#two worlds that should have forever stayed seperate

[texas-gothic]

While Tucker Carlson is back on the news for his embarrassing trip to Russia, I still don't think we talk nearly enough about his greatest crime. Thanks to him, millions of old folks across the United States, including my own grandmother, for however short a time, had to find out who Chris Chan was.

[faithintheunknownsblog]

How do pip and alucard (seperately ) deal with a reader who is oblivious to them liking her?fluff plz

A/N: I'm so sorry, I promise I didn't forget- I've just been trying to get more chapters

Alucard

Alucard would just get tired of it, blankly staring at you and plainly asking you, “are you stupid or something?” 

“What?” You ask, taken aback by the rudeness.

“Are you stupid or something,” Alucard asks again in a serious tone that still has a sprinkle of annoyance mixed in since he had to repeat himself.

You shake your head, “no, I heard what you said. I’m just wondering what the actual fuck makes you think you can talk to me like that.”

“Well, clearly you are too dumb to realize I’ve made multiple advances in attempts to court you.” Alucard says plainly. This old geezer still thinks ‘courting’ is a thing.

“Did you offer the plumpest goat in the whole village to my father as well?” You ask sarcastically, “the Hell are you talking about ‘making advances’?”

“I have been doing like what they do in those movies-” Alucard has been watching cheesy rom coms in attempts to learn how to flirt, “-trying to woo you, but you just haven’t caught on.”

You couldn’t keep yourself from laughing, “that’s why you’ve been acting weird?!”

Alucard stays silent.

When you finally stop laughing and catch your breath you rhetorically ask, “Alucard, you do understand that life doesn’t work like that, right? All of those people are actors and the whole thing is scripted.”

Alucard grumbles, “Seras should’ve just let me give you the letter.”

“Letter?” Your curiosity immediately peaks, “you wrote me a letter?”

“Yes,” Alucard pulls the letter out from his jacket and hands it to you. Though he does not show it, he’s nervous as he watches you delicately unfold the paper and your eyes skin across it.

“Huh,” you keep your look unwavering as you look back up at him. Knowing that your unimpressed demeanor has him sweating bullets, then you fold up the paper and with a smirk say, “I could get used to these types of letters.”

“So that means you’ll let me court you?” Alucard asks.

You chuckle, “it’s called dating now, but yes, I’ll let you ‘court’ me.”

Alucard gets the biggest smile, “I told Seras the letter would work.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t take dating advice from her anymore,” you laugh.

“Well I shouldn’t need to, now  that we’re together,” Alucard says happily.

You just roll your eyes and wave your hand to shoo him away, “alright, now go, I have to finish my work!”

“As you wish,” Alucard tips his head and leaves, now a very happy man to be courted with you.

Pip Bernadotte 

You and Pip are laughing and joking around like usual, but out of nowhere with absolutely no context he says “you make it very hard for me, you know?”

You and him tend to joke around, making lewd jokes, so you assume that’s what he’s doing now, “yes, I know. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a picture of me you wank off to every night.”

Pip shakes his head, “no, not that way. Well, not all ze time, but zat’s not what I’m talkin’ about now.”

“What are you talking about then?” You ask Pip.

“Not to kiss you, I think about it all ze time,” Pip’s attitude is no longer playful. He constantly thinks about what it’d be like to hold you tight as he gives your soft lips tender kisses. You make him so happy and you’re all he thinks about. 

You go back to not taking him seriously and thinking this is a joke. So you decide to test him like you’ve done before and playfully say, “do it then.”

Pip is tired of all the joking, he leans in and kisses you so passionately, the world fades away. At this moment the rest of the world fades, it’s only you and him as it should be, always and forever.

When you two break apart, you're both breathing heavily, the kiss stole all the air out of both of your lungs and after a long pause Pip finally breaks the silence, “zat what I meant.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’ve already figured that out by now.” “Just makin’ sure-” Pip smiles, “-because it took you zis long.”

You roll your eyes and Pip steals another kiss, which he will be doing with every chance he gets from now on.

[the-sprog]

So since I'm very bad at remembering my ideas, I'm gonna throw this out there and hope one day I'm like "WAIT didn't I have an idea for a fic??? What was it???" And I will find it on my tumblr.

It's about Danny Phantom, obviously.

There are actually two of them in here so:

The easiest one: Jack and Maddie are not stupid. I mean they're scientists, the use the scientific method. One of the things about the scientific method is that if you do a bunch of tests, based on an hypothesis and only one of them comes out disproving it, then your hypothesis is incorrect.

Phantom has disproved basically all of their hypothesis.

So, next thing to do? Create a new one. Do new tests. They take Jazz's suggestion and try and see if the ghosts of Amity are actually conscious. Because obviously they're sentient, but are they like animals? Or are they like robots with artificial intelligence?

Or even better yet, are they like humans?

They grab Phantom's attention and ask him if he would cooperate for this test. A simple Turing test. Obviously they're still wary because of everything that happened with him, and do the test with witnesses to keep both Phantom's and their minds at ease.

He passed the test. With flying colors.

They're shocked and ask him if he knew peaceful ghosts that would be willing to take the test (because, y'know. Scientific method. Need to try over and over again). Phantom would have to explain that not all ghosts are as human-like as him (as, first of all, he's a halfa, but he doesn't say that. And second, lots of them are blobs or animal-like ghosts), but cue his parents meeting Jhonny and Kitty (cause I like the idea that they have a truce with Phantom and that going out of the zone helps them with their couple problems), as well as Shadow (example of a less human-like ghost). Then Sidney, Dora, the Fright Knight (cause king ghost Danny ftw) and Frostbite.

They all pass, more or less. Some, like Dora, the light and Sidney, where given away by their choice of word, but other than that all of them passed the test.

OK SO MORE COMPLEX ONE:

I love crossovers. I love finding ways of putting the two universes together, of making them work with each other, adapting the rules so that they apply to both. (With Danny Phantom it's also really cool to just... Make him travel the multiverse. He doesn't adhere to the rules of where he goes to, so it's always hilarious. But we're not here for that now).

One of the best ones to do this with is My Hero Academia. Whenever a show has someone with powers I end up asking myself "how should that work in the world of my hero?" And start trying to incorporate it in the lore.

So, first thing first, we're getting rid of the canon story of my hero. Completely unrelated to the show. This takes place decades in the past, when the first people where developing quirks (so if I wanted to write something with this and actually use my hero characters, I'd make it so that they where hit with a time traveling quirk or that Clockwork was somehow involved).

The Fenton's hatred for ghosts? Make it discrimination against the people who have quirks.

Danny being half-ghost? His quirk's fault. He calls it Ghost, for simplicity, it allows him to come back as a sort of ghost-like creature after he dies. Somehow, one day, he doesn't die completely so his body fixes it the only way it know how. Making him partially ghost.

Obviously that would mean that all the ghosts he fights aren't ghosts anymore. They're villains with quirks, and their powers would be based on what they can do on the show, minus the basic intangibility, invisibility and flight.

Obviously only Sam and Tucker would know he was Phantom and he had a quirk, he's also kinda the only one in town with one. People would be a little racist against quirk havers, but the kids, like in the show, come around to it. And actually start loving Phantom and thinking of him as a hero.

How do I fit Vlad in all of this? Ehm ahhhh this is the one thing I didn't think about. Very basic, but could give him a power similar to Danny, were instead of a ghost, he becomes a vampire. But his quirk is caused by an accident in college, so it's artificial.

Why does Skulker (who doesn't have a quirk. He's just a guy in a suit) hunt Danny? He has a very unique quirk.

Does Dani exist? I mean. Yeah. Cloning is not so farfetched, especially with the existence of quirks.

Clockwork can control time, he involuntary does that being a child, then an adult then an old man thing. The Observants are people without quirks that keep him in check, an organization that made a pact with him to stay young forever or something in change of idk what. No idea what Clockwork would get out of it I won't lie. Money maybe? Or somehow they found a way of keeping him there against his will?

Walker (and I'll make a seperate post about this) is an ex guy in white. Yes they still exist, but they hunt quirk havers instead of paranormal stuff. Walker was kicked out because he actually has a quirk but lied about it. He's after his own kind in the show as well. I mean, he's a stickler to the rules, but he only ever seems to care when it's ghosts that brake them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but never has he punished a human. His quirk is making semi-sentient minions. They're not copies of himself. They're like clay humans with basic forms. They all look alike and have no special characteristics.

Frostbite is just... A yeti. With cryokenisis. It's a mutation type quirk.

Same goes for Wulf, he's just a humanoid wolf that can create teleportation portals. I can't think of a reason why he would only speak Esperanto though. It could be something similar to Five from umbrella academy. He accidentally got stuck in the 1600 as a kid and managed to come back only relatively recently.

I feel like all the other ghosts have obvious powers.

Cujo can become ginormous,

Technus can control technology,

Dora and Aragon can become dragons,

Jhonny gives people bad luck and can control his shadow,

Kitty can make man disappear,

Ember can mind control using music,

Spectra can use people's negative emotions to stay young,

Bernard has shapeshifting,

Youngblood can't be seen by adults (side effect: can't grow old) and his sideckick has a variant of shapeshifting where he can only transform in animals. A definitive father figure),

Box ghost can control boxes,

Pandora can control the plagues of the world,

Desiré can make people's wishes come true,

Sidney can swap bodies with people,

Undergrowth can control plants,

Pariah Dark- I... Actually don't know...

Lunch Lady can control food,

Aaaanndddd no more come to mind.

I want to do something with this AU but I can't really think of an interesting story, other than "kids from 1A get misplaced in time and Danny has to help, discovering the existence of Clockwork and the Observants, whom he hates. So he tries to get Clockwork out of there with the other kid's help" but that's it, really.

I actually have a 3rd idea, but it basically works the same as the MHA one. Crossover with the X-Men.

Substitute quirk havers with mutants and quirks with mutations and you get the idea.

The plot would be more of a "Danny gets recruited by Xavier after the trauma of almost dying activated his mutation and goes to live at the mansion. This happens after the events of season 3, alla salted to make sense in the world of Marvel, but without Phantom planet. He makes friends there, since Sam and Tucker aren't with him and everything is fine and dandy and happy. Until it comes out that the Fentons actually contribute to the creation of the Sentinels, because they hate Phantom that much.

So Danny has to infiltrate his own family to get info on how the Sentinels work so they can destroy them, since his parents are still oblivious and they made it so that the Sentinels wouldn't attack Danny thinking that his accident just somehow make him register as a mutant on machinery" and that's it.

[graceslavenderhaze]

just wanna be with you; reggie x reader

“are you okay?” that was the first question julie had asked you when she saw you the morning after you both had learned that the boys were planning on crossing over before the jolts that caleb had placed on them destroyed them. 

“ i feel like i should be asking you that.” you said bluntly as you let your best friend into your house which was empty other than you at the moment. you both trailed into your kitchen. ripped pages of your journal laid in crumpled balls, a mug of hot chocolate which was half drank was next to your song journal. you wrote your best songs when you were emotional and last night was definitely emotional. 

you picked up your mug and went to refill it as well as make one for julie. she sat herself down at the table, her wondering eyes drawn to the journal. she knew a love song when she saw one. 

“did you write this?” julie asked pointing at the song labeled ‘just wanna be with you’. you placed both of your mugs back on the table and sat down. you bit your bottom lip as you took a deep breath. 

“yeah, i wrote it about or i guess for reggie.” you blurted out to your best friend. she placed her hand onto your outstretched one, comforting you. you felt all of your emotions crash down onto you like a tidal wave. 

“i’ve never felt this way about anyone ever not even carrie, i’ve never been so- i’ve never written a song about someone i like. ever! and then he just comes out of nowhere the afterlife and everything and for the first time since carrie broke up with me, i felt. i can’t even compare it to carrie but he makes me feel like there’s nothing we can’t do if we’re together, and no matter what happens i know he’ll be there. i just wanna be with him, jules.” your voice was raw as a few loose tears escaped your eyes. 

“that’s love, if i know anything from how my parents looked at each other and every stupid rom com that we’ve watched with flynn. you’re in love with him.” julie said to you as she wiped the tears off of your cheeks. you let what she said sink in, love. you were in love with reggie. 

“fuck flynn’s never gonna let me live this down!” you joked to your best friend. she broke a smile. she stood up and held her hand out for you. you gave her a confused look. she pulled you up from your seat.

“you’re getting dressed, meeting up with reggie before we play the orpheum and giving him this song. life is too short for you to just sit back and not tell people how you feel about them. you have to live in the moment, and even if you lose him. you’ll always have the memories.” handing you the journal that laid on the table, you both rushed upstairs to your bedroom not before you muttered “i hate how you’re always right.”

it had been at least an hour since you got ready. julie had picked out a cute outfit consisting of your favorite pieces of clothing that you owned, insisting that flynn says that the more comfortable you are in your skin, the more comfortable you’ll be laying your heart out. you also had your backpack slung over your shoulder with your clothes for later tonight when the band plays the orpheum and then, clothes for a sleepover with julie later on. neither of you wanted to be alone after the guys crossed over. 

“stop worrying you look fantastic.” julie said to you. you found it ironic. your best friend was playing one of the most iconic clubs in all of Los Angeles tonight and here she was calming you down over telling reggie how you feel. you played with the bracelets on your wrists, more specifically the red and black one that had a small bass charm in the middle. julie smirked when she noticed the small charm but opted not to say anything. 

“i’m gonna go pick out my outfit for tonight, and i’ll rangle dumb and dumber out so you can be alone with reggie. you got this!” julie said to you before walking into the studio to say some half true lie to get alex and luke out so you could be alone with reggie. after standing alone for five minutes and convincing yourself while it seemed convenient, running from your issues wouldn’t solve anything. 

“hey.” you mentally face palmed. hey thats the best you had? reggie looked up from the grand piano he had been fiddling with the keys of. a smile came across his face when he saw you. his smile was one of your favorites. 

“hey, shouldn’t you be helping julie?” he asked confused being as mere minutes ago julie had brought luke and alex up to her room to help wrap last minute details up for the orpheum show. you placed your backpack down and fished out your journal. your heart was beating in your chest like thunder, as if it was going to just combust out. 

“yeah, but first i wanted to show you this song that i wrote.” you stumbled on your words a little and after getting the sentence out your mouth had never felt drier. reggie looked bewildered, normally you shared your songs with julie and flynn. this was the first time you’d ever wanted to show him a song of yours and also the last. 

“i thought that’s something that you and julie do with flynn?” you approached the grand piano and sat next to him. it was now or never at this point. you pushed the knowing that by tonight after they opened, him and the guys would be gone. 

“yeah but it’s something special that i think would just be better if you were the one to hear it. is that okay?” your voice was soft and you’d never been this close to reggie before. the past few days you’d been avoiding being alone with him to see if you could try to resolve your crush on your own. it was impossible.

“yeah, no totally, that’s rad.” he said nervously starting to fiddle with his rings. you let out a soft laugh. you opened the page that the song was on and placed your hands on the keys.

 “ I got a lot of things I have to do All these distractions Our futures coming soon We're being pulled a hundred different directions But whatever happens I know I've got you

You're on my mind you're in my heart It doesn't matter where we are It'll be alright Even if we're miles apart

All I wanna do, is be with you, be with you There's nothing we can do just wanna be with you Only you No matter where life takes us nothing can break us apart You know its true I just wanna be with you

You know how life can be It changes over night It's sunny then raining, but it's alright A friend like you Always makes it easy I know that your kidding me every time

Through every up through every down You know I'll always be around Through anything you can count on me

All I wanna do, is be with you, be with you There's nothing we can do just wanna be with you Only you No matter where life takes us nothing can break us apart You know it's true I just wanna be with you

I just wanna be with you” 

 you felt a weight life off your shoulders when you finished and you wondered why you’d been so nervous, then you remembered that reggie was still sitting next to your and your nerves came swinging right back. you turned to him and for once staring into his eyes didn’t comfort you, it scared you. 

“i know that after tonight you’re gone but i’d be an idiot if i didn’t tell you how i felt before you left. i’ve never wrote a song for anyone i’ve lov-like liked.” the words tumbled out of your mouth uncontrollable. reggie smiled. he wanted to kiss you and in that moment he regretted everything. had they focused on the band instead of being so hellbent on getting revenge against bobby, then they wouldn’t have gotten stamped and wouldn’t be crossing over at all. 

“you have no idea how much i want to kiss you. ” he said softly. you smiled, you wanted to kiss him so badly. 

“i’m gonna miss you, so much.” you admitted. you knew he couldn’t stay but you wanted him to. 

“you are unlike any girl i’ve ever met or have like liked either, y/n y/l/n. i wish we had more time.” he said coming closer to you. your eyes closed for a moment and you forgot just what was happening. he wouldn’t be able to kiss you. you’d go straight through him. 

“we can’t, i want to but you know we can’t.” your words were soft and quiet but loud enough to break both of your hearts. you both wanted this so badly but the universe wouldn’t allow it. you merely coexisted together, you were still from two seperate worlds. 

“your favorite flowers are forget me nots right?” he asked you after the two of you had pulled away. you nodded and almost as a reflex played with the bracelet on your wrist with a forget me not charm. he removed his necklace from around his neck, with the blue beads and silver bar at the middle. the entire time you’d known reggie he’d never been seen without it. 

“then consider this a forget me not.” he then took the necklace and placed it around your neck. you removed the red and black bracelet with the bass charm. you placed it around his wrist. 

“only if you consider this a forget me not as well.” “ forever.” your phone beeped interrupting the moment. 

julie: i love you but i’m going to find a way to rekill these himbos soon. 

“i should go actually help julie now. i really don’t wanna say goodbye.” this was probably the last moment you had with reggie and you never wanted it to end. 

“so don’t say goodbye just say i’ll see you around.” he said jokingly. you nodded as a few tears made their way out of your eyes. you stood up from the grand piano grabbing your journal, you walked over to your backpack and turned around, your fingers fiddling with your forget me not token. 

“see you around guitar cutie.” you said before walking out of the studio. 

“not if i see you first!” he yelled back. you smiled and continued to walked up to julie’s room. closing the door and then sliding down against it once you’d entered. 

“i fell in love with a ghost. full teasing rights once my heart heals, let flynn know.” you stated as you slumped on the floor in a slightly love struck daze.

“no shit!”

“is this suppose to be new news?”

“shut up shes in loveeee.”

“yeah and i’ve come to take your spot as julie’s fashion stylists.” you joked as you got up. alex and luke poofed out after a few more side comments. julie smirked. 

“nice necklace you got there.” she winked before the two of you got to work. 

flashing forward to two hours later, flynn and you stood on the side wings of the stage clutching onto each other, both of you dressed in your concert outfits . julie, alone center stage with only her keyboard, microphone and a dahlia with her. you were all on edge, the guys wouldn’t bail again. there’s no way. so there was only one other explanation. the jolts destroyed them before they got to crossover. 

as julie started playing stand tall, the song you had heard so many times from sitting in on the practices, you thought you were imagining hearing alex’s drums until you and flynn both saw him with your own eyes. 

“holy shit.” then reggie appeared next to julie, causing you and flynn to jump with excitement. they were still here, they were going to crossover. you noticed how the charm from the bracelet reggie was still wearing had twinkled under stage lights and him looking back up and you and winking. 

“it’s your lover boy!” flynn teased. you couldn’t deny it because at this moment you were to happy to even bother. 

“c’mon luke.” you had started to muttered noticing that he was flickering onstage causing both of the present phantoms to give you a worried glance. after a few tries he managed to stay solid onstage. 

“yes!” you and flynn both cheered on the sidelines. dancing and singing to the song that you knew would be stuck in your head by tomorrow. you were all happy in this moment. 

when the song ended reggie looked back at you and mouthed very clear words. “i love you.” before you could say it back the boys disappeared. you placed the silver bar of the necklace to your lips and kissed it muttered “i love you too” before. joining flynn in cheering for julie. everything was over, but you left nothing unsaid. 

“so y/n, spill the details about your out of this world love affair.” julie joked as the three of you were in the dressing room changing into your street outfits. you laughed. folding the clothes you wore and putting them back into your backpack before looking in the mirror to check over last time. 

“wait is that reggie��s?” flynn asked pointing at the necklace you wore all night. you blushed slightly. then julie noticed the missing red and black bracelet. 

“yeah it’s a forget me not. something to remember him by. i’ll explain it all tomorrow i’m still processing it honestly.” you said turning around to her. flynn hugged you. you were happy you had your friends. 

“i’m gonna go make us popcorn and pick a movie.” you said once julie and you had gotten back to her house for the night. you knew she wanted a moment alone in the garage to thank her mom for bringing the guys to her and music back into her life. 

once you had the popcorn in julie’s bed and were picking out a movie on her laptop she texted you a 911, code red, and a bunch of other phrases for her saying you needed to get into the garage asap. 

“hey jules what do half of these codes even mean?” you asked as you walked into the garage. “what the fuck, you guys crossed over. you shouldn’t be here.” you said when you saw your favorite ghosts standing in a group hug with julie. they looked like they were dying twice all over.

“come here!” julie said grabbing you and pulling you into the hug. the guys all started to glow a golden color and the stamps caleb had put on them dissolved.

“what do you think that means?” julie asked. you shrugged, up until like a month ago you didn’t even think ghosts actually existed.

“i think it means the bands back.” luke said causing the group hug to jump up and down in a fit of happiness over playing the orpheum. once the group hug broke up, you launched yourself forwards towards reggie.

“i love you too.” he smiled. 

“kiss her!” julie coughed trying to be subtle. luke and alex both nodded encouraging their friend. 

“yeah kiss me guitar cutie.” you said with confidence causing him to do so. you could hear the hollers of your best friends in the background losing their minds which made the moment better for you.

“so what do i tell flynn?” julie asked once you pulled away for air. 

“we’ll tell her tomorrow, she’s probably still reeling from tonight.” you said. julie nodded then had another outburst excitement over the fact that they just played the orpheum. 

reggie picked you up and swung you around before kissing you again. “i don’t know what’s better playing the orpheum or kissing you.” he said. 

“also which one of you is responsible for carlos knowing?” julie asked in the middle of the moment. the guys faces all became panicked.

“busted!” you said holding a hand for your best friend to high five.

--

this is the first thing i’ve ever wrote to post publicly and idk if i like it or not but just wanna be with you lives in my head rent free so i saw my opportunity and i took it honestly. let me know if you guys like this those maybe i’ll start posting again. <3

[pastelsandpining]

Mend

Previous

Summary: Link reflects on the time he’s spent with Zelda now that everything is over. Final piece of the series, though they can all be read seperately.

Words: 1457

Warning: nothing I can think of, so read with caution

Masterlist

~~~~

There weren’t enough words to describe the Princess of Hyrule. She was as golden and divine as the light she appeared in, and she was as warm and solid as he’d always imagined her to be. When he could hold her again, it was all he could do to not hurt her. But her arms squeezed him tight and his trembling fingers tangled in her hair and he tried to hold her closer, to take in every bit of her that he could. She wasn’t a figment of his imagination, or a fragment of a memory from a life long ago. She was real, and how he missed her so much that it ached. She was warmer than the sun, and her voice was melodic and lovely and close, and her eyes were so vibrant and lively, and she was absolutely golden. She was here, in his arms underneath the sky breaking into dawn, and he never wanted to get up again. She was familiar. She was home.  

Zelda.

He offered all he could to her. He offered his house to her, he offered his company when she asked him in an uncertain voice to not leave her alone in the night, and he offered his unspoken vow to be by her side for the rest of his life--because he knew what it was like to live without her, and he didn’t think he could do it again. 

It was hard to describe how it felt to know her again, but the world seemed brighter, and the wind was gentler, and he didn’t feel as lost or confused as he did before. It was a nice feeling. He was sure he hadn’t felt this way in a very long time. 

The feeling did not fade. It only grew with every moment he spent by her side. And even now, just watching her dance in the firelight with Riju and Kass and the Rito children, he felt at an absolute peace. There were still things missing of course—bits and pieces of their past, but they were navigating that together. 

Together, which is what he’d wanted for so long that it crossed the span of lifetimes. He was certain of it.

“She is divine,” spoke a voice from beside him. “I remember her being ever so kind. She has not changed at all. It is good to have her back.”

Link turned his head to Sidon, at last taking his eyes off of Zelda, and he offered a slight smile.

“It is,” he agreed, though having her back was so much more than simply ‘good’. Having her back felt as if a piece of life had returned, and a drop of sun had kissed his skin, and everything had been so very worth it.

“I’ve never seen you happier, my friend.” Sidon reached out a hand and patted him twice on the shoulder. “Save for when you’re eating, of course.”

Link shook his head, but a bigger smile graced his lips anyway. 

“There’s reason to be happy,” he explained, leaning back on his hands. “She can rest now. We all can.”

“I can think of no one who deserves it more.”

No, no one deserved it more than her. She would never agree, of course. She’d insist Hyrule wouldn’t have needed saving should she have woken her power sooner, but he would forever say otherwise. 

“She’s happy too,” Link spoke again, “I think.”

“Can you not tell?” Sidon asked. Link tilted his head, watching the way her hair floated around her as she twirled, kicking up sand in the process. Her shoulders and back were tinted red from the sun, or maybe it was just the firelight dancing with her. Perhaps it was both, making her look as warm as the smile on her face. The Deku Tree had not lied about her smile, though oftentimes he thought it surpassed the sun. 

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “It’s a hard thing to be. Happy, I mean. Sometimes we’re not. Sometimes she wakes up screaming, or we’re hurting, or I’m.. trying too hard to be someone I’m not. But we’re growing, I think, and when she’s happy, she’s radiant.” 

“I know it isn’t easy, but for all it’s worth, I think you’re doing an incredible job.” Sidon nudged his shoulder with a grin. “You’re taking care of each other. That’s special.”

“She’s special.” As if she’d heard them, Zelda turned to face them with a bright smile and gestured for him to join her. Because she was so far away, Link admitted quietly, “I adore her.”

“Then shall we join her in the festivities?” Sidon asked, standing with a hand held out to him. “I fear Kass’s dear children won’t make it much longer.”

No, but their sleepiness didn’t keep them off of their feet for long. It really shouldn’t have been funny, but Link almost laughed at the stumbling children anyway as he took Sidon’s hand and was hauled to his feet. 

Immediately, Zelda was at his side. He took her hands and let her pull him into a dance, though he found it was more of just spinning in a circle. Still, he pulled her closer by the hands and let her laughter fill his heart until he thought it would burst. 

“You’ve grown out of the two left feet,” she teased.

“Cut me some slack,” he replied with a smile of his own. “I haven’t danced in a hundred years.”

“I was complimenting you,” she said with a roll of her eyes, “but if that’s how you want to be..”

She turned to walk away, but Link pulled her back by her hand. Zelda stumbled back into his chest with a laugh and he wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her back against him. 

“I accept the compliment,” he muttered, though he didn’t think she heard it over the music. But he was right, her skin was warm. 

“Come on, Kass has to put his kids to sleep,” she said, taking his hands and untangling herself. “Let’s take a walk.” Though part of him was sure she wanted an excuse to go back in the water. He was right, of course--she walked with her feet in the lapping water on the shore. He noticed that she loved to feel the world around her, every drop of water or blade of grass or breath of wind. It was a different experience now, she’d told him.

Zelda would never hear suggestions about what she should do now or where she should go. She had her heart set on restoring her kingdom, and he loved her for that. But there was something about the wild that made her so beautiful. She’d never give it up, so he would accompany her wherever she went just to see her smile.

“We could stay here,” he offered as a joke, squeezing her hand. “In Lurelin.”

“Vacations don’t last forever,” she replied. “But it sounds wonderful.”

“Where to next?” he asked, swinging their arms between them. 

“Wherever you want to go. It’s your pick.”

“What about a few days out in the wild?”

“Like scavengers?”

“Like scientists,” he corrected. Zelda’s smile gave off more light than the moon and he grinned right back, turning to face her entirely. “There’s always more to study.”

“I don’t appreciate you using my words against me,” she replied, slipping her free hand into his. “I feel as if that’s cheating.”

“You just don’t like when I’m right.”

“It’s a rare occurrence.”

But she only laughed at his pout. He couldn’t even feign anger at her for that. She made him break so easily. How he’d done it a century ago, he didn’t know, but he didn’t have to keep it together anymore. He’d let her know until the day he couldn’t just how happy she made him.

“What can I say? You glow in the wild,” he said simply, leaning his forehead against hers. 

“Bioluminescent?” she asked, a hint of fondness to her voice. “I’m not quite sure that’s possible.”

“And you say I can’t take a compliment,” he replied, rolling his eyes. 

“Well, you can’t.”

“Gods, you’re-”

“I’m what?”

She was fighting back a smile. He almost laughed, but he kept his composure and shook his head, replying, “You’re everything I dreamed you would be and more.”

“I think you take pleasure in killing me,” she said, hiding her face in his shoulder. Link only laughed and turned his head, pressing a kiss to her hair. 

Gods, how he adored her. She was so lively and wonderful and he’d never felt more complete. Every struggle, every bit of pain he’d felt was worth it because she was here with him. 

He would live a thousand lifetimes with her.

[imnotusedtobeingloved]

YOU GOT ME IN LOVE AGAIN

A/N: OMG!!!!!!!! Thank you guys for requesting a part two to this! You’re too sweet! I hope i could fullfill your wishes in this piece, lol, i spent so much time writing. I wanted to make this second part shorter than the first one, but guess what... it got just as long. So... wellp... have fun reading! Let me know what you think in the comments.

  This is part two to “not enough” find part one here!

(PLEASE DON’T REBLOG!)

Warnings: Self-depriciation, loneliness.

Pairing: Zuko x f!Reader

Characters: adult!Zuko, Avatar Aang, Suki.

Requested: Yes!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor the gif. Credit to the owners.

Summary: Part two to “not enough”.

"I want to end our marrige, Zuko. It's over."

Your statement seemed to shake him to his core. He was lost. So very lost. Your throat burned as you watched the tears well in his eyes. "What?" he whispered, a sound so small, you almost didn't catch it. It was as if you'd stolen him the air to breathe. "But... But why? Where did i go wrong?" He seemed to restlessly search your broken expression for answers. "Do you-" he interrupted himself, barely able to speak his suspicion aloud. He didn't even want to think about it. It was too painful. "Do you not love me anymore?" He quickly burst out as soon as he'd gathered enough of the courage he had left to hear the answer. Both of your faces were stained with tear streaks by this point.

You'd never seen Zuko as fearful as he was right now. Not even in the worst nightmares you had endured. It would've felt less painful if he'd stuck a knife into your heart. You wanted to hug him. Run your hands trough his hair, wash the tears from his face, pull him close to your chest and tell him that it would be fine. Everything would be ok.

But it wouldn't be, would it? You'd made up your mind. But you couldn't give him the answer he needed. Of course you loved him. With every ounce of you being, you did. Your heart clenched, as you wordlessly turned around, taking a few steps toward the door. "My carriage is waiting," you told him.

"No! (Y/N)!" he grasped your upper arm, still not with force, just gently. "Please," his golden orbs were pleading you to stay. To explain. To give him another chance to right whatever he'd done wrong. "I'm sorry, Zuko," he watched, breath hitched, as you removed your wedding ring. It left reluctantly, clinging to your finger from the years of wearing. Today was the first time you'd take it off since becoming the Fire Lady. Forever.

You already missed it's familiar weight. You felt naked without it. But it had to be done. It was the last step to cut the string that tied you and Zuko together. One step closer and you could sense his scent of jasmine and leather. Your took his hand in yours. It was shaking, but his skin was still as soft and warm as ever. It hadn't met yours in ages. Your bottom lip wobbled, throat tightning once again, as you placed the symbol of your love in his palm, making his fingers close around it. It was done. His features were twisted with pain. Grief. He couldn't take it anymore. The Fire Lord fell to his knees. "Please," he said again, "I'm begging you,"

You felt lightheaded, distantly registering his arms being slipped around your waist and his cheek pressed to your stomach. "Do- don't," he hiccuped, "Don't leave me," his voice was filled with panic. You'd never heard him stutter before. Zuko had lost so much. Maybe too much for a regular human to bear. And now he was supposed to lose you as well?

You took a deep breath. Every part of your body was screaming to take back what you'd said. But you couldn't. "Zuko," you whispered, gently removing his arms. "We've won many battles together," his head hung low, when you pulled him back to his feet. "But we've lost the war,"

You allowed yourself you look at him one last time. You would forever remember the shared memories, the soft texture of his hair and his warm hugs on freezing days. And especially the love in his eyes, when he found your gaze through a room full of people. Moments when no one had mattered but you. "Goodbye, Zuko," you smiled through your tears, before you turned around and went. "Maybe one day you'll understand why i had to make this descision," he watched as you looked at him over you shoulder, and then slipped through the door, leaving the Fire Lord by himself. He stood there, silent, for a long time. Almost unmoving, twirling your ring between his fingers, as if it would give him the answers he craved. It was hopeless.

After you'd left, it was as if the world turned gray. And in time he realised it had started even before you were gone. Even when he hadn't seen you, he'd always been assured of your presence in the palace. He'd watch you sit in the gardens through the windows in his study, watch you sleep when he got to the bedroom late at night, before he had to leave early in the morning. But now there was... nothing.

And there continued to be nothing for months. No matter how much time went by, Zuko never forgot about you. Not one day went by, without missing you and reminiscing the years spent together. Often his sight would grow distant, a mysterious smile displayed to the world, while he was lost in memories. But a few moments later, when he came back into reality, the pain returned. He was a shadow of the man he once was. The Fire Lord had made many mistakes in his life, there was no doubt about that. But never had he punished himself as frequently and continuously as he did for losing you. He often wondered about your new life.

Where you happy? Healthy? Had you found someone new?

Zuko was aware that you had found a place in your old home. In Ba Sing Se. He'd pondered about the possibility to ask his Uncle if he'd ever seen you. If you visited the Jasmine Dragon. Or if you avoided any remaining connection to him at all. Caught up in his thoughts he mindlessly fished for the necklace under his uniform, usually hidden behind his armour. He'd started wearing it since you were gone. It was a thin, golden chain, and as he pulled it out a beautiful ring dangled in the middle. Your wedding ring. He twirled it between his fingers, just as he had when you'd left. He didn't know how long he sat there, paying no mind to his work for the first time in ages, until someone knocked at his doors. The necklace was put back under his clothes, where the soothing metal rested next to his heart. "Yes?"

A woman stepped in, a friendly smile on her face. She was a sight for sure eyes. "Avatar Aang and the Earth Kingdom Representative are here," Suki said, waiting for his next command. "Thank you, Suki," Zuko answered, crossing the room and following her to the council room. The Kyoshi Warriors were a true help to the palace. Thanks to them the assassination attempts slowly decreased, until they subsided completely. But still Zuko didn't get much more peace than before. The work of a ruler never ended. Right now the Harmony Restoration Movement rested on his shoulders, demanding hours of work. But the few hours of sleep he got, he spend dreaming of you. The first person he registered, standing next to the large map of the four Nations was the Avatar. "Aang," he said a friendly smile tugging on his mouth.

"Zuko! It's good to see you!" the Airbender answered, pulling him into a quick hug. "Where is Earth King Kuei?" They separated and Aang rubbed his neck. "He couldn't make it. Something about Bosco feeling sick," Zuko sighed. The affection between Kuei and Bosco was apparently almost as tight as Appa and Aang. "But we have an Earth Kingdom Representative!" he made a gesture, pointing to the other side of the room.

"Fire Lord Zuko," his eyes widened when he turned around to see you greet him with a traditional bow. "(Y/N)..." he stepped closer, as if an invisible force was pulling him towards you. Like to magnets, craving the contact. He hadn't been aware of you being a part of the Kuei's Royal Council.

"Should we start talking about the Movement?" Aang interrupted him before he could even attempt to get as close to you as he wanted. He hadn't felt the need to capture and gag the Avatar in a long time, but this was an exception. Or maybe he was only trying to ease the tension in the room. Finally Zuko agreed with a sigh, watching you from across the room.

There you stood, unreachable, on the other side of the map. So unbelievably close, and yet never close enough. Your hair was bundeled up into a common Earth Kingdom hairstyle and the body was covered by a beautiful gown, clearly made by the most talended tailor of the city. And yet something about it bugged him. The colors. It was a sea of green instead of the Nations ruby red, that had once hugged your frame. He missed seeing them on you.

"-ko?" he blinked. "Zuko?" Aang said again, trying to get the Fire Lords attention. He didn't realise that he'd been staring at you all this time, while you did your best to avoid his eyes. This felt like a dream. The only thing he didn't know was if it would turn into a nightmare. "Yes. Sorry," the Fire Lord quickly apologized, trying to redirect his attention back onto the task at hand. The negotiations turned out to be more difficult than it first appeared. Especially without having King Kuei's personal opinion on the matter. Clearly he and Zuko didn't see eye to eye anymore.

"What do you think, (Y/N) ?" Aang asked, after contemplating multiple optiones. You hummed and folded your hands. "I agree with the Fire Lord," you pointed to the affected Earth Kingdom territory. "The citizens of both Earth and Fire are intertwined right here. They've been working together. Starting families together. It would be wrong to seperate a family just because they consist of two Nations," The Avatar furrowed his brows, mulling over your answer. "I understand. I'm going to meet up with King Kuei immediately once i'm back in Ba Sing Se. Maybe we should-" The doors burst open. Suki ran in, grabbing a seemingly perplex Avatar by the arm and dragging him along with her. "Aang? You should come see this. I think something's wrong with Appa, or maybe he's just tired, but we should check it out immediately! We'll be right back!" Their departure seemed strangely suspicious, but he choose to let it slide. And suddelny he was alone with you.

You forcefully refused to meet his eyes. "(Y/N)," he said softly, daring to step just a little closer, but you raised a hand to stop him. "Please don't. You're the Fire Lord. We should remain professional," Zuko flinched. Each time you called him "Fire Lord" instead of "Zuko" a piece of hope died anew. "It's okay if you don't want to talk to me, (Y/N). I will accept that. But please listen to what i have to say. I will not bother you with any futher requests," You still didn't raise your head, though he saw a small nod. Zuko walked around the table to stand next to you, just like he did before you'd gone. "I think i know why you had to leave me. Your absence made me realize how awful you must've felt with me being in countless meetings. I neglected you, didn't i? I forgot to tell you, to show you, how much you mean to me. I want to apologize. For all the times you felt lonely. For all the broken promises. For all the missed opportunities. For all the heartbreak. I missed you every day, (Y/N). And i still do in this very moment," he confessed. His amber eyes silently searched your face for a reaction. Any kind of emotion at all. But there was nothing.

"You didn't miss me at all?" he whispered.

At last your gaze met his. "I missed you even before i was gone, Zuko," you stated, crossing your arms in front of your chest. "You have to accept that it's over,"

A humorless chuckle left his mouth. The sound of agony. "I can't, (Y/N)," his eyes watered slightly and he blinked to hold them back. "I tried, but... i just can't," you shook your head. The connection you felt to him, after all this time, was still there. You hadn't expected there to be nothing, but this was much stronger than what you'd signed up for. Zuko's chapter in your life was over. You'd forgiven his mistakes in the past months and were ready to move on. Going back to the way it was, wasn't a possibility. Being alone with him, seeing him, feeling him so close... It was overwhelming.

You had to get out of here. When he got closer once again, you sidestepped, not noticing the scroll that had fallen down during the earlier conversations. You gasped. Instead of meeting solid ground you foot slipped, sending you right into a spiral. But never touched the ground. Zuko caught you in his arms, pulling you into his chest.

In the small seconds he'd leaned forward to reach you, a small string of gold tumbled out beneath his uniform, catching your eye. "Are you alright?" he asked, searching your face for any discomfort. You, on the other hand, were thinking about something completely different. "Is that... my ring?" He looked down at himself, seeing the jewlery he'd carried along for months. "It is. Everything else was gone... i wanted to have a part of you with me," Now the bottled up emotions caught up with you. "Oh, Zuko..." you breathed, a single tear trailing down your face. He lifted a hand, wiping it away with his thumb, before pressing a featherlight kiss to your forehead.

"I'm so sorry, my love. Is it too much to ask for another chance? I won't give you a reason to leave again," You stepped away to look at his face, pondering quietly. "I can't go back to the way it was, Zuko," he reached for your hands, holding them delicately. "We won't," he promised, pressing his forehead to yours. "Let me prove it to you," You couldn't give him the same kind of faith. You didn't agree to anything, but you choose to wait and see.

One year later you found yourself resting on the soft, green grass, with the sun warming every inch of your skin. Zuko rested next to you, his face completely relaxed. You raised a hand, blinded by the sun, but a smile spread out on your face upon the sight of the ring that glimmered around your finger. You turned to your side, propped up on one elbow. Since the negotiations about the Harmony Restoration Movement with the Avatar, Zuko had been working endlessly... on your relationship.

A lot had changed. The original purpose of the Movement was defeated, but its collapse would lead to a peaceful and more integrated coexistence between all four nations. Thanks to the Fire Lord. After the idea to merge a United Republic of Nations, he’d taken a step back and cleared his scedule as much as he could to make time for you. Countless dates were arranged between the two of you and Zuko made sure that you had at least two days a week just for the two of you. Often his advisors would take over for him at certain times, as soon as he had a council of men he fully trusted. This also enabled him to get some much needed rest.

Who also took on more responsibility, was the Fire Lady. He had always been so focused, so sure that he had to do all the work alone, not wanting to burden you. But now that you shared it, everything seemed to be much easier. You raised a hand, bringing it up to his face and trailing a finger over his features. The deep, dark bags under his eyes that once had been, were gone. Zuko started to smile, getting tickled by your touch, tough he kept his eyes shut. You slid your hand into his hair, as he blindly reached for you, pulling you half onto his chest. You pressed a kiss to the mark on his face, an old habit, yet it never failed to make him feel better about it. “I’m so glad that you’re here with me, (Y/N)...” He mumbled quietly, finally opening his eyes. They shined golden, like the sun itself. So full of love and adoration that it was almost too overwhelming to look at. But you choose to fully embrace the moment. The warm climate, the soft grass, the turtleducks quietly paddling about in the pond, and of course your husband.

From the jasmine smell of his favorite tea, to his warm skin and his arms woven so tightly around your waist as if he never wanted to let go. “Me too,” you grinned, snuggling into his chest and looking up to him. His expression was one of pure joy and comfort, his smile more intoxicating than ever before. He looked every bit like the ruler he was. Still after all this time, your heart raced whenever he looked at you like this. You leaned up, pressing a quick peck against his lips, desprate for their taste. But Zuko wasn’t pleased. Before you could lay back down, he put a hand on your cheek, pulling you back in and kissing you deeply. His lips were hot. Soft. Irresitable. All your thoughts were washed away, as your senses were completely focused on Zuko. How he felt. How he tasted.

When you pulled away, completely out of breath and foreheads pressed together, you were caught up in each others presence. “I love you, (Y/N). So much,” he said, his voice hoarse from the kiss. “I love you too, Zuko,” you took his face in your hands, running your thumbs over his prominent cheekbones. All this time spend apart, you’d felt nothing at all, apart from trying to survive in the Royal Council of the Earth King. But Zuko had changed for the better again and turned you life around once more. You were not only in love with Zuko, you were in love with life. Something you hadn’t been able to feel in a long time. “You got me in love again,”

[princess-of-the-corner]

winx au: what causes each character to gain charmix/enchantix/gloomix/disenchantix? does Stella get her two at the same time or only progress in one? is her witch form always the basic one? does she ever ise it? do the witches and fairies gain the power ups the same way? does riven ever get one? T (sry bout all the questions)

Okay! So!

Yes the powerups are earned the same way for Faeries and Witches. They are parallels of one another.

Stella does use her Witch Form a few times in the first few seasons. In Season 1, it's mostly a "this form is stronger at Night" deal, but she stays in Faerie most often. She uses it a little in Season 2 because her Faerie Magic doesn't do well underground, being literally Light Based. Her Witch Form isn't the best option, but doesn't drain as fast in darkness. By Season 3, her Witch Form is at an actual disadvantage compared to her Faerie Form so she only really uses it once to make a point. She will have to earn each form seperately when she trains her Witch powers.

Riven wasn't intending to get more Forms, but kinda... Gets them accidentally? Like. In the next chapter of that fic, he's starting on actually working at being able to use his Magic. He'll be caught off guard by Charmix in Season 3. And because Enchantix is earned by confronting some personal stuff, as soon as he does some major character momet he gets that. By Season 5 when everyone else is getting Harmonix/Discordix, him and the rest of the guys are helping them with getting all that so he's just like "well since I'm in on this anyway...".

Charmix/Gloomix is earned mostly by making major progress in actually training your Magic. One could use their Base Forms many times, but actually training and honing their skills would lead to earning Charmix/Gloomix. It's not exactly an entirely new form, just a sign that they're ready to earn Enchantix/Disenchantix.

So the "confronting something personal" plot is moved to Enchantix/Disenchantix instead. Because that makes more sense than "sacrifice your life to save someone from your homeworld" for many, many reasons!

As for how everyone gets their forms!

As said, Charmix/Gloomix happens on it's own and is earned by training your Magic. While Echantix/Disenchantix is "character developmemt". The Winx all get theirs in Season 3, and others get them at various times. I'll start with the Winx though!

Bloom:

Bloom's had a hell of a time finding where exactly she belongs. On Earth, she always subconciously knew she didn't "belong" there. Then she learns about a whole ass world of Magic she does belong to. Only to find that her birth family and homeworld were destroyed. So she feels this disconnect.

She tries to connect to the handful of survivors from Domino. But that makes her feel even more like an outsider because theres a whole planet/culture she doesn't remember. And it doesn't help that Valtor is specifically using this feeling to manipulate her.

Eventually, she comes to realize that she doesn't have to "belong" to some place because she already belongs with her friends and family.

Stella:

Stella has a lot of pressure on herself and tends to ignore her problems by pretending she's not bothered because she should be able to handle all this!

She eventually opens up about all that. Just. Admitting that she is stressed and being reminded that she can rely on the people who care about her.

Musa:

So. I bumped up Musa's mother's death to just before she left for Alfea in Season 1.

Musa has been pretty much running away from facing that for the past two years. Not even going home during breaks from school because it hurts too much to be in her home without her mom.

In Season 3 she gets to meet Galatea and the two just talk about their homeworld. Musa misses it. A lot. But going home means facing all that.

Eventually she does. Having a bit of a breakdown but properly processing the grief.

Tecna:

One of Tecna's issues is that she's... Not good at communicating or interpretating emotions. It's partly on her and partly just that Zenith culture is very blunt with emotions. So she won't understand what someone is feeling unless they say it point blank, but also won't always show what she's feeling outside of saying it out loud(which... Doesn't register to others)

She never realized how much of an issue it is until her and Timmy have tension because of it. Nothing bad! Just that their love languages are very different and both begin to feel unappreciated because of the lack of communication on the emotional front.

It's the decision to actually begin learning that has her earning her Enchantix.

Aisha:

Due to her very isolated childhood, Aisha is still new to having such a large friend group. But she quickly fits in with them. However. Right when she got the group, they seem to e drifting apart.

Not in a bad way, of course! But everyone has their own adventures and subplots this season, which leads to the whole group not always being together. And as they plan for the future and what may come, it's likely that they'll have to go their seperate ways.

Aisha is scared that she'll be alone again. And It's only after voicing these fears and being reassured that even if their lives have them seperate, they'll always be ready to come back together and be friends. They're not going away forever.

Flora:

Flora's insecurity comes from feeling like the weakest of the Winx.

She's not, of course! But... Bloom and Aisha are their main powerhouses. Stella is also quite powerful, and uses both Faerie and Witch Forms. Tecna and Musa have much flashier powers. And Flora is over here with her plants.

Plus. One of their main opponents is Icy. Whose powers are naturally very effective against Flora's abilities.

She begins to feel very useless. Like she shouldn't even bother fighting because what difference would it make?

Eventually, she does kind of snap. And realize 1.) She's not weak and 2.) Even if she was, it doesn't mean she shouldn't do what she can to help.

Darcy:

She actually gets her Disenchantix at the end of Season 1(all the Trix start Season 1 on Gloomix because they're in their third year at Cloud Tower).

It's solidifying that she won't break her morals to obtain her goals, even to the point of fighting against people she loves and fixing her mistakes.

Stormy:

Hers happens off screen because she disappears in Season 2 and shows up again in Season 3. But sometime during this she realizes that her current methods of trying to get anything she wants isn't... Really working. She manages to sort that out but I'm still thinking about all that.

Icy:

Oh boy. My girl has a lot of issues. Especially relating to her mom.

99% of people she meets that know who her mom is either judge her, or want her to pick up where her mom failed. And Icy has internalized a lot of that shit. About having to complete her mom's goals because what else is there for her? If she does, she'll have the wonderful life she was promised way back then. She'll be... Worth something.

Sometime in Season 3 she meets some characters who, despite who her mother was and what Icy has done since then, are willing to care about her. And She's also reminded that Darcy and Stormy did care about her, but she pushed them away for her own goals. And that even the Winx gang are willing to help her get away from... All that.

It's a lot of progress and she probably won't really get Disenchantix until Season 4 when she actually feels genuinely loved for who she is and despite everything.

Riven:

Oh boy.

So. I.... I will go into this more after I post the next chapter of that thing. However!

I will say that his Enchantix is either late Season 3 or sometime in Season 4. And It's a very cathartic, facing childhood truama, "god do you have any idea how much that fucked me up?!" Moment.

[lyranova]

Children of the Future:

Chapter 3: Temporary Home

Hi guys! Here’s chapter 3, I hope you guys like it I apologize if it isn’t very good I’m kinda tired atm but I’ll be ok ☺️! Also, Chapter 4 will be reblogged a few hours after this one since I already wrote that one haha. Anyway I hope you all enjoy~!

Taglist: @eme-eleff (if anyone wants to be added please let me know!)

Word Count: 2,339

Warnings: None

———

Yami groaned as he stretched, he rubbed his eyes a bit as he sat up in bed. That was some strange dream he had last night, him and the Prickly Princess, having a kid together. He almost wanted to laugh, it was so ridiculous. He and her, having a kid, he shook his head as he got out of bed. That would be the last time he ate Charmy’s cooking before he went to bed. He stood up, stretched again, and walked out of his bedroom. He hoped today would be an easy day with some much deserved down time.

He walked down the hall into the common room and frowned; it was silent, eerily silent. He cautiously walked into the room and looked around, he froze when he saw what had the Black Bulls so quiet. They were all surrounding Hikari as she politely answered the questions they threw at her, all the ones she could answer anyway. Yami blinked rapidly as he realized he hadn’t been dreaming the day before, he did have a kid with Charlotte, one from the future and that was currently 19 years old. He walked up to them and heard Hikari laugh, it sounded so much like Charlotte’s that it made him freeze on the spot again.

“ Oh no, dad hasn’t changed much at all! He’s still tough on everyone and tries to get us to push past our limits, he doesn’t cut me any slack at all even though I’m his daughter.” She laughed sheepishly, the Black Bull members' faces looked a mixture of disappointment and awe.

“ That’s just like Captain Yami, he treats everyone equally no matter who they are or what their status is!” Asta said in admiration, Noelle sighed and looked at him.

“ You would think he would at least cut his own daughter some slack.” Noelle said as she crossed her arms, Yami walked up behind all of them.

“ What makes you think that? I don’t cut anyone slack when it comes to training, and I mean anyone.” Yami suddenly said, making everyone but Hikari jump, she had noticed him walking up to them but didn’t say a word.

“ Captain Yami!” They all shouted in unison, Yami shook his head before looking at Hikari.

“ They bothering you?” Yami asked her, Hikari shook her head and waved away his concerns.

“ No they’re not bothering me, I’m actually having fun answering their questions.” Hikari told him with a small smile, it was nice seeing how different some of them were compared to how she knew them. Grey, Noelle, and Finral were the ones that had surprised her, she knew Grey had been terribly shy before she married Gauche but it was still weird to actually see how shy she was. She noticed Noelle seemed to be a little more closed off and kind of colder, she had heard about her being like this at one time but she had grown to be much warmer. Finral, well, he wasn’t as flirty in her time for obvious reasons. So him being so forward last night had thrown her for a loop.

“ Mhm, that ‘fun’ will wear off in a while trust me. Anyway,” Yami said as he walked over and sat down on the couch, he quickly pulled out a cigarette and lit it before Hikari could say anything. “ the Prickly Princess should be here soon. We’re all moving into a new house today, since Julius wants you to ‘adjust’ and thinks us all living together will help.” Yami grumbled slightly before taking a drag of his cigarette. He knew there was more to it then that.

Julius wanted them to keep an eye on her.

Yami doubted it was because he was mistrustful of Hikari, she hadn’t lied to them once, and if she did Yami would be able to sense it with his Qi. But it was because they didn’t know why she was sent there, they figured out who sent her last night, which Yami would have to tell Julius about later. He noticed a sadness in Hikari’s eyes that quickly disappeared.

Hikari didn’t want to leave, even though she had only been here for less than 24 hours she wanted to stay. She was enjoying spending time with these versions of the Black Bulls, they were so fascinating and she wanted to know more about them like this. This place was her home, even if it looked slightly smaller and less crowded now.

There was a soft knock on the door, Yami yelled for them to come in and they opened the door. Charlotte looked around and spotted Yami sitting away from the group, she walked over to him and sat down.

“ Don’t stop on my account.” Charlotte said as they all looked over at her before glancing at Yami, who nodded, and they went back to questioning Hikari. Charlotte turned to look at Yami. “ How long has the inquisition been going on?”

“ Since before I woke up if I had to guess.” Yami shrugged slightly. “ How’d your squad take the news?” When asked this Charlotte sighed.

“ About as well as yours did, except for Sol, she wasn’t too happy at first. Well, she was more confused than unhappy, but I think after she meets Hikari she’ll become accustomed to the idea.” Charlotte explained with a shrug. “ But everyone else seemed pretty excited and supportive about the idea, although they don’t like that I’m no longer going to be at the headquarters for the time being.”

“ Mine are the same. But they’ll have to get over it for now, besides, we’re going to be in close proximity to both right? It shouldn’t be a big deal, especially since Hikari’s an adult and can stay by herself.” Yami pointed, she nodded in agreement.

“ But even though she’s an adult, adjusting to this new world could still be a challenge.” Charlotte countered, and he nodded in agreement as well. All three of them living together made sense, as well as making them live in a new house instead of at one of the bases.

“ We need to be going before we lose daylight.” Charlotte said as she stood up and walked towards the doors. “ It’s time to go Hikari.” The young girl blinked before looking at Yami, he stood as well and shrugged a shoulder.

“ You heard her, c’mon let's go. I’ll come back for my stuff later today.” Yami said, he watched the young girl slump in defeat; she really didn’t want to leave yet. “ You can come by and visit whenever you want. These brats aren’t going anywhere.” Yami added before rubbing the back of his neck and looking away, oddly he didn’t like hurting her feelings and he didn’t want to see her sad. Huh, was this a fatherly instinct? He only knew the girl for a few hours and yet he felt like he had known her forever! It was strange. Hikari’s face brightened instantly as she stood up.

“ Great! I’ll come back as often as I can!” She announced happily, she would probably come back here and hang out with the others everyday, but she also wanted to hang out with some of the Blue Rose Knights. Hm, this was going to be tricky. She would have to divide her time between the two squads well, but she also needed to help find a way home, or at least figure out why she was here in the first place!

Hikari followed Yami and Charlotte outside, there were three brooms sitting there, and she grabbed the one in the middle, crouched down on it, and levitated in the air. Her ‘parents’ did the same and they flew towards their new temporary home. As they journeyed Hikari’s mind wandered a bit; everyone looked relatively the same, albeit much younger now than when she knew them. It seemed to her that Grey and Gauche were already together, or were in the beginning stages of it anyway, Zora was still single from what he said, her parents were obviously not together, and it seemed that Noelle still hasn’t told Asta about her feelings. This was very curious. She tilted her head in thought after a moment.

She wondered if any of the other couples from the different squads were together or not.

————

The three landed softly outside of a small building that would be their new home. Like the Black Bulls base it was pretty secluded, but it was also a short broom ride to the Capital as well as to the Blue Rose Knight and Black Bull bases. It was a bit larger than the Black Bulls base, but smaller than the Blue Rose one. Yami walked up to the door and pushed it open, the common room was a bit larger than the Black Bulls, but it still had a couple of couches, a long dinner table, a few coffee tables, and a bar. On their left seemed to be the entrance to the kitchen and a small breakfast area, it was much smaller than the Black Bulls. ‘Charmy would be having a fit if she saw it’, Yami thought with a chuckle. He looked up and noticed a short staircase in front of them. The house appeared to have multiple wings which made him frown in confusion; if it was only going to be the three of them, then why did they need the extra rooms?

“ Huh, this looks a lot like the Black Bulls hideout. Except the layouts are different.” Hikari noted as she stepped beside Yami, Charlotte made a ‘hmm’ noise as she looked around.

“ The layout is similar to our headquarters, except smaller and much darker.” Charlotte muttered, it seemed like Julius either made or found a house that was similar enough to both bases in order to make them all comfortable. Huh, how thoughtful.

“ So, what do we do now?” Hikari asked as she crossed her arms.

“ We find our rooms, drop off our things, and look around.” Charlotte suggested, the other two nodded and they went off in seperate directions to find their rooms.

Hikari found one that was similar to the one she had at the Black Bulls base, but it was much larger, like she could probably fit at least 6-8 beds in there! She placed her Katana down on the bed with a sigh, that was the only thing she had been able to grab, she had no clothes or anything. Just her Katana. She turned as she heard a soft knock on her door, not waiting for a reply Charlotte walked in.

“ I’m sorry to intrude, but I brought you some of my old clothes. You look to be around my size, so they should fit, if not I can always have them tailored.” Charlotte smiled softly as she handed the girl the stack of clothes. Hikari looked away sheepishly as she took the clothes from her with a soft ‘thank you’. ‘ She’s just like Yami, she doesn’t seem to get sheepish easily, but when she does she’s absolutely adorable!’ Charlotte thought with an internal giggle. She watched the girl place the clothes inside the empty dresser.

“ I’m sorry there isn’t more I can do to help.” Charlotte apologized as her smile turned sad. “ I wish there was a way I could help you get home sooner, so you can be with your parents and siblings.” Charlotte couldn’t begin to imagine how Hikari was feeling being away from the people she loved and cared about, she was probably scared and upset but refused to show it.

“ It isn’t your fault. I’ll be home with them soon enough, after we get the answers to all of our questions that is.” She told her as she leaned against the dresser, Charlotte nodded in agreement. The two women stood in comfortable silence for a moment before Charlotte decided to break it, with a surprising question.

“ So, do you have a boyfriend?” The question seemed to surprise both women. Charlotte had been spending too much time around the girls in her squad for that question to come out of her mouth. Hikari frowned in both thought and confusion.

“ No, I mean, I have boy friends as in friends that are boys. But I’m not actually dating anyone. I want to accomplish my dream first.” Hikari said firmly and with a nod for emphasis, Charlotte tilted her head.

“ What’s your dream?”

“ To become the Wizard Queen someday.” She announced proudly and with a confident smirk. “ But, not only will I have to get stronger and surpass all my limits, there are a few people I’ll have to knock out in order to get there.” Hikari said the last part softly, the white haired young man with a warm smile and bright blue eyes appeared in her mind again at the statement and she quickly shook her head.

“ Well, I’m sure with the help of Yami and your friends, you’ll be able to accomplish those goals easily.” Charlotte told her with an encouraging smile, Hikari opened her mouth to speak before she saw Yami suddenly walk by.

“ Yami?” She called out, he stopped and looked at the women before walking in. He had a confused look on his face.

“ What’s wrong?” Charlotte asked, her face and tone suddenly growing serious. Yami sighed before crossing his arms, he was holding a communication device in his hand.

“ That was Marx, Julius’s assistant. Apparently, I need to go get Zora and bring him to the Capital.” Yami said, Charlotte also frowned in confusion, but Hikari’s eyes widened and looked hopeful.

“ Why do you think he asked for Zora?” Charlotte asked, causing Yami to shrug again before turning around and walking out of the room.

“ No idea. But I plan to find out.”

———-

Ah i’m sorry this isn’t very good, but I hope you all enjoyed 🥰! I’ll reblog chapter 4 in a few hours so you can all read it! Thanks for reading and i hope you all have a good day~!

[abbydramarambles]

The REAL Ending CLOY

This is my headcanon and you can’t tell me otherwise. The epilogue in Switzerland is set a few years after the events of that piano concert. They have already found a way to be together more permanently. To me the house doesn’t seem like a vacation house, it seems like a home home. 

There is that photo of Se-ri on the bridge, not something one would frame for themselves. RJH definitely lives there. Check out the north Korean coffee kettle and other souvenirs as well. This is the sort of stuff one would have in their home.

The only thing holding RJH to North Korean is his parents, the fact that they could be killed if he were to defect. After they die, he has no reason to stay. We’ve already been shown that he is resourceful and would know exactly how to get out. Not to mention that everything in north Korean runs on money, if you have connections like Se-ri and RJH do....anything is possible. And to me these two people with all their power, well they would find a way.

Dan’s mother travels out of the country a lot as well for business. I think the 2 weeks is the longest trip Se-ri takes while RJH’s parents are alive. It’s not the only trip of the year. I doubt her employees would be saying “you’re going to Switzerland again??” if it was a once a year sort of deal they wouldn’t think she had a man. They even say “it’s lasting a while this time”. Come on who in the world would think it’s a relationship if their boss goes to switzerland for 2 weeks a year. It’s her favorite 2 weeks of the year because of it being uninterrupted time. 

Well with her wealth and his determination, and connections via his family, I'm sure they'll find a way eventually, either it is his parents passing away (since it has been about 6 years between him going back to NK and the epilogue meetup), or him somehow getting a long term mentoring position at Switzerland. You’re telling me Dan’s mom a department store owner can swing to Europe anytime, and Se-ri who created a whole scholarship for her man can’t swing something in collaboration with Papa Ri?

I got the impression the student performing his song on stage was a full-time student in Switzerland. RJH is not studying abroad but is teaching NK scholarship winners. Seri has been traveling back and forth a lot but these two weeks are the longest continual time they have together. 

When Seri first sees him in Switzerland she asks how dangerous his journey was, and he didn’t answer, just said he got on the wrong train but reached his destination. “Destination” implies a final location to me, not just a two-week stay. For two people who find it torturous to be apart for even a moment, destination would not have been thrown around like that. It could’ve taken his Dad some time to manage the politics to make a permanent teaching position with the National Symphony. He did see his son cry in the car after leaving her. That man is powerful, the 3rd most powerful man in North Korean. A political manipulation genius, a man always one step ahead of the others. He got his son and 5 people in and out of South Korea. You best believe he can make it happen. He’s not going to sit back and leave his only son living without his only dream. Plus RJH was never a flag waving patriotic North Korean anyway. He already expressed that he wanted to stay with SeRi in South Korea, have a child that looks just like her. It’s kdrama script writing 101 to not have your lead character mention a deep desire such as this one unless its foreshadowing or serves a larger purpose. And Park Ji Eun is no noob writer. 

Let’s look at the way the show itself references fate and destiny. Regardless of how impossible it may seem, these two always managed to find each other again. Fate is pushing them together and is on their side. I don’t think fate wants them to meet 2 weeks a year. Fate didn’t make them meet in Switzerland, in North Korea, in South Korea, and in Switzerland again for 2 weeks a year for the rest of their lives. I can’t entertain that.  A lot of people think that the epilogue on the hill and when she meets him for the first time again in Switzerland with the parachute are the same time frame. I don’t think so. I really do think the piano concert is the ending and the picnic is the epilogue. It’s years from then, when everything has been sorted about how to be together permanently and it’s a window in to happy every after. Just look at their body language and expressions in the last scene, they are totally at peace and seem to have gotten everything they wanted. Even the music radiates peace. Listen to the lyrics of Sigriswil that play as the camera pans out “wandering this strange night, won’t you be here by me? now I hold your hands, with you I’ll be alright...how does it feel, my friend? It’s been a long day and night” THEY ARE NO LONGER WANDERING ALONE THAT IS THE POINT. period. It was a “long day and night, but now I hold your hand” ... how does it finally feel to have your happy ever after....my friend. IT REEKS OF OPTIMISM and closure. In film making the atmosphere says everything about what is unsaid in the script. 

You best believe he won’t leave a stone unturned to be with her, see her grow old and live in the house of dreams with their twins. Just the fact that he vocalized this thought in the show leads me to believe that it did indeed happen. 

Believe in what the show is telling us to believe. What it’s showing us, not telling us even. That love will always find a way. 

Cloy’s ending also reminds me of  very heavily of (spoiler) that of “my love from the stars”. It was written by Park Ji-eun, the same writer as CLOY. So yes they are forced to be apart in that show too, but he finds his way back and each time they meet its for longer and longer and its implied that one day it will be forever. If an alien could find a wormhole to make it back to his love interest, north korea isn’t looking too bad. Same thing with her other star crossed lovers show “legend of the blue sea”. The mermaid finds him again against all odds and they live happily ever (plus a baby). Hey I’m just saying that the precedent has been set on how this seperation works through our writers own works. Having seen all of Park Ji Eun I know exactly how she structures her endings. It’s almost always the same. The mermaid made it back, the alien made it back...north korea is where we draw the line? They’re only apart for awhile till they figure it out, and they work hard to do so.

Whatever this image is from TVN left it unaired. They shot something they had to pull back. My crack theory brain says she looks a bit pregnant. Actually, that ain’t even a crack theory, I stand behind it. Son yejin is so slim, and judging by the material of the dress it just wouldn’t fall like that unless they were trying to make her look pregnant. Like LISTEN, just LISTEN to me. They put in the effort to get the actors in these outfits we have never seen before, they even gave seri flowers...whY?? There are no other purely promo shots that didn’t have footage attached. The only ones I can think of are the ones they took in front of a greenscreen for the photoframes inside their house. THIS WAS A REAL SCENE THAT WAS DELETED.  South Korean dramas pre-film certain scenes (like the swiss ones) and live film the others to make slight changes to the storyline based on audience reaction. During airing there was quite a lot of political backlash a la north korea. 

There are some stills TVN released that weren’t screencaps. But ALL of them were in outfits relating to scenes we have seen, such as this one.  It just would make no sense for them to go out of there way to get this image on the jam packed expensive swiss schedule and not just do greenscreen in korea like they did for all the other promo material UNLESS it was a real scene. 

So you want more evidence for plot points that indicated the original, unaired, together forever in Switzerland ending?

Let’s look at some details, at one point in Episode 14 when Jeong Hyeok's father is meeting with the bad guy Senior Colonel who tries to use photos of Jeong Hyeok in Korea as a bargaining chip, he says "You should retire quietly. Using your health as an excuse won't raise any suspicions." now whilst this may be a casual reference to him being old and that health issues are plausible, it's also possible Jeong Hyeok's father has had some long term illness they've not mentioned which would add to why it wouldn't raise suspicions.

The main reason I thought of this is it would sort of line up with some other details, in the finale when they're deciding whether to send them back or not, at the NIS briefing they mention how the North has requested keeping it quiet and confidential, they mention "They want the confidentiality term to be five years. They're being sensitive about it because one of them is a high-ranking officers son". Then if we fast forward toward the end when Se-ri is receiving the timed messages, a year passes after her birthday message from Jeong Hyeok, after that scene we see Jeong Hyeok having his farewell meal with the townspeople and preparing to leave after being accepted as a pianist for the National Symphony Orchestra, presumably around the same time as Se-ris birthday given that scene was right before. Se-ri then comes up with her Switzerland Music academy idea probably a few weeks or month or so after she read RJH's text about meeting and then it tells as it's one year later, Se-ri waits but doesn't meet him and returns home, her mum says "It breaks my heart to see you return in disappointment every time" which if that's a correct translation it means it's been more than once by this point. Add up this entire timeline....guess what it comes out to. FIVE YEARS. That’s how long it takes them to sort out a permanent solution for their problem.

When he chooses to defect it will be much easier for him considering he’s making trips to Switzerland already. All he would have to do is walk into a South Korean embassy in Zurich. They have an open door policy for North Koreans, he doesn’t even need to cross the DMZ again. 

You want even MORE proof? Okay my friend, I’ll bite. Why are there photos of a couple with children?? Honestly come on I really don’t have to say more.

They had to leave the ending open. Due to the political situation, they couldn’t exactly show RJH, a North Korean, defecting. Pretty sure our buddy Kim Jong-un would not be chill with that.  However ridiculous it is, the show had multiple attacks on it while it was running by political parties saying it violated the “national security act”.

The ending was clearly cleverly re-edited to be less explicit so the viewer can read between the lines but the show-runners can protect themselves from lawsuits and public sentiment regarding a sort of maybe illegal situation. If you believe they met for two weeks a year for the rest of their lives, you don’t know RiRi Ri-eally well ;) 

[ganondoodle]

demise backstory (summary)

I didnt actually plan on wrtiting a summary of demises backstory (that i came up with, idk if its any good) but im realizing how long it will take me to draw it all, especially with job related things getting in the way all the time, so i guess im gonna post a badly summarised version of it right here right now, some things might change but thats always the case with my writing, nothings set in stone.

(please be aware that im not the best writer and didnt put much effort into this, it got longer than i thought but well meh :V ignore the typos, i wrote this at 1 am ;O; )

I didnt proof read anything, so this is a mess, anyway here goes nothin:

As far as i know, there have been multiple cases of hyrule having some sort of alternate mirror version of itself or just an alternate world somehow somewhere, so my personal idea about this is that demise WAS what hylia is for hyrule, a deity of protection. thats also where the whole inverted triforce symbols come from in my design for him, im not saying its lorule, but its definitely inspired by it to some degree. so they also had a triforce (here simply called "relics"), but it was split into the three pieces, for each of the three main nations/countries one, originally it was split like this as a way of sharing it equally AND to keep it safe, since if someone was to want the whole thing, theyd have to fight three different giant nations for it, which was thought as being pretty impossible.

as i said before, demise (might not have always been his name idk) was their deity of protection, he was there to keep the peace, to prevent the three countries from going after the relics themselves, tho he was always a cocky bastard he wasnt as destructive and hateful as he is now, back then he was still the servant of their gods after all. for a long long time he was successful at keeping everything as it was supposed to be, but of course, it cant go well forever, i dont have all the details yet but basically, those three nations started war after war, he was able to keep it from escalating for quite some time  but at some point, the people found out that if they destroyed his statues (just like hylias in canon) to prevent anyone from praying to him, he wouldnt know, at least, not immediately (my idea was that the statues are a sort of communication link to whatever their god was, so in ancient hyrule, if you prayed to one of hylias statues, and asked for her protection/help, she would know instantly and show up within seconds) 

alot of battles were fought without demise hearing anything about it, until someone found a statue that wasnt fully destroyed. when demise showed up however, the person had already died as they were wounded when fleeing from the battlefield. wondering how this all came to be he went to look for where that person came from, since if there was actual big trouble he should have known about it much sooner.  

he must have missed the biggest battle his world had ever seen, given the sheer size of it .. and the amount of corpses scattered all over it.

this only happened because of the greed of the people in power for the rest of the relics, which promised power, more power than they already had, plus who wouldnt want to know what happen if the relics were combined again, given how they've been seperated since the beginning. 

Fueled by anger and grief over how many people had lost their lives without him even KNOWING that a war of this size was happening, demise tried to ask the gods as to what he was supposed to do, how could he stop these needlessly cruel wars over something so small ? but the gods were silent. 

so he had to decide on his own, what was the best thing to do ? after careful consideration he couldnt think of anything else but to destroy the relics, after all, he could touch or use them himself as means to prevent him, as an already powerful deity, from falling for that greed for power, just like the inhabitants of his world did now.

the first one was the easiest, they didnt know his plan and let him wander their sacred halls with no second thought .. until he raised his sword once he stood in front of that cursed relic that led only to bloodshed and death. of course the news started to spread that their protector had apparently turned against them, some thought it was because they destroyed his statues, others because they thought he feared they would be more powerful than him once they gathered all the relics. on his way to destroy the second one he was met with resistance, but nothing he couldnt get through. the third one was a fight of an army against one deity. demise won, but not without killing some of the people he swore to protect .. and the only reason he was doing this, was for their own good.

after the deed was done, instead of everything getting better, it was getting worse. the people were more united than ever. against him that is. and the world fell apart. the oceans started to shrink, the winds would blow more harshly with each passing day, plants would wither away as if robbed of life before it began. demise was never overly beloved by anyone even back in the beginnings, but he could deal with them hating and resenting him, as long as they wouldnt go to war against each other, he was happy, more or less. what he couldnt handle was watching as his world started to die a slow and agozing death, right before his eyes, without him being able to do anything against it. and the gods stayed silent.

was it because he destroyed the relics ? were the gods mad at him for going against their orders and deemed it appropriate to punish him by having to watch the people suffer ?or was it that the gods that were bored of playing with this world and moved on to the next ?

he would never know the answer. 

the world died slowly over hundreds of years of painful suffering, desperately trying to to stay alive. even then the last remaining survivors knew him only as the destroyer of their world, responsible for their suffering. his former self wiped from memory, and only hate remained. 

after the last mortal died, the last tree withered and the oceans were gone. there was nothing left to guard, nothing left but the ruins of the past and the painful reminder of how this all came to be. the question of why it had to happen, was never answered, as the gods abandoned him and his world a long time ago.

in a fit of rage he sought to destroy the last temples, the once sacred places which inscriptions have long faded away and the place he once called his home, where he used to speak to his gods before they fell into this agonizing silence and as he drove his sword through the sculpted stones which once housed their voices, it split into two . ..

..and through the cracks blew a wind carrying the scent of a world that was still alive.

[spoopy-moose]

There’s something I like to call the supernatural paradox, dubbed so after supernatural the cw dumpster fire. It is when the main plot of a series has effectively ended but the show itself continues on, due to demands of fans or the passion of its creators, it ends up being something that doesn’t know what to do with itself, so it meanders and characters revert and stagger and everything happens but actually nothing is changed.

That’s DSMP season 2.

Because the plot has already ended, we come with a series and actually is just confused with itself. I feel like so much is promised here and it delivers but none of them have the same building of emotional impact that series one has, it’s just a mess that seems like it’s doing everything but does nothing with its everything. I saw a good post that said that season 2 is basically just them backstabbing each other constantly and it’s tiring. They have been doing that in the two months since nov 16th, just constantly without break. I get why, it’s fun role playing backstabbing your friends. But all of this betrayal has no weight to it. Nothing about the series is fundemntally changed by their betrayal. The first betrayal by c!Eret was good because it shifts the status quo, the second betrayal by c!Wilbur was good because he spent time building up to it. What character/world/narrative impact does Techno’s second betrayal hold? What long lasting impact does Tubbo exiling Tommy has other than to beat it into our heads that Dream is unequivocally the bad guy and Tommy the poor manipulated teen? And what good is betrayal if betrayal is not juxtaposed by kindness? Isn’t betrayal more painful by having the characters care about each other than what it is now, an endless charade of back and forth and back and force and back and forth.

Speaking of Tommy, what has he actually learnt in the course of the 2 months, hell, the course of the plot itself. Because at the beginning, he was attached to the discs and we see a willingness, slow willingness to give up his things for his friends or the greater good. So his character arc should be mainly about his selfishness and his selflessness. But it isn’t? Or that’s not the direction they’re going with with him? I like to say an unpopular opinion but I think I’m voicing a pretty popular one when I say that I’m sick to death of the discs. Majority viewers of the dream smp didn’t join until Wilbur started his lmanburg, they don’t know what significance the discs hold. Hell, I don’t know what significance the discs hold. The discs may be something the character is attached to, but it’s an item that the audience is not. In contrast, the audience has seen the rise and fall and rise again of lmanburg, they’re much more attached to it than they are to the discs. It isn’t enough now that the character is attached to a thing, it needs to be written in a way that the audience is attached to the same thing. If tommy randomly points to a piece of coal and said that it was plot relavent and was now the more important thing in the smp, would we care? Probably not. Some said they’re a symbol of his friendship to Tubbo, I don’t think so. Based on his whole thing in the community house the day before doomsday, Tommy thinks that the discs and Tubbo are wholely seperate things. He’s willing to put them aside to fight Dream, but for how long? Doesn’t he immediately fall back to them a second later? A Doomsday later?

Here I’m going to evoke supernatural again, I fucking hate that series but I will allude it to critique DSMP because it’s a fantastic case study in plot structure. After season 5, we can see that it does the same thing over and over again, the brothers betraying each other, finding out, getting mad and then making up then it happens in a circle again. Nothing is learnt, no character growth, no build up, no changes to the status quo. And it just goes round and round in a circle until they finally announce the series’s end. I think if the writers don’t do something new or plant a second string of overarching plot, supernatural s6-15 is the way that DSMP is going to go, just constant betrayal and backstabbing when nothing is actually happening and nothing is changing. I’m not saying that Dream or Tommy can’t be good writers, I’m just saying that they cannot head towards the same direction as season 1 with no end goal in sight because it just doesn’t work.

That being said I think there are some merits and some things that season 2 does well. In season 1, many of the minor streamers are sidelined in order to focus on the few central characters, which wouldn’t be a problem if it were a TV show but it isn’t, viewership is based on how involved everyone is with the plot and if you’re just some minor character then, well, no one is going to watch you. I think season 2 gave people a lot of time to shine and previously sidelined characters a chance to join the plot. The crimson egg side plot is interesting too and I think it would be used as a sort of Big Threat At The End sort of like the night king in game of thrones which makes everyone stop fighting each other and start fighting the supernatural or other threat. That would be fun, it would be an overarching plot with the end goal being for everyone to see that their fighting is pointless and stupid.

All in all, season 2 has potential but the potential is never used to further something greater. I think that the writers of season 2 tries really hard to emulate the feel of season 1, but season 1 can’t be replicated because there is not e condition for it. They need to derive from the original premise and come up with something new instead of the same plot but in new skins. Every character in itself is interesting, but characters can’t be interesting and stay the same forever, things need to change, characters needs to change and the plot needs to change. Season 2 has to be different to be interesting, it can’t be the same.

/rp

[sunflowerstache]

Falling pt.2

What do you do when the person you pictured your entire life with, suddenly seems to have fallen out of love with you?

Word count: 3.2k A/N: Hi y'all! We’re back with part 2 AND I'm really happy and excited with this piece! I can’t wait to hear what you think and I just really hope you enjoy! It’s not as action packed, but it is nearly as emotional... and yes, there will be a part 3(:

The beige walls in front of you had always brought you a sense of comfort. It wasn’t because of the trees hiding the inside from any prying eyes, or the welcoming, bright blue door, or even the best chicken avocado blt wrap you’d ever had. It was the simple idea of spending time with the love of your life within the four walls. The four walls that held too many memories count; the release date of Harry’s first album, when you told him about the job at Gucci you’d accepted, Bella explaining what she learned at school, plans for future photoshoots, and talks of the future. It was the kind of place that gave you the chance to experience normality - or the closest you’d ever come to it again. Inside the Beachwood Cafe, you got to just be the Styles family, not the Styles family.

But were you even that same family anymore?

How could you consider yourself the same when things had gone so horribly south since the last time you’d stepped through the door? When you hadn’t seen Harry in five days and that idea alone didn’t make you feel sick. Not once since you first met him, were you okay with being so far from him for more than a day. You always felt your body had a magnetic pull towards him and the second you seperated, it knew something was wrong. But not this time. The second you walked out of your front door, you didn’t feel that pull, that need to go back in and be near him. It was like the invisible string pulling the two of you closer together had been cut the second you saw that magazine cover.

However,  you didn’t just have yourself to think of. Long gone were the days that you could stay cuddled in bed all day and wallow in self pity, eating tubs of ice cream, and thinking about all the ways Harry had hurt you. Because the little hands on either side of your face every morning didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t know that the entire world was speculating if you and her father had split up, or that daddy wasn’t actually away for work. All she knew was that the two of you were having a girls vacation at Auntie Steph’s and she missed her dad.

“You can’t avoid him forever, babe.” It was late one night when Steph spoke up, the two of you watching your second film of the night, coated in blankets and a bowl of popcorn nestled between you.

“Steph -”

“You can’t and you know I’m right. You heard what Jeff -”

“Steph I don’t care. I can’t go and sit with him and pretend that he didn’t sit back and just accept that he slept with someone.”

Obviously you knew she was right, there was no way you could stay at her house forever and simply never see him again. Not only was it not logistical - considering your job and your shared daughter - but emotionally you weren’t strong enough for that. Before he was your other half, he was your best friend. He was someone who was always in your corner, ready to give you the pep talk you needed or make a stupid joke to make you laugh. After everything you’d been through, and as hurt as you were,, you knew that you couldn’t cut him out of your life completely.

“I’m not telling you to accept anything, Y/N. I’m telling you that you need to hear what he has to say, and you need to bring your daughter to see her father. What you do after that if up to you, and you know I’ll back you up whatever you decide to do.”

Cher Horowtiz had begun her debate on refugees while you listened to Steph talk some sense into you. Five days was the longest you’d spent apart since becoming a couple five years ago, and you knew in order to either move past this or move past him, you needed to see him.

“So what, I just ask him to meet up for lunch? Like we’re sixteen year olds going on a first date?”

“No, you ask him to meet up for lunch like you’re twenty five year olds who have a lot to discuss.”

Having only sent the message a few hours prior to when you wanted to meet with him,you were a bit surprised that Harry had immediately agreed to lunch. He was right in the middle of creating his second album and the hours of free time he had could almost be counted on one hand, so getting a response only seconds after initially asking was a bit of a shock to you.

Then again, you shouldn’t have been surprised; Harry was never one to put work over family. From day one, he made it extremely clear that he would drop everything if someone he cared about needed him. And you finally responding to him after so long, on top of saying his daughter needed him, was something you should have known would take precedence over whatever he had planned for the day.

“And I have to give him my drawing! You have it right mumma?” Bella’s sweet voice sounded over the bell above the door as you walked into the cafe. She had picked her own outfit to see Harry; a pair of dungarees and a white shirt, her hair tied up in two cute little space buns so that it wouldn’t get in her face all morning.

“Of course I do, love. He’s going to love it.”

There was no guessing as to where Harry would be waiting for the two of you, because it was the same table you’d been sitting at for years. Just to the left of the service counter, was a smaller, more private room filled with tables. It was separated by a large wooden entryway which opened up into the bright yellow room you’d grown to adore. And as soon as you shut the front door, there was no trouble finding him. His head was upright, clear he had snapped it up the moment he heard the bell ring, almost indicating that he had been there for some time and had done the same with everyone who entered before you, and he stared right at you.

“Daddy!” it was a soft shout, her being well aware of not drawing lots of attention to your family, and Bella quickly let go of your hand so she could run towards her father.

In an instant, Harry was at his sliding off of the bench and bending down so she could run right into his open arms. His stood in stark contrast to the yellow wall; a black bottom up and cream colored trousers adorned his body; a look that he had recently grown to love. It was a look that had the fans making comments that left the two of you in hysterics, but also leading them to recreate in their own fashion sense. And it was a look that he was happy and comfortable in, so you enjoyed it.

“Hello little love! I’ve missed you!” you heard him coo into the side of her head once you joined the pair. The room was oddly empty, leaving the three of you to have some sort of privacy while in the bustling business on a Monday afternoon.

“Missed you too, daddy! How was work?!”

The question caught the two of you off guard. Logically, you knew Harry had to have known you told Bella some sort of cover up as to why he wasn’t around, but the look in his eye informed you that he hadn’t even thought about it. His body had stiffened and eyes shot up to meet yours immediately, heartbreak seeping through his lashes.

“It was great, sweetheart.” he replied, pulling back so that he could pick her up. “But never as much fun as being with you.”

“Good. I don’t like when you leave, daddy.”

You swore, it was like the universe was out to make this lunch as painful for you as possible. There was no other reason for why today was the day your daughter decided to be the sappiest version of herself, or why Harry very clearly had tears in his eyes that weren’t noticeable by anyone but yourself.

“I don’t like it either. But doesn’t it make being together so much better?” his voice was thick, and if you had to hear one more second of it, you were going to explode into a puddle of your own tears.

“How about we get some food, huh?” you cleared you throat, earning a concerned look from Harry.  “Weren’t you just complaining to me in the car that you feel like you haven’t eaten in six years?” trying to make jokes with Bella to avoid having to talk to Harry wasn’t something you were proud of, but you just needed a few more minutes before you could talk with him like everything was fine. At least until Bella wasn’t paying attention.

“Six years? My god, we need to get some food in that belly then, huh?” Harry feigned shock as you sat down, his arms moving Bella to let him bring her torso up to his face, his cheeks expanding with air so that he could blow onto her belly.

“Daddy!”

“You’re going to vanish with no food! My baby’s starving, we need a grilled cheese stat or she’s going to disappear!”

The two of them together was like watching the sunrise; beautiful and warm. The bond that they shared was stronger than anything you could have ever expected, and hearing them giggle with one another was infectious, a smile spreading to your lips before you could even realize what was happening. But you couldn’t help it. They had so much love shared between them that it made every other problem in the world seem so insignificant.

“How’s Steph?” this time, his attention was pointed at you. The green in his eyes seemed to be glowing in the rays of sun that shined through the window. But that’s where the brightness ended. Unlike the last time you saw him, he had bags under his eyes and his forehead was home to the red bumps you hadn’t seen litter his skin in years. Clearly, this was not what the two of you wanted or needed to talk about, but getting past the awkward initial conversations and making the day comfortable for Bella was the first and foremost.

“She’s good. She has a meeting with some people in Hollywood next week, so she’s pretty excited to start expanding again.”

“Wow, good for her. She stopped by Jeff’s the other day, was having dinner with Cam I think, but she looked good.”

“Oh I - I didn’t know they were - well I should have figured though when she came back with Il Fornaio leftovers.”

“I don’t think it’s anything serious, but they’re funny. Both of ‘em are the weirdest people I’ve ever met so…”

As always, Steph had given you advice that you didn’t instantly regret, and you made a mental note to thank her once you got back to her house. Whether it was because of your mutual need to make sure Bella was none the wiser to what was really happening behind closed or how much you had grown to pretend nothing was wrong, lunch went perfectly. For hours, the three of you sat in the yellow room and enjoyed time as a family. You laughed at the nonsense Bella was spitting, reminiscing on how the last time you were seated at that exact table, you were getting ready to head to New York for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as listening to Harry talk about what kinds of cities he would like to go to on his next tour - whenever he finished his new album. But just as you learned in the recent days, some things that are so unbelievably good, inevitably have their downfall.

“‘M tired, mumma.” Bella had managed to leave Harry’s iron grip after everyone finished eating, and found her spot in your arms; her arms wrapped about your neck while she complained into the soft spot where your shoulders and neck met. Because of your unplanned lunch, she missed her nap for the day, so it was a ticking time bomb until it caught up with her and she either passed out in your arms or had a complete meltdown inside the quiet cafe.

“I know, B. Gonna go back so you can have a cuddle with Mr. Jeff, yeah?”

“Mhm. And daddy will come too, right?”

With her head tucked and hidden in your shoulder, neither you or Harry worried about containing your looks of worry at her comment. Harry because he didn’t know where the situation stood and you because you knew she’d wake up without her dad there.

“Daddy’s really busy, love, so he has to go back to work. But he’ll be back soon.”

Realization spread across Harry’s face at your words, understanding what the meaning behind them truly was, and his gaze fell to where his hands held an empty coffee mug. It seemed that the two of you would make it the entire lunch without bringing dirty laundry up, but now that Bella was fully asleep in your lap, there was nothing holding you back. It was time to have the conversation you so deeply wanted to avoid.

“Harry -”

“I didn’t sleep with her.”

Just as you did some nights ago, he spit out the one thing that was plaguing his mind, unable to hold back the information he was dying to tell you. But if he was going to replay the night that started all of this, you would do the same. So, just as had made no shocked movements at your accusation, you didn’t act shocked at his admittance. Because you weren’t.

“Jeff has videos of me spending the night with him and Glenne. Alone.”

In fact, you knew he was going to tell you exactly that. But hearing it come from his mouth gave you some sense of relief. Because as much as you appreciated hearing it earlier, nothing could compare to hearing it from Harry directly.

“I know.”

“Y/N I swear I can show yo- you know?”

You had to admit, seeing the look of shock cross his face was something you didn’t know you needed. His eyebrows furrowed which caused his eyes to squint, and he simply stared at you, waiting for an answer. But you didn’t immediately do so, instead, you rubbed your hand over Bella’s back in attempt to keep her asleep despite your wild heartbeat.

“Jeff sent them to me a few days ago.”

“A few - a few days ago?” This was one of the reasons you had thought about having this meeting in private; the tone of his voice started to go up at your confession, which you knew would happen. He was someone who couldn’t contain himself when his emotions got the best of him. “And you didn’t think to tell me? You just let me think everything was crumbling while you knew the truth?”

You didn’t have to tell him what you were thinking, because the second he said those words, you knew he knew. That was almost exactly what you had accused him of days ago. Asked him how he could let you think your relationship was one way, when in reality, it was something completely different.

“I didn’t not tell you to spite you, Harry. I didn’t do it to make you feel the same way I did, because we aren’t sixteen and this isn’t just some fling I don’t care about ending.” you worked so hard the entire day to not show the emotions you had bubbling around inside of you. But just as every other time you’d been around Harry, there was no hiding them. He brought out the vulnerable side of you, and the tears couldn’t be kept at bay. “I love you so much, Harry. I don’t think I’ve ever cared about someone the way I do about you. And these last few days… I’ve missed you more than I ever thought possible.”

“So why are we doing this, Y/N? Why are you going back to Steph’s and why are we not fixing this?” his thick voice was pleading, reaching across the table to grab ahold of your free hand. “I didn’t sleep with her.”

“But you thought that you did, Harry. You thought that you had slept with someone else, and lied to me about it.”

“I didn’t lie! I told you that I didn’t know if I did, and that was the truth!”

“I know, but you lied to me every day after that night. You walked around every day thinking that you did something so horrible and vile that I would leave you if I ever found out, so you kept it from me. That’s what hurts, Harry. Not the girl or what you thought you did. The fact that you would rather lie to me than work together and find a solution.”

His mouth hung open and you realized that he had nothing left to say, because he knew you were right. Every minute of your relationship had been built on trust and knowing that you each had the other’s best interests at heart, so what did you have when those values seemed to dissolve?

“Don’t leave me.”

Three simple words made your entire facade crumble. In all five years you’d known the man in front of you, never had you heard him sound so small and scared. And it hurt to know that it was directed at you, but just as you did five days ago, you needed to do what was best for you.

“I’m not. Harry I don’t think I could ever. But I just need some time. A few more days, a month, I don’t know. I just need to get out of the mindset this whole situation put me in, and when I do, we can do this again. But that time, we can leave together.”

It wasn’t ideal and it wasn’t ever how you thought your relationship would go, but it was reality. Sometimes the things you hold dearest in life are tested and the only way to see the light at the end of the tunnel is to go through it. But you had faith in Harry. You had faith that no matter what happened while you apart, that you would find your way back to each other. Because there was no way, after five years together and five as friends, that you would lose each other. He was the one part of fame that you’re glad no one warned you about. The ride the two of you had taken wasn’t something you wanted to be one step ahead of, as living in the moment with him was the happiest you had ever, and will ever be. He was the brightness your life needed.

But that bright, happy, yellow room would forever be tainted with the day you walked away from Harry.

[fullsunalicia]

loved rags and riches!! if you have time, could you also write a chenle version, like a crazy rich asians au or like a chaebol au? thank you!

broken hearts club — ZCL

it’s been a long time since someone has touched zhong chenle’s frozen heart. he’s closed it off to the entire world and dedicated it to his music and the empire that he’s going to inherit. somehow though, there’s a girl with a weakness for puppies who manages to light a match for the ice clump that sits in chenle’s chest.

zhong chenle as astrid leong - kind of. :-) i hope you enjoy love. thank you for requesting. <3

Over the years, the map to Chenle’s heart has been destroyed and burnt. Many have tried to recover it, retrace the steps as they try to remember. Not one person comes close, as the only thing Chenle loves is the music and the puppy he was gifted by his favorite cousin, Renjun.

The people call him a narcissist. His family calls him lost.

He calls himself Zhong Chenle. Nothing more, nothing less. He likes sitting together with his band mates and share several bottles of soju. Whenever soneone speaks chinese with him, it sounds like music to his ears. In Korea, far from home, the only chance he gets to use his mother tongue is with Renjun, and Chenle likes it like that. He couldn’t be further away from home, and all the pain that household has brought him.

Some would kill to be in his place. The only heir to a billion dollar sum, and even richer on his own. A famous musician who’s climbing the charts and breaking records everyday. Yet money has always been a curse to Chenle. It gave him heartbreak, distrust and emotional distance to everyone who’s ever been close to him. Chenle’s heart has frozen over, as cold as the arctic, the ice prince of the Zhong family. That’s what his parents have always wanted, anyways - his ex girlfriend out of their eyes, so that they could marry Chenle off to God knows who. When she had cheated on him, they have waited for Chenle with open arms to come back home, just to stab him in the back themselves.

A beggar. That’s what his mother had called Suyin, the only woman he’s ever loved.

Choi Suyin had carved out his heart and locked it in a chest, far away for anyone ever to reach. Like Davy Jones, only that Chenle has never betrayed. He was Calypso, heartbroken and full of fury, bound to his bones. Doomed to roam the world forever, without feeling anything. Detached from reality. It felt like Chenle was standing inside of a glass house, with no way to escape, only ever being able to look out. He recognizes the sorrow and the pain that’s coming to come crashing in someday and wreck him. But there is no way to ever set him free again and honestly, he isn’t even sure if he ever wants to. Love has ruined him; it has ruined his perception of people and of himself. Suyin had wanted him to make her a princess.

He can’t make her something she is not.

The whispers follow Chenle down the hall whenever he is home, though that’s a rare occasion. Fool, they murmur. A blind man. Almost robbed. If he could, he’d smash the glass of his cage and use it to wildly stab around, willing to hurt anyone who gets in the way. He wants them to feel, to suffer what he endures all day and night, a never ending nightmare. The torture of the shining jewelry, sent to him by his mother, serving as a silent reminder of what is waiting for him when the family forces Chenle’s hand and makes him return.

The ghoulish wedding that awaits him. Chenle counts the days, prays that he finds the key to the locker he never wants to see again. Dread fills him at the mere prospect of romance, but he’d rather be in pain for another thousand years instead of being married off like some worthless thing. Like his career never meant something, only some ploy of entertainment, never serious to his parents. It’s all about business, never pleasure, never happiness. To think about the company is more important than to think about your mental health. If that turns you into a psychopath, you’ll just have to make a business idea out of it and see where it gets you.

Therapy to the Zhongs is alcohol, and income. That was the very first lesson to be learnt. It’s deeply ingrained into his soul, and no matter how much time Chenle wastes at his attempts, he cannot wipe it away. Even for music, his first and true love, his mind goes to the sales first instead of the talent the song can pull out of him. Will his voice attract buyers? How should he dress to seduce the crowd? It’s all just a show, and all the roles are casted by him. What a show it is, though.

From the distance, it looks perfect. No stage fright, only elegance. The closer you get, the more you realize it’s a circus. Chenle is the biggest clown you’ll ever set eyes on.

The road to his heart is harsh and frozen. Maybe the damage is too great that anyone will ever be able to walk upon it again. But you’re willing to take the chance.

Chenle looks down as you pet the little Samoyed behind his ear, big smile on your lips. Honest; unusually so. He’s too used to choking on the sugar that keeps dripping from peoples’ lies. And here you are, jumping from stone to stone on the way to his heart, like you’re crossing some river. And you haven’t even looked at him yet.

“This dog is absolutely beautiful,” you hum, the happiness in your voice thrumming inside his head. Pleasing to listen to. “So beautiful, aren’t you? Of course you are. Pretty baby...”

You’ve taken the words out of Chenle’s mouth, but they weren’t exactly for Chan. If he was another man, he’d tell them to you. Because he isn’t, he’d rather choke on them than speak them aloud.

“He really is.” Finally, you look up. Your eyes are as pure as your mouth, see-through, easy to trust. It makes alarms ring in the ice prince’s head, and he’s pulling up the bridges to the castle in panic. He doesn’t know how you managed to do that with one look, and he honestly doesn’t want to know.

He can’t afford to find out. He can’t. Chenle is still reeling from the wound Suyin has inflicted him, running as deep as the ocean, straight through his heart. A cruel metaphor for cupid’s arrow. Still, you make Chenle want to pull it out and offer it to you. Curious whether you’d drive it back in, or break it and set him free.

The hope blooming inside his chest makes him wish for the latter.

Your beauty is already alluring just the way it is, but when your lips curve into a soft smile, you break all the viewers’ hearts in the loveliest way. It’s brighter than any jewel Chenle’s ever set eyes on, and he has already seen enough to last him a lifetime. Sick of them, actually. For you, he’d be willing to try and search for one that matches your radiance. “Love dogs too much to resist,” you admit. “I apologize for caressing the pretty boy out of the blue, but I’ve never been able to turn away from puppy dog eyes.”

“Me, too.” Chenle sinks into a squatting position so you’re both on eye level. It physically hurts to watch you blush. It hurts because he can imagine being the old Chenle who’d ask you on a date right here and there. Careless, without any worry in the world, he would take your hand and offer you the world like he had with Suyin. Because money is a burden, but it only became a curse the moment Suyin had conquered him just to enrichen herself. Become a Zhong, a legend. Have it all and spend it all. She never understood that love is more powerful than any money’s worth in the entire world. “Though that makes me a bad dog owner, doesn’t it? It gets kinda hard to be strict with him when he looks at me in such an adorable way. My baby..”

Chan presses his fuzzy head to Chenle’s palm. The only one in this world who’d ever love him just for being him. Chenle smiles and scratches the back of his baby’s ear, pleased with the rumble Chan lets out at that. Both dog and owner know the other like the back of their hand. You watch the wholesome interaction, the kindness in your eyes makes Chenle soft.

Right now, you’re knocking at the doors to his heart, begging to be let in like in The Princess and the Pea. He forces himself to turn away.

He’s a masochist, but this is too much for even Zhong Chenle.

“Never had a dog again after mine passed away when I was sixteen.” Your voice is a little bit distant now, hollow. Detached. Your heart has been broken in a different way than his has, but the pain is very similar. Chenle recognizes himself in the way you wrap your arms around your own frame, as if you’re trying to hold yourself together. To force the broken pieces to stay in place. He wants to tell you that you’re never going to be able to do that alone, but he’s too much of a coward who doesn’t trust anyone in the world. Not anymore. “Hurt too much. Felt like a betrayal. I still love dogs more than anyone else, but I think I’m just not ready to adopt another one. At least not in the near future.”

Chenle agrees, though you’re talking about two seperate things. He needs to quit love, like an addict checking himself into rehab. It’s a must, not a neccesity. Though it makes him sick to the stomach, he forces himself to stick to the company procedure. Business before pleasure. Business before anything.

❀ ❀ ❀

Love has never hurt you before. Never have you brushed hands with death and decay the way Chenle has, but you see it in his eyes. The passing ghost of a lover who once was. Where should be warmth is steel, the protective shell of a man who wants nothing to do with the world.

But how stunning that man is. Of course, your entire attention had been on the dog first, but when you locked eyes with Chenle - what an experience! The taste of heaven in one look. Sharp features, as dangerous as knives. Unruly dark hair, the color of the sky at midnight, colder than any breeze that’s ever shaken you up. You don’t believe in love at first sight, not in destiny.

Still, you came so close to it. You saw where the universe breathed life into Chenle. The shaping of dying stars and the brightest burning suns. He’s both Pandora’s box and the golden fleece in one. All you had managed to coax out of him was his name, and of course the one of the dog who you spent ten minutes playing with. You’ve not known about Zhong Chenle before, but you certainly do now.

The only son of his prestigious family. World renowned musician, the critics call his voice that of an angel. Of course he is an angel. Have they seen him? Instagram spits out more information than you’d expected to receive, but here you are, reading an article about his ex girlfriend.

Definitely not creepy or anything.

It’s certainly a explanation. The illness-ridden soul of a man so young, he is still clinging to adolescence. Grief is a terrible disease. You weirdly feel like you’ve stepped into a room where people had been arguing, and now the awkward silence is weighing heavy on you. You’d desperately like to walk out, but something keeps you there like an invisible anchor. The lure of someone as gorgeous as Zhong Chenle, with the promise of secrets as sacred as religious scrolls.

You wonder if you would be going too far if you followed the guy on Instagram. That face is too pretty to miss out on. But there’s also your curiousity that keeps drawing you in, makes your mind wonder and wander off to the countless possibilities of who Chenle is who he is. You need satisfaction to bring you back, or you’ll just stay a dead, curious cat.

One that definitely drops her phone on her own face when she sees that the mentioned more-angel-than-man has followed her back. The man has two point three million followers, for Christ’s sake! There would be no way for him to randomly pick you out from the countless names that fill up his notifications, right? Wrong.

There’s a private message waiting for you as you accept his following request.

[07:27pm] @zhcl: i see you found the pictures of chan already.

The tabloids speak of zero interest towards any other person that’s not family or bandmate. So why, pray tell, does Chenle indulge you?

You grasp the opportunity, anyways. You want to find out what lies behind the ice, waiting to be discovered.

[07:33pm] @yn: i was quite distracted by the handsome fellow that photographed him, though.

[07:34pm] @zhcl: very smooth, miss (y/n). were you blushing when you typed that?

[07:34pm] @zhcl: you look too cute to be taken serious when you do.

[07:35pm] @yn: flirting, are we?

You felt the chill when Chenle had spoken to you. The hidden danger behind a calm voice. Still waters which hide deadly sirens. You know now that he was hurt, terribly so, and it made you feel guilty about your interest in him. The world had treated him badly and here you were, acting like it was nothing. You clutch your phone, ready to be heavily told off and the follow to be retracted.

Your heart almost stops when your phone vibrates, the ring tone suddenly much too loud.

[07:39pm] @zhcl: is it working?

❀ ❀ ❀

Chenle’s mother never changes.

When he enters the house, several servants swarm him to help with shoes and jacket, but he passes them all. The hall is cold, freezingly so, unusual for his mother who seems to fuel the open fire with wads of cash. This is the house he’s grown up in, too big for the warmth of love and affection to be felt inside it. The family members too far away from each other to even interact, like stars in the nightsky. Related, but never touching, never in contact. When they do, it detonates a violent supernova, and that never ends good.

Chenle still remembers the smashed glasses at the end of the family event, thrown against the wall by a Huang cousin who’s name Chenle would rather choke on than ever speak again. A Huang, but not of Renjun’s siblings. A bastard, that’s what he is. He, who usurped his father’s power and wastes all his money on sex, alcohol and entertainment. It’s a blessing this guy will never inherit the family business, though he pities Renjun for having to do it. Just as much as he pities himself.

When Suyin had left, the people had started gossiping. Spreading rumors, spreading hope. The ice prince is on the market again, ready to be courted, to fall victim to a woman’s temptation. His parents had spent eternity dragging Suyin’s name through the mud, because she was just an ordinary girl. Not rich, not poor. She works the graveyard shift at a diner and sometimes helps out in her dad’s restaurant for some extra cash. Fashion enthusiast. Homewrecker. The poor girl that was left at the altar because of Suyin - he’s seen the engagement ring on her finger, and he knows what it means to that particular Huang.

Absolutely nothing. The means to an end. A way to keep some more money because of taxes that are shared as an married couple.

To Chenle’s parents, Suyin could have very well been living under a bridge. His mother wishes to wed him with a princess, royal born, not made. Merge companies with people she trusts and strip ressources of. Birds of a feather. Truly, the marriage of the century. Too bad that Chenle only marries out of love. Too bad that’s the thing he’s sworn off for the rest of his life.

His mind punishes him instantly for that lie, your face flashing infront of his inner eye.

Sweet (y/n). It’s a little embarrassing how quick he jumps at his phone at any sign that you could’ve responded, and it scares him to no end. You scare him, with your good intentions and charming smile. When you had agreed to meet each other again, Chenle had let himself be dragged to a café of your choosing. There’s still the lingering taste of coffee cake on it.

Your kiss still burns on his cheek. Never forgotten for a second. A constant reminder.

As clear as day, the memory plays out in his mind. You had looked up to him while he tasted your pastry of recommendation, head lost in the clouds. You’re always thinking about something. You have the same look in your eyes as the one in Renjun’s when he searches for words that can’t be put in the same context as Suyin.

“You know who I am.”

You had stealen his fork and scooped up your own share of the cake. That was rather cheeky of you, paying for the dessert even though Chenle was already getting his wallet out. You’re stubborn. “I’ve heard of you,” you had told him. After listening to so many untruths all of his life, even your honesty starts to hurt in his ears. It makes him uneasy. “But that doesn’t mean I know you. I would like to. Will you let me?”

Not once had you looked scared when Chenle’s hands had turned into fists, the veins on them becoming prominent. The sight of a tortured man who’s trying to keep it together. A face that’s mapped out with sorrow and anger and betrayal. “I could hurt you. I’m afraid there isn’t much left to get to know. I’ve thrown it all away. Did you hear of that?”

You had started cutting the cake in pieces, long lashes caressing your skin as you look down. The wish to touch you had hit him so strongly, it almost shocked him. Chenle leant forward and accepted the fork in his mouth while watching you intently, finding pure satisfaction in the way roses bloom in your cheeks because of it. Eye contact makes you shy. To you, it’s sensual. You lowered your gaze. “I did.” The fork scraped against his teeth. You took another bite on your own and this time, your eyes never left his. “But I enjoy a good treasure hunt here and there. You look precious, Zhong Chenle. I’d like to look for the pieces with your permission.”

Chenle was so certain his heart was dead, its’ last beat defeaned by the wood it was kept in. Despite that, he had felt the jolt as it spurred back to life, making Chenle believe it returned to him, and the fear that comes along with it.

You’re dangerous, like playing with fire. You instilled the desire to be burned inside an ice prince, and that is too much power for one person to possess. So why does he make no effort to stop you?

“Chenle.” The voice sounds too polite for a mother. She descends the stairs, expression neutral, the walk of a queen. In another life, she’d certainly be one. “Qin ai de. You finally came. I was getting rather tired of calling your phone the past few months. Where have you been?”

Avoiding you, he wants to say. Running away from this castle that’s too vacant and lacks the love to be called a proper home. This is a prison, and you’re the warden dragging me in with chains.

But he doesn’t. Chenle slips into the good son role and lets himself be hugged, even though the embrace is void of any warmth. “Busy,” he responds. “I’m a working man, mom. Singing is a career, you know, despite how much you’d like to ignore it. There must be a reason you supported it so much in my childhood days.”

“That’s exactly the reason, son.” His mother begins climbing the stairs again, an unspoken order for him to follow. Chenle suppresses a sigh and begins climbing, too. It’s only noon, but he already feels drop-dead-tired. “Because it was your childhood. I didn’t expect you to turn your back on an empire to play the singing fool for some teenage girls. I suppose that has its’ benefits, but it’s also rather sad to only see my son in the news and not in person. This is your home, Chenle. We’re not going to crown you emperor the second you step back into this threshold. You’ll take over the company when you want to, even though we’d welcome an early decision.”

Bile rises in his throat before Chenle can stop it. Venom, it’s all venom, and you’re the cure. He only has to get through this. Just a day, and then he gets to see you again. “Sure, mom,” he manages to answer. “I’ll think about it.”

“I didn’t expect you to visit. We have company, you know. They’re both quite lovely, though you’ll like the daughter more.”

This is the reason Chenle refuses to be inside this house for even a second. The looming threat of an arranged marriage. No one’s going to force him to take over the company, but his mother would rather take a bullet than ever allow a Suyin ever again. Even if she looks and talks like an angel that goes by the name (y/n).

The entire time, Chenle is silent. He doesn’t even try to acknowledge the fact that his mother is a terrible wingwoman, and a good way to pass the time is to imagine your face, retrace it in his memories. You, insisting to pay, because it’s “your treat”. You, who never steers the conversation somewhere he doesn’t want it to go. The strawberry blush that makes him want to kiss you until you’re breathless.

You’re a threat, (l/n) (y/n). The closer you get to Davy Jones’ keys, the more he wants to push you away and never see you again. At the same time, Chenle wants to go on his knees and beg you to set him free of this locker.

Nothing could have stopped him from taking the next plane home. His bandmates pick him up, but he’ would have liked it to be you. What he doesn’t like is the look in Renjun’s eyes, the man who is Chenle’s kindred spirit. Renjun knows too much. He saw too much. A shared childhood is both blessing and bother.

“Tell me about (y/n).”

“Absolutely not,” Chenle shoots back without hesitation. “See you, Renjun.” With a quick swing, he tries to force the door closed, but his childhood friend wedges a foot between wood and wall and lets himself in.

“Very reactive to that name, aren’t we, Chenle?” Renjun hums and drops on the couch. He accepts the whiskey Chenle hands him, but cusses the second the younger’s hand meets the back of his head. “You do that again and I’ll strangle you, Zhong, friends or not. Now tell me about the damn woman already.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Because you’re a coward.”

“Yes, I fucking am.” Chenle doesn’t usually curse, but talking about you is a weakness. He doesn’t love Suyin anymore, absolutely not. The years have passed and changed him, whether that’s good or bad. But not his wounds, not the injury done to his precious, ice-cold heart. He’s so afraid of being used, tossed aside like an old toy you don’t want to play with anymore. With just a few actions, you’ll be able to tear Chenle down and ruin him forever. He’s barely stitching himself up from Suyin’s attack and now here you are, pleading to be let in. The desire to allow that is immense, so enourmous it makes him lightheaded.

He won’t survive another girl. Not with this kind of life, with his circumstances, with his upbringing. Love him most or not at all. That is all Chenle can offer you, and maybe that’s unfair. But being just has never helped him with anything, and it certainly hasn’t stopped Choi Suyin from ramming her high heels into the shattered pieces of his broken heart as she walked away.

Renjun watches him over the rim of his glass. Silent, but not in the way where he has to think about not wounding Chenle with his words. Just ... confused. Right now, Renjun is offering advice, not shelter. “Chenle, give yourself a break. You’re human. You’re bound to fall in love someday.”

“Not if I can stop it.”

“You’re not a robot,” Renjun hisses, suddenly volatile, and the loud slam of his glass hitting the mahogany table makes Chenle flinch. Not what he had expected. “I’ve watched you rot for years now, and it has done nothing good for you. I am trying to help you, Chenle, trying to save you from drowning, but you’re thrashing around like a mad man. If you continue like this, you’ll sink yourself to the bottom of the river. Do you want to end up like that? Do you?”

The younger man rubs his eyes, tired. It’s been so long, so unbelievably long since hollowness hasn’t ruled over Zhong Chenle. His parents would never approve of you. It’s going to spike another family war.

Quite frankly, he doesn’t give a fuck.

After a few minutes of some peace and quiet, Chenle finally stands up. He rounds the table separating him and Renjun and bows down to hug him, the suprise evident in Renjun’s eyes when he leans back. “You’re a good friend, Jun,” Chenle tells him. His chest feels light. Maybe it knows that the familiar weight of his heart is returning to it. “A true friend. Thank you.”

He leaves his childhood friend on the couch, his mind already far away, in a place where he can put the keys into your hands without fear. Without hesitation.

They belong to you.

❀ ❀ ❀

“See something you like, Zhong?”

Caught in the act, Chenle looks up and meets your eyes. It would be rather disrespectful to comment on your thighs right now, but if the circumstances were different, if you were already his, he’d tell you all about how good they’d look around his waist. Nonetheless, he only shrugs. “That’s a pretty skirt. Shame I’m going to ruin it by throwing you into the sea.”

“Dont you dare!” Your threat is far from being taken seriously, but Chenle is only teasing you, anyways. You’re light on his arms, more doll than human, and he likes the feeling of you clinging to him for safety. It’s weird - warmth and feeling returning to him. It has been winter inside Zhong Chenle for eternity, and now that he’s pushed open the gates, he feels like he stepped into another realm.

Your skin is warm below his touch. If you dislike his arms wrapped around the back of your thighs, you’re certainly not complaining. The walk to the beach is quiet, except for the squeaks and laughs you let out when he intentionally stops and pretends to fall. “You’re impossible,” you mumble when he sets you down on the picnic blankets.

Excuse you? You’re the one who looks like they just fell down from heaven.

“Is there any reason you decided to kidnap me? Because I didn’t get to see Chan one last time, and that is utmost treason. I demand to see my lawyer.”

“You can see him later.” Chenle tugs you closer. Can you feel his heartbeat below your hands on his chest? The sound is so foreign. Since he accepted the fact that you’re a weakness he can’t ignore, he’s been experiencing arrhythmia non-stop. His heart is just not supposed to be there. An ice prince shouldn’t be able to be melted.

He’d really like to see someone who would withstand you, though. You are heaven and hell, in the shape of a mere human, light as a feather in his arms. There are not many in this world who can claim to have Zhong Chenle wrapped around their little finger. Truth be told, only one person has been able to say that. Now, you’ve snatched away the reigning title, and you’ve deemed Chenle’s lap to be an appropiate throne.

Never would he have assumed that you’d do it on your own accords, but Chenle isn’t complaining. He almost purrs when you straddle his lap, soft skirt pooling around your legs. He screws his eyes shut and tries not to think about the lack of clothes between you two.

Scratch that, you’re a devil. And you are fully aware. The giggle you let fall from your lips doesn’t really sound innocent. He wishes to shut you shut you up with a kiss. What he would give to be in a private room right now.. A dark corner... “What’s so funny, (y/n)?” Chenle mumbles before his thoughts can drift further.

“Just how easy you are to fluster.” You laugh again, not even hiding it this time. The wind breezes through your hair, messing up the curls in his place. Are they as soft as they look like? Chenle wants to find out.

“You mean like you are?” He kisses your cheek as you turn red below his lips. This is what love should have felt like. Freedom and carelessness, not the constant need to look over your shoulder. As easy as breathing. As calm as the sea. The keys to his heart are falling from Chenle’s grip, and he’s not sure he even wants to pick them up.

It’s so easy to let go when he looks into your eyes and sees his future.

“Chenle,” you whisper. His shirt crumples in your grip, but he doesn’t care. Chenle lets himself be tugged closer, his own heartbeat jumping erratically, still unused to being out of the box. The ice floes are melting. You’re breaking him free. When his lips finally meet yours, he forgets all about the years he wasted on irrational sorrow. There should be regret about how he’s denied himself of emotions and the world, but you wash it away with all the hope you’re giving him while your lips move against his. You taste like an antidote.

His parents will never accept you. They’ll have Chenle’s head on a plate and deliver it to a family of their own choosing, one they deem perfect as their in-laws, but he counts on you to fight them back, just like how you’re fighting your way into his heart. You didn’t need the map, you wrote your own. You didn’t need a fire, you used your soul.

The key turns in its’ lock. It’s a perfect fit, just like you.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness 177: Let Me Have This Moment

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

Weiss and I were waiting at the airfield. I glanced around way over Weiss’s head. Travelers were coming and going. Embarking and disembarking on ships of all sorts of sizes. Massive cruisers and the lingering Atlas Battleships swept up and down onto the airstrips. Smaller private liners landed and took off like little gnats compared to the larger ships. 

“So…” Weiss began. She was searching for her words carefully. “So I was thinking.”

“Okay? This doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s nothing bad. Don’t be a coward. Well, it’s not necessarily bad.”

“Shoot.”

“I think we should stop trying. It’s been a month and nothing has come of it. And if I’m getting married within the next nine months I don’t want to get married pregnant. We can start trying on our honeymoon again. Does that sound alright?”

“That’s really your decision.”

“You have a say too.”

“Do I though?” I asked. “Could I really demand that you keep trying when you just said you don’t want to? Could I actually? Think about it. It’s your body. What you say goes.”

“Is that really fair?”

“Pretty fair. You’re the one who would have to carry the thing.”

“Baby,” she corrected. “We call those ‘things’ babies.”

“Yeah that. One of those,” I agreed. “An infant. You’d be the one dealing with hormones and weight changes and body changes and pushing it out and feeding it and mood swings. What am I gonna do? Ejaculate and evacuate? There’s nothing I could do to help.”

“You’ll be there suffering along with Ruby and I. There will be two pregnant women for you to attend to at once. You will suffer, don’t worry.”

“Yay?” I wondered. 

“So, I think we should stop trying until we have the wedding. What’s our budget look like for that?”

“Under two million?”

“You have no idea how much weddings cost, do you?”

“Under two million.”

She whacked me in the chest with the back of her hand and smirked up at me. 

“Well, yes. But with just our small group of family and friends it can’t be more than two hundred thousand. And that’s fairly extravagant for twenty or thirty people. And it’ll probably be fewer than twenty people.”

“Okay? I don’t have a very good picture of money. All my life I’ve just sort of earned it way too easily. Like way too easily. Other people struggle but I make the stuff hand over fist.”

“Plus you robbed a mob boss.”

“I did do that.”

“That’s dirty money.”

“What money isn’t dirty money? It’s all filthy. Money is kinda gross when you think about what it really is.”

“I suppose that’s true to a certain extent…”

An Atlas airship swung down into the bay in the mountain. It was a decent sized passenger liner. 

“Is that Ruby’s flight?” I asked Weiss.

“I think so…”

“Do we just wait?” 

“Well you made the sign.”

I shuffled the ‘Ruby Rose’ sign in my hands. I did make the sign. I did. Weiss and I were both in our hunter clothes which for Weiss was that white dress with a blue sash and tassels. She had her blade by her side and the little box containing Ruby’s engagement necklace in it in the palm of one hand. She opened the box and peeked inside. Then she carefully manipulated the locket so its face was just so within the box and closed it again. Then she carefully held it in one hand so the face would still be forward when we presented it to Ruby. She exhaled hard.

“Relax,” I told her helpfully. 

“Thanks for the tip,” she sassed. 

“You’re the one who’s so sure she’ll say ‘yes.’”

“I mean… probably. Right? Why wouldn’t she say ‘yes?’” 

“Don’t trip. This was your idea. Don’t start flaking on me now.”

“You’re right, of course you’re right.”

We spotted Ruby making her way off the airship with her bags and weapon on her back. She was beautiful with wolfish bangs and hair that was red just at the tips. She wore a tight corset that led down to a skirt and tight leggings but the leggings stopped above the knee and skirt only went down to about mid thigh so there was this space of white flesh shown off that was dimpled by the leggings. Her developed chest was pushed up and out by the corset and I think Weiss and I both sighed when we saw her but it could have just been me or it could have just been her. Somebody sighed was the point. At least one of us did. 

It was apparent when Ruby saw us. She jumped excitedly and paced over to us at a rush. As she got closer I was able to make out her eyes. 

Man, if Ruby thought she could just look up at me with those eyes and get whatever she wanted, then she was totally correct.

“You guys!” She ran up and threw her arms around Weiss jostling the box Weiss was holding. Weiss hugged her back and I lowered down the sign I was hefting and grinned as I watched the two of them embrace. Ruby drew back and pressed her lips against Weiss’s and I saw Weiss melt into the kiss with a smile.

“Sweetheart,” I greeted with a grin. 

She drew back and turned to me. I dropped the sign and swung her up into my arms. She wrapped her hands over my shoulders as I easily held her aloft in one arm. Then she grinned and kissed my cheek. She chased that kiss with another one on my lips. My free hand came up to her cheek and cupped it gently while I kissed her back. Then I lowered her and set her to her feet on the ground. 

“You guys! I missed you both so much. And Jaune it’s been a long time. Too long. Way too long. Never do that again!”

“Fair enough. Yeah. Fair cop.”

“Ruby…” Weiss muttered and she glanced at me. I just nodded a little with a small smile. 

Weiss and I got down on our knees. 

“You guys!” 

Weiss opened the box. 

“Ruby Rose, won’t you marry us?” Weiss asked.

“Of course I will! Finally!”

I laughed. Weiss took the necklace out of the box and stepped behind Ruby to put it around her neck.

“How are we doing this?” Ruby asked.

“No idea,” I said.

“He does too.” Weiss waved exasperatedly. “We’re going to pair off for the engagement presents and we’re going to modify one another’s weapons slightly.”

Ruby jumped a little in place.

“It’s so exciting. We need to plan the wedding and we need to invite my family. And Blake and Penny and Oscar and who else do we know?”

“I was going to invite the butler who raised me to walk me down the aisle.”

“I have no one to invite,” I declared. “Well, no one who would be appropriate to invite. Just a crowd of enemies, really. That would be interesting,” I admitted. 

“Ooh this is so exciting. I’m going to be married. Mrs. Arc. Me. And you? Weiss?”

“Me too,” Weiss smiled. “I’ll take his name as well. I’m probably ending my family name but that may be for the best.”

“And kids. How many am I allowed to have? Jaune? Weiss?”

“How about we start with one and see where that takes us…” I trailed. “If - you know, nothing horrific happens, then I don’t know. Less than five. Don’t destroy me, Rubes.”

“Nothing bad will happen. You’ll see, Jaune. Oh my gosh there’s so much to plan. Have we set a date yet? Weiss and I need dresses. And we have to get a cake organized. And what kind of cake do you two want? And instead of little figurines can we have miniature versions of our weapons on top? And where do you want it to be? Where are we going for our honeymoon? What’s our budget look like? Where are we staying? Can we buy a house? Where are we going to raise our babies? Anywhere in the whole world. Where would you two pick? Oh, I suppose we want Jaune to keep his job. So somewhere here or near Vale? Like Patch? Oh we could buy a nice big house out in Patch. Big enough for all the babies and us three. And Jaune can fly. He can really commute without a problem. And it’s such a safe job. The safest he could have gotten. I mean… the sort of missions he could be being sent on by any of the councils or militaries could just be the most dangerous. They only pass you up to harder missions the better you are. It’s such a good job. It pays well enough and he can really stay close to home and not have to travel much. What do you guys think?”

“I agree completely. He should keep his job right here.”

I glanced at Weiss. They both turned to look up at me at the same time. I sighed.

“I have to kill my dad. And I have to butcher my mom. I can’t stay teaching forever and make my family someone else’s problem.”

“Why not?” Ruby asked. “Why can’t we have our lives?”

“Weiss, come on, can you really sit back and do nothing while your family makes a mess out of things?”

“I’m not going to do nothing. But dealing with my family and dealing with yours are two seperate things. Yours is a whole mess of trouble that is never really going to get solved.”

I sighed. I looked down at them. Ruby was looking up at me with those big fucking eyes. Weiss folded her arms and raised an elegant white brow on her scar side. 

I turned away.

“I can’t do nothing. It’s my responsibility. Can you really ask me to not do anything and let more and more people die? It’s a fucking meat grinder out there. My Mother isn’t going to stop. How many other hunters should I let get blended up? I can put a stop to it. I can end this whole cycle of suffering. It’s on me. It falls on me. Ruby… would you really love me if I put it aside for someone else to deal with? If I condemned other people to face her. If I made someone else take my place. Really?” I side eyed her. “Could you really sleep soundly beside me each night knowing what I let other people face in my stead?”

When one of us looked away it wasn’t me. 

“...no…it’s what makes you a hero,” she muttered and she eyeballed Weiss. Weiss let her arms droop and sighed despairingly. “But we can have both. We can beat Salem. But we can also live our lives. I really believe that we can. I do expect you to face your mother. But not today, this week, this month, or even this year.”

“My father has to be stopped. That’s next on my agenda.”

“Marrying us should be next on your agenda,” Weiss cut in.

“I thought that was first?” I asked. “You have my accounts. You have my schedule. Just ask me. I’m yours. For this year I belong to you. But I also belong to the world. It falls on me to slice up my Mother and put an end to this train of human suffering. And humanity will grow and blossom without her withering influence. Maybe the sort of world peace the gods expect from us will happen one day and Oscar will be able to unite the world. But it comes down on me. I’m the one with the power to face my Mother and I’m growing weaker now. I was getting stronger but recently I’ve been faltering more and more. The more time I waste the more other people get hurt and my chances of success fall too. If I’m not at my best she will destroy me. Like a bug on a windshield. She won’t even need to use my sisters against me but she can. My best chance to take her down is right now.” I pointed at the ground to emphasize my point. 

“But I’m asking you to wait. We’re asking you to wait,” Ruby informed me. “Wait. It’ll be okay. Live with us.”

I breathed deeply. I… I couldn’t say ‘no’ to her. Not really. Never could. Maybe that was a weakness of mine. If I could look at her and tell her ‘no’ and start flying in my Mother’s direction I could end this today. I could still feel her out there on the edge of my thoughts. She hung like a piano over my head ready to crash down on me.  

“Fine. Yes. Sure,” I bit out. “But one day you’ll have to let me go to her…”

“We will,” Weiss whispered. “We’ll let you go.”

“We’ll release you. We will.”

“I’ll die,” I warned. “She’ll kill me,” I said without emotion. 

They said nothing. They looked between each other but I marched forward. 

“I might get her but she will get me. And if she doesn’t, then my sisters will. You have to let me go anyway. You have to let me go knowing that.”

“Jaune…” Weiss trailed. “You don’t know that.”

“Yeah. I do. And you do too,” I said. 

Weiss frowned but didn’t have a ready retort. 

“All the more reason to spend some time with us,” Ruby pressed. “Don’t you think? Just a little more time together…”

“It will never be enough, though. You have to see that. You’re always going to want more. You’re going to want even more time. No matter how much I give you it will never be enough and you’ll never be satisfied.”

“Let us have this at least,” Weiss demanded. “Don’t start leaving us now. We only just got all together. There’s no need for this. We don’t want you to go now. We want you to be with us now. All of you. Your mind and your body and your soul. Don’t start straying from us the moment we’re finally one again. Let us have this moment. Ruby just said yes to us. What more do you want? Why do you have to undermine it? Just be with us.”

“Let me have this moment,” Ruby pleaded. “This moment with you and Weiss when we’re all engaged. Let me have the moment where I see your face as I walk down the aisle. Let me have the moment where we hold our babies in our arms. I’ll let you go. I will.”

“You know that I will too…” Weiss murmured. “I can’t hold you back from your destiny. And I believe you have the power to stop Salem. I won’t stay your hand. But you have to be with us the rest of the time. You can’t be pulled apart by your worries. You need to really be with us. Not partially but all the way.”

“I can’t do that either. She lingers like a curse on me. I’ll always have to look over my shoulder… but I can give you the rest,” I promised. “And if nothing horrible happens I’ll give you as many kids as you want. Well, not as many. But quite a few. No more than I have fingers for.”

“You always have to tag with that, don’t you?” Weiss leveraged. “Something ‘horrible.’ They’re our babies. Let’s be optimistic.”

“We still don’t know if I’m not using an empty revolver.”

“Please. Little Jaune is a rifle,” Ruby cut me off. “Call a spade a spade, at least.”

“Um. Anyways,” I shrugged that ego boost off as well as I was able. And I was pretty good at it. Not gonna lie. “We tried for a month straight and nothing happened. And I’m probably the issue. Not you, Weiss. You’re young and healthy.”

“And you’re not?” Weiss continued. 

“You know I’m not. I’m old for my age.”

“Five or four,” Weiss informed me. 

“Yeah. Five,” I agreed. It really was so young. So many people got so many years. Even in our hellish world. They got to grow up. They got to live. They got to grow old. They got to die. 

I was cutting to the chase. I didn’t get to grow up. I got grown. And if I wasn’t careful I wouldn’t get to do much living as I aged rapidly. I would definitely die. All people did. All people should. Everyone got that privilege. Except for my Mother. She always had to be the exception to the rule. My Mother… my fucking Mother.

The eternal bitch. 

I sighed heavily. 

“I’m only five. I should be worried about kindergarten. And the cutest girls in class. And trying to make my parents proud. Not… not having kids, or wives, or saving the world from that alien. I’m matricidal and patricidal. And I’ll be sororicidal too. I don’t want to kill my sisters but I will. So it counts.”

“You always stack the deck against yourself,” Weiss dismissed. “You always have. You can’t see the good parts of who you are and what you do. It’s not like you asked for your family to be evil. And you take it on yourself to solve it. That’s what a hero would do.”

“You can’t see that you’re a hero. You’re blind to yourself,” Ruby pointed. “We’re going to work on that.”

“We have time, Jaune. You’ll see. You’ll have all the time you need to become a good father and a good husband before you save the world and come back to us. And you’ll see that having kids is easier than you think.”

“I… I doubt it. I bet having kids and doing a good job is hard as fuck.”

“I told you to work on your language. Start with that. We probably have just been getting unlucky but we’ll get it right. If we need to, we’ll get tested. There’s always medical programs to assist with pregnancies if we really need them. You worry far more than is healthy. I do too, I can admit that. But we have Ruby now. All together we really can figure this out. There’s nothing we can’t do. I know you don’t always feel that way. So we’ll just have to show you. We’ll show you what you’re really capable of.”

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

[dsmamedits]

LETTER-TO-C

June 10, 2020

Dear C,

I stopped calling you sweetie because I felt that things were lacking between us that we were growing apart. Doubt grew between us. I know when someone is lying to me or at least doesn't tell me the whole truth. I just know. It's just like how we both have a feeling when we'll message each other. It's an instinct instilled in us. I know you hide things for my sake because you did say that white lies are okay as long as it won't hurt the other person but for me lies are lies even if you say they are white lies because white lies are lies that hide things from someone but nothing can stay hidden, the truth will be set free. And once it is free and it's been proven that one wasn't transparent it will hurt more to the person who was kept in the dark. People are not weak, you don't need to lie to them to protect their feelings. Especially me, I'm stronger than you think. I can face anything. I'm stronger knowing there are people who have my back and love me. Isnt that how it's supposed to be?

There are things I can't let go of. I dont want a relationship built on Lies, doubt, dishonesty and no transparency. I may say things that hurt. I may have a cold heart. But it was all to protect you from more trauma and hurt and to protect myself. I know I too have things I still have left unsaid, I want to tell you but there's always something stopping me.

My reaction is a reflection of anothers treatment to me. I've seen relationships and I've experienced my own set of tribulations and I'm sure you have too. Im not insensitive, quite the opposite, You started to not care as much. The doubt grew when you didn't want to open up to me, you would usually tell me about your day the first few weeks of getting to know each other and then you didn't open up as much. I know you're usually detailed when talking about something you're passionate about but that stopped. I had to ask instead of you naturally telling me... That's alright because that helped me be more inquisitive and curious about others. But that was one change. When I told you about it you tried opening up more but I dont like telling people what they should know already. What should have come naturally if you really respected me and my feelings.

I don't like how you made a big deal about my virginity and blamed me for it how I could have prevented it and called me naive and simply didn't understand why it happened and insisted it was my fault. You should have let me go then when I was asking for it. For you to question my situation when you've slept around with other women was an unfair way of taking it out on me. I didn't bring that up anymore because you said you didn't want to say things that I could hold against you. But I'm bringing it up here so I can finally let it go and show you how unfair your way of thinking was.

I know my reactions could have been more lax but when you care about someone when you feel pain you may react the way I did. This is the first time I ever cared about somone to the point I would get mad because I was hurt. I know I could've dealt with this more calmly. This was my first time experiencing this much pain and hurt. I didn't know what to do. If I knew I would've known how to deal with it. With you. You made me fall in love with you and you decide to get sick of me after everything I've shared with you. Way to show me I'm not worth it. Not worth the trouble especially knowing my background. Thanks a lot.

You shut down in front of me. Didn't come after me. Didn't hug me and tell me everything is alright. And you didn't let me see anything. You deleted everything instead of showing me. You hid something from me. I'm not stupid but you kept making me feel stupid and I wanted to ignore everything and accept what you said but if you think about it.... Why would she call you just because you had that sickness before. You're not a doctor. And why would she call you several times. I know you wanted to protect all the women you dated. But I wouldn't care about them if you showed me you cared about me more. You protected them. You hid things from me. When I asked you again why you didn't add me on fb, do you remember what you said? You said, why do I need to add you on fb. In an irritated voice. I got scared and embarrassed. So I shut up and didn't insist on it. But I've always wanted to tell you. I can take care of myself. If anybody tries to bully me I have you. If you can't save me from your exes I have me. And if they try to ruin my reputation so what it's not the truth because the truth was that you and I were dating and you were no longer with them. So tell me, what was I supposed to be afraid of? Could you not have protected me? Why were you so adamant about keeping me out of your fb if it was just something you used. Why did you hide things from me. Did you not trust me?

I need a strong man to be beside me through thick and thin to prove to me that I'm worth loving no matter how imperfect I am and to help me get through it by offering something more tangible and helpful instead of telling me to handle my emotions more. Making me feel like I'm to blame for everything being ruined because I overthink about the things I can't make sense of because YOU wouldn't give me details when YOU used to be so detailed about everything!

I'd rather have someone be honest with me with the truth instead of hurt me with lies out of kindness. That is not kindness that is something that will eventually cause pain. Nobody's perfect and I understand that, that's why I gave you chances and you gave me chances but time and time again you made me doubt you. And all I could do was blame myself because I knew things could have been better.

Remember when we didn't go out for valentines? I didn't mind until you said you went out to dinner with your ex during valentine's before. I felt less important... then you said you needed to be with hero that day....I understood that but I felt you were defensive because I already knew that and you said it in a way like "dont be unreasonable", I kept quiet because I didn't want to make a big deal out if it but if you really wanted to spend it with me even just a few hours you would have. There are times when you pick hero up late. But that day I wondered why were you acting that way. We were just starting and I wanted to let it go because I didn't want to sound petty and it didn't help when you said you felt guilty and couldnt explain why, as if you were hiding something. If you really wanted too you would have put an effort. But you didn't. And now that time is gone forever.

I didn't want to keep silent because this might help you understand women more. If you think loving and showing a girl effort is just by feeding them, picking them up and saying words of I love you and making love with them, anybody could do that. If our roles were switched I'd be happy to do all that for you knowing it would make life easier for you. I bet thats how you felt too when you picked me up. Like you said that's what I deserved. But effort is more then that. Time is the most important factor for me. And you were willing to give it to me. You were gonna spare two days to be able to see me while juggling your work and life. I appreciated that...

I always came back when you asked me too and that was because I liked, loved, and cared about you. It annoyed me when you could see through me, when you took my seperation fits as jokes and said I just missed you. That was truer than true. I missed you so much and I was going crazy without you and surrounded by the negativity of everything. I started becoming obsessed with you because I had nothing better to do. You were my whole world. But you were becoming busier and I felt like I was neglected. I knew you were busy and you were trying to find time for me amidst your busy schedule. This is where I lack, communication, being honest about what I want to say. Instead of just telling you what I want from you I just become quiet and keep it inside because I dont want to be insufferable and a bother. But I ended up becoming one... I guess it ended up that way in the end. I remember the time we first met, how you accepted me for my messy past and got mad for me. I see things through rose coloured glasses. Everyone is kind, everyone has a reason for what they do. There is a story on how that person became the way they were. I didn't want to accept the grey and dark parts of the world.

I remember you telling me not to meet the guy in rockwell, I remember we watched the joker and we ate at the burger place, I remember watching in festival cell number 7 filipino version and we walked a lot, I remember going to your roof top and how beautiful and peaceful it was. I remember staying at your place and eating out at different places. I remember the first time we took edsa going to your place and how there were so many busses and I thought to myself, if we could get to your place faster by using this route so I could spend more time hugging you I don't mind taking this route all the time, I remember eating at that vintage burger place. I remember the wings and burger and raspberry juice. I remember that other burger wings place with a huge garage and how a truck passed by and you introduced me as your girlfriend, I was surprised coz you didn't ask me yet but it made me happy but also confused, was this how relationships worked? I remember walking by the river near your place and how I wanted to walk more but I was so tired and I wanted to go to the place you wanted to show me but fatigue got to me. I remember when we were at cloud 9 and I pretended to be not scared of how high up we were while on the bridge and you were acting cute behind me and I just wanted to bite and pinch you. And also punch you because I was getting more scared coz you kept making kulit. I remember how fun it was going home.

I also remember how the next time we rode the motorbike together you were a bit cold. You didn't like me hugging you and said you were having a hard time but usually you would laugh and say you liked it. Also you said you didn't like it when I was putting your shirt up and I thought you did because when we were going from cloud 9 you were laughing it off.

I remember how you got so red when you drank and fell asleep. I remember there was the one time where we did it and it was the most ecstacy I've ever felt, but when I found out the sad things, like how you were still talking to your ex and how you felt like you were distancing yourself from me, making love and loving you started to hurt.

I remember how you changed to letting me bite you when I told you that you got mad when I bit you. I remember taking lots of pictures of us together and of you when we went to the national museum and how paranoid i was about COVID19. I liked seeing you so serious looking around and hiding from you every now and then. One of my fave memories was when we went to celebrate my bday and how much fun it was to watch you sing for me. How we both could just let loose in each other's company. I remember eating at an open ventilated space in Makati with beautiful lighting and how you couldn't eat properly becasue you were having a stomach ache. I remember the time we were in jolibee and you told me about your mom and what she went through and the reason why you came back and how weak she became and how you teared up. You were beautiful.

I'm sorry I let my overthinking cloud the beautiful memories we made. I'm sorry I couldn't show you how much I loved you. I'm sorry I was mean and hurtful to you. I'm sorry that I wasnt enough. I'm sorry for being toxic. I'm sorry I couldn't love you the way you wanted to be loved. I hope you find someone who can love you the way I know you deserve to be loved. We're both too hurt to mend things. Sometimes something broken can't be put together and it's best to carry the broken pieces, glue it together with someone else to create something even better and unique. This is the closure I can offer. I know you've chosen a better path and i can only hope we both find the happiness we deserve. I can't help but blame myself because I know I pushed you to the limit. You got tired of trying because you thought that I was mean and confusing. Because I was toxic and I knew that, that's why I chose this path.

I wanted to let you know how I felt not for you but for my peace of mind.

#bittersweetmemories #loveletter #painfulmemories #youth #confused #distraught #sadness #ending&partings #THEEND

[wherearemyglassesbro]

Why Francis is That Way: A series of headcanoned events that led to the ancient man we have now long post warning

Baby’s First Abandonment: When Fran was VERY little, physically 6 or so (idk 50 years old?? I don’t know nation ages) his mother Gual was his main caretaker. They lived in a small village with nomadic people by a river, very nice! Very aesthetic. Gual was close friends with many villagers so naturally Francis became close with them too, leading to them becoming his second family of sorts. One night Gual came back after bei Nd gone for a few days, Fran didn’t think much of it, and insisted he stay inside for the night with her. She made a special dinner and cuddled him all night and sang him to sleep and in the morning, she was gone. Francis, again, didn’t mind cause his mom left frequently for hunts so he went about his week. After a month he became worried and after six, he started flipping out. Tantrums and screaming and the villagers all had a felling his mom was dead so the woman with the most kids took him in. This was Francis’ first abandonment and this is what began his somewhat clingy nature. (He now knows that when his mother left, she went to fight Rome...and lost)

The First Heartbreak of Many: A long time later, I don’t know how many years, Francis met Arthur. Fran traveled with a new nomadic tribe now and went across the channel with them for the first time and found that lil stinker. Arthur and his brothers lived close to the water too so it was easy to find them! As years and years went on, Arthur and the other kirklands were Francis’s only friends! When the Auld Alliance was formed, he and Alastair were ‘married’ for awhile, which Francis very much enjoyed. He never had a lover before! He was still young for a nation, so was Ali so this was a first for them both. In his naivety, Fran believed that he and Ali would be together forever! But within a decade or so, Ali became more distant. Eventually he sat Francis down and told him “I love ya, I really do, but...Not as a wife. You’re a boy...And...I don’t like boys in a ‘wife’ way” of course Ali was very nice about it!! He was nothing but nice to Francis but that still broke his lil heart and the next day he insisted on going to live back home with his people to sulk. Sulk was probably the wrong word but what he did was lay in his hut for days on end, not leaving and crying a lot. He really thought he’d have someone to love forever and for the first time, he was broken up with

Too Young: As he grew up into a cocky teenager, he made many more nation friends. He called Antonio ‘cousin’ in an endearing way and spent a lot of time with him! He fought with Arthur a lot because now that little kid was growing physically too and they could fight their frustrations out like Real Men (they were not). By now, Francis had been with many women and a handful of men so he had Experience in relationships now. He’d talked to Antonio about a certain someone...Someone who...Has been trading around Italy...Sadik. It took awhile after first hearing about him to see him and oh lord, Francis fell for him on the spot! He was all he talked about with Toni and Artie for awhile!! His friends weren’t very supportive “Listen, idiot, he’s far older than you are it just wouldn’t work out!” “Franny, he’s so cruel, I’ve seen some of the things he’s done” but we know our boy is not one to listen to other. So of course, he perused Sadik and got exactly what he wanted. Both parties did, actually. Francis didn’t care about Sadik’s religion and Sadik felt the same way, they were attracted to eachother. Sadik liked Fran for his feminine features and his strength and Francis was extremely attracted to Sadik in almost all aspects of who he was. This ‘relationship’, if you could even call it that, was based on lust and not love so it didn’t last more than three years. It ended in an explosive fight with Francis saying Sadik was too self centered and Sadik calling him too young and stupid. Not exactly the way you should end a relationship. Both were upset at the split and went their separate ways. What did Francis learn from this experience? He learned not to rely on looks and that older men were a pain in the ass....But that didn’t stop him from persuing him again in the 1900s and I oop-

Humans Cant Provide What Nations Need: We all know the story of Joan of Arc so I won’t waste time describing that. Francis and Joan were close and Francis felt a very intense love for her. So intense that he longed for her when she was away and felt her pain himself when she was hurt. Was this a complication of being a nation? Possibly. But he thought it was his heart belonging to her. After centuries of living THIS girl was it! This was his soulmate! This had to be her, the woman he would love forever! And then the English came. When she died Francis felt dead on the inside and sank into a deep deeeeeep depression. Arthur later came to see him and told him a few things “Listen...It wasn’t personal. I didn’t want to hurt you, you were never the target. But you can’t depend on humans the way you depended on her...They dont last long...And they don’t come back...” Francis learned to be more closed off towards humans. Developing connections with them in this way wasn’t just unhealthy...It was stupid too

The Child: Skipping history again here! So Francis raised Matthew and Arthur raised Alfred for the most part UNTIL the English government decided they wanted Arthur to have custody over Matthew. After a lot of back and forth, the French agreed to give Matthew over without Francis’s consent. Naturally, Francis was DEVASTATED!!! He was such a good father. Every night he sang Matthew to sleep, he made him his favorite cookies, he let him pick out clothes, he cut his hair, he kissed his cheeks and hugged him and loved him so much! And now that horrid englishman was taking his son away! He blamed Arthur even though it wasn’t his decision. Francis chose to deliver Matthew himself so they could spend some time together. Francis dropped him off and practically dragged Arthur away from the house to yell at him without the kids heading. He yelled and punched him in the shoulder and yelled some more, let all of his hurt out. And when he was done having his adult tantrum he felt...worse. They went inside and spent time together as a family and later apologized to his dearest friend with a kiss on the cheek and breakfast in bed the next morning. He learned to be more mature and handle his feelings in another way than yelling and to be the adult his kids need

The Light Switch: Between the world wars, Fran and Artie finally got together. During the second ww, Fran was taken by the Germans and kept as a prisioner. When he was finally retrieved and brought home two years later he was a big ol mess. Arthur stayed with him at his house. The lights all needed to stay on, no loud noises, the doors were locked and checked over and over and over. Francis would insist he was fine until he was blue in the face but at the end of the day, he really needed Arthur and was so thankful for him being there. At this time he really needed someone there and Art had a lot of shared trauma so they got even closer through that. Fran didn’t learn much from this but what he did was become more open with his closest, dearest friend and become his lover. They became eachother’s support through this time and grew a lot from that together :) now the lights can be off and they can sleep soundly if a door went unlocked somewhere but they both can’t stand those thunderstorms that shake the house. Those kinds of storms bring back horrible memories for them and that’s an excuse to just hold eachother closer

Conclusion: Fran has issues with seperation and rejection cause of all of this and even though hes hella old he still is naive despite his smarts and even though he knows it’s bad, he listens to his heart more than his head

Thank you for reading this far!!!!!