiftly exiting the cortex. You can still catch a glimpse of Iris who's dramatically rolling her eyes and sighs. Honestly, Iris is right. Behaving like this is not gonna get you anywhere with Caitlin. There is no denying in that and you know it.

///

Driving in your car, listening to your favorite music while trying to clear your mind a little because you can't stop thinking about what Iris said.

I mean of course I can ask her on a date… But what if she doesn't like me? Or what if I ruin everything? Or what if she blows me off right away? Or-

Your rambling thoughts are interrupted by the sound of your phone. Probably got a text message. But you'll check it later when you’re not driving anymore.

Parking the car at the usual spot, you walk towards the fire station. It seems quiet. Meaning you can easily go inside, undetected. While walking you grab the phone out of your pocket to read the message you received earlier. Seeing it's from Cisco you quickly open it.

Helping Caitlin atm. Not at STAR labs in case you were wondering

Great… You're truly disappointed that they went without you. But okay- maybe you shouldn’t have left then. Or they weren’t in need of your assistance after all even if you had stayed. It sucks either way.

With a grumpy face you wander inside the station and encounter a colleague of yours. Because obviously the place wasn't entirely abandoned.

“Wait- I thought you had the day off?”, she asks. She looks at you confused, frown appearing on her face.

“Um…”, you pause since you can’t think of an excuse. You could tell the truth, but you do not want to because you're kind of embarrassed. Dashing towards the lockers you respond with something like: “I forgot, eh, some important things, so, um- yeah.”

Not doing much, just relaxing and hanging out at the station, contemplating life and stuff, you receive a text from Iris and calmly read it. You instantly snap out of the relaxed state due to the words that appeared on the screen. All the muscles in your body activate. You don't hesitate and quickly get up, jumping out of the chair. Sprinting full speed towards your car while swiftly searching for the car keys, heading out in an enormous rush. Practically feeling like you’re just as fast as The Flash is right now.

///

Arriving in some dark, shady alley. Barely any light shining through due to the tall, grim buildings surrounding it. Nice place… is this seriously the correct location? Iris had reached out to you with an emergency text, declaring Team Flash is in deep, deep trouble. But she only gave you that, and of course the address, as information. So you have absolutely no freaking idea what you’ll run into. And with no cell reception you can’t call her back. Well prepared...

Jolting your head towards an echoing, loud noise coming from inside one of the old buildings. That sounded like a nasty fight had come to a devastating end... You’ve spotted the damaged, rusty door and quickly enter. As you walk inside, heartbeat pounding and hands becoming sweaty, you feel daunted and stop.

“How bad will it be? If The Flash and Vibe can’t even handle it? Am I able to handle it? I guess I have to...

Accelerating your pace while inspecting the depressing environment now flying by you. It’s dimly lit in the small passage you’d entered. A rather disturbing smell hits you. Definitely the moldy scent from the humid walls surrounding you, therefore covering your nose with your right forearm. It has become awfully quiet here. Not catching a glimpse of Barry or Cisco around, you begin to doubt again if this is the correct place.

What kind of help did Caitlin even need?! you ask yourself in frustration. You can’t seem to apprehend what sort of mess she has gotten herself into. Suddenly a figure appears in the light at the end of the hallway where you’re running towards.

Thank god, it’s Caitlin. But wait- is it? Is it her…? You recognize her black leather jacket you admired earlier today. However... Snow white hair. Silver eyes. No- it’s Killer Frost. Guess this is the reason your urgent presence was required. Apparently Caitlin still can’t control her powers.

“So. You came back for another round? Heat things up again?“, she sneers at you, also perceiving a minor fraction of anger laced in her voice. Yeah... probably some hard feelings about the confrontation you had with her in the misty woods a while ago.

“Just came here to help”, you calmly answer -or try to- because you sensed the trembling in your voice since you’re maybe a little frightened.

“I don’t need your help. I don’t need any help at all. This is all Caity’s fault”, she continues agitated, averting her gaze from you. Taking advantage of that as you covertly shift towards her. Slowly closing the distance without being too obvious. Because if you want to change her back into Caitlin, you at least have to be near her.

You stop as she suddenly turns to you, her eyes focused on your form. “You know, Caity actually wanted to ask you”. “Wanted to ask me what?”, you respond ignorant, slightly relaxing your state around what appears to be a cooled-off Killer Frost.

She spotted you had moved closer and teases: “Oh, and don’t turn me back into Caitlin, hot stuff. Not yet”. A bit dazzled by the flirty nickname she just gave you, almost forgetting your true purpose here. Hold up- did she just send you a brief, desiring wink...?

Still several meters away from her, you’re able to see her features more clearly. Now face to face with Killer Frost. Staring into her chilly, glimmering eyes as you start to heat up -uh... because of your powers.

Out of nowhere, without any reason at all, she aimed both her arms in your direction in an instant. A shockwave of cold air is thrown your way, generated by her deadly powers. You freeze. Well- not literally. At least… not yet. Will you be able to evade the rapidly progressing cold fog in time? You already brace yourself for the cruel impact of the sharp, ice-cold blast that will most definitely strike you in mere seconds...

continue with part 3

#caitlin snow #caitlin snow x reader #caitlin snow imagine #caitlin x reader #killer frost #killer frost x reader #killer frost imagine #caitlin snow x you #killer frost x you #caitlin snow fic #the flash #barry allen #cisco ramon #iris west #wlw fiction #wlw imagine #fanfiction #killer frost fic

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inkth · 6 years

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cream of the crop pt. 1

pairing → mygxreader

genre → angst (in future parts), fluff

warnings → for this part, there are no warnings

word count → 6.6k

okAY so fyi this is unedited for now and i might come back to switch certain things up but oh my god in bon voyage there was a part where yoongi got a strawberry milkshake and i stg this was in my wip waaaay before that so when i saw the gif i think i wailed a bit bc he made it literally canon my friends!!!! hope u enjoy this guys im chwishfsdkfhl

Yoongi just wanted a god damn strawberry milkshake to release work stress. not to be grabbed by the arm by a stranger begging him to role play as some perfect boyfriend or another.

There are a variety of absurd experiences Min Yoongi has been unfortunate enough to cross within his current lifetime.

Thinking back, there was that time Yoongi picked up the phone to his childhood best friend Kim Namjoon, who thought he was being robbed by foreigners on the side of the street at one in the afternoon, and frantically asked Yoongi to please come save him by the way its the sidewalk on 44th street bring a gun!

“What kind of fucking robbers let you make a phone call, dumbass?” Yoongi barked into the phone, pretty upset that his afternoon nap was interrupted by some nonsensical disturbance.

“Oh shit Yoongi, you’re probably right,” Namjoon exhales and stays on the phone with him though, as he tries to solve the mystery of the tourists who just wanted to let Namjoon know that he had dropped a couple bills. They were discreetly carrying knives because they were opening a wood carving stand a block over, Namjoon explained later. Yoongi was quite the unamused listener.

There was another time in his already awfully long life when Yoongi himself was found caught in the middle of a fight between a Minecraft gamer and a ballerina carrying a flower vase, but that was a long story where it finally ended with him being released from custody as soon as the police had determined his innocence.

Or that other glitch in his simulation of a life when he had to bring nine cats home with him after work. Yoongi never knew he had a cat allergy, but he learned it the hard way that night as he sneezed so hard for so long till he couldn’t hear anything out of his ears.

So when Yoongi is feeling something in the air tickle his nugget of a brain that he should skip his ritual milkshake tonight and head on home right away to avoid whatever this coming disturbance is, Yoongi does what Yoongi does best, and he ignores his intuition because who cares, what Yoongi wants is his McFreaking milkshake.

Everything goes smoothly. Yoongi successfully orders a milkshake at the bar. He successfully receives the right order. He successfully starts to drink the milkshake in the quiet serenity of two am on a Monday.

But then he fails to leave as soon as she comes in the door, the same girl who legitimately flings the entrance open like some wild animal and he is so horrified he can’t look away from this scene and makes the mistake of meeting your gaze.

The damage is done, however. He knows you’ve selected him as your prey among the barren tables save for one lady picking up fries togo and the waitress staring at you in fear.

“Lady, please get off me,” he groans, pulling your fingers off his biceps as if they’re blood hungry leeches. His arm is free for maybe a second before your fingers fly back, grip stronger than before and this time Yoongi really can’t do much with just the one tired, exhausted hand; the one that isn’t holding the milkshake glass.

He’s whispering a string of curses and damnations at One Week Ago Yoongi for slacking with working out. Or any of his past Yoongis, really. He rests his head on the tips of his fingers, weighing down on his elbow angled onto the table.

“You don’t understand,” you wheeze dramatically, eyes round with terror. Uh, hello? I don’t care enough to understand, Yoongi mentally comments. “My parents, they-“

Sure, you might’ve been exaggerating everything a little, but what’s a little show and extravagance when your damn life is on the line? A matter of life and death knows no tranquility.

He looks at you half lidded; boredom and ‘are you really still talking to me Ican’tbelievetheaudacity’ washing over his face doing a whole awful lot to create a grave aura around him. You can physically see the deathly ash gray energy come off him in waves like something from an anime.

At this point, Yoongi’s thinking he might just ditch you, make a run for it to never see your crazy ass again and the idea is so tempting but instead, he responds. He’s not too sure why, although it’s probably ‘cause he’s paid an awful lot for this deliciously overpriced milkshake that has yet to be completely consumed. But the fact of the matter is he does respond, even thought you’re clearly not in the right state of mind and he really should be telling you to go home.

“Listen, they’re not gunna care if your boyfriend’s a bum. It’s your life anyways, why would they care?” Yoongi notices he’s got about another sip or two of his milkshake and then he can hightail it outta this joint and a certain spazz grabbing onto him.

You let go of his arm, thinking maybe you came off a little too strong and run your hands over your hair to pat down the flyaways contributing to the messy, crazed look.

“Now, I really absolutely must get going… miss,” Yoongi has finished his drink with a content sigh, a little disappointed that the experience was partially ruined with your improv tug of war, but content nonetheless. “Don’t worry, I’ll go ahead and take care of your water,” he reassures you dryly and stands up from the bar’s long legged chair, grabbing his expensive leather jacket. The best purchase he’s ever made in his life, he tends to overshare this fact to anything or anyone with two ears and legs, seeing as how he wears it everyday through wind, rain and the scorching heat.

Your eyes flash in one last lunge of desperation and your integrity flies out the window and disappears into the sky like a balloon. Floating away… peacefully, gone forever till all that’s left is your soulless body embarrassing yourself like this on a Monday at two am.

“Please,” you choke out one last time and sincerity taints your voice, everything you’ve depended on relying on this thin line of his consent.

There’s something about it that Yoongi finds himself hesitating for as his mind reels from the way your fingers grip the end of his jacket sleeve.

“I really, truly only need your help for a couple days. I-I’ll even pay you.”

Your eyes dart to the floor from his face with your final push, unable to face rejection one last time from help you so ridiculously need. His body halts, and with this, you take it as a sign for your fingers to relax and stop holding his like some child refusing to let go of their lollipop.

There’s one thing the weary should know, and it’s that one specific thing hits a chord with Min Yoongi that makes him who he is.

“Shit.”

Hana looks up at you in what seemed like concern and a bit of ‘damn, you live like this?’ tainting her face. You keep going back and forth between looking down at your most recent message on your phone and up to her face, still contorted in confusion unable to face the reality that is your life right now.

You’re not okay, this can’t be happening — everything you had worked up for up until this point, only to be destroyed by your parents’ wrath would be the endgame for your life. You need to lie down and forget this day even happened.

“Are you, okay?” She can’t help but emphasize the ‘okay’ with leaning her head in a tilt.

“Hana,” you squeak out, hands pressed against your eyes till you see stars. It’s late, you’re braincell-less from such last minute studying and you’re absolutely, completely fucked. And not in the nice way you normally would want to be.

“My parents are coming over and want to meet Jungkook.”

Hana lets out a strangled gurgle of terror from the back of her throat as she runs her hands through her dark hair and crawls over to you to peer at your phone screen. Now that she knows you’re fucked, you want to throw your phone out the window and run away. Or just throw yourself out the window. You stand up from your sitting position on the floor and take deep breaths counting to ten and back again.

“Oh my god,” she whispers. “You’re screwed.”

You twist your face and tell her, “Thank you so very much for the vote of confidence! I’ll just have to remember that while trying to explain everything to my parents.”

Hana’s pained smile emits an apologetic vibe as she continues to voice her thoughts. “Damn. Seriously though… what’re you gonna do, I mean. You still have… two days?”

“I don’t even know anymore,” you wail, falling back to the floor and hoping it’ll somehow open up, and take your body into the recesses of the earthy ground. “Is a day or two even enough time for him to come back from that trip?”

“Wait, you mean you would have your parents actually meet him?” Hana looks over at you incredulously. “Like, we’re talking about your boyfriend Jeon Jungkook, right?”

Backtrack – So, okay, yes maybe you had a few flaws. One of them was the fact that you were maybe a little too prideful. As in it’d physically pain you for your parents to know that your boyfriend was a bum who did absolutely nothing.

You had lied to your parents from the very beginning, pulling off the scam with a few explanations here and there saying, “Oh, no he’s too shy. He won’t take pictures!” when your parents wanted to see who this guy was. The occasional “He can’t meet up with us because he’s studying for his very big exam haha you know how these studious nerds are sorry!”

You wince from her tone, speaking as if he’s a demon sent from hell, and start collecting strands of your hair to comb through with worry.

“I mean, if he were here I could play him up as the guy I made him out to be,” you mused. “They don’t even know what he looks like. Probably think he’s afraid of cameras, poor baby.”

Hana looks slightly revolted from your gently verbalized “uwu” and snaps her fingers to garner your attention back onto the matter at hand.

“Wait- I,” you sat back up, all the blood rushing this way and that causing a weird feeling to consume you and you see black for a good three seconds before it dissipates. “Don’t judge me for what I’m about to say.”

“Done,” Hana nods. “I live with you and judge you enough already.”

You look at her unimpressed, lips curled into an unamused smile.

“How about I get a fake boyfriend? Like, right now?”

Hana doesn’t even know where to begin she laughs because she thinks you’re literally joking but then stops when she knows you’re not. “Uh, you do realize it is two am, Y/N. Where are you planning on going to look for an accomplice to role play your perfect boyfriend?”

“Honestly speaking, I’ll probably have to go to a bar or something.” Just saying this out loud was enough to acknowledge that you yourself were not thinking straight.

“You’re just going to walk into a bar and pick up the first dude you lay eyes on is what you’re implying…” Hana trails off, as she begins to re-evaluate the situation. “Are you okay?”

“No,” you sigh, brushing off your jeans as you stand up. “But this is my only option.”

“Well, you could always tell the truth to your mom and dad. You don’t have to be so full of it, Y/N. And listen, you’re 20 going on 21… how much longer are you going to hide this from your parents? You’re literally an adult.”

You frown and start walking out of the room, grabbing a jacket before you head outside and to the car. “I’m not full of it,” you defend your poor self. “I just need my parents to think I’m living my best life with the best boyfriend so they don’t rub in how they were right all this time or whatever overprotective shit they wanna pull on me.”

Hana holds up her hands as an act of surrendering and picks up your phone from the floor to hand it to you. Before it’s passed off however, a pinging sounds and she calls out the notification.

“Your mom texted you to say–“ Hana squints from how dark your phone’s lighting is. “They’re actually planning on starting to drive over tonight and should make it here by tomorrow evening?”

You start to panic, countless thoughts crashing the calm of your mind like stormy waves as you start to assess your problem at hand. You need to find a fake boyfriend, said fake boyfriend must learn what must be learned about you and said fake boyfriend will need to do a good enough job to keep your parents away forever and hopefully this will work because you don’t know what you’ll do the next time your parents come to “check up” on you because they think something’s fishy with this hypothetical fake boyfriend.

You let out what sounds like something between a sob and a groan as you snatch the phone from Hana’s hands and run out of the house, debating between driving to the nearest diner or running away from home.

See, the problem with your parents were that they were overbearing to the point that they even hated the fact you decided to attend college out of state. Mind them, it was only one state away, but it did absolutely nothing to soothe their constant fretting over your wellbeing and life. You were fed up with the relentlessly strict parental control and went crazy in college – finally dating, drinking and partying – although it was still at a good minimum.

To expose to your parents that you were dating an undecided major who spent the money he could scrounge around for on video games was a one-way ticket to hell so in order to save face and keep up the façade that you in fact were living your best life possible, you dreamt up of the littlest, white lie.

Your boyfriend was a perfect boy. One grade above you, one his way to graduating as a summa cum laude. He had an internship and was already guaranteed a job after college as a biomedical engineering major. You painted the perfect picture so you could present yourself in the best way possible to your parents.

The way your hard work was about to be shattered by the way so many coincidences piled on top of each other was a bit frustrating to say the least. You weren’t sure how you kept this a secret for so long and frankly, how your parents didn’t doubt you from the start but now they believed him to be a camera shy, facetime shy boy that only spent his time studying.

You didn’t even want to start on the numerous occasions you and Jungkook had ended a night fighting because of this ridiculous situation, that sure, you put yourselves in. You weren’t sure why you did this, but of course it wasn’t because you were too prideful.

Yoongi never lets money slip out of his hands. Call him frugal, call him thrifty, he doesn’t care. He just knows that if it’s worth the price, he’ll do it.

“Fine. I’ll do this. But I want cash and I want half of the end amount right now,” he knows he’s being demanding and it does look like you reek of eau de poor college student but with the request you’re making, he thinks it’s only fair.

You look teeny tiny and exhausted from the way you crumple your body on the seat next to him and it’s annoying how much work you’re going through because of a simple lie, but you can’t back out now. The way you’ve been explaining the situation to him is really making you sound a little crazy but hey, you’re only human and this isn’t the weirdest situation Yoongi has ever been in.

“How is this even going to work?” Yoongi looks at you as if you haven’t thought this far ahead. “Haven’t they seen his face? Is he even okay with this? Are you running a scam show? If this turns out to be a mess, I want no part of the repercussions.” He squints at you and crosses his arms, eyeing you suspiciously.

“I’m not stupid,” you roll your eyes and scrunch your face from irritation. “They’ve never seen pictures or anything of his face. I’m thankful my boyfriend doesn’t have social media, but I mean, even if he did my parents are technologically inept, anyways.”

“This is so extra, this is like, almost kind of idiotically stupid,” with a snort, Yoongi continues to doubt you. “I can’t believe I agreed to this. You better pay me the remaining amount as soon as this shit’s done. I’ve got things to do.”

“I’m sure you have so much stuff to do concerning your things,” you bite back and have to hold steady the urge to punch his weak looking noodle arm. Just keep thinking about how grateful you are that this sort of handsome spawn of the devil is agreeing to save your ass and livelihood.

He huffs and has the audacity to look offended, loosely crossing his arms across his chest. “Whatever, run this by me again.”

“Okay,” you sigh. You nearly teeter off the edge of the stool from sleepiness, an untouched glass of water in front of you and you watch the droplets trickle down the sides of the condensating cup. “My name is Y/N and yours is Jeon Jungkook. I’m 20 and you’re 21…”

You start to list off factual information and the details get a little blurry as they re-enter his mind because now it’s almost 3:20 in the morning and Yoongi just wanted a fucking milkshake but now it’s like he’s in college all over again, cramming all the notes and tidbits of information he can into his mind to purge it in five hours on the dreadful test. Even though Yoongi’s suffering, he starts noticing these things about you that’s definitely a little confusing to him and gets him a little worked up but in all the right ways.

He pays attention to the way when you laugh you move to cover your mouth with your hand, it’s kind of endearing. Sure, he’ll admit he thought you were pretty behind the air of desperation and super strange vibes you let out when you first marched into the door. Like, perhaps very pretty. He’s not sure but it might be something to do with the shape of your eyes and the pink of your lips. But the tendency you have to tilt your head when you smile is something that Yoongi starts noticing too and–

Yoongi catches himself thinking these thoughts that are so out of bounds and unnecessarily loud. It’s okay, he mentally argues. These are fake boyfriend feelings and it is late. I am exhausted, I don’t know what I am talking about.

And there you have it folks. Yoongi solves this problem of the Case of Weird Emotions with a simple answer. He’s just a really good fucking actor and can get into character so well that he starts thinking the way his character would. That’s all. And now Yoongi is mentally punching himself because he sounds really fucking weird. And fuck, he needs to stop cursing because he needs to be a well polished, dapper, perfect boyfriend.

He shudders and you see it, not because you’ve been looking at him but because he does it in a really obvious way that calls for attention in your peripheral vision.

“Are you alright?” You ask warily, eyeing him because what if he’s having a spasm attack holy shit?

Yoongi grunts with his absurdly deep voice and says, “Yeah, go on.”

“I wish we had more time,” you whine, rubbing your probably bloated face with sweater paws and something tickles Yoongi’s heart from the way you look and speak although he does his best to ignore it.

“It’s okay, I’ll remember this, I’m pretty sure… let’s just try and come up with a code word or something for me. Like, if I don’t know something I’ll say or do something and you’ll cover for me.”

You nod your head and for the first time that night it seems like you really smile and it’s cute, but not cute enough to swindle Min Yoongi’s heart. Of course not.

“Do you know how to crack your fingers?” You ask after a few moments of deep contemplation.

Yoongi suddenly looks small because he’s shoving his hands in between his thighs to cover them from the cold and you almost coo as he nods his head yes.

“Great,” you look away from his figure to calm yourself. “Just do that and then I’ll fill in. That’s the signal.”

“Does this mean we’re done now?” Yoongi’s voice has gotten raspy over the span of time you’ve spent with him because of how he spent most of it just listening to you and barely opened his mouth.

“I dunno,” you nervously gnaw on your lower lip, another habit Yoongi has picked up on fondly. Or not fondly, not at all… at least only fondly with fake boyfriend feelings. “I’m really not sure how this is going to turn out. Thankfully my friend is going to stay at a friend’s house to avoid more possible complications.”

“Alright then, give me a call tomorrow morning and I’ll get over to your place by two in the afternoon.”

You shake your head, “No, come earlier. We need as much time as possible to go over this. Remember? They’re arriving sometime that night.”

Yoongi groans from the revolting sentence he has just been forced to hear and he cries, “But I can’t! You’ve kept me up for this long evil lady, I should’ve been in bed falling asleep hours ago!”

“I’m sorry,” you feebly offer. “But I really need to nail in a lot more with you.”

Yoongi grumbles a wide variety of things under his breath comprised of but not limited to, “You’re lucky you’re cute”, “Fuck, I need a good ten hours of sleep to retain all this information, though” and “Damn it, I want my money”.

“Fine– 11 is the earliest I’ll be there. And are you sure you’re okay with giving me your freaking address? You’re going to let a stranger know where you live and you’re fine with it,” Yoongi lowers his tone towards the last bit in uncertainty.

“I’ll be fine because my roommate is a police force trainee who has armed me with a panic button along with pepper spray. You’ve been warned,” you wiggle your brows. “Plus you’re my fake boyfriend and you want the money. I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven.”

You both get up from your chairs, leaving cash tips and Yoongi’s expression changes into one of respect and newfound admiration.

“Duly noted,” he chuckles as he holds the door open for you to walk through, the brisk, autumnal air enveloping you.

Outside in the parking lot you head towards your car and see only a couple other vehicles, one of them being a motorcycle and you don’t think twice about it till Yoongi is waving goodbye to you as he walks in the direction of it.

“Wait,” you call out and Yoongi immediately halts, turning to face you with an expectant raise of his brow. “That’s your ride?” You point at the motorcycle.

He smirks and shoves his hands into his leather jacket as deep black as the galaxy and his hair swirls around from the wind above his twinkling eyes.

“Isn’t she beautiful?”

You groan, wondering if you have enough money to fork up however much it would cost to rent a car. You’re pretty sure you don’t, but if it’s for this boy, the best you could pick out on a quiet Monday morning at two, the cream of the crop, you’ve really got no other choice.

You just hope this cream of the crop has a license to drive a car.

The next morning you wake up at eight, sitting up in your plush bed as memories of last night flood your mind in horror. Restless sleep tightened your neck through the night, stress eating away at you and your ability to sleep peacefully.

You groan, peeking at your alarm clock and take a deep breath before you whip your hair out of your face and harden your resolve by sheer will. You pull of the covers and step out of your room, trailing for the kitchen in order to brew yourself some deeply needed coffee.

“Coffee first,” you mumble. Priorities.

Hana is sitting in the living room, a mug on the coffee table in front of her. She looks up as soon as she sees you enter from the short hallway.

“Mornin’ sunshine, there’s some coffee left for you,” she chippers cheerfully. “You got up pretty early. You’re meeting the man of the hour soon, right?”

“Meh, don’t remind me,” you grumble, shuffling into the kitchen and from the coffee machine, you see her kick her slippers off and finish the last of her homework. You pour the still hot liquid holy grail into your Totoro mug and start to mix in cream and sugar seeing as how you’re not as abhorrent as Hana with her love of black coffee.

“But damn, you were just a wreck last night,” Hana teases. “I can’t believe you really got someone to do something this crazy for a girl they just met.”

“It was the money,” you point out, sipping the first few tastes of coffee. It needs a bit more sugar. “I’m so fucken exhausted! Listen, I don’t even have that kind of money to pay him.” You can hear your stash of hidden cash for emergencies underneath your drawer already crying for help. This could qualify as an emergency, you doubtfully suppose.

Hana is still recovering from the surprise of hearing your insane plan worked, even if she found out last night. You remember how you entered the house, satisfied with how quote on quote smoothly the ordeal went even if you were about to be $600 short on money and stressfully sleep deprived the next morning. Hana walked out of her room with sleepy eyes and a bit of bedhead to you getting ready for bed so early in the morning, although she gained a bit of consciousness after hearing how your plan had indeed, succeeded.

Now that it’s the morning and your adrenaline rush had bled away and you’re in a clearer state of mind, doubt starts to trickle in and you are wondering what in hell you were thinking in the first place. You shake the thoughts away and focus on the task at hand.

“I’ll be getting out of the house soon,” Hana comments, starting to pack up whatever textbooks and notes she’ll need for the next day or two.

“You’re the amazingest,” you gratefully smile at her and try to convey your upmost sincerity. As best you could, at least.

“Yes,” she agrees mindlessly. “I am, aren’t I? I am so amazing—so amazing that I am literally leaving the apartment that I share with you for you and the stranger to bond and learn how to role play as lovers. It sounds crazy, I know, but here we are.”

Your smile fades away as you look at her in playful disbelief. “Go to your room, pack your granny underwear and your granny clothes, and leave this household!”

Hana scrunches her nose in distaste, “They’re not granny clothes! They’re retro! And thongs or whatever strip of fabric you claim are underwear are so uncomfortable, literally leavemealonegoodnightDevil!”

You laugh as she prances to her room to stuff her duffle bag full of clothes she’ll need in order to survive for the time she’s gone and you glance at the clock to see it read 8:30, and you go off to your room to get ready for the very. Incredibly. Extremely, long day ahead.

It is at ten that you have finished cleaning up your room, taken a quick shower and waved off Hana out of the home you two share. You walk back inside after seeing her depart safely promising to text you when she arrives, even though it’s the daytime and she’s just a good ten feet away, you never know what could happen. Even if she’s almost a police officer.

Which, speaking of, she has reminded you countlessly about, telling you to pass on the message that she will personally come to fuck him up if anything happens to you. You appease her with saying you will, but you sure as hell don’t plan on doing so.

Closing the door, you sigh deeply and it leaves you a little lightheaded as you lean your back against the door.

“Oh, shit.”

It hits you then that this is really happening. Like, your idiotic plan your brain thought up of that you thought was foolproof was really happening. There were so many holes that could expose you in a second and the thought of you being ousted in front of your parents tugged at your pride riddled mind.

The anxiety twitches your fingers as you pull up your phone and it leaves you staring at his message from last night.

yoongi: see u at 10:30

You forget he suddenly promised an earlier time at the last minute and you reckon you’ve got yourself about twenty or so minutes for him to show up at your door. It’s enough time for you to beat your face with makeup and put on some presentable clothes.

At 10:30 sharp he arrives at the door and it catches you by surprise because he doesn’t seem to be an advocate for timeliness. You tug down at your cropped sweater one last time before you open the door to see Yoongi in all his slightly bloated, freshly showered glory.

He looks a bit nervous, seeing as how he kept worrying over this very situation he should never have gotten himself into over the night not to mention what if you sent him the wrong address. Yoongi’s eyes flit from your face to the room behind you but he manages to keep his jittery

“Hey,” you sigh in relief. “Thank goodness you’re here. And thanks for coming so early.”

Yoongi loses a bit of the nervousness in his system and seems a bit more relaxed than he was when you first met him, probably because he’s gotten a better grip of his surroundings than last night, when he was completely hit with a curveball. In the face. At 500 miles per hour. In the form of you. HIs face loses the tension in the muscles and his lips take on a nonchalant smile. You also notice he’s wearing the same leather jacket as last night and you wonder if he has anything else available to wear.

“No worries,” he says in that gruff voice of his but he clears his throat quickly and yeah, you notice he’s still pretty high strung. This whole tribulation is probably a first for him too.

“Come on in,” you gesture inside, and make space for him to make through. Not that he needed much anyways being the tiny man he is.

“Alright,” he mutters, stepping into the apartment and slipping off his shoes. He doesn’t really pay attention to the apartment anymore but rather your outfit. You wearing sweatpants that still hug your legs and figure looks really good with the bit of skin exposed under the hem of your cropped Adidas sweater and Oh my God shut up, he scolds his train of thought.

It’s just that psychology of attraction at first sight, or whatever. Sure, it’s not his first time meeting you, sure, but you two have only recently met. Yoongi is certain he is a man of strong will. He would never let himself start feelings these things for someone who is already in a relationship.

He tears his gaze away from you before you can notice his burning stare and starts to run his eyes over the layout.

“Well,” you laugh strangely, trying to cover your skittishness. “This is where I live. I guess we can run over what we talked about last night over there on the couch.”

You point at the black sofa and Yoongi nods, walking over to sit down stiffly.

“Did you want something to drink?” You ask, noticing the way he stays pretty quiet. This won’t do. Your fake boyfriend is a great conversationalist.

“No, I’m fine, let’s just go over what we have to. I don’t wanna mess up…” Yoongi trails off and a hint of concern tinges his voice as you smile.

“Sounds good,” you agree.

“Okay, first things first,” you start reciting the basics as you are sat next to him. Yoongi does a really good job of staying on task at first, he swears. He’s listening intently but all of a sudden he’s thinking about how sweet and pretty your voice is and next thing he knows he’s thinking about how hard it is to just even meet your gaze, because your eyes are just such a wonderful outlet of all your emotions it’s really hard to meet them and not just go on and dive into the pool that is you and then—

“We might have to gel your hair back,” you muse softly and Yoongi is shaken out of his schoolboy crush-like trance.

“Fuck no. No,” Yoongi is firm with his decision, holding his hand out to emphasize his stance. “The forehead stays covered.”

You can’t help but let out a laugh as you cover your mouth with your hand and say, “Fine.”

Yoongi notices once again how you have a habit of doing that when laughing and he hates how it’s pretty adorable.

“How did you get here, anyways?” You ask suddenly. “Not with your bike, I hope…?”

Yoongi grins at you and you notice that he’s one of those gummy grinners and it does a little something to you but you avoid it at all costs and swallow it down.

“I Ubered here,” he said simply. “I figured I could say my car’s in the shop if your parents ask.”

You widen your eyes and nod in approval. “Brilliant! That’s really good Yoongi, thank God I don’t have to pay for a rent a car.”

“Speaking of payment,” Yoongi is reminded of your debt to him at the passing mention of money but is glowing from your praise. “Need I say more? Don’t worry about the Uber fee, I won’t be holding those against you, call it service.”

“How kind of you,” you grimace, hearing the cries of your emergency money once more, as you tell him to stay put. “I’ll be right back with half of it.”

When you count out 300 and carefully tuck the rest away, you turn around to walk out only to see Yoongi peering in your door, arms crossed and looking quite interested.

You jump at the sudden intrusion-like non-intrusion and scowl, asking, “What are you doing here? You scared me shitless and you’re very lucky I didn’t shriek.”

He shrugged, tousling his dark hair from his eyes and replied, “If I’m gonna be your fake boyfriend, I should know what your room looks like. As your fake boyfriend, of course.”

You groan and tell him, “Get a good, quick look around, because here’s your money and now we’re leaving.” You slap the wad of cash onto his unsuspecting palm and push his shoulders out the door.

“I know you kind of know me because of all the information I might’ve been burning into your mind the past 24 hours about yours truly, but I barely know a thing about you and we’re really acquaintences at best, still.”

Yoongi lets you lead him out of the hall into the living room and with a quick look at your lockscreen, you see that it’s still only 11:14. He stuffs the money in the back pocket of his jeans, which fit him quite nicely around the thigh area, if you may say so yourself.

“Fine,” he mutters and you barely catch it with your already dull hearing.

“What’s fine?” You ask, sitting down on the sofa as he takes a seat as well.

“I said, fine. What do you wanna know about me?” He asks, finding interest in the boring coffee table.

“Uh,” you trail off, unprepared for this kind of a question. “Wait, do I want to know more about you? I should be thinking of you as my boyfriend Jungkook, putting history and information behind you would make it too easy for me to differentiate…”

Yoongi rolls his eyes with a condescending sigh that you somehow know isn’t very genuine. “Just ask three things about me, so we’re not complete strangers,” he offers a compromising deal.

You let it sit with you for a second. If you made a slip up would you be able to recover? It was already hard enough, calling him Yoongi—already so hard enough that it was weird to remind yourself you’d have to be calling him Jungkook in a few hours. Eh, screw it.

“Where do you work?” You ask your first question tentatively.

“I work as a part time server for now,” he replies as if it’s something of a bother. “At the barbecue place downtown.” You have a brief idea of where it is, having passed by it a few times while you were in the vicinity.

“Alright,” you huffed. “What’s your other part time?”

Yoongi looks a bit confused at first with the way you worded it, but he catches on quickly seeing as how he’s got a fast train of thought.

“Oh, yeah. You remember my bike? I wanna go into autotech service. Or something like that, like engineering,” he vocalizes his thoughts and grows a bit red.

“That’s really awesome,” you smile at him and he grows comforted by the idea of you approving his passion. Although he shouldn’t be so—

“Do you have a girlfriend?” This question takes you back by surprise too, and you swear it was a slip of your tongue.

“I—“ Yoongi wasn’t ready, didn’t even think you were one bit interested in his love life but he answers directly. “No.”

For some reason you like hearing that answer, something like satisfaction burns at your tongue and heart and you don’t understand why when you have a perfectly cute boyfriend named Jeon Jungkook (the real one) you can call yours.

“Sorry, I didn’t know where that came from,” you giggle nervously.

Yoongi brushes it off and breathes evenly. He’s not sure why he’s worked up uncomfortably like this and he wants to skip to the part where this is all over and he goes back to moping around, living out his normal, daily routine.

We are acquaintances, he keeps reminding himself.

You two end up talking about yourselves a bit more, because pictures of your dog reminds him of his dog and from there the conversation flows a little too perfectly because now you’re intrigued by the mystery that is Min Yoongi and you want to know more and everything about him. This goes on for the next six hours and it’s filled with so much talking and laughing and you’ve even cooked up lunch because oh my goodness you found ingredients to make pancakes.

Then dawn rolls around as if it’s only been a mere thirty minutes and to be honest, it feels likes you know Min Yoongi more than your own boyfriend Jeon Jungkook.

You shake that last thought off, startled from the way you so abruptly stated that. Internally, of course.

Yoongi’s barely opened his mouth to ask you another question when-

The doorbell rings and it echoes throughout the inside of your home and holy shit it feels so intimidating and loud and Yoongi just isn’t ready, but can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now if he’s this scared of what’s to come.

You glance at him almost as if you’re seeking refuge in someone’s comfort so he grits his teeth a bit because between the two of you, he realizes he’s got to stay the rock.

Yoongi narrows his eyes until they resemble somewhat to a feline’s. He’s the rock.

And not just in the Dwayne Johnson sort of way.

oooooookay oh my goodness this is unedited but i wanted it off my shoulders before i got to work so here this is please enjoy but send me feedback or anything you'd like through my inbox thanks!!!

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the-nysh · 6 years

Text

Lines from the dub’s script for Deku vs Kacchan 2

Since Crunchyroll’s subs had several translation errors, I was interested in seeing for myself how much better Funimation would do for the dub. I went in and transcribed most of the notable lines for ref and/or comparison’s sake. (Not for the purpose of comparing the voice acting however.) Also included are some of my thoughts/impressions for particular word choices at the end.

K: Kacchan D: Deku AM: All Might A: Aizawa

Also bolded: important key lines to browse at a glance

K: “When you and I were kids, we both wanted to be like All Might, but I…had the potential. Then somehow a little nobody like you was singled out by the person I admired most, and I didn’t even realize it. That’s why we’re here. We are settling this. Right here, right now.

“I wanna know what made All Might give his power to a loser like you. (1) Lemme see for myself. Is it because you looked up to him more than I did? And if that’s the case…does it mean everything I’ve done to be like him is wrong?

“You were always behind me our whole lives! You were stuck to me; I couldn’t get rid of you. No matter how much I tried you kept coming back! (2)

“Don’t you dare worry about me! Attack me! (3) Why won’t you fight back!? Why did I end up having to chase after someone who was always so far behind me!? Why did a damn small fry like you get strong, and become the number one hero’s sidekick – his favorite!? (4) You got so much better! And I destroyed All Might! I admired him so much…but it’s because of me that he ended up losing his power! (5) If I had been stronger…if I hadn’t been kidnapped by villains, then it never would have happened. All Might knows it was my fault but hasn’t said anything. (6) Everyone has to know though! I can’t get it out of my head! It’s like it’s constantly playing on loop, so what the hell am I supposed to DO!?”

D: “No…he’s been carrying this guilt with him the whole time? Even more than me. He’s been blaming himself, obsessing over it…

“It turned out our fight wasn’t what I thought it would be. It didn’t really matter who won or lost. That wasn’t the point. Even so, I felt like I had to go through with it. Because in that moment…I was the only person in the world who understood how Kacchan felt. (7)

“If I’m gonna do this, I’m going all out! I refuse to be your punching bag, Kacchan! Let’s go!

“He just needed to vent his emotions, and fighting was the only way he knew how. I couldn’t ignore him…or run off, not after everything we’ve been through. Our relationship to one another was totally screwed up: kindergarten, elementary, middle school, high school… We’ve known each other for so long but until that point, we’d never talked about how we really felt.”(8)

K: “Can’t let him think!”(9)

D: “My reaction times have gotten faster, much better than the last time we’ve fought. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised…that we’ve both been getting stronger.”(10)

K: “What are you smiling about!? Huh!? I thought you weren’t gonna be my punching bag?! I bet you’ve got some kinda plan up your sleeve! That’s one of the things I hate most about you! (11) I can never tell what you’re thinking…no matter how much I beat you up you keep coming back! It’s obvious you’ve always looked down on me, even when we were kids! You think you’re better than me, but if you seriously believe you’re gonna surpass me as a hero, even with your new power! You better think again, Deku!”

D: “Wait…is that what you actually believed, all this time? Think about it, Kacchan. If I looked down on you I wouldn’t want anything to do with you anymore. But I’m still here. I noticed things you couldn’t all these years because I had nothing at first. There were things I hated about you, sure. But I could clearly see how amazing you were! You had so much going for you that I didn’t have. All Might was my hero, but you were the one actually in my LIFE! (12)

“I thought you were incredible, Kacchan. I wanted to see…what you’d become! That’s the reason…I kept chasing after you!

“I’d never admit something like this to your face, but the truth is…when I get riled up and my desire to win surpasses my desire to save someone…without meaning to, I start talking like you. You’re so mean sometimes, and I hate it, but my idea of victory is so tied to the image of you in my head, that in those moments I can’t help but imitate you. (13)

“You’re the best, that’s why I want to defeat you! I have to, in order to meet the expectations that All Might has for me!”

K: “That’s it. We’re done here, I won this fight. You have All Might’s power, but even…using his strength, even after making it your own, somehow you still managed to lose to me. …Why? How could you lose?

*to All Might* “Why did you pick Deku? It started when the Sludge villain came, didn’t it? So why him?”(14)

AM: “He was powerless, but still more heroic than anyone else. I knew you were strong, that much was obvious. You were someone who could already fight, so I decided that he should have a chance to stand in the ring.”

K: “…But now you know I’m weak too! I always wanted to be like you which meant being as strong as possible! But look what I did to you! Because I’m not good enough…”(15)

AM: “This is not your fault, young Bakugou. I was always going to lose my power. You couldn’t do anything to change that. You are strong, but I focused too much on your physical strength, and overlooked what was important. This isn’t your burden. I apologize; sometimes I forget that you’re children.

“After being a hero for so many years you learn a few things. Striving to be the best, like you, young Bakugou, and caring deeply about people, about rescuing those in trouble, like you, young Midoriya; both of those feelings are necessary in a hero, otherwise they’ll never truly be able to represent justice. That’s why you admire his strength so much, young Midoriya…and I know that’s why you’ve always feared his heart and spirit, young Bakugou. Now that you’ve laid your feelings out on the table, maybe you can understand each other. If you have mutual respect and focus on making one another stronger, I’ve no doubt you’ll become the ultimate heroes, winning and saving people at the same time.” (16)

K: “Dammit…that’s not what I wanted to hear. *to Deku* You…you had the strongest guy in the world lay the groundwork for you. Don’t you dare lose again.

*to All Might* “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell anyone what’s going on. Unlike Deku I can keep my mouth shut. This will stay between us.”

D: “Thanks, Kacchan.” (17)

AM: “I don’t deserve this; I should be down on my hands and knees begging for you to keep this secret for me. Yet here you are being considerate and helping me out. Thank you.”

K: “I’m not doing this for you. It would just be a real pain if this got out and messed stuff up.

*to Deku* “If this got out people’d be confused and they’d start wondering where the power is. You idiot, what were you thinking when you first told me about it?”

AM: “It was my own choice to use up the last of my abilities. I said this earlier, but…that was in no way your fault.”

K: *internally* “Yeah, sure. (18) It doesn’t change what I have to do. Things aren’t gonna be the same though, Deku, you got that? You’ve been watching me and everyone around you, absorbing what you see to get stronger. Well I can do the exact same thing and keep getting better myself! I’ll go higher than even you, chosen one.”

D: “Right…then I guess I’ll just have to be better than that!”

K: “You what?”

D: “I have to go higher than you!”

K: “Dammit nerd! I just said I was gonna be the one to surpass you!”

D: “I know! And now I’m saying that I’m gonna go beyond that level!

K: “What?!”

AM: “They’ve become proper rivals now, in a way that they weren’t before.

*to Aizawa* “It seems young Bakugou has been feeling like he was responsible for my retirement. He had to face the licensing exam with those pent-up emotions and then his inferiority complex exploded, and this happened. It’s all because I didn’t realize I was being negligent. This whole fight was brought about because of the failure of his teacher.”(19)

A: “Who threw the first punch!?”

K: “I did.”

D: “I also went pretty hard. It wasn’t just him.”

*After credits scene*

D: “So…about my Shoot Style…what did you think of it?”

K: “…Your movements are too obvious. Even when you got faster I was able to dodge them. You’re not gonna win any fight that way.”

D: “Oh, right.”

K: “…And when you added in punches it really pissed me off.”

D: “Got it!”

My thoughts, as listed numerically where noted (my sub commentary is here):

The choice to include ‘loser’ here is kinda ‘hmm,’ since it adds another insult to the line that’s otherwise supposed to be his most honest/sincere. The prev line already had him say ‘nobody’ (instead of ‘pebble’) so this one felt a bit unnecessary. Other than that, I’m ok with this line, (actually it gives off a more accusatory/jealous vibe in general rather than genuine incredulity/confusion at the truth), but I do like him questioning ‘everything he’s done’ to show just how lost he feels.

I like how it’s worded here how much Kacchan tried to get kid Deku to stop following him to no avail. Because it’s an important distinction to make vs actively seeking him out (which would be untrue for Kacchan’s behavior). No matter what he did to either avoid or discourage him to stay away, he couldn’t understand why Deku would keep coming back to him regardless.

I like the demand, ‘attack me!’ (as opposed to ‘fight me!’) because just as mentioned in this meta, it gives off the feeling of him seeking self-destructive punishment for his guilt.

The words ‘sidekick’ and ‘his favorite’ used to describe Deku’s relation to All Might are new here! :O I didn’t expect either, (honestly being a sidekick doesn’t seem like a role Kacchan would want to have or be envious of Deku for) but the word ‘favorite’ was delivered nicely painful.

The timing for this line felt off, since the actual ‘wham’ part, and therefore the full impact about destroying All Might, was revealed before the pause where Kacchan raised his head. The part where he bares his face and rawest feelings to Deku then felt a bit lessened/repetitive because of that.

Whoa!?! :O This line punched me in the gut! ‘AM knows it was my fault but hasn’t said anything!’ (vs AM tried to keep it a secret, with ‘it’ being vague) NOW, there’s no doubt what he’s referring to, plus that he believes the person he admires most even blames him for it. That everyone, including AM, gives him the cold shoulder behind his back because they just know it was his fault. Holy fuck yikes, drive that guilt and self-loathing up to 11! D8

Deku’s the ‘only person in the world’ for even more EMPHASIS! 8D

:’))))) I’m emotional. I like how this was worded.

Ah good, the pronoun was fixed where Kacchan refers to Deku.

Oho? Manga had Deku referring to Kacchan, while crunchyroll had Deku referring to himself, now here’s the middle ground with Deku praising them both for their growth. :P

Ah, the first showing of the word ‘hate.’ (1 out of 3) The use of it is kinda eehhhh, but if there’s any solace, it’s only used to refer to traits about the other, rather than directly saying they outright hate the other person. So there’s a distinction (and it’s not that bad).

Hhhh, my heart. ;A; (2nd use of ‘hate’ referring to things about the other) But the ‘I’m still here/you were the one actually in my life’ get me right in the feels. Emphatically proclaiming that declaration to Kacchan’s face is pretty good! 8D

(3rd use) But only about ‘being mean sometimes.’ So as it’s worded, we have Deku disliking when Kacchan’s mean (understandable), yet he unknowingly imitates that same meanness when he strives to win like him too, adapting both his virtuous and unpleasant traits as his image of victory, ayyy. And of course, Deku internally confesses he could never admit this to Kacchan’s face out loud. :P

Oh. ;.; ‘So why him?’ made Kacchan sound so soft and small, like a betrayed and hurt little kid. Oof, that bit got me.

The ‘I’m weak/I’m not good enough’ lines just uurghghhhh hurt so good. Kacchan’s vulnerability/humility in front of All Might is done well. :’)

Ayyyyy, All Might’s speech to motivate them to mutually improve together. :’))) I like how he summarizes the feelings they both have (Midoriya: caring deeply for others; Bakugou: fearing that heart/spirit). It’s clean and heartfelt.

Wah, :O I didn’t expect Deku to thank Kacchan for promising to keep AM’s secret. (AM thanks him too, but still…) It’s like…now they’re both genuinely surprised Kacchan is an honorable man who keeps his word (when, at least in Deku’s case, he should know how much Kacchan values AM and wouldn’t betray his trust, so that kinda thing should already be a given. So Deku thanking him for that, on top of his soft amazement, feels a bit odd???)

Oooh, this bit said internally in response to AM’s reassurance now gives off the impression that Kacchan’s guilt isn’t completely gone/mollified; there’s still lingering doubt in the back of his mind that he caused this, even if he knows now what to do next.

AM’s summary to Aizawa is pretty similar, yet it doesn’t mention mental heath/care, hmm.

Overall: pretty good! :) Worth a watch for those interested in the alternate available official translation! (At least until the subs are officially released on the blurays!) I give props to Deku’s voice actor for his sincerity and range throughout the whole ep. I preferred Kacchan in the latter half when talking vulnerably in front of All Might, since in much of the first half, he seemed to be yelling with sustained anger/frustration rather than choked anguish/pain that I would have liked to hear more. (Ahh, there’s really no comparison to Nobu’s performance, so that’s why I’m not going to discuss the eng vs japanese acting.)

The overall script was clean with several moments of improved polish over the subs that still got me unexpectedly in the feels. (’AM knows it was my fault.’/’You were the one actually in my life!’) Since many lines had to be reworked to fit for mouth flaps too, probably the only unfortunate consequence of that was the timing for Kacchan admitting to AM’s end. Most other additions I was ok with in the sense they weren’t bad, (meaning I can overlook them for the sake of overall enjoyment). Including an extra ‘loser’ and the word ‘hate’ 3 times was pretty ehhhh, but thankfully only used in the context of ‘things they hate about x‘ rather than they hate each other entirely (which would be incorrect). Therefore, the meaning of most key parts were conveyed mostly intact.

Hopefully this will be useful to those interested in seeing (most of) the eng transcript without the means to watch the ep itself (or, according to individual availability/viewing preferences). :)

#bnha #bkdk #anime spoilers #english dub #long post #commentary #ayyy managed to watch and write down all the important lines people might be interested in #(because i was interested in seeing how funimation translated everything)#not going to compare the acting because for most viewers they prefer the version they watch first #i'm just glad we get multiple versions to enjoy depending on availability and accessibility :D

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jackalopingintothevoid · 6 years

Text

(by @jenny-calendar)

“Are you going to talk to me about it?”

Giles leaned heavily against the closed door, looking down at his shoes. He’d polished them himself, of course, and it hadn’t escaped his notice that Ripper’s own sneakers were scuffed and worn, and he hated that every single thought in the last few days had somehow turned into a thought about Ripper. Thoughts about Jenny, even, and what she must think of him, carrying on like a complete buffoon every time the boy gave him lip—

“Rupert,” said Jenny. She sounded reproving, but she also sounded a little worn out.

Giles looked up at her. “I don’t know what to do,” he said helplessly. “I feel utterly adrift. I have made all my decisions over the last twenty years in an effort to not be that man—”

“Boy,” said Jenny.

“He’s not—”

“This isn’t a problem you can solve until you’ve stopped blaming yourself,” said Jenny, looking steadily and quietly at him.

“Maybe it’s not a problem that needs solving,” Giles snapped, a bit too loudly. Jenny gave him a pointed shh look, and he lowered his voice; he didn’t want the children overhearing. “I am not—I am not—I cannot be in the wrong,” he forced out, and was horrified to hear that he was crying. “I am—he was—he was foolish, stupid, reckless—”

Jenny stepped forward and stepped into his arms, pressing one hand against his chest, fingers splayed. “He follows his heart,” she said.

“Always,” said Giles.

“And you don’t do that anymore.”

“People got hurt, last I followed what I wanted to do,” said Giles, sniffling in a thoroughly un-Watcherlike fashion. Under normal circumstances, he’d never have let Jenny seen him cry, but these were the farthest from normal circumstances one could get, and—her hand, right over his heart, made him foolish, stupid, reckless. “People still get hurt,” he mumbled, touching Jenny’s face, thinking of Eyghon rotting through.

Jenny leaned into his touch. “People choose what they do,” she said. “You weren’t the only stupid teenager who raised a demon, Rupert.”

“I was training to be a Watcher, I should have known—”

“Known what? Known better?” Jenny scoffed. Then, stepping away from him, she began to gracelessly tug her sweater over her head.

“Jenny,” said Giles, blushing furiously. “Is now really the time—”

“For a man who prides himself on his maturity,” said Jenny from inside the sweater, “you act remarkably like that twenty-something out there,” and finished pulling it off, tossing it to the floor. “Did I ever tell you,” she said, twisting the corkscrew at her navel, “about how my piercing got infected?”

“You wear that to work?” said Giles, bewildered. “I’d thought that was just a stunt you pulled to get me into the lab.”

“It was,” said Jenny, “and that’s beside the point.” She looked remarkably comfortable in only bra, skirt, and clunky heels; the multiple levels of unprofessionalism boggled the mind. “When I was nineteen,” she said, “I got this—this call, from my dad.”

“You have a dad?” said Giles stupidly. Jenny gave him a look, and he coughed. “Right. Sorry. Carry on.”

“I don’t talk about him much,” said Jenny. “I mean—you know that, obviously, because I’ve never brought him up till now, but—I grew up around a lot of cousins and got kinda passed around from family to family. I caused a lot of trouble for people, and I liked it, because they ended up unofficially casting me out as soon as I was heading off to college. And then out of the blue my dad calls me to tell me he’s calling on behalf of the family. Because they need someone expendable—someone who they don’t mind dying—to watch Angelus, and they figured I might listen to him if he gave me some speech about family.” She laughed a little bitterly. “I grew up around Angelus,” she said. “He shadowed every single fucking thing I did, and they were asking me to throw my life away to watch a master vampire eat rats in a sewer. So I said no.”

“Jenny—”

Jenny held up a hand. She wasn’t looking at him. “And then my dad showed up in person,” she said. “He said they were going to ask me again, eventually, and next time I had damn well better say yes. He said I was selfish and stupid and I didn’t understand the value and importance of family, and that something as important as this was wasted on someone like me, and then he just—” She tipped back her head, smiling with the tired remembrance of one no longer invested in the situation. “Left,” she said. “Haven’t seen him since.”

“Oh,” said Giles, and reached out to her. She took his hand.

“But what I’m getting at is that it ate me up,” said Jenny, and her voice trembled. “I always wanted—parents. My mom was sporadic and my dad was never there and as a kid, to hear that my dad thought I was this self-centered airhead, it was fucking devastating.” She smiled a little bit. “So I pierced my navel by myself, and of course it got infected,” she said, “and I ended up having to go to the hospital, because I had been trying to attend all my classes and keep the injury clean and stay on top of all my responsibilities while it felt like my world was crumbling to bits. I had to let it heal before I could get it pierced again.” She looked up at him. “And you could say that our situations were totally different,” she said, “and you wouldn’t be wrong. But what I’m getting at is this: I was hurting, and I didn’t want to think about it, and I was so, so convinced that nothing bad would happen if I didn’t think about it. It wasn’t malicious, it wasn’t out of stupidity, it was because I was so damn lonely that I couldn’t even conceptualize the idea of reaching out to someone.”

Giles took her other hand. She smiled a little. “It doesn’t link back to me,” he began.

“It does, though,” said Jenny. “Because you were hurting, and you were dealing with it as best you could. It’d be different if you were yelling at the kid who was still summoning demons for fun—and hell, I might even yell at him too, a little—but you’re not. You’re hurting someone else who’s hurting just like you.”

It surprised Giles that responding “he’s not like me” didn’t feel quite so natural anymore. “Jenny,” he said instead, gripping her hands like a lifeline, “if he—if he is blameless—”

“I’m not saying he’s blameless,” said Jenny with a surprised laugh. “Summoning Eyghon is an idiot move. I’m saying that he knows he’s not blameless, and he’s chosen to deal with that guilt in a different way than you.”

“You don’t understand,” said Giles quietly. “Had I met you, at that age—” He swallowed hard, looked at her small hands in his. “I’d have never gone back to the Council,” he said. “I would have run away with you and never looked back, and it seems as though that’s exactly what he’s doing.”

“And that’s a bad thing because?”

Giles looked up at Jenny, shocked and appalled. “It is my responsibility,” he said. “I was born into it. The fact that he might never truly accept—”

“Maybe he’s never gonna be a Watcher in the sense you think about,” said Jenny, tugging a hand free to straighten his glasses, “but he braids Buffy’s hair and he makes sure Xander’s eating and he helps Willow with her homework. He doesn’t keep these kids happy while he helps save the world, Rupert, he helps save the world so he can keep these kids happy.”

“It’s selfish,” said Giles, his voice shaking. “To love.”

The easily calm expression on Jenny’s face flickered into something horrified and sad. “Oh,” she said, in this small, broken voice. “Oh—baby. Oh. No. Sweetheart,” and then she pulled Giles into her arms and wouldn’t let him go for ten minutes.

It was super fun to talk with Ripper and Jenny about their alternate Scoobies. Ripper had pictures of them on his phone, and stories to go with them, and the way he talked about Other-Buffy and Other-Willow and Other-Xander made Buffy’s chest ache. She wanted Giles to talk about them like that, all show-offy and proud-dad with a frankly boring amount of pictures.

Well. Boring to some people. Not boring to Buffy, especially when she saw Other-Buffy had a very similar sense of style to hers. True, the jeans-and-jacket vibe wasn’t exactly the in thing right now, but then that probably had to do with the whole Kids-From-The-Future thing. “I like her boots,” Buffy observed.

“Oh, those,” said Ripper disparagingly. “I got demon blood on them one time and she never let me hear the end of it.”

“You drenched her entire outfit in demon blood, Ripper, I feel like she was being generous complaining about only the boots,” commented Jenny, snagging a handful of chips from the jumbo-sized bag Ripper had somehow managed to sneak in. “Ooh—tell them about that one time with the sea monkeys!”

“That—no,” said Ripper, scowling, and lobbed a pen at Jenny, who giggled and ducked. “No. Fuckin’ hell, Janna, do you get off on makin’ me squirm?”

“I mean, that sounds about right,” said Willow unexpectedly, then blushed a furious red.

Jenny fell out of her chair laughing. Ripper was grinning too. Buffy felt a little disloyal to Giles, but she liked seeing a version of him that was—happy, she realized. Ripper was happy. And not in the nervous, wary way Giles was happy, even when he was around Ms. Calendar.

As if on cue, Giles and Ms. Calendar exited Giles’s office. Giles looked a little wrung-out, and Ms. Calendar (who had her sweater on backwards) had this kind of shell-shocked expression, like she’d figured something out and was just now trying to wrap her head around it. “Hey, I, um, Rupert and I are gonna be having a longer talk,” she said. “Janna, Ripper, if it’s okay, can you both stay with one of the kids? I think we need to work some stuff out.”

“Don’t break up with him,” said Jenny suddenly.

This was such a surprising thing to come from Jenny (Buffy wasn’t exactly sure who had punched Giles, but judging by the way Jenny had been looking at him through most of the briefing, she’d have bet an exorbitant amount of money on mini-Calendar) that everyone went dead silent, Giles included.

“I’m serious,” said Jenny, a dull flush in her cheeks. “He’s a piece of work, but…he’s gonna be worth it.”

Ms. Calendar gave Jenny this amused, knowing look. Jenny glared. “I’m not planning on it,” she said. “I love Rupert very much.”

This was surprising too. Probably not as surprising as it should have been, giving the unholy amount of face-sucking that Buffy had walked in on over the last two weeks, but—Giles and Ms. Calendar were in love? For real in love? Enough that Ms. Calendar, queen of avoiding feelings, would straight-up say it in front of everyone?Buffy exchanged a shocked look with Willow and Xander, who looked just as stunned as she felt.

“Oh,” said Giles, who looked a complete and total mess. What had happened in his office? “Jenny—”

“Don’t say it just yet,” said Ms. Calendar, giving him a small, tired smile, “we need to have a real conversation about your concept of what is and isn’t selfish before things go any further.” She tucked her arm into Giles’s, then kissed him on the cheek. “No patrolling tonight,” she said over her shoulder, “not if you don’t want to.”

The weird part, to Buffy, wasn’t that Ms. Calendar had given them an order. The weird part was that Giles didn’t say a word about the importance of patrolling, or how vampires were at their strongest on Wednesdays, or any of his usual Watcher stuff. He just leaned a little on Ms. Calendar and turned her face into her hair, letting her lead him out of the library.

#jennycalendar #my dumb au #be all your sins reflected #good fic #submission #btvs #scooby gang #jenny calendar #rupert giles #buffy summers #willow rosenberg #xander harris

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